AN: Just so you know, I made a slight change to Chapter Eight that might help some of the confusion caused by their conversation. Thanks so much for the supportive comments. It's always scary to wade into a new fandom and you guys have made me feel welcome. Thanks again. Jessa

Chapter Nine

Jack drifted in and out of sleep. He'd spent so much of his life sleeping in a makeshift camp or off-world somewhere that he only got confused about where he was when he actually woke up in his own bed. So he wasn't upset to wake up in a strange place. And he'd spent plenty of those nights during the previous nine years in a camp in close proximity to Carter. So he wasn't really surprised to open his eyes to find her face in front of his either. Only half awake, he reveled in the moment, believing it was one of those rare times when she'd shifted closer to him in her sleep and he'd reached out for her in his sleep. He stared at her face, free to observe her close up for the moment. He could pretend that it wasn't so rare, that he got to wake up to her every morning. It slowly started to dawn on him that, although she never looked her age, that morning in particular, she appeared even younger than normal. Things clicked into place one at a time - the length of her hair, the motel room, the worse-for-wear cadet uniform.

The realization hit him so hard he fell backward off the bed. Unfortunately, he forgot to release his hold on her and she toppled off the bed with him and landed unceremoniously on top of him. She blinked at him sleepily, not quite awake enough to care what was happening.

"Carter?" As much as he thoroughly enjoyed having her on top of him like that, he would have much preferred his Carter. Sam said nothing. "Move, Carter." Sam complied groggily, clawing her way back onto his bed without opening her eyes.

He wasn't having that. He was wide awake, at four in the morning, and he was going to make damn sure she was up too. "Carter!" Like a good little cadet, she jumped up and stood at attention, even though she was swaying slightly and her eyes kept slipping closed. Jack stood up and tried to look mad. "What are you doing in my bed?"

Her stiff pose sagged as her hand came up to rub her eyes. "I was tired." She looked at her watch, obviously confused by it. "I only went to sleep a half hour ago." She yawned. "Sir."

He told himself that she wasn't hopelessly adorable, but he didn't fall for it. "Why were you in my bed?"

She opened her eyes, sheer disgust reflecting in them for having been woken up. "Cause I didn't want to mess up my stuff."

Belatedly Jack noticed that mess of papers that completely covered the surface of the other bed. "Oh." He couldn't really be mad since she'd worked all night to help him. And he was well aware of the fact that he'd been the one with his arms around her.

She folded her arms across her chest and sat down on the bed, ceasing any semblance of respecting his authority. "Besides, you're the one who snuggled up to me."

He wanted to sink through the floor. "I was asleep." To say he was mortified wasn't even scratching the surface.

Sam didn't seem to care. Her head was leaning to the side in her half-asleep stupor. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Are you finished with this?" He waved his hand at the spread of papers.

"Sure, I guess." Her head jerked up and she looked around. Jack had seen the fleeting confusion on her face before - she'd just completely woken up. He felt bad for not letting her sleep. He seemed to be the cause of far too many nights she worked through rather than sleep. She shook her head. "Yeah, I'm done. We're good."

Jack looked back and forth between Sam and the papers. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir. I can show you what I did and you can check over it if you'd like."

Jack shook his head, amazed once again by how little sleep she needed to function. "Like I would know if you made it all up."

"I didn't make any- wait, you mean you really don't know this stuff?" Jack shook his head. "You really trust me that much?" Jack nodded. "Wow."

Jack smiled. "Ok, so you helped me. My turn to help you."

Sam looked suspicious. "With what?"

Leary of messing up her precious papers, Jack sat next to her on his bed. "Ill-conceived as the idea may seem now, you'll do just fine with your training. You'll actually like the Air Force if you give it a chance. The training just takes time to sink in." She nodded, but didn't look at all convinced. "And I'm thinking the only think I can really teach you is how to handle a rifle."

"I don't think you can help. I don't think anyone can. I don't really care how to handle a rifle and no one in their right mind would want me to try."

