Chapter 2

Thanks for reviews and likes. Here is chapter 2. Enjoy

Jack didn't try to keep up with Hammond, he had another destination in mind, his barely used office. He walked into the room and turned his nose up at the dusty, stale smell that hit him. He hated this place, a box with no windows, he tried not to use it.

However, there was something here that he needed, a letter, long buried in his desk drawer under snacks and games, where no one would find it. He sat heavily on his chair and opened the drawer, searched for a minute and pulled the letter out. He didn't need to read it, he knew exactly what it said. He had written it nearly three years before, agonising over every word after he and Teal'c had been caught in the time loop.

'Well, no time like the present.' He thought as he closed the drawer, got up and left the room. Sooner than he would have wanted, he came to Hammond's door and knocked.

"Come"

Jack entered.

"Jack sit down." Hammond signalled to the seat on the opposite side of the desk from him.

Jack cleared his throat, "General.."

Hammond held up his hand. "I'm going to stop you right there, its George."

"General?" Jack queried.

"Jack, you may not have noticed but I invited Jack here to talk in my office and for Jack to sit down. I assume Colonel O'Neill is completing his duties where perhaps General Hammond is keeping an eye on him."

Jack looked positively confused and then looked at his boss, "Eh….sure."

"So right now, you'll not be needing that letter that's in your hand will you?"

"Letter….oh this letter…eh… well I wanted to give it to…" Jack began to lean over to him.

"Your boss isn't here so there is no point in giving it to me." Hammond sat back in his chair and Jack shifted back into his with the offending letter still hanging between his fingers.

Jack now having no idea what to do or say waited for Hammond to start.

"You struggled with M….Sam's disappearance yes?"

"Well Major Carter is an important member of my team."

"Sam. Let's leave the Major in the infirmary and talk about Sam."

Jack was unsure what to say so went with the truth. "Sir…I'm not complex but this multiple personality thing you have going here is really confusing me."

"Jack….I'm not blind and really not stupid…you have never broken the rules but you have to admit you have at least fudged them."

Jack stared at his boss, they really weren't going to have this conversation were they?

"Eh…Sir I would really prefer that you read this before…"

"No need Jack, I know what it is."

"You do?"

"Yes, it's your resignation"

"Yes Sir."

"So when was it written." He leaned back in his chair again and thought. "Let me see….written oh not this year…I doubt last.. what with Daniel's death and all. No my guess would be some point between you having to confess feelings with Anise and you and Teal'c disappearing to Jupiter in the death glider. Am I right?"

Jack gulped, he had totally underestimated his CO in this matter.

"Yes Sir." He mumbled, squirming a little in his chair. "After the time loop."

"Ah I wondered, did you give me the letter at that time?"

"Yeah…a couple of times, Daniel made some comment about no consequences, thought I would see how it might go."

"And?"

Jack went a little redder and found the floor very interesting. "Let's just say I maybe broke the rules a little."

Hammond huffed a laugh, then took a deep breath. "Jack we could easily forget about this morning, Major Carter is suffering from a concussion and unless we find any evidence that someone else was on that ship, she was clearly hallucinating."

He left it hanging a little bit, waiting to see how Jack would react to his suggestion. When the younger officer didn't speak he continued. "However, it is clear that if her mind can conjure a child that doesn't exist that looks exactly as your child would look then she is mentally suffering because her job is taking her away from what she wants….You."

Jack's jaw dropped, he may be a black ops airman but even he couldn't keep his facial expressions in check at this announcement.

Hammond continued, "So, what do we do? What do you want Jack?"

"Ah well right now, I think I want to wake up on that bed in the infirmary and hope that the last hour hasn't actually happened."

"We're not in that time loop this time. You have one chance Jack…"

Jack shuffled in his seat and cleared his throat. "One chance for what Si…George? What exactly are we talking about here?" He stood up, and started to pace. "I mean, sure if I could have it all, would I want it, of course. But let's be honest here George, if all was a possibility I would have done it three years ago. All, has never been on the cards. I know any of us could die at any time but for some reason SG1 works and seems to regularly be used to save the planet. Any All that you are talking about risks that and I'm fairly sure the President wouldn't be happy with that."

