Chapter 21 – Sugar Highs and Nighttime Lows

Sam frowned in annoyance as she sat in the back seat of Jack's truck. Jack had whisked her out of the restaurant so fast she almost didn't have time to say good bye to everyone and to properly thank Anthony for all his help. On top of that, she didn't get to have her dessert! She kicked the back of the seat in front of her, wondering what had gotten into him.

The rhythmic kicking was beginning to seriously grate on Jack's nerves. He turned around to look at her at the next stop light. "Sam! Would you knock it off? You're driving me nuts here!"

Sam looked up in confusion. "What am I doing?" she innocently asked. She truly had not realized that she was kicking the seat.

"You're kicking the seat and it's annoying the hell out of me, now stop it! What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me, you're the one who's grumpy and yelling at me," Sam responded. Under her breath she mumbled, "Geez, someone needs a nap."

"I heard that Carter." Jack turned back around and continued driving. She must be coming down off of her sugar high, he thought to himself. I'd better keep my mouth shut so I don't aggravate her further. If he would have glanced in the mirror just then, he would not have kept that promise to himself, as Sam chose that moment to make a face at him.

Silence followed for several minutes, then Sam grumbled, "I hate sitting in the back. I can't see what's in front of us. Why couldn't we take my car?"

Trying to remain civil, Jack replied, "Your car also has an air bag in the front passenger seat. It wouldn't have made any difference."

A deep sigh was followed by another question, "Why didn't you let me have my dessert? You're not in charge of what I eat you know. I don't know why you always think you have to be in charge of everything!"

Good Lord, this was going to be a lot harder than he thought! Still holding onto that air of calm, he replied, "I don't think I have to be in charge of everything. Janet just thought that you had a little too much sugar today and was concerned about you. We can put your dessert in the refrigerator when we get home and you can have it tomorrow."

"Humph! You'll probably sneak into the kitchen at 0200 and eat it, then what?"

"Then I'll buy you another piece of pie! Look Sam, it's been a long day. Why don't you just relax and listen to some music; we're almost home." Jack was about at the end of his rope. Hoping for some quiet, he put a Jazz CD into the CD player and turned up the sound. He chuckled quietly to himself as he saw Sam sit back against the seats, arms folded in front of her chest and a frown on her face. Boy, did she ever come down quickly! He couldn't really remember having this experience with Charlie but, then again, Sarah had been very careful about what their son had eaten.

Sam sat back and wiggled her tooth around with her tongue. It was such a strange feeling to have a loose tooth. She couldn't remember the feeling from when she was young. Remembering Cassie's words about wiggling it, Sam stopped prodding the tooth and looked out the window. It was dark, so all she could see were the lights whizzing by. Aside from the incident in the alley, she had enjoyed her evening. Yet why did she feel so annoyed right now? It must be from everyone telling her what to do and keeping a constant eye on her, she thought. Plus having that big brute manhandle her in the alley hadn't helped!

Sam looked over to the corner of the backseat. Something had caught her eye. It was causing a reflection from the lights on the road. It was a shiny wrapper...an M&M wrapper to be exact. Stretching her fingers across the seat, Sam grabbed hold of the corner of the wrapper with her right hand. It was stuck in the crease of the seats so she had to tug and wiggle it until it came out. A grin spread across her face as she grasped the unopened bad of M&M's in her hand. She would be having some dessert after all!

Glancing in the rearview mirror, Sam was relieved to see that Jack was no longer paying any attention to her. She held her hands below her knees so he couldn't see what she was doing and also to try and stifle the noise the wrapper would make as it was torn open. She grimaced slightly at the tearing noise but Jack didn't notice it over the music pouring out of the speakers. Holding the bag with her left hand, Sam carefully poured a few of the chocolate candies into her right one. "Damn!" she whispered as a few of the M&M's fell to the ground. Pouring M&M's with a cast on was not the easiest task in the world.

"What was that Sam?" Jack asked.

"Oh...uh...man. I said man, this music is good," she replied and leaned back again, pretending she was resting and listening to the music. "I like this CD. It's very relaxing."

Jack smiled at her, relieved that she seemed to be calming down. "I'm glad you like it. We should be home in about 5 minutes; you doing OK?"

