To Sleep, Perchance to Dream. 

By Rocza 

Email: roczadeb@yahoo.com 

Story Status: Complete 

Sequel Information: None 

Series Information: None 

Season: 7 

Spoilers: Lost City part 2 

Categories: Angst 

Pairing: None 

Content Level: PG C

ontent Warning: minor language 

Summary: Jack’s clone can’t sleep.  

Archive Permissions: Any who want it are welcome. Just give me credit. 

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions; not me. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement intended. The story is the property of the author and may not be posted without the author’s consent. 

Author’s Notes: I always wondered how the SGC so quickly figured out that Ancient technology required the Ancient gene. This thought inspired this what-if story. Not to mention that Jack’s clone is a never ending source of plot bunnies. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

"To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there 's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come." --From Shakespears’s Hamlet (III, i, 65-68) 

"Dreams are answers to questions we haven't yet figured out how to ask." ~X-Files  

He couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he was assaulted with the images. They were not horrific, but in a way that made them worse. His dreams were filled with attacking Jaffa, fire and then ice, a huge space battle, and the feeling of being frozen solid. The images were relatively bloodless. The only exception was watching Bray’tac bleed to death from a knife wound.  

Over it all, was a feeling of desperation and despair. In his dream, he felt his mind slipping and out of his control. Normally, he could place his nightmares. They usually fit perfectly with an old mission. But he couldn’t place the images or the battles.

He should be able to remember what spurred his bad dreams. That alone was disconcerting. He was sure he could place all his other nightmares. Well, all but the one where he couldn’t find Carter.  

He needed to talk to someone. His first choice would be Daniel or Teal’c, but that was no longer possible. He had severed ties with his old life. He needed to keep them severed to stay sane. He thought about calling Jack, but hesitated. It was weird. He would be able to help him sort things out, but things were still too weird between them. Maybe Hammond could spare him some time. Yes, he would talk to Hammond.  

But first he needed to get some sleep. Scratch that, it was time to get up for school. Crap, he didn’t want to deal with high school politics today. 

Jon O’Neill sighed and got up to get ready for high school.  

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Principal Mike Peterson watched as one of the sophomore students, Jon O’Neill, dragged himself through the hallways of the high school. Mike could tell that he had yet another sleepless night, making it a full week.  

Jon had been going to this high school for six months. Summer break was approaching and the whole school was ready for the break. Everyone except Jon. But then, Jon had always been different. He seemed to act like any other teenager, but sometimes Mike noticed a look that didn’t fit the carefree teenager. More disturbing was Jon’s ability to wipe the look away as if were never there.  

Regardless, something was keeping the boy up at night. He wasn’t the type to party all night or stay up for no reason. But for the last week, the kid had been dragging around school without his usual energy. Mike decided to try and find out what was going on. Maybe he was homesick or just plain sick. Mike worried about him since his Uncle, who was supposed to be caring for him, seemed to be out of town an awful lot. 

“Jon, I want talk to you for a minute.” 

Jon turned and regarded Mike for a minute. “Sure, why not.” Jon’s off the cuff response caught Mike off guard. As principal, most students dreaded talking to him. Mike hadn’t really talked to Jon much since the day he transferred in, but he had heard reports from his teachers that Jon was ‘surprisingly mature’ and ‘easily communicates at an adult level.’ Of course, these glowing reports often came with ‘disrespectful behavior’ and ‘inappropriate humor’ comments as well. 

“Right, if you will follow me.”  

“Lead on, Kimosabe.” 

As they walked to his office, Mike carefully observed the student. He was sporting a carefree look, but it was marred by the deep lines under his eyes and the general air of exhaustion.  

Mike sat behind his desk and gestured to one of the chairs across from him. Jon dropped into it with a sigh. 

“What is going on, Jon? When was the last time you got a full nights sleep?”  

“What?” Jon’s face flashed a moment of surprise before the mask dropped. “I don’t know what you mean.” 

Mike frowned, “It is obvious to me and several of your teachers that you are not getting enough sleep at night. I have been watching the past several days and so I know that you come in dragging every day. Now, when was the last time you slept through the night?” 

Jon’s laugh was unexpected, but his eyes were dark. Mike felt a chill roll down his spine. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. So why bother. I’ll be leaving now. Thanks for the chat.” 

Mike was stunned as the teenager just got up to leave. “You can’t leave. We are not done here,” he exclaimed, his voice tight with anger. 

The look that the kid turned on him was filled with dark humor. “Or what? You’ll spank me… you’ll yell at me… or maybe you’ll tell my uncle.” The kid stared him down while he held the maniacal grin, not flinching once, until Mike had to look away. “Whoop. Dee. Doo. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m late for class.” 

Mike sat in his chair heart racing. “What the hell just happened?” He had just watched the teenager that everyone seemed to like, that would defend the weak, transform into something… deadly.

He was now convinced that something big was happening to Jon, possibly drugs or gangs. He picked up the phone to call Jon’s uncle and guardian. Someone needed to straighten the boy out.  

The line rang several times before he reached voice mail. “You have reached the office of Col. O’Neill. I am unavailable. Please call 345-6789 to have a message forwarded to me.” He dialed the next number.  

“Control, Sgt Harriman.” 

“Yes, Sgt, I’m Principal Peterson from Colorado Springs High School. I’m trying to reach Col. O’Neill. Is he available?” 

The silence over the phone was odd. “Uh, Col. O’Neill?… The, uh, Colonel is not available…Is this about Jon O’Neill?” the Sgt asked.

Mike could hear paper rustling in the background. He frowned at the phone. “Yes.” 

Mike heard the sigh over the phone. “I have standing orders to pass on anything to do with Jon O’Neill to the base commander. I’ll go get Dr Weir, sir.”  

Mike was confused. Why would he need to talk to a doctor? Or the base commander for that matter? 

After a few minutes, he heard the line click again. “Principal Peterson, this is Dr. Weir, Col. O’Neill’s supervisor. I understand you are trying to reach him concerning his nephew, Jon.” 

Mike frowned at the phone again, “Yes, I need to speak with him immediately. Is he available?” 

“Unfortunately, no. I’ll send Dr. Jackson over to the school immediately. I have him listed as one of his alternate guardians if Col O’Neill is unavailable for any length of time. However, it will take him several hours to reach you from his location.” 

“If he is on Jon’s approved list, then that should be fine.” Mike's frown deepened, “May I ask when Col. O’Neill will return?” 

Mike heard her hesitate over the phone, “I can’t divulge that information. Sorry. Dr. Jackson will bring Jon up to speed. Thank you for calling, Mr. Peterson.” 

“Yes, thank you.” Mike hung up the phone confused.  

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Two hours later, the secretary escorted Dr. Daniel Jackson into the principal’s office. “Good Morning, Dr. Jackson. Thank you for coming down on such short notice,” Mike said while standing behind his desk. 

Daniel accepted his had warily, “Um, sure. So, what’s going on with Jon?”  

“Well, Jon has been coming in all week extremely tired. I don’t think that he's been sleeping well. When I tried to talk to him, he refused to talk. I’m concerned that he may be getting involved with gangs or drugs.”  

Daniel snorted. “Sorry, it’s just his way to never talk about anything personal. Ever. And he is the last person to do drugs. As for gangs, I doubt it.”  

Mike didn’t like the way Daniel casually dismissed his concerns so casually. He gave a deep sigh, another lost teen because of an inattentive family. 

Then Daniel seemed to think of something. “When exactly did this start?” 

Mike frowned in thought, “Mrs. Tennison said that it started last Friday.” 

Daniel recognized the day. It was last Friday that Jack stuck his head in the Ancient Library, “Friday. I’ll talk to him.” And he got up to leave. “Thanks for bringing this to our attention.” 

Mike stood up and shook his hand. “Thank you. I’ll take you to his current class now.” 

They walked in an awkward silence down the hallway. Finally, reaching the classroom, the principal opened the door and gestured to the teacher at the front. “Can you send Jon out, please? Thank you.” 

Jon squeezed out the door with his pack. His face lit with a real smile. “Daniel, it’s so good to see you. How have you been? How are the rest of the kids?” 

Daniel smiled back, “Good, Jon, good.” Daniel turned back to the principal. “I’ll be taking Jon with me now. He should be back next week.” Daniel turned back to Jon, “We have to talk.” 

“No problem-o. Let me grab the rest of my stuff.” Jon jogged down the hallway to his locker.

As Daniel moved to follow him, the principal said his good-byes. “Well, I’ll leave you too it then. See you next week Jon.” 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Jon felt some of his tension ease as Daniel closed the driver’s side door. “So, what’s up? What happened to Jack?” 

Daniel froze behind the steering wheel, how could he know? “I… He… He’s not dead.” Daniel sighed, “He’s in stasis.” Daniel glanced over at him, “So, what’s up with the lack of sleep? Do you know that your principal called me down because he thinks you’re into gangs or drugs?” 

Jon regarded Daniel carefully, “Nice try, Daniel. Your problems are my problems, remember.” Jon took comfort in the easy banter. “So, Jack got himself frozen again. Not cool.” 

“Cool?” 

“Hey, Covert Ops 101, learn the lingo when blending in with the natives.” 

“Natives? Since when do Colorado teenagers count as natives?” Daniel replied. 

Jon sighed, “Since about six months ago.” He watched doubt cloud Daniel’s face.  

“Jon…” Daniel started. 

“Daniel, don’t. It was my choice. I’m doing well, really. Doesn’t Jack keep you up to date?” 

Daniel frowned, “Not really. He just says that you are adjusting and doesn’t elaborate. He actually discourages any question about you.” 

“Good.” 

“Good?” 

“Yeah, I don’t want you guys to know the nitty-gritty details. It’s just… too… weird. Everyone keeps telling me that I just need to let it go, ya know? So, I’m trying to start over. I’m good, really.” Jon gave Daniel a weak smile. “So are we going to the mountain or what? Let’s go, Space Monkey.” 

Daniel grinned and started up the truck. It was good to talk, or not talk, to Jack again, sort of. He sighed as he realized that Jon was right. It was weird. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

They arrived at the mountain without any problems. Security eyed Jon with curiosity, but let him pass. It was only when he reached the briefing room that things were noticeably different. 

“Where’s Hammond?” he asked Daniel over his shoulder. He was warily watching a blonde woman sitting behind General Hammond’s desk. 

“Ahh, well, General Hammond has been transferred to DC to work directly for President Hayes.” Daniel explained. “That is Dr. Elizabeth Weir the new SGC commander. President Hayes thought that a civilian would provide better oversight to the SGC.” 

“What?! Is he insane?” Jon paused, and held up a hand, “He must be, he did pick Kinsey for a running mate.” 

Daniel smiled, “Don’t worry. She’s not so bad. She kicked Kinsey out of the mountain earlier this week.” 

“Really, I must meet this woman,” Jon replied. 

They walked over to the door and Daniel knocked.

“Enter.” 

They both walked into the office and Jon promptly sank down into one of the chairs across from the stunned woman.

“Dr. Jackson, I take it you have a good explanation for bringing a teenager down here.” 

