A silly little chapter – because I felt silly.

"Why can't we see him?" Daniel asked, looking as if he were ready to start a fight. "It's been almost 24 hours."

"You can see him Daniel," Janet said patiently.

"I mean, it's not fair. Sam has been in to see him, and so has Jacob. And we're his best friends. I mean, so is Sam, but Teal'c and I are his friends too and we should be able to see him."

"You can."

"He's okay isn't he? I mean, there isn't a reason you're keeping us out is there?"

"No."

"Good, then why can't we see him?"

"You can," Janet said, trying not to grin.

Daniel looked at her suspiciously and Teal'c simply raised an eyebrow.

"I believe Dr. Frasier is letting us know we can go in to see O'Neill."

"Really?"

"Yes Daniel, you can go in and see the Colonel."

"Well why didn't you say so?" the archaeologist said indignantly.

Janet simply rolled her eyes and held her arms out, ushering the two men into O'Neill's room. "Colonel, you have visitors."

Jack was dozing, almost asleep, when Janet's voice woke him up. He blinked a couple of times and then smiled. "Hey, I wondered when you'd be in to see me."

"Yes, well Janet kept us out although I don't know why. Sam got to see you. And it's not as if we were going to bother you or anything. We just wanted to see how you were doing. It wasn't fair that we were kept out. You're our friend, and we have a right to visit you."

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said forcefully.

"Yes?" Daniel looked at his friend. "What?"

"You will cease to speak." Teal'c then turned towards a grinning Colonel. "How are you O'Neill?"

"I'm fine buddy. A little sleepy, which is why Janet probably kept you out," he explained to the two men. "I keep falling asleep and she says it's what I need to heal."

"She is wise," Teal'c murmured. "You did not need someone to come in and natter at you."

"Natter?" Daniel asked indignantly. "Are you accusing me of nattering?"

"Indeed," Teal'c answered with a stately bow of his head.

"He's right Danny," the Colonel grinned. "You do tend to natter, but we love you for it."

"Fine, I suppose you want me to leave?

"Of course not. I'm glad to see you – both of you." O'Neill yawned and again felt his eyes grow heavy. "I just wish I could stay awake for more than ten minutes at a time. This is very" he yawned again, "irritating."

"It is what your body requires," Teal'c said.

"That's right Jack. The alien device obviously worked and your body is healing. It's great news."

"I'm not counting my chickens Daniel," the Colonel answered with a third yawn. "Damn it! This is ridiculous. I need caffeine, lots of caffeine."

"You want me to bring you a coffee?" the younger man asked.

"Yeah -"

"No." Janet had entered silently. "No caffeine. The Colonel needs to sleep. Sir, I got some of the preliminary tests back -"

"Wait", Jack interrupted. "You haven't done any tests yet."

"I did some while you were sleeping", she said with a smile. "I figured if I didn't I'd be waiting a long time."

"And I didn't wake up?" Jack said, sounding worried. "That's not like me."

"I know, but you are healing. Whatever the alien device did, it kicked your system into high gear. It looks like your body is repairing itself. That's why you're so tired. All your energy is going into the healing. So far things look good Sir, although you still have a ways to go."

Jack yawned again and his eyelids started to droop. He tried to force himself to stay away by taking deep breaths and then by pinching himself, but nothing seemed to work. Soon he was sleeping soundly, Frasier and his two friends still standing by the bed.

"Wow, he really is tired."

"Mmm. It's the alien device", Janet told them, not sounding too worried. "Hopefully he should be able to stay awake more, once the healing is a bit farther along."

"But he is healing?" Daniel said, sounding hopeful.

"Yes. How completely it's hard to say."

"What about his feet and ankles? I heard the machine quit before reaching them."

"It did. We're going to try again, but not until he's more alert. His body is already dealing with a lot. It may be why the device stopped working." As she spoke the doctor kept her eyes on her patient. He looked better than he had in a long time. His color was good and he was beginning to look rested. She was hopeful.

Janet took a sudden breath and turned to the two teammates. "He'll probably sleep for a couple of hours. You can come back later, but there's no real reason to stick around now. He's doing well."

"I feel like we should be with him", Daniel said softly, staring at his friend.

"There's nothing you can do", Janet told him bluntly. "But he will need you when he's awake for longer periods. You know what the Colonel is like when he's recuperating."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Okay then – I'll head back to my lab and do some work. If he wakes up can you call?"

"Of course", Janet smiled. "And thank you – the Colonel's luck to have such good friends."

