THE HERE AND NOW

CHAPTER 23

"TRUST ISSUES"

The SGA gathering one of the most look forward to events the SGA had to offer and where was it held? Just the one place Samantha Carter had repeatedly refused to go. His cabin, and now here they were the whole staff of the SGA, mingling and having an over all good time; here in this private little property away from any sings of civilization and preying eyes. (Is Sam here with them?)

The gathering was in full swing and yet Jack O'Neill found himself with his mind drifting from the celebration and into more pressing matters. Looking at his friends and colleagues, they were having fun and he was stuck thinking about the President and his silent warning. Now he was any thing but enjoying the gathering.

"General."

He smiled and waved; Siler waved back. The greetings came and went and he was still in somewhat a daze. Janet's small slap to his shoulder made him frown and give her a slight glare; which only served to make her even more worried.

"Ok, you and I are going to have a long talk."

"Janet, not now, the meat will…"

"Be fine! Teal'c and Walter can handle it."

She signaled them to get near the barbeque set, which they did much to Jack's amusement. Walter seemed to be glowing at the chance of being in charge of his precious bbq set. Tealc smiled and took the pincers from Jack's hand.

"We will take it from here O'Neill."

"Yeah yeah…"

Janet shook her head and walked him inside his cabin; she noticed the still far away look on Jack and frowned even more. He had been distracted all day long, only greeting and saying hello to the people. Sitting down on the couch she shot him one of her all too familiar looks which made Jack cringe.

"We have a problem don't we?"

"Yes we do."

"And what is that problem Jack O'Neill?"

"It's about Sam and her husband."

He looked at her and sat beside her, something was going on and Janet knew it. Glancing at her once again, he knew that he couldn't lie to her, not any more. Janet's eyes had a way of seeing right through him.

"There was a warning wasn't there"

"Yeah, they only accepted Carter back because of her experience in the program and Hammond's good recommendation."

"Then why does the fault fall on you?"

"Because Sam's husband was looking at my file, at least tried to do before he was shut down"

"Just because of that, Jack, I'm sorry to say it doesn't make sense."

"Sam is classified as a flight risk."

That news had shocked Janet to the core; she turned towards Jack glancing at him with wide eyes. He smiled and took a deep breath. He'd never told this to any one as it was labeled need to know, yet now with what had just happened that little classification had grown.

"Since when?"

"Since Orlin."

"The ancient?"

"The President agreed with Samuels and I hate to say it but so did I."

"Jack!"

"Hey it wasn't my call but her actions were brought up when the report hit the President's desk."

"But we didn't believe her, it…"

"That was not the only thing Janet. She jumped through the home-made Stargate. Now I vouched for her to go inside that house and bring Orlin back. She didn't."

Janet knew that and now it was all coming together, Jack had taken the fall for that one. He had told Samuels to let Sam go inside and when she had jumped through that Stargate she had betrayed him. Samuels had used that to his advantage, smearing Jack's reputation and making him an accomplice to Sam's actions, the only reason the man had not been courted marshal was because of Hammond.

There were other occasions, she knew what those wore, the more grave ones came to mind, and she now understood. Glancing at Jack, she knew he was no saint either. He was an old war dog; he knew how the system worked and how to convince certain individuals to let sleeping dogs lie.

"Jack what did you do to make this go away?"

"I'm black ops and special ops. The missions I was on are not the kind of missions the government wants to get out there."

"So that was your leverage?"

He nodded, now she knew how Jack O'Neill had been able to stay in the military for so long, standing up she paced the room. Glancing towards him she saw the worry on his face and knew that he had used a big one just now covering for Sam.

"That's how…"

"The President was not happy, but he understood it was not Carter's fault but Pete's. Still, now we have to keep our eyes open and keep checking on her."

"So she is trouble after all."

Cassie's voice rang from behind them, Jack closed his eyes, Janet turned around and there, standing in the doorway, was her daughter, her eyes hard. She had never seen such look on her daughter and she did not like it. Before they could do any thing, Cassie rushed up the stairs towards the second floor of his cabin.

Colorado Springs.

Sam looked at her empty house and wondered just who was watching her right now; if she knew Jack it would be someone who would not hurt her, or her child. She wondered if she should just go out and see. Yet as the door opened, she frowned and glared at the man.

"Are they done with you now?"

"Sam, don't!"

"Don't what Pete? You know what this is going to cost me, what it is going to cost the General?"

"Oh please, like he did any favors!"

"God, you have no idea do you?"

Ignoring her, he walked towards the kitchen; leaving her festering in her own anger, yet this discussion had been coming for a long time. She was tired of always having to hide how she felt, walking towards the kitchen, she slammed the door opened and fixed him with a glare.

"What now?"

"What now? Do you have any idea what you did?"

"Oh please! I did it once with your file."

"Yeah, you told me, but checking the General's file… how stupid can you be?"

"Hey watch it! I'm not in a good mood!"

"You're not in a good mood? Well sorry, but this is important! Do you have any idea how serious this is?"

"What's the big deal?"

"You idiot! He is ex-black ops, special ops!"

That got Pete's attention and she saw his surprise, shaking her head she just left him in the kitchen. She needed to cool her head before she said something she would regret later. Her husband was not as composed as she was and he rushed after her pulling her towards him.

"So this is about him yet again?"

"You're not listening! You could have gotten us killed!"

"Oh please, don't you think your being paranoid?"

"Me? Being paranoid? You're the one who did a background check on me and followed me around!"

"That was different!"

"Oh yeah? Tell me, please tell me!"

"It...you wouldn't tell me anything I couldn't trust you."

That was the whole issue; now, right in this instant she realized what it was all about; what it had been about the whole time and she closed her eyes. This had never been about how things had changed; this had always been about trust. It was about her husband not trusting her, not believing in what they had and not sharing her dream, then again she was never the one to dream was she?

Shaking her head, she smirked and walked towards the doorway. She had a few calls to make; she had to fix some things and yet she wondered just what she was going to do. Pete was her husband; she had loved him. At one point, she had thought that she could have everything she ever wanted, the house, the kid and the love of her life, and yet that was falling apart right in front of her face and she was unable or willing to stop it.

Driving off towards the baby sitter, she wondered just what was wrong with her life, why she was like this. She shook her head. Her father had told her once that she was to smart for her own good, now she was thinking that he had been right; once again she wondered if the decision to marry Pete had been made with her brain instead of her heart.

There was a decision that had to be made now, it was going to be hard and it was going to be tough on her and her son, but it was the right one. Divorcing Pete was for the best.

CONTINUED