A/N: So, this is me trying to make up for the crumminess that happened with Love Shack of Doom. This one will be much MUCH shorter! I promise! I already have it done :)

One

"Do you like it, dad?"

Jack Carter looked at the lumpy circular object with a bizarre black stone his daughter was holding in front of his face.

"Uh, yeah," he managed without laughing. "It's the nicest…thing like that I've ever seen."

"Da-ad!" Zoe sighed, rolling her eyes impatiently. "You just have bad taste."

"Apparently" he chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee. The door to Café Diem opened and Allison Blake breezed in. His throat suddenly tight, Jack had to spit the coffee back in his cup to keep from choking.

"Dad? You okay?" Zoe asked, concerned.

"Fine," he sputtered, covering his mouth as he coughed.

Zoe turned around and spotted Allison. Looking back at her dad with a knowing smile, she said, "Or maybe not so bad taste."

Giving her a warning glance, Jack took his attention away from the door and put it back on his coffee. No sooner had he done that, the woman who'd caused all the commotion in the first place came sauntering up behind him.

"Hey Carter. Haven't seen you around lately. You wouldn't be avoiding me, would you?"

Tightening his grip on his mug, Jack turned to her and forced himself to smile. "GD has been incident free for a week now. I'd think not seeing me around would be a good thing."

"I'll second that," a deep voice spoke up.

Clenching his jaw, Jack noticed Nathan Stark standing behind Zoe.

"Hey, Dr. Stark! Check out my extra credit project I made for my Cultural Studies class!" Zoe beamed, handing Nathan the object.

Jack frowned at her. "Extra credit? You didn't tell me it was extra credit. Why do you need extra credit?"

"Um, do you like it?" Zoe asked Nathan, obviously avoiding her father's question.

"It's a very nice…thing," Nathan said.

"Ugh! What is wrong with you people?" Zoe cast a disgusted look at Nathan and her dad.

"I agree. Can't you guys tell what this is?" Allison said, grabbing the object from Nathan.

"Obviously not," Nathan told her.

"But I love it anyway," Jack said, smiling at Zoe. She just rolled her eyes.

"It's a mood ring. Wow, I haven't seen one of these in years." Allison held it up to inspect it closer.

"So you invented something that's already been invented?" Jack asked Zoe.

"What kind of extra credit project would that be?" Zoe scoffed.

"The kind that would make you have to do extra credit in the first place." Jack raised an eyebrow at her, but she just shook her head.

"This is a modern mood ring. You know what Twitter is, right?"

"Uh…like what a bird says?"

Zoe laughed and Nathan sighed impatiently. "God, Carter. Don't you ever grow tired of being clueless?"

"Twitter is like an online mini blog where you can post updates through the day about what you're doing, what you're feeling, that kind of stuff."

Leaning his head on his hand, Jack grimaced. "Why would anyone want to do that? Wait, why would anyone want to read that?"

"We're teenagers," Zoe shrugged. "You don't understand most of the stuff we do."

Jack pointed a finger at his daughter. "Now that I can agree with."

"Anyway, the ring is hooked up to a network. That way, whatever the wearer is feeling, it will be broadcast through the system."

"Sort of like an early warning system for all those teenage boys about when and when not to call a girl?" Nathan observed with a smirk. "I wish someone had invented one of those when I was your age. Would have saved me a lot of trouble."

Zoe smiled up at him. "See? This man appreciates my genius."

"Um," Allison said, interrupting their conversation. All three turned to see her with a panicked look on her face. She was yanking at the ring, which seemed to be lodged on her left ring finger. "I can't get this thing off," she muttered.

"Gee, Allison. Hope you're not putting on weight," Jack said with a grin. Her hands froze and she leveled Jack with a look that would make anyone scared, but he was busy looking at her finger. "Did it work? Didn't those things used to turn red when you were angry?"

"This one doesn't work like that," Zoe explained as she stood up and attempted to help Allison. "The info is only digital and, so far, it's only in theory. I haven't gotten the stupid thing to do anything except send random signals that seem to have nothing to do with emotion." Throwing Allison's hand down, Zoe wiped a stray strand of hair from her face. "Let's go try soap. This is due this morning."

As the two rushed off, Jack turned back to Stark.

"What are you up to this morning, Stark? Planning on taking over a small country? Or maybe you're going to kick puppies in the name of science."

"Funny," Nathan said sarcastically, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Ally and I have a report due to the Pentagon that we need to get finished up."

"Since when does writing a report take two people?"

A wicked grin on his face, Nathan leaned in close to Jack. "Haven't you figured it out by now, Carter? We love doing everything together."

With a chuckle, Nathan strolled back to the door, leaving Jack sitting at the counter, his temperature steaming more than the coffee in his hands.

End Note: Well, do you want more? Let me know!