Jack's cell phone rang just as he pulled into his driveway later that night. He cringed when he saw who it was, took a deep breath before pressing the 'talk' button and said, "O'Neill."
"Hi Jack," Lanie's voice came through the phone. "How are you? I thought I would call to see if you were able to get in touch with your father."
"Nope. Not yet," he replied, "I'm still trying to get a number for him."
"You're stalling, aren't you?" she asked.
"Yes," he said baldly. "I'll call him Lanie. I just need some time, okay?"
"Jack," she sighed. "I suppose I can understand that, it's just that I am so anxious to find out something, anything…"
"I know. I promise I will call him soon. Okay?"
"Okay," she grumbled. "When is soon?"
"Soon Lanie," he said forcibly, smiling despite himself.
"Alright," she gave in. "I'll call you tomorrow. 'Night, Jack!"
"Thanks for the warning. I'll make sure I have the phone turned off," he replied.
"Can you really afford those 20 minute phone messages?" she asked sweetly.
"Well I have 24 hours to think about it now, don't I? Sleep tight Lanie."
Jack got out of the truck and walked into his house. He had just closed the front door when his cell phone rang again. He fumbled for the phone, nearly dropping it, as he reached for the light switch.
"O'Neill," he growled into the phone.
"Jack! Oh man, you have to get back here now," Daniel's excited voice spoke to him through the phone. "We've found them Jack! Do you realize what this means? I can't believe we've really found them!"
"Daniel, calm down," Jack said rubbing the bridge of his nose. He could feel the tension building up and he knew the first signs of a headache when confronted with them. "First things first, who did we find?"
"Well, I have to tell you that I didn't believe it at first," Daniel continued. Jack could hear papers being shuffled as Daniel spoke to him. "Where is it? I just had it. Wait, here it is… No, that's not it. Ah, okay, here it is. The tablet that I've been translating spoke of the Ancients, the Goa'ulds and a bunch of other stuff, but it also speaks of a tribe of people that were transplanted to that planet approximately four hundred years ago by the Goa'ulds. We've found them Jack!" he said proudly.
"That's great Daniel. I've always wondered where we put those people. Now I can rest easy," Jack said debating whether he should strangle the archeologist or just pound him into dust.
"I'm telling you, this is the find of the century. We have to go back there to gather more information and determine what happened to them again."
"What do you mean what happened to them again? Daniel," he said with a sigh, "I am standing here valiantly reminding myself that you are my friend. It wouldn't be a good thing for me to kill my friend. Perhaps if you tell me who we lost in the first place, I may have an inkling of what the hell it is you are talking about." His voice had risen while he was speaking, until he was almost shouting by the end of his speech. "On second thought," he said trying to calm down, "what have I told you about unsecured lines? Jeez Daniel, what the hell am I going to do with you?"
"Sorry Jack. It's just that this is so incredible that I…. Well, you know me. I admit that I can get carried away sometimes, but… well…"
"Daniel, don't worry about it, okay? Tell you what, why don't you go home, get a good night's sleep and meet me in the briefing room tomorrow morning first thing. Bring along Sam and Teal'c and whomever else you want to and we'll talk about it then."
"Jack, this is important…"
"Daniel, trust me on this. I will be able to better understand you after you have had time to calm down. We'll talk about this first thing in the morning."
"Alright," he gave in. "I'll call you tomorrow morning to get you out of bed."
Now that was way too eerie, Jack thought, as he hung up the phone. Didn't Lanie just say almost the same thing?
He went to the kitchen to scavenge for food, finding leftover spaghetti from the night before. He threw the plate in the microwave, grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and walked over to the window to look out into his backyard. He was going to make that phone call tonight, but he felt like such a weakling because he was standing there working up the nerve to pick up the phone. It was ironic that he was able to stand up to someone who would torment and torture him, without him showing any fear, yet he couldn't even make a phone call. He finished the beer when the microwave buzzed to tell him his dinner was ready. Taking the plate out of the microwave, he carried it over to the table, sitting down to eat his meal alone and in silence; his mind working on what he would say when he finally did make the call.
Once he had eaten, he'd decided that now was as good a time as any. He sat down on the couch, picked up the phone and dialed his Uncle's number. "Hello?" a woman's voice said when it was picked up on the other end.
"Hi. Can I speak to Henry please?" Jack asked, not recognizing the voice on the other end of the line.
"Just a minute," the woman said. Jack waited, listening to the woman's voice grow dim as she called to his Uncle.
"Hello?" It was Henry and Jack smiled at the memories the sound of his voice brought to him.