“Oh, I like her, Daniel,” Jon snarked. “Tell me, Doc. How many of the mission reports have you read so far?” Dr. Weir looked very confused as Jon continued grilling her. “Have you gotten to the point where Apophis was killed, the first or second time? Daniel ascended? Daniel returned? Doc Frasier was killed? How much exactly do you know about this program’s history?” 

Dr. Weir glared angrily at Jon then focused her anger back at Daniel, “And what exactly does a teenager know about this program?” 

Jon turned to Daniel, ignoring her question, “Not far enough. How can she manage the SGC, if she doesn’t even know what’s happened to lead up to the current state of affairs?” 

“Jon, just give her the facts. She’s not another Bauer. Really.” 

“Fine.” Jon turned back to Dr. Weir. His lanky frame snapped out of the chair startling her. He stood at full attention. “Ma’am, Colonel Jonathan James O’Neill, currently inactive, reporting. I was cloned by a renegade Asgard named Loki approximately six months ago. I have all of the original Col O’Neill’s memories up to that point. Since then Col O’Neill, the original, has acted as my contact within the SGC. Because of our close resemblance, I took the identity of his nephew. I am currently here because something has happened to Jack and Daniel thinks you need me.” 

“What?” exclaimed Daniel. “I thought I was getting you out of trouble. I didn’t say that.” The last statement was directed to Dr. Weir. 

“You’re right, Daniel. You didn’t. You said that something happened to Jack and that we needed to go to the mountain. I just filled in the blanks.” Jon let a smirk cross his face never breaking his rigid stance. 

“Right,” Dr. Weir felt once again out of her depth. She looked at Daniel for confirmation, “Is this all true?” 

“Um, yes. To keep them separate, Jon decided to go with his given name rather than his nickname.” Daniel supplied. 

“Yada, yada, water under the bridge.” Jon dropped from his picture perfect stance back into the chair. “Now what happened to Jack. Start with the last Friday,” Jon pushed impatiently. 

“What makes you think anything happened… what… Friday, you say?” Daniel rambled, stalling for time.  

Jon sighed, “I have my ways.” 

“Really, what ways?” 

“Daniel?” 

“Fine,” Daniel looked over to Dr. Weir seeking permission. He had never been good at verbal sparring with Jack. Why should his clone be any different. 

“Go ahead, Dr. Jackson.” 

“Um, we found another library of the ancients,” Daniel stated simply. 

“Oh fer crying out loud, you let him put his head in that thing again. Daniel, you know better. Look at what happened the last time.” 

“Jon, it wasn’t like that," Daniel exclaimed, feeling the need to justify his actions. "He stopped me and Sam from doing it and then had us blow it up. We were under attack. We needed the information, but couldn’t secure it. And we couldn’t let Anubis get his hands on it. Jack just… he just took the risk on himself,” Daniel hung his head, caught up in the memories, “like he always does.” He remembered being pushed out of the way; the look in Jack’s eyes as he made the decision and moved to execute it.  

Jon regarded his friend carefully, “Well, that explains the Jaffa. What happened next?” 

Daniel looked perturbed, “Jaffa?” 

“Come on, Daniel. What happen next?” 

“Right… well… the download did its… thing, we flew to an ancient city… apparently for a power source… then flew back to Earth…” Daniel was too caught up in the painful memories of those last frantic moments to continue. Had it really been just yesterday? 

“Col O’Neill then saved this planet from Anubis’ fleet,” Dr. Weir finished. 

Jon looked down and put the pieces of his dreams together. “Fire. Then Ice. Big honkin’ space battle. Cold … “ He looked up at Dr. Weir. “Oh hell, he’s still in Antarctica.”  

“Jon?” Daniel started, confused at how fast Jon had put together everything with so few facts, nevermind the things he had specifically omitted. 

Dr. Weir was equally confused, “How did…” 

“No, Daniel. You know how much he hates that place. Why is he still there?” 

“Please listen, Jon. We can’t move him. He’s in an ancient stasis pod. And we can’t get the controls to work,” Daniel explained. “You know we wouldn’t leave him there alone. Sam and Teal’c are there now.” 

A thought brushed across Jon's mind, they couldn’t work it, but he could. “Show me.” 

The rapid change in subject had Daniel off balance. “What?” he asked. 

“Show me the chair.” Jon insisted. 

“Out of the question,” exclaimed Dr. Weir. 

“Why?” Daniel could see Jon’s intent expression. He could read it just like Jack’s. Jon knew something. Jon smiled, “Because I am the key to make it work.” 

“What are you two talking about?” Dr Weir insisted. 

“Really? You’re sure?” Daniel continued. 

“Yes.” 

“Hello. Am I invisible?” Dr Weir insisted. When their attention turned back to her, “What makes you think I’ll allow you to go anywhere, knowing what you know?” 

Jon grinned, “Because without me the control chair won’t work.” 

“How do you know it’s a chair? And why won’t it work without you?” she asked. 

Jon’s grin faded. “I’m not sure. I just know.” He shrugged. “Like I know what happened to Jack, but not in context. I… just… know.” He raised his hands in surrender. 

Dr. Weir looked between the two. Her gaze finally settled on Daniel, “are you sure this is a good idea?” 

Daniel grew very serious, “I’m as sure as I can be.” 

Dr. Weir sighed. Resigned, she stated, “I’ll allow you to go… providing… you are very cautious. If you can work the ancient console, then you are a very important resource.” 

“Great, I’ll arrange it.” Daniel quickly got up and left the room. 

Jon got up to follow, but turned back to her. “Thanks, Doc. I owe you one.” 

An hour later, Dr. Weir received a report that the Tel’tac carrying Daniel and Jon taken off. It was currently on route to the Antarctic base. She sighed. General Hammond did warn her about this job and SG-1 in particular. But he also said that SG-1 was usually right, and all she had to do was trust them. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Jon flew the Tel’tac towards Antarctica using the navigation controls to pinpoint the ancient outpost. He missed this more than he thought. He had muscled Daniel out of the way in order to pilot the craft. Oddly, Daniel just let him take over. ‘I can’t drive a car, but I’m good to go in piloting an alien spaceship. Go figure.’ 

“So…” Jon started. 

“Yeah,” Daniel sighed.  

“How’s Master Bray’tac doing? Healing well and all that?” Jon asked, trying for something less weird. 

“What? Oh, he’s fine. Jack… Jack healed him,” Daniel stated. Wondering how Jon knew that Bray’tac had been injured. 

Ok, so not less weird. “Healed, you say… As in used a device?” 

“No, as in… the laying on of hands,” Daniel replied smoothly, obviously uncomfortable with the subject. 

“Ah…” The silence echoed around them. Jon found it lonelier with his friend at his side, than he did all those months without him. He sighed softly,

“Daniel…” 

“Jon… it’s my fault… Again.” 

“What?” Daniel stared out the window as he continued. “I pushed him. I wanted to find the lost city so bad. We could have just blown the library and gotten away. Anubis wouldn’t have been able to stop us or get the information. But, I had to push… I had to know… He just wanted to blow it, but he stuck his head in that thing because I wanted to know.” 

Jon could hear Daniel’s guilt choking his voice. But, he knew himself well enough to know that wasn’t the case. Jack had made a tactical decision. They needed information. They needed the weapons. The library had that information. He wouldn’t have sacrificed Daniel or Sam for information. No, Daniel had just reminded him of what needed to be done. Jon would have made the same choice. 

“Daniel… that’s not true.” 

“How do you know? You weren’t there,” Daniel accused, tears starting to track down his face. 

Jon sighed, “Daniel, for all intents and purposes, I am him. I would have made the same decision. You NEEDED the information. He doesn’t want to die, but sacrificing you or Carter just isn’t an option. Never has been. You know that.” Jon looked Daniel in the eye. “Besides, you and Carter stand the best chance of saving him. He definitely knows that. He’s already bet his life on your skills several times over. This time is no different.” Jon smiled as he saw Daniel think through his logic. “So, enough with the water works. You know we don’t do well with the emotional stuff.” 

“We?” 

“Well, there is more than one of me. And I get the feeling that the old guy would agree.” 

“Right. And thanks.” Daniel turned back to the window. “We should be there soon.” 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Daniel and Jon transported down to the outpost using the rings. They were immediately confronted by Teal’c and two airmen.  Teal’c waved off the airmen before greeting them. “Daniel Jackson. O’Neill. It is good to see you both.” 

“Thanks, T.” Jon grinned at his big friend. “Where’s Carter?” 

Teal’c gave him a slight nod, “She is endeavoring to extract the secrets of this place.” 

“Ah… playing with the doohickeys. Lead on.”  

Teal’c led them down the short hall towards the room with the control chair. However, he paused just before one of the walls and gave a slight bow. When he moved, Jon could see Jack frozen in the stasis unit.  

The last six months had given him time to adjust to his new appearance, it had eased some of the weirdness of looking at himself without a mirror. It was still weird, but he didn’t feel compelled to look away.

Jack was frozen and staring at a specific spot. For once, his gaze was not guarded. He looked almost sad and apologetic.  J

on shook off a shudder as he continued after Teal’c. Daniel may think that Jack stuck his head in the blender because he asked, but Jon knew that only three people could convince him to willingly freeze himself just to stay alive. Death held no mystery for him. It was a comforting old friend. But to allow himself to be helpless and at the mercy of others, was completely different. He would only do that for the sake of his team.  

Jon rounded the corner to come face to face with the control chair. “Sweet,” he exclaimed. 

Sam turned at his voice, shock and hope in her eyes. He watched the disappointment flood in with her recognition. “Jon.” 

Jon was hurt by her disappointment, but consoled himself with the truth. Jon wasn’t Jack. He had spent six months making that very clear to himself. But it still hurt. “So, this is the thing, huh.” He grinned at her nod. “Mind if I take her for a spin?”  

Sam frowned, “Sure, it hasn’t done anything for us. Not even…”  

She stopped as the control chair lit up as soon as he sat in it. Jon leaned back and started to play with the controls. Menus and options began to flash by too rapid to read. Then finally, the screen settled on a graphic of Earth. It pinpointed one spot in orbit and started relaying data. Shortly, a secondary screen popped up showing the local TV listings.  

“Damn,” Jon exclaimed. “I just missed the Simpson’s.”  

His voice startled the others back from their shocked silence. “Wow, si… Jon, how did you get it to work?” Sam asked. 

Jon glanced at her, “I don’t know. I just think and it works.” As he said that the console changed and began to pull of detailed scientific schematics.  

“Hey, I recognize that,” Daniel stated. “That’s a DNA strand. What’s it say… securus por novus… clavis… vita codex… claviger…” Daniel mumbled under his breath trying to translate. 

Teal’c’s deep voice echoed through the room, “To make it safe for the young races, the keys are in the code of life. Only the key-holders are allowed access.” 

“Um, wow.” Daniel stated simply. 

Sam looked thoughtful, “Code of life… DNA… They secured their technology with a DNA signature? Wow! That would explain why the Gou’uld haven’t been able to use most of the ancient technology. But how did the Colonel get the key?” 

