Chapter 1: A Bubble
Despite the reassuring look he gave to his counterpart, Jack O'Neill had some doubts about coming back to high school. He wondered if the original O'Neill could see that. Nevertheless, he continued to his first class at Mountain Springs High School, hoping to make the most of it. I'm a fifteen-year-old boy with the memories of a fifty-two-year-old colonel, he told himself. He didn't really believe it, but he found this mantra to be helpfully distracting. He looked around for Cassie Frasier, he chose to attend this school to be with her, but hadn't seen her yet.
Jack entered his first class, American Government, and smiled at Mr. Crowin. The teacher smiled back. "Hello, you must be Jack. You can sit over there next to Angeline." Mr. Crowin pointed to an open seat and Jack took it promptly.
As the last students entered the classroom, Mr. Crowin stood at the front of the class. "Before we begin, everyone, I just wanted to welcome the school's newest student, Jack O'Neill. Jack, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?"
"Well," Jack began slowly, "I'm Jack O'Neill . . . and I guess that's it." Jack smiled.
Mr. Crowin laughed. "Well, that's a start. Where do you live?"
"I'm in an apartment on Pepper Lane."
"Who do you live with?"
"I live by myself."
"What about your parents?"
"They died a very long time ago."
Mr. Crowin suddenly felt uncomfortable, but Jack had piqued his interest. "Are you in the foster care system?"
"No, I was a ward of the United States Air Force, but I became an emancipated minor a couple days ago."
"Oh, interesting. Why did the Air Force look after you?"
"Sorry, Mr. Crowin. That's classified." Jack smiled.
Mr. Crowin sent an uneasy smile back. "Well, I won't pry any further," he said as he grabbed a textbook from under his desk and passed it to Jack. "Here's your textbook. I expect it to be covered at all times."
"Yes, sir."
Mr. Crowin laughed. "The Air Force must have rubbed off on you a bit," he said before turning his attention to the class at large. "Now, we've been talking about the executive branch these past few school days. I'm going to digress from my original lesson plans because I think Senator Bloom's recent nomination to be the next Secretary of Veterans Affairs would make a great example as I talk about the cabinet."
Jack sat through the day's first classes with ease. He frequently volunteered in class to give answers to the teachers' questions, sometimes exceeding their expectations. His teachers took an immediate liking to him as a result of his participation and the maturity that emanated from him.
At lunchtime, Jack bought his meal and headed to an empty table until he heard his name. He turned around to see Jenn Covili. She was one of the girls he met in the morning outside school.
"Come sit with us, Jack", she told him.
Jack obliged and met Jenn's friends. They also took an instant liking to him. Jack's physical attributes appealed to Jenn's female friends. His cool and calm demeanor about whatever he talked about interested the male friends, and everyone appreciated his humor and other aspects of his personality.
Towards the end of the lunch period, one of Jenn's friends, a junior named Levi, noticed a table of students pulling out trading cards and showing them off to each other. He laughed. "Looks like those geeks are getting closer and closer to being over the top." He stood up.
"Levi, where are you going?" asked Emme, another girl that Jack met in the morning.
"I'm going to see if those are Star Trek cards or Star Wars cards. Or lady robot cards. Whatever." Levi snickered.
"Leave them alone," Jenn pleaded.
"It's no big deal. I just want to see what the fuss is about." Levi turned to the new kid. "Jack?"
Jack gave Levi a near-imperceptible smile. "I think there are worst things to do than studying a lot and collecting whatever those guys are collecting."
Levi smirked at him. "Like what?"
"Feigning superiority by picking on behaviors that are completely harmless."
Levi had counted on Jack's support. He figured Jack would back him up so he could secure a spot in this group, and Jack's refusal in front of these friends irritated him. "I'll show you harmless." Levi aimed to push Jack off his chair for slight amusement rather than out of actual aggression, but Jack had no patience for Levi. With his hands, he blocked Levi. With his right leg, he took Levi's from under him. He did this all in one swift move. To a teacher across the cafeteria, it looked like Levi tripped and landed on the floor. To the people at Jack's table and the two next to him, it was clear that Jack outmaneuvered Levi with no effort. Many of them laughed at Levi's misfortune, including a group known for spreading the most inane gossip. They would add this incident to the list for today's circulation.
Jack wrapped up the school day with the continued ease he had before. As she shut his locker for the last time of the day, he finally saw Cassie, and she was approaching him.
