Chapter Ten: Aveena
Jack O'Neill was in the middle of putting a six-pack of beer into his shopping cart when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the caller… Daniel. He thought about not answering it, but what if it was some big emergency? He pressed 'talk'. "What's wrong?" he sighed into the phone.
"Jack. Umm… nothing, that's what has us worried. As soon as you left the kid stopped crying, sat down on the step and is refusing to even look at us. I don't know what to do."
"Daniel." Jack started. "What's wrong?"
"… I don't know what to do with her?" Daniel tried. "No, seriously, Jack. Don't hang up on me. I have no idea what to do. She won't go into the house, I barely touched her and she jumped away. What do I do?"
"Daniel, is she hurting you?"
"…No."
"Is she hurting Teal'c?"
"No."
"Goodbye Daniel." He hung up the phone and slid it into his pocket. He shook his head and grabbed several bags of chips. He didn't understand Daniel sometimes.
"Colonel." Sam called, pushing her cart around the corner to meet him in the middle. "Are you ready?"
"Almost." Jack looked through her cart, not surprised by her choice in food. "Well, Danny-boy called. He's flipping out because the girl is sitting on the step and won't budge."
Sam turned to him curiously. "Are you serious?"
"Oh yeah."
Sam shrugged. "Oh. I got hotdogs, for the kid, just in case she doesn't want to eat anything else."
Jack nodded. "Good thinking." He had done the same, but he decided not to say anything, after all, you couldn't ever have enough hotdogs, could you?
----
Jack pushed open Carter's front door with his foot. His arms were full of bags, over flowing with food. He was relived not to find the kid outside still; the sweltering heat of late made prolonged exposure to the outdoors dangerous. He made his way into the kitchen, but didn't find any signs of anyone else in the house.
"Daniel?" He called, pulling out a few bags of potato chips. "Teal'c?"
Sam walked into the room, her hands filled with bags as well. There was no more room on the counter, so she placed them on the ground.
"You didn't see Daniel on your way in, did you?" He asked, shoving a gallon of milk into the almost empty fridge.
"No, I didn't, sir."
"Hmm…" He helped Sam unload a few of her bags before he stopped. "I'm going to go make sure she hasn't killed any of them yet."
Sam nodded. "I think I'll join you, sir."
Abandoning the food, they set out to find their friends.
"Daniel?"
No reply.
"Hmm…" Jack glanced at Sam, who seemed really worried. "Maybe they're asleep." He knew it was highly doubtful, as he didn't think the kid would allow herself to fall asleep with two men she hardly knew watching over her.
Sam raised her eyebrow, and made her way to the bedroom, only to find it empty. "Nope. Got another suggestion, sir?"
Jack shrugged.
At that moment they heard a loud squeal come from the back yard.
"What are they doing out there?" Sam asked, more to herself then to Jack. She led the way to her sliding glass door and opened it, but there was no one in sight. She didn't have a large backyard, so they should have easily spotted them.
"Daniel!" Jack shouted. "Teal'c!"
A minute later, Daniel's head poked out from around the corner of the house. "Jack? Sam. When did you two get back?" He motioned for Teal'c and the girl.
"A couple minutes ago. Why didn't you answer us?" Jack asked, as the girl ran up to Daniel, out of breath.
"What have you guys been doing?" Sam asked.
"Umm… just playing. Five minutes after I called you, she tried to run away from us, she ran into the neighbor's backyard. So, obviously we chased her. And now we made sort of a game out of it." Daniel ran his hand through his sweaty hair.
The girl saw Jack and smiled. Giving him a slight wave, then one to Sam.
"O'Neill." Teal'c greeted. "I am happy to see you again. Do you still require our assistance?"
Jack shook his head. "No, I think we can manage. Thanks."
Teal'c gave a slight bow. "Then we will be leaving, Daniel Jackson." He said in a firm voice that left no room for argument.
"He's just tired." Daniel said, pointing to Teal'c. "We got a good workout today."
"I can tell…" Sam said.
"Hey, kid, so-"
"Aveena." Daniel corrected, holding up a finger.
Jack and Sam stared at him, puzzled. "What are you talking about?" Jack asked.
"Her name is Aveena."
Sam's eyes went wide. "You found out her name?" She asked, amazed, wondering how he could have accomplished such a thing.
Daniel shook his head. "No, I didn't. I named her." He smiled. "Aveena means 'The unknown fighter', I thought it was a perfect match."
"Unknown fighter, eh?" Jack nodded.
"Daniel. I don't think we should name her." Sam said. "She's a kid, she already has a name."
