Disclaimer -as ever, all the same stuff.
Spoilers - Casual mention about end of Season 6. Further mention re frozen
veg.
Shippy stuff- getting there - next chapter I promise!
I have no trouble saying "DanielJackson" all the time 'cos it's just Teal'c, but sometimes I can see him saying "Samantha" if it's appropriate. Cannot ever see him saying "Jack" though. My theory is that the Teal'c is a name and title all in one (it's normally something like "Teal'c of the High Plains Drifters etc" whatever, I know) so that's the way he views other people's names. Having said that, he doesn't say Samantha in this, as the situation is not right. Those who have seen some of Season 7, know he calls her it once.
Also (again) I cannot remember if you have Cat's eyes in the States and Canada or call them something different. When I was driving there I was too conscious of making sure the camper didn't fall over and staying on the right side of the road. It's not integral to the story but I thought it was funny.
Hospital and Eggs - still day 2
About half an hour before Sam had woken up, Jack and Teal'c had been unaware of the fevered activity of her mind, and the lack of activity in Daniel's.
Teal'c surveyed the road, as Jack's mind wandered and he started to look for something to occupy his hands. He was easily distracted unless it was a military situation, but this thing with Carter would not go away. It was this down time that was making him think about it, and after all, it was his idea. In retrospect he wanted this to go away about as much as he wanted to stick his finger in his eye.
He thought he would quiz Teal'c some more - maybe if he could not come to a resolution in reality, he could make some peace in his own mind.
Teal'c concentrated grimly on the way ahead as if expecting an attack of the glowing eyed variety. Maybe this was the reason he was a little nervous of cat's eyes running down the middle of the road.
"I'm not sure what's going on here. Have you talked to Carter or something, is she trying to get you to psyche me out?" Jack prompted.
Teal'c thought hard for a moment, and hesitated at first to answer. No doubt O'Neill may have become suspicious, as Teal'c never usually questioned him on such personal matters, and they usually understood each other without too much verbal communication. They took pleasure in exasperating both Sam and Daniel with their wordless conversations. Shrug from Jack, raised eyebrow from Teal'c. Sage and nodding expression from Jack, eyebrow from Teal'c and so on.
"As a matter of fact O'Neill, it was Daniel Jackson. He has been concerned for both of you of late."
Teal'c felt that the Colonel would not continue the discussion if he thought that it was so obvious that there was a problem that even he, Teal'c, had noticed. Jack had a few small vanities, one of which was that he disliked showing weakness to fellow warriors. Daniel wanted to raise these concerns directly with his friend but was a little cautious given the information that Teal'c was about to admit to Jack.
Jack started to talk to himself; trying to imagine what Daniel may have thought, or perhaps remembered from when he had been an ancient.
"Has it been that obvious? Is it that he remembers things I said when that gould caught me? Crap that was ages ago, maybe I said some things about Carter that I don't remember? What with the 'one minute I'm dead, next minute I'm not' yo-yo going on in my head."
"Actually, Samantha has spoken to him."
"Oh. When?"
"Shortly after most of his memories had returned. There was apparently some drinking involved. Daniel Jackson had originally made some comments when he had returned to us with regards to if he and Major Carter ever had a relationship".
"What!? He never told me! "
"Probably because of what she said to him during this occasion. I believe Daniel Jackson remembers it clearly, after he had propositioned her."
"PULL OVER RIGHT NOW!"
Teal'c obliged, aware that O'Neill was likely to overreact.
"Daniel propositioned Carter?"
Teal'c carefully pulled the car over and explained. "Perhaps that is not the right word, O'Neill."
"Daniel Jackson had asked if there had been a relationship between them. Major Carter had said no. On a further occasion, they had become inebriated at her house,..
"They got drunk, without me!."
".and he asked her again."
Teal'c could not finish the sentence without Jack interrupting.
"AT HER HOUSE?" Jack repeated becoming more and more upset.
"May I continue?" Teal'c replied calmly.
"BUT, AT HER HOUSE?" Clearly Jack was not mollified.
"Little happened O'Neill; she gave him more information than he had previously known or expected, but he recalled the nature of their true relationship."
"So, did I come up?" Jack asked nonchalantly.
"Indeed. Repeatedly." Teal'c added dryly.
" Sweet" Jack smiled, maybe hoping for some details.
Teal'c continued his tale.
" MajorCarter became quite drunk and Daniel remembers her to be quite explicit.."
""Explicit?" Jack's smile widened, as he nodded, thinking that it explained a lot.
".In discussions as to why she is nervous of you."
"Oh." Jack's balloon went pop somewhere in the distance.
"She is a warrior, not afraid to give her life for what she believes in. I have met her kind before, brave and truthful, but afraid of one thing - their heart."
At this point, Teal'c had straightened in his seat, obviously seeing the rolling plains of Tulak or something, Jack thought, maybe thinking of his kindred and what Sam had in common with them.
In fact, Teal'c thought he had seen something move in the road.
"A bit dramatic there T, but I think I know where you're coming from."
