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Jack groaned as he saw the return address on the envelope and then opened it. "Jack? Is something wrong?" Daniel asked, concerned.

"Hmm? No…yes…sort of. It's this." He handed over the offensive piece of mail he had been staring at with as sort of fascinated horror and then scrubbed at his face in his hands.

Daniel read it over. There was a simple invitation card and a couple of handwritten pages. He quickly took in the information and almost chuckled. "A family reunion? What's so bad about that?"

Jack just cringed again. "You have no idea!" Then he flushed and looked anxiously at his orphan friend. "Sorry, Danny, I didn't mean—"

"It's okay, Jack. As you've said several times over, we're a family." He still felt residual pain from the death of his parents and rejection of his grandfather but he meant what he said and smiled earnestly as he met Jack's eyes.

Jack nodded apologetically and then grinned. "In that case, come with me and meet the rest of the family. Carter and T can come too, and Cassie if she likes."

"Sure, I'll come. I'd love to meet them. Uh, when was the last time you spoke with them or saw them? I mean, you never mention any of your family, ever. Jack?"

"We, uh, we kind of mostly fell out of touch after Charlie. Not that that stopped them from trying to get a hold of me, but I refused to answer. That was the year you were on Abydos. After awhile, though, well they mostly stopped trying. I still get letters from Mom about once a month, and from my sister at odd times. Grandpa e-mails me regularly and I've even answered him a few times. He understands, I think."

Daniel's eyes widened. "He must be ancient!" he teased.

Jack pretended to throttle him. "I wouldn't say that to his face—in any language. He isn't quite as linguistic as you, but he can cuss in any known language, and you can't use Goa'uld, as well you know. So will you come? I could use the immoral support."

Daniel snorted. "Of course I'll come. After all, the potential for blackmail material…"

"Argh! I'm doomed!" he exclaimed melodramatically.

"Again?" came the voice of Colonel Carter. "What this time, sir?" She stuck her head in the door.

Daniel and Jack both laughed. "How would you like to come with us to my family's reunion? I just got the invite in the mail and now that I'm 'the man' I'm sure I can arrange the time off for the four of us. If you and Teal'c want to come, that is."

"Definitely, sir! It should be fun. After all—"

"Ah! Don't say it. Blackmail material, right? I should have known. So T? You in?"

Teal'c stepped in after Sam. "Indeed, O'Neill." He didn't say anything else, but the gleam in his eye and faint smile said he was thinking on the same lines as the others.

All the same, Jack felt great relief that he would have backup.

"Er, Jack?" Daniel said hesitantly. "They don't know about your promotion, do they? This is addressed to Colonel Jonathan O'Neill."

"No, it's been at least six months since I last emailed Grandpa, maybe longer. As I said, I'm kinda bad about that. He might know himself, though. He's a…pretty fair hand with computers."

Sam caught the hesitation as he had known she would and intended her to. "He's a hacker, isn't he? Sir?"

"Carter, chill. He's retired military. The president is well aware of his skills, or should be, anyway. He's been known to do odd jobs to help the government at times. He's got pretty high clearance too. He may or may not know what my job really is, or was I should say, but he knows when to ask questions and can keep a secret with the best of them. After Iraq, he was able to help me quite a bit even though I couldn't tell him much of anything about any of my missions." He chuckled then, breaking the heavy mood. "Whereas you on the other hand do have clearance but haven't asked."

"Uh, what?" Daniel asked, confused. "You're the one who kept threatening to kill us."

"Didn't you read the memo? Your clearance has been upgraded at my request. We are among the very few of this level, on par with the President. Actually…never mind. So if you actually have a desire to feel sick to the stomach with the knowledge of the things your C.O. has done in his life, you're welcome to look it up. I kinda hope you don't, because you'll never want to look me in the face again, but it's your prerogative." His face clouded over again and then he shook his head again. "Well, it's next month. I'll call the President to see if he can get Hammond back here temporarily to stand in and then call Cassie to see if she wants to join us."

The day of their flight to Chicago dawned bright and clear. Hammond had arrived the previous day and had spent the evening visiting with SG-1 at one of Jack's barbeques. Cassie had agreed to come as well so she had spent the night and all six had spoken about what had happened since he left. Now the five who were going gathered at the airport in civvies. Jack was rather nervous, though he only showed it in the way that his fingers were tapping a little faster and harder than usual. The others were excited. They had convinced him to get out some pictures. He had one upped them by going to his computer and bringing up some digital photos that he had received via email.

Jack had revealed that he had three sisters and two brothers and a whole plethora of nephews and nieces, aunts and uncles and cousins. It was quite a collection, but he had responded in exasperation, "Well, we are Irish Catholic, for cryin' out loud!"

He got onto the plane and wished desperately for a sidearm, either to shoot himself or his relatives. From the looks his friends were giving him they were reading that thought loud and clear and were grinning in amusement despite the gimlet glare he cast in their directions. The other passengers couldn't help but notice either, considering how hard Cassie was giggling. Jack was obviously military, his bearing making that clear, despite lack of insignia. He didn't show the inclination to start barking at the others, though, who did not seem the least intimidated by him, so the adults relaxed and some of the kids began giggling. Before their parents could repress them, Jack started making silly face at them, making them laugh harder. By the time the plane was ready to take off, everyone was in a better mood despite the early hour.

