"Indeed Daniel Jackson. I believe I shall call him Thor." Teal'c proclaimed as he settled the box gently on his broad knee. Something scratched and moved around on the inside. Jack shot one look at the small box, and another at Daniel. Shaking his head, Jack announced, "Fine Teal'c, but when the General asks, I had nothing to do with it!" Jack pulled out of the parking lot before Teal'c could decide on any more purchases.

Chapter 23

Upon returning to the base, Jack made his first stop the isolation room where they'd left Carter sleeping. Teal'c had quickly excused himself, taking "Thor" and the large bag, presumably (hopefully) a cage and other things for Thor. Daniel had also slipped off muttering about suffixes and prefixes and other things Jack didn't quite catch. So Jack was left carrying the bag of things they'd bought for Carter, which suited him just fine as it gave a nice excuse to peek in on his second in command.

When Jack arrived at the room, Janet was seated at the table, with some paperwork spread out in front of her. She looked up and smiled, motioning for him to be quiet as she pointed to Sam. She was still asleep, body curled in the little ball he'd last seen her in nearly two hours before. Jack had no intention of waking the sleeping Major, but Carter must have sensed his presence, as she stirred when he quietly entered the room, than stretched and yawned. Becoming aware of his presence, Sam pulled herself into a sitting position, meowing softly in greeting while blinking sleepily. Jack suppressed a grin; her fur was even more rumpled and was now sticking in every direction. She was rather... fluffy. Somehow he didn't think Carter would be impressed by the description.

"Hey Carter." Jack replied to Sam's greeting as the Doctor moved to Sam's side, quickly assessing her for any signs of distress. The Major seemed clear-eyed and alert however, as she watched her CO set the bag on the table with open curiosity. "Picked a few things up for ya Carter," her CO said as he opened the bag.

As the first item came out of the bag, Sam's ears laid flat. A collar? Sam looked from the collar to Janet, trying to convey her question. "Sorry Sam," Janet smiled sympathetically, "I think it's really for the best. We need a way to keep fleas from coming back. Unlike the products you can put on your skin or ingest, if you have a reaction to the collar we can just take it off. Besides, I don't think you really want to go through another bath."

Sam realized that Janet had a point, and sighed in resignation. As humiliating as it was to wear the flea collar, it was less embarrassing than the thought of having to suffer through another flea bath. She nodded to Janet in reluctant agreement and watched as the Colonel unwrapped the bright blue collar.

"Teal'c thought the reflective stripe would be handy." He explained as he pulled something else out of his pocket. Jack wasn't sure why he'd continued to carry the small metal tags, but smiled in satisfaction as he slipped them off their chain and onto the blue collar. "There, now you have a place for your, uh, dog tags." He held up the collar and tags so she could see them. Sam investigated, sniffing hesitantly. At least the collar didn't have as powerful a smell as the shampoo. She held still to allow the Colonel to fasten the collar. "Not too tight Carter?" Sam shook her head no as she let the collar and tags to settle. It felt a little odd, but she thought she would get used to it. She was happy to have her tags back at least. She hadn't realized until now just how much a part of her the little slips of metal were.

The Colonel wasn't done with her yet though. After making sure the collar fit and wasn't too tight, he pulled a small package out of the bag. Unwrapping it, he dropped something small and gray in front of her, and then stood with his hands stuffed in his pockets, grinning. "Got you a little something else Carter."

Sam approached the something in front of her with narrowed eyes. Recognition dawned, as she realized what it was. How could she not? Schroedinger had lost more than one of these under the sofa and the fridge. Sam glared up at the Colonel, and her reaction only seemed to tickle him more. Janet came to Sam's defense, and started chiding Jack about his off beat sense of humor. Sam tuned them out though, as an intriguing smell reached her senses.

Approaching the small furry mouse toy cautiously, Sam sniffed at it. Was that catnip? It smelled differently than she remembered, and Sam reached out a tentatively, hooking it with a claw, she dragged it closer, pulling it towards her face so she could investigate it more closely. She sniffed at the toy again. Definitely catnip.

At odd thought possessed her as she found a sudden urge to bat the toy away. Startled as the object in question landed about a foot away on the bed, Sam was confused, as she realized she wanted it back. Not wanting it to get away again, she crouched down, coiled her back legs, and pounced, taking it by surprise. Triumph filled her and her tail swished in satisfaction as she held her prey between her paws, giving it a few sniffs and a lick for good measure.

So intent was she on the hunt, Sam failed to notice that Doctor Fraiser and Colonel O'Neill had stopped talking and were staring at her, mouths open in shock, as she abruptly rolled over onto her back and started to kick the mouse toy with her hind legs. Janet shook herself from her shock first, and grabbed the empty package the Colonel had discarded onto the table. "Catnip? You bought her a catnip toy? Don't you know catnip makes cats act crazy! There's no telling what effect it will have on Sam. We have to get it away from her sir!"

Jack's amusement over his joke evaporated quickly. He'd never intended to harm Carter. Honestly, he'd just meant to tease her with the 'cat toy' and hadn't even considered the catnip that seemed to be an integral part of just about everything made for cats. He didn't know what to think as he watched his normally serious Major rolling around on the bed, kicking and biting a small mouse toy. Reaching quickly for the offending object, Jack was shocked when Carter drew away from him, growling.

Sam wasn't sure what the man's intentions were, but when the hand had reached towards her, she knew he was after her prey. HER prey. Well he couldn't have it! It was hers! Sam grabbed her prey up in her mouth and backed away, growling. The man was talking to her, as the other person moved in front of her. They were trying to surround her. Sam knew she didn't stand a chance against the much larger adversaries, so if she wanted to keep her prize, she couldn't stay and fight. Holding her well-deserved spoils in her mouth, Sam did the only thing she could and bolted.

Shocked cries and shouts of dismay went right over Sam's head as she slipped through hands, dashing under, around and sometimes over anything in her path. Furniture crashed to the floor as Sam saw a door opening. Taking the opportunity, Sam made a break through it, charging unknowingly between the legs of the very startled General, and out into the hall to freedom.