This chapter is a short interlude without much adventure or angst. I figured Jack and everyone needed a bit of a break so this is a bit 'fluffier'. Don't worry though – there's definitely more angst coming – along with some adventure and, oh dear, say it's not so - whump!

He heard a small shuffling sound at his door. Hiding a smile he peaked out from under his eyelids and, sure enough, there was Christopher, standing just outside the door. By the way he was standing he had clearly been told by his grandmother 'not to wake up Mr. Connor'.

Jack had spent the day alternately sleeping and looking out the window. He was still so tired and the headaches were coming more and more. He'd managed to eat some lunch but soon afterward the pain had come back in a big way and he decided to try and sleep it off. Christopher was off at school during the day so, other than the odd sound made by Molly moving around, things were pretty quiet.

He'd heard Christopher come home a while ago but the pain had still been bad so he'd quickly drifted off again. Now, however, he was clearly wanted! The headache was still there, an almost constant presence behind his eyes, but it was relatively bearable and he didn't want to disappoint the boy.

Closing his eyes again he spoke, "gonna stand there all day?" The little boy started and turned around swiftly, making sure his grandma hadn't caught him.

"It's okay Chris. You can come in. I've been sleeping all day and am ready for some company." The little boy slowly made his way over to see this big man who had offered such comfort and safety. He was a little unsure today whether or not it was okay to approach him. He was afraid he would be rejected, but he craved the love and attention.

As he drew closer Jack could see that the boy, who reminded him so much of his own son, had something clutched in his hands.

"Whatchya got there?", he asked. Christopher held it out silently and Jack saw that it was a children's book on astronomy. "Hey, cool. Can I see that?" The boy went to hand it to him but Jack shook his head and patted the bed beside him, moving over a bit to give him some room. "Hop up. We'll look at it together."

That's all the child needed. With a quick grin he bounded up on the bed. The fact that it caused pain to shoot through Jack's skull would be something he would never let on in a million years. "That's it Chris. Here, grab a pillow and let's check this out."

For the next half hour the man and the young boy looked at pictures of stars and constellations. Jack told the boy stories about where the names came from and told him, in simple terms, some of the science behind what they were looking at. He laughed to himself, thinking that his science twins would be surprised at how much he actually knew about the subject.

It took him a long time before he realized what he'd been thinking. He'd referred to them as 'his' even though they were, in fact, no longer his friends. With a deep sigh he realized the headache was coming back in force. He didn't say anything, not wanting to disappoint Christopher who was clearly loving the interaction.

"- and my teacher says we can pick anything we want." Jack realized that the boy had been speaking for a while and he'd totally missed what he was saying. Trying to refocus he quickly caught the gist of the conversation.

"So, you have to do a project for school?"

"Yeah – I was wondering ….?"

"Wondering what Chris?"

The little boy looked at him with sad brown eyes. "My daddy used to help me with projects and all the other kids have their parents to help. I was just wondering if …." His voice faded out, fearful of the reaction of his new big friend.

"You wondered if I would help you?" Chris nodded. "Why, I'd be honored! I used to help my son with projects and they were a lot of fun. What would you like to do?" He was actually looking forward to this, although it brought a sense of sadness when he remembered the fun he and Charlie used to have doing 'projects'. Sara used to have a fit because they would leave a path of destruction in their wake.

"Ah, I thought we could do something on the stars or planets or something." Chris looked at him tentatively, hoping that his idea wouldn't get laughed at.

"What a great idea! We could make a solar system or a planet. All we'd need would be some Styrofoam balls and paper mache and some paint. Do you think your grandma would get that stuff for us?"

Chris looked skeptical, unsure if that was the kind of thing grandmas knew anything about. "I could ask."

"Why don't you let me? I can explain what it is we need."

"Jack?"

"Yeah Chris." He smiled at the boy.

"Could we add a spaceship?"

"Sure, I think that would be a great idea. We can design something together – or would you like to model it after the space shuttle?" They'd seen some pictures of it in the book.

"I'd like to make our own. I want it to be an alien spaceship – and maybe we could make an alien too?"

Jack laughed, remembering his own fascination with 'aliens' when he was young. He'd grown up in the era of 'B' space movies and could remember the funny aliens that Hollywood came up with. Although now that he thought about it sometimes they'd been pretty damn close to the truth.

"Sure, why not. It's our project right? If we want aliens and spaceships then we'll just make some."

"My teacher says there are no such things as aliens. That they're just a, a fignut of our imagination."