There was a greeting committee awaiting their arrival in the Windy City. It had been about nine years, after all, since any of them had seen him. There was instant recognition in both parties as they met by the baggage conveyer. The O'Neill clan, so to speak, was physically very alike. Jack stood looking at them for a long moment before stepping forward to hug his sister, Kathy, who was a year younger than he. She was the one who had kept writing him and had always been his favorite when he was younger, though for awhile they had fought like cats and dogs.

Jack finally released her and stood back, introducing his friends to her. Then he looked at the others and tried to decide who was who. His sister saved him after letting him stew for a long moment. Then she introduced her other brothers and sisters and mother. Jack stared at his mother for a long time until she finally made the first move and hugged him with tears in her eyes. Jack was stiff for all of two seconds before returning the embrace. When they let go, he wasn't sure where to go from there, but was saved by the rest of the family stepping up to hug him. Then his friends collected the luggage. They weren't allowed to hold it for more than a minute before it was taken from their hands and they were led out to the waiting vehicles. There were a couple of minivans that they were led to and they set out, Jack and his friends riding with his mother and Kathy in one, and the others in the other.

Daniel spoke up for the first time. "Mrs. O'Neill, you don't mind our presence, do you? We can always make do at a hotel."

"You will not!" She exclaimed indignantly. "If Jack has seen fit to invite you along, then you are family and will be treated as such. Where do you know him from?"

Jack opened his mouth to try and intercept the answer but Daniel didn't give him the chance. "We work with him. Well, Sam, Murray and myself do. We were part of his team until this last year when he got promoted to General. Cassie we rescued on a mission and sort of adopted."

Jack flushed and tried to speak again but this time his sister joined in. "You got promoted and didn't tell us, Jack? Of all the—Well, congratulations, but next time you'd better invite us to the ceremony."

Jack finally got a word in edgewise. "I suppose, but I couldn't this time. It was on base, which is highly classified."

Sam decided to dig him deeper into his hole. "Well, you do have a direct line to the President, sir. I'm sure he would let you get them in without much trouble."

Jack just buried his face in his hands and groaned. "Why did I even invite you?"

Snickers and giggles filled the car as Teal'c answered. "I believe you said it was for immoral support, O'Neill."

"Jonathan! Such manners! You may be a General now, but I will not tolerate such disrespect, and for your friends!"

Daniel decided he had tortured his friend enough. "Don't worry about our feelings, Mrs. O'Neill. We've worked with him for eight years. We're used to his humor. It's when he stops cracking jokes that we worry. He really is the best C.O. we could have."

Jack flushed at the praise, but his mother conceded the point graciously. "Would you mind telling me more about that? After all, I'm only his mother, he doesn't tell me anything."

"Can you wait until I am out of range of Jack? You understand that we do a lot of classified work, but I'll tell you what I can where Jack can't elbow me."

She laughed and then pointed out the window at a large old house. "We're here. This is where Jack grew up." There was a big crowd in the yard, eating in chairs or on blankets, and children running wild. Jack's eyes grew melancholy at the sight, causing Daniel to nudge him with his shoulder. He raised his eyebrows at his friend and they carried on a silent conversation with their eyes which Kathy took note of with amusement. Jack had always been able to do the same with her and she was glad he had someone else now who understood him so well.

Then she glanced between them and thought of something. "You aren't military, are you, Daniel?" He just didn't seem the type and he called her brother by name.

"No, I'm a civilian consultant. I have a doctorate in archeology and linguistics." This time he caught sight of brother and sister's silent conversation and tried to interpret it. "Uh, what?"

Jack spoke up before his sister could do more damage. "Nothing, Daniel. Not a thing."

Kathy sent a silent 'later' in Daniel's direction and led the way in. "You'll get your old room, Jack, but you'll have to share. Sorry."

"No problem." He assured her. "Before I got stuck behind a desk, I shared a tent with Daniel for five straight years. Then he went on year's furlough and when he came back we had another year's worth of the same. How many beds are in there?"

"There are a couple bunked and we can set up a cot if you like. Sam and Cassie can share my old room. I live nearby, but Lucy and her family live in Michigan now so they are staying here too. Anne and her family are in Virginia now so they are staying with me. Grandpa is staying here. Tom and Nick both live here in town, but have cousins staying with them. Aunt Bridget is staying here…"

"I get the picture. Oiy! Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. How are you sane?"

"Oh, most of them just got here either yesterday or this morning. Give it two more days and then I probably will be stark raving!"

By that time they had reached the gathering, which was looking in their direction with curiosity and welcome. Then an old man stood up and came over to them. "Jack! You made it! These must be your friends that you told me about. Well, do just stand there, introduce us!"

Jack laughed. "Nice to see you too, Grandpa. This is Daniel Jackson, Sam Carter, Murray Teal'c and Cassie Fraiser. Guys, meet my grandfather, Charles O'Neill." He hugged the old man, who then shook hands with all of them.

"I'm sorry about your mother, young lady." Charles said. "From what Jack told me, she was a wonderful lady."

Cassie nodded and then looked inquiringly at Jack. "How does he know about mom, Uncle Jack?"

"I told him, of course, Cassie. I've been known to email him, sometimes."

Charles snorted. "Sometimes! Make that almost never. That was the last email he sent me. I hear you've been up to some interesting things, Jack."

Jack evaded his glance. "Oh, nothing too exciting. Really."

"Being the first general in this family isn't exciting?"

There was a gasp from behind them and Jack turned to see his brothers and sisters staring at him accusingly. "Jack! Why didn't you tell us?"

Jack groaned again. "Look, guys. It's not that important."

