Jack had been grinning all morning.

It was as annoying as it was worrisome; this was absolutely the worst time possible for dealing with another one of his practical jokes. Daniel therefore made some effort in keeping track of Jack's movements. So far there hadn't been any suspicious actions, like sneaking into anyone's office, the kitchens, or the cleaning closets. That meant no green mashed potatoes, glue on anybody's chair or freshly mopped gray floors turning color into purple once they'd dried.

Jack just made one visit, and that was to Doctor Fraiser, according to Teal'c. The Jaffa also told him that there was an envelope in Jack's hands when he went into the infirmary, but not when he left it. The envelope was reported to be yellow and big, like the kind they use for x-rays.

He was startled out of his thoughts by Sam knocking on the door of his office.

``Hey Daniel.``

She gave him a smile, but looked worried.

``Oh, hey Sam. What brings you here?``

``Do you know why Jack is so cheerful today? It's pretty out of character for him, I mean... he comes back, on time, after just one day away, still black and blue, his ribs are broken, but he was whistling when he came by my lab to needle me earlier. Did he play another one of his practical jokes?`` The 'on you' remained unspoken.

``No. It's probably just a question of time though. Teal'c saw him go to Janet's with an envelope. Do you think it's a shaving cream bomb?``

``You put those under the door and stomp on them, Space-monkey, you don't put them in their hands,`` said a voice from the direction of the door.

They turned, and, sure enough, Jack was leaning on the door frame, grinning like a lunatic, a stiff looking Teal'c behind him. He could just see Sam backing up – this was going beyond 'uncharacteristic' and well into 'weird of the potentially dangerous kind'.

``I just came to return your Agent Jaffa 007,`` continued Jack and gestured to Teal'c, completely oblivious to his teammates regarding him with varying levels of alarm.

He turned and was about to walk away, hands in his pockets, whistling a cheerful tune. Teal'c recovered first.

``ColonelO'Neill, where are you going?`` He called behind their retreating team leader.

``Off to see the General. You kiddies play nice while I'm gone, now.``

He flashed them a sunny smile and disappeared behind the corner.

Teal'c turned towards them, as worried as he'd ever seen him. Sam looked puzzled. He cleaned his glasses. First to Janet, then to the General, with a smile... whistling the Wizard of Oz theme.

Maybe there was some really powerful weapon found somewhere? But then Sam would hear... A really good prank he set and was about to go off any minute now? News of a Goa'uld accidentally killing itself in a way that would win a Darwin Award? But none of that rated a smile. A smirk, a grin, a quick smile, sure, but not a sunny smile.

``Maybe Janet knows something?`` He ventured.

The quickest way would be to go and ask Jack outright, but their ventures to other planets taught him of the importance of reconnaissance. And they could ask Janet if Jack was really healthy - maybe it was the concussion, or some weird alien spore again that was responsible for the Colonel acting like he'd smoked something a grinning shaman had handed him.

Unfortunately Janet threw them out as soon as she saw they weren't actually bleeding.

She looked frazzled and they heard her chanting under her breath: ``It has to be faulty equipment,`` frantically, as she slammed the door of her lab into their faces.

They exchanged looks of alarm. First Jack, now Janet? What was going on? The nurses at the infirmary didn't know what was it either. That left only one option.

Sam looked at him. He stared right back. Teal'c was the one to say it.

``DanielJackson, you have known ColonelO'Neill the longest. Do you not feel the need to ask him why he is in such high spirits this morning?`` Which was Jaffa-speak for: `You've known him the longest, you go ask him what's up.` While we find cover in case it is some alien spore.

``Don't you feel the need to accompany me, Teal'c? You're supposed to keep me safe in dangerous situations. And where did your scientific curiosity go, Sam?`` He'd go down fighting!

``Well, that's why you should be the one asking. Teal'c has to be on guard for any sign of danger, and he'll never give me a straight answer exactly because he knows I'm the ever curious scientist,`` said Sam in a reasonable tone.

``Fine. But you both owe me.``

He turned and started towards the General's office. Sam, falling in step with him, smiled gratefully, while Teal'c loomed behind them.