"O'Neill is family", Teal'c said gravely. "We will never leave him behind."

"No, of course not", Janet said softly. "None of us will."

The first thing Jack realized when he began to wake up was that he was sick to death of constantly falling asleep. He was pretty sure that Daniel and Teal'c had been here, and was also sure that he didn't remember them leaving. He must have conked out in the middle of their visit. It was getting really frustrating.

The second thing Jack realized was that something felt a bit different with his body. He frowned, trying to figure out what it was. Suddenly, a grin began to appear on his face. "I'll be damned", he muttered. Just to make sure, he lifted the covers and looked. Yup! Things were back in working –

"Sir?"

He dropped the covers and froze. Please don't let Sam be here, he thought. Please don't let her just have seen –

"Sir, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Crap! It was her. He pulled the blanket over his face and closed his eyes. She couldn't have helped but see him checking himself out. The euphoria of a moment ago morphed into extreme humiliation. God, it was enough to keep one from ever having another –

"Jack!" Her voice was now sounding panicked.

He slowly pulled the covers down off his face. "Hi."

"Sir, are you okay? What's wrong? Does something hurt? You're not bleeding are you?"

"Bleeding?"

"I saw you looking under the covers. Do I need to get Janet?"

"Uh no. I'm fine. Just – uh -"

She tilted her head, looking at him curiously. "What Sir?"

"You don't need to call me 'Sir' Sam, Jack is fine. And I was just looking at my uh - foot. It's hurting a bit."

"Oh", she frowned, sounding relieved. "I'm sorry. Do you need any painkillers?"

"No, no. I'm fine. It's not that bad."

"Would it help for me to rub it?"

Jack choked, his mind instantly going places it had absolutely no place going. After a moment a worried Carter tried patting him on the back.

"Sir – Jack – are you alright? Maybe I should get Janet."

"No Carter – I'm fine", he gasped. "Just – must have breathed in the wrong way. I'll be okay in a minute."

She waited until he was calm, continuing to rub his back. Once he'd finally settled down she looked at him carefully. "Does it still hurt?"

"No, it's better now", he informed her, doing everything in his power to keep from choking again.

"You're sure? It's probably gotten stiff because you haven't used it in a while. You need to exercise it a bit and it'll feel better."

He just stared at her, not quite sure what to say or do. "Right", he finally said. "I'll try and do that."

"Just don't overdo it. If you go at it too hard it'll start hurting again and then it will really stiffen up. You have to be gentle and take it slow and easy. You know Jack, I can get some cream and rub it for you if you'd like. It'll probably be easier if I do it for you and I promise to be gentle."

He laid back and closed his eyes, not sure whether he wanted to laugh, cry or beg her to yes please, just do it and be gentle. He chuckled softly. He really wished he could share this with her, but knew it was something he could never tell her. "That's okay Carter", he finally told her. "I appreciate it, but it really is feeling better. It was just a – twinge – you know, when I first woke up."

"Mmm", she nodded. "Probably just a Charlie horse. Well, let me know if ever you want me to do it for you. That's what friends are for."

Right, he thought, friends. God, if only she were more than that he could ask her to rub it.

"Sir?" she asked sounding confused. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? What Carter?"

"Uh, you just got a strange look on your face. I wondered if you were alright?"

"I'm fine. Sorry Sam – I'm still pretty tired and not quite – at my sharpest. I'm feeling good though. So, where's Dad? I haven't seen him in a while." He hoped that the change in subject would get her away from comments on his body for a while. He didn't think he could handle any more stray and inappropriate thoughts.

"Oh, he took off to see Mark for a couple of days. He and Janet decided you needed to rest for a bit before he tried the device again. He'll be back on Tuesday."

"I see. Nice that he can visit your brother."

"Mmm hmm. I'm glad. They were estranged for a long time but things are finally getting back on track. They are the two most stubborn men in the world, so it was amazing they even got this far."

"I'm glad. I think your father changed a bit after -" he stopped.

"After Selmac? He did. I think she's toned him down quite a bit. And I don't think he can ignore her like he used to ignore the rest of us. Must be something to have a conscience walk around with you all day who won't ever shut up."

"I'd shoot myself", he told her.

She grinned. "Yeah, I don't think I'd like it either. Actually, I know I didn't like it", she said, referring obliquely to Jolinar. "I much prefer being alone in my head."

