Chapter 22 – Epilogue

Disclaimer – Not mine, never will be etc. etc.

General Hammond sat in his office in the depths of Cheyenne Mountain. His door was closed and the red light on the security camera was out. He had turned it off about five minutes before, just after Walter had brought him the envelope marked "Eyes Only".

He opened it tentatively, truly dreading what he would find in there. He had received a phone call earlier that day from one of the surveillance officers at the Pentagon. He'd informed the General of some strange computer traffic that had originated from the SGC. From the computer of one Colonel Jack O'Neill to be precise. The moment the superior officer had heard that part of the message, he had requested the communication be sent to him under strict security and that no one, other than the airman himself, should know of it's existence.

Hammond opened the envelope and found a single sheet of paper and what was either a compact disk or a CD ROM. He knew he could quickly find out which if he inserted it into his computer's disk drive so that's what he did.

As the drive began to whirr into life, he focused on the paper he held in his hand. He initially thought that it was the text from some kind of online conversation and this was quickly confirmed upon closer reading of the header. "Instant Message conversation between "Scarecrow" and "Dorothy" initiated by "Scarecrow" from the LAN connection in Colonel Jack O'Neill's office at 9:59pm on Monday, November 5th."

The General sat down to read the transcript just as music filled his office.

Scarecrow – Hi Dorothy!

Dorothy – Hi.

Scarecrow – So, whatcha wearing?

Dorothy – Excuse me?

Scarecrow – Whatcha wearing?

Dorothy – Are you serious?

Scarecrow – Yep. You used to ask me and I answered so now it's your turn.

Dorothy – Silk pajama bottoms and a camisole.

Scarecrow – Hmm – interesting. I hope you're telling me the truth.

Dorothy – Why?

Scarecrow – Cos I'm about to come over to your house.

Dorothy – What are you talking about? You don't know where I live!

Scarecrow - I believe I do and just in case I'm right, I need to tell you something now. I've never been very good with words in situations like this and I don't want to leave anything to chance.

Scarecrow – So just in case I can't find the words to describe how I feel tomorrow, I borrowed someone else's. I need you to listen to a song that you'll find at the end of a link that I'll send you. A young friend of mine sent it to me and now I need to send it to you.

Scarecrow – Will you do that for me?

Dorothy – Yes

Scarecrow - Ok. Now I'm going to log off and come to your house. I'll be there in about 5 mins. Ok?

Dorothy – K

As he finished scanning the words in front of him, he smiled as he began to realize what this could mean. For the first time, he focused on the song that was playing and he listened to make out the lyrics of the chorus.

In my mind
Everything we did was right
Open your eyes, I'll still be by your side
How could I ever have been so blind?
You give me something to sleep to
Something to sleep to
Something to sleep to at night

A wry grin spread across his usually somber face as the full implications hit him. Scarecrow and Dorothy, whoever they may be, were giving it a try … at last. But since he didn't have a "Scarecrow" or a "Dorothy" under his command, he wouldn't ask, and they wouldn't have to tell. At least not until they were ready.

He removed the disk from the disk drive and placed it in his jacket pocket, knowing that it should be kept, either for posterity, or as awedding song. Thinking he needed to add another $50 to the betting pool, he fed the transcript into the paper shredder and chuckled once again.

The End

Authors Note- To everyone who has taken this journey with me over the last five months, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your reviews have encouraged me, taught me and heartened me. I never thought that this story would end up over 30,000 words long … I frankly didn't know I had it in me.

Special thanks have to go out to a couple of fellow writers without whom this fic would never have been what it became. To Kate McCaye who encouraged me to write it in the first place. To Su Freund who's words of encouragement kept me going. To Abott of Beregost who gave my muse confidence on my more racy chaps.

Finally, to my husband whose patience made this all possible.

Now, I need to go away and write some other things for a while but I promise I'll be back with something new soon. Lynn.