"Fine, just fine," she replied. After a few moments of silence, Sam opened her eyes just a bit to peek at Jack. Seeing that the coast was clear, she popped the handful of M&M's into her mouth, closing her eyes in bliss as the chocolate melted in her mouth.

Jack turned down his street just as she put another small handful of candy into her mouth. He happened to glance in the mirror at the exact moment her hand was in front of her opened mouth. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Sam? What are you doing?"

Sam's eyes got real wide and she tried to put on an innocent expression. "Mufing," she mumbled.

"Sam? What have you got in your mouth?" he demanded.

Sam shrugged her shoulders and tried to look disgruntled with his questioning. Unfortunately, she still had some chocolate in her mouth. "Mufing!"

Jack pulled into the driveway, parked the car and turned around to face her head on. "I know you are hiding something. Now please tell me what it is."

Sam glanced out the window, then back at him. Sighing, she held up the now half empty bag of M&M's and smiled at him sheepishly.

"Oh, for crying out loud Sam! I'm supposed to be getting you off your sugar high, not adding to it. Where the hell did you get the candy?"

Sam swallowed the chocolate and pointed to the back seat. "It was stuck in the seat. What's the big deal? And who said I was on a sugar high? That's ridiculous!"

"Janet did..., and Daniel..., and Cassie, and ...." Jack was interrupted by Sam's loud, "All right already. I get the picture!" He held his hand out for the candy. Sam reluctantly placed the bag into his outstretched hand, then she climbed over the seat and got out on the passenger side, making sure she grabbed the container with the pie in it.

As she reached the front door, Jack reached around her and took the container. "I'll just take that too Carter," he stated as he walked in the door. He went directly into the kitchen and put the dessert in the refrigerator and place the remainder of the M&M's on top of the appliance. Sam had walked into the living room and sat down on the couch in a huff. She kicked her shoes off and flopped back onto the decorative pillows; her mood made even worse by the confiscation of the M&M's.

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Jack warily regarded her from the kitchen where he had snatched a bottle of beer. He so needed a drink right now! He really wanted to send her off to bed, but knew that would blow up in his face. How could he get her to go to bed without sounding as if he were ordering her there? Maybe a little chat was in order.

He came in and sat on the recliner next to her. Trying to be nonchalant, he said, "So, pretty eventful evening wasn't it?"

Sam looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I guess so."

Jack over exaggerated a large yawn. "I'm feeling pretty beat. It's been a long day and we're headed back to work tomorrow. Probably a good idea to hit the hay soon, dontcha think?"

She wasn't fooled for a minute, but decided to play along with him. "I suppose so. But I was thinking of working a bit on my laptop. I didn't get a chance to do all that much today you know; what with Brian and Chris visiting, fixing your computer and all."

"Uh, uh Carter. No more work. I want you rested for tomorrow. You haven't put in a full day since this happened," here he indicated her change in form. When she began to protest, he added, "General Hammond is expecting that you will be able to return and perform many of your same duties. You don't want him to think you can't handle it do you?"

She sighed, he had a point there. "No, I guess you're right." At his smile, she frowned in annoyance; he thought he had her so easily!

"Are you going to bed too? Or are you going to sit up drinking beer until the wee hours of the morning?" she asked innocently. "Remember sir, you have to drive me in bright and early!"

Jack frowned in return and took another long swig of beer. "I know Carter, don't you worry about me. I'll head to bed soon."

"Fine, then I'll see you in the morning." Sam got off the couch and headed towards the stairs.

"You need any help with anything?" Jack asked. He knew she had trouble buttoning her shirt before they left tonight; she might need help unbuttoning as well. Sam had other ideas though.

"No thank you. I'll be fine. Night." And she left the room, making a quick detour to his study to pick up her laptop. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. She was startled to be turned around suddenly before she got to the stairs.

"Why don't you just leave that down here for tonight Sam. I'll make sure nothing happens to it." He gave her his 'all-knowing' grin and took the laptop from her hands. Sam heaved a huge sigh, then turned and trudged up the stairs. He always seemed to get the last word in lately!

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After finally getting undressed and ready for bed, Sam found herself way too wired to fall asleep. Maybe they were right, she thought to herself. Perhaps I did have too much sugar today! Sam dragged out one of her books on astrophysics and tried to read for a while, but that didn't keep her attention for long. She really wished she had her laptop with her! Maybe she could sneak down...no. She'd have to at least wait until Jack went to bed. He had really good ears for someone in his fifties!

