Author's Note: No promises how much I'll be writing today and tomorrow.... Today is my birthday and I'm not sure what my family has planned for me, since they're weird and like to keep that kind of stuff secret until the very last minute. (However, I am starting my 9-day vacation today, so that's a plus)
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Once Jack had reassured himself that Jaffer was fine – as subtly as he could – he went back to the bedroom and got dressed. Then he joined the others around the table for the first cup of coffee.
"So when are we going home, Jack?" Daniel asked, taking an appreciative sip of his coffee. Not that he wasn't having a far better time than he'd expected, but he had only brought so much work with him, and he had a lot more to work on back in his office.
"In a hurry?" Jack didn't even pretend to be hurt. He was pretty impressed that the others hadn't whined or pouted after the first day, and figured anything after that was just bonus time.
"I have some stuff I need to take care of back home. Not that I'm not having a good time, mind you, because I am..."
"Sam?"
Jack turned to Carter, waiting to hear how much of a hurry she was in to return home. She shrugged.
"I have some things I could be taking care of, too, but it's been... nice... here."
He was watching to see if she was being facetious, but she seemed to be sincere, and he was pretty good at reading her expression.
"I, too, have enjoyed myself this weekend," Teal'c admitted. Of course, part of his pleasure from the weekend was that Jack had had so much fun running around the cabin, and playing in the water. Things he didn't always get to do at Cheyenne Mountain. His dog having fun was always bound to rub off on Teal'c.
Jack grinned, leaning back in his chair.
"Why don't we stay another day?" He asked them. "We have plenty of food, and I'd like a chance to use up those steaks. We can have them tonight, and if you guys still want to go home, we'll go tomorrow. Fair?"
It was fair. And far more reasonable than they'd expected. They'd expected Jack to put up a fight about going home, and even though they hadn't discussed it between the three of them they'd all been thinking of various excuses to get him to let them go home if he showed signs of wanting to stay too much longer than they wanted to.
Teal'c nodded his agreement to the deal, which pretty much shot down any other argument. If the Jaffa was willing to stay, the others would, too. Jack smiled, but did a fair job of hiding his smugness.
"Good! Who wants breakfast?"
Daniel and Jack made breakfast. French toast and sausages, as much as they could eat, since they had a lot of food to use up, and of course, another pot of coffee. Of course, whatever they didn't finish at breakfast, Jack and Jaffer were more than willing to help finish off.
"They're going to get sick," Sam said, shuddering as she watched the labs eat syrup covered French toast and sausages at an alarming rate.
"Nah, it's not going to hurt them." Jack told her with an indulgent smile in Jaffer's direction. "They've both had far worse."
Yeah, that was definitely true.
"What are your plans for today, you guys?" Jack asked them, wondering if they were planning on working on their paperwork stuff or if they were going to go outside and spend time with him again that morning. Actually, though, if they wanted to be inside, he'd be okay with that as long as they didn't spend the entire day inside. He'd doze on the dock this morning, and spend time with them this afternoon.
"How about a hike?" Sam asked.
Exercise? On vacation?
Jack scowled.
"A hike?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"Um..." This was from Daniel, who wasn't finding the idea any more appealing than Jack was.
"I will hike with you, Major Carter." Teal'c offered. He liked to exercise.
"Come on, Jack," Sam said, leaning forward, slightly. "It'll be fun. And it's only fair you come hiking with me, since I did come to the cabin with you." She didn't mention he hadn't had to trick her like he'd had to trick Daniel, and she was still pretty unsure about the whole glitch in the gate at the exact moment Teal'c wanted to leave, thing. Somehow she was sure Jack had something to do with that. No matter how innocent he looked and acted.
"Fine, I'll go hiking."
It was only fair, after all, he supposed. But he was going to sulk about it!
Sam smiled, and then turned to Daniel, who groaned inwardly. He wasn't going to get out of hiking, either, and he knew it. Could tell just by the way she was looking at him.
"Yeah, me too." There was a definite tone of resignation in Daniel's voice, but Sam chose to ignore it.
"Great! We can walk off breakfast." She stood up, followed immediately by Teal'c, Jaffer and Jack (the dog). Jack and Daniel neither one made a move to get up.
"What? Now?"
"Why not?"
He looked around, searching for any excuse.
"What about the dishes?"
"What about them? They can wait until we get back. We'll soak them."