He motioned for Teal'c to continue, there were only a few miles left before they reached his cabin. Jack mentally prepared himself to be casual, not be too glib, or serious, and to try and engage in casual conversation with Carter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They pulled into the driveway and were surprised to see only the porch light on. Jack entered first.
"Daniel? Carter? You guys here?" Not finding them in the living room or kitchen, Jack headed upstairs to look in the bedrooms. 'Maybe they wanted some more sleep' he thought.
Not really expecting to find anything (or anyone), Jack opened his room and let out a small gasp. There, wrapped around his pillow, slept one Major Samantha Carter. Sensing her CO's presence, Sam woke up with a start and stared at Jack with wide, embarrassed eyes. Clearly this was an opportunity to be glib but Jack could find nothing funny to say.
He knew he must have made some comment, not before either one of them could say anything further, a shout was heard from down the hall.
"O'Neill, come quickly; DanielJackson is unconscious!"
"What the..?" Quickly making eye contact with Sam, Jack bolted out of the room only to arrive in the den to find Teal'c checking Daniel's breathing. Worriedly, Jack kneeled by Daniel's side and carefully opened his eyelids to check on his pupils. Now he knew why Janet always carried around that god -damn penlight in her pocket.
Jack breathed a sigh of relief. "He's just unconscious. Looks like he's concussed from that fall." "Carter!" he shouted standing up and heading back to where he had left Sam.
"Sir..?" Sam said now out of bed and nearly awake.
"What the hell is wrong with Daniel?"
"Daniel's fine sir." Sam said clearly confused as to why the Colonel was so upset at her. She shook her head, and stuttered at first, which did not help his temper.
"I. He w..was fine sir! He just went to lie down."
"To lie down?! Carter, the guy 's got concussion and it didn't occur to you that's why he's tired?" Seeing Sam's confusion Jack just shook his head.
"Forget it, go back to sleep, we'll get him to hospital."
He slammed the bedroom door behind him.
Now fully awake, Sam's eyes went wide with disbelief. How dare the Colonel yell at her? God, he can be so stubborn! Just like her dad. She had just started listing ways in which Jack O'Neill pissed her off when she remembered Daniel. Throwing open the bedroom door she met face to face with a still very angry colonel. He glared at her before turning his back to check on Teal'c and Daniel.
"Sir, I'm telling you he was fine." Sam said trying to get his attention., "we joked, he had something to eat, and he was fine. There was no indication that anything was wrong!" Sam needed the Colonel to believe her.
A very confused Daniel Jackson was showing signs of coming round.
"What's going on.. oh you guys are back, boy have I got a headache."
He was sitting up with Teal'c's assistance, being careful not to exacerbate his condition by hitting the top bunk. He blinked very slowly two or three times, aware that everyone was looking at him intently. Despite his condition he was aware that there was some tension in the room.
"What's up, I feel kinda woozy." At this he started to sway and nearly lost consciousness again.
"Should we call Janet?" Sam suggested, feeling that some of this was her own fault.
"No, we're getting him to hospital." Jack took charge, and irritated Carter even more than he already had.
"Teal'c you'd better drive, I'm still half gone." referring to his head and the alcohol he'd already drunk. Last thing Daniel needed, concussion swiftly followed by another accident.
Teal'c turned abruptly towards Jack.
He was calm, and felt that by comparison everyone else had panicked.
" I have seen this before. Daniel Jackson is strong. I will take him to a doctor who will assess this better than you or I. Give me instructions as to where to go and you will stay here." Teal'c felt that this was an opportunity, albeit introduced by unfortunate events, that the two friends could discuss their difficulties in private. Plus he was finally finding out he could only put up with a frustrated and confused Colonel for a short space of time. Indeed, thought Teal'c, much longer and O'Neill would have followed DanielJackson to the hospital with a Jaffa induced concussion.
Jack was about to argue, thinking he should go as well, but one look at Teal'cs face made it pointless - Daniel was more important. There was a local hospital about 10 miles away, which was just off the main road so Teal'c would have no problem finding it. Sam sat down, stunned at the sudden turn of events, as Teal'c helped Daniel to the truck. He was still slipping in and out of consciousness, just vaguely aware of what was going on, yet still managed to think of other people even when he was about to pass out.
"What's up with them, are they finally talking about the UST.?" He murmured for Teal'cs ears only.
Teal'c had no idea what he was talking about, and put the strange language down to Daniel's condition. He just wished that O'Neill and Carter would either do something about their attraction for one another, or work it out with someone else.
As Teal'c was about to leave with Daniel he came back to the open door
Teal'c said quietly. "DanielJackson will be fine O'Neill." Teal'c said with a nod. "I believe you have some sticks that need mending." He said pointedly glancing over Jack's shoulder at Sam.
"I will call you from the hospital." And with that he was gone.
"Fences Teal'c." Jack said aloud at the fleeting truck. "I have some fences that need mending."
