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Some Introductions Are in Order
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Mark Carter looked out about the living-room. Everyone appeared completely at ease at being inside the General's home. No one seemed overly curious about the photos hanging on the wall, nor about the lack of actual food going around. Mark had understood that Sgt. something-or-other had set up for this. Personally, he didn't care to eat anything, but he had two little girls to worry about who hadn't eaten since breakfast. As a matter of fact, where were they? Where was his wife, and his sister, as a matter of fact? They all seemed to have disappeared.
Just as he was thinking this, Sam came out of what Mark assumed was the bedrooms in a different outfit than she had been wearing. He hadn't seen her bring anything with her, so he had to believe this was something already here. Did that mean it had been brought by the day before in anticipation, or did she commonly keep clothes at her superior officer's home? And no one batted an eye when they saw the change. Maybe his sister really was having an affair with her boss and no one cared. Yup, and reality TV was real too.
"Hey, I had to get out of the uniform. With the steaks I didn't think I'd be able to keep it clean."
Only one word registered with Mark's conscious mind. And he repeated it with all the skepticism he could muster. "Steaks? Do you mean that's what we're having? As in, all of us?" He looked around the room and tried to do a head count. Between in here and the backyard there were easily fifty people present, most likely more.
Sam lowered her head as a small smile appeared. "Yeah, the General, he likes steak. He always managed to get Dad over here for a barbeque when he was in town. I think Dad liked the chance to get away from the base, and of course be allowed to have a beer where he wasn't being regulated constantly."
Mark frowned. "Dad would come here when he came to Colorado Springs?"
"Yeah, he and the General really hit it off. Well, when they weren't arguing about who was right, and who was more right. Usually the end-result of their arguments was one of them buying a round of beers and steaks and cooking-out here."
Mark looked surprised. "Your CO argued with dad, the General, and lived to tell about it?"
Sam let out a small chuckle. "Yep, and they were both a pain in the ass about it."
Just as she said that, the man in question was coming in behind them with a couple of beer bottles in his hand. "I heard that Carter."
"You were meant to, Sir."
He turned to Mark. "You know, you give 'em just that little bit of freedom and it comes back to bite you in the… behind."
Mark kept staring at them incredulously. His sister had been outright insubordinate. Mark had been waiting for the actual reprimand, not the playful rebuke and rebuttal he heard instead. What kind of operation was his sister working for that no one in the room even paid it any mind? He was about to give them a piece of his mind when Pete came up to them with his own beer bottles, handing him one. That was when Jack realized he had two on his own person and passed one off to Carter. She barely acknowledged it, merely lifting an eyebrow slightly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to get her beverages.
"Shanahan."
"O'Neill."
There was no love lost between the two. Mark felt the same. But the General brushed it off and turned back to Mark, ignoring the cop once again.
"Oh, yeah, Mark. I have some juice in the fridge. What kind do the girls prefer?"
Again, Mark was taken aback. He had half expected the man to say they would have to suffer with water because he hadn't planned for kids at this shindig. That was nice, he supposed.
"Apple, if you have any."
He smiled. "Sure. I'll go take it to them. They must be thirsty." He turned around to leave and had a second thought. "Hey Carter, think they'd like that yo-yo you made me?"
His sister looked at him with a smile he had never seen on her before, almost as if she were indulging him like a mother does with a difficult child.
"Probably, Sir, but maybe it would be best if you just gave them the soccer ball to play with outside. I've had to fix it so many times it might not hold on for too much longer."
His expression seemed to falter and lift in rapid succession. "Yeah, you're right. Hey, maybe you could make me another one?"
"Sure. I'll get right on it once I'm back on base."
"Sweet."
He left to the kitchen again, leaving the three adults alone. Mark looked at his sister, and then at the retreating man. "You made him a yo-yo?"
This time, the mention of the toy made her blush. Mark wondered if she had even remembered they were there. But never one to back down, she looked straight at him to answer.
"Yeah. He kept bothering me and Daniel while we were trying to work, so I built him a flashing yo-yo." She laughed to herself. "In hind-sight, I'm not sure of how good a plan that was. I've had to fix it more times than I can count, and I don't want to imagine the amount of times he's lost it off-… off on some camping trip or what-not."
Pete scoffed at her near miss. Camping trip? Real original Sam.He gave her a pointed look to let her know he was on to her. She didn't even look his way. It seemed she was trying to ignore him too. Well, Pete Shanahan would not stand for that. He would get her to pay attention to him. And by the end of this day, Samantha Carter would realize she had made a big mistake leaving. She would be begging him to take her back before the day was through. He just had to let his boss know he wouldn't be coming in. His fiancées father had just passed away, after all.