“Maybe it was the ancient download?” Daniel suggested. “It triggered other physical changes; why not rewrite DNA to boot?” 

“Ack! Not going to go there!” Jon’s voice silenced the other two scientists. He glared at them. “If you continue to read,” he gestured back to the view screen. “It specifically states that the key was given to the most trustworthy of the younger races during the time of the plague.” 

“You read Ancient?” Daniel asked, slightly stunned. “Daniel. Time loop, remember?” Jon glared at him a moment longer. “Any whoo, I’m betting that it is just random dumb luck that I… we… have this ‘key.’ O’Neills have a history of random dumb luck.” 

Sam became excited as she thought over the implications, “That means there could be more people with the key. That may also be why the ancient library reacted to the Colonel, but not Teal’c. We originally assumed it was the Gou’uld larva. What if we were wrong? We need to test everyone within the SGC…” 

“Whoa, Carter.” Jon cut her off. “Hold yer horses. Ya might want to let this Dr. Weir person know that you got it working first. Then there’s Jack…” Jon let the thought trail off.  

Daniel and Sam both looked away guiltily. They had almost forgotten about their friend in their excitement. Finding a way to remove the ancient download and revive Jack had to take priority over new discoveries.  

“Carter, you and Teal’c go let the boss know what’s going on. Daniel and I will try to find anything about the old library.” Jon tossed out the orders without thinking, momentarily forgetting that he was no longer a Colonel.  

Sam bucked at being ordered around by Jon, but took the orders at face value. He was right. But, she was in charge. She should have already given the same orders. Guilt and self-doubt assaulted her as she nodded to Teal’c and they started for the rings.  

Daniel watched them go and turned back to Jon. He was already whizzing through the database again. Occasionally, one screen would stay up longer than another. Eventually, he stopped searching and sat up, deactivating the chair.

“Jon?” 

“Sorry, Daniel, I’m starving and this thing is giving me a headache.”  

Daniel cursed himself as he remembered his original reason for contacting Jon. Or rather Jon’s school contacting them. He wasn’t sleeping well. Looking at him now, he could see Jon wearing exhaustion like a cloak. “Ok, eat, rest, and then we’ll try again later. We have the rations stored over here.”  

Daniel led Jon to a small alcove that was stacked with MRE boxes and had several cots setup. Jon sorted through the meals until one caught his fancy.

Daniel waited until he was well into his meal before asking, “So, how come you aren’t sleeping well?” 

“Hum?” 

“Not sleeping. School’s concerned, remember?” Daniel asked again. 

“Oh, that… just weird dreams.” Jon replied casually.  

“Nightmares?” 

“No more than usual. I got a handle on it now. Should sleep like a baby.” Jon’s last statement was punctuated with a big yawn. He shoveled the last of his meal into his mouth, then tossed the trash in a bag by the boxes. He was about to lay down when they heard Sam and Teal’c stomping down the corridor. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Sam and Teal’c returned from the Tel’tac fuming. In fact, Sam had spent several minutes in the Tel’tac trying to kick the blast door into submission. She failed and was limping now as a result, but she did regain control of her temper. 

They were being ordered to leave. The International Oversight Committee was terrified of a weapon with that much power in the hands of the Americans. Never mind that the Americans had just saved their collective asses with said weapon just the day before. Nope, they wanted nothing but complete withdrawal from the Ancient outpost, post-haste.  

And that was before she told them that they had someone else who could work the weapon. She didn’t specify who that someone else was, but Dr. Weir understood. The fact that they couldn’t take the stasis pod with them was a point of negotiation that Dr. Weir was currently wrangling. 

Daniel took one look at Sam’s face and knew something was wrong. “Sam?” 

“Politics and bureaucrats,” she spat. “I want to zat them all, not once, not twice, but three times.” She continued stalking around the room trying to find words around her anger. She tossed Teal’c pleading look. 

“We are ordered to return to the SGC,” Teal’c supplied. 

“What? We can’t. What about Jack?” Jon exclaimed. 

Sam found her words, “Apparently, since he’s in stasis, he can wait for a ‘diplomatic’ solution. In the mean time, no one trusts the American’s with the ‘big honkin’ space gun.’” 

“That’s insane,” Daniel replied. 

Sam gave him a knowing look.  

“Indeed, had the American’s intended to attack, they would not require the ancient weapon; they already posses a more than adequate arsenal.” Teal’c’s reasoning caught the two scientists by surprise.  

“Really?” Daniel asked.

Teal’c merely nodded in reply. “Well, I guess we have our marching orders.” 

Sam sighed in frustration, “Lets start loading the Tel’tac.” A

fter everything was loaded, they each took a moment to say good-bye to Jack. He would stand in silent vigil over the ancient outpost.

Jon was the last to leave. “Hey, don’t sweat it. They’ll be back. They just can’t stay away, ya know. In the mean time, I’m going to head up to the cabin for the summer. Stop by if you decide to wake up. We have got to have a talk about this funky dream thing. Talk at you later, old man. Pleasant dreams.” 

END 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

"To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there 's the rub:

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come."

--From Shakespeare's Hamlet (III, i, 65-68)

Jon watched from the team box as his hockey team practiced. Being the big bad colonel meant that he had seldom got to practice his skating; let alone play hockey. Now with a new life to live, he was enjoying picking up on some of his old hobbies.

Summer had come and gone. His time at the cabin had helped him cleanse the lingering doubts he had over his chosen path. Seeing Daniel, Sam, and Teal'c had been harder than he thought. But it had helped him bring closure to that part of his life. He felt freer now to live for today and to make a new future.

Towards the end of summer, Jack had been rescued by the Asgard. Jon could have predicted that without any fancy alien gizmo. What he and Jack could not have predicted was the promotion. Not only did they not predict it, but they both didn't like it.

Through Jack's memories, Jon knew that to refuse the promotion would have effectively retired him. So, either way he was out of the field and off SG-1. To refuse a presidential appointment would only have been worse. So Jack had accepted the star and tried, unhappily, to adjust to life behind a desk.

Oddly enough the whole situation had made the clone thing less weird between the two of them. Jon spent more of his down time over at Jack's house. He listened to Jack bitch about paperwork, and Jack listened to the trials of teenage life. In a way, Jon thought that the normalcy of his new life grounded his older version. Brought him back to Earth, so to speak. But Jon still avoided Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c. He just wasn't ready to meet them under these new social terms.

"Come on, Perkins. Henson is wide open," Jon shouted at his teammates. The puck was passed but quickly stolen by the opposing scrimmage team.

Suddenly, Jon grabbed his head. From no where, burning rage was coursing through him. He threw off his gloves and dropped to his knees to stem the tide of hate and rage. As he blanked out his surroundings, one image came clear; Ba'al standing in the gateroom, his smarmy grin, and his simple statement, "I have your friends."

"NOOOO! Stop it!" he shouted. Jon pushed at the strong emotions and the image and slowly built a mental brick wall between him and it. Brick by brick he forced it back. When Jon finally blocked the image, he ignored the stares from his concerned teammates, hopped the short rink wall, and raced to the locker-room. He barely made it inside before he began to retch. His coach found him doubled over a trash can trying to catch his breath.

"Jon?" came the tentative query.

"I'm fine," Jon returned automatically, slowly releasing his grip on the trash can.

His coach snorted, "Right, I can see that. I often feel like throwing up after watching poorly played hockey."

Jon cracked a smile. "Really, coach. I just had a migraine set in. I'll be alright in few minutes."

"You sure? There's not much practice left anyway. Why don't you clean up and head home. We'll see you tomorrow."

Jon's only response was a short nod. His coach accepted his response with a curt nod of his own, headed back out to the ice.

Once again, alone in the locker-room, Jon whispered, "Jack, what the hell did you do this time?"

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

Jon didn't head to his home after he left the rink. Instead he headed over to Jack's house. He was hoping that the image if Ba'al in the gateroom was wrong. He was hoping, but deep down he knew it was true. Sitting in front of Jack's empty house only confirmed his fears.

Since Jack had been freed from his icy prison, Jon had been receiving occasional flashes of thought and emotion. The closer they were together and the stronger the emotion the more detailed the image that flashed. Both had passed it off as no big deal.

Jon still had the odd dream that he could only attribute to Jack. The most recent was the pain of shooting Daniel in the gateroom. Jack had even admitted to dreaming about high school and managing some barber shop in Kansas. And while they had tried talking about their odd connection, neither Jon, nor Jack was very comfortable discussing it. In the end, they had decided to ignore it unless it became a problem. Jon considered this last incident a huge problem.

Jon let himself into Jack's house and walked directly over to the phone. He called Jack's direct line. "O'Neill."

"Hey old man, it's me."

He heard the older man sigh, "I'm sorry, kid."

Jon felt a weight of sorrow in that simple apology. "Ah... so, it's real..."

"Yeah," Jack replied quietly. "I didn't... I mean..." another sigh, "I think I dumped it on you by accident."

Jon carefully thought over that statement. Was Jack saying that he had intentionally pushed his emotions aside and Jon had been the unwary recipient of them? Jon tried to think of a reply, mindful of the unsecured phone line. "Ah. I wondered... Need any help?"

"Can't. My new assistant arrived yesterday."

"Right. Well... let me know if anything changes. Oh, and a warning next time would help. I wouldn't want to be operating any heavy machinery when it happens again." When, not if. Jon knows that much from Ba'al's image. Ba'al would be back and Jack would have to push aside his own thoughts and feelings for the sake of the SGC.

Jon could hear Jack mull over the implications of his statement, "OK, I think I can do that. I'll call when I get home," he finally answered.

"Don't bother. I'll be in the spare room. Now, get back to work, old man."

"OK, but don't drink all my beer, kid. See you later." The phone line clicked. Jon set it back down in its cradle. He gathered his things and pulled out his homework. Time to get back to the mundane life of a teenager.

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

Jack climbed out of his truck slowly. Today had been a very long day; ending with Walter throwing him out of the mountain. Walter had said, "Go home, sir. I'll call you if there is any news," then pushed him into the elevator. Not nicely either. He had opened his door before he even noticed that all the lights were all on.

What? "Right. Jon," he reassured himself. "What's for dinner, kid?" he asked aloud.

"Chinese. Kitchen," came the muffled reply from the living room.

"Thanks." Jack dropped his jacket over the back of one of the dining room chairs on his way to the kitchen. He grabbed his cartons of Chinese food and a beer and wandered into the living room. He noted that Jon was stretched out on the couch reading some textbook, studiously ignoring him. He dropped into the easy chair with a sigh.

Jon was still making a good show of ignoring him, so he dug in; though he ate his food with little enthusiasm. As he washed the last of the food down, he noticed that Jon had sat up. Jack set the empty cartons off to one side and waited.

"So... what happened?" Jon finally asked.

