Jessica is from Wives and Other Follies, Flatkatsi's only ship fic - go read and then yell at her to write more! and if you take this off Flatkatsi – I will sic Daniel on you.
and thank you for letting me pinch Jessica.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Supporting Rumors - Part 56
Jack hated goodbyes. Even the simple ones were exhausting and right now he felt like half of Washington had visited in the last week. His staff from Homeworld had just left and he was sitting clutching a present from them. Normally the large gaily wrapped box would have been torn open in excitement but it merely brought home the anxious thought he pushed down deeply – that he might never see them again ... Not that he loved these folk or anything. Sure they were nice to work with. His secretary Jessica, yep he would miss her, given that he had just about gotten used to her, but not seeing them meant he wouldn't be going back…
He gave himself a good mental shaking. Not going back would be good, if it meant he would be raising a family ... but his fingers played idly with the ribbons, his left thumb flicking at the attached card. He was still lost in reverie when a cough startled him.
He looked up, a little annoyed at the disturbance, but when he saw it was George Hammond the smile that lit his face was genuine.
"George, hey."
George returned the smile and walked briskly over to Jack, clasping the hand he held out in a firm shake, and then placing his other hand over the top to affirm their friendship.
"I wanted to say goodbye tonight. You'll probably have more than enough to cope with tomorrow."
Jack pulled a face. "Yeah, not looking forward to that, but at least I get to fly in ... ahem, you know about that?"
Hammond nodded.
"I had heard ... Vidrine was spitting fire when Hayes casually mentioned it."
Jack grinned. "Nice to know I can still get under his skin."
"Oh, I doubt you'll ever lose that particular ability, Jack." Hammond's grin was as wide as Jack's as he spoke. "Anything you need, son?" he continued, on a more serious note.
Jack shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. You are coming down in a couple of weeks, aren't you?" A slight flicker of doubt crossed Jack's face.
"You can take that as read." Hammond was quick to reassure him.
Jack nodded and relaxed a little.
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Hammond brought a chair closer to the bed and sat down. He could never read this officer easily. Sometimes Jack's attitude or what he didn't say gave some of the game away, but only in as much as he wanted it to, and even then you had to know what to look for. However, he hadn't missed the flicker of insecurity he saw crossing Jack's face a moment ago. He had seen the man go to hell and back for his country and then his world and comrades, but at the moment he was going through his own personal hell.
"You've got Hayes in quite a lather you know."
"Me? What did I do?"
"You haven't said yes to him holding your post open."
"Oh." Jack frowned. "Do you know what's going on with that? They haven't discharged me, or asked me to retire."
George nodded. "I know, son. They, and I don't just mean Hayes here, do not want to lose you."
Jack grimaced. "Uh, they're scared in case we need the gene, huh?"
Hammond sighed. Jack O'Neill would never face his own true value. Even when it had ultimately been his doing that the world had been saved, he had carefully given all the credit to his team.
The old General knew that time and time again there was no way SG1 would have made it back without the skills and leadership of this man, and that Earth would be a much sorrier place without him - if it still existed at all. The United States Air Force had made a few stupid decisions in its history, but as far as he was concerned trying to keep Jack O'Neill was one of their smartest!
"Far from it, son. I know you don't see it, but you are a valuable man. You have far more to offer than just your knowledge and skills. You still can have a great future if you want it. The move to Washington was just the beginning."
Jack gave the older man a puzzled frown.
"Beginning of what?"
"You have an incredible gift, Jack, the one that makes every man, woman and child want to follow you. There's not one person under your command that wouldn't follow you to Hell."
"And I would want to lead someone to Hell – why exactly?"
George looked Jack straight in the eye. "We all wonder why we were put on this Earth, Jack ... but, there is no wonder why you are here."
Jack O'Neill, for one of the few times in his life, was speechless. George Hammond could proudly chalk that up, not that anyone would really believe it ... but it was a tale to tell in his old age.
There were a couple of minutes of prolonged agony from Jack and George could tell that he had the man on the run emotionally - for all of five minutes or so, before his irreverence broke through and he launched into recovery mode with some joking comments.
They chatted on together for a while, until George realized just how tired Jack was as he tried to suppress a yawn.
"Well, I'll let you get some rest. You're going to need it for tomorrow." He ignored the man's protests and stood, pushing the chair back from the bed, before turning around to take Jack's hand again. He shook it vigorously, clasping it tightly. "You take it easy, you hear? I'm not going to ask you to break a lifetime's habit by doing what you're told, but they know their stuff. Just give it all a chance, okay?"
Jack nodded, looking a little abashed. "Um, Sam's made it quite clear what'll happen if I don't behave."
"Oh, if that works then I've got to know …" George broke off abruptly as the younger General's face took on a flushed look. "Oh, I guess not huh? Unless I can get Sam to co-operate that is!"
Jack laughed and clasped George's hand tighter. The older man leaned close and drew him into a fatherly hug.
He'd become closer still to Jack since the move to Washington and he knew without a doubt that he would miss him, as would his grand-daughters, who had been delighted to have their favorite 'uncle' so close when they came to visit their grandpa.
George straightened up and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Take it easy, son and make sure you take care of that beautiful wife of yours. No misbehaving - hopefully Sam won't let you get away with it."
"I will, George. She doesn't buy the dumb act these days."
George laughed. "I don't think you had her fooled for long anyway, son."
"You reckon she knew that before she married me then?"
"Hell yes, you stopped fooling us a few years ago."
"Shucks, I gotta work on that, huh?"
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TBC