"Yeah – and anyway, you've got enough going on in there without adding another person – or snake", Jack agreed. "Now me – I've got lots of space up there, but that's fine with me. I don't like to be crowded."

She laughed. "Don't try and make me believe there isn't a lot going on in that brain of yours Jack. We've all known for a long time that your dumb act is just that."

"Really?" he looked at her in mock surprise. "Hey, compared to you and Daniel I'm -"

"A brilliant leader, tactician, strategist, officer, chess player -"

"Yo yo artist, Simpsons aficionado."

She grinned. "See, a genius."

"I am far from being a genius Sam", he told her seriously. "You're the genius. I'm just a guy who knows how to surround himself with geniuses to make himself look good."

She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Right. Well, you keep telling yourself that O'Neill. The rest of us know the truth."

"Damn", he muttered. "And I worked so hard to hide it."

"Hey Jack!" Daniel walked into the room followed closely by a 6'5" shadow. "You're awake."

"Brilliant deduction Daniel. What gave it away?"

"Ha ha Jack", Daniel said sarcastically. "How are you feeling?"

"His foot was hurting", Sam said. "I offered to rub it, but he refused."

Daniel looked at Jack and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again when spying the strange look on his friend's face. He started to ask what was wrong, but found himself not saying anything. It must have been the panicked look he caught in his friend's eyes. What the heck was going on?

"Your foot? What's wrong with it", he finally asked.

"Nothing", Jack said bluntly.

"It was stiff", Sam told her teammates. "I caught him looking under the covers at it when I came in. If it wasn't for that I doubt he would have said anything. I still think you should mention it to Janice."

Daniel again saw a funny expression on Jack's face, and frowned. What was the deal with his foot – just then a glare from his friend practically burned through his forehead. He tilted his head, wanting to ask a question, but he stopped. Although why Jack was so worried about a stiff foot was beyond him. He'd have to ask him later.

"You're not sleeping O'Neill", Teal'c, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

"No big guy. For now I'm awake, although I don't know how long it will last. I can't seem to stay awake more than a few minutes at a time."

"You've been awake for almost half an hour Jack", Sam informed him. "That's the best yet."

The four friends and former teammates chatted for the next few minutes. They filled Jack in on some of the base gossip and he in turn, told them about the youth he was working with. After about twenty minutes he again grew sleepy and started to fade. As he began blinking more and more his three friends slowly got up. "We're going now Jack", Daniel whispered. "We'll be back."

"Kay", he muttered softly, his eyes closing. "Nice to – have you here", he whispered. The next moment he was out.

"He's looking much better", Daniel said as they walked into the hall. "I sure hope this worked."

"Janet said it's starting to", Sam said. "Even if it helps a bit it will have been worth it."

"Yeah. I just hope it'll work again on his feet and ankles. It'll be a drag if those don't get healed."

Sam agreed and then headed off to her lab. She needed to spend some time focused on something other than the Colonel, although that was growing increasingly difficult. She thought back to their conversation and smiled. It was so nice to actually speak with him again – and he seemed to feel at ease with her, which was nice.

At least for most of the time he had been. There was that strange little episode about his foot though. She still was confused about his reaction. You'd have thought he was embarrassed to have been caught looking at it.

She frowned, something tweaking the back of her mind. She tried to figure out what it was, but it eluded her. She closed her eyes and thought back to earlier. What was bothering her? She'd walked into Jack's Infirmary room to see him with the covers up, peering under the cover at his f – wait. He wasn't looking down at his feet. The blanket hadn't been lifted that high. He had been looking at –

"Oh dear God!" she froze right at the entrance to her lab. He had been looking at something under the covers and when she had appeared he'd seemed extremely uncomfortable. That was it. Oh. My. God. He must have been checking himself out. But why? Was something wrong? Should she tell Janet? No, it wasn't her business but still, what if it was important?

Jack hadn't looked upset though, just embarrassed. So if he wasn't upset, maybe – maybe the healing had started to work and he -

"Shit!" She'd offered to rub it for him. "Oh my God." She leaned against her door. Suddenly, she began to giggle. A moment later Dr. Lee found her propped against her door, convulsed with hysterical laughter. He wondered for a moment if he should call for help, but Dr. Carter shook her head, and managed to turn and get the key into the lock and open her door.

"Ts'okay", she gasped. A moment later she was laughing even harder, and so she shut the door, almost in Bill's face. As he walked down the hall towards the elevator he continued to hear laughter come from her lab. He shook his head. One never knew what to make of the members of Sg1.