12:00 p.m., the same day…

The shrill ring of the phone cut through the conversation. Jack closed his mouth and gave Sam a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder as she answered it.
"Carter here…" She paused as Denise spoke, nodding her head for a while. Suddenly, she cut across Denise's conversation, launching into the pre-prepared speech that Jack had planned.
"Denise, dear, I think that we're going to have to have a little meeting about this. Frankly, I'm not sure that you've been able to keep track of those photos for all this time, and then it's just a matter of your word against mine. It would probably save time if we set up the meeting with enough senior ranks for a court-marshal, that way we can get this all over and done with. I'll leave it up to you to break it to the general in command, shall I?" Sam smiled after a few seconds, hanging up the receiver and hugging Jack fiercely.
"We did it, Jack… She's going to tell the general ASAP. She honestly thinks that she can get me to bend, or at least get me fired. We're gonna have her guts for garters! By the time we're done, she won't have a reputation to speak of, and be transferred indefinitely to the most miserable post the US Air Force can find!" Jack grinned and spun with the major in his arms. Putting his hands on her waist, he lifted her up, turning. Stopping the spin, he let her slide down until her face was just above his. Jack threw her an impish grin. Tilting his head back slightly, he lightly brushed his lips across Sam's. Without hesitation, she deepened the kiss slowly, one of her hands snaking around the base of his neck, pulling him in close as her tongue flickered across his lips. Jack opened his lips, capturing the tip of her tongue, and drawing a small circle on it with the tip of his own. Deeper they went, exploring each other's mouth, totally focused. When the ringing of the phone finally penetrated their concentrations, Jack sat down on the lounge, pulling Sam onto his lap as she reached out and answered the phone. Slightly dizzy and breathing heavily, Sam spoke.
"Carter here…" Jack smiled happily as a delicate kiss to Sam's jaw-line caused her to shudder and throw him a smoky glare.
"Yessir. When will it be?" She slipped one hand under the edge of Jack's T-shirt, curling her fingers through the trail of hair at his belly button. Smothering a happy growl, Jack silently promised that Sam would pay for that, when they were alone once more. Sam waited, listening, then mouthed to Jack,
"Four days." Speaking once more to the person on the other end of the line, she answered.
"Thank you, general. We'll be ready when the time comes. Goodbye sir." She hung up, turning back once more to the gorgeous colonel sitting under her, her mind already buzzing with many pleasant ways to pass a whole four days waiting…

