Jack was a scrawny looking boy with knobbly knees. He was so skinny that all the vertebrate down his spinal column could be seen through the thin fabric of his shirt. He crouched down busy stuffing things into his locker, praying that the school day was finally over.
"Hey, lookie here boys, it's Jack!" The three boys from Jack's Astronomy course pushed him into his locker. It was just as well the door was closed otherwise he would have gone straight inside. Instead, the young boy fell on the floor.
"Leave me alone, Benjamin." Jack breathed.
"Make me." He said darkly and dangerously. "So tell me, what grade did the mastermind of nerds get on the test today."
"An F." Jack lied.
"Oh, I don't think so." Benjamin paced around the halls in little circles, his hands clasped behind his back. "Mr. Hanson asked me to hand out the papers. I saw your grade. You lie. And do you know what I do to liars?" Benjamin's face skewed into an angry snarl as he beat the kid half to death.
"Hey, get away from him!" Someone yelled. It was an angry voice of an older man. Jack looked up and found his dad standing before him.
Benjamin and all his mates scattered like fish out of water leaving Jack to rub his head to dull the agony. Mr. O'Neill extended his hand towards his son who grasped it firmly in his own and hoisted himself up. He shook himself off and felt blood dribble down his face. He looked at his dad in the eyes proudly an announced, "i'm fine."
The man clapped his son on the back. "That's my boy."
It was true, that the boys in his astronomy class were big bullies to him and honestly he did want it to end, but he wasn't going to show that to his father or give anyone the satisfaction of the others winning. It wasn't his style. Jack O'Neill would never go down without a fight.
The two of them hopped in the car and when they immediately got inside, Mr. O'Neill tried desperately talking to his son. "How was your day?" He'd ask.
"Gee, Dad. I've had my face pounded in the wall and just got rejected to go to prom by the prettiest girl in school. I'm peachy, thanks." He rolled his eyes and looked at the window.
"Son," he rubbed his eyes, "I know that high school was not the greatest experience for you-"
"-oh yeah, cuz I just love being called weak and bony by the whole school-" he interjected.
"-But could you just try to enjoy these last few months? You won't ever be back here again."
Jack threw his hands up dramatically. "Thank heavens for that!" He yelled angrily.
His dad flinched. "Don't be such a drama queen." He said simply.
Jack heaved in an exaggerated sigh. "The Air Force will make me stronger dad. I can feel it. Those kids at my pathetic little school will not mess with me, again if I could just be stronger."
His dad licked his lips while still concentrating on the road. He indicated left and turned into the driveway of the O'Neill house. "People don't join the military to get strong; they are already strong when they get there." Jack hated to admit it, but his Dad had a point. All the kids he knew in school who wanted to join the armed forces were not afraid to stand up for themselves. The military he knew would make them stronger but they were already strong in their own rite. Jack suddenly felt overwhelmed at the fact that not only was he physically weak but mentally as well. The anger was kindled in him like an all-consuming flame.
Jack gathered his bag out of the car and meandered into his room. "How was your day, dear?" His mother asked.
"Fine," He said as he ran upstairs into his room. He slammed the door shut and dumped his school bag on the floor. He laid himself on his bed and lazily tilted his head back. From his bedside table he retrieved an encyclopedia all about Astronomy. Jack thought that the sky was made of magic. All the glittering stars reminded him of how much he hated school looking at the sky was his one escape from this hell-hole he called life. He memorized all sorts of things about the stars; the Milky Way, The Virgo cluster, Andromeda, Sirius, Remus, Cancer, The North Star, The Southern Cross, Sagittarius. He read about the constellation Orion and decided to pick up another book on Greek mythology.