Jack snorted, "More like what didn't happen..." He paused, knowing that Jon really wanted news of SG-1, but Jack was having a hard time voicing it out load. "Ba'al has them... They went to an ‘uninhabited'" he made the air quote gesture, "planet, left their back up at the gate and promptly lost contact. A few minutes later SG-3 watched an Alkesh fly off. An hour later, Ba'al shows up and says he has them and will trade for old camel-ass. Oh yeah, Dr. Lee let loose some plant that has quickly taken over level 19, and I locked up two trade delegates in the VIP quarters."

Jon smirked, "Busy day."

"Yeah, you?"

"Oh, same old, same old. Though the coach thinks I'm either crazy or sick."

"Oh?"

"Yup, that's what happens when you drop to the ground screaming ‘no' and clutching your head in the middle of practice," Jon replied casually, belying the troubled feelings Jack could sense.

"Jeez kid, I'm sorry. I..." Jack started.

Jon stopped him with a look and a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it. I would have done the same, really. I just wasn't ready for it." Jon looked away. Jack felt Jon's anxiety peak, "It's getting stronger," he stated simply.

Stronger, hell, Jack had forced his hate and fear into Jon. If Jon hadn't shared his history, well, let's just say that Jon was the ONLY one who understood Jack when it came to Ba'al. It's a miracle that Jon didn't lash out at someone during their brief contact.

"Yeah, I noticed," Jack replied, his own anxiety over their shared secret increasing. Lord help them, if ANYONE found out about the developing telepathic abilities Jon and Jack shared. Obviously, they weren't going to go away by being ignored. But it looked like they would have to do more than just talk about them now that they were growing.

Jon leaned back on the couch and let out a huff. "I'm here for the duration. Do what ya gotta do, old man. When we get past this, we'll figure something out. ‘kay?"

Jack was touched and oddly reassured. "Yeah, thanks, kid." The one word was inadequate, but he knew that Jon understood. It was an understanding born of their shared history. Any other crisis and he... they... would bottle the emotions up. But the subjects of Ba'al and SG-1 were individually almost too much to handle. Combined, the emotions were overwhelming. And Jon had just offered to bear the brunt of these feelings to allow Jack to work with a clear head. "Well, I'm off to bed. Those nightmares can't dream themselves, ya know."

"Yeah, see ya in the cell later," Jon quipped.

Jack smiled. Yup, they would both be reliving that nightmare tonight. He gave Jon one last look and a nod before making his way to bed; hoping that tomorrow would bring good news.

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

Jon called in sick to school the next day. He also called his coach to let him know that he was still under the weather and would be staying with his Uncle Jack. He passed his time studying and watching TV. Jack called him in the evening to let him know that he would stay on base.

Jon was somewhat relieved when he got ready for bed that he had only felt brief flashes of anxiety, frustration, annoyance, and disappointment all day. Nothing overwhelming or forced. Jon suspected that it was Jack's way of letting him know what was going on. With that in mind, he had let down his mental wall to allow for freer communication between them.

Now, with the base winding down for the night, Jon thought that the chances of another crisis were greatly reduced. As he drifted off to sleep, he felt a brief touch from Jack. Thanks and drowsy relief flowed through him. Jon smiled and embraced sleep.

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

Jack felt the hand shake him. He hoped it was a bad dream. Nope, Gilmore. "What? Oh, God!"

"Sorry to wake you, Sir," came Gilmore's quiet response.

Jack rubbed his eyes, trying to push the haze of sleep aside. "It feels like it's been ten minutes." He glanced at his watch.

Gilmore stammered, "Yeah... uh... it has. There's an incoming wormhole. Ba'al wants to talk."

Shit! Jon, wake the hell up. He felt his anger and fear well up, threatening to overwhelm him. He dropped his head in his hands hoping to stem the tide of emotions. Rage and hate boiling over trying to control him.

Then he felt the touch, soft and light in the back of his head. He sighed with relief as he slowly pushed everything to Jon. By the time he had his boots laced, he was feeling numb and back in control. By the time he was standing outside the gate room door, he was a blank slate. OK, time to grab the snake by his tail and hope we don't get bit.

He sighed before entered the gateroom. No way in hell was he going back to sleep after this.

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

Jon called in sick to school once again. He told his coach that he had some kind of stomach flu and he didn't want to pass it to the rest of the team. Today, instead of waiting for the crisis to come to him, he spent most of his time in a semi-meditative state. Sort of kel-no-ream lite. However, unlike the previous day's relative calm, today was spent trying to send calming waves back to his older self.

Jon had found that in the trance-like state he could almost see what Jack was seeing. He marveled in the novelty of it all and hoped that Jack didn't mind his eavesdropping too much. Especially, since he could hear Jack's thoughts clearly. But Jack replied that he could hear Jon just as clearly, so shut the hell up, it was distracting.

Today's chaos was in stark contrast to yesterday's calm. The early morning wake up call from Ba'al had only been the beginning. Jon had to channel Jack's outrage at being told to make a choice between his old team and genocide, his frustration with Camulus' egocentric attitude, and the sheer insanity generated by the plant from hell. But, Jon found that his mere presence helped Jack keep his cool. Jon even popped off a few choice comments when the old man was alone, trying to crack him up.

As the day was coming to an end, both Jack and Jon had run out energy. Jon could cushion the emotional blows, but he couldn't give Jack the energy he sorely lacked. The final blow had been when SG-3 had returned without SG-1. While both Jack and Jon didn't expect them to come back so easily, they had both hoped they would. Jon slowly drew back from Jack's mind as he fell into an exhausted sleep. Both of them were beyond hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

As Jack woke up the next day, he immediately felt Jon's unspoken thought, ‘It's about time, old man. I was gettin' worried.'

Jack cracked a small smile, ‘old men need their beauty sleep. Shove off, kid. I got the con today.'

‘Ya sure?'

‘Yeah, I'll see you tonight.' Jack broke the contact and spent a moment searching for Jon's presence, just in case the kid tried the peeping tom thing again. Satisfied that, once again, he was alone in his own head; he got up and prepared to face the day.

As much as Jack had appreciated the support, he didn't need, nor did he want, an emotional crutch. Jon would resent him for it with time. Nope, time to get on with life. With one last sigh, he got up and started to dress, rebuilding his mental walls as he pulled on a clean uniform. Jack took a last look in the mirror then turned to leave his quarters. Here goes nothin'.

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

Jon was debating what to order for dinner when he felt a surge of hope echo through his head. He dropped the menu from his hand and sat down before sending his thoughts to Jack. He joined Jack just as he ordered the iris open. His thoughts sounding like a whisper in Jon's ear, ‘Screw protocol. They can fire me if they don't like how I run my base.'

Jon chanted with Jack as they waited for three figures to appear in the gateroom. ‘Come on, come on, come on.'

Pure joy and relief flowed through both men as the three members of SG-1 popped out of the event horizon and come to a halt on the ramp. The wormhole closing behind them.

He heard Jack mumble, "Nice."

Jon shot Jack a final thought just before he broke contact, ‘Good call, old man'.

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

The next morning Jon went back to school. He had Jack fax over a medical excuse for his absence that was sufficiently vague that no one even looked at him crosswise. Somewhere around third period, he began to feel a building pressure in his mind. At first he thought it was Jack, but when he reached out to him, he felt Jack's puzzlement at the connection. Jack was in the reception for the President with no threat or overwhelming emotion.

So, Jon shut down his connection to Jack and puzzled out what could be pushing against his mental shield. Well, you'll never find it by scratching your head. So, he relaxed and began to feel out the source of his discomfort.

SLAM!

Jon jumped as a book came crashing down on the desk in front of him.

"Mr. O'Neill, I know that you are recovering from an illness, but I do not appreciate anyone sleeping in my class. If you are not fully, recovered then you need to go home." Mrs. Thomas was his US History teacher. She was always in a bad mood and frequently pointed her irritation at her students. With her sights currently on Jon, she quickly turned from irritated tizzy to pop quiz mode. "Now, since you obviously were not paying attention, I'll repeat my question, who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin?"

Good thing he had actually studied while he was ‘out.' "Harriett Beacher Stowe" he replied smugly.

"And just why is it important?" she snapped, clearly not happy that he had answered correctly.

"Well," Jon started, "I think that Abe Lincoln said it best when he met Mrs. Stowe and said, ‘So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!'"

"Humph," was Mrs. Thomas' only response. She returned back to the front of the class and resumed her lecture on the Civil War, but continued to eye him suspiciously.

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

It was lunch before Jon could make a second attempt. The pressure hadn't abated during that time. If anything it increased. He staked out a shady spot in the quad in the grass, and again slowly relaxed his control.

Chaos. Anger. Lust. Fear. Passion. Joy. Dread. Anxiety. Love. Hate. The whole emotional spectrum came rushing at him. Shit! Shit! Shit! Jon quickly became overwhelmed, drowning in a sea of other people's thoughts and emotions. Then a lifeline, a voice, calling his name. He focused on the voice, focused on the feeling of his own mind.

"Jon. Jon. Come on, man, you're scaring me. Wake up."

Awareness rushed back. Dexter. Friend. Afraid. Afraid? He snapped his eyes open and instantly regretted it. He let out a soft moan, then "Dex." He said the kids name as a statement. "‘m fine."

"Yeah, right. First history and now lunch. I think you should see the nurse. Come on." His friend tried to muscle him up, but Jon resisted and the skinny teenager was simply no match for him.

"No, Dex. I'm fine. Really. Now let go." Jon gave Dexter one of his patented glares, and Dexter let go of his arm, startled. Jon felt bad for hurting the kids feelings, "Look, if it will make you happy. I'll call my uncle, ‘kay?"

"Ok," Dexter responded.

Jon pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jack's office number. No way was he going to voodoo a connection this time. "O'Neill."

"Uncle Jack," Jon started. Letting Jack know that others were listening in to his end of the conversation. "Do you remember my friend, Dexter? Well, he thinks I should head home. I kind of fell asleep twice today. I guess you were right and I just wasn't ready to go back yet."

Jon could hear the gears turning. Then he felt a gentle probe at the edges of his mental walls. Hell no, he wasn't letting his walls down again after what had just happened. After trying for a few seconds the probing went away.

Jon heard a sigh down the phone line. "Head home, Jon. I'll let the school know. We'll talk tonight. Get some rest."

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

Jon and Jack had squared off over the dinning room table. Jack was waiting for Jon to let him in on the problem. But Jon just wasn't sure what the problem was. No, that's not true. You know, and it scares the shit out of you.

"Say again?" Jack asked trying to clarify what had happened.

"I let my... guard, I guess... down and... Shit! I don't know how to explain it... It was like being caught in a rip-tide of emotion. I was drowning in it. Without Dex to ground me... But it wasn't from you. Before, I could only hear and feel you. Today... I think that today I was hearing the others at school." He groaned and sank his head in is hands.

"Crap!" was Jack's only response.

"Double crap!" Jon quipped from behind his hands.

"Ya know. I knew you sought me out at the reception, but after that I think I felt the... pressure?... or whatever... too. But I didn't try to find out what it was. Maybe the solution is to do nothing." Jon glared at Jack. "Hey, it was worth a shot. So what do you want to do?"

Jon groaned. "The hell if I know. Who do you call when you need training on your new telepathic abilities?"