"Nah, I think she's wrong – I don't think they're a 'fignut' at all." He leaned over to the young boy leaning up against him and whispered, "I believe in aliens!"

"You do?" Chris's eyes got big and he moved from liking Jack to hero worship in one second flat.

"Absolutely. What kind of alien would you like to make?"

"Well, it has to be mean and scary. All aliens are scary and they like to eat people!"

Jack was getting a huge kick out of this. He wondered what the Tokra or Nox would think of this. Then of course there were the Asgard – he wouldn't describe them as mean and scary. He laughed when he thought of Thor being evil and sitting down to a meal of 'roast humans' with a side of fava beans!

"They like to eat people do they? So, no vegetarian aliens?"

"No – they only eat meat – raw people meat!" The boy was getting into this in a big way. Ah, Jack remembered the blood-thirstiness of little boys.

"So, what else can you tell me about these aliens?"

"Well, they have eyes that glow." Jack started – wow, he got that right! "And they plan to capture earth people and take over the world. They pretend to be our friends but when we're not looking they turn us into zombies."

"When do they eat us?" Jack couldn't help but ask. He hadn't enjoyed anything so much in a long time.

"Uh, after they take us to their spaceship and then to their planet."

"I see. And where is their planet and what's it called?"

"It's a thousand hundred million zillion miles away and it's called…" Chris stopped and thought a moment, "it's called "Bikinia Bottomia". Chris was clearly a fan of Sponge Bob, he thought. The fact that he recognized that was something he'd never admit to even under torture! So what – it was almost an adult cartoon!

"Hmm, sounds like a scary planet. What are the aliens from there called?"

"Trivets"

"Trivets?" Jack wondered where that came from but suddenly realized Chris must have seen or heard of the movie 'Day of the Triffids'. Oh well, Trivets was as good a name as any.

"So, we're going to make an alien ship that flies from Bikinia Bottomia carrying a bunch of evil Trivets who are going to capture and eat humans. Is that right?"

Chris looked over to his idol to make sure that was okay. When Jack looked back at him with a serious, but encouraging look, he nodded.

"Good! Excellent in fact. So, we'll have to draw our space ship and aliens first and then figure out how to make them. Will we make their planet too?"

"Mmm hmmm and earth too?" Chris asked hopefully.

"Wow, that's going to be a lot of work but I think we can manage that. We'd better get going."

So, every day after school Chris would run into Jack's room and the two of them would plan their alien space project. Jack couldn't help it – he'd got Chris to model the aliens after Thor, although the boy added big fangs (which Chris showed dripping with blood!) and claws on their hands and feet.

"Boy, those are some scary looking aliens! Do you think they have names like we do?" Chris nodded enthusiastically and they spent the next 20 minutes making up names for their gaggle of gruesome aliens!

Chris named some of his after kids he didn't like. There was a Kyle and Jarod and a female alien by the name of Emily. Jack named his Maybourne and Simmons. He had thought about naming one of them after a Goa'uld but figured that might be a bit of a security breach. Not that a class of grade two kids would give too much away, but you could never be too sure. So unfortunately, they didn't have an Anubis or Hathor!

By the end of the week Jack figured it was time to start moving around. His butt was going to be glued to the bed if he didn't get up. He also knew he would grow weaker if he didn't force himself out of bed. So, even with Molly 'tut tutting' him he started to hobble around the little house, generally getting in her way!

She would never have admitted it of course, but she enjoyed having the company. Jack was kind and funny and, although he could be pig-headed, was a genuinely caring man. She was thrilled to see the affection he had for Christopher but worried what would happen when it was time for him to leave.

She'd given him a hard time over his name. The hospital staff had called him Neal for days and he'd never corrected them. When her grandson had run into the kitchen telling her that his 'real name' was Jack she'd suffered a moment of panic, thinking that maybe she was harboring a criminal. When she'd hit him up with it he'd gotten such an endearing, guilty look on his face that she had to forgive him.

"I was just feeling too groggy in the hospital when the nurse first called me that and after a time I felt ridiculous correcting her. I figured it didn't matter as I wouldn't see them again."

"Well, that's alright, as long as you're not hiding anything else!" Oh boy, thought Jack, the guilt just kicked up a notch! He wasn't worried about giving Molly his real name but figured she'd think he had something to hide so decided to just keep the 'Connor' for now.

