Chapter 20 – Healing

Running out of the control room and down to the doors to the 'gate room, Hammond arrived just as the doors rumbled open, the blast shield rising from the control room.

"Colonel," he called, "just what in God's name's going on here?" His fear for the safety of his team and his base was making him more than a little grumpy as he marched into the room.

Everyone who was rising from their 'cover' positions on the ramp had an apprehensive look about them as they eyed the weapons warily. All that is, except for Dr. Jackson and Teal'c.

"Hi, General," Jackson said with a slight almost-grin, marred by a sad look in his eyes. Teal'c bowed to him but remained silent as the murmuring from somewhere in the darkness behind the 'gate came to a conclusion.

"Oh, you know, General," O'Neill called cheerily. "Got stuck in an alien Galaxy, caught by the Goa'uld again, had to fight our way out. The usual. We did find someone we think you'll be glad to see, though."

"Colonel…" Hammond warned. O'Neill's voice had been getting marginally closer, but he couldn't make out anything other than a vague form. The fight, and the explosion or whatever it had been, had taken out most of the lighting that side of the room.

"Trust me, General, you'll have to see this to believe it." The Colonel was supporting the woman forwards, and Hammond once again had the faint feeling that he should recognise her.

A commotion behind him and a shout of "Daniel!" announced the arrival of Dr. Frasier (technically Jackson, but that would have been confusing) and her team, just as a mop of short blonde hair came into view. The head rose at the unexpected light, squinting at them with a slightly false, pained grin on her face.

Hammond's jaw dropped.

Literally.

Surprised murmurs sprang up within the SF's, and movement out of the corner of his eye showed that people were gossiping in the control room.

"Surprise!" she said, her voice stronger than he would have expected after the beating he'd just seen her take. A clatter behind him was heard as someone dropped something.

"Oh my god…Sam?"

"Hi, Janet."

The long-lost-Major was blocked from view for a moment as another person – alien – came barrelling forwards, stealing Major Carter's attention and yowling incomprehensibly.

"I'll be fine, 'Tralla. No, there was nothing you could do. 'Tralla, it was my own Force-forsaken fault for not realising he was a Goa'uld." A round of growling punctuated each sentence. "Oh, for crying out loud, I'd be fine if you'd just stop rubbing my head. I don't care if it's a Wookie thing; I am not a Wookie." The large, hairy alien made what could only be described as an apologetic whine, but Hammond could see that Sam was grinning tiredly despite herself.

Looking hard at the group on the ramp, she seemed to suddenly realise something. "Who did we lose?" she asked, sadly, the smile slipping.

"Kul'yer, Chom, Mey, Krix, Fenni, Shent and three of the Noghri," replied the smallest of the men.

"Sith! What happened?"

"Stormtroopers came up behind us. We couldn't sense them coming and weren't quick enough to defend." A fiery red-headed woman spoke this time and they all lapsed into silence for a moment, silent looks passing between some of them.

"Well, as fun as this is, the General is going to choke on flies soon, and there are injuries to be dealt with…" Jack O'Neill's voice cut into the silence as he tried to lift the mood, getting them moving.

Hammond's mouth snapped shut, and he laid a hand on Major Carter's arm, to reassure himself that she actually was there. "It's good to see you alive, Major."

She smiled, but shook her head. "Not Major anymore. Just Sam Carter."

"Jedi Knight Sam Carter," Jack re-iterated with more than a little pride, earning a weak, amused shake of her head.

"Infirmary?"

"You betcha. Hear that folks: follow the short lady with the needles." Janet tried to glare at Jack, but the effect was spoiled by the huge grin spread across her face as she reluctantly let go of Daniel.

The aliens gathered followed down the ramp, pausing at the bottom, where the SF's were requesting their weapons. They looked affronted, the red-head in particular.

"Give them your weapons," Sam ordered them, a look passing between certain members of the group that Hammond found himself unable to fathom. Even as she said it the rest of SG-1 took her cue, and they were the first to hand over an assortment of weapons, including the strange silver cylinders.

O'Neill and Carter remained to bring up the rear, watching in odd mixture of amusement and grief as the tallest man yelled back, "Get a move on, Goldenrod!"

"I assure you, Master Solo, I am trying my best, but these steps are most difficult to navigate."

Meanwhile the short, domed robot had rolled down to the bottom, extended a front wheel to try to navigate the step but had instead just fallen right off, landing on its front, wheels spinning uselessly in the air.