Jack frowned, "The Nox?"

Jon snorted, "They disconnected the phone, remember."

"Right... Well, I guess we do this the hard way then."

Jon sighed, "Alone and on our own. Happy. Happy. Joy. Joy."

Jack smirked, "Ack! Kid, you're only alone as long as the voices in your head are quiet."

Jon smirked back, "Old man, that would be funnier if you weren't one of the voices in my head." Jon abruptly stood up, "So, Thai?"

"Hell no, the old gut can't handle the heat anymore. Mexican?"

"Sure, as long as we get fresh salsa."

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG

END

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

"To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there 's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come." --From Shakespeare’s Hamlet (III, i, 65-68)  

Jon climbed on the bus and scanned for an open seat. The other teenagers were almost bouncing with excitement. He took the seat behind the driver hoping to put a little space between him and the other kids. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the other kids; he just couldn’t stand the near constant battering on his mental shields.  

The mental assault was one of the main reasons Jon had for taking this trip. Fall and Winter had made way for Spring. And Spring was the time for high school retreats. While everyone attended their Senior Retreat, the Junior Retreat had only 30 kids sign up. Jon was looking forward to getting away from the near-constant mental strain. After keeping over 600 teenagers out of his mind for several months, Jon thought that 30 for a week should be a piece of cake. 

When they initially discovered their growing telepathic abilities, Jon and Jack had tried to ignore them. However, while effective with riding a bicycle, apparently not so effective with telepathy. Their powers had continued to grow. So, after the trying incident with Ba’al, they had purposefully tried to learn the extent and limitations of their new skill.  

Jon and Jack had found that they could ‘reach’ each other just about any where on Earth; thanks to Jack’s frequent trips. The closer they were geographically, the easier it was, but distance didn’t appear to be a limit for them. Of course, Jack had yet to exercise his right to leave Earth, now that he was ‘the Man,’ so interplanetary distances had yet to be tested.  

They had both found that they could ‘read’ almost anyone’s surface thoughts. However, neither of them had tried to dig deeper into someone’s mind. Even thought they were getting used to it, they didn’t like the idea of invading anyone’s privacy that deeply. But, the problem wasn’t reading someone’s thoughts and feelings, it was NOT reading them. As uncomfortable as it made them, they had faced the fact that other people were shoving their thoughts and feelings into their faces; like it or not. Both had found that shielding themselves from everyone around them was essential for their general sanity. And they both had found themselves withdrawing from the people they were closest too.  

While Jack had used his new rank as a shield, to explain his distance, Jon used his studies. Jon was quickly testing out of all of his senior year classes. Come Spring, he would graduate from high school a year early. For Jon, Summer vacation couldn’t come soon enough; graduation or not. 

Jon had a harder time with his shielding than Jack, mainly because he was surrounded by young undisciplined minds. The teenagers would shoot thoughts out so strongly that Jon often felt that he was hiding behind a tent wall dodging arrows. The shield would turn away most thoughts, but the stronger the emotion behind it the harder it was to keep out. And teenagers felt strongly about EVERYTHING from shoes to homework assignments. 

Away from school, the pressure on his mind would ease up. Adults had learned to curb their enthusiasm and focus their thoughts. This was both a blessing and a curse. The stray thoughts were less noticeable, but when one pierced his shielding, it hurt more. Jack believed that the worst ‘shooters’ were the scientists. They were both more organized and way more enthusiastic. Jack said that when Sam or Daniel got going, he felt the need to run and hide from their ‘scientific shelling.’ He was glad he had cultivated a pained expression when sitting in briefings. Otherwise they might misinterpret his wincing when one of their zingers got past his shielding. 

Now, sitting on the bus for the Junior Retreat, Jon was looking forward to the week of quiet. Getting out into nature would help erase the strain he had been under. Yup, peace and quiet. Just what the doctor ordered.  

“Okay, kids, last chance to use the restroom for 3 hours,” their perky counselor announced. Immediately, two girls hurried off the bus. Once they returned, the counselor took roll call. “Alright, are you all ready for a week of fun?” she bubbled. Okay, giggling is bad. Bubbling is way worse then giggling. 

“Yes!” the rest shouted. 

“Okay, then let’s go!” The counselor sat down across from Jon all bubbly with enthusiasm. 

So much for peace and quiet. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Just after Jon and the rest of his group had arrived at the campground, Jon felt a distant surge of elation from his older version. Curious, he reached out to Jack.  

*Hey, old man. What’s with the celebration?* 

*I get to go off-world. I get to go off-world,* Jack chanted in a sing-songy voice, back at him. 

*Yeah. And. So. Therefore…* 

*Jealous?* Jack retorted. 

*Of course. Now, get to the good part.* 

*Carter found a ship that only I can fly… Well… maybe, you too… but she asked me first.* 

*Sweet. So, when do you leave?* Jon sent back. 

*As soon as I can get my shit together… Ack! Walter, no more. I have got to go. Apparently, Walter has some issues with me leaving. Who’d a thunk?* 

Jon smiled. *Well, get your butt out of there, old man. Before he thinks to call Hammond.* 

*Shit! I’m gone. I’ll let you know if anything interesting happens. TTFN* 

Jon felt Jack break the contact. Maybe he would get peace and quiet after all. With Jack off-world, they would get a chance to see if their telepathy could cross the emptiness of space. If not, at least it’s one less voice in my head. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Jack felt his annoyance at seeing Maybourne evaporate as he spotted the ancient ship. “Nice ride.” 

Daniel grinned at him, “Yeah, Ancients like to fly in style.” 

Jack felt like a kid in a candy store as he glimpsed the inside of the little ship. “Nice!” He immediately took the left pilots seat and unhooked his weapon. “Woo-hoo!” As he glances around, he failed to see anything that looked remotely like an ‘on’ switch. Okay, so the woo-hoo was a little premature. So now what? “You’re gonna have to help me out here, Carter. Got any quarters?” 

He could hear her smirk. He didn’t even have to turn around. “Unfortunately, I can’t help you with this one, Sir. You’re on your own.” 

“Fine!” Just great. What is the point in bringing along a super-genius when they can’t figure out the stuff you need them to figure out. Well, no time like the present, just grasp the… whoa… Ancient TIME machine… I so don’t want to head back in time. Living through 1969 twice was enough. Oh, Carter… “How do we know we’re not gonna end up back at the Alamo?” 

“Um, well, for one thing, that was on Earth,” Sam snarked.  

She didn’t just get all snippy with me, did she? She did. Does and old man proud… 

“But more importantly, I’ve separated the time device from the control circuits… I think,” she continued. 

You think. That doesn’t sound good. Super-genius’ should be sure of everything. 

“Concentrate on powering up the engines,” she finished. 

“Concentrate?” Okay, focusing the mind. Jack reached out with his mind and encountered a wall. Smooth and solid. He hesitated to try and push past the boundary. He couldn’t see any mental doors. “Got nothin’.” He smiled as his comment made Daniel and Sam jump.  

Jack felt Daniel’s thoughts slam into his shields, he almost flinched physically as well as mentally. Ok, so off-world with Daniel and Sam had a few draw backs. Less others, more Daniel and Sam. Ouch. Ease up Danny. That one hurt. 

Daniel leaned in, “Uh… Come on, Jack. You’ve already proven that the Ancient gene you possess allows you to operate Ancient technology. It’s no different than, uh, the device in Antarctica.” 

I don’t remember using the device in Antarctica, Daniel. Wait a minute. Jon remembers. Thanks, Daniel. We needed to test the intergalactic voodoo hotline anyway. *JON!* Jack gave a mental shout. 

*?* came the faint reply.  

Okay, shouting may work. He tried louder. *HOW DO I GET THE OLD DOOHICKEYS TO TURN ON?*  

*! Relax. Picture. TA-DA!* 

Okay, now I am getting snarked from two planets at the same time. That has got to be a new record. 

“Just… ffff-ocus,” Daniel continued, oblivious to Jack’s internal conversation.  

Relax, relax, relax. Jack took a deep breath and let all the extra thoughts out of his mind. As he relaxed his control, he felt his shielding come down. Picture. Picture what you want. I can see the whole ship turning on. Lights and … Jack felt the technology, not unlike an obedient dog. Not quite sentient, exactly, but sort of... It jumped when he reached mentally for it. He felt the ship power up around him. This is so cool. 

In the background, he could hear Daniel, “Good. Good!”  

The ship in his mind started sounding alarms. He was able to feel its disappointment. Not enough power. His mental image of a dog came back to him sad at its failure. He powered the ship back down. Don’t want to blow anything. 

“Not so good,” Daniel sighed next to him. 

“Carter?” Jack asked. He did a quick scan of her surface thoughts. She didn’t have a clue where to begin. The crystal structures were so different from the Goa’uld technology that she wasn’t sure why nothing was working. Okay, we don’t have time for this. Need a shortcut. Ah! *Power* he whispered into her mind. That one word started a chain reaction. Her thoughts were a frenzy of activity. Jack threw up his shields to protect himself from the assault.  

Sam began checking things out on her laptop and poking around inside the various open panels. Finally she announced, “The primary power source is depleted. We need to reroute the controls to the secondary output which was primarily designed to power the time device.” 

“Of course… we do.” Maybe next time I’ll ask for the short explanation. Something along the lines of ‘I’ll fix the power, Sir.’ Yup, that is a good explanation. Clear, concise, perfect. 

“Okay. Try it now, Sir.”  

Well, that was quick. Show time. Okay, relax, relax, relax… Jack sent his mind into the ship again. It was easier this time. The ship/dog image recognized him and was eager to do as he asked. He once again felt the ship power up. System checks popped up and cleared. He didn’t need to read them to understand that the systems were all checking out. Then one system flashed a warning. Power connections are inadequate. Failure imminent. His ship/dog flinched and yelped as he heard the sparks in the rear compartment. He quickly powered down again. 

“Damn it!” Sam cussed at the ship. Then immediately began taking the control crystals out one at a time and checking them. 

Jack sighed. This might take awhile. I’ll give her 30 minutes. Then we have got to go. Jack looked a Daniel and jerked his head towards the rear hatch. Daniel nodded in assent. The both slipped past Sam trying not to destroy her concentration. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

After his brief contact with Jack, Jon joined the others in the common area. Mitzy, yes, her parents actually named her that, the retreat counselor was waiting for the last of the stragglers so she could announce the agenda for today. Mitzy was way to perky in Jon’s opinion. But then, somebody had to be perky to his snarky, and it looked like Mitzy was just perky enough. 

“Okay, Juniors. We are going to have sooo much fun this week. Did everyone get a welcome packet?” she waved a bright pink folder in the air. A few teens grumbled ‘yes’ and she continued grinning. “Okay, the first sheet is the agenda. Let me know if you have any questions or problems with any of the items.” Her face became more serious. “I especially need to know if you will need special accommodations for any of our more… physical… activities.” Jon snickered with the majority of the boys. Mitzy then began to read each detail of the agenda.  

