For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1

Chapter 5: When Facts Can No Longer Be Denied
(Daniel's POV)

As soon as I manage to escape Jack's claws --almost literally-- I all but run toward Sam's lab. To say that this is a mess would be a major understatement, however that doesn't mean there's no room for damage control here and the least I can do is make sure Sam knows what's coming her way. Having Jack catch her unawares would be the worst possible scenario and I know it.

"Daniel, what is it?"

"They know," I say.

"Who knows what?"

"Jack and the general... they've read the guidelines."

"Oh," she says, sitting on one of the stools and looking rather pale.

"Yes, oh," I confirm, all too aware that we really should have foreseen this.

"So, what are we going to do?" she asks.

"Well, there's not much we can do, not now," I reluctantly admit. "The good news is that right now I think they are too busy being mad at Janet and me to confront you, but somehow I don't think that's going to last."

"In other words, I can expect the colonel to drop by any minute now?"

"I'm afraid so," I say, knowing how much Sam isn't looking forward to that encounter. "The bad news is that when I talked to him Jack sounded anything but happy, the good news is that it's not you he's mad at... he sounded more overprotective than anything else."

"You know, that's not much comfort under the circumstances... in fact I think I'd rather have him angry. That I can deal with but this..."

"What are you so worried about?"

"The same thing I've been worried about for the past eight months: the possibility that someone will decide to ban women from SG teams for 'their own safety'."

"Well, I don't think that's going to happen... or at least it didn't sound like that option was on the table when I talked to Jack a few minutes ago, though I think I may be on probation," I admit.

"You?" asks Sam, sounding more than a little surprised.

"Something about Jack having to know he can trust me," I explain, shrugging my shoulders as I try to balance the need to distract Sam from Jack's overprotective rampage with the need not to have her needlessly worrying about me.

"I'm sorry," she says.

"Sorry? Why would you be sorry?" I ask.

"Because he's mad because you were covering for me."

"Yes, well, that was my decision and I don't regret it. Besides, I think Jack is overreacting," I say, trying to reassure her.

"Maybe, but the bottom line is that you are still in trouble and it is my fault," she insists.

"Yes, I'm in trouble, but I don't think it's all that serious, not really. I think right now Jack just needs someone to blame and seeing how Turghan isn't available I make a convenient target. He'll get over it... eventually."

"And what about Janet?"

"I don't know," I admit, "but I don't think there's anything they can do against her either. After all, she did tell General Hammond about Turghan's threats and, let's face it, she's not exactly replaceable. The general knows this and that means she's safe. Besides, how many doctors do you know who could take what goes on in this place in their stride?"

"Counting Janet? One," says Sam with a smile.

"Exactly."

"And what about you?"

"Well, Jack is kind of mad at me, we've already established that, but the one who filled the general in was Janet and I can't be blamed for her omissions so I should be safe. Besides, the fact that I'm not military also gives me a bit of leeway when it comes to following procedure... or not following procedure as the case might be."

"In other words, you are confident that both you and Janet are safe because they would have a pretty hard time trying to find someone to replace either of you?"

"In a nutshell. I mean, let's face it, even now my department is the most seriously understaffed in the whole mountain and that is not a matter of choice. It's not that there's no will to recruit any more people for it, it's just that finding anyone with the necessary skills is all but impossible, and when the security clearance is added on top of that, well..." I trail off.

"So you are still struggling with that?" asks Sam and I have to fight to keep a smile off my face as I realize that I've managed to distract her, at least for the time being.

"Yes. The simple fact is that there aren't all that many linguist/anthropologist/archeologists to begin with and most of those have no ties to the military so I'm stuck. Sure, it is not unusual to have two out of three in any possible combination but three out of three is a different matter... and this job definitely requires all three of them. You need the languages, you need the ability to deal with a living, breathing culture and you need the knowledge of ancient civilizations, not to mention that you need the flexibility to adapt information from one field to another."

"I guess I'd never really seen it from that perspective."

"Well, it's not so bad and people who have experience in two of those fields can help, but they need someone to coordinate their work. That and --for the most part-- they need to work in teams of two to cover their blind spots."

"And that means they can't get rid of the guy who is in charge of making sure those teams don't miss anything?"

"Exactly."

"You know I still don't like the idea of you being in trouble because of me, don't you? I mean, I understand what you are saying about their not being able to fire you and I agree chances are the colonel is bluffing when he says you are on probation but I don't like the idea that you may end up losing his trust because of me. I know how much his friendship means to you," says Sam... so much for keeping her distracted.

"We'll get over it," I say.

"I know you will, but this whole thing has turned into such a mess. I never wanted this to happen. I just wanted to forget!"

"And no one is blaming you for that," I reassure her.

"I'm blaming me. I let you cover for me, I'm the one who didn't come forward and I'm the one who's still keeping secrets and jeopardizing the team," she insists.

"Sam, is there something you still haven't told us?" I ask, growing suddenly worried.

"No, but I'm still putting off telling Teal'c about any of this, even though I know I'm going to have no choice but to fill him in sooner or later."

"Are you sure you are ready to do that?" I ask, focusing on what she isn't saying.

"Truth? Not really, I just know I don't have much of a choice here. Whether I like it or not I think the time has come for me to admit the fact that we won't be able to move forward as a team until I come clean and what's happened today just proves it. I may be reluctant to tell Teal'c about any of this but I know I'm going to have to do it sooner or later and --even though there is a part of me that would really love to keep putting it off for as long as I can,--I know that that would probably only end up making matters worse... not to mention that it would almost certainly lead to a situation in which I can't control the moment in which I tell him. That is the risk I can't afford to take and I know it, even if I don't want to acknowledge it."