Still dazed and in shock, Hammond heard two snorts of laughter at the robots' predicament, and he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Carter gesture with a hand. The robot suddenly lifted into the air and set itself upright, warbling something at Sam and Jack as they limped slowly towards the infirmary, Carter leaning heavily on the Colonel.

"That's quite alright, Artoo," he heard Carter say.

The golden robot turned towards him, its cultured voice emanating forth as it turned glowing lights/eyes towards him. "Hello, Sir, I am See-Threepio, Human-Cyborg relations. I am fluent in over 6 million forms of communication…" It continued to blather away as they headed towards the infirmary after the others.


"You allowed them to escape!" Hetarn bellowed, eyes glowing fiercely.

"I-I-I'm sorry, my lord, I take full responsibility for my-argh!"

"Yes, you will," Hetarn informed him coldly as he engaged his hand device, taking pleasure in the way that the man slumped to the floor. "You! Report!" He glared at the young ensign who stood behind his commander.

"Four aliens found their way into the facility, we-we think from the troop ships they landed in. They f-found Solo first, released the prisoners and made their way to the Chappa'ai, My Lord," the man stuttered, head bowed.

"And what of Xitori?"

"He was pulled through the Chappa'ai by the Jedi Carter."

Hetarn hissed in annoyance and the ensign flinched. "They will have to be dealt with at a later date. For now, they cannot return to this Galaxy so we will have a brief respite. Send an assassin after them anyway…I wouldn't want them to forget about me. Dismissed." He waved the relieved ensign off, already planning which planet he would take next.


As Sam hobbled out of the Gateroom with Jack, she felt a faint wave of amusement pass through her at the faint sound of Threepio's words. It was quickly drowned out as tiredness, grief, and pain overwhelmed her, and she pulled her Force-sense in, tapping into it only to keep herself awake and alert for the time she knew it would take to get to the infirmary and get everyone settled.

She only vaguely noticed Dentralla's over-protective presence hovering at the door, waiting for them.

A million questions vied for her attention, but she pushed them away with a single-minded determination. So intent was she on putting one foot in front of the other that she completely missed the Tok'ra who was hovering at the base of the stairs from the control room.

"'Lo, Reeses," Jack murmured, using his pet name for Sarah/Vinnet.

"Colonel O'Neill! Is that…?"

"Yeah, you want to-"

"Of course," the relatively young half earth-girl interrupted him, pre-empting his request and looking to Hammond for confirmation.

"Do it," the Texan General ordered, returning the nod she sent their way before heading back up to the control room.

Turning back to Sam, Jack caught the grimace on her face, "What is it?" he asked, concerned.

Sam pulled a face in reply, "He cut my bra, and it's just kinda…uncomfortable."

"You have god knows how many wounds and you're upset because he cut your bra in half!"

"I don't think you realise just how uncomfortable that is," Sam growled. "I hope not, anyway."

Dentralla yowled a comment, to which Sam rolled her eyes. "Walking 'round in the buff may work for you, but I'd rather not, thanks." Jack opened his mouth to comment, but Sam silenced him quickly; "Don't you dare!"

"Me!" They lapsed into silence, the sound of their footsteps punctuating the journey.

When they arrived at the infirmary a few minutes later, they were greeted by a scene of utter chaos. While the severely outnumbered doctors and nurses were trying – unsuccessfully - to organise the gathered beings, the SF's were trying to keep tabs on them, flinching occasionally when one of them made a large gesture or a loud comment.

Sam took a deep breath, tapping into the Force to keep herself going a few minutes more. After a few quieter attempts to get their attention she gave up, yelling "PEOPLE!", masking a wince as the charred skin on her chest cracked and split.

The commotion stopped, and the beings gathered turned to look at her questioningly. "Thank you. Those of you injured, claim a bed or you'll be on the floor. Those not, get out of the way and let the professionals do their job. You'll be taken to VIP quarters shortly, just as soon as they're sorted." Even the non Force-users in the room could detect the edge to her voice, and it had been well groomed to giving orders in a crisis.

"Major," Hammond began, frowning at her.

"General, do you really believe that having all of these people in here is going to help the situation?"

"No, but you have no right to be making the decisions in here, and frankly I don't know if these people, or even you for that matter, pose a threat to my base." Sam's snapped her mouth shut, her lips forming a thin line as her eyes hardened. "You've been MIA, presumed dead for nearly 7 years," Hammond continued; "you can't just waltz in here and start ordering my people around."

