Author's Note: Melony and Daniel spent a lot of alone time together when they blew up Fugly and killed all the system lords. They had a lot of time to become friends. Not to mention, she's the one that told him to tell Janet how he really felt about her.

OOOOOOOOOO

Mitchell frowned. She was still far more groggy than she was lucid, although Jack's very presence was enough to keep her talking when she'd have much rather gone back to sleep.

"You had help…?"

"Melony, you need to rest," Carson said, breaking into the conversation.

"Who's here?" She asked, ignoring Carson for the moment, her eyes still on O'Neill.

"Daniel, Carter and Teal'c."

"How did-"

"Doctor Beckett's right, Melony; you need to get some sleep."

She started to argue with him, but before she could even open her mouth, Talon cut her off.

They're right. Don't bother to argue, he told her. I've seen what I need to see… and you know I'll heal you faster if you're asleep

She nodded, and closed her eyes, but opened them again immediately as another thought struck her.

"My dart… how much damage did it take in the crash?"

"Dart?"

Jack looked at Carson, confused.

"The Wraith ship," Beckett explained, understanding what he was asking in that look.

O'Neill hesitated, once more looking guilty.

"It… might be… salvageable…"

Melony looked at him, knowing immediately that he was lying and feeling a surge of annoyance.

"You destroyed it?"

"I didn't know you were in it."

"You didn't bother to find out."

"Sheppard said it was a Wraith," Jack told her, defensively. "How was I supposed to-"

"Damn it…" she scowled, and as battered as she looked it was a horrible expression on her face just then. "I was out looking for Wraith ships. How the hell was I supposed to bring them back? Triple A towing?"

"Melony…"

"I know… I need to rest…"

It's not his fault, Talon told her, reminding her that Beckett wasn't responsible and didn't deserve to be snapped at. Which was a marked change from his previous antagonism towards the doctor.

She turned to Carson, her expression softening.

"I'm sorry, Carson…"

He nodded, squeezing her hand lightly, and at that acknowledgement, she turned back to Jack, who was watching the two of them speculatively, now. His expression froze though, when she turned back to him.

"This conversation isn't over, Jack," she told him. "I slogged through a swamp on a shitheap of a planet for three days to get a hold of that ship, and I'm not happy about losing it."

Even less happy about having it shot out from underneath her like it had been.

Jack nodded, leaning over and brushing a kiss against her forehead. As angry as he knew she was, he also knew he was glad to see her alive and well enough to be pissed at him, and knew she'd get over being mad eventually. It wasn't like there weren't two more of those ships sitting in that ravine, after all.

"Get some rest, Melony. I'll talk to you again when you wake up and are feeling better."

She nodded, once more reaching up and touching his cheek with her bandaged hand. Annoyed as she was; she was glad to see him.

"You're not leaving?"

He shook his head.

"I'll see you soon. I promise."

"Okay…"

As she closed her eyes, Jack turned to Beckett once more. He wanted to ask what was going on between the two of them, because he'd only seen Melony act like she had with Beckett was when she'd been with Brad Anderson – and Beckett definitely wasn't Melony's type. He didn't ask, though. Not because it wasn't his business – as far as Jack was concerned, everything about Melony Mitchell was his business – but because he didn't want Melony to overhear (or Talon, who would pass it on to Melony). He'd wait.

Carson noticed the odd look, but didn't interpret it correctly, as his next statement proved.

"She'll be fine, General O'Neill," he said, resting his hand lightly on her forehead to check for any sign of fever – even though he knew there wasn't any. He just wanted to touch her. "She might not even remember the conversation you just had."

Jack shook his head.

"She'll remember."

He knew her better than anyone. Of course she'd remember. And even if she didn't, Talon would.

"We'd better let her rest." Carson said. "You can come visit her again when she wakes up."

O'Neill didn't answer, but he did head for the door after squeezing Melony's hand once more. Beckett hesitated a moment longer, checking wires and equipment, making sure everything was working right – which of course it was – and as Jack walked out the door, Carson leaned over and pressed a tender kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"I love you…" he whispered.

Far more asleep than awake, she mumbled something he didn't understand, and fell silent once more, and Carson followed O'Neill out the door.

OOOOOOO

"How is she?" Daniel asked, immediately. Jack had been in there a lot longer than Daniel had expected, and he was anxious for his own chance to see Melony – although he did hope that the long visit meant that Mitchell had woken up or something.

Jack smiled, slightly.

"She woke up for a minute," he answered, knowing Daniel wasn't the only one worried about her. The others had gathered fairly quickly as well, telling him that even though the Atlanteans hadn't known her anywhere near as long as Melony had, they still liked her. Which didn't surprise him at all.

"What did she say?" Weir asked.

"Oh… she's not really all that happy with us at the moment," Jack replied.

"Meaning she knows you shot her down?" McKay asked.

"Hey. I didn't do it alone," Jack said, scowling. "And I'm going to make sure she knows it."

The minute she woke up again.