Note: Well, no reviews last chapter. ::pouts:: But I suppose no one caught that update and it didn't help that FFnet didn't send out any email alerts. ::rollseyes:: Soooooo, me hopes I get reviews this chapter! It's a little short, but I hope you enjoy!

ELEVEN

In typical O'Neill fashion, Jack had pestered Janet constantly about when he'd be able to leave the infirmary, once he was well enough to do so. Jacob had offered to use the healing device on Jack again before he had to leave for his other Tok'ra duties, but the General had regrettably informed everyone that the NID paid the SGC a little visit while they were on their mission and had all their remaining new alien devices shipped off to Area-51.

Since he was left to heal on his own this time, and luckily his wounds weren't life-threatening, Jack had been under Janet's care for nearly a week. She was now allowing him to go home, as long as someone looked after him for the next few days. But Fraiser wasn't letting the Colonel return to his own home this time. She'd been under the impression that having a teammate look after him in his own home would be dangerous, since she was certain he'd order them to leave if and when he felt he was being 'mothered'. It's not like he hadn't done so before. So, with more than a little reluctance from Colonel O'Neill, Janet had decided to send him to Daniel's house, after speaking privately with Jackson about her concerns first.

"Don't worry Jack, it's not going to be that bad," Daniel tried to reassure his friend in a placating tone as he pushed him along the SGC's corridors in a wheelchair. Janet had demanded that the Colonel accept the ride to the surface or he wouldn't be going anywhere.

"Hmph," Jack simply grunted and sat through the remainder of the ride in silence as they neared the surface and passed through the security checks. During every single day he'd spent in the infirmary, Sam had been a constant visitor. She was more relaxed around him, and a bit more flirty than she had been before. Jack had been confused at first, but then the lower dosage of pain meds had allowed him to think more clearly and he'd remembered their closeness before leaving for the mission back to that dreadful planet full of man-beasties. He fondly recalled her falling asleep in his quarters, at the end of his cot, the night when her father had healed his previous injuries. After that night, neither mentioned anything to the other; they didn't voice any feelings or delve deeper into the moment. It was what it was, and they'd left it at that. That moment they'd had together had left Jack wanting more, needing more. It scared him how badly he wanted to be with her, how much he longed to just be in the same room with her.

"Jack?"

Daniel's voice broke through his silent reverie and he blinked, craning his neck and shifting in the chair to look up at his friend. "What?" He cleared his throat and blinked again, wishing that he'd be staying with Sam instead of Daniel. Daniel was his best friend, sure, but there were things he was now certain had to be discussed with Sam alone. Jack had to know that he wasn't just loopy from over-medicating or something, and that the stronger bond between himself and Sam wasn't imagined.

"Jack, are you okay?" Daniel stepped to the side of the wheelchair. They were now on the surface, the cool autumn air blowing leaves across the ground at their feet, but Jack hadn't seemed to notice any of that yet.

"Yes Daniel," Jack finally muttered, rolling his eyes with mock-exaggeration. He rose slowly from the chair now, steadying his feet under him and wincing slightly as the movement tugged at the abused muscles in his right side where the bullet had gone through.

After asking one of the SFs to take the wheelchair back down to the infirmary, Daniel walked alongside Jack as they headed for his car. He belatedly realized that it would have been more considerate of him to have Jack wait and bring the car over, but the idea came much too late and they were almost there anyway. The archaeologist tried hard not to reach out and steady Jack when his steps occasionally faltered, and waited patiently as his friend got into the passenger seat and reached out to close the door with a soft hiss of pain.

Daniel had to stop at Jack's place to get some of his clothes and things before they'd gone to his house, and the pair were barely there for an hour before Sam came over to visit with Teal'c in tow. Unfortunately, by that time Jack was exhausted and a little loopy from the meds Janet had sent him home with.

Teal'c, Sam, and Daniel had been sitting around the living room chatting for awhile before they noticed that Jack had fallen asleep in the armchair. It was a little past 1800, and Daniel was feeling pretty hungry, assuming the others (minus Jack) must have been hungry too. He slapped his hands on his thighs and smiled. "Hey, what do you guys say we stop by O'Malley's and get some take-out?"

Sam smiled and nodded. "That's a good idea. I've barely eaten anything all day; I'm starved."

Teal'c just gave a slight nod. "I, too, am feeling the need for sustenance."

"Okay," Daniel stood from his seat near Teal'c on the couch and glanced over at Jack before his gaze shifted to Sam with a knowing smile. "Why don't Teal'c and I go pick something up while you stay here with Jack?"

"Sure," Sam nodded, not quite seeing the devilish twinkle in the archaeologist's eyes.

Daniel moved across the fairly open area to his kitchen and grabbed his keys off the counter before slipping on his jacket. Teal'c was already standing by the door. "Sam, what do you feel like eating?"

"I dunno, pasta or something." She shrugged. Chewing her bottom lip briefly in thought, Sam tilted her head before deciding, "Ravioli...with marinara sauce,"

"Got it," Daniel nodded and began to follow Teal'c out the door. "We shouldn't be too long. I'll call the order in on the way," he said as the two of them left.

