Title: Naturally Selective
Author's LJ/DWJ: unknown
Categories: Season Six
Warnings: None
Author's Webpage/Fic list: unknown
Link to story: Naturally Selective
Why this should be read: Sam was angry with Jack for leaving Fifth behind, but by the next mission, all was well. This lovely fic explains why.

It was no good. She had to get something to eat and drink. She hadn’t stopped working since they’d got back, which was now over six hours ago. She’d been so keen to immerse herself into her work, to try and wipe out the memories of the last mission, that she hadn’t even left her office. As soon as the post-mission medicals and briefing were over, she’d dashed to her lab, making her official report top priority. She’d rushed it, desperate to get it out of the way, emailing copies to both the General and the Colonel, so she could forget about the whole business. The report was blunt and to the point. She hadn’t said anything that directly challenged anything the Colonel had done, or said. But neither could she enthuse about what had happened either. ‘We came. We saw. We conquered’ was about the gist of it this time. Nothing else seemed to cover her feelings, but she behaved like a good little Air Force Major should and didn’t write anything negative either.

The briefing had been hard work, keeping up that ‘everything went as normal’ façade. Jonas, in particular, had been perturbed about events; Teal’c had been a little distant with them all, whilst the Colonel had been battened down, his emotions buried deep. He’d been the epitome of professionalism, short but courteous with them, only slightly more approachable than he’d been as they left Halla. She knew he felt ill at ease with how things had gone. You didn’t work with someone as close as they had for so long, without getting to know something about their moods, even with someone as private as the Colonel. But if he was having problems with the mission, he was the one who’d called all the shots. It was too late now to have second thoughts.