Ch 25: Back on the job...

Jack woke up to a loud noise blaring through the whole SGC; Jack sat up and looked over at Teal'c who was meditating in the corner. "OFF-WORLD ACTIVATION!" The voice shouted through the speakers, Jack pulled up his blanket and snuggled in the corner.

"Mr-Mr. T?" he asked, his voice trembled.

Teal'c opened his eyes and looked over at Jack. "Yes JJ O'Neill?" he asked as he stood up.

"I- I scared, what's tat sownd?" he asked as he looked around. "It vewy scawy!"

Teal'c walked over and sat on the bed next to him. "It is nothing, JJ O'Neill, go back to sleep." Teal'c said.

Jack nodded. "O'tay…" he said quietly.

As soon as Jack closed his eyes, Teal'c went back to his corner and began again.

----

"Sam! Sam!" Daniel shouted. "SAM! Wake up!" he began to shake her, he knew she needed sleep, but he knew she wouldn't mind.

Sam opened her eyes to find Daniel four inches away from her face. She jerked her head back. "Daniel, your breath stinks!" she said tiredly.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Sam, you know how we've had people looking for something on that planet for days now?" Daniel asked excitedly.

Sam noticed that he was all geared up, as if to go off world. "Yeah…"

"They found yet another temple! I'm heading over now to check it out." He said with a huge smile on his face. "Sam, this could be it!"

Sam smiled. "That's great Daniel! I want to go!" she said, sounding a bit like a little girl.

"Sam-"

"I know, I know." She muttered. "Hurry home."

"I will," Daniel said. "Bye Sam!" and then he was off.

Sam sighed and slowly began to fall asleep again.

----

Sam entered her lab and turned on the switch, she blinked a few times to the light change; she took a sip of the coffee that was in her hands, she had promised Janet that she would get to sleep, even if it meant pinning Jack down to the floor. Sam looked around and sighed, she didn't feel like working, she didn't know what she felt like.

Janet was passing by and spotted Sam in her doorway. "Sam!" she called as she hurried up to her.

"Daniel found how to change him back!" Samasked excitedly.

Janet shook her head. "I'm sorry, nope, I'm just making sure you're okay."

Sam nodded. "Yep, I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Janet shrugged. "Can't help it…" she smiled. "Sam, umm… Cassie's coming home from college tonight, she'll stop by here tomorrow... I haven't told her about Colonel O'Neill and-"

"Thanks for the warning," she said with a smile. "I'll be prepared."

"Sam, she and- some boy," Janet rolled her eyes. "Said they saw you and Pete…"

Sam looked down. "Yeah,"

"Okay," Janet said with a false smile, she didn't like the idea of her friend hanging around 'the stacker'. "Sorry I mentioned it."

Sam gave her a reassuring smile. "It's fine, things… things didn't work out."

"JJ-Colonel O'Neill?"

Sam nodded. "But, I wasn't right for him."

Janet smiled. "I understand."

"Speaking of JJ, I'm going to go find him." Sam said as she sat off down the hall.

"He's in Teal'c's quarters!" Janet called after her.

"Thanks!" Sam said as she headed down the hall but on her way to Teal'c's quarters, Walter stopped her.

"Major Carter!" he said as he hurried down the hall to her. "General Hammond wants to see you in his office." Then he quickly hurried down another hall.

Sam stood there for a minute and sighed, then she headed towards General Hammond's office, wondering why he wanted to see her; maybe it was something to do with Daniel and that planet. She knocked on the door.

"Enter!" Hammond ordered. Sam walked into his office; he was straightening up folders. "Major Carter! Please take a seat." He said as he gestured to the chair.

Sam sat down. "You needed to see me sir?"

"Yes, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you Major Carter, about not being able to control Colonel O'Neill, I didn't realize-"

"No, sir, it's fine." She said with a reassuring smile. "I'm actually glad that you 'assigned' me this job."

General Hammond looked taken back, he cleared his throat then continued. "I found someone who can take care of him until we know what to do, Lt. Mi-"

"General, with all due respect, I think I can handle him." She blinked slowly, surprised at what she had just said. "I don't like the idea of a three-year-old getting the better of me sir."

Hammond smiled. "That's what I like to hear, have a good day Major," He said as he looked back down at the folders. "Good luck Major."

She smiled and stood up. "Thank you sir." She said, and then walked out of the room.

----

Teal'c looked over at JJ who was coloring contentedly, someone had brought him paper and pencils. Teal'c walked over to Jack and sat down.

Jack held up his picture. "Do ya like it?" he asked.

Teal'c looked down at the picture, it was of him and Sam, or at least that's what Teal'c would have guessed, they were holding hands and had the biggest smile on their faces. "It is a very nice drawing."

Jack smiled. "Thank you." He said politely. "It's Miss Sam and me."

