Summery: A routine trip off-world has long-lasting effects for SG-1. Meanwhile, Jack has terrestrial trouble too, when his half-sister is recruited to the SGC and his worlds threaten to collide and all his secrets are in danger of being exposed.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Stargate SG-1" the series. I believe it is owned by MGM. No copyright infringement is intended. No disrespect is intended. I am merely intrigued by the possibilities.
A Matter of Degrees
by: Visions2share a.k.a. Vi
Ten weeks later and Jack was still dodging that conversation. From time to time, he even allowed himself to think General Hammond had forgotten about it. Although he knew that wasn't the case – no matter how much he wanted it to be. Jack had lots of friends – in lots of places – and several of them were keeping him updated on the Secret Service's new eyes-only background check. Apparently, General Hammond and the president weren't satisfied with the records they had – the president had ordered a whole new check be completed. Damn it. It was going to be messy – sooner rather than later at this point. In fact, Jack thought it likely the results were already in General Hammond's hands and likely to be the topic of their upcoming meeting.
Major Carter, on the other hand, gave him no respite. She was still stuck on the idea of hiring the man she'd imagined him to be. Several times he'd walked in on her, trying to convince Daniel to help her work on General Hammond to that end. Thankfully, Daniel seemed to be withstanding the pressure and continuing to advocate for patience for a full background check. So far, anyway.
But it seemed Carter was tired of waiting. Jack had come with Teal'C to Daniel's office to try and convince him to join them for a pickup basketball game topside to find Carter had taken over Daniel's computer and was trying to bring up Susan's personnel file so she could get his name. Fortunately, Jack had anticipated this and taken the necessary steps to safeguard his secrets.
"She doesn't have a personnel file? How is that possible?" Carter eyed the computer in disbelief.
"Maybe you just don't have access?" Daniel offered from his workbench where he was concentrating on … whatever rock currently had him fascinated and barely paying Carter any notice.
"No, Daniel, I'm hacked into the base mainframe and it's just not here."
"She's medical – maybe her file is only in Janet's system?"
"That's not how it works, Daniel. With the access I have right now, I can see all the files – even the confidential medical files. Not that I'd peek at those, of course."
"Of course," Daniel's sarcasm, obvious to Jack and Teal'C standing unnoticed in the open doorway, went completely unheard by Carter. "Well, then, maybe she quit already."
"No, Daniel, that wouldn't matter either – we keep files on all past employees – no matter how short-term – and her personnel file would be in there. And there isn't a single trace. As far as the SGC is concerned, there is no such person as Susan Mallory."
"Are you spelling it correctly?" Daniel offered.
"Yes!" Carter was frustrated and insulted by Daniel's suggestion.
Jack shared a glance with Teal'C, acknowledging that this wasn't going to be pleasant.
When Jack spoke, still leaning negligently on the doorframe, he picked up the rhythm of the conversation and sarcastically took Daniel's part.
"Maybe I anticipated you nosing around where you have no business being and pulled every reference to Dr. Mallory from the system?" Jack didn't even care that he was obliquely admitting to a level of familiarity and skill with computers he'd previously vehemently denied.
"Sir!?" Carter was on her feet and facing him before anything more than his presence had registered.
Jack, Teal'C, and Daniel were all witness to the effect his words had on Carter as they registered. She flushed stop light red, then all the blood drained from her face, leaving her not just pale or white but gray and finally her eyes bulged and her mouth hung open in shock.
Jack didn't address her again, merely levered himself off the doorframe and advanced into the room, doing nothing to hide his disappointment in her behavior or his anger. He was livid – and unfortunately for Carter it wasn't the kind of mad where he got funnier, or more sarcastic, but rather the kind where he went cold as a glazier and let his analytical mind and black-ops training take over. This Jack, that her actions had brought to bear, wasn't the one she was used to – a man who was already dangerous and hard to handle – this Jack was deadly. Vindictively so.
Jack walked right up to her and let himself stand far too close as he reached past her. Carter didn't react to his closeness, whether holding her ground out of shock or good military discipline, Jack did not know. And at the moment, was too angry to care. He was focused on recording her security breach in the system and getting the computer shutdown.
When he was done, Jack took one step back, leaving less than a foot between their faces. Jack spoke quietly enough that Daniel and Teal'C could only just hear – keeping his words from escaping the room.
"Are you trying to get yourself court-martialed, Major?"
Silence.
"I suggest you answer the question," a pause, "are you trying to earn a court-martial?"
"No, Sir, of course not. I was just trying to find…"
"I know exactly what you were trying to find, Major Carter. Exactly. What I don't understand is why. Why are you so obsessed with this man?"
Carter made a series of inarticulate sounds, but gave no answer.
"This is your one chance to explain yourself. One."
"I … I … I've never met a person who got a PhD as a teenager. I've always wanted to meet – shake hands with – an ultra-genius – but they are very, very rare. I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by."
Jack glanced at Daniel out of the corner of his eye – he didn't seem to be insulted – but Jack was insulted on his behalf.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Do allow me to correct my obvious oversight," Jack grabbed Carter by the shoulders and roughly hauled her around until she was face to face with Daniel.
"Major Samantha Jean Carter, PhD. Air Force Academy class of nineteen eighty-nine. Bachelor of Science in Physics age twenty-one. Washington University in St. Louis, Illinois Master's in Astrophysics age twenty-four. University of Georgetown, the District of Columbia, PhD in theoretical astrophysics age twenty-eight. This is her first posting since completing her degree.
