Jack's POV

I turned and grinned at the doc — teasing Carter always put me in a good mood, and she blushed so damn cutely! "Evening, doc," I said, heading over to her refrigerator. "Beer in there?"

"Help yourself, Colonel," Janet advised wryly.

I pulled out a beer and handed it to Carter before grabbing one for myself. She looked at it askance, then twisted off the top and took a long pull.

"Thirsty much, Carter?" I asked.

She smiled slightly. "This is Dad's favorite beer — I got my first hangover from it," she said.

Carter hung over? Intriguing. "Bit of a wild child, huh, Carter?" I asked.

"Not really, sir; more curious," she told me. "Two sixteen year olds left in an empty house with a box of beer in the garage. A garage that belonged to then-Brigadier General Jacob Carter. You do the math."

I did, and it wasn't pretty. Jacob was quite a cool guy, now. But he was very protective of his only daughter — he'd intimated just before leaving to join the Tok'ra that if I didn't take care of Sam, he'd mop up the floor with me.

Jesus, Carter could take care of herself! She'd proven that more than once over the last few years. "Ah," I said. "Well … let's go see the kids," I added.

We headed through the kitchen into Janet's pretty garden. Considering the relish with which she usually stuck needles in my butt, she had a very gentle touch with flowers, and the garden simply burst with color. "Hey, Cassie!" I called out, spying my favorite girl staring moodily out at nothing.

She looked up from whatever she'd been looking at, and her face transformed instantly from sulky teen to loving niece. "Jack!" she yelled, sprinting across the garden and flinging her arms around me. People had often teased me about the effect I had on kids. I'd never risen. What the hell was wrong with loving kids? They were my favorite people on this or any other world.

I wrapped my arms around her and swung her round, then pretended to drop her. "A-ah! Cassie; I'm gettin' way too old for this!" I complained.

I lied. I wasn't young anymore — not by a long shot — but I kept myself in peak physical condition, and I'd been helped by the time I'd spent in sarcophaguses. Even the knee I'd blown out playing hockey during my OCS days had been cured by that horrible Goa'uld contraption of Hathor's. Yuck. So, although I was pushing fifty, I had the fitness and stamina of a man half my age. Pretty sweet, huh?

Cassie just giggled, then tucked her hand into mine and dragged me over to a pretty brunette in her early to mid twenties. I closed my eyes. Oh God, Cassie … no!, I pleaded silently. She's a freakin' kid!

"Hey, Chris; this is my kinda uncle, Jack. He's in the Air Force," she said. Then she pushed me onto the seat next to Chris and disappeared.

Chris eyed me over the rims of her sunglasses. "I suppose you're up at Cheyenne Mountain," she said.

"Yeah," I replied, tugging off the cap to my beer and taking a long pull.

Another look. "Funny; you don't look like the deep space radar telemetry type," she said. She smiled slightly. "I was scouted for NORAD myself based on my SATs, but I didn't feel like joining the military."

"Ah," I said. "You know; there's a strong civilian contingent at NORAD," I told her. "Nothing stopping you from reapplying."

She shrugged. "Maybe," she said. And again with the cool assessing look over the sunglasses. "So! Care to tell me a bit about yourself?" She gave me a suddenly warm smile.

"Aside from my work, I'm not that interesting," I told her. "And if I told you anything about my work, I'd have to shoot ya." Her eyes widened. "That was a joke, Chris. Most of what I've done the past dozen or so years is classified."

"Okaaaay." She gave me a quick grin. "Boy, you sure know how to kill a conversation!" She nudged me. "And I bet you're pretty interesting. When Cassie told me about her Uncle Jack, I figured you'd be some fat old fart with no hair complaining about his taxes." She looked me over and I began to feel like I was up on some kind of auction block. "So … you must be pretty high-ranking. A Major?"

"Colonel, actually," I told her.

"Colonel? You seem young for that rank," she offered. "Newly promoted?"

