Knowledge is power. Hammond knows that. He's not fond of the politics
that form too much of his job description, but he knows what strings to
tug, what markers to cash in, and when he needs to protect his people,
he's ruthless as he applies pressure with a smile as wide as Texas.
This knowledge is different. Secrets always are. Some might think that
a secret kept is one without power. If no one knows that you know, why,
you might as well not know.
Hammond doesn't think that way.
This secret, though… this one he aches to share. He knows that Carter's
eyes would light up, that O'Neill would stare blankly, brain busy.
Knows that Doctor Jackson would be ecstatic, then cautious, and that
Teal'c would want to use it to do good.
They're an odd bunch, his flagship team. On paper, they make no sense
at all; in the field, they're a force to be reckoned with.
And he knows that without what he knows, without that certainty that
this is how it has to be, just like this, that he
might not have okayed the addition of a civilian and an alien to SG-1.
Now, that's a scary thought.
But he knows what he knows, and he's not telling what he knows, and he
slips the yellow piece of paper into Carter's pocket and anticipates
their return, when he can start to live his life without knowing what
will come, but knowing he's helped to make it happen as it should do,
how it was meant to.
He can be curious again.