A/N – So yar, next chapter, finally! A little drama, a little fluff, and Charlie kinda sorta starts to realize that Sam isn't so bad. Kinda. And not until the last couple paragraphs. :P but it gets better, don't worry.

Chapter 4

Weeks passed and Jack continued to see Sam off and on, whenever she had time off from work. Though Jack had been reluctant to admit it at first, he was starting to get used to her presence in his life and had even began thinking of Sam as his "girlfriend", though the whole idea didn't really strike home until Jack went to pick up Charlie from Sarah's one Sunday morning.

"Do you want to come in for a minute?" Sarah asked when she answered the door. "Charlie isn't quite packed yet and I just made a pot of coffee…"

She must have been planning this. Jack thought bitterly. He hesitated for a moment, then found himself agreeing. "Uhm…sure." Unzipping his jacket he followed his ex-wife into the house and through to the kitchen.

"So…" Sarah said as they sat down at the table and she set out two mugs of coffee. "Charlie said you're seeing someone."

"Oh, here we go," Jack rolled his eyes, sitting back in his chair.

Sarah regarded him over the rim of her mug. "Something wrong?"

"Oh no, no no," Jack said, waving his hand as he reached for his own mug. "I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, is all. I know Charlie doesn't seem to like her too much, so I'm just curious what he said to you."

"He said she's in the military," Sarah murmured, looking down at the table. "That she works for some top-secret program."

"Uhuh."

Sarah looked up at him and sighed heavily. "Jack, I'm trying to put my personal feelings aside for you when I say this, but for God's sake be careful."

"Be careful?" Jack raised his eyebrows. "Sarah, she's not going to give me rabies."

"That's not what I meant. You don't know what she does, and I swear if Charlie ends up in danger…"

"Sarah!" Jack snapped, narrowing his eyes. "I would never put Charlie in danger and neither would Sam."

Sarah kept pushing though, her brow furrowed in a scowl. "You don't know what sort of things this woman is involved in…!"

"You don't even know her!"

"Dad."

Both adults looked over to see Charlie standing in the doorway to the kitchen, his backpack slung over one shoulder. He had a mildly annoyed look on his face and was holding his CD player and headphones in one hand.

"Are we going?" he asked.

Jack nodded and stood up. "Yeah." He glanced at Sarah as she too got to her feet. "I guess I'll see you around."

Sarah nodded, then escorted them to the door where she said goodbye to Charlie.

After they'd gotten into the car Charlie turned to Jack. "What were you and Mom fighting about?"

"Sam." Jack glanced at his son. "What'd you say to Mom?"

Charlie shrugged. "Just that you're dating some chick who works for a top secret military program. That's all, I swear."

"Right."

Charlie turned towards the window, untangling the cord of his headphones. "Oh, I'm sleeping over at Tim's on Tuesday. We're gonna watch the game."

Jack frowned. "Not on a school night you're not."

"No, we've got off on Wednesday. The freshman've got that testing they have to do, so everyone else has off. Check the school website."

"I believe you," Jack drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for the light to change. "Are you going to need a ride?"

"Over there, yeah," Charlie nodded. "Tim's mom can give me a ride back though."

Tim lived across town and when Jack finally got back home it was starting to get late. He hurried inside to quickly change into some nicer clothing before rushing back out to a restaurant downtown where Sam was already waiting for him.

"So sorry…" he panted, sitting down across from her. "I had to drop Charlie off at a friend's house and it took longer than I thought…"

"It's ok. You're here and that's what matters." Sam smiled as Jack got to his feet again, leaning over the table to kiss her. "I haven't ordered yet."

"Great." Jack sat back down and opened a menu. "How're things up at the ol' mountain?"

Sam chuckled. "Still classified. Kowalski says 'hi'."

"Ahh...you'll have to give him a good punch in the shoulder for me."

Sam gave him a look, folding her arms on the table. "He's my commanding officer, Jack, I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Of course." Jack smirked and hid behind his menu to hide from the smoldering look Sam was giving him. A moment later he glanced up and caught Sam still staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing." Sam blushed, looking down.

Jack smirked, then reached over, gently brushing the backs of his fingers against her cheek. "Has anyone told you how cute you are?"

"Cute?" Sam raised her eyebrows.

"Sexy too."

"Mmm…" Sam brought her hand up to cover Jack's. "Feeling a bit flirty, are we?"

"Oh, I've been feeling 'a bit flirty' since we first met, Sam."

She turned her head to press a kiss to his palm, her eyes never leaving his. "So…is Charlie at his friend's house all night?"

