To Guest.. (and all of you hoping it was them… sorry about the kiss. I didn't notice it might be confusing. It's fixed now.

Moving on…. Enjoy!

M.

PS: Thank you for all the reviews! You rock!

Chapter Five

"Hayes?" Jack frowned, looking at her in disbelief, "Hayes organized for you to come?"

Things started to make sense to him, or at least the reason why the same man had ordered him to be there. He wanted to kill the him… or embrace him, he wasn't sure which one we would do once he was in front of his Commander in Chief.

"Yes," Sam assessed him for a while, trying to understand what was going in his mind, but not-exactly-showing-his-thoughts face was also something he was extremely good at. She chewed inner cheek, and sighed. "I'm currently off duty until they find a place for me, and my papers are fixed."

"That's good," someone added, not Jack… he didn't ask questions, still trying to understand why Hayes wouldn't let him know, of all the people that should have been notified of her return.

"I do hope is nothing as …" she fished for a word, feeling his eyes on her, "distant, as the last one." Vanessa raised her eyebrow, "Ah, I was part of a research base we have far away"

"She was base commander, not 'part of'," Jack added dryly. She flinched, well at least he was listening to the whole thing, which in her books was better than fully closed up O'Neill.

"Yeah, that," she looked at him

"Research?" the girl giggled. "I don't believe you. If you are into research and development area, you must know about my father?" Vanessa asked, "and you should know about me, since I'm at his side most of the time," the girl smirked.

"Your father?" She frowned, Jack cleared his throat, when it dawned to him the reason why he found Vanessa familiar the first time he saw her, they were all over everything.

"Yes, you know the genius behind Axium Inc?" Sam shook her head no, she clearly missed something, "the mastermind behind the new crystal thumb drives?" The girl frowned, "how on Earth can you be a science nerd if you don't know a thing about Richard Rockfield?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know who your father is. Nor am I aware of Axium Inc."

"How's that even possible? Don't you read newspapers? Science magazines? Watch TV? I mean, there's no one who doesn't know who my father is?"

"I…" she gulped, "no, I'm sorry. I just don't know him; my last post was really secluded with little to no contact with the country. Therefore, I wasn't aware of the many changes going around here."

She felt his eyes on her again, she knew there wouldn't be a way to cover how lost she was feeling, they went through a lot together for him not to be able to read her like an open book. And she was right, he quickly noticed that her smile was dimmed, and her whole body tensed, he knew those reactions all too well. He sighed, well, at least there was some sort of reaction he thought.

"Ah, that's why you don't want something so far away again? Is it hard to adapt after that experience?" Another woman asked, noticing how the situation was getting uncomfortable for all.

"Well, it's not easy to be far away from everything you know and everyone you love." She finished, only he noticed the way her voice trembled on the last word. He clenched his jaw. "As for the adaptation process, I'm not quite sure how well I'm going to fit back," she grimaced, "as I said, I had to make several stops, before I was allowed back. It was a very complex situation." She thought for a while, there wasn't much difference between the places she was before, "But all my stops were almost as silent as my post was. I can say for sure, I was overwhelmed when was coming here. There were too many sounds coming from everywhere at once"

"Ah! You were stationed in Africa?" One woman clapped, amazed by her own ability to figure that one, "That's the only place I can think of; which fits what you describe. I know the son of Gerald Bloomerg, he went to Namibia and he had many issues when he returned, because of the noise, food and drinks too," Sam bit her inner cheek, it wasn't like she could exactly tell where she was before, not even the place she was formally at.

"Somewhere around, yes, and that's why I'll better stick to water," she decided that a little lie would be for the best, she had come to terms with the last almost twenty months, but it still was difficult to explain. Moreover, her covert history still wasn't ready. She hoped for a change of subject as it was becoming trickier to keep that conversation out of there.

"So, is this too loud for you then?" She almost sighed in relief with that question.

"Yes, it is," she acknowledged. Then she blushed, "I'm actually wearing sound reducers, my head felt like it was about to explode earlier. I laughed at the CMO when she gave me them, but I'm sure grateful for having them now. They have really helped me"

"That's good, what about the amount of people?"

"I've never had issues with crowds," she smiled.

"Will you take that position again if it's where they can place you?" Vanessa asked. "I mean, I would obviously be torn if I had someone here and no one there; but you should be used to it by now, right? Being military… and you said yourself, all those advances you made…"

"I will gladly take whatever opportunity they have in store for me. Anything is better than doing nothing, my loved ones understand the career path I chose to follow."

"Even if it takes you back to nowhere?"

"Of course, any position had its perks. Granted, they won't send me back so fast, they need to be sure I can handle it again, there's a whole process. What I'm worried about it's not the where, but if they take too long, I might not be able to spend my wedding anniversary with my husband, and that would be the second one I miss in a row… and after all this time, I'm hoping things hadn't changed that much between us"

"What do you mean?"