The book explained that the moon goddess, Artemis swore to her father Zeus, that she would never fall in love, but did anyway with Orion a hunter in her service. To protect his twin sister, Apollo the sun god, killed him and hung him in the sky. He granted her that as a mercy to Artemis, so that she could always look upon him. "Best love story, Ever." Jack smiled to himself sadly. It may have been the best, but it was also certainly the saddest. The two lovers forever doomed to be apart sounded almost Shakespearian to the young Jack O'Neill.
With all his reading, and flipping through numerous books he had read perhaps half a dozen times over throughout his short life, he hadn't noticed that it had gotten very dark outside. He rushed to his telescope and looked through it and saw Mars.
"Star Light, Star Bright," He closed his eyes and muttered, "the first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight."
Jack opened his eyes and rolled them when his mom called him downstairs. He angrily got up and resisted the urge to yell that he was too busy. He pulled himself away from the sky and ran downstairs.
"What?" He snarled.
His mother's mouth tightened into a straight line slightly irritated at her own son. "General Carter has an emergency meeting tonight with regards to deployment and Mrs. Carter needed to go into work to take someone else's shift. They need a babysitter but their regular one called in sick. They want to know if you would like to take her place."
Jack sort of cringed on the inside. He's not too fond of kids himself, but he needed an excuse to get out of the house. His time indoors was becoming suffocating. Sure, their little kid might be a snot nosed brat he wouldn't know because he has never met her or it but he needed to spend some time with someone else besides his parents and telescope for a change. He thought a minute. "Sure," he said less than calmly. Mrs. O'Neill was holding the phone to her chest to block the surrounding noise. She plastered a smile on her dainty little face and moved the phone to her ear.
"He said he'd love to." She smiled.
Trust mom to bend the truth, he smirked.
"Okay, I'll let him know. Bye." Mrs. O'Neill hung up the phone and turned to her son standing on the stairs. "Mrs. Carter said that she needs you there right away." Jack scurried up the stairs to get ready when he heard his mother yell out, "they have a three year old daughter, Jack. You'll love her, I promise."
"Whatever." Jack yelled disinterestedly from his room. He pulled on his boots and slung on a jacket that fell passed his thighs. His shirt he decided was way too big for him and the boots swallowed his feet. He looked at himself in the mirror on the door to his wardrobe. He scowled at his reflection. Then rolled his eyes and ran downstairs again.
He was just about to open the door when his mom started talking. "Do you need a ride?" Jack looked at the door knob and shook his head.
"They live down the street, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll be fine." He opened the door and was about to step outside.
"Are you sure? It's a cold night." His mother warned.
"Got my jacket." He shrugged and left before his mom could scold him much more.
By the time Jack made his way to the Carter's house, his nose had frozen. His mom wasn't kidding when she said that it would be cold outside, but he didn't regret walking. He could peer up at the stars and name all that he saw. It was bliss.
He let out a breath or two and saw vapour. He smiled. He took a moment to admire the scenery before he knocked on the door. A not very tall, but impressive figure just the same answered. Jack extended his hand. "General Carter, I presume?"
The General rolled his eyes at the scrawny boy that stood before him. Jack shivered. "Yes. Jack O'Neill?" Jacob asked.
"Yes," He answered his hand still out stretched.
Jacob took the boys hand out of courtesy rather than desire and led him inside. One blonde girl was sitting by the fire reading a book, which the General pointed to. "This is Samantha. I have another one upstairs named Mark and he is sleeping. I'll be back by 2300. Have them in bed by 2100. Their mother went to work and she'll be back around the same time I will be." Jacob was cold and calculating, Jack realised that the minute he saw him, but he cared about his daughter, that much he saw instantly. Jack looked at the little girl intently wondering what she was doing but decided not to ask until the Good General left. The older Carter clicked his fingers in front of young Jack bringing his attention back to the present. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir. I understand 24-hour time just fine thanks." He said sardonically.
The General looked ruefully at him. He had his hat under his arm and slipped it on as he stepped out the door. "Smart-ass, kid." He muttered under his breath.
Jack walked up to the little girl with blonde hair. "If you're trying to sneak up on me, it won't work."
