DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Anniversary

Part six

'How come I have to do this?' Jack complained as he crawled through the tunnel.

'Because if I went I would probably die from the allergies that would kick in from all the dust that's up there,' Daniel explained patiently as he waited at the tunnel entrance.

'Oh yeah,' Jack ceased talking and hurried his crawling, relieved when he emerged at the entrance, brushing down his clothes the moment he was free. 'Well that was fun,' Jack said sarcastically. 'Lets get back and see what's happening.' Setting a pace which would normally have found Daniel struggling, the two of them made it back to the gate and SG3 in record time. As soon as they were within sight, Jack radioed to Colonel Makepeace to open the gate and send the signal through to save as much time as possible.

Barely pausing to acknowledge the presence of the other team, Jack and Daniel headed straight through the open wormhole, down the ramp at the other side and were in the infirmary within five minutes of leaving the planet.

'Well?' Jack demanded breathlessly, cursing his not-so-young-anymore body.

'There's no significant change,' Dr Fraiser informed them apologetically, 'But they haven't got any worse either. I'm afraid we'll just have to wait and see what happens.'

The hours crawled by. After they had showered and changed, Daniel had attempted to get on with cataloguing some artefacts and Jack played at catching up with his paperwork, but in reality neither actually made any progress and an hour after being chased out of the infirmary, both had returned bearing cups of coffee, strolling casually towards Sam. Janet, glancing up from the patient who she was with as they arrived, smiled to herself wryly and accepted that it was inevitable that a team as close as SG1 would be there for their fallen members and turned a blind eye to their presence.

Every now and again, one of them would stand up and head to the isolation room where Teal'c lay, no longer restrained but with a constant guard just in case his earlier aggressive behaviour returned. Neither one of them spoke, they watched and they waited, words not required for this vigil.

It was getting late before Jack first noticed a change in Sam. Glancing at Daniel, then back at Sam as though not believing what he had seen, he realised it hadn't been his imagination. Sam's eyelids fluttered several times and finally her eyes opened.

'Doc!' Jack yelled, causing Janet to race towards them at top speed. Hurriedly pushing the two men out the way she conducted an examination.

'It's alright Sam,' Janet soothed Sam who had been considerably startled at Jack's reaction. 'You're in the infirmary and you've been unconscious for several hours. How are you feeling?'

'Thirsty,' Sam whispered. 'Tired. What time is it?'

'Nearly 20.00, here,' Janet helped Sam sit up enough to drink some water then settled her back down again. 'Ok, gentlemen, you can have five more minutes then you'll have to leave, Sam needs her rest.' She glared at them, daring them to argue and they meekly accepted her ruling.

'Hey,' Daniel greeted her, relieved that she was feeling better.

'Hey, what happened?' Sam asked, her recent memories still very hazy.

'You were affected by the artefact,' Daniel explained. 'It turns out that energy field it was emitting was making both you and Teal'c sick. It affected Teal'c straight away but took longer to work on the protein marker in your blood. We figured that the weapon was working exactly as it was supposed to so we took it back.'

'There was no 'we' about it Daniel,' Jack grumpily reminded him. 'It was yours truly who did the dirty work remember? Did I say something to amuse you Major?' This last was addressed to Sam who had tried, very poorly, to conceal a smile at her CO's comments.

'No sir,' Sam said, trying to keep a straight face, thankfully saved by a yawn overtaking her.

'Well, I guess that's our cue then,' Jack said as he stood up, relieved that she was going to be fine. 'Sleep well.'

'Night Sam.'

'G'night guys,' Sam mumbled as she settled down, her eyes closing almost before they had left her.

***********

Sam, still under the care of Dr Fraiser in the infirmary, had made an illicit visit to Teal'c. It had been two days since she had woken from her brief unconsciousness but she was still weak and Dr Fraiser insisted she remain in the infirmary for the next couple of days. Teal'c, having been more severely affected by the weapon had not yet regained consciousness although Janet had told them he was stable and just needed more time for his system to fight back.

Jack and Daniel were both sitting with Teal'c, holding cups of coffee.

'Where's mine?' Sam demanded lightly.

'Sorry, Sam,' Daniel apologised, getting to his feet, 'I didn't think, I'll just go…'

'Sit down, Daniel,' Jack said, looking sideways at Sam, 'You know she's not supposed to be drinking coffee.'

'Sorry Daniel,' Sam grinned wickedly at him, not at all apologetic. 'Couldn't help myself. How's he doing?'

'Well, Dr Fraiser says she thinks he should come round soon,' Jack informed Sam. 'Said something about him responding to pain?'

'He's responding to external stimuli,' Daniel clarified for him. 'Which is an improvement. Now we just have to wait some more.'

Sam sat down and the three of them sat there, occasionally exchanging a few words, but for the most part remaining silent. Sam's head was starting to nod sleepily when Janet arrived.

'Sam! I might have guessed you'd be here,' Dr Fraiser told Sam off. 'You want me to release you yet you won't do as you're told. I want…' She was interrupted by a growl coming from the direction of the bed and all attention was now directed to it as they watched Teal'c sit up abruptly and look around him wildly, not recognising where he was or who was with him.

'Teal'c,' Jack spoke calmly, then again more loudly when Teal'c still seemed unaware. 'Teal'c, you're in the infirmary, you've been sick.' Teal'c's eyes focussed on the speaker, and now acknowledged the rest of the people present, dwelling longest on Sam in her gown.

'Captain Carter,' his voice came out in a croak and he took a sip from the glass of water handed to him before continuing. 'Are you not well?'

'I'm fine Teal'c,' Sam smiled at him, 'I was affected by the same thing you were, only not as bad. How are you feeling?'

'I am weak, but my symbiote heals me, I will be well again soon,' Teal'c replied.

'Well, you've been very lucky, Teal'c,' Janet informed him as she completed her exam. 'A couple of days and you should be up and about again but you will need to remain here in the meantime.' She held up her hand to stop the argument she knew was about to come. 'Ah, no arguments, I know I don't normally keep you in the infirmary, but I need to make sure there are no side affects from that device, you need to stay for one night at least.'

Teal'c bowed his head, acknowledging Dr Fraiser's order and lay back down on the pillow, testimony to his still weakened state.

'And now I believe visiting time is over,' Janet continued issuing orders. 'Colonel O'Neill, Dr Jackson, I want you both to go home, get something to eat and get a good night's sleep, I don't want to see either of you on base until tomorrow morning, is that understood?'

Half an hour later Dr Fraiser carried out her final rounds before heading home herself.

**************

Jack stood on the doorstep and waited for the bell to be answered. He didn't have to wait long. The door was flung open and a small figure flung its arms around Jack's knees.

'Colonel Jack!' Ben exclaimed, his voice turning into a yell of delight when Jack placed his package on the step and swung the boy up in the air until he was upside down, eliciting non-stop giggles from him.

'Colonel O'Neill,' Maria greeted Jack a little more formally but unable to stop a smile spreading to her face to see him with Ben. 'Please, come in, Ben's been looking out of the window waiting for you to arrive.'

'Are you sure you're ok with this?' Jack had seen how reluctant she had been to accept any contact with him and didn't want to push her too hard, in spite of the promise he had made to the little boy and his own pleasure in spending time with someone who reminded him so much of the son he had lost.

'Are you kidding?' Maria smiled warmly at him, 'Ben would never forgive me if I didn't let his new friend stay to play with him. Come on in, it's freezing out there. Coffee?'

Jack swung Ben to an upright position, holding him around the waist while Ben wrapped his legs around Jack's waist, Maria picked up the package and led the way inside.

THE END