Ch 12

General Hammond was headed to the infirmary for his daily report from Dr. Fraiser when he was nearly bowled over by a little blur on a red tricycle. Since he couldn't very well yell at the child, he bellowed, "Colonel O'Neill!" instead.

True to form, O'Neill, Teal'c, Jay Felger, and Chloe all hurried round the corner, all arguing over who had let Danny escape as they chased him.

At the other end of the corridor, the end Danny was fast approaching on his tricycle, Dr. Fraiser emerged to see what all the commotion was about, sized up the situation quickly, and said, "Danny, freeze!"

Startled, Danny swerved and fell off his new tricycle. He crashed to the ground with the trike, his helmet and the tricycle making loud clattering noises surpassed only by his wails. He continued to scream loudly as all six adults surrounded him.

Janet, of course, wanted to make sure he was okay before she moved him, but Danny's instinct was to move. His other instinct was that he didn't want the lady who had poked him with needles anywhere near him when he was already hurt.

"Doc, back off," Jack said, crouching down next to the little boy and moving the tricycle aside. "Be still, Danny, just…"

Everyone was still talking at once, and little Danny was just about as unhappy as he could imagine being. He had been having a great time on his new toy, and now he was hurting and everyone was crowding around him and talking. He did the only thing he felt like doing. He rolled onto his stomach so he didn't have to see any of the people who were crowding him and talking so loudly, buried his face in his arms against the floor, and started screaming as loud as he could.

Jack felt carefully for broken bones, although since Danny was kicking his legs against the floor hard enough to scuff his new shoes, Jack was pretty sure there wasn't any long-term damage. "I think he's okay, he's just scared," he said quietly, rubbing the little boy's back gently.

"It's a good thing he had that helmet on," Janet commented, feeling his legs gently. "Well, his new pants are torn, and his knee is scraped and bleeding," Janet said after she had felt his front half as much as possible while he was trying to melt into the floor.

Sam, who was looking for everyone, ran down the corridor as she saw the clump of people and heard Danny crying. She pushed past Jay, Chloe, and the General and crouched down next to Jack, looking at Janet for an explanation. "What happened?" she demanded, although it was pretty clear he had fallen off his tricycle.

"Sam?" Danny asked, lifting his head cautiously and peeking around to see if it was really her.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, alarmed at how red his face was and the amount of tears streaming down his face.

"No! I am not!" he wailed, throwing himself into her so hard that she stumbled backwards and would have toppled over if Jack hadn't caught her elbows from behind. Danny's helmet clacked painfully against her collarbone and chin, but she grimaced and bit her lip without making a sound.

"Hey, it's all right, Danny," Sam tried as she was helped to her feet while looking around for an explanation.

"We're pretty sure he's okay. He just took a big spill and it scared him," Jack said, still rubbing Danny's back.

Sam felt around for the buckle of the helmet and took it off, passing it to Teal'c. "Maybe he just needs some air," Sam said absently, heading away from the group, talking quietly to the crying boy.

They watched her go into the infirmary and Janet headed after her. "Doc, wait a few minutes," Jack suggested. Janet nodded. It took a few minutes to get everyone squared away anyway, after all the commotion. Jay and Chloe left, and Teal'c went to take the tricycle and helmet back to the VIP room. Hammond had to go make a phone call but promised to come back to the infirmary shortly. Jack and Janet headed to the infirmary finally, and found a scene similar to Danny's first day there.

Sam was sitting on the edge of one of the beds, talking quietly to Danny, who was still hiding his face in her shirt and sucking his thumb, although he wasn't crying anymore. She waved them over, still talking quietly to Danny, who shifted slightly so he could see them.

"Dat hurted me Dack," he finally said.

Jack chuckled. "I know, buddy. It looked like it hurt a lot. Are you okay now?"

Danny nodded and yawned. Janet quietly got a tray of supplies and crouched in front of them. "Saaaam…"

"Janet's going to clean up your knee, Danny. She's a lot better at it than me."

"That's for sure," Jack contributed. "Believe me, Danny, letting Sam near an injured leg should be a last resort."

"Thanks a lot," Sam said dryly.