Tom replied. "Well, I may not be up to your standard of education but I did research after you joined the Air Force, and you don't get promoted at a top-secret organization pushing papers around. What did you do at your Deep Space Telemetry to get your stars? Research a black hole? Save the world?"

There were a series of snorts from Jack's friends. "Uh, as you said, it's top secret."

Tom eyed them suspiciously. "I'm going to find out something, bro, you know I will. You taught me well."

Sam looked at the brothers and then said sweetly, "You wouldn't mind telling me his 'standard of education' would you?"

Jack flinched. "Uh, I've got to, uh, use the bathroom and get settled in. Let me show you the way."

"Not so fast!" Everyone surrounded him and dragged him over to one of the empty blankets. "Now, you were saying?"

"You mean you don't know? Jack's a top level hacker, and has a double doctorate in astronomy and English. I'm not sure how many languages he has now, but he was at fifteen last time he admitted."

"Jaaack!"

"Sir!"

"I told you so!" This was Cassie, who crowed in triumph.

Jack just shook his head. "Really guys, I don't know why you are so worked up. I mean…"

"Jack. You're going to have to come up with something good to keep us from sharing these little tidbits with the base."

"Seriously guys, you can't tell. Remember, the G-goldarn suckers aren't supposed to know I'm smart. That way they underestimate me."

There were several disgruntled looks. "Do I have to make it an order? Yes, I do know my way around a computer and yes I do know a few languages. That's not what's gotten me where I am or kept me alive all those years in the field."

"Humph! You have a pretty good dumb act, sir. I hope it hasn't sunk past skin-deep after all these years of keeping it up."

Charles put in his two cents worth. "He hasn't. I've read all of his papers these past years and he's done well by himself. You've probably read them too, considering where you work. Oh, but you wouldn't know that he goes by Ian Nelson, I suppose.

"You're Ian Nelson. Dang it, sir! If you weren't my superior officer, I'd, I'd…"

"We'd be happy to beat him up for you. I take it you're into astronomy as well? You would have to be to work there, I guess."

"Doctor of Astrophysics and Lt. Colonel. Daniel's Doctor of Archeology and Linguistics. I'm sorry but I can't tell you what that has to do with Deep Space Telemetry. It's classified. I do think I might take you up on the offer, though."

Jack sighed. He could not believe this was happening. Why had he invited them along. What could he have been thinking? Well, there was one saving grace. "I think I neglected to tell you about my black belts, didn't I? I haven't let deskwork keep me from maintaining my physical fitness. However, if you do take me on and blow out my knee again, I will so hurt you."

"Boys, play nice," his mother said. "Jack, you mean your knee never healed right after all these years? He hurt it rock climbing when he was a teenager. He never did tell me the full story."

"And never will," Jack vowed under his breath. "I really do want to wash up and settle in before grabbing food and seeing how many family members I can avoid, I mean greet." He rose to his feet and pulled up the others before grabbing his bags off his brothers and heading onward to the house, closely followed by SG-1 and Cassie.

Kathy and her mother followed them with their eyes. "This should be fun. I've missed him so much, mom. I remember how he looked at the funeral and this is the polar opposite. I really like his friends, though. I've got a good feeling about them, my second sight I guess. Just looking at them together, I can see the ties that bind them. Cassie, well, she calls him uncle and they said they found her on a mission. Her aura is odd but so is Murray's. Actually, none of them is ordinary or seems quite human any more, but in a good way. I'll see what I can find out but I can't promise to tell you, Mom. I think their secrets are best kept hidden. But you know what Tom was saying about saving the world? I wouldn't be surprised if those four had done so and more than once. I'm going to go grab some food."

Mrs. Jennifer O'Neill nodded in agreement. Her son had truly grown up and found the best of friends. Not that she expected him to act mature, much to her relief, judging by his behavior so far, but the others obviously trusted him, even despite their aggravation with his secret keeping. She couldn't wait for act two.

Jack was not a happy camper. His friends were ferreting out his secrets right and left before he was ready for them to. He knew they had gone ahead and read some of his old Black Ops mission reports, but that was different, he just knew it was. It was about them deciding whether to trust him and, and…But they had followed him for years before he told them and had overheard many of his nightmares and seen him fight. They had come over individually after reading them and cried and told him they trusted him more than ever and were sorry he'd had such experiences. He didn't know why he was so upset about this, but he supposed it was because what they had read had dealt with the side of him he had already partially revealed, whereas his education was something he hadn't even touched on during his recent career. He had tossed out odd pieces of knowledge when they could do the most good, but they had never challenged his act of stupidity so he feared that this really would screw with their minds and break their friendships.

"Jack? Which bed would you prefer?" Daniel asked as his dropped his bags unceremoniously on the floor and looked around vaguely at the belongings he had left behind years before.

"Uh, I don't have a preference, Daniel. I could just take the cot, I suppose. Well, then Teal'c would probably have to take the lower bunk and would bump his head. Just pick one and I'll take the other." He went into the bathroom with his toothbrush and shut the door. Then he absently listened to the voices in the other room.

"Sam, I wasn't sure if they were exaggerating before, but I spoke to him in German and he answered in the same language. I don't know if he even noticed. I wonder if he knows the language of every one of those places mentioned in the reports. If so, he might know more than me, though I didn't count."

"I know the General has quite a bit of knowledge about astronomy. I wonder if there are any other subjects they didn't mention that he studied. I'll ask Kathy later. Where is he?"

"In the bathroom. He seems kind of dazed. I like his family but they are kind of, overwhelming."

