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
Damn city. He'd never liked it here. Everywhere he looked he saw a stately veneer, all polished stone and expensive marble – but the inside was such a mess – no angles were true, no floors level – nothing like the projected image. Both the buildings and the people. Damn politicians. The young Marine Corporal who led them further and further into the bowels of the old mansion kept his posture rigid and true – more than could be said for the walls around them or the floors under their feet. How could it possibly be safe to be so far beneath the iconic fire hazard? And this thought from a man whose office was twenty floors below the surface of a mountain.
It was usually the situation room – used in the case of national emergencies – accessible both from the formal mansion above and the fallout bunkers and escape tunnels further below. Jack had been in this room many times in his career – with many different men taking the seat at the head of the table. During his covert ops' days, he'd been routinely called in when something somewhere in the world went violently wrong. Emphasis on 'violently'. He had been the man who could be called upon to deal with it – he had the tools – no matter the problem, Jack had a hammer in his personal tool belt to hit it with. And hit it hard. But most importantly, hit it silently. Although there had been occasions when he'd been called into a meeting in this room to find all the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President, and every other emergency muckety-muck sitting around the big table – most times it had just been him and whichever commander was chief at the time. Before he retired for the first time, just weeks before Charlie died, he'd been the presidents' personal muscle. He didn't miss it – or this old room with the wonky ceiling that he'd always been convinced was one ill step on the floor above from caving in. Jack glanced at the ceiling when President Rhodes stood to greet them and shake their hands – it was still wonky – great. Jack just hoped this day didn't see him with plaster pieces in his hair.
Once the greetings and formalities were out of the way and General Hammond and Jack had been seated on opposite sides of the table down near the foot, it was time to get on to business.
"General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill, I'm sure you are both aware that the IOA wants a greater say in how the Stargate is used," General Powell, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, started.
Hammond answered, "We are, sir," for both of them.
"One of their main arguments is they want someone 'qualified'," he raised his hands above his very decorated shoulders to bracket his thoughts on that. "They've been throwing out a lot of names – but, unfortunately, no one that made their list met our requirements of military experience – let alone field military experience. The SGC is, after all, for all intents and purposes, a forward operating area. And none of the few that came even remotely close were American – most weren't even men who could get a temporary worker's visa for this country – let alone access to the most secret base in military history." General Powell paused slightly to let those stakes sink in. "That is until, Colonel, they somehow got their hands on your recently updated background check."
"One of our primary concerns," Rhodes interrupted, "has been how the alien allies you've made over the years would view any changes the IOA or my administration tried to make."
"Yes," agreed the representative from the NID – whose name Jack had never cared to learn, "for some reason, unfathomable as it may be, one or two of them seem quite fond of you, O'Neill." It wasn't a compliment.
General Hammond started to reply, but Jack was faster. "Ya don't say?" Jack played up his childhood accent just to further rankle Mr. NID-suit-tie-no-morals-and-less-of-a-clue.
Several of those around the table didn't appreciate Jack's flippant tone – but several others, including the president, let out genuine chuckles.
"Many of those in the IOA," General Powell spoke sternly – bringing the meeting back on track, "now agree with these powerful allies. Your history of service in the DXS and the Air Force …"
"And the Army," the Army Chief of Staff injected.
"… is exactly what we need any commander of a forward operations area to have. Your additional, numerous, qualifications are a nice bonus to get the IOA on board."
"So, we've come up with a plan for restructuring how we will deal with all departments related to the Stargate, space travel, and aliens," President Rhodes took over when Powell was done catching them up. "I'd like to go through the plan and have you gentlemen with the experience in this, General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill," a nod toward them and a studious ignored huffing from the direction of Jack's NID friend, "help us tweak it to make the best use of all available resources while continuing to please our allies, and keeping, please the Lord, the IOA off our backs." There was a sentiment they could all genuinely agree on. "Let's get started. …"
Author's Note: Thanks for reading! ~ Vi