Hell has frozen over, and I managed a second update within the same month! This chapter is for ALIMOO1971, who didn't make me beg. It's also my birthday week, so make my wish come true and review. Thanks to every one who has put an alert on this story! You're generous folk. I own little to nothing, just Kat and all the extensive spelling and grammar mistakes.
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Kat nearly blurted out "NevermindforgetIcalled!" before O'Neill broke the silence with an "I'll be there in ten."
Hanging up with a click Kat wondered what the hell she'd been thinking. Well she hadn't, that's what. That also meant that she'd thoughtlessly turned to O'Neill instead of calling Daniel, and Kat didn't like those implications. Ugh, she had the special skill of turning bad situations worse with a flick of the wrist. Not only would she have to deal with the fact that a guy put an unbelievable amount of effort into avoiding her, but she'd have to admit it to O'Neill. God if he laughed at her she'd steal George from the lab and set him on him. Let him laugh that up. Kat realized she was getting angry over events that hadn't yet transpired, and last time she'd check she wasn't psychic. So deep breaths and a game plan was needed. O'Neill would have to be briefed about the situation, but with going into as little detail as possible. Hopefully he wouldn't ask too many hard questions. Like why this whole Stephen thing bothered her so much. Kat didn't know the answer to that one herself so instead she focused on how to handle O'Neill's different possible reactions.
By the time there was a knock on Kat's door she felt a little more in control of her emotions. She was no longer sniffling like a twelve year old who'd just been told that the twighlight characters were fake. Still she couldn't quite make herself look at him as he walked through the door. O'Neill's hand on her chin was cool, and he made her face him.
"Do I need to kill that Dan guy and make sure no one ever finds the body?" His soft voice and touch provided a contrast to his hard words.
Kat let out a watery laugh. "No. God he'd shit himself if he saw you coming. I…it's something else."
O'Neill removed his hand and crossed his arms across his chest, looking forbidding. Kat was glad that it wasn't directed at her for once.
He raised an eyebrow, "So What is it?"
Kat squirmed slightly. "It's stupid."
O'Neill shrugged. "Alright. So what's the stupid this that made you call me looking for a dad?"
Sagging slightly she kicked her heel against the ground. "I found out the Stephen's been back on base for over a month. He hasn't come to see me, but more importantly, I've never seen him. Think about the amount of work that would go into avoiding me that whole time. I fucking live here. Am I….am I that god awful to be around?"
Kat only hesitated a moment when O'Neill wrapped her up in a hug before relaxing against him. She felt his chin against her head when he spoke. "You can be god awful to be around, but anybody and everybody better be honored that you've chosen to torture them with your presence. You're Katlin Carter, daughter of Samantha Carter and Jack O'Neill of the original SG-1. Your smart, you take after your mother so you're beautiful, any boy would be crazy to avoid you. I can make his life hell if you want. This Stephen guy."
Kat closed her eyes and listened to him talk. Leave it to O'Neill to lead his comforting with 'You are god awful to be around.' But never the less it was comforting, him threatening bodily harm to someone that hurt her while he hugged her. It felt fatherly. And Kat was tempted to agree just to see if he'd actually do it for her.
"That won't be necessary. I was just upset and angry and wanted to feel like someone would kick his ass for me. Thank you. I'm sorry you had to come all the way down here because I apparently struggle with rejection."
O'Neill took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. "I'm your father Kat. That's what a Dad does." Kat blinked and looked away.
O'Neill squeezed her shoulder and turned her towards the door. "Now come on, I know something that will cheer you up. You get to try and beat the crap out of me and pretend it's him."
Kat couldn't stop the smile the spread across her face. "What do you mean try?"
An hour later both Kat was sweaty, sore, and feeling significantly better. O'Neill was right. Fuck Stephen. He should know better then piss someone with her tech skills off. She could make sure his email signature stayed at 'Also, I love you. Like sexually' for weeks. See how much his superiors liked that. She was freaking Kat Carter. It also helped that while Kat got her ass basically whooped, she'd managed to land a couple good hits as well. It was with a slight limp, from both parties to Kats pride, that the two made their way back towards her room.
"You won't tell Mom about this right? I don't want her to worry or anything."