Four days later, Briefing Room, SGC…

The room was buzzing with conversation. Seated at the top end was the general, and several other high ranking officers from the air force, army, and navy. On one side sat Sam, Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c (wearing one of Jack's baseball caps), the latter two having been given an edited version a few days ago. Standing behind Sam and Jack were two civilian lawyers, both ex-black ops, and old friends of the colonel. Opposite them was a single chair, waiting to be filled by the plaintiff, Denise.
An airman came in from the main corridor, escorting a woman in dress blues. Her short brown hair framing a soft oval face and brown eyes, she drew their attention, but not for her physical attractions. She entered the room and saluted the brass at the end of the table, glancing around the room, noting the lowered blast doors concealing anything in the rooms beyond.
"Take a seat, sergeant Walker." Denise sat down at her chair, throwing Sam a confident grin. Before she could speak, the general continued.
"Now, it seems as though we have a bit of a difficult position here, people. Sergeant Walker here has brought some charges against major Carter, a valued officer in my chain of command. In light of the nature of the charges, I have minutely examined the service record of both women involved, and both have been extraordinary. As you all know, major Carter has spent the last four years working in a top-secret military research Centre, performing work of the highest calibre. Sergeant Walker has spent the same time working in combat operations, flying in both the Kuwaiti and Bosnian campaigns, earning bravery commendations in both arenas.
Only a week ago, sergeant Walker put in an application for transfer to the same research facility that major Carter currently works at. Four days ago, she brought misconduct charges against the major, and I felt that the matter was important enough to have a preliminary hearing." He faced Denise again. "Sergeant Walker, can you tell us the nature of the alleged misconduct's please?"
Denise nodded, and pulled out some old photos, and handed them to the general. He glanced at them, and then passed the over to the other men seated near him.
"I'm assuming the blonde girl in these is the major?"
"Yessir. In clear breach of military regulations, sir." One of the lawyers standing behind Jack examined the photos and asked,
"You wouldn't have any idea how old the picture are, would you?" Denise appeared to think for a moment.
"About fifteen years or so, at a guess." On cue, one of the men next the general Hammond responded.
"How exactly did you come by these pictures, sergeant Walker?" Denise stammered, unprepared for the question. Before she could respond, her line of thought was interrupted again.
"They're hardly the sort of thing that one would leave lying around the house for just anyone to pick up." One of the other men came in right on the end of the sentence.
"How old would you guess the major to have been at that point?"
"A-almost sixteen, I guess…" Denise was off balance, wondering where the discussion seemed to be headed, since so far they hadn't actually asked major Carter anything.
"That seems to be a fairly well educated guess, sergeant Walker. Did you know the major back then?"
"Um, yes…I saw her at school, she went to the same school as I did for a term."
"Were you close friends?"
"Not really…I said hello to her in the hall a few times."
"Major Carter says otherwise, sergeant."
"Well, maybe I helped her out once or twice…what has this got to do with anything?"
"we're just trying to establish the background information, sergeant. So the major was almost sixteen, and you were?"
"Nearly eighteen, sir."
"So, did you have any knowledge of what, or why the major would be doing these things?" He indicated the pictures.
"None at all sir…my family brought me up to see such things as disgusting and unnatural."
"Is that so, sergeant? I understand that the major and her father were transferred out of the area at the end of the term, and you haven't seen or contacted her since?"
"That is true, sir."
"So what prompted you to keep the photos? If you were as disgusted as you say you were, why didn't you just burn the pictures and be done with it? After all, you weren't really friendly with the major, and she'd moved away."
"I…I don't really know sir."
"So, just out of habit, you've kept a pair of faded pictures of a school acquaintance, for fifteen years?"
"Um, yessir…" The man sat back, allowing one of the others to speak.
"I understand that you have just put in for a transfer to the place where major Carter is currently operating?"
"Yessir…"
"And did you know at the time you requested the transfer that the major was working there?"
"No, sir."
"That's strange, because here," He pulled out an official log file. "We have a request for personnel listings for the research Centre, and it has your name next to it. Is this your signature, sergeant?" he slid the form over to Denise, who looked at it, her face going white. In a quiet voice, she responded.
"It seems to be sir…"
"I'll ask again, sergeant. Did you have any idea that the major was working there when you requested transfer?" Denise was silent for a second, her mind whirring.
"I saw the name, sir, and it seemed familiar, but I didn't know it was the same Sam Carter that I knew in school."
"Moving on from that for the moment. Do you know if the major was aware of these photographs?"
"I don't know sir… I'd assume so, if she had them taken."
"And do you know who the other girl in the pictures is?"
"No sir."
"That's strange… She looks a bit similar to you…" Sam cut in at that point, angrily.
"That's because it was her, sir, and she knows it!" General Hammond raised his eyebrows and asked,
"So what can you tell us about this major?" Sam sighed, and began the tale again.
"I was almost sixteen, as Denise so accurately 'guessed'. I had had some problems recently with my boyfriend, I won't bore you all with the details. Anyway, I invited her over, and she brought a chocolate mud cake, seasoned with 'cure all herbs', which I didn't really understand at that point. After four or five slices of the cake, things seemed a lot better. To put it bluntly, I was stoned off my nut. I passed out shortly after, and when I woke up, I found a note, and a copy of the pictures stuck to the dresser. The note said basically that Denise would need a favour at some point, and that the pictures were an 'insurance policy' if I felt like not giving her help. She called me a few days ago, wanting my help in transferring to the Space Command Centre, located under NORAD. " Denise's jaw was open, quite obviously not expecting a full 'confession' from the major. The general looked over at Denise.
"Is this true, sergeant?" Denise stammered, trying to come up with a coherent response. After ten seconds or so the general continued.
"I think we've heard all we need to from major Carter. It was clearly done in a moment of emotional stress, and under the influence of drugs, not of her own volition. What do you think, gentlemen?" He glanced at the other men at his end of the table. A unanimous group of nods followed, and he addressed sg-1.
"Major Carter, you are cleared of all of the charges. You may return to your downtime when you see fit. There will be a full enquiry into this matter, but you won't be in the defendant's seat." He threw a glare at Denise. "You will be informed of the result of the enquiry as soon as it is reached." The brass stood up and saluted as the major and the rest of sg-1 made their way out of the room.
Outside, Sam spun around to Jack, pulling him into a tight hug.
"We did it, Jack!" Oblivious to the others. She tipped her head back and kissed him soundly. Blushing furiously, but still grinning, Daniel led Teal'c down the hall away from the otherwise occupied couple.
None of them saw the flicker of a shiny, bald head as it turned away from hall, a satisfied grin on the general's face.

