Doctor Janet Fraiser's happiness at seeing Colonel O'Neill alive again, by the approach of her second hour doing a work-up on him as per General Hammond's orders, was starting to wane. Jack's near-death experience had done nothing to improve his behavior around doctors, not even for the amiable and much-adored Janet Fraiser. When he had first walked in she was all smiles and hugs; even learning of the Tok'ra symbiote that inhabited the colonel's body hadn't dampened her mood to see Jack again. Because he'd just come back from the dead from her perspective, Janet was willing to cut him a little slack when it came to his horrible patient tendencies. She let him use tongue depressors as drum sticks, even let him play with the stethoscope like a child at the pediatrician's.

When he'd fiddled and tampered with one of her monitors enough to reset all the controls and leave her with an utterly scrambled piece of machinery Jack O'Neill was truly home... because Janet was giving him sharp looks, slapping his hands when they strayed from a foot-wide radius of his own body, and always the repetitive, 'Colonel, hold still'.

Rescue came in the form of close friends. Sam and Daniel had been sniffing outside the infirmary door like alley dogs, their pacing and occasional knocks the last straw for the harried young doctor. Once the physical exam was over and Jack was decently dressed again Janet allowed them to come in while she finished the last of her tests.

Daniel was a good distraction for at least fifteen minutes. He was weaving in and out of Janet's work zone like a bee dancing around a flower, bursting with questions and the rather adorable need to be able to touch Jack at a moment's notice. He even gave Jack a few playful punches in the arm which got a raised eyebrow from Janet, Sam, and Jack alike; Daniel was not a 'chuck on the arm' kind of person, but in this case it was an excuse to touch Jack and confirm he was back.

When Jack, inevitably, grew tired of Daniel's endless list of questions Sam forestalled any hurtful explosions by stepping in. A month with him being the dearly departed didn't diminish Sam's ability to read Jack's mood, and when she saw his irritation start to spike at Daniel's exuberant behavior she calmly told the young man to go check up on Captain Rawlins, whom Teal'c had been keeping company as the recovery of a once-believed lost member of the original SG-1 sank in. Daniel had balked at first, standing at Jack's side defiantly, then without having to be told twice disappeared out into the hallway.

Which left Sam alone with Janet and Jack, standing back and merely watching, not the bundle of questions or physically tactile proclivities Daniel had been. Even still, without being the interactive distraction Daniel had been, Sam's mere presence seemed to have a moderating effect on Jack's temper... for a while.

"Doc, I'm fine! Really, never felt better."

Janet eyed the colonel closely, "Really, never, even considering the fact you have a Tok'ra symbiote in your head?"

Jack frowned, "Well, of course there's THAT."

Janet picked up Colonel O'Neill's chart, a file she never thought she would hold again. "You may as well quit arguing, Colonel; General Hammond insisted I do a full work-up and I intend to do just that."

"But I don't need one. Aetom's taken care of my injuries, even made it to where my knees aren't bothering me, see?" he flexed both legs a number of times outward from where they hung down over the edge of the bed in demonstration. "Come on, Doc, cut me loose... I didn't come all the way home just to become your next pet project."

"Oh, don't flatter yourself, Colonel. However, you will be pleased to hear that as of.." she made a final mark on the chart and closed the file, "right now I am through with you."

Jack sighed, "Thank you, Doctor."

Janet gave a humorless, tasked maternal smile, "And as soon as you've gotten at least six hours of sleep you are free to go."

"Doc!"

Janet shook her head, "No, Colonel, I insist, your seretonin levels are below normal; how have your sleeping patterns been lately?"

Jack scowled, quiet, then answered a little curtly, "Well you try sleeping soundly with someone rattling around inside your head."

Janet's expression softened just a bit and she lowered the chart to clasp it in front of her, trapped against her body, "If you'd like I could give you a sedative.."

"No, no drugs, besides, Aetom would get rid of them. He knows I don't like sedatives," and with that statement he gave Janet the barest of a stubborn little smirk, as though they were children on a playground and he a spoiled boy with an older brother to come to his rescue, allotting him a measure of irreverence.

