<< Previous | Story Intro | Return to Stories | Next >>

Casey opened her eyes. She was stretched out beside Daniel. He was asleep, his head on her shoulder. She glanced around the room. Sam was asleep on the cot; Jack, Teal'c, and Wade were all reclined and asleep as well. She glanced at the clock. It was over! They had made it! It was finally over!

Daniel moved towards consciousness…felt the soft warmth he was wrapped around. He took a deep breath. Oh, yeah, this was right! She was here in his arms, right where she belonged. He looked up into beautiful green eyes.

"Hey, handsome," she said, smiling down at him.

That smile could blind a man and set his soul on fire. "Hey, gorgeous."

"How do you feel?"

He frowned slightly, searched his mind, checked his body. "A little sore. It's fading though. Hungry. Really hungry."

She giggled. "Now that's the best news I've heard yet!"

"When was the last time you ate, Angel?"

She shrugged. "That sandwich yesterday, I think," she finally said.

He rolled his eyes. Mentally raged against Betsy Harris again. Casey's appetite had finally returned, just days before all of…this …had started. Now…"You have to eat, Case."

"I know," she said softly.

"Hey, look who's awake!"

They looked over at Jack's smiling face.

"He's hungry, Jack," Casey said happily. "Really hungry."

"I'll go see what I can do about getting breakfast sent up here for everybody," the older man said, rising from the chair. He walked to the bed, squeezed Daniel's shoulder. "Welcome home, Space Monkey."

Daniel grinned. "Thanks, Jack."

"Daniel!" Sam stood up, ran her hand through her hair, walked to the bed and hugged both of her friends. "You look great!" His eyes were clear, his color was good, and he was smiling.

"Feel pretty good, too," Daniel replied. He looked over and noticed Wade, who was still asleep. "When did little brother get here?"

"Last night," Casey said. "He wanted…needed…to be here."

"He sat there and held your hand for almost two hours," Jack said quietly. "Until you started calling for Case. Even then, he was right there, watching the two of you sleep."

Daniel nodded. He studied the man for a minute; a mischievous grin crossed his face. He grabbed the damp cloth on the bedside table, wadded it into a ball, and tossed it. It landed on Wade's face. "Hey, wake up over there!"

Wade mumbled, stirred, mumbled again. He pushed the cloth from his face, blinked the sleep from his eyes. "Gods, what a lousy way to treat the man who sat there and took care of your sorry ass," he grumbled.

"Glad you're here," Daniel said.

"Couldn't keep me away," Wade replied.

Casey looked at them, shook her head, then began to giggle.

"What?" Daniel asked, smiling.

"For two men who wouldn't even acknowledge the other existed, you are the most typical siblings I have ever seen!"

Two faces lit up with matching smiles, two pairs of blue eyes flashed with mirth. "She has a point," Wade admitted.

"Usually does. She'll make our lives miserable with this," Daniel replied.

"Yep."

The others in the room grinned. Everything was good. It was right. It was all right.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Dr. Montigue told Daniel that a trip to the cafeteria would be a fine idea, when the young archaeologist had asked if he had to eat in the room. So the group trooped into the hospital cafeteria. Several medical personnel were there, as well as family members of other patients. None could help but smile at the obvious joy that the team exuded.

Spirits were high, appetites were good, and they found a table in the far corner of the room where they were least likely to bother others in the dining room with their chatter and antics.

Daniel watched, relieved, when Casey ate an omelet, most of one anyway, and a blueberry muffin. He could only hope that this…mess…wouldn't haunt her. He reached out and caressed her, couldn't hide the grin when she caressed him in return. 'Love you, Angel.'

'Love you, too.' Her eyes were so full of love that it took his breath away.

"So, how long do you have to stay here?" Wade asked, his cheek twitching. He was well aware that they were in the middle of a 'private' conversation.

Jack ducked his head and snickered.

"Not much longer I hope," Daniel replied. He tossed what was left of a piece of toast at his brother. "Quit interrupting!"

Wade gave a wide-eyed innocent look. "Quit interrupting what?" He picked up the piece of toast and tossed it back.

"You know damned well what I'm talking about." Now Daniel's cheek was twitching. Tossed that poor piece of toast again.

Casey watched the two men behave like juvenile siblings, tossing an ever shrinking piece of toast back and forth at one another. After the hours of intense worry, the situation struck her as hilarious, and she began laughing so hard that she started to squeak.

"She squeaks when she laughs?" Wade asked, his blue eyes dancing.

"Yep." Still feeling mischievous, Daniel took advantage of her distraction, reached under the table and slid his hand between her thighs.

She yelped and pushed away from the table, her eyes wide, full of surprise, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Wade took one look at his brother and knew exactly what he had done. "Oh, bad move, big brother! She'll get you for that!"

"Hey, I need my fix of my sweet Angel," Daniel replied with a grin, reaching for her again.

Casey blushed furiously now, still moving away from those groping hands. Wade frowned slightly in confusion.

"Seems that your brother is addicted to his wife. Has to do with that Hathor thing. Casey is a natural source for that stuff," Jack said, calmly eating what was left of his stack of pancakes.

Wade looked from Daniel to Casey and back again. He knew about the Hathor drug. He grinned. He chuckled. He started laughing. "No wonder you were such a grump when you were away from her during that whole Nergal thing."

Sam, Jack, and Teal'c began to laugh.

"I was not a grump!" Daniel argued.

"Okay, you weren't a grump. You were a grouch," Wade amended amiably.

