Note: Thanks for the reviews:)
TWELVE
Sam and Teal'c stuck around after they ate, and the four of them all decided to watch a movie. Since Daniel didn't have any movies besides History Channel specials and the like, Sam and Teal'c volunteered, as the guests, to run down to the video store and pick something up. They came back with a choice between one of the Star Wars movies, obviously Teal'c's pick, and Pirates of the Caribbean, chosen by Sam. Despite liking to pick everything apart, Sam would have rather enjoyed a sci-fi flick, but since Teal'c had already covered that department, she chose something different, figuring that the pirate movie was something Jack might like.
Sharing the small couch with the Colonel, Sam was pleased to find that he actually was enjoying the movie she'd chosen, judging by the way he was staring intently at the screen and laughing at Jack Sparrow's antics on scene. At first she'd thought he was only grateful that they weren't stuck watching Star Wars again, but as the movie continued, she could see that he really liked it.
After the ending credits of the movie had begun rolling and Teal'c insisted on putting Star Wars in, Jack found himself relaxing and leaning into Sam at his right. He'd already taken his pills and could care less that the guys were around to see him being so friendly with Carter. He loved her, and at the moment he could care less who knew it. Of course, that was probably the drugs speaking, but it didn't matter. The only person that mattered right in that moment was Sam. He just had to somehow find a way to tell her.
Sam smiled down at Jack where he was now slumped into her left side, his cheek smushed into her shoulder as he breathed deeply with sleep. She blinked tiredly, trying not to let her own weariness take over.
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Not quite sure what had woken her at first, Sam shifted and felt a weight against her left side. The weight was making indistinguishable grumbling noises, and when Sam remembered that she was on the couch beside Jack, her eyes opened and she straightened against the back cushions with a slight yawn. She blinked as her eyes blearily scanned the room where she saw Daniel get up off his recliner and amble toward the tv to remove the dvd from the player while Teal'c sat in another chair looking at the back of the Star Wars movie casing.
Sam nearly jumped out of her skin when Jack suddenly gasped at her side and jerked upright, his eyes snapping open as he loudly muttered, "We hafta go back!"
Daniel swung around so fast he nearly toppled himself, and Teal'c sat straighter and glanced toward O'Neill with a raised eyebrow. "Whoa, Jack, take it easy," Daniel handed the removed disc to Teal'c as he moved over to stand in front of his friend. "What are you talking about?"
Jack swallowed convulsively and moved his plastered arm to cover his right side with a slight grimace, the sudden movements having caused him some pain. He turned wild brown eyes on the archaeologist. "The planet, '974," he clarified in a steadier voice. "Those people... They helped us. We owe it to 'em to save them from the stinkin' Goa'uld and their pets,"
Daniel just smiled, which seemed to severely confuse Jack. He leaned forward and patted the man's shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry Jack, it's already taken care of. General Hammond's already sent in SG-3 and 11 to gather the refugees and we're currently searching for a planet to relocate them. As of now the Nox have temporarily taken them in," he assured his friend. "Okay?"
"Yeah," Jack breathed, barely a whisper. He heaved a sigh of relief and sunk down into the soft couch cushions again. Raising his left arm to run a hand through his hair, he paused, remembered the heavy cast and used his right arm instead. Glancing to his right, he smiled crookedly at Sam and felt his eyelids fluttering, suddenly very tired again.
Sam gently nudged Jack's arm when she caught his chin drooping. "Are you alright?" she whispered softly, repressing the natural urge to call him 'sir'.
Jack nodded groggily, his head falling to rest against Sam's shoulder again as he slumped into her. "Tired," he murmured barely audibly.
"Go back to sleep, it's okay," she assured him softly. Sam heard a soft murmur at her side, followed by the sound of heavy, even breathing.
Teal'c and Daniel shared a brief look, then Daniel stepped back from where he stood in front of Jack and returned to his recliner. It was rather late now, and as the archaeologist scanned the room, realized they all appeared to be ready to fall asleep. Well, besides Teal'c anyways. He always looked alert.
Sam seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Daniel, noticing he appeared pretty tired as well. "Teal'c and I should probably get going and let you guys sleep," she said quietly, not wanting to wake Jack.
Yawning, Daniel sat up in his chair and half smiled. "Yeah, I think that might be a good idea."
