Title: Umm Daddy
Author: Littlebluestring
Rating: erm U? (sorry I still don't know American ratings)
Pairing: SJ
Summary: Sam and Jack met each other before the Stargate project… (yep it's one of those)
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Jacob Carter strolled around the base like he owned the place. Well. He did. He'd only been placed in command a few hours ago and he was relishing every moment. A training institution. And it was his to do what he liked with basically. Let the fun begin.
Jacob started whistling and then felt something collide into his legs. He winced automatically and then glanced down. His 7 year old daughter gazed back at him with big blue eyes.
"Sammie! What a surprise! I thought I left you in my office?
The little girl chortled to herself. "Sorry daddy. You were gone a looong time!"
Jacob tried to put on a serious face and found that he couldn't stay angry with her for long. She was just too adorable, with her blonde hair and huge anime eyes.
"Daddy, can we go home now?"
"Sorry kiddo, we've gotta stick around for a while. I can't just let the base run itself!"
Samantha Carter pouted. Jacob Carter frowned. Jonathan O'Neill ran straight into them both.
Jacob swore which immediately grabbed Sam's intention. "Umm Daddy."
Jack swore. Great. First day and you run into a Major. Awesome. He looked to see a pair of bright blue eyes looking up at him reproachfully. That was the moment that Jack O'Neill, notorious tough guy lost his heart to a little kid.
"Cadet!"
Jack jumped. "Uh! Sir! I apologise sir!"
Jacob felt his face soften. The poor kid was obviously scared. He was proud that he was able to inspire so much…respect.
"Don't worry airman, we all make mistakes sometimes. Just watch where you're going in future."
Sam spoke her piece. "And you shouldn't swear! That's naughty!"
Jack knelt down so he could talk to her properly. "I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?"
Sam stared at him for a few seconds, as if considering his request. "Kay. But don't do it again cadet!"
Jack grinned and saluted sloppily. "Yes ma'am!"
Jacob watched all this with amusement. This brown-eyed cadet was chatting up his seven year old. Go figure.
"All right Sammie, I think you should go back and wait in my office now. Say goodbye to your new friend."
"He's not my friend."
Jacob raised his eyebrows. Ohoh. All hail the heartbreaker!
Surprising himself, Jack felt a little hurt. Pull yourself together airman! She's just a kid.
"That's not very nice. You made me feel sad." He pulled a face.
"You're my bestest friend!"
Jack smiled broadly. Bestest? "You're my… bestest friend too! Bye… Sammie!"
Jack got up, saluted to the major (whose name he still hadn't got) and ran off, late to class.
Sam glanced up at her father. "Daddy?"
"Yes kiddo?"
"Can I see him again?"
"Hmm. Alright Sammie, I'll make a deal with you. You can see him again if you find out what his name is."
Sam grinned a cute little grin and then said words that her father hadn't expected her to say until she was at least fourteen. "It's a date!"
She grinned charmingly at him and then skipped off to his office. Jacob shook his head. Kids.
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Jack O'Neill stomped angrily down the street. His girlfriend had kicked him out because "it wasn't working out". Just because he couldn't tell her what he did as a job.
The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze going through the trees but Jack couldn't enjoy it. Life sucked.
He turned off the main road, away from the bustling crowds into a quiet alley. He leaned against a wall, breathing heavily. Then he heard a sob coming from further down the alley. He instantly forgot his anger and took up cautiousness. He looked around for a weapon and picked up a discarded chair leg. He ventured forward slowly and turned a corner to find… a teenager with blonde hair crying her eyes out.
Blood ran down her arms and hands. Jack shrank away instinctively then shook himself. Don't be such an idiot Jack. She's obviously not going to hurt you. He caught sight of a knife nearby. Jack swore softly to himself. Where was all that blood coming from?
He knelt down slowly. She still hadn't noticed him. He carefully took her hand. She jumped but didn't move it away.
"Hey."
The girl sniffed then started crying harder and flung herself into his arms. Jack hugged her like she was the only person in the world. Suddenly he found himself crying too. He composed himself and spoke softly to her.
"Did you do this to yourself?"
He felt her nod onto his shoulder. Jack grimaced as he felt the blood seeping through his top. How was he going to stop it?
"Ok. I need you to hold out your hands. It'll only take a second."
She moved away from him and held out her hands. Now that she had stopped crying so much he could see that she was actually very pretty. He didn't understand why she'd done this to herself. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.
Jack took off his top and examined her wrists. Thankfully it wasn't serious and he wrapped the sleeves of his top over her arms. She looked at him gratefully. In all this time she still hadn't said a word.