He'd noticed that she was still a bit awkward around Jack. It wasn't entirely her fault. Jack had gotten over it a while ago, and now treated her like a valued teammate and a trusted friend, but Sam never really snapped out of that 'instant attraction' thing that was between the two of them at first. As a consequence, she acted a little too distant at times, in order to protect her feelings, as well as her pride. Jack was pretty considerate about it all, ignoring it, to let her save face.

``I bet you lunch it's NID taking a hit, big time,`` she said grinning.

``I bet you lunch it's alien happy flu,`` he countered.

``I shall wager on news of a Goa'uld demise in an undignified manner,`` rumbled Teal'c from behind them, ``Although I do not see the purpose of this since we are all likely to eat lunch at the mess hall, where we are not required to pay.``

He was about to explain the meaning of the term 'friendly banter' yet again, when they got word from the General to get to the Briefing Room posthaste.

They scrambled to get over there.

It still took long enough for his brain to make-up more theories for Jack's behavior. Sometimes it really sucked being a linguist. His mind automatically examined the symbols and signs and came up with the most likely meaning, or in this case, all sorts of possible scenarios, from Jack retiring on the basis of medical disability, to him being high, Goa'uld possession, sudden inheritance, proving to Janet he didn't need need post-mission check-ups...

The Occam Razor was currently in favor of the last option. The envelope given to Janet, Janet praying for there being a mistake in the proof Jack gave her. It didn't explain the cheerfulness, except... maybe Janet gave him some new, experimental pain medication yesterday, and this was the result?

But that didn't warrant a briefing, did it?

Any further pondering was halted by them walking into the Briefing Room, containing a grinning Jack O'Neill, Janet Fraiser and General Hammond, who was looking serious. Opposite to the General stood a bemused giant of man he recognized from pictures as Nemesis Michael Zhuchkow.

On the table lied a camera, some glasses, and a bottle of Jack Daniel's; Janet was nursing a glass of it.

``Close the door and be seated.`` General Hammond ordered in a no-nonsense tone. ``Colonel O'Neill, put that camera down. You are not taking any more pictures.``

Jack gave him a `aww, you just ruined all my fun`-look, and slouched in his chair, spinning, that sunny smile making another appearance.

They took their usual seats, General Hammond doing the introductions. The huge grinning Nemesis sat down next to Jack and didn't seem in any way insulted by Teal'c not shaking his hand.

He remembered Jack mentioning he knew a Nemesis named Mike, was 'Mike' a nickname for Michael Zhuchkow? It was pretty likely.

``As you may remember, some time ago SG-1 had helped bring down a rouge NID laboratory...`` General Hammond began, and then went on to recap the events of the NID lab they stumbled across, and the Feral they caught. One of those two that came to kill it was sitting next here right now.

The other one, that was also a victim of the experiments, Nemesis Michaels, was the one to kill the Feral. He half wished he'd had the chance to see it, or at least thank the Kyn woman; for all her hesitation, seeing the Feral die really helped Sam get over it attacking her. But what about it?

Meanwhile, General Hammond finished speaking and nodded to Nemesis Zhuchkow. The huge man stood up. He wore what was probably his usual work-clothes. Dark, drab, of good make, unremarkable, that allowed him to downplay his size and could be easily shredded.

``The data extracted was given to the Kyn,`` he started. ``And when we sifted through it we noticed that one of the Kyn women kidnapped was already pregnant when she was taken. Some of you met her, I assume you still remember Nemesis Siobhan R. Michaels – she was the one to kill the Feral you had caged in your basement?`` His eyes sparkled with humor.

``We have only recently learned of this, since it took some time to sift through it all.`` He shrugged, sobering up. ``We didn't want any physical or electronic copies to exist, to protect the Kyn involved, so four Priests with perfect recall memory went and memorized it all. The physical copies were destroyed.`` He grimaced.

They just destroyed it all? Yes, he knew how perfect recall worked, so they still had the information, but how the heck was that protecting the Kyn - the NID would have to repeat it all, start from scratch if they wanted to find out whatever they wanted to know. Meanwhile, Zhuchkow had turned to General Hammond.

