It was the old woman that came to Ian's rescue – so to speak. As Berag and Fisai – and a few others – stared at Ian waiting for some kind of explanation, the old woman scowled at them.

"He's hurt, you idiots. Why don't you leave him alone and let him get something to eat and a chance to rest before he falls over?"

Berag returned her scowl with one of his own that was so close to her own that Daniel was certain it was something commonplace – probably the two were related, either husband and wife or maybe siblings.

"He's an enigma, Josa."

"He's a tired enigma," she stated, scooping up a bowl of broth from the fireplace and handing it to Ian with a loaf of bread. He took both gratefully and started wolfing it down. Bread and soup were a lot better than a powerbar – and far more filling. "And so are the others. The storm isn't going to end for hours – maybe a full day – so you'll have time to talk later. They've already proven themselves to be our friends – or at least helpful…" and she rested her hand lightly on the little girl's shoulder to emphasize the point. "Give them a chance to rest."

Since she was now scowling at all of them, the men grumbled a little, but finally nodded. Clearly Josa was someone none of them wanted to annoy. They stood up and left the fire, with only Berag mentioning that he'd return later, when they'd had a chance to get some rest.

Josa's scowl faded the moment the last man (Berag) left, and she gave them all a slight smile.

"They'll still be curious, but at least now you won't have them breathing down your necks for a while. Try to get some sleep if you can," she added to Jack. "I don't know how your friend heals, but if it's anything like we do it, it still takes something out of you to be healed."

Jack nodded. He felt okay, really – better than Ian looked, or Jaffer and Jack (the dog), for that matter – but he was grateful for her help.

"I'll try."

"You do that."

Josa left them alone, too, then, and Daniel watched her go before turning to Jack.

"Why did you have Ian heal you?" he asked, curiously. "They were willing to help – and Ian's abilities wouldn't have been exposed…"

Jack looked over at Ian, to see if he'd figured out the reason and wanted to answer, but Ian was still eating and didn't really even care.

"By having Ian heal him, O'Neill has avoided giving the Woem access to his mind," Teal'c said, looking up from checking out Jack's (the dog's) leg. "Therefore the Woem will not be able to gain any tactical knowledge of the Tau'ri – or the SGC by accident or design."

"Oh."

That made a lot of sense, actually, and Daniel was a little chagrined that he hadn't considered it himself.

"How's Jack?" Ian asked, changing the subject completely.

"His leg is injured," Teal'c replied. "But he has not sustained any lasting harm."

"How about you?" Jack asked.

Teal'c shrugged.

"My symbiote will deal with my own injuries. None are serious."

"Good."

O'Neill sank down into his blankets, feeling the warmth of the fire, the contentment of having Jaffer close to him and the dimness of the cavern all combining to make him sleepy. Since he knew that Teal'c would stay awake – and Jaffer and Jack would be aware of anything that went on around them even if they dozed a little – he didn't even try to fight the exhaustion. Instead, he simply made sure his weapons were where he'd be able to find them and that he wasn't too tangled in his blankets, and allowed himself to drift off.

Ian finished his meal quickly, and looked over at Teal'c, who was wrapping Jack's (the dog) leg.

"You're sure he's going to be okay?"

Teal'c nodded, giving Jack a gentle rubbing along his chest and neck that belied his formidable appearance. And was rewarded with a loving lick from the yellow lab. Obviously Jack wasn't all that bothered by the injury.

"He will be fine."

Daniel turned to Ian.

"How long will this storm last?"

Ian shrugged, and set his bowl to the side. He was tired, too, and if Jack was relaxed enough to sleep, the New Yorker figured he could sleep, too.

"How should I know? Do I look like Willard Scott?"

"Fisai must know."

"So ask him."

"You have his memories, right?"

Daniel was actually counting on this. Not so much to learn about the storm, but because he wanted to know more about the Woem – and maybe even about the Furlings if that information was there, too. The fact that Ian had managed to learn about them – unintentionally, of course, but that was okay – made the archeologist in Daniel just dance with glee.

"Not by choice."

"But-"

"Daniel. I'm tired."

He looked tired; too, Daniel had to admit. The archeologist sighed, but nodded. He hadn't helped fight a snow monster, after all, and hadn't bled all over the place like the others.

"I'll go ask Fisai."

Ian gave him a slight smile. He really did like Daniel – although he knew he was sometimes short with him. Of course he was short with pretty much everyone.

"Thanks."

He rolled himself into his blanket and buried his head under his pillow, effectively ending the conversation, and Daniel stood up and went to find Fisai. If the storm lasted so long that it kept them from checking in the people at the SGC would start worrying.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"How long until SG-1 checks in?" Nathan Brooks asked.

Walter Harriman looked at the clock on the computer in front of him and then at SG-1's departure time.

"Five hours, sir."

Nate grunted something unintelligible and scowled. He was trying to think of a good reason to call Jack's team, but couldn't think of anything that wouldn't make him look like a worried father. Which wouldn't do, of course. Generals didn't call in offworld teams just so they could check up on their offspring, after all.

He grumbled again, and headed back for his office, and Walter Harriman breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't wait for SG-1 to get back.