It took quite a bit of groveling, but Jack was able to soothe the ruffled feathers and convince the powers that be that he really wished he hadn't missed the meeting. They fell for it, or at least pretended to fall for it, and Jack was relieved that it wasn't worse as he called Carter to get that information he wanted. She gave him the number and he had to ask her to hold on until he found something to write with. He searched the countertops in the kitchen and was going to start digging through drawers when he noticed a dry erase board on the refrigerator. Grabbing the marker, he wrote down the number she gave him and called it after thanking her and jokingly promising her that she didn't need to worry about getting used to a new commander at the SGC.

He was talking with Randy when Lanie came into the kitchen to start breakfast. Randy told him pretty much the same thing Kevin had told Mac. He'd found Jack in the restroom of the bar, barely able to stand, and dragged him off to his hotel room, leaving him there to sleep it off.

Speaking of the bathroom, Jack thought, as he made his way to the room Lanie had indicated when he asked.

Jack came back into the kitchen to find that Mac had joined his wife and it unnerved him to see how much that guy looked like him, although he should be used to that stuff by now. He had pretty much accepted that he was not being tricked by the Go'uld, or the Replicators for that matter, remembering Carter's debriefing as she described Fifth's attempt to convince her she was on Earth. Now all he had to do was accept the guy for what he was, a replica of himself, and if Lanie had her way, his twin.

"Everything okay?" Mac asked him as he sat down at the table.

"Yeah," Jack said with a shrug. "All it took was some sincere groveling, mixed with a bunch of 'yes sirs and no sirs' and as a bonus I promised them all that I had a fantastic time at that party last night. I'm not sure if they bought it, but I'm not facing a court martial, so I can't complain."

"What do you do for the Air Force?" Lanie asked as she flipped some eggs in a pan.

"A desk job," he said disgustedly. "Not much fun."

"Are you a General?" she asked him. She was putting bread into a toaster and he thought about asking her for a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Lanie was a military brat," Mac said as he got up to grab the coffee pot. "Want some?"

"Yes please," Jack said relieved.

"You were talking to a Colonel as if you were her commanding officer, which makes you at least a Brigadier General," Lanie explained.

"She's a Lieutenant Colonel," he corrected her, as if that made a difference.

"Oh, well excuse me," she grinned as she put a plate with eggs and sausages in front of him. She put two more plates filled with food down on the table and Mac grabbed his fork to dig in. She went over to the counter and came back with a pen and some paper and Jack wondered where they came from. "Where exactly were you born?" she asked, expectantly.

"Chicago, and the toast is ready," he replied.

"Oh," she said, jumping up to get the toast. "Can you be a little more specific?" she asked as she placed the toast and a tub of margarine on the table.

"This is a waste of time you know," Jack said, as he took a bite of his eggs. "He is not my twin."

"How do you explain the fact that he looks exactly like you?" she asked impatiently.

"You'd be surprised," Jack responded dryly. "Look, I think it's just a coincidence that he looks just like me, in fact…." he said getting up to see if there were any scars left by plastic surgery on Macs neck, "this all could still all be a trick."

"Why would we want to trick you?" Mac said pulling away from Jack's searching fingers. "It doesn't make sense."

"Sit down Jack and finish your breakfast," Lanie bossed and Jack did as he was told. "What about your parents, maybe they will be able to shed some light on this."

"My mother's dead and I haven't spoken to my father in years," he said wearily. This was something he didn't like to dwell on. "I suppose I could ask my Uncle Henry, that is, of course, if I can find him." Ah what was he thinking? "Look, it's not even worth finding out about it after all these years. Even if he is my twin, what good does it do either one of us to find out?"

"I would like to know." Mac said quietly, his eyes boring into Jack's. "It had always been just me and my grandfather when I was growing up. As a child, I often wished I had a brother."

"Do you have a copy of your birth certificate?" Lanie asked Jack. "That will give us a clue as to where to start. It'll be much easier though, if you could speak with your father and ask him outright about your parentage," she said with some caution.

Wonderful, Jack sighed, she wasn't going to give up. "Look, my father and I had a falling out years ago and I haven't seen nor heard from him in years." The last time had been just after Charlie died. His father had wanted to talk with him, possibly to make amends, but Jack was way too deep into his grief to even give him the time of day.

