AN: Fate is a funny thing. And often people are drawn together over and over until a pattern develops...

No one likes a bad apple

"Wataya mean he made bail?! Samuel!" Ernest shouted at the other man.

"You know the law just the same as I do, Mr. Pratt." Sheriff Motes said with exasperation. "His brother came and picked him up. I can't stop 'em if they got the money to pay bail." Sam Motes told Ernest.

"But he tried to kill Delilah and James!" Ernest all but shouted at the other man.

"I know that and quit yer hollarin'. Whole reason I had yah brought here was so you could warn Professor Bartok just in case." He huffed. "I don't want 'em out runnin' round any more than you do. Especially not with your upcoming nuptials. Congratulations on that by the way. But there wasn't anything I could do other than warn you folks."

"I know…" Ernest huffed impotently. "I'm sorry I yelled."

"Understandable. Whole town knows how you feel 'bout the Klan. Hell, most of us agree with yah and the ones what don't got enough sense ta keep their mouths shut about it."

Ernest nodded absently. "All right... Let me know if any more of them post bail." Ernest says with a sigh and walks out. Outside, James stands leaning against the sheriff house wall. "How is your aunt on self defense?" He asks the kid who's about nine or ten.

"Don't rightly know Mr. Pratt, on account I ain't never tried to hit her."

Ernie chuckles. "I think we better go find out. Did she get the job at Silver King?"

"Shor did, Mr. Pratt, and she much appreciated your good word for it too." The boy said brightly.

"A man's word should be good for something, James." He told the boy.

Sam, Abigail, and Delilah Pratt sat together eating a late breakfast. When Sam and Jack had finally gotten back into town and heard the news Jack had smirked in amusement when Ernest introduced his fiancée, Abigail Steele. It would be a lie to say he and his great grandfather didn't have a type. Abigail was shorter than Sam and prone to rather silly little hats but she was a crack shot and spoke her mind at length which was incredibly sharp when she wasn't fretting about things as great Grandpap had described. Jack's mother had been the same way. And Jack had been pleasantly amused to announce to Sam, short of the unexpected, Abby was his great grandmother.

"I wouldn't have believed it but he really is the spitting image of Ernest's father." Delilah was telling Sam of Jack. Ernest had asked her to not say she knew the real situation to Abigail just yet until he could explain it to her in private as not everyone is as accepting of oddities as his mother clearly was. Ernest had told her in his last letter to her, being rather astonished by the series of events even though he wrote science fiction himself. Sam had clarified that to him though his publishers marketed it as adventure stories being the more popular genre.

"I imagine without his mustache and a bit older, Ernest would look quite a bit like him." Abigail said thoughtfully.

"Jack told me Ernest and your late husband didn't get along and that's why he grew it." Sam said to Jack's great-great-grandmother.

"Oh, I wouldn't say so much they didn't get along as everyone mistook Ernie for his father on the street and he got beat up a lot for it." At Abigail's shocked look, Delilah smiled and patted her hand. "My late husband had a bit of a gambling problem. One Ernie has struggled with himself off and on but seems to have a handle on now. There's been quite a change in him the last few years. The man who left California is not the man he is now. I'm very proud of him frankly."

"You weren't before?" Abigail asks in her soft voice.

"Oh heavens, no. He was an endless trial and the entire reason my hair has gone white."

Sam looked down and bit on a smile.

"I see them in each other you know. My Wilbur, Ernest, and Jack. They each have their own ways but some things they share. You can't good parent everything out of a man it seems. Gracious knows I've certainly tried." She smiles when James comes in. "Come sit with us, son. Have you had breakfast yet? Marie... Put James on my tab please." She says and pats the empty seat next to her.

"No ma'am, I haven't. Have you seen my aunt? Mr. Pratt was lookin' for her."

