Interconnected (Part One of Four)
Title: Interconnected
Author(s): hunters_retreat
Artist: inanna_maat
Crossover: Supernatural/ SG-1
Word Count: 19,000
Characters/Pairings: Sam/Dean, Jack/Daniel
Summary: Five months ago Dean Winchester showed up on his brother’s doorstep, bleeding and carrying with him the tale of their father’s death. Sam patched him back together and they settled into the normal, quiet life that Sam had always dreamed about. Until the day Sam took Dean to meet his best friend Jess at her family barbecue. He never expected to find an Air Force General there, or to have a Colonel take an unhealthy interest in the man he introduces as his lover. But when a hunt goes bad and Jack and Daniel find themselves caught in the hunt, will they create a new series of allies? Or will Sam and Dean become wanted by the Air Force’s best and brightest as well?
Sam stared out the kitchen window into the small yard of the house he and Dean were renting, still trying to figure out how he’d been talked into this today. It wasn’t a big deal really, just a barbecue with some friends and family, but it wasn’t something Sam was overly familiar with and he was taking Dean into new territory. Not that Dean ever stood out more than he wanted to, blending into the environment whenever it suited him, but this was different. He was taking Dean to meet Jess in the midst of her family barbecue. He wasn’t sure he was going to survive it.
He’d never have thought his brother had it in him to give the normal life a try, but Dean had settled in as efficiently as he did everything else. Not that he stopped hunting completely. Dean believed in the good fight after all. He had a place to come home to now though and a steady job. Sam was even trying, unsuccessfully so far, to talk him into going back to school. Sometimes the banter was good between them, fun like it used to be before he’d left Dean to go to Stanford. Other times, there was too much time and space between them to feel anything less than strained. They were all they had left though and they held on tightly.
“Be ready in 30 minutes Sammy,” he heard Dean’s call before anything else, the screen door closing loudly in the living room behind him. He looked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of Dean’s retreating back as he headed through the bathroom door.
Sam wondered which job he’d come from, but from the lack of overalls dumped by the front door, he assumed it was the courier job. Dean might be putting in 40 hour work weeks, but he didn’t do well in one job, 40 hours a week. Instead he worked part time at a garage and part time with a courier service. The local garage gave him most of his hours and the added bonus that he could work on the Impala there for free. The courier job let him drive around the city and he just called in on the days he wanted to work instead of having to punch a clock every day.
Dean loved being able to drive like that, to get free of the common everyday streets they lived on and away from campus to explore the whole of Palo Alto and the area surrounding it. They’d never lived anywhere long enough to get to know the area like that and Dean seemed to get a thrill out of every new hole in the wall diner or arcane shop he dragged Sam to.
Sam looked away from the bathroom, stretched to try to work out a kink from last weekend’s extra-curriculars. He took a pretty nasty crash into a tree when he stood between a ghost and Dean as he’d been lighting the matches over the salted body. The bruises were mostly gone, but the muscles still pulled sometimes and the last thing he wanted was to worry Dean or Jess today.
He took a drink from his beer and opened another one, leaving it to sit on the counter. The place wasn’t too big, a two bedroom guesthouse that had long ago been given over to renters. It was a nice set up really. The people who lived in the main house were an old couple that traveled more than they were home and after Sam had helped them with a small haunting his freshman year, they’d let him live there on a reduced rate. He couldn’t have afforded to live in that nice an area otherwise. Good thing too because while it had been nice when he was on his own, when Dean had moved in had become home in a way that no other place had. They spent more time in their little secluded yard, not much more than a stretch of green grass and a high privacy fence, than Sam would have ever thought, lazing about long after dark in the warm California air together.
He’d prefer to do that today, just hang out with his brother, no ghosts or hunts, just a day to themselves to enjoy and relax. They hadn’t had a lot of that lately. With Sam’s full load at school, Dean’s work hours, and their hunts on the weekends, they didn’t have a lot of time just to be together. It was the way Dean still needed it to be but Sam needed the downtime and he knew Dean was going to crack anytime now if the didn’t take a break.
