Shared Madness

Author's notes: This has taken an inexcusably long time to put out here. There is no adequate reason for that. Hope all of you still reading enjoy this last installment.

Thursday after the events at the Mountain the NID preliminary surveillance report for General Jack O'Neill read as follows:
At 1643 the subject exited the Safeway supermarket through the main doors. He met with Elisabeth Summers (see classified files 34-O-7/sec.B14 for profile and 34-S-18/sec. 256 for complementary surveillance reports). Subjectively the meeting appeared coincidental. After exchanging words which due to Summers as of yet unspecified jamming equipment could not be made out the two subjects left together in Summers car at 1651.

The surveillance detail following them, lost Summer's car at 1712. Agents Johannsen and Harvey both independently attested to having been driven off the road by a rock slide that allegedly went down between Summer's car and their vehicle. No physical evidence of said rock slide could be found at the site. For preliminary Psych evaluation of Johannsen and Harvey please refer to report 1-OS-2.

Forensics is still out whether the surveillance car has been tampered with.

Further investigation has been referred to Special Projects.

On a personal note, let me add that my recommendation to "let sleeping dogs lie", still stands.

Signed Th. Tappehorn, SAC

Thursday after the events at the Mountain Buffy ran into Jack completely by design just as he was leaving the supermarket.

Buffy had spent the last couple of days, unbelievable though it was, thinking. Dawn had been with her at first but in the end it had come down to a leap of faith. A leap which Buffy alone had to decide to either take or walk away from.

It wasn't even about the whole keeping-secret-identities-from-each-other deal, well mostly not anyway. When it came right down to it, she didn't believe that Jack actually had an agenda when the two of them met. Apart from their meeting being too coincidental, with the mugging and him having been a member of the gym before Buffy ever chose to start working there at all, her gut feeling, honed through trial and error told her to trust Jack.

So I trust Jack and also trust him to keep the General in check , that's a fact I believe in. But do I dare to show it? Let myself get attached?

Standing in front of Jack, seeing the emotions play over his tanned, lined face, astonishment, disbelief and finally a simple wry grin, the only thing left in her head was: how could I not?

For a moment neither of them spoke. Shoppers were swirling around them, some grumbling at the two inconsiderates blocking the front entrance of Safeway.

She was unsure whether Jack was really, really on the same page as she was. That moment on the mountain, during the crisis of the wacky watchers and their grab for the Stargate, it had been easy to simply follow their established patterns. Afterwards came the second thoughts, for both of them. Buffy kept looking for a sign, any kind of sign that the relationship that she and Jack had started to build was still there, even if in ruins. Because at least ruins meant that there was something she could try mending.

Buffy finally broke the silence that had rapidly moved from oppressing to downright choking by a simple: "Jack?"

Jack's grin widened, reaching his eyes and Buffy's heart felt inordinatly lighter: "I've been trying to find you. But you're damn hard to peg down."

Buffy heard what he meant to say and tried to answer in kind: "All part of the whole Slayer package. Sometimes it's easier to rely on what I know."

"I get that."

"I guess you do." Buffy felt silence again descending but this time their eyes met and held. His look saying most of what neither could say aloud.

But some things have to be said. I have to say them, otherwise I'll never truly leave Sunnydale. Time for that leap of faith.

But apparently Jack was way ahead of her, saying: "Let's blow this joint for a Taco stand?"

Jack was late for the Monday morning briefing and Daniel was torn between worrying and taking notes for his own inevitable lateness in the future. Across from him Teal'c was either daydreaming with his eyes open (highly unlikely) or trying to hypnotize the thermos (equally unlikely but at least an entertaining thought). Sam was alternately scribbling on her note pad and consulting with her papers. The clock on the wall showed ten minutes past the scheduled start of the briefing.

At twenty three past eight just as Daniel had finally decided that Teal'c had actually fallen asleep with his eyes open, Jack breezed in, smiling apologetically, papers under his arm.

"Good morning, kids. Sorry to be late. Traffic was hell on the I-70." Considering that Daniel had last seen Jack after the debriefing interruptus with Buffy after which Jack had adamantely refused to talk, insisting everything was peachy, smiling was definitely not how Daniel had pictured Jack. As he was about to open his mouth to ask, Jack beat him to it.

"So, MX37-302. Quite the treasure trove according to Daniel. So you think this Hutzel-whatsit might be worth checking out?"

"Huitzilopochtli, Jack and yes, very much. According to the intelligence the Jaffa provided," Daniel send a glance Teal'c's way which he gracefully acknowledged, "Huitzilopochtli was sort of a blackmarketeer among the Goa'uld. He hasn't been seen or heard of since SG-3 blew up that stronghold on P4Y-296."

"Tragic." Jack's dry comment only threw Daniel off for a short moment.

"Quite. MX37-302 was one of the places where Huitzilopochtli had one of his 'warehouses'." Daniel made little air quotes to illustrate his point. "In the recent upheavals among the Goa'uld there's a good chance there might still be something left for us to... loot." Daniel was sure he should be blushing.

"Secure, you mean." Jack's face was making wink-wink nudge-nudge contortions.

"A rose by any other name, Jack."

Before Jack could answer with a more or less witty comeback, Sam chimed in: "It's definitely worth checking out, sir. Preliminary UAV readings indicate some sort of energy signature about one klick north of the Gate."

"Okay, okay. Send in a MALP and if all checks out you have a go for tomorrow 0800. Now, scoot." Jack shuffled his papers together and rose, but before he got more than one step from his chair, Teal'c's voice stopped him: "O'Neill, is it not customary for friends and aquaintances to offer felicitations upon recent nuptials?"

For a moment nobody moved or even blinked. Then Sam sat down again hard looking trout slapped, Daniel himself didn't feel any better. Jack's jaw muscles moved, his hands holding the papers even tighter. His hands, specifically his left hand, with the unassuming golden wedding band gleaming fresh and new in the neon lights of the briefing room.

"I guess it is." Jack said slowly and for a moment Jack actually looked unsure but Daniel saw a smile lurking underneath. He mentally prodded himself into action. Jumping out of his chair he hauled Jack into a hug, something he never felt natural with but which he figured would be appropiate here.

"I wish you all the best, Jack. You and Buffy." For a hilarious moment he considered adding 'it is Buffy, right?'. As Jack hugged him back, thanking him, he was just glad that he heard something in Jack's tone which he hadn't heard in, well, ever: genuine happiness.

And in the end that was what it was all about, wasn't it?

finis