It looks like they've fixed the problem with the disappearing parts and 75 is back on line, so here's 76. Enjoy. - Flatkatsi
Supporting
Rumors - Part 76
Jack didn't want to worry Sam with the details of the operation. It was better that she knew as little as possible, and if she hadn't been approached by Maybourne, she would have been none the wiser. Jack berated the man over that, but what was done was done and he accepted Harry's explanation. He had been concerned that the attempt on Jack's life was a result of the investigation and that was why he had broken his cover to Sam.
Now all Jack had to do was get Maybourne back home without arousing any suspicion, and the only way he could do that was through the Stargate. The lift that had been arranged to Earth in the first place had been one way. It had been purely by chance that Jack had managed to organize it, grabbing Thor to one side after a meeting with the President and using him to get his message to the Tok'ra.
Jack sighed. It was a pity he couldn't get hold of his little gray buddy now … maybe they could have worked on his legs. He sure as hell didn't trust the healing device, even if those nut jobs at Area 51 hadn't screwed with it. He shuddered - he'd seen the last lot of experiments with that … but Thor was in another galaxy. He just hoped the little guy was okay.
Jack returned his focus to his immediate problems. Getting Maybourne through the gate involved putting someone in the SGC in the know. There was no way he could pull off anything on his own, at least not in his current situation.
Sam's arrival drew his attention back to the present and he welcomed her with a hug.
She returned it with vigor, sighing wearily. "Phew, what a day. We are packed out with refugees from PG8-488. I'm glad I really don't have to be at work." She indicated her cast with a smile. "Never thought I would have cause to be thankful for this thing, huh?"
"Refugees?" Jack's brain began working.
"Yes, unfortunately. SG11 were there when a dam ruptured … we're waiting for the water to recede from the gate area. Until then we're stuck with seventy-two of their people who would have drowned otherwise."
"How long do you think they'll be here?"
Sam shrugged. "A couple of days, the level is already dropping. What do you fancy for dinner?"
"You."
Sam laughed and drew him close. "I don't think a diet of just me is enough."
"Oh, I don't know … I know I couldn't live without you, Sam."
Sam brushed at the hair on his forehead, her eyes regarding his intently, obviously a little taken aback at his sudden seriousness. She suddenly hugged him tight, drawing him into comfort…
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Jack quizzed Sam in increments about the refugees. By bedtime she'd had enough and prodded him to spill what was going on.
"Nothing."
"Ouch, liar. You can tell me you're bored – yes I can buy that. You can tell me you need something else to occupy you – yes, that's okay too, but when you start on alien culture – I know there is an ulterior motive."
Jack waged war inside himself. He didn't want anyone to know of Maybourne's existence on Earth, let alone his departure. Anyone involved in aiding the man if it came out … not only careers, but lives, would be at risk.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Jack lay wide awake beneath his wife's draped body … actually plastered was more the word that could describe how she lay on him. He sighed and rubbed his hand over her back in a light circle, her murmur and sigh as she wriggled even more over him drew an unconscious smile from him.
He had to get Harry home. No if's and but's – home. The return of the refugees was the perfect reason to open the gate – something that couldn't be easily concealed. There would be nothing to suggest anything covert … but he had to get Harry to the gate.
Jack knew more than enough about the SGC's security to get Maybourne into the mountain - it was leaving it that was the problem. For every person entering - a person had to leave … unless they were struck from the records as KIA. Security would certainly flag up the discrepancy.
Jack couldn't hack the SGC system from home – he had to be there and that was another problem … or maybe not. There was no reason at all why Jack shouldn't visit the SGC, especially in light of the latest events – afterall, a fresh threat assessment would be expected everywhere now.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Jack debated long and hard over how much to involve Sam. He did not want to risk her career or her life, with the slightest hint of a connection – the fall out and possible reprisals would be going on for a very long time from the initial arrests and the less she or anyone else knew the better. His own part in instigating the operation would come to light soon enough, he knew that the mirage he had set up from the start would only provide so much cover…
In the end he knew he needed Sam's cooperation – just a little – more than anything else, he needed her to actually just ignore certain things. That being said, it was easier than done … being a fine and upstanding officer he knew it would sit hard with her and go against the grain – grain that he had severely and repeatedly rubbed the wrong way over the years she had served under him. He just hoped she could go along with him – just this one last time.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Sam knew Jack was up to something. He'd been buried in his office and the phone and computer were red hot. He'd shown little interest in anything else except the refugee status at the SGC and Sam's mind was working overtime…
It was late evening when Jack finally immerged and his body language almost made her want to stand at parade ready.
She tried to force herself to relax, even though she was actually sitting up straight, waiting.
His face was serious and she knew that whatever he was going to say was troubling him greatly.
"Sam …" He hesitated and ducked his head for a moment, before taking a deep breath, his head rising so that he could look straight into her eyes.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked, her voice and face as neutral as she could make them.
There was a flicker of surprise of his face, barely there before it was gone. "Actually very little, but it's more like what I don't want you to do."
Sam's eyebrows rose as she gave him a questioning look. "You are so going to have to explain that."
Jack sighed. Maybourne had to go home – nothing more – nothing less...
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
TBC
