Confirming Carter Bk. 02 Daedalus Ch. 02

"I'm not going to defend the IOA. I'll just say that they have reasons to be afraid of her. Holding back information like her work on STM bridges, which I don't understand by the way, but people tell me is really cool, and really important, is a big one."

"She did the work on her own. Why should she share it if she doesn't want to?"

"How about she used research and resources that didn't belong to her to...wait." He sat his burger down. "I don't want to do this. Samantha Carter is my friend, I've hurt her over the years, but I didn't come here to make her the bad guy. So I'm not going to do this."

He turned around and walked out, and went across to the balcony.

"Remind me to never talk to your shrink again. Ever." O'Neill said as he came up to Sam and Tammy. "Can I just say I'm sorry, for everything, and get kind of a blanket 'it's okay, I forgive you'?" He said. "The list is too long, and I know I'll..."

"I forgive you." Sam said. "And it wasn't so bad, Jack. I knew what I was getting into, and I did it anyway. It's okay. You're here now, when we need you. Just like you always are. Thank you."

He looked down at their hands, and was smiling as he looked back up at them.

"You look happy Sam." He said. "I've seen you laugh, cry, smile, but I can't say I've ever seen you happy. You've done well here, you have people around you that love you, and that's what counts in the end."

He looked at Tammy. "Don't ever let go of her hand. You've been holding it since I met you, and I hope you're holding after I'm long gone."

"We hold each other's hand, Jack. I need her as much as she needs me. But I won't. And you're going to be with us for a long time, so don't talk like that." Tammy said. She reached out and took his hand. "You look like you could use a little too. Stay here with us, we don't have to talk if you don't want."

"Queen Samantha, huh?" He said. "It's got a nice ring to it."

"No, Col. Samantha Carter, Queen of Atlantis, is the official title. She earned the rank, she should wear it." Andi said as she came up. She held a plate out to O'Neill. "You forgot your burger, general."

"I think Sheppard and Caldwell are getting ready to fight." Ronin said as he came up.

"Told you." O'Neill said to Andi.

"John, Steven, would you come over here please?" Sam said lightly, not raising her voice.

They turned to look at her, then came over and stood in front of her.

"Is my Guardian of the Realm going to have to kick the shit out of my two senior military commanders?" She asked them.

"No, colonel." they said together, looking at the ground, squirming like a pair of little boys that had been caught doing something they shouldn't by their mother.

"If I hear about something like this happening again, I'll demote you both to page, and have you washing jumpers for a month."

"I didn't know you had that many jumpers." O'Neill said.

"They can wash the same one over and over. Would you like to join them?" She asked him.

"No ma'am."

"Dance with me." She said to Tammy as she walked away.

"Don't call her ma'am." Sheppard said. "She doesn't like it."

"It makes her feel old." Caldwell said.

"It does not!" Sam and Tammy said at the same time.

Interior-Col Sheppard's Suite

2210 Hours

"Nice place, John." O'Neill said. "You decorate it yourself?"

"No, It was like this when I moved in." Sheppard said, looking around. "I actually haven't moved in yet. Most of my stuff is still over in the Central Tower. I haven't had time to bring it all over. I'm gonna get my Johnny Cash poster framed, and put over there by the hall I think."

Sheppard led him over to a couch where Andi was sitting. Caldwell had his laptop open and was scrolling through documents. He looked up as Sheppard sat beside him.

"I'm mailing what I have to you and Andi, John. I already copied the intel package we got from Anderson, the special forces commander, onto my tablet so Jack can look through it while we talk. Anderson told me that he had orders to give that to you. So I think we can count the Americans as allies."

He looked over at O'Neill. "I wasn't told to surrender my ship, at least not in so many words. but the messages I received from the SGC made it plain that they wouldn't be upset about it. The IOA was a different story."

"You go ahead and do that, Steven." Sheppard said. "Jack...damn sir, calling you that is going to take some getting used to."

"Tell me about it." Caldwell muttered.

"Relax boys," O'Neill laughed. "I'm retired. Again. You can call me general, or Jack, it doesn't matter."

"Yes sir," Sheppard said. "We need information. We know the Apollo is coming, we just don't know when. We already have a plan in place, we just need to review it with the colonel, and get her approval. There's a few things we need to nail down before we can do that, but we'll be ready before Apollo gets here."

"What Andi and I need to know from you and Steven, is after the Apollo, what assets can they send at us? To our knowledge, Daedalus and Apollo are the only two active ships the IOA has...had. Whatever. We know that the General Hammond is twelve months from completion based on the last updates we received. But they can bring it off the line sooner, we're thinking six months at a minimum even if they work on it twenty-four seven."

"It's going to be longer than that. They're behind schedule." O'Neill said. "And you want to know what intergalactic ships they can beg, borrow, or steal? None. The Jaffa have half a dozen that were captured from the Goa'uld, but only two of those are operational last we heard. You can ask Teal'c about that."

