samandjack.net

Story Notes: PAIRING: none

SPOILERS: minor 'Fail Safe'

ARCHIVE: SJD: yes ,Carterfic: yes

Copyright by Blue Topaz, 2002


Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter were in Washington DC., attending another medal ceremony as a 'thank you' gesture from the US government once again, this time was for riding the asteroid through the Earth. Mind you, if they did not do just that, it would hit our beloved blue planet and have perished all the life on the face of this planet. So, Earth was once again a safe place to live, which was why Major Carter raised her eyebrow when they accidentally run to this man. The Colonel acted like there was a danger, which was worth his interest, and that, alone, spoke volume.

"Colonel." there was air of hostility in Colonel O'Neill's voice.

"Colonel." the man answered in similar fashion.

The Major knew straight away that they had issues. She should have leaved it alone, but her curiosity was piqued and she found it actually more interesting than the newest alien object that lay on her lab's desk. Only Kinsey and Apophis were worthy of this special 'attention' from her CO.

"Sir?" she tilted her head to face her CO, demanding an explanation.

He slowly turned his head around and gave her a look of death, he did not want this encounter to last any longer, but his 2IC's question meant that he had to endure this a little much longer. She presented him with the best blank expression that she could have mustered, "Colonel?" she repeated the demand.

"Major, this is Colonel Jack O'Neil, with one L," he lift his index finger to emphasised his point, "Colonel, this is Major Carter, my *current* second."

Sam mentally winced at that, she knew that she deserve it, but there was not way he could get rid of her, not even he wanted too. But then, he could always demote her position in the team and made Teal'c his second ... nah, it was to far fetch. So, this is the famous O'Neil with no sense of humor, huh? He *did* look like he was so stern, by-the-book kind of officer. So different compared to her Colonel, who could not help but throwing sarcastic remarks on every opportunity that he got.

"Colonel." She nodded in recognition of the man.

"Major." He also nodded briefly.

And then everything went awkward. Feeling responsible for this situation, she asked a simple question like a normal person would do, "So, Colonel, how do the two of you know each other?" she addressed the question to O'Neil.

Two Colonels shot angry glares towards her, but it was nothing that she could not handle. They must have had bad blood between them, but it was good to know that the two men were actually at her mercy. They had to act civil towards each other in the presence of a third party, it was a common practice everywhere. She still kept her blank look, as if she did not have a clue whatsoever. Sipping her drink, she batted her eyelids to the two men.

"It was a case of mistaken identity." Her CO answered in a warning tone to indicate that he did not want to go further into details.

But she was no stranger to threat as she faced it in daily basis, "Really? What happened?"

It took all her strength not to smirk in satisfaction at the look that she was given.

Jack caught a glimpse of his CO, "Ah, there's General Hammond. If you two would excuse me, I have got something to talk to him about. I believe that the Colonel here would love to do the honour of telling you the story." He did not wait for the replies, he *so* did not want to talk about how they know each other. It wasn't a story that he would want to share with anyone. He walked briskly in Hammond's direction, not wanting even for a second to slow down. Let O'Neil dealt with the Major, she gave him enough headache for the last 5 years. He deserved the break.

Coward, Sam muttered inside her brain while her face was still impassive. O'Neil had had an expression of utter disbelieve written all over his face at Jack's behaviour, his mouth hung open for a few second before he finally recovered, "I'm sorry Major, but it is not a story that I would like to remember."

She wanted to press her luck, but she didn't actually know the Colonel. So she let the matter go ... for now. Her own Colonel would not be shown the same compassion as this one, she had to know the story. "No sweat."

And then no one said anything, she sipped her drink once again. He just stood there, in a perfect soldier position, straight back, arms on his side, crisp dress blue. This man needed to loosen up a bit, she thought as she took a good look at him. He had brown hair and equally brown eyes like the Colonel, but he was a couple inch shorter - still taller than her though. He was good looking, she had to admit, but boring as Hell. Apparently, the Colonel was not joking when he described his 'counterpart'.

"So, where do you stationed?" she asked.

"Pentagon."

"Really? What project?"

"Development of military transportation."

A scientist? No wonder there was an extra edge on the way the Colonel treated him.

"Interesting."

"What about you?"

"Ahh, I'm in deep space radar telemetry."