"Maybe I could talk to him," Lanie suggested. "I'll tell him I am with the Department of Social Services or something. Would that work?"

"No, I'll talk to him," Jack said decisively. It was time to get back in touch with his old man, he thought, knowing he should try to bridge the gap that was between them.

"I'm sure it will be a good thing," she said with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah," Jack said as he finished his breakfast. "Well, I must be getting back to my hotel room to get ready for today's treat. It seems my punishment has been decided," he grinned at them. "They postponed the meeting until this afternoon," the grin turned into a grimace.

"Need a ride?" Mac asked him.

"Don't you dare go anywhere without leaving me a number to get in touch with you," Lanie said as she grabbed the pen she had put down earlier.

"Oh man, she's on a mission," Mac groaned. "Be prepared for her to pester you to death," he added, grinning as his wife glared at him.

"I know that you two are twins. All I have to do is prove it," she said. "I'll ask some of your old friends to help me out Mac, shouldn't take me long at all."

"Lanie," Mac said quietly. "It's not that important. Jack's right. What good will it do to find out this late in the game?"

"He's your brother Mac," she said exasperatedly. "How can you say that it's not important?"

"Oh for crying out loud," Jack said, interrupting what looked like a promising fight. "Here's my cell phone number," he said taking the pen from her hand and writing it down on the paper. "I don't give it out to everyone and I would appreciate you remembering that, okay? I am not available on it all the time, but just leave a message."

"Are you going to call your father?" Lanie asked.

"Yeah."

"When?"

"Soon."

"Liar!" she exclaimed. Jack could see she was getting angry.

"Hey, I'll call him when I get a chance."

"Call him now," she insisted.

"I don't have his phone number on me,"Jack said, trying to control his anger. Who the hell did she think she was?

"Jack…" she began.

"Listen, this is all your idea in the first place!" he raged. "I don't need another duplicate, okay? One's enough to….." Oh crap! Now he'd done it. What was the matter with him, letting something like that slip through? He knew better and was trained to keep secrets to himself, yet here he was giving out classified information.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Mac growled. "That's the second time you mentioned something about having a duplicate. Listen to me, I retired 15 years ago. You won't gain a thing from whatever game you are trying to play here."

"What the hell?" Jack snarled. "You two are the ones trying to mess with my mind. And you're not doing it very well at all."

"Both of you just shut up!" Lanie yelled at the top of her voice, causing both men to gape at her. "I truly believe that you two are brothers, long lost at that, and I will prove it. Until then, you both will just have to learn to live with it. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" Jack said, giving her his best salute and a grin.

"Loud and clear, Melanie MacGyver," Mac said and gave her a wink.

Melanie sighed heavily, squared her shoulders and tried to hide her own smile. She then turned to Jack, "Call your father as soon as you get his number and then call me. If you don't I will be calling your phone on a daily basis leaving 15 minute messages to run up your bill. I swear I will," she promised as she wrote her own phone number down on a piece of paper.

"Damn," O'Neill groused. "Spend the night with a woman and she thinks she owns you."

"Here," she said as her husband laughed. "And don't lose it. Now that you are part of the family, you have to come out and visit us more often. Maybe we can come and visit you out in Colorado," she said. He noticed Mac perk up at that. "Are you married?"

"Not any more," he replied.

"I'm sorry," she said with feeling. "Children?"

"It's getting late," Jack said, changing the subject. He didn't think he could face any more of her pity. "I'll call my Dad and let you know what he says, okay?"

"Jack?" she said and he cursed inwardly.

"Yeah?"

"What happened? Will you tell us?"

"About what?" he asked trying to play the innocent.

Her face showed her resignation, as she came up to him to give him a hug. "We're your family now. I hope you'll remember that."

"I will," he said feeling like a fool. "You are a lucky man," he told Mac, "to have a woman like this."

"I know," Mac said looking at his wife and Jack could see the love he had for her.

"I'll call," he told her again as he headed for the stairs to go find his shoes. Damn it, he thought as he stopped and turned to the couple. "My son, Charlie, accidentally shot himself with my gun," he said with a heavy heart. "He was only 11 years old." He briefly wondered if the pain would ever ease. "I have no other children." With that, he turned and went up the stairs leaving the pity he knew they must feel for him behind.