Supporting Rumors - Part 11

Sam practically threw herself inside the private room she'd been given, banging the door behind her, but it failed to close and it bounced open again.

She was about to shut it when General Hammond put a hand on it. She released the door and paced across the room, keeping her back to the General.

"I need a few minutes, Sir." Sam kept her gaze pinned to the pastel colored wall. Her voice sounded thick and suspiciously shaky, even to her own ears.

George Hammond gently closed the door behind him as he stepped in. "I know you overheard what Jack just said. Don't go beating yourself up over this. It happened. It was no one's fault. Just lousy timing."

Sam's fingers curled over the wrapped yoyo in her pocket. "I know."

"But?" George stepped closer, putting a hand on her shoulder to turn her around.

Sam allowed him to maneuver her and he felt incredibly inadequate as her bright blue eyes betrayed her utmost misery. Not knowing what else to do, he pulled her into a fatherly hug and allowed her to vent …

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Sam eventually felt calm enough to remove herself from the General's arms. She missed her Dad so much, though at least she had someone ... but what she needed was her husband.

"I seem to be making a habit of this, Sir," she mumbled as she balled the used tissues into the trash can.

"Not a problem, Sam ... I'll put my dry cleaning on Jack's tab."

Sam managed a wan smile at the General's attempt to lighten the situation.

"How did you manage to get that out of him?" she asked. All she'd seen was Hammond's back as she'd opened the door, unaware of who else was in the room.

George filled in the gaps for her. "He doesn't know anything. He's adamant that he didn't plan the detour, didn't discuss it with anyone ... and we can be pretty sure of that at least."

They both knew that Jack O'Neill wouldn't discuss anything remotely personal with anyone but his closest friends ... and even they wouldn't be privy to much of anything. Jack O'Neill was a man who played things close to his chest. When he was being his most vocal, that was usually a sign that he was hiding so much more.

The short time they'd been married, Sam was amazed to be continually finding more facets of her husband than she ever thought possible. The brief glimpses she's been given of his true personality beforehand, didn't prepare her for the depths and warmth of the man she had so willingly entrusted her love to. There were some lows of course - being apart so much for now was one of them ... but the highs more than made up for them.

"He wants them to remove the bullet."

George nodded. "I expected as much. I had a call put out to some of our allies for assistance, but … "

"God knows if or when we will get a response." Sam finished the General's words, accepting that a miracle just wasn't going to happen.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

General Hammond had made sure that Jack's visitors had left before he permitted Sam back in. He took his leave and stood in the empty corridor, running a hand over his head, wishing for that miracle.

As soon as the official report had deduced that the attack didn't seem to be a personal one against General O'Neill, the bodyguards had been reduced in number, leaving just one stationed outside the double doors.

George shook his head wearily hoping that the assumption wasn't a premature one. Checking his watch, he decided he would call it a night and headed off to his apartment.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Jack was dozing and Sam quietly pulled a chair to the bed, throwing her jacket over its back. She sat down with a heartfelt sigh, preparing herself for God alone knew what.

Sam was loathed to disturb him and waited for him to waken. Eventually his eyes flickered open and they wandered over her face.

"Hey," she murmured, sitting straighter.

He acknowledged her with the barest of nods.

Disappointed, but then she knew that this wasn't going to be easy ... stubborn was her husband's middle name, Sam changed his expression with a single word.

"Maybourne."

His eyes betrayed him for a split second, before the shutters claimed their usual position.

"I saw him today."

Jack jerked upright. A pain filled grimace flashed across his face, before he could clamp it down. "Argh, crap ... what?"

Sam bit her lip. She hadn't wanted to cause Jack pain, and she eased him back against the pillows, urging him to relax.

"Sam … " He took a hitched agony filled breath and then managed to continue. "You're mistaken."

"No." Sam treated him to her 'Don't mess with me' look. "I left the hospital today and he approached me, asking about you."

Sam watched her husband's face closely. Apart from when they made love, she struggled to capture just what was going on inside his mind at times.

"You knew he was back didn't you?"

Jack nodded. "It's imperative that no-one else does though."

"Who knows?"

"On Earth ... me ... Maybourne," he gave a slight smirk, "and now you."

"Not even General Hammond?"

"No. We purposely kept it as close to the blade as we could."

Sam nodded, accepting his explanation. "Can I ask why he's here and does it have anything to do with the attempt on your life?"

Jack shrugged and then winced as the movement caused him discomfort.

"Harry's here to build up evidence against three government officials. No-one else knows he's here. I arranged for him to give a statement anonymously and then the statements are used to get corroborative evidence

"Okay, I won't ask who, but do they know that you are investigating them?"

"No. Their involvement in ... ahem, certain areas, brought some discrepancies to light. The only link I found to them came from a certain piece of information already in my possession from quite a bit back. However, there wasn't enough evidence to stop them and put them where they belong, it only provided the link."

"And of course this involved Maybourne."

Jack looked slightly abashed. "Yeah, I got the evidence from Harry in the first place. So I got a message out and arranged for him to get a lift here. I didn't want him just walking through the Stargate - that would have brought him just a little too much attention."

Sam gave him a slight grin. "You are a sneaky bastard Jack O'Neill."

"The air these men breathe is very, very thin. They're a danger to Earth and our allies and we have to bring them down."

Sam nodded thoughtfully. She would back her husband just as much as she had backed him as her Colonel and then as her General.

"What if they've tied you into the investigation?"

Jack shook his head. "The fact is that if I died tomorrow, it wouldn't alter a thing ... oh, except Harry might find it a bit of a bother getting a lift back. The investigations are being carried out on incidences that happened, not people, and each one is being handled by a different office and all the chains are set in motion. When we link them to the incidences with the evidence that we already have then we've got them."

Jack's revelation to her had tired him considerably and she was left with her thoughts while he slept ... she was tired, very ... and confused – just who the hell had tried to kill him and why?

xoxoxoxoxoxo

TBC