TITLE: The Sought Ones
SEQUEL: to "The Lost Ones"
AUTHOR: Cyn(di)
EMAIL: custardpringle@yahoo.com
RATING: PG—language
CATEGORY: supernatural, romance, drama, angst
SUMMARY: They were supposed to be gone forever. But "forever" is a very relative thing.
SPOILERS: I'm pretending "Heroes" and "Lost City" never happened, but anything else is fair game.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Switching to Jack's POV now—it's easier for me than Charlie's.
Haven't had to say this in a while, but please review. It makes me happy. And remember, I do control this story. So if you like the characters, keep me happy.
Betaed by Frisha and LE McMurray, both of whom I love dearly. Scottish people rock:)
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Jack embraced his son tightly, hardly daring to let go for fear the boy would disappear again, until Charlie finally protested that he couldn't breathe. They separated reluctantly, and Jack opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find something reasonably coherent to say. In the end, he settled on, "What happened to you?"
"I was at home," Charlie said vaguely. "And then I was here, and I just kind of found my way to this office."
"You were at home," Jack repeated. "Where?"
The boy gulped shamefacedly. "In your room."
Oh, no. This was going to be even harder than he'd thought. "Charlie, were you playing with my gun by any chance?"
Charlie lowered his eyes. "I just wanted to look at it, honest. The drawer was unlocked."
"And then you just wanted to have a look down the barrel . . ." Jack muttered, half to himself.
"How'd you know?" Charlie gawked in awe.
"How can I not?" Jack responded, more savagely than he'd intended.
Charlie took a step back. "I'm sorry," he mumbled earnestly. "I'm sorry, Dad, really I am, I promise I'll never do it again . . ."
It was impossible to stay angry with the kid. Jack closed his eyes, wondering how on earth he was going to explain what had happened ten years ago. "I know," he said finally, in a barely audible croak, "because I was the one who found you about thirty seconds later."
"Found me?" Charlie said in confusion. "But you weren't even home yet—" His features suddenly froze in a look of terrified comprehension, a look that Jack was sure should never have crossed the face of someone that young. "It went off? I—" he struggled with the last word—"died? I thought you were just making that up . . ."
Jack bit his lip and nodded. "Ten years ago." Why would he ever make up something like that?
"Oh, no." Charlie looked up again. Jack could see his own genetic influence kicking in as the boy's horror changed to sheepishness. "My homework's ten years late. Mrs. Gerencher's going to be really mad at me, isn't she?"
Jack smiled at his son, glad to see that the full import of the situation hadn't struck yet, or at least had bounced off. It would hit eventually, but fortunately not just yet. "I'm sure she understands," he said soothingly.
Charlie didn't answer; his forehead was creased in thought. "Do you know the woman?" he asked.
What woman? Jack nearly asked, and then remembered what he'd momentarily forgotten: the bewildered airman who had come running into his office had reported encountering not only Charlie but Sha're as well.
Charlie was still waiting for an answer. "Dad? Are you okay?"
He shook himself. "Yeah, I'm fine." Jack reached automatically for the phone, meaning to call Daniel, but then thought better of it; he was probably already in the room next door. "I do know her," he explained. "Her husband's a really good friend of mine. He'll be really happy to see her. At least as happy as I am to see you, in fact."
"Cool." Charlie grinned. "Can we go see them? I liked her; she was really nice."
"Don't think so," Jack said. In response to his son's automatic pout, he added, "I think they might want to spend some time with each other first. There is another friend of mine we can go visit, though."
"Who?"
"My good friend Doc Fraiser." Jack stood up and shoved Charlie back out the door in front of him before the boy could protest.
Charlie objected anyway. "I'm just fine. Really. I don't need to see the doctor."
"Don't worry," Jack informed him cheerfully. "The doc'll be really nice to you as long as you're nice to her."
The expected question came right on cue. "What if I'm not nice to her?"
Jack grimaced at some particularly painful memories. "Let's just say she's got some very big needles hidden away in her office."
"Ouch." Charlie looked up and laughed at the expression on Jack's face. "Guess you'll be nicer to her next time."
