Three days later Jack was in his
backyard, tending to the steaks cooking on his gas grill. He'd used his
special barbeque sauce; the meat had been marinating since last night
and was already so tender they were falling apart on the grill. As for
the aroma of the cooking meat, it was wonderful, the smell announced
that a feast was to be had.
The picnic table was
laden with other goodies, the usual potato salad, baked beans, and
chips. The piece de resistance was the chocolate cake with butter cream
frosting. Daniel had brought it and Jack could hear it calling to him
even at this distance. So far, he'd resisted its siren call, but was
caving under the pressure.
Carter and Daniel were
seated in lounge chairs by back deck, and tried to look like they were
relaxed, but, from their ramrod-stiff backs, were anything but. Kay had
settled next to them and looked to be deep in thought.
Pete was noticeably
absent. Carter hadn't mentioned bringing him along, and Jack sure wasn't
going to bring it up if she wasn't. If she'd insisted that he be there,
he would've bent over backwards to make him feel welcome. If it made
Carter happy, he'd move heaven and earth to make it happen. However, the
missing Pete wasn't missed, not by a long shot.
'Damned Skippy, he wasn't missed.'
Daniel had filled a plate
with food from the table and given it to Carter, but she had only moved
it around her plate so far. Kay had dug into the chips and dip, and
seemed to be enjoying herself, but looked a little preoccupied. From
previous descriptions from Josh, Jack figured Kay was analyzing
everything in sight.
A platter piled high with
hamburger patties and hot dogs were waiting their turn on the grill.
Jack had saved them for last, knowing it wouldn't take as long for them
to cook. Teal'c and Josh hovered around him like a wolf pack that
guarded their kill. They looked hungry.
'Crap, can't those steaks
cook any faster? I don't want a food riot on my hands. I learned the
hard way never to come between a Jaffa warrior and his protein, never
mind how. As it is, I'll carry that particular scar till the day I die.
I'm just lucky that my uniform usually covers it up. At least I can
count on Teal'c never blabbing about it . . . I hope.'
He grimaced in memory.
'Lucky for me the only people who've seen it so far have bought my war
wound story. She even laughed when I told her I'd have to shoot her if I
told her how I got it. As far as I know Janet never told anyone and
since it happened off world, the whole patient confidentiality thing
worked in my favor. God, I miss that woman.'
'Come on, Jack, snap out
of it, you're supposed to be scoping out Kay and Josh for possible
additions to our merry band of misfits up at the mountain. Wonder what
they'll say when I pop the question?'
Jack patted the steaks
with his spatula and wrinkled his forehead in thought. His gaze slid
sideways toward the Jaffa who looked like he was on guard duty. His
attitude matched the ones of the two SF's who were dressed in civvies,
but were there at the insistence of Hammond. It had been a showdown of
sorts; Hammond had delivered an ultimatum that rankled.
Jack thought back to the
phone call to his boss. He'd called to invite him to the cookout; drink
a few beers, shoot some bull, no big deal. NOT!
The conversation had been
very one-sided, Hammond had done the talking, and Jack had tried to
interrupt until he'd been told to 'shut up and listen'. The message had
been short and to the point. "No guards, no cookout, Jack. This one
comes directly from the President."
Sure, George had tried to
soften the blow, explained how worried they all were about him and
Carter, how they were so valuable that their country, heck the whole
fricking planet, couldn't afford to lose them. When Jack kept up his
protests, Hammond had finally played his ace in the hole, told him that
since they hadn't been released for active duty yet, he could keep them
locked up on the base. And would, if he didn't behave himself.
Hammond had brought up
the subject of Jack's non-appetite and inability to sleep too. Jack
wondered who'd squealed on him, and then figured that it had to be the
new Doc. O'Neill couldn't hold it against her, even though he wanted to.
Hell, she was just doing her job, like Fraiser had done . . . would have
done in her place. If she were still around.
