Alphabet Soup: What Would Walter Do?
Alphabet Soup: W is for...
What Would Walter Do?
Gen and G (except for a couple of bad words)
Spoilers and a tag for 1969
A little humor, a little angst, about 1600 words
Thanks to Denny for the beta.
~::~
It was 0600 when Walter entered the 'gate room. Yeah, the old girl looked just like he'd left her. He took the stairs two at a time and entered the office. His in-box dribbled paperwork and the outbox didn't look much better. What was it with people? He'd only been gone a week. Couldn't this place survive without him for a week? An envelope on the edge of his desk slid gently to the floor. Obviously not. He shrugged off his jacket and got to work.
When Hammond arrived at 0700, Walter was hard at it. “Welcome back, Sergeant. How was your leave?”
Startled, Walter stood. “You're early, sir.”
“I'm doing the same thing you are, sergeant. I'm trying to get to the bottom of the paperwork.
“Yes, sir.”
“How was your leave?” he asked again.
“Good, sir. Thank you. But it's good to be back to work.”
“Glad to have you back, son.”
“Thank you.”
“I think we both need coffee before we do anything else, don't you?”
“I'm on it, sir.”
He delivered a fresh cup of coffee to his boss and placed his own on the file cabinet.
Right. He needed to organize this mess. He tackled the in-box first, sorting phone messages from external mail from internal mail. He sorted the outbox, putting to-be-filed mission reports on the top. Those were the ones he wanted to see first. What trouble had the teams gotten into without him?
The first file had pictures of SG4 infected by something that looked like poison ivy. He skimmed the report. They'd been quarantined for five days and were on medical leave until next week. The next file on SG9 had a report of Jaffa activity on P49 552.
SG1's file was the one he'd been waiting for. The 'gateroom pictures told their own story: Teal'c with hair, Colonel O'Neill with blue jeans, Doctor Jackson with a jacket that really didn't look all that different from the civilian clothes he'd seen in Jackson's locker, and Samantha Carter in a pair of round, pink glasses. He hoped Siler had video footage.
But as he read the fine print, he learned about time travel, a young George Hammond, two hippies named Jenny and Michael something or other, and... a psychedelic bus. Was there any other job on the planet like this?
Walter dealt with backlog as quickly as he could.
~::~
Jenny watched her new friends walk away. She hoped they made it back to their planet and that whatever “establishment” they were in trouble with didn't punish them too much.
A few days later she watched unbelievably groovy music at a concert in upstate New York.
Six months after that she watched troops leave for Vietnam. Even with his hair cut short and his uniform pressed, Michael looked like the boy she'd fallen in love with. She wondered what she would do without him. She cut her hair. Her fiend Sam would understand that.
~::~
Two more cups of coffee later, Walter was ready to handle the now-organized piles. There was a phone message from Doctor Langford to General Hammond. He put it in the General's in-box. When she came to the mountain-as she no doubt would in the next few days--she always managed to visit the 'gateroom, and she always made General Hammond scowl. That was something. Walter liked Doctor Langford. She didn't take crap from anybody, Generals included.
~::~
Her life never seemed to take a straight path, Catherine thought as she watched her two guests walk down the front steps to an odd looking bus. Just when she had her life in order, two unusual strangers brought back memories of a past she'd been trying very hard to forget, of a man she'd been trying very hard to forget: Ernest Littlefield, the man she loved.
She dug around in the desk drawer for her book of Washington contacts. It was time to go back to pressuring people in power to do the right thing, and the right thing was to continue research on the “doorway to heaven” as her guest had so elegantly put it.
Ernest had always said she was stubborn; he would understand.
~::~
Walter sorted through the stack of external mail. This envelope doesn't belong here, he thought, looking at the handwriting. It should go to Doctor Jackson. He undid the clasp and pulled out the top page. Yep, it's for Doctor Jackson. It was Cassie's French homework. She was a lucky girl to have a tutor like Doctor Jackson. Walter smiled and put it in the pile he was going to hand deliver.
~::~
Cassie watched four people go through the Stargate. She loved those four people more than almost anyone in the world. Jack and Daniel were her uncles, and Teal'c her guardian angel. Sam had been her second mother. Well, her third mother really. How young they looked, how vibrant, how... innocent. She knew they would see the death of her mother, Janet Fraiser. Cassie still missed her mom even though she'd only known her for a few years. She knew they'd see the death of friends, a couple of whom had been standing on the ramp before her. She knew they'd see the Stargate program grow and change and fade... as she herself had done. But she also knew their journey was just beginning.