``This leads me, General Hammond, to the true purpose of my visit. The device they used at that facility was not from Earth. The data that mentions it has been written back down, I'll give it to you later, just after this little announcement is out of the way. Speaking of...`` He clapped his hands. The smile was positively devilish.

Pregnant already, Nemesis Michaels, gave birth to two children, announcement, - Whoa. There wouldn't be any need to mention any of this unless the father worked here. On this team. He felt his jaw drop. Teal'c hasn't been out often enough, God knew he himself had little to no time to go clubbing, and that left... No...

``Hello kiddies, I'm Jack O'Neill - the father of two bouncing Kyn-born babies, named Gwen Aisilin and Blair Keane,`` announced Jack cheerfully.

There was a beat of incredulous silence in which he saw General Hammond give an honest-to-God eye-roll.

``Mike, you wanna do the honors?`` Said Jack, grinning like a school-boy that just glued his teacher to the chair.

Zhuchkow shook his head and leaned back in his chair to observe the resulting chaos.

He watched the reactions of his team-mates in a daze. There was the initial disbelief, then proof, backed by both Janet, Hammond and Zhuchkow and then pandemonium.

Teal'c came very near to taking a swing at the Nemesis when he realized that this really wasn't one of Jack's pranks. Jack had to explain to Teal'c all about how he got to know and trust 'Mike', as he called him – some classified stuff in the Middle East; and then to Janet and him how exactly he got a Kyn knocked-up - a one-night stand in Atlanta.

And after things winded down, he noticed that General Hammond and Nemesis Zhuchkow had gone, probably to discuss whatever it was about that device that was mentioned. Janet was in the middle of studying the DNA charts or was it profiles?

And Sam was missing. Jack had probably not thought of how the news would affect her. Me made a mental note to go have a talk with her, and yell at Jack, before asking:

``So, when do we get to meet them all? And just what is this sultry temptress that ensnared you like?`` That dispersed the last of the tension in the room, as Jack's ears turned pink, and Janet perked up, sensing much Jack-teasing in the near future.

Teal'c would probably blush if he could too – doubtless he thought something along the same lines earlier when he threatened to disembowel the Nemesis, luckily in Goa'uld.

And there would be much, much teasing from this. He saw the pictures of the visiting Kyn delegation all those months back, saw the security footage of the 'Killing Of The Feral', as Jack dubbed it. He remembered Siobhan R. Michaels – she looked like jail-bait.


She blew her nose and washed her face with icy water. The locker room was empty, as usual at this hour. She examined her face in the mirror. There was no sign of tears, and she silently thanked her mother for the genes that allowed her not to turn all snotty and red-eyed when she cried. Her cheeks were a bit pinker than usual, so she went and washed her face again.

She was feeling a mix of jealousy and heartache burn through her. It was a novel feeling, one she could do without. She stared at her reflection. She was beautiful, she heard it often enough - blue eyes, blond hair, classic features, a nice body. And a brilliant mind. But not enough to keep Jack.

She'd thought she'd made her peace with that. So why did she walk out of that room after receiving the news in a daze? Why did she walk through the halls, with a blank face and a stone in her stomach, in here and cowered her face with a towel to muffle the sobs she then broke into?

She hadn't cried when she realized that Jack O'Neill didn't love her anymore, so why was she crying now? Her accursed genius brain was quick to give her an answer. She had still hoped things would go back to the way they were before. Surely a couple of children he had through a one-night stand wouldn't completely ruin her chances? Or would they?

She remembered his face when he said the names of the children, the light in his eyes. Light that had once shined for her. Now for the two children and that skinny little... Kyn. Oh yeah, she'd noticed the way his face softened at the mere mention of her name.

She felt another wave of jealousy wash over her. Well. She should've expected this sooner or later.

Jack may not have been looking for a wife or a girlfriend, but whether he was aware of it or not, an Air Force Colonel was pretty hot stuff on the bachelor market. She knew some women would go for him for his looks alone, the ones that like mature men. And there were plenty of gold-diggers out there, and most decent ones would love a man of his bravery, quick wit, hard morals.

