A/N-I'm going off on a tangent now but bear with me. I'll tie up all of the strings of spaghetti into one story soon…..

Jay was slowly getting his new team together. Hayden was on leave in Oregon visiting family and trying to make the decision of whether to come back or not. General Hammond had assigned Lt. Haley to SG-2 which made Jay happy. Haley was bright like Sam and quick, she'd be perfect. Now he was going through personnel record 3,823 for a Sgt. to round out the team. Ugh. If he never saw another personnel record it would be too soon. He snorted, 'it was like looking at houses, after the fifth or sixth one you began to forget what they looked like'.

He gave up and tossed the last record on the Mt. Everest sized pile. He had to leave so could get ready to go over to Janet's tonight. Cassie was using him and SG-1 as guinea pigs for her Home Economics homework. He was actually looking forward to it.

Cassie and Dawn had been using the computer to get to know each other since Thanksgiving time and Dawn had emailed her good wishes for the dinner, knowing that Cassie was a nervous wreck.

Glowinthedarkgirl: you'll do great…after all, it's only pot roast!

Notfromaroundhere: And only my favorite people in the world will be poisoned if I goof…

Glowinthedarkgirl: paranoia will bite you in the butt ROTFLOL

Notfromaroundhere: I have the teethmarks! Got to go! L8r

Cassie fussed with the table, making sure she had enough place settings and that they were correct before taking a digital photo of it for her assignment. The timer for the roast went off and she cursed under her breath.

"I heard that." Her mother called from her bedroom.

"No you didn't." Cassie called back cheerfully as she went into the kitchen to pull the roast out of the oven and toss the rolls in. She tented (placing a tent of foil over the roast while it cooled to keep the moistness in) the roast on the cutting board, made sure she had the salad done for the umpteenth time, 'I'm getting paranoid' and sighed. All of her favorite people were coming over tonight, except one. Jon had basketball practice and she knew that he couldn't get out of it.

"Save me a plate and I'll eat it for lunch at school." He'd said.

"Eww. It'll be cold."

Jon shrugged, "If I can eat cold pizza and beer for breakfast I can surely stomach cold pot roast and biscuits." He grinned that wild grin of his and made her smile, "Oookay."

Jack rubbed his stomach and sighed, "Cassie, you should get an A if I have anything to say about it."

"Thanks Uncle Jack." Cassie said, beaming.

Everyone agreed enthusiastically. Jay was using a biscuit to sop up his gravy when he grinned over at Cassie, "Maybe you could teach Buffy how to cook? She can do a mean burger but everything else is beyond her."

Daniel snorted, "As long as you're the one to tell her."

"Um, maybe not. I love her the way she is. We'll just get a lot of takeout."

"Oh, that's healthy!" Janet, ever the Doctor exclaimed.

"Hey, I'll have you know that takeout is how I keep my girlish figure." Jack protested and everyone burst into laughter.

"Yeah and it's a wonder that you're as healthy as you are," Janet said witheringly.

Looking over at her daughter who was preparing a take out plate she smiled, "So how is Jon anyway?"

(A/N-Jon is Jack O'Neill's teenaged clone from season 7? I've made him 18 now and I have played fast and loose with any known plot, using the poor guy for my own nefarious purposes, which shall soon be made clear…)

"He's great. The teachers love him especially the women." She glanced over at Jack who preened at that comment.

Cassie continued, "He's dating this girl named Natasha. I'm giving it maybe two minutes." She stated as she covered up the plate and took it into the kitchen. Coming back out she was aware of the silence and the looks. "If you think I'm jealous…ewww. Not even. I'm saying that Jon remembers being married and all that comes with it that's all."

"And?" Sam prompted, getting up to help Cassie clear.

"And Natasha is a giggly airheaded 16 year old even if she has the body of a 20 year old Playboy Bunny."

Everyone winced, especially Jack.

"Should I talk to him?" He asked quietly.

Cassie shook her head no, "Not about Natasha, though he'd like to talk about work. He thinks his mind is turning to mush."

Teal'c looked over at Jack thoughtfully, "We will take him to a movie O'Neill, then over to your home for man to man talks."

Daniel had just taken a drink of his wine when he snorted, inhaling it the wrong way and was now gasping and coughing.

"Are you alright Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked in concern.

"More like 4 year old to 4 year old talks." Daniel wheezed before taking small sips of his wine to help him breathe.

The women started laughing and Jack looked indignant, "I don't why I even like you Danny, I really don't."

Jay grinned, "Did I hear something about apple pie Cassie?"

A little later Cassie was on the floor in front of the fireplace, apparently fast asleep. Everyone else was sprawled lazily about the living room, in various chairs or in Sam's case, on the floor between Jack's legs. Jay was in the middle and Daniel was on his other side on the couch.