One week later, the general's office, SGC…


Sam and Jack stood outside the door to the general's office, not really knowing what to expect, wondering whether or not the general had found out about certain 'extra curricular' activities he and the major had been working on. Jack knocked, bracing himself for the worst.
"Enter…" They pushed the door open and went in. The general waved them into the pair of seats in front of his desk.
"Now I guess that both of you are wondering why I have called you both here." Seeing their nods, he went on. "I have just received a report that sergeant Denise Walker has been transferred to the office of 'counter intelligence officer' to the island of Matago, a small island in the northern Atlantic. I've been told that the local population is just under fifty or so, and the average temperature is less than zero for most of the year. I just thought you both would want to know." He smiled at the pair in front of him, happy for more than one reason. Sam and Jack grinned right back at the general. Waving his assent for them to depart, he opened the drawer to his desk, removing a small roll of paper. As they turned to go, he handed it to Jack, saying,
"I believe this will be of some use, colonel. Best of luck with it you two." He sat back in his chair, smiling smugly as they left, thinking,
I may be getting older, but not so old that I can't see what's plainly obvious to anyone with eyes…
Jack opened the roll of paper, quickly scanning the contents. He grinned like a ten year old at Christmas when he got to the end of the document. He tucked it into his jacket pocket and grabbed Sam by the hand as he led her towards the elevator, saying to himself,
"The crafty old devil! I guess I owe him a bunch for this though…" Fending off Sam's questions until they were above ground once more, he silenced her queries with an intense kiss. Finally surfacing for air, Sam guiltily glanced around to see if anyone had seen them.
"Jack, I thought we agreed not to do that in public…" She blushed as some airmen came out of the tunnel mouth, waving cheerfully at them. Jack grinned and handed her the paper. Sam frowned and began to read it aloud.

Amendment to Air Force regulation number AF-I26-2909: Previously, this regulation prohibited the non-professional involvement between two people in the same chain of command. Under advisement, this has been altered to read 'members of the opposite sex in the same chain of command are allowed to maintain an out-of-hours, off base relationship, given the permission of the highest ranking officer in the command, and given that it will in no way affect the working relationship.' Amendment effective immediately.

Jack, it's signed by the JCS, and a personal note from the general, saying 'Best wishes, hope it brings you both lasting happiness. Take another 48 hours downtime, I'm sure you'll find something to do. George." Sam glanced down, making sure that they both were standing on the off-base side of the yellow line running across the road, and proceeded to give the colonel a serious out of hours 'relationshipping'…

Epilogue:


Janet knocked on the general's door.
"Enter…" The doctor opened the door and poked her head inside the office.
"Excuse me sir, but I was looking for major Carter. Do you know where she is?" Hammond grinned, glancing at his watch. When he looked up at the doctor once more, he said,
"If I were you, I'd look about, oh, a foot on the far side of the 'off base' line on the surface." As the doctor was leaving, he added, "Oh, if you see sergeant Siler on the way up, you can tell him that he owes me fifty, he'll know what I mean."

And they all lived happily ever after, except for Mr Smarmy-Spangly-Tights-I-Must-Have-No-Fashion-Sense Narim, (who I haven't mentioned so far, because he makes my stomach want to hurl) who was killed in a nasty accident involving an unlikely miscalculation between Stargates, flipping him into a black hole. Oops, oh well, nobody will miss him much, if at all. For anyone who cares, his last words were: "Oh bugger! I'll kill that cat…"

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