Sticks and Stones - Chapter 16 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
Three Weeks Later.
A considerably improved Colonel O'Neill asked for admittance to the office of General George Hammond. He was ushered inside and sat down himself down when requested. He resisted the temptation to squirm as he felt the scrutiny of his commanding officer.
The older man was obviously pleased by what he saw as he let out a deep breath and announced, "Colonel O'Neill, it's good to see you looking so much better. To what do I owe the honour of your visit today? Do you feel you're ready to return to active duty?"
"Ah, well, that is one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. Could I possibly discuss another item first, Sir?" Jack asked.
"By all means, Colonel, please do." the General said obligingly.
"Well, Sir," Jack began. "It's about Daniel's house."
"Ah, yes, I was beginning to wonder about that," the General told him. "I didn't want to press the issue though, I knew you'd make a decision about it in your own time."
"Thank you, Sir," Jack said. "I wanted to run an idea past you before I took things any further.
"OK, but Jack, the final decision lies with you." the older man reminded him.
Jack nodded, "I know, Sir, just this could be a big deal depending on your views of alien humans living out on the streets of Colorado Springs."
"Sounds like you have a particular plan in mind, Jack." the General observed.
Jack noticed the use of his first name immediately as Hammond's way of letting him know that the conversation would not necessarily end up on file if he felt that Jack's idea was inappropriate.
"Thanks, George," Jack said, acknowledging the unspoken agreement between the two of them. "The thing is…you know that Nyan has been lodging with Major Donnelly while he's been getting used to life on planet Earth."
"Yes, I realise that. I know the arrangement has been very helpful to him as well. I'm sure it's eased his transition into Earth society a great deal." Hammond said this with a little pride in his voice. He had played a large part in getting Nyan's paperwork through efficiently and had suggested that one of the members of the SGC take the young Bedrosian under their wing for a while.
They all held a great deal of respect for the young man who had turned his back on his whole belief system to help SG-1 out of the jam they had found themselves in.
"Yes, Sir, me too." Jack agreed, his military training kicking back in automatically as he used the official salutation on his commanding officer. "Well…you already know that Charles Donnelly recently married his fiancé Charlene."
"Yes, I'm aware. That's why he requested a transfer off of SG-2," the General replied.
"Right, Sir. Well, what you may not yet know is that Charlene and Charles have discovered that they are going to be parents in a little over seven months time." Jack said.
"No, I can't say that bit of info has made its way to me. Although it's very early days so I can't imagine they want it to be public knowledge yet?" Hammond asked.
"No, Sir, you're right. Not many people know yet at all." Jack admitted. "The only reason that I know is because Nyan told me. I went to apologise for chucking him out of Daniel's office the other week but something else was obviously on his mind. Well, I prodded him a bit and he told me that he was feeling a bit out of place at the Donnelly's house. He feels that the newly-weds deserve to have the house to themselves, especially now there's a baby on the way. I didn't want to get his hopes up so I simply said that I'd explain the situation to yourself and see if another solution could be come up formulated."
"Well done, Colonel. I wish Nyan had felt that he could come to me himself with this. I don't want that young man worrying unduly. I think I can guess where your thoughts are headed but go on, Colonel. What's your idea?" the General asked the younger man.
"Yes, I think you've probably worked out what I'm going to suggest. I want to offer Daniel's house to Nyan. We owe him a lot for saving our butts out on Bedrosia and I think Daniel would have been more than pleased to see his house and belongings going to someone who would really appreciate them. Nyan has been taken under the wing of the whole archaeological department and he'd basically become Daniel's protégé. I know he'll care for the artifacts in Daniel's house and treat them with the same respect that Daniel would have done. The house is fully paid for and I've taken the more personal items out already, along with anything even vaguely classified. Carter's still got his computer shoved under the desk in her lab and the fish tank has been moved into the rec room here. Everything else is just "stuff" and artifacts with the exception of the piano which, quite frankly, I've got no idea what to do with. If Nyan's having the house I'd like him to keep the piano safe for sentimental reasons although I'll move it into storage if I have to. I'd rather not do that though as it'll do it no good packed away in some cold and possibly damp storage area." Jack paused for breath and the General jumped in before he could get going again.
