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Ch 5: A child called 'it'…

Jack returned ten minutes later with several airmen, all of them holding rather large trays, each one heaped with food.

Sam looked up with interest as her CO stepped into the room. "Wow. I think you brought the whole commissary with you, Colonel," she commented as Jack sat the several trays down on the desks next to the bed.

"Well, if I remember correctly, you did say to bring everything," Jack reminded her. "And I did." A large grin swept across his face. "Well, I didn't get all the desserts; just in case she decided she only liked them. I didn't think we'd want to deal with her after she had that much of a sugar load. But, then again, it might help her gain some weight. I mean, look at her, she can't weigh more then sixty or something…"

Sam nodded in agreement. Her brother's kids were skinny, but when you compared them to this child, they didn't seem so small anymore… "Yeah, well, next time, I think you can stick to one tray. I highly doubt she'll be eating much."

"Well, it never hurts to try." Jack said. "Damn. I forgot something for her to drink."

"I'll get her some milk." Daniel volunteered before disappearing out of the room.

Jack looked over at the girl. "Anything happen while I was gone?" He asked, not waiting for an answer as he pulled a few plates off a tray and brought them over to the girl. "So, are you in the mood for good pizza? Or maybe some yummy oatmeal?"

"Pizza?" Sam raised her eyebrows. "Sir, it's not even zero nine hundred yet."

"I know, Carter, but pizza's better than nothing." He set the plates on the ground in an array in front of the girl. "So, what will it be?"

Sam was more interested in who would have made pizza this early, but she decided not to ask.

The girl stared down at the plates, as she had almost everything else. A minute later she looked up at the two adults and blinked.

"Okay, I'll take that as a no. You don't want pizza. That's fine, just a minute, we've got a lot of food to go through…"

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And a lot of food they did go through. Half an hour later the child settled on a hotdog, a plain simple hotdog. No bun, no ketchup or mustard, just the dog.

Sam found it strange that it was the very food Cassie had settled on eating when she first came to this world. Maybe it was because it looked like food they had eaten before…

Jack leaned against the wall with a loud sigh. "I never want to see another tray of food in my life again."

Sam smiled. "Sir," she said, pushing the plate of spaghetti and meatballs away. "It was only seven trays."

Jack looked at her in disbelief. "Fine, then. I never want to see another plate of food in my life again. Does that sound better?"

Sam nodded, knowing that be the end of the day he would change his mind, as hunger got the better of him. "Yes, sir."

"Anyways," Jack slapped his hands on his knees. "That hotdog isn't going to be enough. She needs to eat more."

"I agree sir, but we can't force food down her. I don't think that's the way to gain her trust." Sam smiled down at the girl, who took every bite of the dog carefully.

"Yeah, I know." He sounded tired; he normally didn't show it in his voice. "So, what are we going to call her, hmm?" He looked at the child, looking for a perfect name. "Hey, what's your name? We can't keep calling you 'the girl', or 'it' anymore. You need a real name. So, spill it, Bob? Joe? … Joel?"

Sam smiled at her CO's sense of humor. "Sir, I really don't think she will have a boys name."

Jack turned to the blond. "No?"

"No… most likely not even a human name for that matter. It will probably be something in a language we know little about."

"You're beginning to sound a lot like Daniel." He muttered under his breath. "Well, I think I'll keep guessing. Maybe she'll recognize one that…" He stopped when he thought about what he was saying. "I guess that's pretty dumb, isn't it? She can't even hear me."

Sam had to admit, it wasn't all that bright. "Uh-… no, well, she might…" She stopped and let out a long breath. "Perhaps she could lip-read?"

"Well, one thing's for sure. We can't keep calling her anything, that's just rude. So, got any suggestions?" He eased himself up into a more comfortable sitting position.

"Sir," Sam started. "She does have a name, I don't think we should be calling her anything else."

Jack shrugged. "Well, it's better then 'kid'."

Sam wasn't so sure. If she were in a similar position, she knew she wouldn't be very happy at being re-named. This kid had to be at least eight. How could they just rename her? A name was personal; it was who you were. But, however, the Colonel was right, they couldn't keep calling her nothing or 'kid'.

