Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. I had to re-watch some episodes in order to get some ideas, and I finally came up with this one. Thank you for the amazing reviews, and I hope you all like this chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

Message in a Bottle

Without asking for permission, Sam and Daniel ran into the Gateroom. Not that General Hammond minded. In the almost year and a half that they had been working together, they had developed an extremely strong bond. They rallied together in tragedies. He had seen it as early as the time when they had thought Daniel was dead on P8X-362.

They kneeled around Jack. Teal'c was on the left, Daniel was on the right, and Sam was towards the front. General Hammond watched with interest as she rested her hand on his knee as she spoke to him. Daniel's hand was also gripping his shoulder, while Teal'c hand was wrapped around his arm.

It was yet another thing that he had observed while watching SG-1. They had always exchanged little looks and touches. Each relationship intrigued and mystified him.

Teal'c and Jack's relationship was definitely interesting. Their loyalty to each other, if it had not been obvious before, had been made clear today. Teal'c never once left Jack's side, and Jack had appreciated his friend's support. Jack had always stood by Teal'c, from the very beginning, and Jack's support showed later on.

Jack and Daniel's relationship had baffled General Hammond, to say the least. He had witnessed himself, on many occasions, the strong friendship between them. Even so, when he had first meant them, he could not honestly see how they were really friends. The two men were completely opposite. Their views were completely opposite. They were both good men, but they viewed the world with totally different perspectives. Despite this, the two of them had a brother-like relationship that could not be shaken.

And then there was Sam and Jack. General Hammond chuckled to himself. Oh, Sam and Jack. He honestly didn't even know where to begin when it came to those two. A blind man could see what was going on between them. As their C.O., he couldn't admit it… out loud. But in the privacy of his own mind, he chose to muse on what he observed between them.

He had never seen two people act quite like them. When Sam had had the Tok'ra in her, he had never seen Jack quite so stressed out. This time, Jack had been the one injured, and Sam had been the one watching. Seeing the way she had lost control of her emotions and had just gaped at Jack had shocked General Hammond. And then, when she had held his hand, that had shocked him even further.

Watching them now, General Hammond saw Sam put her hand on Jack's back as they walked down the ramp. There was nothing unusual about this—Teal'c was holding Jack's arm, and Daniel was supporting Jack on the other side. There was just something in the way that Jack looked at Sam, and the way that they exchanged glances.

He saw Daniel and Teal'c exchange a look, as well. They both looked at Sam and Jack and then back at each other with a knowing look.

Despite his position as a big, tough C.O., General Hammond couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He thought that they—SG-1—really did think that no one realized how close they were. He had heard many people, military and scientist alike, talking about SG-1.

He shook his head and chuckled as he left the room to go and check on Jack's progress. He was sure that Jack was already complaining about Janet, and he probably wasn't even in the infirmary yet.

Author's Note: I had noticed, at the end of this episode, that there was this scene when General Hammond was looking at Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c as they helped Jack off the ramp. This is what I thought that he would be thinking while studying them. I hope you all liked this chapter!