Reading Time: 105 Minutes

Title: Theft of the Thunder Instrument
Author: Sunryder
Fandom: SG-1, 9-1-1
Genre: Family, Fusion, Hurt/Comfort, Kid!fic, Pre-Relationship
Relationship(s): Gen
Content Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence-Graphic, Violence-Against Children/Child Abuse, Minor Relationship, Canon-Slavery, Canon-Torture, Canon-Child Abuse, Canon-War, Discussion-Torture, Discussion-Suicidality,
Word Count: 52,704
Summary: 10 years ago, one the madder scientists at the SGC got fired for off-book experiments with Jack’s DNA. Turns out, one of those experiments was an embryo. Daniel really would’ve appreciated finding out about Jack’s kid while Jack was on Earth. But no, tiny Jack was now Daniel’s responsibility.
Artist: Kylia

---

---

 

Chapter Eight

Despite the sleeping pill Vala had cajoled him into taking last night, Daniel still woke with the dawn. He’d spent a lot of his life in tents, and the house’s blinds weren’t as good as his blackout curtains. Ten minutes and a mug of instant coffee later, Daniel settled in the blue, pre-dawn light and a camp chair SG-19 had left on the back porch.

It took Daniel several long minutes of breathing to recognize his heart pounding in his ears. Jack was on his way. They were so close to the finish line. Daniel’s heart didn’t need to race like he’d caught a few REM cycles in the middle of a mission. Daniel could take a minute to sit here, drink his coffee, and breathe.

Daniel had about ten seconds of silence before Evan hopped over the fence to say hello. All the effort Daniel had gone to sneaking Evan back home last night, and here the kid was, with a bright smirk like he’d done something clever. “Mom and Dad went away for the weekend. Amy won’t be over until tonight, so we have all day.” Daniel caught the sad hesitation about Evan’s parents leaving that soon, probably without an apology, but Evan bounced back.

Last night, Daniel had promised Evan that the second his parents left, he could come back over. But honestly, Daniel hadn’t expected Evan until afternoon. His foster parents never really cared, but Daniel’s grandfather always took him to the lab or to the library the morning after he’d gotten violent. An apology without actual words. That’s why Daniel had insisted to Evan that though they’d let him fall asleep on the sofa, Evan would have to wake up in his own bed. “You’ll be safe, I promise. But you have to be there in case they come looking.”

Evan hadn’t fought.

Lieutenant Jasper stuck his head out the back door and asked if Evan needed anything. (The Lieutenant had been on night shift and stayed on the ground floor since Daniel woke, pretending like he wasn’t keeping watch.)

“Can I have some coffee?”

“No.”

“Boo.”

“No caffeine if you want to get taller, kid.”

That was actually a misconception, but Daniel absolutely hadn’t gotten enough sleep to handle an Evan on caffeine.

Though Evan seemed to be more about parallel play this morning. He was happy to let Daniel read while he and his magic stick-sword reenacted some version of what Daniel was pretty sure was last night’s episode of Batman. It involved a lot of jumping off the porch railing and then somersaulting, and a sword fight against Superman.

“We should wrap some tape around that. Give you a proper hilt.” Jack said.

Daniel jumped out of his camp chair before his brain even registered that had been Jack’s voice. It took several long seconds to recognize that Jack was leaning in the doorway and had been silently watching them for who knew how long.

“Jack. I didn’t… hear you come in.” Jack raised his eyebrow at the terrible lie, and Daniel tilted his head at Evan. The kid didn’t know about transporters, so they kept pretending and hoping he didn’t start asking about cars.

Which was how long it took Daniel’s brain to catch up that he was tilting at Evan.

“Um…” Evan was staring at Jack, and Jack was staring at Evan like Daniel might as well not even be there.

Jack stepped out of the house, and Daniel caught Vala and SG-19 lined up behind him, summoned from every corner of the house to watch. Though there wasn’t much to watch. Jack had always been better with children, but on this day, Jack and Evan just stared at one another for a long moment. Then a bright smile broke over Evan’s face, and he barreled into Jack with a hug hard enough to knock him over. Jack reflexively caught him.

“Hey, Jack.”

Jack wasn’t the only one who stilled at Evan knowing his name. Daniel ran through every time he might’ve mentioned Jack over the last few days, watching the bob of Jack’s throat before he put a forcibly steady hand to Evan’s curls. “Hey, Ev.”

Evan was a whirlwind. Three days together and somehow meeting Jack was like meeting Evan for the first time. Evan gave Jack a squeeze and then immediately started giving Jack a rundown on everything that had happened in the last three days, all out of order. From tape never stuck to the wood right, to Pop-Tarts, to the skate ramp, to Legos, to Batman, to backyard soccer, they all just got carried along in Evan’s wake.

Evan didn’t pause in his narration as he climbed up onto a stool to get down the Pop-Tarts. Jack plucked the box out of Evan’s hands and asked him to get the eggs, please. Somehow, Evan brightened even more and kept going.

The lot of them followed Jack and Evan and settled in at the kitchen counter like ducklings. The three junior members of SG-19 had to be nudged into a Rochambeau to figure out who had to move to the living room to keep watch out the front window.

The rest of them settled in and watched as, somehow, Jack and Evan managed to get out all the ingredients and tools without Evan stopping for breath, and Jack coached him through pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. (“Why not Pop-Tarts?” “Growing boys need pancakes.” “Snyder said I can’t have caffeine if I want to get tall.” “Is Snyder tall?” Evan looked back at the lanky Corporal. “Yup.” “Then I think he knows what he’s talking about.” Jack said as he slid his own mug over to Daniel for a refill.)

Jack was good at barbecue and breakfast foods, so soon enough, Evan was getting out butter and syrup for everyone, and assembling sugar packets for Jack (It didn’t matter how many times someone said they were they same thing, Jack still didn’t like syrup.)

Properly sugared–some morning other than their first breakfast together, Daniel was going to have to point out that growing boys needed fruit too, Jack—they were back outside to toss around the football. Daniel tried to talk them into soccer, with some pointed words to Jack about TBIs, which turned into a grimace when Jack realized Daniel probably wouldn’t let his kid play hockey.

“Jack, his teeth.”

“Ugh. What about his knees, Danny.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes. “You don’t know anything about soccer injuries, do you?”

“I can guess, Daniel.”

“Jimmy Stevens got a soccer ball to the face at recess last year and broke his nose. Mom said I’m not allowed to play if I’m going to get broken bones.”

“Broken bones happen sometimes, buddy. You just want to make sure you get ‘em doing something smart.” Which was not the explanation Daniel had been expecting Jack to offer, but Evan seemed to like it. And didn’t seem to mind how exquisitely terrible Jack was at soccer.

Really, it was impressive.

Though, Daniel tried not to tease too hard as he tapped the ball through Jack’s legs. Jack belonged to the tiny fragment of society that believed in hockey, while Daniel had been out and about in the whole wide world that believed in proper football. (Also, Jack was grimacing in a way that meant hot packs and painkillers, and Daniel was not looking forward to advancing in middle age.)

“All right, Ev. I’m gonna take a water break. Why don’t you kick it around with Snyder and Jasper for a bit?” The two youngest and sportiest members of SG-19 seemed happy to play.

Evan took Jack by the hand and tugged him down to look him in the eye. “You know…”

Daniel didn’t know what Evan was implying, but Jack knew. “Yeah, kiddo. I know.”

“Dad didn’t… please don’t.” Evan wasn’t asking Jack never to hit him. Never to let anyone hit him. But that’s all Daniel knew.

Somehow, Jack understood perfectly what Evan was implying. “I do need some water, Ev. But we also have to have a grown-up conversation. We’re not keeping anything from you, but there’s a lot I need to play catch-up on.”

“Do I need to get caught up?”

“You know most of it. And the rest… it’s my job to protect you. And I don’t have enough information to do that right now.”

Either Jack was a wizard, or Evan’s utter lack of questions was going to be temporary. Either way, half of SG-19 went on duty while Jack stepped into the kitchen. He gave himself long enough to pour a glass of water, though Daniel knew Jack would like longer to breathe. “Sitrep.”

“Thor sent a second drone down last night and tapped it into our monitoring system before he left for Dakara and had it tail the Buckleys. They went to bed, but barely got any rest, let alone REM sleep. At approximately 6:15 this morning, they left to spend the weekend at their friend’s house on Lake Erie. Before they went, Phillip called and left a message with Ms. Amy Smith, a college student home for the summer who lives three streets over.” Meg tapped her laptop and played a recording of Phillip’s voice asking Amy to sleep over Friday and Saturday night, and to make sure Evan ate dinner and breakfast on those days. What little credit Daniel could give him, the man sounded apologetic for the last-minute arrangement and offered to pay double the girl’s rate. But he and Margaret had a ‘family emergency’ that Evan was too young to know about.

Meg gave Jack room to respond, but Jack had acknowledged nothing since he sat down at the counter with his water, still staring outside.

“Unfortunately for Phil, Amy Smith is hiking with her friends and doesn’t have any signal. She’s not due home until Wednesday, and likely won’t get the message until she comes back to town.”

“Taking off before their babysitter can say yes or no is a recurring problem for the Buckleys.” Yates took up the explanation. “Mrs. Caruthers,” the elderly lady on the corner who called Daniel a ‘biscuit,’ “says that when the Buckleys hired a sitter from an actual agency, she started asking the neighbors questions on day two, and they were all expecting a DCFS visit. It’s been teenagers ever since.”

“If we’re not expecting them until Sunday lunch at the earliest, that’s two days to figure something out.” Vala added.

“We could have the kid moved to Colorado with a new identity by then.” Meg ‘joked.’

“We’re still not kidnapping.” Felt the need to point out.

“No one is going to Daniel, but I spoke to Cameron last night—”

“When?”

“You and Evan were watching Batman.” That finally made Jack look away from the patio doors.

“It was the only cartoon we could find.” Daniel defended. Jack was a Spider-Man… man.

“I spoke to Cameron,” Vala repeated, from her rare position keeping them on task, “and Daniel’s lack of presence at the SGC has been noticed.”

“Noticed how?” Daniel asked, foolishly hoping that Jack’s presence might get him an actual answer this time.

“The IOA has been poking around. Nothing terrible. Nothing suspicious. Just present and clearly trying to stick their noses into the SGC’s business.”

“Just because I’m not at work?”

“Changes in behavior for members of SG-1 always get noticed. You changed your behavior after Jack was offworld for a month, and no one had heard from him for two weeks.”

“We didn’t even know about Evan two weeks ago.”

“They don’t know about that. The IOA was pre-twitched about Jack. And now they’re twitchy about you.”

“The Chairman asked me to go to Dakara to give Hank some breathing room.” Jack interrupted. “To calm the IOA down.” Daniel imagined everyone at the table knew that already, but something about it felt different when Jack said it out loud.

“They’ll never be calm about you, sir,” Yates said. “You doing everything right would just stress them out in brand new ways.”

“Should I go back to work?” Daniel hated asking while Jack was still watching Evan through the back window. But if turning up on a Friday afternoon would buy them more time…

“Daniel.” Vala waited until he turned back to look at her. “Definitely not. You’d just make things worse.”

“Hey.”

Vala rolled her eyes. “Could you actually translate something right now, Daniel?”

“Always.”

“Couldst thou do’st without Tau’ri in peril?” Vala asked in High Goa’uld.

“Always.”

“Nope.” Vala smirked. “Took you too long. Cameron said I should either get you laid or let you sleep until you’re functional again. I know which I’d prefer.” Vala leered. Daniel gave her the eye roll she was looking for, but Jack didn’t give her the laugh.

“Cameron agreed to pretend our phone call was me telling him that SG-19 and I stole you away for our camping trip.”

“Landry believed that?”

“No.” Jack answered.

Vala agreed. “But it’s believable enough to give him room to lie, which should put off the IOA.”

“How off?”

“In an ideal world? They’ll be pacified and we can all carry on without worrying about them.”

“And in reality?”

“Cameron says he needs you and us back by Monday morning if we want to keep things calm. If you don’t turn up in particular, Cameron doesn’t think he can avoid answering questions. And when you turn up, you’re going to have to pretend that you’ve been camping with us.”

“I can do that.”

“Are you certain?”

“I’ve lied to mind-reading aliens, Vala. I can pretend to be irritated at spending too much time with the five of you. It’s almost exactly like what I’m doing right now.”

The conversation felt over, but Vala was looking at Daniel like it was his turn to talk. When he didn’t, she pointedly tossed her chin at Jack. Daniel shook his head. Whatever Vala was asking, this wasn’t the time to press.

But Vala had never met a boundary she didn’t want to cross. “I suppose the question is: what are we waiting for?”

For all Jack had barely looked away from Evan the entire time, he’d clocked everything. He always did, even when he pretended otherwise. “We’re waiting for the Buckleys to come back. There’s no ‘next’ until they’re back.”

“And what are we planning to do when they are?”

“I don’t know.” And Jack went back outside.

@@@@@

The day passed like a dream. Backyard soccer, macaroni and cheese, Batman, and hot baths. Eventually, Evan all but collapsed on the sofa. The day went by in a blink, but there was an undercurrent to it that Evan probably felt, and probably made him bounce off the walls like he did. SG-19 would follow Jack into hell and back, so while they didn’t like not having a plan, for Jack, they’d do anything. Vala less so, because she was the one who kept grimacing every time she answered a text. (As a master of deadpan, Daniel knew Vala was doing it on purpose to guilt him into putting the screws to Jack.)

But Daniel knew something that none of the rest of them did: Jack didn’t have an answer.

But Jack should.

This was an incredibly simple problem. Was Jack going to try to keep Evan, or not? There were only two directions to go, no middle ground. And they should be working on the steps either way. Jack wasn’t selfish enough to put the decision off and get Evan hurt, which meant Jack still didn’t know which direction he was going to turn.

Daniel gave Jack half an hour to put Evan down, which was more time than he needed, given the kid was boneless and unconscious on the couch. Jack carried him to a cot in SG-19’s bunk room, since there were fewer guns in there.

Summer hours meant that the sun had just barely sunk when Daniel caved and climbed the stairs to find Jack standing in the doorway, watching Evan sleep. The kid had cocooned himself in a sleeping bag, scrunching the end up around his feet, just like he did with the covers on his actual bed. Daniel put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. He didn’t have to say anything for Jack to follow him downstairs and out the garage, the most privacy they’d get without asking Thor to beam them up. Jack didn’t have to ask for Yates to pass them on the stairs, heading up to keep watch.

“What do you know that I don’t?”

“Why the Wild can’t seem to manage the neutral zone.”

“Jack.”

“Daniel.”

“Jack.” Daniel leaned against the rental car Yates took out once a day to make them look normal. Daniel didn’t like to press Jack on things like this, certain that he’d get there in the end, but they were on a bit of a time crunch here. “Seriously, Jack. I know I’ve missed something, but I don’t—”

“He knew my name.”

“He…” Daniel thought back to that first moment, when Evan had been so cautious with everyone else but tossed himself at Jack. “He knew all of us by the time he met you. We did all the work.”

“And my name?”

“We mentioned you, Jack.”

“And you guys talked about my bad knees?”

That… not specifically. But, “Vala likes to talk about how old you are.”

“And she knows I don’t like syrup on my pancakes.”

“She…” would not be in a position to know that, no. “You told him.”

“No, Daniel. I didn’t.”

“How… how would he…”

Jack leaned against the car beside him, both of them looking at the garage wall rather than each other. “When I put him down, he woke up a little bit. And he said he didn’t need to dream tonight, because I came true.”

Daniel’s knees went weak, and he slid down to the concrete.

“He’s been having dreams about you.”

“Yup.”

Daniel knew Jack better than anyone else alive. “And how long have you been having dreams about him?”

Jack gave a bit of a smile because Jack loved it when Daniel was smart. “Since two weeks before I went to Dakara.”

“Four weeks?” Daniel cracked.

“How was I supposed to know they weren’t just dreams, Daniel?”

“Dreams about a child?”

“Dreams about—” Jack paused, and Daniel waited. “I was getting trapped behind a desk, Daniel. I thought it was that.”

Daniel was tempted to call bullshit, but to be fair, a child seemed like a decent way for the unconscious mind to express the existential dread of being railroaded into the last job Jack would ever have because no one else could do it.

“Jack, we found out about Evan a little over a week ago.”

“Yeah.”

“But you started having dreams four weeks ago.” Daniel lurched to his feet.

“I know, Daniel.”

“Jack, that means—”

“I know, Daniel! The Ancients saw my kid getting abused and instead of doing anything, they gave us both dreams and waited until his ATA gene came across my desk.”

