And now, finally -- what happened next ... I really hope everyone enjoys; Ray, I hope it was worth the wait :)
Jack sighed loudly and rolled his eyes, as he slumped for dramatic emphasis in his chair.
"Oh, come on, Gerald, you know as well as I do that she deserves a commendation and a promotion for what she did out there – hell, you know she's more of a captain than any of those dweebs you've got under your command right now!" Jack admonished Colonel Taylor exasperatedly.
Now it was Gerald Taylor's turn to sigh loudly. "Yeah, Jack, you would say that – hell, she's just like you, with little or no regard for military protocol-"
"Oh, screw the protocol, Gerry, you know that's not true! You know she saved the butts of everyone out there! Especially Sam! And including ME!" Jack was nearly shouting now.
"Gentlemen, and I use the term loosely here," George Hammond's stentorian voice boomed through their verbal chaos, "either we can discuss this rationally or I can make the ultimate decision as to what happens to the young lieutenant."
The other two men sat back in their chairs, their frustration evident.
"Jack, you know I have to follow the rules here; she'd expect nothing less," Gerald said quietly, defeatedly.
Jack sighed in a frustrated tone, running his hands through what remained of his graying hair. "Yeah, I know, Gerry."
A knock on the door interrupted the discussion.
"Come in," General Hammond said curiously; he wasn't expecting anyone and those who were fortunate enough to serve on his staff knew better than to interrupt any meeting he was conducting.
The door opened to reveal Jonas Quinn's pleasant face, warm with his usual grin. "General Hammond sir, Colonel O'Neill, Colonel Taylor, sirs," he greeted them.
"Jonas we're having a private meeting here," George Hammond began. He liked the young man immensely, but now was not a time for pleasantries.
"Yes, sir, I know," Jonas replied smoothly. "I understand it's concerning Lieutenant Hailey?"
Now the three men were intrigued. Jonas was not prone to gossip; and he respected their military authority, so his presence here on this subject was not to be taken lightly.
"Yes?" General Hammond asked him.
"Well, sir, I've read the handbooks regarding the disciplinary measures normally applied in these cases, and I just wanted to clarify a few things."
George Hammond sighed; he normally enjoyed Jonas' curiosity and observant nature, but now was not the time.
"Jonas," he began in a warning tone.
"General Hammond, isn't it true that a suspension can be served with or without pay, taking into account the merit of the circumstances under which the violation occurred?"
Gerald Taylor sat up. He was ashamed to admit that he had forgotten this little part of the rules. "The man's exactly right, General."
Jonas grinned; he had their attention now.
"Furthermore, General Hammond, sir, isn't it true that while penalties for violating the chain of command are always handed down by the violator's commanding officer, any superior ranking officer, such as Colonel O'Neill, can recommend a promotion for any junior officer who has served under him or her at any time he or she sees fit to do so?"
Jonas asked in a slightly superior tone of voice, indicating that he already knew the answer.
He continued. "And, unless said junior officer's CO has an objection to the promotion recommendation, it can be immediately granted, pending final authorization by the Office of the Chief of Staff?"
George Hammond smiled. "You're absolutely right, son," he said warmly.
"Thank you, General Hammond, that's all I wanted to know," Jonas said with a twinkle in his eye. He looked at Jack and Gerald now. "Colonels," he said; nodding his head at them, he turned to go.
"Jonas," George Hammond said with a curious note in his voice.
"Yes sir?"
"What possessed you to come in here right at this very moment and ask about that?" he said, strongly suspecting that a certain petite doctor had had a hand in the matter.
Jonas stopped, a puzzled look crossing his young face now. "Well, I mentioned all of this to Janet last night and she instructed me that it was very important that I come here at exactly this moment and ask you to clarify that it was true. She also said not to let you kick me out until you'd given me an answer," he finished, a mildly puzzled look on his otherwise innocent face.
"She told you to interrupt my meeting?" George asked in a slightly indignant tone.
"Well, no offense, General Hammond, but I'm more afraid of her than I am of you," Jonas finished with his characteristic grin.
Jennifer Hailey knocked on the open door exactly on time; he looked up.
"Come in, Lieutenant," Gerald Taylor said seriously. "Shut the door behind you, please."
She strode over and stood in front of his desk, saluting him.
