Thanks once again to my editor Abigor!  Also I would like to invite anyone and everyone to my new Stargate Forum board Abydos Archives

The team sat in silence on the two hours plus drive back to the base. Mac tried at one point to strike up a conversation with the Major. As Carter started to answer a stern look from the Colonel silenced her with a look basically saying 'Wait until we get to the base. I want to control ALL the circumstances of the questioning.' A small cough formed in her throat as she turned away. The rest of the way back to base went pretty much the same. A heavy silence save for Mac's occasional and continually unanswered questions. After nearly an hour drive Mac opened his mouth again but this time it was not a question that escaped.

"Major, you are a very pretty lady." Casual, matter-of-factly, blunt. It was all Carter could do to keep her jaw from dropping.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, "Indee…" He was cut off by an index finger pointing at him and a sharp "dtst" sound emanating from his CO.

"Hey, Jack…" Daniel started and was cut off in the very same manner.

"DAH dtst dtst" Finger now wavering back and forth between Daniel and Teal'c.


O'Neill noticed Carter's body language announcing that she had something to add. He halted her before she was able to speak. "Everybody, just SHUT UP, ok?" he looked over the assembled personnel, "Do I have to make it an order?" A chorus of mumbles to the affect of 'no sir' followed. "Good!" He stretched out, linked his hands and placed them behind his head. A self-satisfying grin spread across his face.

Mac watched this exchange with astonishment, and being Mac felt the need for a smart-ass comment. "Ooooh, Alpha male domination at it finest. You must really get a kick out of it?"

The others in the government paddy wagon collectively held their breath as they waited for their CO to respond. A sly and feral grin slowly appeared. "Yes. I do. Problem?" O'Neill asked threateningly. The Colonels' eyes glimmered with malice that caused Mac to suppress a shiver and follow orders.

*******************************

Upon arriving at SGC, MacGyver was promptly handed over to doctors Fraiser and McKenzie. The strike team members went to change clothes and report to Hammond. Despite being classified information, word quickly spread throughout the mountain complex about Jack O'Neill's newest twin.  Mac heard the whispering and became a bit disturbed.

His eyes searched the halls and rooms he walked through.  Years ago he had been brought in to test the latest security system, which was a large step towards AI.  Artificial Intelligence.  Yep sure.  The damn system turned on its maker and almost killed them both, they barely escaped with their lives.  He knew many of the tunnels from level fourteen and up…or at least he used to.   Some major changes had taken place since that time.  The number of people on the base.  The fact that it was now 90% military, the complete opposite of when he was here last.  He wondered briefly if the lady engineer still worked somewhere in this complex.

******

The small table lamp was the only source of illumination in the otherwise darkened room. He sat on the bed with his elbows on his knees and his head in his calloused hands. He drew his hands into fists and rolled them into his eyes with a loud sigh. I'm gonna have to do this sooner or later, he chided himself.

Finally coming to a decision, he picked up the phone next to the lamp and began to dial a number from memory. The phone rang a few times and he was about to hang up when someone finally
answered on the other end.

"Hello?" asked the weary voice.

"Uh, hi, pop."

"Jackie, is something wrong?" The fatherly voice inquired with a hint of worry.

"Yeah, pop, everything's ok. Sorta. Can I talk to mom?" He pursed his lips and blew air into his cheeks. After a mumbled response he could hear his mother yawn as the phone was passed to her.

"Jack, honey, why are you calling so late?" She tiredly asked.

The Colonel could face down gods, cops on a caffeine high, and a certain politician with his head in his ass, quite happily. Asking his mother one question that dealt with her past was quite different. He forced a breath out of his lungs. "I'm gonna get
right to the point mom, so you can go back to sleep."

"Why do I think I won't be able to after this conversation?"

Damn she's good. He thought. "I dunno, why?"

"Cut the procrastinating, what is it?"

"Ok, um, when I was born." He trailed off into silence. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out the best way to ask without sounding accusatory in any way. He didn't want to come off that way. It was the last thing he wanted to do!

"When you were born?" 'she trailed off, beginning to sound exasperated.

"When I was born, did something else happen?" OH YEAH! She'll understand that.

A moment of dead silence spread down the line, "Hold on, Jackie, I'm going to go down to the kitchen and get some coffee, I have a feeling I'm going to need it. "Don't hang up."

The last statement issued as an order that even General Hammond would be hard pressed not to follow. "I'll stay on the line."

He listened as the phone was passed back to his stepfather. The two men chatted a bit about some mundane subjects until the phone in the kitchen was picked up. The men bid their farewells, and the Colonel was left to speak solely with his mother.

"So, son, what's going on?" His mother asked hesitantly.

 
"Well, where should I start? Um, is there something you…uh...didn't tell me? You know, about when I was born?" He felt a small weight lift off his shoulders now that he had finally laid his cards out on the table.

Uncomfortable silence permeated the phone line. "Mom? You still there?"

"Yeah I'm here. Jackie, are you asking about anything specific?"

He groaned and pinched his nose between his eyes. "Yeah, like, did I have a
twin?"

"Um…why do you ask?" his mother skirted around the answer again.

"MOM!" he yelled, finally having enough.

"Don't you yell at me Jonathon O'Neill!" His mother admonished.

He sighed in exasperation again.

***********


The two women couldn't stop laughing. Janet wiped tears from under her eyes. "He, actually?" She looked to Sam for confirmation again.

Samantha Carter squeezed her eyes shut and pursing her lips in an attempt to stifle her laughter. Nodding exaggeratedly. Her amusement could not be contained, and she let out a burst of giggles. She gasped for breath, "I couldn't believe." gasp,
"when Mac," deep breath, "actually said…" More giggles erupted and Sam couldn't finish the sentence.

A deep masculine chuckling caught the women's attention. Janet looked over at the door with her eyes widened. "Yes." then she saw who it was. The object of the girlish conversation. Well, one version of it anyway. When a few seconds later the other one walked in - both in civvies. The women knew they had their hands caught in the proverbial cookie jar. A few seconds later the other one walked in - both in civvies. The women knew they had their hands caught in the proverbial cookie jar.