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Jack made his way outside with plastic cups full of juice and a soccer ball tucked under his arm. He walked over to where Sam's nieces were sitting with their mother and gave them a smile. The girls looked up at him and returned the gesture with their own angelic versions. Jack could just picture these two getting into trouble and giving some great elaborate excuse for it all. He kneeled in front of them in order to address them properly.
"I just had a chat with your dad, and he told me you girls just love apple juice. I happened to have some lying around in my refrigerator and was wondering if you were interested."
They nodded emphatically and he handed each of them a cup after dropping the ball to the ground. They said their thank you's and quickly downed their entire cups instantly.
"Whoa, slow down there. I don't plan on asking for it back, you know?" That got the desired giggles from them.
"Hey, no giggling allowed in this house."
This just made them giggle all the more. But he continued to speak to them,
"Now, you know my name, but I seem to have missed yours. Care to share?"
The oldest girl stood and put her hand out to Jack. "I'm Elisabeth. Nice to meet you, General Jack!"
He shook her hand in earnest. "Nice to meet you too, Miss Elisabeth."
Then the younger girl got up from her seat and copied her big sister. "I'm Margaret. We already met at that other place where everyone was talking about my grampa."
Jack took her hand as well, smiling even more. This was probably the one who got into the most trouble. The Mini-Carter. "Nice to meet you as well, Miss Margaret."
Then he stopped, as if thinking something over. He noticed Sam coming over to them and gave the girls the ball to play with, advising them to stay away from the grill. He stood and rejoined the adult world, as much as he would allow himself to, anyway.
The girls' mother stood with him, "Thank you for that. I wasn't sure what else to do to keep them from doing any damage to your house."
"Nah, don't worry about it. They can't do any more harm than I already have over the years."
"Thank you anyway. They really liked you."
He smiled and shook his head in embarrassment. He was saved from answering by Sam's arrival and comment. "He has that effect sometimes. Kids just seem to adore him. It might something to do with his forgetting to grow up himself, I think."
He grinned, "And I'm damned proud of that."
They watched Sam's nieces kick the ball back and forth, getting Siler to join in the game with them. After about five minutes, Jack remembered what had struck him earlier.
"Hey, how come you never told me your brother was a Simpsons fan?"
Sam and Jen looked at him as if he'd grown another head. "Mark doesn't watch the Simpsons, right, Jen?"
Her sister-in-law agreed, "He isn't into cartoons. Usually the girls will watch, but I have never seen Mark take the slightest interest."
"Oh, then you must be the fan in the family."
"No, I only ever catch it when the girls are watching."
He frowned. Then he smiled. It was actually so much sweeter this way. Sam looked at him and tried to think of anything that might have given her CO that impression. Then her eyes narrowed and she looked over at the mini soccer match. She rolled her eyes in understanding and started to giggle. When she looked at Jen who still had no clue she began to giggle even more.
"Colonel, how many times have I told you no giggling?" Jack told her, but of course he wasn't taken seriously. He never was.
"Oh, sir, I'm sorry. I never caught that. I can't believe I never noticed. We even call them Maggie and Lisa."
Jen looked at her confused. Obviously this was about her daughters, but she couldn't for the life of her understand the subtext. "What's wrong with their names?"
Jack grinned in his 'cat that got the cream' way. "Absolutely nothing. They are great names. In fact, some of my favorite girl names. Right up there with Dorothy and Glinda."
Sam saw this wouldn't help her understand and butted in, "They're the names of the two daughters on the Simpsons. The General here is a big fan of the show. Pretty much lives his life on Homer Simpson philosophy."
She looked at her daughter and couldn't help but laugh along with Sam. "So that would make me Marge, wouldn't it? Boy, do I have to tell Mark about this. He'll hate being compared to a cartoon character."
Feigning offence, Jack jumped right in to defend his longtime idol, "Hey, Homer isn't just a cartoon character. He represents all that's good and wholesome in the world. He's a family man, he loves his wife, provides for his children. He even has a dog."
Sam shook her head and patted him on the arm. "Yes, sir, Homer Simpson is a wonderful role model."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you mocking me?"
"Never, sir, I have complete respect for your opinions."
"Now I know you're mocking me." He crossed his arms. "You know, that's insubordination right there." He saw Hammond coming over to them and spoke louder. "General, I'd like to bring Colonel Carter up on insubordination charges. She's mocking me, sir."
The man smiled at his kids. O'Neill would never change. "Oh, Jack. Are you sure? I mean, think of all the paperwork you'd have to file. Then we'd have to set a court date. And you know she would find a way to say you were wrong in the first place."
"He's right, sir. You wouldn't be able to prove a thing. Besides, they like me better over at the Pentagon anyway."
