Ch 8: Family Ties

For a few seconds that seemed ridiculously long, nobody moved or said anything. Finally, Jacob said, "What the hell is going on in here, young lady?"

Sam bristled at the 'young lady' remark - Jack could feel all of his hard work at getting her marginally relaxed come instantly undone. He wondered how her dad had arrived without anybody coming to get them… or warning Jacob about his daughter's 'condition.'

Sam was partially frozen, understandably a little blind-sided by her dad's sudden appearance after an already emotional day, so Jack answered, "Now, Jake, I'm sure this doesn't look very good, judging by the look on your face nobody gave you any sort of warning about what's been going on here, so let's all just calm down and we'll explain the situ…"

Jacob glared at him and said, "I don't remember asking you…"

"Oh, sorry, you said 'young lady,' so…"

Although Carter laughed, Carter Senior ignored the sarcastic response and zeroed in on his daughter again. "Samantha Grace Carter, you'd better have one hell of an explan…"

Daniel and Teal'c ran into the room at that moment, their blue hands swinging wildly between them as they careened to an awkward stop, Daniel much more awkwardly than Teal'c, who never did anything awkwardly. Daniel was out of breath. "Sam, your Dad's…" Daniel began, stopping when he realized he was definitely too late. "Here," he finished weakly.

"What happened to your hands now?" Jack demanded, as though he thought they had somehow dyed their hands blue intentionally. He doubted that was the case, but come on, couldn't they stay out of trouble for one day…

"Felger," Teal'c said evenly. Well, that said it all, didn't it?

"What does… why are you two holding hands?" Jacob asked, finally starting to look like he might be realizing he was missing something.

Before Daniel and Teal'c could answer, Jack nudged Sam and randomly asked, "Your middle name's 'Grace?'"

Daniel and Teal'c gave him looks that, while delivered quite differently, both had the same basic meaning: What's the matter with you, O'Neill?

Sam absently answered, "Yeah."

"I believe that would be 'yes, sir,' Sam," Jacob corrected irritably.

"Your initials are SGC," Jack said, laughing and ignoring Jacob's remark. She rolled her eyes and started to respond, and Daniel and Teal'c really wanted to ask what the hell was going on, but none of them got a chance to, because the room got even more crowded.

Hammond entered the lab at a brisk pace with Fraiser, and quickly scanned the crowded lab.

"Woo, it's a party now," Jack commented under his breath.

Hammond shot him a slightly exasperated look and said, "Jacob, sorry, I was on the phone with the President, updating him on SG-1's condition when you arrived."

"I'd like to be updated on SG-1's condition too… or is it now common policy for your subordinates to hold their subordinates on their laps and… and cuddle while they cry?"

Jack cringed, and bet Sam did the same. Hammond, Janet, Daniel, and Teal'c all looked at her in surprise - they knew her well-enough to know she rarely cried, and when she did it was for a good reason, and she probably wouldn't want anybody to know about it, especially the General. Jack couldn't believe that her dad would tell everyone she had been crying - didn't he know how much she would hate that?

"She wasn't crying," Jack insisted firmly. It wasn't completely untrue. She hadn't been sobbing uncontrollably or anything like that. She had just kind of… leaked a little.

"Or cuddling," Sam added quickly.

"Right. Or that," Jack agreed, realizing that in most situations he might have found it funny to hear Major General Jacob Carter say 'cuddling.' Funny when you weren't being accused of doing said cuddling, at any rate.

Jacob started to say something else but Hammond held up his hand. "Jacob, I'm sure you were surprised when you saw all of SG-1, particularly Jack and Sam. But the reason we called you was to see if you could help us with their… problem…"

Jack tuned Hammond and Fraiser out as they started catching Jacob up on the situation. The longer he sat there with Jacob casting him disapproving and suspicious glances, the more fed up he started to get. Here he had been glued to the woman he'd been silently in love with for years, and he'd been on his absolute best behavior...