"Allow me to introduce Daniel Elijah Jackson, PhD – multiple PhDs. University of California in Los Angeles PhD in Archeology age nineteen. PhD in Linguistics, also age nineteen. University of Chicago's Oriental Institute PhD in Cultural Anthropology age twenty-two and PhD in Linguistic Anthropology age twenty-four.
"Now don't let this opportunity to shake hands with an ultra-genius pass you by, Major." Jack knew he likely sounded snotty, but he really didn't care. He'd always hated that term. 'Ultra-genius' – like a plain 'genius' wasn't enough of a useless label. He sneered whenever the term was used – especially if he was the one that had to use it.
"I apologize, Dr. Jackson, for failing to properly introduce you in the past. And, of course, for only hitting the highlights just now and not mentioning your innumerable master's and undergraduate degrees."
Jack noticed Daniel's cheeks had pinked lightly, but he otherwise seemed unaffected. Carter, on the other hand, just stood staring at Jack, her hand still at her side – wasting this opportunity Jack was so kindly providing her.
"Dr. Jackson, might I trouble you," Jack prompted, "to offer Major Carter your hand? If you're willing, of course," that got a smirk and amused compliance out of Daniel. He offered his hand.
Slowly, like her arm was cast in lead, Carter raised her hand and took part in the pro-offered handshake.
"Now, Major Carter – your great wish has been realized – maybe we can focus back on your choices today? What makes you think," Jack continued before she could reply while watching Daniel forcibly disengage from the handshake and return his hand to his pocket, "you have the right to abuse your security clearance and system access to assuage your personal curiosity?"
Carter flinched but responded with an abundance of proper military protocol, "I apologize, sir. No excuse, sir."
Bullshit. There was something going on here that she was determined to conceal from him. As Colonel O'Neill, he didn't care if she had things in her past – hang ups or issues or whatever that she felt needed to be kept personal. As Jack, a man who considered her one of the very best true friends he'd ever had, he was disappointed she wasn't willing to trust him. Unfortunately, in neither mindset could he overlook the situation. This incident exposed a potentially fatal lack of understanding and judgement that, as a senior officer, Carter just could not be allowed to indulge in. Jack, the friend, felt bad about what he had to do. Colonel O'Neill, however, knew he was actually going easy on her – it was a tightrope – hopefully he'd find his balance before the consequences caused them all to fall.
"No, Major Carter. This is one time 'I'm sorry' just isn't good enough," behind the stoic military façade, Jack could easily see Carter's shock. "This incident highlights a character flaw in you, one of few – I freely admit – that you need to recognize and redress if you want to advance further in your career," Jack paused to let that sink in and then, making damn sure he still had her attention and continuing, "it also shows an unacceptable disregard for a co-worker's privacy. Not to mention the outright abuse of your clearance for personal gain – yes, gain," he could see in her eyes that he'd hit the nail on the head – she felt she had something personal to gain by retrieving that information – oh, not monetary gain – Jack knew she wasn't a threat to the program – but there was definitely something personal at stake for her. "I'll be reporting this to General Hammond. Directly."
That surprised her.
Jack was watching her carefully – especially her expressive blue eyes – and could tell she was shocked but still focused on him – he hadn't lost her to her thoughts. Yet.
Good. He still had more to say – and she definitely would not like it – neither did he, frankly, but that was the thing about consequences — they just generally sucked.
"And as punishment, I am going to amend your access to the base – limiting you to your lab and the SG-1 ready room. You need or want access to any other room on this base, you'll have to ask someone else. Likely someone without any fancy degrees, but with a respect for their responsibilities and the privilege for clearance you are clearly lacking. I suggest you exercise humility. Maybe you'll get lucky and learn something," he certainly hoped so – for her sake.
Jack knew he wouldn't be able to hold her attention once she started to spiral into her brain so he hurried on, "But your true consequence – besides eroded trust – is this: I know the answers you were seeking. The background check is complete and I'm scheduled to meet General Hammond this afternoon to discuss the results," not that the general knew Jack knew that was the purpose of the meeting, "but you're not going to learn any of the information you were so willing to steal. Not for quite a while. If ever."
Jack watched that loss sink in and knew – as surely as he knew anything – that the disappointment of not meeting the man she'd dreamt up was hitting her harder than all the rest of it. Now if he only knew why – maybe he could help her get her head screwed on straight so she didn't end up torpedoing her career.
Jack would have to go directly to General Hammond – which wasn't likely to be a particularly pleasant conversation either. Especially considering Carter was Hammond's goddaughter. Great. Speaking of tanked careers. Jack gave an internal shrug – he was invested in the SGC but not in career prospects – so why should he care?
This whole thing was making his head hurt. Jack closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and counted to ten. When he looked up, he made eye contact with first Daniel and then Teal'C. In Teal'C's eyes, he saw respect for a leader and the hard decisions that went along with that. Daniel's gaze, which he returned to, was more comforting. Daniel seemed to acknowledge the necessity of the reprimand even as he felt bad for Carter and guilt for not working harder at talking her out of her obsession. But beyond that, Daniel understood how much it hurt Jack to have to be rough with any friend. Daniel understood, had seen firsthand, how personally Jack always took something like this. In Daniel's gaze he saw sympathy, and compassion, and it was a calming balm to know the other members of his team supported his decisions in this matter.
"Hopefully one of these lessons will stick," Jack spoke quietly, an aside for Daniel and Teal'C more than Carter.
Author's Note: And the plot thickens. Thanks for reading! ~ Vi