Annoyed at being pulled away before he had a chance to eat – even though he wasn't as annoyed as he would have been had it been anyone else – Jack scowled at Mitchell as they walked along the corridor towards her quarters for lack of any better destination.
"All right, Melony. What's so important that it couldn't wait until after I ate?"
Melony glanced around. Although the topic was hardly top secret, she didn't want to be overheard, because no one should ever think that a general needed warnings about anything.
"You need to be careful around Kale and the other Light Ones, Jack."
His scowl deepened.
"Why? He's tall, but I doubt he's all that dangerous…"
"Not because he's dangerous, Jack," Melony said, knowing that would have been the first thing he'd thought of. "The Light Ones are a fairly peaceful race of people – although they can be dangerous, they've never been anything but helpful to us."
"Then why?"
"Because Kale and the others emanate large quantities of pheromones – far more than any human, or even a group of them. They do it naturally, and aren't even aware of the effects it has on the humans around them – the Light Ones haven't had a lot of contact with humans in their past. Not for a long time."
"Pheromones?"
She nodded.
"Most of the time they're pretty harmless, but I don't know if you noticed that the Light Ones pretty much exude sexuality. It's another part of their nature – and they have it down pat, let me tell you – but with the pheromones it can become a little –"
"They're trying to attract mates?"
She started to shake her head, but Talon interrupted before she could.
He's right, to a point. Only they're trying to attract a mate from among their own people, and the humans who spend more time around them are just getting caught up in it
"Yeah, they are, but not from around here. It's just something they can't turn off, I suppose. More than the whole sex thing, though, it's also possible for those of us who are a little more… aggressive… to become a lot more aggressive."
Which Jack knew meant him. But he wasn't the only one who had the tendency to be aggressive.
"Why doesn't it affect you?"
"Talon controls that kind of stuff with me. He's the one who warned me about it, and I warned the others. But I was pretty sure no one had taken the time to warn you and SG-1, so I thought we'd better."
"Huh…"
Melony smiled.
"Now that you're aware of the problem, you'll at least know why you want to shoot Kale or Char every time one of them smiles at Colonel Carter – although I know that isn't completely because of the Light Ones…"
Jack shot her a look and Melony gave him an innocent look, knowing that he'd never admit to anything. Sure enough, he shrugged.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Uh huh."
He scowled, wondering how the conversation had turned so quickly. But he had his own way to switch that around, and his scowl faded as they reached her quarters and she opened the door, gesturing for him to precede her into the room.
"So tell me this, smart ass," Jack said as he flopped down on her bed, looking up at her. "Do those pheromones have anything to do with what's going on between you and Beckett?"
She was floored, and couldn't even hide it.
"What do you mean?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Oh, please… a blind man could see that there's something going on, and I know you well enough to know that what I'm seeing is something a bit more serious than a fling."
She ignored Talon's amusement. Of course he would have caught it. She was good at hiding her feelings, but she'd never been able to hide anything from Jack. He knew her way to well.
"No."
"No?"
She sighed.
"No, what's going on between Carson and myself has nothing to do with the pheromones. I already said that Talon handles those for me so I'm not affected by them."
"But there is something between you?"
She nodded.
"Something."
Jack scowled.
"Beckett?"
She matched his scowl.
"What do you mean by that?"
"He's…" Jack floundered for a diplomatic word, and failed. "A weenie."
"He is not."
"What's wrong with Sheppard? Sheppard's a Military man. An Air Force man, even, and-"
"And a dark-haired, light-eyed Major…" Melony interrupted, softly, feeling a terrible ache that she hadn't felt so acutely in months. "I… I-"
He stopped her, knowing she was faltering, and understanding why. And feeling like a heel for bringing up something so painful. Jack stood up, gathering her in his arms and holding her close.
"I'm sorry, Melony…" He pressed a kiss against her hair as he felt her arms come around her, taking the comfort he was offering. "Obviously, you'd avoid a relationship with Sheppard. I understand…"
She nodded, her face buried in his chest.
"But Beckett is a weenie…" Jack said, trying to regain the lighter mood and fairly certain he could. "What about Ford? He's a good guy, and you've known him a lot longer than-"
"He's about ten years younger than me, Jack," she said, turning her head and feeling the tight knot in her chest ease just a little. She still hurt, but being held was definitely helping, and Talon was helping as well. "Although I did consider McKay…"
"You did not."
Even Jack would never believe that.
She smiled.
"Well… no… He's a bit-"
"Of a jerk."
"Nah, he's not that bad when you get to know him. He's just a little more arrogant than I can handle every day, I think." She looked up at him, pulling away. "Although Sam might like the new him… he knows how to shoot a gun, now, and he's-"
"She has better taste than that," Jack interrupted, scowling, because he knew that Melony had once more turned the tables on him, although he was glad she was willing to tease – even if it was him she was teasing.
"Have you had that talk with her, yet?"
"I'm hungry. Let's go eat."
"You're going to have to eventually…"
Jack sighed, and hugged Melony once more, tilting her head up and kissing her cheek.
"I'll think about it."
"You do that, Jack."
She knew better than anyone that things could change in the blink of an eye.