After that zay'tarc thing, of course she sort of knew how he felt about her, but that was in an abstract, theoretical sort of way - and that was a long time ago too. After days of him being pressed right up against her, she knew exactly how he felt about her in a basically undeniable, concrete… biological sense. And still, he had kept his hands to himself and not managed to go completely insane. Maybe they'd bent the rules a little bit here and there, but come on, he sure as hell didn't need Jacob acting like he'd done something wrong! And frankly he didn't deserve it either - and neither did Carter!

Not for the first time, Jack found his respect for Hammond growing even more. Hammond was obviously smart enough to know that sometimes you had to let the rules be bent a little bit to keep them from being broken altogether - he'd proved that once again during this whole mess, overlooking things that he could easily have made a big deal out of. Sometimes he was surprised Hammond and Jacob were such good friends. Hell, Hammond had been more concerned at the mere mention that Sam had been crying than Jacob had been when he'd brought it up in a crowded room of people. That said it all right there, didn't it?

Jack was pretty much as pissed off at Jacob right now as Jacob was at him. Jacob Carter could just glare at him all he wanted to - Jack wasn't going to act like he was guilty of something when he wasn't.

As Hammond and Fraiser finished explaining the situation to Jacob, he thought for a moment and finally said, "Fine. I'll look at a sample, of course, but off the top of my head I have no idea what that could be - neither does Selmak… but it's possible he might be able to figure something out."

"Jacob, why don't we go down up to my lab and I'll show you everything we have so far," Fraiser offered. Clearly she was trying to put a little distance between everyone (those that it was physically possible to separate, at any rate) - which was probably a pretty good idea. Hammond decided to go with them, probably wanting to continue talking to Jacob in private.

"Jack, are you all right?" Daniel asked as soon as they were alone.

"Yeah, fine," he replied tersely. The rest of his team looked at him with their 'we know you're lying' looks. Well, he pretty much had to imagine Carter doing it, but she did squeeze his arm, which she'd taken to doing lately since she couldn't really see him very well.

"Major Carter?" Teal'c added gently.

"I'm okay, guys."

"Are you sure?" Daniel asked hesitantly. They were clearly thinking about what Jacob had said about finding her crying.

"Yeah… I was upset before, just frustrated because I can't figure this out, you know. But… I as already better… until Dad showed up. He's so… he acts like I'm still a kid or something! I don't want to talk about that right now though. What happened to your hands guys, exactly?"

Daniel took an extra-long time to tell the story, keeping the attention off the uncomfortable arrival of Jacob for as long as possible. They laughed at Daniel's impression of Felger's 'don't-hurt-me-Teal'c' face, and everyone relaxed. When the laughter died down, Teal'c and Daniel's stomachs both growled loudly, at the same time.

"You guys have spent waaaaay too much time together," Jack joked.

"Or it's just way past time to eat," Sam suggested, realizing she was pretty hungry herself. That stale half-eaten doughnut still sitting on the edge of her workbench was actually starting to look pretty good - she clearly needed real food if she was getting that desperate.

"I want to eat in the room," Jack said quickly. Last night the four of them had agreed to start going back to the commissary today, but after the day they'd had so far, he just wasn't up to it.

"Me too," Sam agreed.

"I will notify Dr. Fraiser," Teal'c said, picking up the phone.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

When Janet joined them in the VIP quarters, with a whole cart laden with several trays, Jacob followed her. "Mind if I join you?" he asked, his eyes lingering on his daughter.

"Sure," Sam agreed.

Jack nodded. "I guess."

Jacob gave him an 'I wasn't asking you pal, and keep those hands where I can see'em' sort of look which Jack pretended not to notice, determined not to take any crap from Jacob this time around.

"So, Jake… would you say you were more or less surprised when you came into Carter's lab today than that time you caught her under the desk in my office?" Jack asked casually as Jacob took a seat across from them at the table and Janet started handing out trays.

Jacob scowled and Sam let out a reproachful, "Colonel!"