Jack sighed. "Why?"
The girl sniffed. "My mom died last week."
Jack's heart went out to her. He knew what it was like to lose people close to you. "That's… awful. I'm really sorry."
She glared at him scornfully. "Why should you be sorry? You didn't kill her."
"I'm sorry because it made you do this to yourself. And I'm sorry because I know how it feels. I want you to promise me something."
The girl suddenly looked defeated. "What?"
"That you'll never do this again."
"Why should you care?"
"Because you're much too pretty to spoil your looks by cutting yourself."
Jack frowned. Had he actually just said that?
The girl scoffed.
Jack took her head and made her look into his eyes. "Listen to me. I know that losing someone is hard. But there are better ways of dealing with it than hurting yourself. Do you want to hurt your dad by killing yourself?"
"My dad wouldn't care."
"I don't believe that for one second. Ok."
Jack got out a piece of paper and searched his trousers for a pen. He wrote his phone number done on the piece of paper and handed it to her.
"This is my phone number." She rolled her eyes in a "no kidding" way. Jack grinned. He wasn't the only one with his sense of humour.
"If you ever want to talk about it you can… call me ok?"
The girl shook her head. "I won't need to. I can bottle stuff up."
Jack shook his head. "It's not good to do that. Sooner or later the feelings will come flooding out. I'm sorry. This is probably the last thing you want to here right now. I don't even know you."
She shook her head. "I appreciate it. It's just… I miss her."
Jack felt his eyes filling up again. He frowned and blinked them back. She stared into his eyes. Blue met brown. And then they kissed each other like there was no one else.
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Daniel picked up yet another photo album and flicked through it. He piped up, "Jack what is it with you and blondes?"
Jack, sitting at the table with Sam and Teal'c, trying to find out if Teal'c was bluffing or not, looked over absentmindedly. "What's that Daniel?"
"In every single picture that has you and a girl in, she's blonde."
"Oh."
Daniel looked at Sam. Or, more specifically, Sam's blonde hair. Hmm…
Jack folded. Daniel had a one-track mind, and once he got started there was no point trying to concentrate on anything. Sam folded. Teal'c put down his cards with a superior smile on his face and collected his winnings.
Daniel flicked through a yearbook and shook his head. Jack sat down next to him on the floor and picked an album up. He smiled slightly at the memories it brought back.
Daniel patted the floor next to him and Sam and Teal'c came to sit with them. "Jack."
"Daniel."
"How young were you when you first dated someone?"
"Erm… 10."
"Was she blonde?"
"I can't remember."
"The first person you went out with and you can't remember what she looked like?"
"She wasn't exactly "the one", Daniel."
Sam grinned.
"Ok, ok. How about the youngest person you ever flirted with. I'm talking really young… say… 6-ish?"
"Erm. How old would I have been?"
"It doesn't matter. Was she blonde?"
Jack thought back to his days as a cadet. Good grief. He had… there was a little girl who'd "flirted" with him on his first day. How strange.
"Yes." He muttered.
"What?"
"YES Daniel."
"Ok… how about erm.. people you just kissed but nothing else?"
"Where are you going with this?"
"I'm just interested."
"Sure ya are."
"Answer the question."
"I've had a few…people if that's what you mean. What about you Daniel? What's it with you and… brunettes?"
"Jack, this is about you."
"The hell it is."
"Ok, how many people have you ever had a relationship with?"
"Er… a lot?"
"Jack, it's us, you don't have to be embarrassed because you've only had two."
Sam smirked and Jack gave her a withering glance.
"Ok Daniel, you asked for it. There have been… erm… Jessica, Rachel, Cynthia…"
Jack stopped as he remembered Cynthia. And the way she dumped him. And the girl in the alleyway…
Jack drew a sharp intake of breath. Daniel looked up from the photos, suddenly concerned, but it was Sam that spoke.
"Are you ok sir?"
Jack looked at her. The same pair of blue eyes. "It was you." He said simply.
"What was me?"
"The girl. In the alley. With the knife and the blood. So much blood."
Sam remembered. She also remembered something else. When she was very young. A cadet with deep brown eyes who she never saw again. Holy…Hannah.
Daniel got up slowly, grabbed Teal'c and left, fast, yelling as he went "See you guys next week!"
Jack smiled softly and touched her face. "I think we need to talk."
Sam nodded. "Yeah."
They smiled at each other, linked hands and walked out of the room.
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The end. One shot, I know and I didn't want to have them breaking the regs… You can add what your imagination allows you to! Did I mention that I like reviews? Yeah, well, I like reviews! Thanks for reading even if you don't review I still love you:P
