Chapter 3
"Who?" Jack gazed at her confused.
Cassie stared dumbfounded at Jack. "Who do you think I'm talking about?"
"Uh…" Jack's face twisted as he tried to think. "I dunno," he sighed and began listing all the names of people Cassie might be thinking of. "Daniel, Sam, Teal'c…" His eyes grew wide as it finally dawned on him. "No!!"
"Yes! He needs to know!" Cassie retorted.
"No I refuse to go!" He planted his feet firmly into the carpet and folded his arms tightly across his chest.
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes! We're going! He is the only one who really know about this Ancient stuff!" Cassie heaved as she tried to pull Jack towards the door. He wouldn't budge.
"I'm not going any where near him!" he cringed. "It's just to weird…"
Exhausted, Cassie stopped what she was doing, stepped in from of Jack, and cast him the infamous evil glare, which she had learned long ago. He gulped and took a step back.
"Ff…ine! Have it your way! Just don't expect me to do all the talking!" he said, pushing past her, " But I call shot gun!"
The TV was on, throwing flashes of the color along the walls. A man was sitting in the armchair fast asleep, a beer held tightly in his hand, while the other rested lightly by his side. The first thing he heard was the dog barking then came the loud ring of the door bell, as it echoed through the house. The old collie ran back and forth between the door and his master, eager to see who waited outside. He became a puppy again, running at tops speeds and barking with his powerful voice.
The man stood up slowly and with a muffled, "I'm comin!" he turned off the TV.
Swinging open the front door he saw a young man and woman standing under the glare of the porch light. The man looked as uncomfortable as could be. The woman stepped closer with her sandy blonde hair flowing about her shoulders and said, "Jack, we need to talk."
Cassie was greeted by the door slamming back in her face. She snapped her head back in surprise. "How dare he!" she huffed, pacing back and forth on the porch.
"Oh well, no one's home. Let's go!" Jack spun on his heels and hopped down the concrete steps, only to have the hood of his sweatshirt be pulled back as he reached the pathway.
Cassie dragged him backwards up the concrete steps. He swung his arms back and forth trying to catch his balance. "Come on let's go to the back porch, we can try to find a way in from there." She crouched down and scampered towards the back of the house, Jack being pulled reluctantly behind her.
"Hey! Stop it! Ow! You're choking me!" Jack whispered trying to break free.
They crept behind the oak tree and waited for Jack's shadow to disappear from view. She stumbled up the porch and grunted, as she pushed the window open. She nudged Jack in front and motioned for him to go in first. He shook his head with a violent 'no.' Cassie glared at him through the dim moonlight and started pushing him through. He crawled inside and turned around, stretching out his hand to help her. At that moment the older Jack strolled in, unopened beer in hand, just in time to see Cassie trip over the window pane
"Um…" He raised his eyebrows, "I left the door unlocked…" He helped Cassie get to her feet, as the collie bounded, tongue hanging out of his mouth, towards her face.
She bent down and patted the dog on the head. He gave her an affectionate kiss. "Heh… Cute dog, what's his… her name?"
"His name is Thor." Squatting down, he rustled the dog's fur and pressed his head to the dog's nose. He stood swiftly and opened the beer. "Sit." He directed them to the couch. "Explain." He slumped into his squishy armchair.
Cassie reached into her coat pocket and lifted out the silvery sphere. The beer froze halfway to his lips and his eyes grew wide. He leaned forward and snatched it out of her hand. His fingertips ran over the engraved markings.
"It's… It's Ancient!" He set it softly down on the coffee table. "Where did you get this?
Cassie began to explain her story, while Jack threw in a few words in from behind her. "So, we have to find this girl! She must be so scared and confused!"
"Yea! What she said!" Jack concluded
Jack stared at the orb in confusion. "You said this Terra girl opened this and took a necklace out?"
"Yea…" Cassie hesitated.
"Well, I have the ancient gene, so I should be able to open it as well." He began fiddling with the object, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge.
"Well I should have the gene too. Give it here." Younger Jack tried to steal it away from his older self.
"Hey I was still working on that!" Jack snatched it back, fending off his young clone.
Suddenly they were wrestling on the floor for control of the Ancient orb. Cassie inched out of the way as they went rolling past her. "You're going to break…" There was a loud crunch that made them all freeze on the spot.
Jack and Jack both got up and briskly brushed themselves off. Cassie stepped forward cautiously, a look of horror on her face. "You broke it!" She picked up one of the shattered pieces on the floor, "You Idiots!" She slapped the back of Jack's head.