He sat down opposite Sam at the table, his hands tented, looking at first over them, then beneath them at her face. She looked angry, then her eyes shut and he saw a tear creep down one cheek, which she dismissed with the back of her hand. As if trying to wake herself up, Sam rubbed her face with both hands and then ran them through her hair, opened her eyes and gave Jack a long hard look.
They both spoke at the same time,
"I'm sorry that I .." "It was my fault.."
Then they both smiled at one another as if relieved.
"He will be all right won't he?" Sam asked apprehensively.
"T seems convinced." Jack said with a sigh.
"Hey, he's knocked enough people out in his 100 years to know whether it's permanent." Jack smiled to soften the statement further.
" Daniel was talking - you heard him- he was complaining before they set off, he'll be fine. He's got my 'phone, he'll call as soon as they get there. Daniel's probably already giving him hell for driving too slow."
"I just feel responsible. I've been manic, trying to find something to do - I'm so bad at relaxing! Daniel really was fine sir. We had some lunch, sat outside for a while, and he didn't even say he was tired."..
"It's not your fault Carter. Jack said rubbing his temples. "If anything it's mine. I was the only one who knew what a whack he took landing on the floor like that."
Jack took a deep breath, and thought he should change the subject. "Have we got any food that hasn't defrosted, or.." he looked back at the couch, "melting on my furniture."
Sam got up, and had to apologise again. "Sorry sir." Sam said standing up and opening the nearly bare freezer.
"Daniel's eye wasn't looking too pretty, so I used everything I could find to keep the swelling down." She frowned as she closed the freezer and began to search the remaining cupboards. "Let me have a look to see what I can rustle up for us. I am going to have a hangover if I don't eat something soon."
"You and me both." Jack muttered behind her back.
After five minutes deciding what to do next Jack thought he would follow Sam into the kitchen area. It was really a kitchen, dining, living area and he could see most of what Sam was doing but he felt apart from her so followed her to the hob where she was frying a couple of eggs.
Admiring the way she moved around, he forgot about Daniel for a minute and felt a bit guilty, so thought he would talk about him again.
"Sorry about the way I sounded, when Teal'c, y'know, said Danny wasn't moving. With, just, erm everything that me and T had been talking about on the way home, worried about Daniel settling in and remembering stuff since he came back. Just the thought that he had a problem was.." He tailed off the sentence realising he was not making the point he wanted to.
As Sam was not looking directly at him, Jack winced to himself realising that even though he had intended to say how worried he was about Daniel it came out wrong. He was better at doing things, action, and bravado, give him a P90 and he could sort things out, throw Sam to the floor and make mad, passionate..
"What did you say Sam?"
"I said, could you pass me the skillet so I can turn the eggs over?" "Sure, I can do that."
As Sam reached for it the back of her hand caught the edge of the pan.
"Damn! She cried, her hand starting to go red almost immediately.
"Sam, hell, sorry about that - those pans get too hot, I should have given you a towel or something."
"That all right sir" Sam said awkwardly trying to turn on the water one handed. She bit her lip to stop herself making anymore noise- to complain over something as simple as a burn, after Daniel had been ushered to hospital seemed dramatic. In fact her emotions at what had happened were making her more upset than anything else.
"Here, let me help you with that." Jack said running the tap and gently placing Sam's hand beneath the cool water. In less than a minute, the redness had started to recede and Sam pulled her hand out of Jack's.
"Thanks sir." She said quietly. She felt uncomfortable with their closeness; one minute he was angry with her, the next he was almost being too considerate, and Sam was used to her Colonel being predictable. She just felt messed up, and wanted a shoulder to cry on, but as he was part of the reason, it was all a bit of a paradox.
Drying her hand, Sam thought she would try and lighten the tension that she felt was building, and silence appeared to have fallen.
Jack had found some more hot dogs left over from the previous evening, and some beans, and threw them both into a pan, together. Sam shuddered at his interpretation of the "all in one" cooking method.
"I know why everything's so old in this kitchen.." Sam started to say, and Jack finished the sentence for her.
Jack nodded, "Take out. I never get 'round to using anything, it's just easier to pick up the phone, and let someone else do the work. I come up here to relax. Cook? Make food? Who do you think I am, Daniel or something?"
At the mention of Daniel's name, Sam was quiet for a moment, concentrating on the eggs, and thought she would continue her O'Neill insults. She felt that Daniel would require it of her.
"How is it you manage to stay in," she looked him up and down, " good shape, for someone of your.."
"Ack..!" he interrupted awaiting a comment on his age,
" Advanced experience," she amended " when you just eat fast food?!"
Sam shook her head examining her hand again adding.
"You get time off, and the first thing you do is sit on your.."
"No, don't go there!.."
"..own, fishing. Not exactly aerobic is it?"
Choosing to forget the near miss about his age, Jack smirked.
"Why thank you, ma'am. I don't know what it is but I thank God for it. It must be clean living, take outs and staying away from the opposite sex."
Sam looked back at him and raised an eyebrow in a pretty damn good Teal'c impression. "Really?" Sam nodded, showing no surprise, expecting nothing else from Jack's ego.
