At 8:30 Daniel arrived with the other two members of SG-1 in tow and they filed into Jack's living room silently seating themselves on the couch and chair surrounding the coffee table. Jack smiled weakly and offered them all drinks, but they declined, wanting him to get to his explanation as quickly as possible.
"Alright. I guess you all want to me start then."
They all nodded and Jack walked into the kitchen and brought out a small box and laid it on the coffee table. Slowly he opened it and began to spread the contents around so that everyone could see it. Leaning back he slipped into a sitting position and reached into the sleeve of his button down shirt and pulled out a thin piece of wood and placed it just in front of him on the table.
"This isn't going to be easy for you all to hear, so I'm just going to start talking. I know you're probably going to have a thousand and one questions, but let me say what I have to say first." There was short pause and then with one long deep breath Jack began to speak. "I'm a wizard. Just like you saw with the Kessians, I can do magic. I was sent to a special school when I was a kid, and I learned to control my powers and about 12 years ago I went into hiding. I changed my name and started working for the Air Force. The mark that the Kessians saw is actually something that was put there a long time ago. I used magic to conceal it from you all these years, I just never figured anyone one off-world would be able to see though the charm. See there are witches and wizards all over the world, but most muggles, I mean non-magic people like yourselves, can't see the magic that's done. I know you're skeptical about this whole magic thing, but I can prove it's real."
With that he reached for the slim piece of wood in front of him and motioned for Teal'c to stand. He joined him and Carter and Daniel sat up straight in their seats, curious what was about to happen.
"Carter I'd like to check Teal'c. There's nothing connected to him, no wires, no devices, not a thing that could do what I'm about to do." Reluctantly she patted the big jaffa down and when she was satisfied she stepped back.
"Okay what now, sir."
Jack motioned for her to be seated and she did so, looking and Daniel sharing his questioning look as the Colonel waved the wand in front of Teal'c. Saying a silent prayer that Ministry wouldn't get wind of his use of magic he began to speak.
"T-man I swear this will be reversible." Teal'c raised an eyebrow in what Jack was sure meant that he trusted the other man and was ready for whatever was about to happen. "Semtus Lineas."
Before their eyes the hulking figure of Teal'c began to shrink, and when he stopped he stood no higher than the edge of the coffee table.
"Holy Hannah!" Carter stared in disbelief and slowly moved closer to the miniature Teal'c.
Daniel reached him first and gently picked him up. The tiny jaffa warrior fought furiously in Daniel's hands and shouted to be put back on the floor. Frightened by his actions, Daniel nearly dropped him, but Jack was able to catch him and put him safely on the carpet.
"How did you do that, Jack?" Daniel looked back and forth between Teal'c and Jack shaking his head.
"I told you Daniel, it's magic. That's the only explanation I have."
"You...you really are...a wizard...how?" Jack smiled at Daniel's question and shrugged his shoulders.
"My mother was a witch. I guess she passed the gene on to me."
"So it's hereditary? This is amazing!" Jack shifted uncomfortably as Daniel sized him up and innocently reached for the wand in Jack's hand. "Is it because of the wand?"
"Well, this helps to direct the power, but it actually comes from inside the witch or wizard."
Jack motioned for Daniel to step back and he waved his wand again at the miniature Teal'c and spoke words Daniel hadn't heard before. "Ereas Semtus."
In a matter of seconds Teal'c transformed back into his normal-sized self and Jack smiled, pleased with himself for still being able to work the magic so well.
Teal'c to everyone's surprise seemed rather shaken by the whole event and took a seat on the couch, his breathing having become somewhat rapid. Daniel was completely convinced and fired question after question at Jack not even giving the man a chance to answer, until finally Jack held up a hand to stop him, his eyes glazing over from the speed that the linguist's words were hitting him.
"Calm down, Daniel. One question at a time." Daniel shook his head and smiled as he took a seat next to Teal'c.
"How can you just believe all this?" Carter's voice made them all turn too see her standing, arms across her chest, with a none to happy expression on her face. "This is all just too surreal."
"You need more proof?" Jack asked ready to try something else to help his 2IC believe him.
"You said it was genetic? Then there has to be a logical explanation for it, just like Ancient's technology. Magic just can't exist without a reasonable explanation." With a frustrated groan she threw her hands in the air and shook her head. "It just can't. It goes against everything I believe."
Jack sighed unsure what else he could do to convince her that he was telling the truth. Looking back at Daniel and Teal'c he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what else to do here. How about you guys just ask me some questions and maybe that will make things a bit clearer for you."
