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Right, sorry for being so blumin long with this...RL's a bummer at the minute! I hope you like. My (stand in beta for this chapter) and another pair of eyes have been flabulous. Thanks Emma and espiecially Lisa.

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"Carter! Have you completely lost your mind?"

Jack paced around the kitchen, waving his skinny little arms in the air to emphasize his words.

Daniel, however, sat perfectly still, his brow wrinkled in thought as he gamely tried to process what Sam had uneasily suggested.

"George?" he asked, "Me, Jack and George?" Biting his lip thoroughly, the young archaeologist took the astonishing idea far better than his young friend, blinking owlishly and repeating, "Okay, so you mean me, Jack and George?"

Jack muttered sourly under his breath, and shoving Daniel snarled, "Oh, what a load of crock! I'm so not going anywhere, and you can't make me!"

Sam groaned with exasperation, and glaring at her two charges, shook her head slowly. She traced the grain in the table with her finger while mentally trying to collect her scattered thoughts. Sighing despondently, she massaged her temples and looking at the aggressive posture of the young colonel, knew he was bristling for a fight. Huffing, she knew she needed to stand her ground exclaiming sharply "Oh, trust me, you will not win! Can it, Jack and sit your ass down!"

Shocked by Sam's perceptiveness, he jumped, throwing his patented 'what me' look. Scuffing his sneakers on the floor, happy with the irritating squeak they made, reluctantly pulled out a chair throwing himself ungraciously into it. "Whatever, Sam!"

Ignoring the little bit of attitude, recognising it for what is was, she said calmly, "Please, try to understand why. I need time so I can move all the stuff into your house. Besides, it will do us all good to have a break. The General said he's looking forward to having you and Daniel stay for a week or so."

Refusing to be mollified, the boy narrowed his eyes and sniffed, "Pfff, I bet he did." Smiling without any humour, he elbowed Danny, and muttered, "Right!"

Unable to stop the giggle that burst out, Daniel snorted, "Oh, yeah, bet he just can't wait!"

"Excuse me? Something you now want to add, Daniel?" Tweaking Daniel's ear in annoyance, Sam held a warning finger coupled with a steely glare at Jack.

"Hey!" Daniel complained, rubbing his ear and pouting, "That's attached!"

Glancing between the two boys, her eyes glowered with exasperation.

"That's enough, both of you! I was hoping that this would be an adult conversation, but I can see that that supposition was wrong! Do either of you have a good reason why you shouldn't stay with the General for a few days, and I want adult reasons!"

Still feeling a little peeved at having his ear tweaked, Danny relied, "You mean other than the fact Uncle George will probably try to kill us within a day? Besides, all of our stuff is here, and he's got a boring games room."

Eager to add his point of view, Jack added snidely, "He'll expect us to go to bed at seven o'clock!"

Sam placed her hands pointedly on her hips. 'God help me," she thought, "I'm going to kill them!' Exhausted, Sam's moods swayed from feeling guilty and regretful, to nurturing a homicidal tendency. The very fact she and the boys had managed to live together for as long as they had been beyond her comprehension. "Teal'c is right;" she told herself firmly, "I do need a damn break."

"Move your asses! She ordered, nodding her head briskly towards the kitchen door, "I want the both of you to hightail it to your room!" Waving her hand in the air, she added, "I want you to think carefully about how selfish you are being."

Sensing the change in the atmosphere, and intuitively knowing they had pushed Sam too far, Daniel pushed the chair noisily from the table. As he got to his feet, he threw Sam a remorseful look. "Okay, sorry, Sam, course we'll go! It'll be great fun, honest!"

Jack followed Danny from the room, oozing teenage attitude. Glaring over his shoulder, his handsome face was full of petulance and indignation. Sam held his glare coolly, shaking her head with his easy confidence. "Something's," she thought aloud, "never change."

As she watched Jack tugging Daniel's t-shirt, forcing the boy to stumble awkwardly towards the bedroom, she thought General Hammond had put up with a darn sight more from Jack all these years than she had previously thought.

She grinned ruefully, and rolling her eyes heavenward, lifted the telephone receiver from the cradle and made the important call, "Well, sir, guess it's your turn now."

oOo

Jack stomped into the bedroom and furious with his dismissal and proceeded yell at his roommate. "Why'd ya have to throw that smart ass remark in? "He demanded, bunching his hands on his hips and oozing aggression.

Flicking through a magazine, Daniel's head snapped round, and glowering with self-righteous fury, he hissed back. "What? My smart ass remark?" Swinging his feet to the floor, he sat up and shouted back, "Are you kidding me, Jack? You're the one who bellowed like a maniac! That obviously helped our cause!" The sarcasm in Daniel's tone was evident as he added, "I was only trying to state the facts!"

Jack stared back at him, opening his mouth and shutting it just as quickly. "Yeah, fine, whatever!" Scrambling onto the top bunk, he crashed back onto the mattress and grabbing his iPod, gave his pillow a savage punch.