At the same time, Daniel groaned and said, "God, Jack…"

Teal'c and Janet said nothing, although Janet looked like she wanted to dump his bowl of macaroni on his head and it was taking every ounce of willpower she had to place it on the table in front of him instead.

"So, Jacob, what took you guys so long to get the message this time?" Daniel asked, desperate to change the subject as everyone tucked in to their meals.

"Well, I was on a mission at the time, and George said it wasn't a dire emergency, just something I would want to know about and might have helpful information on, so I waited until I was finished," Jacob explained.

"Oh. Well, um…" Daniel was distracted from his own conversation when he saw Jack accidentally drop a spoonful of red Jell-o on Sam's shoulder, scoop it back onto his spoon with his fingers, and then eat it. "Eww, Jack," Daniel said before he could stop himself.

"What?" Jack asked with a shrug. "Her neck's clean." Then, casting a definite smirk at Jacob Carter, he added, "I helped her wash it myself this morning, when we were in the shower."

Sam rolled her eyes, but didn't seem all that surprised by his sudden 'you can all bite me' attitude he seemed to have adopted - if anything she looked like she was trying very hard not to smile. Jacob looked like he was having a particularly bad case of indigestion - he was probably arguing with Selmak.

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After dinner, Jacob muttered something about George inviting him to come home with him and stay in his guest room since SG-1 had taken over the best VIP room, and left rather quickly.

Teal'c couldn't help but notice that O'Neill seemed to be masking feelings of great triumph after the older man bid them goodnight. He expected Major Carter to reprimand him for his immature behavior after SG-1 was alone again, but she did not. Instead, she suggested O'Neill get to choose which film they would watch that evening.

Daniel said he wanted to make another pot of coffee before the movie began. Teal'c could no longer keep silent. "You drink too much coffee, Daniel Jackson," he said matter-of-factly, refusing to budge when Daniel tried to move towards the coffee pot.

"Yeah, I know," Daniel replied with a shrug, making another lunge towards the coffee. He couldn't make Teal'c move.

"I am serious. I knew this already, of course, but being with you constantly has truly shown me how much you consume each day. It is not healthy. You will do irreparable damage to your stomach lining."

"Teal'c…"

"You should drink more water," Teal'c told him firmly.

Daniel still looked shocked at Teal'c's suddenly forceful attitude about coffee, but finally shrugged and said, "All right, Teal'c, I'll cut back a little."

"It is for your own good, as well as the good of SG-1. We would not like you to be incapacitated by something so easily avoidable."

"Okay, I get it," Daniel grumbled, grabbing a bottle of water instead and following Teal'c over to the couch that Jack and Sam were not already lying on.

As Sam picked up the remote, Jack said, "So… when exactly did you two get married? Are you going to register somewhere, or..."

Sam laughed, while Daniel scowled.

"I mean, we all know Teal'c calls you his 'woman' when he's asleep…" Jack continued, eliciting further laughs from his 2IC.

"O'Neill, I do no such thing," Teal'c stated.

"Oh, but you do my friend," Jack corrected. "Or you did one time anyway, didn't he Danny boy?"

"No, he didn't," Daniel insisted. "It was during the Rite of Malshuran, you were delirious, Teal'c," he explained.

"I see," Teal'c said dryly.

"Oh! Before we start the movie… if it's okay with Teal'c of course… would you go make some popcorn, Danny?"

"No," Daniel said. "You can just get up and make it yourself… oh wait, no you can't."

Jack pulled the throw pillow out from under their heads (Sam let out a 'Hey!') and threw it at Daniel, hitting him in the face and knocking his glasses off. Daniel threw it back at them and then fumbled around for his glasses, but it hit Sam since he didn't have them on in the first place.

Just as he got them back on, the pillow hit him in the face again, and by the time he got them righted, Teal'c had thrown another one back at Jack and Sam for him.

