Sorry for the delay, I got stuck on a bit for ages! It's extra long to make up for it. Thanks for letting me know you'd been missing this one too:)
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Over the next couple of hours, Heather's parents dropped in every few minutes with drinks or snacks in that hovering, nervous way Ally was very familiar with by now. Her parents were acting exactly the same way. She had to admit though that it was especially strange to see Mr Marlowe anything less that completely self-assured. She supposed he was a nice enough guy considering he was a high-powered investment banker but he was definitely the type who would show no mercy if you crossed him.
As she watched John and Heather battle it out for first place in a car race, Ally mused that once the shock wore off a little, Mr Marlowe would no doubt be out for blood. Frankston's blood. Ally had no problem with that at all. She and her parents had no powerful contacts or allies so the fact that Mr Marlowe was on their side was a great relief. Ally wasn't sure she could entirely count on the police to get the job done. She'd noticed a great deal of tension around the place when she and the other girls had given their statements. Something was up and Ally had a bad feeling.
She noticed John giving her a serious look.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Sure." She forced herself to smile at him and found it wasn't too hard. After all, having John O'Neill on your side wasn't half bad either.
A few more games later and Heather seemed to fade, so Ally and John decided to head off so she could get some sleep, with promises that they'd come see her again tomorrow. Heather was determined to have some of the planning done for her projects to show them by then. When they got downstairs, Ally was pleased that Mrs Marlowe had been sent off by her husband to have a lie down as well. She couldn't have handled more of the poor woman's weepiness.
"Back to my place?" John suggested and she agreed. She most definitely didn't want to go home. "Feel like lunch yet?"
"Not really after all those snacks."
"Me either."
They were silent most of the way home and Ally started thinking about how she probably wouldn't mind having a snooze either. Preferably with her head on John's shoulder. She was fairly sure he'd be okay with donating a shoulder despite all the weirdness between them this morning.
She was lost in these musings and didn't realise John had stopped suddenly as they approached his doorway. She practically crashed into his back. He reached back to steady her without turning away from whatever had caused him to stop in his tracks. Peering around him, she took in a figure at the door. Tall and good looking despite the graying hair, the man – definitely military – was holding a six pack of Guinness and what looked to be a cake.
"What are you doing here?" John's voice was quiet.
"Don't worry, I'm not staying long, I just thought I'd… oh, hi…" The man noticed Ally. "How ya doing? I'm Jack…"
"He's Jack." John interrupted. "Just Jack."
Ally giggled. She couldn't help it. He was so the complete opposite of the character of Jack in 'Will & Grace'. "Just Jack!" She snorted as she did the hand movements that went with the catchphrase. "Oh my god…"
The two men stared at her and it made her laugh harder because they had exactly the same expression on their face. She couldn't stop laughing. Tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't breathe. What the hell was the matter with her? She was losing it completely.
"Ally?" John's hands were on her shoulders. "Are you okay?"
She managed to shake her head and with startlingly silent efficiency, John had thrown Jack his keys and scooped her up in his arms, while Jack opened the door for them. It was like they could read each other's minds. She was deposited on the couch with John's jacket around her shoulders, one of his hands rubbing her back and the other holding one of hers. 'Just Jack' pressed a glass of water into her shaking hands and then he knelt down beside her.
"Got anything stronger than that?" 'Just Jack' asked quietly, nodding towards the water.
"Just beer. Daniel won't get me anything else." John replied.
"Typical."
"Yep."
"S'pose Guinness wouldn't be that much help?"
"Probably not."
"I brought cake."
"Cake is good."
"Yep."
"None for me, thanks." Ally grinned weakly. "I might just go have a quick lie down in your room, O'Neill, while I regain some dignity."
"Yeah, no problem, Pix…" John helped her up. "Don't worry, we'll save some cake for you and I'll check in on you in a bit, okay?"
"Make sure you wake me up before Daniel comes over. I so have to tell him about that speech."
"You won't!"
"Will!"
"Won't!"
"What speech?" Jack asked, seemingly bewildered but intrigued.
"Nothing for you to worry about!" John hissed back at him as he gently pushed Ally towards his room.
Ally settled herself down in John's bed. She felt safe here. She really wanted to hover near the door in the hopes of hearing what the two guys were talking about but suddenly she was so very tired. Was probably just as well as it would just bring up more questions that she'd want to ask John and more questions could push him away from her.