Sam took out the notebook she had used to record the configurations of the Triplexus and went over that for a while; going over formulas and making new computations when warranted. Half and hour later, Sam was tired of working on computations. She couldn't sit still; nor lie still for that matter. Looking at her growing pile of dirty laundry, Sam decided she could head to the laundry area and throw some clothes in. She was sorely in need of clean socks and underwear; plus her new blouse had blood on it. She should try and get that out before it set in any more.

Piling the dirty clothes into a basket, Sam made her way down the stairs and back beyond the kitchen to where Jack's washer and dryer were. She heard the faint sounds of the television as she walked by but didn't hear Jack. Must be watching a sporting event, she thought. Those always kept him glued to the set!

Sam set the basket on the ground and opened up the top of the washing machine. She could just reach the dials by standing on her tiptoes. She set the temperature and cycle to what she wanted, loaded up her clothes, and looked around for some detergent. Oh great, up on a shelf above the washer. Sam looked around for a stool or step ladder. Not seeing one, she did the next best thing she could think of. She opened the door to the dryer, which folded down towards her, stood on the door as if it were a step, and climbed on top of the dryer. She still couldn't quite reach the detergent while kneeling on the dryer so she had to stand up to reach the shelf.

Jack, having heard noises coming from the back of the house, chose that moment to enter the laundry room. Seeing his little one-armed major standing on the dryer, reaching for the detergent, almost caused him to yell out in shock. "Good God Carter, why is it every time I come upon you, I find you climbing on things?" he asked in as subdued a voice as he could muster. He reached her in a few strides and plucked her off of the dryer.

"Why do you always freak out when you see me climbing something? You don't have this reaction when I'm climbing around rock formations on alien planets!" she retorted once she was back on the ground.

"Because, you are currently 4 feet tall, have one good arm, and it scares the hell out of me, that's why!" Jack poured the detergent into the washer and closed the lid. "And why couldn't this have waited until tomorrow, may I ask?"

"I need some clean things for tomorrow. I don't exactly have an extensive wardrobe you know!"

"You could have asked me to do it." Jack softened his tone. "What are you still doing up anyways? I thought you had gone to bed."

Sam shuffled her feet on the cold tile floor. "I did, but I couldn't settle down to sleep. I tried reading and working on some things,... not on my laptop," she quickly added when he raised his eyebrows at her. "Then I saw the dirty laundry and thought I could at least go and take care of that."

Noticing her bare feet on the tile floor, Jack ushered her into the kitchen. "How about a glass of milk? That's supposed to make people sleepy isn't it?"

"I think that's warm milk, which I won't drink," she replied, making a face at the thought. "I guess some cold milk won't hurt. How about a nice piece of pie to go with that?" she asked hopefully.

Jack grinned at her, "Nice try, but no."

Jack poured her some milk and brought it out to the living room. Sam sat on the couch and tucked her feet under her. Jack covered her with a blanket. He handed her the milk and sat down next to her. "I'm just watching the end of this old James Bond movie. Do you want to change it to something else?"

Glad that it wasn't hockey, Sam declined. "That's fine. I like Sean Connery as James Bond. I think he's my favorite."

"You go for the older guys, huh Sam?" Jack asked with an odd expression on his face.

She smiled back mischievously, "Only sometimes. They have to have certain qualities you know."

Not wanting to take this particular conversation any further, Jack turned his attention to the television. He decided to ignore Sam's soft chuckle. At some point during the movie, Jack felt Sam's small head leaning against his side. He looked down and was relieved to find that she had fallen asleep. He had been worried that she would be up all night with all that sugar running rampant through her body!

Jack clicked the TV off, stood up, and gathered Sam in his arms. He carried her off to her bed and tucked her in for the night. Wanting to make sure she had clean clothes for the morning, Jack returned to the laundry room to switch the clothes to the dryer. Then he checked the locks, turned out the lights, and headed to bed himself.

Several hours later, just when Jack had been enjoying a particularly nice dream that involved lots of cake, he was startled awake by a terrified scream that emanated from Sam's bedroom.

TBC

A/N: This chapter was great fun to write! Hope you enjoyed it! Just like me, Sam gets very cranky when someone takes away her chocolate!