With a calmness that confused Jack more, Hammond continued. "I'm not asking about the President, I'm asking what do you want?"

Jack moved towards the window and stared out at the briefing room, but he wasn't seeing what was there. He sighed, a bone deep sigh brought on from the exhaustion of the last few days.

"I want the war to be done."

He took another deep breath and ruffled his hand through his hair. He continued, "I want Daniel to have his wife and Teal'c his family. I want to go fishing without feeling guilty that I should be out there fighting."

He turned from the window to face his boss and gave him the answer he knew Hammond was looking for. "I want not to have to look at her every time we just make it home wondering if the next time will be the mission that I lose her. I want to see her go as far as she can in the Air Force….. I want her to be happy."

"That's some wish list." Hammond spoke quietly.

Jack smiled wearily, "Yeah but we both know not all of it can happen."

"Son, have a seat." Jack shuffled back to the chair his defeat obvious in his gait. "There have been some discussions in Washington with the election coming up. Questions over who should be in command here when the administration changes. Also, the question of a legacy, of looking back and justifying the President hiding the programme from the country."

Jack wasn't surprised, a changing administration often impacted the military. He sighed again, "And how might those decisions affect me?"

"One discussion was about me moving to DC, looking after the programme closer to the decision makers and the budget setters. That would leave an opening here."

Jack sat forward and put his face in his hands. "George, not that I'm not flattered to be considered, well actually I really don't think I would want to be in charge…I don't think me being base commander would help this situation at all."

"It would…..if you were no longer in the military."

George watched as Jack's head shot up and he tried to stare his commander down.

"You mean retire?"

"Yes, but not leave. You have to admit Jack, on your wish list you never mentioned going further in the Air Force yourself just that she could."

"That sounds a bit like having my cake and eating it. Surely someone would find it hinky that I suddenly become a civilian and then started dating Carter?"

"They might, there could be comments made, especially outside this facility."

"Would it damage her?"

Hammond considered the question. "If I said yes, would you turn me down?"

"I would have to think about it."

"Jack, how's your knowledge of the betting pool here."

Jack again just stared, George seemed to have an awful lot to say today. He had to wonder if there was any alien influence. "Pretty good Sir, I take the odd bet on Siler and his injuries, Daniel and his off-world women, the usual."

"And if I was to tell you that the biggest pool by far was on you and Sam and getting together. What would you say to that?"

Jack breathed deeply, he had wondered about that for a long time. "I would say clearly I haven't been as good at hiding things as my black ops training should have been."

George huffed a laugh again. "Jack, I'm not saying this to get you worried, what I am saying is that the book is still open. Every single person on this base knows you haven't broken the rules and neither has she. Will others talk, yes possibly, but here, no-one thinks she has gained anything from your situation. In fact, most people know that you have both lost, a lot more than you should have."

"Can I talk to her…..about this…or is that not allowed?"

Hammond reached into his desk and took out a medical leave form. Jack sat and watched him fill in the form, unsure of what was going on. Finally, Hammond spoke, "Major Carter has suffered a severe concussion, she will be on medical leave for at least a week. As she is on leave I am removing her, temporarily, from SG1." He signed the paper with a flourish. "You can talk to her. Let me know what you decide." He handed over the slip of paper for Jack to take. Jack now stood, quite unsure of what to do next.

George watched as Jack seemed to be stuck to the floor. "Colonel…." Jack snapped to attention at the change of name. "You know as well as I do that Major Carter is probably beating herself up in the infirmary about her outburst. It would be remiss of you to leave her in that state for longer than she needs to be. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes Sir…" A smile began to form on his face and George watched the transformation with increasing delight. "I'll go see Carter….thank you Sir."