"Really!" Jack said nodding vigorously and unable to keep a smile off his face. "Maybe not by choice mind you, but haven't had too many offers recently."
Sam did not look at him this time, and flipped the eggs. " Uh huh." Sam said remember an offer made in the not so distant past.
" Well, I had one, " Jack crossed his arms and leant against the wall, looking upwards as if reminiscing, " but she proceeded to barf all over me so I don't take that as a good sign."
"I don't suppose that you would. Probably not the right time." Sam agreed.
This time they looked straight at one another, and Jack said,
"Maybe we've had better times."
Sam looked down turning red up to the tips of her ears. Maybe they had better times but nothing had ever gone quite as far as they had that night, and as always, it was dangerous territory.
They had hardly ever discussed the career ramifications of being found out, let alone any disciplinary proceedings that could happen. It would mean the end of Jack's career, and Carter could say goodbye to the SGC. There really was no point in talking about it, Sam thought to herself, as they both knew the rules. If anything happened, and no one else knew, could they keep it to themselves? Would it affect their working relationship? Of course it would, so would they have to wait until their situations changed. Then someone else could come along, and everything would be different.
Jack had always known that there were rumblings of a promotion for him from time to time, but he usually felt like Captain Kirk becoming an Admiral. Desk jockey as he had put it in whatever film it was. Jack was what Daniel had one called a 'weird lateral thinker'. When he had come out with something odd, out of the blue, as a suggestion to a problem, Daniel had said,
"I've never known anyone quite like you for, inverted comma's, thinking outside of the box." He actually said 'inverted commas' and did the gesture, which made Jack annoyed. "In fact," he had continued, "you think out of the entire building sometimes." This had been taken this as a compliment.
As Sam continued with the eggs, and reached for the bread, Jack mused that he was a Colonel with his own Spock. They couldn't be split apart, friendship etc. Then he thought what he would like to do to his Spock and the whole similarity fell through the floor in his heterosexual universe.
Back to the real world Jack, he said to himself shaking his head. He helped Sam get together their meagre dinner
Just as wine had been poured, Sam's phone rang, and she answered it.
"Hi, how is he?" Sam said in a rush as soon as she picked it up.
"What did he complain about? Ah, I see, the Colonel thought he would say something about that." Sam smiled, and glanced at Jack who was eager to speak to Teal'c to see what was going on. He disliked being left out.
"What did he say? Tell him I was going to come in with him, but Teal'c wouldn't let me." Jack was making moves as if to grab the 'phone off Sam, clearly impatient with the rate of the conversation so far.
Sam could not help herself; she moved away from Jack to minimize his chances of attempting a tackle.
"Yes, Ok, I'll tell him," Sam pulled the phone away from her ear for a moment and directed her next comment at Jack who had by now got up and was moving menacingly towards her.
Sam put up her free hand to halt Jack's advances, and repeated most of what Teal'c had said very quickly
"Daniel said something about Teal'cs driving, then that you shouldn't worry, it was his fault he fell out of bed, he wanted the top bunk after all, and that we should relax and make up."
Both Sam and Jack paused for a moment and frowned, the Sam went back on the phone.
"He actually said 'make up' did he, doesn't he think we're worrying about him." Sam turned her back to Jack and whispered into the phone, " Has he said anything to you about . anything, did he say anything to the Colonel?" There was a pause at the end of the line as Teal'c tried to figure out what on earth Sam was talking about. This actually occurred to Sam, and she pictured Teal'c confused, closing his eyes.
"Never mind, Ill talk to him when he's well." Sam's tone took an edge to it that Jack noticed even though he could not hear what she said.
For the Colonel's benefit, Sam turned around again with a beaming smile, and continued to talk normally to Teal'c.
"Uh huh, yes, so he's staying in? Right, OK, .Josie, oh I see. Well, we'll see you tomorrow then, and maybe we can make it up to Daniel for the time he's had so far. Give him our love, thanks, take care, bye."
"So what did Teal'c say?" Jack asked unnecessarily.
"Sit sit sit, it's getting cold." Sam ushered him back to his seat. "Mild concussion, staying in overnight, and Teal'c will bring him back in the morning."
She paused considering. "Seems Daniel is already trying to sweet talk the nurses into helping him with some work but.." Sam smiled as she recalled what Teal'c said. "Apparently Daniel is having problems seeing as."
"He forgot his glasses." They said together, and then both laughed.
Sam continued,
"Teal'c decided to stay with Josie as she's closer to the hospital. He said he'll call us in the morning and let us know when he and Daniel will return, and will pick him up in the A.M."
"She?" Jack asked frowning.
"Josie." Sam said giving Jack a funny look.
"She's a sixty year old, four foot ten guy Carter." Jack said smiling.
"Oh, oh right okay, " Sam smiled. So much for presumptions. Sam chided herself. thinking, don't presume Samantha, don't presume.