"Hey Uncle Henry. It's me, Jack. How are you doing?"
"Jack? Oh my God. Jack!" his Uncle's surprise was evident. "What have you been up to? It's been forever since I've heard from you. You okay?"
"I'm fine, thanks. I was just thinking about getting in touch with my old man and I don't have his number anymore. I was hoping you might have it?"
"Yeah sure, I have it here somewhere," his Uncle said. "How's the family? Well, I mean…"
"Sara's doing great, last I heard," Jack said quickly. "I keep in touch with her once in awhile. How about your brood?"
"They are all doing great," Henry told him. "Joanie just graduated from Law School! Can you imagine? At her age!! Anyway, she and Tom are moving to Texas to build their own law firm, taking the kids with them. I'll sure miss them," he said, sadly.
"I'll bet you will," Jack agreed. "What about Tina? She still teaching?"
"Yep. Her oldest just made her a Grandma," he said proudly. "I don't mind being a Great Grandpa one bit. It's just another little one to spoil."
"Yes sir," Jack laughed, remembering how his Uncle had spoiled him when he was younger.
"How about you? I heard you'd retired. What have you been doing with your life?" his Uncle asked.
"Got pulled back in," Jack said. "They needed me to do another job and I'm still doing it. On the bright side, I'm a General now."
"A General? Well, I'll be damned!" Henry exclaimed proudly. "I'm not the least bit surprised, you know. I always knew you had it in you. You always were a determined young man."
'Yeah. Hey Uncle Henry," Jack said, turning the conversation away from himself. "I ran into someone a couple of days ago who looks so much like me, it's scary. We compared notes and there are a lot of coincidences. I was just wondering if there is anything about my past that I don't know about."
"Like what?" Henry asked after a moment of silence.
"Like whether he could be my twin."
"Your twin?" Henry asked, surprised.
"Yeah. Same face, same birthday. My twin."
"Jack…," his Uncle began.
"Yes?" Jack prodded when he didn't go on.
"You already know the answer, don't you?" his Uncle said with a sigh. "I'm sorry, really I am, but it was your parent's decision to keep it from you. They thought it would be for the best."
Damn it, Jack groaned inwardly. He did know the answer, he was just hoping that he had the wrong one.
"Look Jack," his Uncle continued. "Your parents loved you; they only wanted what was best for you. You are their son. It didn't matter that you were born to someone else. They loved you."
"I know," Jack said, trying to ease his Uncle's worry. "It's just a shock to know that I had a twin brother out there all these years. A long lost twin brother," he said, remembering the words of Mac's daughter.
"A twin!" Henry exclaimed. "You mean to tell me that there is another you running around out there? Lord help us all!" he teased.
"Yep," Jack laughed, although he was thinking of his clone. "There actually is another me running around out there."
"Jack, I would love to meet your twin," Henry said. "Will you bring him around to meet me? I'm thinking this is the only way I'll get to see you again," he scolded.
"We are still trying to let this all sink in, Uncle Henry," Jack said. "I'll come to see you soon, though. I never realized how much I've missed your ugly mug."
"See that you do," Henry insisted. "Tina would love to see you again."
"I will," Jack promised. "You take care of yourself until I do, hear me?"
"Loud and clear, General Jack," Henry said with pride. "A General," he said again and Jack knew his accomplishments were going to be the talk of Henry's friends, if Henry had anything to do with it.
"It's been good talking to you, Uncle Henry. And thanks!"
"You're welcome. You have my number, call me more often."
"I will. Bye Uncle Henry," Jack said finally hanging up the phone.
Well that was done, he thought. He had his answer, but for some reason he wasn't happy about it. He had been adopted. His parents weren't even his parents. His thoughts moved on to his father who had practically turned on him after his mother's death. He knew it was grief, knew it even better now because of Charlie's death, but he couldn't fathom turning on his own son.
Jack sat on his couch for a long time mulling over the possibilities and wondering what he should do from this point on. He worried that he would be expected to share his life with his brother's family, at least with his sister-in-law who could be such a pain. From the time he had joined the Special Ops, his work life had been one big secret, one that couldn't be shared with anyone. He had gotten good at hiding his secret life from the world over the years, but he just knew Lanie was going to want to know everything.
He decided to wait until the next day to break the news to Lanie. He needed some more time to come to terms with this, to sort through his feelings. In the meantime, he needed to find out more information on his brother, so he picked up the phone to make one more phone call. He dialed Carter's number and she answered on the second ring.
"Carter? You busy? I was wondering if I could come over to talk to you about something?"