Jack finally came out and deliberately asked in Polish. "Well, have you chosen a bed yet? Then let's go eat, I'm starving."

Daniel turned to him, "I'll take the top so that if you roll over, you won't fall very far." Then he switched to English. "I'm ready to go."

Sam listened in amusement and then headed out the door with the men, stopping by her room to snag Cassie. Daniel dodged into the kitchen momentarily to wash his hand when Jack mentioned it, in Hungarian. Then they went back out to the yard. This time Jack took the time to greet everyone they met and introduce them to his friends. Daniel noted with amusement that Jack properly pronounced everyone's name, even the odd ones. Considering he was practically legendary for mangling everybody's names, this was an interesting side of him. Then again, when he respected someone, he did get them right, such as Bratac and Selmac, or Ferretti and Kawalsky for that matter.

Finally they made it to the food and served themselves the usual picnic food as well as some traditional Irish dishes. Jack dropped down next to Kathy and began eating cheerfully. He knew she would try to grill him and the others, but she was trustworthy and knew better than to press. She made small talk about her children as he ate and he guessed her motives. He didn't question them, but rose afterward and went to join the children playing Frisbee. The kids welcomed him enthusiastically. Even though many of them had never even met him, their parents had all mentioned Uncle Jack and he behaved like a big kid, being the sort that immediately endeared youngsters to him.

The others looked after him indulgently. "Has he always been like that?" Sam asked curiously. "I know that every other child he has ever met has fallen in love with him, but was he like that even when he was younger?"

"Yeah. All children love him. He coached a junior hockey team when he was younger, and I wouldn't be surprised if he still does. He also was part of a big brother program. I certainly loved him. I followed him around the entire time I was growing up. He was unappreciative of the attention at first, naturally, but he got used to it pretty quickly actually, as compared to some of my friends' siblings. He taught me a lot more than my parents did on some subjects and got me out of a lot of trouble. When Charlie died, it was like a light went out in him, but now he is back to his old self. I bet he took all of you under his wing, didn't he?"

"When he was still the colonel and was active, we didn't at first appreciate how lenient he was with us. Then he had to do some undercover work and we had a different colonel for a week or so. It was wretched. He had had to act differently during that time and when he got back, he was so apologetic because to be believable, he had had to estrange himself from us with hard words. We were slow to make up with him, but when we did start going on missions again, we realized that we really did have a great leader. He's saved our lives so many times over, too, though he always acts overmodest and claims it was nothing. He takes failure way too seriously as well. He doesn't ever accept praise for his successes, either. Where did he get that attitude?"

"He's the oldest, and our parents always made sure he took his responsibility seriously. Our dad, well, he was, strict."

Their eyes widened in shock. "Abusive?"

She nodded unhappily. "Jack always deliberately tried to take the fall for the rest of us. Dad died when I was fifteen, Jack was sixteen. He did his best to make up for the problems we were having since mom didn't work. Dad had brought in all the money until then and his insurance wasn't the best. While Mom went off to look for a job, Jack went to a recruiting place. I don't know what he bargained with them, but he finished up high school that same year, somehow, and went off to college. Meanwhile we got monthly checks to pay our bills.

"Within a few years, he had his doctorates and went into officer training. He tried to keep in touch, but it was touch and go. When I started college, it was all paid for without my ever being required to join the military. He still refuses to talk about those years to me. Whenever he came back for visits, he was different. The younger ones had been kind of oblivious to what Jack went through for us and weren't always appreciative, but they did enjoy his visits, when he would play sports and help with homework. He's the reason we grew up as well as we did, but because of Dad, he blames himself for every problem we ever went through. I don't know what to do about that, or if anything can be done about it."

Daniel grimaced. "And I thought I had it bad going through a series of foster homes. I was just neglected and mocked for my theories. I'll see if I can get anything out of him later but he always seems to think I need to be protected. Now I guess I know why."

Sam nodded too. "So first he was abused and then he felt he failed when Charlie died. Can the man ever catch a break?"

"Sure, he met you guys, didn't he?" Kathy smiled. "As a kid, he didn't get to act much like a kid. But now he seems to act like a kid around you guys, he's more vulnerable with you than he ever was with us. It's something of a relief and I'm more grateful than you'll ever know. Um, I know you can't tell me much about your job, but all of you are different in another way too. I have the Irish second sight, and none of you is normal." She watched as they traded glances that weren't in the least bit skeptical.

"You're right, we can't really tell you much, but here's a hint. If there ever seems to be something odd going on in the news, there's a chance we are involved. Nothing like X-files or anything shady, but do our best to keep the world safe, and Jack, well, he's in the middle of it all, the best of us. But you never heard any of this."

"Of what? So Jack treats you like a little brother from the sound of it. Do you have any other brothers? You said you were in foster care."

"I'm an only child. My parents were both archeologists in Egypt, where I was born. They died when I was eight, when they went with me to New York to set up an exhibit and it fell on them. I didn't have a real family after that until nine years ago, shortly after I met Jack for the first time. I got married, she got kidnapped and I spent the next few years looking for her with Jack, Sam and Murray's help. She died, but during that time, those three had become my family. I still love her, but I don't regret my life."

Kathy nodded sympathetically. "I'm glad for you. What about you, Sam?"

"I have a brother who lives in California. My mom died when I was a teenager but my dad is still around, sort of. He travels a lot." Daniel coughed. "He's a retired general and I don't see him much. You might be interested to know that General O'Neill has a tendency to call him 'Dad.' Our other general before was like a father to me. This current one, though, well. Unfortunately there are rules against fraternization. I love him, even though we can never be together with the way things are now. I love my job and couldn't ask him to retire, again, either. I don't know why I'm telling you this, though."

