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

Thank you for your reviews and comments.

The story provides very holistic picture of the events, so sometimes there are references to the feelings of people not currently on the Asgard ship, or flashbacks to past missions from different people's perspectives. But they always serve a purpose.

Yes, sammson Aromour, normally that works, but in the case of the browser it's either full screen or nothing. My computer just hates me, I guess!

Welcome to the story, chezy burnett!

"This okay?" Laura asked as she carefully pulled Sam's toes downward with her hands.

"Yeah. It doesn't hurt at all." Sam shrugged a little. She'd always been flexible, which was very useful in hand-to-hand, because she could do all the kicks she could think of.

"I still feel some resistance, though." Laura massaged Sam's foot a little and then pressed her thumb into the arch of the foot to help the toes extend downward more easily. After twenty seconds of holding that position she told Sam to let go.

"Yeah, I generally feel somewhat tense. But that must be because I'm mostly sitting on my six these days. I don't think I've ever wasted so much time away…"

"Sam, you might feel alright, but your body is still very fragile. You have to be careful. Anyway, from now on you will have some interesting things to listen to." Laura made a few steps to get around the table and focused on Sam's other foot.

"You have the recordings for me already?" Sam's face lit up with a smile and even though her eyes weren't in it, her expression was curious.

"Yes, the first dozen or so. But that doesn't mean you need to listen to them all at once. Your body needs rest." Laura gently put Sam's foot down on the blue fluffy blanket that she specially made for Sam. It was an air force color and although she knew Sam wasn't able to see it now, Laura wanted to make a colonel patch for it as well. That way Sam would know it was hers when she got better. Or maybe a patch with Sam's name or initials would be great!

"You don't need to keep reminding me. I know."

"I will stop reminding you when you not only know, but also act accordingly."

Sam blew a raspberry and then bit her lip. "I just feel so useless lying around, not doing anything."

"Hey, stop it! With all the times you've saved your teammates, the Earth and the galaxy, you've earned yourself the right to enjoy a very long R&R." Laura gently brushed her thumb over the back of Sam's hand, trying to provide some solace.

"So everyone keeps telling me, but it's no use when I don't remember doing all those things."

"You think we're lying?" Laura's voice got more high-pitched due to the turn the conversation took.

"No, I-I just. It's hard to believe I was responsible for all those amazing things."

"That's just temporary, you're remembering more each and every day." Laura saw the exhaustion written all over Sam. "Can you sit up or should I help you?"

"No, that's fine." Sam used her arms to prop herself up to a sitting position, her brow shining with sweat from the effort and all the exercise she had already done. Her breath was coming in short loud gasps and for a moment, she had Laura worried.

"Nice." Laura put her arms on Sam's shoulder to make her position known and waited until Sam's pulse was alright again. "Now get a little closer to me. I want your legs dangling over the edge of the table, so I can check your reflexes."

"Like that?"

"Perfect…" Laura tapped one knee after the other and then put the instrument down, satisfied with the results. She noticed that Sam held her breath after the test and frowned. "How are feeling? Tired already?"

"A little." Sam admitted. "But I'm okay." She added quickly, not wanting to stop.

"If you're sure, we'll continue. Only one thing left. I want to determine your stability when you stand up, so we can see where... Wait! Sam did I say 'stand up'?"

"Well, no." Sam slumped back down on the table. It sucked not being able to see visual cues. She really thought the tone of Laura's voice meant she was supposed to rise up. But she, of course, didn't get the full nonverbal picture with her eyes not working. "Sorry, I thought you wanted me to stand up."

"It's fine, let's do it now, yes? I will support you." Laura slid her hands under Sam's arms, pulling Sam up to her feet. After Sam confirmed she was fine, Laura slowly removed her arms. Sam then stood on her own, only gripping Laura's shoulders as a safety measure. "Now I want you to take two steps, right foot first."

"Yes." Sam slowly, but surely raised her right foot and made one small step. She felt Laura stepped back a little to make sure she had enough space. The other step was a little trickier, the left leg was more difficult to move as if it weighed more, which obviously wasn't the case. It just was in worse shape than the right one.

"Okay, that was good. Now let's get you to bed." Laura pushed the wheelchair closer to Sam and made her get into it.

"So how does it look?" Sam asked, wary of the possible answer that might follow her question.

"Actually, very good. I can't even tell you exercised so much with the general today, which doesn't mean it wasn't reckless." Laura sighed and shook her head. The general let Sam exercise for too long, longer than she allowed. Damn military cowboys, both of them. It could have had really bad repercussions if Sam overdid it. "But your muscles are in good condition and if this continues, we might be able to find you a more comfortable, non-hospital bed."

"Really?"

"Yes. Not right away, but soon. Now let's get you some Asgard-voiced recordings to listen to before bed if you don't need anything else."

"I am looking forward to listening to them." Sam said as she was lying down on the bed, feeling a blanket covering her body. She snuggled into it more, immediately feeling warmer. Cold little earpieces were lightly pushed into her ears.

"Just remember what I said. You don't need to listen to all of them today."

"Yes, I remember." Sam rolled her eyes, or at least she thought she did. Her eyes still felt odd and occasionally hurt as well. "So, you told me how to start and stop the recording. Anything else I need to know about?"

"Not really. And you can always use your bracelet to call me directly."

Sam nodded, feeling the big buttons on the device Laura got for her. "Laura?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Laura smiled, but then realized she had to vocalize her feelings for Sam. "Of course. Just don't stay up too long, okay?"

"I promise." Sam said, hitting the play button.

It was the mission reports, not the audiobook of the last bestseller action thriller, but for Sam it had deeper meaning. It validated the memories that already surfaced and hopefully there would be more coming shortly. She recognized the missions, but never would have guessed these were reports written by her. The words felt too foreign to her and hearing the alien voice telling them didn't help.

Laura was right, she was very tired. Even just staying awake, listening passively required some energy. Maybe just one more mission report…

"You're falling asleep, Carter."

She murmured in agreement, instinctively turning towards the voice. He had to speak quite loud for her to hear him even over the mission report. Sam raised her hand to feel around for the little bedside table, so she could place the machine and the accompanying headset there. It took her some time because she was lying closer to it than usual.

"Let me help you." The general said, taking the items from her. "You okay?"

"Yes, just a little tired, sir." She stifled a little yawn, trying to settle in the hospital bed again.

"So the reprimand I just received from Laura was only cautionary, right?" He smiled silently at how adorable she looked when she was sleepy. When he'd seen her exhausted in the field usually it equaled some life-threatening crisis, so he couldn't enjoy it. But they were safe now.

"I imagine so."

"I'm glad." He caught her hand and squeezed it, noticing how soft her skin felt against his. "Good night and sweet dreams."

"Thank you, sir." She let out the sweetest little chuckle. "Good night."

He took a few steps to the middle of the room and dimmed the lights. Then he parked himself on the chair next to his usual bed and started to work on his boots, trying to be as quiet as possible. After the boots dropped on the floor, making way more noise than he initially planned, he saw Carter lying on her side, frowning in his direction.

"You're sleeping here, sir?"

"Don't worry, I'm almost done. Will be quiet from now on. I promise." He took off his jacket and flung it over the chair.

"No, I just mean, wouldn't you be more comfortable in your quarters? I'll be okay."

"Nonsense. I won't leave you here alone." He crawled into the bed and covered himself with a blanket. "Let's sleep, Carter."

"But-"

"Ah! Do I have to make it an order?"

Carter also lied down again, so now he only saw the outline of her body in the dimmed light of the infirmary.

"No, sir. I just… Okay. Good night."

"Good night." He said, a little quieter this time.