Two Weeks Later

Cam sat at a table in the commissary staring at the bowl of soup in front of him. He had taken about two bites and tossed the spoon on the table. It tasted like crap and made the pissy mood he was in even pissier.

"You have been here for what … three years now, and you still haven't clued in that the cream of mushroom soup should be avoided at all costs." Daniel sat down beside him, his ever present mug of coffee in hand and shook his head at him. "Stick with the chicken noodle or the vegetable, but not on Thursdays. Always skip soup on Thursdays. Have we taught you nothing."

Cam just glared at him. "You're way too chipper for my liking Jackson."

Daniel replaced his grin with a face of concern. "Another bad test result?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Cam growled as he attacked his Jell-O. He took one bite a spit it out. "How the hell can anyone screw up Jell-O."

"I take it's not getting better?"

"What? The Jell-O?" Cam asked, giving Daniel a confused look.

Daniel just rolled his eyes and sighed, "Your leg. I take it there is no improvement."

"No," he said quietly, "Carolyn wants me to go see some specialist at the Mayo Clinic." He took the spoon he had in his hand and began to stab his Jell-O, turning it into mush. There was an eerie silence that followed. Daniel was not sure what to say, so he just sat and stared at the contents of his coffee cup, while Cam continued to play with his dessert.

"Well they have a good reputation...," Daniel finally began to say, but before he could finish his thought, Cam interrupted him.

"I probably won't be able to go on missions anymore," he snapped, knocking over the dessert dish. Blue Jell-O spilled over his tray and the table.

"How do you know, you haven't even seen this new doctor yet. I mean they told you after the Antarctica incident that you would never walk again and you beat those odds. Where is the optimistic Cameron Mitchell we've all come to know?"

"I have to go see Landry," Cam growled, ignoring Daniel's question, "I think he wants me to babysit some new recruits."

Daniel watched Cam as he hobbled away on a set of crutches. He felt sorry for the guy, he knew the agony he had gone through after Antarctica and now after this last run-in with replicators his leg had been damaged again. Dr. Lam had first been optimistic about his recovery, but during a physical therapy session several nerves in his leg were severely damaged. The prognosis was not good. Daniel sighed; he didn't think Cam was happy with the looming prospect of siting behind a desk for the rest of his career. And now his "band" was falling apart. Vala was gone and Teal'c had left last week.

Teal'c assured them he wasn't leaving for good. It was just a temporary thing until Bra'tec recovered from an injury he sustained, while training some young Jaffa. The Mater Jaffa insisted that Teal'c was the only one he trusted to replace him on the Council. He also told them that he was going to be a grandfather and wanted to spend more time with his son and daughter-in-law. Daniel suspected that Teal'cs departure was not going to be as temporary as he told them. Cam probably knew this as well, which added to his overall bad mood.

"Penny for your thoughts." Sam lightly touched his shoulder, sending a little tingle through him. She smiled and sat down beside him: he grinned like a fool back at her.

"Hi," was all he managed to say. Lately he was acting like a lovelorn school boy towards her. It was totally pathetic.

"I take it didn't go well?" she asked, looking at the mess on the table.

"Huh?" Daniel mentally shook his head. Well Jackson that was a really intelligent thing to say.

"Cam's results," she clarified," I just passed him in the hallway; he just mumbled something unintelligible and kept walking. I imagine this is his handiwork as well."

"Oh yeah," Daniel said trying to compose himself, "Dr. Lam wants him to see a specialist at the Mayo Clinic. There is a possibility that he won't be able to go on missions anymore."

"Wow, that bad."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a while. Sam took some napkins and wiped the Jell-O off the table. Daniel fiddled with his cup, desperately trying to think of something intelligent to say.

"I haven't seen much of you lately," she said, finally breaking the silence.

"Busy, busy." He gave her a weak smile. "I knew you were busy, with the station and all. By the way, has he gone?"

"Yes, thank God," she said sounding quite relieved, "there is only so much one can take of Rodney McKay."

"So things are looking good?"

"Yeah ... A few hiccups here and there, but it's looking good."

"Good … that good." God this small talk was driving Daniel crazy. Never before had he experienced such trouble talking to Sam.

It had been escalating in the past few weeks. Every time he visited her during her recuperation, he found it more and more difficult to have any type of normal conversation with her. He was even slightly relieved when McKay came to Earth to work on the Midway station with her. He retreated into his office and kept himself immersed in his work. Truth be told, he didn't even miss going on missions. His translations and research kept his mind off Sam … at least they did most of the time.

"Daniel?" Sam touched his arm and he just about jumped out of his skin. "Are you OK? You're a million miles away and a little skittish too."

"Oh sorry, just daydreaming I guess."

"Am I boring you?" she asked light-heatedly.

"Oh ... no ... never ... I'm sorry what were you saying." Oh God he was acting like a complete idiot.

"I was wondering if you heard about Jack."

"Jack?" Daniel was totally dumbfounded by her comment.

"Sarah called me."

"Sarah called you?"

"Daniel, he's not doing so good, she thought it might be a good idea if went out to see him."