"Sheesh," he snapped turning the volume up to the max, "you're such a screw up! She's bound to pack us off to Hammond now!" A week with Hammond, great work, rock boy!"

Happy to continue with his sulk, Jack rolled over, and muttering under his breath, jumped as a pillow bounced down on his head. "Hey!" yelled, trying in vain to dodge the assault, "what the…"

Forcing himself into a sitting position, ducking the odd, well-aimed hit, Jack threw his arms out defensively, and making contact with the pillow, watched with open-mouthed amazement as it exploded, sending feathers fluttering gracefully to the floor.

Looking like a snowman with the tiny white feathers clinging to him, Jack glared with fury. Edging closer and bunching his fists, he snarled, "You are so dead, you little…"

Danny gulped, and swallowing the urge to laugh, bolted for the door, desperately trying to force it open. "You started it, flyboy," he yelled over his shoulder, wriggling the handle roughly, "You are such a kid!"

Blowing feathers from his lips, Jack scrambled down managing to cause the feathers to wing through the air as if they still belonged on their previous owner. Glancing nervously over his shoulder and sighing with relief, Daniel finally forced the door open causing the white storm to be flutter down the hallway.

Charging out the door and whooping with triumph, Daniel ploughed straight into the ample stomach of General Hammond. "Oomph!"

In close pursuit, Jack flew around the corner, yelling threats to Daniel's well being and managed to collide with the extremely irritated General. "Crap! Sorry, sir!"

"Airman!" he snapped in his well honed voice of command, "What the hell is going on here?"

Jack jumped in fright and stammered another apology, while Daniel took several steps backward, stuttering his version of contrition.

Constantly pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Daniel couldn't believe he heard Jack mumble cheekily, "Oh, this is just great," and raised his eyebrows until they reached his hairline. Closing his eyes, he waited for the bomb to drop. Gulping for air, he felt the top of his arm taken firmly, and prizing an eye open, winced at the sight of the General's annoyed and very red face .Grabbing Jack's arm, George growled, and marched the horrified boys back into the feather-covered bedroom.

"God help me," he drawled, "how Major Carter has put up with for this long without causing any actual bodily harm, I do not know." Sternly continuing his lecture, he punctuated each new sin with a small shake of the boys' skinny little shoulders.

Sensing he had a captive and uncomfortable audience, the canny grandfather moved in for the kill. "Eyes front and centre!" he ordered, hands crossed over his chest, towering over the miserable little objects of his annoyance.

Jack and Daniel darted quick looks at each other, and swallowed loudly. Straightening their shoulders and pushing their butts out, the boys jumped to attention and picking a mark on the wall, stared straight ahead.

"Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson," George said warningly, "May I strongly suggest that you get this mess cleaned up right now? Trust me, if Major Carter or I need to repeat this order, I will be very annoyed! Do you both understand the order?"

Eyes rounding with alarm, and a flush creeping over their faces, the boys answered glumly, "Yes, sir."

Taking one-step closer to Jack, George leaned in, and eyeballed his potential victim with a hard stare. "Jack O'Neill, if you ever use that disrespectful tone again, you and I will have a close encounter of the uncomfortable kind. Giving the flushed face teen's arm a quick shake, he added sternly, "and you certainly won't leave the house for a month, have you got me airman?"

"Yes, sir!" Jack said loudly.

Giving his head a shake, the general added, "See that you do, because you two are mighty close to making me lose my legendary good temper." Turning and walking to the door, the general glanced over his shoulder and ordered, "Now get to it and come and find me when you've done."

Standing still, making certain George had left and couldn't overhear, Jack coughed and snorted rudely "Legendary? Oh, puhleese!"

"Jeez, Jack. George can sure be intimidating when he wants to be." Daniel sighed, and started to pick up the feathers, curious as to why Jack inexplicably started to relax.

Smiling at the look of curiosity on Danny's face, Jack rolled a shoulder and confided, "It's just military crap, Daniel. He doesn't mean it."

Daniel laboriously worked his way around the floor, cleaning and clearing while Jack leant against the wall, chatting amiably. "Well," Danny said, eyeing his lounging friend resentfully, "he sure scared the hell out of me."

Hands in pockets, Jack huffed, and kicking at Daniel's small pile of feathers, laughed as they fly into the air and fluttered to the ground. "It's meant to scare you, Danny, that's how officers make you not want to piss them off."

Daniel looked up, studied Jack's face, surprised by his mature, and matter of fact observations. Mesmerized as he watched the feathers float gracefully to the ground, the young colonel added wistfully, "Trust me, I did it all the time."

"Jack?"

"Daniel?"

You okay?

"Danny, I –"Jack couldn't finish his sentence, and with his voice cracking, he walked towards the window.

Confused and a little frightened, Daniel watched as his friend stared morosely out the window, and worrying at his bottom lip, slowly got to his feet. Tilting his head to the side all thought of clearing up the mess gone, he wondered why Jack behaved so mysteriously.

