Rising from the Ashes of Ascension

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: As much as I might wish, I do not own Stargate: SG1, Highlander: the Series, or any recognizable characters from either show. If I did, I wouldn't be working in the public schools system. However, any characters that are not from either show are mine and I will use and abuse them as I see fit. Everyone else will be returned eventually, for I am only borrowing for awhile, but they might end up a bit scuffed.

Warnings: Potty language, violence, and occasional sexual references

It had been a couple of weeks since the incident at Circuit City. Between then and the present, Daniel had managed to find a two bedroom house and had moved in to the quiet neighborhood. It was nice to finally have a place to call home, something outside of the SGC and his office. Now the place was furnished, with help from Janet and Cassie (Sam had been barred from helping because she wanted flowers on his furniture) and he was happy to have a place that was his own. Also, with the help of Methos and Siler, he also installed a security system that was designed to help protect him from any rouge elements within the Watchers and greedy burglars. He remembered clearly what had happened with Horton and wanted some sort of warning against an attack like the one that had happened to Darius. While it wouldn't do much good against another Immortal or even the Goa'uld, it would give him some protection against the more mundane threats and obnoxious, nut-case Watchers out there.

Once the house-hunting, purchase, and move-in had occurred, things settled down. It was quiet and Daniel reveled in the quietness.

Unfortunately, the bizarreness that surrounded the SGC reared its ugly head and bit everyone in the ass, especially one Jonathan P. O'Neill, Colonel in the USAF.

He got him-self a Mini-me.

It hadn't been fun for anyone (well, Sam had gotten a chuckle out of it), especially the cloned version of Jack. In the end, it had worked out and Thor had fixed it so that the kid wouldn't die like all of the other clones had previously. Also, later SG1 and mini-Jack had been given the opportunity to watch Thor bitch-slap Loki for being an idiot.

After the hubbub and excitement had died down, everyone had been returned to the SGC. Officials, with the right clearance, within the Air Force were working over-time to create and set up an identity for the teenager.

In the meantime, mini-Jack found him-self alone and went seeking someone that wouldn't treat him like a kid or feel awkward talking to him.

He found Daniel in his office, surrounded by artifacts, papers, and books. The Immortal was busy pounding away on the computer, no doubt writing up a mission report on this latest fiasco.

"Hey, can I come in?" mini-Jack asked hesitantly at the door way.

"Since when have you ever asked for permission to do anything?" Daniel asked, pulling a pen he had clenched between his teeth out, looking up and over at the teenager that was in his doorway.

The teen shrugged and came into the room and threw him-self down on the lumpy, yet comfortable couch. "Well, that was him and I'm not him, even though I am, but still. You know?"

Daniel looked at him curiously. "As weird as your last statement was, yes, I know. What's going on?" he asked and threw the pen that he had pulled out of his mouth on to the desk where it bounced slightly and disappeared underneath a pile of papers.

"I'm bored. The bigwigs are trying to figure out what do with me, trying to come up with some sort of plausible cover story as to why a fifteen year old is an emancipated minor, and keep the NID off my scrawny ass," mini-Jack replied, tapping out an unrecognizable rhythm on the arm of the battered piece of furniture.

"Why come to me and not Sam, Teal'c, or the Colonel?" Daniel asked, folding his blue clad arms across his chest, staring at the teen.

He sighed and picked at the jeans and t-shirt someone had bought him at the BX over at Peterson. "Sam keeps looking at me like she wants to ruffle my hair and pinch my cheeks, Teal'c wants me to kel'no'reem with him, and the Colonel keeps giving me weird looks. So I thought I'd come and see what you are up to."

Daniel mentally rolled his eyes at his teammates – well, mostly at Sam and Jack. The mini-me Jack needed comfort, not to be treated like a cute puppy or a freak of nature. However, he had to admit, his whole ability to actually exist was a bit freakish.

"First off, what do I call you?" Daniel asked.

"You're mentally calling me Mini-me aren't you?" the blond-headed kid said, his brown eyes narrowing dangerously.

"No," Daniel lied.

"Yes you are," he accused him.

"No."

"Yes."

"Well, maybe," Daniel admitted. "If you don't want me to call you Mini-me, give me something else to call you. Did they let you pick out a new name?"

"Yep," young version Jack said proudly.

"And?"

"Jon H. Simpson," Jon said proudly, a shit-eating grin if there ever was one plastered across his face, enjoying the look of absolute shock and disbelief on Daniel's face.

"Holy crap! What did the General say when you announced this one?" Daniel asked, not knowing why he was so shocked – it was such a Jack thing for him to do after all.

"The General just rolled his eyes and told Paul to get on it," Jon grinned.

"Did you tell Jack?"

"Yep and he laughed."

Daniel shook his head. "So what now?"

"I remember you telling me about you dying in public in the Sixties. I assume that you've died other times and had to move on because of that. How do you deal with it all, leaving everything behind and starting over?"

Ah ha, Daniel thought triumphantly, it was more than just the others being weird as to why he came down here.

"Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not. Leaving the monastery where my friends set me on fire was easy; leaving behind my first wife's family wasn't as easy. They were good people, but I had to move on.

"I was once killed in ancient Egypt, at the time of the Exodus, and had to move on. I eventually met up with some people that I had a kinship of sorts. It didn't help that I was pretty pissed at the world. Hanging out with them was interesting, but eventually I had to move on least I get totally caught up in what they were doing. I did my share of stuff, but it was out of hand. We met up again from time to time and they were always welcome in my house, but it wasn't the same and leaving them behind was hard. They – well one of them really, understood."

"Christ up in heaven Danny! Are you talking about," Jon asked his face pale.

"Yes," Daniel replied, not elaborating. He really didn't want to go into it just yet. "But there were other times where it was hard to move on, but I had to. I couldn't keep living in the past. It's not healthy and wouldn't change anything in the present."