Jack jumped back. The fluency that the kid spoke at was far beyond what it should be for a three year old. "I wasn't trying to sneak up on you. I promise."
"Do you pinky promise?" She held out her little finger on her right hand that was very delicate and Jack walked up to her and took it with his own. His pinky finger swallowed her pinky finger like his boots did his feet.
"I pinky promise." He smiled. Jack dropped himself in front of her crossed legged. Lying down, the little girl propped herself up on her elbows and flipped through her book. Her legs flung high in the air. "So Samantha…" He said.
"I don't like that name." She said with all the confidence of a three year old.
Jack didn't know what the girl was playing at but he admired her decisiveness and quickness. "Okay. Then what name do you like?" He asked.
"Sam." She beamed. "But don't call me Sammie. Only daddy can call me that." She said pointing a finger at him. Jack found the little girl almost comical in a way but the fact that she pointed a finger meant that Samantha Carter meant business. Jack decided to play along.
"Okay, Sam," he said, the girl retracted her finger and resumed her reading. "what you doing?"
Sam rolled her eyes in the exaggerated way that three year olds usually do. "Isn't it obvious? I am reading." She heaved at Jack's stupidity. Was he blind?
Jack threw his hands up in resignation. The little blonde chick was beginning to scare him a little bit. "What you reading?"
Sam huffed. "Would you speak properly, please!" She almost yelled. "It's not what you reading," she said in a fake deep voice in an attempt to mimic Jack, "it's what are you reading. Get it right, half-whit!"
Jack was taken aback. A three year old shouldn't know that. By all rites, Sam should just be passed saying "goo" and "gah" but her words were formed almost completely and understandably. Jack didn't mind that she was right, merely shocked that she knew he was wrong. The only way to tame this 3-year-old, was to beat her at her own game. "Okay, you're right," he said. Jack wasn't passed admitting to a three year old he was wrong. "What are you reading?" He corrected.
The little girl's temper subsided and she looked at him from the corner of her eyes, not yet deciding if she liked him or not. "It's a book about Astronomy." She stated simply.
"Really?" Jack asked, feigning surprise. Jack didn't tell the girl, but he could read upside-down. He knew exactly what she was reading. It was an article in an encyclopedia about super nova's. What he wanted to know was why a three year old was reading such a book.
Sam nodded her head fervently. "I love astronomy! The sky was the best thing that god created!" She giggled, hilarity laced in her laugh. She got up from her lying down position and peeled back the curtains behind Jack that revealed the night sky. "Isn't it pretty?" She marveled. "I look at it every night."
"Me too." Jack said pensively.
Sam turned around and looked at the boy whose face was so sad. "You do?" She asked incredulously.
Jack nodded. "It sort of helps." Sam noticed that Jack was sad about something, but thought best not to ask. Not yet, anyway. Jack crawled on his knee's over to Sam and hugged her close to him. Taking in her scent, she still reminded him of a baby, even though, she clearly didn't think she was. "See, I look up at the sky and I say a poem. Do you know what it is?"
She scrunched up her face and thought deeply. She shook her head. Jack gripped Sam's small head and put her forehead against his and closed his eyes. He sang, "Star Light, Star Bright. The first star, I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish, I wish tonight."
The little Sam took in a deep breath and when she did she could smell Jack's scent. She liked it, it wasn't like all the other boys who called her mean names in daycare. Sam decided that she liked Jack. "Star Light, Star Bright. The first star, I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish, I wish tonight." Jack and Sam broke the connection they had with their foreheads and Jack dragged her close to him to watch the stars through the window. He had his arm around her, Sam liked the comfort.
"What did you wish for?" she asked.
"I can't tell you that."
"But why?" She whined.
"Because," he said, "it's a rule." Jack dragged Sam onto the couch and bade her to sit on his knee. She did so gleefully. "You can't tell anyone what the wish was." Jack cradled the little girl in his arms and gently rocked her back and forth.
