Hey, sorry to have kept all you folks waiting for this chapter, RL has been hectic of late, due, of course, to the coming holiday and all the work it entails to be ready in time.

Thanks as always for your reviews and I will try to get another chapter or two out before Christmas comes. I already have a nice scene with little Jack and Santa in store for a later chapter. LOL!

Past, Present & Future

By LetitiaRichards.

Previously:

"Oh...Pizza huh?" Jack sighed with disappointment. Somehow he just wasn't hungry any more. "Actually, ya know... I think I'd prefer a sandwich. Did someone get any bread while they were out?"

Chapter 16 – Can This Possibly Get Any Worse?

All three team-mates kept giving him strange looks all through the meal. Jack hadn't touched any of the pizza, but had made do with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, much to Daniel's disgust and Sam's guilty feelings over forcing him to eat anchovies on the pizza in the commissary. She hadn't missed the shudder of revolt from Jack as he'd eyed the open boxes that lay on the coffee table. She kept telling herself that it was all her fault he had rejected his favourite meal and gone for something that most kids enjoyed instead.

After the meal was cleared away, Daniel retired to the den to begin his work on the translation. Jack was supposed to be watching the TV, but his eyelids were drooping and Sam had tried in a gentle way to persuade him to go to bed.

Each time though, his head would jerk upwards again, fighting the inevitable, and he'd growl at her in response to her suggestion.

"I'm fine! You can go to bed if you're tired, Carter. Don't let me keep you up."

"I'm okay Colonel, but you can hardly stay awake." What she really wanted to say, was that it was far too late for a four year old to stay up and that he should have been tucked up in bed a long time ago, but she knew that sort of comment wouldn't sit well with her CO.

Jack's brow furrowed, emphasising that vertical crease between his eyes and Sam knew it would be wiser if she held her tongue from now on, knowing he would fall asleep eventually.

"As you wish sir, but I'm not going to be the one to carry you to your bed when you finally succumb to the need for sleep. You can't stay awake for ever...sir," she smirked across at him.

To tell the truth, he was dog tired and being in a pint sized body wasn't helping any. He knew darn well, he wouldn't be able to fight it off soon.

Jack flipped off the TV and tossed the controller onto the coffee table then turned to face his subordinate.

"Talk to me!" he ordered, taking Sam by surprise. "Come on, I'm sure there are loads of things we can discuss?" 'Anything. Just something that will stave off this damn tiredness; because there is no way I am going to give in and go to sleep!' he silently urged his team-mate.

"Uh... okay. Um... Do you have any Christmas decorations in the house? If we're gonna be stuck here over the holidays, then we may as well make the most of it," she suggested with a shrug.

Jack rubbed a hand over his face with a sigh. He'd forgotten it was that time of the year.

"Uh...In the garage, I think. Carter...I don't usually bother..."

"I know sir, but it's different this time Colonel," Sam interrupted him. "If...em...when...maybe if your younger self returns I'm sure he would like to see all the trimmings and all; and we really should go Christmas shopping, though I'm not sure if we should get you something for 'adult' you, or for 'little' you." She used her fingers as quotes to emphasise the 'little' and had that knowing smirk on her lips that told him she was yanking his chain.

"Carter!" he warned as surly as a four year old could sound. It was so hard to put any authority into the high pitched squeak that had escaped. He did his best to avoid rolling his eyes in yet more frustration.

"Sir?" she asked entirely too innocently.

He knew she was right of course. When wasn't she? He took a moment to reflect on what it had been like when he really was young. In some big store in the city, he recalled being fascinated by a huge model layout with all the scenery peppered in snow. It had a miniature train chugging round and round in an endless loop. He remembered begging his folks for one, and despite writing to Santa, it never materialised.

He realised that it was a pivotal moment in his life when he discovered at the age of five, that Santa Claus wasn't real and it all came down to what his parents could afford to buy for him and his siblings. That's when he decided that no matter what the cost, any child of his, which happened to be Charlie, would have whatever they'd asked for, for Christmas.

