Jack sighed as he hung up the phone, briefly putting his head in his hands. Only the second day of school, and already they'd gotten into a fight. At least it hadn't been their fault. He ran his fingers through his hair. Sam, taking on a seventh grader, with her broken arm no less, to defend a first grader. He'd known from that first time she'd defended Danny against Teal'c that she had a lot of spunk, all thirty-nine inches, forty-eight pounds and seven years of her.
When he picked the kids up a few hours later they were subdued, and wouldn't meet his eyes as they piled into the truck. The chatter that had filled the vehicle the day before was conspicuously absent. Obviously they thought he'd be punishing them for getting into another fight. And he was mad, what Sam had done was stupid. She could have gotten hurt, and Teal'c was lucky, from what Mrs. Parker had said, this James Ferrel was nothing but a bully, that got his kicks from picking on those too young or weak to defend themselves. He'd never faced a young Jaffa warrior child in training. Jack didn't know what sort of training Teal'c had received so far in his young life, but he knew every man, woman, and child was taught how to defend themselves starting from the time they could walk. James didn't stand a chance, and so he was equally lucky that Teal'c had restrained himself to only pushing the other boy. They all were.
He waited until they got home, unlocked the door and the kids followed him silently into the house. He sat down on the chair in the living room and motioned for the kids to come stand around him. They shifted uncomfortably as he studied them for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "So?"
They exchanged glances. Sam and Daniel returned to staring at their feet, and Teal'c stared straight ahead of him in a very familiar posture. Sam eventually broke the silence. "Sorry?" she mumbled, still staring at her feet, her good hand plucking at her cast.
Daniel had crossed his arms over his chest and was staring at the ground. Jack wasn't sure what was so fascinating about his carpet, but the kids all seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time looking at it. "I'm sorry too," Daniel said softly
Jack's eyebrows rose. According to Mrs. Parker, Daniel hadn't done anything, despite his insistence on going to the principal's office too. Before he could say anything however, Teal'c spoke up.
"I must apologize as well, Colonel O'Neill." Teal'c continued to stare at a space just past his left shoulder and Jack resisted the urge to turn around.
Instead, he scrubbed his hands over his face, sighed, and cleared his throat. "Well, from what Mrs. Parker tells me, none of you kids started any of this." He looked at them, and got several silent head nods in confirmation. "That still doesn't excuse that fact that I've told you that I don't condone fighting for any reason."
"But..." Sam started to say, lifting up her head.
"No, Sam. I understand why you did what you did. It was very brave, standing up to that bully, but you could have been hurt." She hung her head again, and he continued. "If Teal'c hadn't been there, he could have hurt you, and you wouldn't have been able to stop him."
Jack paused; letting his words sink in, before taking a deep breath and continuing his lecture. "No, there was something else you should have done instead, and it would have had the same result but no one would have gotten hurt, not you and not Teal'c, and not that boy either. Can you tell me what Sam?" She looked up at him and he was pleased to see her thinking.
"I, I should have gone and got a teacher?" she said softly.
He smiled. "Yes, that's right Sam. You don't have to take all the bullies on by yourself. All you had to do was tell the teacher what was happening, that's why they are out there." Sam nodded, her cheeks flushing.
"I'm sorry Colonel Jack, I just got mad when I saw him making that little boy cry, and I wanted to make him stop." She was staring at the carpet again.
"I know Sam, just try to remember ok?" She nodded, and he turned his attention to Daniel and Teal'c. "And the same goes for you two as well. Next time, and I hope there is no next time, find a teacher." Both boys nodded solemnly and he shook his head. "Go, your snacks are in the fridge, don't eat too much. I'm making hamburgers on the grill tonight." He laughed as the kids cheered and scampered off to the kitchen, their good moods returning as soon as they'd realized they were only getting a lecture and no punishment for the fight today. He watched them go, thinking about his brave, noble, and somewhat foolhardy young charges, but really, they were no different than their older selves, risking themselves to help strangers and each other when the need arose. It was ironic how he was lecturing Sam and Teal'c against fighting when the two routinely carried and used a weapon in what felt like another life. They were military, so they fought for a living, career soldiers like himself. And Daniel was always the first to speak against any injustices, and remind them of who they were. More often than not in the field, they found themselves raising weapons to fight in order to protect someone or something at Daniel's insistence. Of course, a schoolyard scuffle and fighting for freedom or to protect the Earth from slavery from false gods were completely different matters, but still.
He let the kids play outside, working off excess energy for an hour or so, before calling them back inside, where they worked on their homework until dinnertime. After dinner, he put in a movie and they all curled up around him, Sam and Daniel on either side on the sofa, and Teal'c on the floor at his feet. The movie did the trick in winding the kids down, and he had no trouble in getting them to bed for a welcome change. In fact, Sam practically had to be carried, and he decided if she kept this up in the coming nights, she'd have to start going to be a half hour earlier than the boys, protests or not. His back and knees were just not up to hauling her around every night.
The next two days were without incident. No calls, no letters, and the kids seemed to be adjusting well, despite a few complaints about certain things that were different in the new school from their old school, or in Teal'c's case, bafflement about why he was expected to do certain things.
Despite the fact that the end of the week had settled down, it was still quite busy with getting the kids off to school each day, and getting to work, especially with the new training program he was literally building from scratch. So it was with weary relief that Jack tucked the kids into bed Friday night, and fell into his own, blissfully looking forward to being able to sleep in late on Saturday morning for a change.
A/N: You honestly didn't think that I'd let Jack punish them for doing what SG-1 does best did you? Poor Jack, too bad I set it in season seven, because it might just explain how Jack's hair suddenly went gray! Well, hope you liked how Jack handled things. The next chapter is even more fun!