Okay, this part is not one of my best pieces of work. But the story is gonna get a lot better, fast! Promise!
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Johnny O'Neill dropped his backpack on to the hall floor, locked the door and then kicked off his shoes. He sighed, and looked around again. This was his home now. And what a home it was. But it was empty.
The Air Force had given him a brand new life, and lots of money. Well, enough to take care of himself at least. They had set him up with a beautiful 4 bedroomed home, with 3 bathrooms including an en-suite to his bedroom, a large kitchen, conservatory, a lovely dining room and an office. It was worth some money, this place.
He smiled for a moment, realising that his main self must have pulled some strings to get him a good new life.
He had to admit, Colonel Jack O'Neill had done a good thing. When he had found out that the Asgard Loki had made a clone of him, he was pissed. Then, when he had found out that that clone was only 15 and was going to die, he was extra pissed.
He had the choice, he could have let Johnny die. But he didn't. He asked his old friend Thor if there was any way to save him. And Thor had done it.
Johnny O'Neill would age at a normal human rate.
He was stuck being a teenager, again.
He picked up the junk mail and headed for the kitchen to fix himself a snack. Rifling through the fully stocked fridge, he took out a soda and some butter and cheese. He then searched the large kitchen for the bread bin. He was absolutely starved.
He sat down in the living room and flicked on the tv. He found The Simpsons was just starting, so he sat and watched that while he ate, and then he went upstairs to take a quick shower and change in to clean clothes. By the time he had done all of this, it was time to go and meet AJ.
Johnny was on his way out, clad in a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and jeans, when one of his photos caught his attention. He paused, and stared at it for a moment. Samantha Carter, the woman he loved.
He wondered if he'd be able to move on from her.
His watch beeped, reminding him to go to AJ's, and he shook his head, and then put on his trainers.
Two minutes later he found himself walking up the drive of Abby....What was her last name? She was only a few doors down from him. He knocked on the door and looked around. The front garden was beautiful, someone obviously did a lot of work on it. It was a massive house, almost mansion like, a lot bigger than his own.
He was about to knock again when the door opened. Abby grinned and ushered him inside. He immidiately took his shoes off, so that he didn't get mud on their wooden floor, and followed her in to the lounge. She looked amazing, he noticed. She had her hair down and she was wearing a small black top and hipsters, leaving her stomach revealed.
They went through in to her living room, which was decorated in a very modern style. He sniffed, and smiled. It smelt like insence, she obviously liked that stuff too. Carter always...Carter had always had some burning at her place.
"Would you like a drink?" She asked from the kitchen, as she poured herself some pink lemonade. "We have lemonade – the pink kind."
"No thanks, I'm good," he called back, as he stared up at the portrait hanging over the fireplace. He guessed it was probably of her parents.
"Okay. Well not everyone is here yet. My sisters drum kit is in the out house, so we'll try you on that," she explained, trekking back in to the lounge and crashing on to the couch. She patted the seat beside her, and he smiled and sat.
"I don't think you told me your last name," he told her, sitting back.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's Everett-Roper," she said, before taking another sip of pink lemonade. "Don't let me have any more of this stuff, it's addictive."
"Abby-Joanne Everett-Roper?" He blinked.
"Bit of a mouthful isn't it?" She laughed.
"Yeh, just a bit," she nodded. "So...Johnny...tell me more about yourself."
"Not much to tell. Grew up in Canada, parents died a few months back in a car crash, miss them like mad. Live with my aunt Jolene here," Johnny knew he'd just repeated what he'd told The Cliffhangers earlier, but she seemed to accept that he didn't want to talk about it. "What's the band called anyways?"
"We started out as Dazed and Confused, as in Led Zep, but we decided it was a crappy name for a band," she laughed, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. The rest was tied up, but because of the layers in her style, she couldn't tie these strands back.
"I don't know..." he shrugged. "So who are you now?"
"Circling the Drain. Lame huh? CTD for short." There was a knock at the door, and Abby rose and left him in the lounge. She returned seconds later with three people in tow. "MJ O'Neill, this is my band. Bridget, on the keyboards..."
