Chapter 28: Care and Cher

Sam looked up as Jack handed her a glass full of champagne, before sitting down beside her with a sigh and looking out over the crowd, most of which were dancing, with people dressed up as everything from clowns to queens.

"Well, Cher, here's our riches, and our success, and our albums, and show. And little Chastity or Elijah," Jack added, patting Sam's stomach, and she laughed before they both sculled down their drinks.

"Uh-oh, here comes trouble," Jack mumbled, eyeing a beaming Simon walking towards them.

"Sonny and Cher!" he shouted, pointing at them as he approached, and Jack forced a smile.

"How did you guess?"

"Wow, you know, if I ever met the real Cher that would…" He blinked and cleared his throat before quickly changing the subject.

"So how are you liking the party so far?"

"It's colorful," Jack commented.

"I think it's a great end to a perfect trip," Sam said, smiling and (unknown to Simon) pinching Jack.

"That's great! I'm so glad to hear that!" he cried. "You two deserve it, I can see that you have both benefited so much from this trip."

"Yes. Now we can save the world much more effectively," Jack added in an undertone to Sam.

"Look, I'm going to have to go now, but here…" He handed them both water pistols and winked.

"You're going to need this later on." He flitted away to another group and Jack stared down at the gun, puzzled.

"What the hell do we do with this?" Sam looked around the room to see that almost everyone else had water guns as well and she slowly turned back to Jack, shaking her head.

"I'm not sure, but it's either a really good or really bad reason." There seemed to be a kind of silence over the crowd as everyone shared looks and glances, before someone shouted out, disrupting the quiet.

"WATER FIGHT!" There was a pause and Jack and Sam looked at each other before Jack felt someone squirt him with water. He turned to see Simon standing there with that damned grin on his face and Jack jumped up and shot him right back to the tune of Sam laughing at them both. This must have set off something, because suddenly the whole room erupted into shouts and screams and laughter, and within a few minutes there didn't seem to be one dry person in the room. Jack and Sam ran across the room, shooting each other and anyone else they could get, before Jack slipped on a wet patch on the ground and fell with a soft thump on the ground. Sam tripped and fell down beside him, and he took the opportunity to squirt her in the face.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, laughing, and she was about to shoot him back when there was a loud sliding noise and bubbles suddenly began floating down onto them all, covering the room with foam and soap. Across the room the pair also noticed a banner unroll to proclaim 'Good Luck, Partners' and shaking his head, Jack turned to Sam, unable to keep the smile off his face.

"Have you ever read the books of Harry Potter, Sam?" he asked, knowing full well that she had, seeing that Cassie had forced the whole team into it.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, still giggling.

"We should have gone to this thing as Harry and Hermione!"

"Why?"

"Because…" Whatever Jack was about to say suddenly disappeared from his mind as he gazed at her grinning form, her blue eyes alight with playfulness and mischief, the bubbles falling on the wig she was wearing and across her shoulders, and all sense left him.

"I love you," he suddenly blurted out, and Sam's laughter died out as her eyes went wide. She blinked a couple of times, trying to take in what he had just said.

"What?" she croaked out.

"I… I…"

"Sam, or should I say Cher?" They both looked up vaguely to see Simon standing over them both with a roguish grin on his face.

"Is it alright if I take your lovely partner away for just a second?" he asked Jack. "I just wanted to talk to her about something." Before either of them could reply Simon had pulled Sam up and they were both gone, and realization of the full extent of what he had just said to her suddenly hit Jack, and he got up and left the room.

~~~

A/N: I'm not trying to suggest a Harry/Hermione romance with this, okay? Unless you want to take it that way ;)

I didn't think it would become angsty or romancy (apart from the UST, of course) but -hey- it was bound to happen sooner or later.

It's kinda short, but more is coming soon!