Arriving outside the children's quarters, Jack was relieved to hear silence. Although he quickly realized that might not be a good thing, because it might just mean they were both either already dead or unconscious. Picking up his pace, he opened the door just in time to witness both boys working together to lift the table, placing it back where it belonged. The dishes and large food items had already been picked up off the floor, and they had done what they could lacking mops, brooms, and other cleaning supplies.
The two stopped what they were doing and looked up at his entrance. Their faces wore identical expressions of worry. Teal'c spoke first. "Where is Samantha? Is she well?"
"Doctor Fraiser doesn't think her nose is broken, but she wants to take an x-ray, a picture of the bones inside, just to be safe. It's going to take a little bit longer, so Sam is going to stay there until she is done." The worried looks turned to relieved ones. Jack decided it would be best to keep them distracted until Sam was back, and maybe get another talk out of the way. "Looks like you guys need some cleaning supplies. Teal'c, why don't you go and wash up, while Danny and I go get some mops and rags?"
Teal'c looked down at his food and blood encrusted clothing and frowned, and Jack had to hide a smile. Even at a young age, Teal'c preferred to remain impeccable. Wordlessly, Teal'c nodded, and went to gather another change of clothing. Daniel followed Jack silently out the door. His clothes were clean, as he'd steered clear of the fighting.
They walked in silence for several minutes, Jack passing by the nearest janitor supply closet in favor of going to one a little further away, in hopes of being able to draw the soft spoken boy out. He was wondering how to broach the subject, when Daniel broached it for him. "Colonel Jack, am I weak?"
Fortunately, his conversation with Sam had prepared him somewhat for the question. "What makes you say that?"
"Because I'm not very strong, and I need a little girl to fight for me, and I can't even see without my glasses, and my allergies make me stuffy and breathe funny. And I really don't like the sight of blood, it makes me feel dizzy when I see it." Daniel scuffed his feet along the floor, his eyes on his sneakers, one hand trailing along the wall. Jack stopped, and Daniel nearly bumped into him.
Kneeling down in front of the boy, Jack made Daniel look at him. "Daniel, how many languages do you know? Four? Five? And you're only nine years old?" At Daniel's confused and hesitant nod, Jack continued. "And how many does Teal'c know? I know for a fact he only knows two, and the one is only for ceremonies. The ones you know you speak fluently, and could talk to a native and be understood. And you can read and write in those languages if I'm not mistaken." Daniel's eyes widened as Jack let that little fact slip out. Jack just grinned. "You may not be strong in a physical sense, but your mind is strong."
Daniel was looking at Jack in surprise, and Jack moved in for the kill. "Now, think of this. You're in a room. The door is sealed; it's the only way out. It's too heavy for anyone to lift. There are words on it, it's a puzzle that tells you how to open the door, only it's in Egyptian. Now how many people do you know could translate that door to open it? All the muscles in the world couldn't open that door, but the strength needed to open that door is right here." Jack reached out a finger and tapped it gently on the side of Daniel's head. Wide blue eyes stared back at him in awe. Rising from his kneeling position, ignoring his protesting knees, Jack laid a hand on Danny's shoulder. "C'mon Danny, let's get some mops and get your room cleaned up. Looks like you'll be there for a little while, and we can't have it looking like a pig sty."
He was rewarded with the smallest of smiles, and they fell into step side by side. Tousled light-brown hair, blue eyes, and a gap toothed grin quickly melting the heart of one gray haired, trick kneed, cynical Air Force officer.
They found Teal'c in a fresh set of clothes, all traces of the fight gone from his body, placing the chairs under the table. Wordlessly, Jack passed out the cleaning supplies, and the three soon had the room in order again. As he was gathering up the supplies to take them back to the closet, Teal'c came to stand in front of him.
"Colonel O'Neill, I must apologize for my behavior. I will suffer any punishment you wish to mete out against me." Teal'c stood, back straight, head high, his hands behind his back, looking so much like the grown up version that again, Jack found himself momentarily speechless.
Jack regarded the youngster standing before him. At eleven years old, he was nowhere near his former impressive height. Thin, and wiry, but there was a hint of muscles, and a strength of character about the child he found endearing. As a child, Teal'c's emotions were much closer to the surface, and he was much more passionate about things. Over time, Jack knew, he would learn to control and hide the emotions, but for now, they more easily controlled his actions. Hence the argument and fight earlier. "Teal'c, we need to talk, but right now, I think we should go check on Sam, and get something to eat, because it looks like you guys didn't do much of that."
Teal'c looked confused, but nodded, reluctant to argue since he'd been the cause of the trouble.
Leaving the cleaning supplies for later, Jack grabbed a clean shirt and pants for Sam and led the two boys to the infirmary, where they found Sam sprawled on a bed, an ice pack pressed to her face and a lollipop in her mouth, giggling over something Doctor Fraiser was saying to her.