Kathy laughed. "I'm not sure, but if you ever do work it out, you will definitely be a welcome addition to the family. Where do you fit in, Murray?"

"I have a son, who is recently married. O'Neill is as a brother to me."

"Succinct. Well, if Jack has adopted you, then the rest of us have too. Hehe, if your father ever manages to come by, he can join in as well. I noticed, Cassie, that you call him 'uncle.'"

Cassie smiled. "He's actually more like a father to me. He helped save me eight years ago, and has spent all the time since making sure I grew up as normally as possible. He's the one that funded me for college, and he's been teaching me a lot of that stuff that Sam and Daniel didn't know he knew. He's a great teacher."

The two she had named stared at her in shock. "Really?"

"Yeah, he swore me to secrecy. I managed to clep out of a lot of classes. The only reason I didn't graduate from high school early is that he wanted me to have as long as possible as a kid with my friends. I'm glad I did too. I'm not sure what to major in now. I could probably get quite a few doctorates between what all three of these guys taught me. And Uncle Jack and Uncle Teal'c have both trained me to defend myself. And my adopted mom was a medical doctor. If my life hasn't been idyllic, it's been the next thing to it."

Jack finally came back, trying to conceal a limp. "Hey gang, whatcha talking about?"

"Life, the universe and everything. Okay, life and everything and the fact that you happened to have knowledge about the universe that you weren't revealing that you knew."

"Oh? Nothing about my childhood, your childhood and what a great person I am? Geez, what a disappointment! For cryin' out loud, I am not perfect and I'm definitely no hero! You guys are the heroes, I'm just the one along for the ride."

Cassie put on her most endearing face. "You saved me. You're my hero."

"Sam saved you, I just got in the way."

"You saved me when I was dying in the sun," Sam pointed out.

"No, the old men told me what to do, and I was the reason you were there in the first place." He deliberately avoided saying 'old ones' which would have been more accurate given that there were females because that term refered to the elves. Although technically, maybe that was where the legend of the elves came from. Then that information surfaced in his mind from where the download had been integrated and he realized he was correct.

"You are the one everybody trusts, Jack. They all want to deal exclusively with you, not with the rest of us. I could go on, but I know you wouldn't listen. Hey, do you have the second sight too?" Daniel asked.

"No, just a nose for trouble, or maybe I'm a trouble magnet is all."

"Like Ally, O'Neill?" Teal'c inquired, remembering the youngster who had helped protect him from Maybourne.

"Uh, yeah."

"Ally? You've kept in touch with her, Jack?" Kathy said excitedly. "She was from here, before. Actually, she's a distant cousin. I don't know if she's coming or not, though."

Just then another car pulled into the driveway, disgorging the object of their conversation. Teal'c stood up when he saw her and she noticed, visible as his dark skin was among all the fair-skinned O'Neills. "Teal'c!" She came running up and gave him a hug and then gave out more to the rest. "Hey, Cousin Jack. You know, I got a check in the mail last month…"

Jack flushed and looked away. He had essentially ignored her when he had come to get Teal'c and continued in like manner after he knew of her presence. "Hey, Ally. I wonder what that could mean. Look, I'm sorry I never went to see you or really thanked you…"

"You don't call a full scholarship into the college of my choice thanks? Don't worry. Remember, I smelled Maybourne and Dad was a cop. If that creep had known we were related, he would have tried to screw with you through me, right?"

Daniel chuckled. "Everyone knows you so well, Jack. And regardless of how long you protest, we will still know that you are a hero, to everyone."

Jack just stared at them. "Whatever. I'm gonna go grab my old bow and arrow and teach the kids how to shoot it, if there are no protests. Want to go show your expertise, Cassie? And you, Ally?"

The two girls followed him to the backyard where he put them to work carrying his weapons while he set up the targets. "How did you know I could shoot, Cousin Jack?" Ally asked mischievously.

"Oh, well, er…"

"You wouldn't be the one who set up the lessons for me, and the Tae kwan do teacher, and the—"

"So I helped you out a bit. You saved Teal'c and you're blood. So naturally I wasn't going to just abandon you."

"You're too stubborn, Uncle Jack. Why is it that you always think you've failed? No, don't answer that. Maybe you aren't perfect, but neither is anyone else. You are a good man, though. I wish you could see that."

Jack didn't answer. His belief in his lack of self-worth was deeply ingrained. He didn't feel like he deserved any of the good things that had happened to him, but one of his missions in life was improving the life and self-esteem of those around him. Daniel had been a hard case, but Jack had taught him to believe in himself.

The two girls exchanged a look and then came to hug him. "Well, we love you, even if you don't love you."

The three went back to the front yard and began their demonstration. Jack patiently showed the children how to hold the bow and nock the arrows. Then he got out a sling and showed how it could be effectively used, though he made them all swear never to use it except under adult supervision and with permission. Pretty soon, he was tutoring the lot of them in the art of self-defense.

The rest of the adults watched in curiosity and appreciation. "He's good. I hope they never need to use it, but if they do, they'll be well protected."

Suppertime rolled around, and this time they all loaded into vehicles to head off to a local restaurant. By now, SG-1 had managed to converse with other relatives of Jack enough that they weren't so chary of riding apart from him. Cassie rode with Ally, Jack with his mother and grandfather, Sam and Daniel with Lucy, and Teal'c with Tom. It was an exciting meal, and a day that the owners of the restaurant would not soon forget.

