A/N: There were several requests for more... So here you go lol. Especially Arumanii. Rofl. I promise that this story isn't gong to end anytime soon. As a little tidbit, I'm up to around 19 chapters in rough form and its only about half of what I plan to do with the story. (I have a basic outline) I don't know how many more chapters there will be, but for as long as there is an interest and I have new ideas in my head, the story will continue. Hopefully with semi-regular updates, but my schedule around the 4th is looking a little ugly (I work 4 12 hour shifts Friday through Monday) so updates may be sporadic at times.

I'd also like to thank everyone that has left comments and positive feedback, especially SG1-Fanfic, everg8ter23, natters, and a few others that have left multiple positive comments. Thanks. And thanks to all the silent readers, and those that have added me to their alert lists. You've all done a lot to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, especially this being my first fanfic ever! I'm really my worst critic. So thanks again, and I'm glad for everyone that is enjoying the story so far.

Oooo... after uploading this, I see that ya'll are getting a nice big chapter, almost 2000 words lol. I always love stories with big chapter updates. I hope you all do too. Shippers especially will probably enjoy this one, although I must admit I'm not much of a shipper.

Place a problem in front of them and they'd study it from all angles to the exclusion of all else, forgetting to eat, or even to sleep. It wasn't much of a stretch that given a problem to mull over those two would even forget Sam was a stuck in a cat's body. Besides, Jack knew his team was strong, closer than family. They had made it through worse; they would find a way to beat this thing too.
Chapter 14

The next morning dawned bright and early in the infirmary for Sam, as SG-11 came back with a variety of injuries having unintentionally crossed the natives of the planet. Fortunately for SG-11, the natives had only thrown rocks, sticks, and refuse as the team had run back to the gate. It could have been a lot worse. As it was, there was an assortment of bumps and bruises, a sprained ankle and a broken wrist. Which meant that this morning there was a lot of noise, lights, and voices. Lots of things clattering as the doctors and nurses called to each other and settled the injured.

With all the noise and activity, there was no chance of Sam getting back to sleep. Her ears flicked at each new noise and her nose twitched at the smell of some of the things that had ended up on SG-11's clothes. So Sam could only sit in her bed, making herself as small as possible so as not to distract anyone. She couldn't even use the laptop Daniel had brought, since during the night some well intentioned nurse had powered it down while she slept. Try as she might, Sam could not get the laptop open with paws.

Sam had nothing to do but work over things in her mind, as she lay curled in the bed. She realized soon she was also hungry. Someone had brought her a bowl of water, but it did her no good, even if she could drink it without drowning herself, the bowl had been placed on a table nearby, quite out of her reach at the moment. She also couldn't get down off the bed, as she didn't think she was ready for that. If there had been a chair left nearby, she might have been able to. Sam was just contemplating trying to jump to the table between beds, and from there to the next bed, which had a handy chair next to it, when she realized she had a visitor.

Standing in the opening of the curtains was Colonel O'Neill, hands stuffed into his pockets, a lopsided grin on his face. "Morning Carter. Have a good cat nap?" He smiled at his own joke. Sam meowed in response, and glared. She didn't find the joke funny. She looked over at the laptop hoping her CO would get the hint. He followed her gaze and his smile widened. "Someone put your toy away Carter?"

He looked like he was about to take another dig at her when he was interrupted by the appearance of Janet. The Doctor looked very harried as she bustled into Sam's cubicle. "Sam, I'm so...." Janet trailed off as her eyes settled on her visitor. "Colonel. Good morning sir."

"Morning Doc. Just came to see how Carter was doing." He said.

Janet smiled. "Actually sir, I was just coming to see the same thing. Its been a little busy this morning, I haven't even had breakfast..." Janet trailed off as she looked at her watch and realized what the time had gotten too. Sam! She'd forgotten all about feeding Sam. "Oh Sam, I'm so sorry, I forgot you hadn't had breakfast either." She wondered how she'd fit Sam's feeding into the morning, SG-8 was due back any moment now, and there was a meeting she had to be at with the surgical staff. Janet had no problem eating on the run her self, but Sam didn't have that luxury.