Jack tapped one of the
steaks, and watched the blood ooze from the meat and drip onto the coals
below. Teal'c liked his rare, one step from the slaughterhouse. He could
almost hear the thing mooing, for pity's sake.
'On the other hand,
the T man hasn't gotten farther than ten feet away from me since he
arrived, maybe he's attracted to something else, not the meat sizzling
on the grill. I'll bet Hammond sicced him on me. And from the way Daniel
is doing the mother hen imitation with Carter, it would be a safe bet
that he's pulling guard duty too. Crap, this is ridiculous. I'm supposed
to guard them, not the other way around.'
Jack decided to test out
his theory. "Hey, Murray. Your steak is ready." He pointed his spatula
toward the stack of plates on the picnic table and then at the grill.
"Want to get your plate off the table?"
Teal'c exchanged a glance
with Daniel before he responded. He didn't need to say a word, just
directed his gaze to one of the SF's sitting on the deck. The whole
operation went off without a hitch. One minute, the Airman was sitting,
the next he was headed for the picnic table with the air of a soldier
assigned to a mission of the utmost importance.
Jack timed them on his
watch. Fifteen seconds later, the Airman was holding the plate out to
Teal'c. The Jaffa warrior accepted it with a bow of thanks. Sure, Jack
could've tried being ornery, ordered young Airman Jones to cease and
desist. After all, he was the guy's CO, but he wouldn't be that
cantankerous.
It would've put the
Airman in the unenviable spot of obeying his CO and then facing the
wrath of a very scary-looking Jaffa who just happened to be in charge of
training all SF's in hand-to-hand combat. Nope, although he could be a
hard assed son of a bitch when it came to training, he wouldn't do that
to the poor slob. After all, the Airman was just doing his job, and if
he were honest with himself, he wouldn't want to face a very pissed off
Teal'c either.
Jack couldn't resist the
verbal jab at his Jaffa friend as he scooped the steak off the grill and
laid it on the proffered plate. "You gonna eat that standing up?"
"No." A chair was already
on its way, courtesy of the same SF. It couldn't have gone smoother than
if it'd been planned that way. Come to think of it, it probably had
been.
'Crap. I'm surrounded on
all sides by well-meaning pain in the ass friends. I'll bet they would
try to wipe my ass if I'd let them. Not that I'm going to bring it up.
Teal'c takes guard duty way too seriously and has insisted on following
me into the crapper on more than one occasion in the past.'
Jack raised his spatula
in salute to Teal'c's strategy and his warrior brother acknowledged the
compliment with a smile as he cut into his steak.
Kay studied the
interactions between her host and his friends as she sat next to Sam. It
was done without conscious thought, an action as automatic and natural
to her as breathing. The phone call from General Jack O'Neill had come
as a surprise. Sure, he'd promised to have them over some time. But,
she'd taken that with a grain of salt. Between his probably hectic
schedule and hers, she'd resolved that she wouldn't count on the meeting
actually happening.
Josh had been just as
surprised as she was, and from the way he was acting, he was as nervous
as a cat on a hot tin roof. She thought back to the instructions he'd
given her as they were walking up to O'Neill's front door. The fact that
they had been the same ones he'd given her when she started her job at
the prison wasn't lost on her.
For that matter, it was
the same speech he gave her whenever she went shopping by herself. They
both knew she was easily distracted and was at risk for getting hit by a
car in the parking lot while walking to the store. Well, she reasoned,
she had a lot on her mind and had always been introspective. Even her
Dad had told her she thought too much.
By now, she knew his
instructions by heart, but he'd looked so serious and worried that she
couldn't do anything but listen. "Keep alert, Kay. We don't know this
guy very well, and from what I've seen of him and his friends, he's a
spook. Always know where you are and who's around you. Keep checking for
your exit points."
He'd stopped her right
there on the sidewalk, put his hands on her shoulders and looked into
her eyes. "If you feel uncomfortable about anything, let me know and
we'll make our excuses and leave."
Kay had smiled and nodded.
"Promise me you'll be careful?" Josh asked.
