Take a Chance on Me - Chapter 6

While Rayne examined the flowers in front of his house, Jack walked into the foyer, carrying the bags of take-out. He heard his team in the living room, deep in conversation. He frowned, not liking what he was hearing. He quietly entered the living room.

"She isn't my daughter." Jack took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. He looked at his team one by one, silently chastising them for discussing his private life behind his back. "Dinner's here." He walked out rigidly to the kitchen.

Sam and Jonas looked at one another shamefacedly.

"Colonel O'Neill appears to be a bit perturbed." Intoned Teal'c.

"Yeah, Teal'c. I think you're right." Sam answered quietly. She got up to follow him, but was stopped when Rayne burst through the front door - one arm holding her bag of food, the other hand filled with daisies and black-eyed susans from the yard.

"Hi. You must be Carter. I'm Rayne. Where's Jack?"

Sam pointed to a doorway. "Hi. Um, kitchen. Through there."

Rayne walked into the kitchen, her smile fading as she took in Jack's expression. Sam followed closely behind, but also stopped just inside the doorway. Rayne looked from one to the other, an agonized expression on her face.

Jack approached Rayne and gently lifted the bag from her arms. "Thank you, Rayne. I think there's a vase or a jar in the cupboard above the 'fridge." He placed the bag on the island and began unloading the cartons of take- out.

Sam quietly opened a cupboard and began pulling out plates and glasses and setting them next to the food. Rayne watched them silently, still holding the flowers. She drew herself up to her full height and took a deep breath. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Jack said woodenly. "Don't worry about it. It's over now."

Rayne clenched her jaw and said antagonizingly. "Right. You like spending time with your team, and *not talking to each other*. This is SOP. If I wasn't here, you'd be doing the same thing."

"Rayne." Sam gently chided. "This has nothing to do with you being here."

"Riiight." Rayne responded to Sam. She paused, thinking aloud. "Jack and I were fine, Jack walked in; I didn't." Rayne looked up at her. "Now you're in here acting all penitent. What did you say to him? Or what were you saying about him?"

Sam swallowed. "We were talking about how the two of you are related."

Rayne looked confused. "Oh. Did he tell you that I'm his niece?"

Sam looked at her, taken aback. "No."

"Rayne, that isn't the point." Jack interceded.

"Yes, Jack, it is the point." Rayne shot back. "They didn't know. They're scientist for cryin' out loud. What do you want them to do; pass up on coming up with a solution to a mystery? You know them better than I do. Would that really happen?"

Jack began to interrupt, but Rayne cut him off. "No, Jack. I'm talking now. You can pout later. Neither of us explained who we are, and you obviously never mentioned my father, or none of this would have happened. Now, obviously, what they were saying wasn't exactly kosher, but they had to come up with every possibility. You just walked in at a bad time." Rayne grinned. "What was it? Was I your clandestine trophy wife, hidden from everyone because of my radical foreign sympathies? Or your half- sister from a shameful affair between your father and the scullery maid?"

"It's not funny, Rayne. My private life does not need to be discussed in a public forum."

Rayne rolled her eyes. "Jack, the more mysterious you make your life, the more it *is* going to be discussed in a private forum. It's called human nature." She turned to Sam. "Okay, you're curious, so here's the scoop. Jack is my uncle. He and my father were twin brothers. My mother pulled a Mary Kay Latourneau and married him when he was 19, then shanghaied him to Europe. She was 36 at the time. They had been dating for two years, and Dad married her because she told him that she was pregnant. Whether she was or not, is still speculation, because my brother wasn't born until two years later. My father died when I was a child, the result of my mother's bad influence. Jack resents that. Any questions?"

While Jack became very interested in finding serving spoons, Sam looked at Rayne bug-eyed. She had never gotten so much point-blank information about the colonel's life.

Rayne stuck her head out the doorway. "And how about you two?" Jonas and Teal'c were standing just outside of the kitchen; having come to see what all the shouting was about.

"I have nothing to inquire about." Teal'c intoned. Jonas just shook his head and stared at her silently.

Everyone stood around the kitchen, not knowing what to say.

*Author's note: I will be heading into the wild's of Western Pennsylvania and will only have access to a computer about once per week. Updates will take a while. Just fair warning. Thanks, by the way for all of the great feedback. I really do appreciate the motivators!