He wandered into the kitchen where she was preparing supper, needing to talk to her about the supplies for Chris's project. He was worried because it had become more and more elaborate and he knew everything was going to come to a substantial amount of money. He also knew, from what the nurse had said, that Molly didn't have a lot of resources. How to do this without causing offense?

"Uh Molly." He moved carefully over to the little table, still hobbling on his crutches.

"What is it young man? Did you get enough rest today? I think you're pushing yourself too hard. You need to heal before you go gallivanting around!"

Jack grinned. For some reason Molly's fussing didn't bother him nearly as much as when the nurses or doctors did it. "I'm fine Molly. I spend most of my day in bed sleeping. If I don't move around you'll end up with that 6'2" beanstalk planted in your guest room."

She actually, truly 'harumphed' although Jack could hear the affection and humor in it. It hadn't taken him any time at all to realize that Molly was quickly becoming one of those in Jack's book of 'favorite' people.

"Molly, I wanted to ask a favor." She stopped what she was doing and looked at him.

"What is it dear?" She was concerned as Jack didn't like to ask for anything, even a glass of water.

"Well, I'm starting to feel much better due to your tender loving care."

"Oh you flatterer you – go on with you!"

He grinned again. "Well, it's true. Your cooking alone could bring someone back from the dead. I'm going to have to watch the waistline."

"You could do with some fattening up! You're too skinny."

"Well, you're doing it! Listen, I need something to keep myself busy so that I don't start getting bored. Believe me Molly, you don't want to see me when I'm bored!"

Looking at the man at the table in front of her Molly had no trouble believing that to be true. Now that he was getting better she could tell that Jack was full of nervous energy. She'd just bet that he'd given his parents a run for their money.

"So, what I was wondering, is whether I could get you to pick up some things for me? I'd like to work on some projects when I'm here. I like to putter around with my hands. I'll give you a list and some money if you wouldn't mind. You could have the stuff delivered here." He looked at her, a puppy-dog expression on his face.

"Well of course Jack. What a good idea. Why don't you make your list and I'll ask Fred to pick it up the next time he heads into town. He'll probably have a better idea of what you need since he's a handyman himself." Fred was Molly's neighbor and would often help her out when she needed something.

This was great! He knew that if she suspected it was for Chris she'd either insist on paying or nix the idea. This way she didn't even have to see the list and wonder what Jack was planning to do with kids scissors, paints and glue!

So, that Saturday saw the two 'boys' in the basement concocting all sorts of things for their spaceship and aliens. It had taken some maneuvering on Jack's part to get down the stairs but he'd finally just handed Chris his crutches and had sat down and proceeded to scoot down on his butt. Chris had laughed, thinking it was hysterical to see a grown man slide down on the stairs like he and his friends did.

As Jack sat at the small table he looked over at Chris and felt a warmth in his soul he hadn't felt in many, many months. In many ways he felt like he'd come home. There was still a terrible, painful hole in his heart where his three closest friends used to reside. He knew it would always be there, but for the first time, thought that maybe there was something left for him in this world.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Okay Sam, we're in Canada. Which way do we go?" They'd just crossed the border from northern Idaho and now had the whole expanse of one of the biggest countries in the world in which to find their friend. The task seemed impossible but they knew they had to try. In fact, they wouldn't give up until they found him.

"I don't know Daniel. Let's think about it logically." They were sitting in a little coffee shop just on the Canadian side of the border.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Daniel replied.

"Why not?" Sam looked at her friend curiously. Logic was always good.

"Because Jack is the least logical person I know – at least as far as he himself is concerned. Somehow I don't expect he used logic to figure out where to go.

Daniel was right. But what did that leave them? They had to figure out which way to head. Sam thought for a minute and then grinned.

"We'll use 'O'Neill logic'."

"O'Neill logic? Is there such a thing?"

"Of course there is Daniel. You're wrong when you say Jack doesn't use logic - he does and he's very good at it. It's just that he's usually coming from a totally different place than the rest of the world. That's the root of his brilliance. So, we use 'O'Neill logic."

"Uh, okay. But you'll have to do that because I don't have a clue what you mean."

"No, look Daniel, all I'm saying is let's think like Jack. We've known him for enough years to figure him out. Then, we go from there."

"Okay but I still say you get to start."

"Fine! Let's try and figure out why he came to Canada."

"Maybe he knows someone here."

"That's possible although somehow I don't think his journey was about hooking up with old friends."

"What about Bill? He was an old friend."

"Yeah, but he needed him to help out with banking and business stuff, as well as sending those notes to Hammond. I get the feeling that he didn't want to see people at all. You know what he's like when he's hurt – he tends to want to go off on his own."