"Of course." Kay had
slipped her arm around his waist as they'd continued to walk toward the
front door. Her husband was just trying to keep her safe, that's all.
The visit had gone well
so far, but she had to agree with Josh's assessment of the mysterious
General O'Neill. She'd had little information about him when she'd seen
him briefly at the prison. She only been told that he was to be
considered dangerous, even when unarmed, and wasn't to be seen without a
guard present.
Kay had followed prison
protocol. Little did she realize that one interview would turn into
something more. The million dollar question was 'more what?'
She dunked her potato
chip into the dip on her plate and nibbled on it as she scanned the
people around her. Standing by Jack O'Neill, Josh still looked nervous,
as his eyes roved around the yard, the high privacy fence and
well-tended flowers.
As for the woman sitting
next to her, she looked jittery as she played with the food on her
plate. Sam looked pale and thin, her cheekbones jutting through her pale
skin. From the black circles under her eyes, she wasn't sleeping much.
Her eyes constantly darted about the yard, as if she were afraid that
someone or something would catch her by surprise.
'Let's see, poor
appetite, inability to sleep, hyper-alert, and she looks like she could
jump out of her skin, all the signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I
should know, I've experienced it.'
Kay shivered in spite of
herself and steered her thoughts resolutely away from her own
experiences. It was one thing to deal with it on a professional level,
but another thing entirely when your own feelings got mixed up in the
whole mess.
'I wonder what
traumatized her? For that matter, Jack has the same signs. I hardly
recognized him when he met us at the door with those whopper bags under
his eyes. He looks like a walking scarecrow and I'll bet he's aged ten
years since I last saw him.'
'As for Dr. Jackson
and Murray, the mobile mountain, and the two extra guys; I believe they
said their names were Jones and Simpson, are on edge. They all act like
they expect Jack and Sam to disappear in front of their eyes. They
certainly present a mystery, one I would dearly love to solve. Not that
I'll ever have the chance, but . . . still, it would be a challenge, and
I love a challenge. Probably why I still work at the prison. It was
really tough going back there after . . . I couldn't let what they did
to me beat me, even if it feels like they did. I had to show them . . .
what?'
Jack interrupted Kay's
reverie. "Kay? How do you like your steak?" Seeing that he'd gotten her
attention, he waved his tongs and continued. "Didn't you say medium
well?"
Kay, plate in hand,
walked over to the grill to eye the steaks there. She grinned as she
inhaled the aroma of cooking meat. "Are they ready yet? I'm starved."
Josh smiled and shook his
head. "Never stand in the way of that woman and her food." Jack quirked
an eyebrow in question. "Don't let her tiny figure fool you, Jack.
She'll eat everything in sight and if it's chocolate . . ." Kay's
husband smiled knowingly. "Let's just say that nothing stands in the way
of her and chocolate. I learned that the hard way."
Jack winced in sympathy and Josh grinned good-naturedly.
Kay stuck out her tongue in censure. "My steak ready yet?"
"Coming right up." Jack
scooped up a juicy one in his tongs and Kay held out her plate for the
sizzling meat.
Kay indicated her husband. "You want to join me, Josh?"
"Sure thing, honey. You lead, I'll follow."
Kay smirked. "But, of
course, dear. Isn't that the way it works?"
Josh wisely said nothing,
just shook his head and followed after he'd collected his own steak.
They both headed for the
picnic table and sat down with their meal. Under cover of cutting up
their steaks and grabbing extra food from the bowls there, they compared
notes.
Josh scooped a spoonful
of potato salad onto his plate and offered Kay some. She shook her head.
"I'd rather have some of the baked beans. They smell delicious."
Josh nodded and ladled a
large spoonful of the coppery brown beans onto her plate. When he put
the spoon back into the beans, Kay spoke. "Not so fast, mister. I'd like
some more. I really worked up an appetite today." Josh scooped another
large spoonful onto her plate.
"Another rough day?" Josh
picked up his knife and fork and began cutting up his steak.
