Chapter 52: Talking to Plants
Jack was cheerfully hanging the latest drawings and art projects from the kids in his office the next week, when the phone rang. He was busy making sure Sam's macaroni and dried beans creation hung just so. The small objects had been arranged to spell "Sam C" and Jack intended to keep the creation hanging if and when the kids were ever changed back. The same went for Daniel's drawing, a rather detailed depiction of the Golden Dragon, Yu. Daniel had applied glitter to the creature, making the scales sparkle. Despite his new aversion to glitter, the effect was impressive, and Jack decided he could live with glitter as long as it stayed out of his house. On his desk, he placed a thick, heavy, and slightly misshapen mug that Teal'c had made in his art class. Jack wasn't sure if it would actually hold fluid and decided not to test it, filling it with the numerous stray pens and pencils he seemed to collect on his desk. Likely his kleptomaniacal tendencies to fiddle with things, but Jack liked to pretend the pens just did what pens do best… multiply of course. Unless you needed one. Then you couldn't find one to save your life.
The phone rang a second time, and Jack snatched it off its cradle. "O'Neill," he answered brusquely, while turning the mug just so. After a pause, he spoke again. "Yes sir, I can be right up." Jack placed the phone back on the hook and headed out of his office, wondering why Hammond would summon him. He'd just spoken with the General this morning. Whatever the reason, you didn't tell the General no he thought wryly, stabbing the button to bring the elevator.
Within minutes, he was standing outside the General's open door, and knocked perfunctorily on the doorframe to catch the man's attention. Hammond looked up, and gestured to the chair in front of the desk. "Jack, come in," he said warmly, his tone and address telling Jack that whatever the reason for the summons, it wasn't necessarily work related.
Jack took a seat, and waited. Hammond didn't keep him waiting long. "Jack, it's come to my attention that Major Carter and Dr. Jackson's neighbors are starting to wonder about their long absence." Jack blinked at the news before he realized that the General was speaking about the grown-ups, not the kid versions. As the information sunk in, Hammond continued. "I received a call not long ago, from a Mrs. Witherspoon. She told me that in the event of her extended absence, Major Carter had left instructions to contact the base. It seems Mrs. Witherspoon has been looking after Major Carter's property."
It took a minute for Jack to place the name before he remembered the older woman next door to Carter's house, the one with the cats. Name placed with memory, Jack shifted, crossing his arms on his chest. "If I may ask, sir, what's this got to do with me?"
Hammond merely gave him a small smile. "You are listed as Major Carter's contact in her file."
Jack blinked. Oh. "Oh-kay," Jack said slowly.
The smile returned and Hammond studied the papers on his desk. "It looks like, Jack," Hammond said when he lifted his gaze again, "That you need to pay a visit to Major Carter's home." He closed the folder and passed it across to him, then tapped his fingers on the desk. "If I were you, I'd also pay a visit to Dr. Jackson's residence, and make sure things are in order there." The statement was framed as a request, but the connotations were that of an order.
Jack reached for the folder. "Yes sir, I'll go over as soon as I pick the kids up from school." Jack had gotten the feeling that he should attend the matter as soon as possible.
"One more thing Jack." All traces of the smile had disappeared, to be replaced by a faint frown. Jack sensed that whatever the General was about to say, he wouldn't like it much.
"Sir?" he prompted.
"Major Carter, Dr. Jackson, and Teal'c have been in their present states for over a month now. You know their cover stories," Jack nodded. The three were on an extended mission, overseas, for an unknown length of time. Hammond continued at Jack's nod. "There has been no remarkable progress so far by the scientists working on the problem, nor any word from the Tok'ra." No surprise there. "The Asgard have yet to check in."
Jack nodded; none of this was new to him.
Hammond's frown deepened, making the lines on his forehand stand out. "As you know, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c have no family to speak of here on Earth," and now Jack frowned, as Hammond continued, "However, Major Carter has a brother."
"I don't see what this has got to do with…"
Holding up a hand, Hammond interrupted him. "There has been some grumbling from my superiors that if the Asgard should not pull through on this one, that Mark Carter and his wife should be granted clearance and the opportunity to take custody of Sam."
"That's preposterous! We're doing just fine now…" Jack was incensed.
Hammond interrupted again. "I know Jack, I know. I've tried to talk them out of it, but they seem to feel that Mr. Carter is a blood relative, as well as having a wife and children already. They feel that his home would be more stable, a true family."
