Roughing

The first time, it's not his fault. If he was still playing hockey, what he'd done would be considered a minor penalty. At most. There were extenuating circumstances after all.

"Colonel, would you mind?" Dr Fraiser is standing behind Carter who's biting her lower lip and doesn't look too good. Jack would love to help, but he doubts his assistance would be appreciated.

"You'll feel better soon," he says lamely.

Carter gives him a weak smile and a 'Thank you, sir,' except the 'sir' ends up in a half-strangled moan as the good doc probes the offending shoulder.

Jack leaves the infirmary so Carter can't see him flinch, and heads for the briefing room.

###

"What happened on that planet? You were gone for less than twenty minutes." Hammond has his dour face on. The one that says 'I'll get to the bottom of this.'

"Nothing much happened," Jacks says, playing with a pen he's found on the table. "We went through, didn't see zilch with the rain, and some Jaffa jumped us. There were too many of them for us to argue, so we came home."

Hammond's jaw moves.

"The Jaffa came out of nowhere. We had no chance of getting through. I shouted at Daniel to dial back home, and I pushed him through the gate first while Carter and Teal'c were covering us. Then I did the same with Carter."

"Colonel! Captain Carter came out flying."

Keeping his eyes fixed on the pen, Jack wonders how much it can bend before breaking.

"Doctor Jackson, I hope you can bring some sense into this story."

Jack doesn't need to look up to guess Daniel is pushing his glasses up his nose. "Well, it happened pretty much the way Jack said. We came under fire, and he told me to dial home. By the time I got to the gate, the Jaffa were getting close. All I saw when I came through was Sam hitting the deck hard behind me."

"Teal'c?"

"Doctor Jackson summarised the situation well. As the Jaffa were rapidly approaching, I saw O'Neill grab Doctor Carter like he had done with Doctor Jackson, and push her through the gate. We followed a few seconds later. When we arrived, Doctor Jackson was rendering assistance to Doctor Carter."

"See! Nothing to it."

Hammond's tone is not that of a happy camper. "Captain Carter slammed into the platform so hard that she dislocated her shoulder. According to Dr Frasier, she'll be off duty for two weeks minimum before she's fit to travel again, while none of you suffered any injuries. So, for the last time, what—"

The pen snaps, and Jack's left with two pointy pieces of plastic in his hands. Typical. "I'm sorry, sir. I thought she was one of the guys."

Hammond shakes his head, frowning. "Do you object so much to Captain Carter being on your team? if you can't work together, I'll have to relocate her to another SG team. And I would much prefer not to do that."

"No, no. It's not that." Jack is horrified at the idea of losing his second-in-command. That's the last thing he wants. The whole thing was an accident, pure and simple. "It's just...When I got her through the gate. Between the BDU and the rain gear, I…forgot."

"You forgot? Forgot what, Colonel?" The General's face is getting the shade of red that means he is close to losing his cool.

"That she's not one of my men. I mean, she is, but—"

"You didn't just push her." Daniel is smiling one of his gentle 'I-think-I-understand' smiles, and Jack isn't sure if that's a good thing or a bad one. "You tossed her through the gate, same you did with me. Except that I'm what? Thirty pounds heavier?"

The tension in Jack's back and neck threatens to see him go to the infirmary. "Yeah. Put too much force into it. That's why she landed badly."

"I see," Hammond says, with a sigh that sounds very much like he would have liked to stay retired.

Jack can't blame him. Barely two weeks since SG1 was formed, and he's already injured one of the most important people in the entire SGC. "Look. I'm sorry, sir."

"It's not me you should be apologising to, son."

"I have no doubt Doctor Carter understands the circumstances of her inauspicious arrival," Teal'c says in the calm voice of his.

Daniel pats Jack on the arm. "Yes, I'm sure she forgives you."

Jack hopes so. Because he sure as hell feels bad about what he's done to one of his team.

Unsportsmanlike conduct

Jack has run out of permutation by the third night. He's got a mutiny on his hands if he orders Sam to share the other two-man tent with Daniel again. Thankfully Teal'c volunteers, because there's no way Jack is staying awake all night listening to Daniel's snoring either.

But that leads to a second problem Jack has not anticipated. Well, he had after the night before. Which is why he's tried every permutation so far, but with only four people and two tents, that hasn't gotten him far. After all, it's their first overnight mission as a team. A team of four. A team of three men and one woman. And two tents. And it's raining, of course. God, he hates the rain.

"Okay, Carter. Tonight, you're with me."

"Yes, sir," comes the professional response he's come to expect from his 2IC.

"Good. I'll take first watch. You take second. Teal'c third, then Daniel."

"Yes, sir."

Nothing to it. As it should be.

The local fauna remains silent despite Daniel's efforts at waking up the neighbourhood, and Jack's watch goes quickly enough. Carter is already out of the tent by the time he comes back from his round.

"All is quiet," he tells her. "Let's keep it that way."

A soft chuckle emerges from the darkness. "I'll do my best, sir."

Two hours is just long enough to fall asleep, dream something he can't remember and wake up when Carter comes back inside. He's ready to say something when he realises she's undressing. So he freezes, his eyes desperately trying not to watch, and failing miserably. She must think he's sound asleep as she makes no great efforts at hiding what she's doing. Not that there's much room to hide anything or anybody in the small tent. The BDU jacket is the first to go, then the shirt underneath. He thinks, he hopes, she'll stop at the T-shirt, but nope, she takes that off too, her chest silhouetted against the light of the moon reaching through the tent wall.

Yep, she's definitely not one of the guys. Overnight missions are going to be a logistical nightmare.

Finally, she gets into her sleeping bag. He relaxes and closes his eyes.

He almost jumps when he hears a soft, "Good night, sir."

There's a smile in her voice, and he can't help a grin of his own. They'll be okay after all.