Chapter 9: Sam's House...
Sam pulled her car to a stop in front of her house. "Here we are," she turned back to the two people in backseat. "Colonel, I only have one guest room, so either you or…" she paused, wishing she knew the child's name, "the kid can have the pullout couch." She unbuckled and stepped out of the car.
Jack nodded. "Okay, give the bed to the kid. I can sleep on the pullout couch." He helped the girl unbuckle.
Sam nodded; she had thought he would say that. "Umm, one other thing, I don't think the fridge is stocked. We might have to go grocery shopping later. I can call Daniel and have him come baby-sit." She grabbed a large box from the trunk.
Jack nodded again; he still held the kid's hand as he grabbed a few bags from the trunk with his free one.
Sam kicked the gate open. Balancing the box on her knee, she pulled out a handful of mail from her letterbox. "Haven't been home in a while," she explained. "Normally I have a kid come by and take care of my mail and plants, but he's sick." She set the box down on the porch and unlocked the door. "Go ahead, I'll get the rest of the stuff. Make yourself at home."
As she hurried back to the car, she hoped she hadn't left her house a mess. She normally didn't, but since she had been busy the last couple days…
Jack stepped into Carter's house. Looking around the large living room, he noticed how much it had changed over the last few years. He hadn't been to her house since the incident with Orlin three years ago. "Come on, wanna see your new bedroom?" He asked, putting his hands on the small child's shoulders.
Sam was back with another large box in her hands. "It's just down the hall, the first door on the right." She said before she hurried back out of the house.
Jack knew where it was, although he wasn't exactly sure how. He never did see her whole house before. "This way." He led the girl down the long hall and stopped at the door. As he opened it, he realized it wasn't exactly how he would have imagined it.
The bright pink walls with orange polka dots seemed to jump at him. There was a computer in the corner of the room, a TV sitting on the dresser. And white carpet that made Jack feel the need to take off his shoes to walk on. This had definitely been young Cassie's room at one point.
"Well…" Jack cleared his throat. "Here you are." He looked down at the child.
The child's hazel-green eyes grew wide as she looked around the room. Her mouth hung open as she took a step back in surprise. Jack thought it was safe to say that she liked it.
"I'm sorry if it's a mess! I haven't touched it since Cassie last stayed!" Sam's voice shouted from the living room.
"No! It's fine! Perfect!" Jack responded. Quieting his voice he looked down at the child and murmured, "You won't have any trouble getting acquainted with this room will you?"
Sam set the last of the bags and boxes down. She took her first look around the living room. It wasn't as bad as she expected it to be, although there were a few books lying on the couch, and a cup of cold coffee on the TV, but it could have been a lot worse. She hurried to put the stray objects away.
"Carter."
Sam snapped around, spilling some contents in the cup as she did. "Is something wrong, sir?"
"No." He replied. He looked down at the objects in her hand and shook his head slightly. "You don't have to worry about cleaning up, it's fine. You're making me feel bad."
Sam continued what she was doing. "And how exactly am I doing that, sir?"
"My house is no way near as tidy as yours." He said simply. "You don't have to clean on my behalf, and I'm pretty sure the kid wouldn't mind-"
Sam panicked, suddenly interrupting O'Neill's sentence. "Where is she?"
"She's in the room. Don't worry. She loves it." Jack smiled. He took the coffee cup away from her, and walked towards the kitchen.
Sam hesitated before walking to the guest room. There she found the girl on the bed, stroking the soft pink blanket with her hands. She was actually smiling.
"I take it you like it?"
The girl looked up, and flashed a large smile at her.
Sam stood confused for a moment. She wasn't sure how the kid knew she was there; maybe she had seen her from the corner of her eye. Shrugging away the thought, she walked over to the bed and sat next to her. "My friend Cassie spent a lot of time in this room."
Jack poked his head into the room. "I'm going to call Daniel. I checked your fridge, I don't think you have anything that hasn't expired yet."
Sam nodded. "Alright."
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Daniel and Teal'c arrived at Sam's house half an hour later. Daniel knocked on the hard wood door, expecting someone to answer almost immediately, but no one did.
"Hmm… maybe they didn't hear." Daniel muttered, more to himself then Teal'c. He knocked again, louder then he had the first time, and with decreasing patience. A couple minutes later there was still no reply.
"Perhaps they cannot hear us." Teal'c suggested.
Daniel nodded. Or, maybe they had gotten into another fight. Maybe the girl really did have powers. After all, Janet said she could be advanced, so it was possible that she could have done something… abnormal. After a minute of thinking it was the best decision, he entered the house, and glanced around. "Hello? Anyone home?"
The house seemed abandoned; the silence that lingered in the air was unusual.
"Major Carter. Colonel O'Neill." Teal'c said firmly.
They heard a long "Shhhh!"
Teal'c pointed to a room down the hall, and they hurried over to it. Pushing the already opened door, they found Jack grinning like a fool as he looked down at the two girls on the bed, who were staring intensely at each other.
"Jack, what's going-"
"Shh!"
"Jack!"
"Shh!" Jack raised his finger to his mouth. "Just a minute." He whispered.
Daniel shared a concerned glance with Teal'c.
"O'Neill." Teal'c said again. "What is-"
Sam blinked. "NO!" She screamed, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat.
Jack sat on the bed and patted the girl's back. "Good job! Alright." He turned to his 2IC. "Carter, I believe you now owe me another five bucks."
Sam rubbed her burning eyes and blinked rapidly. "Yes sir, I know." Her voice was clearly irritated.