O'Neill shook his head. "She'll never hear a word. She's got enough stuff on her mind. Been trying to pick out the colors for the wedding for a week."
Kat winced and gave a startled "Ow!" when O'Neill smacked her upside the head.
"Don't make that face if and when she brings the wedding up."
Kat punched him in arm. "I wasn't making a face about the wedding, I was making the face about having to pick out colors for the wedding. Christ."
Rubbing the back of her head she continued. "Just don't let her pick, I duno, fuchsia and lime green. That's kinda your job as the groom right? Act as the voice of reason during bridal sanity failure."
"Could be worse, she could chose green and red, or purple, orange, and peach."
Kat looked at him in disbelief. "Are you just throwing colors together at random? No one is stupid enough to do purple, orange, and peach. At the fuchsia and lime green might actually happen."
O'Neill snorted and gave her a sideways look. "Well it's good you know that sort of thing since it kinda your job as the Maid of Honor. Don't ya think?"
Kat stumbled in surprise. "What? I'm the Maid…but I thought…" She trailed off and shrugged helplessly.
O'Neill sighed and ruffled her hair. "I thought you were suppose to be smart Carter. Of course you're the Maid of Honor. She'd never pressure you, but that's what your mom wants."
They continued in silence for a few minutes before they reached Kat's room, and O'Neill gave her shoulder thump. "So you're the Maid of Honor, just to be clear."
Kat raised her eyebrows. "Don't I get a say?"
O'Neill shook his head and gave her a smug smile. "Nope. It's what Sam wants. You can tell her at lunch tomorrow."
Kat opened her door and glowered at him, although her heart wasn't in it.
"You're kind of an asshole sometimes O'Neill."
The smug smile shifted into a genuine one. "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree Kid."
Kat rolled her eyes, started to enter her room. Pausing she turned back to O'Neill. "Thanks again…Dad."
She ducked into her room leaving O'Neill's shocked face on the other side. Kat leaned against her door and wondered if she'd taken a blow to the head during sparring harder then she'd thought. She'd just called O'Neill…Dad. That really just happened. Kat sighed and headed for her shower. Tomorrow's lunch was going to painfully awkward. Great. Tomorrow Kat thought she should find Stephen, just to tell him he didn't have to avoid her anymore. That way he got fair warning before his email signature got him court marshaled. Maybe punch him in the nose too, just to ease her aching pride. Violence always had a way of making her feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Kat went Stephen hunting before breakfast but didn't make any progress. As she ate some oatmeal she decided he didn't necessarily deserve a warning, and the message lady might tell him that Kat had found out. Therefore, there was really no reason to hold off on hacking his email until after talking to him. The thought buoyed her spirits enough for her to try and start teaching George to come when called throughout the morning whenever Dr. Brown wasn't paying attention. It wasn't very successful, but Kat was considering going off base and picking up treats at a pet store. Beset refused to learn tricks, but George, George had possibilities. Plus how cool would it be that one of the tricks was 'blow shit up'. She'd totally teach Beset to blow shit up if she could. Whispering George a prep talk while pretending to organize some tools Kat nearly jumped a foot when Dr. Brown called out her name.
"It's not really dangerous! I think I'm on to something Doc." Dan tried and failed to swallow a laugh at her hurried explanation. Dr. Brown peered at her with surprised followed by suspicion before he turned to Mom, who was standing beside him.
"We can spare her for a few minutes Sam. Miss Carter, you're mother would like to speak with you." Giving Mom a nod he and Kat a look he went back to his desk.
Kat ignored Dan's whispered explanations to Leslie was she walked over to her mother. Mom led her out into the hallway before giving a small smile.
"Should I be worried about you?"
Kat raised an eyebrow. "Worried about me, working in a weapons lab? Nah." She was a little startled when Sam pulled her in for a tight hug. "You, ah, really needed that assurance huh?"
Mom gave a wet chuckle before pulling back. Kat eyes widened at the tears in her eyes.
"Thank you. Thank you so much for giving him a chance." Kat's mind whirled as she processed her mother's words.
"George?" Her face mirrored the confusion and surprise in Kat's tone.
"What? No. Jack. Honey you called him Dad! Wait, who's George?"
Mouth opening and closing slightly Kat figured she was an idiot. It was sort of logical that Mom would be taking about O'Neill rather then George. "George is nobody Mom. What exactly did O'Neill tell you?"
