A/N: So. I found some time to sneak in a little bit of writing. I'll try to follow up with the next one as soon as I can.

To my anonymous reviewers:

dp: Thanks! And definitely been enjoying having my sister around. She leaves tomorrow :(

Kinnik: I will and have had a great time. Thank you!

Athena: Thank you, thank you, thank you! lol


Day 23

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Jack reached up with his left hand and turned off the alarm. A familiar weight wiggled on his back. Jack nudged up with his shoulder while reaching his hand to tap her on the back.

A parrying hand tried to swat his away.

"Emma, it's time to get up."

"Noooo," she whined, burrowing her face between his right arm and side. Sam shuffled closer to both of them, reaching out an arm to rub Emma's back.

"Morning, sweetie."

Emma ignored her, not being a morning person in the slightest these days. Jack's bladder refused to be ignored. Unceremoniously rolling the growth on his back toward Carter, Jack crawled out of bed and stretched his sore back muscles.

Once he was done with his visit to the bathroom, Jack found Sam and Emma whispering in bed. Emma was giggling about something and the picture the two of them made was just about the cutest thing Jack had ever seen. Emma hopped out of bed to go wake up Nate most likely while Sam followed at a slower pace.

Jack pulled off his t-shirt, the requisite drool stain from Emma present and accounted for. She'd been sleeping with them almost every night since the sleep study. The only times she slept alone, Emma'd had more night terrors and after the last time she'd cried so bitterly that they hadn't forced her to sleep in her own room since.

Jack wasn't sure why Emma didn't have nightmares when she slept with them. Maybe it was because Emma leached to his body. Anytime she moved, Jack woke up in an effort to comfort her in case it was a nightmare beginning. Whatever it was, it was working so Jack wasn't complaining. It wasn't a permanent solution but for now it was all they had.

Jack went to grab his toothbrush and paused. Carter'd gotten new ones again.

"Sam, which ones my toothbrush?"

"The green one."

Well, they were both kind of green. In one of those instances where he wondered if Sam really could read his mind, she added, "The green with the blue, not the green with the purple."

Ah.

Jack squirted a liberal amount of toothpaste and got to work. Getting the sensation of being watched, Jack looked into the bedroom to find Sam staring at him, or rather, at his body.

"Cahtah," Jack garbled before moving his toothbrush off to the side in his mouth, "are you tekking me out?"

He was somewhere between amused, pleasantly surprised, and disbelieving. He knew Sam found him attractive but he was just brushing his teeth, fer cryin' out loud.

She took a step toward him and angled her head. "Jack, have you been working out?"

So she was checking him out. Niice.

Jack looked down at his torso - which was admittedly more toned than she'd been used to seeing the past few years.

"A little," he replied before spitting in the sink and rinsing his mouth out. He'd had a lot of pent up stress over Emma's situation and turned to exercise to work it out.

"Of course now you would choose to lose weight," she grumbled. Jack heard her walk in the direction of their dresser, talking more to herself than him. "I'm over here getting cankles and he decides to work on his six pack."

The phone started to ring and before either moved to answer it, Nate shouted from somewhere in the house, "I'll get it!"

Nathan had picked up a recent fascination with the phone, especially if it was Cassie on the line. Jack figured it was the beginnings of a crush.

Nate answered the phone after running down the stairs. "Hello," he said, panting a little.

"Wow, you sound out of breath," a female voice smiled through the line.

"No, I have more."

The woman laughed. "Is this Nathan?"

"Yeah. Who's this?"

"Leslie from your old daycare. I don't know if you remember me but I used to help take care of you."

"I remember. Watcha calling here for?," Nate asked with honest curiosity.

"I was hoping I could talk to your mom or dad. Are one of them available?"

"Yeah, hold on."

Nate ran back up the stairs to his mom and dad's room. Barging in, Nathan handed the phone to Sam. "Leslie's on the phone for you."

"Who?," but Nathan was already out the door again.

Sam put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Mrs. O'Neill?"

"This is she."

"Hi. This is Leslie Burbaker from Emma's daycare. I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time this morning when you dropped Emma off."

Concerned, Sam asked, "Is everything alright?"

"I'd just like to ask a few questions is all." There was a loud noise in the background. "I'm sorry Mrs. O'Neill but I need to go. Do you think you have a few minutes to spare this morning?"

"Sure," Sam agreed, a little bewildered. "That's fine. I'll bring Emma a little early."

"Great. See you then."

Sam pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it as if it could explain the mysterious conversation she'd just had.

"What was that about?"

"One of the women from Emma's daycare wants to ask me some questions."

"About what?"

"She didn't say."

"Odd," Jack mused.

Sam got to the daycare with Emma about ten minutes earlier than usual. Susie was up front and greeted Sam with a familiar smile. She'd been at the daycare since Nathan was a baby and always enjoyed taking care of him.

"Hi Sam!"

"Susie, how are you?"

"Pregnant," she grouched while wearing a smile. Susie patted her stomach. "These two have been fighting all morning."