Mystified airmen, many of whom had never known that Jack had even ever been married, stared after the pair as they headed down the corridor. Jack didn't particularly care. Let them wonder.
The important thing was that he had his son back.
-----
SG-5 and SG-9 had just returned from a disastrous mission, and it was obvious that Janet had her hands full already when Jack and Charlie arrived. Charlie was more than happy to wait, so they took a couple of chairs as far out of the way as possible.
Fifteen minutes later, the two O'Neills were still waiting when two more people joined them, looking very happy indeed. Charlie looked up at them, smiled when he recognized Sha're, and immediately started talking, getting as far as "Were you really—" before a hand was firmly clamped over his mouth.
"He inherited my sense of tact," Jack said apologetically.
"What tact?" Daniel asked automatically, staring at the boy seated next to him. "Jack, is this really who I think it is?"
"As far as I can tell. This is my son Charlie," Jack said solemnly by way of introduction. "And, Charlie, these are my friends Daniel and Sha're. Ah, ah, ah—" Charlie's mouth was opening again—"don't ask about it. It's rather a sensitive subject."
Sha're, now dressed in borrowed BDUs rather than Amaunet's dress, pulled a chair over so that she could sit closer to Daniel and converse more easily. "I'm glad to see you found your father," she told Charlie, adding, "It is good to see you again, Jack."
"Nice to see you, too," he responded, hugging her. "But not as nice as it is for Daniel, I'm sure."
Sha're burst out laughing. "As am I," she said mischievously.
Daniel was making a point of not listening, but blushed slightly anyhow. "This could have happened to other people who haven't been caught," he commented.
"I was wondering that myself," Jack said thoughtfully. "Kawalsky could be somewhere around here, for all we know."
"He's dead, too?" Charlie interrupted, suddenly wide-eyed in fear—he'd known Kawalsky as his whole life. "What about Mom?"
"She's fine," Jack said quickly. "You can probably see her pretty soon, okay?"
"All right." Charlie fell silent again.
"For all we know," Jack said with a shiver of apprehension, "Hathor could be back too."
Daniel hastily executed an arcane gesture that was no doubt intended to ward off evil. "Let's hope not. Only worse I could think of would be Anubis."
"But Anubis isn't dead," Sha're said in puzzlement. "He was only banished."
"He came back," Daniel said quietly. "But he's definitely dead now."
Sensing but not understanding the anguish in her husband's voice, Sha're reached over and touched his hand. Daniel wrapped his fingers tightly around hers.
"I'd better call Carter," Jack said, hastily changing the subject; he remembered all too well what it had taken for Daniel to kill Anubis. "Do you two think you can handle this kid for a minute?"
"I doubt it," Sha're said seriously.
"It's not that hard. C'mon."
"He's related to you, Jack," Daniel reminded him pointedly, but he was already heading towards the telephone.
Sam was in her lab, of course, because Sam was always in her lab, and she picked up the phone on the first ring. "Major Carter here."
"Carter!" Jack exclaimed happily. "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Sir . . ." she said cautiously. "Are you all right?"
"I hope so."
A resigned sigh echoed over the line. "All right, sir, what is it?"
"Carter, you wouldn't happen to have Martouf hidden in there somewhere, would you?"
"If this is one of your jokes, Colonel, it's a damn poor one," Sam said angrily. "You know quite well Martouf's been dead for three years."
"True," Jack admitted. "But then again, I also know quite well that Daniel's wife has been dead for four years, and my son's been dead for ten, and yet I'm standing here in the infirmary looking over across the room and I think if I leave Charlie alone with Daniel and Sha're any longer they're going to adopt him. So if you'll excuse me, Major, I'm going to have to cut this conversation short." He gave the stunned silence on the other end of the line thirty seconds to break. When it didn't, he simply hung up on it and walked back over to the others.
"Congratulate me," Jack announced proudly. "I think I've finally managed to find a way to shut Carter up."
Catching the end of this sentence as she approached, Janet applauded sarcastically, but froze and did a double take—several, in fact—when she saw to whom he was speaking.
