AN: Sorry for the delay. I was pretty much hiding out this weekend. Enjoy!

Chapter Four

Three hours later, I'm in the exact same spot. Not that I have been here for three hours straight. I'm not sure the general would put up with that. Everyone in the base is still on alert, looking everywhere they think Jack might be sitting somehow unaware of all the activity. I actually saw someone checking the cabinets in the mess. Yes, the colonel is obsessed with food in general and he was looking for hotter hot sauce today, but I don't think he would have climbed into a cabinet looking for something better. And if he had, I don't think he would have stayed there silently for three hours until someone opened the door for him.

My attention, and honestly most other people's attentions, is focused on Jack's absence. The general is trying to divide his time equally between the missing colonel and the missing sample and has mentioned a fear that kidnapping Jack was actually meant to be a diversion for someone stealing the sample. I'm not sure I buy that, because even if you could make millions of dollars with the fountain, or more accurately vial, of youth, I firmly believe that it would not be worth the trouble kidnapping Jack O'Neill would cause. Because really, even I don't want to be around Jack when he's in a bad mood.

There are a few random people traipsing in and out of the room while Hammond talks to the remaining members of SG-1. Well, he's talking to Teal'c and Daniel, really, cause I'm sure as hell not listening. I keep looking out the window at the Stargate and hoping that Jack will magically appear with some wild tale about Thor. I'm only been catching a few words here and there, but I tune in long enough to hear the general ask about the last time anyone saw Loh'ran's sample.

Teal'c is the first to speak and I listen because his voice is very soothing to my frazzled nerves. "O'Neill received the sample from Chancellor Loh'ran. Before we returned through the Stargate, he transferred the sample into a container with a tighter seal that would prevent leaks." He raises the container of Jack's hot sauce. "It was a container like this one."

Hammond nods at it. "And you're sure that's not it."

Teal'c nods. "This is the milk of the kanai flower which I have provided to O'Neill on many occasions with which to season his food." For some reason, my attention is ratcheted to his words. "O'Neill placed the vial in his pocket." Teal'c then motioned to his chest, indicating the pocket where Jack kept his hot sauce.

My squeak probably would have garnered some attention from the three men before me if one of the chairs hadn't suddenly and spontaneously rolled itself away from the conference table. None of us are particularly naïve nor do we tend to supernatural beliefs. The four of us simply stare at the empty chair. Maybe we're waiting for it to move back. Maybe we're waiting for it to levitate. Maybe we're waiting for someone to announce that Jack magically became invisible and is now only able to communicate by moving chairs.

I think I might be the only one who isn't entirely surprised to see a tiny hand reach up and land on the table. The tiny hand is followed by another. Then, slowly, the top of a mussed, shaggy head of brown hair appears. Two big brown eyes just barely peek over the edge, wide with wonder as an adorable little boy stares at us staring at him.

Teal'c says nothing, perhaps to his credit as it prevents him from saying something stupid. Daniel, who is prone to overthinking things, wonders aloud if the people who kidnapped Jack to get at the sample accidentally left this kid behind. General Hammond calls for someone to take the boy into custody.

But me, well, I'd know those brown eyes anywhere, and so I simply smile. "Hi, Jack."

He regards me uncertainly for a moment and I can practically see the threat assessment going on in his head - if I look scary or mean or dishonest. His eyes narrow the slightest bit, but I think he's going to trust me.

But Teal'c speaks, informing General Hammond that he believes we have located O'Neill and ascertained the fate of the missing sample at the same time. Jack's eyes widen as his attention turns to Teal'c. Now I was there when Teal'c and Jack met for the first time and I know their camaraderie was pretty much instantaneous, as opposed to me and Jack. For us, the attraction was instantaneous, but there was a period when we didn't quite trust one another. Apparently little Jack doesn't have the same bond with Teal'c. And speaking from experience, Teal'c is a little bit scary to a kid. Jack's head and hands disappear back under the conference table, where he must have been hiding out all this time.

Daniel turns to me. "Are you sure that's Jack? He seems a little shy, doesn't he?"

I grin and nod. "He's only a little boy, Daniel. He's scared. But it's definitely him."

I pry my eyes away from the conference table long enough to glance at General Hammond. Boy, he does not look happy. Finally he shakes his head. "Major, please deal with this. SG-6 has a debriefing in fifteen minutes. I do not expect there to be any children present." Then he walks away and shuts himself in his office.

Daniel stares after him. "What does he expect you to do?"

"I guess I'm babysitting." I look at the boys and shrug as I drop to all fours to crawl under the conference table with Jack.

I am a relatively well-adjusted heterosexual female. Due mainly to the obscene number of hours I've spent in this room around this very table with Jack in the past seven years, I have had the occasional, or fairly common to be honest, inappropriate thought about doing things with him I probably shouldn't have been imagining doing with him in this room and on and under and against and well, you get the idea regarding this table. At any rate, when I imagined crawling under the conference table to meet Jack, this was so not what I had in mind.

I look at him as my eyes adjust to the limited light, knowing all too well that while I didn't understand it at the time, I was able to remember everything that happened to me while I was shrunk. I sit Indian-style in front of him and smile so I don't seem scary to the precious little boy in before me. And then I whisper a threat to him that I know he won't understand until he's himself again.

"This is twice now, Jack. You only get one more chance with me." Because while I imagine we'll be having dinner together tonight, that is so not the date I had in mind.

I'm expecting some sort of response from him. I figure his bravado was something he learned in his military career, but I think the sarcastic wit has probably always been with him. But Jack just stares at me, unblinking, while he sizes me up.

"I'm Sam." I smile harder, thinking that just like the grown-up version, baby Jack somehow gets cuter with every passing second. "And you're Jack." I'm hoping to get some sort of a response from him, but the best I get is a slightly confused look. And then it occurs to me. "Or are you John?"

He smiles then, nodding his head emphatically, yet still says nothing.

I incline my head toward the brightness of the room. "You want to get some cake?" His eyes light up and he bobs his head again. "Ok, John, let's go."