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Jack Gallagher grinned when he saw his target. Deidre Garrett was standing by the door of the school's library talking to two of her friends and Jack had to squelch the desire to do something that would totally embarrass his "little sister", as he liked to call her. Her brother, Sean, was one of Jack's best friends and their mother had taken it upon herself to take care of Jack, who was operating under the cover story of being an orphan and had won the legal title of being an emancipated minor.
In reality, Jack Gallagher had been the 50 year old Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neill, an Air Force Colonel who had the misfortune of becoming a victim of a renegade Asgard named Loki. Loki had decided that Colonel O'Neill just might have the perfect DNA combination that would give the Asgard race a fighting chance at creating more clones for their personal use. In order to do his experimentation, it was necessary for Loki to clone O'Neill, but failed miserably in the attempt. Jack woke up one morning in a 16 year old body, with all the memories and mannerisms of his 50 year old self, while the original O'Neill underwent the testing.
When it was all said and done, the original O'Neill had convinced Thor, the Supreme Commander of the Asgard race, to spare the clone's life and now the clone was destined to live his life all over again. The Air Force had helped to redefine his identity so that he could live his newly created life in peace, but it still made for some awkward moments, like explaining to teachers, counselors and the parents of his friends why he was living on his own and how he was supporting that lifestyle.
Jack already knew what he was going to do with his life, now all he had to do was follow the yellow brick road to get there. His plans included rejoining the Air Force and Stargate Command to help fight an enemy the general public didn't even know about. This meant graduating from high school and going through the Air Force Academy all over again. It was hard dealing with people sometimes, as he had the mentality, memories and experience of a 50 year old, yet he was treated as kid because of the way he looked. No one would believe that this 17 year old Senior in high school had 30 years of experience fighting wars and enemies of all kinds, had been married and had a son who had died at the age of eleven.
There were some perks, though, and Jack was determined to take advantage of as many of them as he could. His classes were just a little easier to get through, although he would never find some subjects easy, as he still struggled with some of the advanced math classes, which he needed to complete.
One of the good things that came out of this was his new family. He had met Sean on his first day of school and they soon became friends after determining they both loved hockey, fast cars and older women, specifically college women. Sean's house had always been the one all the neighborhood children gathered at and Jack soon found out why.
Mrs. G, as everyone called Sean's mother, was a wonderful, loving person and once she found out Jack was living in an apartment on his own, immediately went into mother-mode, scolding him when he was not wearing warm enough clothes and inviting him to dinner every single night to make sure he ate enough. At first, he didn't feel right about taking her up on the meals, but after awhile, he realized he was doing it anyway, as he was always over there with his other friends. Mr. G, being used to finding stray children at his dinner table almost every night, took it all in stride and he, Sean and Jack had many lively discussions regarding current events and sports, which would bore the socks off of Deidre and Kelly, the youngest of the Garrett children.
Jack had become a permanent fixture at the Garrett household, although he usually went home at night. Of course, Mrs. G still nagged him about dressing warm and eating right, but he still craved the independence his own apartment gave him. He did stay the night on a few occasions, but most of the time he just headed home. He had to admit that the few nights he did stay over there, he always felt welcomed, which made him realize all the more that the Garrett's were his second family.
One night in particular brought that issue home to him. He had stayed late to study for a math test with Sean and their friend, Mike, and they convinced him to stay the night, as it was way too late to head home. He figured it was the stress that brought on the nightmare that had Mrs. G running into the room when he woke up yelling. She had hugged him until he stopped trembling and he knew right then and there that he would do anything for her and her family, his family.
After over a year of reliving high school, Jack was zeroing in on his current target, Deidre. He had been looking for Sean and Mike, and he thought she might know where they were. He smiled at her, then at her friends, Brittany and Claire, before clearing his throat. "Hey Deej. You're looking beautiful today. Staying out of trouble?"
"Hi Jack. Of course, I'm staying out of trouble. And what do you want?" she asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowing.
"Just looking for your brother, that's all," he replied still grinning at her.
"Aren't you going to speak to us, Jack?" This came from Brittany who had a crush on him, if Deidre was to be believed. All three were just a little too young for his taste, he thought grimly.
Yet he turned his smile on the blond and told her, "Hi Brit, hi Claire. How are you two doing?"
"I saw both of them heading toward the gym a little while ago," Deidre said. She was beaming at him now, confirming Jack's suspicion that she was trying to set him up with Brittany.
"Thanks," he replied, turning his attention back to her. "I'm on my way then," he continued, deciding that a quick getaway was in order.
"See you tonight, Jack," Brittany called after him. "Deej has invited me to dinner."
Wonderful, Jack thought, as he started thinking of ways to get out of it.
He walked down the hallway that led to the gym, dodging students who were coming out of the door. He got to the door and peered in to see if he could glimpse his friends and moved in further when he didn't.
He decided to head toward the locker rooms in hopes of finding them there, but only got as far as the end of the bleachers where he heard some kids arguing. He stopped walking when he heard one of them say, "…some guns. I can bring a couple, but I don't know if that will be enough."
"Are you sure this is the way to do it?" asked someone else. Jack didn't recognize the voices, but he was curious enough to move closer to try to see the boys who were talking.
"It's the only way to do it," the other voice snarled. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Okay, what was that all about, Jack thought as he tried to get a glimpse of the teens. "Hey," he called after them, running to catch up. The boys turned and one of them stopped, but the other turned back around to keep on walking.
"You talking to us?" asked the teen who stopped.
"Yeah," Jack said not recognizing the kid standing in front of him. "What's going on?"
"What do you mean?" asked the boy suspiciously. "You're Jack Gallagher, aren't you?" he asked, still eyeing him warily. "Hockey ascot, Senior - what do you want from a Freshman?"
"I overheard you talking with your friend," Jack said tentatively. "Sounded pretty ominous to me. You planning to shoot up the school?"
"Heck no!" the kid said, grinning. "We're planning a surprise party, well actually we thought we would crash a party with water guns. Make quite a splash, know what I mean?" he asked as he waggled his eyebrows.
"Sounds like fun," Jack said dryly. "Whose party?"
"That would spoil the surprise, now wouldn't it?" the boy said. Jack could tell this kid didn't trust him, but he had to make sure. Too many kids had already died due to school violence.
"Whose party?" he asked again, giving the boy his most fierce Colonel glare. It had no effect whatsoever on the kid, as he sneered at Jack and said, "That's for me to know and you to find out."
Kids really suck, Jack thought as he resisted the urge to slap the offending one in front of him. The kid just grinned at him and turned to follow his friend's trail.