This was not the moment to argue; they should be grateful for even that much interference. Especially since the timing meant the Ancients had probably forced Evan’s DNA into the system. To say nothing of the house across the street being available for immediate sale. Or Margaret Buckley losing it at hearing her living son say her dead son’s name.

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? He’s your kid, Jack!”

Jack hissed at Daniel to keep quiet. Safe in the garage wasn’t the same thing as soundproofed.

“We both know you’re not going to leave him with these shitty parents.”

“Of course not!”

“That means you’re keeping him.”

“I don’t know!”

“Jack!”

“Daniel—I don’t know.” Jack’s voice broke. Daniel hadn’t heard that since Ba’al tore Jack’s soul apart piece by piece.

Daniel never wanted to hear it again.

But unlike last time, Daniel could do something about it.

In a move he stole from Jack himself, Daniel crossed the room and put his hands on Jack’s shoulders. “I’ve seen you with a lot of kids over the years, Jack. I’ve seen you blow up a Ha’tak trying to save Skaara.”

“Daniel—”

“Shut up, Jack. You weren’t like that today. Not even like you were with Skaara. I bet Charlie is the only other person who knew the Jack I saw today.”

Jack shoved him off, not hard, never hard, but still. A different Daniel would’ve shut up. Would’ve given Jack time. But Daniel had spent the last two weeks doing nothing but trying to buy time, and he was tired. “I think you’ve been acting like you had one more day with him before you had to give him back to his real parents.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“If the Ancients have been giving you and Evan dreams, do you honestly believe they’re going to let you walk away?”

Daniel didn’t bring up the house, or the DNA, or the ramps. He didn’t bring up the odds of the first successful ATA implantation when Daniel knew the other SGC scientists had been trying and failing for years. And he didn’t bring up how Margaret Buckley must’ve heard the name ‘Daniel’ before and never done a damn thing about it. But yesterday, she hit her son.

“You don’t get to walk away from this, Jack.” Daniel stepped around him and made Jack look him in the eye. “And not just because the Ancients won’t let you. You’re never going to walk away from your son. Stop pretending.”

“Daniel.” Jack sighed.

Daniel handed Jack his burner phone. “Call a lawyer.”

Chapter Nine

The lawyer’s office was in downtown Harrisburg. Done in modern lines and dark woods, that made Daniel feel like he was in a 1940s detective show, on his way to see a private eye. A spy thriller would be more accurate.

Jack called a lawyer friend from DC; someone read into the program. He routed his call through Thor to make it unrecordable, but even that was the most basic rundown. She knew nothing about domestic law or custody issues, and wasn’t licensed in Pennsylvania, but she knew someone they could trust.

Which led to Jack, Daniel, and Jasper getting beamed into an empty stairwell outside a law office that Jack’s new counsel and Thor’s scanners swore was empty. (Yates and Vala were with Evan. Jack would’ve preferred that Daniel stay behind too, but Evan wanted Daniel with Jack, and Evan’s wants won the day. Poor Jasper was on guard duty, and for all the man was stone-faced, Daniel didn’t envy him the stress.)

It was a quick walk to the new guy’s office. Jack gave a sharp knock and entered without permission. The man’s office had the same aesthetic as the rest of the building. Big enough that it didn’t feel tight, but not big enough for a separate sitting area. Just the desk and two chairs opposite. He was leaning against the client side of his desk while Jack’s lawyer lady friend was already seated. Jasper gave Daniel a pointed look, trusting Daniel to make safety calls, then shut the door behind them.

“Jack. This was absolutely not the kind of midnight call I was expecting.” She was good. The woman didn’t flinch at the obvious security at the door, or the unexpected presence of another member of SG-1. Her smile was just light enough that someone could interpret it as expecting either an interplanetary emergency or a booty call.

Jack just ‘hmm-ed.’ The woman gave him a beat to speak, then carried smoothly on when he didn’t. “General Jonathan ‘Jack’ O’Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson, I believe?”

“Yes.” Daniel gave her his ‘greeting new aliens but not actually first contact’ smile and shook her hand.

“I am Melanie Harper, and this is Will Hernandez. He’s an old friend of mine who specializes in domestic matters, including custody cases.”

Daniel went through the formalities with him too, while Jack… Jack was looking at the bookshelves like he gave a damn about the matching court reporters.

Melanie carried on. “A lot of his clients are from the Army War College here in Pennsylvania, as well as military personnel stationed in DC, but who live in Pennsylvania’s jurisdiction. He’s familiar with the military basics, which should help things.”

“Great,” Daniel said.

This was the moment for Jack to say something. For someone to take control of the conversation. But Jack had his hands in his pockets and his head tilted as if he were actually reading titles on that bookshelf, which meant it was up to Daniel.

It wasn’t Daniel’s office, but muscle memory had him gesture Will and Melanie into their chairs. “Jack gave you a summary of the situation?” Daniel directed at Melanie.

“He did.” She dragged her eyes away from Jack. “It’s not my area of expertise, so, with Jack’s permission, I passed all that information on to Will.”

“Great.” Daniel turned his attention and body towards Will, who was watching the whole thing with wide-eyed confusion.

“Uh, well.” Will looked to Jack, and Daniel didn’t need to look over his shoulder to know Jack was still being unhelpful.

Daniel tilted his head into Will’s line of sight and flicked a finger like, ‘look at me.’ Will was clearly uncomfortable, but he carried on in a way that spoke well of his future prospects as Jack’s lawyer.

“Just to make sure we’re all on the same page: approximately two weeks ago, General O’Neill discovered that a child had been made in a lab without his consent, but with his DNA. He met the child, discovered that the birth parents are negligent and, to the best of his knowledge, have recently become physically abusive for the first time. In light of that, General O’Neill wants custody of the child.”

“That’s right.” Daniel answered, even though Will’s eyes had been on Jack. Daniel didn’t look, but based on the way Will’s eyes tracked back and forth across the room, Jack was pacing. (He also couldn’t hear a single step from Jack’s feet, which wasn’t because of the carpet.)

“There is some legal distinction here that matters. Usually, there are two routes to custody. In the first, the birth parents have their rights terminated, either willingly or unwillingly. In the second, the parties share custody of the child. Here, I assume General O’Neill wants primary custody and control over the child and visitation with his birth parents.”

Will took a deep breath, and Daniel could feel both lawyers steeling themselves. “I’m going to be honest with you, sir. The first option isn’t going to happen. Involuntary termination of parental rights in the state of Pennsylvania is a high bar that requires neglect, incapacity, and/or parental intent.”

Will paused, expecting Jack to snap that Evan was being neglected. Even though neither of them objected, Will carried on as if they had. “I’ve reviewed the documents that Melanie provided, including the footage of the child’s injuries. That assault would be enough for a review, but not enough to remove the child from his birth parents’ home outright and terminate their rights. Especially if it was only the first time.”

Will paused again, prepared for a fight about physical abuse that wasn’t coming,

Daniel leaned in and gave Will a sad smile. “I was in foster care for most of my childhood, Mr. Hernandez. We’re familiar with what it takes to actually remove a child from a home.”

Something in Will unclenched, then he looked over Daniel’s shoulder and clenched right back. Daniel was so incredibly familiar with Jack that sometimes he forgot how other people saw him. Frankly, Daniel considered Jack pacing in the back of the room less intimidating than Jack sitting statue-still. Especially since Daniel had been doing his best to be genial. The longer they took to get there, the more worried Daniel became. He felt like the lawyers had some terrible piece of information they were working their way up to but were scared to share.

Will looked at Melanie, who had been watching Jack the entire time. Daniel wondered if that tactic had worked for her in their previous conversations. “Even without the statutory requirements, no judge is going to forcibly remove a child from a stable, clean, two-parent home. Not when they’re white and well-off. And not to a single man who lives in a different state, who met the child yesterday.”

“We expected that.” Daniel interrupted the staring. “But thank you for confirming. How do we move forward?”

Will looked down at his notes, like forward wasn’t what he had written next.

Daniel was not a lawyer. He was an archaeologist and a diplomat. He leaned forward and caught Will’s eye to gesture down at the notepad. “Keep going.”

Will unclenched and stayed that way, finally turning all his attention to Daniel and not the tiger in the back of the room. “According to all the information you’ve gathered from the child and the neighbors, the birth parents seem detached, but not so detached that they’d willingly relinquish their parental rights. Specifically, you noted that the child said his friend’s parents offered to take him for the summer, and the birth parents rejected it. That suggests that they won’t give him up. That leaves us with the second option: shared custody. This is our most likely option, but given everything Melanie has told me about General O’Neill’s situation, it is also the one that presents the most… risk.”

Oh.

That’s what they’d been avoiding.

“I take it you don’t mean risk as in lack of success?”

“No. Given General O’Neill’s record, his unwillingness to give up paternity, that he got involved the second he found out about the child, the birth parents’ own lack of involvement, and that I assume any professional who talks to the child is going to hear all about how much he likes Jack and wants to keep him—not necessarily to the exclusion of his parents, but generally—any judge is going to be willing to at least set up visitation for General O’Neill. Which will probably turn into shared custody. DC is a two-hour drive from Hershey, which means General O’Neill is likely to get visitation every other weekend. Depending on his own schedule and which side of DC he settles on, he might get more.”

Melanie interrupted the ramble. Which Daniel didn’t need. Will was going to get them there. “The risk is what happens to the child when he’s not in Jack’s custody. And what happens while we’re fighting this out.”

No shit.

“The child will spend most of his time in Hershey, with parents who, no matter what a judge says to them, are likely to continue their previous patterns of behavior. Even if they go back to negligence instead of violence, your biggest worry is about them talking.”

“The NDA won’t cover it?”

“We’ll get them to sign one, but they’re going to have to consent to security around the child, and that will be astronomical. If the birth mother loses it when the child says the wrong name, I don’t think she and her pretty, suburban life are going to like marines in the house across the street.”

Daniel finally looked. Jack has his back to them, facing some artwork that he wasn’t actually looking at. Will tried to soothe him. “Even in the best-case scenario, where we turn up with relinquishment paperwork and the birth parents happily hand him over like we’re in Matilda, you wouldn’t just get to take the child home. Well, you would, but that’s not the end. A judge has to sign off on custody, and any domestic court judge is going to want the child to talk to a social worker first. And the parents are going to have to talk to somebody. Unless they come back with a psych evaluation that says they pose immediate and irreparable harm, a judge is going to refuse to transfer custody until after everyone has had a lot of therapy. And some checking on you to make sure you’re credible. On the world’s best timeline, this will take a month. In reality, we’re looking at three.”

Melanie added. “Because of the risk factors, we might be able to argue that you should have temporary custody of the child while we’re going through this process.”

“And if they fight?” Jack spoke for the first time.

“Nothing about this is going to be fast, Jack. And every extra minute it takes comes with risks.”

“You’re telling me not to.”

“No.” Melanie rose to her feet and joined Jack at the back of the room. “Because he exists. And we’re too close to DC for me to swear that no one will ever be able to put two and two together. Especially since you haven’t told me how you found out about the child. The way you found him could be repeated. You and I both know that no matter how good the planning, secrets stay secret because of luck. And I wouldn’t trust your child’s life to luck.” Melanie put her hand on Jack’s shoulder.

“Why can’t we get this in front of Judge Andersson?” Daniel asked, interrupting the moment.

“The Juvenile Court judges in this district are Menendez and Irish?” Will asked.

“Andersson is the judge in Colorado who’s read in on our work. He would understand the threat of delay.”

“You can’t use them. General O’Neill and the child both live here, so Pennsylvania has jurisdiction.”

“Jack doesn’t live here.”

“Dr. Jackson.” Melanie finally turned away, but she kept her hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Jack has been working in DC for the last six months.”

“He’s been crashing in base housing and commuting back to his house in Colorado every chance he gets.”

“He’s employed here.”

“He’s been consulting here and working in Colorado. I have a base full of people who’ll testify that Jack was giving them their orders.”

“So, moving but not yet moved.” Will interrupted with the air of a man who didn’t understand the argument. “The birth parents would have to waive jurisdiction. And if they won’t turn over their parental rights, they’re probably not going to waive.”

“We can’t make the ‘immediate and irreparable harm’ argument about jurisdiction?”

Will pursed his lips in thought. “We could. We’d be relying on your judge in Colorado to make a phone call that it really is about the child’s safety for military reasons that he can’t read one of our judges in.”

“Judge Andersson doesn’t do domestic work.” Melanie objected.

“He didn’t do a lot of things before we got involved.”

“I mean, Colorado has rules about the kinds of cases different judges take. The phone call he would make to the judge in Pennsylvania, he’d have to make the same call to a domestic judge in Colorado to sign.”

“What does that do for the timeline?”

Melaine puffed out a breath. “In an ideal world, we’d talk to our Colorado domestic court judge and get everything done, including all the paperwork and social worker appointments, signed and finished before we filed anything with the court. In theory, no one outside of the court and the birth parents would know until everything gets signed and the kid is in Jack’s custody in Colorado. But that ideal is pretty load-bearing.”

“It also assumes they’ll sign a Waiver and a Relinquishment. Which, based on pretty compelling evidence about their prior behavior, they won’t do.” Will pointed out.

“Anything less, and you’re going to have to station someone across the street from this kid, follow them everywhere they go, and pray. Or sick Dr. Jackson on them and convince them to move to a military base you control.”

“Let’s say they don’t sign the Waiver. What comes next?” Daniel asked.

“We go straight to Andersson in Colorado and file for the Waiver there. He’ll get a domestic court judge to sign off. The whole thing will be in the court system, but it can be closed so only the judge’s team and the counsel of record have any trace of it. With luck, they won’t fight it, and we’ll go through the entire process in Colorado. If they fight, we’ll ask Pennsylvania to lock it down and ask the judge to expedite. I can’t give you an estimated timeline until after you talk to the birth parents. There’s a chance that they’re great people and lackluster parents, and they won’t want to give up custody, but they can be made to understand the risk to their son.”

“So, step one is a conversation and an NDA.”

“An NDA with the fear of god. And then…” Melanie shrugged. “I want to give you more to work with; I really do. But there are too many variables. And honestly… I’ve been in this game long enough to know that my being read in isn’t the same thing as being ‘read in.’”

“We don’t kidnap children, Ms. Harper.”

“That’s not what I’m saying, Dr. Jackson. I’m saying that security for the kid might not be the problem I think it should be. Or that his birth parents might get a once-in-a-lifetime job offer that will move them next door to Jack, and no one will ask questions. I don’t know enough about your end of the government to give you what you need here, Jack.”

“I need you to prep the Relinquishment papers. And I need Judge Andersson prepped to sign.”

“Okay.”

“And I need you on call. The conversation with the parents should happen on Sunday afternoon.”

“And that’s how you think it’s gonna go?”

“There aren’t as many variables as you think.” Jack shrugged.

The goodbyes were quick and easy since everyone had their marching orders. Soon enough, they materialized on Thor’s bridge, and though Jasper beamed back down, Daniel and Jack stayed. Whether by invisible drone or hacking, Thor clearly knew how the conversation had gone and had decided he was going to be involved in the discussion.

Though when Thor didn’t immediately start talking, Daniel thought the Asgard might be giving him the privacy to yell that they didn’t have in the garage. Because there were mountains of variables, and if Jack didn’t see it that way, he must have a plan. Daniel leaned against the edge of Thor’s console, trusting that he wouldn’t get zapped. “I’ve never met a lawyer that compliant before.” Daniel tried to joke.

“I’m the Director of Homeworld Security.” Jack said flatly.

“Right.” Daniel nodded. If Jack wanted to play it that way, then fine. “What’s the plan to get them to sign?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Jack—”

“I’m not bullshitting, Daniel. I don’t know. But Melanie was right about the basics.”

“That the Buckleys sign away their rights or… they move to Colorado?”

“They sign away their rights, or…” Jack heaved out a heavy sigh and looked to Thor. “I need to know if Thor can scrub Evan’s memory.”

Daniel straightened. “Jack.”

“I was a dream before this. Maybe he can make me a dream again. ”

“Jack.” Daniel’s voice cracked. “If you’re worried about leaks, you can use the house across the street as your ‘long weekend’ place outside of DC. Or, we can beam you over from the house to work in DC every morning. Just lie and say security didn’t want you in DC proper. You don’t have to give him up.”

“I’m not giving up, Daniel. But sometimes you don’t win. And all you can do is set the bomb off to save everyone else. I would rather Evan be alive with shitty parents than dead because a dozen lawyers, or people at the courthouse, or his own damn parents, spilled the secret. I’m not giving up. But I need to know all the options. And one of those options is scrubbing every trace of me.”

“You think the Ancients are going to let that stick?”