The words 'well have you got a better idea?' sprang into her mind unbidden, but she bit them back in the nick of time. He had a point, and she would do the same in his place. She nodded silently, turning to survey the people who had followed her here.

Jack, still supporting her with one arm, gave her a minute squeeze. "General, these are good people; I owe them my life, and Sam's."

"I'll take that into consideration, Colonel." Hammond turned to the nearest SF. "As Major Carter suggested, install those people not in need of medical attention in the VIP quarters, but post an armed guard."

"Thank you, General," Jack nodded to him, acknowledging the command decision had been unnecessary, but the right one to make nonetheless.

"We'll have a debriefing later, Colonel, but for now, I have several phone calls to make. It's good to have you back."

"Good to be back, Sir." Hammond turned and left, leaving them to it.

"'Tralla, get on a bed, and let them look at you," Sam ordered the tall Wookie, eyeing the blaster wound she had on her torso. Dentralla roared a protest, but Sam merely levelled an icy gaze at her. "Get. Now. I'll just be a few beds over." The hairy biped eventually complied, grumbling the entire time. Pelari and Gelk were already on beds, and she could see Leia and Han arguing with the remaining Noghri about whether or not he could leave 'the Lady Vader' for a while to heal himself.

Of the others, that left only Corran who was injured. "I'm fine, just a few singes," he told Sam when she levelled her eyes at him.

"And a Hutt could fly," she replied. "At least get them cleaned and dressed." She said nothing more to him before leading Jack over to the two beds at the far end of the room. Hobbling to her own bed, she didn't look at Corran as she manoeuvred herself onto it.

"Sam?"

"Leave it," she growled, blocking him out of her mind. Sensing that now was not the time, Corran wisely left it, surrendering himself to the care of a nurse for the short while it took to have them cleaned and dressed, before he rejoined the others waiting to go to the VIP quarters.

Sitting back and closing her eyes, she let the noise wash over her for a few moments. She felt betrayed and not only by the Derren-Goa'uld but also by the people who had claimed to be her friends and team-mates but who hadn't trusted her enough to tell her about the presence of the four Noghri. People who had, in fact, deliberately concealed their presence from them. They should have trusted her. If not as a friend then as the Team Leader. But they didn't trust her.

She brought herself back to reality as the noise of a rubber glove snapping on announced the arrival of Janet Frasier-Jackson.

"Hello, stranger," she commented, smiling. The curtain had been pulled, Sam noticed.

"Hey Janet."

"You going to let me have a look at that wound?"

"Wounds, plural!" Jack announced from the bed opposite, watching her with concern.

Sam sighed. "Right, just gotta do something first."

"Oh, no you don't have to do anything first," Janet informed her, moving to intercept her as she slid off of the bed and started to walk towards Jack.

"Janet-"

"Samantha Carter, you get back in that bed now!"

Sam, tired, in pain, and grieving for a friend, simply ignored her, raising one hand as she moved to Jack's side. Janet was surprised to find herself caught in an invisible barrier and unable to move. "Daniel will explain."

"Sam?" Jack asked.

"Healing trance. You should wake on your own, once you're healed, but we'll use the keyword just in case," she explained quietly, not having the energy for a detailed explanation or niceties.

"How about, you let me heal normally, and you put yourself under."

"I'll do that after."

"Just like you did last time?"

"No, this time I will be able to…promise." Jack held her gaze for a few moments, reaching out with his fledgling Force abilities and reaching into her mind for confirmation. Sensing this Sam let him into her mind, showing him her determination and her honesty.

"Do you really want a headache the size of Coruscant for the next few days?"

"Fine," he gave in with a small smile, "you're way too stubborn for your own good."

"Learned it from the best."

Jack lay back on the bed, taking her right hand and giving it a squeeze, careful not to jolt it and hurt her.

"Homer? Just in case."

"Homer," he confirmed as she closed her eyes and put her hand on his forehead, sending him into a healing trance.

Once done, she hobbled back to her own bed, releasing the riled doctor to check on Jack. "What did you do?"

"Put him into a healing trance…Daniel will explain."

"Is he-will he wake up on his own?" Janet knew better than to question her right then.

"He'll sleep like a Hutt 'till he's done, or you say the key word."

"Hutt? Keyword?"