"Not really." Kay
concentrated on her plate, not willing to meet her husband's eyes. "I
mainly had paperwork to do, that's all."
'I know he worries
about me, and since the riot, he's hinted that I should quit. Oh, he's
never come out and said it. He knows me well enough to know that would
be the exact wrong thing to do. I can tell he wishes I'd quit though. If
you were honest with yourself, Kay, you'd admit that it's the hardest
thing just to walk through those prison walls. If there were another job
around here, I'd take it in a heartbeat.'
'But there isn't
another job around here for you to take, and with Josh not able to work
. . . you're stuck with it until something better comes along. Oh well,
just suck it up, Kay. You're a tough broad; even the inmates say so. You
can handle anything, right? Yeah, right.'
Kay speared a piece of
meat with her fork savagely and put it in her mouth. "Umm," she groaned.
"This practically melts in your mouth. Josh, you have to get his
recipe."
Josh smiled as he chewed,
clearly enjoying it too. "Already on it, hon." He impaled another piece
and raised it to his mouth.
Kay looked at him
thoughtfully. "So, what's your assessment of this whole shebang?"
"I'd love to get my hands
on the general's personnel file. It would probably make pretty
interesting reading. I have the feeling that it's so classified that
whoever reads it is shot immediately afterwards though."
Kay smiled around another
piece of meat. "I agree. What else." She paused and smiled. "Come on,
Josh. I can tell that you're leaving something out, so spill already."
She picked up her can of soda and took a swallow.
Josh shrugged. "You got
me," he admitted. He shoveled some potato salad onto his fork and
hoisted it toward his mouth, then paused. "This whole group is as jumpy
as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs."
His mouth closed around
the bit of potato salad as he gestured with his now empty fork. "Both
Carter and O'Neill could be the poster kids for battle fatigue
anonymous. As for Dr. Jackson, Murray, and the two extra guys, they
aren't much better. Those four act more like bodyguards than friends.
And don't even get me started on the fact that I've heard helicopters
circling us ever since we got here."
Kay looked at her husband in disbelief. "Go on."
Josh nodded to emphasize
his words. "Believe me, I know the sound of a chopper when I hear one.
They are definitely hiding something, and I'm not sure what it is.
Whatever it is, it was no accident that we were invited here. You can
count on that." He looked his wife in the eye. "You want to stick
around?"
"Are you kidding? Of
course I want to stick around. I mean . . . it couldn't be worse than
what we've already been though." She paused. "Could it?"
Josh bent over his plate,
and touched his forehead to hers. "Shh, here comes O'Neill."
Kay craned her head
around to see what he was talking about. As usual, Josh had sat facing
the majority of the people there. She, on the other hand, had sat with
her back to them, another big no-no in Josh's book of survival.
Jack was headed their
way, his plate laden with a steak that was still sizzling. Murray
followed closely behind, much like a watchdog.
"Mind if I join you
folks?" Jack called out with a smile and hefted his plate in their
direction.
Josh's gaze took in Kay's
nod of acceptance. "Sure, it's your table. Come and join us. Kay hasn't
eaten up all the baked beans yet, but it's been a close thing."
Kay batted at his
shoulder playfully. "Hush." She reached across the table and dabbed at
Josh's chin with a napkin. "You're wearing your potato salad, dear. You
planning to grab a snack later?"
Josh stilled and allowed
her to minister to him, never taking his eyes off Jack and Murray.
Kay noted his stillness
and swiped at his face one last time. "There, you look presentable
again." She turned to Jack. "Men, you can dress them up, but you can't
take them anywhere."
Jack made his way toward
the picnic table and tried to ignore the fact that he now had his back
to a potential threat, his rooftop observatory. Right now, he felt an
uncomfortable itching sensation between his shoulder blades, like
someone had painted a target there and even now, was zeroing in for the
kill.