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Alone with Jack in Daniel's house, Sam had begun feeling a tad bit awkward just sitting there on the couch with Jack fast asleep in the nearby chair. She scooted toward the furthest end of the couch, as close to the armchair as she could get without actually getting up. Her eyes roamed over him studiously, examining his visible injuries closely. The left arm encased in a bright blue cast from below his elbow and on down to immobilize his wrist was resting protectively across his ride side. Sam had noticed how Jack automatically assumed that pose, as though he still needed to keep pressure on the bullet wound.

Leaning back into the couch, Sam reached for the remote and turned on the tv, flicking through the channels before settling on something rather boring looking. She didn't really care what was on tv anyway because she wasn't paying much attention to it. It was simply something to distract her attention from the Colonel's sleeping form so close by, his breaths even and heavy.

Sam was sitting there staring blankly at the bland entertainment on tv for about fifteen minutes when she heard a soft groan coming from Jack. Fully turning her attention to him, she shifted on the couch and waited patiently as he moved a little and groggily opened his eyes. "Colonel?" she called, testing his lucidity.

His brown eyes blearily scanned the room before he sat up a bit straighter in the armchair with a barely noticeable wince. When Jack's gaze settled on Sam, he cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow slightly. "Where's-" he paused to clear his throat mid-sentence, "Daniel and Teal'c?"

"They went to O'Malley's to get us all something to eat about half an hour ago," Sam answered him softly with a smile. "We decided we were hungry."

"Ah," Jack nodded idly.

Sam noticed that he was sweating, his good hand tapping his thigh as though nervous, and remembered something Janet had told Daniel while she was there, raising her concerns. "Janet said to make sure your blood sugar doesn't get too low, sir." Her brows furrowed slightly as he met her eyes with a lack of comprehension. "She said you'd been a little hypoglycemic while adjusting after the blood transfusion."

"Oh yeah," Jack agreed softly with a slight nod. "Doc pestered me 'bout that,"

"When was the last time you had anything to eat, sir?" She questioned with a bit of concern.

"Sam?" He shifted languidly once more and tilted his head in her direction.

She stared right back at him, concerned that something was wrong. "Sir?" Sam stood up and absently smoothed out the wrinkles in her jeans.

He smiled lopsidedly. "Call me Jack, okay? It's just us," His dark eyes twinkled affectionately at her with the bold instruction. When she smiled back at him, comfortable with the idea of getting permission to use his first name, Jack grinned even wider.

"Okay," she moved in front of his chair. "But you haven't answered my question...Jack," Sam eyed him seriously. "When was the last time you've eaten?"

Jack leaned back slowly in thought, his eyes drifting toward the ceiling. "I dunno, an hour or so before the doc sent me home?" He shrugged. Leaning forward in the chair slowly, Jack got to his feet gingerly and wavered a bit until Sam grasped his right arm to steady him. He blinked several times to focus his vision and nodded a brief thanks to her. "I'm okay,"

Sam could easily tell that he was a bit weak, and realized she needed to get some sugar into his system. She headed for the kitchen, hoping Daniel had something sweet in there, while she watched carefully as Jack headed in a different direction.

He shuffled slowly toward the bathroom, jokingly calling back, "If I'm not out soon, wait 'till Danny gets back and have T knock the door down. Don't want you to hafta find me crashed on the floor by the can," Jack winked at her as he stepped out of sight.

Sam laughed softly at the lame attempt at a joke, though she was really worried that he might be on the verge of passing out if his blood sugar really was very low. Opening up the refrigerator, she stuck her head in and searched for something full of sugar. Moving a carton of milk and some leftover something-or-other out of the way, Sam spied a chocolate bar tucked way in the back on the top shelf. I knew Daniel had a sweet tooth, she thought with a relieved smile, grabbing the chocolate and heading back to the couch to wait for Jack.

He came out a minute later, and she watched him carefully as he took a few steps toward the living room and then paused, standing very still and closing his eyes a moment before opening them and slowly moving toward her again. Jack seemed even more unsteady and sweatier than before as he made it to the couch and plopped down beside her too heavily with a wince. "Hey, I didn't pass out," he announced lightheartedly in a soft, weak voice as though it were an accomplished feat.

"No, but you look like you're about to," quickly unwrapping the chocolate bar, Sam broke off a piece and handed it to him. "Here si - Jack, eat this," She knew giving him something sugary in a liquid form would have been better, but Daniel didn't really have anything in his refrigerator that would qualify, and she didn't want to waste time searching for some sugar to add.

Jack made a face, staring at the piece of milk chocolate in his right hand. "I'd much prefer cake, but..." He shrugged, glanced at Sam with a crooked grin and stuck the piece of candy in his mouth.

When he'd finished eating that, Sam broke off another chunk of chocolate and gave it to him, repeating the process until it was gone. "Feel any better yet?" She asked hopefully as he swallowed the last bit of sweet, sugary chocolate.

