Dressed in a starched blue shirt and dress pants, General Jack O'Neill strolled the busy corridors of the SGC. As he walked by, all military personnel would stop what they were doing, came to attention, and waited until he passed before resuming their various activities. Unfortunately, Jack was too busy to notice. His concentration was on getting his yo-yo in to the 'rock the baby' position. Try as he might, he either ended up with string wrapped fingers, or a yo-yo dangling uselessly. Coming to the end of the corridor, he stopped in front of the elevator.
"Can I get that for you, sir?"
Jack looked up from winding the string around the toy to see Sergeant Siler standing at attention along side him.
"Huh?"
"The elevator, sir?" Siler responded keeping his eyes staring straight ahead.
"Yeah. Down."
Once more, Jack focused back on the yo-yo. Siler pushed the down button and remained at attention. Within seconds, the elevator chimed its arrival and the doors opened to reveal Daniel standing alone inside.
"Daniel."
"Jack."
Each addressed the other with unusual politeness as Jack entered the elevator. The doors closed silently, and Jack slipped the yo-yo into his pocket.
"Heading to your office?"
Daniel frowned. "Jack, we have a meeting in a few minutes."
"We do?"
"You sent a staff memo. Remember?"
"I did?"
"Well, I'm assuming your assistant sent it out under your name."
"Ah," Jack reacted with a guilty look.
An odd silence fell between them as they stood there. After a few seconds, Jack cleared his throat.
"Did the memo happen to mention what the…"
"Protocols."
"I knew that," Jack responded cheerily.
"Now that you're in charge, I assume there are certain protocols you'll want to go over with us," Daniel commented.
"Yes, protocols," Jack answered, but not very convincingly.
Again silence encased them. Jack started to fidget. Looking over at Daniel, he waited to see if he had anything more to say. The elevator beeped three more floors before Jack couldn't take the silence any longer.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud," he said with frustration as he reached over and slammed his hand on the stop button. The elevator lurched to a halt with an alarm bell ringing from somewhere up above.
Daniel, caught off guard at Jack’s strange behavior, rotated his head about scanning the interior.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Daniel, we need to talk."
"Okaaay. Are you planning on having meetings in the elevators now?"
Ignoring Daniel’s sarcasm, Jack turned to face the man rather heatedly.
"Since my promotion, you haven't said more than 10 words to me."
"I've been busy."
"Are you okay with this?"
"Well, it might get a little crowded when Sam and Teal'c join us…"
"Daniel," Jack abruptly cut him off. "I'm asking if you're okay with my becoming General and taking over command of the SGC?"
Daniel looked at Jack's eyes with some hesitancy.
"Jack, no one deserves a promotion more than you."
"Annnd?"
"And what?"
"And, about my taking command of the SGC?"
"That's fine."
"Fine?"
"Fine."
"Damnit Daniel! I've got enough to worry about around here without worrying about you too. So, out with it! What's bothering you?"
Jack could see the frustration in Daniel’s face as he debated answering his question.
"I meant what I said," Daniel said sincerely. "You deserve the promotion."
"Buuut…."
"So, don't take this the wrong way."
"So help me Daniel…."
"Are you sure they picked the right O'Neill?" he asked in rapid fire.
Jack just stared back at him.
"You know," Daniel shrugged. "O’Neil, One-L?"
This time it was Jack who hesitated in replying. "I'd be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind."
"And?"
"And, the President was pretty adamant that he wanted me. He wanted someone who couldn't be influenced by Kinsey."
"And there's no one Kinsey hates more than…."
"Yours truly," Jack smiled weakly. "And as much as I would love to see George back where he belongs, it was either this," opening his hands as if to encompass the whole room, "or we get another blowhard like Bauer assigned here."
Daniel took a moment to think about this. "So, no chance of General Hammond returning?"
"Not any time soon."
"I see," Daniel sounded disappointed as he nodded his head.
Taken back by Daniel's lack of concern, Jack started to let his anger take control. "Gee Daniel, your overwhelming vote of confidence is touching."
Daniel pursed his lips, as he didn't know what to say.
"Listen, I'm not crazy about this any more than you are. Do you think I *like* being stuck here on base?" Jack's voice rose in momentum as each word exploded his frustration, and he started to pace from one end of the room to the next.
"Let me tell you what my life has become," Jack directed his words to Daniel with each passing. "Every morning, I review stacks of paper. Mountains of miscellaneous whatnots waiting for my signature. I attend meetings. Meetings coming out the wazoo. And if that's not enough, I've got Chekov on one side of me constantly harping about disclosure, while Kinsey is yanking me on the other."
With each passing, Daniel had to take a step back to avoid getting hit from Jack's flailing arms.
"Everyone on base act like they have to walk on eggshells around me. I walk into a room, and people stop talking. Doesn't it occur to any one that I might like having a normal conversation for a change?"
"Well, you are the General, Jack," Daniel tried to reassure him.
Jack stopped in front of Daniel and pointed to his own shoulder. "The star may say General, but I’m still the same Jack O’Neill."
"Jack…."
Jack raised his hand to stop Daniel from saying another word, and in a softer tone he said,
"I know what I'm suppose to be, Daniel, but I'm a fish out of my element here. Before, I was protecting SG-1's six. Now, I have hundreds of lives to protect. The men and women I send out there," pointing his finger to the door in reference to the Stargate, "are all depending on me to bring them home safely. They're expecting me to do the right thing. Do you know how difficult that is?"
"Jack, I-I had no idea…"
Suddenly, the phone on the control panel buzzed. Jack moved past Daniel to pick up the receiver. From where Daniel stood, he could hear the frantic voice come over the line.
"Is everyone down there okay?"
"Everything is fine airman," Jack said composing his emotions.
"General O’Neill? Is that you, sir?"
"Yes, Sergeant."
"Sir, you have to stop doing this, sir," the voice pleaded.
Jack stole a glance over at Daniel to see if he heard. Daniel faked a cough to prevent laughing.
"Yeah, yeah. I promise. Just get the elevator started again please."
"Yes sir."
The lights flickered as the elevator started to descend again. Jack returned the phone to its cradle.
"Are *we*…okay, Daniel?"
"It’ll take some getting use to…."
"Tell me about it."
"But, we're fine," he said with a small smile.
"Good," Jack smiled in return.
Both men stood facing the elevator doors. Daniel glanced over at Jack to assess his stance. "Um, so Jack, overall, how goes the life of being a General?"
"Oh, it has its perks." he sighed.
"Like stopping elevators whenever you want to?"
Giving Daniel a rather suspicious glance, he said, "If I have to."
Daniel's smile got bigger as he bowed his head in thought.
"Jack, we’ve been friends for a long time. In good times, and bad times, you've always been there for me. I want you to know that I'm there for you. So, if there’s anything…anything I can do or say to help you, just ask it."
The elevator doors opened with a chime.
"Well," Jack mulled it over thoughtfully. "A few occasional words of encouragement would be nice."
"You've got it."
"You could start calling me sir."
"No way in hell."
"General?"
"Don't push it."
Jack broke out in a big smile. "Now, that’s the old Daniel I know," he said as he exited out of the elevator with Daniel following right beside him.
~~The End~~
SPECIAL THANKS: To Thel and Starblade for beta reading.
© July 2004 Stargate SG-1 is the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-1 Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fan fiction is meant solely for entertainment purposes. No money exchanged hands.