Chapter 4
Five days had passed since Jack found himself back in the 80's. He went to meet up with Daniel and Sam at a local diner to see how they were adjusting to being teenagers again and hoped that Sam had some idea how to get them back to the future mentally. Jack sat alone in a corner booth waiting in the diner. He grasped the local menu and opted for a cup of coffee as he read over the options. He was seated facing the front of the building and could see the cars through the large windows. He wondered how Sam and Daniel would arrive for best to his knowledge neither had a car or a driver's license. As he kept an eye out for his teenage teammates a black Trans Am pulled into the spot next to his pickup truck. It caught his eye for the car had a flashing red strobe in the nose and Jack thought it looked kind of cool. He then watched as a tall handsome man with dark curly hair and sporting a leather jacket with blue jeans emerged from the car. He observed as the man walked into the diner and looked for a booth to sit in. He spied Jack sitting in the corner booth and grimaced as the man appeared to have wanted the same booth. He gave a nod to Jack and greeted.
"Hi!" Michael Knight stated and then looked for another booth. He soon took a seat in the next booth.
Jack cranked his head and looked behind him.
Michael Knight glanced up at Jack from the menu that he grasped from the table. He squinted as the face looked familiar. "Are you that actor on that television show?" he asked.
"No!" Jack huffed. Despite having much shorter hair he was still mistaken for the famous actor and it was starting irritate him. He recalled a few fellow pilots teasing him about the show when he was a young Captain the first time but being in uniform and secluding his leave time to the cabin that he inherited made the mistake happen far less.
"Sorry." Michael winced. "Just you look…"
"I know. Stop brining it up." he huffed wishing MacGyver was one show that never existed.
"Touchy." Michael muttered.
Jack heard the remark but let it go. He then heard a very British sounding voice from over the man's watch.
"Michael." KITT called.
"Yeah KITT." he replied talking into the watch.
"FBI agent Bill Maxwell and teacher, Ralph Hinckley have just pulled into the diner parking lot." he reported.
"Keep me posted." Michael stated as he had suspicions that Ralph was in fact the man in the red suit that had been in the newspapers.
KITT then reported, "Michael, two teenagers just rode up on bicycles. They greeted Ralph Hinckley. They are speaking outside the diner."
"Can you hear what they are saying?" he asked.
"They appear surprised to see each other at the diner." KITT reported. "They are entering now."
Jack looked up to see teenagers Daniel and Sam walk into the diner with two adult men behind them. Jack cocked an eyebrow as it appeared Sam and Daniel were now reduced to riding bicycles to get around. The pair quickly found Jack sitting next to the booth that Ralph and his friend, Bill approached.
Bill Maxwell was an middle aged man sporting a tan jacket and matching brown slacks. He offered a handshake to Michael. "Mr. Knight! I'm Bill Maxwell. We spoke on the phone."
Michael shook his hand, "Pleasure. Have a seat." he motioned.
Ralph looked on as Daniel and Sam grinned upon seeing Jack, who was a man in his twenties as far as he could tell. He kept in mind the claim the pair made in his class about the alien artifact sending them back to live their lives all over again.
"Jack!" Daniel slid down into the booth.
Sam slid in on the other side of the booth placing Jack between herself and Daniel in the corner. She wanted to give him a big kiss and hold him tight but she knew she could not. She fell back on her old regulations. "Sir." she smirked at him. It was if she spoke in a secret code by calling him "sir" once more. Something she had not done in years.
"Carter." he smirked back happy to see she was well. "Daniel," he greeted his friend. "You two were cute as kids." he mentioned.
Daniel's head rolled back, "Don't remind me. I have to ride my old bicycle to get anyplace. I don't have a car. Or a license."
Sam cheered him up, "But bike riding is good for you. It's one of those skills you don't really lose. I got right back on and rode with no problems."
Jack puckered, "Afraid you would fall off?"
She confessed, "It's been a while."
Daniel noticed Ralph was studying Jack intently. "This is my friend, Jack. I told you and the class about him."
Ralph stated, "Anyone ever tell you that you look just like…"
Jack barked, "Yes! Now don't go there."
Sam sat beside him rather cozily and started to hum the theme song to MacGyver.
Jack gave her a look, "Carter."
"Sir," she tried to keep a straight face but was laughing inside at her joke.
"Just don't." he warned.
