Chapter 11: Returning to Normal

Three weeks later, Jack and Daniel were released from the hospital and returned home. Jonas had returned to Kelowna the previous week, promising that he would keep in touch with them. Jacob was also gone, leaving earlier in the week to return to the Tok'ra. He didn't want to leave quite yet but there was a little dissention among the Tok'ra council and it fell upon Jacob as host to Selmak, the oldest and wisest of the Tok'ra, to smooth things over and settle it all down. He had promised Sam that he would visit again soon.

Jack and Daniel were both recovering well and neither of them appeared to have any problems or complications from the surgery. In fact, the only difference from the way things had been before was that Jack now had to take medication for the rest of his life to ensure that his body didn't reject and start attacking the new liver. Given that he was getting a new lease on life, it was a sacrifice that Jack O'Neill was more than willing to make.

One afternoon Jack was at home, relaxing and watching the sports channel on television, when his doorbell rang. He got up stiffly and went to open the door, smiling broadly when he noticed Sam standing there with a pizza.

"Hey, you." Jack grinned, reaching out to take Sam's free hand in his own.

"Hi, Jack. How are you doing?" Sam asked, moving into Jack's embrace while being careful not to drop the pizza.

"I was doing fine before but I'm doing even better now that you're here. You always brighten any situation for me."

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way because you have the same effect on me."

"I'm glad." Jack whispered, taking the food from Sam and placing it on the table before pulling her to him and kissing her with such a passion that it left them breathless.

"Whoa. Why don't we, uh, eat this pizza before it gets cold."

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

"You want some iced tea with your pizza?"

"Yeah, actually. That would be great."

For a while, Jack and Sam ate their lunch in silence, just content to enjoy each other's company. The feelings between them were so deep that they didn't require any words. It was a few minutes before Jack spoke again.

"It really does feel good to be home. In the kind of work we do, it gets so routine to be in life threatening danger that you take for granted the opportunities to just relax until something like this happens."

"I can understand that. I realized how much we take for granted those that we care about until we stand to risk losing them. I know I've said this before but while you and Daniel were in surgery and we didn't really know what was going on, I've never been that confused or that scared or felt that helpless before in my life. Not even on the most dangerous off world missions. If I'd have lost you, I don't know what I would have done." Sam said softly.

"Sam, stop it. Don't even think like that. You didn't lose me and you aren't going to. I'm fine and things are getting back to normal. All we need now is to relax for another week or two until Janet clears Daniel and I for active duty and then we'll be back hopping planets just like before. I'm just glad that you had people there for you to help get you through that." Jack whispered to her, pulling her close and hugging her as hard as he dared.


Across town, Daniel and Sarah were also spending a quiet afternoon together. After having a nice lunch that Sarah had made, they decided to watch a movie and settled down on the couch together. After a while, Daniel had stretched out across the couch and rested his head on Sarah's lap. Before either of them knew it, Daniel had fallen asleep in Sarah's lap while she stroked his hair gently.

When the movie ended and the DVD went back to the menu screen, Sarah gently lifted the remote from Daniel's fingers, careful not to disturb him, and switched the player off to allow the television to resume control. Then Sarah looked down at Daniel sleeping soundly in her lap and smiled softly. She enjoyed spending time with him like this and she didn't mind at all that he slept. She was well aware that all he had been through over the past few weeks had completely exhausted him and with his recovery still not totally complete, he really needed the rest. So she sat quietly on the couch with her fiancé, watching him sleep and running her hand over his hair. Sarah remained in this fashion until Daniel awakened an hour later.

"Hey."

"Mmm. Hey, beautiful. Sorry I fell asleep. Guess I'm still a little wiped out. Why didn't you wake me up?" Daniel yawned sleepily.

"Well, I knew that you needed the rest given all that you've been through recently. When we were eating lunch earlier, you seemed exhausted so I decided that it would be better for you if I let you sleep. Besides, you just looked so peaceful lying there that I couldn't have brought myself to disturb you even if I'd wanted to." Sarah explained, bending over to give Daniel a kiss.

