"Teal'c, old buddy, old pal. How goes the resistance?"

"It is well, O'Neill."

General Jack O'Neill flipped the folder he'd been reading shut in irritation. "Come on, T, you gotta give me more than that. I'm dyin' here. Personnel reports for three days. I need… adventure. Blood, guts, gore. Girly romance, even. Something."

"I regret that I possess none of these tales."

"Well, what good are you?" Jack crossed his arms peevishly. Teal'c just quirked an eyebrow. "Aw, fine. Hey, look-"

The general stopped suddenly as the red lights and alert sirens went off. "Unscheduled offworld activation!"

"Finally."

Both men were in the control room behind Sergeant Harriman in seconds. "It's SG-1, sir."

"Open the iris." Jack and Teal'c exchanged a look. "SG-1 and SG-3 aren't due back until tomorrow."

The shimmering pool stood undisturbed for long moments, and Jack keyed the radio mic. "Everything okay out there?"

Suddenly, Sam Carter came flying through the event horizon. She didn't slow on the ramp, skittering all the way to the back wall. The men in the Control Room could only see her through the cameras as she put her back to the structure, her sidearm aimed squarely at the Stargate.

"Aw, crap," Jack muttered, taking off for the Gate room. Teal'c was at his heels.

The wormhole, having had no other passengers, dissipated as they entered the room, and the SFs relaxed. Carter didn't, her eyes still wide with fear as she tried to stop the weapon from shaking.

"Ma'am, you're okay now," one of the airmen soothed, taking a step toward her.

"Stay back!" she ordered, swinging her gun to his chest. Immediately, the SFs were back on guard, their own weapons trained on Carter as the airman backed slowly away, his hands in the air.

"Easy, boys," Jack coached. "Nobody's getting shot today. Put 'em down."

The SFs dropped their aim, but stayed ready as the general approached her.

"Please, sir, stop," she whispered. Her aim moved to him, and the general stopped, but didn't back off.

"Carter, I meant it. Nobody's getting shot. Not you, not me." The gun shook badly, and he looked past it into her eyes, damp and wide with fear. Something that looked oddly like a bite mark dripped red down her neck, and her jacket was torn just next to the zipper. A mark below her eye threatened to blacken later. "You know I won't hurt you. Whatever happened out there, you're safe. With me." The shaking was getting worse, and Jack stepped toward her once, twice, then gently pushed the gun out of his face and took it from her hand. She sank down the wall as he reengaged the safety and handed the weapon to Teal'c.

Jack knelt beside his former second and touched her cheek. "Where's Daniel? SG-3?"

"The ruins," she managed.

The general glanced up toward the control room, knowing Walter was listening. "Get SG-5 and SG-12 prepped and ready to go," he ordered, then turned his attention back to the terrified woman in front of him. "What happened out there, Carter?" His voice was soft, beseeching, but her face crumpled.

"He turned it on. He didn't mean to, but… and there was this light, this orange glow. It surrounded us," she stuttered.

"Did it hurt you?"

She shook her head way too fast. "I don't think it affected me at all."

Jack had other ideas about that – he'd never seen her lose her cool so completely, especially in front of subordinates – but he let it pass.

"But the men… Bosco… came after me. He, um, he touched me," she gasped. "And then Colonel Reynolds hit him."

"Good man," Jack said softly, making a mental note to buy him a beer. Or twelve.

She shook her head. "He only did it because he… they all…. SG-3 started fighting over me, and I ran for the Gate."

"Daniel?"

"He… he followed me. He caught me before I could dial, and…" She screwed her eyes shut against the memory, and Jack moved closer. "He bit me; he… I had to knock him out. And I dialed, but Reynolds… Sir…"

She reached for him, and Jack pulled her close, well aware and not caring that the entire room was watching them. He'd blame it on alien intervention. "You're gonna be okay," he soothed. "You fought off four Marines, Carter. That's my girl."

~/~

Carter had snuck out of the infirmary before Daniel and SG-3 were brought in, and Jack couldn't blame her. He found her safe and sound in her lab, though the thermal blanket the doctor had given her was still securely wrapped around her.

"It's five o'clock somewhere, Carter," he announced, keeping his distance. She'd had enough of a fright for the day.

She managed a weak smile. "It's nearly nine, sir."

"I know. And I'm taking you out for a beer. Or several."

"I'm okay, sir."