As if reading her thoughts, the Colonel spoke up. "Relax Doc, just show me where Carter's breakfast is, I'll go get it."

"Sir, you don't understand, we have to syringe feed her." At the Colonel's look of confusion, Janet tried to explain. "Sam had trouble swallowing when drinking from a bowl. Captain Brunsfeld felt that she would have better luck if she could be upright. So we are putting her food into syringes and feeding her that way."

Jack grinned. "Hey, still no problem Doc. Just show me where." At Janet and Sam's quizzical looks, Jack explained. "I grew up on a farm, I've done it before. I can give Carter a hand."

Janet regarded the Colonel thoughtfully, than deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth; she quickly led the Colonel off to get him set up.

It wasn't long before Colonel O'Neill returned, and Sam's nose picked up the smell of more beef and vegetables. Jack grinned as Sam sat up, watching him closely. She looked over at the laptop again, than back to him. "You can play after breakfast Carter. Janet says she's sorry its more beef and she promises that you'll have something different later."

Sam didn't mind, beef was fine with her. She was pretty hungry by now anyway. Sam was more worried about the fact that her CO was going to be feeding her breakfast, but the Colonel didn't give her a lot of time to dwell on the fact, as he set the bowl down carefully on the bed, and picked up the towel and syringes before settling himself next to her. "Okay Carter." He said as he expertly transferred Sam to his lap, and before she could protest, he wrapped the towel around her.

Jack tried not to think too much about the fact that his second was seated in his lap. She was ramrod stiff, so Jack tried to get her to relax with a joke. He filled one of the syringes with the brown mixture, Sam watching his every move. "Mmmm, doesn't this look yummy. At least it smells better than the stuff they gave is in Hadante." Jack recalled the name of the prison planet SG-1 had been sent to. Sam's ears went back at the reference to the food, but his weak joke had the desired effect as Sam relaxed marginally.

"You ready Carter?" He asked her. At Sam's nod, Jack expertly popped the syringe into the side of her mouth and squirted some of the thick warm concoction onto the back of her tongue. Even though she was prepared, the sudden appearance of food in her mouth still startled her. While she swallowed most of it, she still made a mess on the towel. The colonel either didn't notice it, or wasn't going to mention it. At least he wasn't going to make a crack about her wearing a bib. Sam's ears flattened in embarrassment.

The feeding went well, after the first mouthful, Sam managed not to get very much on the towel, and the Colonel kept up a steady stream of chatter. Sam half listened as she concentrated on swallowing the mouthfuls of food that the Colonel was giving her. Occasionally, he would ask her a question she could respond to with a nod or shake of her head, but mostly he just talked about what was going on outside the infirmary. Sam grew gradually more relaxed at his familiar voice, and less uncomfortable with the fact that she was seated in her CO's lap, being fed like a baby.

Like the previous night, it didn't take Sam very long to eat her fill, and soon she was pulling away and shaking her head at the latest offering from the Colonel. "Had enough?" He asked. Janet had warned him she'd only need a few ounces. At Sam's nod, he gently unwrapped the towel, reflexively smoothed down her rumpled fur. He quickly removed his hands as Sam startled at his touch. "Sorry Carter," he mumbled. Sam just meowed, and ducked her head, before stepping lightly off his lap. Then she looked over at the dormant laptop. He had promised after all.

Jack couldn't stop his grin. Keeping Carter away from work was like... well it was like trying to keep a white cat away from black pants. At the thought, Jack looked down briefly at his lap. Sure enough, it was covered in short yellow-blonde striped hairs. Jack decided not to mention it this time. He had just better remember to be careful if he needed to wear his dress blues while she was still stuck a cat. If not, he'd be buying a lint brush.

