AN: Any mistakes are my own, and if pointed out (nicely) I will correct them. I hope you like it.
Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c stood by the bedside of their leader.
"I'll be fine." Jack said after taking a deep breath. He shooed them with his hands for a moment before dropping them heavily onto the bed.
"Yeah. That would be more believable if you didn't sound like death." Daniel stood with his arms crossed, head down, looking over his glasses at his friend.
"O'Neill has sustained internal injuries. Doctor Fraiser said with sufficient rest, he will recover fully." Jack looked up at Teal'c with a strained smile.
"See," another deep breath "I'll be fine."
"Okay, Jack. Fine," Daniel paused, shaking his head "we'll go."
Teal'c lowered his head, turned, and started to walk towards the exit. Daniel rolled his eyes and followed him, bumping into Carter's shoulder. She smiled at him before turning back to her commanding officer.
"Get well, Sir." She said with a nod, and then turned to follow Daniel who was waiting by the door.
"Carter," Jack coughed "a minute." He turned to look at his friend in the doorway and gave a small motion with his head. Daniel nodded.
"Sam, I'll wait in your office."
With that he tapped his knuckles against the door frame and left the infirmary.
"Sir?"
Jack took a deep breath before starting to speak. "Thank you, Carter."
She smiled and shook her head, "No need to thank me, Sir."
"Carter." His eyes, as much as his voice, cut her off. "Thank you. You went above and beyond out there." His breathing was labored but he held her eyes.
Sam looked towards the ground, before swallowing and meeting his gaze.
"You're welcome, Sir. Though I really didn't do that much. I mean it didn't even occur to me to just try dialing another address."
"Stop. Don't beat yourself up. You couldn't have known where we were."
"Sir, you shouldn't be wasting your energy."
"I won't tell Fraiser, if you don't." She smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood.
"On that note, we'll come by and see you tomorrow." With that she patted his hand and started to walk away.
"Sam." She barely heard his voice but she stopped and turned back to look at him.
"Sir?"
"Get," another deep breath "some rest." At that, she flashed him a bright smile.
"Goodnight, Sir." He responded with a small wave, lifting his hand briefly off of his hospital bed.
When she walked into her room, Daniel was spinning in a chair at her workbench.
"I shouldn't have been surprised about you guys being best friends. You're both children." She said. Shaking her head and smiling she moved passed him towards her desk.
Daniel stopped his trajectory and shook his head.
"Best friends might be pushing it."
Sam gathered some papers together and put them in her desk drawer. Once that was done, she placed her fists on the desk and let her head drop. Daniel turned his chair towards her, crossing his arms over his chest.
Leaning back in the chair, he asked "How are you?"
She took a deep breath, keeping her head down "I'm alright."
"Ok. Let's pretend like I've known you for more than a day."
She shook her head and sat down in her desk chair. Daniel could tell that while she may be recovered from her minor physical injuries, she wasn't doing so well emotionally.
Sam ran her hand through her hair and met his eyes. "Want to grab some beers and head to my place?"
"Sounds great!" He plastered a huge grin on his face and hopped out of his chair.
It was much later in the evening, and Sam and Daniel were sitting on her couch. On the table in front of them were a dozen beer bottles along with a few empty water bottles.
There was a somber air in the room, and the two were facing each other both leaning back into the couch. Daniel's arm was across the back of the couch, his hand next to her shoulder.
"I couldn't see anything. There was nothing but snow and ice." She spoke looking down at the beer bottle she held in both hands.
Daniel just watched her face, his eyes kind and sympathetic. Sam took another gulp of her beer before looking up at him. She held his eyes for only a moment, returning them to their earlier target.
"I went back. I laid down with him." Her voice broke. "He was so still. So cold." She squeezed her eyes closed.
"Sam," Daniel knew so many languages, but he also knew that nothing he could say in any of them would help her in this moment. They both knew she had to talk through what happened, to work through the "what ifs" that have been plaguing her in order to move on. So he didn't try to fill the silence. He slowly rubbed her shoulder with his thumb, hoping to give her some comfort.
