I know I haven't posted for a while but I'm not having the most fun time at university and to top it off I think my muse has gone off on holiday without telling me!!

As always, a big thank you to my wonderful beta Naliza!! :)

Anyway here's chapter 7.

*~*~*

"Is there anything else either of you would like to add," Stone asked once Sam had finished her narrative.

"No Sir," Sam said. 

Teal'c shook his head slightly; he felt that Colonel Carter had given General Stone all the required information.

"I've locked P4Y-543 out of the dialling computer," Stone informed them.

"Thank you Sir," Sam said.

"SG-1 is on downtime for 14 days.  Teal'c, we can arrange for you to visit your son if you wish," Stone offered.

"Thank you General Stone," Teal'c replied, inclining his head.

"Colonel, you are off the mission list until that arm heals.  Take two weeks off for now and then we can see about you returning to the labs."

"Yes Sir," Sam answered without any objection, looking over at the General.

"If there's nothing else, you are dismissed."

Sam stood.  Her broken ribs sent a sharp wave of pain through her chest at the sudden action.  After Stone had left she walked to the infirmary with Teal'c, who thankfully kept the pace slow.

Jack was still in the infirmary talking to Daniel, who was obviously in some pain despite the painkillers he was being given through his IV line

Jack looked up as he saw Sam and Teal'c enter.  He gave Sam his chair, which she gratefully took.

"How did it go?" Daniel queried.  Tiredness was clearly audible in his voice.

"It was fine, how are you doing?" Sam replied.

"Not too bad really.  What about you?" he inquired, looking over at his friend who was sitting stiffly in the chair by in his bed.

"I'm okay," Sam answered.

They talked for a few minutes until it became obvious that Daniel was fighting to stay awake.

"Look Danny, I'm gonna take Sam home now.  I'll catch up with you soon okay?" Jack said, looking over at his friend

"Sure," Daniel replied, already half-asleep.

Jack ducked off to speak to the doctor quickly, who told him that Daniel would probably be released in a couple of days as he was healing well and thankfully there seemed to be no signs of infection.

"Sam?" Daniel called out as she walked towards Jack, who was waiting at the door.

"Yes," she said, turning back.

"Thanks for what you did back there," he said sincerely.

Sam gave a lopsided smile in return, the bruise on her jaw stopping her from smiling properly.

"Take care of yourself Daniel and I'll see you soon," she said kindly as she left.

*~*

Once the couple was back at Sam's house they took up a similar position on the couch as they had done the day before, with Sam using Jack for support.

Sam had felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders following the debriefing, having told the story of what had happened back of P4Y-543.  She knew that Jack, the man she loved, also had a right to know but that seemed harder than telling General Stone.

"So, you've got two weeks off then?"

"Yeah.  Teal'c's going to go and see Rya'c."

"Well, why don't we go up to the cabin for a bit?  You still haven't been there after more than eight years.  It's about time you at least get to see the place," Jack offered.  He half expected her to say no as she had done to every other invitation to go fishing.

"That would be great Jack," she said with a smile.

"Really?" he asked, slightly taken aback.

"Yes, you're right I should see the place and it sounds great.  Just what I need," she replied.  It would a great environment for her to think about what had happened.

They shared a confused look as there was a knock at the door.  Jack stood slowly, trying not to cause Sam any undue pain but with the injuries that Sam had sustained that was almost impossible.

Jack opened the door to find Jacob standing on the porch.

"Jacob, great to see you.  I guess you want to see Sam,"

"Yeah, how's she doing Jack?" Jacob asked as he entered the house.

"I'm fine Dad," Sam replied, standing in the doorway to the living room.  She was not particularly pleased that her father chose to ask Jack how she was instead of asking her directly.

"Sorry Sam," Jacob replied, obviously chastised.

"You look tired, are you sleeping alright?" Jacob added, looking at his daughter with concern.

"I've broken a couple of ribs, it's not exactly concordant with sleeping well," Sam explained.

"I guess, I'm probably just used to having Selmak's help with stuff like that," Jacob rationalised.

They sat and talked for a while.  Sam gave Jacob an abbreviated version of what had happened back on the planet.  Jack learnt more of what had happened but there were still a lot that he did not know.  He figured that if Sam wanted to tell him she would and pressing her would only make it worse.  

He knew from experience that it was not wise to push somebody to talk about something dramatic unless they were willing.  When he was rescued from the hell-hole prison he was kept in, during his time in Iraq, the doctors, guys from his unit and Sara had all tried to get him to talk about what had happened to him.  The problem was that he had not been ready and so had ended up resenting them to some degree as a result.

Jacob knew that being hurt off-world was more than an accepted risk of being part of an SGC field unit but it still hurt to see his daughter in that kind of condition.  With the Goa'uld defeated he really hoped that Sam would be safer, which she was for a while, but the latest incident served to make her injuries an even bigger shock to him than in the past.

Sam yawned widely, temporarily forgetting the vicious purple bruise on her chin.  She suddenly stopped and rubbed her sensitive jaw.

"I'm going to go to bed," she announced, standing slowly.

She gave Jacob a quick hug and kiss before she walked carefully upstairs, using the handrails for support.

"Jack," Jacob said in a serious tone as the younger man showed him to the front door, "look after my daughter, she means a lot to me."

"Always, she means a lot to me too," Jack replied, just as seriously.

"I can see that."

"Thanks Jake," Jack said as he closed the door behind Jacob.

*~*

Sam was looking forward to going to Jack's cabin although she knew that the drive would not be so much fun.  It was a significant distance between Colorado Springs and wherever in Northern Minnesota the cabin was.  With her ribs and the assorted bruising it would be a very long trip for her.  She had the painkillers the doctor prescribed and Jack had planned a number of stops, including an overnight stop in a motel.

She was pleasantly surprised when they finally pulled up to the building.  She had not been quite sure what to expect but the pleasant wooden building boasted a decent sized kitchen, not that she intended on doing any cooking, two good sized bedrooms, a nice bathroom and a living room furnished with worn but comfortable furniture and a large open fire place.

"It's great Jack," she said sincerely as she saw him looking slightly expectantly at her.

"Really?"

Sam nodded with a smile.

*~*

That evening Sam was lying on the couch, her feet resting on Jack's lap.  He was idly rubbing the soles of her feet, much to her pleasure.  The fire was burning healthily in the grate.

Sam felt more relaxed than she had in a long time, but while the memories of the last mission where weighing heavily on her mind, she would not be able to relax fully.  She looked across at Jack.

"Jack, I know you want to know exactly what happened on P4Y-543," she said, coming straight to the point.

"No.  Well.okay, maybe."

"That's okay, you deserve to know."

Sam began to tell the tale of what had happened.  It was very similar to how it had been during the debriefing.  Jack let her talk, figuring that it would be good catharsis for her.  He could tell that she had been distracted and not just by her injuries.

Jack interrupted her when she told him of how she had taken the zat from Blue and escaped from him.

"Why did he lose his concentration all of a sudden?" he asked.  From Sam's description Blue had seemed focused on what he was doing.

"I thought you might pick up on that, no-one else had," Sam said quietly.

"What exactly happened Sam?" Jack asked, with concern etched on his face.

*~*~*

So there you go, just when you think it's gonna wrap up something else comes along!!

Feedback may encourage my muse to return from whatever tropical island (if only I was there too) it's run off to, so let me know what you think about the chapter!!