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

I had to take a little break, because I got my Pfizer on :) ! I felt okay, but was exhausted AF. Also I found CompanionApp online and listened to conversations with Michael Shanks, Ben Bowder and the great Amanda Tapping and read articles and so on… For all the shippers, here's a tip – maybe check the last episode of Brad's conversations…

Thank you for your reviews. You know I love you, right?

He watched Carter as she technobabbled about alternate universes and it felt nicely familiar. She hadn't talked like that to him since she awakened on the ship. Apparently that kind of her memory was intact, however until now she hadn't science much. He took it as a sign she grew more comfortable in his presence.

He took notice of how she bit her lip when she was searching for the right word, how her nose crinkled when she gave him an awkward half-smile and how her tongue occasionally slid across her lips in slow motion. Her hair was longer than he ever saw it and it gave her more feminine, younger look. He had never felt so old.

As she started talking about Daniel's alternate universe mirror, he wondered if she was always telling him all she could remember. I mean, of course, not every thought or action, but most of the overall picture. What if she remembered that cop, but just wasn't sure how to bring it up? Or maybe she remembered the tricky atmosphere after their return from Antartica, but just didn't know what to make of it and hesitated to ask?

From his experience there always were some hard feelings after any close call, especially when your survival came as a result of pure luck. He expected Carter to have some doubts about her conduct, even though it was exemplary. But the ardor, with which she threw herself into work right after she was cleared medically, worried him. She kept working relentlessly in the lab while he was recovering and from what Daniel and Teal'c said frequently forgot to eat and sleep.

When she came to see him, the conversation was shallow and predictable and she didn't react to any of his quips. Janet had later told him Carter usually sat at his bed and watched over him during the nights. He was also informed Carter requested to join a few medic training classes during the time SG-1 was off the duty roster, which finally provided him some insight into her thinking.

She didn't deny she felt guilty about what happened, even arguing with him when he tried to tell her otherwise. She reminded him he almost lost his foot and quarter of his lungs as if she were responsible for those injuries. For the next week she spend her lunch break with him in the infirmary, where he made sure she ate sufficiently and got some rest from her doohickeys.

Even though he kept telling her she didn't need it, he said he'd sign off on the medical training if that put her mind on ease. It would take months for him to recuperate completely and while the members of SG-1 might be called upon to accompany other teams, General Hammond wanted to use this opportunity to rest his flagship team.

In the end the downtime wasn't particularly relaxing for any member of the SG-1. Teal'c took charge of hand-to-hand combat class of absolute novices, whom he scared to death within seconds of the first session. Daniel meanwhile got stuck in his lab, buried in artifacts and preliminary analyses reports. Every time Teal'c came to pick him up for lunch, he had to search for him among all the stuff.

Carter refreshed her medical training while helping Janet with schooling others. It improved her mood significantly to spend some time with good doctor, feel useful and probably being told repeatedly that she did the best she could. He was certain the little power monger would set Carter straight and cured her of any lingering doubts about her abilities.

His recovery on the other hand was anything but certain at that point. He was able to breathe on his own, for which he was eternally grateful, but his ribs were still fractured and on a bad day every breath was a struggle. His leg was a mess, even after two surgeries, but according to Janet most of it came down to the freezing cold and would eventually clear up. As Carter pointed out, he was lucky to still have both legs. And even though Janet gave him the go ahead, he was still somewhat beaten up and sore when they stumbled upon that Harlan dude, who tied them to a table for close to forever.

It was admittedly freaky to see another copy of yourself with huge metal blimp instead of a cheek. Apart from the security risk the copies presented and the moral implications he left for Daniels and Carters to discuss, just to be hit with the possibility of someone making another you… It felt abusive on some level.

Their synthetic others were trapped forever in that metallic nightmare, repairing the crumbling ruins. The other O'Neill had been so angry when he realized he could never go back to the only thing he remembered. Initially, he had been feeling sorry for him, but then he realized his copy would have millennia with Carter. Obviously the copies had the same constitution as the originals, synthetic Carter said so, and they seemed to have feelings… When the other Daniel shook his hand goodbye, he couldn't tell it wasn't actually Daniel. Which meant the other Carter felt… Oh, boy. Maybe that other O'Neill got his act together early and got to investigate where the mole on Carter's body was before he was thousands of years old. Maybe the synthetic SG-1 doing alright after all.

God… the sight of two Carters gave him some entirely inappropriate and slightly overwhelming thoughts, dreams and fantasies. He experienced many sleepless nights after that.

"Sir?"

"Huh?" He said, coming back to her at the present moment. "Sorry, Carter, I just…" Her voice had unbelievable effect on him just then.