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"So, that's the best friend, huh?" Jack tilted his head in the direction Ally had gone.
"Yeah. Ally. She's a cool chick."
"You two… uh… together?"
John just looked at him. "Are you kidding me?"
"What?"
"She's fifteen!"
"I didn't ask if you were sleeping with her!"
"Then what were you asking?"
"I don't know. Like if she was your girlfriend?"
"No."
"Does she want to be?"
"What's with all the questions?"
"I'm just curious." Jack replied mildly.
John just glared at him.
"C'mon! I'm just saying! Redheads aren't exactly your type but they're still hot."
"One more word about her and I'll drop you." His clone's face was suddenly very close to his own. Eyes cold. "Remember… O'Neill… I know your weaknesses."
"Woah… settle down, kid. I was just joking around. No disrespect intended. You know that."
The kid sat back down. "Yeah, I guess I do. But you don't know Ally."
"So tell me." Jack shrugged.
"What do you want to know?" John's eyes flared. "That I can't live without her? That she's the only thing keeping me going in this completely screwed up existence! Is that what you want to hear?"
Jack watched with interest as the kid stormed to the bench and cracked open one of the cans of Guinness that he'd left on the counter. He barely caught the other can that John half-heartedly threw at his head.
"You care that much about her and she's not your girlfriend? She not interested that way?"
"Does it really seem that simple to you?"
"I thought that was what this going back to high school thing was all about. High school girls."
"Think about it, Jack. I'm not a kid. Technically, I'm you. Would you feel comfortable dating a high school girl?"
"Oh."
"Don't get me wrong, Ally is way more mature than I'll ever be… but… I don't know…"
"…it's just hard to get your head around."
"Yeah."
The O'Neills sipped thoughtfully at their Guinness.
"Maybe!" Jack had a lightbulb moment. "Maybe you could think of this all as being undercover and then get sort of lost in your cover? Then you'd be able to feel more like a high school kid?"
"Yeah, a high school kid who – instead of being able to let go and have fun – spends his time patrolling parties making sure the shenanigans don't get out of control. Who spends every moment at school keeping an eye out for bullying and drugs and any other dangers to those kids. And yet who failed to keep his own best friend safe."
"You can't blame yourself…"
"I don't want to talk about it." John waved his hand. "Hey, guess what?"
"What?"
"I'm cool."
"I know. So am I." Jack raised an eyebrow.
"No, like Ferris Bueller level of cool. Like The Fonz."
"Woah." Jack was impressed. "I would have thought with all the patrolling you'd be seen more of a fuddy-duddy killjoy."
"You'd think so but no… they all love me. Teachers... students… parents... It freaks me the hell out!"
"Man." Jack shook his head. "What about Ally? She love you too?"
"Ally thinks I'm a doofus. So, yeah… she knows the real me. As much as she can without actually knowing the truth."
"Must be tough."
"Yep. She's like as curious as Daniel and almost as smart as both Daniel and Carter. Fun times."
"Speaking of smart… what's with you and the grades? What's up with that?"
"Eh…" John shrugged. "What else is there to do? Gotta keep myself entertained somehow."
"And giving speeches, huh?" Jack raised an amused eyebrow. "Why is the elfin one going to tell Daniel about this mysterious speech?"
John sighed heavily. "Because it was about him." He muttered.
"Excuse me? What was that?" Jack almost spat out a mouthful of Guinness. "Are you kidding me?"
"It was just a stupid assignment for 'Society & Culture'. I didn't know who else to talk about, okay?" John ran his hand through his hair until it stuck up. "I just kind of talked about how he approaches situations, right and wrong and all that jazz without mentioning anything classified. Just the whole selfless thing he has going. The whole moral compass deal."
"I hear ya. Remember the time when those damn Eurondans turned out to be Nazi-ish?"
"God yes. Daniel was such a pain that mission."
"Yeah, he sure was." Jack put on what he thought was a pretty Daniel-like whiny voice. "Jack…it's the right way to get what we want but is it the right thing to do?"
John grinned. "Whenever I need a laugh I just remember that time when you guys were affected by that humming plant thing. The way Daniel got so mad that he jumped up and down. Cracks me up every time I think about it."
"Me too." Jack sighed. "Good times."
"Yep."
"Do you…uh.. miss it?" Jack spoke carefully.