Hi everyone, getting near the end now, so thanks for sticking with me so far.

Hope you all enjoy this chapter too.

I'd like to wish you all a very Happy Holiday and a super New Year!

Thanks for all your support over this, very trying, last year. Your reviews have kept me going even when I felt like quitting. Thanks!

Past, Present & Future

By LetitiaRichards.

Previously:

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 apprised 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.

Chapter 17 – A Whole New Experience!

Jack had released a huge sigh of relief, knowing Sam had finally given up trying to persuade him to wear that kiddie leash. He might look like a child but he most certainly wasn't one in reality. They soon arrived at the shopping mall and Sam managed to park the car in what was probably the last spot available.

Teal'c opened the car door, having kept quiet during the drive. Wise man, Jack surmised, having finally persuaded his 2IC that there was no way he was wearing any child leash. Frustrated and humiliated because his four year old hands weren't as strong as his adult self, Jack had to wait patiently for the Jaffa to unfasten the buckle. Once released, he slipped from the seat and down onto the black-top of the parking lot. Without a thought he moved off, until Sam's voice cut through him.

"Ah, Sir?"

"Carter!" he stopped and shook his head.

"Sir?" She was puzzled even more now by his actions. "What?"

Making sure there was nobody else around, Jack fixed Sam with a patient expression.

"Carter...drop the 'sir'. You just can't go around calling me sir or Colonel; at least not while I'm like this, and not here in public. People might think we're... well, strange," he explained with exaggerated hand gestures. "If you have to call me something, call me Jack for cryin' out loud!"

Sam gaped back at him and blushed, momentarily stunned by his permission to use his given name. It wasn't the first time he'd tried to get her to use it, but so far she had managed to avoid doing so, afraid she would forget herself when it mattered most. He was right though, she couldn't very well take him into the mall calling him 'Sir'; at least not unless they wanted to attract the wrong type of attention. They were being followed by a small security detail for the Colonel's protection but they had so far stayed at a discreet distance for now. If there was any trouble they would be there in a flash which made her relax a little bit more.

"Sorry sir... em... Jack," she felt herself shiver. How many times had she whispered that name in her dreams? And now, she could actually say it out loud, though for obvious reasons not in the same context, unfortunately.

"Okay campers, let's get this mission under way. Don't worry Carter if I get separated or 'lost' I'll make my way to Starbucks and wait for you there. Hey, nothing's gonna happen okay!" he reassured her.

She wasn't so sure though. Daniel wasn't the only trouble magnet on the team; the Colonel could attract the worst case scenario without lifting a finger just as easily.

"Yes Jack," she sighed with a slight smile. "...but, if I have got to call you by your given name rather than by your rank, don't you think that it goes both ways? How many 'kids' do you know call their minders by their surnames?"

Jack stopped in mid stride and gaped up at her, his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline.

"Major Carter is correct O'Neill."

"Yeah, yeah. I know! Okay... Sam," he sighed tiredly and waved away any more fuss. "Let's just get this over and done with."

He didn't see the amused smiles pass between the others as they headed for the shops.

Sam had Jack's credit card tucked into her pocket, seeing as it would look strange indeed for a four year old to be using one, much to his chagrin.

OoOoOoOoO

The place was packed to the rafters with people from all walks of life; old men, young men, husbands, fathers, sons; elderly women, working women, and what seemed to Jack from his shrunken point of view, hundreds of young mothers with babies in buggies or toddlers being dragged along by their leashes and the occasional obnoxious kid who caused havoc by running riot up and down the walkways and getting in everybody's way.

Jack wanted to turn right round and go home again, but Teal'c was in the way, and he wouldn't put it past him to grab his hand and snap that kiddie leash on him, so taking a deep breath he headed into the bustling throng.

"Where to first...Jack?" Sam asked, because this was more about getting Jack to buy his Christmas gifts while he was in his right mind.

"The book shop. Not that one..." he flicked his hand towards the nearest one. "The one with the antique books. I wanna see what they've got for Daniel." It pained him to have to rely on others to help him do this; he liked to be able to browse around for something personal for each of his friends but it was going to be doubly difficult with Teal'c and Sam hanging round him and having to pay for things simply because he appeared to be a child.