Daniel was already anxious to ask, but Carter simply nodded and looked off towards the window lost in her own thoughts. Teal'c, who had regained his composure straightened in his seat and waited for Daniel to ask the first question.
"Why are you on the run exactly? Or rather whom are you running from?"
Jack's smile faded quickly. He had known this question would come up, and he hoped he would be able to explain the answer well enough for his friends to understand.
"About twenty years or so ago, a war broke out between those in the magical world. It's still going on to this day, at least to some degree. When I got out of school both sides recruited me. I chose to work for a wizard that everyone feared. He was cruel, and malicious. He cared about nothing but himself and how much power he had over others. It's a long story as to how I ended up working for Voldemort, but sufficed to say it garnered me a rather nasty reputation. What only a handful of people knew was that I was trying to work both sides of the war. I was friends with witches and wizards on both sides and I didn't want to see anyone else hurt or killed over one wizard's lust for power. In a move that I regret to this day, I tried to set Voldemort up. The plan backfired and two of my best friends were killed, and another ended up with a fate worse than death. Their son survived. Somehow his mother had managed to protect him when she died, and Voldemort disappeared. As far as most were concerned, the war was over and they were ready to hunt down anyone that had been a part of Voldemort's army. Since I was still considered a part of it, I had no choice but to run. Those that supported Voldemort wanted me dead for trying to double-cross him, and those that didn't support him wanted me dead too."
Jack paused when he saw that Daniel was raising an eyebrow as though he had another question forming in his mind.
"Couldn't you just explain things?"
"Without my friends alive to vouch for me, there was no way I could prove any of it. I would have ended up in Azkaban or worse."
"What is Azkaban?" Teal'c asked as he watched a shudder pass over Jack as he uttered the strange name.
"It's the wizard's prison. It's not like a normal prison. The guards are nasty creatures that suck the life out of you piece by piece until there's nothing left. They're beings called dementors, and lemme tell ya, goa'ulds ain't got nothing on these things."
"That would be the fate worse that death?" Jack nodded to Daniel and the other man took a breath before asking his next question. "What's your real name?"
"Jack Corrigan. Jack O'Neill was my cousin's name. He died when we were just boys. I figured it was a name no one would think to trace."
The next few hours Jack spent answering questions and even showing Teal'c and Daniel more magic he was capable of, but Carter never said a word. Her anger seemed to grow along with her confusion. Every fiber of her being said that magic wasn't possible, but there was no denying the things she had seen. It was beyond maddening for her to watch as the very foundation of her beliefs crumpled around her and when she'd finally had all she could take, she stood and excused herself from the room.
They watched her walk towards the door, and Jack wanted to follow, but Daniel's hand on his arm stopped him. The younger man shook his head and motioned for Jack to sit back down.
"She needs time. Nothing you say to her right now will make a difference. She just isn't ready to hear anything. Let her work things out on her own for now."
Jack thought about his friend's words for a moment and settled himself back in his seat. He knew he was right, but he hated that Carter was upset with him. The other two had taken to his revelation surprisingly well, but Carter just wasn't receptive at all.
By the time they finished talking it was almost 4 in the morning and Jack led a stumbling Daniel to the guest room while Teal'c prepared the floor in Jack's living room so that he could kelnoreem. Carter had long since taken Daniel's keys and driven back home, and Jack sighed as he walked himself up the stairs to his own bed and flopped down in it.
He was flooded with a sense of relief and concern for how this new knowledge was going to affect his team and their day-to-day functioning. Crossing his fingers he hoped for the best, but a part of him was afraid that wouldn't be enough. As he lay there in bed his mind began to drift, and as he watched the ceiling fan rotate a strange feeling began to overwhelm him. His eyes closed and his world began to spin uncontrollably. Images flashed before him, none making too much sense, but all were of chaos and destruction, and his vision settled on the image of boy standing alone in a cemetery with a wand in hand. There was something familiar about the boy, and just as Jack was started to remember who it was that the boy reminded him of, his eyes sprang open and he could hear a tiny voice whispering in his head.
"He that was lost will return, and the balance of power will shift. The dark lord will rise again and a wrong will be made right."
The words repeated themselves over and over again until he finally closed his eyes to sleep. When he woke the next morning his head ached but the words were still clear in his mind and a sense of dread enveloped him. That dread would stay with him for the next two weeks when something he never thought would happen...did.