Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and all related characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, SCI FI Channel, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions and Gekko Productions. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no profit is being made here.

Category: Gen/Friendship

Feedback: Yes, please… :)

A/N: My very first SG-1 post. Yay! I'm still working on a multi-chapter one but this popped up suddenly so I decided to get it done first. It's a one-shot, set in the earlier seasons, but after Season Three's Forever In A Day. Have only seen until Season Four, so any similar plot, planets, characters, places, etc, is purely coincidental. I'm also not sure if anyone has used this storyline before so, advanced apologies if you had. Any similarity is entirely by chance. Finally, hugs to my beta. Thanks, sis!

Dammit, Daniel, Jack ranted silently for the umpteenth time as he eyed the unmoving figure on the bed. When will you learn to be more careful, especially when you always seem to rush headlong into these things?!

Following the scare, he was relieved that, other than a minor concussion, a couple of broken ribs were Daniel's only injury, although the archeologist's abdomen was currently in exceptionally interesting hues of red, purple and blue. A quick look at his watch told Jack the time – 2020 hours. Apart from Daniel, he was the only other person in the room; he made Carter and Teal'c leave ten minutes ago, ordering them home to get some rest.

After extracting a promise from their commanding officer to call them once Daniel came around, the two SG-1 members finally left, taking with them an equally concerned Janet Fraiser. He'd promised but Jack was certain he wouldn't be making the call any time soon. According to the doctor, the pain medication would probably keep Daniel asleep at least until tomorrow afternoon.

For the second night in a row, Jack tried to make himself comfortable in the small chair that the hospital had provided him, ignoring the adjacent cot for the moment. Having the right contacts definitely came in handy; it now allowed him to be at the hospital past the standard visiting hours. Glancing at the sleeping linguist, Jack shook his head, marvelling again at the sudden turn of events. How was it that a normal night out in town with Teal'c and Carter had ended up with Daniel in the hospital and him at younger man's bedside waiting for him to wake up? Wait … what am I saying? We're talking about Daniel here…

They'd just seen Carter and Teal'c off late last night and were heading towards their respective cars when Daniel had stopped halfway in the act of unlocking his car door, his whole body tensing. Before Jack could even unbuckle his seatbelt, Daniel was already sprinting towards the alley, responding instinctively to the cry for help. By the time Jack got there, one of the two thugs was down but he was horrified to see the other using Daniel as a soccer ball, practically kicking the life out of the kid. Crap…

"Hey!"

At Jack's enraged yell, the man looked up, his leg drawn back in mid-kick. One look at the Colonel's face was enough of a deterrent for him. Without another sound, he turned and scurried away, leaving his insensible partner-in-crime behind. Jack ran to Daniel's side, torn between staying with his fallen friend and going after the assailant. A faint moan from Daniel quickly eliminated the other choice and Jack hurriedly looked him over, trying to see where he was hurt. He winced, taking in the nasty gash on Daniel's left temple, even as indecision gnawed at him. Should he risk moving Daniel in order to get him back to the infirmary in the SGC?

"Daniel? Can you hear me? Daniel!"

Deciding in the end that moving the young scientist might possibly aggravate any internal injuries that he might have sustained in the fight, Jack settled for patting Daniel's face gently, trying to get him to open his eyes. Suddenly conscious of sirens wailing in the distance, he looked around, hoping to see the ambulance pulling up next to them.

It was then that he noticed the only other person in the alley besides the three of them – an elderly woman, her hand clutched protectively around an old tattered handbag. Sending her a brief reassuring smile, Jack turned back to his unconscious friend. For crying out loud…! What is taking them so damn long to get here?!

"Will your friend be all right?"

Jack looked up at the softly spoken question. The old woman had moved from where she had been standing beside the wall and was now hovering over them, concern in her gaze.

"I dunno, Ma'am," Jack shook his head. "I can't really tell, not in this light."

"Oh dear… I hope he'll be okay…" she remarked before adding shakily, "he came just in time. They were going to take my bag away from me."

The Colonel could only give a curt nod in reply, just as a patrol car and an ambulance pulled up. The policemen quickly headed towards the old woman, listening closely to her even as a paramedic crouched beside the fallen thug, who was just regaining consciousness. He was arrested the instant he was given a clean bill of health, since apart from a small bump on his head, there was nothing wrong with the man.

Jack stood up and moved out of the way, fighting an overwhelming sense of helplessness as he watched the other EMS personnel drew near and crouched beside Daniel, swiftly checking him over. After a few quick questions, they quickly loaded the linguist into the ambulance. At their questioning glance, Jack wordlessly got in as well, absently patting his front pocket to make sure that he had Daniel's spectacles with him. While one paramedic got into the driver's seat, the other climbed in after Jack, closing the doors behind him. Sirens blaring, the ambulance roared speedily away into the night.