"So, is Jack going to be able to come to dinner?"

Cassie's face fell, slightly. "No. He said maybe another time."

Sam nodded. "When do I get to meet this mystery man of yours?"

Cassandra's face burned. "He's not my man. Yet"

Sam smirked as she heard Cassie mutter under her breath.

"As to when you meet him, I don't know. You just missed him, actually. He had just gotten in his truck when you pulled in."

"Detention go okay?" Sam asked, an edge to her voice.

"I guess. He didn't say much about it. You promised not to do anything about it, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. I don't understand why, though. This teacher shouldn't be allowed to get away with it."

"Jack reminds me a lot of, well, Jack. I think that he'd rather handle it on his own."

"And he can do that, but I want to make sure that you are taken care of."

"Jack's protecting me." Cassie told her, a slightly dreamy look coming over her face.

A raised eyebrow her only response, Sam continued down the street toward her house.

"Was there any trouble in class today?"

"Not really. I think that Hodgekins is satisfied at the moment with having Jack in detention. I think that he feels threatened by him."

"By Jack? Why?"

"Because he's everything that Hodge' is and more. He has the same brain, but very different looks and personality. He's great!"

"Well, give Jack a little more warning next time, and then we'll have him over. He probably just already had plans for tonight."

"Yeah," the teenager muttered darkly, thoughts of cheerleaders dancing in her head.

"He's trying out for the hockey team. It's kind of creepy how much he's like Jack. Your Jack."

"He's not 'my' Jack." Sam said automatically.

"I just mean, Jack O'Neill, as opposed to," she paused. "Ya know, I don't even know Jack's last name. huh. Anyway, he's a lot like Jack, except in a really hot sort of way."

Sam hid a grin at the girls comment. It could be argued that the General was 'really hot'. But not by her, certainly not. Generals were supposed to be stern, old, and most certainly not to be thought of in the same sentence as the word 'hot', unless referring to the weather. Of course, it didn't help that this particular General had chocolate brown eyes that, when in their twinkling mode, could make you forget he was a day over ten. Endearing, which was another word that shouldn't be associated with a Brigadier General.

"Earth to Sam."

"Huh?" Carter shook herself out of her thoughts to find the teenager beside her looking at her, amused.

"You were a million miles away. I letting you know that I have plans to head over to big Jack's house tomorrow. He's going to show me the cheat codes to Half-Life. He said that you can come if you want."

"Uh, that's okay. I have some stuff that I need to get done, but you have fun."

Cassie just nodded, her mind already jumping to the next subject.

"Oh! Did I tell you that Stasha has a new boyfriend?"

SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1

As he poured it, Jack glared at the coffee. There was no reason that he shouldn't be allowed to have beer, no reason at all. Besides that it would set a bad example for his 'peers' should he be caught, but at the moment, he really didn't care.

He walked over to his couch, and sank down, pointing the remote at the tv. One good thing about detention, was that he had time to do his homework before getting home and could have the evening with nothing to do. The bad part was that he had time to do his homework, and had nothing to do that evening except think. Which, given his circumstances, was not something that he enjoyed doing.

Sure, he could have had dinner with Sam and Cassie, whose company, admittedly, was much better than his own, but Sam would recognize him, and he wasn't ready for that yet. He just hoped that Cassie wouldn't feel like he was blowing her off.

But he had seen Sam. It had been months since he'd laid eyes on her, and she hadn't changed a bit. The hair looked a little different, but she changed it so often it was hard to tell.

Jack let out a sharp breath. To tell, or not to tell, that was the question. As it was, he was trying to acclimate to the world of teenagers. That could be made harder if Cassie knew who he really was, not to mention losing the added benefit of being able to keep an eye on her.

On the other hand, he'd have a link to his other life, be kept abreast of what was going on, and have Cassie as a teacher in how to behave like a regular teen.

Assuming, of course, that she was completely freaked out by these turn of events. What if she decided that it was just too strange to 'hang out' with him, or have him around her twenty-four/seven? What if he lost her too?

He took another swig of his coffee, and, deciding that it was just not the same as the mind-numbing affect as beer, set the mug down on the floor.

For now, he'd hide who he really was from Cassandra; it was the only way that he could be assured of having any kind of place in her life.