"Wouldn't be the first time someone thought I was crazy." He nudged her shoulder with his own until she looked up. Then he winked. "You're the best shot I know."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Better than me."

She grinned. "Probably because you did a good job teaching me."

He smiled. "Sure, I'll take credit for it. Even though I haven't done it yet."

Jack waited while Sam gathered her things together. He knew better than to rush her. As they drove back to the Air Force Academy, Jack started to wonder why she wasn't asking him about the future, her future. "Aren't you curious?"

"About what, sir?"

"Anything. The future. Big news events. Who wins the next eighteen Superbowls. Just anything. Don't you want to ask me anything?"

Sam smiled. "I really don't care who won the Superbowl, sir."

For someone who had such a pronounced tendency to babbly theoretically, Sam could be awfully concrete at times. Jack shook his head in disbelief. "You aren't curious about anything? Not even advances in science?"

"I'm very curious, sir. In fact, I'd love to go with you and see it all for myself. But if you tell me about what happens and I do something different, then everything might be different."

Jack half smiled at her. "And you don't want to change it." At least there was one thing he could count on.

Sam turned to look at him somberly. "What if changing something means I don't meet you?"

In that one moment, complete clarity dawned on him as to why Carter was so deathly afraid of altering things. He'd been sure Carter remembered his trip back in time, but he could have been wrong. Her hint at it had been his whole justification for finding her young self; he feared that might have been the wrong thing to do. Maybe she'd been talking about something else. Maybe he'd bumped into her accidentally the first time around. Maybe he'd already changed things. And it wasn't like he could go back and ask her if he'd gotten it right - she'd only remember what he'd already changed. Hell, by the time he got back to his life, it might not be his life after all. This Sam might not have stayed in the military. This Sam might not have joined the Stargate program. This could have been the biggest mistake of all time.

His mind worked to untangle itself from the knot it had twisted itself into. "Next time I go time traveling, you need to tell me what you remember so I don't change it."

"You mean the time after the next time." She shrugged. "I mean, if I warn you before this time, won't that change things?"

His head started to hurt. He didn't know what the right sequence was. No one did. "That's it. We're not discussing this anymore."

Sam grinned smugly beside him. "Now you know why I'm not grilling you about the future."

Thankfully, they'd made it back to the Air Force Academy before he could confuse himself any further. It was still too early to go to the range, so Sam took advantage of the time to explain her calculations. Jack was horribly lost in the math, but she spelled it out for him, telling him exactly how long he needed to wait after the wormhole was established to enter it. She pointed out that she had no idea how to establish the wormhole, nor how he should enter it, but she figured he knew that part. Jack nodded, not feeling at all compelled to tell her any of it. Anything to avoid another conversation that would make him want a six-pack of beer to help make sense of it.

In the end, she gave him all the notes she'd made, explaining that it was probably best that she forget she even saw them, let alone keep them around where she might be tempted to play with them. There was one paper she kept separate from the stack - the original note. Sam had scribbled the timing information on it for his reference.

By the time the sun came up, Jack was sick of learning and ready to be the teacher. Sam didn't seem enthusiastic at all, but she didn't try to get out of it. She listened closely as Jack explained some of the things that helped him. Then he stood back and watched her for a few minutes. She was trying to incorporate the techniques he'd shown her and, although it was slight, the improvement was instantaneous.

Several hours later, she beamed at him as she lowered the gun. "This is so cool!" Jack couldn't help but be proud of her. She wasn't afraid of using a gun anymore, an important step forward for anyone hoping to make a career in the military. She massaged her blistered hands and grinned at him, not even upset at the way her skin was torn up. "Thank you, sir!"

It was close to time for the cadets to be on the range, so Sam excused herself to go back to her dorm to get ready for the day. Jack was surprised at how eager she'd become in the short time and realized, as he waited for her to return, that the only reason she'd put up a fuss was because she hadn't been good at it. He chuckled to himself. Sam liked to be good at things. She was naturally good at school. The military took work - something she wasn't used to. All she'd needed was someone to help her and she hadn't known how to ask.