Jessica’s family barbecue was perfect really. He’d get Dean some free beer, something hot off a grill, and when the party died down they could come home and just enjoy the time off together.
Something flicked the back of his ear and he was glaring as he watched Dean take the beer Sam had left out and take a long swig out of it. “Have a nice day off Princess?” Dean asked as he hopped up on the counter top.
“Sure, a day off,” Sam said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.
Dean smiled down at Sam and shook his head. “How long ago did you stop studying?”
“Dean,”
“How long ago?”
“2 hours.”
Dean shook his head. “You know what they say. All work and no play make Sammy a dull boy.”
“That might explain the barbecue.”
“Right, so is your girlfriend expecting us soon?”
Sam shook his head. “Say that to her and she’ll bite your head off dude.”
“Why? I’ve heard you talking to her on the phone Sam. Don’t tell me she doesn’t want to eat you whole.”
“We… we tried for a while. It didn’t work out, but we managed to stay friends. Jessica is a great girl Dean. You know, you’d like her if you gave her a try instead of assuming everyone at Stanford has their nose in the air.”
Dean sighed as he stopped the bottle half way to his lips. “I promised Sam. I’ll play nice today and make you proud.”
“They love you already so you don’t need to do much.”
“And just how would they love me when they’ve never met me?”
Sam smiled, stepping closer into the open space between Dean’s legs. Dean leaned into him and Sam let his cheek rub against the clean shaven skin of his brother’s jaw line. “Because I talk about you,” he said, taking a deep breath of his brother beneath the soap and aftershave. “A lot.”
“You tell them how your big brother makes you scream at night?” Dean asked, angling his head slightly to bite at the long expanse of neck that was presented to him.
Sam moaned as he leaned his head against Dean’s shoulder. “No, somehow I don’t think they’d get that part,” he said with a smile as he pulled away. “They have, however, heard about my boyfriend that moved in five months ago.”
Dean frowned at his words but Sam knew it wasn’t about their relationship. It was still new and a little uncomfortable sometimes for his brother, for them both really, to see what they’d gone through and how they’d come through, but they’d been playing the boyfriend routine up around the neighborhood since Dean had first come to town and he’d adjusted to it somewhat.
It was the five months that bothered Dean. Just a reminder of how he’d come to Sam was enough to turn Dean’s mood sour. Sam didn’t like to think about it either, but it wasn’t the time to brood over their loss anymore than it was for Sam to lose himself in the guilt that always came with it.
“Hey,” Sam said, trying to get out of the mood before it hit too hard. “If we don’t leave now the food might be all gone before we get there.”
Dean gave a half smile and Sam knew that he was trying, for him, as he jumped off the counter and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.
“Let’s get going then. You promised me some barbecue bitch!”
Sam watched Dean down the last of his beer, then followed his brother out the door to walk the short distance to Jessica’s parents house and the family party that she’d been talking about all quarter long.
“Should have known you’d show up when the food was ready,” Sam heard as they walked into the backyard, guided by a pair of little girls that he quickly recognized as Jessica’s second cousins, Kayla and Tessa.
Sam looked up at Jessica and smiled as he wrapped her in a hug. He could feel Dean waiting with the little patience he had. “You know my stomach is a finely honed clock that always knows when the goods are available.”
“I’ve noticed,” she laughed then, looking pointedly at Dean.
“Jess, this is Dean. Dean this is Jessica,” Sam managed to bite back his nervous smile. When Dean had arrived he’d been too hurt to be introduced to Sam’s friends. There was no way to explain his injuries so he’d spent most of his time outside of class with Dean, trying to help him heal, to let them both heal from the change that Dean had brought with him. Once they’d gotten back to middle ground they’d found themselves awkward, tentatively exploring a side of their relationship they’d never had before. The introduction to Jess, and to all his friends, was a long time coming.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Dean said, taking Jessica’s hand in his for a moment, kissing the back of it in a grand gesture that Sam knew was to piss him off. Relationship or not, Sam had always been jealous of Dean’s affection towards anyone else.
