fandomhighdorms | Gun Range, Tuesday Evening

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."

Sam wasn't sure she even knew who River was. "What was the reason?" She started to pace, still nowhere near her weapon.

And Jack wasn't even sure how to explain. "It wasn't about sex," he told her bluntly. "It was because she's this sweet girl who found out her boyfriend kissed someone else, and she was hurting because of it." Jack tracked her with his eyes, but didn't move from his spot. "There's something really innocent about her, and I think she just needed to feel like she was, I don't know, that someone would want to kiss her. And she asked me." He looked at the ground, one corner of his mouth quirking in a rueful smile. "She can read minds and she asked me if she could kiss me. And, rightly or wrongly, I said yes."

"Poor kid. Is she okay?" She paused and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, I was being stupid. I blame talking to Jack."

"She will be," he said, blinking in surprise. "Does that mean I didn't do anything dumb?"

Sam smiled. "Not once you explained. That was actually the nicest reason I could imagine." Then, in the interests of full disclosure, added, "Better than mine over Homecoming, definitely. That was just all about being goofy and paying a couple of dollars."

Jack grinned, greatly relieved. "That'll teach me to go away and leave you behind. Who were you kissing?"

"Seely Booth. And Anders."

Chuckling, he walked over to stand in front of Sam, brushing the backs of his fingers up her neck and under her chin. "Nice?"

"Very," she smiled up at him, "Seely was good, but Anders was better."

"I'll remember that," he said absently, tracing his fingers up her cheek, watching them glide across her skin. Jack met her eyes briefly. "As good as this?" And he dipped his head to kiss her, the entire world, everything that wasn't Sam, falling away as his lips moved against hers.

Sam's eyes slid shut as she kissed Jack, feeling it down to her toes as she tried to stand on unsteady legs, not that she didn't already know the answer. "No. You're in a class by yourself."

[ooc: And I must away to bed. Night! Pick up tomorrow? Reposted for slight icon mishap.]

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