See part 1 for notes.
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As they got off the elevator, Nathan's attention was caught by the list of printed rules on the notice board. Mostly printed at least, he noted idly. The last sheet was hand-written, as though someone had been removing and storing sheets for posterity.
A fairly relaxed command then, he thought, and had been since before Jack was put in charge – which amused him to no end. It was a little like putting the inmates in charge of the asylum he supposed. Jack was a good man, but when it came to mischief like this, if he looked innocent he was usually in the thick of things.
Lieutenant De Lint cleared his throat quietly behind him before he had the chance to investigate more closely, gesturing to yet another desk, and another sign in sheet. A separate command then. Resignedly, he signed his name again before being led on a seemingly random route through the facility to a door that was no different to any of the others they had passed, save for the name plate.
General J. O'Neill.
Nathan was impressed. Someone had obviously seen through the façade.
Jack owed him a hundred bucks.
The lieutenant rapped sharply on the door and waited for the call of "Enter!" before pushing it open.
"Sir, Major Ford to see you, sir," he introduced, stepping into the room to hold the door open.
Jack was on his feet and round the desk as Nathan stepped through the doorway, dressed, as was his wont, in the standard issue olive drab BDUs. Another man, a blond with a crew-cut and glasses, got to his feet a beat behind Jack from the other side of the desk.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Dismissed," Jack greeted Nathan's guide.
The man saluted smartly, then retreated. The door was barely closed when Jack grabbed Nathan's proffered hand and dragged him in for an embrace. He pushed him away again, holding him at arms length for a moment. "Good to see ya, Nate," he greeted. "Damn good to see ya."
Jack was looking good, he noted. His face had lost the puffiness of alcoholism that Nathan just knew his own was gaining, and though his hair was now more grey than brown, he was looking many times better than the last time he had seen him.
Nathan nodded. "You too, Jack." He allowed himself to be guided across the room to the desk.
"Nate, this is Dr Daniel Jackson, head of the civilian staff here on base. Danny, this is Major Nathan Ford. We were at the academy together."
The man smiled, pushing his glasses up his nose with one hand while extending the other for Nathan to shake. "Good to meet you, Major."
Nathan nodded, shaking 'Danny's' hand. Gun calluses, he noted immediately, well formed alongside the calluses from whatever the man's job was in civilian life. "Likewise," he replied with a nod.
The younger man gestured to the chairs in front of the desk; obviously he was privy to this information also; before turning to look expectantly at Jack, who rolled his eyes.
Nathan covered his smirk with one hand. The man hadn't changed a bit. Or rather, had changed back to the way he had been before Charlie's death. He couldn't help but wonder if the younger man had been something to do with the change. With a mental shake, he tuned into what Jack was saying.
#####
Daniel was watching Nathan Ford carefully. He knew that Jack wanted to offer his friend this chance; wanted desperately to offer this man the same chance he himself had been given, whether he had recognised it at the time or not. That was why Daniel was here. This was not potentially a suicide mission, was not a one way trip, and was most certainly no longer something which could be swept under the rug if they failed.
He recognised the signs of alcoholism on the man; the slightly glazed eyes, the puffiness in his face, and stared at him thoughtfully. He tuned out the recruitment speech Jack had planned in favour of a more detailed examination. Major Ford, for his part, was too engrossed in what Jack was saying to take notice of Daniel's scrutiny.
Skin and hair were clean. Nails were short, but tidy, not dirty or smashed. The man's clothes were clean and suitably pressed. A functioning alcoholic, then. Just about. He glanced back to Jack and waited until the other man caught his eye before he gave a tiny shrug. This one he was leaving up to Jack.
#####
Jack caught Daniel's shrug and almost sighed. He leaned forwards. "But what I want," he continued, "Is a second in command who I know I can trust. We've had a few…problems around here with that issue."
Daniel snorted in derision, making Jack shoot him a quelling look which, as usual, Daniel blithely ignored. One of these days, someone on SG1 was going to remember that Jack was in charge. That day didn't seem to be today.
"And," he continued, "You always seem to have had a knack for sniffing out trouble. Believe me, with this base, you'll need it."
Daniel muttered something which sounded suspiciously like, "As above, so below," which made Nate smirk. No respect. He got no respect.
He watched his friend mull it over; could see the moment when Nate decided to turn it down and stood abruptly. "Ya know what?" he asked. "You should see something before you make up your mind."
#####
Nathan hadn't believed them. I mean, sure, the stone ring was pretty impressive. Certainly it was grandiose enough to make someone think twice.
But then the sirens had started. The sirens and the in-pouring of marines into the room with the stone ring, and then it had flashed, a great stream of what looked like water rushing out from the centre before coalescing into a shimmering blue pool, like a vertical swimming pool.
And people had appeared out of it. Two tall men, a short woman and a not-so-tall man in cuffs. The man in cuffs stumbled out of the water, whereas the others appeared as if through a doorway, leading Nathan to believe the man had received a little assistance. As he righted himself and looked around, his shoulders sagged slightly.
Two of the trio were marines, while the third wore a uniform and rank patches Nathan had never seen before, with his long, white-blond hair in a long, loose style the US military would never have allowed. Something was obviously passed along to the group from whoever was in charge down there, and the marines marched the cuffed man out between them as Daniel Jackson entered the room, hand extended in greeting to the blond.
He looked at Jack when his old friend muttered, "Crap," in a resigned tone.
The other man shrugged. "That," he said gesturing at the ring as the blue water vanished, "Is the Stargate."
#####
"Nate," Jack said softly, "I know you took a demotion so that you could have the time off to look after your son, and I know you've been essentially carrying out the duties of second in command of a base regardless of your not holding the appropriate rank. If you were to take the job, you would be promoted with immediate effect back to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, with six months to serve before you would be considered for promotion to full bird.
"You don't have to give me an answer now, but I would like you to come sit in on the meeting I'm about to get sucked into; give you an idea of the sort of thing you would have to deal with if you took the job."