Sam waved off an explanation of 'Hutt'. "Homer."

Janet snorted. "Of course. What about you?"

"Do what you have to when I'm under." Janet could see the pain that underscored her exhaustion and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. She'd seen weirder – hadn't she? "Do you have a keyword?"

Sam thought for a few minutes before nodding. "Peacemaker?" Janet raised an eyebrow. "Name of my ship," she explained.

"Your-? I have a feeling you've got quite a tale to tell."

"You have no idea. If you don't mind…" She sent herself off into the bliss-full embrace of oblivion.

Janet looked at her for a moment before tentatively reaching out to touch her hand. She was really there. Suppressing a teary smile, she slipped back into doctor mode, reaching out to gently peel back the burnt fabric of her jacket, keeping an eye on her to test whether or not she was going to disturb her.

Behind her, another curtain was pulled as another nurse began work on checking Jack out.

Pulling the tray closer to her and the bed, she grabbed the scissors to cut off the tank, forehead creasing at the mess of burnt flesh underneath, before starting on the long task.

After only a few minutes' work, she heard a loud grumble from down the room. "Dr. Frasier!" someone called.

"Jordan, take over for me," she called to the passing nurse who nodded before putting down the scrubs he was carrying and taking over, wincing visibly at the sight. "She's out cold," Janet explained before marching off towards the nurse who had called her.

"What is it, Kelly?"

"I can't understand what the…alien is saying, and she's making it hard to treat her…or him." The nurse looked nervous and a little dazed and kept staring warily at the cubicle.

"Alright, go and help Jordan; he's got a big job to do."

"Yes Ma'am."

Janet looked at the curtain, her lips pursed. How the hell was she supposed to treat a patient she not only didn't understand, but who also had a completely alien physiology and wasn't being a co-operative patient? At least we've got the analyser device up and working…although we've really got to figure out a better name for it.

She turned on her heel and marched over the remaining people gathered. "Hello, I'm Doctor Frasier. I need to treat the patient in there…was it Dentralla? But I don't understand what she's saying. Is it possible that any of you could translate for me?"

"Of course," replied a fairly short, sandy-haired man. "This is C-3PO, he's a protocol droid."

"Hello," the golden droid stepped forwards, head tilted to one side. "I am fluent in over six million forms of communication; I would be happy to translate for you."

"Stop yapping and start moving, Goldenrod," growled a tall, dark haired man. C-3PO started to move towards the cubicle, the motors that moved him whirring almost imperceptibly.

"Thank you." She had started to move away when the SF who had been sent to check VIP quarters returned. "Ah, I think you can go now, but I will be along to check you over later – standard tests to make sure that you aren't carrying any foreign illnesses –"

"Or Goa'uld." The red-headed woman added shrewdly.

Janet smiled grimly, and nodded. "Get some rest, and eat…Doctor's orders." With that, she turned on her heel and marched back to the cubicle.


"Excuse me, if you'll follow me please." They turned to regard the armed sergeant. "The VIP quarters are ready for you."

"Thank you," Leia told him with a smile as they trooped out after him, walking down the corridor in silence. After a trip down several plain grey corridors marked in unfamiliar shapes and a ride in a primitive cable-lift elevator, they reached a plain door with a security lock on it. Their guards ushered them into a fairly large room full of various bits of furniture, all in a very traditional style, just like the hinged-door. Leading off were six more hinged doors, no doubt to the sleeping quarters.

Chewie howled a comment, making Han smirk.

"No kidding; beats an Imperial cell anyway."

"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there." They looked up at the familiar voice of Daniel, who had just walked headfirst into the Sergeant.

"Not a problem, Dr. Jackson, glad to see you back."

Daniel gave him a quick smile before moving into the room, the door closing soundly behind him, and a lock clicking into place. "Sorry it took so long…Janet wanted Teal'c and me to do a post-mission physical right away…something about aliens messing with our bodies…"

"Of course, Daniel," Luke told him with a small smile.

"Right, now I've been made your 'liaison' of sorts, to make sure you have what you need as I have a background with you. First things first…clothes. You'll be given a set of BDU's each until we can either get some others, or get yours cleaned and repaired, we've just got to sort out sizes." He pulled out a note book and they quickly worked out some sizes and scribbled them down. "And food…any kind of food that you'd prefer…not that you'd know what kind of food we have here…"

"Just whatever you think we might like will be fine, Daniel," Leia said, giving him a small smile.

