AU: Charlie gets a late night call out to bail John out of an interesting situation

TRIGGERS: Mention of consensual sexual situation

Chapter 31: The Trouble with John

Thursday, 24th June 2004 – Colorado Springs PD – Major Charles Kawalsky

Of all the downright, stupid and utterly ridiculous situations I had pulled Jack O'Neill out of over the years, a call from the local constabulary was so far down the bottom of the list that I had to ask the officer twice if she had the right person.

Not me. I mean I was the only Major Charles Kawalsky that I knew of. Jack. Or rather John because – you know – there were two Jonathan J. O'Neill's with a Samantha Carter registered as their emergency contact.

When Colonel Dixon informed me that there was an officer of the law calling for General Carter about a Mr. Jonathan O'Neill, as I was surprised to discover that the General had instructed Dixon to pass any calls relating specifically to John onto me even though he had been assigned as base 2IC in her absence.

Walking through the door of the local CSPD precinct, I saw him sitting on the long bench seat sandwiched between an elderly woman who decided that the lovely young man beside her wanted to know all about her 15 cats, and an irate man being questioned by an officer over some traffic infraction that was apparently not his fault.

"What?" He grumbled as he came to his feet, ignoring the elderly woman with her fold out wallet of cat photos.

"Indecent exposure. Really, Jack? Thought you were smarter than that." I jested with the cranky young man who was probably only angry because he got caught.

He scoffed, "They didn't see a damned thing." The petulance in his voice was nothing short of hilarious.

"In that case, why are you here?" I asked because if they hadn't seen anything, there was no charge to answer for – technically. His dropped his head and scratched along the hairline.

"Err… well… Ronny is…" He pressed his lips together and lowered his voice to almost a whisper, "…not quiet, as it were." He said, a pinkish blush covering his cheeks when he explained that his teenage girlfriend was a screamer. I had to stifle a laugh because Bree was much the same. Then again, I could hardly talk because Bree had a way of making me a lot more vocal than I used to be, or so Samantha claimed with a roll of her eyes.

"More so noise pollution then." I commented as he collected his backpack from under the bench seating. He pulled a face at my suggestion of a different charge.

"Who goes hiking at that time of night away?" The grumbled words loud enough to draw several looks from others in the room. I laughed with a shake of my head. Who indeed.

"Did you at least get to finish?" I asked because I could not help myself. When John turned a scarlet tinged hue of pink, I had my answer. "Where's the girl?" I asked as we lined up behind two other people at the precinct reception.

"Veronica." He corrected me and I held my hands up at the perceived insult of calling her 'the girl'.

"Sorry. Where is Veronica?" I repeated my question and wondered if this 'Veronica' was the young woman the General had seen with John at the stream fishing yesterday. When she arrived back, the look on her face was all I needed to see to know that something had gone terribly wrong between her and John, and that that something was a girl. I had immediately offered to intervene only to be told in no uncertain terms that I was to 'stay out of it' and that she was happy that he had found someone his own physical age.

Still, the hurt in her expression was unmistakable, almost as if she had lived to see him choose another woman before. But that couldn't be right. Could it? I mean, having known Jack for so long and seeing him with Samantha, I couldn't imagine him choosing another woman.

"On her way to Utah." John replied, "Her Aunt picked her up about 30-minutes ago. She wasn't impressed." He offered, motioning to his shirt that I just realised had been ripped. Tracking my eyes from the shirt to his face, I saw the fresh bruise beginning to darken around his eye, and I had a momentary jolt of panic.

"John, did you…"

"No! Of course not. I would never." He defended immediately then sighed and looked at me with worry in his eyes. "Her Aunt thought I was 20 years old and ah… coercing her. She insisted that I be charged for… well you know." He gestured with his hand in a rolling motion and winced. He had insisted his sudden ageing in the last three months was the result of a growth spurt, but since the General was looking decades younger, I figured there was something else going on there that neither of them wanted to discuss.

"I'm guessing that didn't stick." I deduced because he was out here and not in lock up, nor did he have a bail amount posted for his release.

"Ronny defended me pretty viciously and flatly refused to have me charged." He explained quietly with a small smile as we approached the window to have him signed out. "Created quite a scene really. I think I may be a dead man when her parents get home."

"Were you…" I paused, but decided it was a valid question, "…protected?"

"Of course." He replied with a scoff and a roll of his eyes as if my question was completely out of line. Maybe it was, but still, I had to check just in case.

"I think you'll be fine." I offered with a pat to his shoulder, "If your Veronica is as much of a firecracker as any of my sisters, she'll make her parents rue the day they hurt you." I said with a smile, remembering the hell or high water my parents faced with three of my four sisters. "Bethany threatened to elope and move state if our father confronted her boyfriend, Lottie told our father that she slept with four guys in one week and asked which one he wanted to kill, and Cynthia, well she stormed out of the house and didn't call or visit for weeks. We received a letter from a young man apologising for his role in her 'condition' and offering to marry her." I explained the interesting situations my sisters foisted on my parents.

