I'm sorry for taking so long to update! I went on vacation and just got back in the groove of writing.

Please, review! I'd like to know if people are still reading this. I appreciate anything you have to say. (although flaming wastes my time and yours...) Review!

Chapter Three

Glanced Down At My Speed

Her detour to the country had taken her farther away from her place than she had meant to go. Of course, she hadn't been paying that close of attention before either.

Suddenly the flash of red and blue lights were in her rearview mirror. She looked down at her speed.

"Holy shit!" she realized she was going just under 90. She pulled to the side of the road and leaned her head back and groaned. This day just keeps getting better and better.

She grabbed her purse to get her lisence ready for the officer. A picture fell out of her wallet onto her lap.

She picked it up. It was of her and Daniel, taken over at Jack O'Neill's place the first time Kerri met Daniel's friends.

/Flashback/

She opened the door to the place revealing Daniel on her front step. She smiled.

"Hey there, sexy." she said, giving him a kiss.

"Hey. Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yup, lemme grab my purse." she grabbed it and shut the door behind her.

"I love that color on you." he said. She looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a green summer dress. It complemented her waist length red hair nicely.

"Why, thank you." she went to take his hand, only to find it in a brace. "What happened to your wrist?" she asked, concerned. He lifted it to look at it, stretching out his fingers.

"Oh, it's just a sprain. Jack, uh, thought it'd be funny to, uh, stick his foot out in front of me and I tripped." he told her. Her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"That was almost convincing, Batman." she gave him a knowing look as they got in his car.

"It's what happened." he said. She laughed. "So, you nervous about meeting my friends?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Not really. Should I be?" she asked. He smiled.

"No. Though Jack can be pretty intense."

"I've heard." she smiled at him. He drove to Jack's, holding his hand the whole way. That was a habit they had developed quickly. There wasn't a time they were both in the car when they weren't holding hands. Kerri enjoyed this habit immensly.

Daniel pulled into a driveway and they got out. Kerri grabbed his hand as they approached and he gave her a reassuring smile.

"Back here, Danny-boy!" they heard someone call from around the back. Daniel led Kerri around to the backyard. "Hey there, spacemonkey. Nice of you to join us." the man behind the grill said.

"Sorry we're late, Jack." Daniel apologized. Jack set down his tongs and wiped his hands on a towel, then held one out for Kerri to shake. "Kerri, this is Colonel Jack O'Neill. Jack, this is Kerri Michaels."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Kerri. We've heard a lot about you." Jack said, giving a wink to Daniel, who promptly blushed. Kerri playfully hit his chest.

"What have you been telling them?" she teased.

"Nothing but good, Ms Michaels, nothing but good." Jack 'reassured' her.

"Where's Sam and Murray?" Daniel asked, obviously eagerto change the subject. Kerri laughed to herself. She'd have to ask him about his one later.

"They're inside, should be out any minute." Jack told them, returning to his grill. As if on que, two people exited the Colonel's back patio door.

"Daniel, you made it!" the woman said. Kerri was immediately jealous. The woman was gorgeous. Her blonde 'every-hair-in-place' hair and bright blue eyes were in stark contrast to Kerri's unruly curly red locks and brown eyes.

"Hey Sam. Murray. I'd like you to meet Kerri Michaels. Kerri, this is Major Samantha Carter and...Murray." Daniel introduced. Kerri thought it was odd that while Jack and Samantha's introduction included both a last name and a rank, Murray's had been accompanied by neither. She shook both of their outstretched hands.

Daniel put an arm around her waist and it reassured Kerri that her jealousy of Sam was unfounded. She gave him a smile.

"So, Daniel tells us you're a teacher?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I teach third grade."

"How do you like that?" Sam asked politely.

"I love it. Teaching kids is so..." Kerri couldn't come up with the right word so Daniel supplied her with one.

"Fulfilling?"

"Yes. That's it. It's something about watching little kids finally understand something you've been teaching. It's so gratifying." she said passionatly. Daniel kissed the top of her head and she squeezed his waist. "So. I know better than to ask what you all do for a living. Classified and all that." she said, winking at Daniel. She loved that he was so okay with being affectionate in front of his friends. Jack just smiled.

"Can I get you a beer?" he offered.

They made small talk and ate.

Jack had a sarcastic wit that Kerri enjoyed. The way he and Daniel played off each other was amusing. Sam and Murray seemed to think so as well, though they were probably used to the bantar. Murray was mostly quiet, and Kerri got the impression that there was more going on in his head than he ever said. Kerri also felt the jealousy she initially felt towards Sam fade. The relationship between Daniel and Sam seemed more brother/sister than anything else.

In fact, the more Kerri thought about it, the more it felt that she was meeting Daniel's family rather than his friends. Kerri knew Daniel didn't have much for blood relatives and it seemed that this mixmatch group of people had created their own pseudofamily. Kerri decided she liked them.

After awhile she and Daniel ended up sitting on a swing in Jack's yard, a little bit away from the rest of the group. Kerri leaned into Daniel and he wrapped his arm around her.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

"I think they're great. You guys seem really close."

"We are. We've been working together for quite a number of years."

"That's awesome. It must be great working with people you're so close to." she told him. He kissed the top of her head.

"Hey, guys! Smile!" they heard Sam call and they looked towards her, happy grins covering both their faces and she snapped the picture.

/End Flashback/

Kerri glanced at the picture before pulling out back onto the street, a $150 speeding fine sitting in her passenger seat.