"So I can't tell you?" She cocked her head to the side and put it close to Jack's temple. Jack shook his head.
"But I will tell you something," the girls face lit up like a light. "I said that poem earlier today, and you were an answer to my wish."
Sam hugged the big boy and squeezed him as tight as she could. With all the strength of a 3-year-old, she also tried rocking him back and forth. Then she pulled back. "Did you thank the star?" She asked curiously. Jack tilted his head to the side and looked at the girl. "If a star grants you a wish, you have to thank it."
Jack mentally kicked himself. "I forgot," he said. "Shall we go thank it now? Together?"
Sam gripped Jack's hand tightly and tugged him towards to the window again. "Yes," she said, "but we must do it properly." She warned. "Otherwise the star will get angry."
An angry star. What an interesting idea, Jack thought. "So what's the proper way to thank the star?" Jack asked. Treating Sam like the genius she is.
Sam stood by the window, thinking. She was thinking so hard that Jack could hear her mind process. "I've got it!" she yelled. Then she leaned into Jack's ear. He strained to hear her. "Star Light, Star Bright. The first star, I saw this tonight, You granted my wish, now I wish I might, wish you thanks, this lovely night." Sam pointed to the sky and indicated for Jack to repeat what she had just said in his ear.
"Star Light, Star Bright. The first star, I saw this tonight, You granted my wish, now I wish I might, wish you thanks, this lovely night." Jack smiled at Sam who clapped her hands and jumped happily like a giddy little girl. Which was exactly what she was at that moment.
"Come here, you!" Jack yelled as he was trying to catch the little girl screaming and running around the house jumping on furniture. Jack laughed with her and when he finally caught up, he picked her up from off the ground and twirled her around in the living room like they were on a merry-go-round. Sam threw her head back in glee and opened her mouth up wide. Jack could see all her teeth, or rather, lack thereof, but he didn't care. Sam grabbed Jack's chin covered in stubble and pulled it closer to hers. They touched noses this time she moved her head side to side.
"You know, I didn't like boys at all. Until I met you." She giggled.
"Really, why is that?" Jack managed to say after all that twirling. Jack carried her and she put her head on Jack's shoulder listening to his heartbeat. She wrapped her hands around Jack's neck and calmed herself down as Jack gently swayed with a hand pressed on her back.
"They're mean." Jack expected Sam to say that they had germs or some other such thing that the girls said about him when he was Sam's age. But instead those two little words broke his heart and cracked it in two. He pulled Sam back and looked at her in her deep blue orbs that had so much wonder behind them. Sam's mouth indicated that everything was fine, but the eyes were so sad that Jack would have rather taken another hit from Benjamin any day.
"What's wrong?" Jack rested Sam on his hip until he sat down on the couch and pulled her close to himself. "What do they do to you?"
Sam hid herself in Jack's oversized jacket. She pulled it around herself like a blanket so that she was warm then she took Jack's arm and hooked it around her back so his hand rested on her little belly. She nestled herself into Jack's gentle embrace and rubbed her head back and forth into his rib cage. The affection made his heart burst. "they call me ugly," Ugly? Jack thought, no one is ugly at 3. "then they call me fat and useless. They take my model of Jupiter and throw it around like it's a ball. They break my stuff. It's horrible." She sniffed. Jack wasn't really sure what to say. If he was talking to another teenager he'd just say to suck it up, but a little girl as pretty as Samantha Carter? What could he do? "One boy shoved me into paint once. Daddy was very angry."
"Have you told your Dad what's been happening?" He asked because he couldn't think of anything else to say.
Sam sniffed again and nodded her head. "But when something like that happens they just get worse. I can't wait until I am big and strong like Daddy to fight back. Then they will be sorry."
Jack just realized that a three year old should only be talking about rainbows and unicorns not exacting revenge. He gave her a cold word. "Sam, how old are you?"