They visited the book store, drug store, and countless other stores before collapsing into a hard won seat in one of the many burger bars. They almost didn't get a table, until Teal'c looked down his nose at the other couple who tried to commandeer it. Needless to say they promptly backed off allowing the three of them to thankfully sit down.

After Sam had practically inhaled the first taste of her coffee, she couldn't help but notice how exasperated Jack was looking. She could hardly blame him having been served with a strawberry shake rather than his usual coffee.

"Where else do you need to go Jack?" she asked, hoping to distract him from his unhappy state. She could clearly see him running through the list of things in his head.

"Cassie. I've still gotta get something for her and Janet. Then you are gonna have to disappear for a bit, while Teal'c and I go find your present. After that we can get the hell outta here," he sighed, pushing his half-eaten burger to one side. It hadn't helped his appetite any when the staff had spotted him; giving him a 'Happy Meal' like he really was a child, and the free toy was still sitting untouched on the table in front of him. The black look he'd given the poor woman had certainly sobered her exuberance. Nor did the fact that he'd been clearly able to overhear the comment she'd made to her co-worker about 'spoiled little brats who needed a good smack to put them in their place'.

Sam nodded. There was nothing she wanted to forget more than anything at this point. She'd been embarrassed earlier by an old friend who had swept down on them from nowhere. Karen was someone whom she hadn't seen in a long time and they'd only kept in touch via the customary Christmas cards. At any other time and she would have been very happy to see her, but not right now. Karen had practically shrieked out her name on seeing her and had rushed up and hugged her, gushing with the usual questions. That Sam could have happily lived with, but then her friend had spotted Jack and she'd immediately jumped to the very wrong conclusions. Sam could remember it all...

"Sam! Sam. God, how are you? I was going to call in and see you. I rang your number but I couldn't get an answer. It must be all of what...six years since we met? You're looking great."

Out of sympathy with her friend, Sam took a deep breath, feeling light-headed already from the non-stop chatter. She answered quickly trying to arrange another time as she explained that she was in a rush. Jack was looking up at her in curiosity but had that slight smirk on his lips which meant he was curious yet amused. Teal'c spent most of the time looking as if he wasn't associated with them.

"Oh!" she squealed delightedly. "And who is this gorgeous young man?" She'd dropped to one knee and pinched his cheeks between her thumbs and forefingers. "Oh Sam, he's so adorable, aren't you honey?" she then grabbed his chin and gazed into his wide-eyed astonished face. "Why didn't you tell me you had a son? Where's his father? Unless, of course, it was one of those one-nighters we used to giggle over?" she snorted at her own joke but Sam just wished the floor had opened up and swallowed her.

Jack had turned beetroot red with annoyance and scowled his displeasure, but then decided to rub salt into the wound, knowing Sam was finding it all rather overwhelming and as embarrassing as he was. So, he'd played his part too by moving closer whilst grabbing hold of Sam's jeans and offering a shy smile; then he moved to hide behind Sam's legs, leaving Sam almost speechless with shock. Then he'd poked his tongue out at the annoying woman, who'd appeared shocked at his behaviour.

It did, however, prompt her old friend to move on, much to their combined relief. Jack had merely raised his eyebrows at Sam when he'd released his grip on her pants. She wasn't sure whether to be cross with him or actually hug him for getting rid of Karen. She did smile back though when she considered that it would probably get the rest of her friends off her back about settling down at long last, because the news about her having a son would be sweeping across the continent faster than a virus.

They had just one more thing to buy and Jack was about to send Sam somewhere else when Teal'c whispered something in Sam's ear making her eyes take on a haunted look which had Jack demanding to know what was wrong?

"Ah...Jack..." She dropped down beside him pretending to tie his shoe lace. He waited impatiently for her to explain. "Teal'c has spotted several people that seem to be taking a keen interest in us, especially you."

He nodded and understood.