“You’re Sam’s boyfriend?” Jess asked with eyes slightly wide. “You are way out of my friend’s league,” she teased.
Dean laughed, and it was only Sam’s sensitive ear that could hear the nervousness. Dean didn’t have an issue playing Sam’s boyfriend, but there were still enough issues that it caught him off guard sometimes, to be introduced as the boyfriend and not the brother. It was harder still, knowing that the public acceptance they got was in stark contrast to what they knew would happen if people knew the truth of who they were.
“I don’t know what I’d do without him,” Sam said, cheeks a slight shade of pink at the words, but he knew Dean would appreciate it even if his brother called him Samantha for a month afterwards.
“Crash and burn,” Jessica supplied as she reached between them, linking her arms through theirs. “Trust me Dean, I knew him when you weren’t around and the boy was a mess. I swear he never learned to do a thing on his own until he moved here.”
“Yeah well...” Sam stuttered, not sure what to say that wouldn’t let Dean know how completely pathetic he’d been. He could exorcise a demon in latin, load just about any weapon legal and illegal in the United States, but he’d almost burned the place down trying to cook pasta. Jess had laughed for three weeks straight. Her sense of humor was annoyingly like Dean’s at times. “Being away from home for the first time was a bit harder than I thought it would be.”
Jessica turned away from the conversation as she started introducing them to people Sam didn’t know and introducing Dean to all of their combined friends. Dean just rolled his eyes behind her head but smiled warmly at Sam. As hard as it was to get his brother to hear the compliment sometimes, he knew that this time Dean had taken them to heart. He knew exactly what Sam meant when he said it had been hard. The only thing Sam had missed of his former life had been Dean and the occasional moment of regret that he hadn’t found a way to set things right with his father.
The pool was filled with young college students and Colonel Jack O’Neill was smiling, subtly watching General Hammond as he relaxed with his niece and her family, a gathering that incorporated all the cousins and friends and even random college students that had come from nearby Stanford. Jack had already had to walk away from one room because Daniel had been holding court over the troubles with the American educational institute and how all students should be required to study abroad as well. Jack had quietly crept out the door until he was in the back yard, watching the General again.
They all deserved a chance to relax and it wasn’t often they got time away from the mountain lately. Certainly not the time that allowed them to fly out of state for the weekend to catch up on anything personal. He sighed as he watched the two young men walking towards the pool. The taller of the two reminded him of Daniel; his need to learn and understand everything around him. He was a geek all the way through. They’d only met for a few minutes but Sam had mentioned linguistics and Daniel had looked ready to slobber on the kid. His boyfriend had just rolled his eyes in a way that Jack himself knew all too well. It tickled him a bit, though he’d never admit it, that this geek had found his hardened soldier to protect him as well.
There was no doubt about that assessment either, as the older of the two, Dean, removed his shirt to slide into the water. Jack had seen a lot of things over time, seen a lot of weapons and a lot of wounds, but torture left a certain mark on the body. Whoever Dean was, he’d seen action somewhere. He might not know a lot about the inner workings of Stanford minded college students, but Jack O’Neill knew his own kind.
Dean looked up suddenly, as if he could sense Jack’s gaze. When Dean caught his eye, Sam followed his gaze and moving instinctively closer. Jack noted it all, keeping a tally in his head because something just wasn’t adding up with those two. Jack knew the sight of someone who was used to giving back up.
Daniel came up to his side then, looking at the two men, unintentionally mimicking Sam’s reaction and Jack couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips. Sam relaxed in the pool and as he set his hand on Dean’s shoulder, the other man looked away. Jack could see it in his body now though, could see the way he held himself at the ready. He was wary now.
“They’re probably not going to destroy the planet on your watch Jack. You can stand down,” Daniel said, the smile evident in his voice.
Jack looked over his shoulder. “Need to talk to Hammond. Not sure about your friend Sam there, but his boyfriend has seen combat.”
