Jack walked into Sam's office and settled in the chair across the desk from her. She looked up from her paperwork.
"So?" she said.
"Jameson's got a date with Teal'c and Bra'tac to re-up his hand to hand combat cert," Jack said dryly.
Sam sighed, frustrated, dissatisfied that this was the resolution. She looked at Jack, frowning at the somewhat dejected look on his face.
"What?" she asked.
Now it was Jack's turn to sigh. "Ah, crap. I don't know, Sam. I mean, this is a kid who blows away bad Jaffa and smokes goauld for a living when she's not working on some brainy experiment with you. I didn't think she knew the meaning of the word fear."
He shifted in his chair. "In terms of not thinking about one's own life, she makes me look bad and yet, there she was in your lab, looking like a little kid, with those awful red marks and her eyes; she's so scared she's still shaking. And mad as hell that she's scared," he finished, sounding defeated.
He sat up, motioning with his hands exasperatedly. "It just bugs the hell out of me that a guy like Jameson can take that away from a girl like her," he finished, with a note of frustration in his voice.
"And then there was Daniel," Jack said, slumping down in the chair again. "You can just tell; he knew something had almost happened to her and he just gets that helpless look in his eyes," Jack finished sadly. "It's like he's being reminded again just how much he can't protect folks from the bad things in the world, and this one's in his own back yard," Jack said, his voice deep with frustration and empathy.
Sam looked at him quietly, endeared to him again in his frustration with the situation. This was the level of compassion that he usually hid from the rest of the world. She watched him, silently, thoughtfully. "What would you do, if it happened to someone you care about?" she asked.
"Oh, you mean like if he came after you?" Jack said off handedly.
Sam smiled to herself at the carefree manner in which he referenced her as someone he cared about.
Jack thought for a second. "I'd send Hailey after him with a big honkin' gun," he said, grinning.