Janet sighed, "Colonel, you're not leaving here until you've slept so you can call in all the reinforcements, SGC or Tok'ra, you like, I'm still going to win and you know it."

Jack narrowed his eyes at Janet. If they had in fact been children on a playground Janet had just stuck her tongue out at him because she had the ultimate trump card... her mother was the teacher.

Jack finally gave up. He huffed in unhappy surrender, "All right, fine, sleep."

Janet nodded, "Thank you, Colonel, and welcome back."

Jack grunted, to which Janet only gave an affectionate smile and reached out to touch his arm. Jack brought his eyes up to her and accepted the offer for truce by smiling back without the sting of venom he'd been sporting moments ago. Janet took what she could from a horrible patient, gathered up her instruments and files, then not-so-subtly pulled the curtain to afford the single gurney a measure of privacy. Message received; Janet wanted him to sleep and she'd rather him do it where she was close by.

Jack's eyes were drawn up to Sam, who was still lingering in the periphery, still watching intently. Jack looked at her, brown eyes unwavering. "You've been quiet, Carter."

Sam didn't answer but some of the steeliness to her stance seemed to melt away.

Jack cant his head ever so faintly, studying her, then beckoned softly, "Come here."

Sam paused only a fraction of a second before stepping closer, drawing into the light cast by the single lamp situated beside the gurney upon which Jack was perched. Her eyes were consuming him, not even Jack's realization of her close scrutiny of him was enough to make her look away for even the briefest moment. As she drew closer Jack noticed, with some degree of surprise and stirring curiosity, that he could feel when she came near, sensing a nudging at his brain like a second body touching his in a crowded room.

"You've got that look, Carter... what's on your mind?"

Sam looked down for a split-second before answering carefully, "It's a little strange, sir."

"You're telling me," Jack quipped.

Sam looked back up at him, "I never thought... we thought you were gone, and then for you to show up with a Tok'ra..."

Jack glanced down at his Tok'ra attire. He mentally reminded himself to find a set of fatigues as soon as possible. Not that the Tok'ra clothing was uncomfortable, in fact it was rather cozy when all things were considered, but they weren't what Jack O'Neill was supposed to wear. He looked back up at Sam, who had drifted closer to him without looking like she was aware of her gravitating movement. "Believe me, Major, if you think this is strange you can imagine my reaction."

Sam flinched almost imperceptibly, looking toward Jack from a face turned slightly away, and said softly, "All due respect, sir... you seem to be taking this very well... which I suppose is the strangest part."

Jack went quiet.

In the ensuing silence Sam took it upon herself to quietly take a seat on the gurney beside him, their legs barely touching, as she whispered, "It's good to have you back, Colonel."

Jack looked toward her, meeting sincere blue eyes, and gave her a small smile, communicating a vault-worth of things the two officers knew would never be said aloud.

"I've had time to get used to it, that's all," Jack finally said, "I'm not okay with it, but I've learned to live with it. Helps to know it's not permanent, and Aetom.." Jack trailed and looked into the shadows of the nearly deserted infirmary.

"Sir?"

Jack shrugged, picking at the edge of his tan Tok'ra shirt, "Aetom's not so bad. If he was in someone else I might even like him. Maybe." His expression screwed for only a flicker then he stopped his idle cloth-picking, facial features neutral, if not a little tired. Janet had been on the mark; Jack looked like he could use a good night's sleep... after that and a change of clothes he might seem as though he'd never been gone.

Sam smiled.

The two settled into comfortable silence, appreciating the chance to be close, then Sam slid off the bed and turned to face the colonel, "I should go so you can get some sleep."

Jack rolled his eyes, then suddenly perked up as an idea struck him, "Hey, Carter, think you could do a small favor for me?"

"Sure... what?"

Jack's eyes were twinkling, hopeful smile tugging at his lips, "Think you could smuggle a couple of beers down here?"

Sam was about to argue, point out it would be a breach of protocol to bring him alcohol while on base and even more so when he was on Janet's watch, but the next words out her mouth were, "I'll see what I can do, sir." He was home, back from the dead, and surely that should warrant a little contraband beer.