Janet turned around at their entrance and smiled. "Just in time, I just got the x-rays." She brandished a large manila folder and pulled the films out, snapping them into the light box behind the bed and switching it on. Sam sat up in interest.
"Is that me?" she asked, dropping her ice pack.
Janet laughed. "Yes, that's you."
"I look funny." Sam made a face.
"Well that's what your bones look like. And I'm pleased to say, no breaks." Janet smiled.
"Does that mean I can leave? Because I'm hungry." Sam looked plaintive.
Laughing, Janet rolled her eyes. "Yes, you can leave. She's fine, I gave her the Tylenol, and there are another couple doses over there on the counter she can have every four to six hours tonight. Try to have her keep ice on it overnight. See me in the morning if you have any concerns, but you know it will probably look worse before it looks better." Janet passed the ice pack over to the Colonel, as Sam had promptly forgotten it as soon as she'd gotten off the bed to go change.
"Thanks again Doc." Jack picked up the small brown bag as soon as Sam stepped back out in the fresh clothes, then watched as Sam stopped in front of Teal'c, the two regarding each other awkwardly.
"Samantha, I must apologize. I did not mean to harm you." Teal'c's voice was full of remorse as his eyes studied her bruised face, bruises he had caused.
For her part, Sam looked surprised as she looked up at the much larger boy, four years older than her. She broke eye contact, and studied the floor for a moment, scuffing one tennis shoe. Looking back up, she met his eyes with a determined set to her jaw. "Yeah, well I'm sorry for getting in a fight with you, but I'm not sorry I hit you. You can't go around picking on people smaller than you."
Teal'c blinked, surprised at her words. "Indeed."
She shrugged. "It's ok. Just don't do it again. Friends?" She held out her hand. Teal'c stared at it, then slowly, his hand met hers, and she grinned. A second smile slowly warmed Teal'c's features. Then, just as Jack thought the two had let bygones be bygones, Sam leaned in on her toes, up into Teal'c's face. "Just remember, you ever bother Danny again, I'll knock your block off."
Jack waded in before anything else could happen. "Ok, ok. Let's go get something to eat." Sighing, he ushered his three charges from the room, casting a desperate look over his shoulder at Janet, who only gave him a sympathetic look.
Dinner went without incident, he ended up taking them to the commissary, and Sam's face garnered a bit of curious looks. In typical seven year old fashion, she didn't notice, too busy making masterpieces with her mashed potatoes and mac n' cheese. "Sam, eat your dinner," he admonished her. That succeeded in getting her to eat two more mouthfuls. He remembered Charlie at that age. Daniel was slightly better, but not by much. At least Teal'c felt that mealtime was for eating.
When he'd decided they'd all eaten enough "real" food, he left them for a few minutes, returning to the table against his better judgment, but really he couldn't help himself, with four bowls of soft serve ice cream.
The kids perked up at the sight, the remains of their meals forgotten. Even Teal'c looked interested. Obviously he didn't remember ice cream. He passed the bowls around, and enjoyed the happy silence as the kids enjoyed the treat.
A/N: So I've been asked to write longer chapters, and honestly, it's something I've been asked to and tried to do on my own. In fact, I'm a big fan of big, meaty chapters myself. But, I also love suspense, and tend to end the chapters right where it would be most exciting. Which keeps people interested (or frustrated!) while the story is still posting, or results in complaints long after it's been finished from first-time readers saying they wasted the better part of a day because they couldn't "put it down". (sorry!) Well… not really. I've found I just can't help it, and I just can't change my habit. And except for a few atypical chapters and short stories, most of my stories have very short chapters because of this, and I just can't help it!
Well, anyway, I know updates have been slow, but work has been really kicking my butt recently, I've been fall down drop over exhausted recently with more things to do than I have time to do them in, and your lucky I can make it online! Now, while flowers would be good, and sending chocolates event better, reviews go a lot way into energizing me, because I can't tell you how nice it is (and I mean really nice) to come home after the worst shift ever, and to find those lovely reviews waiting for me. Those hit counts tell me some several hundred people are clicking on each chapter still and yet I only hear from a small handful of my usual same group of really fabulous people. And I just can't figure out if I'm getting over 400 hits per chapter, than why are only ten people submitting reviews…. C'mon… It can't be that bad, can it? I want to hear from those of you that have been following along that just keep coming back to the next chapter, and putting me on their alerts and faves. What makes you keep coming back? Are ya bored? Is there no better reading material out there? Do ya keep clicking on me by mistake? Would I just shut up already? No seriously, I really want to hear from all of ya. Well, maybe not all at once, but sometime, just tell me at some point something you like (or didn't like) about the story, and that goes for the regulars too!