"She has a family now," Jack protested. He thought about what taking Sam away would do to the young girl. She was finally settling in, and adjusting to idea of living in another time, one where she'd never see her mother and rarely see her father. One where aliens lived inside of people and you could take a ride to another planet. Despite all the changes, she was secure with him, and her former teammates. The bond the three kids shared only seemed to grow stronger the more they were together. Tearing her away from that would devastate her, not to mention what it might do to Daniel and Teal'c. Daniel was starting to open up more; confident that he wouldn't be taken away, that he was finally part of a family again and truly wanted for who he was. To have what to him was a younger sister taken away would probably knock him back to square one again, shaking the very foundations of trust they'd worked so hard to construct. And Teal'c was growing comfortable in Earth customs, and showed a fierce protectiveness over the younger children. In fact, Jack thought the only reason Teal'c was so accepting of his situation beyond that indescribable trust, was his bond and sense of responsibility to Sam and Daniel. Jack had no idea how Teal'c might react to having the group split up.
"We have to hope that the Asgard will be able to help us," Hammond said, and Jack scowled, as the realization that the only way to keep them together would be to find a way to turn them back.
"Yes sir," Jack agreed. "I'll stop by Carter's and Daniel's places as soon as possible. If that would be all?" Jack was eager to be away and alone with his thoughts for a while.
"Very well, dismissed." Hammond turned back to his paperwork, and Jack left, absently leafing through the folder in his hands. In it was a letter listing Major Carter's contacts and those she'd want taking care of her effects. His name was the first, followed by her father, Daniel and Teal'c, Janet and her brother. She seemed to know that the sensitive nature of her work would require someone with the clearance to go through her estate before allowing those that didn't have clearance access to anything. She also seemed to know that all of SG-1 might be lost together which is why she'd listed several outside of SG-1. Jack knew over the years that they'd all provided that service for each other, when one or more of them had seemingly been lost, even killed a few times. Odd, this job sometimes.
Jack didn't even have to open Daniel's folder to know that it contained much the same. In fact, he'd held the same folder in his hands a time or two.
As he walked down the hall, his mind slid back into ruminations of what he'd do if they decided to split the kids up and give Sam to her brother. What about Jacob? What might he say? While it was well known that Jacob and his son didn't always see eye to eye, was it fair to make Jacob choose between his son and him? Even if it might seem to be in the best interests of Sam at the time, Jack knew moving her would shatter her, and forever split up SG-1. And then there were the personal ramifications of the fragile relationship between Jacob and his son.
While Jack knew Sam was best off with him and with her former teammates, on paper, a man with a safe, stable job, a wife, and two children looked much better than a single military man with a questionable past. And then there was Charlie. Jack knew if he raised a fuss about Sam's custodianship, his history with Charlie, willingness to take what was for all intents and purposes a suicide mission, and his subsequent divorce with Sara upon return from said mission wouldn't make him look like the ideal parent. In fact, his past coming to light might cast shadows on his dubious right to keep custody of Teal'c and Daniel. And Jack wasn't quite ready to have Charlie's memory dragged through the dirt, but for Sam's case, he would do everything he could to keep SG-1 together. He had to.
What it all came down to was exactly as Hammond said. They would just have to hope that the Asgard would come through. Not only that, but that the powers that be wouldn't decide that the Asgard had been given enough time already and decide to split them up sooner. Hammond hadn't said it was a possibility, but Jack knew it was.
Back in his office, Jack found he couldn't work. Checking the clock, he decided he'd put in enough time for the day, grabbed his keys, and headed topside, intending to head to the school and brood, while waiting for class to let out.
AsLongAsWeGotEachOther,WeCanTakeAnythingThatComesOurWayThe school was quiet when he got there, the students immersed in the last class of the day. No doubt some stared out the windows at the clouds lazily drifting in the sky, while others applied themselves to their work diligently. Jack wondered what his three were doing, as his eyes followed the cloud formations, and drifted from thought to thought. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
Outside the car, other parents started to arrive, and finally the last bell of the day rang. A moment later students started to pour out of the building, and Jack slipped out of the vehicle, walking around to meet the kids. It wasn't long before his three appeared, and they were like a balm on his weary soul.
It didn't take the kids long to notice that he wasn't heading home. "Where are we going?" piped up Daniel from the back seat. He'd come to know the route home the quickest of the three, and the first to notice when they weren't following it.
"We're going to Sam's house." Jack smirked as the kids reacted as he'd predicted they'd would.
"My house?" Sam drew her attention to the front seat.
"Sam has a house?" Daniel frowned, taking in this new revelation. Teal'c only raised an eyebrow curiously in an all too familiar gesture.
Jack's grin merely widened. "Yup," he replied unhelpfully, and cheerfully ignored all further requests for information.
When they pulled up outside the house, Jack cut the engine and turned around before the kids could tumble out. Sensing he was about to say something, they remained in their seats. "Ok, so we all know kids can't own houses," he started to nods all around. "And everyone here thinks this place belongs to grown-up Sam, and they don't know about you guys. Well, we have to keep it that way." The blank looks he received in response he'd expected, but he was prepared. "So. If we see anyone, I'm taking care of this house for a friend of mine, grown-up Sam, who is out of town. You guys are with me." He gave it a minute watching confusion turn to understanding. Daniel got it first he could tell by the look on the child's face. Testing it, Jack asked, "So what do you say if someone asks what we're all doing here?"