Things quickly degenerated into a full-blown pillow fight, although it was a very strange one as Jack and Sam were easily knocked off balance and Teal'c and Daniel kept forgetting about the limited distance they could put between themselves.

They cleverly surrounded Jack and Sam and started hitting them with the pillows from both sides, trapping them between their joint arms and the arms that were holding the pillows being used in the assault. It was a bit like they were playing 'London Bridge is falling down'… if London Bridge started attacking the 'fair lady' of the song with pillows, of course.

They were all yelling, shrieking, and laughing, and hadn't realized how loud they were being until Fraiser came bursting through the door with two Airmen flanking her. She yelled, "BREAK IT UP, NOW!"

Startled, Jack and Sam lost their balance when Teal'c got in an extra-hard hit to Jack's bum, and they crashed into Daniel. Since they were still sandwiched between Daniel and Teal'c, they brought Teal'c with them when they all toppled over as well, and all of SG-1 ended up in a tangled heap on the floor between the sofa and the now-askew coffee table - Daniel on the bottom, Teal'c on the top.

"I'm hurt!" Daniel groaned.

Fraiser was trying to give Teal'c a hand up but since his hand was stuck to Daniel's, and those hands were trapped under Jack and Sam, it wasn't working. It took quite a while to untangle SG-1, and when they finally managed it they lay on the floor in a little rumpled row, all breathing hard and nursing mildly-injured body parts, looking up at Janet with 'don't be mad, please pity us' faces that, combined with the puppy-dog looks she was getting in full force from everyone but Teal'c, eventually melted her.

The hands on her hips relaxed and she helped them all to their feet. "No more pillow fights," she said firmly. "Daniel very nearly hit his head on the edge of the coffee table just then."

"Yes, Mom," Jack, Sam, and Daniel all chorused. Teal'c merely nodded. They all sat down on the same couch this time, very squashed in, and watched her as she straightened up the room.

"We'll be good now," Sam promised.

"Yeah - want to watch the movie with us?" Daniel offered.

"I can't, I promised Cassie I'd be home tonight. But thanks."

"Doc?" Jack asked hopefully as she headed for the door.

"What?"

"Can you make us some popcorn?"

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After the movie was over, they all got ready for bed. "Good night, Mrs. Teal'c," Jack called sweetly to Daniel as they all got into their respective beds.

"Good night, Mr. Sam," Daniel replied.

"That doesn't even make any sense," Jack said.

"Well… neither do you," Daniel retorted.

"Stop," Sam and Teal'c both said at the same time, effectively ending the conversation.

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Jack quickly decided they had been lucky the first few nights. One of them had almost always fallen immediately asleep (whether it was because Janet had sedated them or not was completely beside the point.) Tonight, he lay awake for a long time, and he knew Sam was doing the same thing, although, from the way she was lightly stroking his wrist with her thumb, he assumed she thought he was sleeping.

Daniel began snoring.

Jack wondered if she was thinking about her dad's not-so-pleasant-so-far visit, and if she was mad at him for his admittedly immature remarks. She didn't seem to be - she had actually laughed at most of them - but maybe now that she thought about it…

Sam sighed and tried harder to fall asleep. Unfortunately, that almost never worked, so the odds of it working tonight weren't very good. Still, she tried it anyway.

Daniel let out a particularly loud snorting sound and went right on sleeping - Jack and Sam both muttered, "Oh for cryin out loud," then laughed at themselves. They watched Teal'c manoeuvre Daniel onto his side and prop him in place with a bunch of pillows. The snoring got quieter, now to an almost-bearable level.

"Colonel?" Sam finally asked quietly, even though she knew he was awake at this point. She didn't want to disturb Teal'c, who finally appeared able to sleep, or God forbid wake up the snoring mass that was Dr. Daniel Jackson.

"Yeah?"

"I owe you a midnight snack," she began. Then, before he could come up with some sort of suggestive remark, she quickly added, "Want to go get that piece of cake in the commissary?"