"Nope; nearly ten years," I said. Of course, if it hadn't been for my rebellious streak, my smart mouth, I would have likely made Brigadier by now. I shuddered. Thank God for my big mouth — I so wasn't ready to fly a desk!

Now she actually took off the sunglasses. "Okay; you're older than you look, Jack."

I was intrigued. "Why; how old did you think I was?"

"Oh … pushing forty. Maybe," she said.

I chuckled at that. "Pushing forty!" I said chidingly. "Kiddo; I'm dragging it behind me on a trailer hitch!"

"Damn." She sucked in her bottom lip between her teeth. "Then I guess I'm not going to see you naked tonight, am I?"

I blinked at the blatant suggestion in her tone. When had kids become so damn bold? "Uh … I'll pass, thanks," I said lightly. Jesus, she was practically jail bait! What the hell was Cassie thinking?

Chris's POV

I was pretty new to this neighborhood, having moved here a few months ago after an ugly split with my fiancé. When Cassie had invited me to meet some of her friends and family, I'd been surprised. The kid had practically adopted me as a big sister when I'd moved in, and something told me that she didn't share her family easily.

But I'd heard enough about her extended family to be curious. Then when I met them … Cassie's mom, Janet, was a tiny spitfire easily six inches shorter than me, but she had a great kick-ass attitude. Then I learned that she was Air Force and CMO of the Cheyenne base. That explained that.

Murray. A giant of a man with a weird thing for hats, he spoke little and seemed curiously naïve about things. He was built like a freakin' brick sh … and I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him, that's for sure!

Daniel. A civilian attached to NORAD, he was several inches taller than me, slim but strong, with sparkling blue eyes and short brown hair. Quite handsome, but didn't seem to realize it. I'd tried to talk to him, but he was pretty sullen, so I left him to it. I'd had enough of moody SOBs to last me a life time.

Then Sam. Early to mid thirties, she was a Major at the same base. Pretty young for a Major, but after talking to her for a few minutes, I could understand it. I was smart, but she was … Her IQ was probably so far off the charts they didn't even have a number for it! I'd always been interested in quantum mechanics — the whole idea of parallel universes — and we'd had several intense conversations.

And now finally … finally … I got to meet the elusive Uncle Jack. I looked up from my thoughts as a tall man came over to me — okay, was dragged over to me by Cassie — and felt a distinct wave of lust.

Late thirties, early forties, prematurely gray, soft brown eyes and a strong sexy body with a great butt shown off to perfection in black jeans. Yay 501s. I'd always liked older guys, and this one was a total hottie. We started talking and he revealed that he was a lot older than he looked. And called me kiddo.

"Damn." I chewed on my bottom lip. "Then I guess I'm not going to see you naked tonight, am I?"

"Uh … I'll pass, thanks," he replied, looking startled.

Too damn bad. The man looked good, smelled great and moved even better. He would likely have made for some fantastic sex. I raised my hand in a small wave to Sam and she came over. "Hey, Sam," I said. "Have you met Jack?"

"Yeah," Sam said. Her mouth curved upward in a warm smile. "We actually serve together at Cheyenne."

"Yep; she tries to explain her science babble to me, and I try to keep her butt out of the line of fire," Jack said, aiming a teasing glance at the blonde.

"Considering all the times you've been shot, sir, I wouldn't cast aspersions if I were you," Sam replied with a grin of her own.

"Is that snarkiness, Carter?" he shot back.

"Is that a word, sir?" she said, her grin widening.

I was starting to feel like the fifth wheel and I can't say I liked it. I got up and put my hand out to Jack's. "Well … it was good meeting you, Jack," I said. I scribbled my phone number onto a piece of paper and put it in his hand. "Call me sometime, huh?" Then I walked away, making sure that he got a good look at my ass in the tight jeans I wore.