Not that her own little crush was clouding her judgment or anything. Just look at all the native woman they met on other planets. If they weren't lusting after Daniel, they were swooning over Jack.

It hadn't been a problem at first, when she knew that the only thing preventing him from asking her out was the fact that they were in the same chain of command. There were woman, but she knew, just by the way he looked at her, that she was the only one he really wanted. That those other woman he occasionally flirted with were just a distraction.

But then, when those looks stopped, when she realized the attraction was only one sided now, it bothered her. She felt a spike of jealousy every time some chief's daughter fluttered her eyelashes at him. And he noticed, and never flirted back like he did before. He never called her out on the times she slipped up and jealousy reared up its ugly head. And he complimented her now, if half-jokingly, as if he'd sensed that her ego took a pretty big hit when he stopped giving her those looks. When he stopped returning her feelings.

But children didn't equal love, she reminded herself. She may still have a shot.

``Carter?``

Fuck.

She hastily checked her face for traces of tears. A little pale, but not noticeable in this light. She turned around.

``Yes sir?``

Jack O'Neill came in and sat down on the nearest bench, face serious, eyes troubled. He examined her head to toe, and she prayed with all her might he wouldn't ask her what was wrong.

``I apologize for acting like total jerk earlier. I probably should've broken the news in a little more professional manner.``

She smiled a wane smile.

``It's not your way, sir.``

He gave a smirk.

``It was pretty funny how Teal'c asked if he could have some whiskey too.``

She smiled with a little more humor this time, and sat next to him.

``To calm his nerves?``

``Yup. Though he said he wanted to follow the established Tau'ri traditions.`` He grinned. ``I left him and Danny in Danny-boy's lab, we're all going home early today. Hammond said he'd call when he and Mike come up with a debrief about that device and to get off the base and `sort this out`.``

He fell silent. She more felt than saw him grow serious again.

``So, I guess here you get to yell at me being an insensitive jerk.``

She won't cry, she won't cry, …

``What for, sir?`` Tone neutral and proper, stare directly ahead. She mastered the art of hiding her emotions behind procedure and protocol the second week of boot camp. She could make it through this conversation. Only her tone came out dry and brittle, and she felt like someone was choking her.

``Leading you on instead of coming clean with you. Not telling giving the news in a nicer way. You know. Being an insensitive jerk.``

She swallowed thickly.

``You weren't leading me on. I know you regard me as a teammate, nothing more, nothing less.``

Her eyes were misting over.

``Yeah. But I should of done something... I dunno, different with this. I mean...`` He sighed. ``Look, I know I screwed this up. So I just wanted to say I'm sorry.``

He put his hand on her shoulder, gave it a light squeeze.

``Carter. I need to know if we can still work on the same team because of this.``

She blinked furiously, resentment pooling in her chest. He wanted a teammate. That's all she was? She forced herself to look at him. He was sitting, elbows on knees, looking at her intently. She collected the shards of her dignity and straightened her spine.

``Sir. You can count on me out there.``

Jack huffed.

``And I want my genius-astrophysicist to still be my genius-astrophysicist friend.`` She didn't feel any better at that. She didn't know if she could do that.

``Sam.``

His voice was gentle. She looked at him again.

``I'm just processing.``

``Okay, that's good, I guess.``

He waited, patiently, while she warred with herself.

It would probably hurt more to see him every day and play the role of being his friend than hating him. But she didn't hate him. She was upset, angry even, hurt. But she didn't hate him; that implied despising him. She'd wanted ...

It didn't matter. She wouldn't get what she really wanted in any case, so it was probably better this way. She would get over it, eventually. Probably. All her female friends got over their share of bad break-ups, why not her? Though it wasn't as if they ever were an item or anything, more like a potential couple, or star-crossed lovers, and Holy Hannah those were some mushy thoughts.

``So, Danny and Teal'c want to go see the kids for themselves. Janet's coming, too.``

She waited, stubbornly silent, drawing vindictive satisfaction from seeing him wait for her answer awkwardly. Childish, but she couldn't help herself. After a long stretch of silence, he rubbed his face and groaned.