At his prior station at
the gas grill, he'd been able to view his entire backyard, rooftop and
all, with no difficulty. Now he couldn't, and try as he might, he
couldn't shake the apprehension that something was about to go horribly
wrong. He smiled and tried to convince himself that everything was just
fine. It didn't work.
'Crap, Jack, get a grip
on yourself. You know darned well that there is no reason why you should
be so jumpy. It's only your roof, for pity's sakes, not Fifth's
spaceship. There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of, between all the
surveillance and your human guard dogs, you're one hundred percent
safe.'
Jack stumbled and then
caught his balance before Teal'c could grab him. 'Make that ninety-five
percent safe.'
Jack shrugged off his
Jaffa friend's offer of assistance and settled next to Josh at the
picnic table, a position that gave him a better view of the yard . . .
and his observatory. He smiled when he noted Teal'c taking up his
station across the table from him. However, he straddled the bench that
enabled him to watch Jack and the rest of the yard.
'You know the drill
with this PTSD crap, or at least you should by now, flyboy. You've been
through it often enough to buy the t-shirt, wear it out, AND get
frequent flier miles on the heebie-jeebie red-eye express.'
Jack reached for the
potato salad and scooped out a generous portion. The soft sound of salad
plopping onto the table drew his gaze toward its cause. When he caught
sight of how his hand trembled while holding the spoon, he almost
dropped the ladle in embarrassment.
His stomach clenched as
he viewed the tangible evidence of his weakness and carefully replaced
the full serving spoon into the bowl of salad. Teal'c's shadow blocked
the sunlight and drew his attention from the yellow blobs resting on the
tabletop.
The Jaffa had risen and
moved to his side, his hand resting on Jack's shoulder. "Allow me,
O'Neill."
Jack shrugged away the
offer of assistance with a slight twist of his shoulders and a grimace.
"Nah, thanks anyway, T. I'm not that hungry after all."
"As you wish." Teal'c
bowed and returned to his seat.
Josh's voice broke into
Jack's inner reverie. "Rough mission, Jack?"
Jack's eyes hardened as
he fought for some semblance of control over the riot of emotions that
washed through his mind. "You might say that, but if I told you, then
I'd have to shoot ya." A ghost of a smile played across his lips.
Kay snorted. "You sound
so much like Josh when you say that, Jack." She paused, and then went on
to explain. "That's the exact words that he used to describe you and
your probable history." She smiled and shook her head. "I swear, you
military types think so much alike. It's downright scary."
Jack huffed a breath and
then scrubbed his face with both hands. "Yeah? I'll bet that husband of
yours drives you crazy with crap like this."
Kay grinned back and then
sobered. "Of course he does, that's all part of the deal. Seriously
though. Have you been able to talk to anyone about . . . your mission?"
She held up her hands as she saw Jack's mouth open. "I know, I know, you
can't talk about it because it's classified. I'm worried about you,
that's all. You should know better than to invite a counselor like me
over when you're like this, because there is no way that I'll be able to
resist asking. Just ask Josh."
Jack watched mesmerized
as he pushed pieces of his cooling steak around on his plate with his
fork. "Actually, that's part of why I asked you over here today." He
looked up at her thoughtfully. "I was wondering if you'd be interested
in a job working at our base?"
Kay gasped and her eyes widened. "What?"
Jack laid his fork down
and studied her, his expression serious and earnest. "I mean it, Kay. We
could use somebody at the base with your skills. I was impressed with
the way you handled those thugs at the prison." He turned to Josh. "I'm
offering a job to you too, Josh. The guy who handles electrical repairs
and maintenance at our base is busier than a one-legged man in a
butt-kicking contest. So, what do you say?"
Now it was Josh's turn to
stare openmouthed at Jack. Abruptly, his mouth closed and then his lips
thinned into a grim line. He swiveled to get up from the table and then
bent double, unmoving with his face toward the ground.
"Kay?" He moaned and his hands grappled for the edge of the table.
His wife was already up as she moved around the table. "What's wrong?"
"I . . . I can't move."
Next
Original Header/Footer Information: