I do not own anything. If you recognize it, it is not mine.

Thank you for reviews.

Garibaldi69, thank you for the review. That cliffhanger wasn't really by design, I just planned to address it later, turned out to be in this chapter…

Hope you are all fine ad healthy! XOXO

"The swelling is normal, your liver has tough time making enough albumin. Shouldn't be an issue for much longer." Laura was examining Sam, commenting on her achy ankles.

"Any good news?"

"Your muscles are almost back to normal. You're going to be walking around this ship soon." Laura put the medical equipment back under the table and went back to Sam's side who looked deep in thought.

"Then I'll be bumping into a lot of things, I imagine."

"Don't imagine we'll let you roam around freely. You're still not there yet, Ma'am." Laura said, in slightly joking manner, wanting to lighten the mood.

"To be honest, I am sick and tired of staying in this bed all the time." Sam sighed loudly. "How's Doctor Jackson's nose?"

"Better than your hand. In your state you hurt yourself more than you hurt Daniel." Laura watched Sam fidget. "He understands that it was an accident and that you are in a very difficult situation."

Sam acknowledged Laura's assurance with a little murmur, still feeling bad about what happened.

"He's been asking about you, but he's not sure if you want him to visit."

"I think I do."

"I'll tell him." Laura said, which earned a nod from Sam.

"Can we not do the memory exercise today?"

"Of course. Is everything alright?"

"I'm just a little… bewildered." Sam talked in a breathy way, agitated beyond belief.

It was clear to Laura that Sam still hadn't recovered from the recent uproar and her nightmares. Daniel was more worried than angry and Laura was confident that he and Sam would patch things up pretty quickly.

Hearing a low purr, Laura walked towards Gracie, picking her up. The kitten was very playful ever since the splint came off, always excited to have someone pet her and got into the habit of jumping out of her basket and brushing against Laura's legs until she was picked up.

"Alright, Sam, there is someone that wants to meet you. In fact she was really looking forward to it. She's little and fluffy and her name is Gracie."

"Who is it?"

Sam's hands were mostly lying along her body, sometimes she moved them to stretch the muscles, but not very often. Now she raised them in the air, feeling the environment around her. The bandaged arm was moving slightly slower than the other, as it undoubtedly hurt.

"I've been informed you like cats and by luck there's a kitten just waiting to be cuddled." She came closer and put Gracie in the line of Sam's hands.

Sam deliberately moved slowly, first figuring out where the kitten was exactly, then carefully stroking Gracie with her fingertips. Soft meowing echoed in the room and for the first time in forever, Laura saw Sam really smiling.

"She really likes you! Do you want to hold her?"

"I don't know…"

"I'll be here if either of you need anything."

"She's just so little."

"And also ungrateful. I nursed her back to health and yet, she never clung to me like she does to you now. That little rascal!" Laura sat down right next to Sam, watching over both blue-eyed girls.

"Do you like it?" As Sam was caressing her, the kitten stopped looking around and laid her head on Sam's chest, purring contently. "Do you like your aunt Sam? You're not a rascal, are you, sweetie?"

"Depends on who you ask. She did scratch Daniel pretty good."

"What?"

"Yes, she didn't like his long lectures." Laura said while rearranging the blanket, so Sam wouldn't be cold. "She responds better to Teal'c who mainly just raises his eyebrow. She is so fascinated by him, she just stars at him for ages. "

"And the Col…I mean General?"

"He's been a bit stand-offish lately. Apparently he prefers dogs." Laura said it like the first had something to do with the other. She didn't feel comfortable talking to Sam about O'Neill's weird behavior. For one, she hadn't even talked to him about it. "Hey, do you want to feed her? It's probably time, anyway."

"That'd be nice." Just as Sam said it, a particularly loud purr came out of Gracie. "Oh, look, she agrees."

Laura pressed a few button on her bracelet and then spoke into it.

"Hi, Daniel. Would you make milk for Gracie and bring it to the infirmary?" There was so much more in that statement that met the eye. Daniel knew Laura was going to ask if Sam wanted to see him, so it contained confirmation Daniel really needed.

"Sure. Be right there." Daniel said, his voice distorted a little by the bracelet.

"Laura, I wanted to ask you. When you said that you learned Turghan died from a mission report, you mean reports from the SG teams that revisited that planet? When did you get them?" Sam wiggled a few times to get comfortable and Gracie responded by grabbing the material of Sam's shirt.

"I wondered when someone was going to ask." Laura said hesitantly. "Sometimes the SGC shared mission reports with the Asgard if it touched upon our shared interests or you requested assistance in the matter. But I have to admit there were Asgards who just uploaded Earth data and checked up on you periodically. When you feel up to it we can look at some of them." Laura didn't want to really too much on the reports, because she suspected there was a lot that didn't make it into official reports. It could color Sam's memories or persuade her to fabricate false ones. Human mind is funny in that way.

"The Asgard spied on us?" Daniel emerged from the hallway, holding Gracie's snack.

"That was quick." Laura comment earned a nod of agreement from Sam. "Yeah, a little bit. Not the council itself, but a few Asgards acting on their own."

"That means this ship belonged to one of those renegades." Sam deduced, stretching her arm to get Gracie's milk.

Daniel carefully placed it in her palm, waited until she firmly grabbed it and then let go.

"I might need help to…" Sam didn't even finish that sentence before she could feel Gracie move towards the bottle and hungrily latch onto it. Loud gulping noises spread through the room.

"She's unstoppable when it comes to food. I think that's why she relates so easily to Teal'c." Laura offered. "Yes, I guess renegade's probably fair label. His name was Balder. I am sure our resident archeologist has heard of him."

"Of course. Balder can be found in both Nordic and Germanic mythology. He was thought to be the immaculate and patient god. Due to the dreams he had, that predicted his own death, his mother took oaths from all creatures as well as from fire, water, metals, trees, stones and illnesses not to harm him. Mistletoe was seen as too young to take that oath and it ultimately led to Balder's death. In some versions it was Loki, Nordic god of mischief, who was indirectly responsible for Balder's death."

"He wasn't. Although they definitely didn't like each other."

"Loki experimented on humans to further his research, not caring about the consequences his test subjects had to endure. He is probably responsible for most rumored alien abductions on Earth. And he made a mini-O'Neill, trying to solve the cloning problem."

"He did what?" Sam asked, apparently in shock. "There's two of them?"

"Technically yes. One of them is in his twenties, though."

"I am sorry I don't remember this." Sam thought about seeing General O'Neill as a teenager. He must have been even more of a rebel then.

"You did tell him he was cute." Daniel said, enjoying how natural talking to Sam felt. He hoped it felt like that to her too. He almost forgot aura was there as well and was very grateful she just let them have this moment. He was anxious about his relationship with Sam. She was one of his closest friend even if she didn't remember precisely how that happened.

"To the General?" Sam swallowed nervously.

"His younger version, yes. But to be fair, he really was."