A/N – Well, I have to say that the tables really turn in this chapter and things start getting even more interesting. I hope you like it :D

Chapter 5

There was a noticeable change in Charlie's behavior over the next couple weeks. Jack had no idea what Sam had said to Charlie, but it must have had some impact on the boy. While he wasn't completely ok with his dad's new girlfriend yet, at least he wasn't glaring at her anytime she walked past him, and the hostility was beginning to melt away.

One Saturday afternoon the three of them were walking through an all but deserted park. Sam had gotten some unexpected time off, though as usual she hadn't said a word to Jack as to why.

As they walked, Charlie in front and the two adults just behind, Jack kept shooting Sam looks out of the corner of his eye. Finally she rolled her eyes and reached out, taking his hand in hers. Jack grinned and stepped closer to her, leaning over to place a light kiss on her lips.

Charlie had turned around at that exact moment and made a face. "Ewww…"

"Hey!" Jack glowered good-naturedly at his son. "Down in front. Keep your eyes on the road."

"Whatever." Charlie turned around again. "We should get a dog."

"A dog?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"You know…four legs, fur, tail, barks a lot?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "I know what a dog is. What brought that on?"

"So I have something to do while –"

"Excuse me, Major Carter?"

All three of them stopped and turned around to face the man in a dark suit who had appeared seemingly out of no where. A slight frown crossed Sam's face and she stepped forward, unconsciously moving between the man and Jack. Charlie walked forward to Jack's side.

"Who are you?" Sam asked, tensing slightly.

The man pulled his wallet out, flashing an ID card at her. "Agent Moran. NID."

"Sam?" Jack reached out to lightly touch her arm. There was something wrong. He could tell by her posture she was worried, and that did nothing to put him at ease, despite the reassuring look she shot him.

"NID?" She took a cautious step closer to the man. "What do you want?"

"I need to speak to you, Major," he cast a glance at Jack and Charlie. "In private."

Still frowning, Sam took another step towards the man, and froze. Jack saw her eyes go wide as though she'd just noticed something. The strange man too tensed suddenly.

"Jack, run!" Sam shouted, backing away. She reached behind herself, pulling out a small handgun from its holster under her jacket.

The fact that his girlfriend had just pulled a gun out of nowhere wasn't what surprised Jack, though. Glancing up at the strange man Jack saw his eyes glow, actually glow, and when he spoke his voice sounded strange and echoing. Sam fired a shot off but missed. Jack grabbed Charlie by the arm but the boy was frozen in place, eyes wide and mouth open.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. The man raised his left hand and Jack could see something looped around his middle and ring fingers. Pointing his hand at Charlie the man pressed the thing with his thumb, and what appeared to be a bolt of energy flew through the air.

"Charlie!" Sam shouted. She reacted instantly, throwing herself at Charlie and knocking him to the ground, out of harms way. The energy beam however caught her across the back, leaving a sizzling wound in its wake.

Without thinking Jack stepped forward and grabbed the handgun from where Sam had dropped it. He aimed and fired at the man and caught him in the arm. The man shouted something at Jack, then pressed something on his wrist…and vanished.

"Sam!" It was Charlie's shaking voice that broke the silence.

Jack dropped the gun and knelt, helping Sam to move off Charlie. "Shit…Sam…"

"I'm ok…ah-!" She winced, trying to move as little as possible. She leaned forward against Jack. "I'm ok…"

Jack stared down at her back, at the angry red wound that was still smoking slightly. "No you're not! Jesus, we need to get you to a hospital."

"No." Sam shook her head, feebly reaching in her pocket and pulling out her cell phone. "Call…first speed dial number…tell Kowalski that…never mind…just get Kowalski on the line. First speed dial."

Wondering what good that could possibly do, Jack dialed the first number on the phone and waited as it rang. Moments later Kowalski answered.

"Yo, Carter what's –"

"It's not Sam, it's me. Jack."

"Jack?" Kowalski sounded surprised. "Why're you using Carter's -?"

"Jesus, something just happened…this guy attacked us…Sam's hurt…" Jack could hear himself stuttering. "She didn't want me to take her to a hospital though…"

"Ok, Jack, just calm down. How bad is she hurt?"

"I don't know…this guy, I know it sounds crazy, just got her across the back with some sort of energy beam…She's barely conscious…"

"Ok, ok, Jack, listen to me. Tell Sam that I'll send a team to come pick you guys up. I'll make sure Jackson and Dr. Fraiser come too, alright? You got that?"

"Yeah…" Jack bit his lip, looking worriedly down at Sam. "Jackson. Fraiser. Right."

"Ok. Just hang in there, Jack, everything's gonna be fine."

Jack mumbled a goodbye and hung up. He looked down, brow furrowed, at Sam, who had her face buried in his chest. "Sam?"

"Jack, you need to calm down." Sam mumbled, her voice muffled slightly. "I'm going to be fine. What'd Kowalski say? Something about Daniel and Janet?"

