Hey there… I think I agree with you... this AU Jack is not sounding that much as Jack O'Neill… but he will. (I hope) He's just … getting acquainted with his new situation and there are issues that make him somewhat different (Charlie's alive!).

And apparently this is a sloooow burning SJ one, we will get there!

Anyhow! Thanks for the reviews!

Enjoy!

M.

PS: I'm not liking this chapter as much….

Chapter 4 – Adaptation

It was seconds after his bum touched the co-pilot seat that he heard some shuffling from the back, and before he could wonder what was causing it, the (angry) face of his wife was looking at him from the small divide between the cabin and the seats.

"Excuse me, but what's going on?" she asked without taking her accusing eyes out of her husband.

"Ah, we are getting ready for depart, Ms. O'Neill, or would you prefer me to call you Sarah?"

"Ms. O'Neill is okay," Sarah answered with a smirk.

"Sarah is fine..." Jack override with a huff.

"Ah, Ms. O'Neill," Sam continued, yes, she heard the Colonel but, she was considered a smart woman and as such, she knew she had a pair of eyes she wanted to keep attached to her own head. "It will be another 5 to 10 minutes before we take off, we just need to finish the preflight schedule and then we are a go."

"We? And the pilot?" Sarah asked somewhat scared.

"As I was saying to your husband, I'm a qualified pilot and I will be taking you a private terminal in San Diego outskirts. If you prefer your husband can fly with you in the back, he just offered to be the co-pilot to take care I don't do anything which might scare you, or your son. I was about to tell him there's no door between the cabin and the rest of the plane so if something happens, anyone can just come over or shout from the back,"

"You are the pilot?" She asked and Sam could easily read distrust in the woman's face.

"Yes," she answered simply

"No, no… Jack should help you out in case something happens," she told them and retreated to the back, her doubts weren't so subtle when she told Charlie loudly to buckle up tight.

With a snort, Sam continued doing her check ups and soon, the aircraft was moving and they were airborne. However, truth to her word Samantha Carter, after a quick calculation of her trajectory in miles, tank capacity and speed, set her cruise speed several mph lower than she would normally when travelling alone. Her usual short travel of 2:15ish hours at full speed took almost 3. It was so rare of her to take that much time in such short travel that, when she finally got in the area where her private lane was, the tower contacted her immediately to ask if there was any issue. With a glance from the corner of her eye to the somewhat guilty looking Colonel, she said she had valuable cargo which needed a safer travel.

"When we land, you can go to them and I can take care of the post flight, that way it won't be as long as if I have to explain why an unknown military officer was sitting in the cabin"

"Sure," he said with a shrug. Not that much later, they descended softly. Both her taking off and landing skills actually surprised the experienced Colonel sitting beside her.

"It wasn't so bad, wasn't it?" She smirked without actually looking at him. "You should go to the back, if they see you here when they move the plane, then it will be hell to explain," He didn't say a word simply stood and went towards the back, stopping by the divide he said over his shoulders, "It wasn't bad at all"

She finished all the post flight process with a silly grin on her face, while he sat in the back with his family, when she stood up and had a visual of what was going on in the back, she sighed. She had completely forgotten they were travelling with luggage, as she rarely did. (She had things scattered all over the world and if something was missing she either opted for something else or bought it). But there, in the back of her little private jet, two gigantic suitcases were put across the two seats in the back, and the seatbelt was around them. 'Well, at least he is resourceful and the bags are safe', she thought.

In the two seats looking towards the cabin, sat Sarah and Charlie and the Colonel was standing leaning on the back of the seat in which Charlie was. The stopped their conversations the minute she turned around to face them. She walked towards them and grimaced slightly when she saw another small suitcase and a duffel back over the remaining seats.

"You never told us where to put them," he explained apologetically after seeing her expression change.

"Don't worry. It's my bad…I never or rarely travel with anything but myself and my laptop," She said shouldering a backpack that was hidden in a compartment, "therefore, I completely forgot about yours. When you get back home when this … pesky mission of yours ends… then do make whomever brings you home remember to show you where you can put them to travel more comfortable," she smiled, "Ah, I'm all done, we can go now." She added turning around to go towards the small door/stairs of the plane.

She went down and was quickly received with a couple of people. While, the O'Neill's stood behind moving their luggage. She turned around and saw they didn't follow, and this time she did remember the luggage of the family which had joined her on her way back.

"Philips?" she asked and someone waved to a man who was waiting in the back.

"Ma'am?"

