Hey!

Thank you all for the reviews, as always, it's nice to hear from you!

I'm sorry for the slow update! I'll try and get the next chapter to my beta pronto!

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

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Ch 6: A Deaf Child...

Jack arrived back at the SGC with a little more 'stuff' then he intended on buying. He pulled into his parking place and hopped out of the truck. He waved to an airman to come over to assist him, before reaching into the bed of his truck and pulling out the first two bags.

"Yes sir?" The airman asked, stopping a few feet away from Jack.

"Hey, wanna give me a hand? Got a lot of stuff in here." Jack said, throwing a bag over his shoulder.

The man peeked over Jack's shoulders, raising a questioning eyebrow, before nodding. "Yes sir."

Jack nodded back. "Thanks, just deliver them to Major Carter's Lab." He added before walking away.

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"O'Neill?"

Jack turned to the familiar voice. "Teal'c." he acknowledged, dropping a bag on top of Carter's already messy desk. "Hey, want to help me? I've got a ton a stuff to bring in here, and I've got to get these clothes to Carter." He looked at his watch. "Well, seven minutes ago…"

"I heard of the young child staying on the base." Teal'c said.

Jack stopped. "And?"

"And nothing." Teal'c said, cocking his head slightly to the side and blinking once. "I will return with more bags." He turned and left the room.

Jack shrugged to himself before doing the same; he made his way to the locker rooms, ignoring the eyes of everyone who looked at him. June must have been whispering out rumors, and from the looks of it, it had spread like wildfire. He reached the locker room out of breath; he knocked on the door, not wanting to enter, just in case… well, it was the woman's locker room, after all.

Sam was the one who answered, she was soaked, and her hair was still dripping which told him the women must have just finished bathing the girl. Over her shoulder he saw the girl wrapped in a towel, her face twisted into a mean look. She looked up at him, as if he would rescue her.

"Have fun?" Jack asked, handing two bags that spilled out with clothes.

"Yes sir." Sam replied, taking the bags. After she got a better look at the bags she was offered, she cast him a strange look, holding back a chuckle. "Sir. I think you bought the whole clothing store."

"You don't even know the half of it." Jack muttered quietly enough so she couldn't hear.

"What?" Sam asked, looking up from the bags.

"Nothing. Umm, I didn't know what size she was, so I got all kinds. Uhh- her shoes and socks are in your lab, along with a few other things, like toothbrushes and hairbrushes… a few toys…"

Sam raised her eyebrows, she was now wondering if it had been a mistake to send Colonel O'Neill shopping for the young girl. "Thank you, sir. We'll be out in a minute."

Jack nodded. "I'll be in your lab…"

"Yes, sir."

He smiled to the girl and gave her a slight wave, before hurrying out of sight…

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Dressing the girl wasn't as bad as Sam thought it would be, she seemed rather anxious to get back into some clothes. She wore a plain simple pair of blue jeans, and a white t-shirt. Sam was actually surprised in Jack's taste of clothes; she had imagined him returning with something like a Simpson's shirt.

The girl wouldn't let Sam touch her hair, but after she demonstrated it a few times, the girl tried brushing it on her own. Yet, not liking the feeling of the brush in her untamed curls, she didn't get very far, but at least it looked better then it used to.

Sam held onto the girl's hand all the way to her lab, she pushed the door open and stood frozen at the sight. Her lab was completely filled with bags and boxes; she hadn't seen her lab this messy in years. Bags were squished into small spaces, and boxes sat under her desk. She spotted a gameboy through one bag, and next to it, several games. How did the Colonel have time to buy all this? He wasn't gone longer then an hour. Where did he get the money?

"Carter?" Jack poked his head out from under the desk, a small innocent smile spread across his face.

Sam narrowed her eyes at him. Why couldn't he bring this stuff into HIS office? "Sir," she started, trying to keep her voice relatively calm. "This is NOT a few things!"