“They will if their meddling gets him killed.”

“Any concerns the Alterans may or may not have are irrelevant at this moment, O’Neill. Based on my limited observations, I believe you are too entrenched in Evan O’Neill’s subconscious to remove you without the risk of significant psychological damage.”

They both startled, a little too wrapped up in the argument. “You mean, like, brain damage?” Jack sounded horrified.

“No. I would stop before any indicators of such. Psychological damage, such as doubting his ability to interpret reality.”

“Well… shit.”

“However,” Thor carried right along, “I will be able to remove the conversation you have with Evan O’Neill’s birth parents should it go poorly.”

Jack snorted. “That’s something.”

“Loki’s experiments on Earthlings yielded some positive outcomes.”

“Uh, Thor. There aren’t a lot of people who remember getting abducted by Loki, but there are enough.” Daniel had to point out. Melanie and Will were legally on their side, but both of them still thought Jack could up and steal Evan if he wanted. The last thing Jack’s reputation needed was rumors of alien-inspired kidnappings.

“A more thorough removal will be possible when I take more care.”

“Do you think you can take some of that care to his ATA gene?”

“That is not possible, O’Neill.”

“But the clone—”

“Was created by Loki with the intent for genetic study and manipulation. Loki left markers within his DNA to enable such changes. Evan O’Neill does not have these. Further, the Alteran markers in Evan O’Neill’s DNA are substantial. Even if I could remove the elements that specifically identify him as your progeny, and the specific ATA markers that only you two share, he would still register to your tracking procedures as an ATA carrier.”

“Can’t you, I don’t know, dampen it? You changed my DNA to keep anyone from being able to screw with me.”

Thor hmm-ed. “To do such is beyond my skill, but I trusted other Asgard with your modifications, O’Neill. I believe that dampening his presentation should be within their ability. However, it will erode over time.”

“What kind of time?”

“I cannot say without their expertise, but a decade seems likely.”

“A decade works.”

“Daniel.”

“He’ll be a grown man, Jack. Whatever else, we’ll be able to read him in and he’ll be making his own decisions.”

Chapter Ten

The weekend went in fits and starts. Speedy sunny afternoons mixed with cartoons that seemed to drag, no matter how much you liked the kid you were watching them with. Time never could seem to make up its mind when you were careening towards an explosion.

But no matter the relativity of time, Sunday afternoon finally came around. Thor and his utter disregard for privacy let them know when the Buckleys left the lake property, keeping them updated with a countdown clock on travel time. Daniel probably ought to have some ethical objections to Thor’s rundown of the Buckley’s vacation, but spilled milk and all that.

The clock was ticking down; the lawyers were on their way, and Jack had spent the afternoon fidgeting, which was so out of character that everyone in the house was getting nervous that he knew something they didn’t. What Daniel knew, via Thor, was that there had been a leaky pipe on the other side of the Buckley’s townhouse wall, an irregular patter that kept them up all night. Then there had been early-morning construction trying and failing to handle the leak. The HOA planned the construction, so Margaret’s ceaseless complaints hadn’t done a bit of good to stop it.

“In fact, the next day the construction workers began their work an hour earlier. It appears to me that they did so deliberately.” Poor Thor sounded baffled. Jack just laughed and said, “Yeah, buddy. They did.”

According to Thor’s report, the Buckleys hadn’t had a complete REM cycle since they left, to say nothing of a broken refrigerator, local flooding, an unexpected allergy to some pollen, and more. To Daniel, it sounded like everything that could go wrong had gone wrong. All Daniel could think of were the strings one could pull to wear someone to the breaking point. A thousand impossible things going wrong felt like something stacking all the cards in their favor.

Evan shared none of the adults’ qualms about pressuring Jack. After Snyder walked into a wall trying to keep an eye on his commanding officer, Evan nudged Jack onto the sofa to talk things out. Not unlike Jack had done to Evan yesterday when they finally discussed what Margaret had done. “It’s okay, Jack. I know.”

Jack didn’t fake dumb. “You know?”

“Yeah. I don’t… I didn’t have a dream about it, but I knew from the beginning. You’re my other dad.”

Daniel may or may not have walked into a wall himself. That was not on the short list of things Daniel thought Jack had been worried about.

“Yeah, kid. I am.” Jack scrubbed his hand through Evan’s hair, and… they both looked like the conversation was done. Daniel stepped out of the kitchen and into Jack’s sightline, gesturing at him to keep going.

Daniel could see the strain in Jack’s face as he tried not to roll his eyes. “How… uh… how do you feel about that?”

“Brad at school has four parents. His mom and dad got divorced when he was a baby, and now they’re married to other people, so he has a stepmom and a stepdad. You’re not my stepdad, but three parents is okay.”

“Good. That’s good, Ev.”

Unobserved by a seven-year-old, Daniel had no problem rolling his eyes. Of course, Jack’s son would accidentally be the most mellow, emotionally aware kid Daniel had ever met.

“There’s, uh, one more thing I think we should talk about.”

“What’s that?”

“I, uh.” Jack shook himself off, and Daniel could see him trying not to settle into debriefing a superior officer. “You know how you’ve been watching Batman?” Ev nodded. “My job is kind of like Commissioner Gordon. I don’t save the day, but I help lots of people who do.”

“Cool! Like superheroes?”

“Kind of. But we can talk about details later, okay, bud?”

“Okay.” Evan held out his pinkie for a promise before he let Jack move on.

“But like Commissioner Gordon, sometimes there are bad guys. And they might want to hurt you because they’re mad at me. Or because they want me to do something for them.”

“I would never let them. I’m tough.”

“I know you are, buddy.” Jack gave Evan’s shoulders a little wiggle. “But there’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for you.” Someday Evan was going to understand that the fate of the Earth might hang on that sweet, blond head. But today, Jack kept going. “So, we need to figure some things out so we can keep you safe. When your mom and dad get home, I’m going to talk to them to figure out how we can keep spending time together. And, I was thinking that maybe you could come live with me, and we’ll visit your mom and dad when you want.”

Evan was still as a statue; the only thing moving was the tears rolling down his cheeks. It was with a great shudder that he came back to life. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I want to go with you.”

“Are you sure?” Jack hesitated.

“You said…” Daniel caught the words and scrubbed little sleeves over his cheeks. “You said you wanted me.”

“I do, Ev. I do.” Jack tried to pull him close, but Evan shrugged off his hands. “I don’t want you to regret it. Like, sometimes you get a toy for Christmas and it’s the best thing ever, but then January comes around, and it’s not great anymore. I don’t want that for you, Ev.”

Daniel may not have known what had Jack worried before, but this one he understood. And it wasn’t about regret. Daniel crossed the room and knelt beside them. “The Ancients cannot override free will, Jack. This isn’t Apophis, or Ba’al. They can’t make him.”

“Who can’t make me what?” Evan asked.

“There’s a hell of a lot of difference between ‘make’ and setting the board up to make it happen.”

Daniel couldn’t stop his smile. Jack so rarely got to fuss. “I dare you to tell him that.” Daniel nodded at Evan, who had Jack’s glower down pat.

“I want to go with you.” Only time would make Jack properly believe, but Evan’s faith would have to be enough. They tipped their foreheads together and just breathed.

“There’s one more thing, Ev.”

Evan sighed, because really, this was a lot for one day. But then Jack did another unexpected thing and pulled out his wallet to hand the only picture he carried to Evan. “This is Charlie.”

Evan took the little square between gentle fingers. “He looks nice.”

“He was.” Jack licked his lips and gathered himself for the hardest part of the conversation. “Charlie was your older brother. He died eleven years ago.”

“Jack.” Evan’s voice cracked, and he crawled against Jack’s chest.

“I need you to know that I love you, kid. Just like three parents are good and you liking me doesn’t mean you don’t like your mom and dad, I can miss Charlie and love you like crazy. Nobody is getting replaced.”

Evan pulled back enough to look up at Jack like that was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard. “Of course we’re not. You’re Daniel’s best friend, but so is Vala. You’re not the same kind of best friend, but you’re both still bests.”

Jack huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, kid, just like that.”

@@@@@

Approximately 30 seconds after the garage door closed behind the Buckleys after their arrival home, Jack was on their front porch, with Evan to one side and Ms. Harper to the other.

Phillip Buckley answered the door, irritated as only a man with his luggage in one hand could be, but not panicked. Which meant he hadn’t yet discovered his only child was missing. Not until he realized Evan was on the porch.

“Who are you?” Phillip lunged for Evan, who now knew what lunging parents could do, and stepped behind Jack.

“I’m Jack O’Neill. I moved in across the street.”

“Why do you have my son?”

“Your babysitter never showed up.” Jack didn’t snap. That would’ve been less nerve-wracking.

Melanie put her hand on Jack’s arm to shut him up. “May we speak inside, Mr. Buckley?”

“No, you may not.”

“Phillip? Who is it?” Margaret called.

“You left your seven-year-old child alone for three days, Mr. Buckley. Let’s have this discussion inside.” Two very different strains of WASP pride fought it out before Phillip opened the door.

Margaret met them in the sitting room. “Phillip? Who is this?”

Phillip tried to explain without explaining, while Vala took Evan by the hand and led him towards the stairs.

“Where are you taking him?”

“Mrs. Buckley?” Melanie stepped in the way. “I’m Melanie Harper, a lawyer with Dewey, Beeche, and Stowe.” Breeding had Margaret shaking Melanie’s hand before she registered ‘lawyer.’ “I thought it would be best that you see Evan is fine, but that he not be part of this conversation.” True, but Vala was also helping him list the essentials for Thor to pick up later.

“What conversation?” Margaret tried to snap. Daniel could see the mental arithmetic between the Buckleys as they recognized the firm’s name, but the math came slow. The couple looked almost yellow from exhaustion, their skin somehow sagging under the burden of so many days without sleep. Melanie gestured the Buckleys into seats in their own house.

Daniel and Yates settled in the room’s doorway, two entirely different kinds of bodyguards while Melanie explained. “Mr. and Mrs. Buckley. A week ago, Evan sprained his ankle, and you took him to an Army Health Clinic in Harrisburg.”

“No, we didn’t.” Margaret interrupted.

“Ah. Well, Mr. Buckley took Evan. His insurance card was used, and his name is on the paperwork.”

Margaret turned on her husband. “I said he was fine, Phillip.”

“And you were right.” Phillip soothed. “But it looked bad, and I wanted to be sure.”

“He was just complaining.”

“While Evan was there,” Melanie interrupted, “the doctor ran a blood test because he thought the scratches on Evan’s arms might be infected. The lab tech at that Health Center was new, and so ran more tests on Evan’s blood than the doctor requested.”

“If you’re all here over a medical bill—”

“They ran a DNA test, Mr. Buckley.”

“Why on god’s green earth—”

“I spoke with the tech, and apparently they were confused about which program in the computer system did which task. The Health Center doesn’t run a lot of blood tests, so no one noticed the tech has been running accidental DNA tests.” Daniel wondered how much work it had taken Thor to put into the system. And who was going to lie about it when they got put on the stand.

“You can’t charge us for that.”

“I’m not here to, Mrs. Buckley. I’m here to inform you that the DNA test revealed a match in the military’s system. After some research, we’ve determined—”

“Wait. Wait.” Phillip waved his hands. “A match for Evan?”

“Yes, sir. We determined—” Melanie tried to get the answer out before either of them started accusing the other of adultery.

But even though they were exhausted, cheating didn’t seem to cross either of their minds. “Are we cousins?” Phillip gestured between himself and Jack.

“The doctor who did your HLA transfer used my DNA.” Jack rushed out.

“What?” Phillip’s voice cracked, and what little color there was in Margaret’s face drained away.

“When Dr. Fisher performed the HLA modification on the embryo that became Evan, he spliced in a large quantity of General O’Neill’s DNA.”

“General?” from Margaret, and “That’s not possible,” from Phillip. “Evan wouldn’t have been an HLA match—”

“He was. I had the best doctors and geneticists review the data to make sure.” Melanie took the paperwork out of her oversized purse and handed them each a copy of the medical report. “He was still a perfect match. But according to DNA testing, he’s also Jack’s just as much as he’s yours.”

Phillip blinked through exhausted eyes, his poor brain trying to catch up to the impossible. “You came here to steal our child.”

“No.” Jack said, full of empathy that Daniel should’ve expected. “I was on a mission when we found out about Evan. If I’d been on base, I probably would’ve turned up here, explained things, and handed you my medical records just in case. But I was on assignment, which meant my team got the notice and did what they thought was best.”

“You’re the new neighbors. That Mrs. Caruthers told me about.”

Daniel felt unjustifiably betrayed by the little old lady.

“We are. While I was out of contact, my team bought the house across the street.”

“That seems excessive.”

“I thought so, too. But I’m grateful they did. It gave me the chance to meet Evan while you were out of town, and I want to be a part of his life.”

“He killed him.” Margaret’s voice broke. She’d done nothing but stare at the medical report since Melanie handed it to her. Not flipping through the pages, just glazed eyes on words that should’ve told her that her son’s death was the same terrible twist of fate it had always been.

“No, ma’am.” Melanie leaned in. Glancing over at Phillip to get him involved. “Evan was still a perfect HLA match. All the doctors agree. Dr. Fisher just supplemented the DNA with some from the strongest man he knew. We believe he thought it would help Daniel survive.”

“Believe?” Phillip tried to ask, but Margaret started wailing. “He killed my son!”

It was a mess. Phillip hit his knees, trying to pull Margaret from her chair into his arms, while Melanie moved to the coffee table, low and soothing while she explained the HLA match really was perfect. Daniel hadn’t been murdered. But the sound of her son’s name set Margaret off again, too exhausted for common sense.

Between the sitting room and the stairs, Daniel caught the sound of thundering footsteps. “Evan!” Vala called, trying to stop him from sprinting down the stairs at the sound.

Evan bopped under Daniel and Yates’ outstretched arms and into the room. “What’s wrong?”

“You!” Margaret shrieked, with a guttural and heartbroken sound of mourning.

Margaret lurched for him, but caught nothing but Jack’s back before Phillip pulled her away and into his arms. Jack scooped Evan up and made for the door. “It’s okay, buddy. It’s okay.”

“What did I do?”

“Not a damn thing. Daniel—” whatever Jack was going to tell him was drowned out by a wail of weeping at the name. But Daniel knew his task. He nodded at Jack and went to step into the sitting room and negotiate on Jack’s behalf.

But then, “Danny?” Evan shot out a hand, grasping at him with terrified eyes. Like he couldn’t be left alone in Margaret’s care.

Daniel hesitated, and Vala nudged him towards the door. “We have this, Daniel.”

Jack agreed, then paused before he strode out the door. “Tell them they’re still his parents. Until Ev says no, they can always come back.”

Whatever Vala might’ve said, Yates nodded and pushed Jack out the door.

@@@@@

An hour later found them curled up on the sofa, Evan unconscious with tear stains streaked down his cheeks, after an hour spent asking Jack if he was sure he wanted to keep him.

Melanie, Yates, and Vala came in on quiet feet. Vala plucked the papers from Melanie’s hands and silently held up the last pages so they could see the signatures relinquishing custody of Evan.

Daniel clutched his guys a little tighter. Somewhere along the way, Daniel had joined them on the sofa, trying to keep Jack together while he repeated his love over and over. Some part of him had known that this was how it would end after the Ancients put their finger on the scale, but still.

“They agreed after—”

Vala’s shush was louder than Melanie’s whisper. The lawyer didn’t have an eye twitch, but Daniel could feel one coming on after the woman had to spend an hour doing careful and completely upright legal negotiation while dealing with the SGC’s two best undercover agents. Both of whom had voted for kidnapping as the best solution. With a flick of Yates’ fingers, Snyder slipped Evan from Jack’s arms. Not as good as Jack if he should wake, but Evan’s favorite when Jack wasn’t in the room. Jasper maintained his guard position between Evan and the exits, and Daniel had a moment’s sympathy for Meg, who kept getting stuck upstairs on the watch.

With a soft brush to Evan’s hair, Jack led them all into the garage. “I offered to set them up with a lawyer who’ll sue the hospital for Fisher’s genetic malfeasance.” Melanie said before the conversation could turn. “That’s what carried them over the edge.”

“That’s not going to come back on us? Like a bribe?” Daniel asked.

The trio shared a look. Despite Vala and Melanie’s clear dislike of one another, they turned on Yates. Who had no problem saying, “They were relieved, Sir.”

“It wasn’t quite—”

“It was,” Vala agreed. “Like…” She trailed off, unable to put it into words.

“Like they felt justified for the way they’d always secretly felt.” Melanie answered with the sad certainty of someone who’d been through plenty of cases with people at their worst.

