Jack insisted that she sleep in. "You need to rest up", he said. "We've been travelling and doing a lot and I don't want you overdoing things."
"Jack I'm pregnant, not sick." She rolled onto her side and looked at him in semi-serious frustration. She found it hard to curtail her activities but the truth was she was finding she was more tired now.
"I know, but I also know you have a tendency to go too hard. Do it for me, okay?"
"Are you going to be alright?" she asked, looked at his dear face, which was showing more lines as each year passed – but which was still handsome and full of character. She knew that this visit was going to be stressful for him as he obviously had some terrible memories of Williams – things he hadn't resolved. She wondered if some of it had to do with Frank Cromwell, although knew enough not to ask. That was one topic that he still hadn't broached with her.
"I'll be fine", he said with a grimace, reaching out and tucking a hair behind her ear. "I'm not looking forward to this, but at least this time there's nothing he can do to me. In fact, I expect he's going to enjoy this less than me."
"You're not going to -" She stopped, knowing it was unworthy of her to even think that about Jack. He would never do anything dishonorable to Williams, no matter how bad the man was.
"What?" he asked, looking enquiringly at her.
"Nothing." She leaned forward and gave him a small kiss. "I just want you to take it easy. Get your stuff done quickly and come back, okay?"
"You know I'll always come back to you!" he reached over and gave her a kiss on the nose. He grinned. "In fact, if I had my way, I'd stay here and tell Schwartz to go hang!"
"Sure you would. Then we really would be talking about your retirement!"
"Either that or my visit to the brig!" he answered with a laugh. "Anyway, I better get a move on." He stood up and straightened his uniform. "I want to be there first thing, before he's had his coffee!" he said with an evil grin. His gaze softened as he looked at Sam still cuddled up in her pajamas and looking adorably cute. He sighed – he would really much rather crawl back in bed with her. "Depending how things go I'll give you a call and we can meet for lunch, how's that?"
"That would be good. I can grab a taxi to the base. She pushed herself up on her knees and grasped his jacket. "Take care of yourself" she whispered as she pulled him in for a final kiss.
As he rode to the base he couldn't help but think of Sam and his life with her. He would much rather think of that than of the coming interview. Williams was a person he'd tried not to think of over the years as he was just one more thing in a long line of bad memories.
Since he'd been at the SGC Jack really hadn't given him much thought, except for the time that Cromwell had been there during the black hole incident. That was another memory he wanted to avoid. It was one of his regrets that he'd been unable to tell Frank that he'd forgiven him, although he hoped the other man had known. When he thought about Frank he also couldn't help but wonder if he was still alive, trapped in that last moment of terror as he was swept into the black hole.
He'd never asked Sam, not really wanting to know, but he did wonder about the time bubble and how long they'd all be there. He figured it must be pretty close to eternity.
God O'Neill, stop thinking these macabre thoughts! It's not as if Williams isn't going to be bad enough on his own! He really wished he didn't have to do this. Williams was the kind of man he detested; prim and sanctimonious on the outside – self-serving and vicious on the inside. He'd been responsible for the deaths and downfall of many a man – and some women – in the course of his career. The only problem was that he was smart and that he'd had friends in high places.
His father had been a General and had helped his son move up over the years. The old General was dead now, Jack knew, and he wondered if Jerry's luck may have finally run out. He'd gathered, not from what he'd said, but from how he looked, that Schwartz didn't like Williams any more than he did. He'd wondered at the time if this trip was a way of catching him at something or giving a reason for Schwartz to have him removed from his position.
If that was the case it was going to make things difficult, thought Jack. Williams could easily claim that he was prejudiced or had it in for the man. He'd mentioned something of his history with the man to Schwartz, but the General had simply waved him off.
"Not a problem O'Neill. I just want you to report back to me. If there's anything I'll follow up on it. Your name doesn't have to come into it at all."
Jack was relieved although he still hated the thought of having to even see Williams.
He pulled up to the security gate and handed his ID to the guard. The guard took one look at it and saluted for a second time. "Sir! You can go right in General. The parking lot is over there by the Administration offices – just park wherever you like!"
He thanked the young Airman and made his way over to the VIP lot. He couldn't help but grin – it was one of the perks he'd wanted for becoming a General – a good parking spot!
He parked in the 'Reserved' spot, knowing no one would dare have him towed. Okay – so he wasn't above a little 'taking advantage'. Hell, it was just a parking spot.
He entered the building and approached the officer on duty. After receiving and returning the salute he asked to be taken to General Williams.
"May I tell him your name Sir?" the young woman asked respectfully.
"That's okay Lieutenant; I'll announce myself – if you could just show me his office?"
"Of course Sir." She stood up and led him down the hallway until they reached the office with a star on the door. "Here you go General."
