"Just one more time." Sam grimaced as she grasped the bar and started slowly pulling herself up to a standing position.

Teal'c stood near, ready to support her if needed. "We started these exercises at seven," he reminded, glancing pointedly at the clock, which showed the time to be nearly eight thirty.

"Yes, I know," Sam said, as she finally reached a fully upright position. "Just once more..." She gritted her teeth as she began transferring her weight from her arms to her legs. For a moment, her weight was distributed evenly between her arms and legs, then as she tried to ease a little more weight onto her leg, her hand slipped, causing her upper body to collapse forward. Teal'c's arms immediately closed around her, easily supporting her full weight.

"Samantha," he tried again. "If you overexert yourself, you may injure yourself again. This is enough for today. Now." He gently but firmly turned her away from the bar. "Let me assist you to your chair."

"I..." Sam looked strickenly up at Teal'c. "I'm never going to do this. I can't even stand on my own! How am I ever going to walk?"

"Samantha," Teal'c wrapped his arms around Sam and gently rubbed her back. "Do you not have a saying that a great city is not built in a day? This is just our first day. We have many more days ahead of us."

"I..." Sam sobbed. "I..."

Teal'c held her closer, hands still rubbing soothingly along her back. "You are a brave warrior, Samantha," he murmured. "This is a battle you can win. And I will fight by your side, every step of the way."

Sam nodded hard against Teal'c's broad chest.

Neither paid attention to the light knock on the door, or the door opening. It was only when light footsteps heralded someone entering the room that Teal'c looked up.

Pete stood frozen near the entrance, taking in the tableau. Sam, sensing the sudden tension in Teal'c, lifted her head.

"Pete?" Sam jerked up in surprise. Teal'c shifted his hold to keep her balance. "Pete, what are you...?"

Pete turned on his heels and walked out of the room.

"Pete!" Sam called after him, instinctively taking a step forward and slipping out of Teal'c's grasp. Teal'c quickly slid down with her, breaking most of her fall, but she still landed with a harsh jerk. "Pete!" she called again.

Out in the corridor, Pete walked rapidly toward the elevators, almost colliding with Daniel as he went. Daniel blinked in surprise at the other man's fast receding back, then turned and rushed into the therapy room, where he found Teal'c on his knees, supporting Sam as she huddled on the floor, obviously in pain.

"Uh, was that Pete? What happened?"

"Daniel Jackson," said Teal'c. "Please get Dr. Fraiser. I am afraid Samantha Carter may have injured herself."

-----

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Daniel slammed both hands down onto Jack's desk, right in front of the other man's face.

"And good morning to you, too," Jack returned calmly. "How's your day going?"

"Damn it, Jack!" Daniel yelled. "Don't tell me you haven't heard what happened!"

"Oh. Well, Doc said Carter's okay. She just overdid things a little."

"Sam is okay? Yeah, Sam is okay. No thanks to you!" Daniel banged the desk again, so hard the whole thing rattled. The security guard in the briefing room looked over to see if his assistance was needed, and Jack raised a hand to indicate things were under control.

"Daniel," he said. "Calm down. And close that door."

"Ugh!" Daniel let out a frustrated yell, but he took a deep breath, walked deliberately over to the door, and closed it forcefully but without actually slamming it.

"Good," Jack said. "Now, come over and sit." He pointed at a chair.

Daniel walked back and threw himself down into the designated chair. "Really, Jack. What the hell were you thinking?" he muttered.

"You said Carter won't see Shanahan," Jack stated.

"Yeah."

"So now she's seen him."

Daniel stared at Jack in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Very," Jack answered.

Daniel inspected Jack as if trying to decide whether he should call for the firing squad, the exterminator, or the men with the strait jacket.

"Look," Jack finally decided to explain further. "This is a classic case of dragging the horse to the water. I got the horse to the water. Or the water to the horse. Whichever it is. The rest..." He dusted off his hands to show it was none of his business.

"And..." Daniel squinted suspiciously at Jack. "What about the timing? Why'd you tell him to come at eight thirty?"

"I said to come *any time after* oh-eight-thirty," Jack clarified. "So he came precisely at oh-eight-thirty, did he?"

"Come on, Jack," Daniel insisted. "You knew he would come at eight thirty."

Jack calmly started sorting the piles of paper on his desk.

"And you knew Sam wouldn't stop at eight. She'd likely go over," Daniel kept pushing.

"So what if I did?" Jack said, without looking up from the papers.

"So. Why. Did. You. Do. It." Daniel leaned forward until he was in Jack's face again.

Jack finally looked up at Daniel. "Why do you think?" he asked.

"You..." Daniel frowned as he thought it through. "You wanted him to see her. While she was doing her therapy. You wanted him to know..." Daniel trailed off. "Okay." He collapsed back into his seat. "Could have worked. If only he hadn't walked in on..."

Jack raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Teal'c," Daniel explained. "Sam... I guess she was feeling frustrated... Or something... Anyway, she'd been crying, and Teal'c was..."

"Hugging her?" Jack suggested. "Holding her in his arms?"

"Yeah." Daniel held out his hand in agreement. "That."

"Okay," Jack said, once again turning his attention to arranging the papers on his desk. "And?"

"And?" Daniel repeated. "What do you mean, 'and'?"

"So they were hugging," Jack said, his tone clearly indicating 'what's the big deal?'

Daniel's mouth dropped open. "Well, I mean..." He glanced around in bewilderment, searching for a way to explain this extremely simple concept to a man who apparently failed to grasp it. "Well... well... well... They were... hugging," he finished lamely.

"Daniel." Jack dropped the paper he was holding onto the desktop. "Say you come home and find Sha're crying in another man's arms. What do you do?"

Daniel sat up in surprise at the unexpected question. "Um, um, er... Ask what happened?" he stammered.

"Right. Why?"

"Why? Well, Sha're is crying, so something must have..." He stopped. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Jack went back to sorting papers.

Daniel sat there, mulling things over. After a while, he ventured, "So... um, I suppose... Pete gets only one chance?"

Jack's eyes clearly said, 'duh.'