"What about Bernadette?" John asked and I had to remind myself that of course he knew who Bernadette was because he was Jack which prompted me to give him a strange look. "I mean after… you know and before the convent." He clarified, because of course he knew about that as well.

"Ah… well, she never really recovered when James didn't come home, you know." I replied sadly.

"Yeah, I know." He agreed. "I only met her a few times. She was nice, and good for Jimmy. She grounded him after all that crap with our old man." He reminisced as we took a step closer to the sign out window.

It wasn't particularly common knowledge that my sister met James O'Neill when she moved to Chicago for college. Jack and Jimmy grew up in the wilds of Minnesota with their grandparents. Jimmy was older by a few years and moved back to Chicago in 1964 before answering the call up to go to Vietnam in 1969. He met Bernadette Kawalsky in 1966. The summer before he deployed, Jimmy and Bernie travelled the mid-northwest with a group of friends. Jack joined the Air Force. A few weeks into his basic training, his TO informed him of Jimmy's fate. As a 13-year-old, all I remembered was Bernie crying her eyes out for what seemed like months before she packed up her bags one day and indoctrinated herself into the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement over near Garrison, Phillipstown. I didn't meet Jack for another 15 years, but we hit it off immediately as soon as we discovered our familial link. I had no doubt that if Jimmy had come home, we'd have been brothers by marriage rather than brothers in arms. It also meant that we would never have served so closely together, so I really could not complain because I got to know him as a great friend and a great CO.

"I haven't seen her in years." I confessed softly. "Last time I visited, she told me not to come back. I figure it won't be much different on this side." John just looked at me in side profile and nodded his understanding.

"Next." The woman behind the desk framed by a Perspex half window called drily as if she were already counting down the minutes until the end of her shift.

"Major Charles Kawalsky. Here for Jonathan O'Neill." I said as we stepped up to the window. She rifled through the files on her disorganised desk.

"Ah, the car sex kid." She drawled while John merely rolled his eyes and grumbled about her 'saying it louder because the whole room didn't hear her' announce his apparent crime.

"The paperwork lists a General Samantha Carter as his guardian." The officer said with a nasally voice that almost rivalled Fran Drescher.

"Ah yeah, the General is unavailable. She issued orders making me his temporary guardian." I replied, unfolding the official request – neatly typed – given to me by Dixon, and sliding it under the partition.

"She what?" John barked, making to grab the piece of paper. Slapping his hand away, I issued my own glare because we wanted to get out of here and not give them a reason to hold him any longer or impose bail.

"Where is he staying?" The officer asked, completely ignoring John's little outburst.

"With me and my fiancée." I replied quickly, then gave her the address of the house that belonged to Major Samantha Carter earning myself a shove in my arm from John. Clearly, he had no idea about Jacob's decision to provide Sam's old house to Bree and me. Then again, he hadn't exactly been around for us to tell him.

"Sign here." She drawled and passed me a ratty old blue pen with a chewed lid perched on the top.

"Charlie." John nudged me while I signed for his freedom. With a well-placed elbow and a shushing sound, I sighed on the dotted line and collected his wallet, watch, phone, car keys and a yo-yo that had seen better days. Since a Sergeant from motor pool dropped me off here, I was able to drive the kid home in the Silverado. A truck I had been dying to get behind the wheel of since I knew they had bought it.

"Thank you, Officer." I said with a tight smile. She grunted and called 'next' to the people behind us who eyed John as we walked past them and out the door onto the bustling sidewalk.

"Now will you tell me why the hell I am staying in Sam's old house with you and Brittany?" John questioned forcefully. "And why Sam isn't here herself!" He added brusquely as an afterthought.

"Yep. After you get your ass in the truck, and we are driving." I threw over my shoulder as we walked down the column of cars to the end spot where the Silverado was parked. He grumbled some more before doing exactly as I had asked which felt strange, because the Jack I knew would park himself in the middle of the sidewalk and refuse to go anywhere. Then again, the Jack I knew would never let himself be caught screwing his girlfriend in the back seat of his truck.

The first thing I did after opening the door was to retrieve from my pocket the small hand held device I used for detecting surveillance equipment and swept it along the roof lining and the dash paying close attention to areas easily accessible with a minimal amount of time. After so many years of black ops missions, it had become second nature, and I made sure to requisition one not long after I arrived on this side.

"It's not bugged." The kid said with a touch too much smarm in his voice for my liking. Nevertheless I continued to check because you never knew. It would just be his luck that the 'noise complaint' came from someone who had bugged his car and heard the whole event as it unfolded.