"I thought it was funny when I first heard the new guy was named Jack O'Neill," she commented. "Seeing you up close now, though, it's kind of creepy. There's a resemblance between you and this other Jack O'Neill I know."
"Maybe we're related," Jack noted sarcastically.
Cassie, however, didn't pick up the sarcasm. "No, I know he doesn't have any family left. It must be one of those things, I guess."
"Yeah, one of those things."
"I'm Cassie, by the way."
"Nice to meet you."
"And nice meeting you finally."
Jack headed towards one of the school doors. "I'll see you around, Cassie."
"You probably shouldn't head that way."
"Why not?"
"People have been talking about what happened at lunch with Levi, and it's been blown ridiculously out of proportion these past few hours. His locker is over there along with some of his friends'."
"And he feels compelled to respond?" Jack asked, knowing the answer.
"Welcome to Mountain Springs."
"Well, I don't want to keep them waiting." Before Cassie could discourage him, Jack headed towards Levi and his friends.
"O'Neill!" Levi said angrily. "I think we all should talk."
"Not on school grounds. You should know better," Jack quickly noted.
Jack proceeded out of the school and across the street, followed by Levi and four of his friends. In turn, the five bullies were followed by students who heard the exchange and wanted to see what would happen.
Jack finally stopped walking and gave Levi an inviting look. The five guys surrounded him and charged together. Despite their number and size, they were no match for Jack's memories. Jack stumbled from time to time, having never fought in this younger body before, but he still managed to beat them without breaking a sweat. Many students cheered or laughed. Jack stood off to the side and bent down a bit to address the guys on the ground.
"Now, guys, I know how this is supposed to work with a new guy. You all felt compelled to defend Levi's honor and next you will feel compelled to defend your own honor and come after me at a later time. Well, let me tell you this. I haven't been working out, but I will again soon. What I just did to you all was easy. If I need to do it again, it will be easier. With that in mind, maybe you all should just accept that you are no match for me. I am the big man on campus, the alpha dog, or whatever term you all use these days. Accept that and then you won't feel the need to defend your honor." Jack stood straight up. "Is that clear?" he said loudly, using a tone befitting an Air Force colonel when addressing an annoying enemy.
"Yeah, O'Neill," Levi responded quietly.
"Good. See you tomorrow." Jack turned around and headed home. Although there was a bus that could take him to his apartment, he opted to walk to begin his physical conditioning. On his way, he reflected on his word choice. While he certainly doesn't want to be the most popular guy at school, he felt he needed to put the five guys in his place, so he liked how everything turned out.
Thanks to school gossip and Levi's behavior, Jack had reached his goal in one day. He became well-liked and respected by both students and teachers, and his modesty made him even more liked. Over the next few days, Jack made peace with Levi and his friends and dabbled in brief conversations with Cassie. He decided against telling her who he was, even though General Hammond had given him permission to do so when he found out where Jack was going to school. During one of Jack's and Cassie's brief chats, they noticed another bully picking on someone.
"Quit it, Jared," he told the bully. Jared stopped and went away, a move noticed by two teachers. When a similar incident happened again, gossip among teachers elevated Jack's position further.
Jack was enjoying his second try at high school when a surprise visit topped it all. As he walked into his next class, Daniel showed up.
"Hey," Daniel said. "I dropped by on the way back to base from an errand and I was hoping to catch you between classes." Daniel approached Jack and pulled out a large envelope. From the envelope he identified several items as he pulled them out and set them on Jack's desk. "Here is your social security card and your passport. Also, the president pulled a few strings and got you an unrestricted driver's license. Try not to get pulled over, though. It'll get complicated."
Daniel assumed that the driver's license would get some positive attention. Murmurs in class confirmed his prediction. Daniel knew what Jack had accomplished; he was the only one from SGC who stayed in touch. Jack made the first move and called Daniel. He declined to contact Sam because he felt it would be awkward given his feelings for her. He really wanted to contact Teal'c, but Teal'c hardly ever left the base, and Jack wasn't sure if he wanted to go back there yet. However, Jack had no reservations about Daniel. He needed him, and he knew that Daniel would understand. In turn, Daniel relied on Jack to fill in memory gaps he didn't want to ask his teammates about out of embarrassment. Daniel ultimately moved into an apartment complex close to Jack's complex so they could be near each other, but far enough to maintain a symbolic distance out of respect to the original Jack O'Neill.