"Yeahsureyoubetcha," he answered enthusiastically, rolling off the edge of the bed and taking her with him as they got to their feet.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

It was the first time either of them had been to the commissary since they had been stuck together. Daniel and Teal'c had gone a couple of times, never during peak hours of course. But Jack had always preferred the commissary in the middle of the night. It was a good place to brood. And steal a late-night snack.

"So how mad are you?" he asked in what he hoped was a casual tone as they found the cake and started cutting themselves pieces.

"Mad? I'm not mad, I just couldn't sleep."

"Oh."

"Why would I be mad?"

"I thought maybe, the stuff with your dad..." he said hesitantly, not wanting to bring it up if she hadn't already been thinking about it.

"Oh. Well, I guess it's kind of irritating that he's acting like I'm a teenager or something, but he's always like that."

"Yeah, but..."

"He deserved what you said to him, Colonel. And it was funny."

They took turns nuking huge pieces of chocolate cake in the microwave, but Sam refused the offer of ice cream – if she had that much sugar she'd never go to sleep. As it was, she was a bit leery of giving ice cream to a man who was fidgety on a good day and downright jumpy on a bad one, especially since she had to sleep with him. Had to, she mentally repeated, as if it was some huge chore. Yeah right. She scooped a bit of ice cream on his cake for him – he couldn't very well do it with one hand.

"Come on, that's like two bites," he objected when he peered over her shoulder and saw the measly amount she had scooped onto his plate.

She sighed and wondered if he'd actually be able to deliver and then enforce a direct order that she give him ice cream. Now probably wasn't the best time to test it... she worked one more big scoop out of the hard container and closed the lid firmly. They got themselves little cartons of milk from the fridge and made their way to their usual table.

Sam thought it was rather funny that, even in the middle of the night when the room was completely deserted, they both automatically went to 'SG-1's' table. It was mostly dark in the room – the only lights emanating from the refrigerated display shelves where the cold foods were kept.

"So, wanna make a bet about Bert and Ernie?" Jack suggested as they both dug into their cake.

"Who?" Sam asked automatically around the over-large bite she had taken, then realized he meant Daniel and Teal'c. She laughed so hard at the comparison that she wondered if she'd become the first grown woman to ever shoot cake out of her nose. When she finally stopped laughing, she set down her fork and asked, "Which one is which?"

"I dunno. I guess Danny's Ernie. You're not supposed to pick it apart, Carter, you're just supposed to laugh."

"I was."

"I noticed. So... how much do you want to bet that after all of this is over, they can't live without each other, Danny invites T to be his roommate, T finally gets to move off the base, and they all live happily ever after?"

"Um, well," Sam said carefully, not sure if he meant any of that to apply to them as well, or if she was the only one seeing anything else in what he had said. "I guess I could see that happening... but it's not like Daniel usually leaves the base all that much anyway. Especially after he came back – it seems like he's always here."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. I mean, it was what, two months before he even got round to finding a new apartment?"

"At least," Sam agreed, taking another, smaller and safer bite of cake. "So, if I take you up on this bet... does the loser have to buy them matching twin beds with their initials on the headboards?"

Jack chuckled and said, "I didn't know you were such a big fan of Sesame Street, Carter."

"Well, I do have nieces and nephews," she pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. Sure you don't want some ice cream?" he offered, a spoonful of it appearing in her peripheral vision on a dangerous path near her mouth but not directly at it.

"I'm sure!" she insisted, grabbing his wrist to keep him from 'accidentally' getting it on her. "I'm still not entirely sure I trust you with it – I've been a human bib quite enough lately, Colonel!"

"Oh, come on... how can you refuse ice cream?"

"It's vanilla. That's your favorite, not mine."

"There's chocolate cake underneath it," he pointed out, waving it under her nose.

"Sir, please..."

"I bet it would be really cold if I accidentally dropped some on you... and I didn't bring any napkins, so..."