"It is Miss Sam and I." Teal'c corrected.

Jack looked up at him confused. "I sowy, but it's not, see," he pointed to him. "Tat doesn't 'wook like you."

"I was correcting your grammar." Teal'c said.

Jack sat there looking puzzled. "O'tay…"

There was a knock on the door.

Teal'c slowly got up and answered it. "Major Carter, it is good to see you up."

"Thanks Teal'c, is JJ around?"

Jack imminently recognized the voice; he threw the paper and pencil down and ran to the door. "MISS SAM!" he cried, he hopped up on her and squeezed her tightly. "I taught you were dead!" a tear trickled down his cheek.

Sam shook her head. "I'm fine."

"You were 'wying there!" he mumbled as he wiped away his tears.

Sam ruffled his hair. "I'm fine JJ." She said with a smile. "I'm sorry I worried you though."

Jack sniffed. "It o'tay."

Sam turned to Teal'c. "Thank you Teal'c, I'm sorry if he was so… hyper, whatever-"

"On the contrary, he was most well behaved." Teal'c said with a small smile.

Sam's eyes widened. "What?" she looked down at Jack who was nodding his head.

"Indeed, have a pleasant day Major Carter." Teal'c said.

"I will, thank you Teal'c." she took Jack's hand. "Come on."

Jack smiled and quickly followed her.

----

Sam pulled to a stop a Sears, she smiled and unbuckled her seat belt, she ignored Jack's curious glance. "I'll be right back JJ," she said as she checked in the review mirror. "You going to be okay?" Jack nodded. "Good, be right back!" she opened the door and stepped out into the parking lot, she headed into the sears building, then over to the counter.

The young man smiled as Sam came closer. "Hi, how can I help you?" he asked.

Sam looked around. "I uh- I have a friend, he said you could get refrigerator boxes here…" she said.

The man nodded and ran his hand through his black long hair. "Yeah, they're in the back." He said gestured behind him.

"Can I-"

"Sure," he replied with a smile. "What do you need with a refrigerator box?" he began to walk towards the back room with Sam right behind.

"Umm, I'm baby-sitting, my friend said that his grandkids liked to build stuff out of them." Sam said.

"Cool," he said as he nodded. "How many?"

"Five, if you have them." She said as she tucked her loose hair behind her ears.

"Yeah, you're in luck! We just unloaded a dozen fridges, I was almost about to throw them in the dumpster." He lifted up the boxes.

"Thanks," she said. "I really appreciate this."

"No problem," he replied with a charming smile. "Anytime." They walked out of the building and towards Sam's car. "Cute kid." He said as he helped her load the boxes into the small car.

Jack didn't say a word the whole time; he had began to suck his thumb when Sam pulled it out of his mouth. "Thank you so much!" Sam said as they finished with the loading.

The man smiled. "Have a nice day." He said as he headed back into the building.

"You too!" Sam called after him.

"Can we go now?" Jack asked. Sam looked back at him.

"Yeah, sure…" she got into the drivers seat and drove away…

----

Sam was having the most fun she had ever had in a long, long time. She was having even more fun with the boxes then JJ was. They had built a spaceship, a train and a house. Jack ran into the spaceship with a huge smile plastered on his face, Sam was right behind them. Jack shut the door once they both were inside. "Take off in THREE-TWO-ONE!" Jack shouted. Sam began to rock the box spaceship back and fourth.

"It's going to be a bumpy ride!" Sam added. Jack giggled and nodded. "Where are we going Captain JJ?" she asked.

"To Pluto!" he replied with a huge smile.

Sam smiled; she didn't expect him to say that- she thought he would say to the moon, like most little kids. "To Pluto we go then!" she said as she shook the box even more.

"This is fun!" he giggled. "We're here!"

Sam looked out the peephole. "Yep, here we are! Maybe we should go inside and get some lemonade." She suggested.

"Yeah!" Jack agreed. "I 'tirsty!"

Sam nodded and opened the door to the spaceship. "Boy, it's sure hot on Pluto!" Sam said as she wiped her forehead. "Come on!" she ran towards the house.

"Wait up!" Jack shouted after her. Sam stopped for a minute to let him catch up, and then they both quickly hurried into the house.

Sam entered the kitchen and pulled two glasses out of the cabinet and filled them with ice, she poured the lemonade into the cups and handed one to Jack who was sitting patently on a chair at the table. "Thank You." Jack said as he took a sip, he grimaced. "It's sour!" he complained.

Sam took a sip of hers. "It's fine." She assured him.

"Can I have some sugar in mine?" Jack asked.

"No," Sam said, she was surprised by her own word. "No, you don't need anymore sugar."

Jack sat there a minute, almost shocked that she has said no, he nodded his head. "O'tay." he said quietly.

Sam smiled, that felt good...