Title: Control

Author: Wendy McPhee

Email: wendy.mcphee@optusnet.com.au

Category: POV, double drabble for "Silence"

Content Warnings: None

Season: Eight

Spoilers: Up to Affinity before Covenant

Rating: G

Summary: Jack's thoughts about recent events

Status: Complete

Disclaimer: Don't own them, wish I did, but never will. No copyright infringement is intended. Copyright C 2004 Wendy McPhee

Archive: Jack and Sam's Pad, Jackfic, SJD

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Su Freund for all her help, encouragement and beta skills.

Control

Jack didn't know why he had come to this place. But it was a sanctuary of sorts and he needed to feel control.

That's a joke, he thought, how can I convince anybody that I have a handle on this?

Sitting there quietly, lost in his thoughts, he suddenly realised that the noise level was increasing disproportionately to the number of personnel in the mess hall.

He was a General now, for crying out loud, and he'd been in much tougher situations than this, hadn't he?

He had to put a stop to all this talk, but it was just so. embarrassing.

He wondered what they knew, if they knew. But, if he was honest with himself, he could see it in their eyes, when anyone actually dared to meet his.

He stood and slowly turned towards the door with forty sets of eyes trained on him when she walked in. Chatting animatedly with Daniel and Teal'c, she didn't see him at first.

Taking the lead, Jack marched up to Sam and, with a monumental effort, smiled broadly, giving her a big hug and warmly congratulating her on her engagement to Pete Shanahan.

Everyone was watching.

The silence was deafening.