"Are you out of your mind?!"
"Hey, I didn't shoot-"
"You brought a gun into the infirmary??"
"It's a tranquilizer gun," Ian said, defensively, well aware there was absolutely no way he was going to bring up the fact that he also had a Glock in his pants.
He and River were standing in the hallway outside of the infirmary only minutes after Janet Fraiser had been brought down with a hefty dose of the drug that had leveled River and himself only ten hours before – although it seemed like forever. Standing with them was Major Samantha O'Neill, and standing across from them, well on his way into a first class ass chewing was General George Hammond, who had been on his way in the door of the infirmary with Teal'c and Jack (the dog) and had heard the shot and seen Fraiser go down. He'd been terrified that the stupid cadets had managed to kill the best Medical officer he'd ever had, and that fear had turned to anger once he'd been reassured that she'd be fine in a few hours.
Hammond turned a brilliant shade of red, and Sam wondered how she was going to keep the General from having a heart attack or something, when he turned his attention from Ian to River.
"What were you pointing that thing at him for anyways?"
"He told me it wasn't loaded..."
"Did you check for yourself? Of course you didn't," Hammond answered, "Or you would have seen that it was!"
He glared at both of them.
"I have half a mind to throw you both in the brig."
"For what?" Ian asked, still defensive. While he was more than willing to accept the blame for bringing the tranquilizer gun into the infirmary, he hadn't been the one who'd tried to take it from River – and he hadn't shot the doctor. He knew better than to sight a gun at someone else – even an empty one.
Sam groaned, wondering if Hammond's head was just going to explode or if it'd pop off and roll down the hall. Ian wasn't helping things at all – although she could see that he honestly didn't seem to be trying to be disrespectful. He just naturally seemed to come out sounding that way. Another reason he was probably always running at the Academy.
"For what?" A big vein was popping out on Hammond's forehead, and River watched it, fascinated. "You shot my chief medical officer!"
"I didn't."
"You gave him the gun!"
"I-"
"General," River interrupted, knowing that no matter what Ian said, it wasn't going to be the right thing – and worse, it'd probably be way over to the side of the wrong thing. "It's my fault, Sir. I knew better than to point it at anyone, and Doctor Fraiser was just reacting to what she saw – she couldn't have known it wasn't a regular gun – and she was definitely putting herself into harms way to protect Ian here. I'm the one whose finger got trapped in the trigger and I'm the one who shot her. I take full responsibility."
"What?" Ian looked over at him, annoyed. "You can't take full responsibility. It was my fault, too."
River shook his head.
"You didn't do anything wrong. You were just giving me a souvenir. You said it yourself."
"I told you it wasn't loaded – and I should have checked it myself. That makes it my fault, too."
"No," River scowled, getting annoyed. "You-"
"Shut up!"
They stopped arguing and looked at Hammond, who looked about as exasperated as Sam had ever seen him – even when dealing with Jack at his worse.
"You're both in the wrong. You'll both stay beside Doctor Fraiser's bedside from the moment I release you until she wakes up and dismisses you. You will wait on her hand and foot and be civilized and polite to her, each other and everyone you come in contact. That's an order. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir." River said.
"Yes, Sir," Ian parroted an instant later.
Hammond looked over at Sam.
"How long until she wakes up?"
"A couple of hours, Sir."
"Take these two miscreants to the briefing room and wait for me there."
"Yes, Sir."
Sam turned and gestured for the two of them to follow her, and led them towards the elevator. When it opened, however, she found herself suddenly swarmed by Jaffer, who was greeting her as though he hadn't seen her in days instead of merely hours. Along with the lab were Jack and Nathan Brooks, and the Cadets stood to the side as the two men got off the elevator.
"Jaffer..."
Jack's soft command reminded Jaffer that Sam didn't need to be slobbered all over, and the black lab snuffled Sam once more then went back over to stand next to Jack, still watching her happily.
"How..."
"Sam? Allow me to introduce you to Nathan Brooks. Major General Nathan Brooks – retired Air Force."
"Major O'Neill," Nathan took Sam's hand and smiled, and she looked from Nathan to Ian, trying to see any resemblance. They had a few features that were similar, but the cadet really didn't look much like his father. Certainly his coloring – blonde hair and blue eyes – would have made her think he was related to River before she'd have considered Ian.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir."
"Nathan," Brooks corrected. "I'm retired, so you don't have to pay homage to my rank. Ian certainly doesn't.'
Ian rolled his eyes, but he had to admit he was glad to see Colonel O'Neill and his father back from where they'd been. Not that he'd been all that worried – he was certain that they could handle Senator Kinsey just fine, it was just that he... didn't want to have to explain to his mother what had happened if something had went wrong. Yeah, that was as good a reason as any, he told himself.
Sam smiled.
"Nathan."
"Where are you three going?" Jack asked. "Where's Shawn?"
"Shawn's in the infirmary with Teal'c, waiting to make absolute sure that Doctor Fraiser is not going to have the same allergic reaction to the tranquilizer that Cadet Hayden here had."
"What?"
Sam looked over at the Cadets, and she had to force herself not to smile. Now that she knew Janet was fine, it was a little humorous – although she knew Janet wouldn't find it at all funny. At least not right away.
"I shot her with a tranquilizer gun," River admitted.
"You..." Jack looked at Sam to see if he was kidding, but she shook her head, her eyes dancing with amusement. "You..."
"Shot her," Ian supplied.
"Why would you do a thing like that?"
"It was an accident," River said, just as defensively as Ian had been. "I was pointing it at Ian, here..."
"A much better choice," Jack said, looking at the dark-haired cadet and smiling to make sure the young man knew he wasn't serious. "Why were-"
"I need to take these two to debriefing, Jack," Sam said, interrupting. "Why don't you go say hi to Shawn and introduce him to Nathan here, then find General Hammond and join us?"
Bah.
"Yeah... why don't I do that...?" He said, looking over at the senior Brooks. "Come on, Nate. I'll introduce you to Shawn."