A/N: Some mini moments from the ep, and a little team bonding.

Disclaimer:The dialogue taken from the script I found on the web is left in the same format as it was copied and pasted, they are not my words.

Message in a bottle

He felt pain. Absolute pain. Only one part of his body had been impaled but the agony swam across his entire body. There was relief when he was able to sit, but he felt like that only gave the pain an excuse to hurt in other ways and to travel to other places. He couldn't think, he wanted to distract himself but it felt like something wanted to suppress him, so he needed to focus on the pain. He needed to focus on the people in the gate room. Teal'c. He focused on Teal'c.

JACK:

Teal'c, you don't have to stick around.

TEAL'C:

Undomesticated equines could not remove

me.

JACK:

Wild horses TEAL'C it's, that's a joke.

You told a joke. Don't make me laugh.

TEAL'C:

Very well.

JACK:

You're a good man my friend.

TEAL'C:

As are you, my friend.

He watched Teal'c walk away. He wanted to laugh and he wanted to cry. There were moments when the team were able to see Teal'c's awkward stoic warrior front be pushed to the back and reveal the kind, strong and gentle man that he truly was. Carter once said, 'would you believe that under all that muscle was mush?' and although the sentence got some odd looks from Jack and Daniel, she couldn't have phrased it better. Teal'c was indeed a friend, one he felt honored to know- yet undeserving to have.

"No pulse."

She looked shocked, and hurt. As if it were her, not him. Seconds passed, but they felt ten times longer. She had no clue how to react. She hadn't even processed that that no pulse meant dead. Dead? Her heart plummeted to the ground. She was too shocked to panic. Colonel come on. Wake up. Say something.

He woke up.

She was able to breathe out the air she didn't know she was holding in. She remained fixated on him, then smiled with relief, he's alive. Thank God.

Janet had Jack stay in the infirmary overnight, she was on the night shift and wanted to observe him. She'd felt so helpless the past few days, she needed to see at least one person through.

As she filled in his chart she heard some footsteps that were all too familiar to her. A tired looking Sam came in. A Sam that had clearly been in bed minutes before because even though her uniform was perfect, her hair gave her away.

"Sam, you feeling okay?"

"Hey, yeah I'm okay. Is it okay if I go to check on the Colonel? I mean if he's awake."

"Sam, it's late and I want him to get some rest. But I just saw him use the facilities so I know he's awake. Go on then."

"Thanks." She smiles.

Sam made her way over to the Colonel, and behind the curtain whispers, "Sir, you awake?"

"Carter?" A very confused sounding Colonel says back.

"Yeah sir it's me, may I come in?"

"Sure?" He says, unsure. "Everything alright Carter?"

"Yes sir. I actually came to check if you were alright."

"Well yaknow, had some alien ball impale it's tentacles into me and try and take over my body. So just an ordinary day around here."

She smiles. Then swallows the lump in her throat that was ready to pop out. "Sir, I'm sorry for all the pain you went through."

"Thanks Carter, but I don't know why you're apologizing."

"Sir, I practically sent you to your death- well- the thing is I didn't-"

"Stop right there." He interrupts. "Carter, I'm too tired for this. But every call you made, it was the right one."

She felt a layer of guilt peel away. "I just didn't expect to have your life in my hands today."

"Well know you know how I feel every time we step through that gate." That was a feeling he knew all too well. He lightly tapped the bed, "come, sit."

She sat on the edge of his bed, and looked up at him. She could see the pain fading from his face. But not his eyes. It was like his eyes were a mystical filing cabinet with a section for everything, and there was definitely a drawer for pain.

He could feel her studying him, "hey, remember the time when Daniel threw an empty coffee cup at me for calling him 'Indiana Jones, but way worse'? He was so mad."

She laughs. "Oh he was so mad."

"That throw was embarrassing though."

"Oh definitely." She grins.

"Definitely what?" A curious voice says.

"Speaking of the devil." Jack mumbles. "Come in Daniel, join us."

"What we doing? I brought Teal'c."

"Hey T."

"O'Neill." Teal'c nods.

"Sam what you doing here?" Daniel says, sitting on her other side of Jack as Teal'c brought in a chair to sit on next to his resting friend.

"I-"

"Hey guys." Janet peers round. "Sorry to interrupt. Got space for another? I brought jello."

Jack's bed became a temporary couch, with Carter and Frasier sat on the left edge facing him, and Daniel the right. It seemed that Teal'c didn't want to brave the whole in-close-proximity thing. He didn't blame him. Janet had passed everyone some jello, Jack got given the blue one as the patient and everyone else got red, but he swapped with Carter as he knows she has an abnormal love for smurf jello. Truth be told, he preferred the strawberry one, and mixing up the taste buds was certainly worth the appreciative beam on Carter's face.

Everyone sat and spoke for about two hours. It was all silly stuff. Jack was always amused at the silliness shown in military personnel, especially himself. And Carter and Daniel's imaginative minds just added to the randomness of conversation. He felt at ease. It was like they were living in the hidden hours of the morning with no war to win or worries to deal with. As time passed he could feel his pain being replaced with warmth. Perhaps the pain would be back in the morning, but this temporary fix would suffice.