AN: Comments are greatly appreciated and encourage me to write faster:) Enjoy!

Chapter Three

A few hours later

Happy squishy puddle brain. It makes me smile just thinking that's all that's up there now. No more logical arguments, no more scientific theories, no more academic knowledge. Nope, just a happy squishy puddle that used to be my brain. I'm not even sad that I don't have a brain anymore. I don't think I'll miss it. Not with thoughts of kissing Jack to fill my days.

I finish my lunch quickly with no Jack to make eyes at. I hesitate for a few minutes when I'm done, trying to decide what to do with his abandoned lunch. He'll be mad if I throw it away, especially with all that hot sauce on it, but he can't really expect me to sit in the mess babysitting it until he remembers he left me here. Besides, we have plans and I want to brush my teeth before I see him again. Because I expect that there will be more kissing in the near future. And that makes my happy squishy puddle of a brain quiver with anticipation.

I take my time in the locker room, allowing myself the rare girlish indulgence of preening. I brush my teeth. I reapply my lipstick. I fix my hair, amused that it's mussed because Jack's hands were in it. There's not really much I can do about my uniform without drawing attention to the fact that I'm planning on an unexpected departure any minute now.

Daniel pops his head in the door, luckily as I'm closing my locker and not while I was primping – he just witnessed Jack and I in the mess and I don't want to live with his teasing, good-natured though it may be. He holds up Jack's other vial of hot sauce. "This isn't the sample."

I look at him like he's crazy. "No, that's the colonel's hot sauce."

Daniel shrugs as he replaces it in Jack's pocket. "He couldn't find it. And now we can't find him."

That news threatens the happy squishy puddle status of my brain. "You mean there's a vial of shrinking juice rolling around here somewhere?" I'm not concerned that they can't find Jack, though. He's probably hiding somewhere so no one can stop him from attending our little rendezvous. I wish I'd thought of it.

Daniel nods as we head out. "You've been spending too much time with Jack." Then he shrugs. "I assume it will become rather obvious in time, right?"

"Not like anyone's not going to notice a three year old running around here."

Daniel looks at me, brow furrowed in deep thought. "Are we sure they'd be three? I mean, it made you three, but maybe it's actually designed to take a certain number of years off someone, so if someone Jack's age took it, they'd be a teenager and if someone younger took it they'd be an infant."

I should probably say something, but my brain is still a happy squishy puddle so I shrug and go back to my original preoccupation. "Where was the colonel the last time you saw him?"

Daniel narrows his eyes at me. "Why?"

I feel my face burning again. "Because I have something I need to ask him, Daniel, ok?"

"Are you sure it's not because you want to go make out with him in the bathroom some more?"

"So it was Janet." That's the only way it could have gotten back to Daniel so quickly. Unfortunately, that knowledge does little to stop my blush.

"Aha! So it was you!" He grins cheekily. "Janet wasn't sure."

I fold my arms over my chest. "And just what would you have done if it hadn't been me?"

His grin doesn't fade. "Come on, Sam, who else could it have been?" I'm almost offended at this because I never really considered myself the type of woman people would assume would be necking on the floor of a bathroom at work. Almost. But not quite.

I roll my eyes and start walking again, not even bothering to hide my wide smile. "So where is he?"

"Last time I saw him, he was leaving General Hammond's office to look for the sample." Daniel winks at me. "Maybe he's fixing his hair so he'll look pretty for you." He chuckles to himself as he walks away.

I want to shout something mean and childish at his retreating figure. But I don't. Not because I'm a grown-up, mind you, but because my happy squishy puddle brain can't think of anything appropriate before he disappears around the corner.

I should just buy some blush and paint it all over my face. Maybe then no one will know that I'm blushing. I'm still thoroughly mortified as I begin searching the base. It's my firm, albeit ridiculous, belief that being with Jack will make me forget how much I hate being teased. It's not like he's never teased me, but it makes my insides all squirmy and mushy when he does it.

But no matter where I look, I can't find him. I'm quite disappointed that he has disappeared. We had plans; plans that I was very excited about and particularly attached to. As I'm scouring level 28, I bump into Walter. He looks frightened, but it's probably not my fault. No one is afraid of me.

But after a moment, his fear fades and he seems to be grinning knowingly at me. "Major Carter, General Hammond is looking for you."

My face, which had only just returned to normal, flushes again. Damn it. Is it that obvious? Or have Janet and Daniel started up the rumor mill at warp speed?

"Thank you, Walter." I head up to the general's office with a resigned sigh. One thing's for sure – if the general needs me, there won't be any skipping out early. When the general is looking for me for no apparent reason, it's usually because the Earth is doomed and I happen to be the only one who can save it. I grit my teeth as I climb the stairs. I'm so going to strangle Jack for this. But it's not like I can let the world end because if I do, then Jack and I will never have our date. Having priorities is important. Save Earth. Date Jack. They sound about equal to me.