Fried egg, couple of hot dogs and assorted non-frozen vegetables. Concussed Jackson, stranded Teal'c, meal fit for a Colonel and his Major. How could the evening get better than this?
I have no trouble saying "DanielJackson" all the time 'cos it's just Teal'c, but sometimes I can see him saying "Samantha" if it's appropriate. Cannot ever see him saying "Jack" though. My theory is that the Teal'c is a name and title all in one (it's normally something like "Teal'c of the High Plains Drifters etc" whatever, I know) so that's the way he views other people's names. Having said that, he doesn't say Samantha in this, as the situation is not right. Those who have seen some of Season 7, know he calls her it once.
Also (again) I cannot remember if you have Cat's eyes in the States and Canada or call them something different. When I was driving there I was too conscious of making sure the camper didn't fall over and staying on the right side of the road. It's not integral to the story but I thought it was funny.
Hospital and Eggs - still day 2
About half an hour before Sam had woken up, Jack and Teal'c had been unaware of the fevered activity of her mind, and the lack of activity in Daniel's.
Teal'c surveyed the road, as Jack's mind wandered and he started to look for something to occupy his hands. He was easily distracted unless it was a military situation, but this thing with Carter would not go away. It was this down time that was making him think about it, and after all, it was his idea. In retrospect he wanted this to go away about as much as he wanted to stick his finger in his eye.
He thought he would quiz Teal'c some more - maybe if he could not come to a resolution in reality, he could make some peace in his own mind.
Teal'c concentrated grimly on the way ahead as if expecting an attack of the glowing eyed variety. Maybe this was the reason he was a little nervous of cat's eyes running down the middle of the road.
"I'm not sure what's going on here. Have you talked to Carter or something, is she trying to get you to psyche me out?" Jack prompted.
Teal'c thought hard for a moment, and hesitated at first to answer. No doubt O'Neill may have become suspicious, as Teal'c never usually questioned him on such personal matters, and they usually understood each other without too much verbal communication. They took pleasure in exasperating both Sam and Daniel with their wordless conversations. Shrug from Jack, raised eyebrow from Teal'c. Sage and nodding expression from Jack, eyebrow from Teal'c and so on.
"As a matter of fact O'Neill, it was Daniel Jackson. He has been concerned for both of you of late."
Teal'c felt that the Colonel would not continue the discussion if he thought that it was so obvious that there was a problem that even he, Teal'c, had noticed. Jack had a few small vanities, one of which was that he disliked showing weakness to fellow warriors. Daniel wanted to raise these concerns directly with his friend but was a little cautious given the information that Teal'c was about to admit to Jack.
Jack started to talk to himself; trying to imagine what Daniel may have thought, or perhaps remembered from when he had been an ancient.
"Has it been that obvious? Is it that he remembers things I said when that gould caught me? Crap that was ages ago, maybe I said some things about Carter that I don't remember? What with the 'one minute I'm dead, next minute I'm not' yo-yo going on in my head."
"Actually, Samantha has spoken to him."
"Oh. When?"
"Shortly after most of his memories had returned. There was apparently some drinking involved. Daniel Jackson had originally made some comments when he had returned to us with regards to if he and Major Carter ever had a relationship".
"What!? He never told me! "
"Probably because of what she said to him during this occasion. I believe Daniel Jackson remembers it clearly, after he had propositioned her."
"PULL OVER RIGHT NOW!"
Teal'c obliged, aware that O'Neill was likely to overreact.
"Daniel propositioned Carter?"
Teal'c carefully pulled the car over and explained. "Perhaps that is not the right word, O'Neill."
"Daniel Jackson had asked if there had been a relationship between them. Major Carter had said no. On a further occasion, they had become inebriated at her house,..
"They got drunk, without me!."
".and he asked her again."
Teal'c could not finish the sentence without Jack interrupting.
"AT HER HOUSE?" Jack repeated becoming more and more upset.
"May I continue?" Teal'c replied calmly.
"BUT, AT HER HOUSE?" Clearly Jack was not mollified.
"Little happened O'Neill; she gave him more information than he had previously known or expected, but he recalled the nature of their true relationship."
"So, did I come up?" Jack asked nonchalantly.
"Indeed. Repeatedly." Teal'c added dryly.
" Sweet" Jack smiled, maybe hoping for some details.
Teal'c continued his tale.
" MajorCarter became quite drunk and Daniel remembers her to be quite explicit.."
""Explicit?" Jack's smile widened, as he nodded, thinking that it explained a lot.
".In discussions as to why she is nervous of you."
"Oh." Jack's balloon went pop somewhere in the distance.
"She is a warrior, not afraid to give her life for what she believes in. I have met her kind before, brave and truthful, but afraid of one thing - their heart."
At this point, Teal'c had straightened in his seat, obviously seeing the rolling plains of Tulak or something, Jack thought, maybe thinking of his kindred and what Sam had in common with them.
In fact, Teal'c thought he had seen something move in the road.
"A bit dramatic there T, but I think I know where you're coming from."