"Oh. In Colorado Springs?"

"Yes."

And then the conversation ended up there. To overcome her discomfort, she traced the outer line of the punch glass that she was holding. The Colonel was a dead man when she could get her hands on him, he obviously knew that this guy was not a talker, and he left her alone with him. What happened to 'no one got left behind'?

O'Neil tried to break the silence, "Do you have something planned tonight?"

She was taken aback by his question. She had no plan, but she was a bit cautioned on what her answer would lead to. So, for the sake of convenience, she chose to lie.

"As a matter of fact, I do have a plan."

If he was disappointed, he hid it so well.

"Oh ... Okay."

He started to crawl under her skin. Colonel O'Neill wouldn't just be dead when this was over, there would be blood, there would be guts flying around, there would be pain, lots of pain. Of course those were just exaggerated mental pictures.

"Are you planning to visit DC again soon?"

Oh yeah, Colonel O'Neill would need reanimation after she finished with him.

She smiled apologetically, although obviously she was not feeling sorry, "I don't think so. Now, if you would excuse me, I need to find the Colonel."

Not wanting to wait for the reply, she turned around and made her getaway.

***

Jack was hovering around the refreshment table when someone called him, "Colonel." the tone was low and dangerous, and Jack knew the owner. He couldn't help but grin.

"Yes?" he turned around and was greeted by a murderous glare, which made him grin even more.

"Why did you do that for?" she hissed. There were no one else around them, therefore it was safe for her to use the tone.

"Did what?" he shrugged his shoulder and picked up a biscuit from the table.

"Leave me behind with *him*," her fingers were itched to point at O'Neil direction in an unladylike fashion. It was amazing how she grew more comfortable around him to actually think about such thing on the first place, but she actually enjoyed it. They established themselves more like a friends rather than comrades.

"I though you want to hear the story?" he took a bite off the biscuit.

"And did you honestly believe that he would tell me the story?" she snorted.

He finished digesting the crumbs on his mouth before he answered, "Of course not. But I though you could always use your charm to make him do it."

"What?" she asked incredulously.

"I have a full confidence in your ability." He munched the rest of the biscuit.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh ... sure you do, he *did* asked me out."

Jack merely raised his eyebrow, "He did? So, you said 'yes'?" his blood was racing with anger, his alpha-male ego was stirred, but years of practice equipped him with a perfect facade.

She looked at him in what that can only be called annoyance, "Of course I said yes. I'll be glad to spend a night with a guy whom, may I say borrowing your own word, have no sense of humour? Yeah right, in your dream, flyboy."

He couldn't help but grin, "But Carter, imagine this, Sam Carter and Jack O'Neil on a date. The General would have a heart attack if he ever heard about that."

She gave him an exhausted look, "You know, Sir. The way you say it almost makes me think that you want me to go out with him."

"No, no, no. Don't get me wrong Carter. It's just that the idea was quite amusing."

"Sure it does. Come on, mock me all you like. I'll just go over there and say 'yes' to him." she muttered, put her glass on the table and turned around to leave her CO behind. Sometimes, she just needed to take the most drastic measure available to make him react. And react he did. He caught her arm, effectively stopping her from leaving.

She turned around and faced him, "Colonel? Is there something that you want to say?"

His face gave nothing away, he had to say something - preferably sarcastic, but anything would do for now - so he opened his mouth, "Ah ... do you want to hear the story?" so much for sarcasm there.

There was a smug look on her face, "Since you are offering, I'd love to."

That was when he realised, his eyebrows were drawn closer, "You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

Her eyelashes were once more fluttered, "I don't know what you're talking about, " and then just purely for the effect, she added, "Sir."

His eyes were narrowed, "Come on Major, you've got me. You might as well be honest and do the gloating routine. It's nothing that I can't handle."

"Oh, I don't know Sir. Taking pride on your expense is not really my style."

He quipped, "I wonder since when."

"A, a, a. You cannot bait me with that Sir. I want the story, please. I can do the gloating later on if you insist." She smiled sweetly, expecting her reward for being so dubious.

He sighed, "Okay, but I must warn you that I would not tolerate such deception next time."

"Whatever you say, Sir. Can I have the story now?"

"Major, you can not ..."

"The story, Sir?"