"He said…" Jack was working furiously to calm his racing heart. "He's sending a team to come get us. Something about Jackson and Dr. Fraiser…"

"Yeah, that's…uhn…Daniel and Janet…" Sam sat up, grimacing. She looked at Charlie. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Charlie squeaked out. "What the hell was that?!"

Sam was sitting with her back slightly hunched so as not to stretch the wound at all. "I swear I'll explain everything to you guys, just not now."

"How are they going to be able to find us?" Jack asked, feeling a bit calmer now that Sam appeared to be in no immediate danger. "I didn't tell Kowalski where we were…"

"Oh…they'll find us…" Sam made a faint whimpering noise. "How bad is it?"

"Uhm…" Jack tilted his head to the side. "It looks pretty bad."

Sam turned her head, gritting her teeth as she straightened her back to try and see the wound. "I…" she inhaled sharply and settled back into a more comfortable position. "I've had worse."

"Worse?" Charlie squeaked out, then looked up to the road. "Is that them?"

Sam looked up at the vehicles that had just pulled up and the people who were getting out of them and rushing over to them. She nodded wearily. "Yeah, that's them."

Jack turned as well and could see two people rushing down the slope from the road towards them. The first was a short woman with dark auburn hair, the other, a young, good looking, bespectacled man with wide blue eyes. They both looked worried, though the woman put a hand to her chest and let out a sigh of relief when they got closer.

"Oh, Sam," she let her hand fall. "You're alright! The way Kowalski was going on I thought you'd lost an arm or something."

Sam chuckled nervously, putting a hand affectionately on Jack's cheek. "Oh…Jack just got a little panicky when he called Kowalski."

"So this is Jack?" the woman raised her eyebrows, smirking slightly as she crouched next to Sam. "Sam, I'm just going to check you over before we try to move you."

The young man who was hovering nearby grinned down at Sam. "So…you going to introduce us?"

"Oh, sorry," Sam rolled her eyes, sucking in her breath sharply as the other woman peeled back the fabric of her shirt to look at the injury. "Kinda slipped my mind. This is Jack and his son Charlie…guys, these are my friends Daniel Jackson and Janet Fraiser. They work at the base with me."

"Nice to meet you," Jack mumbled, then peered at Janet. "Is she going to be ok?"

"She'll be fine." Janet smiled. "Trust me. Sam's been through a lot worse than this and lived to tell the tale." She motioned to a couple of airmen to come and help her get Sam to the cars.

Sam put a hand on Janet's arm. "Jack and Charlie need to come with us."

"Uhm…" Daniel stepped forward, looking slightly skeptical. "Sam are you sure General Hamm–"

"Daniel," Sam raised her eyebrows at him. "We were attacked by a goa'uld. I think the general will understand."

"That's true..." Daniel looked at Jack. "What'd you see, exactly?"

"I saw a guy with glowing eyes shoot my girlfriend," Jack said, narrowing his eyes. "I'd kinda appreciate some answers to my questions, mainly what the hell was that thing?"

"Ok ok!" Daniel held up his hands in surrender. "You'll get your answers, don't worry. I'll go let them know we're bringing two more back with us." He turned and started walking back to the cars.

Sam shot Jack an apologetic look. "Come on. You'll get your answers." She let out a loud yelp as one of the airmen accidentally bumped against her back.

After an excessive amount of paperwork, Jack found himself and Charlie sitting in the briefing room of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, across the table from Kowalski, and awaiting the arrival of someone by the name of General Hammond. Sam apparently was still in the infirmary being looked after by Dr. Fraiser.

"You should consider yourself lucky, Charlie," Kowalski was saying, grinning at the boy. "If you ever decide to join the military your security clearance is going to be higher than all your teachers at the academy combined."

"Really?" Charlie's eyes lit up. "Sweet!"

"Now wait…" Jack remembered the warning Sarah had given him and now was beginning to feel apprehension twisting his stomach. "Is this something that Charlie really needs to get involved in?"

"Aww, Daaaad!"

Kowalski held up his hands. "Jack, Charlie's not getting involved in anything. We're just letting him in on the best kept secret the government has." He winked at Charlie who grinned.

"Now wait a minute." Jack said, scowling. "If Charlie's not getting involved in anything then how come that guy tried to shoot him?"

"Because he knew it would be a way to get to Major Carter," said a voice from the doorway. "Goa'uld are smart."

Jack looked up. The man who had just walked in must be General Hammond. He was short, heavy set and balding with a thick Texas accent. Hammond nodded to Jack.

"You must be Colonel O'Neill."

"Retired." Out of habit Jack got to his feet. "Sir."

"Please, please," Hammond waved for him to sit, then smiled at Charlie. "And you must be Charlie."

Charlie nodded, still grinning.

"Now," Hammond sat down, folding his hands on the table. "I suppose the first question on your minds is what that was that attacked you back there."

"Yeah, the thought had crossed my mind." Jack said, leaning back in his chair.

"The thing that attacked you was called a goa'uld."

