fandomhighdorms | Gun Range, Tuesday Evening

After River left ~~which technically hasn't happened yet~~, Jack took himself off for another walk. Wandering past the range, the noise made him stop and look; the sight of Sam blasting the hell out of the targets drew him in.

Making exactly zero attempt to be stealthy, he went to the locker, grabbed a 9 mm of his own and safety gear, and set up in the alley next to hers.

Sam saw the motion to her side and nodded once, not really registering that it was Jack next to her. She fired off eight quick shots to the head of the target, then stopped to reload.

He'd been waiting for a break, so gun, goggles, and ear protection were lying in front of him. "Hey, Sam," he said, pitching his voice loud enough she'd hopefully hear him.

Hearing something, Sam put her gun down and removed her ear protection. She smiled slightly. "Jack. Hi."

"Everything okay?" He hadn't actually meant to ask that, but something about her smile pulled it out of him.

"Oh, yeah. Just spec-frigging-tacular. You?"

Okayyyy. "I'm doing fine," he said carefully, and this was definitely not the time to mention being kissed by someone else. "Want to talk about it?"

"I talked to Jack." She slammed the clip into position with a little more force than was strictly necessary.

"Is he back?" he asked, unable to think of why else Sam would have talked to him.

"Don't you think I would have mentioned that?" Sam sighed, knowing she wasn't being fair and not really caring. "And no, he's not. I called the other Sam for something and he answered her phone. And now he knows I exist."

Totally confused, Jack stared at her. "He was dating you. That wasn't a clue to your existence?"

She rolled her eyes. "Wrong Jack. This was the taller, grayer version. He didn't know what she'd done."

Jack held up both hands. "Sam. Give me a minute. I'm guessing she is the other Sam, right? So the taller grayer version..." He stopped, turning it over in his head. "The Jack you were dating was another clone?"

Sam nodded once. "He was first. The inspiration for what I...for what she...did."

"Okay, I'm with you." Sort of. "And he didn't know she'd made you, and he does now, and yeah, I can see how that talk wouldn't be a hell of a lot of fun." Suddenly wary, Jack stood very straight, muscles tense. "He's not going to try and take you away, is he?"

"No," she shook her head, happy she wasn't going to have to explain the tiny tug she still got, just talking to Jack O'Neill. She smiled at him, "He told me to date someone smart."

"Good advice," he said, relaxing, wondering if he'd get away with teasing her, just a little. "Planning on taking him up on it?"

"I don't know," Sam teased back, leaning against the side of the shooting alley, "Think I should? I'm kind of attached to you."

"Smart is sexy," Jack pointed out, deciding he'd probably get away with moving closer. "Maybe you could get a harem?" he suggested, stopping right in front of her and tracing the line of her shoulder.

"I don't think I have the energy for a harem, and you're more than smart enough for me."

Jack beamed at her, but it faded as he said, "Sometimes I wonder." He settled back on his heels, watching her closely. "Might be I did something dumb this afternoon, something that could make you unhappy, but I'm not sure."

Sam stayed where she was, outside her arm's reach of the loaded gun. "How dumb?" She tapped her foot.

"I don't know." Heart sinking, Jack took a step back. "Kissed someone who wasn't Cedric. Actually, let her kiss me, but she asked and I told her she could."

"You...oh." That hurt Sam more than she'd expected. Although, if she didn't want to be hypocritical about this, she'd kissed both Seely and Anders at the Homecoming carnival and had a darn fine time doing it. "Who?"

"River." He wasn't sure how Sam was taking it, but he didn't think it was well. "There was a good reason," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It wasn't because I was bored, or felt like kissing someone new."

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