"Can you and Richards, help them with the luggage?" she asked politely pointing to the plane, "There are two suitcases, a carry on and a duffel bag, inside the plane"

"Sure, ma'am." He nodded, surprised by that fact, his boss and most of the guests, never carried anything but a backpack or briefcase, "should I bring them to the cars?"

"Yes, please," and the man turned around towards the plane.

The adults of the family frowned when two men in suits came to the plane, and they pointed each other the suitcases, and walked towards them.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"The boss said there are two suitcases, a carry on and a duffel bag which should be taken to the car. We intend to do what we were told," one of them explained.

"I can take them," Jack affirmed politely, shouldering his duffel again.

"Sir, we don't mean any disrespect, but … our boss just told us to grab them and take them to the car, and sincerely, we do love our jobs, so please, let us take them," one pleaded and Sarah glared at him, so he let them be. "The boss is down, if you don't find her roaming the hangar, then she's probably at the main office, anyone around can point you there"

"Is it kinda late to be still working around?" he asked checking his watch.

"This is a 24/7 facility, as most of the places in which the boss sets foot are."

He thanked him and nodded Sarah and Charlie to get out of the way, and they did. As the guy said they spotted her roaming the hangar, she was walking around a small plane, with a bunch of guys.

"Whoa!" Charlie said looking around. And Jack was surprised at the sight too, at the private hangar there were around 10 different planes, jets and even a helicopter and a glider. Some of them nicely parked and some hung from the ceiling. All of them with a nice ornate golden C painted around.

Sam turned around when she heard the exclamation and saw the O'Neill's kid looking around wide and bright eyed, and smiled at his reaction. Oh, yes remembered the first time she was in a hangar, it wasn't one like this. She was spending her summer at her grandma's farm and the neighbor invited Mark and her to join him when he fumigated the fields, the hangar was small and for one plane only, and the plane wasn't anything near fancy. But she was barely 8 at that time and couldn't care less. The moment she was airborne she knew she found something she loved as much as science. She finished her conversation and saw than both Phillips and Richards were back from their assignment and smiled walking to the gawking O'Neill and his parents.

"Cool, isn't?" she told Charlie, who nodded eagerly. "We are ready to go now, Richards will take you to the condo," she said pointing to one of the man they met before. "We will follow them with Phillips, that way you know where they are staying," Sarah opened her mouth but a glare from Jack stopped her from utter a word. "We can stop for a late dinner if you like," she said looking around the hangar with a small frown.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nope, I guess Rodney went back," she said not explaining much.

When the group started to move towards the front, Jack saw how the two men from before moved quickly to beat them out.

It was already dark outside, but the entrance was very well illuminated and it was easy to spot their transport, the in the curb two goldish land rover Freelander waited. One man was beside each of them.

"Ms O'Neill, Mr O'Neill," Richards said from the first car. While Phillips smiled at his boss while she walked towards the second. Jack moved towards the first when he heard Richards calling him, however as Doctor Carter kept moving, he frowned.

"This way, Colonel O'Neill," Phillips said confirming what he had thought.

"I will be in the back," Jack smiled and ruffled his kid hair, before closing the door and walking to the second waiting car.

"Wherever you feel more comfortable, Colonel," Samantha said and he looked up to notice both the front and the passenger door were opened. She slid in the back sit and placed the backpack he noticed her carrying around. She put it in the middle seat beside her and took a laptop out of it, "the view is nicer from the front," she said the light of the computer giving her a weird glow. "and we won't move until you decide…" she muttered.

He closed the door and slid in the seat next to her, he decided he would have enough time to do sightseeing if his hopes of finding the guilty party where solely on the dumb head squad. Then he looked to the woman beside him,

"How come you are a pilot but you don't drive?" he questioned with a small wonder. The snort from the driver was somewhat telling.

"Do you have anything to share Phillips?" she asked the driver with a serious tone, however, the darkish space covering the glint in her eyes. The driver just looked at her from the rear mirror but didn't say anything. "I do drive, Colonel. However, it's easier for me to work when I don't drive, or pilot."

"I see," he affirmed, surprised by the cold way she treated her driver when she was all polite smiles with his family.

"I like to do both things, but I already flew today and that itself, although relaxing, puts me behind on several projects. There's no point on adding another 2 hours to it, when I know Phillips and Richards are perfectly capable of driving me around," He looked at her, even when she was talking with him, she kept typing around.

"Multitasking does have a limit," he muttered making her lips curve slightly upwards. He tapped his fingers in his tights, then he shifted. Trying hard to concentrate in the view but never one to be still for much, sitting around for 3 hours then moving to a car which he wasn't driving, was … boring.

