Author's note: Jaffer is not getting a kitten. (although he might borrow Binky occasionally) I have enough crazy animals to write without writing more.

..................................

They had a fairly relaxing evening. Jack was good company when he put his mind to it, and even though Sally didn't know the difference, since she'd ever been his company before, she had a nice night because of it. He was quick to make her comfortable, and made sure that the spare bed was made, then left her to her own devices, making himself available if she wanted to talk or if she needed something, but aside from that, just leaving her alone.

They didn't discuss the Stargate, or the base, since Jack had requested she leave any such questions or comments to the base, but he was more than willing to discuss Jaffer, who was always a conversation piece, and he ran the black lab through all the tricks that Sam had been planning to show her before she'd been interrupted much earlier that day. Although it felt like it had been weeks.

Sally had been delighted with Jaffer's tricks, and the lab was more than willing to perform them. Especially for Jack. It was fairly late by the time their bag of tricks was empty, and by the time they were done, Sally had decided that Jack O'Neill was the proud owner of what had to be the smartest, best-trained dog in the world. It didn't seem there was anything Jaffer couldn't do, although Jack said he was learning new tricks every week.

"I'm going to take a shower and go to bed," Jack told her, finally. "If you need anything, either ask or look through the house until you find it. Whichever you're most comfortable doing."

"No classified stuff in your house?"

He smiled, and shook his head. "Nope." He pointed to his closet. "There is a handgun in there, though, just so you know."

"I won't snoop, Jack," Sally told him, smiling. "I think I'm going to go to bed. It's been a pretty long day."

He nodded. "I'll see you in the morning, then."

"Good night."

........................

"Sally?"

"Hmmm?"

"Wake up."

Her eyes flew open at the sound of a strange male voice whispering in her ear, and she sat up quickly, before she realized that it was Jack who was crouched next to the bed she'd been sleeping in.

"Jack?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. The base just called. Daniel's awake." His dark eyes were unreadable in the gloom of the room, which was only lit with the light from the hallway. "Do you want to go see him? Or wait for morning?"

It was obvious what Jack wanted, or he wouldn't have waked her.

"No, can we go now?"

"You should probably get dressed."

She smiled, and nodded, and Jack left the room, turning on the light and shutting the door behind him. He needed to get dressed as well.

......................

"Did they say how he was doing?"

"Just said he was awake." Jack told her as he opened the door for Jaffer to get into the seat behind his. "If something was wrong, though, they would have told me."

She nodded, and didn't ask any more questions as they drove to the base, although the silence in the truck was far more comfortable than it had been when she'd been so worried. The streets were empty, since it was very early in the morning – almost 4 AM – and there were very few people coming or going at that time of day.

The Marines at the checkpoints were the same ones that had been there when Jack and Sally had left the base hours before, but they were still just as cautious as they had been the first time. They still checked her ID, still made sure she signed in and still double-checked to make sure she was still on the list of Civilians who were allowed on base. Only when they were certain, was Sally allowed to get close to the elevator once more, no matter how impatient she was to see Daniel.

"I get to see him first," Jack said as they entered the final elevator and he pushed the button. "I need to discuss a few things with him before he sees you."

She nodded her understanding, which didn't mean she had to like it.

"You can keep Jaffer occupied for me while I'm talking to him. I wouldn't trust him to stay off the bed."

Joy.

Jack smiled at the look on her face, but he didn't relent. He didn't really need to discuss anything with Daniel – although he would let him know that Sally had been let in on some of the secret and tell him what he should and shouldn't discuss with her once she came into the room.

He made his way through the infirmary, stopping only long enough to stop at Sam's bed and found her sleeping soundly. Fraiser had probably given her a painkiller to help her sleep, which meant she wouldn't be much company until she slept it off. He made sure she was warmly covered, then headed for the door to Daniel's room, and was stopped cold when Fraiser came out, closing it behind her.

"One at a time," she told him, looking at Jack and Sally. "And Jaffer stays out, since I know you won't keep him off the bed."

"Aw, Doc. Jaffer wants to say hi."

"Too bad. He can wait until Daniel's had a chance to recover a little more."

"But-"

"Colonel, I said no."

Sally wondered why Jack was even arguing, since he'd already told her that he had no intention of taking Jaffer into the room with him, but she didn't say anything.

"Fine." Jack looked at Sally, and there was a definite twinkle in his dark eyes. "Will you keep Jaffer occupied for me, Sally?"

