Author's Note: Remember now; Jack owes Emmett for keeping Sam from getting hurt when she passed out. PLUS he's trying to be nice because Janet's obviously sprung over the guy. So he's a lot better with my Emmett than he is the Hero's version... As for the rank thing.. I'm not sure :)

The commissary was almost completely deserted, so it wasn't hard for them to find an out of the way table, and there was no line for pie. Sam got a piece of apple, Bregman took pumpkin, and with the pie in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, they went over and sat down.

"So..."

Sam looked up from her pie.

"What?"

"How long have you known Colonel O'Neill?"

"Almost 8 years."

"How long have you been married?"

"Since August 12th. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

"Habit, I guess. I do interviews remember? I just have to know everything about everyone around me..."

Sam smiled.

"How long have you been doing this kind of thing?"

"Making documentaries, you mean?"

"Yes."

"Since I was a boy – although back then I didn't have a cameraman of my own, and I was using an old 8mm camera."

"Do you still have them?"

"Somewhere."

They continued chatting over their snack. Sam was asking more questions than Emmett did, although this was only because he allowed her to. He was normally much better at imposing himself into the conversation and getting his questions answered – but he wasn't in the mood to be pushy, and he knew Samantha O'Neill wasn't someone to be pushy with, anyways. And not just because he was certain it was a good way to get on Jack O'Neill's bad side – something he definitely didn't want to do.

He was on his second cup of coffee and was telling her about his schooling when they were interrupted. Jack (the dog) came rushing up to the table, cheerfully looking at both of them, his nose looking for evidence that they might have something to eat that he might be able to talk them out of.

Sam reached down and scratched his shoulder before she realized he was still rather damp. Obviously he'd just gotten out of the shower. She looked over, knowing that Teal'c had to be close by, and sure enough, he and Daniel walked through the door only a moment later.

"Hey."

Daniel smiled, his dark hair just as damp as Jack's blonde hide was.

"Hi. What are you eating?"

"It was pie."

Teal'c came over as well, but he stopped and gathered a couple of slices of pie for himself before joining them.

"Where's Jaffer?" Emmett asked, looking for the black lab.

Daniel shrugged, taking a cup of coffee from Teal'c with a smile of thanks. "Last I saw, he was heading down the hall. Probably on his way to the infirmary to join Jack."

"You let him wander around on his own?"

Sam nodded.

"Pretty much. He's a smart dog, and he knows where to find Jack. It's not like he's going to get lost."

"He's been wandering around here since he was a puppy." Daniel added.

"Besides," Sam said, smiling. "Would you like to try and stop him from going wherever he wants to?"

"Good point."

Emmett turned his attention to Teal'c, then. Since he had the Jaffa sitting there, he figured it was a good time to learn something about him – and the Jaffa was probably fascinating enough to keep his mind off just how worried he was about Janet. Well, mostly, anyways.

"How long have you been with the SGC, Teal'c?" He asked.

And so the conversation turned.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jack wasn't tired. He hadn't been up all that long that day, and there was no reason he should be nodding off like he was. He told himself that, anyways, once he forced his eyes open once more. Of course, the pain pill he'd been given once he'd had his shoulder wrapped and his arm put into a sling wasn't helping things, and he knew it, but he wasn't going to fall asleep until he knew Janet's condition, and that meant staying awake until the medic came and updated him. He just needed a distraction.

"How are you feeling, Colonel?"

The curtain around his bed was opened a bit, and Jack found looked over and Saw Hammond standing there. The General had come down to check on his troops, of course. There were a lot of wounded, but he'd been heartened to hear that most of them were minor. Janet Fraiser was the only one still in surgery, and she was expected to make a full recovery. They were just keeping everyone down over night – to make sure no one was going to keel over from blood loss or something.

"Fine, Sir." Jack said, sitting up a little straighter. Here was the distraction he needed, right on time. "Have you heard anything on Fraiser's condition?"

"Not yet. Only that they expect she'll be fine. She's still in surgery."

Jack nodded.

"I'm told that Jaffer saved her," Hammond told him.

"Oh yeah?" That wasn't something he'd heard.

"Sergeant Riley said he did."

"I wasn't there, Sir." Jack admitted. That galled him, too. But he'd had other responsibilities, and had done what he could to make sure Janet had had all the back up he could give her. A whole SG team, and Jaffer. And she'd still been hurt.

"You did your job," Hammond said. "She did hers. I'll debrief each team separately, but so far what I'm hearing makes it sound like everything went off smoothly considering the amount of resistance you and your people were facing."

"There were a lot of them," Jack admitted. "We-"

Jaffer stuck his nose through the curtain just then, popping in from out of nowhere just behind Hammond.

Jack smiled, his report forgotten as Jaffer brushed past the General and hopped up onto the bed beside him. He was damp, and smelled of wet dog and strawberries, but when he cuddled up against Jack, whuffling him happily, O'Neill wrapped his good arm around him and pulled him even closer.

Hammond smiled at the show of affection from his normally reserved second in command.

"Get some rest, Colonel. I'll talk to you later."

"Yes, Sir."

He didn't want to rest, though. He wanted to wait and see how Janet was. Despite this resolve, however, his eyes closed almost immediately, as if he'd only been waiting for Jaffer to join him before drifting off to sleep. The black lab sighed, and rested his head lightly on O'Neill's bare belly, and watched the activity around him as he guarded his Jack while he slept.