Jack fell asleep watching the monitor. Not only was monitor watching boring, but the steady heartbeat thing was almost hypnotizing and he still had the residuals of the painkiller in his system. Add to that the fact that Jaffer was warm and comforting where he was cuddled up against Jack, and the Colonel didn't have a chance. He was asleep in less than a half hour.
Jaffer waited until Jack was sleeping soundly, then raised his head from O'Neill's bare stomach and looked over at the sleeping form of Janet Fraiser. Her brow was furrowed as if she was either in pain or in the middle of some kind of bad dream, and heart rate was increasing just a little. Not enough to wake Jack, and not enough to concern the medics who were passing by off and on as they tended to all the wounded men and women and their infirmary, but it was noticeable to the lab.
Jaffer snuffled Jack softly, as if to make sure he was really asleep, then he got up, hopped down from the bed and went over to the bed next to Jack's. Measuring the space that was available, the black lab jumped up easily and flopped carefully down next to her, sighing softly. He could see Jack from where he lay, and would know if his Jack needed him, but just then something in the big lab told him Janet needed him more just then. She was just as warm as Jack was, after all, even though being close to her didn't make him feel warm and gooey inside like being close to Jack did. He cuddled close, and rested his nose just under her breast – another difference between her and Jack – and closed his eyes.
Fraiser felt the warmth next to her, and reacted automatically. She wasn't used to sleeping with anything big fuzzy and warm like Jack was, but the reaction was the same. Her hand came up to his shoulder and the bad dream she'd been having – a Jaffa coming up out of nowhere, pointing a staff weapon at her and firing – was eased until her breathing relaxed once more, and her heart stopped beating quite so fast. Within moments, she was sleeping soundly once more.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
That was how Sam, Daniel and Cassie found them a while later. They came around the curtain, and Sam smiled when she saw Jack sound asleep and Jaffer cuddled up to Janet. The black lab wasn't sleeping. He had been watching Jack, but his gaze went to Sam when she came into sight and the tail wagged happily, although he didn't move from where he was.
"Awww..." Cassie had been worried sick about her mom from the moment Sam, Daniel and Teal'c had met her at school and pulled her out of class – no matter how much they tried to reassure her – but when she saw Jaffer snuggled up to Janet instead of Jack, she had to smile, too. It was completely unexpected, but it reassured her more than any words Sam had said on the way over. If Jaffer was watching her mom, then nothing could be wrong, right?
"That's different," Daniel said, softly, looking over at Jack to make sure he didn't wake him up.
"Yeah."
"Think she woke up and filched him from Jack while he was sleeping?" Daniel asked.
Cassie smiled, and Sam wrapped her arms around the girl from behind, hugging her tightly.
"We should let them sleep, honey. We can stay close by, or have someone come tell us when she wakes up. Okay?"
"Yeah."
Cassie had seen her, and knew that she wasn't dying. As much as she wanted her mom to be awake so she could reassure her personally, she knew that rest was good for someone who'd been hurt – she was a doctor's daughter, after all.
"Why don't we go get some coffee?" Daniel suggested. Coffee was always good, right?
Cassie had another thought, though. She turned and looked at Sam.
"Is that Emmett guy around here somewhere?" She asked. "Maybe you could introduce me to him?"
Sam smiled. She knew from talking to Janet earlier that morning that the girl had thoroughly interrogated Janet about Emmett, and wasn't at all surprised to find Cassie was interested in meeting him.
"I think we can swing that – if he's not doing an interview or something."
Cassie nodded, and looked over at her mother for another long moment.
"She's really okay, right? You're not just saying that?"
"She's really all right." Daniel confirmed. "Everyone's saying she'll be fine. They can't all be lying, right?"
"No."
"Then let's let them sleep and go find Emmett." Sam suggested. "I'll leave orders for them to page us when she wakes up."
They walked back down the corridor, leaving Jack and Janet to their sleep, and Jaffer to his vigil.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Emmett was in the commissary with Ben. The cameraman had filmed a few different areas – with Major Quinn in attendance so there would be no mistake about him filming something he shouldn't – and had then hooked up with Bregman, who had set up quite a few interviews for the next morning. The fact that people had seen him eating with Jack O'Neill so companionably that morning did wonders for the way people were treating him that afternoon. If O'Neill could put up with him, then they figured he must not be so bad, right? After all, everyone knew Jack didn't put up with much crap from people – orders or no orders.
"So, I have Walter Davis at 9AM, Sergeant Silar at 9:30, and-"
"Emmett?"
The two men looked up at the sound of Sam's voice. Neither of them had heard Sam and the others approaching. Ben paled visibly when he realized who was there, and he stood up so quickly he almost tipped his chair backwards.
"M-Major O'Neill..."
Sam flinched at the reaction, wondering what in the world was wrong with the guy. Too much coffee, maybe? Maybe he was just high strung?
"Mr. Crane..." Sam said, wondering if she should find it humorous, or be worried about him. He looked almost afraid. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." His voice was a bit higher than normal, though. "I... need to go look at some film. I..."
"Don't leave on our account," Daniel said, also worried about the reaction, and wondering if the man needed to go to the infirmary. "We're-"
"No... I need to go." Ben told them, pushing his chair in. "I'll see you all later." He forced a smile and hurried out of the room, leaving his camera sitting on the table.
"What was that all about?" Sam asked.
Bregman shook his head.
"Maybe he's not feeling well." He said, covering for Ben's actions as well as he could. "The blood in the gate room this afternoon shook him up pretty well."
"Ah."
Emmett looked at Cassandra. He smiled, knowing immediately who she was – Janet had a bunch of pictures of her daughter in her purse, after all, and Emmett had seen them all.
"You're Cassandra!"
Cassie smiled, pleased at being recognized.
"Yes."
Sam smiled, as well.
"Emmett Bregman, this is Cassandra Fraiser."
Emmett stood and offered Cassie his hand.
"I'm very pleased to meet you."
She blushed at the sincerity in his voice, and Sam smiled.
"I'm glad to meet you, too," Cassie told him. "My mom's told me a lot about you."
"Good or bad?"
"Good."
"Then it's all true."
Cassie grinned.
"Did you go see your mom?" Emmett asked.
Cassie nodded.
"She's sleeping. They're going to page us when she wakes up."
"Then why don't you sit down and tell me something about yourself?" Emmett said, gesturing to the seat Ben had vacated so suddenly. "Your mom's told me a lot about you, too, but I'll bet there's more for me to know."
Pleased at the invitation, Cassie sat down. Sam had already told her what Emmett knew and what he didn't know pertaining to the Stargate and where Cassie was from, so she didn't mind sitting and talking to him. He seemed like a nice guy.