"Sir? Colonel?" Sam rose from her chair and gently nudged her CO, but there was no response; he'd finally fallen asleep. She smiled deeply and went to find Teal'c who was doing his usual meditation.

Teal'c's eye opened as soon as she walked into the room.

"Major Carter? O'Neill has succumbed at last?"

"Yeah," she smiled, leaning on the door post with her arms crossed. "Finally! Teal'c, if you could get him into the bedroom, I..."

"I shall endeavour not to wake him as I do so," he replied, getting up from the floor in a fluid motion which even she envied.

"Thanks Teal'c."

Teal'c dipped his head and walked smoothly from the room while Sam stayed to lay out the kid sized pyjamas she'd purchased, and to pull the sheets back for easy access. She was still looking at the small items on the bed in amazement when Teal'c reappeared carrying a sleeping Jack in his arms. Sam sighed at the sight of her CO like that, he looked so innocent and...so incredibly cute!

Teal'c laid him on the bed and Sam gently tugged the sweatshirt over Jack's head and pulled on the pyjama top, then as she held him steady, Teal'c removed his pants and underwear and slid on the bottoms quickly while Sam avoided looking. Her experience earlier that day had been more than enough for her, and she had no wish for a repeat performance should he wake up during the process.

Thankfully, like all small kids, he'd stayed asleep despite the movements. Teal'c placed him into position and Sam pulled up the covers with a smile. He looked so cute, that butter wouldn't melt in his mouth; but, she knew so well how looks could be deceiving. She would have loved to have given him a goodnight kiss, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Teal'c then exited the room, leaving her there to tidy his clothes away.

"Goodnight Jack!" she whispered softly to the child in the bed, wondering if he would wake as Colonel O'Neill still or as 'little' Jack? There was no way of knowing of course, but their contingency plan was that someone would stay with him during the night, just in case he woke up wondering where he was and where everyone was. They didn't want him to wake up alone.

Sam left the door on the jar and went in search of Daniel and Teal'c. Daniel, needless to say, was still hard at it in the den and Teal'c had decided on helping himself to a midnight snack and was about to watch a movie.

"Daniel?" she called, putting her head round the door. The desk was littered in books and he was tapping his bottom lip with his pen, deep in thought. "Daniel?"

"Uh...Oh, Sam. Sorry. What is it? Is Jack okay?" He went to get up, ready to help out if necessary, but she waved him back down.

"He's just fine Daniel. No problem. Teal'c and I just put him to bed. He fell asleep at long last, even though he tried his best to stay awake."

Daniel snorted with amusement.

"Yeah well, I doubt that a four year old would be able to keep awake that long, as much as Jack wanted it so."

"I just came to say Goodnight Daniel. I'll sit with him for now, Teal'c's gonna take over in about three hours time. Any luck yet?"

"Nope, not yet," he sighed regretfully. "But, I'm still only on the first page so to speak. You go rest Sam, and I hope he doesn't disturb you too much. You need your sleep too."

Sam yawned and blinked away the haze of tiredness form her eyes.

"I know, but I can't help thinking it's not gonna be that simple Daniel. This is the Colonel we're talking about; he never sleeps for long."

"And while that is about right for the adult Jack we all know, this is just a four year old body, so he may sleep like the de... well quite deeply and for longer at least." He couldn't bring himself to think about the worst case scenario should it happen, but he should get back to the translation before they lost any hope of restoring Jack to his right self.

"I know," she sighed again with resignation. She really did know, but it was still difficult to get used to things as they stood at this point. "Don't stay up all night Daniel. As frustrating as this is for the Colonel, I don't think he would want you to overdo things just for his sake."

Daniel nodded with a grimace. Yes, he knew Jack would be somewhat angry with him if he became ill through overwork, especially as it involved his own predicament. Jack would never be able to live with himself if anyone died trying to restore him to his adulthood.

