This would have been up earlier... except for obvious reasons!

OOOOOO

When Sam came in to the infirmary to check on Ian after lunch, she found him still asleep – although Jaffer and Jack were both wide awake now and had moved down to the foot of the bed where they were lounging more because they didn't feel like getting up than because they were acting as pillows or guards.

"You two are lazy," Sam chided them, waling over and setting a brown paper bag down on the stand beside his bed – the dishes from his breakfast had long since been gathered up by a corpsman.

Jaffer wagged his tail, while Jack rolled over and presented his belly to her for some serious scratching. Yup! They were lazy! When they could get away with it, anyways, and Ian was obviously not planning on going for a run any time in the next few hours – which made him safe to hang out with.

She smiled and scratched Jack for a moment with one hand, the other rubbing Jaffer's ears, and then settled herself on the edge of Ian's bed, reaching out and sliding her hand along his back. Janet might not be worried about him sleeping, but Sam wanted him awake so she could be sure he was doing okay.

Ian moved slightly when he felt her hand on him, and Sam smiled. She had wondered briefly if she was going to need to bring Cass in to wake him, but it didn't look like it was going to be necessary. Her hand moved to his cheek, and he opened an eye, looking up at her.

"Hmm?"

"Good morning."

"'s morning?"

He turned his head, while at the same time bringing his hand out from where it had been trapped under his stomach, so he could look at his watch.

Sam shook her head.

"It's early afternoon…"

Ian frowned, and opened the other eye, looking around with that gentle dazed look that she loved seeing in Jack. It was just as amusing in Ian.

"I can go?" He asked.

"No." She knew what he meant automatically, and shook her head. "It's not tomorrow, yet."

"Still today?"

"Yes."

And this conversation could get really confusing if they kept it up, so Sam brushed her fingers through his hair to get him to hold his head still – and was surprised that it worked. She was amazed sometimes that things that worked on Jacob also worked just as well on Jack or Ian.

"How do you feel?"

"Sleepy."

"Besides sleepy?"

He shrugged.

"Okay." His dark eyes met hers, and he hesitated. "Is Jack mad at me?"

Sam shook her head.

"No. He's not mad. None of us are. You had some good reasons why you hid what had happened, and the more we think about them, the more sense they make."

"What about General Hammond?"

It was her turn to hesitate.

"He's not mad, either."

Ian, of course, caught the hesitation. She didn't do it very often, after all, and he was more awake now.

"But…?"

She sighed.

"But… he's worried about what we might lose if something happened to you off world."

"He's going to kick me off SG-1?"

There was definite hurt in Ian's eyes now, and Sam shook her head.

"Not if we have anything to say about it, Ian," she assured him. "Jack's already flat out told him that he needs you there, and Daniel and Teal'c said much the same thing."

"What about you?" Ian asked.

"What do you mean?"

Ian shrugged again.

"You must be itching to get back into the swing of things – to rejoin Jack and the rest of them…"

Sam smiled and shook her head, touching his cheek again.

"I'm not." She told him. "Not really." She looked over at Jaffer and Jack. "I think about it every now and then, and I get scared about what will happen to Jake if something were to go wrong and Jack and I were killed offworld on a mission…"

"I'd take care of him," Ian said, taking her hand. "He's my Godson, after all…"

Sam smiled, and squeezed his hand lightly.

"I know you would, Ian… but I'm not sure I'm willing to risk allowing him to lose both parents at once. He's a baby now and wouldn't remember it, but if it happened later… it'd be horrible for him… and…" she trailed off, tears stinging her eyes and a lump rising in her throat at the very thought of leaving her baby alone.

He didn't say anything, giving her a chance to catch her breath, and reel her emotions back in, and Sam sniffed, and shrugged.

"Any ways… I'm not in any hurry to rush back offworld… not just yet, anyways."

"I understand."

"Besides… I have a lot of things to do in my lab before I go off looking for more gadgets on different planets."

Ian smiled.

"I'll help you, you know?"

"I'm counting on it." She had already been counting on it – but now that they had access to who knew what kind of Ancient technology, she was really hoping to learn a lot more. Later, though. He wasn't going to be allowed to hop out of bed and go rushing to her lab that afternoon, after all. "I should let you rest…"

He scowled.

"I'm rested."

"Then how about this…?" she asked, reaching out and picking up the bag she'd dropped on the stand.

Ian sat up a little more – making sure with a surreptitious glance that he was still wearing pajama bottoms – and took the bag from her. It was heavy, and smelled delicious.

"What is it?"

"Lunch."

"Does Doctor Fraiser know you brought it in?" He asked, looking in the bag and finding fries and a couple of large wrapped objects that had to be burgers – although he supposed they could have been chicken sandwiches.

"Meaning do you have to hide it if she comes in?"

He smiled.

"Yeah."

"No. She knows I brought it, and it's okay for you to have."

Excellent.

Jaffer and Jack both sat up as well, looking at the bag eagerly. It was chicken sandwiches, all right. They could smell it. Drool already started to form on Jaffer's jowls. Sam looked over at the dogs, and stood up.

"I'll leave you alone to eat, but we'll come by and see you before we head home this afternoon, okay?"

He nodded.

"Thanks, Sam…"

She smiled, and once more felt a little weepy-eyed.

"Thank you, Ian."

He blushed, and looked down at his hands, uncomfortable, and her smile broadened. God, she could embarrass him so easily. She couldn't wait to do it to Shawn and Jacob, as well.

"Come on, Jaffer… Jack… let's let the man eat in peace."

And without her making him blush.

Jaffer looked over at her, incredulous that she wanted him to leave when Ian was just starting to open the bag. Jack whined softly, just as eager to stay.

"Come on…" she repeated.

With a mournful sigh, both labs took a last look at Ian, and then hopped down off the bed.

Damn!