"Thank you Lieutenant" he smiled and turned to the door. He gave a quick knock and when he heard the 'enter' he opened it and walked in.
Williams was seated at his desk, looking down at some papers. He didn't notice O'Neill right away – probably assuming it was one of officers – so Jack had a moment to look at him. He would have instantly recognized the man – with his unnaturally dark hair (had to be died, he thought) and pale skin. He looked older, but then Jack knew he had aged considerably himself.
"Just a minute", the General said, not looking up.
"No, I don't really have a minute General", he answered softly. Williams head jerked up in shock.
"What the hell!" he stood up. He clearly recognized Jack before he recognized the stars on his shoulders. "What are you doing here O'Neill?"
"That would be General O'Neill to you Williams", he answered softly. He rather thought good old Jerry was going to have an attack.
It took him a second, but the man finally realized the rank of the man standing in his office. When he did he stood up straight, suddenly. "I'm sorry General – I didn't – I hadn't heard -" He stood up straighter and gave a snappy salute. "General O'Neill, welcome Sir."
Ooh, that had been painful for the man, Jack could tell. Maybe this was going to be better than we'd thought.
"May I ask what this visit is about General?" Oh yeah, poor Jerry was practically messing his pants!
"You may", O'Neill replied. "I'm here on behalf of General Schwartz. He asked me to come and inspect your work and your base Williams. You will therefore make everything available to me. I have a list of records I'd like to see and following that I want a tour."
"Certainly Sir", Williams replied. He hesitated slightly but finally asked. "I didn't receive any notice of inspection Sir?"
"No you didn't, did you? But if you had you would have had time to get everything ready for me. You see Williams, this way I can see the real you. Or as much of the real you as I can handle! Let's get going."
Oh, yes, maybe he was going to enjoy this after all! He spent the next couple of hours going through random reports, inventories and supply lists. He barked out questions at Williams and the poor man was sweating. Jack would have felt sorry for him, except he remembered back to the times this same man had laughed and ridiculed him and others under his command. He also remembered the months he'd spent in an Iraq prison. He blamed both Frank (who he'd forgiven) and this man (who he had not) for those 4 months of hell.
Unfortunately, at least as far as Jack was concerned, it was clear that Williams kept good records. Everything was neat and well organized. He had only found a few minor mistakes, although he gave Williams a bit of a scare when he'd raised his eyebrow on catching one or two of them. He couldn't sustain it though because he knew that Williams probably did a better job than he had when he was in charge of a base – or at least better than he would have without Walter!
"Okay, I'd like to see your operations now Williams", he said, standing up. "I want to meet some of the men and women under your command."
While he'd been impressed, despite himself, at Williams' organizational ability, he was not impressed with his leadership. It very quickly became obvious that the men and women who served under him feared him rather than respected him. In fact, he'd go so far as to say that in some cases there was actual hatred, although the men, and especially some of the women, tried to hide that fact.
He'd glanced a number of times at Williams and realized the man had no clue how he was viewed by his subordinates. He really wondered if he would care if he had known. Still, it was another black mark against him. He clearly didn't know his people and certainly didn't care about them.
One poor young officer got a tongue lashing from him for simply coughing as he walked by. Since he had respectfully saluted the two Generals, Jack didn't think anything of it. The next thing he knew, however, the General was tearing a strip off the soldier.
Jack would have intervened, except he figured it would probably go harder on the young man later if he had. He did give him a small smile when he left, hoping that he'd understand.
The thing that bothered him the most, however, was the reaction of a number of the women officers and enlisted. Not only did they appear to dislike the General, most of them looked either angry or frightened in his presence. A number of them even shied away physically, although they tried not to show it. This was something he was going to have to investigate. Damn, he was going to be here more than one day!
He wondered if he should get Sam to help out with this. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost noon. He was ready for lunch and he knew he had to give her a call.
"I need to make a phone call", he said suddenly to Williams, "do you have an office I can use?"
"Of course General", Williams answered, looking unhappy. "You can use mine." Williams showed him in and stood there until Jack looked at him pointedly. "Uh, I'll just leave you alone. Let me know when you're finished and we can continue."
Jack nodded and waited until the General left and then picked up the phone.
It was another 20 minutes before he heard voices in the front. He left William's office and walked to where he could see Sam. Williams was looking at her with a frown.
"Who authorized you to come here?" the General asked Sam, who stood respectfully at attention in front of him. Jack couldn't help but think how cute she looked in her uniform. He knew he was biased, but a pregnant Colonel was a sight to behold.
"I did", he answered as he walked over to where they were standing. "General, I'd like to introduce you to Colonel Samantha Carter. She's based at the Pentagon and I asked her to come to assist me."
Williams looked skeptically at the pregnant woman in front of him. He was definitely confused by the whole turn of events. "Welcome Colonel."
