A/N: Apologies. First, this is taking me much longer to finish now that I am back in school. Secondly, this chapter is shorter than the others. I will do the best I can to finish the story as quickly as possible while still telling the story I set out to tell. Thank you for reading and thank you for your patience.

Ch 11

Jack hurried through the obviously deserted halls of the SGC, calling for Sam and Daniel. They had to be on this level, right? There was no way they could've gotten on the elevator… but after scouring the level he was on and speaking to the few personnel on the level who definitely hadn't seen two four year olds cruising around in a battery-powered Jeep, Jack had to conclude that somehow they must have left the level.

Great.

A whole military base to search. How had nobody called him yet to tell him where they were? It shouldn't be too hard to spot them in that thing and assume they shouldn't be wherever they were, for crying out loud!

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Waving and smiling at everyone as they passed, calling cheerful greetings to several friendly faces, Sam and Daniel were having no luck finding either of the "uncles" they were looking for… but they sure were having fun trying!

Sam pulled to a stop next to a friendly looking man who was waiting for the elevator, grinning at him from behind the wheel. She looked at the insignia and thought hard. "Excuse me, Lieutenant, can you please tell me where my Uncle George is?" she asked sweetly.

Laughing, Lieutenant Simmons asked, "General Hammond?"

"Yes, sir."

"He's probably in his office. Or the control room, or the briefing room."

The kids exchanged looks.

"What number?" Daniel asked as Sam drove them into the elevator with him.

The friendly man shook his head, laughing, and pushed the button for them, evidently figuring the kids probably needed to be found as soon as possible. Surely if Hammond wasn't already looking for them, he would be soon.

"Thanks!" they called as they zipped away once the elevator had landed.

They were now in a very busy part of the base. Sam weaved around many pairs of legs while Daniel called, "Watch out! Look out! Sorry! Sorry!" to people as they blew past them.

She caught a familiar Texas accent wafting down the corridor and headed that way determinedly, steering into a big room with a big window and a bunch of computers and a lot of people. "Hey, Uncle George!" she called, steering right up to him and coming to a stop about half an inch from his kneecaps. "Look what Colonel O'Neill gave us!"

Mouth gaping wide open, General George Hammond looked down at the two children in utter disbelief. Not only were they gallivanting around his base in a miniature vehicle, but they had somehow gained access to the most secure level! "Sam! What in Sam-hill are you doing down here, alone?" he demanded.

The little girl's smile faltered, confused, and Daniel offered, "She's not alone, I'm here too!"

"Oh believe me, I see that, Dr…. Mr. Jackson."

"Uncle George, we wanted to show you our new toy. Are you mad at me?" Sam asked, eyes filling with confused tears as she looked around the room.

There were lots of adults there, all staring at her. Seeing all their eyes on her only compounded the problem and she suddenly started crying, hating the feeling of scrutiny when she might have done something wrong.

Hammond felt instantly guilty at the sight of her tears. "No, sweetheart. I'm not mad at you. but I will be having a few words with some other people as soon as possible. Walter, page O'Neill. NOW."

"Yes, sir," Walter squeaked, scurrying to comply, as Sam sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"Wow, what's that?" Daniel asked, standing up in his seat in the Jeep and pointing straight through the large plexiglass window, right at the Stargate.

Sam scrambled to her feet as well to see what he was pointing at, tears and embarrassment forgotten instantly. "Whoa! That's neat! What is it?"

Hammond groaned. Just what he needed. The kids had now seen the Stargate.

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Jack ran into Hammond's office, hiding a wince as he stopped. Damn knee. Sam and Daniel were both on Hammond's lap, the Jeep parked beside them. Crap.

"So, you see, it's very important that you never talk about that big old ring down there…" Hammond was saying to them.

"Big old ring?" Jack interrupted, despite himself.

"Yes, Colonel. When these two crashed into the control room in that contraption you put them in, they got quite an eyeful," Hammond said pointedly.

"Sh… crap," Jack said quickly.

"Two dollars," Hammond snapped.

"But I didn't…" Jack started, then stopped at the stern look on the man's face. "Yes, sir."

He knew he was in for a reaming out about the Jeep, but he didn't want the kids to hear it.

"Uh, sir, maybe Teal'c could take the kids to Fraiser? She should have Daniel's glasses soon if she doesn't already," Jack suggested.

"Good idea."

"Goodie, we can show him the Jeep," Sam said excitedly to Daniel.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to impound that vehicle for the time being," Hammond told her.

"Huh?" Sam asked.

"Colonel O'Neill will explain it to you when I'm finished explaining it to him," Hammond said, shooting another look at Jack, as if he couldn't already tell he was in for it. He set the kids on their feet carefully and tried to smile at them. "Go wait with Walter. Tell him to call Teal'c."

"Okay," Daniel agreed.

"Yes, sir." Sam looked back and forth between the two men, sure she was missing something. She just had no idea what. Deciding that hugs always made things better, she threw her arms around Hammond where he sat in his chair and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad we finded you, Uncle George. We were looking all over for you forever. I love you!" She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek with a big smile.

He sighed and hugged her, sounding like his normal, gentle self this time. "Go wait with Walter, honey."

She started to follow Daniel out the door.

"Oh, and Sammy?" Hammond called.

She stopped and turned back to him.

"Try to behave. Please."

