Thanks for the reviews, guys. And no, there is no relation at all to Macgyver. I like reading those crossovers but I don't know enough about him to try. I just like having a smart Jack. Now on to the chapter!

General Hammond looked up at the knock on his door. Despite his new commission in Washington, he had chosen not to sell his house, so it came in handy both for his temporary return to the SGC and for visiting his daughters and grandchildren. Now he saw Lt. Colonel Sam Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson standing outside. "I was just packing up for my return trip. How was the reunion?" Both wore bemused looks on their faces.

Sam responded obliquely. "Do you know who Ian Nelson is?"

Hammond raised his eyebrows. "A famous astronomer…I've read much of his work, especially since it has so much relevance to what we do. Why?"

Sam continued. "Do you know anything at all personal about him? I mean, his background?" She blushed as she realized the implied innuendo in her words.

"Actually, I tried to look him up one time to see if it would be possible to hire him but failed to find much of anything. Do you know anything?"

Daniel smirked and asked his own question. "Did you know that Ian is the Scottish form of John, and Nelson means 'son of Neill'?" He continued before an answer could be formed. "And did you know that Jack is a form of John and O'Neill means 'son of Neill'?"

Hammond caught on and his jaw dropped. "That…that…he's been working for us all this time…he's in charge…!"

"Yep!" came an unexpected voice, and they turned to see General O'Neill. "Hi, kids. Here to see General Hammond off?"

"Ah, hi, Jack. Um, yeah. You?" Daniel stammered out, caught off guard again.

"Really, Danny, you'd think after the past week, nothing would surprise you about me anymore." Jack drawled out, amused.

Daniel flushed. "Jaaack! You're the black ops trained to sneak up on people."

"Your point?" Jack retorted. "Expect the unexpected. Always be on guard. And always be ready to shoot or otherwise attack the guy trying to sneak up on you."

Daniel groaned. "Bah! So, Ian, come to see General Hammond off yourself?"

Jack chuckled. "Actually I was thinking of telling him where Ian Nelson was since I was the one he had looking for the guy to hire. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know I was so loved."

There came several snorts at that. "Are you sure it isn't just something you ate out of that refrigerator of yours that you never clean?"

Sam made a gagging noise. "I so did not need to hear that, Daniel!"

General Hammond chuckled at the byplay. Of all the things he had missed in his new job with Homeworld Security, this kind of communication in the company of SG-1 was his greatest loss. "Well, now that I've found Ian, might I have his full qualifications? After all, I wouldn't want to hire someone without knowing his résumé." Then he realized that he had in fact hired Jack without knowing this information and squirmed internally as he realized how easily the Stargate Command could be infiltrated.

With that uncanny people reading ability Jack liked to surprise people with, the Brigadier General commented, "As soon as I had my own office, I initiated protocol that should have helped prevent similar incursions. I did background checks on every critter and molecule that found its way down into the base. Then I rechecked a few times." He wore a grim smile now, and George recalled that some people who had been hired had never shown up. "In point of fact, I knew who Gilmor was before you called me to tell me I was getting a presidential spy."

General Hammond gave him a hard stare but finally decided that he was just glad Jack was on his side. He recalled the work the former colonel had done with Maybourne to restore his job at the SGC and protect his family and was even more grateful. To break the tension still remaining from that horrible period, he reiterated his question. "So Ian Nelson is a great physicist. What other hidden talents does he have?"

Jack opened his mouth to give a depreciating answer but was forestalled by his friends. "He's a hacker with two PhDs, widespread linguistic abilities and an electronic wizard, not to mention the fact that he is the descendant of an elf at some remove or another."

George refused to show anything but bemusement at this flow of information. He was actually in a mild state of shock, but eight years of dealing with SG-1 had taught him that they could always top their most outrageous situations. Heck, who else reliably returned from the dead? He chuckled again at the irony of it all. "Well, then, welcome to the SGC, Dr Nelson."

The four began to pick up the bags set around the living room for the flight back to Hammond's post.

SG1SG1SG1

Jack tossed and turned in his bed in the darkness. This was his first night back home and normally he had no trouble sleep anywhere. Something was niggling at his mind, though, and he realized he would never rest until he figured it out. He thought over the afternoon and saw again the look in George's eyes as he realized Jack had been screening entrants to the SGC. It was a look of fear and horror mixed with understanding. Then he remembered that that look had not been present on the faces of SG-1. He thought back over the years as he had admitted to them that he had done many regrettable things in his life. They hadn't given up on him then and continued to love him now. Finally accepting the fact that he was accepted by his friends, he drifted off to sleep.

There was a council meeting going on, but though the people seemed strangely familiar, Jack knew he had never seen any of them in his life. They were arguing, and his eyes widened involuntarily as he grasped the purpose and identity of the people. They were Ancients!

'Let us leave this world to these Tauri. It would be wrong of us to interfere in their development. Besides, who is to say that the plague will not return?' Half the table nodded in agreement. Others weren't so much in accord.

'We helped them get this far, they are still children. Let us guide them subtly, not abandon them.'

In the end, half of the population of Ancients departed in their city. The other half chose to stay and give up most of the technology in favor of blending in with the humans, as they came to be called. Years passed in a sequence of frames. Gradually the Ancients and their descendants chose to fade into the memories of the people and took to living in carefully disguised homes in the forests, hiding with the help of what technology they had kept or developed. They became known as the Sidhe, or elves, and were believed to be mythological beings with magical powers. However, in some lands, belief never completely faded, the main one of which was Eire. The races occasionally were known to intermarry, though they mostly hid their powers. In this way, the ancestors of Clan O'Neill received the blood of the Sidhe and so Jack O'Neill was born.

Jack woke with a start. "Sheesh!" He exclaimed out loud, shaking his head. "Where did that come from?"