Disclaimer: See first chapter

Notes: A few things I forgot to mention in the previous chapter with regard to this story are. I've promoted Sam to full Colonel, and Mitchell is, and has been since the beginning of the tiem he was instated into SG-1, been under Sam's command. Also thank you all so much for reviewing, and for the encouraging reviews! Thanks to: scottiedog, hazeleyes18, charming-kayleigh, The Chashew Nuts, Crimsongirl17, Michelle UK, Ladybug Jess.

X-X-X-X-X

They had been talking for a few minutes before the Admiral finally asked the question that had been on his mind since he first saw her. "Sam, what are you doing here?"

"'Here', as in JAG, or 'here' as in Washington D.C.?" Sam shot back.

"Washington D.C." A.J. replied to his niece.

"I was called in to work on something at the Pentagon. After that I was given a two week leave." Colonel Carter frowned. "Well, 'given' might not be the correct term. I was ordered to take some time off." She rolled her eyes expressively, "They seem to think I've been working too hard."

"Well," Chegwidden reminded his niece to her annoyance, "You often do." Abruptly he switched topics, "So how's Colorado?"

"Colorado is good, uncle. It's great actually. It's the first place that's ever felt like home." Sam flashed him a brilliant smile that lit up her face. It was to this smile that Lt. Colonel Mackenzie, and Commander Rabb walked in on several hours later.

Commander Harmon Rabb looked at the woman seated in front of the Admiral's desk laughing with some curiosity. The highly decorated air force officer looked like she could have modelled for a living if she so chose. He took a closer look at the medals and almost felt his eyebrows raise – you didn't earn some of those without seeing some serious combat.

That she'd been closeted in the office with the Admiral for several hours had caused some speculation in the office, and he wanted to know if he and Mac would be able to dispel of any rumours.

"Admiral, you asked us to come by after our court case was finished today?" Sarah Mackenzie reminded the Admiral, as the brunette kept her curiosity to herself.

"Yes, I wanted to ask the two of you how long you think the case is going to be drawn out for."

"We should be finished within the week sir." Harm wasn't quite as able to keep the curiosity out of his voice, as he shot yet another look at the radiant blonde officer.

A.J. hid a grin as he set about introducing them. "Lt. Colonel Sarah Mackenzie, and Commander Rabb I'd like to introduce my niece Colonel Samantha Carter."

The air force Colonel had turned around to face them fully, and she returned their hurried salutes. "At ease. It's a pleasure to meet you." A twinkle in her sky blue eyes suggested she'd heard about them before meeting them.

"Colonel, Admiral, forgive me, but… I wasn't aware you had a sibling Admiral?" Harms inflection on the statement turned it into a question. He also wondered how a woman as young as she seemed to be could be made Colonel. He'd guess she was in her early thirties!

"Jacob Carter was my half brother. We had different fathers but the same mother."

Was? That implied that he was dead. However, Harm knew better than to pursue his curiosity on such a subject with the Admirals family – in this case, a niece who outranked him. He'd be lucky if the Admiral only flayed him alive.

"Well, it was an honour to meet you Colonel-" Mac began only to be finished by the Admiral.

"But you have paperwork, so go." he advised them.

"Yes, sir." They chorused, before leaving. Their first task would be to get rid of the rumours circulating around the office about the Admiral's niece. If she had a good sense of humour, it might be alright if she caught wind of some of them. Some of the rumours however would upset the most level-headed of people.

X-X-X-X-X

Over the next few days Sam managed to charm most of the people working at the JAG corps. She was an intelligent, easygoing person and from what they could tell an outstanding officer. A few eyebrows had risen when Jennifer Coates had informed Sam that she had a call from the Pentagon waiting for her on the phone, but other than that everything was normal. It seemed to be just a normal visit from an ordinary, albeit high ranking, woman to her uncle.

Sam Carter walked down the street in Washington on her way to her rental car. She had just finished the meal in the restaurant with some people from JAG, and she left early as she wanted to call it a night.

She'd walked a couple of blocks and was almost at her rental car when she felt a rush of air from behind. She moved quickly and felt the arm go just past her head. She ducked behind a random car and saw three men, masked and unidentifiable closing in on her from all sides. They closed in and she began to fight, using them against each other. It helped that they seemed determined to subdue her but not unduly injure her. It was that very thing which made her all the more terrified and fight harder. There were secrets which were not hers to give up and she'd be damned before she'd let herself be put into a position where they (or she) might be compromised.

"Hey!" Suddenly, the bodies were moving away from her flying into the background. Then Harm and Mac were on her and babbling at her to see if she was alright and ask where she was hurt. Sam ignored them.

She turned over the man who'd fallen beneath her fists, though she was surprised he'd gone down. She lifted up the mask, tilting it away from Harm and Mac and discreetly feeling for any unearthly protrusions or textures. The features alone shocked her, though she didn't let it show on her face.

Her attacker was Malek of the Tok'ra.

X-X-X-X-X

Well, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. I know it was short but I'm in a bit of a rush. Please review!