And this folks, is chapter 13! A brief little interlude, of sorts...pay attention though!
He seemed all right, Katrina noticed as she watched him try to slam dunk the basketball. O'Neill had been attempting to do so the entire game, much to his teammate's annoyance. He was acting like his old self again, joking and rough housing with his friends. It was good to see him like that, with the light back in his eyes and the spring in his step.
"Oh!" Mitchell gave O'Neill a high five, the dunk had almost gone in, and he had managed to keep it away from Teal'c this time. Smirking Mitchell chased Daniel around the room trying to get the ball from him. Daniel ducked under his arm and raced back towards the other end of the court, only for O'Neill to run by him and snatch the ball before he had a chance to think.
"Ja-ack!" Daniel wined, bent over his knees and breathing hard to catch a breath. He glanced over at Sam who was in hot pursuit of the General. He smirked and watched as he tap danced around her and made to slam-dunk the ball for the hundredth time. "Yeah right, Jack!"
Katrina smiled in amusement as Teal'c reached up and knocked the ball down to the ground. She laughed softly as Carter fielded it, in her haste to get around O'Neill she brushed his shoulder, causing both of them to loose their balance and the ball. Grinning she watched as Jackson took the opportunity to go after it, only to be beaten to it by Cameron Mitchell, who came out of nowhere.
"Go!" Jack shouted at Cameron, he spun around Sam and passed the ball to Jack. O'Neill caught it and ran towards the hoop, he spotted Teal'c out of the corner of his eye and jumped. He reached up with the ball and successfully dunked the ball into the hoop. Landing with a thump and loosing his balance he somersaulted once and was up on his feet, grinning madly.
"Nice!" Mitchell smirked at him. He turned to look at Daniel. "What did I say, huh?"
Jackson looked amused and slightly annoyed at the same time. "Yeah, yeah."
Katrina smiled down at the humans as they continued the game, Teal'c and Carter both hounding O'Neill, as he seemed to find a new mastery of basketball. Katrina knew where it came from of course, he had read his teammates in the beginning of the game and could now predict what they would do next, and his movements began to move faster as he unconsciously started to use his Dragon skills.
She smiled as he made yet another dunk, this time landing easily. Daniel gaped at him, his eyes wide and Teal'c looked down right confused. Mitchell had a knowing look on his face and Carter was glaring at him. Katrina knew that she had chosen Teal'c's team because of the stories she had heard of his skill. Cameron in a daring move had declared that he and General O'Neill could 'kick their assess' and it had resulted in the current team arrangement.
"O'Neill." Teal'c looked at him with a curious expression. "How were you able to move so quickly?"
"I did?" Jack glanced over at a scowling Daniel and an extremely smug Mitchell. "Oopps." He offered unapologetically.
"Sir!" Carter looked annoyed. "You cheated!"
"Hey!" Mitchell interrupted. "What do ya mean he cheated?"
"Oh." O'Neill looked at his feet for a brief moment. "I guess ya didn't know I could move really fast did ya?"
"No." Daniel stated, his voice held and air of impatience. He shifted his stance, his arms crossed over his chest. "Care to tell us what else you can do, Jack?"
Katrina watched in interest as he began to slowly explain. "I, uh, can change things."
"Change things?" Carter asked, ever the scientist. Her blue eyes were fixed on the Dragon pup's she wanted to know every aspect of his knew found skills. Katrina happened to agree; after all, she had been watching him ever since his mother had died. He was important to her, and she needed to know what he could and could not do to keep him safe.
"I turned a twig into a rock." O'Neill answered evenly. He glanced back and forth from friend to friend. He knew that they might never fully understand what he was about to tell them with out seeing and experiencing it for themselves, but now was not the time for a demonstration. "And lit a fire just by snapping my fingers. I can, fly, kinda, and as you know, throw energy around if I feel like it."
"And throw a man five feet through the air." Mitchell added, with an awed look on his face. "That had to be the most memorable night I spent at O'Malley's Bar and Grill."
Katrina gasped at this. She had no idea he could do those things! No one had told her he had advanced that far! The only thing she knew was his fight with the two Ori, and even that was limited at best. If he could already change things, then they were indeed farther into the Prophecy than even Oma believed. But somehow, she knew that Eilyanna had already known all of this before even the Ancients did.
Draco and Eilyanna never said anything until the time was right, until the information was needed, or unless the person in question could not find it on their own. It was frustrating at times, but in the end she knew they were right. To reveal one's destiny before the time was right was to spell doom on all those involved, and in this case it was vitally important that they use caution. If O'Neill or his friends, or even the Ori, knew before the time was right then things would begin to happen for the worst.
"Really?" O'Neill's eyebrows rose. "I thought it was when you-"
"Can we not talk about that?" Mitchell quickly interrupted, causing everyone to grin. He shifted nervously in place. "Besides, it doesn't matter anyway."
Jack shrugged noncommittally. "Well, now that this illuminating conversation is over, can we get back to the game?"
Daniel sent Jack a glare. "Don't use any of your…skills, and we'll think about it."
Carter smiled at O'Neill crestfallen look, her eyes shining with laughter. "I don't know, sir, can you do it?"
His eyes shifted from big puppy dog eyes, to shining with a fire in them that meant he would not back down from a challenge. Katrina smiled proudly at him, even though he could not see her. He was most definitely Draco's boy, he could not refuse a challenge, no matter how hard it seemed. It would be good practice for him anyway, a chance to learn how to control his abilities better, and not use them when they weren't really needed, such as during a friendly game of basketball. Though, with a jaffa playing, it wouldn't be friendly for very long…
"Oh, you bet I can!" With that last comment, the game resumed, leaving Katrina to watch and wait for the appropriate time to approach O'Neill once again.
And that was the game of basketball I just had to write! Chapter fourteen might not be up for a week because I'm going to my grandmother's how because my parents are going house hunting on the other side of the US! Please drop me a line!