Watching his every move but not daring to speak, Daniel considered how very un-Jack like this new and introspective behaviour was.

Sighing, and sensing he was being scrutinized, Jack said softly, "Daniel, stop staring at me will ya." His concentration still fixed on looking out the window; the young colonel bristled slightly under Danny's attention. "I mean it! Cut it out will ya!"

Snorting softly, "Yeah, whatever, flyboy," "Daniel padded over and continued to look at Jack intently. He touched his friends arm lightly and said kindly, "What's really up, Jack?"

Head lowered, still not wanting to make any eye contact, Jack, shuffled his feet and whispered, "You'll laugh if I tell you. It's stupid, Danny."

Daniel smiled as his friend's eyes turned to his briefly, before they clouded over, and Jack lowered his gaze once more.

"Why should I laugh?" Daniel asked sympathetically, reaching out and leaving his hand on his arm. Daniel leaned into Jack's side and proved his camaraderie once again. "Tell me, Jack, I'm you're best friend, you can trust me!"

Jack scuffed his foot again, looked up and chewing the inside of his mouth; he questioned his friend, "You wanna stay with the General, Danny?"

Taken aback by the question, Danny shrugged with nonchalance, "Jack, I don't think we have a choice." Daniel studied Jack's face carefully wondering what bothered him." What's bugging you?"

Grimacing and shrugging back, struggling to find the right words, Jack said softly, "When I'm with General Hammond, for some reason, the old me… my memories… they seem more prolific. I dunno know why, but that bugs me a little."

Daniel raised his eyebrows, and confused, drawled. "Soooo, your point being?"

Jack frowned at him, and knuckling his arm said, "Well, apart from the obvious, he knows what a pain in the butt I've been, it just bugs me. He paused for breath, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, confessed, "He makes me wanna be big again, Danny, I want us to be like we were. Doesn't bother me with you, doesn't bother me with Sam, but it does with George."

Daniel fingered his glasses, and made his way back across the room, sitting gently on the unmade, feather infested bed. With concern etched on his face, he said, "Okay, I guess. You'll have to speak with Sam, make her understand."

Jack slumped on the floor, hugging his legs under his chin, blowing as the feathers fluttering around in his face. "Oh yeah, Daniel, who are you kidding! She'll just think it's another pathetic excuse I made up because I don't want to stay with Uncle George. Anyway, I think we're sending her nuts. I'll go, it doesn't matter."

"We?"

Jack's head shot up and glaring, he said slowly, enunciating each word carefully, "Yup, Danny. As in, you and me, us, we two… you get me now?"

Daniel rolled his eyes grinning with amusement at Jack's accusing face. "I meant you're the pain in the ass, Jack, not me! I'd be fine if it wasn't for you." A smile tugged at the corners of Daniel's mouth, as he waited for an outraged reply.

Jack snorted with disbelief, and tipping his head to one side, hissed, "Daniel?"

Shifting his ass back onto the bed, and leaning on the wall, Daniel laughed, "Yes, Jack?"

"You're so dead!"

oOo

General Hammond strolled back into the kitchen and smiled as Sam leant on the counter, coffee cup in hand and smiling softly.

"Something amusing you, Major Carter?"

Sam nonchalantly placed her mug on the counter and stood up straight, and hiding a grin behind her hand, answered quickly, "No, sir."

George smiled back at her amused face, and crooking a finger, he pointed towards one of the dining room chairs, "Come and sit down, Sam."

Nodding her head and bringing another mug of coffee, she pulled up the chair and placed the mug next to him. "Hope you like Kenyan Mocha, sir, its Daniel's favourite."

"That will be fine, now, how are you, Sam?" The General looked at her tired face and felt a pang of guilt. It had taken him far too long to notice his favourite young officer was working herself to hard, and the concern was evident in his voice.

Sam clutched her hands on the table and studied them, considering the question.

"I'll be fine, sir. I just feel like I've let them down in some way, but it's really good of you to take them for me, and to come over and make the point," she smiled.

George returned the smile and gently laid his larger hand onto her entwined fingers.

"We'll deal with this together, Major. I know how you feel, and I completely understand, but colleague or no colleagues, those two rascals are just kids now. If you need me to come over and kick their little butts occasionally, then consider them kicked."

Arching her eyebrow, Sam laughed weakly, "And I'm very grateful, sir. Thank you for coming over at such short notice. I know that I need a break. It'll do us all good."

The General finished his coffee and stood up. "I'll take them off your hands then. Better go round up them up," George smiled. "If that's okay, Major?"

Sam swallowed the last of her coffee, enjoying the rich warm taste, and felt as though a load had been lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you, sir. I'll get the rest of their gear if you want to fetch them."

The general nodded, and leaning over, gave her a brief hug. "I'm here for you, Sam."

Surprised by the hot tears that sprung to her eyes, she whispered, "Thank you, sir."

George heard a loud crash from upstairs followed by the childish raised voices and shaking his head, wondered what he was getting himself into.