It all started when Jack was tossing the last roll at Cassie. Unfortunately someone bumped into him at the wrong time, redirecting the trajectory so that it landed on Kathy's head. With a squeal that would have done a younger woman proud, she retaliated, and soon the air was full of rolls, though the adults prevented the children from using any other food. In the end, more were eaten than wasted, and those that fell to the floor, Jennifer had collected for feeding the birds. From there, they headed to a park for a few hours, to play bigger games and shoot off fireworks. By now, Jack was exhausted and elected to sit this out, offering to hold his youngest niece, who was a year old and sleepy.

This brought even sappier looks from his no longer estranged relatives. The truth about John O'Neill's treatment of his family had come out gradually over the years, though no one had dared mention the subject in Jack's hearing. However, his bravery had practically become legend, especially after his time in the Special Ops. When he had lost his son, the whole family had mourned, but Jack had not allowed them to comfort him. Now seeing him cuddling the infant, who snuggled close and trustingly, there were many smiles and a couple of cameras brought out as well.

Jack did his best to ignore the looks. He couldn't miss them since his senses were still tuned almost painfully even though he hadn't been in the action so much of late. As touching as it was to know that this child had absolute faith in him, it was also a painful reminder. Nevertheless, he didn't want to give up his grip on this small life in his hands. He sat on a blanket against a tree, holding her buried against his chest. Gradually the bands around his heart loosened, and he slipped off to a light doze, monitoring her every breath and heartbeat even in his sleep.

The next day was more painful. This time he wasn't permitted to evade the questions by taking off with the kids. The only thing that kept him from running away screaming was that Daniel had chosen to remain with him, that man being the only one he had spoken with about his son, and who had been with him for most of the time he had not been speaking to his biological family, including the time he was suicidal.

Daniel sat close to his friend on the sofa as Jack faced his mother. He figured that the biggest advantage was his ability to have side conversations in languages that no one else would know, since they were dialects used by transported humans. He wasn't positive, but he guessed that Jack would have picked them up even as he had.

"Jack, please, talk to me. I don't know why, well maybe I do, but am I so hard to talk to that you couldn't let me grieve the death of my grandson?"

Jack gulped. "It was my fault, Mom. Nothing could change that, why can't anybody see that. I screwed up so many times. I was afraid I would rub off on you or something."

Jennifer blinked. "Oh, Jack, none of this was your fault, none. Your dad made horrible mistakes, for starters. I was the one who was unable to protect you, you protected us, though you shouldn't have had to. You grew up far too fast. I was weak and let you take the fall when I should have stood up to your father and walked away from our marriage. I can't change the past though; I can only ask you to forgive me so that in the future we can have a better relationship." She stopped and got up to face Jack, who stared at her for several seconds with reddened eyes and then got up to hug her. Several minutes passed before they released each other and sat down.

Jack more or less collapsed next to Daniel, who put his arm around his friend's shoulder. Then he pulled out a handkerchief and stuffed it into Jack's and. "Use it. You look awful." He said, deliberately using the language of one of the allies that was a good memory.

Jack smirked and answered in the same language, confirming Daniel's suspicion by using a perfect accent. "Yeah, well, why do you think I didn't want to come? I knew Mom would love having the opportunity to make me cry. She's all about that sensitivity stuff. Well, actually, she was fairly good at hiding it when Dad was around since he hated tears, but she made up for it when he died. Somehow she was able to find her tears again. Me, well, how often have you seen me in actual tears? The symptoms on rare occasions, but the actual liquid…I cried sometimes though, when I was alone…after you died."

Daniel shook his head. "Well, you have two families now, and whatever you may think about letting your biological one see you weak, your other one has seen you in some of your worst times, as you've seen us. Trust somebody with your tears." He stopped for a moment and then thought of something. "I have noticed, well I couldn't help but notice after all, that you love touching. I mean, you're always tapping my shoulder and you've given out hugs and stuff like that…where did it come from?"

Jack had to think about that. "Uh, it was Sara, I guess. Touch to me had been pain but then I met her and she made a point of putting her arm around my waist or hugging or whatever, always very casually at random times until I got used to it and began to enjoy being touched. When Charlie died, touch was pain again, a reminder of what I no longer had. Then you came along, and you do look sort of like him, or did anyway. So I avoided caring until you saved my life in a splendid manner. You didn't look like you welcomed touch either until the next year when I saw you in your big group hug. I was so jealous, I admit but then you withdrew when you got back so I made up my mind to get you to open back up so well, one thing led to another and here we both are." He squeezed the back of Daniel's neck affectionately and Daniel nodded back tenderly.

Jennifer watched the exchange in mixed envy and joy. She could not understand the language but the tone let her read the gist of the conversation. She wished she could get through to her son so well but was glad that there was someone in his life who could get him to open up. She smiled at the two as they turned their attention back to her. "So…"

That was all that she managed to get out before a flash of light engulfed the two men and they vanished. "Uh…" She almost panicked, but then thought back over some of the things she knew about her son's career. Even though he had been unable to tell her much, she could read between the lines as well as anyone and this had something to do with the top secret place he worked at. Taking a deep breath she rose to her feet and went out side to find the other three, who should know what had happened.

She found them in the den, playing a game of monopoly. "Can I talk with you for a moment, Sam, Murray, Cassie?" She was unsure about the last one but took a guess based on the hereditary intuition in her family.