"Yes. And one we won't ever figure out. I thought we might as well call her something. And it's not like she will mind." Daniel patted the girl's head.
Sam didn't want to argue any further, but she still didn't feeling comfortable that they were naming someone who they had no right to name.
"Daniel Jackson." Teal'c said.
"Yeah, coming." He replied, he turned to 'Aveena' and waved. "I'll see you around, I guess." He followed Teal'c into the house and a minute later they heard his car speed down the street.
Teal'c was definitely driving.
Jack turned to the girl. "So, it looks like you made some new friends, hey Aveena?" Jack said, kneeling down to her level. "Did you guys have fun? 'Cause you're covered in dirt."
Sam winced her herself. Dirt. She didn't want dirt tracked all over her house. She knew she would have to get used to it. This was a KID after all. "Let's get inside. It's hot out here." She took Aveena's hand and led her into the house, with Colonel O'Neill following right behind.
----
That night went more smoothly then Jack and Sam imagined. They had eaten dinner with no problem. Aveena had only eaten a plain hotdog again (Jack had tried to give her some chocolate chip ice cream, but failed).
They had all moved to the living room to watch a movie, but Aveena went crazy when they turned the television on. After she had run from the room screaming, they decided to stick to the game she knew best; the staring game.
Sam didn't know how long she had been playing, but her eyes were really tired. She didn't want to be the party pooper and end the game, but she found herself hoping that Jack would soon.
"Come on, Carter, blink." Jack said. "That's an order."
Sam automatically blinked. "Sir!" she cried in protest when she realized what had happened. "You can't order me to blink!" she turned to the smiling girl. "She's won again!"
"I can order you to do anything. That doesn't mean you HAVE to, well, at your house anyways." He gave her a smile. "Now, why don't we all head to bed?" he looked at his watch. "It's getting kinda late."
Sam nodded. "Good idea, sir." She felt like giving a cheer. She hadn't wanted something to be over so badly in a long time. "I'll get the bed ready." She stood up and walked out of the room.
Jack leaned over and ticked the child. "Come on, kiddo. You're going to bed."
Aveena's face quickly turned into a stubborn child's look. As Jack carried her down the hall and into the bedroom, she began to shake her head wildly, knowing exactly what they had planned for her to do.
"Now, now, now… you're going to be a good girl aren't you? You're going to go to bed without any complaints, right?" He rubbed her shaking head. He walked into the room to find Sam clearing off the bed. "Hey, look, she's making it all nice and comfy for you. Okay?"
Aveena continued to shake her head, crossing her arms as Jack sat her on the mattress.
Sam sighed; she was too tired to fight with the child. "Please?" She pleaded. "It's late, and you should be in bed."
Aveena glared at her.
"Hey, that's not nice." Jack said, waggling a finger at the girl. "You should be nice to Carter, after all this is her house and she graciously let you stay here. You-"
"Sir, it's okay."
Jack turned and nodded. He paused for a moment, considering her, and then, shrugging, said, "Okay." He pulled the blanket over the sitting girl and pushed her back into the pillows. "Go to sleep."
Aveena threw the covers off but didn't sit up. She seemed confused, not really understanding what they were doing, and why.
Jack pulled the blanket back over her. "Go to sleep." He ordered, remembering the days Charlie had put up a fight in order to stay up later. He had given in a few times then, and regretted it. He turned to leave when he noticed Sam hadn't moved.
"Carter?"
Sam turned to him. "I feel like I'm abandoning her, sir." She said softly.
Jack moved over and tugged her hand. "Carter. She'll be fine, let her be." He said. "She needs to know that we're the bosses, and she's the child. She needs to know she has to listen-… do as we say."
Sam nodded solemnly. She knew he was right, even if she wasn't too fond of the answer he gave.
He tugged her hand once again. "Come on, leave her alone. She'll fall asleep faster if we're gone."
Sam felt bad, the way that child looked at her. "Yes, sir," she murmured as she let him pull her out of the room, and shut the door behind them. "I don't know how parents handle it," she said, walking back into the living and getting comfortable on the couch.
"Carter, you put her to bed. You didn't send her to her first day of school." He said, sitting down next to her. "That's one of the hardest things I ever had to do…"
Sam looked over at him. "What? Send Charlie to school?" Normally, she avoided the subject of his late son, but as it was, he brought it up, and there was an exception for everything.
Jack nodded, thinking back. "Yeah… he was so… he cried." Jack looked away. "I had to shove him into that bus, and when he got home he couldn't wait to go back on it the next day." He sighed. "Wanna beer?"
Sam shook her head. "Thank you." She couldn't imagine losing a child, especially with her own gun. Jack stood up and left the room.