"Oh, well I'll just get a mix of everything…and lots of raw meat for Chewie."

Chewie howled a vociferous affirmative, causing the guards to rush in, asking Daniel if he was okay.

"No, I'm fine, sergeant. That's about it for now, though. The General will want to talk to you later, though."

"We'll be waiting," Han replied wryly.

Once Daniel had left, they all sank tiredly onto the chairs, regarding each other quietly.

"What happened, Han?" Luke was the first to speak. "We all saw you die…I felt you die…"

Han shrugged. "I dunno, one minute I was in there, a gun aimed at me, the next I was in a big box, with a Noghri looking down at me."

"Could it have been one of those Sarcophagus things that they were telling us about?" Corran asked, receiving a few nods.

Chewie growled a question at them, which Han translated as "Why didn't any of you Jedi sense these people; they didn't have any ysalimiri on them."

"I don't know." Luke shook his head, frowning.

"It was too precise, too localised for Ysalimiri," Mara added, shaking her head. "It was as if the Force just couldn't access the people."

"What about Derren; why didn't we notice that he'd fallen to the dark side?"

"Could it have been the same thing that stopped you from sensing the people?" Han asked with a shrug.

"I don't think so…we could sense that he was there, but we didn't sense that he was Dark-side. Usually if someone tries to hide something like that, we can tell."

"It wasn't just that," Corran announced. "His Force presence…it was like there were two minds there. Derren's was there, but it was subdued and overshadowed by another…"

"…a Goa'uld," Mara finished for him.

"Who must have been using the Force to hide itself from us," Leia added.

"If it masked its own presence, it could, in theory, have just let us sense Derren's; we would never have noticed it."

"When though?"

"When he was chased back to Yavin…it was a set up," Corran deduced.

A knock on the door heralded the arrival of their clean clothes. "Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm gonna use the 'fresher," Corran announced, rising to his feet and stalking off towards one of the rooms, bundle of clothes in hand.

As if by unanimous agreement, the others followed suit, grabbing a bundle of clothes and a room each.

After studying the unit for a few minutes, he finally managed to figure out how to work it, though it took another five minutes to get the temperature right and he stepped under the jet of water, letting it wash over him. If we haven't got control of the 'gate at the other end…we can never go back, the thought struck him with an almost physical force. Mirax, Valin…


General George Hammond walked into the Infirmary to find a dishevelled Janet Frasier-Jackson checking the chart of a patient – a blue-haired woman who was sleeping peacefully, olive brown skin hinting at an exotic home planet.

Janet looked up at him, smiling tiredly. "General," she greeted.

"What have we got, Doctor?"

"Well, this is Major Mel Gelk…she's human, took a high-energy shot to the right arm, but otherwise okay." She moved on to the next bed, where a green-skinned alien with two tentacles on his head lay, sleeping a little less peacefully. "Major Pelari, a Twi'lek. He took a shot to what he tells me are his 'Lekku', or head-tails. They're very sensitive he tells me." In the next lay a wiry grey alien. "This is…Borakek?"

"Close, Borakahk," the alien corrected, eyes opening.

"Sorry, Borakahk," Janet corrected. "This is General Hammond, the leader of this base."

"Greetings, General Hammond."

"And to you…Borakahk." The alien nodded to confirm his pronunciation. "I hope you are feeling better."

"I am. The wound in my leg is nothing; it will heal soon." Nodding a respectful goodbye, the alien closed his eyes again.

The next was a large hairy alien who had needed some clever manipulation to lengthen the bed for her. "This is Dentralla; she's a Wookie. She's sedated at the moment…we had to so that we could clean and dress the wound. I think it's a good thing that those weapons cauterise most of the wound at the same time, as I don't think any of them would have lasted long otherwise."

"You used the Jelljin device to test her reaction to the sedative?" Hammond asked, gesturing the Wookie.

"Yes…as well as for everyone else; I wasn't going to take any chances."

Hammond nodded, glad that the device that had so nearly cost him two teams was worthwhile. "Why is the robot-"

"Droid."

"Droid, sitting there?"

"Well, Wookie physiology leaves them unable to speak English, though they can understand it. Threepio was translating for me. When he realised that he would most likely not have any method for powering up for a while, he decided that he had best shut himself down to preserve power."