Sam looked up and read in a glance that something had happened that definitely should not have been witnessed. "Uh-oh. Yeeah, um, let me make a very quick phone call and we'll be at your disposal." She grabbed her cell phone and darted into the bathroom. This was not a number she normally had to call, but as 2IC of the SGC, she had the president's ear in an emergency. "Mr. President. Colonel Carter. We have a bit of a problem. I don't know the details but judging by the look on General O'Neill's mother's face, I'd wager a bet that he has vanished, literally." She listened to the bit of curse and deep breaths before she was authorized to give out some small amount of information to those who most needed to hear it. "Thank you, sir. Yes, sir, I'm sure he is cursing them out as well. Have a nice day, sir. I'll call you back when he returns. Goodbye."

She slowly opened the door and walked out to face the music. "Jennifer, I am allowed to tell you something of what your son has been doing these past eight years. I think perhaps Kathy should hear as well, but no one else." She gestured for the older woman to lead them to a place of privacy and nodded for Cassie to collect Jack's sister.

Jennifer led the group to a small study. "This is the most private room in the house. Jack secured it himself years ago, and I believe that his first night here he might have upgraded his security measures. I believe that's something else he 'forgot' to mention. He has always been handy with gadgets of any kind. So, anyway, make yourselves comfortable and tell me what the heck is going on."

The three exchanged meaningful looks and then Sam took the role of speaker again. "Could you first tell me exactly what happened? Not what you said but, well, what was happening before you rushed in to get us."

Jennifer took a deep breath. "We had been conversing about—Charlie and then Jack and Daniel got into some conversation in some other language I'd never heard before and then there was a flash of white light and both were gone."

Sam mouthed, "Crap!" Then she said, "This seriously can't leave the room—ever. I got authorization from the President of the United States himself to tell you the basics, though. Jack and Daniel, from you description of what happened, got beamed up by the Asgard, probably Thor, who is pretty much what you would think of as a Roswell alien. Aliens seriously do exist and we have been in contact with them on a regular basis for eight years, though we first contacted some nine years ago, that being Jack and Daniel and a few others. We don't use spaceships, mostly anyway, but we have allies and enemies. Thor of the Asgard is one of the allies, fortunately." She stopped, trying to decide what else to say and then there was a flash of light in the room and the two travelers reappeared.

Jack had been seriously annoyed. Thor should definitely know better than to beam him out of an unsecured location. "Thor. What the heck is going on?!" Jack yelled to the empty air. There was another flash and Thor appeared.

"Greetings, O'Neill, Daniel Jackson."

Jack practically growled in his frustration. "Thor!" He snarled. "I was at my family's house. With my mother. Who has no idea you exist. Or should I say, had no idea. Now I imagine she is pulling her hair out in frustration. Why the heck did you have to drag me up here? I'm a General now, for cryin' out loud! I don't go off world!"

Thor blinked slowly. "Something important has come to our attention that needed to be addressed. You remember when I pulled you out of Antarctica; your brain was connected to the ship's computer. I had believed that link to be severed. However, when I was running this ship's diagnostic, I came to the discovery that you are still in fact linked to the computer. I immediately tried to discover how this was possible and how it could be ended when I ran across your realization yesterday that those you know of as Ancients are the same as those whom you call Sidhe. I did afterward discover where the connection remained and ended it, that being the reason you went to sleep so easily. However, I wish to pursue this information about the Ancients for the sake of your people and mine."

Jack sighed deeply. "Mind if I give my theory first? I've been thinking about this ever since. Now Danny here encountered the Ancients while he was ascended. I met a frozen Ancient in Antarctica. Written history is amazingly unhelpful when it comes to the origin of those we commonly call elves, none of whom anyone has met in a very long time. However, judging by what we have seen and read about the Ancients and Sidhe, here is my guess: When the Ancients left in their flying city, some of them remained behind wanting to get away from technology. They settled underground for a time to avoid dying in whatever disaster caused the others to leave. They enjoyed the simple life, and when humans evolved or however they came into being, some of them interbred. Others tended to avoid humans since they are fairly uncouth beings. Maybe they died out, maybe some managed to ascend or maybe they are still around, either in hiding or just hiding in plain sight among humankind. Whichever it is, my family has more of their blood than average, resulting in my ability to access their technology." He stopped and took a deep breath. "How does that sound?"

Thor gave another long, slow blink. "That is an accurate assessment, O'Neill." He sounded vaguely surprised. "You do not seem to be overly affected by this information.

Jack actually chuckled at that. "Why should I be? My family has never exactly been ordinary. I don't want you to be messing with them, though, got that. They are off limits. Of course if the NID gets wind of them, they may end up in trouble. Just promise no experiments and if you ever want to communicate with any of them, you ask me first and I break it to them. Can you send us back now?"

"Of course, O'Neill, I will put you with your friends." And they arrived in the private study.

Jack eyed his mother and sister. Both were looking somewhat wide-eyed. His friends, on the other hand just looked relieved. "Miss us?" He asked impudently.

"Uh, General? What did Thor want?" Sam asked cautiously, fearing the worst.

Daniel answered before Jack could open his mouth. "He just wanted to enlighten Jack about some information that our dear genius here ended up giving him, himself." He winced at his own syntax but left his friend to explain the rest.

"He was just interested in the fact that we have elves in our family." Jack said casually.

Sam's jaw dropped at that information but Jennifer and Kathy just nodded weakly. "Of course. Uh, what does that have to do with Roswell aliens?" Kathy asked.