"Tuned me out?" She laughed, biting her lip again.

If she only knew… He raised his eyebrow, wondering how to play this. "Don't take it so personally, it was not your fault. Some of these missions tend to linger."

"I get that. It's horrible to think about the Earths out there ruled by Goa'uld, because we have failed or SGC doesn't even exists or…"

"Carter, you told me once that there is infinite number of these universes. Let me assure you we saved the Earth in many of them too." He saw her exhaling deeply. "I mean, come on…" He said, trying to comfort her further. "We're engaged in couple of them, but I'm sure we didn't let that distract us too much."

"W-what?" Her hand was clutching her mug firmly, with her knuckles turning white.

"Ah-so you don't remember that part? Oh-kay…"

"No." She said in a little quiet voice.

They were sitting pretty close. He could tell her heart was beating wildly, her breathing fast and shallow. Her pink lips were slightly parted as she hyperventilated. Well, he freaked her out. Why did he have to bring that up?

"Anyway, do you want anything to drink or eat?" He shifted the conversation to another topic for her benefit.

"No, but I don't want to go back to the infirmary." She frowned in deep thought, biting the inside of her cheek. "Can we maybe go check on Gracie?"

"Good idea. But let me get some drinks to take with us, just in case."

"Sure."

Laura created a special room for Gracie, with wide array of toys suitable for little kittens and nice cushioned corner for her to sleep in. Most of the toys were soft colorful objects that she could sink her teeth into without hurting herself. There were also some balls with jingle bells inside, but they laid on the shelf, available when someone played with Gracie. Otherwise it got pretty loud.

They chatted the whole way there, at one point about her biting his hand when they were blinded on the Apophis ship. Apparently she remembered that little detail, but she didn't say much else about the rest of the mission. He was always curious about how she felt about them breaking rules to stop Apophis. As far as he knew, she was a model soldier, who never disobeyed an order in her dreams, let alone in reality. And yes, they had good reasons to and they saved the planet, but they could have faced court-martial even despite that.

He cringed at that. He was aware of how proud Carter was of everything she accomplished, and justifiably so, and yet she risked everything. Yes, they all did, but Daniel was a civilian and Teal'c was from another planet and had many connections out there in the galaxy. And he himself had a tendency to ignore orders and was close to retirement anyway. So it was Carter who would probably be worst off if it came down to it. She was so young and had so much in front of her. He could have said he had ordered her to do it. It would take some blame off her shoulders.

Jeez, this was useless. When did he become so preoccupied with what could have been?

He heard her shift in the wheelchair, so his eyes followed the movement and saw her blanket slipped from her waist almost to her legs. There was a danger of it getting caught in the wheels.

"Wait, let me fix that blanket." He lifted it up and tucked it firmly around her body, his hands caressing her torso for a short moment. "That okay?"

"Yeah." For some reason she exhaled like she was almost out of breath.

"Good. Let me check where the little rascal is and I'll bring her to you."

"But don't wake her up if she's sleeping."

"She actually doesn't sleep that much anymore, so..." He pressed the button on the wall and with a quiet swoosh the door opened. "Oh, yeah, she's already bouncing around here. Am I right, Gracie? Where are you? Oh!" Gracie surprised him by running quickly towards him and jumping up against his leg to welcome him.

"Everything alright, sir?"

"Yes. It looks like she is really keen to play today. Gracie, come here." He picked up the kitten, lightly taking it into his arms and stroking her little head. "Guess who came to visit you?"

Gracie ran her little paw across his chest, hooking it into the pocket of his jacket. He smiled, looking into the little blue eyes that were staring at him.

"Okay, Carter. I'll hand her to you." He saw her raise her hands a little, waiting with them in the air. He moved to grab Gracie in a different way, so he could give her to Carter, but the kitten still hang onto his jacket tightly. What the hell, she always rushed into Carter's arms… Maybe she thought he was about to lay her down on the ground, after all she wasn't able to see out of his embrace.

He positioned his arms over Carter's, letting Gracie know someone else was about to care for her. Carter's arm gently brushed over his biceps and it was very hard not to get distracted by how good that felt, especially since he was swimming in her scent. Meanwhile, the kitten let out a long purr and let go of the jacket, apparently also excited by Carter's presence. Slowly, he let Gracie drop into Carter's welcoming arms. As usual, Carter slowly used her hands to feel how the kitten laid in front of her and then went on to caress her head.

"Gracie! You are so big already. Laura's been taking good care of you, huh?"

O'Neill grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to Carter and Gracie, watching the two of them with a big smile on his face. Gracie settled into Carter's lap like she had never experienced anywhere else and purred with pure satisfaction.