Bridget, a chubby brunette, nodded shyly to him and he gave her his best smile. "Nice to meet ya, Bridget." He felt sorry for her, she obviously didn't have much self confidence. She was quite pretty, but probably got teased anyway.
"Kodie, my bass player," Abby continued, nodding towards the blue haired punk in the corner. "And finally Shannon, our multi-purpose player. She plays the flute and guitars, and she sings some of the tracks."
"I'm the only guy, huh?" Johnny said, standing up. "This is great. So...shall we get started ladies?"
Shannon led the way through to the outhouse. Abby stopped to pick up her lemonade from the table, and Johnny found himself watching her. She blushed, as she saw him, and then grabbed his arm and pulled him through the kitchen, out in to the garden and through to the outhouse. He wished he'd kept his shoes on, as his feet met the path.
The Outhouse was a really cool shed. There were beautiful materials covering the walls, cushions and seats in the corner and a mini fridge. The instruments were all set up ready – obviously they all kept their stuff here. Makes sense, he thought. Abby's parents were in to the band, but the others' parents might not have been.
He sat down at the drum kit, nervously.
-
At 5:57pm, the group emerged from the shed, and made their way back through the house. Shannon was the first to depart, telling them that she had homework piling up. The rest of them chilled in the living room for a while. Next to leave was Bridget, and then, finally, Kodie.
"I had better be going, AJ. My Aunt will be home early tonight and she'll be wanting to know how my first day went," Johnny told her. "Thank you for inviting me over. I had fun."
"Me too, it was nice to have you here," she winked, walking him out. He sat down on the bottom stair and put his sneakers back on. "You're in, by the way."
"Great. Well, I'll see you tomorrow?" Johnny headed for the door.
"Yeah, definitely."
"Bye then."
"Bye...oh, wait!" She said, pulling a business card out of her pocket. Amelia Everett-Roper, PhD. He frowned, wondering why she had given him this, and then he saw the phone number at the bottom. "That's my number."
"Cooly," he grinned. "I'd give you mine but I haven't learnt it yet. But my email is ."
"Fruit Loop 15?" She laughed. He nodded, and then there was silence. "Well...bye. I'll, uh, I'll email you later. Mine is ."
Johnny grinned to himself as he walked home. He liked Abby, she was one of the sweetest people he had ever met. But then he thought about Gracie, and how she reminded him of Carter.
He was lost in thought when he heard a yelp and saw Cassandra Frasier lay on the floor. He gasped and helped her up. "Oh god, I'm so sorry...I was off on another world or something." Okay, this was not a good situation to be in. Cassandra, an 18 year old alien that Colonel O'Neill had rescued, was looking right at him.
"It's okay," she assured him, brushing the dirt from her clothes. "I just grazed my leg. You know...you look really familiar. Do I know you?"
"I don't think so..." he mumbled, "I'm new."
"Oh you're the new guy," she realised, extending her hand. He shook it. "Welcome to Colorado Springs."
"Thanks. Umm, I'm really sorry about knocking you over, but I...I gotta go. Will you be able to walk home...you didn't hurt your leg or anything?" He checked, knowing he should really get going before she realised. He'd shown her pictures of himself at her age, lots. Big mistake. She had seen the original Jack O'Neill age 15. And he looked exactly like him.
"I'm okay...I think. I live a long way from here, I was just on my way to see a friend. My mom is a Doctor so she can fix my knee up. Don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault," she patted him on the shoulder, reassuring him that she was fine and that he shouldn't worry about it, and then walked off. "See you in school," she called, over her shoulder.
He found himself jogging home, getting excited about the e-mail Abby said she would send him. He frowned. He was getting excited about a 15-year-old girl. It was kind of scary.
'I am 15,' he told himself. 'I have a lot more experience than most 15 year olds, but I am 15. Physically I am 15. It's okay to like Abby. And besides, I've always been 15 at heart, even when I was 45.'
'Maybe I'll be all right after all,' he told himself, as he reached the porch. 'I have new friends and a chance to live my life over. No saving the world, no intergalactic wars. Just homework, friends, and hormones. That, I can handle.'