He motioned for Teal'c to continue, there were only a few miles left before they reached his cabin. Jack mentally prepared himself to be casual, not be too glib, or serious, and to try and engage in casual conversation with Carter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They pulled into the driveway and were surprised to see only the porch light on. Jack entered first.
"Daniel? Carter? You guys here?" Not finding them in the living room or kitchen, Jack headed upstairs to look in the bedrooms. 'Maybe they wanted some more sleep' he thought.
Not really expecting to find anything (or anyone), Jack opened his room and let out a small gasp. There, wrapped around his pillow, slept one Major Samantha Carter. Sensing her CO's presence, Sam woke up with a start and stared at Jack with wide, embarrassed eyes. Clearly this was an opportunity to be glib but Jack could find nothing funny to say.
He knew he must have made some comment, not before either one of them could say anything further, a shout was heard from down the hall.
"O'Neill, come quickly; DanielJackson is unconscious!"
"What the..?" Quickly making eye contact with Sam, Jack bolted out of the room only to arrive in the den to find Teal'c checking Daniel's breathing. Worriedly, Jack kneeled by Daniel's side and carefully opened his eyelids to check on his pupils. Now he knew why Janet always carried around that god -damn penlight in her pocket.
Jack breathed a sigh of relief. "He's just unconscious. Looks like he's concussed from that fall." "Carter!" he shouted standing up and heading back to where he had left Sam.
"Sir..?" Sam said now out of bed and nearly awake.
"What the hell is wrong with Daniel?"
"Daniel's fine sir." Sam said clearly confused as to why the Colonel was so upset at her. She shook her head, and stuttered at first, which did not help his temper.
"I. He w..was fine sir! He just went to lie down."
"To lie down?! Carter, the guy 's got concussion and it didn't occur to you that's why he's tired?" Seeing Sam's confusion Jack just shook his head.
"Forget it, go back to sleep, we'll get him to hospital."
He slammed the bedroom door behind him.
Now fully awake, Sam's eyes went wide with disbelief. How dare the Colonel yell at her? God, he can be so stubborn! Just like her dad. She had just started listing ways in which Jack O'Neill pissed her off when she remembered Daniel. Throwing open the bedroom door she met face to face with a still very angry colonel. He glared at her before turning his back to check on Teal'c and Daniel.
"Sir, I'm telling you he was fine." Sam said trying to get his attention., "we joked, he had something to eat, and he was fine. There was no indication that anything was wrong!" Sam needed the Colonel to believe her.
A very confused Daniel Jackson was showing signs of coming round.
"What's going on.. oh you guys are back, boy have I got a headache."
He was sitting up with Teal'c's assistance, being careful not to exacerbate his condition by hitting the top bunk. He blinked very slowly two or three times, aware that everyone was looking at him intently. Despite his condition he was aware that there was some tension in the room.
"What's up, I feel kinda woozy." At this he started to sway and nearly lost consciousness again.
"Should we call Janet?" Sam suggested, feeling that some of this was her own fault.
"No, we're getting him to hospital." Jack took charge, and irritated Carter even more than he already had.
"Teal'c you'd better drive, I'm still half gone." referring to his head and the alcohol he'd already drunk. Last thing Daniel needed, concussion swiftly followed by another accident.
Teal'c turned abruptly towards Jack.
He was calm, and felt that by comparison everyone else had panicked.
" I have seen this before. Daniel Jackson is strong. I will take him to a doctor who will assess this better than you or I. Give me instructions as to where to go and you will stay here." Teal'c felt that this was an opportunity, albeit introduced by unfortunate events, that the two friends could discuss their difficulties in private. Plus he was finally finding out he could only put up with a frustrated and confused Colonel for a short space of time. Indeed, thought Teal'c, much longer and O'Neill would have followed DanielJackson to the hospital with a Jaffa induced concussion.
Jack was about to argue, thinking he should go as well, but one look at Teal'cs face made it pointless - Daniel was more important. There was a local hospital about 10 miles away, which was just off the main road so Teal'c would have no problem finding it. Sam sat down, stunned at the sudden turn of events, as Teal'c helped Daniel to the truck. He was still slipping in and out of consciousness, just vaguely aware of what was going on, yet still managed to think of other people even when he was about to pass out.
"What's up with them, are they finally talking about the UST.?" He murmured for Teal'cs ears only.
Teal'c had no idea what he was talking about, and put the strange language down to Daniel's condition. He just wished that O'Neill and Carter would either do something about their attraction for one another, or work it out with someone else.
As Teal'c was about to leave with Daniel he came back to the open door
Teal'c said quietly. "DanielJackson will be fine O'Neill." Teal'c said with a nod. "I believe you have some sticks that need mending." He said pointedly glancing over Jack's shoulder at Sam.
"I will call you from the hospital." And with that he was gone.
"Fences Teal'c." Jack said aloud at the fleeting truck. "I have some fences that need mending."
He sat down opposite Sam at the table, his hands tented, looking at first over them, then beneath them at her face. She looked angry, then her eyes shut and he saw a tear creep down one cheek, which she dismissed with the back of her hand. As if trying to wake herself up, Sam rubbed her face with both hands and then ran them through her hair, opened her eyes and gave Jack a long hard look.
