"Come in and sit down Jack" Hammond said in response to the quick raps on his doorframe.
He heard the door close and a chair being pulled from the side of the room to face his own, he looked up from the report he had been reading with a distinctive frown.
"It took some serious work to cover up this debacle Jack" he said to a weary looking O'Neill.
"We are grateful General." He replied with sincerity and the slightest tinge of something Hammond couldn't identify.
"I'd say you owe me one, but maybe we should call it even?" Hammond offered with the hint of a smile that held only the briefest element of foreboding.
"I need a favour General." O'Neill replied. He looked down briefly and Hammond was reminded of the moment just before his young daughter, proud and brave and filled with an acute sense of loss had informed him that by the time she was nineteen she would be a mother.
He leaned forward and let his hands rest on the table, just as he had done then.
"Go on."
"I need you to fix it so that Carter can tell Shanahan about the programme."
Hammond was sitting somewhere between surprised and not so very. He liked to think he knew him.
"It would take a bit of work..."
"But you could do it?"
"Yes."
O'Neill nodded and stood up to return his chair to it's place against the wall. Before he reached the door, he stopped and half- turned to Hammond, so that he looked like he was talking to the wall.
"Sir, I would appreciate it if you didn't tell Carter that I suggested this."
For a split second as Hammond watched him turn the door handle, time seemed to slow and he had perfect clarity. Like, for the shortest possible time a greater power had bestowed on him the ability to comprehend everything and for what seemed an inordinate time and no time at all, he understood.
Later, the knowledge forgotten, he was simply left with a memory of the clarity and the distinct feeling that this was something that had to be done.
Story Notes: Feedback: I haven't eaten in oooooh about six hours… zippy_giggleheiney@hotmail.com
A/N: Thought the `vision' O' Neill in `Grace' wasn't so far off the mark. Sorry about the lack of Beta, but I know no one who would willingly read Stargate fic and so your stuck with my sorry excuse for grammar.
A/N: Thought the `vision' O' Neill in `Grace' wasn't so far off the mark. Sorry about the lack of Beta, but I know no one who would willingly read Stargate fic and so your stuck with my sorry excuse for grammar.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]