She giggled. "Uncle George, I always behave!" she insisted, grabbing Daniel's hand as they left the room happily.

The two men watched through the plexiglass star chart to make sure they went to Walter, which they did, of course.

Then Jack sighed and lowered himself into the seat across from Hammond's desk, feeling like he might as well be facing a firing squad. If only he had a cute little ponytail and dimples to help him get out of trouble…

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After stopping to change back into his civvies, Jack finally entered the infirmary after a loooong conversation with Hammond…. One of those conversations where Hammond did most of the talking - the LOUD talking - and Jack mainly just nodded and tried to look humble and contrite.

He was surprised to hear the tone of Teal'c's normally calm, even voice. "Would you perhaps like some ice cream?" he asked, hopefully, more than a hint of desperation in his voice.

"No," a little voice replied instantly. "I want glasses."

Jack groaned. He had hoped they were past that…

He entered the room feeling sort of like he was entering a boxing ring about to face off against an extremely formidable opponent, and took in the sight in front of him.

Teal'c was standing next to one of the beds, a handful of cookies in one hand and Sam's stuffed unicorn in the other, obviously rejected bribe offers. Daniel sat on a nearby bed, happily building something on a meal tray out of plastic silverware, tongue depressors, and the long q-tips that seemed to live in the infirmary. He was wearing his new glasses - whomever had picked them out had obviously just tried to get a miniature version of the ones Daniel normally wore as an adult. He looked more like his older self now, and, Jack had to admit, seeing a four year old in glasses was absolutely adorable.

Sam, on the other hand, wasn't looking as adorable as usual to him at the moment. Possibly because she had just earned him the ass-chewing of his career, or possibly because he was now facing another argument with her he wasn't entirely sure he could win, but seeing the four year old girl standing in the middle of an infirmary bed with her hands in fists on her hips and a firm scowl directed at Teal'c did not exactly warm his heart at the moment.

"Samantha Carter, are you trying to kill me?" he asked, announcing his presence.

Daniel looked up at him and grinned, waving. "Hi Colonel Jack! Look, I can see you from all the way over here!" he called happily.

"Great, buddy!" Jack said enthusiastically. Apparently seeing how much Sam was coveting his glasses had made Daniel decide they were all right after all.

Daniel went back to playing immediately, so Jack turned his attention back to Sam.

"It's not fair," she said stubbornly, sulking, as Jack picked her up by the arms and set her on the floor, safely off the bed.

"She has been most inconsolable since the arrival of Daniel Jackson's glasses, and has thwarted my attempts to distract her," Teal'c reported.

"Tattle-tale," Sam muttered.

"Samantha Carter," Jack warned again.

She crossed her arms and glared at the floor.

"I let her have a turn with them," Daniel called.

Well, there went Jack's plan to show her how much she would hate wearing them, since they'd make everything blurry for her.

"Don't you want to hear what happened with Hammond? You guys got me in so much trouble we're being thrown off the base."

"You are?" Fraiser asked as she entered the room.

"Well, not really," Jack conceded. "But Hammond did finally agree with me that the base isn't the best place for them. He said if you cleared them I could take them home."

"Wow, hear that, Sam? You get to leave!" Janet tried, latching onto the Colonel's clear attempt to distract her.

Daniel's attention had been sparked again and he was watching hopefully, looking perky.

"Where are we going?" Sam finally asked after thinking hard for several moments.

"To my house," Jack said. "Then to a grocery store pretty quick, I imagine. We'll still have to come up here for about half the day most afternoons, though. Come on, at my house you can ride your bikes and drive the car all you want."

Daniel destroyed whatever he was building in his effort to scramble off the bed and over to Jack. "Yaaaaaaaaaaay! Come on, Sam, it'll be so fun."

"Okay," Sam finally agreed. "But I still want my own glasses," she grumbled.

Jack sighed. He was really getting tired of hearing the word 'glasses.' then a thought occurred to him: She wasn't his kid.

He knew he shouldn't just give in under normal circumstances… but the circumstances were far from normal here. She wasn't going to be four forever and he didn't have the responsibility of really raising her. He could opt for the easy way out with no long-term damage.

"All right, you can have mine," he said, pulling his sunglasses out of his pocket and handing them to her.

She took them suspiciously, clearly surprised, and examined them for a while before putting them on. She looked so silly with the oversize frames on her little face that Jack chuckled. She wrinkled her nose at him, then smiled. "Thanks, Colonel!" she hugged him, all traces of previous stubborness and irritability gone.

"Uh, sir, maybe that's not the best way to handle…" Fraiser started, but Teal'c interrupted with "Many thanks, O'Neill. If you require no further assistance I will leave you all for the day."

Apparently Teal'c was tired of babysitting for the day.

Jack nodded. "No problem. I'll call you later after we're settled in at home."

"Very well." Teal'c said goodbye to the children and Fraiser and left quickly.

Jack had to smile to himself at the thought that the large Jaffa had beat a hastier retreat from a cranky four year old than Jack had seen him do from enemy fire.

He turned his attention to the children, who were now standing side by side and grinning ear to ear, nearly vibrating with excitement at getting to leave the base. Sam was still wearing his sunglasses, but he was confident the novelty would wear off sometime soon and she'd give them up on her own.

"Okay, you two. Let's go home."

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A/N: Now that they are leaving the base the pace of the story is going to pick up a lot. Thanks again for reading!