The younger one snickered. Cassie spun around and slapped him on the cheek, then folded her arms across her chest.
"Sorry." They recited in unison.
"You're sorry… You just broke one of the most important artifacts in the history of ever! Daniel is going to be so pissed at you!"
"Well then why don't we go to him then… He is at the SGC." He reached for his coat and car keys.
"N.. No!" She stepped forward to stop him.
He froze. "What? We need to show this to Daniel don't we? He is the expert on this stuff."
"Yes! But … But can't we wait until he gets home?"
"Um… no. You know he never goes home. Plus he got a new artifact just in so he is going to be there all night." He raised his eyebrows. "I thought you would be thrilled to go back. I mean you haven't been there in a long time."
"Yea, I know but you know the last few times I was there my whole planet was destroyed and I got sick and I don't want to…. Um… I just don't want to go there…"
"Aww, but I'm sure the rest of the team miss you! Especially Sam!" he added.
"No I'm sure she doesn't miss me that much! Nothing missable here. She is probably working on the latest science project of the moment." She laughed nervously.
"Don't worry, I am a General now! I can order her to take a break, let me tell you she needs one." He swung his coat over his shoulders and continued to put it on.
"You're retired smart one…"
"Well… I can become unretired for today!" He crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Cassie stared at him, genuinely confused. "Ok…"
"Here I will give Daniel a call and see what he says." He went to the phone and began dialing the SGC. His face brightened as someone picked up on the other line.
"Cheyenne Mountain visitor center. How may I help you?" came an overly cheerful voice on the other end.
"Hi, This is General Jack O'Neill, that's with two L's, can you connect me to Dr. Daniel Jackson…" He paused for effect. "Please."
"Oh… Oh… um… Yes sir!" The voice straightened out. "Just one moment sir." He placed the phone on hold and eerie elevator music began playing in Jack's ear.
"They put me on hold." He rolled his eyes as Cassie stared ahead in terror.
"Um… Yes sir. Dr. Jackson said he was not to be bothered. He wants you to call back later" His voice was shaky.
"For crying out loud! Well just tell Daniel that I have something on the Ancients and that he should get his ass over to the phone." His voice boomed, making the man more nervous.
"Yessir!" His words slurred together. The music started playing again.
"Jesus Christ!" He whispered.
The song stopped abruptly mid wail. "Hi! Jack!"
"Daniel just the person I wanted to talk to. How've you all been?"
"Oh! We are all fine! You know nothing that unusual. So now you say you have something about the Ancients?" He asked eagerly.
"Oh, so, that is all you care about huh? The Ancients. You don't care to ask how I am doing. Hmmm!" He seemed to enjoy how annoyed he was making Daniel.
He sighed. "How are you Jack?" His voice droned.
"Just fine thank you. Long time no see, huh?"
"Yea I guess so."
"Okay. Why I called you. Well you will never guess who paid me a visit today. Cassie and me, so to speak. Well I mean the younger me; you know the clone from the Asgard."
"Yea…"
"Well they showed up telling me the most interesting story. This girl, named…" He glanced over at himself.
"Terra." He whispered.
"Yea Terra ended up bumping into both of them. Don't ask me how and she came upon an…artifact that I sort of have with me now. Cassie wants for me to wait until you come home but I said it was probably ok if we stopped by now?"
"Ah! Yes, yes. Come by now I will be waiting, and Sam will probably be somewhere around here too."
Hearing Sam's name made Cassie flinch. She closed her eyes tight, feeling a wave of nausea over come her. Young Jack sat down next to her. "Are you okay? You look a little green."
"I just really don't want to go to the SCG. The last time I was there Sam was telling me about Mom's memorial, the one which I wasn't even aloud to go to." She played with her thumbs.
"Yea but it's not that bad. I mean it's been a few years."
"Oh! You think it's not all that bad… huh… Sam didn't even bother showing up to the funeral. I asked her why and she said she had to work. When she did visit me later on it was for short periods of time before she was called off again to do her job. Then I lost touch with her completely, not even a phone call to find out how I was doing. Nothing." Tears started welling up in her eyes. "Before mom died she would visit me every day, when she wasn't on a mission. They used to be best friends. She used to be like a second mom to me. I think it hurt her to see me, she would think of mom and ways that she could have saved her. Still that is no excuse."
Jack got off the phone and whirled around to see Cassie crying. "Woah what happened here?"
"Nothing." She whipped her eyes on her sleeve. "Lets just go. I need to do this."