Jon groaned. As if we cared what we were doing. I sooo don’t need to hear Mitzy’s never ending list of ‘fun.’  Maybe I can make her stop. Jon was intrigued by the idea. He had never tried to put an idea in anyone’s mind. I guess it’s time to move from reading to writing, Sparky. I promise to only use my powers for good. Well, my good anyway. 

Jon reached out his mind to the counselor. Focusing on just her, he pictured whispering in her ear, *They want to start having fun. Let’s just start. They will read the agenda later.* He pulled back from her and felt her mind shift gears. Her thoughts were as chaotic as her bubbly personality.

He smirked as she frowned. “Oh my God! I must be boring ya all to tears. How about we just start having fun?” 

“Yeah!” 

“Cool! Now, for this first activity I need to you break into groups of four. Two boys and two girls in each group please,” Mitzy instructed. 

Jon grinned as he joined the others in selecting teammates. This week was going to be fun. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Half an hour after Sam had started, Jack and Daniel had to drag her away from the ship. “I’m just not that familiar with Ancient technology. I need a little time.”  

Of course, you do. I never expected you to instantly understand a new doohickey. But… “That is the one thing I can’t give you, Carter.” Damn, I hate having to blow up the good stuff. Jack dropped down and began to dig out his C-4. 

“You can’t be serious,” Daniel asked. 

Of course, I’m serious, Daniel. I never want the Goa’uld to master time. We would be so wiped out. Remember Ra. He could come back. I can’t let that happen. It has to go. Jack gave Daniel a pointed look, but he didn’t say anything. 

“Sir, this technology is too valuable to lose,” Sam stated. 

I know. But we can live without it. We can’t live with the Goa’uld getting it. Jack let his frustration with the two scientists get to him. ”Carter, what do you want me to do? Call in reinforcements? It’s not like we’re throwing down with a couple of Jaffa. We’re taking on a System Lord and his band of merry bad guys. Inside and out,” he ordered as he handed the C-4 blocks to Daniel and Sam. “I want that thing gone!”  

Jack heard the hostile thoughts too late. They all heard the bushes rattling and took up defensive positions, just as some of the villagers emerged from the trees with weapons ready. Shit! What the hell good is cosmic voodoo telepathy if it can’t even warn you when some native wants to stick an arrow in your ass! 

“Surrender your weapons, or die where you stand!”  

Okay, there’s the leader. Jack shifted his aim to the woman, “Oh, if I had a nickel!” 

“Lower your weapons,” the leader demanded again.  

Jack pushed his mind towards the woman, only to be distracted as a fern tickled his face. Damn it! “I don’t think so.” He pushed the plant out of his way. 

Jack mentally pushed at the woman again; this time without the distraction. *What do you want?* He saw her anger at the loss of their king. Harry? Harry wasn’t dead. 

“We will not allow you to take King Arkhan from us,” their leader supplied with Jack’s pushing. 

Good. Now we can talk this out like adults. “Good King Arkhan is a fraud.” Or like petulant children. Whatever works. 

“Our king is wise. He is a seer,” one of the other natives supplied. 

Yeah, right. And I have this bridge in San Francisco for sale… “He may be your king, but he’s no seer.” 

Come on, Daniel. It’s your job to make the nice natives want to be friends. Jack gave his friend a little mental shove. 

Daniel started to try and persuade them, “He can only interpret what’s been written on the pillars of the temple ruins not far from here. Now, those writings hold the prophecies, and anyone who can read them can make the same predictions.” Good boy, Daniel. 

“That is a lie,” their leader returned. 

“Why don’t we just go back to the village and let King Arkhan explain everything,” Daniel responded, trying to sound reasonable. 

Jack pushed deep into the leader’s mind. He pulled her memories up and forced her to see where her King Arkhan was just a man. A man with knowledge that they didn’t possess, but just a man. He also brought the image of the pillars in the ruins to the front of her mind. He showed her how the marks would be a written language not too dissimilar to their own. She was beginning to see reason. *Let King Arkhan explain.* 

“Jack?” Daniel’s voice broke his concentration. 

“Daniel?” 

“They’re not gonna shoot,” Daniel supplied.  

Yet, Daniel, yet. 

“Are ya?” Daniel asked their leader. 

Jack read her thoughts again. She was conflicted but she didn’t want to kill anyone. King Arkhan had greeted them as his friends. She didn’t want to anger him by killing his friends. She lowered her weapon and gestured the others to do the same. Jack and Sam lowered their weapons at the same time. 

Sweet! Score one for cosmic voodoo. “God, I miss goin’ off-world! Oh yeah!” 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Halfway through lunch, Jon was bored. Camp food just reminded him of the SGC dining facility; completely unimaginative and bland. Somehow he just knew that Jack was having way more fun than he was. Jealousy reared its ugly head and Jon was didn’t want to deny it. Jack got to go off-world. Jon got to go to camp… with teenagers.  

Ya know. When put that way, it sounds like I’m being punished. The newest form of Goa’uld torture: Camp with Teenagers. Ah! Save me from the evil goddess Camps-a-lot. Jon chuckled at his own mental image.  

He pushed his try away and leaned against the wall. Bugging Jack is so much more fun. He closed his eyes and pushed out to Jack. The connection was easier this time, though still tenuous. He didn’t try to say anything in specific, just watch. He felt stretched thin. He couldn’t make out any words and the visual was fuzzy, like a TV without sound and faulty reception.  

What he could see, didn’t make sense. Was that Harry? What the hell! Harry was addressing a crowd. They seemed angry. I guess it is Harry. What the hell did you say to piss them off Harry? Then he felt the power of their anger. They were beating their anger against Jack’s shields. Their anger directed at Jack? SG-1? Harry? Yikes! Jon pulled back as the pounding had started to give him a headache. His last clear image was of Harry placing a crown back on his head and shrugging. 

Ouch! Jon pulled himself back into his own head. Harry Maybourne as a King. How screwed up is that! So, Jack is not having more fun than me. Maybe less. No, definitely less fun; especially if Harry is involved. Yup, make a mental note to avoid angry crowds. That was sooo not good on the shielding.  

Just then Jon felt Mitzy’s bubbly mind as she approached. He quickly raised his shields again, “Jon! Are you ready for the obstacle course? Remember, first team through gets a special prize.” 

She must be a goa’uld. Only the goa’uld could torture you with their voice like that. Hell, only a BMT* Drill Instructor could say ‘obstacle course’ with such obvious delight. “Ya sure, you betcha!” he replied.  

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Well, that was a phenomenal waste of time. Jack used the walk back to the ship to rebuild his shattered defenses. The angry crowd had beaten and eventually shattered his mental shield. Even now, with only Sam nearby, his shields were too thin to block her rapid fire thoughts.  

Good grief, Carter. Enough. No doohickeys for you. Ahh! Jack stopped and turned to yell at Sam to stop thinking so hard, when his radio went off.  

“Jack? Come in,” came Daniel’s voice. 

Years, Daniel. Years and years of training in proper radio etiquette and you let everyone in range know that one, you are not alone. And two, General Jack is on the planet. Great, Daniel. Just great. “Go ahead,” he sighed into the radio. 

“Uh… we’ve got a little problem here.” Okay, try to be a little more specific, Daniel. Jack reached out to Daniel. Using Jon’s technique, he peeped over Daniel’s shoulder. Shit! Jaffa had taken up defensive positions around the gate. Their time had run out. And that handsome fella must be the First Prime. Joy. Now all we need is the snakehead. 

“Ares’ Jaffa just came through the Gate. We’re cut off.”  Daniel’s voice echoed through his mind and his ears. Well, that was weird. Jack pulled back from Daniel.  “If you blow the ship now, you’ll give away your position.” 

Gee, thanks, Daniel. In all my experiences, I would never have figured that out. Ack! I’m out of the field for few months… okay, more than a few… and suddenly Daniel… yes, Daniel… is giving me tactical advice. Daniel of all people. Daniel!  

Jack could hear Sam’s mental ‘Oh, shit!’ She knew the look he was now giving the radio. “Guess we’re staying for a while,” she ventured.  

Jack sighed and headed for the ship. Snarky Carter was not improving his temper. The sooner we get this thing running, the sooner we are out of here. Jack pulled out his radio and did a full count to ten before giving Daniel his reply, “Copy. Head back to the village and give the good king my regards…And don’t get caught.”  

“Copy. On our way,” came Daniel’s quick response. Jack sat in the pilot’s seat and rubbed his temples. Go to your happy place, Jack. Sunshine, palm trees, beach. Ahh. Ya know, I actually miss the kid in my head. Wow! How weird was that! I’m actually missing the voices in my head. My life is too weird. Deep breath. Okay, time to face reality. “Carter, I’ll be outside. You have until the Jaffa find us to fix this heap of alien gizmos. Get cracking.” Jack got up and started to familiarize himself with the forest around the ship.  

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Jon had picked his team carefully. He really, really didn’t want to win the special prize. However, in retrospect, he could have chosen better. At least, his team would have completed the course. As it stood, Jon was trying to figure out how to get two big boned girls and the president of the chess team through ‘the Weaver.’  Doesn’t sound very hard. You go over one pole and under the next and so on until you are on the other side. Of course, the OTS* version had been made of 4X4 poles, not telephone poles. That slight difference was making him wonder if he could make it through the obstacle.  “Jon?” one of the girls asked. Sally. Her name was Sally. 

“Yeah?” 

“I don’t think we can do this one. We can just go around. Most of other kids have,” she stated. She was projecting her self-doubt so loud, she should have been shouting. Her friend Krystal was the same. But they both were ashamed that they were so inept when it came to anything physical. Their last team mate, Steve, wasn’t so sure he could do this one either. 

Oh come on. The Weaver isn’t about strength, it’s about leverage. We are sooo gonna kick its ass. “Sally, we all do this as a team. Now, you all have completed every other obstacle on the course, right?” 

“Yes,” she ventured shyly. 

“So, this one is way easier than that one where you hung upside down on a rope.” Jon projected his certainty to his three teammates. “We just got to work together. I’m going to show you how, okay?” He received three nods in response.  

Jon deftly maneuvered over the first few poles, quietly explaining how to use their leverage and speed while going over the one log to swing under and over to the next log. “Muscle power alone, won’t get you through this one. Muscles don’t even really help,” he explained as he stepped back down off the obstacle.  Jon set his mind and gaze on Sally. Project confidence and certainty, “Okay, Sally, you’re up first. Remember, I’ll keep you from falling. Not that you’ll need me. You will kick this bad boy in the ass. Come on.”

Jon climbed under the obstacle and stood ready to catch Sally if she should fall. Jon helped Sally focus on just the movement needed to conquer the obstacle. Up and under and up and under. They were both concentrating so hard that Sally and Jon were both surprised when they passed the last pole. Sweet! “Told ya!” he taunted Sally.  

Sally was flushed with accomplishment and success. Jon heard her shouting her success mentally. *I did it. I did it.*  

Grinning, Jon went back to the start of the obstacle. “See! Piece of cake. Who’s next?” 

Krystal volunteered to go next and Jon repeated the process. Soon Krystal was repeating Sally’s chant. Next, Jon helped Steve through the obstacle. Steve needed less prompting. About half way, Steve sent him back to complete the obstacle for himself.  

As Jon, touched down on the other side, he was surrounded by his teammates. Their confidence was restored and they were all eager to complete the course. The last two obstacles were mere formalities. They were all grinning like maniacs when they finally finished. They were the last team off the course.  

“Good job, guys!” Mitzy bubbled at them. “You are the only team that succeeded in getting all your members over all the obstacles. Congratulations! You get the special prize!” 

Jon gapped at her. Nooo! We were last! Life is sooo unfair.  

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Jack was just returning from the forest between the ship and the village when Daniel radioed again.  

“Sam? Jack? This is Daniel.” 

Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. Use radio protocol. If Ares knows about the Tau’ri, he may have one of our radios. It’s not like they haven’t taken one or two or twenty from us before. Radio frequencies are not secure. Come on, Daniel. Use that big brain of yours. Oh well, if they were listening in they would have started the search for us long before reaching the village. Lucky us. 

“Ares’ First Prime just sent some men out to check out the ruins. As soon as they see that Ancient writing, they’re gonna search the area.” 

Okay, not so lucky. “Carter? How’s it going in there?” 

“Just a few more minutes, Sir,” Sam replied quickly. 

“What are you guys doing? I thought you were going to blow it up?” Daniel asked over the radio. 

“General O’Neill’s given me one more chance to get the engines online so we can fly it out of here,” Sam returned.  

Jack winced at the use of his rank over the radio. Et tu, Carter? 

“Yeah, I’m all for saving the ship but you’re cutting it kinda close,” Daniel replied. 

Jack smiled. Daniel must be channeling him. At least I know that Daniel was giving Sam the same shit he gave me. 

“I know!” Sam shouted over the radio. 

Oops! Don’t push her too far Daniel. I know that tone. It’s the one right before she tears your face off. Jack poked his head around the corner of the ship. “I’ll be scouting the ruins. I’ll probably be bringing company back. Be ready.” 

Sam’s only response was to glance at her weapon and a quick nod as she continued to drag cables all over the little ship. Jack turned and jogged to the edge of the ruins. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

After the humiliating awards presentation, the group was sent to change and wash. Okay, it wasn’t humiliating. Sally, Krystal, and Steve had NEVER gotten an award for any thing physical. The little trophies and a little embarrassment were worth seeing his teammates’ happy faces.  

They were supposed to do ‘crafts’ before dinner. Oh well, playing with glue and string could be soothing at times. Not!

On the bright side, tomorrow was paintball. Hey, he could prep his team for paintball using craft time. Yes! Now, we have a plan. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Jack had just gotten comfortable in the tree line when the Jaffa arrived with a woman. He watched as the woman pointed to the pillars and said, “Its here.” The lead Jaffa scouted the pillar.  

Jack reached out to his mind, as the lead Jaffa stepped up to the pillar to examine the text closer. *These pillars are not important. Return to the village.* He tried to push the thought into the Jaffa’s mind. But when he found resistance, Jack was surprised.  

Jack had always known that Teal’c was different from other humans. In fact he had spent many hours in the Jaffa’s calming presence when the mental pressures from the rest of the base began to overwhelm him. Even when he was angry at his son, Teal’c had maintained a tight control over his thoughts and feelings. Teal’c seemed to carry a well of calmness with him. However, he had wrongly assumed that it was just Teal’c and maybe Bray’tac. Not all Jaffa. 

But the evidence was before him now. These Jaffa were so tightly controlled that any thought outside of the norm was rejected before it was even identified. Jack’s respect for Teal’c increased as he realized that his friend had not only broken the conditioning, but, compared to these Jaffa, Teal’c was very free with his thoughts and emotions.  

Jack felt the lead Jaffa frown in confusion as Jack continued to push harder at his mind, *Not important. Not important. Not important.* 

Finally, the lead Jaffa broke Jack’s hold. He directed the others to begin a search of the area.  

“Damn it!” Jack put down his scope and backed out of sight. He jogged a short distance before grabbing his radio and whispering, “Carter?” 

“Sir?” 

“They’re headed our way.” 

“I need more time.” 

“Yeah, of course you do!” Great. Now what. I can’t do an Obi Wan on them and they way out number us. Scratch that, me. They way out number me. Shit! Okay, new plan. Lead them the long way around. Hope you don’t need too much time, Carter. Cause I’m coming in hot.

Jack caught up to two of the Jaffa and caught their attention by shooting them without any warning. As his weapons fire echoed through the forest, he turned and headed towards the far side of the clearing.

That should get the rest of them to follow me. Jack turned and ducked back into the woods as soon as the other Jaffa spotted him. He dodged the blasts that seemed to follow him through the trees. He arrived at the ship just before the reinforcements from the village. He closed the hatch behind him, not even bothering to return fire. 

“Times up,” he told Carter. Jack made his way past her careful patchwork and back to the pilot’s seat. Come on, Carter. We are out of other options. 

“I’m done! I think!” 

About damn time! Jack rested his hands on the controls and tried to relax and reach out to the ship.  

WHUMP! WHUMP! 

Damn, Jaffa. Hard to relax when you’re being shot at.  

“We’re good to go, Sir.” Sam joined him in the cockpit. 

“I’m doing the best I can,” he snapped at her. Not helping, Carter. Relax. Relax. Happy place. Jack’s mind finally tuned out the staff blasts striking the ship to find that the ship was eager to obey his commands. The little ship powered up and flipped through a systems check at lightning speed. No warnings. Sweet!

Jack reached for the controls as his awareness of the ship slowly moved into the back of his mind.  Flying the ancient ship was nothing like flying any other craft. The ship anticipated his commands and jumped to respond. Jack didn’t even remember taking off. He just felt the little ship jump into the air and soar. They had buzzed the village before Jack had a chance to figure out what they wanted to do next.  

Jack had activated the visual controls for Sam’s benefit. He was getting all the readings internally, but he knew that Sam wanted to see it for herself. Besides, there was no way he was going to try and describe the experience to her. He never liked trying to explain the impossible. So, he just smiled as she watched the screen avidly. Yup, cool new doohickey for Sam to play with. 

The ship gave him a proximity alarm at the same time that Sam declared, “Sir, we’re detecting another ship. It’s big.” 

Shit! A mother ship. Well, we were missing the head snake. So much for a joy ride in the new ship. Jack began evasive maneuvers as soon as the death gliders were detected.  

“You’re doing great, Sir,” Sam offered in support. Jack saw her wince as one of the death gliders scored a hit. “Relatively speaking.” 

Jack shot her a frown. Snarky is not what I need right now, Carter. What I need are weapons. “Weapons. Weapons.” Jack pulled his connection to the ship back to the front of his mind.  Weapons, where are the damn weapons? The ship immediately deployed several missile bays. Perfect. Now, go kill the bastards. The missiles fired at the Goa’uld mother ship.  

“Keep firing, Sir.” 

Damn it, Carter. Stop distracting me. “Nothing’s happening.” Now, weapons, missiles. Empty. Shit! Jack began evasive maneuvers again. 

“Weapons must be depleted. Hopefully you hit some vital systems,” she offered, without much hope. 

The targeting program that Jack had been using changed from a hit to kill. Just as the mother ship exploded. Nice! Jack pulled the ship around and sped a safe distance from the wreckage. Safe once again, “Think that was vital?” he snarked. 

“Relatively speaking,” she quipped back. 

Jack grinned. Mentally he tracked the death gliders that survived the blast down to the surface. They all landed near the Stargate. He snorted, fearless Jaffa my ass. 

Daniel! Teal’c! He sent his mind to the surface. The ships sensors augmenting his natural abilities. He found the village and his two wayward teammates. The enemy Jaffa had all been disarmed and locked in one of the rooms. The rest of the village was already cleaning up the debris from the fight. “Sweet!” 

“Sir?” 

“Sorry, Carter.” Jack pulled up the sensor’s screen on her viewer and let Sam see for herself. 

“They won!” Her smile was returned. “Ready to head back?” 

“Not just yet,” he replied. 

Jack began his joy ride in full. He pushed the engines and manipulated the controls in several complex aerial maneuvers. As he flexed his mind, the ship seemed to disappear around him. The feeling of being one with the sky was powerful. Wow! I have to get me one of these!  

What else can this baby do? The little ship responded to his query with a detailed list of options. Cloak? Sweet! Could have used that earlier. Jack pulled a couple of barrel rolls as he passed over the village and then gently set it down in a nearby field.  

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

The sun was just setting when Jon felt Jack as a strong presence back in his mind. He was sitting around a campfire pit with his new teammates basking in the warmth of the fire. 

*Hey, old man.* 

*Hey, kid.* 

*Did ya have fun?* 

*Did I ever!* Jack replied with a flash of images. Then Jack’s tone sounded sad, *Carter won’t let me keep the ship.* 

*No?* 

*No. Something about studying it more closely, blah blah, Area 51, yada yada.* 

Jon snorted, getting him a few odd stares from his fellow campers. *How can they study it if only you and I can make it turn on?* 

*Ya know, that is a very good point. I’ll tell Carter that she wouldn’t get much studying a dead piece of technology. But if she’s really nice to me I’ll turn it on for her.* 

Jon smiled and sent an image of Sam bribing Jack with cake to get access to the ships systems.  

*Exactly, kid!* 

*So, old man, when are ya gonna pick me up?* 

*What ever do you mean?* 

*Joy ride in the alien doohickey, of course.* 

*I don’t know…* 

*If ya let me have a joy ride, I’ll let ya play paintball with me and my team of misfits.* 

*Paintball, ya say?* 

*Yup… against spoiled teenagers. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.* 

*Tempting… Very tempting.* 

*Got it all set for tomorrow. I even prepped the team. Come on, ya know ya wanna.* 

*Alright! Joy ride tonight! Paintball tomorrow. What a hell of a day!*  

END

"To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there 's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come." --From Shakespeare’s Hamlet (III, i, 65-68)

Jon tossed his suit jacket on the chair while pulling his tie loose. Finally, it was done. No more high school. He sat down in the lazy boy and gave a satisfied sigh. He had decided against attending any of the graduation parties that he had been invited to. Graduating a year early had been a significant achievement, but it also meant that he graduated with kids he hadn’t actually attended classes with.  

As Jon relaxed, he sent out a gentle query to his older version. It was his equivalent of a knock at the door.  

*Hey, kid. Ceremony over?* 

*Yes, thank God! There were more speeches than at the opening of the USAF Museum.* 

*Yikes! That bad. I’m glad you convinced me to stay away.* 

*Hey, old man, are the guys still on for Saturday?*  

*Yup. To think that the only way we could get them all up to the cabin was for you to invite them.* 

*Yeah, well, I have avoided them for not quite 2 years now. That tends to make one curious.* 

Jack’s tone softened, *Are you sure you’re ready for this?* 

Jon considered his answer. He had avoided Sam, Daniel, and Teal’c because the awkward conversations were more painful then their absence. When they were briefly reunited a year ago, they were still having a hard time separating Jon from Jack. Granted, they had more similarities than differences, but they were still getting used to the clone thing. Jack being frozen in stasis hadn’t helped. Now, they’d had time to adjust. They could see him separate from Jack without the burden of grief for Jack that had clouded their last meeting. 