“That,” Yates agreed. “Relieved that there wasn’t something wrong with them.”

“Well. Shit.”

“It was indeed shit.” Vala said as she perched on the car’s hood.

“The guilt isn’t going to bring them back?” Daniel asked.

“As soon as Vala gave them an out where they didn’t have to explain themselves to anyone? That got Margaret there.” Yates added. “Ms. Harper’s notion of justice for their Daniel did the rest.”

“I also suggested that with Jack’s history with the military, it might be best for them to move into that condo they stay at in the city and tell everyone they moved after their only child went to college.” Vala added.

“College? Who’s going to believe Evan went to college? He’s seven.”

“Not Evan. Apparently, Evan has an older sister.”

“What?”

“She’s a sophomore at BU.”

“How in the hell did we miss that?”

“Problem for tomorrow, Daniel.”

That was fair. “But the sister won’t be a problem?”

“Considering not a single neighbor mentioned her to us? I imagine she saw her way out and took it.”

“She’s Evan’s sister.” Jack said for the first time all conversation. “We’ll ask him what he wants.”

“We will need a plan, since she’ll come home at some point and wonder where her brother went.” Daniel hated to mention it.

“They were thoroughly warned about the NDA,” Melanie said. “I suggested that anyone who asked about Evan could be told that they used in vitro to have him, but the lab made an error with Margaret’s egg and someone else’s sperm. Then, when the birth father found out about the malfeasance, he brought it to their attention. They can lie about shared custody. If they want to tell their daughter the truth, she’ll have to sign forms of her own.”

“And they’ll go for that?”

“Relieved, Daniel.” Vala repeated.

Chapter Eleven

Evan cackled from his comfortable spot on the corner of the counter, while Jack hip-checked Daniel away from the stove.

“I can cook, Jack!”

“You can cook over an open fire with people who don’t speak English. That’s not the same thing as pancakes.”

Daniel rolled his eyes at Evan, who swallowed back a giggle with some of the banana Daniel had cut up because, “Growing boys need fruit, Jack.”

“Ev, come help me with this,” Jack said, like Daniel was incompetent but the seven-year-old was fine. Daniel gave an offended squawk, which was exactly what Jack was looking for. Jack gave him a wink, and Daniel settled at the counter with his plate of cut fruit.

According to Daniel’s text history, Yates and Vala were already on base, with Snyder due to arrive in the next ten minutes. SG-19 was staggering their entrances to buy Daniel and Jasper time, lying that they’d made it back into town so late it was early, everyone shuffling back to base as soon as they dragged themselves out of bed and through a shower. Jasper had travelled to Colorado via airplane with Melanie on this morning’s first flight, security for her and the paperwork. Everyone was waiting for his call confirming they had Judge Andersson’s signature before Jack and Evan could transport up.

None of SG-19 liked leaving Jack alone with only Thor’s invisible drone as backup for Daniel and Evan, but Daniel didn’t need to eavesdrop on Vala’s calls with Cameron to know things at the SGC were getting twitchy. (Daniel might’ve asked, but this was the rare time when he didn’t want an answer.)

They’d all been a little worried about morning-after Buckley regret, but Thor was monitoring Phillip and Margaret, who’d fallen asleep around 3:00 a.m. Daniel laid odds they wouldn’t wake until ten minutes after Evan was safely in Colorado, whenever that might be. Daniel chased a grape around his plate and wondered if it was Oma behind all of this. Or the rest of the Ascended? Was Evan’s parents slowly losing their minds a subtle enough thing that the others hadn’t noticed any tampering? Did Jack’s strand of the ATA gene belong to someone who could get away with this stuff? There were all sorts of questions that Daniel knew he would never get the answer to. But honestly, it was a little hard to care this morning.

Jack dragged a chair over so Evan could get to the stove. Ev had a cold pan in his hands, trying to get the rhythm of flipping a square potholder before Jack would let him flip a pancake for real. It was adorable and filled Daniel with an aching sadness.

Daniel’s eye pricked with tears. Not of joy, but… it felt like the mission was over and all Daniel had to do was survive his medical check and drive home.

“Danny, come show Evan he’s doing great because you’re still terrible despite all my lessons.” Daniel laughed away the burn in his eyes, but before he could join them, his phone buzzed.

It was Mitchell, probably calling to complain about Vala. Daniel flicked the phone open and answered with a smile. “I’ll be on time, Cameron.”

“Dr. Jackson.” Richard Woolsey answered.

Fuck.

“You’ve been recalled.”

“Recalled from what?” Jack recognized Daniel’s abrupt change in tone. He flipped the stove off and covered Evan’s mouth as he gestured at the boy to stay quiet. “I haven’t gotten a notice that we’re at DEFCON status, and last I checked, it’s not yet 9:00 a.m.”

Woolsey snorted. “I’m afraid you’ll have to come in early, Dr. Jackson. We need you now.”

“I need to shower and grab something to eat first, Mr. Woolsey. Barring traffic, I should be in no later than 10:00.”

“This is a secure line, Dr. Jackson. There’s no need to pretend. I assume you’re in contact with Commander Thor, so your orders are to be transported to the SGC as soon as possible.”

“I don’t use Thor as a taxi service.”

“Do, this time. You have ten minutes before I will have to insist General Landry turn on your subcutaneous transmitter and we send personnel to retrieve you.”

“You can’t—”

Woolsey hung up.

“They coming?” Jack asked, Evan tucked between him and the counter.

“I have ten minutes to get beamed to the SGC before they turn on my transmitter.”

“I’m surprised that wasn’t the first thing they ordered Hank to do.”

“They wanted you off planet to give Landry space to assert his own authority. Undercutting him the first chance they get isn’t going to help.”

“That’s more common sense than the IOA usually shows. Get dressed, and I’ll pour you some coffee.”

Jack turned to the microwave and the plastic container of instant coffee, but Evan shoved over his stool and nudged Jack out of the way. “I got this.”

“Thanks, kid.” Jack dropped a kiss to Evan’s head and waved Daniel out of the kitchen. “I’ll text Melanie to get the timeline on the paperwork and tell her we’re in the crunch.”

“Jack.”

“You get dressed. Ev and I will finish packing, set off the mini-bomb Yates left to destroy any trace evidence we’ve left behind. I’ll text you when Ev and I are secure and you can start talking.”

“Jack—”

Jack nudged Daniel around the corner towards the stairs, putting them out of Evan’s sight and easy hearing. “We can’t have the IOA turn up here, and you need to distract them before things get worse.”

“Right.” Daniel sighed. Because they absolutely could get worse. The IOA didn’t have the speed to stop Judge Andersson’s signature, but the Buckley’s could claim they’d been coerced. Vala and SG-19 were sitting ducks in the SGC, to say nothing of Jasper and Melanie and whoever the hell else at the SGC had kept their mouths shut to buy Daniel time.

Jack put his hands on Daniel’s shoulders with the not-quite-smile that meant they were getting off this Ha’tak come hell or high water. “It’ll be okay.”

Ten years, and Daniel trusted that smile as he trusted the sunrise. “Call the lawyer.”

Jack flicked out his phone, and Daniel dashed upstairs to put on his uniform with just enough care that he looked like he meant to be out of bed. Thor must’ve been eavesdropping, because the moment Daniel got his shoes tied, a mug of lumpy, Evan-prepared coffee appeared by his foot. As soon as Daniel had that mug in hand, the world around him shifted in a flash of light.

Thor’s bridge materialized, Thor across the console. Thor paused just long enough to tilt his head in silent question. Daniel nodded. They could do this. And the bridge dissolved into his office in the SGC, where Cameron Mitchell was waiting.

“What happened?” Daniel demanded the moment his body solidified enough to form words.

“General O’Neill didn’t come to the comm when General Landry called for check-in.”

Daniel’s jaw clenched. That would do it.

Mitchell clicked on his radio. “General Landry, Dr. Jackson has arrived. We’re on our way up to the conference room.”

Mitchell paused for confirmation, then clicked his radio off and stayed leaning against the bookshelves, with no rush to head upstairs. “Landry did good and played it off all weekend. SG-7 was off planet so we needed to leave the line open. Then it was night on Dakara, and no one wants to wake a general up. The IOA rep finally got Woolsey to come in and made Landry call. Teal’c himself came to the comm and said Bra’tac took O’Neill hunting before the sun came up. He promised to have the General dial back when they came in.”

“That wasn’t good enough for them?” As kind as it was, Daniel choked on a mouthful of his lumpy coffee. Mitchell didn’t bother to have an expression as he handed over a waiting travel mug.

“It was good enough for 12 hours. I don’t think Woolsey wanted to kick up a fuss. He’s IOA, but he was trying damn hard to let Landry be the one to make the call.”

“Let me guess: Russia didn’t like that?”

“France, actually.”

Daniel paused mid-chug. “Du Maurier panicked?”

“Apparently, Du Maurier has been replaced by Henri Bernard, a nepo hire and tech wunderkind who’s never dealt with the military before. Though, yeah, I bet Russia and China got him all worked up and let him do their dirty work.”

“Anybody warned France they’ll have to replace him after this?”

“Honestly, you don’t send a guy like that into a pressure cooker like this unless you expect him to bomb. Either way, at 12 hours on the nose, Bernard panicked, called his team, they called the President, and three hours ago he had to ask Landry to send two teams to Dakara for proof of life.”

Daniel set down his empty mug and pulled out one of the good protein bars. This morning needed them. “The Jaffa are going to be insulted.”

“Landry sent me with the teams. Teal’c pretended to be insulted, but it’s hard when O’Neill wasn’t actually on the planet.”

“You couldn’t stop them?”

Mitchell cocked an eyebrow. “Landry and I put it off as long as we could. I reminded them that early enough to wake the President was still nighttime in Colorado, and we needed to get in a team who’d had some sleep. The IOA said it was just a welfare check. Landry reminded them that was insulting, so we needed to send people that the Jaffa liked to make it a question and not an accusation. Even the teams Landry assigned took their sweet time getting their gear together and making their way from the gate up the hill to ask Teal’c our questions.”

“Well, that’s… nice.”

“The entire Mountain knows something is going on, Daniel. Honestly, the IOA sticking their noses in and trying to order Landry around has probably done more to make the old-timers in the Mountain trust Landry than an incursion would’ve done. But they’re backing his play, and Landry is backing mine. And I’m backing Vala’s.”

And Vala had been backing his.

“Vala told me this would either be resolved this morning, or it would be above my pay grade. So, I made it as clear as I could to everyone that this was a run out the clock situation.”

Daniel pulled out his phone in the hope that he’d missed a vibration, but nothing. “The President hasn’t ordered the teams on Dakara to tell the IOA what happened?”

“He hasn’t gotten in contact since we got back, but it’s only been 20 minutes. Landry asked if ‘there was anything they felt it was important to share.’ They confirmed General O’Neill was alive and well last they saw him and left the camp of his own free will and choice, and Landry refused to ask them anymore questions.”

Daniel didn’t want to be surprised at Landry working so hard to protect them. Jack had handpicked him after all. But Daniel had been screwed over by too many in the US military not to be surprised. “SG-19?”

“They weren’t in before I left for Dakara. When I got back, I went from the armory to your office.”

Daniel tried to steady himself from the whiplash. From the pancakes this morning to a protein bar that was stale because Jack was the one who remembered to replace them, but he’d been off planet for a month. Which was exactly what the IOA wanted. “I took the weekend off. I took a weekend that everyone knew about and that my doctor has been prescribing since I came back from the dead. I was out of contact for three days. Sam was at Area 51. Jack was with Teal’c, who has been answering comms for the last month. Why are they panicking?”

“Daniel.” Mitchell said, like Daniel was being an idiot.

“What?”

“Hammond was three months out from retirement when the Stargate lit up. He was only here because the military needed someone they could trust to wrap it all up without ‘misplacing’ things to the black market. He put off retirement for years, and he’d still be in the chair if his heart could take it.”

“I know.”

Daniel had been here for it.

“General O’Neill is the only person in the whole damn world who can lead the program. Half of our offworld alliances are with him, not with Earth. He’s essential to the defense of the planet.”

“I know all that, Mitchell?”

“Do you, Jackson? Because I think somewhere along the way you got comfortable seeing your friend Jack instead of the lynchpin of planetary security. Right now, he’s the Secretary of Homeworld Security and the only reason half the galaxy gives a shit about us, and he went missing.”

“He wasn’t missing.”

“Teal’c can say otherwise, but to everybody here, he was. Including me and Landry, who went out on a limb for you, and we might end up swinging for it.”

“You won’t.”

“You can’t promise that, Jackson.”

“Then why’d you do it?”

“Because that’s what you do for your team. And you’re our guy, even when you don’t trust us enough to tell us what’s going on.” Mitchell snapped.

Daniel slouched back against his desk. Things were infinitely more complicated than that. Honestly, if Vala hadn’t walked in bare minutes after Daniel found out about Evan, he didn’t know if he even would’ve told her. But Daniel didn’t know what he would’ve done if he hadn’t.

“I haven’t told Sam.”

“Holy shit, Daniel.” Daniel might as well have told Mitchell that he thought the Earth was flat. It would’ve been less baffling.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you, Mitchell.” It was a little. “This was… not my story to tell.”

“Not even to Sam?”

Daniel shrugged. Because he still couldn’t quite put words to why he hadn’t told her. Only if the IOA was panicking about Daniel taking a vacation, they would’ve panicked all the faster if he’d gone on vacation with Sam.

Thankfully, Mitchell got a text before he could press harder. “Damnit.”

“What’s wrong?”

“SECNAV is being beamed into the Mountain. The President clearly doesn’t want the IOA running to him every time the IOA has a problem with the SGC. But the IOA thinks SECNAV is going to countermand Landry.”

“The team from Dakara doesn’t know anything.” Daniel defended.

Mitchell snorted. “They know plenty.”

That was not what Jack had said. “What did they tell you?”

“Tell me? Nothing. But one of them had a weird dream that Thor turned up on Dakara and told General O’Neill that he needed to go with him right the hell now, and the General went.”

Yeah, Jack definitely hadn’t mentioned Thor coming down to the planet.

“I know I haven’t dealt with Replicators, Daniel, but that’s terrifying.”

“It wasn’t Replicators.”

“I know that because you said this wasn’t world peril, but I can’t start telling people that, can I?”

“No, you can’t. So, what now?”

“Now, you get the hell up to that conference room and figure out how to calm everyone down.”

@@@@@

“As I said before, Sir, General O’Neill checked in before he left camp. He said he was going fishing, and they’d be back when they caught something.”

“Did he seem at all distressed, Captain?” Daniel could hear General Landry’s voice echo down the hall.

“No, sir.”

“How did he seem, Keptin?” A Russian accent interrupted.

“We’ve been over this, Mr. Korolev. The chain of command requires that I ask the questions.”

Korolev wasn’t the most expressive man in the world, but Daniel could imagine the hand wave telling Landry to get on with it.

“Did General O’Neill seem well, Captain?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That wasn’t—”

“Is there anything else you think is relevant?”

“No, sir.”

“Is there anything else you think General O’Neill would like you to share?”

“No, sir.”

“Mr. Secretary—”

“The good Captain has repeated General O’Neill’s message for you, Mr. Korolev. I’m not in the mood to countermand General O’Neill’s instructions just for your curiosity.”

Daniel and Mitchell rounded the corner to the conference room, where one of the youngest gate team members was guarding the propped-open door. They’d passed the man’s team lead, slouched against a wall just within hearing range, his cell out to text any SOS updates to a phone tree like the PTA. Both men stiffened at the sight of them, but Daniel felt like it was more for him than Mitchell.

“Mr. Secretary,” a perfect American accent this time, but still a voice Daniel knew belonged to Ms. Xao, the representative from China. “No one has laid eyes on General O’Neill since he walked off into the forests of Dakara. We don’t know where he is, and when Colonel Mitchell repeatedly tried to raise him on the radio, it didn’t work. There is reason for concern. Frankly, I’m baffled that none of you seem to agree.”

“He disappeared with aliens, Mr. Burns.” France was definitely going to have to find a new representative. “Who knows what zey might have done with him?”

“Who knows what O’Neill would get up to with a Jaffa ship.” Korolev added, just as Daniel walked in.

“Dr. Jackson.” Secretary Burns rose to meet him, Korolev and Bernard a beat behind. “The good people of the IOA seem to be convinced Jack is dead in a ditch somewhere.”

“That doesn’t sound like him, sir.” They shook, and though Secretary Burns went first, Daniel waited until Landry waved him into a chair.

“No, it doesn’t. It also doesn’t sound right that the alliance with one of our oldest and closest allies has been compromised.”