"I'm okay Sam. At least for another few hours; then I'll turn in. Goodnight!"

Daniel turned back to his work, leaving Sam to close the door and get ready for bed herself.

They had erected a small truckle bed in Jack's room, and they would take turns sleeping on it to be near to Jack in case he woke in distress during the night, as he had done before in the infirmary.

OoOoOoOoO

Surprisingly, to everyone including Jack himself, he'd stayed as 'himself' when he awoke the next morning around 08:00 hours. He was just as crabby as expected though, because he was hoping that he might have woken up a normal adult, but it was not to be. Teal'c cooked some bacon and eggs while Sam made the coffee and toast, leaving Jack to lay the table; mostly because he was too small to do anything else to help them.

Daniel was up until the early hours working towards a solution, so nobody felt inclined to wake him just yet; and Sam had promised to take him a cup of coffee in an hour's time unless he woke up before then.

One the food was served and they all helped themselves, the phone started ringing. Sam was about to jump up and answer it when Jack gestured to her to remain seated, allowing the answer-phone to kick in. They could all hear it from the dining area where they were seated round the table.

"Hi, You're through to Jack O'Neill. I'm not able to answer the phone right now and seeing as I don't have any kind of dog, trained or otherwise, to do this for me, I guess you'll just have to leave me a message after the beeps and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"

Sam's eyebrows rose and her lips twitched with amusement at the message her CO had left for callers; and Jack just shrugged at her smirk, and carried on listening.

"Jack?" The voice was familiar to him, but he'd wished now he'd answered sooner.

"Crap!" he exclaimed vehemently, and was off his seat about to pick up the phone when he thought better of it. How could he explain the reason behind his squeaky child-like voice? Instead, he stood there waiting for the message.

"Hey! It's me, Patrick. I just wanted to say I'll be Colorado Springs today and tomorrow, and I'd like to come round and say hello. Mom keeps asking after you, ya know? I'm here on business so she twisted my arm to come see how you were. Maybe we could go for a drink. My number is..."

Jack jumped when Sam came from behind him and reached over his head to pick up the phone. He glared up at her wondering what the hell she was doing.

"Hi there, I'm Sam..."

"Sam? Is Jack there?"

"Um...no. He's not here right now. He's on a mission and won't be back for some time, probably not until after the holidays."

"Oh..." To Sam's ear he sounded quite disappointed.

"I can pass a message on if you like?"

"Uh...yeah, okay. It's just that I was in the area and Mom asked me to check up on him. Ya know, make sure he was okay and all."

"Oh, he's just fine. Tell...um...'Mom' he's okay and not to worry. I'll make sure he gets the message and maybe get him to ring her when he gets back. Okay?"

"Sure. Fine! Uh...can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure." Sam kept her voice neutral, and refused to look down at Jack who was standing there with his hands on his hips wearing a scowl as big as Colorado.

"Are you... I mean, who are you? Is there something Jack's not telling us?"

Sam giggled lightly and rolled her eyes upwards, wishing she could answer, yes! Yes, that she and Jack were together in the nicest possible way, but in all honesty, she couldn't. She wouldn't do that to him unless it was true, and how she ached to be able to say it though.

"No, sorry. I'm a friend. I'm keeping an eye on the place while he's away."

"Of course you are!" The voice said knowingly, and Sam could almost hear the calculation of 1 + 1 2, going on inside his brain. She wasn't going to say another thing. "Well, tell Jack, I'll be seeing him around. Bye!"

"Bye!" Sam repeated and replaced the phone with a far away look in her bright blue eyes.

"Carter?"

Jack was practically jumping up and down demanding to know what was going on.

"Carter!" he squeaked loudly, bringing her out of her reverie.

Sam started a little, then blushed, bringing her eyes down to meet his narrowed dark ones.