Jack snorted. "The Asgard were allies of the Sidhe whom they now call the Ancients. He evidently hadn't made the connection until I gave it thought the other day. I mean, it's kind of family legend that some long lost ancestor was an elf but I just didn't give it thought until I was paraphrasing some information about the subject that you shouldn't have had any knowledge on and it came to mind." His own grammar wasn't much better but he carried on. "That's why I was able to activate all those devices. My blood isn't pure but the downloads stimulated it so that my latent abilities could be utilized. I already had all those moments of intuition, as I've said, and Kathy has her second sight, but I got stronger. It's also why we are such a long-lived family." He raised his eyebrows for some response.

"Yeah…okay. So your alien pals are friends of our elf relatives so all is fine and dandy. Niiice. I don't understand half of what you are talking about, but are there any more surprises you want to spring on me now or are you saving them all for later so my heart attacks can be spaced?"

Jack shrugged. "I'm sure I'll come up with something. You're taking this fairly well."

Jennifer shrugged herself. "Well after watching you disappear into thin air, your friends call the president and then tell me about aliens, what's to handle?"

With a laugh, Jack gave in. "Well, I'm glad you're alright. I'm sure you only got the basics since you didn't exactly get a lot of time so I'll make my own little phone call and then get both of you out to the base. You can meet some of my friends, have interesting conversations, visit other worlds, whatever meets your fancy. As I'm sure has already been mentioned, this conversation is strictly off limits…"

He received nods but remained silent, open to whatever questions any of them could come up with. It wasn't the one he expected.

"So, what kind of anti-surveillance devices have you come up with and fitted every place you feel personal about with?" Sam's speaking was fairly awkward as well, and she thought with a smirk that it might be contagious.

Jack looked around innocently, hoping to find some escape, but Teal'c was leaning casually against the door. "Ah, well, um, that is to say…Mom! Why'd you have to tell them?"

She chuckled at his affront. "Well, you did want this conversation to be private didn't you? I knew that they would know this room was safe if I told them that you protected it. They do think highly of you after all."

Kathy added in, "They'd have guessed soon anyway after the way you 'overheard' our conversation the other day. Geniuses, you've got here, big brother."

"Bite me!" He exclaimed.

She snapped her teeth at him in response, like they were still children. Even during his rough childhood, he'd managed to be playful with her at least. She muttered curses at him in several languages, making Daniel and Jack both laugh. Jennifer didn't know the words but she shot a glare at her daughter anyway, despite how old she was.

"Kathy! Such language! Not in front of the children!" Jack wasn't able to keep a stern face as he said it, though. Daniel wasn't actually a child, after all, despite how he tended to treat him, and he had taught Cassie how to curse as a reward for doing well in her studies under him. And she wasn't a child anymore either.

Finally he gave in. "Okay, so on top of all those other accomplishments you seem so shocked at, I invent. Er, I er, I started making them when I was little so I could make sure Dad wasn't picking on the others and so I could intercept him. They were really primitive, of course. 'In my day…'" he drawled mockingly. "Anyway, I got better with time, patented a simple one but sold the patent to the Air Force so they would take care of the family while I was in college. I kept working on making better ones for private use, and update the ones here whenever I came by. I've got them installed in my house, all you guys' places, and the office."

Everyone looked surprised at that little confession, their mouths opening silently in shock.

"Uh, guys? Something wrong? Oh for crying out loud. Stop it. I'm certainly not perfect or anything close. Oiy!"

Teal'c was the first to speak. "I have never noticed anything in my room, O'Neill."

"'Course not. That was the whole point. Sheesh, isn't there any other subject you could get fixated on?"

Silence answered him for a long moment. Then Daniel spoke up. "Actually, I was wondering something. Charles is your father, isn't he, Jennifer? So how come everyone's name is O'Neill?"

Jennifer nodded slowly. "When my husband died, I took back my maiden name, and all my children with me. It made me more comfortable to disassociate myself from him. The younger ones didn't understand at first, but Jack and Kathy were very quick to agree to the change for obvious reasons."

There were sober nods in response and the room felt stuffy despite the air conditioning. "Let's go grab some food, shall we, kids?" Jack said with forced joviality. "All that beam-me-up-Scotty business makes me hungry.

Everyone rose to their feet eagerly and left the room, Jack taking the lead. Mindful of the seemingly constant surveillance he had on them, Sam got out a scrap of paper and pen and scribbled down her email address on it, holding it out to Kathy, who reciprocated.

The rest of the week passed peacefully as everyone caught up on the lives of everyone else. Jack seemed a lot more comfortable with life in general, and his family had adjusted to his relaxed demeanor while his friends grew accustomed to the fact that he actually was a genius and a hero in denial.

There were quite a few tears in evidence as they piled back into vehicles for the trip back to the airport. SG-1 and Cassie had been effectively adopted by the rest, and phone numbers and email addresses were amicably exchanged with promises to keep in touch. Jack assured his mother and sister that he would see about getting them to the SGC and they dropped dates that they would be available.

The flight back was lively as they couldn't stop talking about the people they had left behind. They did respect Jack's desire not to have his accomplishments broadcasted, but he knew that as soon as they got back, all belongs were going to be thoroughly searched for his bugs. He also knew that there wasn't a chance they would be discovered. He did momentarily regret his decision not to actually read his co-workers' email since he was sure there would be many things said he really didn't want said, but he held to his decision to only protect and screen the mail, ensuring that viruses didn't come through nor spies. He was glad to be getting back to work. It had been a long week, though satisfying. With a deep sigh, he tuned out the voices of those around him and dropped off to sleep.