“What does Teal’c say?”

“That General O’Neill went fishing.” Landry answered.

Daniel shrugged.

“Dr. Jackson.” Jack liked the Secretary of the Navy. They’d never served together, but Jack knew men who had and trusted their opinions. “I trust Jack like nobody else. But you have to admit: this is worrisome. Give me a reason to tell the President not to worry.”

Daniel, however, didn’t like him much. The Secretary talked to every civilian with the same, ‘aren’t you adorable’ sort of voice.

So, Daniel dropped, “Thor called,” like a bomb in the middle of the conversation.

“What?”

Daniel nodded to the poor Captain who’d held up so well. The Captain looked to Landry, who gave another nod.

“Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard fleet beamed down to Dakara and told General O’Neill that he needed him ‘right the hell now.’ Those were his exact words, sir. General O’Neill told us the cover story and to keep it quiet, and he went.”

“And how did you know this, Dr. Jackson?” SECNAV asked.

“Because Thor dropped by to ask me where Jack was.”

“And you, Colonel Carter?” Secretary Burns directed over Daniel’s shoulder

Daniel nearly startled out of his chair. They’d tucked Sam away in the corner right next to the door, out of someone’s sightline unless they went to the other side of the table. And they’d put Woolsey at her shoulder in a silent reminder not to speak. Daniel did not glare at Mitchell for whoever in his text chain knew about the Secretary of the Navy but didn’t know about Sam.

“I haven’t spoken to General O’Neill since he left for Dakara, sir.”

“And Commander Thor?”

“Several months, sir. But I agree with Daniel. If General O’Neill is with Thor, I don’t think we need to worry.”

“And if we stepped into the privacy of General Landry’s office and I asked you again, Colonel?”

“She’d tell you the same thing.” Daniel interrupted. “Sam doesn’t know anything.”

“Why?” Sam blurted out, and looked like she immediately regretted it.

“You deliberately conspired to withhold information from your commanding officer and the IOA, Dr. Jackson?” Xao said. And really, gambits like this were why they never made any headway in the SGC.

“I don’t have a commanding officer, Ms. Xao. I’m an archaeologist.”

“For now.”

“They give you degrees in these things. If mine was going to be stripped, it would’ve been for believing aliens made the pyramids.”

“Dr. Jackson, why didn’t you just tell anyone that Jack was with Thor?” Poor Bernard really wasn’t cut out for this.

There was an incredibly simple answer for that, but Daniel’s phone hadn’t buzzed. Daniel shrugged out said phone to check and tried to make it look like he was bored with the conversation. Based on Secretary Burns’ eyebrow, that didn’t land. “Can you give me proof of life, Dr. Jackson?”

Daniel took the out and checked his phone, including the time. “When did Mr. Woolsey call me?”

Woosley checked his own watch, clearly irritated. Though Daniel couldn’t tell if it was at him for being withholding or the rest of the IOA for forcing him to play the heavy on something that they all knew was going to turn out to be stupid. “27 minutes ago.”

“About three minutes after that.”

“So, General O’Neill is on Earth?” Bernard asked, baffled.

Secretary Burns held up a hand like the kid was interrupting his schoolteacher.

“As of thirty minutes ago, General O’Neill was well, and in the company of Supreme Commander Thor?” Daniel nodded. “With no pending threats to his life.”

“No, Mr. Secretary.”

“And no pending threats to the safety of Earth?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, then.” The man smacked his thighs in the universally accepted Midwestern gesture of, ‘all done here.’

“Why did Thor want O’Neill?” Korolev snapped.

“Who can know what Supreme Commander Thor ever really wants, you know? The Asgard aren’t known for their expressiveness.”

“This still doesn’t excuse why no one told us,” Xao argued.

“That is a fair question, Mr. Secretary.” Woolsey added. “None of us would’ve been worried if we’d known General O’Neill was with the Supreme Commander.”

Mitchell snorted.

Woolsey had the grace to nod. “At the least, we would’ve worried less.”

Woolsey looked to Daniel, who slipped off his glasses to wipe them clean.

“Dr. Jackson.” Woolsey nudged.

“I’m sorry, I missed the question.”

“Why did you and General O’Neill conceal his presence with the Asgard?”

“I wasn’t on Dakara, so I don’t know why Jack went that route.”

“You were with him fifteen minutes ago, Dr. Jackson.”

“Thirty.”

“Thirty minutes. And it never came up?”

Daniel shrugged. “It’s Jack. You can never really tell with him.”

Woolsey ‘hmm-ed.’ “Like the Asgard.”

“There’s a reason he and Thor are friends.” Daniel shrugged, casually checking his phone, ignoring the SECNAV’s attention.

“I assume you’re waiting for the all-clear from General O’Neill, Dr. Jackson?” Woolsey interrupted. “And it hasn’t come yet?”

Daniel forced himself to look at Mr. Woolsey while he tucked the phone away. Richard wasn’t the man he was when he first came to the SGC, but neither was Daniel. And Richard was the one who steeled himself to keep talking.

“We don’t have him, Dr. Jackson.” Woosley said. “We don’t even know if he’s on planet, or on Supreme Commander Thor’s vessel, or some third location. We don’t have him, and we’re not trying to take him. If he hasn’t answered, it’s not because of us.”

Chapter Twelve

Daniel’s call rang through to the automatic, ‘This number is not available.’

“Daniel?” Sam asked, and Woolsey didn’t bother trying to keep her in the corner.

Daniel pressed Jack’s contact again.

Some part of Daniel recognized the change on everyone’s faces as he kept trying to call. For all their posturing, no one but Bernard had really believed Jack was in trouble. But half an hour ago Daniel was with Jack, and now he wasn’t answering the phone.

“Do you have the Beacon?” Sam asked the next time it rang through. No, Daniel wasn’t carrying around the Asgardian SOS, but he had Thor’s phone number.

But before Daniel could scroll down to the contact for Thor—which he probably should have under a codename—the Asgardian himself beamed into the conference room.

Thor: naked, four feet tall, Roswell grey, with bright red human blood streaked across his chest

“Doctor Jackson, I have need of you.”

“Is he—” Daniel lurched to his feet.

“No, O’Neill will survive. You are necessary for emotional support.”

The room unclenched, but Sam gripped his arm so tight it was going to bruise. “Survive? What happened?”

Thor looked at Daniel, like he expected him to move. But honestly, Daniel was probably bruising her back. “I do not know. I returned the drone to my vessel in preparation for beam-up. Scans say there are several recently-deceased heat signatures at O’Neill’s prior location and O’Neill utilized emergency transport measures to my vessel with an abdominal wound from a projectile weapon.”

“Projectile—”

“Your presence is necessary, Dr. Jackson,” Thor cut them off. “Presently.”

“Go,” Mitchell said, steady hands under Daniel’s arms to haul him out of the fog and to his feet.

“The bodies—”

“We’ve got this, Dr. Jackson.” Landry intervened. “You take care of Jack. We’ll take care of the rest.”

Daniel opened his mouth to say something—anything—but Mitchell nudged him towards Thor. “SG-19 is in decom after your camping trip. They handle the shit like this.” There was an intensity to his eyes that meant, ‘shut the hell up.’

“We got this.” Sam didn’t need to nudge. Her word was enough for Thor.

Daniel had barely materialized on Thor’s vessel before a sobbing Evan crashed into his arms.

“Jack got shot! He’s with the alien doctor, and there are aliens!”

“Hey, buddy. Hey.” Daniel shuffled them to a wall and sank to the floor with Evan in his lap. “Thor says he’ll be okay.”

Evan pulled himself together just enough to glare through the tears. “Thor is an alien.”

“Yeah, he is.” Daniel stroked through Evan’s sweaty mess of curls. “But he’s the smartest person we know. And we know a lot of people.”

“We know a lot of aliens.”

“Yup. And we don’t judge them for being aliens. Just like anybody else, we don’t care about their outsides; we care about whether they’re nice.”

“I know that,” Evan huffed. It was out of character, so Daniel assumed it was more about the shock of the shooting than the aliens.

Which led Daniel back around to what he couldn’t put off anymore. “What happened?” Through tears and tangents back to aliens, Evan managed to explain that he and Jack had quickly eaten their pancakes then put little tracking beacons on the cases of surveillance equipment and totes full of Evan’s things that SG-19 had snuck in and packed after the papers were signed. They’d tap the beacon and Thor would beam them up to his ship. At the ripe old age of seven, it seemed Evan didn’t realize beaming wasn’t a thing anyone else got to do.

“Jack told you about Thor?”

“Yes. Though not the… grey part.”

“Yeah, he forgets that sometimes. What happened next?”

Evan curled in on himself, looking down at his shaking hands.

“Hey, Jack is okay. Thor is taking care of him. You can say it.”

“We were putting the kitchen stuff in a tote to send to Thor and there was this little crash, like when my baseball went through Ms. Cartright’s window, but not as loud. And then there was a rolling, and this hiss-pop, and then all this smoke filled up the room.” Evan gave little hand gestures as he explained.

“But when the baseball hit the window, Jack grabbed me and threw me behind the kitchen counter. My feet left the floor!”

“I bet they did.” Daniel tried to give Evan a little smile.

“Jack told me to stay there. And he… Jack had a gun.”

“Yeah,” Daniel brushed the hair off Evan’s forehead, “he’s got some of those. You know how Yates and the guys called him ‘sir’?” Evan nodded. “Jack is in the military. And sometimes that comes with guns.”

“I think maybe there were other guns. But everything was so loud, and I…” Evan mimed putting his hands over his ears. Evan looked ashamed of himself. Daniel remembered that feeling.

“Hey. They are loud. I do that too sometimes.”

“Yeah?”

“I promise.”

“There was hitting, because I heard other stuff break, and people made noises, but they weren’t like in Batman.”

“Yeah, real violence doesn’t sound like it does on TV.”

“I don’t know what happened then. I stayed down until it was quiet.”

“You did the right thing, Ev. Jack would’ve wanted you safe. I’m a grown-up and that’s what he tells me all the time.”

“But he… when it got quiet, I stuck my head out and Jack was on the ground. There was blood everywhere, Daniel.” Evan had been doing so well, getting the story out without a problem. But his tears started bubbling up again. “I tried to stop it, but I couldn’t, and I—”

Daniel tucked Evan back against his chest and let him cry it out. When Daniel was young, he always wished his parents would stop shushing him when he cried. Now that he was grown, all he wanted was to soothe it away.

“Evan O’Neill attached a homing beacon to O’Neill and triggered it, beaming them both aboard.” Daniel hadn’t noticed when Thor left, nor did he notice when the Asgard came back. “O’Neill has a projectile graze across his left biceps brachia, two cracked ribs, a torn Achilles tendon, and a projectile injury to his bowel. When he arrived, the projectile was lodged in his upper intestine.”

Bowel injuries meant infection, even with the best of modern medicine. Daniel couldn’t find a way to ask without Evan understanding. But Thor understood. “O’Neill’s treatment is successful.”

“Treating how?” Cloning was the preferred Asgardian approach to injuries, whether that be organs or transferring their consciousness into a new body—though they avoided the latter because the clones were getting worse. The Asgard had already proven their ability to clone a human, and Jack… wouldn’t like that. (Daniel didn’t think it was the first cloning that got rid of one’s external sexual organs, but he wasn’t sure. And that was going to be Jack’s first question.)

“The regeneration pod is repairing his organs. Cloning should be unnecessary.”

Daniel puffed out a relieved breath. “How long should it take?”

“Approximately two more hours to complete the process and verify that no additional treatment will be necessary.”

Thor had spent months in a regeneration pod after Anubis’ attack. As one of the taller Asgard, Thor had barely fit. The anthropologist in Daniel desperately wanted to ask how Thor had managed it, or if he’d been carrying around a Tau’ri-sized pod for just such an eventuality, but Evan looked so relieved that Daniel didn’t want the kid feeling bad about Jack’s squished toes.

Speaking of people who deserved relief, Daniel pulled out his phone to update Sam.

The call rang out longer than Daniel expected, and Sam was panting when she answered. “Daniel?”

“He’s going to be okay.”

“Thank goodness.” Sam’s sigh didn’t drown out what sounded like Landry shouting.

“Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” Mitchell said, a little echo as though from across the room.

“Am I on speaker?”

“Don’t be stupid, Daniel.” Vala said, the ‘of course’ implied.

“We’re in General Landry’s office. The IOA thought they should be involved in the call. General Landry and SECNAV did not. Now, what happened?”

“Jack and Evan were getting things packed up and tagging them for Thor to beam up.” He could almost see Mitchell and Sam whipping their heads up to look at Vala about, ‘Evan,’ but if she was going to ‘of course’ him into speakerphone, she got to deal with the consequences.

“Thor had pulled back the observation drone to prepare for their beam-out. Based on Evan’s description—” Daniel gave the boy a smile to remind him that he’d done good, “—they tossed a smoke bomb through a window. The sound gave Jack enough time to get Evan behind the kitchen island and Jack…”

“Did what he does.” Sam finished. Daniel didn’t know how Vala had managed to tell them ‘minor child’ silently in the last ten seconds, but he appreciated not having to say it out loud in front of the kid who’d re-curled against his chest.

“How long was the gap between the drone leaving and O’Neill’s emergency beam-out?” Mitchell asked.

“22.4 minutes.” Thor answered.

“Hey, Thor. Does, uh…” Sam paused, trying to figure out how to ask her question in an age-appropriate way.

“You’re not on speaker.” They weren’t. But it wasn’t until Daniel said it out loud that he realized he didn’t know how Thor was listening. He looked over at the Asgard, and Jack must be doing well because Thor and his inexpressive face conveyed Daniel’s idiocy well enough that Evan giggled.

“Right. Okay. With hindsight, does your drone data show the strike team stalking out the house?”

“The drone was scanning for radio transmissions on all possible frequencies on your planet. On the assumption that anyone on approach to the location would communicate via radio to coordinate.” Daniel thought that sometimes they all forgot that Thor was the Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet. His people had gotten by on superior technology for a long time, but he still understood tactics.

“All open radio channels prior to drone retrieval were previously accounted for and used for civilian purposes.”

“I don’t suppose there’s any way they tracked your drone?” Sam asked. Good for her, she was a braver man than Daniel. Though she couldn’t see the look on Thor’s face at the accusation.

“Asgard drones cannot be seen on the Tau’ri visual spectrum.”

“Right. We’ll come back to that.”

“So, dumb luck?” Mitchell asked.

“Or, bad timing.” Vala argued. “Either is more likely than avoiding Thor. But Daniel, has the paperwork been signed?”

Shit. Daniel hadn’t even—

“2.2 minutes before the attack.” Daniel buried his face in Evan’s hair and tried not to gasp for relief. “The ‘hard copies’ with judicial signature are in the possession of Lieutenant Jasper. O’Neill instructed the Lieutenant and Ms. Harper to ‘hang out’ at the courthouse until O’Neill and Evan O’Neill beamed aboard. Then the Lieutenant was to ‘file’ the documents.”

“Are they still ‘hanging out’?” Vala asked.

“To the best of my knowledge.”

“I’ll call Jasper and tell them to file the paperwork.”

“But—”

“Jack and Evan are safe, Daniel. It would be better to get things finalized before whoever came after Jack can take another swing.”

It took several long seconds of silence for Daniel to realize that they were all waiting on him to make the call. “Do it.”

Daniel caught the edge of a shuffle away from the phone and the murmur of Vala’s voice in the background.

“Hey Thor, how long ago was the attack?”

“Evan commenced emergency transporter procedures 36.2 minutes ago.”

“I’ll let Yates know. He took some guys up through the Daedalus to secure the scene. They got lucky that the police hadn’t turned up yet.”

“Two phone calls were placed to the local peacekeeping force in the immediate aftermath of the incident. A third call was placed ten minutes later after no help had arrived. I terminated each order for dispatch before it could be executed. Please inform Captain Yates that I have returned a drone to the location to maintain a security perimeter.”

“You’re the best, Thor.”

“Thank you.”

The conversation carried on through the phone pressed to Daniel’s ear, but he didn’t… they didn’t need him there.

Evan was curled up on Daniel’s lap, zoned out on some patch of the floor no different from any other. He was breathing the slow, deep breaths of someone who was going to fall asleep the moment they got horizontal. It wasn’t until Daniel thought about Evan that he realized he’d been doing the same thing with a light across the room. His phone had slipped to the slouched crook of his neck, the tinny shadow of a conversation echoing up to him, context clues from Thor’s responses across the room.

It had been a long time since Daniel had Jack almost die on him. At least when Daniel wasn’t standing there beside him. And now, the person Daniel had beside him wasn’t Jack, but this tiny piece of Jack’s heart walking around outside his body.

