"How is she, Doc?"

Janet scowled, but hid her irritation as well as she could, knowing that half the reason Jack kept asking her was because he knew how annoying it was. Of course he was worried, yes, but there was always more to it than just that. There was always more to it when it came to O'Neill.

"She's still out, Colonel."

"Can I see her?"

Janet sighed.

"No. For the fifteenth time. When she wakes up, I'll call you, and then you can see her."

"Aw, come on, Doc. Just for a minute?"

"No. She needs her rest."

She'd been out now for almost a week, though, and Jack was getting antsy. Not as antsy as Brad Anderson was, but he was a lot more vocal about his irritation and concern than Brad was – much to Fraiser's annoyance.

"Can't you just wake her up for a little bit – to check on her?"

"Colonel... why don't you go visit Daniel?"

"All he does is sleep."

"That's all Colonel Mitchell is doing."

"Yeah, but it's different."

Fraiser scowled again, her patience gone.

"Get out of my infirmary, Colonel, before I have Hammond kick you out."

"Aw, Doc..."

"I mean it."

"I'll go visit Daniel."

"Good idea. He could use the company."

They'd moved Daniel to a private room right next to Melony's. He was still in a lot of pain – broken ribs and burns are probably the most painful injuries a person can sustain, after all – but he had woken up a few times and had managed to have enough conversation with the people around him that Jack, Sam and Teal'c weren't worried about his condition. He still slept most of the time, and was still on his stomach, but the burns were healing well under Janet's careful watch, and the ribs and other broken ones would heal as well. It would just take time.

Jack peeked into the room, not wanting to interrupt if a nurse was changing a bandage or something, but the only person in the room besides Daniel was Sam, and she smiled when she saw him, and waved him in.

"How is he?" Jack asked, coming over and sitting down next to her.

Sam reached out and touched gentle fingers against Daniel's cheek.

"He's asleep."

"Well, there's a shock."

She smiled.

"He's been through a lot. I suppose it's only fair to allow him a chance to rest."

"I'd rather have him up and about."

"Me too," Sam agreed. She sighed, and leaned back against her chair, tiredly. None of them had had much sleep lately, and they were all dragging because of it.

"So... how long do you think it'll take to build another ship?"

Sam looked over at him, curious.

"You want one?"

He shook his head, smiling.

"She's going to need a new one, though, if she blew Fugly up like everyone says she did." Of course, Daniel and Melony were the only two who had actually been there to see the ship blow, but Daniel had told them in one of the few short conversations they'd had that the little ship had definitely been destroyed.

"She has another one..."

They both looked over at Daniel, who was still lying there with his eyes closed, although his face was a bit tight – a sure sign that he was hurting. Which meant he was awake to feel the pain.

"What?"

"Melony has another ship." Daniel said, softly. "I saw it."

"Another Fugly?" Jack asked.

"I saw it."

Daniel opened his eyes and looked at them without moving his head. Moving hurt too much, still.

"Where is it?"

"I can't tell you. It's a secret."

Jack scowled.

"You can tell me."

"Not unless Melony says I can." Daniel said, smiling slightly, even though that hurt, too. There were very few secrets he had to keep from Jack, and it was kind of amusing to see the look of annoyance on O'Neill's face. Especially since Jack would never threaten Daniel when he was already hurt – and Daniel knew it.

"I talked to her," Jack lied. "She said you could tell me."

"Uh huh."

Sam laughed, and leaned forward.

"How do you feel, Daniel?"

"I'm thirsty."

That was easily taken care of. The medical staff made sure there was always water close at hand in case he woke up wanting some, as long as he didn't drink a lot – which he never did. Sam put the straw against his lips and Daniel drank gratefully.

"Thanks, Sam."

"You're welcome."

He turned his head to look at Jack, then, his expression serious, now.

"How's Melony doing? Have you heard anything?"

Jack shrugged.

"She's getting better. Fraiser says her vitals are stabilizing, now, and that it appears Talon's getting the upper hand. She says there isn't a lot she can do to speed things up, so we just have to wait." Jack, of course, knew everything that was going on with Mitchell. He was constantly asking about her, after all.

"Has she woken up?"

"Only that once."

"How's Brad?"

"Worried. Just like the rest of us." Jack got out of his chair and knelt down next to Daniel's bed so he could be at eye level. "You wouldn't believe all the reports we're hearing from the Tok'ra and the Asgard, Daniel."

"Oh?"

Jack grinned. "The remaining system lords have actually contacted the Asgard, asking for protection."

"What?"

"They seem to think that the reason Talon – and Melony, of course – haven't been seen is because they're planning their next offensive. The system lords are convinced she's going to wipe out the rest of them, making sure that there's no one left to worry about."

Daniel smiled, and shook his head. He was pretty sure Melony had had her fill of killing.

"What'd the Asgard say?"

"They pretty much told them they were on their own, that they had too many other things to worry about than trying to protect a bunch of slimy snake bastards."

"They did not."

"Well... no, not that last part. But the first part, yes. Of course, if it were anyone else who'd taken out all the system lords, the Asgard would be worried. We've pretty much assured them that Melony and Talon aren't really something for them to be concerned about."

Daniel nodded, and closed his eyes again. His headache had faded over the last days for the most part, but since he wasn't wearing his glasses, it wasn't comfortable to look at Jack and Sam for too long. The blurry vision gave him a new headache.

"The system lords are pretty much done, then, huh?"

"Yup."

Jack's voice was smug, and Daniel felt a hand on his cheek. A rough hand. He opened his eyes again, and saw that it was Jack's, and there was an odd look in O'Neill's eyes – even blurred.

"I'm proud of you, Daniel." Jack said. "What you did took a lot of guts."

Daniel smiled. He didn't think he'd done anything. All he'd done was pushed a couple buttons. But he was too tired to argue, and he had to admit, it felt good to hear the words from Jack.

"Thanks, Jack."

"We'd better let you get some rest before Fraiser comes and kicks us out," O'Neill said, moving his hand and standing up. Sam stood as well.

"Would you ask her to stop by when she's not busy?" Daniel asked. He was having an odd dream or two about something he thought he might have told Janet, and he needed to talk to her about it.

"Yeah. I suppose I'll play errand boy for you this once," Jack told him. "But don't get used to it."

"Never."

Daniel closed his eyes, but he smiled. He was already getting used to it, and it was nice.