8. Serpent's Tongue

General Hammond listened with a grim countenance as poison dripped from Major Davis's tongue. The major had taken twenty-four hours to consider the best way to proceed before he finally approached the general with his proof. Colonel O'Neill was portrayed to be a pervert, a seducer of the youth, and in no way deserving of his position. The pictures showed Jack's unmistakable form as he held another man. As he lay with another man, in bed, on top of him, inside of him. The pictures left no doubt in their activities and very little to the imagination.

Major Davis was still talking, savoring the dark look on the general's face, when a voice interrupted him from behind.

"An interesting story. Did you get to the part where I'm supposed to rape Daniel?" Major Davis spun around to find the Colonel standing in the doorway, his stance calm but his eyes were intense as they dared the major to go on.

"Colonel O'Neill, how would you explain these pictures?" the general asked pointedly, and for a moment Jack's calm wavered. Davis waited for Jack's denial, knowing there was nothing he could say in the face of such evidence, and a slight smile tugged at his lips as he anticipated his victory. But Jack's answer wasn't a denial at all.

"Grief," he said, his voice soft but with an edge, as old memories came back to haunt him, "You will remember Nem, sir? I was intending to retire. Nothing seemed to matter anymore." The general's features remained hard, but he nodded his head slightly in acknowledgment.

"Never since that time, sir," Jack insisted, "I don't do casual."

"But you do do men?" Davis demanded, "And you had a wife. And a son!"

"I never cheated on Sara," Jack answered, his anger starting to get the better of him, "I loved her."

"Gentlemen!" Hammond interrupted, before anything could escalate, "Will we please stick to the issues at hand. Major Davis, you are accusing Colonel O'Neill of committing homosexual acts?"

"I am, and I have the pictures to prove it," the major answered.

"Is there anything else you would like to add to the charges?" Major Davis hesitated, his hand going briefly to his face where it was still swollen from when Jack hit him the day before.

"Sir," Major Davis answered at last, "I have no proof of anything more but I do have suspicions. I believe that Colonel O'Neill has been having…sexual relations with Dr. Daniel Jackson. And in light of the doctor's hospitalization, I believe this relationship may not be entirely…consensual." He spoke with just the right combination of hesitation and concern. He himself was the very picture of nonsense in the matter.

"But you have no more proof?" Hammond asked, frowning slightly, "No more pictures than these right here?"

"None," Davis answered, staring the general right in the eyes.

"Very well," Hammond answered sadly, "You have left me no choice. Colonel O'Neill…how are Teal'c and Major Carter doing?"

"They called back just a couple of hours ago," Jack answered, not seeming in the least alarmed by Davis's accusations, though there was still a hint of fury behind his eyes every time he glanced towards the major. "They found more pictures in a hidden vault and Carter's been doing her thing on the computer. Found an interesting program connected to the base e-mail. Everything has been erased and destroyed."

"And they're sure they found them all?" Hammond asked. Jack shrugged.

"Carter's working on a new program right now, ready to flood the base with fake photos. It can take one person's face and put it over another person's body. Very convincing. She even offered to provide the first model for the 'prank' considering that, well, no one is about to take her photo as anything but a fake."

"In fact," Jack continued, "We have a few samples right here." He pulled out his own photos which were identical to the ones Davis had shown with one slight modification. It now looked as though it was Major Davis instead of Jack. The major looked at the pictures, gaping, then back towards Jack and the general.

"Major Davis," Hammond said, "In light of this new evidence, I am going to have to request that you resign from your position and leave Colorado. I even took the liberty of drawing up the paperwork."

"General Hammond," Davis cried in confusion, "Surely you aren't going to just…"

"As far as I'm concerned," the general interrupted, "You should be behind bars for a very long time. However, I think it will be easier for all involved if this entire mess were to just disappear. Now, you can either make a fuss and go to prison, and you will go to prison, or you can let it drop and get out now."

"You mean you don't want any publicity," the major answered, his face dark, "I bring you proof of a man's wrongdoings and you turn me out."

"Damn right we don't need publicity," Jack answered him, "Danny doesn't need to go through that. But I'm warning you now, you say anything to anyone, you go anywhere near Daniel, you do anything out of line and I'll hunt you down and kill you."

"Jack," Hammond reprimanded, then turning back towards Davis, he announced, "Fill out the paperwork. When you're done you will have an escort to the airport. Your flight is already booked." Davis continued to stare, turning his head between Jack and Hammond. Finally he acknowledged defeat. But even as he signed the paperwork, he knew that this was far from over. He had seen how Jack and Daniel looked at each other. Daniel was his, and he would stay his even if he had to kill him.