Jack poked his head around the infirmary room door, the overly cheerful smile on his face growing more genuine when he actually saw her, confirming for himself what Doc Fraiser had told Hammond. There were no tubes and no wires - not even an IV. Other than a slight paleness, and the undeniable fact she was in a hospital gown in an infirmary bed, there didn't seem to be a thing wrong with her.

"Hey, Carter," he said.

She looked up from the book she'd been reading. "Oh. Hi, Sir."

He crossed the space between them to stand next to her bed. "How ya doin'?"

"Pretty good, Sir." As she spoke, she started to sit up a little straighter in the bed but stopped abruptly, wincing at the movement.

"That was some fall, Major," Jack pointed out.

Her lips curved upwards, but the smile failed to reach her eyes. "Yeah."

He reached behind himself and pulled up a chair. Sitting down, he began to explain, "I hate to do this, Carter… But Hammond sent me down to talk to you. He's got a call from the Pentagon… They wanna know what happened out there. He tried to stall them, to explain you were stuck in here with a possible concussion… But you know suits." He didn't tell her that he suspected Kinsey was behind the urgency of the 'request'. Though, from the flash of understanding followed by quick anger which crossed her face, he didn't have to.

"They don't care, do they, Sir?"

"Excuse me?"

"A good man almost certainly died today, saving my… saving all of our lives… from the Aschen, and they don't even care. All they want to know is how they can spin what happened to their benefit. It's just so…" Her hands flailed briefly over the thin blanket as though physically grasping for the right word.

He smiled gently at her. "Wrong? Unfair?"

"Fucked up," she finally answered, nearly spitting the words out. Then, realizing what she'd said, she glanced up at him sharply, her eyes growing wide as saucers. "Oh… Sir… I didn't…"

Jack chuckled. "It's okay, Carter. I think that sums it up nicely. At least, in the case of Kinsey, I'm certain it does."

This time, the smile reached her eyes. "Yeah, I guess maybe it does."

He leaned forward in his chair, "So… Wanna tell me what happened so I can get these guys off our asses?"

She took a deep breath before beginning. "Well, I did just as Daniel suggested, handing them the paper to read. As soon as he said the word 'Sterility,' it was obvious we'd been right. The Aschen left the room, and next thing we knew, they were dialing the gate below the harvester. They were lowering what looked like a bomb, and I rigged a rope to get us down first, but before the Ambassador could follow…" Carter paused, a brief look of pain crossing her features at the memory. A look he knew had little to do with her fall through the gate.

Not that it was any of his business. Not any more. In fact, it had never been his business. She'd done her job and completed her mission. That was all that mattered to him. In fact, he had liked seeing her happy.

Really.

Just like he hated seeing her like this, now.

"What happened?" he prompted before she could sink any further into her pain.

"The Aschen must have seen him… I saw them fighting… and he told me to go…"

"So you went."

"Yes, Sir," she admitted as though it were a failing.

"You did the right thing, Carter."

"Yes… Sir," she said, staring intently at something on the blanket in front of her.

"Carter…" This time, he waited for her to look up and make eye contact before continuing, hoping she could read the pride on his face as he said, "You did good, Major."

She searched his features for several long moments. Finally appearing satisfied he spoke the truth, she smiled tentatively. "Thank you, Sir."

"No, Carter. Thank you." He patted the side of the bed before standing up. "And now, since I should have enough to keep the shark's at bay - at least for a little while - I should probably be heading back and leaving you to get some rest…"

She opened her mouth to protest.

He held up a finger, silencing her. "That's an order, Major."

She smiled again, "Yes, Sir."

"Good. I'll be back to check on you later, though…?"

"Yes, Sir. I could do with some company." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "You know this place."

"All too well… Till then…." And, with a final wave, he turned and left the room.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

He'd thought he'd been doing well - really - believing he'd just about gotten her out of his system. That she'd become little more to him than what a subordinate and close teammate should be.

Then she was gone - missing - and he'd felt the fear and terror of her loss. Again. Only, in the heat of the search itself there'd been no time to think. He'd simply sought desperately, every energy and effort intent simply on getting her back. No time to think about anything else - to dwell on what his drive to find her meant.

Until he'd stepped into the room and seen her lying on the hospital gurney and understood, even in his initial scan of the scene, that he'd been only mere moments from being too late. From losing her completely and forever and it had taken all his self-control to keep from tearing the men who held her apart limb from limb.

That's when he had truly known.

He stood next to her now, helping her undo the cuffs binding her to the bed on which she lay. Her leg was warm beneath his palm… soft and alive and there. He glanced down at his hand resting on her shin… Holding onto her as though afraid she might vanish. As though she might not be real. He jerked his arm back to his side hoping she hadn't noticed. He might now know he couldn't change how he felt, but that still didn't mean he could let it effect what he did.

Jack had seen the end of that path before. There was no way in hell he was ever going to go there again.

Sam slid to the floor next to him and he passed her a pistol. After clearing and cocking it, she fell into her place at his side. It might not be everything he wanted - he could admit that now - but it would be enough. And it was a hell of a lot better than nothing at all.