Jack grinned and waved to the other two men in the room. "Hey guys, sorry about that."
"What were you guys doing?" Daniel asked, making his way over to the group on the bed.
"Staring contest," Jack replied. "Who ever blinks is out. And, go figure, the kid won." He smiled. "I won twenty bucks from this kid. I don't think a certain Major we all know, likes to lose."
Sam stood up and dusted herself off. "No. I don't." She admitted.
Daniel turned to the girl, who was smiling at Sam – wait, smiling? "Guys, you got her to smile." Daniel said, amazed. "How'd you do that? I mean she didn't seem to-"
"She likes to win." Jack stated.
"How does she know she won?" Daniel asked. "How did you communicate to her?" He was obviously jealous that Jack had done something he couldn't.
"I didn't do anything. She's a smart kid. Once the game started, I think she got the hang of it. She's not as clueless as she looks." Jack patted her head proudly. "Okay, it's a good thing you two are here. This kid is starving."
"How can you tell?" Sam asked.
"Because, she's got to be. She hasn't eaten anything in a while." Jack said, his tone of voice suggesting he was irritated by the fact that what seemed so obvious to him escaped the minds of his brilliant team members.
Sam nodded. "Of course, sir."
"You two better hurry. I saw what she did to you two. I don't want to go home with a black eye." Daniel said, making himself comfortable on the bed, while Teal'c stood in the doorway.
Sam nodded and slipped back on her shoes. "I'll be right back."
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Jack asked, grabbing her arm.
"To the grocery store," she stated, giving him a look that plainly said I thought we just discussed this…
"Without me? You're going to get a bunch of healthy foods, and don't try to deny it, I've shopped with you before, remember? You're broken leg? I'm sorry. But I will not be eating salad for weeks." He said, grabbing his jacket.
Sam smiled, thinking back when she broke her leg, six years ago. How did he remember that? "Alright sir."
"Giving in already?" Jack asked, grinning as he following her out of the room.
Sam nodded. "Yes, sir. If I remember right, you complained for that entire first week. I managed to talk Janet to come and stay with me."
"It wasn't my fault I stayed. She's the one who ordered someone here anyways."
"I know." She grabbed her purse and headed out of the door.
"Can I drive?"
Sam fished in her purse for her keys. "I think I can handle it, sir." She got into the car and started her engine, and was about to take off when her CO shouted for her to stop. Turning towards him, she spotted the disturbance.
The girl was running out of the house, looking absolutely terrified.
Jack quickly jumped out and caught her before she ran into the old car. "What's wrong? What happened?"
The poor kid was crying. Hard. She threw her arms tightly around Jack's neck and buried her face into his shoulder. Her whole body shook as she cried.
Sam hurried out of the car and made her way over to Jack. "Colonel, what's…" she stopped when she saw the girl hugging him. It was sight she didn't think she would ever see. "Whoa."
Jack turned to the Major, who looked as surprised as he felt. He stroked the back of the girls hair as he murmured softly, "Shh… it's okay."
Daniel and Teal'c hurried out of the house, and caught up with the group.
"What happened?" Sam demanded, since she didn't think this kid would come screaming out of the house for no reason at all. And especially not throw her arms around the man she had only just met the previous day. After all, she was scared of him not too long ago…
"Nothing! Nothing happened, she just watched you guys leave then went berserk. The next thing we knew she was running out here in tears! We didn't do anything, right, Teal'c?" Daniel felt the need for someone to support him.
"I conquer. We did nothing to upset her mood."
Daniel nodded.
Sam turned back to the hugging people. "Sir, maybe it's not a good idea for you to leave after all. I don't think she wants you to go." She understood why. Jack was the first person she met, so it was natural that she was beginning to trust him before she even met the others. But she still felt a twinge of jealously.
"I don't know. I think she should get used to all of us. I just don't know if you want your living room to be a disaster when we come home." He DID want to go shopping, not only because Sam had a bad taste in food, also because he liked her company, and this was something they could do together without being frowned upon.
The girl loosened her grip around his neck and slid to the ground. She picked up his hand and pulled him in the direction of the house. Her eyes pleading for him to follow her.
It was one of the cutest things Sam had ever seen. "Sir?" She asked, she didn't think he would leave her now…
Jack pulled his hand away from the kid, and kneeled down. "Hey," he took her shoulders. "You need to stay with them, okay?" She was going to have to get used to the fact that he wasn't always going to be there twenty-four-seven. "I'm not going to be gone long, okay? Teal'c and Daniel want to watch you." He pushed her towards them.
The girl backed up, and turned to Jack stubbornly. She pointed to her forehead viciously. When Jack didn't say anything, she turned to Sam and tapped her forehead.
"I know he's Jaffa. But he's good." Sam said, how could she tell that to her?
The girl shook her head, her face full of confusion. A tear slid down her cheek as she looked back at Teal'c and Daniel.
Jack nodded. "Yes. You need to stay with them. I have to go. If I don't, you may be stuck with the same food for a week. And we both know you need some fat in your diet."
The girl blinked.
Jack let out a long sigh and tore his gaze away from the child. "Okay, Carter, let's go."
Sam could honestly say was surprised that Jack was leaving the girl. However, she nodded and got back into the car, Jack did the same.
The girl pressed her face against the window, her eyes pleading for him not to leave her with the Jaffa.
Jack waved as Daniel and Teal'c pulled the child away from the car.
Sam stepped on the gas, and drove away, leaving the small child fighting fiercely with her new babysitters…
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Hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks Aria-wolfstar for beta'ing this for me!
Please review!