General Hammond, however, doesn't seem to be in the midst of too bad a crisis. He looks mildly annoyed, but that is just as likely to be from too much starch in his shirt as from something actually being wrong. "Major, have you seen Colonel O'Neill?"

My face burns again. How can everyone already know? This relationship of ours is barely a half hour old. Even Daniel and Janet can't mobilize that fast. "Not since Daniel came to get him, sir." And you all thwarted our plans. But I probably should keep that part to myself. Ok, now he looks cross. Apparently, I am supposed to know exactly where Jack is, perhaps also revealing that we'd been making out on the bathroom floor again.

"Dr. Frasier noticed the sample for P3T-738 was not logged in. Colonel O'Neill was the last one to have it. And as soon as we start looking for it, the colonel disappears." He moves out from behind his desk to stand in front of me. "Does that seem at all suspicious to you?"

Admittedly, from the perspective of someone who doesn't know Jack like we do, those circumstances would seem a bit odd. But we do know Jack like we do. "Sir, it doesn't really sound like something he would do, sir." And I'm not falling for that Jack's-gone-to-the-dark-side bull again. I felt like an idiot for believing it the first time and that was only after he'd been mean to me. Jack wasn't being mean today. He was being particularly friendly. Not to mention we had plans for today that would so not have worked out the same if Jack was planning on regressing to childhood. Call me conceited, but I doubt very much that Jack would trade the evening with me that I had in mind for anything. Before my face can color even deeper at the thought I try to redirect my mind. "Colonel O'Neill doesn't usually handle the samples, sir. Perhaps he forgot about the cataloging procedure, especially when he returned and - um -" Damn it, there goes the color I was trying to avoid. I will not think about the intense way Jack looked at me in that shirt of his while I'm talking to the general. I. Will. Not. "And - uh - everything was back to normal, sir?"

General Hammond nods thoughtfully. "Did the colonel mention anything to you about leaving early today?"

I suddenly decide my shoes are very, very interesting. The colonel did mention something to me about leaving early today, but that fact seems immaterial to the question at hand since the leaving he'd mentioned involved taking me with him. I'm not sure the whole truth is necessary at this moment. "Um, I don't think he leaves early very often, sir." I feel better. My statement is entirely accurate.

"If you happen to see him, tell him to find me immediately."

As I leave the general's office, I am overcome with the sneaking suspicion that our date this evening is off. I'm barely halfway across the room when Daniel and three young airmen walk past me. I slow my steps to hear them as they address the general.

"Sir, according to the logs and the guards at the gate, Colonel O'Neill is still on base."

Daniel shrugs at the general. "His truck's in the lot, but I swear, he's not here."

I want to turn away and leave the room. Some part of me thinks that if I abandon them, they'll solve their dilemma without me. But I can't. My happy squishy puddle brain is starting to congeal back into normal brain material. A part of me is very frightened that no one can find Jack because Jack is notoriously hard to miss.

I sidle up to Daniel, listening as the general announces that he's locking down the base. He's on the phone ordering Walter to try to raise the Asgard, assuming maybe they borrowed the colonel again. Then he's making other calls and I hear sirens going off. I want to think this is too much fuss. He hasn't been missing for that long; maybe he's just hiding out somewhere, secretly panicking because of what we agreed to do.

But I'm actually quite scared that he appears to be missing. I hate to think something horrible was happening to him while I was putting on lipstick. I feel Daniel nudge my arm and I look up to see him staring at me with a worried look. His eyes dart to General Hammond, making sure he's distracted.

"Are you all right, Sam?"

I nod, although I'm not even convincing myself.

"You look terrified."

I know I should fake it better, but there's really no point with Daniel. I glance at the general to make sure he's still raising the alarm. Then I lean closer to Daniel. "He should be here."

"Of course he should. He's probably hiding out, playing with that slinky he's been keeping in his locker."

Hearing that shouldn't make me want to cry, but it does. "No, Daniel, you don't understand. He wouldn't be hiding today."

Daniel looks intrigued and apparently is intrigued because he pulls me out of Hammond's office. "What do you mean?"

I bite my lip and remind myself that this is Daniel. He's one of our two closest friends. Teasing or not, he can be trusted. "Because we had plans, Daniel. He wouldn't have skipped out on me."

Rather than seeing the gravity of the situation, Daniel grins. "Right, making out in the bathroom. Or were you heading for the locker room to change it up a bit?"

I can't help it. I reach out and smack his chest. "It's not funny."

I must still look terrified because Daniel reaches out and places his hands on my shoulders. "We'll find him. I'm sure he's fine."

"You're damn right we'll find him." General Hammond's voice makes me jump and I know the blush isn't going to subside anytime soon. I have no idea when he emerged from his office or how much he overheard, but I'm thinking that fact that I'm probably sickeningly pale from worry might help hide the furious blush that reappears.

But just in case, I think I'm just going to start telling people that it's a rash.