Sam frowned at Kat's use of 'O'Neill'. "He said you called wanting to talk, and when he left you called him Dad."
She blushed under her mother's stare. "That'd be about correct."
Sam put her hands on her hips. "Then why did you just call Jack 'O'Neill'?"
Kat rubbed the back of her neck, "Because he's still O'Neill. The Dad thing just popped out. Also, I'm your Maid of Honor so I should probably be kept in the loop about the wedding yeah?" She might as well get all the uncomfortable family stuff out at once.
"Oh Kat!" This time she was ready and hugged Mom back.
"I love you and I'm so proud of you." Kat shifted uncomfortably before mumbling out a 'Don't mention it' or something along those lines.
Then she beat a hasty retreat back into the lab, with a hurried assurance she'd see mom at lunch. Kat kept her head down as she made her way back to George's containment area. If she didn't look at Dr. Brown, he might not ask questions about earlier. Plus it was kind of embarrassing to be pulled out of work for a heart-to-heart chat with your famous mom. It was always strange to remember Mom was a big freakin' deal here. Picking up a touch screen Kat went to work, deciding to keep her head low until lunch.
Lunch was surprising lacking in awkwardness. Both parents just grinned and talked about trivial things. Sam talked about some of her work with the resident physics. O'Neill snarked about some team's off world blunders. Normal stuff. At one point Mom reached over and squeezed Kat's hand and another O'Neill smacked her over some smart mouth comment, and Kat realized that her parent's happy bubble had spread to include her. Good lord they we're on their way to being a happy. Before she knew it they'd be posing for a family portrait in matching outfits. Kat swallowed her snort and focused on Sam's words. At least she could take heart in knowing O'Neill would never let it get that far.
The rest of Kat's week was spent watching Dan dissolve into a trembling ball of terror. By Thursday he'd developed a nervous tick, and Leslie was starting to notice.
"Something is seriously wrong with Dan. His left eye keeps twitching and he freaks every time he hears military boots in the hall. We're on a busy hall. It's a miracle he hasn't accidentally blow us up yet."
Kat wrinkled her nose. "I hadn't thought about that. I should probably calm him down. He's coming to my parent's dinner party. O'Neill saw him slap my ass. I've been letting him stew about it."
"Kat! That's just cruel, any father seeing you slap his daughter's ass is scary. Make that the Jack O'Neill, no wonder he's a hot mess." Leslie's tone was reproachful, but she couldn't quite control the twitch of her lips.
"I shouldn't have let it go on this long, but it's fun watching him jump." Kat sighed wistfully, "I'll talk to him."
Leslie nodded. "Please do. I'd like to die of old age if possible."
Kat dragged her feet to where Dan was hunched over his desk. Had he actually lost weight? Whoops, probably shouldn't have freaked him out so much. Kat tended to forget that O'Neill was famous here just like Mom.
"You know I was kidding about O'Neill right? I mean he did see you slap my ass, but trust me, he has bigger fish to fry."
Dan grunted at her. "I'm serious. I'll protect you, so chill. Leslie would like to live to meet her grandchildren."
"What does Leslie's future offspring have to do with it?"
Kat leaned her hip against the desk and rolled her eyes. "I think the point is her lifespan. As much as I enjoy someone else holding the title of 'most likely to blow us all up' you need to pull yourself together. My dad knows we're not an item. He'll just glower and grumble."
Dan looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "He's scary."
Giving his shoulder a squeeze Kat nodded. "Yep, but if he bothers you I'll be scarier. Just imagining the horror the that the child of the SG-1 dream team can conjure up."
Dan cocked his head after a moment he nodded. "Yeah I could see that happening."
"Exactly. Remember to pick me up at six thirty Saturday!"
The rest of the week hurried by without a deadly explosion much to Leslie's relief. Dan was still a little pale, but he wasn't twitching anymore, so Kat figured he was pretty golden. She spent all day Saturday trying to decide what to wear. T-shirt and jeans were a no go, and BDUs probably wouldn't cut it. She had some nice outfits, but they seemed a bit to stiff for dinner at her parents. But she didn't want to look too scruffy either, because SGC people would be there. The black skirt she owned could be pared with one of her shirts, or maybe her dress? It was a pretty blue that Daniel always said matched her eyes. Daniel! Oh course, who better to ask then the man that helped her dress for her first date to job interview?