She let out a breath of air. She was tired, but she wasn't ready for bed yet. She picked up the remote and turned on the TV. Normally, she didn't watch television, but once and a while it was good to see what the writers could come up with.
Jack walked back into the room with a beer bottle in his mouth. He took the remote away, she didn't protest, and turned it to his favorite show. The Simpson's. "I've seen this one like a million times." He muttered, setting his beer on the coffee table.
Sam took the remote back. "Well, then, let's not make you watch it once more, huh?" She flipped through the channels. "Let's see… umm…"
"Carter, if you're not going to watch anything, why don't you let me watch my show?" Jack asked, sure he seen the episode so many times he could memorize it, but he liked it, a lot.
Sam turned to him. "I don't want you to have to sit through another hour of that show. I know how much you hate it." She paused on CBS, which was playing NCIS. "Wow, Gibbs got a mustache, interesting. What else have I missed?" She dropped the remote and got cozy.
"I can't believe you watch this show!"
Sam didn't take her eyes off the TV. "Why is that so hard to believe?" she asked.
"Because…" Jack said, trying to come up with several intelligent answers. "For the first thing, they show a ton of blood and guts… dead bodies… you know, stuff you don't need to see, you already see enough of that gunk. And second… the Simpson's is better." He finished with a sip of beer.
Sam raised her eyebrows. "That's really a matter of opinion, sir."
"Oh, come on, Carter. You know what I mean. This is such a gory kind of show… and-"
"I happen to like it over the Simpson's. Sir, if you remember, you made me sit through seven hours worth of episodes…" She reminded him.
"I didn't make you."
"Oh, yes you did." She looked at him.
"How?"
She looked embarrassed to answer. "You blackmailed me."
"Oooh! Right! I remember now." He grinned foolishly. "I said I'd take away your blue jello from you for a month."
Sam nodded and turned back to the screen. She tossed the remote to him. "Here." She stood up. "I'm going to go take a shower and change my bandage." She walked out of the room, leaving Jack alone with his cartoons…
----
Sam stepped out of the warm shower and wrapped a towel around her. She quickly dried herself off and wiped the towel across the mirror, free from steam. She touched her wound and winced. She shook her head and quickly got dressed into her pajamas.
Stepping out of the warm bathroom into the cool house, she wrapped her arms around herself, to keep some of the coldness away. She heard the TV and guessed Colonel O'Neill was still watching the Simpson's. She crossed the hall and pushed open the guest room, half expecting to find the child asleep, she wasn't.
"Hey, what are you doing?" She asked, crossing the room. "You should be asleep."
Aveena turned to her as Sam sat on the bed next to her. She no longer looked mad, just disappointed.
Sam gave her a smile placed her hand on her shoulders. "Hey, are you okay? You look a little… down." She squeezed the small shoulder before releasing it. Looking around the almost pitch-black room, she thought, maybe the kid was afraid of the dark. "I may have a nightlight," she said softly. "I'll go get it." She stood up, and left the room.
Sam found the nightlight in the basket full of junk above her fridge. She tested it before hurrying back to Aveena. She hadn't seen this nightlight since Cassie was ten, whenever she spent the night here she would need it. "Here it is." Sam said as she walked back into the room. "I found it." She plugged it into the outlet next to the bed, and the light spread around them. "Is that better?"
Aveena jumped slightly at the new light. She turned behind her and saw Sam smiling at her. She gave a quick smile.
"Okay, well, I probably should be getting to bed too," She pushed herself to her feet. "Goodnight." She left the room, shutting the door behind her as she did.
"Carter?"
Sam almost jumped, but managed to stop herself. She turned around to see her CO standing there. "Colonel, I was just about to get you your blankets and pillows…"
Jack nodded. "Is she asleep?" He motioned to the door.
Sam shook her head. "Not yet, sir. I put a nightlight next to the bed. I think that may help." She turned to the cupboards down the hall and walked to them. "I'm sorry, I don't have any regular extra blankets, do you want flower power or-"
"The Simpson's?" Jack asked incredulously, staring at the comforter before him. "I didn't take you for-"
"Cassie's."
"Oh." He pulled the blanket out. "This will work. Thanks."
"I'll get you a pillow." She said, disappearing into a room, and coming out with two pillows a minute later. "Here you go. Are you sure you don't want-"
"I'm fine, Carter, thanks." He said, softly interrupting her as he took the pillows. "Thanks."
"Goodnight, sir." She said.
"'Night."
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Thanks Aria-wolfstar for beta'ing this for me!
I hope you all enjoyed it, please review!