Daniel frowned. “He’s a bit young don’t you think?”
He knew that Daniel was looking at Sam but he nodded just the same. They were both trained, even if Dean was the only one with visible scars. “Yep. That’s what bothers me.”
Jack stood with his back against the wall, thankful that the open window in the kitchen let him head the conversation without being seen. He wasn’t sure what it was about Sam and Dean that set him off but his gut said they weren’t everything they said they were and that was a mystery that Jack couldn’t leave alone. He’d been watching them since they arrived, Sam’s responses just a little too polite, Dean just a little too slick. He was starting to think the was crazy after the pool incident because nothing else was setting off any bells, but then he’d seen Sam wincing when one of the kids had run into him. Dean’s reaction was instant, pulling Sam away and secluding him. Jack had moved quietly behind them on instinct and Daniel had followed.
“Dean, honestly I’m fine. It’s just a little sore.”
“You shouldn’t still being feeling that Sammy.”
“Yeah, well, it was the same spot I got hit the week before.”
“Shit! I thought that glowy eyed bastard got the other side. You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I just need to work my shoulder a little more I think. Thought a dip in the pool might be a good way to do it.”
“Race ya?”
Sam came running out of the back door, closely followed by Dean and neither noticed Jack and Daniel standing against the corner wall. “Last one in has to do laundry!”
As they ran off, unaware of their overheard conversation, Jack looked at Daniel who shook his head. “It could be nothing Jack.”
Daniel was frowning though, and Jack hated that. It was true. The conversation they’d heard around the corner could have been nothing but Jack had faith in a few things. One of those was that if they got a weekend off to go to a nice relaxing barbeque, the universe would screw it up and the goa’uld would be a part of it.
“Sure. It could be nothing,” Jack said with a sharp nod of his head. “It could be nothing that the General’s niece makes friends with two guys who have quiet conversations about glowing eyed bastards. Did I mention the way they move with military precision? Or that one had more battle scars than most men on the mountain? Still think I’m paranoid?”
Daniel sighed as he gave a quick nod. “Yeah Jack, I do.”
“Well you know what they say, Danny-boy. Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me.”
It only took a minute for Jack to get the General alone for a minute and he filled him in on the conversation and Jack’s discrete observations. Daniel stood beside them, looking skeptical and uncertain, but then again that was pretty much the definition of his job when Jack thought about it. Jack made a military decision, and Daniel hemmed and hawed until he found something better. Or tried, because when it came to military matters even Daniel admitted Jack knew what he was doing.
“You really think these kids are a risk?”
“I don’t know sir, but I feel like we should check them out. If they know something about the goa’uld we need to know why.”
Hammond didn’t look happy. He seemed to be thinking it over and Jack understood that. There could be any number of reasons why Dean would be scarred the way he was. Familiarity could sometimes give the appearance of precision movement that Dean and Sam had displayed, but Jack blew that one out of his mind as he thought it. Not only did they move well together, there was a formation to it. Dean was the point and Sam had his back. He could see it in how Dean looked for the exits when he walked in and how Sam spoke for them both as he did so. He saw it in a dozen small interactions they had since they’d arrived.
“Maybe they are innocent General,” Daniel piped in. “But it wouldn’t take long to do a little research on them. I’d really feel better knowing there was nothing funny going on around your family.”
Jack could have kissed him, minus the whole don’t ask don’t tell thing, for bringing up that particular argument. Hammond nodded his head but he knew that Daniel just got him the go ahead. If it were Jack, he’d be looking all smug, but it wasn’t and Daniel genuinely looked worried about Hammond’s family.
He took his leave of the General and pulled Daniel to the side. “You can probably get Sam to talk better than I’ll get Dean to. Wanna give him a try?”
“Think he’s going to admit to anything devious at a pool party Jack?”
“Just get his cover story Daniel. Get something for me to check into.”
Daniel snorted in amusement. “Yes sir, Colonel O’Neill sir.”
Jack looked up at the sky, hands raised and eyes lifted. “Why God, why can’t you make him do that on missions? Just once, come on?”
