CHAPTER 14

    He seemed rather nervous. Cassie had come to expect a lot of strange things from him but this one even took her by surprise. Till now he was the bastion of self confidence. In fact, just like big Jack, he was even cocky. He certainly had no inhibitions or second thoughts about all this before. In a way Cassie had thought that was why she took to him so readily.  

She had met him in high school back in Colorado Springs. At first she thought he was kind of goofy and just a tad bit arrogant. Once she found out who he was that all changed. A clone of Jack O’Neill! With an edge of guilt Cassandra had to admit that there was no way in hell she was going to pass up an opportunity of a life time like this. After all she had developed a huge crush on the original Jack O’Neill, a long time ago. Suddenly she was presented with a real chance to make that fantasy come true.

 Now she felt a different kind of guilt. It was not that she had done it but, that she had come to see “Little” Jack in a different way. No longer could she think of him as “the copy.” He might have been a clone but that made him no less real. He might have had the memories and experiences of the first Jack but, now Cassie could see something else. This Jack, her Jack, was definitely his own person and that is where the guilt came in. She could not believe she ever thought otherwise.

Cassie turned off the TV.  She tossed the remote off the bed and rolled over so she could look at him. He was sitting up with his back resting against the headboard and playing with a pack of complimentary matches that came with the hotel room. He would strike one after the other and watch it burn for a second, then shake it out before dumping it and moving to the next.

“Something wrong honey?”

He blew this match out with a wisp of his breath but he left the burnt remains in his hand, “I gave up smoking years ago. Nasty habit.”

Cassie pulled herself up into a ball and giggled as she replied, “no you didn’t silly. You only remember giving them up. You never really did.”

He tossed the match across the room with an easy flick of the wrist. This was one of those moments that he loved being around her. Jack had actually looked forward to doing the high school routine again. A secret wish buried inside the skull of the man that lent him his genes and everything else. He had always wanted to go back and do some things over. Little Jack figured everybody had that wish at some point. He was lucky enough to be the only person in history to know what that felt like. Now he was learning about the “be careful what you wish for” thing. At first it was kind of neat. Old tricks for him were new ones on the kids around him. They worked like a charm on girls. The only problem was that all of it got old very quickly. Little Jack became restless. Acting the role of bumble headed kid was just too hard on him in the long run. The kids just annoyed him after a while. Was he, or his original, really that stupid when he was nineteen? Little Jack hoped not and he was sure the thought had crossed the mind of Big Jack as well.

 It came down to Little Jack being a man in his late forties trapped in the body of a kid, with everybody expecting him to be that kid. He just couldn’t do it anymore! He missed the excitement of the Air Force and even if he had never really been in it. Little Jack knew it wasn’t his life but he wanted it back anyway! Then came Cassandra.

Naturally Jack knew who she was long before she found out about him. He remembered when he, no his original, had rescued her from some god awful planet that had been poisoned by the Goa’uld. She wasn’t like the other girls and, if for no other reason, Jack felt he already knew her. He also felt twinges of fatherly concern for her that originated from the inside of his original. Touching her would feel like… well… it wasn’t like with the other girls.

 That’s why they became friends first. After they both knew the truth of who they were it also gave Jack something he sorely lacked. He had a friend and a confidant, someone he could talk to about the real things eating inside him. After all, their lives were not just classified top secret, in essence, they themselves were state secrets. Who else did they have?

Cassie was wondering more about practical things, “you sure you’re going to be able to get the truck back in time? Is that what you’re worried about honey?”

“Huh?” Jack’s mind snapped back to the present, “oh hell no. They’re off world right now. Won’t be back till next week. He’ll never notice it’s gone. Besides, I was supposed to take it to get the oil changed this week anyway.”

She reached out and lightly touched his knee, “then what’s wrong?” Suddenly she became more shy and reserved. Cassie suspected she knew what the problem was but she had been afraid to ask. It had been hard to break the ice with him. After her adopted Mom told her the entire story about the Asgard, and the unsuccessful cloning attempt, Cassie completely understood his problems. She had been patient with him, and ultimately gotten what she wanted but, even now, “it’s me isn’t it?”

 “No,” he denied it way too quickly. Little Jack only realized that it was a mistake to do so after his foot was in his mouth. She became withdrawn, and even a bit sad. Jack, as bumbling as his original, attempted to repair the damage, “honey, you know I love you.”

Cassie got up off the bed and walked to the window of the room. She peeked out as she sighed. When she looked back at him she had composed her thoughts, “how many times Jack? How many times are we going to have to go through this? You’re not him.”

He stomped out of bed and began to pace. He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Then he stood there, bare chest sucked in, and with a pose that captured his gene donor all to well. He had a hard time finding the right words, just like Big Jack, “what do you want me to say?  This is sooo much of a boner.”

Cassie caught her laugh, “you don’t love me because you’re him.”

“Hey,” he shrugged as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, “like you keep telling me. I’m not him.” Little Jack humbled himself, “I just wish somebody would tell my brain that.”

Now Cassandra laughed. She bowed her head to hide it, “oh you’re too much sometimes Jack.”

“Hey!” Jack took the O’Neill pause before continuing, “can’t help it. Chicks smarter than I am just turn me on.”

Now Little Jack was snickering. When Cassie asked why he replied, “something he made me promise never to tell Carter, I mean the Major.”

Cassie held her hand up as she glided over to him, “uh-uh, I don’t want to know.” She slid one hand around his waist and pushed a finger against his lips. “Let’s just forget, for the time being, that he even exists.”  

Her head slid closer to his, “it is just you, me, and this room.”

He was easing up. She could feel it in his muscles. Then he came out with one of those wisecracks, “oh and don’t forget your favorite show.”  

Cassie blinked her eyes and the television came on. Jack kissed her but before he did he managed to mumble, “I hate that show. Always did.”  

She blinked and the television shorted out. Sparks flew.