Daniel had… well, Daniel never thought he’d be here.

Not dissociating on Thor’s ship. Daniel had actually done that more times than was probably healthy. But he’d never really planned on kids. Then he’d met Sha’re, and birth control wasn’t much of a thing on Abydos, so he knew kids would come whenever they came. Then Apophis happened, and the time for children passed. But now, the closest Daniel would ever be to his own child was leaning on him for comfort. Scared out of his mind.

“The procedure is complete.” Thor announced. Daniel blinked away the dry eyes that came with staring at nothing and realized he’d missed his phone going silent. “O’Neill should be waking momentarily.”

Evan scrambled off Daniel’s lap and bolted through a side door off the bridge. Daniel lurched to his feet, ass and legs numb from more time on the floor than he thought he’d spent. The pod was one room over. Every other time, Thor had kept the repair pods with him on the bridge out of convenience. Whether he’d moved this one out of privacy for Jack or to keep Evan from being stuck in a room with his father’s battered body, Daniel didn’t know. Either way, it was a gift.

Evan was as tall as the average Asgard, so he had no problem peering over the edge at Jack’s slumbering face. Jack looked a little squeezed, but not by much. It looked more like Thor was carrying around a human-sized pod just for Jack.

Daniel was so relieved at the pink in Jack’s cheeks that he didn’t notice a thing until Evan pointed out that Jack looked different.

Long years together under a thousand different circumstances meant it took Daniel a moment for his brain to catch up. The grey lining the sides of Jack’s head had retreated to a fleck at his temples, the rest of his hair a full brown that Daniel barely remembered. Jack’s cheeks were a little fuller, his eyebrows thicker.

Honestly, Jack looked younger than Daniel had ever seen him. Not by much, but like the clock had rewound to the man who was Charlie’s dad.

“Thor? I thought you weren’t cloning.”

“I did not. Given O’Neill’s condition prior to his injuries, I was concerned that simple repairs would not ensure his survival. I authorized the pod to use the same regeneration techniques on O’Neill that are used on my own people after a critical injury.”

It sounded perfectly reasonable when Thor said it like that, but even time in a sarcophagus didn’t do this, and Jack was going to care about the distinction. And he was going to notice, which Daniel pointed out.

Thor didn’t huff, but it was close. “I rejuvenated O’Neill’s cellular structure as far as I was able.”

“Meaning you de-aged him?”

“Regeneration can have a similar physical effect.”

“How much?”

Thor tapped something on the pod and gave a number that didn’t translate to Tau’ri. Literally didn’t translate. The Stargate didn’t even give Daniel words, just pops.

“Yeah, I don’t… what?”

“Approximately 20 of your Earth years.”

“20 years! So, Jack’s… 35?”

“Approximately. It was the only way to ensure that he would completely recover from his injuries, Doctor Jackson.”

“Yeah, I believe you. It’s just… you’re the one who has to tell him.”

Thor didn’t purse his lips in displeasure, but Daniel knew he wanted to.

Chapter Thirteen

Thor let Jack and Evan have their hellos and a few tears on everyone’s part before he kicked Daniel and Evan back to the bridge and said O’Neill would be along momentarily. Daniel figured Thor had just dropped the news of de-aging on Jack like a bomb and carried right along, because Jack kept trying to get a decent view of himself in one of the few reflective surfaces on the bridge.

Daniel wanted to tease him for it, but Jack wasn’t usually a vain man. And if Daniel had been shot and woken up in a body twenty years younger… well, at least Jack went from strength to strength. From silver fox—he heard the gossip—to the brunette equivalent. Twenty years ago, Daniel had been lanky and barely an adult. (A ‘twink’ according to an ex-boyfriend. Daniel hadn’t appreciated the description then and… holy fuck, he was technically older than Jack.)

But Jack seemed surprisingly chill with the whole ‘de-aged’ business, so Daniel wasn’t going to point that out. (He was going to ask Jack if the first thing he’d done was check his dick, but not in front of Evan.)

Honestly, Jack was so calm about the near-death and subsequent change that Daniel was wondering if he should ask Thor for a brain scan. But then Jack picked Evan up and took him to the windows before Thor’s command chair to give the kid his first proper view of the Earth.

Picked him up without a creak or a groan.

Daniel felt like an idiot.

However else Jack might’ve felt about Asgardian tampering last week, this week he had a seven-year-old.

After several long minutes together staring into space, Jack set Evan down on the throne of the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet and said, “Stay here for a second, buddy.”

“You can just say you need to have a grown-up conversation, Jack.”

Jack tweaked his nose. “Grown-up stuff, then.” He came back to Daniel, who didn’t bother pretending he hadn’t been staring.

“Does Yates have the scene?”

“He does.” Daniel gave his own, much less bloody, summary of their half an hour apart, including everyone’s assignments.

“And the paperwork?” Jack’s expression locked down.

“You were clear of the house, so I made the call to file the paperwork.” Something in Jack unclenched. Daniel put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “He’s yours, Jack. Officially.”

They both looked over at Evan, who had his nose pressed to the glass while he rambled something at the 3,000-year-old alien keeping him company.

“Have they figured out the leak?”

“What?”

“Was it Hernandez, or was it Margaret and Phillip?”

“You think–”

“Twelve hours after I tell them my name and that their kid is actually mine and someone turns up to kill me and take my son? Hernandez knows more, but he’s known for over two days. The strike team was sloppy, like they didn’t have a lot of time to prepare.”

“We didn’t, uh… Sam and Mitchell were trying to figure out how the strike team timed it right.”

“Like I said, sloppy. It read like they got the information and moved out as soon as they could.”

“So, they knew they were on the clock before you got back to safety.”

“Knew or had reason to suspect.”

“That leans towards the Buckleys.”

Daniel didn’t like that. Someday it was going to hit Evan that his parents had basically thrown him away to a man they’d only spoken to for ten minutes. (Convincing Jack to talk to a therapist was near the top of Daniel’s to-do list. He’d never managed it before, but he didn’t think it was going to be a problem on behalf of Evan.)

“I don’t know.” Daniel looked at his now-suspiciously silent phone. “They haven’t told me about that.” Daniel went to pull open Vala’s number, but caught Yates along the way. Vala would tap dance around the questions, but Yates would answer if Daniel handed the phone over to Jack.

But like the SGC felt it in the ether and had been patiently waiting for Daniel to come up for air, his phone rang in his hand.

“It’s Landry.” No, not the ether. “Two hours on the nose.”

“What?”

“Thor’s best guess for you to be healed was two hours.”

Jack snorted. “The IOA probably set a timer.” Daniel ignored Landry’s call and clicked back to Yates’ contact. “What are you doing?”

“Calling Yates to find out where the leak came from.”

“What’s a leak?” Evan asked, popping up next to Daniel.

Jack scooped him up. “It’s when people don’t know when to keep their mouths shut.”

Evan furrowed. “You don’t mean chewing.”

“Nope.” Jack said with a pop. “I’ll explain OpSec to you when we get back to Colorado.”

“OpSec?”

“Operational Security.”

“What’s that?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Jack,” Evan groaned.

Daniel’s phone rang. Landry again.

“Thor,” Jack called out.

“O’Neill.”

“Am I clear?”

“You are fully functional.”

“Great. The boys and I have to go back to the office.”

“Jack.”

“Daniel.”

Daniel sighed and clicked ignore. There was no point in answering when they were basically on the front porch.

@@@@@

Daniel transported down first. Thor’s accuracy was a thing to behold. Daniel materialized next to Sam, who was diligently tapping away on a laptop she’d brought to the conference room, probably helping with the leak while Vala and SG-19 were in the field. Teal’c was on Sam’s other side, and around them was a circle of space. The IOA was never great with aliens, but today Teal’c was a representative of the Jaffa, who had a right to be offended at the distrust from the people in this room.

And across the table was the diplomatic contingent, hounding General Landry about Daniel not answering his phone like teenagers at a slumber party.

Daniel’s flash of light resolved next to Sam. And while half the rest of the room didn’t even notice, Sam barely looked up from her laptop, as if Daniel had just walked into her office. But her, “Hey, Daniel,” was loud enough to nudge the rest.

“Hey, Sam.”

“Dr. Jackson.” SECNAV got out before the chaos turned directions. Though, the man looked like he’d been busy texting while he left Landry to his fate. “Status update.”

“Well, uh, he’s fine.” Daniel got out before the expressions on everyone’s faces properly registered. Poor Landry nearly had a twitch in his eye, as if he’d spent the last two hours being hounded for details and enduring the freak-out of a missed phone call for the last two minutes. “Right. Jack is fine. He’s okay. And he’s beaming back. No one freak out.”

“What?”

Daniel was 90% sure Thor had an invisible drone in this room because Jack beamed into an empty corner with Evan in his arms.

“Hi there.” Jack greeted the dead silence. Maybe it was just Daniel, who’d become inured to a child after a few days, but to Daniel, the most striking thing was Jack’s new age. The ruddy brown of Jack’s hair and the hundred vanished little wrinkles were a lot more obvious under the Mountain’s terrible fluorescent lights. (Also, Asgardian scrubs were burnt umber, which was more color than this room had ever seen outside of the flag.)

“Evan, this is Sam and Teal’c. They’re teammates of ours.” The only sign of Jack’s nerves was him bumping Evan a little higher on his hip as he stepped up to their team.

“Hi.” Evan waved and blushed a bright pink at Sam’s smile, as was her due.

Sam and Teal’c both knew what was coming and smiled accordingly, but Sam at least shared the wide-eyed bafflement about the tow-headed kid who looked nothing like Jack outside of his smile.

“This is Secretary Burns, General Landry, Colonel Mitchell, and … everybody else.” Jack waved past the IOA. Evan gave them a much tighter wave.

“Everybody, this is Evan.” Jack set Evan down in the empty chair at the head of the table.

“O’Neil,” SECNAV croaked. “What—”

“No, no, let me tell it; it’s good.” Jack gestured everyone back into their seats while Daniel stepped around the table, handing out selected pages from Evan’s file that Jack had Thor replicate on the ship. (Thor had complained about the waste of resources. Jack told him that commanding officers asked fewer stupid questions when they had papers to shuffle. Thor went quiet, like he was looking back over his own meetings and wondering if his officers had played the same trick on him.)

“So, two weeks ago, Thor drops by Earth to visit me, but I’m off planet so I don’t pick up when he calls. I usually don’t, so Thor’s not worried. He just runs this program he has on his ship to scan Earth for my DNA.”

“What?” Korolev choked.

“Yeah.” Jack shrugged. “I’ve told him it’s creepy, but then he tells me to keep my Asgard calling device on me at all times, and we both know that’s not going to happen, so he keeps doing it.”

“He scans the entire planet?”

“Actually,” Sam interjected, finally dragging her eyes away from Evan. “Thor starts at the scan at Cheyenne Mountain and spirals out through the greater Colorado Springs area, far enough to cover General O’Neill’s house and his usual stomping grounds. If the General isn’t there, Thor moves the scan to his cabin, and so on.”

It wasn’t until Sam said it out loud and Daniel could see the reactions of other people—SGC personnel included—that Daniel properly grasped how weird that was.

“I talked him into calling General Hammond first, but it’s Thor.” Jack shrugged.

“He’s scanning our planet?” SECNAV asked.

“Not usually.”

“And not the planet.” Sam corrected. “Just General O’Neill.”

Xao asked about Eigenberg ratios and Euclidean densities for the scanning, and Jack tossed his hands wide in a silent, ‘What makes you think I can answer that question?’

If this were a regular briefing, they’d turn it over to Sam to explain the basics, but Jack’s kid was in the middle of the SGC, so he carried right along. “Anyway. This time, I didn’t pick up the phone, and Thor hasn’t met Hank so he didn’t call him to follow up, so Thor ran his scan. I wasn’t in Colorado Springs, and I wasn’t at my cabin, so Thor shifted the scan to Washington DC.”

“This is an outrageous breach of privacy.” Woolsey interrupted. “As trustworthy as Commander Thor is, he’s scanning our people.”

“Sir, it’s not like that,” Sam explained. “General O’Neill has a very specific gene that no one else in the world shares. It’s like searching for a word in a document. You tell the computer to search for the letter ’m,’ it’s going to pull up a hundred different words used all over the place.”

“And O’Neill’s gene makes it like searching the document for the letter ‘x’?” SECNAV asked.

“No, General O’Neill’s gene makes it like searching for the word ‘jabberwocky.’ It’s only getting used once.”

“Actually,” Jack said from his indolent lean against the back of Evan’s chair. “Twice.”

Everyone who wasn’t already read in was rightly confused. They looked between man and boy, at Evan whose face looked nothing like Jack’s. But the way he slouched back in that chair, hair fluffed up just the same way but at the other end of the color spectrum, they could see it.

“Holy shit.” Korolev murmured in Russian.

“Thor started his scan in Washington DC. It was the first time he’d scanned there looking for me, and the whole place is packed with people, so Thor just turned the program on and let it run while he did other things. The search pattern spiraled out to Pennsylvania and got a hit.”

Xao was the only one paying proper attention to the documents. “Evan appears to be seven?”

“Yup.”

“Am I recalling correctly where you were eight years ago, General O’Neill?” Xao asked. Daniel didn’t know what she was trying to imply. Jack had been at the SGC, fairly early in their war against the Goa’uld.

Jack knew, though. Daniel could tell from the smile before he asked, “Everyone else remember Dr. Fisher?”

“The one who…” Sam trailed off with a glance at Evan. “Focused his studies on your DNA?”

“Yup.”

“If you’ll turn to page three.” Daniel got them back on track. “Dr. Fisher went into private practice after he left the SGC. He performed in embryo HLA modifications. Evan was one of his patients.”

“The why and how are stuff you can get into after Doc Lam sorts through the paperwork. But long story short—well, not short at this point—but Thor came to visit; I wasn’t home. Thor ran the DNA scan and found Ev. I was off world and Thor didn’t know Hank, so Thor called Daniel. Having my POA for injuries isn’t the same as POA for finding out I have a kid, so Daniel called in SG-19 to check on Ev so I could have more information than, ‘hey, he exists.’ SG-19 brought back their info–”

“Page five.” Daniel interrupted, and there was some flipping while Jack carried on.

“Daniel made the call that I needed to get home right the hell now, so Thor came and got me.” The bright purple bruise on Evan’s face in the photo answered several questions.

“Since we were trying to avoid the Trust, I told the team with me on Dakara to keep their mouths shut, but clearly the Trust found out anyway.” Jack directed his glare at the IOA side of the table. They hadn’t been on Jack’s list of potential leaks, but they certainly hadn’t helped. “And now we’re here. Now that we’re all caught up,” Jack went to pick Evan up, like if he went fast enough, they could—

“Just a few more questions, Jack,” Xao said.

They wouldn’t have the chance to do that. Though every member of the military–both US and Russian–stiffened at the informality. He was General O’Neill, and he’d been shot today.

Shot hard enough that if Thor hadn’t been in orbit, Jack would be dead.

“Shoot.” Jack smiled, all teeth. Everyone with sense flinched that time.

Xao understood that she’d overstepped. Woolsey capitalized on her hesitation. “Dr. Jackson, why didn’t you tell General Landry about any of this?”

“Because you people have been lurking around the SGC like vultures waiting to pick over a corpse. Jackson had enough sense to keep Hank from torpedoing his career while they were all trying to keep you from spilling the whole thing to the Trust.” SECNAV snapped.

That was a change from Secretary Burns’ earlier approach. And SECNAV wasn’t wrong, but you had to be one of the Joint Chiefs to say it.

“It seemed a case of ‘better to ask forgiveness than permission.’” Daniel stepped in. “Also, I didn’t think it was a military matter. It was Jack’s private business, and I was asked to handle it as his friend, not in my official capacity with Stargate Command.”

“You used an SG team to do it.” Woolsey said.

“Actually,” Mitchell pointed out, “SG-19 was on vacation.”

The entire IOA brigade looked at him in disbelief.

“It’s true.” Landry chimed in, the same unflinching positivity that hadn’t broken yet. “They filed the right forms and everything.”

“And your team?” Woolsey said to Mitchell.

“Clearly, we didn’t know any of the specifics.” Mitchell answered with ‘good old boy’ charm.

“O’Neill, do you know who leaked?” Korolev asked.

Mitchell answered. “SG-19 is handling the rundown, along with the OSI agent we have read into the program and there handling cleanup.”

“Have you checked the parents?”

“I’m the parent, Bernard. SG-19 will do their job and we’ll figure it out.”

“Did you not get her to sign an NDA, O’Neill?”