Author(s): hunters_retreat
Artist: inanna_maat
Crossover: Supernatural/ SG-1
Word Count: 19,000
Characters/Pairings: Sam/Dean, Jack/Daniel
Summary: Five months ago Dean Winchester showed up on his brother’s doorstep, bleeding and carrying with him the tale of their father’s death. Sam patched him back together and they settled into the normal, quiet life that Sam had always dreamed about. Until the day Sam took Dean to meet his best friend Jess at her family barbecue. He never expected to find an Air Force General there, or to have a Colonel take an unhealthy interest in the man he introduces as his lover. But when a hunt goes bad and Jack and Daniel find themselves caught in the hunt, will they create a new series of allies? Or will Sam and Dean become wanted by the Air Force’s best and brightest as well?
Sam stared out the kitchen window into the small yard of the house he and Dean were renting, still trying to figure out how he’d been talked into this today. It wasn’t a big deal really, just a barbecue with some friends and family, but it wasn’t something Sam was overly familiar with and he was taking Dean into new territory. Not that Dean ever stood out more than he wanted to, blending into the environment whenever it suited him, but this was different. He was taking Dean to meet Jess in the midst of her family barbecue. He wasn’t sure he was going to survive it.
He’d never have thought his brother had it in him to give the normal life a try, but Dean had settled in as efficiently as he did everything else. Not that he stopped hunting completely. Dean believed in the good fight after all. He had a place to come home to now though and a steady job. Sam was even trying, unsuccessfully so far, to talk him into going back to school. Sometimes the banter was good between them, fun like it used to be before he’d left Dean to go to Stanford. Other times, there was too much time and space between them to feel anything less than strained. They were all they had left though and they held on tightly.
“Be ready in 30 minutes Sammy,” he heard Dean’s call before anything else, the screen door closing loudly in the living room behind him. He looked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of Dean’s retreating back as he headed through the bathroom door.
Sam wondered which job he’d come from, but from the lack of overalls dumped by the front door, he assumed it was the courier job. Dean might be putting in 40 hour work weeks, but he didn’t do well in one job, 40 hours a week. Instead he worked part time at a garage and part time with a courier service. The local garage gave him most of his hours and the added bonus that he could work on the Impala there for free. The courier job let him drive around the city and he just called in on the days he wanted to work instead of having to punch a clock every day.
Dean loved being able to drive like that, to get free of the common everyday streets they lived on and away from campus to explore the whole of Palo Alto and the area surrounding it. They’d never lived anywhere long enough to get to know the area like that and Dean seemed to get a thrill out of every new hole in the wall diner or arcane shop he dragged Sam to.
Sam looked away from the bathroom, stretched to try to work out a kink from last weekend’s extra-curriculars. He took a pretty nasty crash into a tree when he stood between a ghost and Dean as he’d been lighting the matches over the salted body. The bruises were mostly gone, but the muscles still pulled sometimes and the last thing he wanted was to worry Dean or Jess today.
He took a drink from his beer and opened another one, leaving it to sit on the counter. The place wasn’t too big, a two bedroom guesthouse that had long ago been given over to renters. It was a nice set up really. The people who lived in the main house were an old couple that traveled more than they were home and after Sam had helped them with a small haunting his freshman year, they’d let him live there on a reduced rate. He couldn’t have afforded to live in that nice an area otherwise. Good thing too because while it had been nice when he was on his own, when Dean had moved in had become home in a way that no other place had. They spent more time in their little secluded yard, not much more than a stretch of green grass and a high privacy fence, than Sam would have ever thought, lazing about long after dark in the warm California air together.
He’d prefer to do that today, just hang out with his brother, no ghosts or hunts, just a day to themselves to enjoy and relax. They hadn’t had a lot of that lately. With Sam’s full load at school, Dean’s work hours, and their hunts on the weekends, they didn’t have a lot of time just to be together. It was the way Dean still needed it to be but Sam needed the downtime and he knew Dean was going to crack anytime now if the didn’t take a break.
