Chapter Three

The TV flipped through the channels aimlessly as if the remote control was broken, but Samantha Carter knew better. Ever since Nicole had found the remote to the damn television set, it never seemed to stay on one channel for long. The USAF Colonel speculated the flashing colors must remind the woman of her "flashing" to different places, but it didn't change the fact that it annoyed the hell out of Sam.

"Nicole, would you please pick a channel?" She finally relented to the gritting of her own teeth and requested a reprieve. Without a response, the red haired woman dropped the remote control next to her on the couch, finally allowing the normal television sounds to begin and the picture to remain still for a moment. "Thank you."

There was a nod in response, but no audible acknowledgement. Sam knew from experience that this was Nicole's way of expressing boredom. Well, for someone who could usually travel the cosmos at will, it was impressive the woman didn't get bored more often. Nicole huffed, blowing her hair away from her face and asked quietly, "When's Jack going to get here?" for about the fifth time in the past hour.

Sam shrugged and reached for the remote. "I don't have a different answer than I did ten minutes ago. Why do you care so much?"

Nicole smiled and reached for a bottle of water next to her. Taking a sip, she replied gleefully, "Because I got a new toy I want him to try out."

"New toy? What kind of toy?"

"A new kind of laser tag . . . I invited Cameron over, and I thought we'd all try it out. What do you think?"

"And you waited until now to ask me this because?"

The woman shrugged in response. "Scatter brained?"

Sam smiled knowingly and sat back in her armchair slowly. "You wanted to wait until Jack got here so he would convince me to play . . . didn't you?" Nicole tried to ignore the question by jumping up and opening the refrigerator door. "I know you're not hungry. You just ate an hour ago, and you're still not used to food yet."

Just then the door opened, saving Nicole from answering the woman's question. "Honey, I'm home!" a man's voice called out, causing both women to smile and laugh.

"We're in here," Sam answered and stood up to greet her boyfriend. When he entered the room, she leaned over and kissed him briefly. "Mmm, you know I don't see you around much these days."

"But what is much?" He replied with a smile. "I'm here as often as I can slip away from Washington. Damn bureaucrats. Sometimes I want to retire again."

The red head shook her curls and stepped into a hug from the Air Force general. She pulled her face into a teasing smile and asked in a sickeningly sweet childlike voice, "But Daddy, if you did that, where would we get the money to buy our food?"

"As if you eat anyway," Sam retorted.

Jack shook his head slowly and let his briefcase drop from his arm onto the floor. Slipping his arm around his girlfriend, the two of them made their way to the couch and settled onto it together. Nicole made her way to the freezer and pulled out a pint of ice cream.

"Samantha dear, maybe I'm losing my mind, but I don't remember traveling to the twenty-fourth century and having a daughter just so she could come back a hundred and twenty-four years later to torture us. Do you?" Jack asked, his eyes watching as the woman in the kitchen grabbed a spoon and pulled off the ice cream lid.

Sam giggled and snuggled deeper into his embrace. "Not yet," she replied coyly. Jack groaned and leaned down to kiss her again.

"Very funny, guys," Nicole stuck out her tongue and began to eat the ice cream. "And see, I eat."

"Ice cream isn't exactly what I had in mind," the blonde replied, her head resting against her boyfriend's shoulder.

Again, before Nicole could even attempt to respond, there was the ring of the doorbell, expertly interrupting any rebuttal she may have had in mind. All thought of a reply flew rapidly from her as her face split into a huge grin, and she raced for the door, forgetting the ice cream on the counter as she went.

Jack's eyebrows arched in surprise. "Expecting a man, is she?"

Another giggle was heard from the woman in his arms. She nodded and replied, "Yes, a man, but no, not what you think."

"It's not Daniel, is it?"

"Holy Hannah, no," Sam quickly replied. "I wouldn't want to touch that with a twenty foot pole. It's Cameron."

Surprise flitted across the man's face beside her. "Mitchell?"

"Uh-huh," she studied his reaction and felt a tug on the corners of her lips. "But as I said before, not what you think. They're just friends for now."

"For now?"

"Yeah, well, you didn't hear it from me, but he wants something more."

"What don't I hear from you?"

This was rewarded with a smack in the arm. "You didn't hear it at all."

He rewarded her with a cock-eyed grin. She rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the couch. "Hey," he protested, "I was comfortable."

"I'll bet you were," she winked in his direction. "But we should go play chaperone."

"But I don't want to."

"There's laser tag involved – some new toy Nicole got."

This got Jack on his feet right away. "We get to play in the woods?" he asked, his grin and eyes reflecting the excited tone that laced his voice.

"You're right, scratch the chaperone idea."

An hour later, the two of them had their backs pinned against a tree, laser guns in hand, listening intently. Sam brushed a stray golden lock of hair back under her black cap, once again concealing the brilliant color from any possible attack. Breathing out slowly, she sank to the ground and shook her head. "Jack, it's been a while. Where could they be?"

He sank down beside her, shaking his own head in frustration. "I don't know, but I'm getting too old for this." He pulled a water bottle out from his vest and drank from it before offering it to her. She did the same and passed it back. "These teams were unevenly chosen. They're both young, whereas we've been around a little longer."

"Hey!"

Jack nearly choked on the air, trying to swallow his words. "I just meant they're younger than us . . . you're still young and beautiful. I'm the old man here. Still trying to figure out why you'd want me."

