politics: a sg1/west wing crossover fic. part 1.

Josh's phone rang at 4 AM that day.
He rolled out of bed, grumbling, fumbled around for the talk button, and said "lemme get some coffee". or something like that. he wasn't sure exactly what he said, he was so tired. as he grabbed for the carafe that he always kept by his bed while on the campaign trail, he wanted to go back to sleep, and, if he was lucky, end up with 3 hours for the night. he put his phone on speaker and poured himself a cup.

"what is it? did vinnick gain 10 points in florida or something?"
"Josh, this is CJ. we need you to come down here as soon as you can"
"uhhh...why?"
"just trust me. you want to hear this."
"alright. i'll be there in a few hours. i'm, you know, in New York"
"see you then"

he downed his coffee and three extra-strength aspirin for the headache he'd never not had for the past months, since he joined the Santos campaign as a chief of staff. the Congressman should be up by now, he thought, and so he picked up the hotel handset to call his room.
"yeah, josh?"
"congressman, CJ just called"
"really? is there a crisis i need to know about?"
"umm...she just asked me to come in asap"
"okay. get yourself on a train soon."
"will do"

Josh got his pants on, splashed water on his face, grabbed a ticket with his blackberry, and ordered a cab for twenty minutes from now. he stuffed his papers into his backpack, and rushed down to the cafe for a croissant.

when he got to the DC train station, he saw someone holding a card with his name on it. he headed over, and saw that the man had a briefcase locked to his arm. wierd. Josh knew that wasn't normal, although it was common in the movies.
"Mr. Lyman?"
"yeah, that's me."
"this way please"

the man led him out to an unmarked SUV. standard government issue. climbing into the backseat, he saw a short man, bald, in a military uniform, with the stars of a general.
"hello, Mr. Lyman. my name is George Hammond. i'll be part of what Ms. Cregg wanted to talk to you about, and i came into the same station, so we'll be riding together. Richard, the case."
the man handed Josh the briefcase.
"please don't open that yet, but keep it in your possession."
"um, general, what the hell is going on. this is like something out of a crappy CIA conspiracy movie"
"we're aware of the cliches" hammond laughed, "but it really is this important, and believe me, CIA conspiracies will be the least of your worries soon"

the truck got to the white house, and Hammond and Josh got out. heading towards the oval office, Josh felt more than a bit confused. either something big was going on, or Bartlet wanted to play one last joke on him.
"'mornin' margaret"
"good morning, Josh. go right in"
heading in, Josh saw the President and CJ, both standing, and another military man, one with slightly greying hair, but with the look of one who'd been on duty a long time. he was seated, which was incredibly odd. when the president of the united states stood, you didn't sit, no matter who you were.

"ah, Josh, glad you could make it" Bartlet smiled. "allow me to present Brigadier General Jack O'neill. you've met George Hammond."
"what's this all about?" josh asked, "this has the feeling of a bad movie"
o'neill chuckled. "oh, i don't know exactly what you've seen, but it's got nothing on this, i assure you"
"General O'neill runs a top-secret Air Force program called the stargate. we want you to be a part of it. don't interrupt. just take it all in." CJ added, "General Hammond?"
"Mr. Lyman, the Stargate is a program by which the USAF sends teams to other planets via an alien device called the stargate"
Josh cracked up. "wait...what?"
"i mean exactly what i said, Mr. Lyman." Hammond continued, "this program's been taking place for the past several years. you're probably thinking to yourself, 'why me? why now?'. it's because we want you to be a part of that program."
"see, Josh, we've had some trouble" O'neill piped up, "the NID, a civilian organisation, well, let's just say they've been putting the SGC through some major political crap. we need a political officer, if you will, someone to, you know, deal with all that boring stuff."
"a short time ago, we put a civilian, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, in charge. she's...no longer available" the president said.
"so, josh, whaddaya say?"
"um, i guess i really can't say no. alright, i'll do it. but mr. president, if this is some kind of joke..."

josh disappeared in a flash of light.