Author's Notes: For all the H/C sandbox crew... thanks guys!
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).
Sam had been full of questions already about what had occurred between the colonel and Daniel, but after the colonel's statement beside the river....
'The colonel pulling a Mr. Spock?' Sam just couldn't wrap her mind around the concept...
It was true that the colonel had always been more than usually tolerant with the young scientist and over time she had watched that tolerance grow into respect and even affection. Still, the colonel had always seemed to be more of the 'tough love' type, pushing Daniel for what the colonel considered his own good. This new attitude was something she didn't quite fathom...
'He's got more going for him than any of us ever guessed at...'
Sam had always...well, nearly always...known there was more to the gentle, intellectual scientist than met the eye. They all had. But now the colonel said it with a conviction that hadn't been there before. She had caught the colonel watching Daniel several times during their long hike with an expression of total bafflement. It was almost as if his 'kid' had grown up suddenly before his very eyes.
Daniel had certainly not been giving any clues away. Of course, Daniel hadn't been able to do more than sleep, eat and walk for the past three days...
He'd eaten better last night. Daniel knew as well as she did that if he didn't take care of himself the colonel wouldn't let him attempt the translation. Afterwards, Daniel had fallen asleep again leaning up against the log next to the fire. The colonel and Teal'c had carried Daniel into his tent without even waking him. Sam had seen the colonel check Daniel's temperature one last time before leaving the tent. That was their tough-guy colonel alright...
This morning the colonel had coaxed Daniel down to the river to clean up a little before going to see the writing. That, a cup a coffee and a breakfast of more fish had seemed to energize the young man. He was more animated than she had seen him in too many days. Privately, she thought his energy had more to do with the mystery at hand than anything else.
From the moment they entered the rather plain stone structure, Sam realized that they were lost to Daniel. Daniel started muttering to himself right away, his mind racing far ahead of his speech center. Sam knew at that moment they had become little more than a rag-tag honor guard; all they could do now was look after Daniel, making sure that he ate, slept, breathed (it had happened before). Sam smiled as they all moved out of Daniel's way as he moved around the walls, still muttering. This was classic Daniel and she was more than happy to see it...
She glanced over to see the colonel rolling his eyes and grinning, but behind the gesture she could see an edge of concern. They all knew how necessary it was to determine if this writing could help them find the Stargate, but Daniel was recovering from a very serious illness.
They fell into the routine with the ease of long practice. Teal'c moved to guard the entry. The colonel laid a fire in the brazier at the center of the room to drive away the chill dampness. Sam pulled out the digital recorder, moving around the walls behind Daniel. who was muttering something about "indefinite language roots" and taking notes so fast she was getting dizzy just watching.
After thoroughly taping the inscriptions, Sam settled next to the fire beside the colonel, who was still watching Daniel like a hawk. "Or a mother hen with one chick," Sam thought with an inward giggle. Daniel had been going at it steadily for nearly three hours and Sam noticed that he needed to lean on the wall for support more often. 'It won't be long now,' Sam thought, watching the colonel watch Daniel. Sure enough, Daniel stumbled a little against the wall and the colonel was on his feet in a flash, making Daniel sit down to rest near the fire.
"I'm okay, Jack..."
The colonel made a rude noise, handing Daniel the canteen. As the young scientist raised it to his lips his hands were shaking. From the colonel's tight-lipped expression, Sam knew that he noticed as well.
"Time for a break, Danny..." Sam recognized the soft, private tone that the colonel used; it was a rare tone, one that could break through the worst of Daniel's moods and one that Daniel almost always responded to.
Daniel nodded and let the colonel help him lay down on the floor near the fire. This wasn't the first time Sam had witnessed the unexpectedly gentle side of the relationship between the two men, but it never failed to touch and surprise her. They were both such powerful personalities; almost always directly opposed to one another in any argument. It never failed to amaze her that at the core of everything, they were such good friends.
Sam realized that they had been so busy just trying to survive that she hadn't stopped to think how close her two friends had come to dying. If she and Teal'c hadn't returned when they did, if the colonel hadn't been able to find his way out...
Sam shivered, despite the warmth of the room and got up to cover the reaction, moving to join Teal'c at the doorway. The colonel covered Daniel with his jacket, then joined them.
"We'll give him an hour," The colonel said, quietly. "Why don't you two go back and see about putting together some kind of dinner? I'll stay here and keep Daniel out of trouble..."
They all smiled at the unlikelihood of that concept, turning as one to glance at the sleeping form still clutching his notebook to his chest. Sam had the sudden thought that it wasn't fair that all their hope to get home was centered on the Daniel, who, by all rights, should be in a hospital.
'But then,' Sam thought sadly, 'when have things ever been fair for Daniel?'