She sighed and turned away. Her youngest daughter was due to visit this afternoon, with the two grandchildren. It was time for Cassie to tell them some more stories about the Stargate.
~::~
Walter checked the calendar for any urgent meetings. There was a new-staff orientation going on in a couple of hours and then meetings for each of them with General Hammond before they went to their postings. General Hammond: the man was a born leader, and there wasn't a day went by the Walter didn't thank whatever real gods existed that he worked for the man. Walter flipped open the 1969 file. What he wouldn't give to see a young Lieutenant Hammond in action.
~::~
George Hammond picked himself up off the pavement and cursed himself for a fool. He didn't watch Jack O'Neill and the rest walk away because he'd been zatted by a ray gun. To make it worse, his wallet was empty. Damn the man. He shook his head and wondered just what kind of idiot he'd become that he was reading notes from his future self to his present self-and believing them. He rubbed the back of his head. Maybe he had a concussion.
Still, Jack O'Neill, who'd emptied George's wallet without a second thought, had known about George's father. He'd know about the first heart attack and the second.
As he moved around the scene, helping people up, “looking” for the escaped and dangerous foreign agents, and dealing with the aftermath of his own lunacy, he made plans to see his father. His dad would want to know that his son planned to be General Hammond...in thirty years. He hoped his father lived to see it.
~::~
Walter put on his jacket. It wouldn't do to look sloppy in front of the newbies. General Hammond made it a point to meet all new staff at the mountain. Walter briefed them first, explaining that the meeting would be short because the General was a busy man. They always came out a little dazed and starry-eyed. Walter passed them on to an SF in the hallway who directed them wherever they needed to go.
He would be back in the control room tomorrow, thank goodness. The technicians took turns handling the office work and staffing the control room. It gave everyone a break and kept people sharp. He didn't mind the paperwork, not really. It was a necessary evil in a place like this. He also liked to think that the people who worked in the control room were a little more diligent in their tasks than anyone else would be, overflowing in-box aside.
Walter sipped his coffee as he waited for Doctor Abernathy (a biologist, botanist, something like that) to exit. Next in line was the man standing beside him, a retired army captain and an electrical engineer whose last name was also Abernathy. Walter flipped back to the first file to confirm his suspicion. They were husband and wife. They'd given off a husband-and-wife vibe when they first came in, with the nods and the winks, kind of like Jack O'Neill and Teal'c. No, that was unkind. He'd never stick someone as nice as Teal'c with someone as antsy as Jack O'Neill.
When Doctor Abernathy came out and her husband went in, Walter stopped her. “Could you wait in the hallway a moment, ma'am?”
Puzzled, she nodded.
Walter closed the door behind her and got on the phone. “Doctor Jackson? I need you to come to General Hammond's office right way.” He paused. “I have Cassie's homework here. It ended up on my desk by mistake. Why don't you bring her with you?” He paused again. “No, sir, it's not an emergency, but it is important.”
He placed another call. “Captain Carter? You're needed in General Hammond's office right away, ma'am.” Unlike Doctor Jackson, Captain Carter didn't argue. He knew she'd beat Daniel to the office. He placed two more calls to Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c. He stopped the interviews, rescheduling them all for tomorrow. When Mr. Abernathy came out, he put up a hand. “Please wait, sir.”
“Sergeant?” Hammond asked, stepping out of his office.
“If you'll give me a minute, sir, I'll explain.”
As it turned out, he didn't have to. The squeals from Captain Carter and Doctor Abernathy came right on the heels of Colonel O'Neill's “what the hell?”
He heard the laughter as O'Neill said, “a long time ago,” and Doctor Jackson's voice continued, “in a galaxy far, far away.”
He stepped back and watched as pandemonium moved into his office and introductions were made: “General Hammond, this is Michael. Cassie, this is our friend, Jenny....”
After the noise died down, Jenny said, “Jack, you told us you were in trouble with the establishment.”
General Hammond answered. “As the establishment in this facility, I can tell you he usually is, ma'am.”