SEQUEL: to "The Lost Ones"
AUTHOR: Cyn(di)
EMAIL: custardpringle@yahoo.com
RATING: PG—language
CATEGORY: supernatural, romance, drama, angst
SUMMARY: They were supposed to be gone forever. But "forever" is a very relative thing.
SPOILERS: I'm pretending "Heroes" and "Lost City" never happened, but anything else is fair game.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Switching to Jack's POV now—it's easier for me than Charlie's.
Haven't had to say this in a while, but please review. It makes me happy. And remember, I do control this story. So if you like the characters, keep me happy.
Betaed by Frisha and LE McMurray, both of whom I love dearly. Scottish people rock:)
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Jack embraced his son tightly, hardly daring to let go for fear the boy would disappear again, until Charlie finally protested that he couldn't breathe. They separated reluctantly, and Jack opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find something reasonably coherent to say. In the end, he settled on, "What happened to you?"
"I was at home," Charlie said vaguely. "And then I was here, and I just kind of found my way to this office."
"You were at home," Jack repeated. "Where?"
The boy gulped shamefacedly. "In your room."
Oh, no. This was going to be even harder than he'd thought. "Charlie, were you playing with my gun by any chance?"
Charlie lowered his eyes. "I just wanted to look at it, honest. The drawer was unlocked."
"And then you just wanted to have a look down the barrel . . ." Jack muttered, half to himself.
"How'd you know?" Charlie gawked in awe.
"How can I not?" Jack responded, more savagely than he'd intended.
Charlie took a step back. "I'm sorry," he mumbled earnestly. "I'm sorry, Dad, really I am, I promise I'll never do it again . . ."
It was impossible to stay angry with the kid. Jack closed his eyes, wondering how on earth he was going to explain what had happened ten years ago. "I know," he said finally, in a barely audible croak, "because I was the one who found you about thirty seconds later."
"Found me?" Charlie said in confusion. "But you weren't even home yet—" His features suddenly froze in a look of terrified comprehension, a look that Jack was sure should never have crossed the face of someone that young. "It went off? I—" he struggled with the last word—"died? I thought you were just making that up . . ."
Jack bit his lip and nodded. "Ten years ago." Why would he ever make up something like that?
"Oh, no." Charlie looked up again. Jack could see his own genetic influence kicking in as the boy's horror changed to sheepishness. "My homework's ten years late. Mrs. Gerencher's going to be really mad at me, isn't she?"
Jack smiled at his son, glad to see that the full import of the situation hadn't struck yet, or at least had bounced off. It would hit eventually, but fortunately not just yet. "I'm sure she understands," he said soothingly.
Charlie didn't answer; his forehead was creased in thought. "Do you know the woman?" he asked.
What woman? Jack nearly asked, and then remembered what he'd momentarily forgotten: the bewildered airman who had come running into his office had reported encountering not only Charlie but Sha're as well.
Charlie was still waiting for an answer. "Dad? Are you okay?"
He shook himself. "Yeah, I'm fine." Jack reached automatically for the phone, meaning to call Daniel, but then thought better of it; he was probably already in the room next door. "I do know her," he explained. "Her husband's a really good friend of mine. He'll be really happy to see her. At least as happy as I am to see you, in fact."
"Cool." Charlie grinned. "Can we go see them? I liked her; she was really nice."
"Don't think so," Jack said. In response to his son's automatic pout, he added, "I think they might want to spend some time with each other first. There is another friend of mine we can go visit, though."
"Who?"
"My good friend Doc Fraiser." Jack stood up and shoved Charlie back out the door in front of him before the boy could protest.
Charlie objected anyway. "I'm just fine. Really. I don't need to see the doctor."
"Don't worry," Jack informed him cheerfully. "The doc'll be really nice to you as long as you're nice to her."
The expected question came right on cue. "What if I'm not nice to her?"
Jack grimaced at some particularly painful memories. "Let's just say she's got some very big needles hidden away in her office."
"Ouch." Charlie looked up and laughed at the expression on Jack's face. "Guess you'll be nicer to her next time."