Jack stopped what he was doing and turned to her. "Well, actually, I was going to buy a few more things but I thought they may be a little advanced for her. I can get them later though, once she gets used to the rest of-"

"Sir, she needed a few pieces of clothing and that is all." Sam sighed. "What are you doing under my desk, Colonel?"

Jack held up a bead it proudly. "The kit opened. Beads are everywhere. I was just picking them up." He pushed himself to his feet. "Carter, a kid needs stuff…"

"Sir," Sam was getting irritated. "I am aware that this child should have a few things to keep her entertained, but… do you really think she needs a gameboy? A bead kit?" Although, she had to admit, rather grudgingly, the bead kit was a good idea.

"Yeah, I heard bead kits and gameboys are good for deaf kids, I thought she could use one." He didn't understand why she was so upset. "Don't worry, I paid for it."

Sam glanced at another bag. "A comforter? Sir, she has a comforter."

Jack nodded glumly. "Yeah, and it's old and boring. A kid needs something new, something colorful, like this one."

"We have the comforter Cassie used when she stayed her, sir. And all her toys and a few other things, she… I think-"

Jack held up a hand to stop her. "Carter, I wanted to do this. It was my gift to her, don't worry, none of this came out of your paycheck." He smiled as he turned his attention slightly to the right. "And look at her, she loves it."

Sam hadn't realized the girl's hand had left hers; she turned and saw the girl pulling a stuffed elephant out of a bag. The smile that spread across that kid's face was enough to tell Sam Jack knew what he was doing. The girl squeezed her new friend tightly in her arms. A small frown found its way onto Sam's face as she berated herself for getting that easily upset.

Jack smiled at the sight. "I'm glad I got that one. I was thinking about getting the pink lion, but I thought might as well stick with the old boring gray elephant."

Sam nodded. "I think that was the right choice."

"Good job with the bath, by the way, she looks so much cleaner. She no longer looks like an alien dirty child, does she?" Jack stepped over bags, squishing some of their contents to move over towards Sam.

Sam smiled. "No sir, she doesn't."

"Hmm…" Jack scratched his head. "You know what? She looks even littler with those clothes on."

"Well, they are a little big. I managed to find a belt that fit her well enough, or else the pants would have fallen off by now. The shirt looks like it's supposed to be slightly big, so…" Sam trailed off.

"It's not that, she just looks… younger." Jack pushed a bag of underclothing off Sam's desk and made a spot for both Sam and himself.

"Beats me." Sam muttered as she heaved herself onto the desk next to Jack. She looked around the room once more, still amazed at how much stuff he bought. "Did anyone say anything?"

Jack turned to her, not expecting that question. "Did who say what?"

Sam blushed slightly. "I meant, did anyone say anything about you buying this much stuff?" She couldn't explain why she was so curious about this, but for some reason, she needed to ask.

Jack shrugged. "Umm, the man who helped me find shoes found it odd that I bought the same shoes in several different sizes. And when I was checking out, the cashier looked at me suspiciously, as if I was going to kidnap several children to fill the clothes. And I got several comments and glances from the airmen helping me bring all of this stuff in here… so, yeah, I guess they did."

Sam nodded slowly, her eyes wide. "Wow."

"Yeah. It was kind of weird shopping in the girl's section. I mean, I've done it before with Cassie, but she was always with me, I had an excuse then." Jack turned his attention back to the child. "Somewhere out there, there are people wondering where she is."

"Well," Sam started. "She may be an orphan, sir. She may not have a family, which could be the reason she left her planet."

"But Thor said there were no readings of any other life forms on that planet." Jack said, confused.

"Yes sir, but she may not have come from there. If she was an orphan, she could be from anywhere. Trying to find somewhere to live…"

Jack raised an eyebrow. He didn't even think of the possibility of this child being an orphan. "Why do you think she doesn't have a family?"

Sam shrugged at first. "Well, because, she doesn't seem to… know people. To adapt to new people, or… even…" she trailed off again, lost of words. "I don't know. I just have a feeling, that's all."

