"Don't you people answer the phone anymore?" Jack demanded, snapping his cell phone shut and jamming it into his pocket left-handed as his practiced eyes scanned the front yard for any sign of a threat.
"Is Sam here? My car is in the driveway…" Daniel said anxiously, his concerned eyes raking over the kitchen, alert for anything amiss.
"Good evening, Doctor Frasier, I hope we are not intruding," Teal'c greeted politely, standing guard over the entrance to the living room but without any of the tension that was radiating off the other two.
Janet blinked at the three of them in disbelief. She knew the men in front of her were overprotective of Sam, but this seemed a little extreme, even for them.
"Well?" Jack prodded, his impatience clear as his eyes moved over the hallway, searching for a sign that his 2IC was still here. His efforts were rendered unnecessary when Sam and Cassandra erupted in fresh waves of giggles a heartbeat later.
"Put those things away!" Janet hissed, her eyes going wide when she realized that Jack and Daniel each had a zat drawn, the older man's pointed out at the street for all the neighbours to see. She took a second glance at Teal'c and noticed a bulge under the left side of his jacket that looked suspiciously zat-shaped. Fortunately he'd had the good sense to keep his holstered. "Are you out of your minds?" she demanded.
"Only with worry," Jack snapped, slipping the weapon back into the holster hidden beneath his leather jacket, worn over a solid black t-shirt and black pants. A black toque, pulled low to cover his unruly grey hair, topped off the outfit. In August.
Assessing glances cast over both Daniel and Teal'c revealed that they too were dressed all in black, right down to the leather jackets and toques. In August.
No wonder Sam was slowly going crazy living in a house with these three, even temporarily.
"Janet, who's…" Sam called, stopping abruptly as she rounded the corner and took in the sight before her. "Oh you have got to be kidding me! What are you doing here with zats?"
"Thanks for answering your phone, Carter," Jack said, the sarcasm laced through his words doing little to disguise his anger.
"We've been trying to get in touch with you for almost an hour!" Daniel exclaimed, relief shining at her from his blue eyes.
"Greetings, Major Carter," Teal'c pitched in, dipping his head in her direction. "I am pleased that you are well. As I informed O'Neill and Daniel Jackson on several occasions, I believed that this course of action was unnecessary. However, we journeyed over when it became clear that their concerns would not abate until they were able to ascertain your condition for themselves."
"Please tell me they didn't kick your door in," Sam ignored all three of them and turned pleading eyes on Janet.
"They didn't," Janet assured. Now that she mentioned it though, it was probably a good thing Janet had answered the door before the phone. These three were busy enough repairing Sam's house; they didn't have any extra time to devote to fixing up hers too.
"Are we watching the movie or what?" Cassandra asked impatiently, bumping into Sam's back as she rounded the corner into the front hall. Stepping around the tall woman obstructing her view, Cassandra took in the sight of her three favourite uncles loitering in the front hallway, two of them still in defensive positions. "What's wrong?" she asked, her eyes going wide when they landed on Daniel.
"Apparently nothing," Daniel informed her. Realizing that her gaze was locked on the zat he was still holding at the ready, he tucked the weapon into the waistband of his khakis and folded his arms across his chest.
"Everything's fine, kiddo," Jack reassured her, moving forward and pulling her into a tight hug. He rubbed the teenager's back until he felt her tensed muscles start to relax.
"Well," Daniel said conversationally after several long minutes of uncomfortable silence. "This is awkward."
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed, the familiar word spoken in that exact tone bringing a smile to everyone's faces and breaking some of the tension that had settled over the room.
"Janet, is it okay if we borrow your backyard for a couple of minutes?" Sam asked, the lingering remnants of a smile still quirking the corners of her lips upwards. She'd known that she'd need to have a talk with her teammates about their hovering eventually, but evidently they needed to have that conversation sooner rather than later. Judging by the dark looks she was getting, Sam suspected there was also a specific conversation that her teammates wanted to have.
"Sure," Janet assented, knowing that they needed an opportunity to clear the air without an audience. "Just keep the yelling to a minimum and for the love of all things holy, do not wave those zats around anymore!" she added. She kept her tone light, but the look on her face made it clear that she was being dead serious.
"Don't leave without saying goodbye," Cassandra instructed, slipping out of Jack's arms and straight into Teal'c's.
"We wouldn't dream of it, kiddo," Jack promised.
Once Cassandra had let go, Jack took two steps towards Sam and snagged her by the sleeve. He pinned her with his best Colonel Glare before turning and marching her through the kitchen and out into the backyard. Janet watched Sam go passively enough, but she was under no illusions; there would be more than a bit of yelling once all of SG-1 assembled out in the backyard, and, placid as she might seem right now, Sam would be giving as good as she got once things really got underway.
Settling against Teal'c's familiar bulk, Cassandra had to shift her body to one side when the hard planes of a holstered zat dug into her shoulder. Tilting her head up, brown eyes met brown and she couldn't help but ask for confirmation. "Are you sure everything is okay?"
"All is well, Cassandra Frasier," Teal'c promised, gracing her with a rare smile before releasing her. "Doctor Frasier, I apologize for any inconvenience that has resulted from our presence here this evening," he added for Janet's benefit before turning on his heel and making his way out to the backyard.
"Hey sweetie," Daniel greeted, offering Cassandra a warm hug and dropping a kiss on top of her head. "Sorry for crashing girls' night," he added, including both the teenager and her mother in the apology.
"That's okay," Cassandra grinned. "Sam warned me that might happen. Really, Daniel, how many times do we have to tell you, we can't invite you to girls' nights?"
"You two are nothing but trouble, especially together," Daniel teased, ruffling her hair as he let her go.
"And you'd do well not to forget it," Cassandra retorted over her shoulder as she skipped back into the living room, leaving Daniel and Janet alone in the hallway.
"Sorry about the dramatic entrance," Daniel apologized bashfully. "We knew we were probably over-reacting, but…"
"… But you care and because you care, you couldn't run the risk of under-reacting," Janet said simply, finishing the thought for him. "Don't worry, I get it."
"We'll be back in a bit," Daniel promised, backing through the kitchen on his way out to the backyard.
"Just don't let Sam and the Colonel get into it too badly," Janet requested.
"We'll give them a few minutes to get it out of their systems and then re-direct to more productive topics," Daniel agreed. "We have done this before, you know."
"I know," Janet replied. "But usually it's Teal'c and Sam doing the refereeing while you and the Colonel have it out. Besides, Sam's pretty frustrated right now and I don't think the chain of command is going to be enough to reign her in like it usually does."
"Heaven help us all," Daniel stated, smiling grimly as he turned and covered the last few feet to the sliding door. He paused only long enough to take a fortifying breath before stepping outside and joining his teammates on the back porch.
A/N: I managed to finish this chapter in between class and soccer practice, so I'm posting it now. The next chapter just needs one final going over and then it will be ready for posting, so look for it later tonight or tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading!