Author's note: Okay! I'm officially down to one job now! That means that I'll be having more than 2 hours of free time during the day which means I will be getting back up to speed with my writing, hopefully! I'm sorry about making you guys wait.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Mr. President?"

Hayes looked up from the desk he was sitting at and sighed, tiredly. Everyone else had retired for the night, but his Aide always knew where to find him, and that meant that even when he had a free moment to do some thinking – or just trying to relax for a moment – he was never really alone.

"Yes?"

"There's a Nathan Brooks – General Nathan Brooks – outside asking to see you, sir."

Hayes frowned. He knew who Brooks was, but didn't know the man all that well – although he did know that Kinsey was terrified of him.

"What does he want?"

The aide hesitated.

"He wouldn't tell me, sir…"

Which meant he'd asked and had been told to mind his own business. Hayes sighed again, realizing that there was really no way he could avoid the man. Especially since his son and Doctor McKay were going to be a focal point for several political discussions in the near future.

"Let him in please," the President said, standing up and coming around the desk to wait.

"Yes, sir."

The aide left, and a moment later the door opened once more, this time giving entrance to a large, imposing man in jeans and a slightly wrinkled polo shirt. Hayes had the first impression that Ian certainly didn't look much like his dad – which was too bad, since Nathan Brooks was exactly what a casting director would look for when searching for someone who looked like a soldier.

"General Brooks…" Hayes said, smiling his most winning smile as he stepped forward and offered Nathan his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Nathan nodded and shook the President's hand.

"Thank you for seeing me with so little notice, Mr. President."

Like he really had a choice? Hayes didn't say that, though. Instead, he shook his head.

"My pleasure. I've heard a lot about you, General… or may I call you Nathan?"

"That depends," Brooks said.

"Oh? On what?"

"What you're planning on doing with my son."

Hayes hesitated, surprised by the abrupt statement – although he really shouldn't have been. He'd heard that the senior Brooks wasn't one to beat around the bush – and wasn't someone to cross.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"What I mean, Mr. President…" Nate said, "is that Ian could potentially be a very useful political tool to someone who was trying to sell a lot of changes to the American people."

"You think I'd do that?"

"You're a politician."

And didn't that just say it all?

"You have to understand, Nathan…" Hayes said, ignoring the insult. He had to, because he was well aware that he wasn't going to be able to snow over the man standing in front of him with some charming platitudes. "The American public knows about the Stargate, now – or they will, anyways. Funding for the program will have to come from them, now – with their full knowledge of where the money is going. Your son can make getting those funds a lot easier."

"So you parade him around in front of the cameras and then say what? 'We need more young men just like him to save your sorry asses if more aliens come attacking, so let us have the money we need to make it happen'?"

"Not exactly like that," Hayes protested, "but yes. With a little more diplomacy, of course."

"And if he decides he doesn't want to?"

"He's in the military. He'll do what he's told."

Nathan scowled.

"I-"

"Look," Hayes said, quickly. "I didn't mean it like that. What I meant, is he-"

"He's my son," Nathan snapped. "And not a piece of property. If you-"

"Stop right there, General," Hayes said, raising his hand. "Don't say anything that either of us will regret, simply because I stated something the wrong way."

"I'd say you stated things perfectly clear."

"Stop being naïve. They're heroes, General. You know as well as I do that heroes are the best political tools anyone in office can ever find. It's not like we're going to send him on some shit assignment somewhere. He's going to be treated like royalty."

Nathan crossed his arms over his chest.

"He has other plans."

"Like what?"

"I won't let him be manipulated."

"I'm not going to manipulate him. I'm going to use his fame to bring more funding to this program." Hayes crossed his arms over his chest as well. "If it were anyone else, you'd be all for it and leading the way."

"It's not anyone else," Nathan snapped.

The President sighed. And then relented - a little.

"I know. I'll see what we can do to keep the roar centered around O'Neill and his group instead of your son and McKay. I won't promise that nothing will be done, but I promise to keep things from spinning out of control. How's that?"

The look the elder Brooks gave the President wasn't one of someone who was all that reassured, but it was actually more than he figured he could really expect from any politician. So he nodded.

"I'll hold you to that."

"I know."

Nathan looked at his watch. The helicopter was due to arrive fairly soon, and he wanted to be there with Maggie when it did.

"I'd better leave."

The President nodded, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"The helicopter carrying your son and the others should be arriving soon."

"Yeah."

"I'm glad that we finally had a chance to meet, General. Like I said, I've heard a lot about you."

Nathan nodded, and let himself out, unwilling to have small talk with any politician – especially one that he felt he could almost come to like.

Hayes took a deep breath when the retired General left, and went around the desk once more and sat down. Having faced the man, he could understand why Bob Kinsey was so terrified of him. But Hayes wasn't afraid of him, merely respectful of the man's strength and character.

"I could use a man like that…" he murmured to himself, looking at the closed door speculatively.