They both spoke at the same time,
"I'm sorry that I .." "It was my fault.."
Then they both smiled at one another as if relieved.
"He will be all right won't he?" Sam asked apprehensively.
"T seems convinced." Jack said with a sigh.
"Hey, he's knocked enough people out in his 100 years to know whether it's permanent." Jack smiled to soften the statement further.
" Daniel was talking - you heard him- he was complaining before they set off, he'll be fine. He's got my 'phone, he'll call as soon as they get there. Daniel's probably already giving him hell for driving too slow."
"I just feel responsible. I've been manic, trying to find something to do - I'm so bad at relaxing! Daniel really was fine sir. We had some lunch, sat outside for a while, and he didn't even say he was tired."..
"It's not your fault Carter. Jack said rubbing his temples. "If anything it's mine. I was the only one who knew what a whack he took landing on the floor like that."
Jack took a deep breath, and thought he should change the subject. "Have we got any food that hasn't defrosted, or.." he looked back at the couch, "melting on my furniture."
Sam got up, and had to apologise again. "Sorry sir." Sam said standing up and opening the nearly bare freezer.
"Daniel's eye wasn't looking too pretty, so I used everything I could find to keep the swelling down." She frowned as she closed the freezer and began to search the remaining cupboards. "Let me have a look to see what I can rustle up for us. I am going to have a hangover if I don't eat something soon."
"You and me both." Jack muttered behind her back.
After five minutes deciding what to do next Jack thought he would follow Sam into the kitchen area. It was really a kitchen, dining, living area and he could see most of what Sam was doing but he felt apart from her so followed her to the hob where she was frying a couple of eggs.
Admiring the way she moved around, he forgot about Daniel for a minute and felt a bit guilty, so thought he would talk about him again.
"Sorry about the way I sounded, when Teal'c, y'know, said Danny wasn't moving. With, just, erm everything that me and T had been talking about on the way home, worried about Daniel settling in and remembering stuff since he came back. Just the thought that he had a problem was.." He tailed off the sentence realising he was not making the point he wanted to.
As Sam was not looking directly at him, Jack winced to himself realising that even though he had intended to say how worried he was about Daniel it came out wrong. He was better at doing things, action, and bravado, give him a P90 and he could sort things out, throw Sam to the floor and make mad, passionate..
"What did you say Sam?"
"I said, could you pass me the skillet so I can turn the eggs over?" "Sure, I can do that."
As Sam reached for it the back of her hand caught the edge of the pan.
"Damn! She cried, her hand starting to go red almost immediately.
"Sam, hell, sorry about that - those pans get too hot, I should have given you a towel or something."
"That all right sir" Sam said awkwardly trying to turn on the water one handed. She bit her lip to stop herself making anymore noise- to complain over something as simple as a burn, after Daniel had been ushered to hospital seemed dramatic. In fact her emotions at what had happened were making her more upset than anything else.
"Here, let me help you with that." Jack said running the tap and gently placing Sam's hand beneath the cool water. In less than a minute, the redness had started to recede and Sam pulled her hand out of Jack's.
"Thanks sir." She said quietly. She felt uncomfortable with their closeness; one minute he was angry with her, the next he was almost being too considerate, and Sam was used to her Colonel being predictable. She just felt messed up, and wanted a shoulder to cry on, but as he was part of the reason, it was all a bit of a paradox.
Drying her hand, Sam thought she would try and lighten the tension that she felt was building, and silence appeared to have fallen.
Jack had found some more hot dogs left over from the previous evening, and some beans, and threw them both into a pan, together. Sam shuddered at his interpretation of the "all in one" cooking method.
"I know why everything's so old in this kitchen.." Sam started to say, and Jack finished the sentence for her.
Jack nodded, "Take out. I never get 'round to using anything, it's just easier to pick up the phone, and let someone else do the work. I come up here to relax. Cook? Make food? Who do you think I am, Daniel or something?"
At the mention of Daniel's name, Sam was quiet for a moment, concentrating on the eggs, and thought she would continue her O'Neill insults. She felt that Daniel would require it of her.
"How is it you manage to stay in," she looked him up and down, " good shape, for someone of your.."
"Ack..!" he interrupted awaiting a comment on his age,
" Advanced experience," she amended " when you just eat fast food?!"
Sam shook her head examining her hand again adding.
"You get time off, and the first thing you do is sit on your.."
"No, don't go there!.."
"..own, fishing. Not exactly aerobic is it?"
Choosing to forget the near miss about his age, Jack smirked.
"Why thank you, ma'am. I don't know what it is but I thank God for it. It must be clean living, take outs and staying away from the opposite sex."
Sam looked back at him and raised an eyebrow in a pretty damn good Teal'c impression. "Really?" Sam nodded, showing no surprise, expecting nothing else from Jack's ego.