Teal'c stood and moved over to the couch as Sam carefully extracted herself from Jack, who was still slumped against her left side. He glanced back at Daniel. "Do you require our assistance getting O'Neill to bed?"
"No, I can handle it." Daniel waved a hand vaguely toward the hall. "I've just got the one room, and Jack insisted on taking the couch instead of stealing my bed, so he can just stay put. I'll grab a few blankets and a pillow for him."
The Jaffa gave a nod and waited patiently for Major Carter to head toward the door after she said good-bye to Daniel. "Sleep well Daniel Jackson," Teal'c bowed his head a bit and walked away with Sam as she tossed him the car keys. He could tell she was too tired to drive and didn't mind taking her home. Once he'd learned how, the Jaffa found that he quite enjoyed driving anyway, and relished the chance to take the wheel whenever he was able.
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With his subconscious nudging him to alertness for some reason, Daniel opened his eyes and sat up in bed, reaching for his glasses on the bedside table. He didn't understand why he suddenly felt so apprehensive, until he remembered his roommate. Jack, he thought immediately, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and pausing to listen for anything that seemed amiss. Not hearing a thing, Daniel got up out of bed and padded towards the open door to his bedroom. Pausing again, he still didn't hear anything so decided to go to the living room and check on Jack to assure himself that his friend was still sleeping.
Shuffling in the dark toward the couch, Daniel fumbled to switch on the table lamp, nearly panicking when he didn't see Jack laying on the couch. But then his gaze drifted downward and he found his friend slumped on the floor in front of the sofa with his back leaning against it, holding his side with his broken arm, pain etched across his pale face. "Jesus, Jack!" Daniel gasped, immediately kneeling at his friend's side.
Jack's eyes snapped open and he peered at Daniel, disoriented.
Reaching out, Daniel placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, jerking back when his friend recoiled and flung himself sideways. "Whoa, easy Jack! Take it easy, it's me, it's Daniel," the archaeologist spoke calmly and softly. It seemed as though Jack was having a terrible dream, or had been. Daniel cringed at the thought that his friend was recalling his awful torture at the hands of the manimals.
"Daniel," Jack gasped, his eyes seeming to come into focus as his gaze swivelled toward his friend again.
"Yeah, Jack," Daniel nodded and carefully moved closer to his friend, taking him by the shoulders gently and helping him to sit upright again. "You okay? It's not your blood sugar, is it?" he asked, studying Jack carefully for any symptoms of low blood sugar that Janet told him to look out for.
Shaking his head slightly, Jack murmured a barely audible, "No," even though he didn't really remember the symptoms from when the doc explained them to him.
Daniel mentally went over his own list from what he recalled. Nervousness? No, I can't really say he seems nervous at all... Sweating? The archaeologist tilted his head, examining Jack in the light from the lamp he'd turned on before. Nope. Not sweating. Although, if he was I'd assume it was from the vivid dream it seems like he's had. Daniel continued on with his list. Intense hunger? Um...I dunno. But I suppose he'd say something if he was really hungry.
Discontinuing his mental list, Daniel nudged his friend's shoulder in an attempt to get him to look at him. "C'mon Jack, let's get you back on the couch," he said softly, already helping to pull the man upright.
Jack grunted as he bonelessly flopped back on the couch with Daniel's help. Raising up off the floor had made him unnaturally light-headed.
Daniel sat down on the couch beside Jack as he pulled up the blankets that had fallen on the floor along with his friend. He was surprised by Jack's actions when the lean man put a hand to his head and started to slump sideways. "Jack!" He gasped worriedly, grasping O'Neill behind his shoulders and not letting him fall. "Jack, what's wrong?" Daniel asked anxiously, unsure if he'd even get an answer.
"Really...dizzy.." Jack groaned nearly inaudibly, trying not to let himself pass out.
Tapping his bare foot against the floor nervously, Daniel wondered whether or not he should call Janet. It was the middle of the night, however, and it was just a little dizzy spell, probably nothing. And Jack would most likely be ticked in the morning if Daniel called the doctor in to make a house call. The archaeologist puzzled over his choices briefly, then turned to glance at Jack as he let go of his shoulders, sure that the man could sit up on his own now. "You wanna get some air or something?"
