Chapter 4: Two Stubborn O'Neills, One Big Problem
"O'Neill"
"Yeah Teal'c?"
"I attempted to call MajorO'Neill at your residence."
"And?"
"DanielJackson answered the phone and informed me he would transport the Major here."
"Why do I have the feeling you're leaving something out here?" Jack said giving Teal'c a you-better-tell-me-what's-really-going-on-or-else look.
"He sounded like he had not had any coffee yet this morning. He acted as if I caught him off guard."
"It was probably nothing." Jack waved him off, thinking to him self 'What has she done now?'
Knock, knock.
'Ok, I finally get a bathroom to myself, and I still get my shower interrupted' Kristi thought to herself, but she answered aloud "Yes?"
"Hey, I just need to grab a toothbrush." Daniel said bashfully.
"It's ok. I'm military, remember? It's rare for me to have a bathroom to myself."
"Oh, by the way, Teal'c just called, wondering if you needed a ride, I told him I was taking you." He was starting to stammer nervously.
"Ok?" She could tell that something else was on his mind.
"He sounded suspicious; I think we need to talk about last night."
"That's fine," she said sticking her head out of the curtain, "but can it wait till I at least get out of the shower?"
"Oh, yeah. Good idea." He replied walking out of the bathroom, now totally embarrassed and worried about what Jack must be thinking now.
By the time Kristi finished her shower, she also was thinking was too much. 'Great, I actually have a really good time out with someone, and now he's having regrets. What is it with me and men; it always gets way too screwed up.' She decided she needed to stop thinking, instead focused on getting dressed and getting another cup of coffee. Yes, coffee will defiantly help.
As Kristi walked down the stairs, she could see Daniel sitting on the couch drinking a cup of coffee and silently murmuring to his self. She couldn't help but smile a bit. She went in to the kitchen and got another cup of coffee, took a deep breath, and then went to go "talk".
"Nothing like a good cup of coffee in the morning, right?" she said as she sat down on the couch next to him.
"Yeah, Sam once told me that a person cannot live by coffee alone, but I don't believe her." He joked. "See, this is just weird!"
"Huh? Why? How is this weird?"
"It just is. We get along so well. Last night I thought we had a really good time, I loved talking to you and it was the first time, in a long time, I've had fun that didn't include SG-1."
"But…?"
"But, your Jack's cousin."
"So?"
"He's my best friend, and that makes it weird. And complicated."
"Weird and complicated, sounds like the story of my life." she said giving him a reassuring smile.
"Can I ask you something? You said you had fun, right?"
Daniel just nodded not quite sure where this was going yet.
"Did you have any regrets before Teal'c called this morning?"
"No."
"Ok, one more question." Quickly, before he realized what she was doing, Kristi leaned over and kissed him. With out thinking, he started kissing her back. After a few seconds she pulled back with a smile on her lips.
"Was that your question?" he slyly smiled back.
"Yep."
"Well, did you at least like the answer?"
"Very much, thank you. Now, don't worry about Jack, we didn't do anything wrong."
"Your right we didn't, but maybe we can not do anything wrong again sometime soon?"
"Why Dr. Jackson, are you asking me out on a date?"
"I was thinking along the lines of breakfast, I'm getting a little hungry."
"Actually, I promised to meet Jack for breakfast, but defiantly some other time."
"Alright, I'll hold you to that, but we'd better get going if you want to make breakfast."
Jack walked down to the commissary, he had finally stopped over thinking what Teal'c told him this morning, and he was looking forward to his breakfast with his semi-little sister. As he walked thru the doors, he looked around for Kristi. He quickly found her sitting with Daniel. They were talking and laughing as she told him about something that happened in Russia. Jack thought nothing of it, until Kristi laid her hand on Daniel's during some point of the story. A wave of anger hit Jack faster than he could stop it, and he immediately turned and stormed out of the commissary. Kristi turned and saw him leave.
"Oh no." she said, almost foreseeing the next conversation she would have with Jack.
"What?" Daniel asked not having seen Jack.
"I need to go; Jack just stormed out of here. I'll talk to you later, ok?"
"That's fine; do you want me to come with you?"
"No, this is something I have to handle myself."
"Hey, Jack. Why didn't you stay for breakfast?"
"Well, you looked like you were enjoying yourself and I didn't want to interrupt." Jack replied
quite shortly.
"He was keeping me company till you got there."
"Yeah, and he was just 'keeping you company' all night in my house."
"First off, he slept on the couch. It was late and he didn't want to drive back to his apartment."
"I can't believe you, he's my best friend Kristi."
"Excuse me?" Kristi's anger was quickly escalating past the point of Jack's. "What do you think I did?"
"You know what? I don't really care."
"No, you can't do this Jack."
"Do what exactly, Kristi?"
"Act like you know everything, start a fight and then walk away."
"I don't see anyone walking away."
"I meant that figuratively, not like you haven't done literally before."
"Fine, are you doing this to get back at me? Because I don't need you to toy with my friend's feelings to hurt me."