"Sir, Lieutenant Hailey reporting as ordered, sir," she said, matching the seriousness of his tone.
"You know why you've been summoned here, don't you Lieutenant?" he asked.
Jennifer leveled her steely gaze at him. "Sir, I believe I do, sir," she answered, almost defensively. They both knew what was coming, and he knew she would take it as well as any soldier he'd ever known.
"Okay, well, we'll dispense with the detailed analysis, then," he said. He looked directly at her, and took a deep breath.
"The penalty for violating the chain of command while off-world is a one week suspension. As evidence and witness testimony have shown, you did this twice on two separate missions to P3X 832."
Gerald continued. "The penalty is sometimes served without pay unless some merit can be shown regarding the aforementioned violation of command. As your actions resulted in the safe return of Samantha Carter and the rest of the SG teams from the planet, and taking into account other incidents of team work above and beyond the call of duty, these penalties will be served consecutively, with pay."
He found a small sense of comfort in the relieved look in her eyes as these last words carried in the still air, but Gerald Taylor's heart softened at the look on the young officer's face as he finished. As stoic as he'd known her to be under the worst of circumstances, Jennifer Hailey couldn't completely hide her disappointment in the fact that this would be another blemish on her record. He knew that it bothered her that Samantha Carter had no such blemishes on her own record; Gerald often thought that the young lieutenant's self imposed comparison to the blond major was unfair to them both.
"Look, Hailey, I know that you are determined to be the very best soldier that a woman can be, but not all of the best soldiers are measured simply by their record," he stated firmly.
"Sir, yes sir," Jennifer replied. Gerald knew she was not convinced. He sighed loudly.
"Jesus H Christ, you really are like the bastard lovechild of O'Neill and Carter," Gerald Taylor suddenly said in an exasperated tone.
Jennifer was caught completely off guard by the brash statement; her mouth fell open slightly.
"Sir?" she said in a questioning tone.
"You've obviously got her brains but you've inherited his blatant disregard for everything except 'doing the right' thing," Colonel Taylor continued in a frustrated tone.
He looked directly at her surprised face then.
"Look, Hailey, as one of the first women in this program, Major Carter had to tow the line and do exactly the right thing all the time in order to open the door for other women behind her. But now, a soldier such as yourself can afford to risk doing the right thing even if it flies in the face of military protocol. You get that from O'Neill, no doubt," he said somewhat sarcastically, looking down at his desk where his thumbs were tapping nervously against the edge.
He leveled his gaze at her again.
"You can widen the doorway for the women behind you, and prove that women are as worthy soldiers as men are, just by being yourself. And," he said, his tone dropping as he leaned across the desk towards her, "off the record, I'd sooner lead an army of soldiers like you into battle than an army of either O'Neills or Carters," he finished.
Jennifer stood quietly, absorbing everything he had just said to her, an incredible sense of pride and happiness rising in her, evident only in the sparkle in her eyes.
"Sir, thank you sir," she said in her matter of fact tone of voice.
The door opened just then; General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill entered. Colonel Taylor stood up as they entered; Jennifer turned and saluted.
"General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill," she addressed them in turn.
"At ease, Lieutenant," General Hammond said.
Colonel O'Neill had a merry look in his eyes; he was carrying a small box in his hands.
"General Hammond sir, as one of my last official acts as a member of the United States Air Force, I'd like to recommend that Lieutenant Hailey be promoted to the rank of Captain for courage under fire and conduct above and beyond the call of duty where lives of other Air Force soldiers are concerned," he finished, unable to keep the goofy grin off his face as he said it.
General Hammond turned to Colonel Taylor then. "Colonel Taylor, as the lieutenant's commanding officer, the promotion is your call. Do you have any reason to contest Colonel O'Neill's recommendation?" George Hammond stated in the voice he used when he expected a particular answer.
Gerald Taylor grinned at the wondering look on Jennifer's face. "No sir, I am in complete agreement with Colonel O'Neill's recommendation."
"Very well then," George Hammond said summarily. He turned to face the young woman now.
"Pending the final advice of the Office of the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Hailey, I hereby authorize your temporary promotion to the rank of Captain. Colonel Taylor, would you do the honors, please?"
Jack handed him the box and Colonel Taylor approached Jennifer. Opening the box, he removed the new insignia and pinned them to the shoulders of her uniform.