"Yeah," Jack blinked slowly and started to get to his feet. He immediately felt light-headed again as soon as he was standing upright, and nearly fell back into the couch cushions.
"Whoa, take it easy," Daniel grabbed his friend's upper arm, steadied him, and cautiously moved with him toward the door leading to the backyard.
Jack nearly passed out once they were outside, the dizzyness overwhelming him and driving him to his knees despite Daniel's efforts to keep him upright.
"C'mon Jack, stay with me," Daniel instructed worriedly, kneeling on the grass by O'Neill's side and hanging onto him so he didn't fall completely to the cold ground. "I really think I should call Janet.." he muttered more to himself than Jack. "Sam would kill me if anything happened to you,"
"What?" came Jack's breathy whisper. "Sam?" He lifted his head with effort, "..why?"
Daniel smiled a little to himself. "Because she loves you, you idiot, that's why," he laughed softly.
Shifting away from Daniel so that he was mostly holding himself up, Jack shot the archaeologist a comically puzzled expression. "She..." he trailed off, unable to complete the thought, though he knew it to be true. Or, atleast he hoped so.
"She loves you Jack," Daniel finished for him. "She told me," he grinned smugly, then said, "And you love her too, I know you do."
Too tired and dizzy to protest or come up with something to deny what Daniel already knew to be true, Jack struggled to his feet with briefly renewed strength. He put out a hand in pause, preventing Daniel from steadying him. When he was certain he could move on his own without passing out or falling over, Jack took a careful step back toward the door, then another, and another. "Don't call the doc," he muttered, taking deep, steadying breaths of the cool night air before he went back inside.
Daniel followed closely, shutting the door behind them. He knew it was pointless to start an argument with Jack now, and instead decided to bring up the conversation again in the morning. Watching Jack lay back down on the couch with a grunt, resting his plaster-coated arm across his stomach, Daniel tossed the blanket over him and stood there for a minute. "Okay, I won't call Janet now, but I am calling her in the morning to let her know what happened." When Jack just grunted, Daniel turned off the light, grabbed another blanket, and sunk into the armchair. He was still a bit worried about his best friend, and was going to watch over him until he fell asleep, staying in the lounge the rest of the night in case Jack needed something.
He pretended to sleep for a few minutes, relaxing finally when Jack let his head loll limply against the pillow and dozed off. Daniel's heart was still beating nervously in his chest and he doubted sleep would come easy. He was pretty shaken up over his friend's little episode, and wondered if he was making the right call by waiting until morning to speak with Janet.
-
Hanging up the phone, Daniel left the kitchen with a glass of orange juice in his hand and went to stand beside the couch where Jack was sitting. Perching himself on the end of the coffee table, Daniel handed Jack the juice. "I talked to Janet," he told him.
Jack took a sip of the orange juice and rose his head slowly. "Yeah?" he muttered expectantly.
"She wants me to bring you in this morning," Daniel explained. "She's going to run some tests, but she already thinks it might have to do with the medication you're on, so she said not to give you anything before we go in."
Raising an eyebrow, Jack lifted his glass. "Doesn't this count as something?" He joked lamely with a lopsided grin.
Shaking his head, Daniel rolled his eyes. "Pills Jack, she meant no pills." Looking his friend over, he cocked his head the side, brows furrowed slightly in concern. "How you feeling now? Still dizzy?"
"No, not so much," Jack stopped himself from shaking his head, just in case. His side was feeling a little sore with the lack of pain medication in his system, but he could deal with it.
"Okay, you about ready to get going then? Janet wants to get the tests done with so you can get back on your meds." Daniel stood, running a hand through his hair, still damp from his recent shower. "I'll grab some of your clothes so you can change on base."
With a heavy sigh, Jack nodded carefully and pushed off the couch with his good arm as he gingerly got to his feet. Almost immediately, he felt way more light-headed than when he was sitting, but it wasn't as bad as the previous night.
Finding Jack's infirmary slippers that he'd worn off base the other day, Daniel picked them up and tossed them on the floor in front of his friend. "Just put those on for now, I'll grab your shoes to take with us too." He could tell that Jack wasn't really appreciating being treated like a child and grimaced as he turned his head, reminding himself to tune that down along with the mothering.
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