"Oh let's see… She served early breakfast. I know that because I came down for coffee with Samantha and Jack before he left for work. When I came back from calling on Madam Brown to see about the mayor taking pains to not announce your wedding as a local spectacle" She nods at Abigail, "but when I came back... She wasn't up front anymore. Did Ernie say why he wanted her?"

James sighed. "He wanted her to know Bill Coventry's brother posted bail for him last night,"

"The ringleader?" Sam asked concerned.

James nodded.

"Excuse me." Sam said as she got up and threw her napkin on her plate.

"Why, where are you going Samantha?" Abigail asked her, confused.

"To warn Jack before Teal'c finds out." Sam tells them and marches out of the dining hall.

"She's just the sort of woman Ernie puts in those books of his." Delilah says to Abigail with no small amount of pride in her great great grandson's choice in a bride.

"Mother Pratt… I'm in those books."

"See. Exactly my point." Delilah says with a flourish of her hand.

Abigail smiles shyly at her soon to be mother-in-law.

"Now, young James, tell me everything about yourself." Delilah Pratt said. "Don't leave anything out."

Sam ran into Ernest on her way out. "Did James find-"

"Not yet! Excuse me, Ernest, I'm sorry, I need to go find Jack."

"What? Why?"

"Because he's not above solving this the old fashioned way."

"You say that like he's gone after someone before." Ernest said debated for a split moment on his choices and following her.

"He's not like you, Ernest. He doesn't feel the least bit bad if he kills someone he sees as evil." Sam told him as they hurried to the woodworking shop Jack was employed at.

"Well, can you talk him into not killing the guy… at least until after the trial."

"That's why I need to find him before someone else does. And I need to teach Delilah some self defense in case they try to go after her for revenge."

"I'll have Abigail stick by her. She's as good of a shot as you are." He looks at her consideringly. "Come to think about it… you two are a lot alike. I think the Pratt men might have a type." He said with an amused smile. "She'll love having an excuse to walk around with that silver Remington shotgun of hers. Her daddy had it custom engraved you know."

"Ethan reminds me a bit of my dad honestly. A little gruff but only because he loves her and wants her to be happy even if he goes about it completely wrong."

"You mean like trying to marry her off to anyone that would have her?" Ernest says, his tone annoyed.

Sam shrugs. "I suppose if my father had done the same I might have reacted the same way she did. It's a high compliment to trust your friend enough with your heart that way." She smiles a little at Ernest.

"Ok, Ok, I got the point. You don't need to drill it into me."

"You know, Jack didn't approve of how you treated her but he never got her side of the story either. She never would have liked having you underfoot all the time, would she?" Sam asked him.

"Samantha, I tell you this in the strictest of confidence. I miss her when she's not around but if I don't go away periodically and leave her alone; eventually she's going to shoot me in my sleep." He said as they reached the back entry for the furniture shop. "If she still loves me she might shoot me while I'm awake." he growled.

Sam giggled. "Ernest, I bet if you asked she'd tell you she thinks you're charming."

"That's because she only sees me for a few days at a time and then not for months. Mark my words, Samantha! That woman will end me and be totally justified in doing so." He said with a dramatic flourish to his finger that made her laugh outright because it was such a Jack sort of gesture.

"Come on, we need to do damage control." She walked into the wood shop and sidled past a large section of a built-in one of the woodworkers was testing for fit.

"The Colonel is in the back stainin' a table."

"Thank you Edward." She told the grizzled owner of the shop.

"Much obliged if you'd watch this one's hands, Miss Samantha."

"Don't worry, Edward, he won't' be here long enough to break anything." She consoled him.

"Hey!" Ernest objected but followed her to the back anyway.

"Carter." Jack greets her with a quick smile but his eyes return to his work. "Why is he here?"

"Hello to you too, Jack." Ernest said, peeved at Jack's dismissal of him.

Sam shook her head. "Can you take a break?"

"Samantha Carter asking Jack O'Neill to take a break. Well… now I've seen literally everything." He quipped without taking his eyes from his work which made her chuckle in spite of the situation.