"Wha?"
"I don't know what to wear."
Kat could hear a faint rustling on the other end.
"Kat? What?" Daniels voice was groggy with sleep.
"I don't know what to wear. Help me."
"Kaaahhht. I got in from Russia two hours ago. I'm so tried."
Biting her lip she winced. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Put Millie on."
"Millie? I don-"
"Please do not insult what we both know is my considerable intelligence by pretending she's not right next to you. Put her on and go back to sleep."
She was impressed by how put upon Daniel could manage to sound while embarrassed and half asleep.
Millie sounded much more awake. "Kat? What's wrong?"
"I have dinner at my parent's and I don't know what to wear. I'm going with a non-romantic friend and people from work will be there. I don't want to look too formal. I also don't want to look like I tried too hard. What the hell do I wear?"
"Don't you own a skirt?"
Clothing got tossed aside as Kat shrugged. "Black. It feels too formal and stuffy."
"Well what about your dress hmm?"
"I was thinking about that. But it's getting cold here and the dress is strapless. Do you know how cold it's supposed to get here in the winter? Freezing."
"Don't you own a nice white or grey…tan sweater thing?"
Kat rummaged through her closet, "It's more like Carmel."
Millie sighed. "Okay. There you go. Just don't wear your runners."
"But shouldn't it not matter since I'll be taking them off?"
"Kat! Wear nice shoes. Do not make the last five minutes a waste." Kat could imagine Millie rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"Sorry. I forgot that he'd just been at a conference."
Millie chuckled. "I think he forgot about this dinner, so you're even. Goodnight Kat."
"Night. Give Daniel my love when he wakes up grumpy." Millie just huffed and hung up.
Her blue dress was pretty, and an only slightly scuffed pair of flats sort of matched her sweater. With clothing choice covered Kat could now worry about the seeing her parents place for the first time. Their happy bubble had spread to her, but what if she did something and it popped? This was a bad idea. Shit, something would go wrong and they'd tell her to shove off and how hard would it be to get Daniel to let her come home? He would certainly feel like having his girlfriend living with him is preferable to a friends' needy daughter. Staying here wouldn't be an option. Too painful to see them play happy family. Maybe she could get the SGC to send her to Atlantis. Okay. Kat had a solution. If it all went to hell she'd run off to Atlantis. Despite her inner pep talk Kat couldn't quite stop her hands from shaking when Dan knocked. When she opened the door to Dan's pale face and a bouquet of daisies she nearly vomited.
"Those better not be for me."
Dan threw her a distracted look. "Hell no, your mom. It's good manners to bring a hostess gift right? And daises are friendly and respectful. She doesn't hate daises does she?"
With a shrug she stepped out and closed your door. Dan glanced at her as he started forward and stumbled as he turned to look at her.
"Wow. You look like a girl."
Kat let some of her nerves power the elbow jab she delivered. "Fuck you."
"Ow! That was a compliment!"
"It's not a compliment when you imply I don't normally look like a girl. You're usually sort of charming, what's wrong with you?"
Dan grabbed her elbow and propelled her faster down the hallway. "I'm not usually heading to my death. Now come on, being late will only make it worse."
They both managed to make it to her parents' house without fainting or vomiting with Kat figured was a success. It was a nice house, with a pretty yard that she could imagine Mom gardening in. The door opened before they reached the stoop, which was good since neither of them probably had the balls to ring the bell. Her mom smiled brightly at them from the door.
"You look lovely Hon! I had you two come a little early so I could give you a tour. Come on in." Sam took the flowers with a smile and gestured them in.
"The kitchen is to the left, strait down the hall is the bathroom and bedrooms, and here is the family room."
The family room was warm with a touch of what Kat figured was O'Neill. Mom would never have chosen leather furniture. She'd always liked patterns instead. Still it was nice, a stranger's family room, but nice. Not necessarily a place Kat would call home, at least until she caught a glimpse of the wall.
"Oh."
She stared at the pictures hanging across the soft blue wall. A dozen Kats grinned down at her from various ages. With disbelief she touched one.
"My wall of shame. You…you brought it here?"