Jessica’s family barbecue was perfect really. He’d get Dean some free beer, something hot off a grill, and when the party died down they could come home and just enjoy the time off together.
Something flicked the back of his ear and he was glaring as he watched Dean take the beer Sam had left out and take a long swig out of it. “Have a nice day off Princess?” Dean asked as he hopped up on the counter top.
“Sure, a day off,” Sam said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.
Dean smiled down at Sam and shook his head. “How long ago did you stop studying?”
“Dean,”
“How long ago?”
“2 hours.”
Dean shook his head. “You know what they say. All work and no play make Sammy a dull boy.”
“That might explain the barbecue.”
“Right, so is your girlfriend expecting us soon?”
Sam shook his head. “Say that to her and she’ll bite your head off dude.”
“Why? I’ve heard you talking to her on the phone Sam. Don’t tell me she doesn’t want to eat you whole.”
“We… we tried for a while. It didn’t work out, but we managed to stay friends. Jessica is a great girl Dean. You know, you’d like her if you gave her a try instead of assuming everyone at Stanford has their nose in the air.”
Dean sighed as he stopped the bottle half way to his lips. “I promised Sam. I’ll play nice today and make you proud.”
“They love you already so you don’t need to do much.”
“And just how would they love me when they’ve never met me?”
Sam smiled, stepping closer into the open space between Dean’s legs. Dean leaned into him and Sam let his cheek rub against the clean shaven skin of his brother’s jaw line. “Because I talk about you,” he said, taking a deep breath of his brother beneath the soap and aftershave. “A lot.”
“You tell them how your big brother makes you scream at night?” Dean asked, angling his head slightly to bite at the long expanse of neck that was presented to him.
Sam moaned as he leaned his head against Dean’s shoulder. “No, somehow I don’t think they’d get that part,” he said with a smile as he pulled away. “They have, however, heard about my boyfriend that moved in five months ago.”
Dean frowned at his words but Sam knew it wasn’t about their relationship. It was still new and a little uncomfortable sometimes for his brother, for them both really, to see what they’d gone through and how they’d come through, but they’d been playing the boyfriend routine up around the neighborhood since Dean had first come to town and he’d adjusted to it somewhat.
It was the five months that bothered Dean. Just a reminder of how he’d come to Sam was enough to turn Dean’s mood sour. Sam didn’t like to think about it either, but it wasn’t the time to brood over their loss anymore than it was for Sam to lose himself in the guilt that always came with it.
“Hey,” Sam said, trying to get out of the mood before it hit too hard. “If we don’t leave now the food might be all gone before we get there.”
Dean gave a half smile and Sam knew that he was trying, for him, as he jumped off the counter and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.
“Let’s get going then. You promised me some barbecue bitch!”
Sam watched Dean down the last of his beer, then followed his brother out the door to walk the short distance to Jessica’s parents house and the family party that she’d been talking about all quarter long.
“Should have known you’d show up when the food was ready,” Sam heard as they walked into the backyard, guided by a pair of little girls that he quickly recognized as Jessica’s second cousins, Kayla and Tessa.
Sam looked up at Jessica and smiled as he wrapped her in a hug. He could feel Dean waiting with the little patience he had. “You know my stomach is a finely honed clock that always knows when the goods are available.”
“I’ve noticed,” she laughed then, looking pointedly at Dean.
“Jess, this is Dean. Dean this is Jessica,” Sam managed to bite back his nervous smile. When Dean had arrived he’d been too hurt to be introduced to Sam’s friends. There was no way to explain his injuries so he’d spent most of his time outside of class with Dean, trying to help him heal, to let them both heal from the change that Dean had brought with him. Once they’d gotten back to middle ground they’d found themselves awkward, tentatively exploring a side of their relationship they’d never had before. The introduction to Jess, and to all his friends, was a long time coming.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Dean said, taking Jessica’s hand in his for a moment, kissing the back of it in a grand gesture that Sam knew was to piss him off. Relationship or not, Sam had always been jealous of Dean’s affection towards anyone else.