Janet sighed and got to work. "Does anything else hurt, Danny, or just your knee?"

"Knee."

"Okay."

They carefully took off his shoes, socks, and pants so Janet could examine his legs carefully and clean up his scraped knee. She soon had him all patched up, although his camo cargo pants were ruined. The knee was torn and they were blood-stained. Danny was still not a happy camper. Left in his diaper and the dinosaur tee-shirt Chloe had put him in, he snuggled into Sam and refused to remove his thumb from his mouth.

When Janet was finished with his knee, but still wanted to examine the rest of him more carefully, Jack sat down next to them on the edge of the bed and tried to distract Danny with his yo-yo, which he pulled out of his pocket and offered the boy. Danny watched him play with it but made no move for it himself.

"What exactly happened?" Sam finally asked.

"I don't know… I found Felger, Chloe, and Teal'c in the gym with him, letting him ride his new tricycle around in there. Chloe was telling me how long he slept and what they did and everything, and he just slipped past all of us and tore off down the hall. A scientist happened to be getting on the elevator at the time and he got in, but we couldn't get there in time before the doors closed… Teal'c and I ran for the stairwell but we had to keep stopping to check which floor he was going to and make sure he hadn't stopped… by the time we realized he was on the infirmary level Jay and Chloe caught us up by waiting for the elevator… we all caught up to him, he got scared, he fell. That's about when you showed up."

"Poor little guy," Sam said sympathetically, stroking Danny's hair.

"Well, we won't let it happen again," Jack said firmly.

"I second that, Colonel," Hammond said, entering the infirmary. Jack and Sam moved to get to their feet but he waved it away, stopping next to Fraiser and surveying Danny. "I take it he's going to make it?"

"Yes, sir. Just a scraped knee. The only casualty was the pants, sir."

"Thank you, doctor. Now. Yesterday wasn't bad, probably because you took him off base half the day and brought him back exhausted… but this is no place for a two year old. I think today proved that. Aside from what happened this morning… there was the incident this afternoon and now this. I don't want to seem unsympathetic here, but I cannot have a naked, soapy child running around the base, nor can I have one tearing around on a tricycle. What if there had been an emergency situation while he was running amok in the corridors? Now. Today is Friday so I want you all gone for the weekend. Major Carter, Danny will be released to you until Monday morning, at which point you'll report back here and we'll discuss a longer-term arrangement."

"But, sir…" Sam started.

"Major. It's perfectly clear that he prefers you to anybody else. Are you refusing this assignment?"

"No, sir, of course not, it's just that… anybody can babysit, sir. I feel like I'm doing nothing to help get him back the way he was."

"You're not not doing anything, Major. Far from it. You're doing the most important job at the moment, which should be evident by the way that you calmed him down just now. Is there anything else?"

"No sir," she said quietly.

"Good. Then as soon as Dr. Fraiser releases him, you're free to go. And I do not want to see you on this base until Monday unless there is an emergency."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Have fun, Major. Feel better Danny." He nodded to Jack and Janet and left.

"Great," Sam muttered.

"Teal'c and I can help you out, Carter, you don't have to take care of him by yourself," Jack said immediately.

Sam bristled again at the insinuation that she couldn't take care of a child by herself - and after all that had happened over the past few days! "I'm sure we'll be fine, sir," Sam said, getting to her feet and turning to Janet. "Are we done here?"

"Sure, Sam, but…"

"Thank you. I'll see you Monday." She left before either of them could object further.

Jack turned to Janet for an explanation after watching her leave. "What the hell?"

"I think she's a little… insecure."

"Carter? Are you serious?"

"About this sort of thing… yes. I think she's a little bit worried herself, about being solely responsible for him. So she took your offer to help as confirmation of her own fear that she needs help, and… well, she dug in her heels stubbornly like Sam always does when something… doesn't agree with her."

"But I wasn't disagreeing with her," Jack objected, still not understanding. "I mean, the kid's been stuck to her like a barnacle since he got… got here. Why would I think she can't…"

"I'm not saying you really think that, I'm saying she thinks you do."