She sniffed tiredly. "three." She said holding up four fingers. Jack shook his head and pushed the pinky finger down. She looked at her raised hand embarrassed.
"You have no reason to get angry at those boys. If you're focused on getting revenge as you get older that thought will consume you're life and you will have wasted your youth."
Sam sniffled, but at an attempt to gain back her pride she turned to him and said, "maybe you should take your own advice."
The boy again cocked his head. "what do you mean?"
"You can't play dumb with me. I know dumb when I see it and you aren't dumb. I also know that those bruises and blood stains didn't get there on accident. How did you get them?"
"I put it in the wash with some red fabric." He lied.
"Don't you dare lie to me." Sam raised that index finger again and pointed it at his nose.
There is nothing getting past you, is there? He huffed. "I got bullied at school. A guy punched me. It made my nose bleed. Then he punched me several times more on the arm. That's where the bruises came from."
Sam retracted her hand again and tried to hold back tears of sadness. Her sweet sensitive soul was snapping and broken. She cried so loudly and rocked herself back and forth to keep herself from breaking down more so than she already had. "I don't know why anyone would do that to you, Jack O'Neill. Your too kind." The little girl cried and cried then Jack cried with her because at that moment he felt like he could.
It was very strange but the two of them almost cried themselves to sleep. Sam was slung over Jack's shoulder and he patted her back, tears falling on her little shirt. Jack looked down at his watch and realized that it was almost 9:30. He wiped his eyes clean and muttered into her t-shirt, "Time to get you into bed, girl."
Jack pulled his jacket over his front and zipped it up. The little girl was safely inside. Her head dead weight on his shoulder and he made sure that she could breathe easily and comfortably. He made his way upstairs and found a door that read Sammie on it. He opened it and laid her on the bed. It was a large bed that two could sleep on. He tucked Sam in and cleared his eyes one last time. He placed her in the centre and she reminded him of a little princess.
As he turned to leave, he heard a little tired voice. "Stay, Jack. Please."
"You're not supposed to be awake." He said, not facing her.
"Nor are you. Sleep beside me. Please. Just for a little while." She cried.
She moved over and indicated for him to lie down beside her. If Jack's heart was broken before, it was completely shattered now. He gripped his heart and sat down beside her. He propped his feet up on her bed and crossed his legs at the ankles. He used the head of the bedframe as his pillow and lifted her head so that his arm was her pillow. His entire arm encircled her in one protective shield.
"I'll stay here, until you fall asleep." He whispered. He sang the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little star. He kissed her forehead as she snuggled in next to him, falling asleep to the gentle thud of his heartbeat.
When Jack was sure Sam was sleeping, he got up and went downstairs. He was waiting for a very long time for General Carter to get home. He fidgeted and fumbled, fiddled and mumbled about how much he missed the mesmerizing little girl that once laid in his arms.
He heard a knock at the door. He rushed to it and opened it to see Mrs. Carter standing before him. "I hope they were all good for you today."
"The best." He sniffed. "Didn't hear a word out of Mark, but Sam, man, she's something different."
"She certainly is." Mrs. Carter beamed. Out of her purse she handed Jack some money but he refused to take it.
"No," he said. "Being with Sam was payment enough."
Mrs. Carter raised her eyes at him. "Did something happen?" She asked.
"No Mrs. Carter. She's just a really, really nice little girl."
"That she is." Mrs. Carter cocked her head to one side and glanced as if knowing something that Jack didn't. He didn't bother to ask what it was, though.
General Carter stepped through the door then Jack's parents stood behind him. The General scowled at Jack as if to say, what are you still doing here? Jack didn't flinch this time. "I'm sorry sweetheart," Jack's mother said walking towards her son, "but it's a lot colder out here now, then it was when you left. So we decided to come and pick you up."