He leaned back, stretching his arm over his head. "I've already spoken to Thor, and the Asgard won't get involved. They consider this an internal matter, kind of like a family squabble. And they're really fond of our girl. Thor said he might drop in to say hi once you get things worked out."

He turned to Samuels. "You might want to put him on the guest list. Sorry, I don't know his address."

Interior-Kitchen

2210 Hours

"Andi got Jack set up in a suite down on forty-one near Tammy. I think he's sacked out already." Sheppard said as he sat down. "Where is everyone? Steven is downstairs, Andi said she had a pipe with her name on it. I'm still not sure if I like our chief planner being a doper, but she seems to function well enough." He grinned. "You seen my better half?"

"She got a call from the Infirmary." Tammy said. "She took out of here about half an hour ago, and we haven't heard from her. Teal'c is down with Daniel and Vala. I think Teyla is down there too."

"Is she mad at me? She's been avoiding me all day. Even at dinner. She spent all her time with Vala and Teyla afterwards too."

"What did you get from Jack? We have anything to worry about?"

"No, not a thing." Sheppard said, shaking his head. "Except maybe a guilty conscience."

"How do you mean?" Tammy asked.

"We're leaving our homeworld undefended." he said. "They only had two operational starships. The Jaffa and the Lucien Alliance both have hundreds. So on the grand scale, I guess it doesn't make much difference I guess."

"I can see where you'd think that, John." Sam said. "But it's not us doing it. We're defending our homeworld. This one. And if push comes to shove, I'll go defend Earth, but I'm not giving Daedalus back, and if you're serious about taking Apollo, I'll keep it too."

"They don't have that much to worry about. The Lucien Alliance is the only real threat right now, and they're quiet at the moment." She said, putting her hands behind her head and leaning back in her chair.

"I agree, but I'm glad to hear you say we'd help them. O'Neill said the Asgard are going to sit this out. He said he spoke to Thor. They're looking at it like a family squabble."

"A family squabble? Thor is picking up too many human euphemisms." Carter laughed, leaning over and bumping shoulders with Tammy. "You'll like Thor, He's actually got a sense of humor, most of the Asgard don't."

"I just wish they'd wear pants." Sheppard said.

Interior-Bedroom

2350 Hours

"I want to do it with you." Tammy whispered into Sam's back.

"Couldn't you have said something earlier? We already fooled around twice today." Sam said, bringing her hand up and pressing it to her breast.

"No, I want to have a baby with you...at the same time, I mean. We could do it together."

Sam stiffened, then lifted Tammy's arm and rolled over so she was facing her.

"You'd do that? Do you really want a baby, or are you just trying to make it easier on me?"

"I want to do it with you. And yes, I want a baby." Tammy said. "He's going to need a little sister to protect, so he learns right. And that's how we're going to raise them, no matter what anyone else says."

"She's going to want more. When she has the fir..." Her head came up, and she stared at Tammy, her eyes wide.

"What?"

"I sent you down there. You were in the power room today with the ZPM's." Sam said. "Oh my god, I wasn't thinking, I was just spitting out orders and..."

"It's okay, Sam. I'm okay." Tammy said, pulling her closer. "I promise, nothing happened, I didn't feel a thing."

"You left the room after you got them put in? Like last time? You didn't stay and watch?"

"Yes, every time. I went down the hall just to be safe, I promise." Tammy told her, stroking her hair gently.

"Oh, thank god." Sam breathed. "We can't do that anymore, neither of us can go near there again. We'll have to send someone else and do it remotely from now on."

They lay quietly, holding each other in the dark.

"We're going to have to tell Jenn, probably tomorrow." Sam said. "You're catching up fast. You should already be wearing ear plugs, and you match me when we workout. I'm surprised no one has noticed."

"I've got them watching you, and I'm slacking off when we workout. Jenn has said something a couple times when I've worked out with her, but I just blew it off. Do you think she'll tell Andi?"

"No, if we ask her to keep it to herself, she will. She's gonna be pissed though. She may fire you." Sam said seriously.

"That's okay, my girlfriend is a local bigshot. She'll support me."

"I hope so. You want a little girl? That would be nice. I was an only child till I was ten, and hated it."

"I want two." Tammy said as she turned onto her back, cradling Carter in her arm. "You can just have one if you want, but I want two."

"We'll have to see, I never really liked kids. What if I don't like him?"

"You'll love him. You won't be able to help it." Tammy said, kissing her softly on the forehead. "You love me don't you?"

"That's easy." Sam said snuggling in and closing her eyes. "Let's go to sleep. I want to get up early and workout before breakfast."

They lay quietly, both drifting to sleep. Sam opened her eyes and looked over at Tammy.

"Do you really slack off when we workout?" She asked.

Tammy just smiled, and didn't answer.

(-)

That's all for Chapter Two. Please read Chapter Three for more of this story.

I hope you liked this episode. Please post a comment so I know if I'm the right track with this...