"Of course I did Kat. I needed to have some part of you nearby."
Kat tried to blink the burning behind her eyes away, and failed. When Mom pulled her into a hug she closed her eyes and pretended she was twelve and the world had never gone haywire. Back to a time where she'd never have to consider fleeing the planet to not have to look at the wreckage of their relationship.
"I love you. I know it will take some time for you to believe that whole heartedly again" Mom murmured against her head. Pulling back she wiped the tears off of Kat's cheek.
"How about we take a minute to freshen up," Sam paused to wipe away a tear of her own, "Jack will you make Kat's friend comfortable?"
Dan tried to smother a squeak of fear as O'Neill pushed off the wall and grinned.
"Sure thing babe. I've wanted to get to know him since I saw his hand touch our little girl's ass."
Kat shot O'Neill a look as Mom guided her towards the back rooms. "Try to fight your natural jackass tendencies O'Neill. I need him functioning enough to drive me home tonight."
O'Neill gave her a mocking salute while Dan used his eyes to beg Kat to save him. She hoped O'Neill would behave, but Dan could survive a few minutes alone with the man. Sam led her to the first door on the right. "This is your room. There's a bathroom connected. You'll always have a home here."
Kat entered with mild trepidation. It was an average guest room, sprinkled with pieces of her childhood. A photo of her and Mom, a picture she'd drawn in Jr. high art, and her first microscope were scattered across the room. Peering into the mirror Kat did what she could to remove the evidence of tears. Christ she was worse then a pregnant lady with all this emotional shit, crying and sniffling every which way. Glancing at the desk she saw her old computer. If she hacked Stephen's email from a non-SGC computer it would make it a lot harder to pin it on her, with a twitch of the lips Kat headed over to see if the old girl still worked. The booting up sound was like a greeting from an old friend. With a few minutes work she was into the SGC mainframe. Isolating Stephen's email took a little finagling, as did getting through his personal password, but pretty soon Kat was setting up a permanent email signature of 'Also I love you. Like sexually.'
"Kat? What the hell are you doing? You left me in his clutches to fiddle on a computer?" Dan's voice got higher with each whispered word until she was surprised that the glass in the windows hadn't shattered.
"You're in one piece so stop bitching. This is important, and you never saw me doing it."
Dan frowned, "Do I want to know?" he grumbled.
Kat grinned. "Nope. Quick take a picture with your phone. It'll make a nice addition to the wall. You can take a picture of me and George sometime too."
Dan sighed and pulled his phone out and Kat posed smiling by the computer with thumbs up.
"Dr. Carter said people are going to be getting here soon and O'Neill just offered to show me his gun collection in the basement. So you better get out here."
Kat shut down the computer and snickered. "They don't have a basement you idiot. He's just messing with your mind. But I'll come save you. Let's get this party started." She looped her arm through his and entered the fray.
O'Neill narrowed his eyes at their looped arms but Mom cut him off with a briefing of who was coming. Most of the guest higher scientists and friends Sam had made during her treatment. The other guest made for interesting conversation and now Kat knew some people outside of her lab. It was strange to watch O'Neill and Mom together in the house. It was obviously their place, and the togetherness they always gave off became a nearly physical thing. She wasn't sure if she would be able to fit perfectly into their rightness, but maybe perfect was overrated. If she could wedge herself in just enough, that would be okay too. That thought, and the memory of hacking Stephen's email made for a pleasant end to the evening. She even hugged both Mom and O'Neill when she left. Dan dropped her off at the base, and she walked back to her room twirling the daisy Mom had sent with her. As she came around a corner she came face to face with Stephen and an airman. Stephen's eyes bugged out and he froze mid step. As if by staying still Kat wouldn't notice he was there. His companion stood uncomfortably, unsure if he should stay still too. Kat had to stop herself from reaching out and smacking him or curse. But that was what Stephen was expecting, and it suggested she cared that he'd avoided her. Kat cocked her head and smiled at the two men.
"Sgt. McKinley." She allowed herself a bit of a swagger as she continued on her way. Not looking back to see if Stephen had died from shock, Kat smirked. The poor basterd would learn soon enough you do not fuck with Kat Carter-O'Neill. Kat O'Neill-Carter? She'd figure it out later. Either way he was screwed.