``You know, I'd be happier with a punch in the face than the silent treatment. And you are welcome to come out for a drink with us tonight, and to meet the kids and Siobhan this Sunday. And I'll just go now.``

But he didn't move.

Her mind was racing. She was probably supposed to go and see the little O'Neills, extend her congratulations, fawn over the babies, play nice. What she really wanted to do was to call the redheaded Nemesis a fraud and a liar. But Janet was clear beyond any doubt - the DNA scans were from a brother and a sister, both Kyn-born, who had a father that worked under the Mountain and thus had his DNA in her database – a one Jack O'Neill.

Jack, who made her feel accepted, who was perpetually confused at her theories, who never treated her like 'just a girl', who always had her back; Jack with his quick wit and brown eyes and unflinching resolve in the face of impossible odds, who made her heart beat faster that first day when he smirked at her offer of hand-wrestling. Jack, who just gently broke her heart, like only a true friend can.

To hell with it, she decided.

She'll do the adult thing and go with the others to visit the Michaels house, and she'll be civil to the mother, and stop her moping. And until then she'll have a background check done about Siobhan R Michaels. And if she found some dirt on her and Jack happened to see it, well...too bad.

`` What address and when?``


Jack gave himself a mental smack on the head while he was walking towards Danny's lab. He should've told Carter separate from the others.

She wouldn't have believed him, true, but maybe he could've make sure that she was there when Janet found out? He felt like complete idiot for not thinking of how she would react. But there was no going back, the damage was done.

Sam was tough, and he knew her well enough to know that she would eventually get over it, but in the meantime, he would take every bit of well deserved retaliation she'd inflict on him.

He hoped she wouldn't try and do a background check. He'd rather Zee told them of her past on her own; he wanted her to get along with his team. But he would make her explain to him just how come she got to be engaged to an earl, 'cuz if he remembered right, the earls were like way up high, with princes and kings.

Yet another thing to look up, next to sand-cats. Actually, he could ask Daniel about those, he mused, as he knocked once and barged in.

``Hey space-monkey,`` he called cheerfully and closed the door to Teal'c`s quarters behind him.

Danny and Teal'c jumped and broke from their conspiratory huddle, while Janet just kept sitting in place and collected the DNA scans back together.

``Oh, hey Janet. Still looking for the proof of a mistake?`` He asked.

Janet gave him an insulted look.

``Of course not. I double and triple checked, and even called two of the three clinics that made the scans Mr. Zhuchkow provided, to see if they really made the scans. I'm just looking at them before I have to give them back. Did you know that there isn't any specific difference to Kyn DNA as opposed to human? Nothing to explain why they can change forms. And there are absolutely no scientific explanations as to how they do it; the change in the body mass alone... `` She trailed off, looking at the scans again, returning to happy scan-land of genetics.

He looked at Danny and Teal'c.

``So, what are you two planning? T, you're not gonna flip again if we go visit come Sunday?``

Daniel looked at him in exasperation.

``That's three days from now, Jack!``

``So you'll have plenty of time to snoop and plot in the meantime. And grill me.`` Unfortunately.

Teal'c looked at him with a perfectly blank face. The one that said 'I worry for your safety.'

Guess he didn't believe the Kyn was harmless after all. Well, to be fair, neither did he. The Kyn were dangerous if provoked. So three days were just enough time to get T to promise not to do anything violent, Janet to not to 'offer' to do any tests and Daniel not to start asking about the history they lived through. And for Sam to pull herself together, he thought guiltily.

He really wanted for this to go well, his team and his newly-found or -made or -whatever family to get along.

``O'Neill, do you plan to marry this... NemesisMichaels, mother of your children?``

Ahh, so Teal'c got over the shock already. Daniel and Janet sniggered.

Right, back to the issue of his pesky teammates asking embarrassing questions.


Zee was just trying to put one of those horridly impractical jumpsuits on her flailing son when the phone rang downstairs. A few minutes later Caroline walked in with the phone.

``It's Jack,`` she said with a pleasant smile.

She could just smell a match-making plan cooking in her head. She restrained herself from making a cutting remark and set the phone on the nearby chair. It was already on the speaker-phone, so she merely said:

``Yes, this is Siobhan speaking.``

``Hey, It's Jack. How you doing?``

She glared at Caroline, hovering by Gwen's crib.