Jack wanted to laugh at the look on the man's face. He then glanced over at Carter to see her give him a quizzical look. He gave her a small sign, easily read after all their years together, to not say anything.
"Would you like to join me for lunch General, Colonel", Williams asked reluctantly.
"That would be fine. How about you Colonel?"
"I'd be happy to General Williams, General O'Neill." As they turned to follow Williams Carter looked at him and scowled, wanting to know what was going on.
He shrugged lightly and mouthed 'later'. She nodded and decided to simply follow his lead – something she'd also done for many years.
They went to the mess hall where they each chose a meal and then sat down to eat. Jack kept noticing that everyone avoided their table which wasn't surprising really. He would have done the same thing back in his younger days if he'd seen two generals and a colonel at a table. Always better to avoid senior officers if you had the chance.
Still, Jack was pretty sure it was more than that. There had been a sudden change in atmosphere when they'd entered the room. It spoke to the feelings that his men, and women, had for him.
"So Colonel", Williams asked. "What is it you do?"
"I work at the Pentagon in Research and Development Sir", she replied calmly.
"Research eh? Why, that's nice. Must be interesting", he commented with a smirk. "I guess it's better than being in combat situation, isn't that right General?"
O'Neill raised his brow, thinking that this guy was a real ass! "Anything's better than that Williams", he replied calmly, "although Carter here has a pretty good idea of combat", he said. "She's one of the best soldiers I've ever seen."
"Don't tell me you've seen action Colonel Carter?"
"Yes Sir", she replied simply, refusing to be riled.
"Oh Carter here has more field medals than she can even put on her uniform. I won't be surprised if she makes General before long."
"Really?" Williams answered, looking pointedly at her belly. "That'll be a challenge with a bra – ur baby. Unless the daddy is going to stay home with it?"
Sam grinned – she couldn't help it. Jack was doing this just to bait the man, she was sure of it. "Uh, I don't think so", she answered calmly. "He's pretty busy at his job. And anyway, I'd be afraid he and the baby would get into too much trouble."
This time it was 'Jerry' who raised his eyebrow.
"Oh, I don't know Carter. I think he might enjoy staying home with the kid." O'Neill said, a definite twinkle in his eye.
"That's my fear Sir", she replied. "I don't know if I could handle him as a 'house husband'."
"Yeah, I'd hate that", Williams said. He turned to O'Neill. "Guys like us are too used to wearing the pants, eh General. We'd rather be out fighting than staying at home dealing with snotty noses and dirty butts! But then again, I guess it takes a certain type of man to marry a woman in the Air Force anyway. I mean, most tough guys like us prefer someone a little – softer – no disrespect intended ma'am."
O'Neill looked over at Carter and almost choked. He knew it was only her years of training that kept her from telling the man that he was an idiot or from standing up and pummeling him. Although why she should be upset he didn't know – he was the one Williams was insulting.
"I don't know about that General", O'Neill answered. "I think it would take a pretty strong and macho guy to appeal to someone like Carter. Isn't that true Colonel?"
"Yes definitely Sir", she ground out, her eyes narrowed with a promise of retribution. "Although sometimes he can be -"
"What, Colonel?"
"He can be – rather irritating Sir!"
"How's that?"
"Sometimes he likes to play games when he really should be working – General."
"Still, I'm sure he feels very lucky to have you – uh, as his wife."
"He'd better – Sir!"
The entire time they were talking Williams had been looking back and forth between them. These two had obviously known each other for a long time, he decided, although working for O'Neill – the idiot – must have been a bitch. He suspected that at one time O'Neill had slept with the Colonel – it was certainly what he would have done. When she wasn't pregnant she would have been a looker.
"Enough talk!" Jack stood up. "I'd like to see some more of your base Williams. If it's okay I'd like Carter here to talk to some of your people – just so she gets an idea of what happens here."
His face a study in confusion, Williams nodded. Then he asked, "uh, if I might ask General – I don't quite understand Colonel Carter's role – if she's in R&D she won't see anything of interest here."
"Oh, she's not here for her own sake", Jack said. "She's here under my orders. I borrowed her for a little while since she's one of the smartest officers I know and can see things that I often miss. Isn't that right Carter?"
"If you say so General." Sam then looked at Williams. "General O'Neill and I are used to working together so I can usually figure out what he needs pretty quickly."
"Yes indeed, Carter is very good at guessing my needs! In fact, she -"
"Maybe we should get started Sir!" she interrupted forcefully.
"See Williams, she knows exactly what I should be doing. Okay then Carter, why don't you walk around and talk to some of the men and women", he said with a very slight emphasis. "We'll meet you back here in say, two hours?"
She nodded and looked at the base commander. "Is it a problem if I wander around and talk to some of your people General?"