“You’re Sam’s boyfriend?” Jess asked with eyes slightly wide. “You are way out of my friend’s league,” she teased.
Dean laughed, and it was only Sam’s sensitive ear that could hear the nervousness. Dean didn’t have an issue playing Sam’s boyfriend, but there were still enough issues that it caught him off guard sometimes, to be introduced as the boyfriend and not the brother. It was harder still, knowing that the public acceptance they got was in stark contrast to what they knew would happen if people knew the truth of who they were.
“I don’t know what I’d do without him,” Sam said, cheeks a slight shade of pink at the words, but he knew Dean would appreciate it even if his brother called him Samantha for a month afterwards.
“Crash and burn,” Jessica supplied as she reached between them, linking her arms through theirs. “Trust me Dean, I knew him when you weren’t around and the boy was a mess. I swear he never learned to do a thing on his own until he moved here.”
“Yeah well...” Sam stuttered, not sure what to say that wouldn’t let Dean know how completely pathetic he’d been. He could exorcise a demon in latin, load just about any weapon legal and illegal in the United States, but he’d almost burned the place down trying to cook pasta. Jess had laughed for three weeks straight. Her sense of humor was annoyingly like Dean’s at times. “Being away from home for the first time was a bit harder than I thought it would be.”
Jessica turned away from the conversation as she started introducing them to people Sam didn’t know and introducing Dean to all of their combined friends. Dean just rolled his eyes behind her head but smiled warmly at Sam. As hard as it was to get his brother to hear the compliment sometimes, he knew that this time Dean had taken them to heart. He knew exactly what Sam meant when he said it had been hard. The only thing Sam had missed of his former life had been Dean and the occasional moment of regret that he hadn’t found a way to set things right with his father.
The pool was filled with young college students and Colonel Jack O’Neill was smiling, subtly watching General Hammond as he relaxed with his niece and her family, a gathering that incorporated all the cousins and friends and even random college students that had come from nearby Stanford. Jack had already had to walk away from one room because Daniel had been holding court over the troubles with the American educational institute and how all students should be required to study abroad as well. Jack had quietly crept out the door until he was in the back yard, watching the General again.
They all deserved a chance to relax and it wasn’t often they got time away from the mountain lately. Certainly not the time that allowed them to fly out of state for the weekend to catch up on anything personal. He sighed as he watched the two young men walking towards the pool. The taller of the two reminded him of Daniel; his need to learn and understand everything around him. He was a geek all the way through. They’d only met for a few minutes but Sam had mentioned linguistics and Daniel had looked ready to slobber on the kid. His boyfriend had just rolled his eyes in a way that Jack himself knew all too well. It tickled him a bit, though he’d never admit it, that this geek had found his hardened soldier to protect him as well.
There was no doubt about that assessment either, as the older of the two, Dean, removed his shirt to slide into the water. Jack had seen a lot of things over time, seen a lot of weapons and a lot of wounds, but torture left a certain mark on the body. Whoever Dean was, he’d seen action somewhere. He might not know a lot about the inner workings of Stanford minded college students, but Jack O’Neill knew his own kind.
Dean looked up suddenly, as if he could sense Jack’s gaze. When Dean caught his eye, Sam followed his gaze and moving instinctively closer. Jack noted it all, keeping a tally in his head because something just wasn’t adding up with those two. Jack knew the sight of someone who was used to giving back up.
Daniel came up to his side then, looking at the two men, unintentionally mimicking Sam’s reaction and Jack couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips. Sam relaxed in the pool and as he set his hand on Dean’s shoulder, the other man looked away. Jack could see it in his body now though, could see the way he held himself at the ready. He was wary now.
“They’re probably not going to destroy the planet on your watch Jack. You can stand down,” Daniel said, the smile evident in his voice.
Jack looked over his shoulder. “Need to talk to Hammond. Not sure about your friend Sam there, but his boyfriend has seen combat.”
Daniel frowned. “He’s a bit young don’t you think?”