"Nice try, buddy . . . and only one of them is younger than us."

"Yeah, older in mind, but she still has that young body."

"Oh really?" Sam asked, her eyebrows raised and her gun pointing in his direction. "Choose your words carefully, General."

"Not that I'm looking! Come on, baby, you know you're the only woman I care to look at like that."

"Baby?"

He shifted uncomfortably and tried again, "Um . . . sweetheart?"

"Ugh. No pet names, please."

"Sam."

"Better." Leaning over, she kissed him softly before pushing her gun into his empty hand. "Now can we get out of here please? I'd really like to sleep sometime tonight."

"You're planning on sleeping tonight?" Jack asked, a mock expression of hurt coming over his features.

Sam smiled devilishly. "At some point."

The pair pushed off from the tree and began to walk back toward her house. Just when they had reached the backyard, there was some rummaging in the bushes near her back porch. Jack quickly pulled Sam back into the trees, an instinctive reaction.

As they watched, Nicole and Cameron came stumbling out of the bushes, the red head tripping on a root and going spiraling to the ground. "But you wouldn't shoot your own team member!" she screamed, a smile still plastered her face despite the fall.

Flipping onto her back, she was caught off-guard when the man with her caught the same root and went tumbling right on top of her, his gun flying out of his hand. "Damn root," he muttered, suddenly finding himself gazing down into the green eyes and triumphant smile of the red haired woman below him.

"I think you have lost your weapon, sir," she whispered victoriously. "Does that mean I win?" She received no response, but he continued to stare down at her, still breathing heavily from their run through the forest. Her smiled soon disappeared, replaced by a confused expression and the creasing of her eyebrows. "Cameron?"

Without a word, he leaned down and covered her lips with his own. Her eyes widened, her breath caught in her throat, and her mind raced for the first second. Then her eyes closed, she pulled in some air through her nose and kissed him back. She even deepened the kiss by moving closer and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"What the hell is he doing?" Sam hissed through clenched teeth, an obvious sign of her anger and disapproval.

"What? You knew how he feels about her," Jack replied, really not understanding why his girlfriend was so upset.

"Yeah, but I told him he should probably talk to Daniel before he talked to Nicole."

"They're not talking," Jack pointed out, a comment that was rewarded with a dirty look. "Sam, I doubt he planned to do that."

"Oh no? Look at them, they're practically making out in my backyard! We didn't even kiss that much for our first kiss, and we had eight years of pent up sexual tension to fuel it."

"I seem to remember our first kiss being very passionate," Jack replied, his eyes holding a faraway look.

Sam smirked and pulled at her shirt self-consciously. "I don't really remember that one too well."

"Pity."

Meanwhile, the new leader of SG1 finally pulled away from the woman below him and sat upright next to her. Pulling herself into a sitting position, Nicole was now very much aware of how wet the grass had been, her entire back was now soaking through the thin laser tag vest to her shirt. Avoiding the man's gaze, she breathed in and started slowly, "Cameron, I don't know if this is such a good idea."

"What isn't a good idea?"

"Us."

He nodded, carefully watching her guarded expression, trying to catch any glimpse of emotion. "Why not?"

"I don't do things half-assed."

"Neither do I."

"I've only been in one other relationship – and that lasted for two and a half years."

"With Dr. Jackson."

She nodded. "So, if I get into another relationship, it won't just be for a few months. It'll be one of those relationships I think can last for a long, long time."

"I understand that. But why don't you think we could possibly last?"

"For one thing, we've only known each other a week. You're a great guy, but I don't know that much about you."

"We can get to know each other better."

She sighed and stood up, turning to face him finally. "I'm leaving in less than a year."

"Leaving?"

"Yeah, you know, going home? I'm certainly not going to stick around here once I become a Q again."

"You asked to become human before, why couldn't you ask to stay human now?"

She laughed a cruel laugh and shook her head. "What makes you think I want to be human? I happen to like having almost unlimited power."

He shrugged and stood up himself. "I just thought that you wanted it before, maybe you'd want it again."

"Haven't you guessed why I asked to be human before?" She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for his response. All he was able to manage was a weak shake of his head. "I wanted to stay with Daniel. You can't possibly think that after a week I would even consider staying to be with you."

Smiling broadly, he tried to joke. "Why not?" She rolled her eyes and began to walk back toward the house. Shaking his head violently, he ran in front of her and stopped, causing her to halt her escape attempt. "Okay, sorry, not a teasing moment. That's something I've got to learn with you."

"You've got a lot to learn about me."

"So I'll learn. Come on, Nicole, we're great friends, I'm sure we could be an even better couple."

Sighing, she pulled at a curl, considering what this man offered her. Pushing a wave of wet curls over her shoulder, she finally consented, "Okay, here's the deal. We're friends, right?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay, so we're friends, and you've got eleven months to prove to me why you think we should be more. I'm not saying there's even the remote possibility I'll refuse to be changed back, but there is the possibility of staying with a human even when I'm a Q. So friends, maybe dating in later months, then we'll consider relationship when the time comes. Sound like something you can do?"

He burst into the biggest smile she'd ever seen and nodded his head furiously. "I think it is."

"Good. Now you talk to Daniel."

The smile faded. "Why?"

"Because he won't talk to me yet, and I don't want it to be weird between you and him at work."

He watched as she walked into the house, not aware of the two people walking up behind him. He swore softly and muttered to himself, "And I just got the band back together."