"Okay..." he said with resolve. "Up for a little acting Sam?" She nodded in acceptance. Putting his performing skills to the fore, he grabbed Sam's hand and in a loud voice, began whining and pulling her towards the mall's Christmas centrepiece - Santa's grotto - just like he'd observed any pre-schooler's behaviour.

"I wanna go see Santa!" he yelled and kept tugging at her.

Sam playing her part shook her head.

"Not today Jack! We can come back another day."

"No! I wanna go now!" He really sounded like a little kid.

"No!"

"Yes!" he pouted and stamped his foot.

Playing along but finding it hard to keep a straight face, Sam let her shoulders slump, allowing the pretend fight to leave her.

"Okay. Fine!" she snapped, throwing her hands in the air. "We'll go today."

"Yay!" Jack crowed with delight, punching the air with his fist. Sam almost choked trying to hide her amusement.

So they stepped into the line of parents and toddlers who were all waiting to see Santa Claus, hoping that it would put any possible threats off the scent. Teal'c, who was carrying all the shopping, had taken off to watch things from a short distance away, covertly alerting the security detail.

Jack wanted to see what the hell was going on but he couldn't see past anyone's legs, buggies and shopping bags. Being only knee high to a grass-hopper only led to more frustration, which meant he had to rely on Sam passing on information to him without anyone overhearing.

"Pssst," Jack tugged on her hand again, making her look down at him.

"What?"

"Why isn't this queue moving?" He was getting a little antsy staying in one spot. He needed to move, to assess the danger if any; and besides, his little legs were killing him standing around doing nothing. Again he cursed being the size of a kid with all its attendant weaknesses.

"Apparently Santa doesn't arrive for another five minutes. Sorry."

"Not your fault," he responded immediately in earnest, gaining a smile from her. Not for long though because she spotted the guy wearing the Santa suit approach the display, laughing and waving to the waiting crowd of kids. He entered the magical grotto and a few minutes later they moved up the line a little.

There was still nothing happening as they inched closer and Jack was beginning to think that this had been a false alarm, but now they were stuck in this damn queue with no way out except through the grotto itself and past 'Santa'.

Teal'c approached and spoke in a low voice to Sam again and then nodded and retreated, but Jack couldn't see where he went.

Once again he tugged on her hand, needing to be kept up to date with developments. She bent low and whispered in his ear.

"Teal'c says that those people seem to have disappeared now. There's no sign of them, so he's gonna take the bags back to the car and he'll be waiting for us by the exit. She giggled as she stood.

"What?" he demanded, pulling at her once more.

"Teal'c says he hopes you tell Santa that you want yourself back again for Christmas," she whispered into his ear.

She giggled again when he scowled, trying to think of some way to gain his revenge when he was back in his own body once more.

As the line diminished ahead of him and he drew nearer to the grotto, he wondered what to do for the best. He was supposed to be a kid. Should he act like one? Though the thought of sitting on a guy's knee was giving him a damn headache. How was he supposed to live that down if someone like Ferretti got hold of the information? Or perhaps he should just walk straight through to the other side whilst waving them goodbye and getting the hell outta there a.s.a.p…

He still wasn't sure how to go about this when suddenly it was his turn. In keeping with his supposed age, he hung on to Sam's hand as they entered the darkened area. The curtain dropped down behind him closing off the outside world.

An elf stood at the now closed entryway, all false smiles and looking pretty dumb in that stupid get-up. Without a 'by your leave' he took Jack's hand and led him up to where Santa sat on his chair, again full of false 'yo ho hos' and Jack looked back at Sam who could only grin in response to his pained look of horror. It was then that the fake Santa grabbed him, pulling him onto his knee without giving Jack a chance to voice his refusal.

He struggled a little, trying to get down again but found that Santa's grip was getting tighter on his arm by the minute. This wasn't right. It was actually painful to the point of agony. He winced, yelling to alert Sam to his predicament.

"Sam?" he called but when he only received a muffled cry in response, he looked up to see the first elf had Sam in a tight grip too, his arm around her neck, and his hand over her mouth. Jack struggled even harder, and yelled for Teal'c, but then a hand was clamped over his mouth as well and he was lifted as the Santa guy stood up ready to make their escape, now that he had his quarry.

