Epilogue

"Hi, Jack."

Jack looked up when Daniel walked through the door of his room in the VIP section of the SGC. He wasn't sick enough to be in the isolation room in the infirmary, had refused to stay in the infirmary itself and wasn't well enough to go home – despite his claims that he was fine and should be allowed to go in and out as he pleased. It was only Tuesday – two days after his fever had finally broken and the critter serum had beaten back the illness that had dropped him so quickly – and Janet wasn't certain enough that Jack was well to allow him out from under the protection of her medical wings just yet. Not after the scare he'd given them.

"What do you want?"

Daniel grinned; Jack had been a sweetheart for all of twenty-four hours before he'd felt well enough to revert back to his usual grumpy when sick persona. A persona that Daniel much preferred over the other one. He could handle Jack's temper; he couldn't handle him being truly ill.

"I thought I'd come by and cheer you up."

Jack scowled.

"Yeah? Did Fraiser say I could go home?"

"Nope."

"Did you bring me a get well card?"

"Um... nope." Daniel frowned. "Did you want one?"

"No. I was just curious."

"Ah. Well, I didn't bring you one." He came over and sat down, ignoring Jack's scowl. O'Neill hated healthy people when he was sick. Especially Daniel, who knew how annoying it was to have healthy people around you and tended to come around just because he liked to see the annoyed look on Jack's face.

"Was there something in particular you had in mind, Daniel?" Jack asked, sarcastically.

"Actually, I thought you might like this..." Daniel reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a videotape.

"That's not another one of those Egypt documentaries, is it?" Jack asked, suspiciously, not even reaching for the tape.

"I said I was here to cheer you up, Jack." Daniel said, smiling. "Not to figure out a way to keep you from talking to me for the rest of my life..."

Jack couldn't help it; he smiled, too. Daniel was too much of a friend for Jack to grouse at all the time – even when he was going out of his way to annoy him.

"So what is it?"

"That hockey game you were planning on watching last Saturday."

Jack reached for the tape.

"Really?"

"No. I'm lying to you, it's really that documentary on Egypt, and I'm trying to trick you into watching it with me."

"Smart ass." He turned the tape over in his hand, thinking that Daniel had to have recorded it that Saturday, since the game wasn't one that was popular enough to have been replayed on one of the sports channels later that week. What a guy. "Thanks, Daniel."

The archeologist smiled, and settled deeper into his chair.

"So. You going to watch it with me?"

The smile faded. Daniel wasn't much into hockey. About as much as Jack was into documentaries on Egypt.

"Um..."

"Watch what?"

The two of them turned and saw Sam standing at the door.

"Daniel recorded the hockey game for me," Jack told her, holding up the tape. Sam smiled and came over and sat down on the edge of O'Neill's bed.

"And now you want him to watch it with you?"

Jack scowled.

"It's not like I'm asking him to go beat up baby seals, you know..."

"Well... it's not that I don't want to watch it with you, Jack," Daniel said, shrugging. "It's just that I've got a lot of... translations to... um..."

"Translate?"

"Yeah."

Jack scowled, but Sam had to put her hand over her mouth to smother the snort of amusement. Then it was her turn to be the object of the scowl, but she just snorted again – unperturbed.

"You want to watch it with me, Carter?" There was a definite twinkle in his dark eyes, now, because he knew that as much as Daniel didn't like hockey, Sam would rather chop of her arm and beat herself over the head with it than watch the sport.

"Well... I was going to... um..."

"Help me with my translations..." Daniel supplied.

"Yes! That's what I was going to do." She got up, quickly. "We'd better get to that, Daniel. Those things have been waiting for a million years, but they can't wait any longer."

It was a race to see which one of them could reach the door first, and Jack's scowl chased them out of his room. They almost ran over Janet Fraiser, who was walking in to check on him.

"Sorry, Janet."

"Me, too!"

Neither stopped, though, and she looked back over her shoulder at them as she walked over to the bed.

"What was that all about?"

"Daniel brought me the hockey game from last Saturday, and panicked when I asked him to watch it with me."

"And Sam?"

"She's like a lemming; mindlessly following him to certain boredom."

Janet smiled, and pressed her hand lightly against Jack's cool cheek. The fever was gone, and he'd regained most of the strength his illness had taken from him. She'd probably release him the next day – or maybe the day after that.

"Who's playing?"

"Redwings and the Ducks."

Janet reached over and took the tape from him, and walked to the TV/VCR combo that was at the foot of Jack's bed.

"I'll watch it with you, if you don't mind." She told him.

"You?"

Fraiser smiled.

"Why not me?"

Why not, indeed? Jack smiled, and then moved over in his bed, patting the space he made in invitation. It'd be nice to have the company, and even though he hid it, Janet was probably one of his favorite people on the base. He couldn't think of better company.

She smiled and took him up on his silent invitation, plopping down next to him on the bed. Probably he was just feeling cold and wanted someone to cuddle with to warm him up. He got chilled easily the last couple days, after all. She didn't mind. Jack was one of her favorite people.

"What if someone comes in, Colonel," she asked him with a grin as she settled close enough that she could feel his warmth through the blankets.

"Well, after that examination from the other day," Jack said, wryly, "I'm almost surprised I don't have to marry you..."

Janet laughed. She'd never actually gotten around to telling him that she'd never completed that particular exam. And maybe she wouldn't. It was far more entertaining to allow him to think the worst. She took the remote and turned on the TV, still smiling. God he was fun to have around.

The End!

Author's note: So! A Janet story! I love to do Janet stories, since I don't think she gets enough of them. Thanks to all of you who reviewed and who will review. Let me know what you liked and didn't like... I know I put it up fairly quickly, but I don't think the quality suffered... sometimes I just have the time to write, so I grab it while I can.