Cheerios
Unknown Location:
"Hey, Jack..." Daniel held the camcorder on the baby. "Watch this! It's priceless!"
O'Neill glanced up from his paper and morning coffee.
Daniel licked a Cheerio and stuck it on the tip of the baby's nose. It fit the tiny spot perfectly. J.J. crossed his eyes, searching out the food source, his tiny fingers finding and removing the circle expertly, then sticking it in his mouth. "Is that cool, or what?" Daniel stopped recording, seeking Jack's opinion. "This kid is smart!"
O'Neill leaned, smacking the back of Daniel's head, then...went back to his coffee.
Daniel pushed his glasses back up his nose, deciding to go cook some eggs. He glanced out the window as he passed. "Crap!" He moved hastily out of sight, pulling the gun from his back holder, pressing up against the wall. "Jack! Someone coming up the road."
O'Neill was up and over at the other side of the window before Daniel finished the sentence. He motioned curtly to the baby. Daniel lifted J.J. into his arms and was off to the 'saferoom' instantly.
"...Wait." Jack peered harder at the approaching vehicle. "That's Teal'c driving....someone is with him."
Daniel waited for orders, the baby held securely close.
O'Neill frowned. "...Forbes." The Col. relaxed his stance, putting the gun away. "And...looks like the rest of his team."
Daniel approached the window cautiously. "There is something terribly wrong with those people, Jack...I'm telling you. They are not normal."
"Janet Frasier says, they march to a different drummer, that's all." Jack stepped opening the front door of the cabin. He watched the new arrivals make their way up the sloping terrain. "Since Forbes took over SG-13, the curse has lifted."
"You didn't buy into that stuff, right?" Daniel put J.J. back in his high chair.
"Everyone else was beginning to. No deaths any more. Has to mean something." Jack shrugged mentally.
"O'Neill." Teal'c handed a few boxes over to the man as he entered the room. "We have brought supplies."
"Sweet." The Col stepped aside for the others, who also carried various parcels and bags. "Forbes...." Jack nodded his hello. Coletti and MacAroy nodded back and instantly began searching out the new surroundings.
"I'm bored." Calli Hertz made her state of mind known. "This is boring. There's only trees here."
"Play with the baby." Forbes suggested.
"Babies don't like me." She frowned at the 'baby.'
"No one 'likes' you." Coletti informed the girl, who sulked all the more.
Daniel searched through the boxes, putting things away in the cupboards. "Cool! Oreos!"
"I have brought you more Cherrios." Teal'c stated, his eyes on the baby who squealed happily and babbled a garbled reply. "...do you prefer then, another brand?"
"Teal'c...he can't talk, you know." Jack smiled, sorting through the boxes as well.
"It is 'talking'." Teal'c disagreed. "I am simply unable to comprehend what it is saying."
Forbes exchanged 'looks' with O'Neill. The two...moved on. "Hey, Jack....Hammond refused your resignation."
"He can't do that..." Jack was certain. "Sooner or later, he'll have to move it up the chain of command." Jack stopped rummaging for a moment. "...Hammond's a good man."
"You'll miss it." Forbes stated his belief. "The action..." The man sat at the table, then got back up. "Any coffee around here?" He spotted the pot and found a cup, pouring himself some of the delicious smelling liquid. "Geek Boy make this?"
"Yes." Daniel smiled tightly at the question and the questioner. "Geek Boy did."
"Hello! Still bored!" Calli Hertz motioned accordingly.
"Two options here, Hertz." Forbes made himself comfortable at the table again. "Find something with which to amuse yourself or..." He turned the girl a soothing gaze. "You and I can go into the Wilds out there and...get back to nature. What'd ya think? Will you be bored then?"
Calli Hertz rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Col...I'm bored." She turned her pouting on Jack O'Neill. The man handed her a fishing pole.
"Knock yourself out." He motioned to the huge lake just outside his front porch.
Hertz looked quizzically to the fishing pole. "I don't know how to 'fish'."
"Throw the line in and wait." Jack instructed.
"Okay." The girl nodded, satisfied, starting off. "Hey...it doesn't hurt the fish or anything if I hook it, right?"
"No, Hertz...it doesn't feel a thing. It doesn't have nerve endings in it's mouth." Forbes lied easily.
"Oh...good." She was happy again.
"So...you want me to come out later and..." Forbes lifted his brows. "Play' with you?"
"Ewwww." Calli wrinkled her nose at the thought. "Just....ewwwwwww!"
Forbes grinned but only after the woman had exited. The man caught O'Neill's eyes. "What?–wish you could be that 'free' with Samantha Carter?"
O'Neill scowled darkly. "Last time I looked, Carter was engaged to the 'Cop Guy."
"And, who's fault is that?" Forbes asked. "Should have stepped up, Jack."
"First...it's none of your damned business and second..." Jack snapped. "It's none of your damned business."
Forbes chuckled. "Just saying."
Daniel was impressed. No one ever approached the subject of Jack O'Neill's...relationship with Samantha Carter so openly before. It was a given, even though everyone knew about the feelings the two shared for each other, everyone just shut the hell up about it. One had to admire Major Forbes tenacity if nothing else. A thought occurred to the younger man.... "Major...why does everyone address you as Col. when..." Daniel glanced at the other man's shoulder patch. "You...aren't one."
"I used to be one." Forbes took no offense, getting more coffee. "Guess they forget sometimes."
"Just because some desk-jockey in the Pentagon says he's unworthy of the hardware don't make it so, Daniel." Jack put it more succinctly. "We call it like we see it."
"Why, thank you, O'Neill...I'm touched." Forbes smiled pleasantly at Jack.
"Fuck off....Major!" O'Neill shot back.
"Now, is that nice? I ask you." Forbes shook his head woefully.
Jack moved his palm over the little one's head in an unconscious show of affection. "Getting cranky, kid? Need a nap?" He lifted J.J. "Or...just 'away' from the 'company.'" the man shifted a frown to the 'company.'
"Dixon was offered your spot on SG-1, O'Neill." Forbes mentioned in passing. "He turned it down. As has each Commander of any of the teams."
"Including you?" O'Neill was secretly touched by the news, all the more gruff for the fact.
"I'm not 'Leader' material." Forbes grinned happily. "Look at my 'team' if you doubt the statement."
"We love you too, Col." Coletti blinked the man a flirtatious gaze.
"He was asked, Col." MacAroy corrected the miscomprehension. "Don't be fooled. No one wants to take your place. You earned it...not us."
O'Neill cupped J.J's tiny head, kissing the soft skin absently, his thoughts his own. The baby snuggled into the man's chin line, rubbing it's eyes sleepily. It made a soft, pissed off outcry, squirming restlessly. "Ok, buddy...time to sack out...I get it." Jack glanced at MacAroy and nodded his gratitude, however, before he left to put J.J. down.
In the quietness of the saferoom, as Jack changed the baby's diaper, he had time to collect his thoughts. He put the bear Carter had bought the kid beside it's head, leaned and kissed the fragrant little cheek. "I'll be in the next room...get some sleep. We'll watch our show when you get up."