"No wonder your file mentions a possible attention deficit disorder," she turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Should I pull out the dvd player? Or talking with be enough distraction?"

"Huh?"

"You are tapping your fingers, or shifting or looking around, or rotating your thumbs, or tapping your feet… There's only so much concentration one can achieve with constant distraction"

"I'm..." he started, but he didn't feel like apologizing for being himself.

"Please don't say you are sorry, I mean, you went the whole darn briefing with half of Washington like that, plus as I told you, I read your file. Therefore, I would be mildly disappointed if you were to apologize for being yourself."

"I wasn't going to"

"Good, if it makes you feel better, I can't sit still either unless deeply into this…" she could see he had raised an eyebrow as the lights from the outside crept into the inside of the car, "and I spent half of that meeting going through other stuff in my mind to appear to be half interested in what they were saying," She closed her computer with a sigh, "I believe I'm not in the right mindset to continue, and you didn't answer my question," she added placing her laptop in its place and then, moved the backpack to the front seat.

"I would go for the dvd, I'm not a talker"

"I'm not a talker either..." she smiled

"It doesn't show," he mumbled

"Well, I'm not good at being around people I don't know in situations not under my control," she shrugged. Another snort came from Philips, she rolled her eyes playfully, "yes, I know Phillips I'm kind of a control freak"

"I didn't say a word, ma'am"

"But you were thinking it," she pointed and the driver just smiled. "It's in the back?" she asked and he nodded. Sam unclasped her seatbelt and turned around kneeling in the seat. Jack frowned half surprised, it was just then when they had to do a turn and she ended up nose to nose with the Colonel, who grabbed her around the waist to keep her from tumbling backward when they completed the turn.

The Doctor blushed fiercely when she felt his hands in her waist, and bit her lower lip when she inhaled deeply and all she could smell was whatever cologne he was wearing, "I thought I got more time before the turn," she whispered breathily. The Colonel could only nod before she moved back towards the place where she was kneeling at before, he frowned when his hands refused to let her go at once, they remained in the place he put them until she was out of his reach and there wasn't anything left for them than lower them down. He was so concentrated on his own reaction to notice how her body shivered when his hands caressed her back when he slowly let her go.

"Here it is!" she exclaimed happily, when she managed to find the box she was searching for. She turned around and gave the box to him, which he placed between the two of them the moment she was back in her side. She opened the lid and took a portable dvd player, and a contraption of sorts which she quickly put between the front seats, "The other car had it already placed, for your son…" she explained while she stuck the player in its place, "There! Now we only have to pick something to watch. Anything in there is okay by me."

He looked at the box and read the labels of the dvd's that sat organized by name inside the box. He took one out, looking at it incredulously.

"Found one?" she asked seeing him grab a box.

"The Simpsons?" he asked curiously, showing her the box. She shrugged.

"Who doesn't like the Simpsons?" He just nodded in agreement, his mind provided with a quick 'Sarah, doesn't' while she grabbed the box and put the dvd inside. "Any particular chapter? Or from the beginning?"

"Anything is fine by me," she smiled and soon the cartoon sounds took over the formerly silent car.

"To answer my own question, Rodney does," she muttered.

"What?"

"He hates the Simpsons… 'they are too normal' he says"

"You said he left?" he asked casually. She nodded, "How did you know? You just looked around the hangar… or should I be worried because you are some sort of mind reader future seeing mad scientist," she snorted at that.

"Just mad scientist… all my planes were accounted for, his wasn't in. Therefore, he left"

And that's was the last of their conversation, they got absorbed into the series and they laughed wholeheartedly at the jokes, they were so enthralled by it that they didn't feel the car come to a stop.

"We are here ma'am," Phillips said, getting her attention. "Would you like me to come up to help with the luggage or should I wait down for you?"

"There's no need," Jack said, "I can take them all"

"You heard the man, Phillips…" She smiled, and thanked the driver when he opened her door. She went around the car and towards the entrance, while Jack walked to the other car in front of which Sarah and Charlie were standing looking up.

"Whoa, that's a big building," Charlie pointed, "Is this where we are going to live?"

"Yup… it seems like it"

"Cool"

"Whatcha thinking, honey?"

"Nothing much, really. Just hoping it is a nice place"

"Well, if we actually move then we can check for ourselves"

"Where's…?"

"The boss went inside, she needs to sign you in and get you the safety key." Richards explained bringing Sarah's suitcase with him. "Let me help you out"

"There's no need," Jack told him. "I can take them." He rearranged the things in a way he could roll both of the big ones and the small one plus his were up them.

