Chapter Text
Colonel Jack O'Neill sat at his desk, glaring at the mounds of paperwork before him as if the papers were Ba'al or worse Anise sitting before.
Gritting his teeth, Jack reached out and picked up the first sheet when there was a knock on his door.
Jack turned towards the door, his eyes containing his unspoken hope of a pardon from the dreaded paperwork. "Enter," O'Neill called out as he put the paper down back down on the pile of papers, never having glanced at it.
The door opened and a young dark haired man wearing the insignia of a Senior Airman on his shoulders entered the room and snapped off a sharp salute.
Colonel O'Neill looked the young man over before him before returned the salute. "What can I do for you, DeMarco?"
DeMarco licked his lips nervously. "Sir, I was wondering if I could speak to you privately, sir."
Jack stared at the young man for a moment before nodding his head towards the chair in front of this desk. "Shut the door and have a seat, kid," he said.
"Thank you, sir," DeMarco replied as he sat down across from the Colonel after shutting the door.
The two men sat in silence for several minutes before Jack finally picked up a pen and started to click the end of it over and over again. "So what did you want to talk about?"
"Well… umm sir… you see," DeMarco said. "I'm not sure if this is anything."
Jack raised am eyebrow and cocked his head to the side. "Why don't you start at the beginning, son."
"Well… umm… for my leave I went to see my nana, my grandmother, sir," The Airman began.
Jack smiled. "And how is she?"
DeMarco open his mouth. Closed it. Open it. "She's good sir. She is learning how to skydive."
Jack stared at the Airman for a moment as he tried to wrap his mind around the image of a little old lady jumping out of an aircraft. With a nod of his head, he said. "It's good to see the older generation keeping busy. So you were visiting your grandma and…"
"One of my cousins was also there," The Senior Airman said.
"So it was a bit of a family reunion then?" Jack commented.
DeMarco shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so, sir."
O'Neill nodded his head while make encouraging noises.
The Airman took a breath. "So one day my cousin, Trent and I sat down to talk. His father wanted me to encourage him to join the military but doesn't want his son to join the Army since he was a Navy man."
"I take it Trent plays football then," Jack said with a grin.
DeMarco eyes widened. "Yes sir," he gasped in awe.
Jack nodded his head once again. "The old Navy versus Army rivalry is still going strong."
With a chuckle DeMarco nodded his head. "Yes sir. During football season my uncles won't talk to each other unless nana is threatening them with her spoon. My Uncle Max was in the Army."
"Army, Navy and Air Force," Jack said with a smile. "No Marines?"
DeMarco's eyes widened. "No sir," he gasped. "Nana would bring out the shotgun if anyone even joked about joining the Marines."
The Colonel stared at the young man before him for a moment. "I’ve really got to meet your grandma, Airman."
A blush appeared on the young man cheeks. "I wouldn't advise it, sir. You see my nana really likes younger men in uniform and since you're a Colonel…"
"Right," Jack said drawing out the word. "So why does she hate Marines?"
"Well Nana say it had to do with a Marine that broke her heart when he married another young woman," DeMarco explained, "but my aunts claim it's because Marines are too stubborn to listen to Nana."
With a snort O'Neill shook his head. "So were you able to steer you cousin into the military?"
DeMarco took a breath. "No sir. I never got a chance to talk about it. Trent started in about some strange happenings in his town and that’s why I'm here sir."
With a raised brow, Jack said, "Strange happenings?"
DeMarco squirmed in his seat. "Yes sir or that’s what he claims sir. However my family thinks he's been running with the wrong crowd if you get my meaning sir or that he's taken too many hits during practice.
Jack leaned back in his chair. "Okay. So what does you cousin Trent have to say?"
"Well sir, he told me about there this kid in school with him, Sam. He said this kid is a loser, not someone in the popular crowd if you get my meaning sir," DeMarco explained.
Jack's eyes narrowed as he straightens up. "Well we all know about them don't we Airman?"
"Yes sir!" DeMarco answered with emphasis. "Whatever you do don't piss them off because they'll get revenge which will be 10 times worse than what you did."
Chuckling Jack said, "I take it you saw what happened to Warrant Officer Lovejoy."
"In his defense sir, I would like to point out that he want up against Trekkies not brainiacs, sir. They're a totally different type of animal," DeMarco stated. "Trekkies are just evil."
Jack sat there and thought for a moment before slowly nodding his head. "So what did you cousin have to say about this kid?"
"He claims that Sam had been in his words sniffing around his girl for a while when she suddenly dumps him and started to go out with Sam," DeMarco explained.
"Nothing strange about that?" Jack injected. "Could be she thought your cousin wasn't treating her right so she found someone who would."
"At first that's what I thought too, sir," DeMarco replied, "however there is more to the story."
"Okay," Jack said in an encouraging tone.
"Trent said about a week before his girl dumped him that there were some strange happenings around town. People claiming to see cars driving themselves. Eyes glowing in dark. He also said that this Sam had reported seeing a giant robot to the police," DeMarco said. "And then Sam and Trent's girl suddenly vanished only to return a week later. Trent claims she was covered in bruises and that she acted strange especially around Sam and his car."
O'Neill hands slowly closed into fists. Breathing slowly through his nose, Jack said, "I hope you advised your cousin to talk to the girl, to try to get her some help."
"I was about to, sir when Trent said something that made me thing this might be a matter for National Security," Senior Airman DeMarco explained. "Trent said he went to confront Sam about the bruises and he claimed that he saw Sam's eyes glow."