Mystified airmen, many of whom had never known that Jack had even ever been married, stared after the pair as they headed down the corridor. Jack didn't particularly care. Let them wonder.
The important thing was that he had his son back.
-----
SG-5 and SG-9 had just returned from a disastrous mission, and it was obvious that Janet had her hands full already when Jack and Charlie arrived. Charlie was more than happy to wait, so they took a couple of chairs as far out of the way as possible.
Fifteen minutes later, the two O'Neills were still waiting when two more people joined them, looking very happy indeed. Charlie looked up at them, smiled when he recognized Sha're, and immediately started talking, getting as far as "Were you really—" before a hand was firmly clamped over his mouth.
"He inherited my sense of tact," Jack said apologetically.
"What tact?" Daniel asked automatically, staring at the boy seated next to him. "Jack, is this really who I think it is?"
"As far as I can tell. This is my son Charlie," Jack said solemnly by way of introduction. "And, Charlie, these are my friends Daniel and Sha're. Ah, ah, ah—" Charlie's mouth was opening again—"don't ask about it. It's rather a sensitive subject."
Sha're, now dressed in borrowed BDUs rather than Amaunet's dress, pulled a chair over so that she could sit closer to Daniel and converse more easily. "I'm glad to see you found your father," she told Charlie, adding, "It is good to see you again, Jack."
"Nice to see you, too," he responded, hugging her. "But not as nice as it is for Daniel, I'm sure."
Sha're burst out laughing. "As am I," she said mischievously.
Daniel was making a point of not listening, but blushed slightly anyhow. "This could have happened to other people who haven't been caught," he commented.
"I was wondering that myself," Jack said thoughtfully. "Kawalsky could be somewhere around here, for all we know."
"He's dead, too?" Charlie interrupted, suddenly wide-eyed in fear—he'd known Kawalsky as his whole life. "What about Mom?"
"She's fine," Jack said quickly. "You can probably see her pretty soon, okay?"
"All right." Charlie fell silent again.
"For all we know," Jack said with a shiver of apprehension, "Hathor could be back too."
Daniel hastily executed an arcane gesture that was no doubt intended to ward off evil. "Let's hope not. Only worse I could think of would be Anubis."
"But Anubis isn't dead," Sha're said in puzzlement. "He was only banished."
"He came back," Daniel said quietly. "But he's definitely dead now."
Sensing but not understanding the anguish in her husband's voice, Sha're reached over and touched his hand. Daniel wrapped his fingers tightly around hers.
"I'd better call Carter," Jack said, hastily changing the subject; he remembered all too well what it had taken for Daniel to kill Anubis. "Do you two think you can handle this kid for a minute?"
"I doubt it," Sha're said seriously.
"It's not that hard. C'mon."
"He's related to you, Jack," Daniel reminded him pointedly, but he was already heading towards the telephone.
Sam was in her lab, of course, because Sam was always in her lab, and she picked up the phone on the first ring. "Major Carter here."
"Carter!" Jack exclaimed happily. "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Sir . . ." she said cautiously. "Are you all right?"
"I hope so."
A resigned sigh echoed over the line. "All right, sir, what is it?"
"Carter, you wouldn't happen to have Martouf hidden in there somewhere, would you?"
"If this is one of your jokes, Colonel, it's a damn poor one," Sam said angrily. "You know quite well Martouf's been dead for three years."
"True," Jack admitted. "But then again, I also know quite well that Daniel's wife has been dead for four years, and my son's been dead for ten, and yet I'm standing here in the infirmary looking over across the room and I think if I leave Charlie alone with Daniel and Sha're any longer they're going to adopt him. So if you'll excuse me, Major, I'm going to have to cut this conversation short." He gave the stunned silence on the other end of the line thirty seconds to break. When it didn't, he simply hung up on it and walked back over to the others.
"Congratulate me," Jack announced proudly. "I think I've finally managed to find a way to shut Carter up."
Catching the end of this sentence as she approached, Janet applauded sarcastically, but froze and did a double take—several, in fact—when she saw to whom he was speaking.