"I haven't seen him… since I left twenty-three months ago."

"So, you are married?" Vanessa asked with a pleased grin.

"Yes, or I hope I still am…" she bit her lip nervously. Jack looked at her with a gaze she couldn't quite read.

"That's awful, but I guess you will meet him again? Tomorrow maybe?"

"I'm not sure. As I said I was ordered here, I'm in no position of taking any decisions at the moment. And my husband and I… we need to talk for a good while, I'm pretty sure things changed since we last spoke..." she inhaled deeply.

"Twenty-three months is a long time," Jack added and she straightened unconsciously.

"I do hope for the best. But then, once they figure what to do with me… I'll be tied up to the job, and if the job finds me before my anniversary, I'll be stuck," she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Can you take a few days leave?" another woman of the group asked, "Charles always did that, especially for days like birthdays and anniversaries."

"Well, before… things… happened, I was supposed to take a few days of my almost five years of accumulated leave days to be with him, you know? A nice honeymoon revival of sorts," she grinned at the knowing smile of the group, "But, that won't be possible"

"You are exaggerating, it's not like you are a General like my James here, Colonels aren't that irreplaceable or as important," another woman dismissed her.

"That could be considered true, yes. But, if I analyze my last two positions, I'll probably be placed in a complex situation. When we, as Colonels, get into a new position, we need to prove both people over and under us that we are worthy of the responsibility entrusted to us, we also need to gain their trust and their respect. However, given my gender, that's something I won't get if I just take a couple of weeks to be with my husband, I will be seen as weak, or 'to homey'" She added with a heartbroken smile.

"You sound like one of those feminists who are always blaming everyone for their own lack of whatever they are claiming," Vanessa scrunched her nose.

"She's a feminist." Jack pointed, "And she wants to be treated like an equal, which she deserves. But, even if there are a few of us who don't care about the gender, but the experience. Most are not as welcoming," he admitted. "she needs double the experience, and five times the brain to get to the same place other male officers are," he couldn't look at Sam, because he knew the grateful smile would be plastered over her face and he couldn't watch it, not right now.

"That's awful"

"Yes, but there's a bright side… her advances makes things easier for the girls who are joining now"

"Exactly, and I find that knowledge extremely satisfactory. Even if I do it because I love what I do. Or rather… did"

"Weren't you a fleet commander two or three years ago? It wasn't a long position," one of the other General's added, "If I know this, then you can be certain that the Air Force had noted your skills"

"Thank you, sir," She blushed.

"Huh, but you mentioned Cheyenne, what about Nellis?"

"Yup, R&D," Jack added, "that's her too. She's also the former national security and technology advisor on behalf of the Air Force for President Hayes."

"Wait, that makes you the Carter who made it to the short list?"

"I … I don't know… I wouldn't know"

"You were," Jack whispered, She knew what he meant, she knew that dark tone in his voice all too well, he didn't need to add the other words for her to clench her jaw and close her eyes as the images of the last almost two years swarmed her mind. "Before it all happened," she gasped for air

"Oh, dear God," she managed to say, before a wave of nausea hit her. She covered her mouth with her hand, in an attempt to reign over her body.

Several concerned glances fell over her, and a number of versions of 'are you okay?' followed. But it was his gaze, Jack's troubled gaze who had found her eyes what made it all worse. What made her fully grasp what she only had considered before, she knew for sure there was another fallout to her experiences.

"I need some air," she added, and turned around; leaving the group as quickly as she had joined. Jack clenched his jaw, his whole demeanor changed. He opened his mouth to excuse her, to excuse himself, but no words came out. The locked eyes for a second with Johnstone and the understanding was just too much.

"Go, General", he whispered and he didn't need to be told twice, before he was following the quick movement of the red fabric towards the garden. The group watched both leave in a mix of concern and perplexity, and then, some started to connect the dots.

"What have just happened?" Vanessa dared to ask, she didn't know enough.

"If she was that Colonel Carter…" One of the military man started, "was she the one I declared MIA around two years ago?" He exchanged confused glances with the rest.

"Yes, and that makes her the daughter of former General Carter, the one I declared KIA, barely eight months ago…"

"What are you two babbling about?" Mrs Johnstone finished, with a preoccupied frown, "make sense, will you?" she looked at her husband expectantly.

"Honey, I've met her when she was our security advisor, she was transferred to the base she was telling us about… I didn't connect the dots until know"

"What dots?"

"Her career, then Mike declared her MIA, and Robert signed her as KIA…"

"She can't be KIA, honey! She's very much alive…"

"Yes, she was…until now I guess…" he frowned.

"That doesn't explain General O'Neill reaction. Yes, they know each other and they seem like good friends."

"No, honey… that woman…she…" he frowned, not quite knowing how to say it.

"What?!" Vanessa lost the last remains of patience.

"That's General O'Neill's wife"