“Of course I did, Korolev, but she gave up custody of her kid. People were going to notice. It had to be loose enough to answer questions.”

“The document did not and could not forbid them mentioning Jack’s name.” Daniel interrupted before they could get into it. “The lawyer who prepared the documents said that would be too strict to be enforceable.”

“What are the odds that someone at her bridge club was Trust?” Xao asked sarcastically.

“That close to DC?” Woolsey said. “Higher than we want to admit.”

With that, the room filled with the special silence that meant things were done.

But of course, Korolev had no problem filling it.

“One more question. What happened to your face?”

Everyone wondered, but no one else had the gumption to ask. Sam would ask Daniel eventually, and they all trusted gossip to carry it along. (Except for Teal’c. He might not even notice.)

“Apparently, I’m so old and feeble that Thor’s tech was worried I wouldn’t survive the organ regeneration. He gave me a shot of what the Asgard take before they have surgery, which is regeneration at a cellular level.”

“And it took twenty years off the top?”

“Thor said he’d get the scans to Lam, but more or less.”

“So, you’re a 35-year-old one-star.” Woolsey asked with the exhaustion of a man who was going to have to explain this.

Somehow, Jack sounded even more tired. “Yup.”

Everyone here might be too accustomed to impossible things. They shrugged off the insanity of the last few days with an, “Oh well, it’s Jack.’ Like that was answer enough. For the SGC, it was. Jack was fine. His kid was fine. And for all the SGC had been stressed out of their minds the last week or so, it seemed no one in the room begrudged them for doing it all under the table since the Trust found out anyway. Mitchell had that look he got sometimes where he was regretting leaving the X-302 program for shit like this.

“I assume you had a reason to stay out of contact for so long, and the reason is resolved now?” Xao usually did the talking for the IOA, and Daniel didn’t know what had changed in the last five minutes that Korolev was the one stepping up.

“Adoption papers. Everything had to be signed and filed before we could leave the state.”

Korolev grumbled, “Americans,” under his breath, then rose from his seat. “Congratulations, O’Neill.” A handshake for Jack, and then a handshake for Evan, who perked up at being treated like one of the grownups. “Congratulations, little O’Neill.”

“Thanks, sir.” With more care than Danel had ever seen him display, Korolev bopped Evan on the nose.

(Jack had once described Korolev to him, not as an old friend, but an old rival. “When you get to be my age, Danny, that’s just as good.” Daniel had rolled his eyes. “You’re not that old, Jack.” Jack had never replied, but he had those sad eyes. Those tired eyes he got when they were imprisoned in work camps. Eyes that Daniel was pretty sure meant Jack had done this before and done it on Earth.)

A shift had happened among the IOA in the last five minutes. It was almost the usual one that happened when they tried to undercut the SGC and lost another round, but a different flavor. The trouble was that so much had changed in the last few minutes that Daniel didn’t know exactly what was causing it.

But Xao wasn’t happy about it and tried to get them back on track. “This directly violates your country’s agreement with the IOA.”

“We don’t have any language about this kind of situation.” Secretary Burns said, so done with the meeting that he was texting for pickup. “And even if we did, Jack did everything right.”

“He was Absent Without leave.” Woolsey argued, but his heart wasn’t in it. There was no arguing with the one person in the room with the ability to actually get mad at Jack over what happened.

“Jack went undercover to save his son’s life, killed a few Trust agents, and preserved national and planetary security, all in one weekend.” Burns slipped his phone into his breast pocket and added a raised eyebrow to his glare at Xao. No one was going to say it out loud in front of Evan, but it was a silent reminder that Jack had saved a tiny ATA gene carrier. What the Trust might’ve done with the strongest ATA gene on the planet but without Jack’s training ought to be terrifying. Even though they all knew each country was playing its own games with the IOA, gene carriers weren’t meant to be shuffled around the board like technology they all pretended the others didn’t have.

Whatever Xao might’ve argued next—trying to make up ground for Korolev who’d left the table entirely to pour himself some coffee, and pointedly stand on Jack’s side of the room instead of return to his seat—they were interrupted by the phone in Landry’s office.

Not the beeping of the internal system, but the harsh payphone ring of the red phone.

Almost as one, everyone in the room turned to look at the office, then to General Landry, who looked both to Jack and SECNAV before he went into his office and shut the door.

Daniel looked at Jack, who was looking at SECNAV, who had just finished tapping the breast pocket where he’d tucked his cell phone as a silent answer to Jack’s question.

Jack heaved a sigh that meant he knew what was coming and stroked a hand through Evan’s hair. Unknowing, Evan looked up at Jack with a bright grin. “Stick with Daniel, okay, buddy?”

“Okay?” Daniel slipped behind Evan and gave his little shoulders a squeeze.

“It’ll be okay, Ev.”

Which was the wrong thing to say, because the smile fell off Evan’s face like it hadn’t crossed his mind that there was something to not be okay about.

Landry opened his office door, mouthpiece of the red phone pressed to his chest, tugging straight the long, spiral cord and tugging the base off center on his desk. “Jack, it’s for you.”

Jack gave Evan another smile and strode into Landry’s office as if he weren’t in alien scrubs.

Evan twisted himself and the chair around. “Who’s on the phone?”

“Jack’s boss.”

They could see Jack through the office window. Jack only got out a few words before his mouth settled into the familiar pattern of, “Yes, sir.”

Jack tried talking again, but caught the words. He’d been hung up on. Daniel could tell from the way Jack cocked his jaw before he dropped the handset from a little too high. Not as satisfying as slamming, but better than snapping a cell phone shut.

“Yeah, your dad is gonna have to go to work, Ev.”

“I thought we were at work.”

“Different work.”

Jack stepped out of the office, rolled his eyes at everyone still lingering in the conference room, and ignored them all to kneel before Evan.

“Daniel says you have to go to work.”

“Yeah, buddy. The President wants me to come to his office right the hell now.”

“The President? Of the country?”

“Yup.”

“What do you do, Jack?”

Jack leaned in like he was imparting a big secret. “I hang out with aliens.”

“Is he gonna be mad about Thor?” Evan whispered back, legitimately concerned.

“Nah. Thor makes him a little nervous though.”

“Why? Thor is great.”

“Yeah, buddy. He is.”

“You should tell the President that.”

“I absolutely will.” Daniel had no idea how this conversation was going to go, but it wouldn’t surprise him if Jack had to point out to a room full of politicians that helping Jack save his son was, in fact, the act of an ally. “You’ll stay here with Daniel, and I’m gonna go talk to the President.”

Jack flashed Daniel a look. Not to make sure he’d stay with Evan—that was obvious—but even after all these years, some part of Jack was still baffled that they were here. Somehow talking to the President seemed more ridiculous than talking to Thor.

Thor, Daniel had planned on. Thor, Daniel had thought about. Thor, Daniel had called himself to make sure Evan survived.

But the President, Daniel hadn’t thought about.

The President was Jack’s boss.

The President was what came next.

Which Daniel hadn’t thought about. A man could save the world half a dozen times and still be surprised when everything worked out.

How were they going to keep Evan safe, but let him have a normal life? People in the SGC had children; Daniel had seen the pictures. But they weren’t Jack O’Neill’s children. There had to be safe schools in DC, but Jack was 35; how were they going to explain the de-aging? But did that mean he was being sent back to a gate team? But Landry didn’t have the connections or the clout to be the Director of Homeworld.

But what about other young ATA gene carriers? About their safety? It was pure dumb luck that it was Evan’s DNA they found and that Dandekar was on shift. What if they’d found some other seven-year-old who wasn’t related to anyone? What would they have done? With Evan safely at the SGC, Daniel’s brain started spinning out a host of problems he’d never thought of before, and probably 10,000 more would crop up when he tried to sleep tonight.

(10,000 new problems so he could avoid thinking about what Jack would do. Where he and Evan would go from here.)

“Go have some pie, maybe get to know Sam and Teal’c. They have all the funny stories.”

“Okay, Dad.”

Jack dropped a kiss on Evan’s forehead and stepped away, something in his posture shifting from ‘dad’ to ‘commander.’ Mitchell handed Jack one of the SGC’s earwigs and gestured him out of the conference room. “The Quartermaster pulled a uniform in your size, sir. He’s waiting in one of the empty offices near the transport room. So you don’t have to go to the Oval Office in your jim-jams.”

Evan giggled, and Mitchell gave him a little wink, then another wink to Daniel. Two entirely different kinds of winks, but both of them meant, ‘I’ll take care of him.’

Jack cleared the door, and Daniel didn’t need to watch to know he didn’t look back. Daniel took Evan by the hand and tugged him off the chair. “Time for pie.”

“It’s lunchtime, Danny.”

“I know, but it’s been a pretty rough day. I think we’ve earned pie.”

Teal’c fell into step, a silent wall between them and the room as they headed for the door.

“Dr. Jackson!” Xao tried to call out. But Daniel shouted over his shoulder, “I have orders from my commanding officer!” and kept going.

Epilogue

Teal’c took Evan by the hand to lead him straight to the commissary counter and left Daniel and Sam to stake out a table. Some part of Daniel thought to say that Evan had just had breakfast, but Daniel’s own stomach reminded him it had been hours on Thor’s ship and an overwhelming day. Absolutely time for lunch.

Evan hesitated for half a second, then he said, “Teal’c” in the same way he’d said, ‘Daniel’ what felt like a month ago. Then Evan was happy to take Teal’c’s hand and bounce over to the counter. Daniel was not looking forward to explaining the dreams. He had no idea who else Jack was going to decide they had to tell, but Sam and Teal’c were definitely on the list.

Speaking of things he had to tell them. Daniel turned to Sam, who’d barely settled in her chair. “I’m sorry, Sam.”

“Daniel.”

“No, please, let me get this out first. I’ve been in panic mode and I completely shut down. Early on, I said to myself that I didn’t want to get you court martialed for this, and it stuck. I never stopped to question it. My plan was to keep everything quiet until Jack got back, and I never stopped to think of anything else. I’m sorry for not questioning myself, but I’m not sorry for the impulse to protect you.”

Sam took both his hands. “Daniel. How many times have we gone AWOL together?”

“That’s to save the world.”

“And this is Jack’s son. I appreciate that you were trying to protect me. And I like to think that if something computer-related had happened, you would’ve called me anyway, threat to my career or not.”

“Of course. Thor did all the technical heavy lifting.”

“And he’s good at that. I’m always on your team, Daniel.”

“I know that, Sam. I might’ve… I felt like I did after I came back from that mirror universe where Apophis had taken Earth. I’d seen the world end once and nothing you guys said to me made me believe we could change it. It was just… tunnel vision. There was so little I could do. So little I could keep safe. But I could keep you safe,” Daniel finished, though that wasn’t the right word.

While he’d been sitting on Thor’s ship waiting for him to put Jack back together, Sam had been with Vala and watched the video of Margaret losing her mind. Sam gave Daniel’s hand a little squeeze, a silent comfort that she understood. He was going to be watched a little more closely so he couldn’t do it again, but she understood.

“Thank you.”

Evan stumbled back to the table with a heavy tray laden with half a dozen plates and every variety of pie.

“That’s a little much.”

“Teal’c said we should take some of all of them so I can figure out what my favorite is because I don’t know a lot about pie.”

“Well, that’s unacceptable.” Jack dropped into the seat next to Daniel.

“That’s what Teal’c said.” Evan said, climbing straight into Jack’s lap and pulling the tray over for the two of them.

“Meeting get delayed?” Daniel asked. Jack hadn’t been gone nearly long enough for a full meeting with the President.

“Nope.” Jack grabbed a plate. “Try this one. It’s mixed berry. Kind of like your favorite Pop-Tarts.” Evan looked doubtful, but got started. “We had a quick catch-up, and we’ve got another meeting set in a few hours. He just needs to summon everyone back to his office.”

“Everyone, sir?” Sam asked.

“What do you think?” Jack asked Evan.

Evan grimaced. “It’s kind of like the Pop-Tart, but… not.”

“How not?”

Evan fished a seed out from between his teeth. “I don’t like those. And it’s—” He puckered his nose.

“Tart?”

“What’s tart?”

Jack looked at Daniel. “Not sweet and not sour, but in between.”

“Yeah, it’s tart.”

“This pie has raspberries in it. Do you like those?”

“Those are the little ones that fit on your fingers?”

“Yup.”

“Then, no.”

“Good to know.” Jack scrubs Evan’s hair and made him giggle. Jack passed the plate along to Teal’c, who liked the less sweet pies.

Jack directed a conversation about all the different pies on offer—which was every pie the commissary could make, their own version of ‘welcome home’ for Jack—everyone’s favorite, why they liked it, and Jack’s opinion that crust made the most difference.

It was, not to put too fine a point on it, a deeply weird conversation.

Daniel felt like he was back with SG-5 debating the merits of lard—and yes, Jack had opinions about that too—but this time, there was no one from the IOA they were locking out of the conversation.

There was, however, a massive, adult conversation that the four of them needed to have, but it seemed Jack was unwilling to leave Evan in anyone’s care while they had it.

Daniel was thankful for years of managing safe and aimless conversation while aliens were debating whether or not to kill them. It was easy to play along when it was nothing but his stomach demanding to know why the President sent Jack away? And what was Jack going to do when he went back? Who was supposed to be at the new meeting? Why did they need a second one?

The questions weren’t helped by nearly every member of the SGC roaming in and out of the commissary, less for the glasses of water and mugs of coffee that they got, and more to set eyes on Evan. He could see the difference between those there to catch up on gossip and the soldiers who wanted a visual they could commit to memory in case the worst happened.

Jack carried on a seamless conversation through several communal slices of pie until he reached some trigger that existed only in Jack’s head. “Hey bud, do me a favor? The President asked for our picture.”

Evan scrubbed hands through his hair, trying to tame it back into proper order. (Of all people, he checked with Teal’c that it looked good.) Jack tucked Evan against his side, and they gave matching grins while Sam took a picture with her phone.

“Thanks, bud. Why don’t you go with Sam to get that printed off for the President.”

Evan turned a suspicious glare on Jack, who poked Evan on the nose. “Grown-up stuff.”

Evan grumbled, but took Sam’s hand and dragged her towards the door. “We’ll need to schedule a shopping trip for later, General,” Sam said with a threatening smile. He was on a countdown to interrogation, and Jack was going to get less sympathy than Daniel had.

“That’s all you, Carter.” Jack agreed. With a quick look from Jack, Teal’c went with them.

“What did he say? You’re going back? Are you in trouble?” Daniel spilled out the hushed questions the moment Evan stepped out of earshot.

Jack made eye contact with the gate team eating their actual lunches at the closest table. The two military members of the team grabbed their scientists and dragged them a table away and out of hearing range.

“No one’s in trouble, Daniel. Bartlett isn’t stupid, and he isn’t vindictive. He gets why you did what you did and how things could’ve gone wrong if you hadn’t. You might get a ding to satisfy some egos, but it’s not going to come from Landry.”

“I wasn’t worried about me, Jack. What happened?”

“We talked about a few things.” Jack shrugged.

“What things? You couldn’t have been gone for more than twenty minutes.”

“Things, Daniel.”

“Jack.” Daniel was a breath away from dragging Jack into his office and yelling at him until he said something useful.

“The problem isn’t Evan, Daniel. It’s what comes next. You heard Secretary Burns. I’m a one-star cabinet secretary with the knees of a 35-year-old.”

“Why is that a problem?” At least three people had pointed that out to Daniel since they saw the de-aged Jack. Jack’s heart hadn’t been in Homeworld Security in the first place, and he hated the bureaucracy that came with commanding the SGC, but Jack’s body couldn’t take going into the field at the rate of a gate team anymore. But now he could.

“Daniel.” Jack rolled his eyes.

Fair. They also weren’t going to waste a commander of Jack’s experience on a simple field team. “What’s going to happen?”

“We’re going to have a meeting.”

“About what?”

“What comes next.”

“What do you want to come next?”

“You know,” Jack scraped the tines of his fork through the sad traces of leftover cream, “the President asked me the same thing.”

Daniel blinked. “That’s unexpected.”

“Yeah.”

“Unexpected enough that you told him the truth?”

“Yup.”

“Jack,” Daniel sighed.

“I told him that I want what any decent person wants, Daniel: galactic peace so I can retire with my kid and not worry about the universe imploding because I wasn’t there to stop it.”

Daniel gave a wet laugh because, yeah, that would be nice. All of them had the vain hope that they could pass this weight on to someone else and it wouldn’t get dropped.

“Barring that, I told him I’d take back command of the SGC if he gave me the money and the ability to make war on the remaining System Lords and the Replicators. Enough staff to actually run a base and bring down the Trust.”