Jack scowled, and cast an imploring look over at Daniel, hoping he'd come up with something. Anything. The look he was given in return was a blank one. And just as desperate. But, no. Jack sighed and got to his feet, as well. So much for a nap on the dock this morning.
They put the dishes in the sink, and headed outside. The dogs bounded down the few steps and headed out into the woods, looking back frequently to make sure their humans were still with them, then bouncing ahead when they saw they were. Jack and Teal'c made no effort to call them back. As far as they knew, there was nothing dangerous in the woods, and even Jaffer, who was a past master at getting himself in trouble, would have a hard time finding anything to tangle with bigger than a rabbit or squirrel.
Or so they thought, anyways.
They'd been walking – forced marching, as Jack privately referred to it – for more than a half an hour when Jaffer came tearing back from the left side of the faint trail they were following to go the other direction – straight across their path and back into the woods. He was followed, and then passed, by a streak of tan, and the four stopped and watched, wondering what they were up to. Jack was barking furiously, although Jaffer wasn't making any noise – not even a growl, which told Jack that whatever they'd found to keep themselves occupied, it wasn't dangerous.
"I hope it's not a skunk," Daniel said.
Jack hadn't even thought about a skunk. He scowled; looking at Daniel like it was going to be all his fault if it did turn out to be a skunk.
Then they heard a high-pitched shriek – an odd sound that Jack thought sounded slightly familiar, although he couldn't place it – coming from the same area the dogs had just run into.
"What was that?" Sam asked, curiously. Jack had already turned off the path and into that general direction. Whatever it was, he wanted to make sure it wasn't dangerous.
The bushes rustled, and they heard a high giggling sound. Jack stopped. The others stopped as well, each one wishing they had a weapon, even though they were certain they didn't really need one. It wasn't like they were on some other planet, after all. But nothing feels more comforting than a Berretta when you're facing something unknown in the bushes.
Then Jack came out of the bush, looking over his shoulder, his tail wagging furiously, his attention not on Teal'c, who called him, but on whatever was following. There was another giggle, and Jaffer appeared right behind Jack, his head high and something large in his jaws. Something that was wriggling.
"'Oggie!"
"What the hell...?"
"Jaffer!"
The black lab gave Jack an innocent look, and wagged his tail. Hanging from his mouth by the belt of a pair of very dirty pants, was a child, no more than two and looking for all the world like the oddest, biggest and happiest puppy in the world.
"'Oggie!"
................
Once Jack had reassured himself that Jaffer was fine – as subtly as he could – he went back to the bedroom and got dressed. Then he joined the others around the table for the first cup of coffee.
"So when are we going home, Jack?" Daniel asked, taking an appreciative sip of his coffee. Not that he wasn't having a far better time than he'd expected, but he had only brought so much work with him, and he had a lot more to work on back in his office.
"In a hurry?" Jack didn't even pretend to be hurt. He was pretty impressed that the others hadn't whined or pouted after the first day, and figured anything after that was just bonus time.
"I have some stuff I need to take care of back home. Not that I'm not having a good time, mind you, because I am..."
"Sam?"
Jack turned to Carter, waiting to hear how much of a hurry she was in to return home. She shrugged.
"I have some things I could be taking care of, too, but it's been... nice... here."
He was watching to see if she was being facetious, but she seemed to be sincere, and he was pretty good at reading her expression.
"I, too, have enjoyed myself this weekend," Teal'c admitted. Of course, part of his pleasure from the weekend was that Jack had had so much fun running around the cabin, and playing in the water. Things he didn't always get to do at Cheyenne Mountain. His dog having fun was always bound to rub off on Teal'c.
Jack grinned, leaning back in his chair.
"Why don't we stay another day?" He asked them. "We have plenty of food, and I'd like a chance to use up those steaks. We can have them tonight, and if you guys still want to go home, we'll go tomorrow. Fair?"
It was fair. And far more reasonable than they'd expected. They'd expected Jack to put up a fight about going home, and even though they hadn't discussed it between the three of them they'd all been thinking of various excuses to get him to let them go home if he showed signs of wanting to stay too much longer than they wanted to.
Teal'c nodded his agreement to the deal, which pretty much shot down any other argument. If the Jaffa was willing to stay, the others would, too. Jack smiled, but did a fair job of hiding his smugness.
"Good! Who wants breakfast?"
Daniel and Jack made breakfast. French toast and sausages, as much as they could eat, since they had a lot of food to use up, and of course, another pot of coffee. Of course, whatever they didn't finish at breakfast, Jack and Jaffer were more than willing to help finish off.