"That was very sweet of you. Thank you. Actually I think it's the big lunch we had that relaxed me in the first place. It's always been that way with me. Eating a big meal usually makes me drowsy."

"Do you know what I just thought about?"

"What?"

"I thought about how much I've missed these little moments over the past few weeks. I mean, the smallest things in our lives like you drifting off to sleep in my lap while we're watching television. Things that you don't realize are so important until you have to do without them for an extended time."

"Well, hopefully we won't ever be deprived of these types of moments again. I'm just glad that everything worked out the way it was supposed to. Actually, it was a nice surprise to get to see Jonas again, too. That was so much like Teal'c to call in extra support at the most appropriate time." Daniel smiled, sitting up and stretching.

"I know. He was such a big help to me, and to Sam too, when things started to get rough. To be honest, it was the ability that Jonas seems to have to keep a level head in the most intense situations that helped me keep a firm head on my shoulders a couple of times when I thought I was going to lose it. It's not hard to see why you think so highly of him as one of your friends." Sarah agreed.

"It wasn't easy for him to see all of that going on, though, and that makes me appreciate it all the more that he put everything on hold and came through to Earth. The situation reminded him of the circumstances that happened when he and I first came to know each other. We talked about that and I think it helped both of us a little."

"Yeah, I sensed that. I'm glad that you two talked. So what do we want to do for the rest of the afternoon?"

"I'm not really sure. We've already watched a movie so I'm fresh out of ideas. Do you have any suggestions?" Daniel asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do. I have a couple of puzzles in the hall closet. I could get one of them and we could spread it out on the table and work it together." Sarah suggested.

"That sounds like fun."

Sarah disappeared up the stairs momentarily and came back with a 1000 piece puzzle of a lake in the moonlight. She and Daniel spread the pieces out on the coffee table and began to work on assembling the picture together.


Jack and Sam were sitting on his couch, flipping through channels to see if they could find anything interesting on, when the telephone rang. Jack reached over Sam and grabbed the cordless phone that was at the far end of the couch.

"Hello."

"Hey, Jack. How are you feeling?"

"General. I'm doing better, sir. It's been a while since we've had this much downtime so I'm trying to figure out what to do with myself. Sam's over here and we've been flipping through television channels for a little bit." Jack answered, a smile in his voice at recognizing who was on the other end.

"I have an idea of something you could do. Feel up to meeting me for drinks in a couple of hours? There's something I'd like to discuss with you." Hammond said casually.

"Well, I'm not supposed to be drinking a lot of alcohol right now and I want to try to comply with that."

"Jack O'Neill following doctors' orders? Now I've heard everything. Okay, we'll go out for dinner then. My treat. Bring Sam with you."

"That sounds like a plan, sir. Sam and I'll meet you over at O'Malley's in two hours. If you don't mind my asking though, what exactly is it that you want to talk about?" Jack asked with peaked curiosity.

"Just wait until you get to dinner. I promise I'll explain everything then. See you in two hours, Jack." Hammond said as he hung up, leaving Jack extremely confused.

"What was that about? Who was on the phone, Jack?" Sam asked, coming back in from going to the bathroom as Jack hung up the phone.

"Oh, that was Hammond. He wants both of us to meet him at O'Malley's in two hours. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah. That's fine with me. I can just go like I am. As soon as you're ready we can go."

"Here's the weird thing. Hammond said that he has some big thing that he wants to talk to the both of us about, but he wouldn't tell me what it is. Just said he'd explain it over dinner." Jack said, puzzled.

"Oh, well. I guess we'll just have to wait until we get there to see what's so important. Now go get ready so we won't be late." Sam urged. As Jack headed down the hall to take a shower, he didn't see the sly smirk on Sam's face that said that she knew full well exactly what was going on.