"We're with you, helping you take care of a friend's place," Daniel said confidently, and he saw Teal'c nod knowingly at his words. Of the three, Sam still looked slightly confused; obviously still overwhelmed at the idea that she owned a house, but not really.
Throwing a grin to Daniel and Teal'c, Jack prodded Sam a bit more. "So, if anyone asks who's house this is Sam?"
Sam frowned a minute thinking, before finally replying, "Grown-up Sam's?"
Jack smiled slightly at her phrasing. "Yeah, but we can't say that."
Her frown deepening, Sam sent a look toward Daniel. "A friend of yours?" She smiled when Jack grinned, signaling she'd gotten it right. But Sam wasn't done. "Colonel Jack, are you and grown-up Sam friends really?" Her voice was laced with concern.
Jack blinked in surprise, and was silent a moment, considering. "Yeah, Sam, yeah we're friends."
Sam nodded satisfied. "Good, I'm glad grown-up Sam has a friend like you."
Jack could only smile, reaching out an arm to give her a quick one-arm hug as they left the vehicle, his heart just a bit warmer now.
Going through Sam's house didn't take nearly as long as he thought it would. He picked up the overly large stack of mail from where the neighbor had left it on the table, and decided to hunt through it later. It was mostly junk and bills as well as a few science journals of which Sam and Daniel immediately proclaimed boring. He guessed that while the kids were smart, thick journals filled with pages of text and nearly incomprehensible words wouldn't hold their interest long. He hid a smile at the thought that he was at least as smart as they were right now.
The fridge he decided to leave until he could come back with some cleaning gloves and a large garbage bag. Maybe even a gas mask. The kids were equally appalled and thrilled at what they caught glimpses of when the door had been opened briefly. The door remained firmly shut despite the kids' repeated requests to take another look.
Sam had made a beeline over to the poor potted plants, immediately striking up a conversation with them and clucking over their pathetic state. It was invariable that any of the plants still clinging to life found their way into the back of the SUV as well at that point. Jack was quite relived Sam didn't have any pets, after taking in the state of the plants. It seemed Mrs. Witherspoon was reliable only to a point.
Once finished checking to make sure the rest of Sam's place was in order and taking the time to shut off the incoming water to prevent any sort of flood disaster or burst pipes, they headed to Daniel's apartment. Daniel was just as pleased and surprised to find out he had a place too. Daniel's mailbox was packed full, and contained a note informing them that more mail waited at the post office. The note was dated from a few weeks previous.
The kids were impressed with the view from Daniel's balcony, and the two younger kids nearly gave him a heart attack when they climbed the railing and leaned over to look down at the street. He hauled both of them in by the backs of their shirts and firmly locked the door much to the kids' disappointment.
Daniel didn't have any plants or pets, though his fridge, if possible, was worse than Sam's. Perhaps he had a pet after all, and kept it in the refrigerator? Nah. He was definitely checking out a gas mask. Or maybe he could claim the two fridges broke down and have them hauled away, contents and all. He dismissed the idea, as neither of his two scientists would ever believe that both their fridges had suffered irreparable harm. They were both so gonna owe him, but he had blackmail.
Daniel's place in order, they headed home. Sam spent the time until dinner settling her plants in and giving them words of encouragement while Daniel and Teal'c took it upon themselves to sort the mail into piles. Catalogs and magazines in one pile, bills in another, circulars and the like together and a separate pile for personal correspondence. Jack gave the boys a grateful smile. That was one less task to tackle, since he knew he'd be spending the evening sifting through both his teammate's finances tonight, and setting up things to keep their utilities from being shut off or their residences lost.
Thinking about managing the payments led to thoughts about how long to keep the individual places going. Which in turn led him back to his earlier conversation with the General. What if the Asgard couldn't help? There would really be little point in keeping three separate living spaces. But he really didn't want to end Daniel's lease or put Sam's house on the market. There was such finality involved. Jack decided for the moment he wouldn't think about it. He'd set up some payment plans from the military pensions he'd managed to convince the higher ups to keep funding into trust funds so that when, not if, his teammates returned to normal, they would have homes to return to.
Anything else just didn't bear thinking about.
A/N: Wow. Almost Christmas. And still so busy. Somehow the cats have managed not to knock the tree over, but they did pull all the garland off the bottom branches. And Sam ate some kind of metal screw or bolt or something. These cats will be the death of me I swear. Well, what goes in must eventually come out, and at least it wasn't pointy according to my brother. (The object in question no doubt came from his pocket after all)