Something stirred deep in the pit of Jack's stomach and he found himself leaning a little closer to Sam. "Sleeping over, yeah."

Sam smirked, her eyes sparkling. She twined her fingers with his and raised her eyebrows in a suggestive expression.

"You off work tomorrow?" Jack found himself asking. He'd told himself weeks ago that he wouldn't push things, wouldn't drag this relationship along so fast that it burned out, but she was looking so damn hot and her skin felt so smooth under his fingers…

"Yeah."

"Excellent." Jack spotted the waiter heading their way and lowered his hand to the table, smiling meaningfully at Sam.

He could remember the first time Sarah had come home with him after one of their dates, could remember the twisting anticipation as the door had clicked shut behind him. He'd found her attractive, obviously, and still did but …she wasn't Sam. She didn't have the same toned beauty that came from years of hard, military training, her eyes weren't that same deep blue color.

And she wasn't the one looking at him with such a look of desire that he found all the blood in his body immediately rushing south.

Jack stepped forward wordlessly, reaching out to slide Sam's jacket off her shoulders and hang it on the coat rack before doing the same with his, never taking his eyes off her. The only light was filtering in from the kitchen down the hall, backlighting Sam so she seemed to be surrounded by a faint, glowing aura.

He slipped his arms around her waist, drawing her close and bending his head to press a searing kiss to her lips. Her arms came up to loosely encircle his neck and they stood there for a long moment, absorbed in each other, forgetting that they were standing in the drafty front hall.

Still holding Sam, Jack turned a little to the left, pushing her back a few inches and up against the wall, his hand shooting out to brace himself against the cool paneling. Sam made a soft noise, her mouth opening, yielding to his as he pushed against her insistently.

A slight shudder ran through Jack as he realized that for the first time since the divorce 'satisfaction' would mean something other than jerking off alone in his room at night. He chided himself mentally for being so crass, but honestly, what's a guy to do when he's making out with a blond in the middle of his front hall?

Front hall. Right. Had to do something about that…

Reluctant as he was to, Jack pulled away, staring into her eyes with a look of such intensity that it made a blush rise in her cheeks. He jerked his head to the side, whispering "bedroom."

Sam nodded, following him down the hall to his room. Jack quickly pulled his shoes off, tossing them unceremoniously into the corner of the room and when he looked up he saw that Sam had perched herself on the end of his bed, slipping her own shoes off then looking up at him, smirking faintly. God, it had been too long.

For a moment Jack considered turning on the light, but he decided that he liked the way Sam looked in the half-glow from the street light outside. Returning the seductive grin she was giving him, Jack walked over, kneeling next to her. Sam giggled and scooted back until she was pressed up against the headboard.

"Gotcha." Jack murmured, leaning closer to lightly kiss the side of her neck. Sam shivered, arching her back a little as Jack reached behind her to unzip her dress. He stared down at her intently as he tugged at the garment, sliding the thin straps off over her shoulders, slowly revealing, bit-by-bit, what seemed to be endless miles of creamy white skin.

He got it as far as her hips and then Sam shifted to kick it the rest of the way off, reaching up to unbutton Jack's shirt.

Jack trailed his fingertips down her neck, tracing the faint line of a scar on her collarbone, then daring to move a little further down, touching the swell of one breast where it showed above her dark, lacy bra. A moment later he found himself tracing another scar, jagged and obviously from a deep cut, that crossed her ribcage just below her breasts.

"What's that from?" he asked, looking up at her.

Sam opened her mouth, then closed it again, frowning slightly. "I can't tell you," she said finally.

"You can't tell me?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah…" Sam ran her fingers through his hair, smiling. "The circumstances are highly classified."

"Ooh, right. You sure I'm not going to get into trouble for looking at it?"

Sam chuckled, tossing his shirt off to the side and running her hands down his chest. "Oh, my Dad might have a thing or two to say to you, but the government shouldn't care."

"Your dad, huh," Jack snorted. "I'm terrified."

Sam giggled and nipped at his ear as she slid her hands down to the waistline of his pants. "You should be."

It was just after midnight when Charlie stepped through he front door, and he was surprised to find the house dark and silent save for the single light in the kitchen. His dad didn't usually go to bed yet, and Charlie had expected to find him in the living room watching TV.

Tim had gotten sick, and while he'd tried his best to stick it out, his mother had finally decided that tonight probably wasn't the best night to have a sleep over and had driven Charlie home.

"Dad?" Taking off his coat and dropping it on the floor with his bag, Charlie padded into the house. He thought maybe his dad was reading in bed, and so walked down the hall, opening the door to his father's room and sticking his head in.