Janet's POV

I went over to Daniel, who was sitting staring moodily out at nothing. He'd been acting strangely for a couple of weeks now — since before Skaara's rescue — but I'd not found anything medically wrong with him. "Some cake, Daniel?" I said, offering him a slice of the heavenly apple/cinnamon concoction the Colonel had brought with him.

The Colonel had told me about his neighbor when he'd been unpacking all the goodies, and I finally understood how he'd put on five pounds in less than a month. Five pounds wasn't much, especially at the Colonel's age, but it was surprising given his metabolism.

Daniel looked up and gave me a wan smile. "I'm not hungry, but thanks," he said quietly.

"Daniel; you've been in a funk for a few weeks now," I said, sitting down next to him. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"Taking on Mackenzie's mantle, are you?" he asked with a trace of bitterness. He wasn't likely to forgive the psychiatrist for what he'd gone through when Ma'chello's organisms had infected him.

"Daniel; I might be a doctor, but I'm also your friend," I told him. "You've been like this since you came back from the Tollan homeworld."

He shrugged his shoulders. "We saved Skaara; the Tok'ra came and got the snake out. I should be happy … right?" He continued. "And I am. But … I couldn't save Sha're."

I closed my eyes. Sha're had died less than six months ago at the hands of Teal'c, and it had taken Daniel a while to come to terms with that. Thankfully, he'd forgiven Teal'c for what he'd had to do, and their friendship was right back on track. One of the weirdest friendships I'd ever seen, except for the one between the Colonel and Sam. "Oh … Skaara is Sha're's brother," I now recalled.

"Yeah." Daniel gave a small smile. "Kasuf was thrilled when we brought Skaara home, but … I still failed him. He's family, and I failed him." A tear sparkled in his eye. "Sorry, Janet; I shouldn't have come tonight. I'm not very good company." He got up, then grimaced and went pale, pressing a fist into his right-hand side.

I shifted immediately into doctor mode. "Daniel; where's the pain?" I asked, pushing gently on his shoulders to sit him back down. Sometimes it was a nuisance being so damn short.

He winced, then indicated the area. "It's been grumbling for a couple of days," he admitted reluctantly, knowing that he was about to get an ear-bashing.

"Daniel; you've been on w … on the base for the last two days. You should have come to see me," I said, exasperated. One of the few things he and the Colonel had in common was their hatred of the Infirmary. But at least Daniel was polite about it. The Colonel whined and griped, and generally acted like a two year old who'd had his pacifier taken away.

"I know," he said softly. "I just thought it was residual effects from that whole phase thing, the radiation."

He doubled over suddenly, clutching at his stomach, and was violently sick. "Okay; that's it," I told him. "I'm taking you to the base."

"No arguments here, Doctor," he gasped, his face chalk-white and his eyes streaming.

I saw Sam and the Colonel sitting at the far end of the garden with Chris, one of our new neighbors. I didn't want to holler about Daniel's condition, so made my way over.

"Yep; she tries to explain her science babble to me, and I try to keep her butt out of the line of fire," the Colonel said, grinning at Sam.

"Considering all the times you've been shot, sir, I wouldn't cast aspersions if I were you," Sam replied.

"Is that snarkiness, Carter?"

"Is that a word, sir?" she said, her grin widening.

Chris looked at the two, who seemed locked in their weird game, then gave her phone number to Jack and sauntered away. Funny; I wouldn't have thought she was his type. Pretty — very pretty — but also very young.

For a brief instant, I felt like the fifth wheel — I'd swear the flirting was getting worse — then tapped the Colonel's shoulder. "Colonel; I'm sorry to have to break up the party, but I need to get Daniel back to the base. He's very sick."

The Colonel and Sam dropped their silliness instantly, exchanging concerned looks. "You go, Doc," Jack said. "We'll get these people outta here, then we'll be right behind you."

Never had I been so relieved for someone getting ill! These two were treading a damn fine line, and I did not want to be around for the fall-out.