"Congratulations, Captain Hailey." He stepped back, and saluted her; General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill followed suit.
Jennifer efficiently returned the salute. "Thank you, sirs," she said, with a proud smile that each man would not soon forget.
"Now, captain, as I understand it, you've got some time off…" Colonel O'Neill began lightly.
Jennifer turned to him, a serious look returning to her face at the memory of the penalty she had just been handed.
"Sir?" she said in a questioning tone.
"Would you do me a favor and get that archaeologist off base for a while?" he said in a plaintive tone.
Jennifer blushed brightly. "Sir, I do not understand the question, sir," she said, not quite as strongly as she had hoped for.
"Oh, now, Captain, don't blow smoke up my ass – you live together, for Chrissakes – just go take Daniel some place different for a change, will ya?" O'Neill said. Only the mischievous grin on his face took the edge off the seriousness of his words.
She turned to Colonel Taylor; the somewhat puzzled look on her still beet red face hiding the merest hint of guilt at the correctness of O'Neill's words.
"You're dismissed, Captain," Colonel Taylor said, an emphasis on the last word as her new rank rolled off his tongue. Gerald also felt a sense of gallantry at rescuing her from O'Neill's brazen words; she was a lady in addition to being one hell of a soldier, he thought with a renewed sense of pride.
"Sir, thank you, sir," she said, sounding relieved. She saluted again and walked purposefully out of the office. It was all she could do not to run until she was sure she was out of earshot; she made a beeline for the lab.
"Hey, that's terrific!" Daniel exclaimed as he swung her around in a big bear hug. "Congratulations, Captain Hailey," he said warmly.
"And, I got a direct order from Colonel O'Neill to take you offbase…in fact, he specifically said 'somewhere different'," she stated authoritatively.
Daniel smiled; it looked like Jack had remembered that SG-1 had been put on mandatory down time after the ordeal they'd been through. He and Jennifer rarely got a chance to travel casually together; and even though they shared a home, their separate, hectic lives and mission assignments often kept them apart for long periods of time. As Dr. Fraiser always said, everything works out as it should, he thought.
"Where should we go?" she asked excitedly.
His blue eyes sparkled with mischief behind the wire-rimmed glasses.
"Let's pick a city like we did the last time," he said enthusiastically, grabbing the dart from the frame of the world map that plastered the wall of his office. Jack had put it there; he was quite fond of throwing it across Daniel's office to hit the map as a way of showing people his favorite fishing spots in Minnesota.
Daniel gently turned her so she was facing the map, and handed her the small projectile with the red plastic tip.
Jennifer smiled – Daniel wasn't playful very often. She pulled her arm back and threw the arrow, straight and clear. It landed right at the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan, in the northeastern point of Illinois in the United States.
"Chicago," Daniel heard himself say.
Jennifer looked at him. "We don't have to, there's plenty of other places," she said evenly. The look in her eyes was one of complete understanding and some concern; she knew that Chicago was where he'd been with Sarah.
Daniel smiled at her, touched at her concern for him – he knew she only wanted to spare him any painful thoughts from that time. He hadn't been back there in a long while and it was true that many of his memories of the place were clouded with thoughts of Sarah.
As she gazed steadily at him with her beautiful dark eyes, he realized he was eager to add some new memories of the fun of Chicago to his store of times he'd already spent with this beautiful woman that he loved.
"It's a wonderful place for a metropolitan area and I'd like to go there with you," he said lovingly, caressing her face as he pushed a stray hair back, cupping her chin and tilting her head up so he was looking directly at her.
"Are you sure?" she asked, searching his eyes for any signs of hesitation. She'd stumbled across the report that had outlined the incident with Osiris, and how the Tok'ra had successfully banished the goauld from its human host. Whatever his reason for keeping this from her, every day he demonstrated his love for her in ways that never gave her cause to wonder what had actually happened to the woman afterwards.
"I'm absolutely certain, Captain Hailey; I would love to show you around," he stated emphatically, with a note of pride in his voice as he addressed her by her new rank.
Jennifer smiled to herself as the true meaning of his words sunk in. "I've never been to Chicago," she said in a thoughtful tone, a soft smile playing across her lips.
Daniel chuckled. "Well, it'll be nice to visit now that I actually have a job and a place to stay," he said sardonically.
Jennifer giggled and pulled him close.