"They're going to get sick," Sam said, shuddering as she watched the labs eat syrup covered French toast and sausages at an alarming rate.
"Nah, it's not going to hurt them." Jack told her with an indulgent smile in Jaffer's direction. "They've both had far worse."
Yeah, that was definitely true.
"What are your plans for today, you guys?" Jack asked them, wondering if they were planning on working on their paperwork stuff or if they were going to go outside and spend time with him again that morning. Actually, though, if they wanted to be inside, he'd be okay with that as long as they didn't spend the entire day inside. He'd doze on the dock this morning, and spend time with them this afternoon.
"How about a hike?" Sam asked.
Exercise? On vacation?
Jack scowled.
"A hike?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"Um..." This was from Daniel, who wasn't finding the idea any more appealing than Jack was.
"I will hike with you, Major Carter." Teal'c offered. He liked to exercise.
"Come on, Jack," Sam said, leaning forward, slightly. "It'll be fun. And it's only fair you come hiking with me, since I did come to the cabin with you." She didn't mention he hadn't had to trick her like he'd had to trick Daniel, and she was still pretty unsure about the whole glitch in the gate at the exact moment Teal'c wanted to leave, thing. Somehow she was sure Jack had something to do with that. No matter how innocent he looked and acted.
"Fine, I'll go hiking."
It was only fair, after all, he supposed. But he was going to sulk about it!
Sam smiled, and then turned to Daniel, who groaned inwardly. He wasn't going to get out of hiking, either, and he knew it. Could tell just by the way she was looking at him.
"Yeah, me too." There was a definite tone of resignation in Daniel's voice, but Sam chose to ignore it.
"Great! We can walk off breakfast." She stood up, followed immediately by Teal'c, Jaffer and Jack (the dog). Jack and Daniel neither one made a move to get up.
"What? Now?"
"Why not?"
He looked around, searching for any excuse.
"What about the dishes?"
"What about them? They can wait until we get back. We'll soak them."
Jack scowled, and cast an imploring look over at Daniel, hoping he'd come up with something. Anything. The look he was given in return was a blank one. And just as desperate. But, no. Jack sighed and got to his feet, as well. So much for a nap on the dock this morning.
They put the dishes in the sink, and headed outside. The dogs bounded down the few steps and headed out into the woods, looking back frequently to make sure their humans were still with them, then bouncing ahead when they saw they were. Jack and Teal'c made no effort to call them back. As far as they knew, there was nothing dangerous in the woods, and even Jaffer, who was a past master at getting himself in trouble, would have a hard time finding anything to tangle with bigger than a rabbit or squirrel.
Or so they thought, anyways.
They'd been walking – forced marching, as Jack privately referred to it – for more than a half an hour when Jaffer came tearing back from the left side of the faint trail they were following to go the other direction – straight across their path and back into the woods. He was followed, and then passed, by a streak of tan, and the four stopped and watched, wondering what they were up to. Jack was barking furiously, although Jaffer wasn't making any noise – not even a growl, which told Jack that whatever they'd found to keep themselves occupied, it wasn't dangerous.
"I hope it's not a skunk," Daniel said.
Jack hadn't even thought about a skunk. He scowled; looking at Daniel like it was going to be all his fault if it did turn out to be a skunk.
Then they heard a high-pitched shriek – an odd sound that Jack thought sounded slightly familiar, although he couldn't place it – coming from the same area the dogs had just run into.
"What was that?" Sam asked, curiously. Jack had already turned off the path and into that general direction. Whatever it was, he wanted to make sure it wasn't dangerous.
The bushes rustled, and they heard a high giggling sound. Jack stopped. The others stopped as well, each one wishing they had a weapon, even though they were certain they didn't really need one. It wasn't like they were on some other planet, after all. But nothing feels more comforting than a Berretta when you're facing something unknown in the bushes.
Then Jack came out of the bush, looking over his shoulder, his tail wagging furiously, his attention not on Teal'c, who called him, but on whatever was following. There was another giggle, and Jaffer appeared right behind Jack, his head high and something large in his jaws. Something that was wriggling.
"'Oggie!"
"What the hell...?"
"Jaffer!"
The black lab gave Jack an innocent look, and wagged his tail. Hanging from his mouth by the belt of a pair of very dirty pants, was a child, no more than two and looking for all the world like the oddest, biggest and happiest puppy in the world.
"'Oggie!"