"I won't argue with that!" Richards told him. "Have a good night, Ma'am. Sir. Colonel"

Jack nodded and started to walk towards the entrance, while both Sarah and Charlie waved to the driver.

They walked into the lobby of the building, Jack with his mind set in finding the Doctor who shouldn't have left without him and his wife and kid looking around in awe. The lobby was huge, there were several places to seat, it looked expensive and safe. There was a corridor in the middle of it which was not guarded but it had some sort of safety glass doors. To the left there was what it looked like a restaurant or bar and to the right a reception. The piano sound gave it a chic touch.

And his charge was nowhere to be seen.

"You got to be kidding me," Sarah whispered, and Jack turned around to see what could cause such reaction. One of the seating areas, surrounded by comfortable looking chairs there was a black grand piano, and in it … Doctor Carter sat playing. She turned around feeling observed and saw the family looking at her, she smiled and closed the piano and grabbed an envelope before joining them.

"Here you are! This are your security keys, and there's a spare key for you upstairs. Shall we go?" She walked towards the safety area and pressed a card key in a reader, and the double glass door opened. Then she went for the elevators and pressed the up button. "Just press the card key, in the reader there, and for the elevator. It needs to read the card and it will take you to your floor"

"How high are we going?"

"I'm not too sure of the measurements of the building, but on standard measurements we are going 135 or 155 meters up, that's around 442 or 508 feet up, but my calculations can be wrong…" she explained, "there are some factors that can add or take meters out of it"

"35 floors?" Charlie asked looking at the numbers that were lighting up quickly.

"36 actually, but that one has a stair up."

"And where are we going?" he asked again seeing how the numbers keep growing.

"35th"

And then the elevator doors were opened and they went out. They came to stop into a small lobby and only a double door sat in there, on the other side a single door announced that was for personnel only. She followed their gaze.

"Oh, that's the entrance to the elevators maintenance room, it's on the other half of the 36th," then she walked to the door and opened the lock and the heavy looking doors.

"I hope you find it agreeable, otherwise we could find you another place to live," she offered, moving to the side of the door to give them enough room to go in. "The main room is upstairs, there are four smaller ones to the left side of the building." She pointed, "there's a kitchen, dining room, living room, music room, office and family room, oh and a laundry room." She listed, "Please feel free to use it as you please."

"Can I pick my room?" Charlie asked and his parents nodded, and he flew out of their sight.

"I thought you said a small condo," Sarah commented

"Well, that's what I thought too," he answered, while Sam pretended she didn't hear the comments.

She didn't remember mentioning the condo being small, she considered that maybe Daniel had commented it to the Colonel in the conversation she knew for sure her longtime friend and the Colonel had once she left. If it was so, he probably was thinking about her weekend house in Encintas, in which he stayed more than once, and not about this one. She turned around and found herself looking at the general direction of the kitchen and dining room.

"Oh! On the adult side, the condo should be stocked and someone will come to refill your stock once a week." She said remembering she asked one of her secretaries to add the penthouse to the list of houses that needed groceries and general stuff.

"Doctor Carter, there's no need"

"I know. But you wouldn't be here if it wasn't because of my father. And doing this, is just small compared with the pressure you have to keep me safe, and really, is not a big issue," she shrugged. "Also, Ms. O'Neill, there's a parking spot, if you drive I can get someone to get you one of the companies' car… that way you are free to come and go as you please. However, if you don't feel like driving, Richards is going to be at your disposal or he will point you to someone who's on call. And please, if you need something, anything, just let me know…"

"What about school?"

"Well, I had a conversation with the principal of my daughter's school, he can start tomorrow if you want. However, due to the late hour, I would recommend he joins the day after." They both nodded in agreement. "Good, I do need to know which school he was attending to get his documents moved to this one. For his transport, a driver will pick him at 8:30 AM, he will come up to here, so Charlie isn't unsafe below and you get to know with whom your child is going with, you are also free to join him on his trip to the school or take him yourself if you feel like... and as I told him, if he doesn't like the school we can always change it to the public school nearby"

"Are you telling me he's going to a private school?"

"Yes?" she questioned more than affirmed, when there weren't any complaints about it, "They are going to give him a uniform for him to wear temporarily and a couple of fitted ones will be brought over, later that day." The parents nodded and when she noted they were about to protest she quickly changed subjects, "Well, school is all arranged then. Now on the last pending issue, may I interest you all in a dinner? There's a nice fish and chips restaurant nearby, it's quick and healthy and it isn't fancy like the one at the lobby…"