Jack woke up with a slight groan "my back hurts, I'm sleeping on the floor. of course my back's going to hurt." he told himself. He looked at Carter, who was still sleeping. He smiled to himself and grabbed some clothes and went to change. The sound of the shower woke Carter up. She looked at the place on the floor where Jackhad been sleeping, then looked at the bathroom. She walked over and knocked on the door.
"Jack! hurry up!" she shouted, then went to find her clothes and her toothbrush.
"Just a minute!" Jack yelled from the shower. After they both were changed and showered. They got into the car to go get some breakfast. After a brief arguement about where to eat (Carter won, this time) they continued on their way...
They pulled up in front on a two story house "Here we are" Carter called, parking the car and getting out.
"Nice house" Jack commented
"Yeah it is" she said pressing the door bell
The door opened "Sam! So glad you could come!" a tall man said sincerely
"Mark" She said. "This is Colonel Jack O'Neill."
"Pleased to meet you." he said shaking his hand.
"Tommy!" Mark yelled into the house. "Please go tell your mom Aunt Sam is here!"
"Can we come in?" Sam asked.
"Sure! Come in!" Mark said leading the way.
"So, what happened?" Carter asked sitting on the couch.
Jack sat next to her and picked up a pillow.
"Well, I dropped her off school, She seemed fine." Mark said shaking his head. "I got home at four. She wasn't home yet.. We called all her friends, teachers, nothing! So we called the police. Still nothing." he said with frustration
A lady entered the room. "Hey Sam" She said shaking her hand.
"Hi Carol, How you doing?" She asked.
"I'm doing as well as I can, I guess…" She said sitting next to Mark.
"How do you know she didn't run away?" Jack asked.
Mark looked at him. "She would never run away! Especially since her birthday is next week." He defensively
"I didn't mean that-" Jack started, but Carter cut him off.
"Mark, calm down, he didn't mean anything".
Mark nodded "I'm sorry, I'm a bit edgy today"
Jack nodded understandingly
"Would you like something to drink?" Carol asked.
"Please" Jack said.
"Sure" Carter said.
Carol nodded and left "Aunt Sam!" a young boy cried running into the room.
"Tommy" She cried giving him a hug.
"Daddy" A young voice called
"What Matt?" Mark asked standing up
"The fliers are here"
'Thanks Matt" he called
A young boy walked into the room carrying a huge stack of fliers, which he promptly set on the coffee table
"WHEW" he said with a sigh. He looked up and saw Carter "AUNT SAM" he cried throwing himself at her
"Hey Matt!... This is Jack." Carter said giving him a hug.
"What's up?" Jack asked Matt.
"Do you need any help putting those fliers up?" Carter asked looking at the big stack.
"Yeah, sure, that would be great..." Mark said looking at Carol who just walked into the room with a tray of lemonade and after passing it around left mumbling something about soup.
"Thank you Carol" Carter and Jack called simultaneously
"So, Carter do you still do the deep space stuff?" Mark asked finally.
"Deep Space Radar Telemetry, yes" Carter answered smoothly.
"And he works with you?" Mark asked motioning to Jack
"Yes"
"Dad too?"
"Sort of" Carter answered quickly, hoping to be done with this particular topic. Mark noticed her discomfort but didn't say anything.
"Lunch" Carol said peeking into the room "Do you guys like Veggie soup?" She asked Carter and Jack.
"Yeah" Carter said
"You bet" Jack said smiling at her
"Need any help Carol?" Carter asked following Lizzy.
"Boys' why don't you go wash up?" Mark said turning to the boys.
"Yes sir" They both said rushing out of the room. Jack smiled after them and followed Carter into the kitchen.
"Are we ready to go?" Mark asked everyone.
"Yes!" They all answered.
"Ok, Sam you and Matt go with Jack. Carol, you and Tommy are with me. See you guys later!" Mark said getting in car.
"It's MY car Mark" she shot back. He merely waved and left.
Jack opened the door for Sam.
"Thanks Jack" She said surprised. Jack nodded then ran over to his door and got in.
"Ok, Where are we going?" He asked Matt.
"Lets do the stores." Matt answered.
"Okie dokie." He said turning the car around.
"Ok, Carter you do that side" he said pointing to the left. "And me and Matt will do this side, Right buddy?"
Matt nodded "See ya later Aunt Sam!" he called
Carter nodded. She walked into the first store on her side of the street.
"Can I put this up?" She asked the owner holding the flier up. The owner nodded.
"Let me see that" he said. Carter handed him the flier.
"Have you seen her lately?" she asked. The owner looked at her.
"Yeah, yesterday, She and her dad were in here". He looked at Carter and frowned "It wasn't her dad was it?"
Carter shook her head. "No, do you remember what they bought? Did she seem scared or anything?"
The grocer scratched his head "uhh., they bought some bread.. and umm...some bottled water, some candy, that's all they bought I think, And she seemed a little scared... But I didn't think anything of it." He looked down at the flier "She's only 8?" He asked looking at the flier again. Carter nodded. "She had very good manners, for an eight year old." He stated handing back to her.
"Thanks for your help." Carter said turning to hang up the flier in the window. "If you happened to see her could you-"
"Yes I will contact you." He said with a smile.
"Thanks".
"I hope you find her" he said. She nodded and left.
After she put up a flier in every store, she walked back to the truck.
"What took you so long?" Jack asked Carter as she opened the door.
"I was asking some questions"
"Find anything?" He asked curiously.
Carter nodded "kind of" She said, buckling her seat belt. She told them what the grocer had said.
"we should call the police, maybe they can get something from the security footage" Jack said.
Carter smiled at him "good idea".