"Well? What did he say?"

"Oh...um...only that your Mom wanted to know how you were doing. He wanted to drop in and thought that the two of you could go for a drink, but I said you were on a mission..."

"Yeah, yeah... I heard that part. What else did he say?"

"Sir?"

"You giggled Major! Why?" Jack's scowl was deepening and Sam didn't know quite how to put into words what exactly had passed between this Patrick, and herself without embarrassment.

"Er...he asked me a...personal question sir."

Jack closed his eyes, swore and turned about; walking over to the sofa and slumping onto the edge of the cushion. Oh yeah, he could just imagine what that was all about if he knew his brother as well as he did. He didn't like the idea of him tattling to Mom about him having a woman in his house while he was 'supposedly' away, because Patrick would tell it to all and sundry within earshot, only with a few extra embellishments added for dramatic effect. He could expect a phone call from his Mom anytime after the holiday, asking, "When had he gotten married again?" Oh yeah, he could see it all so plainly. Been there, done that!

Sam disappeared into the kitchen and poured a fresh cup of coffee out to take in to Daniel. They had a lot to get through today.

Leaving Jack to his own devices, she got showered and changed, then returned to find Daniel sitting at the table sipping at his steaming hot coffee along with Jack who looked pensive as he sipped on his hot chocolate.

"Sir?"

Jack looked up at her, but he seemed uninterested in anything.

"What?" he sighed.

"We should get ready if we're going to get what we want before they disappear."

"What?" he asked again, apparently clueless as to what she was talking about.

"What?" Daniel asked, also clueless.

"You've got work to do Daniel, while Teal'c and I are taking Ja... em...will be accompanying the Colonel Christmas shopping.

"What?" Jack yelled again. "There's no way I am going out there like this Carter!"

"Okay," she reasoned. "Then when are you going to get all your Christmas presents sir? Because unless you miraculously change back real soon, you're going to have to get a present for Cassie if nobody else."

Jack frowned at the thought, but he knew there was no way round this. He did have all their presents to get; so far he hadn't gone anywhere near the shops and had absolutely no idea what to get any of them, except George. General Hammond was always easy to buy for; there was a certain predetermined understanding between them. Every year Jack would buy him a bottle of a certain 10year old Malt Whiskey, and it was always appreciated.

Jack looked down at himself and sighed regretfully. He just did not have a choice. There was no way, he could expect to walk into a liquor store and ask for a bottle of Scotch, not at the moment at any rate. He shrugged and slipped off his chair.

"Okay. I'll go and get ready. But, there is no way I am holding onto anyone's hand out there. That would be just too damn much to ask."

Teal'c appeared in the doorway and Jack had to stop suddenly or he would have collided with the Jaffa. He looked up and groaned, while Sam and Daniel giggled in the background.

"I think you're taking this a little too far big guy!" Jack sighed, running a hand over his face to discover the only up-side of this problem; it meant at least he could get away without shaving.

Sam collapsed onto the chair in hysterics and Daniel was doubled up, leaning heavily on the table, while Teal'c stood there as impassive as ever.

"It is my understanding O'Neill that the shopping mall will be very crowded this close to the holidays. I have observed this item used on a very young child on many occasions. It would indeed look odd if you were not seen wearing it. Major Carter and I would not be happy if you were abducted by the NID whilst in our care, or perhaps we may even get separated in the crowds and were unable to locate you again O'Neill. I believe this is for the best."

Jack's scowl deepened and he turned his glacial glare onto his helpless team-mates with no reaction on their part. He knew and could understand what Teal'c was driving at, he'd been appraised about the NID already, and he couldn't fault the Jaffa for pointing this out. But, it would be so damn humiliating to be seen in public wearing one of those kiddie's wrist strap thingies, and being tethered to either Carter or Teal'c. He shuddered with revulsion.

"Oiy!" he muttered softly and rolled his eyes.

TBC