"How did you adjust to being on your own, leaving everything behind?" Jon asked, not wanting to really hear about that time period in his friend's life. He wasn't sure his mind could handle that bit of information just yet.

"You just deal with it. You don't have a choice in the matter. Besides, you don't have to totally leave everything behind. Barring planetary destruction and alien invasion, the SCG will always be here. When I leave, hopefully by my choice, it will have to be at least a generation, or longer, before I can come back. You can come back here in less than ten years."

"But the people will be different," Jon whined.

"True, but by then you'll be different person yourself," Daniel reasoned.

"But I'll still be Jack O'Neill," Jon persisted.

"Yes and no," Daniel explained as gently as he could. "Genetically, you'll be identical to the Jack I went through the Gate to Abydos for the first time all those years ago, but the minute you step outside of Cheyenne Mountain, you will have experiences that the older version will never have. You'll have your new name, despite its uniqueness," stupidity he mentally switched out the words, "new identity, new everything. You won't be Jack O'Neill. You'll be Jon H. Simpson. You'll adapt because you have to. Think of it as your own semi-shot at Immortality, without having to worry about people coming after your head with a sword. You will get to do stuff that you always wanted to do before but couldn't or can't do now."

Jon thought that one over for awhile. I can go back to playing hockey competitively again, he thought, a small smile creeping across his face.

Then suddenly an idea came to him. "Like making out with innocent, yet frisky sophomores and not going to jail for it?" he said out-loud, knowing that it would disturb his friend. "Oh God! I can't do that! They're kids!" he said, realizing that his peers would be young enough to be his own kids.

Daniel made a face at hearing that, but quickly placated his friend. "First off, I didn't need to hear that. Going on, physically you are fifteen. You won't be breaking any laws and if you go after your teachers, having some twisted Mrs. Robinson fixation, you'll get them in trouble. Stick with girls your physical age. Besides, how do you think I feel when Adam and I are confronted with dating or marrying someone? Talk about May-December relationships!"

"Oh," Jon said.

"Take this opportunity and have fun and maybe even learn something while you're at it. You're never too old for that," Daniel said, sitting back in his chair.

"You would know, but why do I have to go to school? Can't I do something else? Can't I join the military or something? I heard Paul and the general talking about enrolling me in high school."

"No," Daniel said. "This country has laws against children being in the military. You have to be seventeen to enlist with a parent's permission. Also, by law you have to go to school until you are sixteen and then you can drop out with a parent's permission. After that, if you want, you can always flip burgers and waste your life away at a fry basket if you want, but somehow I don't think General Hammond will let you do that to yourself. Though we could always ship you off to Bangladesh and let you work in a sweat shop for pennies a day, sixteen hours a day, while making clothes for the Gap."

Jon shuddered at that. "No thanks. Looks like its Algebra, English, Spanish, and whatever else they make kids take these days."

"You speak Spanish. What's the point of taking it if you already know it?'

Jon rolled his eyes at the man's ignorance. "Hello? Easy A," he replied.

Daniel rolled his eyes in return.

They sat there in companionable silence for awhile before Jon brought up another topic. "So, do you think you'll be around for the next couple of years?"

"Probably. Why?" Daniel asked, his eyes narrowed, knowing that Jon was asking for some reason that did not pertain to his status as an Immortal actively participating in the Game.

"Well, in case, I don't know, get bored, need someone to bail me out of jail, or make an occasional beer run, will you come around? Also, I'm going to need someone be my emergency contact person at school," Jon grinned.

"Sure kid," Daniel said laughing, "Though I don't know about the beer runs. You are a growing boy and alcohol affects a young person's brain more than an adult's."

"I'm not saying for you to go out every Friday and get me a keg. Besides, if you don't I'll only ask Adam and you know he'll say yes," Jon said reasonably. "And I'm not a kid."

Daniel grinned. "Jon, compared to me, just about everyone else is a kid. If it helps any, I consider Jack to be a kid – a big kid trapped in an adult's body. At least you have an excuse."

"Fine," Jon said huffily.

"You'll do fine. Try to enjoy yourself and don't let the past and memories get you down," Daniel said, full of sage advice.

"Oh yeah, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, then I don't know what is. Hypocrite much Daniel," Jon snarked.

Daniel had the grace to blush slightly. "You'll do fine," he repeated himself.

After that Jon got called away to the General's office and Daniel got back to his work, silently wishing his new friend Jon the best of luck.

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know.

Yes, this is tag-ish to "Fragile Balance," but I wanted to incorporate that episode into my story somehow and what I have hinted at before about Daniel's past. Also, I had a good time writing this chapter. Having mini-me Jack pick the name Jon H. Simpson just seemed to be a Jack thing to do, plus using Jon as a first name seems logical and others have used it. As for Jack's middle name being P – for Patrick – according to Longstreet Pete over at SG-Writers Corner it was used in Cold Lazarus, if someone disagrees, that's okay, but I like the name Patrick. Thank you Annie and Longstreet Pete for your help.

Also, I did mention to two controversial topics: underage drinking and teacher/student relations. To cover my ass, just in case, if you are underage, don't do it. A young adult's brain is affected greater by alcohol than an adult's is. I won't say that I didn't drink underage in college (not in high school – my parents would have killed me), but it's still not a good idea. Secondly, as for the teacher/student relationship, I will say as a teacher –NO! GROSS! ICKY! ILLEGAL! GET A FREAKING LIFE YOU WEIRDOS! Thank you.

Anyways, please feel free to leave me an early Christmas present in the form of a review. You don't want me to be sad and cry do you? Please? Anyways, though it is a tad early I wish each and every one of you merry and blessed Christmas. Be safe and well.