That was true, Daniel realized. He also knew that Jack was more hurt than he'd been since Charlie's death. Yup, it made sense that he was doing the 'loner Jack' routine.

"Alright, so he doesn't know anyone. Why is he in Canada then?"

"I think it's simply because he was riding and came to the border. I expect he just crossed over without even giving it much thought."

"That really helps us! If he's not giving it any thought then how do we know which way to go?"

"Well, if he goes west he ends up in Vancouver and the coast. It's a big city, lots of room to get lost. It's also easy to then head south down the west coast and into Washington and eventually down to California. He might even be planning to head back towards Colorado."

"Maybe", Daniel sounded doubtful.

"So, if he goes east where does he end up?" Daniel looked down at the map he had laid out in front of him.

"He'll go through the mountains to Banff and then Calgary. From there on he's on the prairies which go on for thousands of kilometers."

"So, if you were Jack which way would you go?"

"God, I don't know Sam. I guess I'd choose the coast. He's probably been riding around the interior of the country for months. Maybe he wants to see the ocean."

Sam looked at him blankly for a moment, considering. Her gut was telling her west too, she didn't know why. With a sharp nod she stood up. "Let's go to Vancouver Daniel and keep our fingers crossed that Jack had a burning desire to dip his toes in the Pacific."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Have we had any word yet?" Angrboda looked over at the human in front of her, steel flashing from her big eyes.

"Not yet." Senator Grayson looked worriedly at the small grey alien in front of him. For some reason she terrified him, even though she was half his size. "We're still looking but he did a good job of disappearing."

"I thought you were prepared for everything? We certainly provided you with enough of your money and the devices which would help you."

"Yes, but we weren't to know he'd remove the locator chip. We thought it would be an easy job to get to him, especially without his team around him."

"You are sure that SG1 is not with him?"

"Yes. With your help we made sure that SG1 firmly believed that O'Neill was a traitor. They wanted nothing more to do with him. Reports indicated he was devastated and ended up quitting and going off on his own. It would have been perfect except we lost him."

"Fools! I should have known better than to partner with humans!"

"Oh, do you really think you would have done a better job? You don't think it would have been a bit suspicious to have a bunch of Asgard trucking around Washington, D.C.?"

"We would simply have beamed him on board and that would have been the end of it."

"Oh right – and of course the American government wouldn't have said anything about losing one of their most valued generals. And what about your government – there are still a majority on the council opposed to what you are doing. And of course we musn't forget Thor. No, you would have been found out instantly and all your plans would have been for nothing. You needed us - in fact you still need us."

Angrboda turned and walked the short distance to her seat. She felt at a disadvantage when speaking with the humans who were so much taller than her. Her seat was raised so she was now looking down at the human senator who was working with her to kidnap O'Neill and others like him.

"Where is SG1 now? I have received reports that they may be looking for O'Neill."

"No, I don't think so. If that were the case I would have heard. I'm on the committee that oversees the SGC and Homeworld Security. Anything like that would have been brought to my attention. And anyway, there's no way they'll have anything to do with O'Neill. We made sure of that."

"This is full proof?"

"Oh yeah! You should have seen that video – it was a masterpiece."

"What about the humans you used?"

"Well, the ones that were 'kidnapped' on the tape – they're being held in a secure location. Unfortunately, the co-conspirators – let's just say they met a messy end. It was necessary to make the tape appear real."

"Alright then, I will believe you, although I think you should keep your eyes on SG1 just in case. I do not trust them. You are also to find O'Neill. Time is running out quickly. If we do not find him in time it will be for naught. I would not want to be in your shoes were he to die."

The Senator could feel the sweat begin to run down his back. Not for the first time he wondered what had made him get involved in this scheme. Usually all it took was the thought of that numbered off-shore bank account that made him feel better – today, that didn't seem to help.

"I'll go visit General Hammond and see if he knows anything. If there's anyone who has a clue where O'Neill is it's him."

"Fine. We only have a few more of your weeks, so I suggest you hurry." With that, Grayson could feel the effects of the Asgard beaming technology as he was returned to his home. With a sigh he went over and lifted the phone.

"George, hello. I was wondering if I could come over for a beer? We haven't talked for a while and I wanted to see how things were going." He paused as the other man spoke. "Tomorrow? That would be great. See you then."

Hanging up the phone Grayson took a deep breath. Things had better happen real soon.