"It's been in a compound for how long?" I pointedly asked while checking the back of the seats. He crossed his arms and said nothing, so I checked my watch. "I make it at least three hours." It was just gone 0140 hours in the morning, and I received the call little more than an hour ago.

"Five." He grumbled. Wow, which meant the sun probably hadn't quite set when they were caught. Bold move. When the truck came up clean, John smirked a 'told ya so' expression in my direction.

"Old habits, Jack. You know how it is." I defended my paranoia.

"Yeah." Was all the response I received. Not even a thank you for getting out of my warm bed to come and pick him up. His terse attitude left me shaking my head as I turned the key in the ignition to hear the beefy engine fire up and rumble under the hood. Damn, I loved these trucks. So, I revved the engine a little before letting it go back to idle, and then – just because I could – I did it again. At least the kid had Jack's same taste in vehicles, mind you it wouldn't have surprised me if this was Sam's choice either. Though she loved her little sporty numbers, I simply loved watching her face light up when Jack let her drive his beast on the other side.

"Are you done?" John asked making me turn to see a knowing smirk on the kids face and his arms crossed over his chest.

"Just a sec." I replied, then pumped the accelerator once more with a little more feeling. "OK, now I'm good." I added, then grinned stupidly at my passenger who just shook his head and laughed. Looking over my shoulder to check for non-existent traffic at this time of the morning, I reversed out and drove carefully down the street.

"So, you going to tell me why she's not here herself?" John repeated his question from earlier.

"Maybe. You gonna tell me what the hell went down between you two?" I countered although I had a fair idea because he wasn't exactly quiet when he shouted her down in the office on Tuesday afternoon. Whatever it was, it had to be bad to cause this much animosity between them. When they both reappeared after three months, I could scarcely believe my eyes. John was noticeably older, but not by a hell of a lot, but the General. It was as if she had somehow shaved decades off her appearance. No one in their right mind would believe she was a woman of 89 or 90, or whatever age she was supposed to be after Jack changed her birthday.

"None of your business." He bit off and looked out the window into the darkness. So, I just drove and said nothing for a while hoping he would choose to fill the silence of his own volition. It took a while and several sets of traffic signals before he sighed heavily.

"I said some things." He confessed quietly, "Said I wished I hadn't met the old man for coffee. That I hadn't…" He took a shallow breath, "…that I wished I never accepted the keys to her house. She told me to go back to high school, let the adults do the hard work." He said, looking at his hands. I could hear the self-loathing and regret in his voice. "So… I did. She found me…" He choked out an upset sounding chuckle, "…at the stream with… somehow she knew." He looked at me and I could see the sheen of unshed tears in his eyes along with that loathing. "She knew I'd been with her. She always knew whenever I had been with another woman. She'd get this look of disappointment and turn away, only this time, she didn't. Turn away. She handed me a letter for Jack, then got in her car drove away."

"Have you read it?" I asked.

"What? No. It's for Jack… it's not for…"

"It's not? You sure about that?" I interrupted. "If it wasn't for you, why would she give it to you instead of someone else? She came looking for you specifically to give you that letter." I explained carefully. "She wants you to know something, John." I insisted. He looked at me with worry in his eyes.

"She's not been quite the same since DC." He murmured as if realising it for the first time. "She's been distracted."

"As if she is on her own mission none of us know about." I added my own thoughts to his words. "We were all there in that warehouse, John. Kennedy is up to something. I know that he's been on our side in the shadows, but he has an ulterior motive, and I bet the answer to what it is, is in that letter." I spelled out for him because something did not add up. John simply stared out the window, his hands rubbing on his thighs, before leaning forward to open the glove compartment and retrieve the thick envelope. With a surreptitious look in my direction, he slid his thumb under the seal and ripped the top open then withdrew a thick folded wad of paper and a USB. With a flick of the light above us, he started reading.

With a smile, I looked back at the road as we wended our way through the suburbs back to the house where the spare room had already been set up for him as per the General's request to her father before he handed over the keys. Bree didn't know about the house yet. She had been busy at work with a new find coming out of Patagonia. I was planning on surprising her with it this afternoon. She had stayed at her house with Winona the last two nights, though that was her limit after yet another argument over my 'true intentions', because Winona knew my type so well.

The occasional noise from John suggested that the letter was full of truths he didn't expect or did want to expect.

There was more to the General's plans than simply knowing the future and apparently having late night visits from an astral Jack – if that indeed did happen – than we were being told. She had ordered me to kill the System Lords when they arrived without any backup plan for how to deal with the impending power vacuum that would happen when news got out that they were dead. Daniel reminded me that they still had ships, and vassal's that would know about their visit to Earth. We would be in more danger than ever if I followed her orders. I had to agree with him, though studiously avoided telling the General that I planned on disobeying her orders. Elizabeth was still floating around. I figured she and Daniel could handle the System Lords. Colonel Dixon and I could co-ordinate back up military support if required, assuming they even turned up this time.