He knew that Daniel was looking at Sam but he nodded just the same. They were both trained, even if Dean was the only one with visible scars. “Yep. That’s what bothers me.”
Jack stood with his back against the wall, thankful that the open window in the kitchen let him head the conversation without being seen. He wasn’t sure what it was about Sam and Dean that set him off but his gut said they weren’t everything they said they were and that was a mystery that Jack couldn’t leave alone. He’d been watching them since they arrived, Sam’s responses just a little too polite, Dean just a little too slick. He was starting to think the was crazy after the pool incident because nothing else was setting off any bells, but then he’d seen Sam wincing when one of the kids had run into him. Dean’s reaction was instant, pulling Sam away and secluding him. Jack had moved quietly behind them on instinct and Daniel had followed.
“Dean, honestly I’m fine. It’s just a little sore.”
“You shouldn’t still being feeling that Sammy.”
“Yeah, well, it was the same spot I got hit the week before.”
“Shit! I thought that glowy eyed bastard got the other side. You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I just need to work my shoulder a little more I think. Thought a dip in the pool might be a good way to do it.”
“Race ya?”
Sam came running out of the back door, closely followed by Dean and neither noticed Jack and Daniel standing against the corner wall. “Last one in has to do laundry!”
As they ran off, unaware of their overheard conversation, Jack looked at Daniel who shook his head. “It could be nothing Jack.”
Daniel was frowning though, and Jack hated that. It was true. The conversation they’d heard around the corner could have been nothing but Jack had faith in a few things. One of those was that if they got a weekend off to go to a nice relaxing barbeque, the universe would screw it up and the goa’uld would be a part of it.
“Sure. It could be nothing,” Jack said with a sharp nod of his head. “It could be nothing that the General’s niece makes friends with two guys who have quiet conversations about glowing eyed bastards. Did I mention the way they move with military precision? Or that one had more battle scars than most men on the mountain? Still think I’m paranoid?”
Daniel sighed as he gave a quick nod. “Yeah Jack, I do.”
“Well you know what they say, Danny-boy. Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me.”
It only took a minute for Jack to get the General alone for a minute and he filled him in on the conversation and Jack’s discrete observations. Daniel stood beside them, looking skeptical and uncertain, but then again that was pretty much the definition of his job when Jack thought about it. Jack made a military decision, and Daniel hemmed and hawed until he found something better. Or tried, because when it came to military matters even Daniel admitted Jack knew what he was doing.
“You really think these kids are a risk?”
“I don’t know sir, but I feel like we should check them out. If they know something about the goa’uld we need to know why.”
Hammond didn’t look happy. He seemed to be thinking it over and Jack understood that. There could be any number of reasons why Dean would be scarred the way he was. Familiarity could sometimes give the appearance of precision movement that Dean and Sam had displayed, but Jack blew that one out of his mind as he thought it. Not only did they move well together, there was a formation to it. Dean was the point and Sam had his back. He could see it in how Dean looked for the exits when he walked in and how Sam spoke for them both as he did so. He saw it in a dozen small interactions they had since they’d arrived.
“Maybe they are innocent General,” Daniel piped in. “But it wouldn’t take long to do a little research on them. I’d really feel better knowing there was nothing funny going on around your family.”
Jack could have kissed him, minus the whole don’t ask don’t tell thing, for bringing up that particular argument. Hammond nodded his head but he knew that Daniel just got him the go ahead. If it were Jack, he’d be looking all smug, but it wasn’t and Daniel genuinely looked worried about Hammond’s family.
He took his leave of the General and pulled Daniel to the side. “You can probably get Sam to talk better than I’ll get Dean to. Wanna give him a try?”
“Think he’s going to admit to anything devious at a pool party Jack?”
“Just get his cover story Daniel. Get something for me to check into.”
Daniel snorted in amusement. “Yes sir, Colonel O’Neill sir.”
Jack looked up at the sky, hands raised and eyes lifted. “Why God, why can’t you make him do that on missions? Just once, come on?”