Daniel then mentioned, "My mom loves that TV show, Sam. I never really watched it until last night." He looked at Jack. "I can see the resemblance."
The TV show was turning into a nightmare for Jack. "Just drop it, Daniel."
Daniel smiled to himself for he finally found something that really irritated Jack. He looked to Sam, "Can I borrow your collection?"
"The boxed set?" she asked knowing.
"Yeah." he nodded smirking at Jack.
Jack had to asked, "Why do you want to borrow Carter's prized MacGyver collection, Daniel?"
"I plan on putting the show on every time you walk into my lab." he informed.
"Why?" he asked for it sounded like a cruel plan.
"So, you will leave before you break anything." he frankly replied.
Jack rolled his eyes.
Ralph looked upon how Jack interacted with Sam and Daniel. It was if they were all speaking about things to come but in the past tense. He pondered if perhaps they really were part of a top secret program. "It's nice to meet you, Jack. I have a meeting to tend to." Ralph excused himself and went to sit with Michael and Bill.
Jack looked at his teenage team and asked, "So…how is high school?"
Sam stated, "Janet is in our class."
"Frasier!" Jack gasped.
Ralph's ears perked up as he could hear the conversation behind him. They were speaking about another student.
Daniel nodded, "Janet is in our class, Jack. She's our age. It's great. I never knew she had some reading issues when she was a kid. It's a rough class. Must be the reason Janet was so tough. These kids can really push it."
Sam agreed, "They are smart kids. Just in bad situations."
"Frasier…a fifteen year old kid." Jack pondered. "I always wondered what her childhood must have been like. I thought she was born a drill sergeant."
"Actually, she was pretty intimidated by Tony." Daniel informed. "Me and Sam kind of straightened him out."
"I'm glad she's alive and you got to see her again." Jack told them. "Been so long."
"I just wished she remembered like we do." Sam told him. "It would have been awesome to have our Janet here with us."
Daniel jested, "She would be threatening to shove a needle in Tony's ass."
"Yes she would." Sam agreed. She looked to Jack, "And you, sir. You are a captain now. This is kind of like getting demoted." she winced.
"I'll say." Jack agreed. "Gone from retired four star General to Captain in the blink of an eye."
Unbeknownst to Jack, Sam and Daniel, KITT was recording the conversation and found it most odd as he analyzed the what was said.
"It's a head trip." Sam had to agree.
"My head trip is being a teenager again." Daniel complained. "Going through puberty a second time is not fun."
Sam looked at Jack, "Now I know how your clone that Loki made felt."
"He's grew up and became an adult." Jack reminded her. "I even left him the cabin in my will. He should be grateful. I let him live."
Daniel asked, "Did you get a job for when you are on leave, Jack?"
"I did." he smiled. "I'm a stunt pilot for Santini Air. Dom is cool! He was World War Two fighter ace. He flew mustangs. He's so cool, Carter. You have got to meet him."
"I would love to meet him." she agreed.
"Stunt pilot, Jack?" Daniel asked. "You mean for Hollywood?"
"Yup! And I will be flying for Carter's TV show next week." he announced. "I get to be the stunt double too." he rolled his eyes.
Sam's mouth dropped. "You're kidding. Get me his autograph, Jack."
He gave her a amused look, "You want me to get you that washed up actor's autograph? You never asked for my autograph." he teased her.
"I have your autograph." she countered. "It's on everything we own." she reminded him. "I want MacGyver's autograph."
"You realize MacGyver is a TV character." Jack replied amused.
"I mean the actor." she clarified. "What's his name." she waved it off.
Daniel sat and confessed, "After disclosure. I wonder if they will make a TV series based on us and who would play me."
Sam stated, "James Spader should play you. And they should make a movie. Not a series."
"Who?" Jack asked.
"James Spader!" Sam insisted. "He's one of the brat pack."
"The brat pack?" Jack asked.
Daniel smirked, "That would be the current Hollywood group of teenager heart throbs."
Jack miffed, "What happened to the good actors? Like Ernest Borgine. McHale's Navy!"
Daniel teased him. "It's the 80's, Jack. You have to get with the program."
Monday
Monday rolled around and Jack was back to work at the airfield as Sam and Daniel returned to high school. He was going over the stunts to be preformed on the MacGyver series when a long white limo pulled into the business. Dom looked out of the hangar as he stood beside Jack.
"Oh' just great." Dom complained.