"Really!" Jack said nodding vigorously and unable to keep a smile off his face. "Maybe not by choice mind you, but haven't had too many offers recently."
Sam did not look at him this time, and flipped the eggs. " Uh huh." Sam said remember an offer made in the not so distant past.
" Well, I had one, " Jack crossed his arms and leant against the wall, looking upwards as if reminiscing, " but she proceeded to barf all over me so I don't take that as a good sign."
"I don't suppose that you would. Probably not the right time." Sam agreed.
This time they looked straight at one another, and Jack said,
"Maybe we've had better times."
Sam looked down turning red up to the tips of her ears. Maybe they had better times but nothing had ever gone quite as far as they had that night, and as always, it was dangerous territory.
They had hardly ever discussed the career ramifications of being found out, let alone any disciplinary proceedings that could happen. It would mean the end of Jack's career, and Carter could say goodbye to the SGC. There really was no point in talking about it, Sam thought to herself, as they both knew the rules. If anything happened, and no one else knew, could they keep it to themselves? Would it affect their working relationship? Of course it would, so would they have to wait until their situations changed. Then someone else could come along, and everything would be different.
Jack had always known that there were rumblings of a promotion for him from time to time, but he usually felt like Captain Kirk becoming an Admiral. Desk jockey as he had put it in whatever film it was. Jack was what Daniel had one called a 'weird lateral thinker'. When he had come out with something odd, out of the blue, as a suggestion to a problem, Daniel had said,
"I've never known anyone quite like you for, inverted comma's, thinking outside of the box." He actually said 'inverted commas' and did the gesture, which made Jack annoyed. "In fact," he had continued, "you think out of the entire building sometimes." This had been taken this as a compliment.
As Sam continued with the eggs, and reached for the bread, Jack mused that he was a Colonel with his own Spock. They couldn't be split apart, friendship etc. Then he thought what he would like to do to his Spock and the whole similarity fell through the floor in his heterosexual universe.
Back to the real world Jack, he said to himself shaking his head. He helped Sam get together their meagre dinner
Just as wine had been poured, Sam's phone rang, and she answered it.
"Hi, how is he?" Sam said in a rush as soon as she picked it up.
"What did he complain about? Ah, I see, the Colonel thought he would say something about that." Sam smiled, and glanced at Jack who was eager to speak to Teal'c to see what was going on. He disliked being left out.
"What did he say? Tell him I was going to come in with him, but Teal'c wouldn't let me." Jack was making moves as if to grab the 'phone off Sam, clearly impatient with the rate of the conversation so far.
Sam could not help herself; she moved away from Jack to minimize his chances of attempting a tackle.
"Yes, Ok, I'll tell him," Sam pulled the phone away from her ear for a moment and directed her next comment at Jack who had by now got up and was moving menacingly towards her.
Sam put up her free hand to halt Jack's advances, and repeated most of what Teal'c had said very quickly
"Daniel said something about Teal'cs driving, then that you shouldn't worry, it was his fault he fell out of bed, he wanted the top bunk after all, and that we should relax and make up."
Both Sam and Jack paused for a moment and frowned, the Sam went back on the phone.
"He actually said 'make up' did he, doesn't he think we're worrying about him." Sam turned her back to Jack and whispered into the phone, " Has he said anything to you about . anything, did he say anything to the Colonel?" There was a pause at the end of the line as Teal'c tried to figure out what on earth Sam was talking about. This actually occurred to Sam, and she pictured Teal'c confused, closing his eyes.
"Never mind, Ill talk to him when he's well." Sam's tone took an edge to it that Jack noticed even though he could not hear what she said.
For the Colonel's benefit, Sam turned around again with a beaming smile, and continued to talk normally to Teal'c.
"Uh huh, yes, so he's staying in? Right, OK, .Josie, oh I see. Well, we'll see you tomorrow then, and maybe we can make it up to Daniel for the time he's had so far. Give him our love, thanks, take care, bye."
"So what did Teal'c say?" Jack asked unnecessarily.
"Sit sit sit, it's getting cold." Sam ushered him back to his seat. "Mild concussion, staying in overnight, and Teal'c will bring him back in the morning."
She paused considering. "Seems Daniel is already trying to sweet talk the nurses into helping him with some work but.." Sam smiled as she recalled what Teal'c said. "Apparently Daniel is having problems seeing as."
"He forgot his glasses." They said together, and then both laughed.
Sam continued,
"Teal'c decided to stay with Josie as she's closer to the hospital. He said he'll call us in the morning and let us know when he and Daniel will return, and will pick him up in the A.M."
"She?" Jack asked frowning.
"Josie." Sam said giving Jack a funny look.
"She's a sixty year old, four foot ten guy Carter." Jack said smiling.
"Oh, oh right okay, " Sam smiled. So much for presumptions. Sam chided herself. thinking, don't presume Samantha, don't presume.
Fried egg, couple of hot dogs and assorted non-frozen vegetables. Concussed Jackson, stranded Teal'c, meal fit for a Colonel and his Major. How could the evening get better than this?