Jack sat in the driver's side thinking as he drove. He was thinking about the woman who was sitting next to him, staring out the window. He could tell she wasn't listening in on what he was thinking because she showed no reaction. There was an awkward silence between them but yet neither felt uncomfortable.

"This isn't fair, you know what's going on in my head but I don't know what your thinking about" he broke the quiet

"Oh um, I was just thinking about something Orlin said" she explained "Orlin?" Jack thought "Orlin is that alien who stalked you and lived in your house right?" he asked and Carter smiled "yeah" she nodded and continued staring out the window

"Well what did Orlin say?" Jack was determined to start a conversation

"He said that reading someone's mind is an invasion of privacy. But I can't help it, all I can do is ignore it and switch my focus" she explained

"But you don't read minds right? You just hear what they are thinking? Just like urgo" he cringed and then frowned at how unusual that would sound to fresh ears.

"It doesn't matter, I still hear things that I'm not supposed to" she sighed "how far is it to Salt Lake City?" she asked changing the subject

"We've got about 350 miles to go" he admitted "traffic's not helping but we should get there by sun down" he explained and she nodded as she turned back to the window

"You know there's a McDonalds near by here" Carter smiled

"Oh are you hungry?" he asked glancing at her and she grinned

"No but you are"

"Welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order?" the voice crackled through the speaker. Jack ordered first and then turned to Sam

"What did you want?" he asked with a casual smile

"I'm not very hungry sir, I think I'll pass" she said leaning back. Jack grinned and turned to the speaker box

"And a cheese burger happy meal please?" he asked the box

"Yep, and what drink did you want with that?" the box asked

"Diet soda" he grinned and Carter glared at him

"I said I wasn't hungry, sir" she warned

"Yes Carter and I chose to ignore you" he laughed

"Is that all?" the box crackled

"Yeahsureyoubetcha!" he sung

"That comes to 13 dollars and 50 cents, drive through when you're ready"

Jack pulled up to the next window and accepted the food, handing the girl a ten and a five.

"Keep the change" he smiled and then pulled out of the drive thru. Jack handed Sam the happy meal and grinned. She placed the box on top of the dashboard, saying again that she wasn't hungry.

"Oh come on Carter, what have you eaten this week?" he accused and before she could complained he added "other than breakfast yesterday" when she didn't reply he picked up the box and handed it to her "eat something Carter, that's an order"

"With all due respect sir, you shouldn't abuse your authority like that"

"Carter!"

"Ok" she surrendered opening the happy meal box and un-rapping the small burger. She took a bite and smiled after swallowing

"There I ate something" she grinned and stifled a laugh as she heard the bickering inside his head, which stopped after she took her second bite. He smiled at her. He had gotten a sertain satisfaction out of succeeding in getting her to eat, despite the glare.

He juggled eating and driving in the awkward silence. Carter soon finished the small meal and neatly collected all the rubbish and packed it inside a bag.

"What toy did you get?" Jack asked casually

"A figurine with strange blue hair. Do you want it sir?" she asked holing up the 'Marge' edition of the Simpson's collectable figurines. Sam almost laughed when she heard his thoughts about it being the only one he didn't have in the collection.

"Yeah, might as well" he said in a deep voice "that is if you don't want it?" he asked and she laughed shaking her head at him and tucking the figurine into his jacket pocket. He followed her hand as she did this but still was attentive to the road. Her hands were well taken care of yet not 'perfect', they had all the lovable blemishes that proved that she wasn't perfect and was real. Her nails were bitten and chewed; she had a habit of biting her nails when she was nervous or in deep thought. Her hands had their flaws from dealing with weapons and chemicals at work and tinkering with motorcycles in her spare time. Her fingers were steady yet fragile from hours of typing on her laptop.

"Stop studying my hands, please" she smiled bashfully crossing her arms to hide her hands and Jack flinched remembering she could hear his thoughts "could you turn in at this gas station sir?" she asked directing his vision to an up coming road side gas station

"Um, we have an almost full tank Carter?" he said as he gave her a confused look. She returned his look with a pleading one and he took the sharp right into the gas station. As soon as the car stopped, she bailed out and ran for the bathroom inside. She may have been feeling better but her stomach did not.