A/N: Sorry it took me a while to update. I tried earlier, but it wouldn't let me upload my document. On the upside, though, I've gotten quite a few chapters written.
Bobby checked his watch again, it was 06:30, the exact time that Jack had said he, Daniel and two others would be arriving. He looked around the terminal and spotted no one who looked like he remember Jack or Daniel.
A group of three men and a woman walked over to where Bobby stood, a head taller than most of the crowd. The youngest man in the group had glasses and squinted at Bobby, as if trying to decided if he was the person they were looking for. The older man with silver hair had no such problems.
"Bobby Goren?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Bobby looked at the man, trying to place him in his memory. Finally, when the older man smirked, it all clicked for the detective, "Jack? Buddy, you look different with gray hair! I almost didn't recognize you."
The two men embraced and Jack said, "What are you talking about, Goren? You didn't recognize me! Or poor Daniel, here, either!"
Bobby turned to Daniel, "You look different with short hair, Danny."
Daniel shrugged, sending a glare to Jack, who was looking back innocently, "Yeah, that happens to be Jack's fault, actually."
"HEY! I was not the one who got that damn gift certificate, Daniel. That was Fraiser."
"But you told her it would be a good idea! Janet wouldn't have even considered getting me a gift certificate to a barber shop until you told her that I was having trouble seeing while on missions!" Daniel shot back.
"Daniel Jackson, it was, in fact, myself who mentioned the … benefit of shorter hair to Doctor Fraiser," the big black man who made up part of their group said with a nod and a slight smirk.
Bobby watched the banter like it was a tennis match. It was rather intriguing for him to watch the two men talk. They were obviously very familiar with one another. He was so entranced with watching the three men that he almost missed the woman sidling up along side him.
"Fun, isn't it?" she asked, her accent light and mysterious. Goren wondered where she was from.
"What is?" Bobby asked, his eyes flickering to the black haired beauty.
She grinned, "Watching the Jack and Daniel show, of course. I don't believe we've met, I'm Vala, Vala Mal Doran."
Bobby shook her hand politely, "Detective Robert Goren."
"Bobby for short, I take it?" Vala said, her lips curved upward in a smile that sent chills through Bobby's spine.
"Vala, stop it," Daniel said, irritated at her nature of flirtation.
"Daniel, I didn't know you cared," Vala purred with a smirk.
Daniel rolled his eyes, "No, I just don't like thrusting you on unsuspecting men. Now come on, I'm tired."
Vala grinned at Daniel as Bobby led them out to his car, "What was that, Daniel? Can't sleep with out me, now?"
Daniel groaned, "Vala, you know why I can't leave you here – why must you irritate me so much that I'm willing to just try?"
Her grin remained in place as she skipped toward Bobby's car, "Because you let me. And Jack wouldn't let you leave me here – he likes me too much."
Jack snorted, "Sorry, Vala, I'm a married man."
The five of them stopped walking: Jack's eyes were wide, just then realizing what he'd said; Daniel was impersonating a gold fish; Vala was grinning widely, knowing that she'd just gotten Jack to admit to something no one else would have; Bobby … was rather confused, last he had heard from Jack was that he'd gotten divorced, his son was dead and he'd sworn off having another serious relationship; the unnamed black man, of course, took all this information in stride and let none of it show on his face. Jack sighed and looked down, "Sam's so gonna kill me."
Daniel got over his confusion first. He rounded on Jack with a glare Bobby though the other man not capable of producing, "When the hell did you and Sam get married? And why the hell wasn't I invited!"
Jack mumbled something Daniel couldn't quite make out, so the younger man persisted, "Excuse me? Do I need to call Sam and tell her that you blew your whole cover?"
"Five months, Daniel," Jack mumbled moodily. He looked at the black man, "Is that right, T?"
The black man, now identified as 'T' cocked his head slightly, "It has, in fact, been six months since Colonel Carter's transfer to Nevada, O'Neill."
Jack sighed, shaking his head, "Now that's sad. I can't even remember my own anniversary!"
"Which anniversary, O'Neill? I am most assured that Colonel Carter would enjoy celebrating the anniversary of your first encounter, as well as your wedding ceremony."
"Gee, thanks, T. Next thing I know, you'll be telling her this and she'll want to arm wrestle every single year – just to prove she can beat me! And we didn't invite you, Daniel, because it was a spur of the moment thing while you were packing up for your trip and T and I were helping Sam get settled in Nevada."
Bobby grinned at his old friend's antics. He was a little surprised to note how at ease Jack seemed around the other two men, and the woman. The Jack O'Neill he remembered was a good man – with a hell of a lot of misconceptions. The Jack O'Neill standing and bantering before him was at least comfortable with where he was in life for the moment. It seemed someone had helped Jack put to rest a good deal of his demons. Bobby's mind quickly went to focus on his own demons and the only person he knew who could help him get past them.
They were halfway to Bobby's house (he had an extra bedroom and a foldout sofa) where they would all be staying, when his cell phone rang. Jack was sitting passenger and took the phone from Bobby, "Goren's phone."
"Umm, hi. This is Alex Eames, his partner. Who am I talking to?" she asked, confusion evident in her voice when a man other than Bobby answered the phone.
"This is Jack O'Neill, an friend of Bobby's from way back. It's nice to finally put a voice to the woman who's stuck with Bob for so long," Jack said with a playful smirk at his friend.
"Yeah. Can I talk to him?"
"Sure, just a second." Jack handed the phone to Bobby, "It's Alex."
"Eames," Bobby spoke into the phone, shooting a glare at Jack before pulling to a stop at a red light. "What is it?"
"We have another missing student from NYU."
"What? Who is it?"
"Her name is Cassandra Fraiser, she's a freshman at NYU. We've got another note found by the roommate in a different code, but it's the same MO: roommate was out, came home, noticed the place was ransacked and there was a note on the table with a lock of the victim's hair beside it."
A/N: Well? What do you guys think so far? Believe me, it's only going to get even more interesting as it goes on. Please review.