It was dark. Charlie could make out the shape of his father lying beneath the covers, but there was someone else there too. Charlie's heart skipped a beat and he squinted, shifting a little further into the room. For a moment he thought, prayed that it was his mom, but then he saw that it was only Sam, fast asleep and tucked snugly up against his dad.

Charlie felt a flush rise in his cheeks and he quickly backed out of the room, shutting the door quietly and hurrying down the hall to his own room. Falling face first onto his bed he buried his face in the pillow, disappointment welling in him to the point where he felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

He got up before the adults and sat down at the kitchen table, folding his arms and scowling at the tabletop. Minutes later he could hear a door opening, and his dad and Sam laughing quietly as they came into the kitchen.

"Charlie! Hey, kiddo, when'd you get back?" Jack asked cheerfully. He'd already gotten dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and walked over to ruffle Charlie's hair affectionately. Sam, who was wearing some of Jack's too-large sweatpants and a grey air force t-shirt sat down on the other side of the table. Charlie scowled at her.

"About midnight. Tim got sick. His mom drove me home."

Jack moved over to the cabinets and started getting stuff out to make pancakes. "Oh, you should have called. I could have picked you up."

"Whatever." Charlie narrowed his eyes at the way Sam was watching Jack.

"Well, hey, since you're home today maybe we should all go do something," Jack suggested, not noticing the annoyance radiating from his son. "You know…something fun…"

"I've got homework." Charlie grumbled, abruptly getting to his feet.

Jack turned. "That won't take you all day will it? You'll have time to do something."

"I said I've got homework!" Charlie turned and stomped out of the kitchen.

Jack slowly set the pan he was holding down, exchanging a frown with Sam. "I'll be right back…" he hurried out of the kitchen and into the living room, where Charlie was sulking on the couch. "Hey, what's your problem this morning?"

Charlie glared up at him. "What's she doing here?"

"She's here because I want her to be here, now would you just stop being so defensive? If you'd just give Sam a chance I know the two of you could get along."

"I don't want to give Sam a chance." Charlie grabbed the sports section of the newspaper vehemently.

"Fine!" Jack threw his hands in the air. He could feel his temper rising and didn't feel like having an all-out fight in front of Sam, so he left his son to sulk and returned to the kitchen.

Sam gave him a worried look and got to her feet, following him as he went to lean on the counter top. "Maybe I should go…" she said quietly.

"No." Jack turned, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to go. Charlie's just in a bad mood."

"He's always in a bad mood when I'm around. I just wish there was something I could do…" Sam sighed sadly, leaning against Jack. "Maybe I should try talking to him."

"Maybe. But give him a chance to calm down, otherwise I don't think either of you'll get much out of the conversation."

After breakfast, Sam went out into the living room where Charlie was still sitting, homework open in his lap though he wasn't working on it.

"Hey," Sam said in response to the scowl he shot her. "You busy?"

Charlie picked up his pencil, looking down. "Yes."

Sam walked over and sat next to him on the couch anyway. "Think you could take a break for a minute?"

"What do you want?" Charlie asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Well…I'd like you to not hate me, for one thing," Sam replied, folding her hands in her lap.

"I don't hate you." Charlie looked away from her. "I just don't like you either."

Sam exhaled slowly. He certainly was his father's son. "Look, I know this is all pretty tough for you…"

"What would you know about it?"

"When I was about fifteen my mom died," Sam said slowly, tilting her head to one side. "Now my dad never remarried, but he did try the whole dating thing a couple of times. I remember how difficult and sometimes upsetting it was to see him with a woman who wasn't my mom…and I know that it must be even harder for you with your mom still alive."

"Yeah." Charlie tossed his homework onto the coffee table. "Because you know what? My mom still loves my dad and you're just getting in the way."

The comment stung Sam a little, and she was unsure of how to respond to something like that. "I'm sorry," she said finally. "I don't really know what to tell you. But…I would like it if we could try to be friends."

Charlie said nothing, staring down at the floor.

"Please? I think it would be easier for us if we could try that."

Charlie looked up at her slowly. "And if Dad wants to get back together with Mom would you stop him?"

Sam stared at him for a moment. That certainly wasn't the response she'd expect from most boys his age. "Charlie, part of me caring so much about your father is that I want him to do what would make him happy. So I guess hypothetically if that ever did happen…no I wouldn't try to stop him."

"Ok." Charlie's hard expression relaxed a little as he reached for his homework.

Sam smiled tightly, taking that for as much acceptance as she would get from him. Standing up, she went to rejoin Jack in the kitchen.