AN: Jack toes the line between hurting Sam and just confusing her. Sam has decide to tell Jack the truth or treat him like a mushroom. Will Jack and Sam be able to handle Jack and Sam? Confused? You won't be. Next time on Soap!

Chapter 4 – Cervante

"So what was that all about?" he asked her out of natural concern. It was his Carter after all.

Se laughed and shook her head. "My daughter called Cassie to pick her up after she signed herself out of school as she and her lab partner had melted the metal table they were using in chemistry." She very carefully worded it as her and not our or in exasperation your which honestly had it been retired and parent Jack she'd have definitely pinned this behavior on his genetics. Even trying not to laugh she knew she needed to be very careful.

"Did you ever melt a chemistry table?" he asked her chuckling.

"My father would have killed me." She grinned.

"Probably." He agreed. Jacob seemed like a stressed out guy from Sam's brief descriptions of him.

"What about your husband?"

She considered for a moment how much to say and how to say it. "He'll pretend to be mad then pay for the table grumbling about what an expensive kid she is." She told him honestly. He'd have known if she'd tried to lie. It felt important not to outright lie to him even in this situation where she couldn't tell him the truth or reassure him everything would be all right in the end.

"Sounds like he's a good dad then." He said thoughtfully.

"He's a great dad." She told him warmly. Her eyes soft.

"You love him." Jack said finally. His voice gentle.

And knowing she could be completely honest with him just as he'd been with her twenty years ago, "He's the best man I've ever known. I can't imagine my life without him now."

He nodded slowly. Well, he'd asked after all and hid his pleased grin. She didn't need to know he'd snooped and she didn't know how he felt yet either. He might tell her before he left though. "He's a lucky man." He said with an amused smile.

"Ridiculously most of the time." She chuckled and shook her head. "I have a lot of paperwork to finish but you are welcome to stay and read. I know you get bored by yourself unless you are fishing or watching the Simpsons."

"Well, who can turn down an offer like that." Then stuck his nose back in the book, his cheek twitching with the effort not to grin.

She looked at him strangely then plowed into her pile of paperwork. This is so weird she though to herself.

Twenty years earlier Jack wasn't sure what to do with himself. He didn't want to be disruptive or have to field questions about what was going on but he wasn't sure what to do with himself ether. Bored he went to his old office and debated doing himself some paperwork just to screw with himself. Actually, that didn't sound like a half bad idea. He hated paperwork unless he was dead bored and well, here he was, dead bored. And there was a ridiculous pile of paperwork his younger self was going to ignore until George yelled at him about it and he ended up copying Carter's work to save time. It was the least he could do while he was here. He knew damn well he wouldn't tell on himself either.

Jack powered up the antique to him computer and started pecking away at the pile, amused at his industrious behavior.

Several hours later the pile was cut by more than half. He'd left work he didn't remember the specifics of or required further follow up but had made himself notes about what needed to be finished and what was completed. Speaking of notes, he pulled out some blank paper and started thinking. After a bit he started writing out two separate notes that went through a handful of revisions before he settled on pretty close to what he wanted them to say. He shredded the rejects just to be on the safe side. The first one he could place right now, the other he'd have to wait until shortly before he knew he'd be pulled back into his own time. He wanted to make sure he hugged Janet at least once before he had to go. He didn't think it was safe to leave her a note as well or Daniel for that matter. Neither would keep it to themselves but he and Sam would each think they were unique in getting such a personal thing from him and choose not to even mention it. That was a very bad habit they got into he decided and it was the second biggest thing he wished he could change. They could have run one swell black ops gig and gotten away with it had either made a move to do so. But then Grace might not be Grace and Jacob might not be Jacob and yah. He loved his kids exactly the way they were even if he did think his son a bit too much like the grandfather he was named for.

Having finished that he wandered back to his old quarters and flopped on the bed. Thing was as uncomfortable as he remembered. Exhaustion had made it bearable in his 40s. He was going to wake up sore tomorrow and checked a drawer where he'd always kept the good stuff from Janet for when his knee gave him crap after a rough mission. Yup. Right where I remembered it being. Sam would switch them back sometime early tomorrow afternoon. He'd been really careful to write down the time in his relative youth and keep track of it until it happened again. He grinned at how Sam had tried so hard not to freak him out not knowing at all that he'd already found the photo he'd told her to hide himself though she'd been smart enough to pocket that clearly something he'd pick engagement ring before his younger self noticed. She was smarter than him though.

Then there was Grace's nonsense with her chemistry partner he'd have to deal with soon. Kiara was a good kid but she was really good at getting their daughter in deeper than she'd planned. He didn't think it was intentional, she was just fun and silly and Grace was attracted to trouble the same way he'd been at her age. She wasn't maliciously destructive. She was just the only ten year old in her chemistry class. They already had her in a school for the gifted and she was giving them a run for their money. Kid needed to work on her tactics a bit. Charming and cute only got you so far when all the other kids were really smart too. Then again, it had worked pretty well on his wife and he wasn't especially smart compared to her. Ok now he was worried about any kid Grace decided she wanted to date in a few years. Poor dude was sunk at go.

Jack finally dozed off thinking back on all the times he'd gotten away with total crap with Sam simply because he charmed her way too easily all things considered since the first couple years they knew each other he'd been the walking definition of ennui. Especially at first when he'd still been upset about the divorce let alone losing Charlie.