He took a seat across the table from her. "If four Marines and an archaeologist tried to jump me, I'd need a lot of beers, Carter."

She laughed and shook her head. "Somehow that image is… funnier and more distressing, all at the same time."

~/~

"Feeling better?" Jack slid a fourth drink across the table to her. She was moving beyond tipsy, firmly into drunk.

She nodded. "I forgot to ask you… how are they?"

"Hopped up on way too much testosterone, but okay. The Stargate trip did 'em good – the doctors think there's a proximity thing."

She nodded and started in on the beer with a vengeance.

"You doing all right? You were pretty shaken up when you came through."

"The gun thing… sir, I'm sorry."

"No biggie. I never really thought you'd shoot me."

She shook her head. "I never really thought Daniel would-" She stopped short, unable to voice that thought. "I was terrified, sir. I'm not sure I've ever been so scared. I mean, we've been through a lot, but… those were my guys."

"You know, for the first time… ever," Jack started, "I'm grateful I wasn't out there with you."

"I wish you had been, sir."

He smiled, well aware that she'd had much more to drink than he had, and she didn't hold it as well. "That's the alcohol talking."

"What do you mean?"

"If I'd been out there, Carter, I'd have been after you, too. And how many more guys do you really think you could fight off?"

She shivered. "Colonel Reynolds… I got lucky. And I didn't fight fair."

He grinned. "I know. I saw him. He may never have kids." A smile tugged at her lips, but he sobered. "No, I'm really glad I wasn't out there. I couldn't handle that."

Now the smile was a full-fledged grin. "Handle what, sir? Me kneeing you in the nuts?"

"No." He gently covered her hand with his own. "I know I've hurt you, Carter. I know I have. I'm an ass that way. But that… I'm not sure I could live with that."

She turned her hand in his and clasped it. "Me, either."

~/~

Jack glanced at his former second as SG-3 and Daniel shuffled into the conference room. His hand was on her back, and she leaned almost imperceptibly into it, seeking shelter.

The men stopped across the room from her, glancing anywhere but her direction, the black eyes and slings and bandages glaring. Unless Jack was mistaken, Reynolds still had a bit of a limp.

Daniel spoke first. "This is, um, even more awkward than I thought it would be."

"Agreed," Colonel Reynolds muttered.

"Okay, somebody man up," Jack ordered.

Reynolds was the bravest. "Colonel Carter, I… We're all sorry for what happened out there. We're supposed to protect our own, not hurt them, and I'm pretty sure we scared the crap out of you the other day. We broke your trust. I'm just hoping that someday you'll let us watch your six again."

"Colonel, respectfully, I'd appreciate it if your team didn't watch any part of me for the next few months," she muttered.

Jack chuckled, but SG-3 didn't ease. "Oh, loosen up, guys. That was her version of a joke. Kind of." He looked down at her, content that he was right at the tiny smile she gave him. "You done with these guys?"

"Yes, sir. Apology accepted, Colonel."

"Reynolds, as requested, you guys won't be deploying with Carter for a bit. Might I suggest some groveling. She likes blue jello. And chocolate. Dark."

"Yes, sir," the four men echoed.

"Dismissed."

And then there was only Daniel, wearing a guilty look and repeatedly stubbing his toe into the ground.

"Danny Boy?"

"I… bit you," he muttered distastefully.

"Kinky, by the way," Jack put in, and Sam made a face.

"Oh, gross, sir!" she complained.

"What'd I say?"

"I don't want to think about him thinking about me… like that," she insisted.

"I don't want to think about thinking about you like that!" Daniel seconded. "It's just… wrong."

"Exactly!"

Daniel made a face. "Anyway, Sam… there're already flowers in your lab. And takeout's on me for the next… month? Is that fair?"

"And I get ten ruin vetoes with no arguments. I say you're finished, and we walk away."

That was like stealing his very breath, and he cringed. "Five."

"Seven."

"Done."

"And we never talk about this again," she pressed.

"Absolutely!"

She gave the general a nod. "I'll take it."

"Okay. Out with you." Jack made a shooing motion, and Daniel disappeared. "You good?"

"Yes, sir." She gave him a grateful smile.

He headed toward his office, but stopped with his hand on the door. "Before you go, one more thing."

"Yes, sir?"

"What do you think about me thinking about..." The words faded out, but he waggled his eyebrows at her before saying, "Never mind." And he stepped into his office and shut the door.

Shaking her head, Sam chuckled the whole way back to her lab.