"Jack." The voice was stern. "My office, now."

Jack O'Neill looked up at the General, surprised. "Ah, yes Sir."

Catching his team's eye he shrugged. "I'll meet up with you guys later." He said as he turned back into the briefing room. He walked into General Hammond's office, desperately wracking his brain for what he could have done this time. He couldn't think of anything. Sighing, he watched the General sit down behind his desk, rigid.

"Anything you want to tell me about, Colonel?" He asked his 2IC, angrily. Without giving Jack time to answer he continued.

"I've trusted you, Jack. I've kept your feelings quiet, and I've allowed you to remain on SG-1, *against* my better judgement. I *trusted* you to remain professional, and that includes on your downtime." His face was red, as he yelled at the Colonel. Jack was shocked.

"With all due respect, General, what are you talking about?!"

General Hammond had fire in his eyes as he leaned over his desk.

"I'm talking about this picture." He hissed as he pushed an envelope toward the younger man. Jack opened it, and sat, shellshocked at the contents.

"This, I, what?" He sputtered. "General,"

Hammond cut him off. "I'm not interested in your excuses Jack. As CO of SG-1, I'm holding you solely responsible for any breach of regulations."

"Listen, General." Now Jack was starting to get angry. The day that the photo represented was a wonderful day, and he was not about to allow it to become tainted with false accusations. "I have never had any relationship with my second that was anything but professional. I don't know how you got this photo, but it was taken by Cassie a couple of weeks ago at the mall."

Jack took a breath. "Nothing happened then, has ever happened in the past, or will be happening any time in the near future. So before you condemn us for a non-existent relationship, maybe you could just clarify for me if the regs will allow us to be friends." Jack sat back, breathing heavily, sure that his eye's would glowing right now had he been a Goa'uld.

"I'm under alot of pressure right now, Jack." The General was not quick to give up. "I have always held up SG-1 as a shining example of what this facility has accomplished. What I *do* *not* need is for you to get a court-marshal!"

"I haven't done anything to warrent that, Sir." Jack paused. "At least not with Carter."

Hammond sighed. "What do you want me to do, Jack?" This photo was on my desk this morning; I'm not the only one who knows about it."

"I don't know, General."

"What kind of a relationship *do* you have with Major Carter? And I'm not going to buy that purely-professional crap you seem bent on delivering."

Jack winced. "We have a 'one day' relationship, General." A wistful look appeared on his face. "Nothing has ever happened between us. Sam and Cassie were at the mall, and I was there with Daniel and Teal'c. Danny wanted to look at some coffee place, and Teal'c went to babysit him. I went to go find Carter and Cass." He risked a look at the General's face. "We had a fun day, Sir." He let his shoulders sag dejectedly. "Carter and I have never really talked about, you know, *us* or anything. There's never been an *us*. We came to a sort of unspoken agreement, I guess, that we'd wait, ya know? There was a store called Carters, and Cass wanted to get a picture of Sam in front of it. That's all that picture was, General. There aren't any others like it. There *couldn't* be any other like it." He broke off, his face a mask. He wasn't used to baring his soul, but he wasn't willing for a misunderstanding to jeopardize Carter's career.

"You look happy, Colonel." General Hammond said, no longer angry, as he gazed at the photo.

"I was." He replied simply. Hamond nodded.

"There's still the issue of where this came from. I doubt Cassandra would have placed it on my desk." Jack nodded in agreement.

"I'm not exactly popular in Washington, Sir. If someone was looking for evidence of misconduct...." He trailed off. Hammond nodded in agreement. "You can go, Jack."

"Thank you, Sir." Jack stood up and headed for the door.

"Oh, and Jack?" He turned around.

"Yes Sir?"

"After the za'tarc incident, I tried to find a loophole for you two. It's not there yet, but I am working on it. I want to thank you for refraining from a relationship. I know it's hard, son, but you will have your 'one day'." Jack simply stared at him, shocked.

"Thank you, Sir."

Jack stepped out of the office, automatically turning to head for Sam's lab. He needed to talk to her, and quickly.

TBC

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