"That's ridiculous, what did…"

"I don't know," Janet said, holding her hands up. "Why don't you go… help her pack up Danny's things. Try to talk to her before she goes."

"Okay." Jack got to his feet and headed out of the infirmary, then turned on his heels and poked his head back in. "Doc? What the hell am I supposed to say?"

Janet shrugged. "Honestly… I have no idea, sir."

"Gee, thanks."

"Good luck," she called after him.

When Jack got back to the VIP room, Teal'c was already helping Sam pack up Danny's stuff, and between the two of them, they were almost done. "Hey, need another hand?"

"We're almost done, sir."

"Look… I'm not sure what I… what you thought…"

"Doesn't matter, sir. General Hammond ordered me to take Danny home, that's what I'm doing. That's all there is to it."

"But… he didn't say you had to do ev… I mean I thought we had…" He turned to Teal'c for help.

Normally, he would turn to Daniel for help at this point, when his own Carter-to-English dictionary had a page missing… but Daniel, at the moment, was jumping on the bed and hugging his stuffed triceratops.

Teal'c offered help in a different, more Teal'c-like way. "Major Carter, I do not believe all of these things will fit in your car."

Sam stopped packing long enough to realize he was right. "Good point, Teal'c," she sighed.

"I can take some of it in my truck," Jack offered.

She started to respond, changed her mind, and said something else instead. "Thank you, sir. I'll just take some things home tonight that he'll need, and you can bring the rest over tomorrow whenever you like."

"Okay," he said hesitantly, looking at her carefully.

He still didn't quite get it. But he sort of got it… maybe. She wanted to take care of Danny by herself because she wanted to know that she could. He didn't get why that mattered, but apparently it did. "O…kay. Well. I'll just… help you get this stuff to your car then."

"Thank you, sir." Sam was surprised when he suddenly stopped the interrogation she had been expecting, but decided to take it and run. "Come on, Danny, we're going to my house for a while, okay?"

"Kay," he said, toddling after her obediently, since her arms were full. Teal'c followed as well. Jack grabbed a box of toys and the tricycle and hurried after them.

Loading up her car and moving the car seat from Jack's truck to her car took a while, but they finally got everything, including Danny, in. Teal'c said goodbye and left them alone discreetly. Jack leaned in to the back seat and ruffled Danny's hair. "Have fun, kid."

"Dack? Not coming wiff us?"

"No, sorry, little guy. But I'll see you soon. Be good, okay?"

"Kay," he answered uncertainly, looking confused.

Jack straightened up and shut the door. "Look… Carter. I'm not trying to piss you off here, I just don't get why you don't want any help. I think… I think whatever you thought I meant back there… wasn't what I meant at all."

"What exactly do you think I think you meant?" Sam asked, crossing her arms defensively.

"I… okay. I don't know what you just said." He gave her a wry smile and she looked away, but not before he caught that she was smiling too.

"That's… probably because it didn't make any sense," Sam admitted. "I don't know… what I meant. Or thought you meant… or thought you thought I thought you thought…"

He chuckled. "Okay. Well. Whatever it was… I didn't mean anything by it. I just like hanging out with Danny, you know. And… you're all right too." Sam rolled her eyes, refusing to look at him directly, but she was still smiling. Sensing he was on a roll, Jack added, "And it's not fair you get dumped with all the work just because Danny likes you best."

"Thank you." He smiled briefly when she finally looked back at him, and nodded. "I just… I need to do this by myself. I don't think I can explain why. I just… do."

"Okay."

He looked disappointed, Sam realized suddenly. Maybe she'd just been misinterpreting… lots of stuff. "Maybe tomorrow when you bring the rest of the stuff over, we can all go to the park or something," she suggested.

"Yeah? Okay. Sounds good."

She nodded, smiled, and got in the car finally. Jack peered through the back window and waved to Danny again, stepped back, and watched them go, more than a little confused. He wasn't used to having any sort of misunderstanding with Carter. Even when she was in full technobabble mode, she still always managed to make sure he understood what he needed to. He still didn't get what he'd said that had upset her in the first place… but apparently he'd done an okay job at fixing it anyway.