"I'm sure that Nyan would take good care of it." George told the other man. "Let me make some phone calls and I'll check that there'll be no fallout from us allowing Nyan free run of Colorado Springs. Although he is one of the most sensible, level headed young men that I'm ever likely to meet so I'm not anticipating any problems. I'll be telling the powers that be of my opinion on this matter too."
"Thank you, Sir." Jack replied. "Do you want me to discuss my other 'issue' now?"
"Tell you what, Colonel. Why don't you leave me to make these calls for now?" the General asked reasonably. "Come back in one hour and I'll hopefully be able to let you know what's been decided. We can discuss the other matter once a decision's been made about Nyan."
"Fine by me, Sir. I'll be back in one hour." Jack told his commanding officer. He stood and waited to be dismissed. He saluted Hammond before leaving the room.
#
When he returned an hour later Jack knocked on the General's door. As he waited to be called in he could hear that the other man was obviously still on the phone.
A couple of minutes later the voice inside the office stopped and he was called to enter.
As he stepped across the threshold of the office, Jack watched his CO for clues of how the conversation had gone. He noted that George seemed quite at ease although he knew from experience that the Texan was a formidable poker player so nothing was for certain.
"Sit down, Colonel." The General said in a jovial tone. "It's good knews. The presidential aides have agreed that Nyan is to be given fill and unrestricted access to the Colorado Springs area for as long as he is working within the SGC. Should anything happen to his position here then the decision may be reversed but I can't see their being much likelihood of that myself. They have suggested that you may want to remain as owner of Doctor Jackson's property while allowing Nyan to live their as a tenant."
"But…" Jack interrupted.
"I'm not suggesting you charge him rent to live their or anything like that. The paperwork can remain in your name but an agreement can be drawn up between Nyan and yourself quite easily." the General told him.
"Oh. That's not quite what I had in mind, Sir." Jack told the older man. "I was intending to sign the whole thing over to Nyan - lock, stock and barrel - so to speak. I have no need for the house. Both it and my house are fully paid for and I have the cabin for when I eventually retire. That's been in my family for years and was bought and paid for before I was born, Sir."
"I understand, Jack. However until Nyan has proved himself trustworthy to the likes of the NID and the IAO they want him to have as little collateral as possible. That sounds as ludicrous to me as I'm sure it does to you but, son, we have to stay on the right side of these people - no matter what our personal opinions are."
"OK, Sir. I'll go ahead with that - even if I don't entirely agree with it." Jack agreed graciously. "So it's OK if I run the idea past Nyan later today? I know he's holed up in the archaeology lab today trying to decipher some tablet or the other that SG-11 brought back last week. It's got 'em all stumped at the moment."
"You may speak to Nyan, Jack, with my blessing. That young man deserves to truly start living his life here on Earth and this might just be the opening he needs to do that. Now, how about the other item that item that we needed to discuss? I noticed that when you were talking about the cabin it didn't sound like you were intending to retired to it any time soon. That's good news in my opinion, son."
"Well, yes and no, Sir." Jack began. "No, you're right I don't intend to retire yet - certainly not under my own steam anyhow."
"Glad to hear that, Colonel. Why do I have a feeling there's a 'but' at the end of that sentence?" George asked.
"…because there is, Sir. I don't want to retire, but I also don't think I could cope with regular gate travel quite yet - or maybe ever. This thing with Daniel. Sir…it's given me a lot of time to re-evaluate my place here. It's made me sit back and look at my current life as a whole too. I've spent a lot of time in the last few weeks with Dr. Teague - one of MacKenzie's colleagues. Janet arranged for me to meet with her and, Sir, she's been an angel. I still want to be of use here but I don't want to be responsible for breaking in another team only to have them snatched out from under me again." Jack paused and scrubbed his hands through his hair. "Problem is, Sir, I'm not cut out for a desk job so I'm not sure where my options lie at present."
"Hmm, I see, Colonel," the older man said. "Leave it with me for a few days and I'll see if I can come up with a satisfactory agreement. Doctor Fraiser tells me that you're still under doctors orders until the end of next week anyway. In the mean time go and break the good news to Nyan, it'll be a nice change to see the spirits lifted a little in the archaeology department. The mood down there has been extremely sombre of late - not without good reason, I understand - but sombre none the less."
"Yes, Sir. I'll go and see him now." Jack agreed.
The General nodded in acknowledgement. "Dismissed, Colonel."