Jack told Daniel about all the progress he made at school. Daniel shared some of this information with the original Jack, who was content about his clone's success. After some time apart, the original finally accepted his clone's existence and gave him some help through Daniel. The second to last item in Daniel's envelope was a key to a truck.
"Here is a key you should recognize," Daniel said. "I parked it near the pine trees."
Jack was surprised. "Now he has an excuse to buy a new one. Thank him for me, will you?"
"Of course. And I will also thank him for this." Daniel pulled out the last item, a piece of paper. "A savings account in your name with $75,000. Don't spend it all in one place." Daniel smiled. "So, have you told any of your fellow students anything about your past?"
"Of course not. Everything about me before my first day here is classified."
"Well, you should give them something. Maybe you shouldn't talk about your expertise with nuclear weapons," Daniel said loudly, "but maybe you could tease them about where you were really born or your experience flying jets." Daniel smiled widely, a contrast to Jack's glare. "Look at the time," Daniel continued. "I should go."
"Do you have a ride back to base?"
"An airman should be out there somewhere by now."
"All right. Thanks a lot, Daniel."
"You're welcome, Jack. Hey, it's going to be a late night for me tonight. Do you mind if we push dinner at my place to tomorrow?"
"Of course not. I'll see you then."
"Bye."
"Bye."
As Daniel was walking away, he heard a classmate ask Jack where he was born. Daniel quickly turned around. "In a space ship orbiting Earth," he said quickly before he scurried out to avoid Jack's reaction. He couldn't see Jack shooting a look of death at him.
Murmurs started again and even Miss Worth was curious, but she ultimately started class before anyone could badger Jack.
Cassie was waiting at Jack's locker at the end of the day. "I heard about where you were born, so I asked a little more about you. It turns out you have a connection to the Air Force and a hunky friend named Daniel."
Jack smiled. "Give me a couple minutes, Cassie, and we'll talk."
Jack and Cassie soon walked around the school's tennis courts. Cassie decided to direct the conversation. "So, I'll tell you a little bit about myself if you tell me a little bit about yourself."
Jack smiled in approval.
Cassie asked, "Do the letters SGC mean anything to you?"
Jack laughed. "All right, Cassie. We'll cut to the chase." Jack still didn't want to tell Cassie about his true origins, but he didn't want to lie, either. Luckily, he had already rehearsed an explanation in anticipation of a moment like this one. "My parents died before I was born. However, through the intervention of an Asgard named Loki, I was still born and my growth accelerated. I'm actually less than a month old, but a lot of knowledge was put into me, so I know what do to and how to live on my own. Loki sent me down to Earth soon after and I came across SG-1. I know your mother well, so I know a bit about you and Hanka."
Cassie smiled. "So I got all that information for free, then?"
"Yes."
"I wish you could have told me some of that before."
"Well, I'm not sure if the hallways were the best places to be revealing that information."
"Fine. Point accepted." Cassie smiled again and then changed the subject. "So you named yourself after Uncle Jack?"
"I couldn't think of a better name for me."
"Well, it is a good name."
"He gave me his old truck. Do you want a ride?"
"Yeah!"
Two days later, Jack had his first interaction with the original since the latter dropped him off at school. A chemistry assignment on modeling molecules left Jack needing supplies he remembered owning. He drove to his old home and retrieved the extra key from a fake rock. Jack decided to complete the assignment there lest he ended up missing anything and needing more supplies. It was just past midnight when he finished, and he planned to take a quick nap on the floor next to his model.
Forty minutes later, the original came home and saw his younger counterpart sleeping. The older Jack lifted his clone onto the couch and went to bed.
At 5:30, the colonel rose out of bed and awakened his clone to make sure the latter had time to take care of his morning activities.
"Hey, old man," Jack softly said. "Sorry about intruding. I haven't gotten a chance to explore the area by my apartment yet and I didn't want to roam around looking for a store."
"It's no problem. Your molecule looks well done."
"Thanks. I'm hoping my teacher will feel the same way."
"Do you want to stay for breakfast?" The older Jack asked, partly hoping his clone would decline. Although he had come to terms with the situation and passed down his truck and some money, breakfast in that house would still be awkward.
The younger Jack was able to read the original's facial and vocal cues. "No thanks, I have a couple errands to run before school starts. Do you even have time for breakfast anyway?"
"Nothing big. We're in the middle of some negotiations."
"All right. I'll head out then. Thanks, by the way, for the truck and savings account."
"No problem."
"I really like your new truck."
"I thought you would."