"It's important."

"It always is Sam." He said absently. "Give me a moment. If I don't get the coat even I've wasted my day staining this thing." He says almost to himself and Sam watches with quiet fascination while he expertly rubs tinted oil into the wood turning it from a light blond to a rich mahogany. He steps back and looks at his work critically then nods to himself about the state of the stain and wipes his hands on a rag. "All right. Lay it on me."

"Coventry's brother posted his bail last night." Ernest told him.

Jack cursed and threw down his rag. "Well, where is he?" Jack growled.

"Back in Denver hopefully. He didn't bail any of the rest of them out. Not that it makes me feel any better. I'll have Abigail stick to Delilah. She's at least as good a shot as Samantha is." Ernest tells him, deciding not to take Jack's opinion of him personally.

Jack looked at Sam who shrugged. "I should have put a bullet in his head when I had the chance." Jack mutters.

Sam gives Ernest an 'I told you so' look.

Jack's eyes are hard. "What about the kid?"

"With my mother and Abigail right now." Ernest says.

Jack frowns. "Make sure he stays with one of us at all times. The Klan aren't known for their fair treatment of victims that got away." He mutters something neither Sam nor Ernest quite catches. "You're sure she's as good of a shot as Sam?"

"She took out a posse of Mexicanos trying to steal back their land at seven yards." Ernest said rather proudly and rocked on his heels.

"If it was their land Ernie…" Jack growled at his great grandfather.

"Jack, they sold it already. It was a bad faith deal. They were cheated but they weren't run off. Once Yonish and I found out what happened we found them a good lawyer to get their land back legally. If they just took it back by force, they'd all be dead by now and the San Saba mine would still be in the hands of the Bowies. Didn't you read 'The Ghost of Burnett County'?"

Jack huffs. "I read all of them, Ernie. They're fiction."

"Apparently not all of it." Sam pointed out. "Jack, Yonish has already proven the stories are at least half true."

Jack frowns. There wasn't any way to know what Ernie made up in his head and what had really happened and after moving to Sheridan, Ernie had avoided writing about his home town except as a transitional place to start or end adventures but he'd written about Texas a lot for a while until he'd married Abigail and they had settled down in Colorado until his great grandmother's death. Then Jack's Grandfather Harry had sold the farm to developers and bought the land in Minnesota. He'd said it was getting too built up and citified for his taste. Grandpa Harry had never been a fan of his lazy father-in-law who never did any of the work around the farm nor taken care of any of the financial books either.

Edward came around the corner. "Mr. Legend, I'd be much obliged if you and Doc Carter would move along now that yah done said whatcha got ta say ta my man."

"Ah! Of course. Jack! We'll see you tonight at the meeting hall? 'Haw' Tabor is coming to speak to the town about the election." Ernest said with an ironic smile.

"Wouldn't miss it." Jack said just as ironically. "Carter… a moment?"

"Sure. I'll meet you outside, Ernest." She says to the cheerful man who looks so much like Jack but acts very differently from him.

Jack waited for his great grandfather to be out of ear shot. He leaned around to make sure he couldn't see him any more than looked at Sam. "Keep an eye on this. If that guy shows up. don't hesitate to draw down on him." Jack's eyes searched Sam's. "I don't want him to get another chance to hurt that kid." He admits.

Sam nods. She figured that was what this was about in the first place and reached over to squeeze his hand. "James will be with one of us at all times. I'll make sure of it."

"And that's why you're my favorite." Jack tells her with a smile.

"I don't know, Jack, Abigail is an awful lot like me... I think Ernest is right. The guys in your family have a type."

"Noticed that, did you? You're probably right. We have a thing for beautiful women that can beat the crap out of us."

Sam giggled. "I'll see you tonight."

"Yah sure you betcha." He agreed in a sing song voice as he picked up his rag and got back to work.