"Don't," she warned. They'd already been treading on very dangerous ground lately, the last thing either of them needed was an incident that would land them in the General's office explaining, 'Well, sir, I accidentally dribbled ice cream all over Carter's neck and there weren't any napkins lying around so I had to lick it off with my tongue...'

Hammond was being nice about all of this, but Sam didn't think he'd buy that one.

Still, it sounded like fun.

"I never heard of anyone refusing ice cream before... would it help if I did the airplane thing?" He started making airplane noises and sounded so ridiculous that it was hard to keep the spoon and his hand out of her face because she was laughing so hard, although at this point she was determined not to eat any of it simply on principle alone.

"Look just because I'm sitting in your lap doesn't mean you've got to act like I'm a little k..." she yelped and swatted the spoon away, but she was too late. There was a big blob of ice cream on the end of her nose now. "That's so cold!"

"Brilliant scientific reasoning skills, Major Carter," Jack praised sarcastically around the spoon now sticking out of his mouth. "Ice cream is cold... we have to clue the world in on your amazing discovery."

"Shut up," she said automatically as she wiped her nose on the back of her hand. Jack went still for a few seconds and she realized she'd just told her Commanding Officer to shut up. "Sir?" she added, wishing it came out less like a squeak.

He burst out laughing and said, "Wow, that's one of the few things I never thought I'd hear come out of your mouth, Carter. At least not directed at me anyway."

Ignoring the urge to ask what other things were on that list, she laughed nervously, relieved he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. Not that she thought he'd really court-martial her or anything, but she'd thought there'd be a little more leg-pulling involved. It had taken him months to stop mentioning the way she'd railed at him on that beach when they'd been addicted to that light thing... and she'd had a perfectly legitimate excuse for it that time. This was different though.

She tried crossing her eyes to look at her own nose and see if she got all the ice cream off, but couldn't quite tell. When she uncrossed her eyes though, she did notice a familiar figure (actually there were two at first, but once her eyes went back to normal they merged into one) hovering in the doorway.

She cleared her throat and said, "Um, hi Dad."

"Hi, Sam."

She thought he sounded really tired. Jack shifted uncomfortably behind her. "I thought you went home with General Hammond," she finally said.

"I was going to, but his daughter was bringing one of his grandkids over, because one of them's got strep throat and they're trying to keep the other one from catching it. So anyway, George is getting the healthy one but I figured he'd rather have some time alone with her. And vice versa. So I uninvited myself and I'm crashing in the last VIP room."

"There are three..." Jack started.

"Daniel and Teal'c are in the bed from the other one," Sam reminded him.

"Oh yeah."

"I heard you laughing," Jacob said suddenly. "I couldn't sleep... well, you know, we Tok'ra don't sleep very much, but anyway... I talked Selmak into a cup of coffee and..."

Jack waved a hand at the coffee station and said, "I'd make it for you, but..."

"Your hands are full," Jacob finished. To his credit, he very nearly succeeded in keeping the biting tone out of the comment.

Jack and Sam sat quietly while Jacob went about making himself the coffee. Jack was getting grumpy – they'd already been having kind of a tough day before Jacob showed up, and he'd only succeeded in putting both Jack and Sam in very tense, irritable moods that had lingered off and on throughout the rest of the day, although they'd both tried hard not to take it out on each other just because they were the easiest targets... but they'd been right back in the jocular mood that had filled the first few days of their predicament, and Jack really didn't want Jacob bursting their bubble again. He supposed he understood the man's perspective... well, sort of...

Jacob sat down across from them at the table and took a sip of coffee, sinking back into his chair with a happy look on his face similar to the one Sam got when she got her first cup (or pot) of the day. "Your ice cream's melting, Jack," he pointed out.

Jack took another bite of his snack. Sam started picking at hers again, more to have something to do with her hands, and look at, than anything else.

"I may have overreacted before," Jacob mumbled. He appeared to be trying to engage the little tray of artificial sweeteners in conversation, but Sam knew that was about as close as her dad usually got to an apology.