She smiled, and put her hand on Jaffer's head. She didn't have to lean down; she only had to reach down. She wasn't all that tall, anyways, and Jaffer was fairly large. "Sure, Jack."

She wanted to tell him to be quick, but she didn't. He seemed to understand, though.

"I won't be long." He disappeared into the room, closing the door behind him.

Daniel was awake and sitting up, and he looked up when the door opened. Jack was glad to see him up, and glad to see he didn't look too bad. His eyes were a little glazed over – as if he were having trouble focusing – but that was normal enough for the medication he was on, and Jack knew it. He walked over and sat down on the edge of Daniel's bed, reaching over and pushing Daniel's bangs back from his forehead, in an uncharacteristically gentle act.

"If you ever scare me like that again, I'll kick your ass."

"I'm glad to see you, too, Jack," Daniel said, smiling tiredly.

"How do you feel?"

"Awful."

"I have something that might cheer you up."

"Yeah? Ice cream?"

"No."

"Coffee?"

"No."

"Coffee flavored ice cream?"

"No."

"You don't have anything I want, then."

"Sally's outside."

"What?"

"Sally. She's outside the door, waiting to see you."

"Here?" Daniel looked as though he thought Jack was playing a joke on him, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why he'd be doing that. "You brought her here?"

Jack nodded. "We couldn't think of any way to explain why you were hurt, and Hammond decided that if you and Sally have been together this long, chances were she could be trusted with a little more information than you were giving her. God knows she deserved more than another lie, just for putting up with all your shit."

"So he told her?"

"I told her." Jack corrected him. "After she signed a confidentiality paper."

"What did you tell her?" Daniel was already numb.

"Funny you should ask..." Jack said. "Let me tell you what she does know, and what she can't know."

...................

It was about fifteen minutes later when Jack opened the door and walked out of Daniel's room. Sally was sitting in a chair by the door, her arms around Jaffer, who was lapping up the attention like always. She was instantly on her feet.

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Jack said, smiling when Jaffer rushed over to say hi as if he hadn't seen Jack in days, instead of just minutes. "You can go see him."

She disappeared into the room, and Jack reached in and closed the door behind her, figuring she needed a little private time with him. Not too much, of course, but some.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Fraiser asked, pointedly. "He's not exactly wide awake. What if he tells her something he shouldn't?"

"He's awake, Doc. I talked to him enough to know. Besides, she's been pretty patient – way better than I could have."

"Yeah, but-"

"Relax, Doc," Jack said with a smile, plopping down in the chair that Sally had just vacated, and rubbing Jaffer's ears. "Sally doesn't know it yet, but she's going to be given a new classification of civilian advisor."

"What?"

"According to the FBI – among other agencies that have done their homework on her – she has two degrees in Engineering and Theoretical Mathematics. I knew that, but I'd forgotten, but Hammond figures that if she's interested, she can join the SGC in a Civilian role and probably add a few IQ points to the mix around here."

"Really?"

Jack shrugged, and rested his cheek on the top of Jaffer's head.

"She's dated Daniel for two years, so it's obvious she's going to stick around – although I can't imagine what she sees in him – so why not let her in on the secret? At least some of it. That way Daniel's not stressing out about what lie he's got to tell her, and he's not worrying about her being mad at him while he's on a mission, when his mind definitely needs to be on what he's doing. It works well for us, this way, and works well for him."

Janet was watching Jack carefully, her arms crossed over her breasts. "You know what I think, Colonel?" She said, finally. "I think you're full of shit. I think you just want Daniel to be happy, and the best way to make him happy is to let her know what's going on."

"What?" He scowled and tried to look like he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Oh, give me the innocent look all you want," She said, smiling. Now she was sure she was right. "I think you went to Hammond and asked him to let you tell her."

"I wouldn't do that." Jack said, standing up. "You seriously think I'd put the biggest secret on Earth out in the open just so Daniel would stop looking so miserable all the time?"

She nodded.

Jack scowled, again.

"I'm going to the commissary."

Fraiser grinned. She was so right!

"Why?"

"To see if they have any ice cream in the freezers."

"It's a little early for ice cream, isn't it?"

Jack didn't answer; he was already on his way across the infirmary, with Jaffer close at his side, and Fraiser could hear him muttering under his breath even as he closed the door behind him.