"Not at all. Why don't I have Captain Shaw escort you?"
"No, that'll be okay, but he can point me in the right direction."
Jack gave her a small nod and watched as she went off with the Captain. "Okay Williams, let's continue."
Later that afternoon, after a day spent touring the base, Jack was ready to head back to the hotel. He met up with Carter by General Williams' office. "Heya Carter, how did your afternoon go?"
"Fine Sir, how about yours?"
"Yeah, fine as well. Hey General, I think that's it for today. We'll be by tomorrow to go over anything. Thank you for the tour." He nodded briefly to the man and then looked at Sam. "Would you like a ride Colonel? I'm glad to drive you back to your hotel."
"That would be nice Sir", she replied. "General Williams." She nodded her head. If Jack was surprised at her coolness to the General he knew enough not to say anything until they were in their car.
In fact, they waited until they were off base before Jack spoke. "So, how did it go?"
"How did it go?" she repeated, anger throbbing through her voice.
He looked at her in surprise. "Everything okay?"
"No, everything is far from okay Jack."
He was really worried now. What had he done by bringing her in?
"That man is an arrogant, vicious, sexist pig – and I want his ass on a platter!"
Yup – Colonel Carter was out in full force. Williams was not going to know what had hit him!
She wouldn't say anymore until they'd returned to the hotel and had changed. She also insisted they eat supper first. "And then we can talk Jack. I'm afraid if I say anything now I'll be too mad to eat."
Her face was beautiful, he thought, as he watched her eat. Fuller now with pregnancy, it still shone with a light of wonder and curiosity – and a strange innocence – strange only in that it was surprising she retained any, after all they'd been through over the years. But he'd realized something about Samantha Carter, many years ago, and that was there was something inherently good about her. She wasn't perfect by any means but she there was a basic kindness and compassion about her that hadn't been lost or destroyed by anything they'd seen or experienced. He knew that was what had drawn him to her – more than her looks or her smarts – or ever her humor. No – it was because he always felt better – like he could be a good man himself – when he was with her.
"What are you thinking about Jack?" she asked softly.
"Just about you. I'm sorry I brought you into this mess today. I just figured you might be able to find something out that I couldn't."
"No, I'm glad you had me come and I did find something. "
"I'm afraid the fact that he's an arrogant, etc, etc, pig is something I knew already." He smiled.
"Yes, but did you know he's sexually assaulted – and even raped - women under his command?"
"WHAT!" he practically shouted.
"Shhh Jack. Let's go and I'll tell you more."
He had trouble restraining himself as they left the restaurant. By the time they'd returned to the hotel he was practically bouncing with anger and the need to know.
"So tell me", he said shortly.
She then went on to tell him that she'd spoken to a number of the airmen and officers. "They obviously hated Williams", she said, "but none of them would say anything specific or direct. They are afraid of him Jack and they really didn't want to talk."
"So how did you hear about this?"
"I was speaking with one of the women – a Captain by the name of Linda Davies – and I could tell she wanted to tell me something, but was afraid. I asked her to show me around and tried to let her know that she could trust me. It took a long time, but finally she began to tell me just a little bit – nothing too terrible, but it showed Williams as being sexist."
"No surprise there!"
"No, well when I responded to that by telling her that wasn't acceptable and that something needed to be done, she started to open up a bit more. Finally she told me that there were a few women who had stories. I asked if they'd speak to me and she finally nodded and told me to wait in her room."
"Sam?"
"It was perfectly safe Jack", she replied.
"I know – you're pregnant, not sick. I can't help but worry you know."
"I know, and I love you for it! Anyway, after a few minutes three other women came and the four of them proceeded to tell me horror stories about the General. It seems like he will get one of the women to come to his office late in the day – for a variety of reasons – and then he attacks them. Afterwards, he threatens them if they say anything. According to one woman, he's actually had men killed who've gone against him. All the women agreed that you didn't cross him or you were in trouble. That's why nothing has been said."
Jack didn't know what to say. It wasn't that he didn't believe her, or the women, it was just that he knew how hard this thing was going to be to prove. If all the women came forward it might work, but here again the problem was that he had a history with this man, and that would be used in any investigation.
"Jack?"
"Sorry – just trying to figure out what to do", he responded.
"Do? Why he needs to be charged!"
"Will the women testify?"
"I – they said they would, but I'm not sure. They're pretty scared and I think they think it's going to ruin their careers. The Air Force doesn't deal with this kind of thing very well."
He nodded in agreement – knowing she was right. Still, something had to be done. He just wished he knew what it was.
He wasn't looking forward to tomorrow.
As they got ready for bed and both got under the covers, he turned to Sam. "You remember you said you're good at reading what I need?"
"Yes?' she said suspiciously.
"Well – guess what I need right now!"
"Jaaack!"