``Just lovely. You're on speaker, by the way.``

Gwen chose that moment to announce her displeasure with being left ignored lying in her crib when she should be carried around.

``I take it this is a bad time,`` said Jack, voice raised to be heard above the din.

She glared at Caroline, who gave her a guilty look, then quickly picked Gwen up and walked out into the hallway with her in her arms, murmuring softly.

``No, just a normal utter chaos with a dash of insanity and a drop of animal cruelty here,`` she said when she could be heard again. There was a chuckle.

``So, I'm on my way from work and was just curious as to how y'all doin'.`` Blair was looking around for the source of the voice, and she used his distraction to get his legs in the jumpsuit.

``Oh, fine. The house burned down though.`` There was a screech of breaks and she winced. She just couldn't stuff a foot in it, could she? Nearing her second century under the Grace of the Goddess, and she still blurted things out without thought.

``Please tell me that last bit was just you being sarcastic.``

``Yes. The house is still standing. Sorry, I forgot you were driving.``

``Yeah, well you nearly gave me a heart attack. Don't do that.`` He sounded upset. She wrangled another hand into the sleeve.

``I'm sorry. How did your team react to the news? And what was Michael doing there?``

Michael loathed underground places. He wouldn't go into an underground base without being ordered to, friend of Jack or not.

``He went to see the General. Did you know that he doesn't like being underground? Anyway, they reacted as well as could be expected. Shock, then ribbing. I'll never live it down.``

By the tone of his voice, he wasn't all that upset about that. She pulled the other tiny hand through the sleeve, and started to button Blair up.

``And...``

``And they'll be visiting on Sunday. I mean, if you're still okay with that. Teal'c, Daniel, Sam and Janet and me.`` He sounded uncertain.

Well, she wasn't really happy about it, but by the way Jack talked about them the evening before, these people were not mere friends. He didn't speak of Charlie and his previous wife, just said he was divorced, but she could connect the dots. He lost his son, and then his wife, and then in the middle of his devastation he found people that made life worthwhile again. They were family, one he chose, one he made when his own fell apart. She could relate to that. Only blood kin she had were her children. And they would know their father's family.

``Of course. They are friends of yours. After all, mine will be there. Dinner at five?``

``Will Carol cook again?``

``What, you don't trust me behind a stove?`` She asked in mock outrage.

Blair gave a happy smile, and she tickled his chin.

``Maybe when I need something corrosive for a sticky pan.`` She snickered.

``I'll have you know that it was a one time incident. I needed to blow a hole in the wall.`` Oh, she did not just say that.

``Oh.`` Huh? He sounded vaguely impressed.

``How thick a wall?`` Her blowing things up was a plus in his book?

``Never mind that, you'll tell me some other time. How are the kids?``

She heard the car start up again.

``Well, I'm holding Blair now.``

She settled in the chair and rocked Blair a bit.

``And?`` His voice was soft, coaxing.

She didn't really know how to respond, so she just started to chatter.

``And, he's finally settling down. We've had a bit of a brawl between him and his sister earlier, when we put them on the changing table to change the bedding. It was sort of adorable, oh you should see, they were wrestling for the carrots ...``

It was easy to talk about her children and she got a bit carried away, yammering on for a good quarter of an hour, before she caught herself. He just listened, chuckling at times, never interrupting her.

``...and well, er, same old. I shouldn't have let them though, they should rest and eat and gain weight in stead of tiring themselves like that.`` She paused in embarrassment, biting her tongue.

``So, you'll be bringing four with you come Sunday?``

``Yup. Oh, and I just wanted to ask you if bringing T would be a problem.``

What did tea had to do with visits? Did someone drink a special sort for their aliments?

``We have enough tea, but some more is always welcome,`` she said carefully, wondering if the man got a concussion somewhere along the way. He laughed.

``T as if Teal'c, the Jaffa?``

Why obviously, never mind that a letter was not a name.

``They wouldn't make any assumptions as to him smelling different, if that is what you mean,`` she said.