Walter grinned. Best. Damn. Job. Ever.
~::~
What Would Walter Do?
Gen and G (except for a couple of bad words)
Spoilers and a tag for 1969
A little humor, a little angst, about 1600 words
Thanks to Denny for the beta.
~::~
It was 0600 when Walter entered the 'gate room. Yeah, the old girl looked just like he'd left her. He took the stairs two at a time and entered the office. His in-box dribbled paperwork and the outbox didn't look much better. What was it with people? He'd only been gone a week. Couldn't this place survive without him for a week? An envelope on the edge of his desk slid gently to the floor. Obviously not. He shrugged off his jacket and got to work.
When Hammond arrived at 0700, Walter was hard at it. “Welcome back, Sergeant. How was your leave?”
Startled, Walter stood. “You're early, sir.”
“I'm doing the same thing you are, sergeant. I'm trying to get to the bottom of the paperwork.
“Yes, sir.”
“How was your leave?” he asked again.
“Good, sir. Thank you. But it's good to be back to work.”
“Glad to have you back, son.”
“Thank you.”
“I think we both need coffee before we do anything else, don't you?”
“I'm on it, sir.”
He delivered a fresh cup of coffee to his boss and placed his own on the file cabinet.
Right. He needed to organize this mess. He tackled the in-box first, sorting phone messages from external mail from internal mail. He sorted the outbox, putting to-be-filed mission reports on the top. Those were the ones he wanted to see first. What trouble had the teams gotten into without him?
The first file had pictures of SG4 infected by something that looked like poison ivy. He skimmed the report. They'd been quarantined for five days and were on medical leave until next week. The next file on SG9 had a report of Jaffa activity on P49 552.
SG1's file was the one he'd been waiting for. The 'gateroom pictures told their own story: Teal'c with hair, Colonel O'Neill with blue jeans, Doctor Jackson with a jacket that really didn't look all that different from the civilian clothes he'd seen in Jackson's locker, and Samantha Carter in a pair of round, pink glasses. He hoped Siler had video footage.
But as he read the fine print, he learned about time travel, a young George Hammond, two hippies named Jenny and Michael something or other, and... a psychedelic bus. Was there any other job on the planet like this?
Walter dealt with backlog as quickly as he could.
~::~
Jenny watched her new friends walk away. She hoped they made it back to their planet and that whatever “establishment” they were in trouble with didn't punish them too much.
A few days later she watched unbelievably groovy music at a concert in upstate New York.
Six months after that she watched troops leave for Vietnam. Even with his hair cut short and his uniform pressed, Michael looked like the boy she'd fallen in love with. She wondered what she would do without him. She cut her hair. Her fiend Sam would understand that.
~::~
Two more cups of coffee later, Walter was ready to handle the now-organized piles. There was a phone message from Doctor Langford to General Hammond. He put it in the General's in-box. When she came to the mountain-as she no doubt would in the next few days--she always managed to visit the 'gateroom, and she always made General Hammond scowl. That was something. Walter liked Doctor Langford. She didn't take crap from anybody, Generals included.
~::~
Her life never seemed to take a straight path, Catherine thought as she watched her two guests walk down the front steps to an odd looking bus. Just when she had her life in order, two unusual strangers brought back memories of a past she'd been trying very hard to forget, of a man she'd been trying very hard to forget: Ernest Littlefield, the man she loved.
She dug around in the desk drawer for her book of Washington contacts. It was time to go back to pressuring people in power to do the right thing, and the right thing was to continue research on the “doorway to heaven” as her guest had so elegantly put it.
Ernest had always said she was stubborn; he would understand.
~::~
Walter sorted through the stack of external mail. This envelope doesn't belong here, he thought, looking at the handwriting. It should go to Doctor Jackson. He undid the clasp and pulled out the top page. Yep, it's for Doctor Jackson. It was Cassie's French homework. She was a lucky girl to have a tutor like Doctor Jackson. Walter smiled and put it in the pile he was going to hand deliver.
~::~
Cassie watched four people go through the Stargate. She loved those four people more than almost anyone in the world. Jack and Daniel were her uncles, and Teal'c her guardian angel. Sam had been her second mother. Well, her third mother really. How young they looked, how vibrant, how... innocent. She knew they would see the death of her mother, Janet Fraiser. Cassie still missed her mom even though she'd only known her for a few years. She knew they'd see the death of friends, a couple of whom had been standing on the ramp before her. She knew they'd see the Stargate program grow and change and fade... as she herself had done. But she also knew their journey was just beginning.