"Well, you're so called 'feelings' are normally pretty good." Jack said. "If it weren't for them, I don't think any of us would-"

He was cut off by a loud crash, and glass shattering. They both turned to the girl, finding her back to them, and a small glass figurine shattered in pieces.

Sam and Jack hurried onto their feet and over to the child.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sam asked as she kneeled next to her. "It's okay, I'm sure you didn't mean to break it." She looked at Jack who was picking up the broken pieces. "Are…" She stopped at the sight of blood on the girl's hands.

The girl looked up at her, her eyes filled with tears. She dropped the piece of glass from her hand.

"Sir, she's bleeding." Sam said, looking around for something to stop the blood. "I think she might have picked up a piece and cut herself." Sam said, pushing herself up she hurried over to her desk, pulling open several drawers before pulling out a handful of napkins.

Jack dropped the glass into the trashcan and moved closer to examine the two bloody hands.

Sam handed him some napkins and used the rest of them for the other cut hand. She applied pressure to the girl's palm, causing the girl to wince and jump back. "Hey, it's okay. I'm just stopping the blood." Sam slowly removed the napkin, and a few pieces of the cloth stuck to the cut. "It's not that bad, but she should get it looked at it."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, same with this one." He didn't remove the pressure. "Help me get her up."

The girl was close to tears, she did her best to hold them back, but they slowly leaked out.

Sam and Jack both grabbed one shoulder and pulled her up. "It's a good thing you have napkins in your drawer." He said, as they basically pulled the girl out of the room.

"Force of habit. With Daniel's visits and with all the testing I do, there's bound to be a spilled cup of coffee, or something." She slid her card through the card reader and the elevator doors opened.

"Ahh, I didn't think about that." Jack said. "Good idea." He would do it too, except he was hardly in his office, and if he was, he was to busy trying to get out of there to spill anything.

Sam smiled slightly. The doors opened and the three of them hurried out. "Okay, here we go again, back to the doctor…"

The girl's eyes widened, as if she remembered this hall. She tried pulling away from them, but they had already been expecting some resistance, they pulled her harder. The girl grunted as she tried to kick Sam, but failed.

"Hey, no hitting the genius. You already got a whack at us." Jack said, prepared to throw this kid over his shoulders and carry her there.

Sam let go of the hand and pushed the doors open. "Janet! We're back!"

Jack didn't want to pull the girl any harder, he was afraid he was going to dislocate her arm. So he let go of her other hand and picked her up, prepared for her protests.

And protest she did. At once she began to hit him on his back as hard as she could, but unfortunately she was causing herself more pain there she was him.

Jack eventually threw the girl over his shoulder and onto the bed, making sure she didn't hurt herself. "Doc?"

Janet immerged from the opposite side of the room. "Sorry sir, Siler burned himself, again, but don't worry, the nurses can take care of him." She turned to the child before her, slightly scared; she'd heard what she had done to the Colonel and Sam. "Oh, back so soon?"

Jack held her shoulders down, using the same technique as he had before.

Sam assisted Jack, as the girl struggled to get away. "She cut herself on broken glass. It's not serious, but I think you should have a look." Sam didn't want to admit it, but she was worried, sure she had many scrapes, cuts and bruises growing up, but this was different, she was responsible for this child right now, if she allowed her to cut herself, what else would happen? She wasn't so sure she was the best person for this baby-sitting job.

Janet nodded and removed the napkins. "Well, you cut yourself pretty good there, didn't you?"

The young girl's expression was both scared and mad.

Janet quickly cleaned up the cuts and bandaged them, all without the girl making too much of a fuss.

"There, you see, that wasn't so bad was it?" Janet smiled. "And hopefully I won't see you hear again for some time." She turned to Sam. "I thought you should know, I just got the results of her tests back, and they all came back clean. She's perfectly healthy. She doesn't appear to have as much as a cold, so, nothing to worry about."

Sam nodded. "Thank you, Janet." She helped the girl get down from the bed. "Say hi to Cassie for me, will you?"

Janet smiled and nodded as she reached into her jacket pocket for a lollipop and held it in front of the child who eyed it. "Always."

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