Sam couldn't believe her eyes at first, realising that Jack was in trouble. Then as she was about to go to him, she was grabbed by that stupid elf from behind. Seeing Jack struggling helplessly, she knew exactly where those people had disappeared to. Her training rapidly kicked in and she was now beginning to get the better of her opponent.

Meanwhile not one to give in so easily, Jack knew exactly what to do and kicked his foot backwards and upwards, earning a strangled scream of agony from his captor when his boot connected heavily with the man's groin. The grip loosened considerably, and Jack managed to wrestle free enough to drop to the ground. He turned about and kicked again and again at the man's knees, and stomped on his fingers.

Unseen by either Sam or Jack, another man had entered the grotto and grabbed at child Jack from behind. Then surprisingly Jack was suddenly let go. He'd heard Teal'c's deep voice utter some sort of Jaffa curse he presumed, and had flattened the guy with one punch.

Jack spun around and cheered, grateful that Teal'c had been covering his six yet again. Teal'c smiled but then his eyes narrowed and despite the yelled warning, Jack spun round quickly, but not quick enough to avoid the livid Santa's iron clutch.

He was literally picked up by the scruff of his neck, shaken roughly and thrown like a sack of potatoes against something very hard. He felt the crushing blow to his head all the way down to his toes even as the lights went out, dropping him into the deep, dark chasm of oblivion. Meanwhile Teal'c had flattened the Santa for harming his friend O'Neill.

The security detail had charged into action on seeing Teal'c rush in there, suspecting something was wrong, but were too late in preventing their charge from getting hurt.

There were three guys; Santa, an elf and another man in a suit, lying on the floor in various stages of consciousness or not. Major Carter was kneeling on the floor beside the small crumpled and very worryingly motionless body of the childlike Colonel, the one they were detailed to actually look after and prevent this thing from ever happening. Teal'c was still hovering over the crooks making sure they stayed out of trouble on the floor, his face filled with murderous intent should they move.

Captain Mortimer radioed base and explained to a very unhappy General Hammond what had transpired. He then ordered his men to remove the cuffed rogues with the help of the mall's own security guards who had discovered the hired Santa tied up and locked in the dressing room and had rushed into the chaos; not knowing what the heck was going on. Mortimer explained it as much as he could and then moved over to where Major Carter was kneeling.

"Major Carter?"

Sam looked up at him and he could see the tears shimmering in her eyes. A few had already run unheeded down her cheeks and only now did she attempt to wipe them away, but regulations be damned because there was no way she was going to let go of the small fingers held firmly in her hand.

"How is he?" he asked, squatting down opposite her and seeing the damage for himself. The child was out cold, pale and bruised; and there was a sluggish but steady trickle of blood running from a deep gash in his head, to stain the blonde hair before dripping onto the polished floor.

"He's still breathing, but I need to get him back to base a.s.a.p. Captain. I'm not sure if he's received any significant injuries, especially to his skull." That's why she held back from taking him in her arms; if he'd suffered a fractured skull moving him would only make matters worse.

"Yes ma'am. I've already spoken to the General and he's sending Dr. Fraiser and a team out here. I hope the 'boy' will be okay ma'am." He'd emphasised the 'boy' part in keeping with his orders.

She offered him a weak smile and a nod. He reflected for a brief moment, then stood and walked over to Teal'c who was now standing at the child's feet, looking down on the distressing scene.

"Mr. Teal'c?"

Teal'c turned his head slightly, but rolled his eyes around to meet those of the Captain.

"I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner to prevent this sir."

Teal'c remained silent, his cold dark eyes fixed on the young soldier, making him squirm slightly, his unspoken censure written plain in his dark features.

The Captain dropped his eyes from the huge alien's scrutiny and moved away towards the recently arrived detective, who'd been ordered in after there were several calls from worried shoppers to his unit. They spoke for several minutes before Teal'c finally relinquished his icy gaze to turn back to his friend's unconscious form.

TBC