"Ok, see everyone was throwing that word around," Jack said. "What is a goa'uld, exactly?"

"It's a type of alien." Kowalski said matter-of-factly.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Kowalski. No, seriously now." He turned back to the general. "Sir?"

"I'm afraid that Col. Kowalski is being entirely serious." Hammond replied, raising his eyebrows.

"Wait," Charlie interrupted, leaning forward. "You mean alien from outer space alien or alien from another country alien?"

Kowalski smirked. "I mean alien from outer space. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true."

"Hard to believe is one way of putting it," Jack said, annoyance showing through in his voice. "A load of bull crap is another!"

Choosing not to respond, Kowalski looked instead to Hammond. "Should I show them, sir?"

"Of course." Hammond nodded, scooting his chair back so he could press a button on the wall, which caused a metal blast shield behind Jack to rise up, revealing a window.

Kowalski stood and walked over to the window, then beckoned. "Jack, Charlie, come see this."

Exchanging confused looks, Jack and Charlie got to their feet as well, walking over so they could see through the window. It looked out into what looked like a missile silo, except sitting at the bottom wasn't a missile, but instead a huge metal ring, maybe twenty feet high, with a ramp leading up to it.

"What is that?!" Charlie breathed out, awestruck.

"That, my friends, is called a Stargate." Kowalski said, gesturing down towards it. "For the past five years the Air Force has been sending teams through that to explore other planets with the goal of making alliances with alien races and acquiring new technology."

"Alien races. Technology." Jack narrowed his eyes. "Stargate."

"He's telling the truth, Jack." They all turned around to see Sam walking in, accompanied by a huge dark skinned man with a strange gold emblem on his forehead. Sam gestured to the table. "If you guys wanna sit down I can try and explain this all to you."

Jack held up one hand. "Just tell me one thing, Sam, and I swear I'll believe whatever answer you give."

"What is it?"

"Aliens?"

Sam smiled. "Yeah. Aliens." She put a hand on the arm of the man next to her. "In fact you're looking at one right now. Guys, I'd like you to meet Teal'c."

Charlie's jaw dropped. "You're…"

"Indeed." Teal'c inclined his head slightly.

"Dad, this is so unbelievably cool!" Charlie said, practically bouncing around the kitchen. "Just for the record, I officially love Sam now."

Jack turned, raising his eyebrows.

Charlie blushed. "Er…I mean…in the family sorta love. I don't love love her. You know what I mean."

"Sure." Jack turned, slamming the door of the dishwasher closed. He picked up the dishcloth, throwing it at the sink.

"Dad?" Charlie looked at him curiously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing's wrong, kiddo," Jack tried to smile at his son reassuringly. "There's just some stuff I have to talk to Sam about."

Charlie didn't seem comforted by that at all. He narrowed his eyes. "No."

"Excuse me?"

"You're going to break up with her, aren't you?" Charlie folded his arms over his chest.

Jack rolled his eyes, sighing heavily as he sat down at the kitchen table. "I never said that."

"I know what you mean though!" Charlie made an exasperated noise. "I just start to get used to her and now you're dumping her…thanks a lot…"

"Hey, I like Sam, a lot. She's one of the most amazing women I've ever met," Jack looked at his son seriously. "But Charlie, your safety is the most important thing to me. I would never do anything to sacrifice that just to make me happy."

Charlie pouted. "Sam would protect me. Us. We've got the good guys on our side."

"This isn't a game, Charlie!" Jack snapped. "This is something very real and far more complicated than either of us understand. I know Sam would do everything she could to protect us, but that might not be enough." He gave Charlie a hard look. "I could never live with myself if you were killed. Or even just hurt."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Dad, you don't watch enough movies."

"What?" Jack blinked.

"Every evil villain knows that the best way to get to someone is by going after the people they care about…"

"So…?"

"So…Yeah…" Charlie made a gesture with one hand. "The goa'uld are supposed to be smart, right? So they'd know the best way to get to Sam is to come after us."

"Which is exactly what I'm saying." Jack said, rolling his eyes.

"But, Dad! Breaking up with Sam isn't going to change that. You and Mom broke up and you still care about each other," Charlie pointed out.

Jack sighed, making a face and running his hand through his hair. After a few long moments he looked up at his son, and smiled faintly. "A few days ago you would have jumped at the chance of me breaking up with her."

Charlie leaned on the table, giving his father a wide-eyed look. "Dad, how many chances am I going to get to have a step-mom who fights aliens for a living, huh?"

"I still have to talk to Sam." Jack said, reaching out and ruffling Charlie's hair affectionately.

Charlie grinned and went back to his bouncing. "Oh hey, Dad, did I tell you I'm going to join the Air Force? AND I'm going to work at the SGC once I graduate."

"Well, we'll talk about that when you're a little older, ok, soldier?" Jack smirked, then made a shooing motion with one hand. "Now go play video games or something. Give your old man a chance to relax for a few minutes."

Charlie laughed and rolled his eyes before charging into the living room.