``But didn't you and Mike know from the get-go?``

``Yes, but we were looking for the differences, because he was an ali- a Jaffa. If they notice he smells of 'things unknown', they'll just assume he's from very far away. And it is considered rude to ask questions about one's scent.``

He let out a breath.

``Okay. Hey, I can't really come visit today, probably tomorrow too, but I'll call you, if that's okay.``

What did that mean? Her social skills were a bit rusty in the relationships area. It could mean a romantic interest according to the telly, the soppier shows at least, or did it mean he was only calling to check on the twins?

``It is. Okay, I mean.``

``You have my number, right? Call if the house really burns down, 'cuz I have one too, and mine's way bigger. And if you call the base and say your name they'll know to patch you through to me.``

She smiled a bit. It was sweet of him to think of it. That was definitely a 'I'd like it if you'd call me', right?

``Of course. I'm home most of the time these days, any way.`` And she could forward a call if not, even if she had to go take care of something Nemesis-like.

``Okay then. I gotta go, I've been sitting in my driveway for five minutes and Daniel is waiting on the doorstep glaring at me.`` She could just see him smirk.

``Then I shan't keep you. Goodbye.``

``Bye. Take care.``

She disconnected the call and leaned back in the chair with a smile. Caroline tiptoed back in, a sleeping Gwen in her arms.

She asked her what the call was about, in Kyn-speak, so not to wake Gwen. She told her to wait until the twins were settled down for the night. With Caroline helping it took them only half an hour to persuade Blair to sleep.

They settled in the kitchen with a mug of cocoa. She relayed the contents of the conversation, excluding any classified elements. Caroline was watching her with a growing grin.

``Did you know you start smiling ever so slightly when you talk of him?``

She told her something very rude.

``And that anger problem will be mentioned to the psychologist that will be coming to visit tomorrow.``
She gave her horrified look a serene smile.
``Michel asked Carl, and Carl asked a friend of his at the FBI. Not Kyn, but I'm told that he knows the meaning of confidential. And no, there is no way to avoid it. But about this Teal'c character, is there something you can tell me about him? For instance, why is there so much unknown about him that must remain unknown?``

``That's classified,`` she said, still annoyed about the therapy thing. They could at least ask her, she hated talking about her emotions. It was why it took her so long to master the memory-scape training – she just didn't know what to do with them.

Caroline frowned.

``I see. What can you tell me?``

``I'll ask Jack when he calls next time, all right?``

Caroline smiled behind her glass. ``What?``

``So you are expecting his call, are you?`` At her blank look, she sighed.

``I was insinuating that you are responding on him 'making a move on you,' as they say here.``

She was confused.

``So that is him making his interest known? Saying he'll call me?``

Because lots of people did that, fairly often, and it really made no sense at all, since it usually meant what it sounded like. But these things never were straightforward, and she didn't really know the current pick-up lines.

Caroline rolled her eyes.

``I think so at least, but then again I'm hardly an expert. I don't date, I go clubbing when the mood strikes me. You should really ask Leyla about that. Couldn't you tell what kind of a 'call you back' it was from the tone of voice?``

Well, now that she thought of it, he sounded nervous. Like he feared the answer was to be 'no'. Which was irrational, really. They needed to talk if they were to learn things about each other.

``It might have been a 'call you later to check on the kids,' sort of a 'call you later'? I think that was it.``

Caroline sighed. And then made a face and laughed.

``Is it silly or not that we are discussing the meaning of a 'call you later' over a century after we've gone through puberty?``

It was, and she laughed along half-heartedly. Unfortunately, the answer was important to her. She chuckled.

She had mentally gone from Nemesis to a thirteen-year old in just a few months. Children truly did keep one young.


Whoopee, we have snow here, people. It makes life awesome, but falling trees are bad for electricity. The damn muses are squealing at making snow angels too much to give me any whispers of inspiration, but hey, the plot hare is unaffected, so it's all good. I have half a mind to wrap this up in about six more chapters as part one and then pick up the next part a few years later. I don't wanna put a 'COUPLE OF YEARS LATER' in the middle of an otherwise decent story. So... yeah. Oh, and I'm not dead, just missing. Not gonna update for a while.