I hope what I saw wasn't what it looked like. They should have said that line by now, yet my two military members of SG1 haven't said a word since I called them into my office. There were no excuses or pointless ramblings about the implications of misconstruing a platonic embrace. Now, how much did I just sound like Major Carter?

There was an obedient 'Yes, sir,' and then they walked in prepared for punishment. My ordering them into my office had nothing to do with the 'hug' I just witnessed, although it does add weighting to the real reason behind the order.

That reason is that I need to sort out the implications of the security footage I had been given earlier this morning.

As I sit down, having just closed the door behind them, I can't help but feel sorry for the two of them. Their interest in each other hasn't gone unnoticed to me but until now, there had never been any real evidence of their feelings. Although I'm not entirely certain this footage can prove anything. Whatever the implications, they need to see this footage.

Rather than open the conversation with a long speech about regulations and court martials, I choose to say nothing and let the footage do the talking.

I place the portable DVD player on my desk before them and silently press the PLAY button.
Carter sits up straight as she leans in closer at the image before her. It's her, sitting in the shadows aboard the Prometheus.
Jack shifts in his seat as he drops his hands between his knees, leaning in closer.

I really should try and get a hold of a larger portable DVD player. Walter could find one for me.

Their eyes are wide and their brows furrowed at the obvious eye catcher of the scene… The girl. The girl's name, as I recall from earlier viewings, is Grace. This girl appears many times across the footage and there are more convincing scenes than this but this one was the one I thought they should see.

Of course, I had weighted up the privacy matter behind the footage and had decided something needed to be acknowledged between them.

"Wanna try?" The child asks blowing bubbles. Carter shakes her head.

"It's fun," She responds.

"I remember when I was a little girl; I used to wonder how a bubble could exist. You see there's this thing called surface tension, when molecules bind together in a certain way…" Carter begins but Grace interrupts her with,

"Boring! Here, just try it," Grace says handing her the stick. I had found it quite funny at the time to see Major Carter blowing bubbles, as brief as it was. I can see from the look on her face that she has now realized what follows this.

"See? Fun!"

"Yeah," Carter replies. Now is the defining moment. Grace leaves and Major Carter looks up at a point where nothing stands.

Jack bizarrely chooses this moment to pause the footage and I can't help but feel frustrated.

"Who's the kid?" Jack asks turning towards me. I glance over at Carter and see her relax significantly at his timely pause.

"No one knows, Colonel. That is part of the reason I called you in here. Now, there will be a briefing on this, but I thought to get your approval first, Major Carter. You see, the President has ordered the Prometheus to return to the location of the gas cloud to further investigate it and he has asked that I send SG1."

"Sir?" Carter asks, probably in response to my asking her permission to give her an order.

"You just returned from that incident, Major, I am asking if you would prefer not to return." I explain and she shakes her head slightly.

"I have no problem going back there, sir."

"Come on, General, she was jazzed about going there the first time! There's no way she'd pass up the opportunity," Jack bluntly exclaims and I quickly hide a small smile at that.

"Well, the briefing is at o nine hundred hours tomorrow, dismissed." I say in response. Carter stands up, eager to leave, but Jack stays seated.

"You said that was part of the reason, sir?" Jack asks and I can see Carter flinch as she turns around and slowly sits back down as I clear my throat.

"The other concern I have, Colonel, is on the remainder of that footage."

----

Thanks to my lovely friend SG-Fan who was my beta for this chapter and continues to help bring inspiration…as hard as that task may be usually.

And thanks to all the people who reviewed the last 2 chapters. I'm sorry it has taken me this long to update. My muse disappeared somewhere and I had no interest in fan fiction…you should see the list of updated chapters I have yet to read. It's somewhere along the lines of 70-80 new chapters.

Any who, getting reviews while my muse has dropped by will probably encourage her to give me a few ideas to write more… please?