"Who is in the white limo?" Jack wondered.
Dom rolled his eyes, "Another job for the FIRM."
As the limo pulled up to the hangar mouth Stringfellow Hawke and Caitlin O'Shannessy also emerged to see what the next mission for Airwolf would be.
Jack watched on as a man dressed in white from head to toe and sporting eyeglasses with one dark lens emerge from the car along with a dark haired woman also dressed all in white. A familiar face emerged next. Colonel George Hammond emerged in full blue dress and his visor cap tucked under his arm. He stood and recalled that 1969 had already happened for George and he would recognize him. He waited to see what would unfold.
Michael Coldsmith-Briggs the Third, also known as "Archangel" approached his top secret team with the Air Force Colonel in tow. He greeted his friends. "Hawke!" He noticed Jack standing beside Dom and gave a pause. He looked to Hammond, "Colonel."
The corner of Jack's mouth tugged up as he gave a half smile to George. He admitted, "I wasn't expecting to see you here, George. How was 1969?"
Hammond stood a bit taken by Jack's statement and was not aware he would be at the airfield. "You are aware of the events of 1969, Colonel?" he asked.
"Yeah, something else happened after that." he confessed.
String, Caitlin and Dom all looked on wondering what on earth they were talking about.
Hammond spoke to Jack. "Colonel O'Neill…we have a serious situation. The ring that you and your team came through. It was stolen."
Dom stated, "Jack's a Captain."
"Actually, I'm a retired General." he mentioned. "What do you mean the Gate was stolen, George? It should be in storage."
"It was stolen right out from under our nose." he informed. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. I'm glad you are here." he confessed.
"Gate?" String asked confused. "What's going on?"
"I'm not entirely sure." Archangel stated a bit bewildered himself. "I have the next Airwolf mission for you." He looked to his assistant, Marella who was staring at Jack most surprised.
"Airwolf?" Jack asked unsure what they were talking about.
Hammond informed, "Airwolf is a top secret chopper that is armed and can do mach one, Colonel." He looked to String, Dom and Caitlin. "I'm Colonel George Hammond, US Air Force. In 1969, I was a young lieutenant. I was placed on guard duty for one of our secure storage sites. In the site an artifact of alien origin that activated and four people came through, all dressed in military gear. I found a note written to myself and in my handwriting instructing me to help them escape and get back home through the ring."
Jack recalled, "We hit a solar flare, sent the wormhole around the sun and us right back to you, George."
Marella retrieved files from a briefcase. "I have the files of the four who came through the ring in 1969. Colonel Jonathan O'Neill. Captain Samantha Carter. Dr. Daniel Jackson and a black man whose identification card stated his name was Murray." She handed the photos to Stringfellow Hawke.
String looked upon the photos of the future SG-1 team that was captured in the past. He spied an older version of Jack. He looked at the younger man standing nearby rather surprised.
Marella continued, "They all had United States Air Force insignia and issued identification cards. A patch of what we believe to be a team patch…SG-1. We do not know what it stands for."
"Star Gate One and George came up with it. He was our C.O. at the time." Jack told them. "That was the first year of operation."
Hammond asked, "What happened after you got back home, Colonel? You are a Captain in the Air Force currently."
"Well, to make a long story short. Me, Carter and Daniel all got exposed to an alien rock that sent us back mentally through time by forty years." he told him. "T was back home and wasn't exposed." He grinned, "Boy is it good to see you again, George." he cheered, "I could kiss ya!"
George asked, "Captain Carter and Dr. Jackson were also affected by this alien device?"
"Yup." Jack confirmed. "They got sent back to being teenagers again."
"Could they assist with the mission to get the ring back?" he asked.
"I suppose." Jack agreed. "They are kind of stuck in high school."
"I would like to seem them." he stated.
"They will love to see you too, George." he assured happy.
Archangel stated, "It appears this mission just got more complicated."
Jack told him, "You will need them. Carter knows the tech stuff and Daniel…he knows all about the aliens who built the thing." He looked Archangel over, "Nice suit. How do you get it so white?"
Dom wasn't sure what was going on but he liked how Jack teased Archangel over the white suit. He had to laugh a little to himself.
String asked, "Star Gate? Ring?"
Jack stated, "Let's wait until we get Carter and Daniel here. They will need to know what is going on."
Archangel stated, "I will send a driver to pick them up at…high school." he found himself questioning his own words at that point.