"You know what? It hurts me to think that you would assume that I would do that. Daniel and I have nothing to do with you."
"So, there is a Daniel and you?"
"Yes! No! I mean, I don't know yet."
"So, in other words you're just going to toy with him until you leave?"
"No. Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to pick a fight with me?" She was getting quite upset now, and the O'Neill temper was coming out in both of them.
"I'm not trying to do anything, Major. I think this conversation has gone far enough."
"Uh-uh, no. You are not going to do this. This is not a Major-General issue; this is a Jack-Kristi issue. You're not pulling the military card."
"You need to remember that right now I'm your commanding officer, and this whole conversation borders on insubordination."
"You're not doing this. I'm not Mac; you can't just shut me out."
"I don't see what he has to do with this, and you're just as much like him as you are me."
"Is this what your attitude is about? You're worried that I'm going to become like Mac?"
"Again, this has gone far enough."
"No, it hasn't even gotten close. You cannot pull me into your problems with Mac. I'm so sick of being stuck in the middle. You know he fights with me the same as you do. He thinks I'm too much like you. I'm not either one of you."
"I know you're not."
"Then why are you acting like I am? Even Mom sees it. Neither one have gone to see her in
years, because your to afraid you'll see each other, and have to deal with your issues. You know she hasn't even met Sam. You both have your heads to far up your asses to see how much you're hurting her."
Jack was no long able to control his temper towards her. He was trying to get out, but the mere mention of his brother brought up to many issues.
"You know what? I don't want to ever see Mac again, but you can't act like you understand. Just because you weren't enough for your Mom, doesn't mean you can act like you know best for mine." As soon as he said he knew he shouldn't have. He could see the tears well up in Kristi's eyes. "Kristi?" Silence answered him for a moment.
"May I be dismissed, Sir? I have a mission to prepare for."
"Kristi, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"Sir, again, permission to be dismissed."
"Yeah." Jack said overcome with guilt. Just then he noticed Sam standing by the briefing room door. "Hey, Carter. How long have you been there?"
"Long enough." She had heard the last half of the fight, but didn't know how to interrupt. "So, what's this about your Mom wanting to meet me?"
"Oh, another Sam, not, that she doesn't want to meet you, too. Hey, can you go check on her for me? I'm really not in a mood to talk right now."
"Sure. Let me know when you are in the mood." With that comment Jack's eyebrow raised and she quickly added, "To talk of course."
By the time Kristi had made it to the locker room the tears started to fall.
"Son of a bitch!" She yelled as she fiercely slammed her clenched fist in to an open locker.
"Hey, you can't go on a mission with a broken hand you know?" a familiar voice said behind her.
"I apologize Colonel." Kristi replied trying to wipe the tears from her eyes, being careful not to turn around.
"It's Sam, remember? You want to tell me the reason for the busted locker?" Sam was worried that like the General, Kristi would clam up and use the ever so famous 'I'm Fine' excuse.
Still not turning around, Kristi lightly leaned her head on the locker in front of her. "It's an unspoken rule, I don't bring up Charlie, and he doesn't bring up my mom."
"What happened?"
"Jack and I have a disagreement on a little issue, then we started bringing up bigger issues, like usual. It went too far. He just went too far." She turned around and faced Sam for a moment. Sam could the tear streaks on Kristi's face and the redness in her eyes. Kristi walked over to the bench and sat down; Sam immediately sat down next to her resting a reassuring hand on Kristi's.
"What happened to your mom?"
"My Dad died shortly after I turned 6, my mom was pregnant. She couldn't handle my Dad's death, she got depressed. She stopped eating and sleeping. She kept sending me to Judy's, Jack's mom, saying that I was to much like my Dad, and that she could stand to see me. About a month later she lost the baby, and soon after that she killed her self." She was trying her best not to get to emotional and keep her military self prominent.
"Oh, Kristi, I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Its ok, I hear it's good to talk about sometimes. We O'Neill's don't usually do it though." She tried to fake a laugh, but it almost came out as a sob. Tears were still burning her eyes and threatening to fall.
"Yeah, talking is good. So, you want to tell about Mac?"
"I guess I need to. I said too much already, and I have a feeling you heard most of mine and Jack's fight."
Over the next half hour or so Kristi told Sam about Mac, her parents, her relationship with Jack, and what happened with her and Daniel. Sam told Kristi about her mom, dad, and her brother. Sam finally realized what time it was and that they should be getting ready for the mission.
"It was really nice to have a girl to talk to. No offence, but most women scientists aren't usually interested in having those girlfriend relationships." Kristi told Sam with a smile and a hug.
"Yeah, it gets hard with all the men around here. When we get back you'll have to meet my friend Janet. She's on vacation with Cassie right now, but they will be back by the time we are."
"Dr. Janet Frazier, right? A lot of my work pick up from her's, I wondered when I was going to get to meet her."
"Maybe we'll have to have a girl's night out; we'll bring Cassie, too."
"Sound good."
"Ok, now we better get ready, we have a briefing in 15 minutes."