"May have?" Jack couldn't help but tease a little.

"Yeah," Jacob countered, giving him a 'don't push it pal' sort of look.

"All right. Well, I may have been trying to push your buttons a little bit too," he conceded, speaking to his spoon.

"Ohfercryinoutloud," Sam muttered under her breath, then quickly stuck another bite of cake in her mouth so she wouldn't have to answer to the surprised look she could feel her dad giving her, or the one she could feel boring into the back of her skull from Jack. Geez, it wasn't like her CO had invented that phrase himself!

"Anyway, we worked with Dr. Fraiser all evening, and Selmak doesn't know what this stuff is anymore than the rest of you do. Sorry, kids, but I don't think the Tok'ra are going to be able to help you out on this one."

Jack very nearly said, "So what else is new," but, in the spirit of the newfound peace between the three of them (well, four counting the snake), he refrained.

He sat quietly, finishing his dessert while Carter and her dad started talking about Mark and his family, Carter catching her dad up on things he had missed. The conversation was a bit forced at first, on both sides, but soon they both began to get more comfortable with each other until they were talking like they usually did. Jack hated to interrupt such a touching moment of reconciliation... but he had needs to, after all.

He licked the fork clean and tapped her leg with it but she ignored him. He cleared his throat. He tapped some more. Finally, he set the fork down and poked her shoulder with his finger. Repeatedly. Until she finally paused in a story about her nephew's school play and demanded, "What?"

He pushed his little carton of milk into her hands and, feeling very much like a seven year-old child and whimsically deciding to play that angle up, asked petulantly, "Can you open my milk?"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at his missing teammates when they stumbled back into their room sleepily, the late hour and their full stomachs making them very tired.

"I was beginning to think we would have to search for you in the morning again," he stated.

"No, just having a nice little chat with Dad... you know, about keeping his daughter up past curfew and all that..." Jack said sleepily as they stepped out of their shoes and collapsed gratefully onto their bed.

"Major Carter, I hope all is well between you and your father?" Teal'c asked.

"Yeah, it's fine, Teal'c, thanks. We actually had a good conversation."

"I am pleased then."

Daniel rolled over and slurred, "Wasshappenin guys?"

Jack held up his hand to keep the rest of them quiet and said, in a high-pitched voice that for some reason reminded Sam of the little neighbor dog on 'Lady and the Tramp' (it could have been the ridiculous accent he used – she wasn't entirely sure what it was meant to be exactly but to her it just sounded like a Scotsman who'd had a gusty wind blown up his kilt), "Danny boy y'er late fer school an' it's show-and-tell today. Run along and get some toilet paper from the bathroom and yeh ken teach all the kids to be mummies."

"Okay, but..." Daniel woke up half-way and blinked over at the blurry images of Jack and Sam. Sam was giggling (she had been doing that way too much since being glued to Jack, in Daniel's opinion). "You suck, Jack," he informed him, turning over on his side away from them, which brought Teal'c's arm across his body.

"Daniel Jackson, I would like my arm returned, please," Teal'c said, rolling him back unceremoniously. Daniel mumbled something in another language (did he speak Gaelic, for cryin out loud...) and flipped his pillow over to the cool side.

Sam leaned over and turned off the lamp by their bed so the room was completely dark. All was quiet for a few moments after she and Jack were settled in for the night. Then Jack said in a much-too-loud voice since he was right next to her, "Night, Carter!"

"Good night, Colonel," she answered patiently.

"Goodnight, Bert, 'night Ernie," he added.

Sam chuckled quietly into the pillow, trying not to encourage him further as it was quite late and she was now very tired.

"Guess that makes you Oscar the Grouch, doesn't it Jack?" Daniel retorted.

"Goodnight, everyone," Sam said pointedly around a big yawn.

Daniel had just started to snore again when Teal'c asked, "O'Neill, who are Bert and Ernie?"

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