She felt a hand slide along her cheek, and it was enough to pull her from her restful doze. Warned by Talon not to move too much right away, she opened her eyes and tilted her head just a little. And found herself looking into Jack's warm, worried eyes. He smiled, though when she opened her eyes, and she felt the hand that was holding her tighten just a little.

As if I'd let you fall off the bed…

Mitchell ignored that.

"Hey."

"Hi. How are you feeling?"

How am I feeling?

You're doing fine. Another day of rest and you should be all right to get up and about

"Okay. You?"

He had been hurt far worse than her, after all.

"I'll be fine…"

Will he?

He should be, yes

"Good."

"Don't you ever do that again…"

She tilted her head a little more, trying to decide if he was angry – and why.

You scared him – and me – when we saw how badly you reacted to losing me

Ah.

"I had to."

He frowned, but a shadow crossed his features as if he was remembering something he'd heard or said, and he nodded.

"Just don't… worry me like that… ever. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

He didn't look like he bought that, but he hugged her tight for a moment.

"You're going to be okay? Nothing permanently damaged?"

"I'm fine."

"Talon?"

"He's fine, too."

Jack was quiet for a minute, either thinking, or just trying to get a grip on where he was and the fact that he was still alive, and Melony was reminded of something else. Something she'd managed to forget about in the last day as she'd recovered, but now couldn't hold back. Talon knew, because he'd seen it in her mind, but Jack couldn't know, and he needed to.

"We lost Tao…"

It crushed her to even say it aloud, and her voice broke over the First Prime's name.

"What?"

"He crashed…" she said, softly, her eyes stinging with tears that Talon couldn't – and wouldn't – quell. "In the dark. And it's my fault."

No, it isn't

"Your fault?" Jack repeated, his arms tightening around her once more. "How is it your fault?"

It's not your fault

"I didn't set the exit point far enough away from the spires, and I didn't even consider the possibility that the Wraith might attack in the daytime – night time for Atlantis. It never even occurred to me to have them put up lights or something to warn our pilots off…"

"What about the dart?" Jack asked. "The Jaffa that were in the-"

She felt a pang as she realized she didn't know if the Jaffa that had been in the dart had been lost as well, and Talon actually had to take control of her muscles to keep her from rolling out of the bed to go find someone to ask.

Don't try that again, Melony. You're not ready…

Let me up.

Not yet

His mental voice was just as sorrowful as hers was, but he wasn't going to let her do herself any harm and he didn't even try to hide that concern from her.

She stopped fighting him, since she knew he wasn't going to let her win, and crumpled against Jack.

"I don't know… I didn't ask when Carson…" of course, she hadn't been at her best, but that was no excuse for not even considering the rest of them. She'd been in such shock to hear about Tao – who had seemed so indestructible to her – that she hadn't even-

It's understandable, Talon told her, soothing her much the same way that Jack was – although one was soothing the inside while the other tried to soothe the out. We'll find out

She nodded, relaxing despite herself – as if she had any choice.

Jack felt her relax, of course, and hugged her gently. It wasn't like she'd never lost anyone before, but he knew she would feel especially responsible for the Jaffa – since she'd been the one that had brought them in on the plan in the first place.

"We'll find out as soon as someone comes in," he promised her.

She nodded again, but Talon had had enough, and was already dealing with her worry the best way he knew how. He put her back to sleep. It was short-ranged, but it was effective, and she needed the sleep anyways. There would be time to deal with the Jaffa once they knew more about what had happened, and he knew his host well enough to know that she'd worry herself sick until she knew more.

As she fell asleep once more, Jack looked around the small room. He was still tired, too, but he didn't have a symbiote to control his bodily functions, and he really had to go. Really had to.

And luckily, the door opened at almost that exact moment, admitting the last person he'd expected to see.

"Doc…"

Fraiser smiled, truly pleased to see him awake – and even better; he knew who she was, which told her there was nothing wrong with his mind. Well, nothing new, at any rate.

"Good evening, General. Fancy meeting you here…"

"What are you-"

"I'm here to make sure you fully recover, so General Hammond can get back to his retirement."

"Oh."

There really wasn't anything he could say to that, but he was a lot happier to see her than he might have been under regular circumstances. Beckett was someone he could probably bully – Fraiser wasn't going to let him dictate his own recovery. But he really had to go. And that was worth it right there, he supposed.