Jay sighed and Sam rubbed his leg beside her fondly, "What's up?"

Daniel shoved him lightly, "It's Buffy. Why don't you just marry her Jay?"

Everyone looked at Jay who smiled, "Oh, I intend to. This commuting crap is for the birds. But I don't know what to do yet. I mean, her being Slayer means that she has duties and responsibilities just as important as my own."

Jack nodded, "Can't just let the vampires keep making more vampires. I thought there were other Slayers?"

"There is, there's Faith and Kennedy and the trainees in Cleveland. But Giles, Willow and Xander are there too."

"Family, kinda hard to leave them behind." Sam agreed and SG-1 exchanged knowing looks.

"Exactly. Can I ask her to uproot everything to be with me? Would that be fair to her? What about Dawnie?"

Daniel sat up, "I could get Dawn into a college here, especially with her grades and knowledge of languages."

Nodding thoughtfully Janet added, "Cassie and Jon's high school is always looking for someone with the right security clearance and experience, and it would 'keep it in the family', so to speak."

"I think she should work for the SGC, George has already mentioned it. God knows she's qualified enough." Jack said.

"Indeed O'Neill. Buffy Summers would be an asset to any team with her self healing powers." Teal'c replied in his deep thoughtful voice.

Everyone looked at Teal'c, "What?"

"Surely you have noticed Colonel Coburn. Buffy Summers capacity for healing injuries that she has received is even more enhanced than my own."

Jay smacked himself on the forehead, "I did forget. Angelus hit her on the face and she was pretty bruised but it gone by morning. It's pretty amazing."

Jack grunted, "That'd be handy, especially with 'Captain Accident' over there." He waved a hand over towards Daniel who pouted.

"Put a sock in it Colonel." He retorted tartly,

Janet sipped her wine, her gaze going to Cassie. "I think that you should include Buffy in the decisions Jay. If you love her go for it."

"Here here." Jack clinked his bottle with Jay's glass.

Back on base Jay was again flipping through personnel files when his phone rang, "Yo."

"Yo? Is that like a military thing?" came Buffy's amused voice.

"Hey babe, miss you , love you."

"Same goes. So what's up?"

Jay involuntarily looked up and winced. There were three pencils sticking out of the ceiling tiles. "Um nothing."

"How's the people picking going?"

"Great. I've got it narrowed down to about 800."

"Ick, poor baby. Listen, I love you and just wanted to hear your voice. Talk to you later?"

Jay sighed, his heart hurting from the miles between them, "You'd better. Love ya babe." And they hung up.

Standing impatiently Jay pulled a phone book off the top of his filing cabinet and began thumbing through it. His fingers stopped on 'J' and he started looking at jewelers. He didn't want something from the mall, but something better.

"Whatcha doin'?" Jack asked idly from the doorway he was currently propping up.

"Do you know any good jewelers?" Jay asked distractedly.

"Yeahsureyabetcha."

Jay looked up, "I still don't know how I understand that."

Jack chuckled and came behind Jay's desk to look over his shoulder, "This one." He pointed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, they have quality stuff but don't cost the earth. Ring for Buffy?"

Jay sighed, "Yeah. She called a little while ago and I wanted to crawl through the phone line to her. It sucks."

Jack slapped him on the back. "Let's go Coburn."

"Go?"

"Let's go shopping. Buffy has slender fingers and you don't want something that will make her hand look like it's been in the Cracker Jack box."

Shrugging Jay got up and they left the mountain together.

At the jewelry store Jay was overwhelmed. He looked at the dizzying array and glanced at Jack pleadingly.

"We'd like to see marquise cuts in the 2 to 3 carat range." Jack said crisply to the nattily dressed man behind the counter who nodded and disappeared into a back room.

Jay sidled over, "Why marquis cuts?"

Jack sighed, "With Buffy's slender fingers you need something that accentuates them, not something clunky. Trust me on this. By the way, you do know what size finger she has?"

With a deer in the headlights look Jay shook his head no.

"Christ Coburn." Jack sighed, then turned as the man brought out a tray of rings.

"Here, you and your partner should be able to find something in these."

Both men looked at each other in surprise then snorted with laughter, "We're so not a couple. My brain dead friend here has a girlfriend and doesn't know the first thing about jewelry." Jack replied emphatically.

The man looked at them thoughtfully, "Perhaps if you described her."

Jay nodded, "She's 5'3", slender, about a size four I guess. She's blonde and has a really active lifestyle, so I'll probably have to get her a chain for it as well." He said thoughtfully. He pulled out a picture and showed the man.

"She's a beauty, and her ring finger looks to be a size 5."

Both Jack and Jay peered at the picture incredulously, "You can tell from the picture?"

The man smiled, "It's my job."