“You hate being in command.”

“Yeah, but I want to protect the planet. Protect my family. I want to set the board so we can retire and people can stop worrying about saving the world.”

“What did he say? Will Landry take Homeworld?”

“He told me to get back to the SGC, eat something, let the human doctors look me over, and get ready to come back for the fight of my life.”

“What do you think is going to happen?”

“I think there are people in the military who are better politicians than I am, and I can be in the field for another 20 years. It’s a waste to put me behind a desk.”

“Does the President know that?”

“He’s an academic, but he’s got enough common sense for that.”

“Yeah, but what’s going to happen?”

“I don’t know, Daniel. That’s what the meeting is about.” Jack waved at two men in uniform who’d been standing by the coffee counter for a while, without actually touching anything. Probably since Jack decided it was time to send Evan out of the room.

The men scampered over. “Sir.”

“You finished?”

“Yes, sir. We needed to add provisions that are vague enough to cover off-world missions instead of just out-of-country missions, but that was a single paragraph. We have recommendations for how you’ll want to set up secondary custody paperwork, but nothing else for these documents.” The Captain handed over a stack of paperwork.

“Thanks.”

“The Lieutenant is a notary, sir; did you want to—”

“Yup.” Jack waved at the two military personnel who’d dragged their team out of eavesdropping distance, and they scrambled over.

“Captain Carver, Lieutenant Walsh, this is Captain Huntington and Lieutenant Apple of the JAG Corps. They need you to witness some documents.” Lt. Apple asked the men for their IDs, who pulled them out without question.

Daniel, on the other hand, had plenty. “No recommendations for what?”

Jack flipped to the back of the stack. “I had Melanie draw up some custody paperwork while we were waiting. Thor passed it on to the JAG to make sure there weren’t any military-specific parts that needed to be covered. You need to ask me anything?” Jack directed the last to the JAG officers, who recited language verifying that all parties were there voluntarily and in possession of all their faculties.

Jack agreed and signed before sliding it all over to Daniel. “Say yes and sign there.”

“What am I signing?” Daniel asked as he signed the page, bare of anything but blank signature lines.

“Agree first, Danny.”

“Sir…” the poor JAG Lieutenant looked terrified.

“Of course, I agree.” Daniel passed the papers to the witnesses, who got a slightly modified speech that Daniel didn’t hear a damn word of because Jack answered.

“Custody papers.”

“Jack.”

“Daniel?”

The Lieutenant signed and notarized at the bottom of the page, a loud thunk of a stamp into a terribly quiet room.

“Thanks, fellas.” The witnesses offered their congratulations, then scampered away to their team, who Daniel bet were watching wide-eyed, but Daniel wasn’t looking away from Jack.

“We’ll make a copy to keep in the base files, another copy for your lawyer, and then return the originals to you. Would you like us to e-file with the court on your behalf, sir?”

“Check with Ms. Harper.”

“A copy for me too, please.” Daniel interrupted.

The JAG agreed, offered their own congratulations, and then scarpered. Daniel bet neither of them would separate or even stop for a drink of water before those papers were filed.

“Jack.” Daniel repeated.

“If anything happens to me, Ev goes to you.”

“Jack. That was… not guardianship language.”

“Yeah, I wanted something ironclad. You haven’t adopted him because both Melanie and JAG agree that we shouldn’t push the legal system too much in one day, and it would be in my best interests to have a DCS review and chat with a therapist anyway in case someone tries to undo the Relinquishment, but when I’m not around, he’s yours. Mazel tov. We’ll handle the official adoption after the review.”

Daniel licked his lips and said the first thing that came to mind. “We need to figure out who comes third, because if you’re down, the odds are I’m down too.”

Jack’s smile was brilliant. “That’s the ‘secondary custody paperwork’ that he was talking about. I have some ideas, and I had Will draft a will to cover my bases until we talk to people about what they’d be willing to do. But first: afternoon meeting with the President.”

“Do we know anyone outside the Stargate Program?”

“General Hammond?”

“That’s a technicality. Is that who’s next on your temporary will?”

“Hammond, then Thor.” Jack got up from the table, still talking away.

“Thor?”

“What? He likes the kid.”

“He lives on a different planet, Jack.”

“So?”

They bickered about the options all the way to the JAG office for their personal copies.

@@@@@

Six Months Later

From the window above the kitchen sink, Daniel watched as the last of Evan’s school friends headed out with their parents. Daniel was busy washing a salad bowl that one of the kids had used as a helmet. The kids made themselves ‘armor’ out of tinfoil and cardboard, fighting Snyder who got to be the dragon. Snacks, kids, and games for two hours before friends from the SGC-approved private school left and were replaced with a barbecue for people allowed to see aliens. Most of SG-19 had been present for both parties, carrying on in the unexpected sunshine of a second summer.

It’d been months, and Daniel was still baffled by some of the moves Jack was making. At the beginning of this, Daniel would’ve argued that he knew Jack better than anyone else in the world, but it was a bit like perfectly knowing what your best friend was like at school, but not knowing what he was like around his mom. Daniel had never known a Jack with a child to live for. Now Jack had a future to build for and enough backing to get it done.

Jack had come out of that second conversation with the President in command of the SGC. They shuffled things around so Jack no longer went out on first contact missions, and they definitely didn’t use him as a negotiator, but Jack went off world for Daniel’s research projects, or when they ran into Ancient tech that needed a specific brand of DNA, or when they needed the heavy of Jack O’Neill, whose name was famous throughout the quadrant for his defiance against the System Lords.

Jack was also an unofficial fifth member of whichever team he felt like. (Daniel had yet to suggest that Jack was getting nudged onto certain assignments by Oma. Jack would stop trusting his gut the moment he thought there might be Ancient interference. Jack would realize it eventually, because the SGC had a new joke that they didn’t know if they were cursed or blessed, because every time Jack went out, the team would find either something Ancient or something insane. Jack would’ve figured it out by now, but the new SG-1 still had plenty of insanity of its own throwing off the numbers.)

Word got out from Dakara that Jack O’Neill (Kek’onac, Hak’tylla) had a son. To the Jaffa, whose culture had been so heavily influenced by the Goa’uld, whose worry was living forever and struggled to have worthy heirs, that was a big damn deal. It made a cultural difference that brought a System Lord or two to the table. (It had also brought them back to the therapist so Jack could learn how to make sure that Evan stayed out of the military. “You can’t make that decision for him, Jack.” “He’s got too much heart for it.” “And I don’t?” “You’re an archeologist with a gun. There’s a difference.” The goal became keeping Evan from getting the idea that being Jack O’Neill’s heir was what he was meant for. The military-industrial complex and the ATA gene could go fuck themselves for all Jack cared.)

Landry had been appointed to Homeworld, though Daniel doubted he’d stay there long. Jack and Hammond had someone else they were trying to talk into it while Landry settled in to something in-between that didn’t quite translate into civilian.

It had all come together beautifully, but some part of Daniel was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

They’d had the DCS meeting and talked with a therapist. The domestic court judge who signed off on the adoption asked Jack to come back with those documents and for a chance to speak with Evan herself, just to justify the rushed proceedings. Jack had, and she’d been the one to sign Daniel’s adoption paperwork with a smile.

Daniel and Jack had had a hell of a meeting with various friends about who would take Evan if the worst happened, and Will tore his hair out trying to set up custody paperwork that covered little things like Jack and Daniel getting stranded offworld to big things like the end of the world. There was a whole chain of who Evan would go to, taking into account people who loved Ev, but if Jack O’Neill was dead, then the world needed them at the office more than Evan needed a parent (Sam), to people who’d happily take him but who Evan didn’t really like (Carolyn). And people they couldn’t technically leave Evan to because they weren’t from Earth (Thor).

Jack had held the line, and if worst came to worst, Thor got custody with the instructions to grab whoever he could and run. (Thor didn’t like those instructions more than any other commander would, but he’d been trusted with a child and that meant more to him than Daniel thought anyone, even Jack, understood.)

“Danny.” Daniel put his freshly scrubbed bowl onto the rack.

Jack had gone to welcome some party guest who turned up at the front door instead of just roaming around back. But that was not the voice of a man with his friend. Though that was due more to the circumstances than Jack not liking the Mountain’s new OSI agent.

“Apologies for turning up during family time, General. It’s an update I thought you’d want sooner rather than later.”

“It’s fine, Dinozzo.” The man was working on half a dozen different projects right now, at least three of which were worth interruptions. Jack gestured them both into his office.

Before he followed along, Daniel stuck his head out the back door and asked Vala to play hostess while they were in Jack’s office.

One of the things Jack liked best about Agent Dinozzo was that he knew when it wasn’t time to bullshit. “The leak revealing Evan’s location came from one of the lawyers at Ms. Harper’s office.”

Jack paused before he sank back into his chair. “How?”

“It was pretty well known that Ms. Harper is your favorite private sector lawyer to deal with. She has respected the relationship with you and shuffled around cases and clients to prioritize the SGC and avoid anything that might conflict her out. When the Trust couldn’t get in good with her, they cultivated connections with other lawyers in the office. Bartholomew Stringer was one, and he is the petty type.”

“He turned over information about my son because I liked Melanie better than him?”

“Because anyone liked someone else more than him. Both Ms. Harper and Mr. Stringer specialize in administrative law. However, working for the SGC means Ms. Harper has joined the big time, getting into rooms with generals and senators. It was Stringer’s responsibility at the firm to pick up everyone else.”

Daniel cleared his throat and shuffled in his chair, for no purpose other than to try to break Jack’s dead-eyed stare. It didn’t work, but Dinozzo tried to help.

“Either way, it wasn’t about you. It wasn’t even about her. Stringer wanted to feel special, and Peter Matthiason of Matti Aeronautics is high up in the Trust and happy to make him feel that way. I assume that dinner twice a month and the occasional opera was a small price to pay for listening to Stringer complain about governmental contracts that he shouldn’t have spoken about.”

“What did Stringer tell them?” Daniel asked.

“He expressed his irritation that Ms. Harper took someone else’s recommendation for a domestic lawyer in Pennsylvania. He said,” Dinozzo took a small, spiral notebook from his breast pocket to read the quote directly, “I know a general would rather work with someone from Dewey, Beeche, and Stowe than whatever Podunk firm she went to.”

Jack closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, looking particularly murderous. “And then Matthiason started asking questions about which general.”

“Exactly. Matthiason pretended to know General O’Neill from civilian life years before, and he said he hoped everything was okay.”

Daniel snorted. “Of course, he did.”

“Stringer swears that Matthiason sounded like a worried friend, and he thought he was helping.”

“But we don’t believe that.”

“No. From what I can tell, Matthiason was asking him questions like what Stringer had to say was interesting. And he wanted to be interesting.”

“How did he get the address?” Jack interrupted.

“Sir?”

“If I found out someone needed a domestic lawyer in a different state, I’d think they were getting divorced or needed a prenup. I wouldn’t leap to a kid. And knowing my name wouldn’t give the Trust Evan’s address.”

“Stringer was so happy about the response he got that he went poking around for more information. Ms. Harper runs a pretty tight ship, tighter now that she knows the leak came from her office. And apparently, no one really likes Stringer.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

“So, he couldn’t get anything. But his secretary is smarter than he is. And she has the password to the computer for the floor paralegal.”

“It was kept on the office computer?” Network security was not Daniel’s forte, but even he was baffled.

“There’s a presumption that everyone will respect client privacy. The address for the Buckleys was on the adoption paperwork for a Jonathan O’Neill, adopting an Evan Buckley. The secretary had enough sense to print the paperwork, and Stringer got an invitation to Matthiason’s home in Italy before he turned over the address and purpose for the documents. Matthiason had the information an hour before the team arrived at the house. Considering the paperwork was dated for that day, they probably went for speed rather than planning.”

“That kept me alive.”

“Small favors, sir.”

“How did you piece it together?” Daniel asked. “Did Stringer come clean?”

“He’s been spilling everything now that we have him, but no. According to Yates, Stringer was weird when their office got swept after your attempted murder, so he was on my short list. He calmed down when he thought he got away with it, but then the entire firm was put on lockdown while we did our search.”

“I’m surprised the other partners agreed to that.”

“Someone tried to kill one of their most prestigious clients. Every government association they had was under threat until they were in the clear.”

“It was the secretary, wasn’t it?” Jack asked.

“Yup. We’d worked it back from the Trust to Ms. Harper’s office. Once the secretary heard the name of the man who was almost murdered and the child who was almost abducted, she told us everything. she thought it was her boss’ usual legal one-upmanship.”

“What happens to Stringer?”

“He didn’t break any laws, but I’m told that the firm itself owed you client confidentiality. There will be no criminal complaints, but he and every firm he works with for the rest of his life could be blackballed by the US government. He’d probably have to switch areas of the law.”

“Could?”

“Ms. Harper is thinking about keeping him on a leash. He really is brilliant, just emotionally vulnerable. If we could give him what he’s looking for, he’d be a valuable asset.”

Jack snorted. The lawyers could do what they wanted, but Jack would never trust him. “And the secretary?”

“On vacation while she contemplates a job offer.”

“Good.”

The metallic ring of a transporter interrupted their conversation, with Thor materializing in a conspicuously clear corner of Jack’s office.

Thor was always an alien, but something about him looked particularly otherworldly in sunlight. Thor looked at Dinozzo, who’d instinctively reached for his gun and was now wide-eyed and frozen. Thor turned to Jack.

“You did not modify the intended time of our engagement.”

“Nope, I didn’t.” Jack’s smile was tired, but had had practice at carrying on. Life was about the small pleasures, like introducing people to Thor for the first time. “Welp,” Jack gave a Midwestern smack to his thighs and invited Dinozzo to the party.

“Sure. Supreme Commander, it’s an honor.” Props to Dinozzo, he got himself together pretty quickly. Though he looked back at Daniel in a panic when he had to follow Thor out of the house and into the backyard, now full of people from the SGC chasing Ev around the lawn, tossing him in the air, and wishing him a happy birthday.

Jack hovered just out of sight inside the door, in the penumbra between outside’s sunlight and inside’s bulbs. Daniel hovered with him.

“You okay?”

“I’d rather shoot everyone involved, but that’s why I’m not in charge of Homeworld anymore.”

“You seem to be doing pretty well at what you’ve got.”

Whatever time Jack wanted to mull—or plan a murder—he didn’t get. The birthday boy floated in through the sliding doors, all paternal disapproval at them for being inside when they could be out on a day like today. “Thor says you guys are ‘processing emotions’.”

“Yup, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Ev opened his mouth to scold, and Jack tossed the kid over his shoulder. “Dad!” Evan belly-laughed as Jack hauled him outside.

Daniel lingered a moment, leaning against the doorway to watch Jack spin Evan, careful not to let him fall.

This was Daniel’s regular day now. Not the people, but watching Jack and his thirty-five-year-old knees chase a kid around the yard. Daniel was a regular on SG-14, more for archaeological exploration than anything else. Mitchell and Vala were still rotating through people to fill the hard science slot on SG-1, with Teal’c as company whenever he was in the mood. (Vala wasn’t an archaeologist, but she was up on pretty much everything Goa’uld, and had devoted herself to learning Ancient.) Sometimes Daniel went out with them, but he spent most of his time with SG-5 at the temple on P4A. Cataloguing the Asgard site was going at a rapid pace thanks to Thor dropping technology on the job. (Thor hadn’t heard a thing about the planet. It looked like people from the protected planets had started going there after the Asgard had their genetics troubles and stopped paying attention.)

“Danny! Save me!” Evan called as he flopped over Jack’s shoulder. Not from spinning, but exchanging hellos with Landry and Lam. With a laugh, Daniel stepped out into the sunshine.

“You’re fine, Ev.”

“No.” He grumbled, like a bag of flour.

Daniel stood next to Jack. “Did you say, ‘Thank you?’”

For reasons neither Jack nor Daniel could put together, Evan didn’t like Landry or Lam. Thankfully, both of them took it as a challenge. But dislike didn’t make Evan unkind. He jackknifed up. Jack nearly dropped him, but Evan thanked them for coming to his birthday party.

Landry asked about the cardboard sword strapped to Evan’s back, which led to a ramble with everything Hank never wanted to know about Link and Zelda. Jack turned to Daniel with a raised eyebrow—he blamed Daniel’s brain for Evan’s research spirals—but that wasn’t the eyebrow.

Jack’s second eyebrow had to go up before Daniel realized he’d put his hand on the small of Jack’s back to keep him from tumbling over when Evan flopped around.

And Daniel had left it there.

Daniel curled his hand into the fabric of Jack’s shirt and stayed in the sunshine.

---