"Major, it's highly ..."

"You promised."

"Carter."

"Colonel?"

"What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing."

"Then why ..."

"Sir, you know that there is no way I'm going to let this go."

"I could order you."

"Try me."

"Okay ... okay. Jeez, I'll tell you."

She grinned in victory, "So ... tell."

He backed away a bit, praying that the President would arrive soon and therefore saving him from her. Or maybe his little buddy Thor would beam him up to save their grey alien butts once again, he would even go so 'low' as expecting the Tok'ra to showed up on the base. He waited for two seconds, but nothing happened, his Major was still standing there with expectation, where were all the bad timing interruptions when he needed them?

"Sir?" she pressed.

He relented, "Okay, okay. We were on the same base when we were both Captains."

"And?"

"Well, naturally ... when I knew that there was a guy with the same name, same rank as mine, I did a little digging."

"And?"

He shifted uncomfortably, "And I use it to my advantage."

"What kind of advantage?"

He searched his brain on how to break the information to her gently, "You know ... pursuing my interest."

She didn't buy it. "What would this interest be?"

"Uhm ... making 'new friends'?"

"What kind of friends?"

He had absolutely no idea on how this story-telling had turned into an interrogation, "Err ... female attractive kind of friend?"

She was grinning, "Wow Colonel, I never though that you were so insecure about yourself."

He was dumb folded, "Insecure? Why would I be insecure?"

The Major frowned, "Weren't you using his attributes to ... make friends?" she added with a little smile.

"Oh, no, no. Nothing like that."

"What then?"

"Well ... I kind of used him as my scapegoat."

"Scapegoat?"

"Yeah, if my new ... friend was getting too serious with our ... friendship, while I just still want to be in not so serious friendship stage, I gave this particular friend his phone number." He fumbled a bit with his speech.

She was giggling at this point, "You sure know how to break a wo ... friend's heart, Sir."

He was relief to see that she found the whole thing hilarious, and then he found himself laughing at the memory as well, "God, I missed the old time. I had so much fun back then."

"Are you saying you don't have enough fun with us, Sir?" she teased him.

"Well, you have to admit Carter, it's a different kind of fun." He looked at her, making her blushed, fully aware of what his idea of 'fun' was.

She cleared her throat, "Still Sir, you haven't told me when the two of you first meet."

"Ah ... you know, it was a bit complicated."

"I'm the mistress of complicated, Sir."

He looked at her from the top to the bottom, and then he muttered, "Oh yeah, how can I forget that."

Knowing him quite well, she took it as a compliment, "So."

"So?"

If she was frustrated, she never showed it, "How the two of you meet?"

"Oh, that?"

"Yes, that."

"Uhm ... we met in General Riley's office."

"General Owen Riley?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"And what?"

Her brain worked like it never worked before, "Okay, wrong question. Why were you two in the General's office in the first place?"

"He called us."

"Any reason why?"

"Uh ... a little problem with his daughter."

"Care to elaborate the tale, Sir?"

"No." He said a little bit too quick. He told the story, granted it was not the whole thing, but it was enough to fulfil his promised.

"Oh, alright. I'll just ask her next time I see her then." She just shrugged her shoulder, knowing quite well that she could not get anything more from him.

"Huh? Who's 'her'?" he was having a sinking feeling.

"Annie Riley, the General's only daughter of course." Just her luck that she knew her, she would get the information from Annie later on.

"You know her?"

"Of course I do. The General was one of Dad's friend, I know Annie quite well."

"Err ... Carter."

"Yes, Sir?"

He searched her face, praying to every God that he had known - false and real - that she was joking. But he knew her so well that he wished he didn't now. She knew Annie, the knowledge was quite disturbing - very close to frightening.

An Airman approached them. "Colonel, Major," he said, breaking the Colonel's scrutinised gaze from the Major.

"Yes?" the Colonel was momentarily distracted.

"The President has arrived. Please prepare yourself for the ceremony," the Airman said.

"Yes, of course." The Major answered him, "Let's go Sir. Wouldn't want to keep the President waiting now, would we?" as soon as the words came out from her mouth, she gave him one of that smile.

The smile that he had only one word to describe it: evil.

***

Jack cursed. How could he forget that she was a General's daughter as well. He should've learnt on how to keep his mouth shut. He shouldn't have mentioned the name of the General.

"Colonel." before their last conversation, he would've loved to hear that voice anytime. Now, he just wished that she would go away - in the nicest possible way of course. They went back from Washington the next day after the ceremony and he had been avoiding her ever since. But his lady luck seemed to abandon him lately and she managed to found him in the commissary.

"Jack." Daniel's voice. At least, she wouldn't embarrass him in front of Daniel now ... would she?

"Hi guys." He said absentmindedly while turning his body around to greet them. His spoon was hanging on the air, full of oatmeal and ready to be scooped inside his mouth.

They walked around him and took a seat just right in front of him. Jack lost his appetite already at the sight of his Major, for a very reasonable reason. He put his spoon back to the bowl.

"Are you alright?" Daniel was confused by his action.

Sam managed to quip before Jack could answer the question, "He just nervous Daniel. Nothing to be worried about."

Daniel turned his attention at her, "How do you know that?"

Jack cut her from whatever answer that she had, "I'm not nervous, Carter. I just had a trouble sleeping."

Her lip twitched, "Are you sure, Sir? Because I know that a certain brunette, who happened to be a General's daughter, was planning to come here and visit me for the weekend." She proceeded with taking a sandwich from her tray and took a bite.

Jack's eyes were bulged while Daniel was puzzled. Looking at the calm exterior from Sam and the near heart attack reaction from Jack, Daniel leaned towards Jack and asked, "Is there something that I missed?"

Jack stood as quickly as possible, "Major, can I have a word with you in private?"

She abandoned the rest of her lunch and stood up as well, looking too pleased with herself, "Of course you can, Sir."

And then, they both left and Daniel was sitting alone in the commissary, still didn't have a clue of what was going on. Well, he guessed that Sam found some skeleton on Jack's closet. And from Jack's reaction, it must be a very big skeleton. Intriguing.

***

"What was that all about?" Jack snapped as soon as the door of his office was closed.

She didn't smile, but her eyes were dancing with excitement, "Well Sir, I got in touch with Annie Riley yesterday. She was so thrilled when I told her that my CO is a man with the name Jack O'Neill."

They were standing next to each other, Jack with his back against the door while Sam just a couple steps away from him. He heaved a heavy sigh, "And naturally you invite her over."

She let out an indignant snort, "I wouldn't do such a thing, Sir. I though you know me better than that."

He rested his back against the door, arms crossed, "Really? Then how did she end up coming over here on the weekend then?"

"I told her that I need a friend for your barbeque party this Saturday, she gladly offered her company. I didn't have the heart to say no, Sir. So, technically, she invited herself."

He closed his eyes and lowered his head, how could he forget that she was a sneaky and brainy woman. There was not point in having this conversation, she had been prepared.

"Of course, if you didn't feel comfortable with it ... I could always tell her that we have an unscheduled mission, Sir. So the barbeque party was off and there was no point of her coming all the way to Colorado since we won't be here after all." She shrugged her shoulder slightly.

He knew where it was leading, his eyes never leaving her, "And all I have to do is tell you the tale, isn't it?"

She put her hands on her pocket and grinned, "I know the Air Force didn't make you a Colonel only because of your wit, Sir."

He shakes his head in defeat, but he grinned as well, "Of course not, my good looks played quite an important role as well."

"Ah ... of course."

He walked around her and took a seat in his own chair, "Take a seat, Carter. It's a long story."

She obediently followed his order, sitting on the chair right in front of him. His desk was the only obstacle between them. He took a pen and playing with it for a while, twirling it between his fingers. He licked his lips. This was going to be difficult. But he might as well get it over and done with. So, he started to speak, "Okay ... once upon a time ..."

***

The shady bar was crowded with people, a small group of Air Force officers were hanging around there and some of them were already inebriated, including the young Jack O'Neill. He was in the corner of the bar, making out with one of his new female attractive kind of friend when a group of another Air Force officers came in. Lt. Ferretti was still quite sober at that crucial moment, he recognised one of the men in that group. They chose the bar because it wasn't an average Air Force bar, he did not expect to see them there.

"Oh, shit." He cursed. Ferretti knew that trouble was inevitable. Being a good friend, he quickly abandoned his pool game and went to where Jack was.

"Jack, " he pulled Jack's jacket and tried - and failed miserable because of the lack of cooperation - to entangled him from the girl.

"What?" Jack looked up irritably while the girl still doing her 'things'.

"We got to go. Now!" Ferretti was near panicking.

"Why? I'm having a good time here." Drunk and aroused Jack was whining, he didn't want to go.

Ferretti insisted, still pulling his jacket, "Jack, come on. Trust me. We have to go."

"Give me one good reason why." Jack muttered and turned his attention back to the girl.

Ferretti smiled at his friend behaviour, "Because Jack my man, look who's here." He put his hands on both sides of Jack's face and forced him to look at the direction of the newcomers.

Jack involuntarily focused his attention to the crowd. Once his vision was cleared, his eyes were wide opened, "Oh, shit."

Ferretti could only shook his head, "That was exactly what I said."

***

"Who was it?"

Jack sent his 2IC a dirty look, "It's rude to interrupt a story, you know."

Sam grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, Sir. But I couldn't help myself."

"It's okay. Anyway, to answer you question, it was Colonel Brown, the General's sidekick."

She was frowning at this, "Why on Earth ..." but then something sprung to her mind, she eyed him carefully, "unless the girl you were with was ..."

He put his hands on the back of his head, "Yes, Major. You guessed correct. I was with Annie that night."

"So, what did you do after that?"

"Well, Ferretti and I sneaked away from the bar."

"What about Annie?"

"I left her."

"Just like that?"

"What else could I do?"

She though about it for a while, "Good point. But Sir, I thought you know better than getting involved with a General's daughter."

"Well, they always have that extra something."

"They?"

He quickly changed the topic, "Anyway, the Colonel saw enough to report her behaviour that night to the General."

Sam winced in sympathy for Annie, "Auch. Poor Annie."

Jack sighed, "Yeah, auch. If I'm not mistaken, she got quite an earful about that one."

"Yeah, General Riley is very overprotective towards her. So, what happened next?"

"Well, the General clearly wasn't a happy camper when he found out. He really wanted - very close to desperate in fact - to teach the man who was messing with his little girl a lesson, but Annie wasn't being cooperative. So, he did his own investigation and all that he could come out with was the name Jack O'Neill and ..."

"... and there was 2 Jack O'Neills in the base." She finished his sentence.

Jack smiled, "I know the Air Force didn't make you a Major only because of your manipulative nature, Carter."

She grinned, "Of course not, Sir."

"Anyway, we were called to the General's office together."

"And?"

"And that was when the party started."

***

"Captains," General Riley looked at the two officers standing in front of him. One of them was stupid enough to mess with his daughter, he just had to find out which one, "let me make it brief. Now, which one of you *was* dating my daughter?"

The two Captains stood in silence. And when the silence became unbearable, Jack opened his mouth, "May I asked why you are asking us the question, Sir?"

"Because a Jack O'Neill was dating my daughter, I just don't know which one."

O'Neil was confused, "A Jack O'Neill, Sir?"

The General was fuming, "You heard me."

Jack was playing innocent, "It wasn't me, Sir." He really wasn't *dating* Annie, he was just *going out* with her occasionally. See, he wasn't lying.

O'Neil was echoing his statement, "It wasn't me either, Sir."

The General's eyes were full of fire of hate, but he didn't know where to direct it, "Don't take me for a fool. I know one of you is guilty."

Jack was very tempted to asked how could he be guilty on this matter, but he wisely held his tongue. Uunfortunately, O'Neil was not, "Guilty, Sir?"

Jack could think of a thousand colourful words to described this man stupidity, he was supposed to have a higher IQ than him for crying out loud. Couldn't his brain notify him that asking that kind of question can only make the General more angry?

And his fear was coming true, the General shouted right in front of O'Neil, "Yes, Captain. She was only a minor. I will find out which one of you is responsible and kick your sorry little ass from the Air Force faster than you can say mama."

Jack was visibly shocked, Annie was a minor? She said she was 19, damn, he was in a tight spot here. But they hadn't actually gone that far with her yet, so, he was safe. From the law, not from a very pissed father.

Jack took a risk to glance at O'Neil. He was a little bit shaken by the General's outburst, but he was impassive.