"Daniel will probably name her anyway, before we get a chance." Jack said quietly.

The child glanced up from her half-eaten hotdog, looking from Sam to Jack curiously, as if wondering what was going on around her.

"Yeah, knowing Daniel, he probably will." Sam said. "Alright, what's next sir? What are we supposed to do with her? Just baby-sit?"

Jack shrugged. "I have no idea. I suppose. But, what happens if we have to watch her forever? And we'll grow old and gray just watching every move she makes?"

Sam managed to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "Sir, we most likely won't be ordered to watch her longer then a week. And if we are, I am sure we will still be allowed to go on several missions." She couldn't imagine General Hammond ordering the 'number one' team, as most called them, to stay behind only to baby-sit and alien girl.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I know. But it sounded good."

Sam shook her head mentally. "First thing's first, we need… I need to give her a bath. I don't think she's had one in quite a while, if ever." She added the last part barely above a whisper. "And we need to get her some new clothes, those are just…" She didn't want to say ugly, although it was the truth, she just didn't feel comfortable saying in front of the wearer. "Old." She finished.

The two air force officers looked down at the child, who stared right back at them, again, wondering what was going on.

"Okay, while you give her a bath, I'll go find her something decent for her to wear." Jack said, pushing himself onto his feet.

"Sir, I'm sure we have uniforms small enough to fit her. They may need to be taken in a little but-"

"Carter, please." Jack stopped her. "Now, Carter, you better have Janet help you, and maybe a few other people, just in case. I can tell you right now she isn't going to like being forced into a shower."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Yes sir. I think Janet and I can handle it." She quickly thought back to the fight outside Daniel's office. "Well, maybe I'll have couple others… just in case."

Jack nodded. "Good." He hesitated. "Who's money will I be using to pay for the kid's stuff?" he helped Carter onto her feet.

"I'm sure the SGC will pay for a few supplies…" she paused as his words sunk in. "Stuff, sir?"

"Yeah, sure, stuff. The kid's going to need something to keep her occupied. And at least a couple pairs of clothing if she's going to be staying with us. Maybe a-"

"Sir," Sam interrupted. "She will not be needing a playstation." She felt the need to point that out before he did something stupid.

Jack looked hurt. "I wasn't thinking about giving her one… okay, I was, but that's not the point. She was going to borrow mine. I was just going to buy her a few games that didn't involve certain language… that she wouldn't be able to hear in the first place." He had to remind himself over and over that she wasn't a hearing child.

Sam smiled slightly. The Colonel always did have a soft spot for children, and they adored him, most of the time anyway. "That's really thoughtful of you, sir."

"Yeah, well…" He shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged bashfully, not meeting Carter's eyes. "Okay, I guess I'll get a head start. See you in an hour." He waked over to the door and waved goodbye to the girl before walking out.

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Twenty minutes later, with the help of Janet and Lt.'s Rice and Winthrop, Sam managed to bring the girl into the locker room and remove the filthy dress without too much of a fight. She knew that was only the easy part. She wasn't going to admit it, but she was actually a little scared about trying to put the girl into the shower and keep her there. After all, she didn't want to force her to do anything.

"Sam, are you ready?"

Janet's voice pulled her away from her thoughts. She turned and gave a nod. Janet was so much more ready for this than she herself was, though that was probably because she hadn't gotten bitten, or cut open by the girl's toenails. "Yeah… how are we going to do this?"

Janet hesitated. "I have no idea."

"Okay, how about, I grab her, Janet you get her legs, and Lt. Rice, you grab her arms, and Lt. Winthrop, you take whatever she gets free."

Everyone nodded and got into a position, ready to pounce the poor girl as soon as the word was given.

But the girl wasn't as clueless as they gave her credit for. She'd been through this once, and actually did succeed, but there hadn't been this many people. She looked up at Sam, who avoided her eyes. Just as Sam gave the order, the child jumped from her position on the bench, and hurried to the closest thing that would protect her, a small room with a curtain.

Sam looked taken back as the girl jumped into the shower and pulled the curtain close. "That was easy." She muttered. "Okay, now we get to the hard part, holding her down so we can clean her. Everyone ready? Let's do this."

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