She looked down at Emma. "And how are you this morning, sweetheart?"

"Good. Is your babies gonna be surprises?"

Susie looked to Sam for explanation. "Jack and I have decided not to find out if we're having a boy or a girl this time around," Sam informed her. "We've got one of each so we thought we'd let this one be a surprise."

Susie nodded. "Ah. Well, Miss Emma, I am having two boys. Lord help us all."

"I bet you're husband's excited," Sam remarked.

"Honestly, we both wanted girls. He has two boys from a previous marriage. I will be surrounded by testosterone."

Susie knew Sam's morning routine well and glanced at the clock. "But enough of my prattling; I'm gonna make you late for work. C'mon, Miss Emma, let's go put your backpack away."

"Actually, I was told to come early today to meet with Leslie?," Sam asked more than stated, hoping Susie knew what it was about.

Susie dashed that hope, frowning in confusion. "Really? Huh. She's in the back. I'll go get her. She'll be right out."

Sam waited and a minute later, Leslie came to the front. Sam vaguely recognised her but it was mainly Susie that she ever talked to.

"Hi, Mrs. O'Neill. I'm Leslie."

"Please, call me Sam."

"Alright. Sam." Leslie crossed her arms over her chest nervously. "I just have a few questions. Please, don't take these the wrong way. I've just been noticing lately and... how are things at home?"

"Excuse me?" Sam was a little more than surprised now.

"I'm not meaning to pry but I know how the economy is and I don't know if you or Mr. O'Neill have perhaps lost a source of income..."

What in the world? "No," Sam denied. "Both Jack and I have very stable incomes. May I ask why you are suddenly so considered with our jobs?"

Sam couldn't quite leave the perturbed tone out of her voice.

"I'm sorry. It's just that Emma has recently started complaining about being hungry all of the time. She's also very tired, even after nap time."

Sam could not believe her ears. "Are you suggesting that I'm neglecting my daughter?"

"No, ma'am. I took care of Nathan his last year here with us and never had any concerns. We have had parents in the past, however, that lost both of their jobs and were struggling just to get food on the table. Emma's behavior has caused some concern."

Sam briefly pinched the bridge of her nose. Emma had been hungrier than usual lately but Sam just took that to mean she was reaching a growth spurt. It wasn't anything severe enough for her to be worried about but if Emma was noticeably hungry at daycare as well, something was up. What it was, Sam had no idea. The tiredness however could be partially explained.

Giving a deep sigh, Sam expounded, "Emma's been having trouble sleeping at night. She's been diagnosed with night terrors," and even if that wasn't entirely accurate it was a close enough description.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Leslie apologized.

"She's been sleeping with her father and I to try and help prevent them from happening and it's helped but none of us are getting a great nights sleep. I, however, don't know what to tell you about Emma saying she's hungry all the time. She eats like a horse at home. I assume she's about to hit a growth spurt."

Leslie nodded. "I thought the same at first but lately she's been bringing food to school in her pockets."

"What?"

Shrugging, Leslie tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "When I asked her why she was sneaking food in her pockets, all she would say was she was hungry and wanted more food."

Sam was completely dumbstruck. "I-I have no idea why she would do that. I'll have a talk with her tonight."

"Maybe she should be taken to a doctor. If she's eating appropriately but still hungry, there could be something wrong."

Sam frowned in worry. As if they needed something else to go wrong. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll schedule an appointment with her doctor today."

Leslie looked relieved and even though her assumptions had been wrong, Sam was glad Leslie brought this to her attention and told her so.

"No problem, Mrs. O'Neill. I just hope every thing's okay with Emma."

So did Sam.


Day 25-26

"Mommy, what are we doing at your work?"

"We're going to see if Dr. Lam can find out why you've been so hungry all the time."

Emma looked at Sam like she was particularly dense. "I'm growing, Mama."

Sam smiled. "Yes, you are. But even growing girls don't normally eat as much as you do."

After the discussion with Leslie at Emma's daycare, Jack and Sam had sat Emma down and asked her about sneaking food into daycare. After some avoidance tactics, she finally told them that she really was just hungry a lot.

They'd decided to record exactly how much Emma was eating before going to Carolyn about it. After all, they might be blowing this all out of proportion. Sam made sure to express to Emma that any time she was hungry, she was to let them know and she could have something to eat.

Over the past two days, Emma had eaten enough to feed an army. At breakfast especially she wanted an excess of food. A bowl of cereal, four pieces of toast, two eggs, and a large glass of orange juice had been her request and she'd eaten it all. At daycare, Leslie was given the same instructions and they'd found that though Emma didn't necessarily eat much more than others at mealtime, she was asking for food much more frequently, wanting a snack in hand practically the entire day.

Armed with information, Sam got clearance for Emma to come to the mountain and be checked over by Carolyn. The only thing Sam could think of was that Emma had tapeworms. She hoped it was tapeworms and really, how twisted was her life that she was hoping her daughter had a worm?

Carolyn ran some blood work and other tests on Emma. Once the results came back, she confirmed that Emma did not have worms of any kind. Emma was, however, nutritionally deficient. It wasn't severe but she was on the low end across the scale.