"You know," His eyes trailed to hers with an adoring twinkle, "Daniel's not going to be happy, you giving me dessert before dinner," Jack smirked as Sam laughed.

Her bright blue eyes sparkled right back in response to his teasing. "I think he'll take this as an exception." As she watched Jack lean back into the couch cushions slowly with a weary sigh, his eyes blankly gazing as the tv she'd left on, Sam realized he'd avoided answering her question again. Opening her mouth, she was about to call him on it when the front door opened and Teal'c and Daniel walked in carrying bags with their take-out food.

"Hey," Daniel waved with his free hand as he and Teal'c brought the food to the kitchen. He noticed that Jack was awake and called down to his temporary roommate. "Jack, you hungry?"

"Yeah, famished," Jack answered, still looking at Sam with a crooked grin. He made no move to get off the couch as Sam stood and crossed the small space over to the open kitchen.

Sam pulled Daniel aside while Teal'c arranged their food on some paper plates and took out the silverware along with some drinks.

"What?" Daniel asked curiously with furrowed brows as he stood in the hallway with Sam. "Did Jack just wake up?" He leaned to one side so he could peer into the living room where Jack still sat on the couch. With some amusement, he noticed that both Jack and Sam had been sitting on the couch together when he and Teal'c came in.

"No," Sam shook her head slightly. "He's been up for a few minutes. I think his blood sugar was getting low, so I found some candy in the fridge and had him eat that,"

"Oh, jeeze," Daniel muttered to himself, then made a face and frowned. "Janet's going to kill me. I'm supposed to keep an eye on him for that and should've let you know..." He paused, brows knit together once more. "Wait, how did you know?"

"I was with you when Janet mentioned the blood sugar thing, remember?" Sam reminded him.

"Right, right," He nodded, then fixed his glasses on his face and ran a hand through his hair. "Janet said she wasn't going to give him any insulin for it, because it probably wouldn't get bad as long as I made sure he ate something somewhat sugary every few hours. She said he'd most likely be back to normal once his system had filtered his blood...or something.." Daniel shrugged idly. "God, I'm such an idiot!" He hissed to himself, ranting on and hugging his arms about his chest. "I should have given him something to eat hours ago," he cursed again, about to continue berating himself when Sam stopped his tirade with a firm, but reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Daniel, it's okay. He's alright now," Sam said in a hushed tone, not wanting Jack to overhear.

Sighing loudly, Daniel lowered his arms and offered a tight smile. "Yeah, thanks to you," He nodded, moving with Sam back to the kitchen.

Going over to sit at the table where Teal'c had already distributed food and drinks, Sam waited a moment, seeing Jack getting up off the couch to join them before she sat down. She took a sip of the iced tea Teal'c had set in front of her and then bit into a ravioli. When Jack slowly pulled out the chair beside her and gingerly sat down, she glanced at him briefly and offered a small smile when he looked at her. He appeared to be feeling better, but she couldn't be sure.

Jack raised an eyebrow as he looked at the paper plate Teal'c pushed in front of him. "Steak. Nice," he nodded toward Daniel appreciatively. Picking up a knife with his right hand, Jack reached for his fork with his left to start cutting the meat when he realized that he couldn't quite grasp the utensil with the cast on his left arm. Sighing softly in frustration, Jack was grateful, and a little embarrassed, when Sam silently slid his plate toward her and began cutting up his steak. "Thanks Sam," he said softly with a small smile.

Sam smiled and nodded in return. She was mildly surprised he'd used her first name in front of Daniel and Teal'c, but wasn't sure she'd feel very comfortable returning the gesture in front of their friends. "No problem," she responded, deliberately leaving out any acknowledgement of 'sir', 'Colonel', or 'Jack'.

Once finishing nearly all his steak and half the baked potato that came with it, Jack was ready to call it quits. He nudged his plate forward and leaned back in the chair, lightly resting his right hand over his stomach. "I am stuffed!" he exclaimed with a grin, seeing Daniel finishing his veal cutlet while Teal'c had demolished his own steak minutes ago, and Sam had re-boxed her remainder of raviolis.

Sam smiled to the side at him. He looked a little tired, but it didn't appear to be from low blood sugar any longer. Standing up, she started to clear the rest of the paper plates and take-out boxes.

Jack followed Sam and got out of his seat to help her clean up the table. No one made a move to stop him, and he was very grateful for that. He didn't need them telling him what it could or couldn't do in his condition. He knew his limits, even though he tended to push those boundaries more often than not. His side ached a little when he stood and bent over the table to reach for some things with his right hand, but that didn't stop him.

"Gee Jack, if I knew you'd clean up the place, I'd invite you over for dinner more often," Daniel joked with a friendly, teasing smile. When Jack glared at him, he could see in his friend's dark eyes that he was glad the teasing was in place instead of mothering.

Jack chuckled and waved his casted arm at him. "Watch it Danny, or I'll tell the Doc you ain't being nice," He smirked devilishly and turned to follow Sam with the garbage to toss it in the trash bin.

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