He considered his options carefully. "You know, Carter, sometimes you're just too smart for your own good."
"You wouldn't have me any other way…..Sir." She attached the last bit as an afterthought, only the sight of General Hammond reminding her that this was still a slightly formal gathering.
The General stuck around speaking to them and admiring his friend's granddaughters as Jack went to check on the food.
No one noticed the two men watching their conversation from the shadows of the trees that surrounded the house. Neither had missed the flirting between the two officers. Both had seen how at ease they were with each other, and how comfortable they were teasing the other, even in the presence of the brass and other colleagues.
What had also not escaped Mark's notice was that General Hammond, whom he knew was still General O'Neill's superior, even if retired, seemed to approve of this thing between them. He actually encouraged the banter and joined in on it. Mark had to get his sister alone to talk – soon.
Pete, on the other hand, was seething with anger. They had just broken up, her father had just died and already she was throwing herself at him like some two-bit whore. Who did she think she was? This farce of a reception was just to show the world that Jack O'Neill was running the game, and that Samantha Carter was the good little lapdog that followed along with whatever he said, just to get a little bit of the limelight. It was pathetic. And she would be his. He would make sure of it.
He needed a beer. Or two.
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Daniel and Teal'c were inside speaking with one of Sam's aunt's when the door burst open. A wild-haired brunette came rushing through frantically calling out.
"Sam, Jack? Sam, where are you?"
She spotted Daniel and Teal'c, who had risen to greet her, and went to them
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"Hey Danny, T. Have you guys seen Sam or Jack? I got here as quickly as I could. Traffic was a nightmare getting to the airport and when we landed I almost couldn't get a cab and then I got more traffic on the highway. It was just, ugh!" She rushed her words out, almost out of breath.
"Cass, slow down. Breath. I'm fine, how are you? Pleasant weather we're having, isn't it? Care for a drink?" Daniel smirked at the girl. She might not have been biologically Janet Frasier's daughter, but the girl had gotten something from the doctor.
Teal'c smirked and bowed his head. "It is good to see you CassandraFraiser."
The girl rolled her eyes at the men who had become her uncles. "H-e-l-l-o. How are you? I am fine too. Now where are they?"
Daniel shook his head. "They're right outside. Just slow it down. They're not going anywhere."
Before he had even finished what he was saying, the little ball of energy was already gone, leaving the guests in the living-room in a whirlwind. The women Daniel and Teal'c had been speaking with looked at them questioningly. They proceeded to explain who Cassandra was and who her mother had been. As they talked they could hear the exasperated shouting coming from the girl in question.
"Sam!" She yelled as soon as she spotted her Guardian.
The Colonel turned around at the unexpected voice. "Cass? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at school."
The college freshman narrowed her eyes at the woman. "Did you really think I wouldn't come? This is Grandpa Jake were talking about."
Sam smiled sadly at her and opened her arms, stealing a line from her CO, she said, "C'mere."
The teen threw herself into the welcoming opened arms and started to cry. Sam couldn't help herself at the despair Cassandra was showing, and started shedding a few tears as well. Cassie had bonded with her substitute grandfather growing up. Since Janet's parents had already passed when she had been adopted, Jake had stepped in with George Hammond to fill in the roll whenever he was in town.
Jack saw the attention they were drawing and stepped closer. He put his arms around both of them to shield them from prying eyes. And he couldn't deny the little joy he felt at having both his girls in his arms, even if for only a moment.
When Cassie had settled down and was drying her eyes, Mark decided it was his moment. He really had been very patient with everything, but this was too much. The warm family moment was beyond his level of comprehension. They were both acting as if this was their daughter. Now, he knew his sister hadn't been pregnant and given birth before she joined this operation, but he knew nothing of this man. Could Sam have really come into the man's life and practically adopted, at least emotionally, his daughter? Everything pointed to them having an emotionally entangled relationship, and still NOBODY seemed to care.
"Excuse me! Could someone please tell me what's going on around here?" Mark raised his voice so loud that the neighbors were probably wondering what was wrong.
No one had dared speak while the little makeshift family had taken their moment. Everyone from the SGC knew what Cassandra meant to SG-1, particularly to the two leaders. Even the ones who weren't sure exactly how far it went understood it was a private moment. When Mark raised his question, the entire group stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. Sam only cringed and shared a look with Jack. She'd forgotten to mention her guardian status and it appeared the elephant in the room had finally broken one of the chairs.
"Maybe we should have this conversation inside." Sam suggested, before things could get out of hand.
He narrowed his eyes. "Sure, lead the way. But I want some answers."
Pete, never one for subblety, came through the crowd and lifted his eyebrow, "No, I want to hear this. You never explained your relationship with her to me either. I think I deserve an explanation too."
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