"Nah, it's alright, I don't mind." He shrugged, trying to forget all the tears that he shared with the little girl. Jack tried to follow his parents out of the house to the car when he heard a high pitched scream come from Sam's room. He wanted to go check it out but the girl was already down the stairs before he had the chance.
She ran straight towards Jack and wrapped herself around his leg. All the adults in the room looked at the odd pair quizzically. "Sam, whats wrong?" He asked concerned.
"I woke up and you weren't there. I got scared. Real scared. Like when Daddy leaves home, scared." She said frantically. "I had a nightmare that the angry star tried to get you and…." The rest of her words were drowned out by the fact that her mouth collided with his shoulder. Her crying turned into soft sobs.
"Shhhh." He cooed. "Shhh. I'm fine. I just have to go home now. But you'll see me again soon."
Sam wiped her eyes and shook her head. "No you won't! Cuz we're leaving tomorrow and I want to stay here with you."
"Leaving tomorrow?" He asked to no one in particular. Mr. and Mrs. Carter both nodded their heads sadly but in unison.
"The General," began the young O'Neill's father, "got reassigned. They're leaving tomorrow. If you weren't such a hermit, you'd know that." His mother elbowed him telling them that now wasn't the time.
Sam screamed louder and louder into Jack's shoulder and he tried to calm her. Usually, he'd have a sarcastic retort for his father, but calming down Sam was his first priority at the moment. "I want to live with you!" Jacob turned his head to the side to look at him as if about to say what the hell did you do to my daughter? And what were you doing in her room? But Mrs. Carter also elbowed him, telling him that now wasn't the time. "I want to talk to you," is all Sam said when she had calmed down enough to talk. "in private."
All the adults in the room thought it an odd request, but Jack didn't mind. He put her on the floor and she took him by the hand. He ran with her into the closest room, which was a little stairwell, well-hidden behind a door. She sniffed and he waited until she spoke. "I want to go with you." She said calmly and collectedly.
No matter how much Jack wanted to take her with him, he couldn't. "Your place is with your family. You have to stay with them," Sam was about to start bawling again when he knelt down to her at eye level and lifted her chin so that he could get another close look at her bright blue orbs. "But I'll make a promise, on the stars, that when we are grown, we will see each other again." The frown on Sam's face wasn't completely turned upside down, but it wasn't as deep as it was before. That was, at least, a good start.
"When we are grown, and have lives of our own, we will see each other again, be it through snow, wind or rain." She held out her little finger and Jack grasped it with his own, again noting how little her hand was.
"Pinky promise." He said.
"Pinky promise." She repeated.
"And when you miss me, you can always recite that little rhyme I taught you." He sniffed.
"And the rhyme I taught you." She cried. She wrapped her arms around his neck once again and he lifted her up.
"Can I kiss you, Jack?" She asked, out of the blue.
Jack turned his head to the side and said, "yes." So she kissed him on his cheek. It was wet and sloppy but the cutest gesture that a little girl could do.
Jack let go of the little girl as he placed her on the ground. He twisted the knob when the little said that there was one more thing. "You were my wish, as well, Jack." The little girl brought a fresh set of tears to his eyes as he walked out into the living room and left with his parents.
On the ride home, his dad asked what the angry star was that Sam was talking about when she came downstairs crying. Jack thought about telling him, but he wanted that story to be secret, just between him and Sam so he just told him that it was something the little girl had thought of on her own. He blamed it on the imagination of little kids.
It was true enough.
"You do realize that you are still a kid, right Jack? That's probably why she liked you so much. She could relate to you better." His dad told him. But Jack wasn't listening. He was too tired and his mind was elsewhere.
When Jack finally slumped into his room he looked up at the sky. "Star Light, Star Bright. The first star, I saw this tonight, You granted my wish, now I wish I might, wish you thanks, this lovely night." Then Jack did something that he thought he would never do again. He got on his knees and wept. "I made a promise to that girl. Help me keep it."