When her eyes opened they were full of unshed tears. "He sent me away," she swallowed hard. "He sent me away so that I wouldn't have to see him die." The tears started to fall from her eyes and Daniel pulled her to him.
"He was the one dying but he was still worried about me." Daniel could barely make out the words as she hid her face in his sweater.
"Oh Sam." Daniel felt tears starting to prick his eyes. He rubbed her back as she cried softly. He could tell that she was trying to get a hold of herself. He held her tighter. "Jack's a good man. He wouldn't have wanted you to blame yourself."
"But I do. He survived but I still blame myself!"
Daniel pulled back and with a hand, lifted her face to look into her eyes. "Why? You survived. Sam, you both survived."
She looked away, but Daniel left his hand below her chin. Eventually she met his eyes again. He couldn't name the emotion he saw, but his heart started to break for his friend.
"I didn't think we would." She bit her lip before continuing, "I laid down with him, told him to go to sleep. Then I, I gave up." Daniel's heart broke in half. He pulled her into a hug with his hand behind her head. "I was ready to die, right there with him." She whispered.
His arms tightened before he pulled back. She gave him a watery smile. He noticed her beer bottle, forgotten during the previous emotional moment was now on the ground having spilled its remaining contents onto her carpet. She followed his eyes and gave a bitter chuckle. She went to get up but was waved off by Daniel.
"Stay. I'll get it." He said standing up from the couch and stretching. He walked into her kitchen and after a moment shouted, "towels?"
"In the middle drawer, next to the stove." Sam leaned back into the couch and wiped at her face. Taking a few deep breaths, she rolled her head from side to side before settling it back against the couch.
Daniel returned dropping the towel onto the floor over the beer, and handed her one of the two bottles of water he carried in his hand.
"Thanks."
"No problem. I think I'm drunk."
Sam let out a burst of laughter. "Yeah, me too."
He plopped back down on the couch next to her, smiling. They both knew that the heavy subjects were behind them for the night.
"That's not really going to soak up the beer." She asked, her head lolling to the side to look at him.
"Oh well. We'll deal with it in the morning."
"Pretty presumptuous of you. Who said you were staying?" she accompanied her question with a raised eyebrow that would've made Teal'c proud.
"I'm fine with the couch." he said through a yawn.
"What makes you think I'm moving?"
"Well my arms might not be as muscular as Jack's but we could share." he said with a dreamy voice and a smirk.
Her response was a smack to the chest.
"Hey! Don't act like you didn't enjoy being all snuggled up with Jack."
This time a glare was all he got.
"What?"
"Daniel, the Colonel and I are colleagues, friends at most."
"Sure thing, Sam."
"Daniel." She sighed.
"Look, it's just me here. I've seen the way you two look at each other. Plus it's not like either of you try to hide the flirting."
Sam groaned and turned her head into the sofa, while Daniel laughed.
"Come here, hussy." He said as he pulled her to him.
She chuckled and snuggled into his chest.
"Sam, it's okay to have feelings for him. You both just went-"
She cut him off, "No Daniel, it's really not."
He put his hand over her mouth. "As I was saying, you guys just went through an extremely emotional and dangerous situation together. You're going to be closer due to it."
She inhaled deeply, his familiar scent calming her. "I know. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about that."
She felt him nod his head in understanding. They maneuvered until they were both lying on the couch.
"This isn't the most comfortable, Daniel."
Her upper body shook with his laughter. "True."
"Come on, you can bunk with me." Sam pushed off of him earning an 'oomph' in response. He took her offered hand to get up from the couch. When he was upright, he pulled her towards him. She looked up at him and smiled.
"Let's go to bed."
He nodded in agreement and let her lead him down the hallway.
When they were both situated on the bed and comfortable, she leaned towards him and gave him a quick kiss. When she pulled away she smiled.
"Thank you Daniel."
"Anytime Sam. Now, go to bed or I'll have to tell a certain someone's crush that they weren't following doctor's orders to get sleep."
Sam smacked his shoulder and rolled onto her back. "You're an ass."
"Goodnight Sam."
"Goodnight Daniel."
AN: Feedback is lovely **hint hint**