*Yeah. I think I am. It’ll help to be on home turf though.* 

*Yeah sure! You keep telling yourself that, kid.* Jack added as an afterthought, *Oh, we found a ZPM.* 

*Really, where?* 

*Apparently, we stole it from Ra.* 

*We… meaning?* 

*SG-1 and I, using the Ancient Time Machine.* 

*Uh-huh…* 

*We did! We even took a video and left it in case we screwed something up in the timeline.* 

*Did you?* 

*What?* 

*Screw up the timeline. Ya know, Sam gets a little snippy about the timeline.* Jon could still feel her outrage from the last time, when Sam had discovered that Jack had ‘borrowed’ the little ship to go on a joyride with Jon. She was certain they would use it to joyride through time. She had made Jack swear to never, ever, under any circumstances use the time machine.  

*Don’t I know it! She all but boxed my ears for that joyride. I spent the next week fending off ‘Generals’ and ‘Sirs’ left and right. It’s not like I didn’t tell anyone.* 

Jon laughed out loud, *I don’t think she counts you telling Walter. Besides ya only told Walter that you were going to go paintballing and to call only if the world needed saving.* 

*Yeah sure, take her side.* 

*Only when she’s right, old man.* 

*Which is always! And ya know she only complained because she tried to sneak into the ship to play with the doohickeys while I was gone.* 

*Too true.* Jon paused, *How is she holding up?* 

Jon felt Jack hesitate, *She seems good, but ya know how she is. It’s helping that her brother stayed after the funeral to help her pack.* 

*Good. Speaking of packing, I need your truck tomorrow. I got the last of my stuff packed up.* 

*Sure, swing by in the morning and drop me at the mountain. I’ll hitch a ride home.* 

*No problem. See ya tomorrow, old man.* 

*See ya, kid.* 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

Jon approached the cabin with a small amount of trepidation. These were his friends, and they weren’t. He had never planned on staying away permanently, just long enough to get his shit together. Just long enough to let them get some distance, some perspective. 

But now as the time to reestablish their friendship neared, he was worried. He wasn’t sure that they would be able to work past the initial weirdness of talking to him like a separate person, instead of a bad copy of Jack.  

*Oh, suck it up, kid. If we could get past the weirdness, the wonder twins will have no problem. And it was never weird with T,* Jack’s thought pierced his doubt.  

*Sorry. Didn’t mean to leak all over you.* 

*Just get your ass back here. Carter is killing all the fun of fishing. I can see her calculating the trajectory of each cast. And Teal’c! Teal’c just declared war on the mosquitoes.* 

*On my way.* Jon took one more deep breath and walked around to the back of the cabin.

When he rounded the corner he could see all of them relaxing by the small lake. Jack and Sam were on the dock fishing and Daniel and Teal’c on the shore. Daniel was reading and Teal’c was trying to slap the mosquitoes out of the air. 

“Hey, guys!” Jon announced awkwardly. 

Daniel looked up in confusion before turning to see Jon by the cabin, and then he smiled in recognition. Teal’c nodded and continued to focus on his battle with the bugs. Jack just smiled and kept on fishing.

Sam turned and gave him one of her thousand watt smiles. “Jon!” she welcomed. Her eyes scanned over his frame, noting the changes. “You look good.” 

“Thanks!”  

Daniel stood up and walked over, smiling, “It’s good to see you again, Jon.” 

Jon sighed in relief as only thoughts of welcome and curiosity flowed around his mental shields. 

*Told ya!* came Jack’s snarky thought. Out load he hollered, “Ya gonna fish or what?” 

“Just try and stop me, old man.” 

“Then stop the yappin’ and start the fishin’.” 

The other three traded amused smiles and got back to the ‘silent’ art of fishing. 

~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG~~SG 

They spent the evening catching up. Reconnecting old bonds and sharing their new adventures. Throughout the evening, whenever the conversation turned uncomfortable, Jon or Jack would throw out an odd comment and break the tension. Eventually, Jack and Jon traded quips and snarky comments as a competition. That is until Daniel finally cracked.  

“Can you two just stop? Please!” he pleaded. Daniel stared in surprise as Jack sighed and handed Jon a $20. “What?” 

“Oh, I just won a bet,” replied Jon casually. 

“You bet against Jack?” Daniel asked. 

“And won?” added Sam. 

“Yup,” Jon replied. 

Sam laughed at the look Jack gave her, “What was the bet?” 

“That you or Daniel would snap long before Jack and I got tired of verbal sparring.” 

“You did?” Daniel said looking at Jack as if he couldn’t quite grasp the concept of the bet. 

“Yup,” Jack replied. 

“Why?” Daniel asked slowly. 

Jon and Jacked looked at each other then shrugged.

“’Cause we could?” Jon ventured. 

“Sure. Works for me.” Jack replied. 

Sam was silently laughing at their antics. “You both are incorrigible.” 

“Thanks!” they both replied. 

*Now?* Jon asked Jack mentally. 

*Yeah, now is good,* Jack replied.

“Well, kids, I know you have been curious as to why Jon asked us up here. He had several reasons. One was because I have an announcement to make. Apparently, my asking isn’t enough, so…” Jack looked each of his former teammates in the eyes before continuing, “General Hammond is retiring in a few weeks. He’s asked me to take his place in Washington.” He gave them a moment to let that news sink in, “and I’ve decided to accept.” 

“But…” Daniel started, clearly speechless. 

Sam looked shocked and saddened but didn’t say anything. 

Teal’c broke the silence, “You will be missed at the SGC, O’Neill.” 

“Thanks, Teal’c. As will you, but I’ll be stopping back in every now and then, to help General Landry settle in.” Teal’c gave a solemn nod. 

“But…” Daniel tried again, his emotions overpowering him once again.

Jack and Jon could both feel his loss. All his friends were leaving him, Sam for Nellis and Area 51. Teal’c for the Free Jaffa. He had been counting on Jack being there. But now he was leaving too. Leaving him alone. 

“Daniel? You won’t be alone,” Jon stated.  

“How?” Daniel accused but not really angry. 

Jack smiled sadly, “Because you’ll be too busy to be lonely. I assigned you as the senior scientist to the Atlantis rescue mission.” 

“What? When? But…” 

“Easy, Daniel, or you’ll pop a gasket,” Jon soothed. 

Sam gave Daniel a sad smile and pulled him into a quick hug, “Congratulations, Daniel. I’m going to miss you even more now that I can’t just call and talk.” 

“What about you, young O’Neill?” Teal’c asked. 

The two scientists turned their gaze on Jon.

“What?” 

“Do you not have one more year of Tau’ri schooling?” Teal’c asked. “Will O’Neill’s move affect the location of this schooling?” 

“Oh, that. No, I tested out and completed the diploma a year early.” 

“Really? Well congratulations to you too. What do you plan to do now?” Sam asked. “College?” 

“No way. I learned my lesson with high school. Don’t care to repeat it.” Jon looked up, taking in their confused expressions. “They were all so… young,” he explained. 

Daniel leaned forward, “So, what do you plan on doing?” 

“Oh, well, since Hammond made it very clear that my commission would be reactivated when I reached,” he raised his hands in air quotes, “’21 and not a day before.’ I figured I could harass the other parts of the Air Force that Jack has neglected over the years.” Jon grinned at their expressions; curious and waiting for more. Jon waited. 

Daniel broke first, “Um, like what?” 

“Oh, enlisting, of course.” 

“Of course,” Daniel echoed. “Enlisting as what?” 

“Well, I considered Fire Fighting and Medical, but figured I’d get bored too easily. Aircraft maintenance is so not me. ASOS is so terrestrial. They won’t let me cook with beer, so no services. Radar is boring. Para-Rescue… been there and done that. I can’t pilot until I re-commission. And I just can’t do admin. I have too much respect for Walter to try. So, I opted for Security Forces. I have it on good authority that my first posting will be very exciting.” 

“Security Forces?” Daniel echoed again. 

Sam snorted as she figured it out. “You just can’t stay away, can you?” 

“Hell, no. I’ve been away too long as it is.” 

“Security Forces?” Daniel asked, still very confused. 

“Oh fer cryin’ out loud, Daniel,” Jack interrupted. “I can’t believe that you’ve been working for the Air Force for over 8 years and you don’t even know who the Security Forces are. You see them every day. They are base security. The gate room guards are all Security Forces. You think we’d trust something that critical to the Marines?” 

“Oh, OH!” Daniel said as he finally understood. “But… Isn’t that a waste… I mean…” 

“Pish-shaw,” Jon interrupted this time. “I’m just bidding my time. Besides, the replicators are gone, the System Lords are on the run, and the Jaffa are free. It’s going to be a bit slow on the intergalactic front.” 

“True,” Sam remarked. Then she gave him an evil grin, “So… when’s BMT graduation?” 

“Why?” Jon asked cautiously. 

“Because I want to make sure to take leave around then.” 

“Again, why?” 

“You can get us the date, right, Sir,” Sam asked Jack. 

“Of course,” Jack replied laughing at Jon’s discomfort. “It should be in about nine weeks.” 

“Damn, I’ll be at Atlantis by then,” Daniel swore. 

“I have never visited the facility where young Tau’ri are turned into warriors.” Teal’c added. “I would also like to attend.” 

“But…” Jon tried to interject. 

“Good idea, kids. Let’s all meet up to see Jon’s graduation. I bet Hammond would like to come too.” 

“Oh, yes, and Cassie.” 

Jon sighed, as they continued to rattle of the names of everyone who would like to celebrate Jon rejoining the USAF. Jon just hoped they could keep President Hayes out of it. That would surely give the TI a stroke. Then again, it could be fun. 

Jon let their voices and emotions flow over him like a warm blanket. Surrounded by his friends once again, he was happier than he had been for some time. It was good to have his friends back. While they still had some bumps to work out, they would continue to be his friends. 

*Not just friends. Family,* came Jack’s quiet whisper in his mind. 

*You’re right. Family… It’s time for cake.* 

*Ummm, Cake.* 

Jon silently got up as the two scientists continued to make detailed plans for Jon’s BMT graduation. When he returned, they looked up surprised. “Cake,” he stated simply.  

“Sure,” Daniel replied, and then frowned as he took a closer look at the cake decoration. It showed a star field with a little green alien in one corner and the phrase, ‘Congratulations! You saved the Galaxy! Again!’ “Cute, Jack.” 

“You’re welcome, Daniel. Oh, and if anyone asks, you are the Space Invaders champion for Colorado, two years in a row.” 

“Space Invaders. Couldn’t make it Super Mario Brother’s or something a bit more up to date, could ya?” 

Jon interjected, “Nah, you wouldn’t stand a chance against some of the kids out there. They take the Jedi Master’s game way too seriously.”  

Yes, definitely family. Hey, maybe they would help him torment some hapless TI. Of course, that’s what family is for.  

END