Sam wondered what the Colonel was thinking as he leaned over her to set up the laptop. As she waited for the computer to boot up, she realized there was another need she needed to take care of. The sensation of fullness from the night before had returned; reminding her she hadn't gone since. Her ears flattened slightly. She wasn't sure if she wanted to ask the Colonel for help in getting to the bathroom. Helping her eat was one thing, but this was another matter entirely.

Fortunately, Sam was saved from her dilemma as Janet returned, looking a bit less flustered than earlier. Her practiced eye took in the mostly empty bowl, the brown stains on the towel, the Colonel's relaxed expression, and Sam's half flattened ears. She raised her eyebrow at Sam, and Sam meowed in response, looking at the bathroom again. Janet smiled. "Colonel, if you'll excuse us, Sam and I will be right back."

Jack looked confused as Janet lifted Sam to the floor, but that changed to curiosity as he realized where they were headed. To Sam's relief however, he did not ask the questions that were no doubt on his mind.

When they reached the bathroom, Sam made a decision, and before Janet could lift her up, she'd tensed her back legs like she'd seen Schroedinger do countless times and jumped up unto the tray Janet had left in place. She skidded a little bit on the smooth surface of the tray, but fortunately it had a lip around the edges that stopped her from making a rather embarrassing fall or an even more embarrassing splash. She turned to judge Janet's reaction. Janet looked surprised, but she didn't say anything, even when Sam looked pointedly at the door. Janet could take a hint, and stepped outside, closing the door behind her. Sam didn't hear retreating footsteps, so she knew the Doctor was just outside the door, so she could get out again.

Whether Janet was surprised to hear the subsequent flush of the toilet (Sam was rather proud of herself for that little feat) and the scratching from the inside of the door that came after, she never said. She merely watched Sam critically as she made her way back to her bed and the Colonel. When Sam looked pointedly at a chair not far from the bed, Janet took the hint and moved it close to the bed. Sam's landings weren't the best she'd ever seen, as Sam jumped from the floor to the chair, and the chair to the bed, but at least she didn't fall off or miss.

Janet made up her mind. "Well Sam, if Captain Brunsfeld agrees, I see no reason to keep you here another night. If things keep going well I think we can let you out of here this afternoon." Sam rejoiced silently. "You'll have to stay on base for now though." Janet warned her. Sam didn't mind. There was a lot of work to be done anyway, and its not like she'd be able to do much at home without someone there to help. Sam turned towards the laptop. She'd best get to work. As Sam settled down with the information Daniel had left her on the computer, Janet and the Colonel excused themselves, Sam giving them a distracted meow in parting.
And another A/N: Sorry. I just keep forgetting I wanted to share some of the inspiration for some of the things in the story. So if you don't like people rambling on about beloved pets, just skip the rest, I won't mind.

Sam's initial wobbliness and trouble walking was inspired ironically enough, by my old cat Samantha, better known as Sam. Nope, Sam wasn't named for Stargate Sam, we had her the last two years of her life or so, and she was around 20 years old when she passed away a few years ago. She'd been my grandmother's cat and outlived grandmom by at least 15 years or so. Sam was very very old for a cat. I don't know if Sam's balance problems were something she'd always had, or something she developed in age, but Sam had a tendency to wobble when she sat (she liked to tuck in all four feet and tail as tightly as she possibly could) and had a tendency to sleep or sit on the very edges of things, so the combination usually meant she fell alot. She also tended to misjudge her jumps. She was pretty darn active up until her last few weeks. She was a creamy off white color, with grey stipes on her legs, head, and tail, and she had enormous blue eyes. So here and there you'll see a bit of my old, smelly, loving, silly, vocal, active, elderly cat mixed in with what Sam Carter experiences. Other inspiration comes from Splat, who is a middle aged, overweight, but still loveable female tabby cat, who likes to come watch me type, even if she can't jump up on things anymore, she's an expert at playing the poor pathetic cat. (just not the poor pathetic starving cat, although she tries... she doesn't like to be on a diet) I may bore you with details about Splat later. I've bored you enough for now though I think.