Hammond could detect a hint of amusement in the Doctor's voice as they carried on down towards the end, where Jack and Sam were. Teal'c was standing guard, as usual, watching over them. "Teal'c."

"General Hammond." Teal'c bowed his head and let out a small smile.

Hammond took in the lines under the Jaffa's eyes, the droop of his shoulders and his generally tired demeanour and took pity on him. "Teal'c, why don't you go and get some rest? I'll stay here and watch over them for a while," he offered.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Do you not have duties to attend?"

"I can manage for a few hours, I think. I'll have some reports sent down to work on," he reassured the Jaffa.

"I can make it an order if you like, Teal'c," Janet cut in, giving him a stern look. Teal'c bowed once and left, heading for the commissary.

Hammond turned his questioning gaze to the doctor once again.

"Here we have Major Carter…her wounds are very strange…they look as if they've been made with a white hot poker…"

"There was a fight in the 'gate room. She very nearly lost. They seemed to be wielding glowing swords…I don't doubt we'll find out sooner or later. Anything you can tell me about what happened when she was taken?"

"Not really…the nurses found rather a lot of small weapons on her…most seemed like an advanced form of knives, one small concealed gun of some sort. She does have some inexplicable scars though…mostly on her hands and upper arms." She showed him the criss-crossing of scars. "Then we have this tattoo…I don't know what it says; I'll have to ask Daniel later. Apart from that, the scars mostly seem to be burns of some kind. She was wearing this, though," Janet showed him the small silver necklace with the 'Gate symbol for Earth and an unrecognisable one too.

"WHOAH!" They turned to find Jack O'Neill raised onto his elbows, eyes wide open and looking a little disoriented.

"Colonel?" They rushed over to his side, Hammond forgetting that he was still holding the necklace.

"Doc, General!" The beeping of the ECG slowed down again as his heart rate returned to normal. "Would you stop that! I'm fine!" he exclaimed as Janet shone a light in his eyes.

"Colonel, you've been unconscious for several hours-"

"I wasn't unconscious; I was in a healing trance,"

"Yes, Daniel told me, sort of."

"Hmmph. How are the others?"

"Alive, settled, not for you to worry about at the moment. How are you feeling?"

"Hungry, a little tired, mostly hungry,"

"I'm not surprised; to heal that quickly must take enormous amounts of energy."

Jack shrugged. "Most of it comes from the Force." Janet and the General exchanged a look and Jack sighed. "Get Luke to explain it; he's the Jedi Master."

"I'll keep that in mind. For now, we'll get you something to eat and you can rest."

Jack yawned and nodded, shrugging when she asked what he wanted. "Meat and Jello" were his only specifications; "what?" was his indignant question upon catching the bemused looks of Hammond.

"Meat and Jello?"

"Would you believe that they don't have Jello? I mean…an advanced civilisation like that, thousands of planets, hundreds of races and they don't have Jello!"

Hammond chuckled lightly. "Only you, Jack, only you."

"Thanks, I think. Whatcha got there?" he asked, catching sight of the silver chain still in Hammond's hands.

"Oh, Major Carter's necklace; Doctor Frasier was showing it to me when you woke up."

"You know you might want to drop the 'Major' part; she gets a little antsy about it."

Hammond nodded slowly, but decided that it was best left, for now at least. "Can you tell me what this second symbol means?" he asked instead, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"It's the symbol of the Jedi."

"The people she's been with for the last seven years?"

"Nooo…the people she's been one of for the last four years."

"And before that…?"

Jack seemed to hold an internal debate with himself before finally speaking. "…she was a slave."

"A slave?" he asked incredulously. He'd assumed these people had found her right near the beginning, within days of her being taken.

Jack nodded. "And we left her," he added bitterly.

"My God…"

Jack sensed that he was going to ask another question, but he held his hand up to silence him. "General, anything more than that…it's up to Sam to tell you."

"I understand, Jack. You do realise I'll have to tell Doctor Frasier this, in case of any medical emergency."

"I know." Jack swivelled his eyes to look at Sam, who lay peacefully on the other side of him, her breathing slow and gentle.

The arrival of Hammond's aide with a pile of papers interrupted both men's reveries. Jack raised an eyebrow at him.

"I promised Teal'c I'd keep watch over you until he'd had some rest."

Jack smirked. "I didn't know you cared," he quipped impishly.

Hammond snorted and shook his head, silence falling as the food was brought in and Jack busied himself with trying to inhale it.