Sticks and Stones - Chapter 10 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
The 27th day of Jack's stand-down period was Sam and Teal'c's first trip through the gate with SG-2. It was a simple mission to revisit the natives on P2C-387. They were taking replenishments of medical supplies and an enhanced Naquadah generator that Sam had developed a couple of months before.
The General had carefully selected this mission as an easy one to break Sam and Teal'c back in gently. Ferretti didn't mind and said that he was just grateful for an easy mission for a change. The General grimaced when Lou said this and told the younger man that he'd better not have jinxed the mission by saying so.
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As he stood in the control room, waiting for the gate to finish dialling, George became aware of an additional presence in the room with him and Walter. He looked round and saw that Jack had slipped quietly in and was standing off to one side silently looking down at the 'new' SG-2. The Colonel had positioned himself in such a way that he would not be seen if either Sam or Teal'c should look up at the window.
The General noted this positioning and also the tight set of Jack's facial features. His brows were deeply furrowed and his lips were drawn tightly together in a thin line. Jack was leaning heavily on the wall and was encased in a self-hug that would not have looked out of place on the late Doctor Jackson.
George sighed heavily as Walter announced that the last Chevron was locked. Moments later the wormhole burst into life and Lou Ferretti looked expectantly up at the General.
"SG-2, you have a go." He announced over the comms, "See you in a few days, God speed people."
Ferretti gave a tidy salute and got to work getting his team and all the equipment through the gate in an orderly fashion.
Once they were all safely through the General turned away from the window, intending to speak to Jack. When he looked he found that the spot previously occupied by the Colonel was now vacant.
He looked quizzically at Walter who looked decidedly uncomfortable. "He slipped out just after the wormhole engaged, I don't think he saw them go through," the technician reported. "I'm sorry, Sir, should I have stopped him from leaving?"
"No, sergeant, that's OK." The older man said with a sigh. "Besides, if Colonel O'Neill was determined to leave the room then I don't think there's anything either you or me could have done to stop him at the moment."
Walter stuttered at this, amazed that the General wasn't more worried about Jack potentially disobeying a direct command. "Yes, Sir…er…no, Sir…Oh, sorry, Sir."
"That's OK, sergeant." George said, patting the younger man on the shoulder. "I'd like to say that I'll be in my office if you need me but right now it looks like I'm going on a Colonel hunt." he said sadly.
"Yes, Sir. Do you know where he'll be?" Walter asked carefully.
"I have a pretty good idea where to start looking, sergeant." Hammond sighed again.
Walter nodded, knowing exactly where he'd start looking for Jack if he needed to. "That's good, Sir."
"Call me on the PA if anything urgent comes up," requested the General. "Otherwise I'll see you later on – after I've dealt with Colonel O'Neill."