Sam lamented. "I don't understand. She eats all the time. We feed her healthy foods so it's not like she's not getting nutrients from her diet."

"Well, her metabolism is very high. That alone explains her eating habits. The faster the metabolism the quicker she burns calories. The fact that this increase is occurring at the same time as the Ancient download started having more of an effect on her leads me to believe they are related."

"How?"

"It could be taxing her system, requiring more work from her body in able to do what it does. Now the sleep study gave me no reason to assume that would be the case but it was also relatively early on when we ran the tests."

"But Emma hasn't been having any night terrors since she's been sharing a room with Jack and I."

Carolyn tilted her head in contemplation. "That doesn't mean she's not receiving information from the repository - just that the images don't frighten her."

That was unsettling. Sam berated herself for not thinking of that before. "So what do we do?"

"I suggest starting her on supplements. It will boost the nutrients Emma is low on. Other than that, watch her for any other symptoms."

"That's all?"

"Having a high metabolism isn't a bad thing. As long as she eats what she needs and takes vitamins regularly, Emma will be fine. And when she's a teenager, she'll have the blessing of fitting perfectly in skinny jeans."

Sam chuckled, her relief palpable. Hearing that the repository was having yet another affect on Emma wasn't good news, but considering how relatively mundane it was compared to what it could have been, Sam was overjoyed.

"Oh!" Carolyn exclaimed after a moment. "I have something I want you to try with Emma."

Sam was intrigued when Carolyn returned with a heart monitor.

"I've been trying to figure out a way to stop Emma's terrors before they start and this is the best I've come up with so far. During the sleep study, one of the first signs Emma had was a racing heart. Now this heart monitor can be set to let out a shrill alarm when the heart rate either drops too low or raises too high. If Emma wears this when she goes to bed, the heart monitor will go off. The sound is loud enough that it should wake her up. I know it's not ideal but..."

"No," Sam stopped her, taking the heart monitor to look it over. "I think it's a great idea. I'm sure it will take her a little bit to get used to but this could work."

Maybe they'd all start getting some sleep again. Sam was truly touched by all Carolyn had done. She spent so much time and effort in Emma's situation. They'd both spent many long hours together those first days trying to find a way to remove the repository information.

"Thank you," Sam told her sincerely. "For everything."

Carolyn smiled with all the self-reproach of all people who couldn't fix a problem to the extent they wanted. "I wish I could do more."

Sam placed her hand on Carolyn's arm. "You do enough. Believe me. Jack and I are very grateful for how hard you've worked to help Emma."


Day 27

Ariston took a deep breath, soaking in the smell of fallen leaves and something spicy that he couldn't quite identify. Walking in the park was Ariston's sanctuary and he would continue to do so until the ground was covered in snow and many layers of clothes would no longer keep him warm.

It was peaceful - walking in nature. And quiet. He wasn't necessarily a fan of the latter as it led to reflection - which Ariston tried to avoid at all costs - but here, here he didn't get bogged down by the mental scars that Baal left him with. The scars that Baal continued to mock him with beyond the grave.

Nature was beautiful and real, unsculpted by man or alien. It was something Ba'al could have cared less about. "Woodsy" was a look Ba'al would have distained for it's lack of clean lines and ornate design. Ariston liked to think his closet full of relaxed flannel shirts had more to do with his own style than any desire to tick off a dead snake.

They'd had an unusually warm autumn this year. Ariston hoped that would continue into a mild winter but he wasn't going to hold his breath on that one.

"Catch it, Dorothy! Catch it!"

Ariston heard the excited little voice down the path and spotted a family out on the grass. A dog jumped in the air and caught a Frisbee in its mouth, a little girl clapping her hands at the achievement. An older boy pulled on a man's arm to get his attention, saying something Ariston couldn't hear.

It was only as Ariston got closer and saw the woman sitting on a blanket on the grass that he realized who they were.

"Colonel Carter," he greeted once he was within distance. Out of the corner of Ariston's eye, he saw General O'Neill glance in their direction.

Carter's smile was genuine. They'd worked together some over the years, Ariston's inclination toward scientific matters lending to their working on various projects together. General O'Neill, on the other hand, Ariston had little contact with - and they both preferred it that way.

"Ariston! How are you?"

"Well. Thank you."

"Daddy, who's that?," the boy asked.

O'Neill and the children were far enough away that introducing him properly would not have been necessarily but close enough that Ariston heard the question.

"Somebody your mom works with," was O'Neill's reply.

Ariston was just turning back to Colonel Carter when the little girl looked over to see what her brother was talking about and froze. The look she gave was one that Ariston could honestly say he hadn't seen in several years but one he had witnessed thousands of times before - pure unadulterated terror.


I have a poll for everybody. To state ahead of time, this is not regarding Jack or Sam but rather a less frequent character in the story.

To kill him/her off (permanently *gasp*) or have him/her saved in an unexpected Sci Fi-y way?

Which would you as a reader prefer?