She sighed and turned away. Her youngest daughter was due to visit this afternoon, with the two grandchildren. It was time for Cassie to tell them some more stories about the Stargate.
~::~
Walter checked the calendar for any urgent meetings. There was a new-staff orientation going on in a couple of hours and then meetings for each of them with General Hammond before they went to their postings. General Hammond: the man was a born leader, and there wasn't a day went by the Walter didn't thank whatever real gods existed that he worked for the man. Walter flipped open the 1969 file. What he wouldn't give to see a young Lieutenant Hammond in action.
~::~
George Hammond picked himself up off the pavement and cursed himself for a fool. He didn't watch Jack O'Neill and the rest walk away because he'd been zatted by a ray gun. To make it worse, his wallet was empty. Damn the man. He shook his head and wondered just what kind of idiot he'd become that he was reading notes from his future self to his present self-and believing them. He rubbed the back of his head. Maybe he had a concussion.
Still, Jack O'Neill, who'd emptied George's wallet without a second thought, had known about George's father. He'd know about the first heart attack and the second.
As he moved around the scene, helping people up, “looking” for the escaped and dangerous foreign agents, and dealing with the aftermath of his own lunacy, he made plans to see his father. His dad would want to know that his son planned to be General Hammond...in thirty years. He hoped his father lived to see it.
~::~
Walter put on his jacket. It wouldn't do to look sloppy in front of the newbies. General Hammond made it a point to meet all new staff at the mountain. Walter briefed them first, explaining that the meeting would be short because the General was a busy man. They always came out a little dazed and starry-eyed. Walter passed them on to an SF in the hallway who directed them wherever they needed to go.
He would be back in the control room tomorrow, thank goodness. The technicians took turns handling the office work and staffing the control room. It gave everyone a break and kept people sharp. He didn't mind the paperwork, not really. It was a necessary evil in a place like this. He also liked to think that the people who worked in the control room were a little more diligent in their tasks than anyone else would be, overflowing in-box aside.
Walter sipped his coffee as he waited for Doctor Abernathy (a biologist, botanist, something like that) to exit. Next in line was the man standing beside him, a retired army captain and an electrical engineer whose last name was also Abernathy. Walter flipped back to the first file to confirm his suspicion. They were husband and wife. They'd given off a husband-and-wife vibe when they first came in, with the nods and the winks, kind of like Jack O'Neill and Teal'c. No, that was unkind. He'd never stick someone as nice as Teal'c with someone as antsy as Jack O'Neill.
When Doctor Abernathy came out and her husband went in, Walter stopped her. “Could you wait in the hallway a moment, ma'am?”
Puzzled, she nodded.
Walter closed the door behind her and got on the phone. “Doctor Jackson? I need you to come to General Hammond's office right way.” He paused. “I have Cassie's homework here. It ended up on my desk by mistake. Why don't you bring her with you?” He paused again. “No, sir, it's not an emergency, but it is important.”
He placed another call. “Captain Carter? You're needed in General Hammond's office right away, ma'am.” Unlike Doctor Jackson, Captain Carter didn't argue. He knew she'd beat Daniel to the office. He placed two more calls to Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c. He stopped the interviews, rescheduling them all for tomorrow. When Mr. Abernathy came out, he put up a hand. “Please wait, sir.”
“Sergeant?” Hammond asked, stepping out of his office.
“If you'll give me a minute, sir, I'll explain.”
As it turned out, he didn't have to. The squeals from Captain Carter and Doctor Abernathy came right on the heels of Colonel O'Neill's “what the hell?”
He heard the laughter as O'Neill said, “a long time ago,” and Doctor Jackson's voice continued, “in a galaxy far, far away.”
He stepped back and watched as pandemonium moved into his office and introductions were made: “General Hammond, this is Michael. Cassie, this is our friend, Jenny....”
After the noise died down, Jenny said, “Jack, you told us you were in trouble with the establishment.”
General Hammond answered. “As the establishment in this facility, I can tell you he usually is, ma'am.”
Walter grinned. Best. Damn. Job. Ever.
~::~