"Permission to speak freely, Sir." O'Neil requested.

The General glared at him, "Granted."

"Why don't you ask your daughter to identify which Jack O'Neill she was dating?"

Jack didn't know whether to cheer or no, O'Neil was digging his own grave.

"Well, if she's willing to do that I would not have to do all this now, don't I?" the sarcasm was hard to miss.

And with that, O'Neil kept his mouth shut.

***

"So?"

"So?"

"What did the General do next?" Sam was wrapped up in his story.

Jack raised his eyebrow lazily, "Well, because he couldn't prove which O'Neill was going out with his daughter, he let us go. However life was difficult for us in that base with him as the General."

"He never found out?"

"Never."

"And the hostility between you and the other O'Neil was because of this?"

"Yes. He basically blamed me for everything. His career was kinda stuck for a while because of that. Oh yeah, and he found out about the scapegoat thingie later on."

"Well, you were responsible for that, Sir." She pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess I did. Not that I will admit it to him anyway."

"But I think you left something out, Sir."

"Why?"

"You treat him like you treat Kinsey and even Apophis, so there must be something else."

"There is no hiding from you, isn't it?"

She just smiled at his comment.

Jack had a wondering look when he said, "Carter, you know I hate scientist, right?"

"Yeah."

"He was the reason why."

"Huh?"

"General Riley didn't just let us go like that. He locked us up in a room for a few hours."

***

Jack stared at the boring white wall. His only company, i.e. Jack O'Neil was sitting in front of him, staring at him in an accusing glare. The room was a standard interrogation room, one side of it was decorated with a large mirror, where Jack knew for certain that the General was standing on the other side. Two chairs facing each other with a table between them.

"You did it, didn't you?" O'Neil broke the dead silence.

Jack turned his gaze to the other man, "Sorry to disappoint you man, but it wasn't me." and then a fruit fly caught his attention. He followed its movement with an intense concentration.

"It has to be you, because I know I didn't do it." O'Neil repeated his allegation.

Not letting go his eyes from the fruit fly, he defended himself, "Well, no thief will admit that he steal."

"What is that suppose to mean?" O'Neil voice was rising, he was angry.

The object of his attention was flying under the table now, Jack sighed, he had just lost his only source of entertainment.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" O'Neil said once again.

Jack stared at the man, "No, because there was no point."O'Neil was ready to explode when Jack continued, "Look, the General locked us here because he wanted us to turn against each other. If he found nothing, he will let us go."

O'Neil began to see his point and for the second time in that day, he shut his mouth.

***

Sam was thinking, "I didn't see the connection Sir."

"Connection?"

"Yeah, why do you hate scientist just because you were locked up with one for a few hours? And the conversation was not that much either."

Jack let out a guilty expression, "Ah, that was because I gave you the family-friendly version."

"Sir?"

"Let's just said that there were a lot of name callings and hard feelings."

"Like what?"

"Well, he used 'useless, dumbass, moron' while I used 'your brain cells function is to think, use it, you nit."

"Ah, let me guess, those were just for starter, am I right?"

"Yeah, I mean he basically pick on me because I'm no scientist. So from that moment, when I see a scientist, I see him."

"Even me, Sir?" she asked incredulously.

Jack needed some time before answering her question, "I had to admit, even you Carter. Not anymore though. But blamed it on my prejudice."

She laughed softly, "Prejudice, huh? That's a big word Sir, coming out from you."

He actually managed to look indignant, "Oy."

"Sorry."

"Anyway, as I said, it was my prejudice."

"Aye, aye, Colonel."

He smiled despite the mocking nature of her last words, "So, Carter. Ready to inform your friend Annie about our unfortunate unscheduled mission?"

"There was no need to do that, Sir."

She was very laid back, something was wrong, Jack's eyes scanned hers, "Carter, tell me that you didn't forget our agreement."

"Of course not, Sir. But I don't need to call her."

"Why?" he asked wearily.

She crossed her legs and put her hands on her knee, "Because Sir, she phoned me up this morning, to tell me that she could not make it this weekend. Her sister-in-law had just given birth."

Jack stared at the woman in front of him, his jaw was dropped.

Smilling devilishly at her 'masterpiece', she added, "But she's counting on a rain check."



End Notes: Feedback would be very much welcomed.

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