"I was not a grouch," Daniel said adamantly.

Wade looked at Sam. "What is another Tau'ri word for 'pain-in-the-ass'?" Raucous laughter moved around the table.

"Enough! Sheesh! You two are ridiculous!" Casey complained, although her eyes were dancing.

Dr. Montigue found the group in the cafeteria dining room by following the sound of their laughter. He pulled up a chair and joined them. "I just received the latest toxicology report.  There are trace amounts of the toxins present. By the end of the day, you should be 'clean'," he told them.

"I can't go home now?" Daniel asked, obviously disappointed.

"Not yet. You still may suffer the shakes. A bit of irritability…" he broke off at the muffled laughter around him. "I take it that I said something amusing?"

"No, Doctor Montigue," Casey said, reaching out and patting the man's hand. "We were just discussing Daniel's…moods…when you arrived. Wade said he was grumpy when he was away from me during the mission against Nergal."

Dr. Montigue grinned. "How long were the two of you apart?"

"Almost a week," she replied.

The older man looked at Daniel. "Shakes?"

"A bit."

"Headache?"

"Which head?" Wade mumbled under his breath, although still loud enough that everyone at the table heard it. Snickers followed the remark.

"Yeah," Daniel replied. He picked up a spoon and tossed it at his brother, hit him in the side of the head. "A bit."

Casey was squeaking again. "Both heads!" The comment was out before she could stop it. She clamped both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide at the fact that she had spoken out loud.

Wade lost control and roared with laughter.

Dr. Montigue was laughing as well. "Irritable?"

"Regular grouch," Jack said, his own cheek twitching. He was fighting to maintain control, although Sam and Teal'c were already shaking with laughter.

"You were going through withdrawal, Daniel. My suggestion would be to make sure that you are never separated from Casey for more than twenty-four hours." The doctor was absolutely positive that he had never once in nearly two hundred years given medical advice like that!

"Not a problem, doctor," Daniel replied. He tossed another spoon at his still laughing sibling.

"Could get interesting on some of our missions," Jack said. He was still in control…just barely.

Dr. Montigue chuckled. "Perhaps a…er…fix…before each mission?"

"Definitely not a problem," Daniel grinned. He winked at Casey. Her eyes told him that she wasn't as bothered by this as he had worried she would be. 'Are you okay, Angel? I'll make them stop if this is embarrassing you.'

She smiled. So typical, she thought. Daniel had always been so considerate of her feelings. 'I'm fine, Daniel. It is kind of funny. Not many men can look at their CO, and say 'I have to jump my wife's bones, be back in twenty,' and not get into trouble.'

Daniel let out a loud guffaw. He reached over, took her hand, raised it to his lips. 'Love you, Angel.'

"Now see, that is a problem," Jack said, pointing his fork at Casey, then at Daniel. "I don't suppose you have something that will help us hear what those two are always carrying on about?"

The doctor laughed. "Sorry, General, I'm afraid not."

Jack shook his head. "Annoying," he muttered. "Damned annoying."

Dr. Montigue stood to his feet. "I'll leave you to your…discussion. Doctor Jackson, I'll want another blood sample in about two hours. Try to be in your room at that time."

Daniel nodded. "I'll be there. I want to get home as soon as possible."

"Would it be all right if our children visited?" Casey asked.

Dr. Montigue put his hands in his pockets, studied the floor, pursed his lips as he thought about what Daniel might possibly face yet. "I can't see why not. I think the worst thing that he's going to suffer through will be the shakes and irritability. It might actually help him to see his son and daughter."

Casey's face lit up. "I'll call my mother right away," she said.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Thirty minutes later, in the small garden in the back of the hospital, Daniel sat beneath a tree, reading a story to Emily and Nicholas. Emily was watching her father's face carefully.

"What's wrong, Princess?" he asked, noticing his daughter's stare.

"Are all the bad medicines out of you?" she asked.

"Just about. Doctor Montigue says it's almost over," Daniel replied.

Emily continued looking at him. Then she pushed the book aside and settled herself on his lap. She put her little hands on either side of his face. "Open your mouth, Daddy," she commanded.

"Why?"

"'Cause I have to tell all that bad medicine to get out of you!"

Daniel began laughing. "Think it will work?"

She nodded.

"Okay, Princess." He opened his mouth.

Emily moved close to him, her little nose just about an inch from his upper lip. "Come out of my Daddy right this minute you bad medicine!" she shouted.

He couldn't help it, he started laughing again, pulled his daughter into a hug. He glanced over and saw that Casey, who had been sitting in front of him, was on her side laughing. "Why don't we go have Doctor Montigue take another blood sample, and see if it worked?"

"'Kay, Daddy." Emily stood up and began to pull at his hand.

Nicholas wasn't about to be left out of the fun, so he grabbed Daniel's other hand and pulled as well.

Daniel let them pull for a few seconds, then tugged, making them both fall on top of him. They squealed with laughter. He hugged them close, kissed the tops of their heads. Then felt those damnable tremors begin again. "Case, why don't you have your Mom take the kids to the cafeteria and get them some ice cream?"

She looked at him, frowned slightly. "Okay."

'Shakes.'

She nodded. Her mother was sitting on a nearby bench with Sam and Jack. Teal'c and Wade were watching from another seat. "Mom? Emmie and Nicholas need some ice cream. Daniel thinks they have some in the cafeteria."

Erin looked at her daughter, understood the silent message that she sent. "That sounds lovely. I believe I would like some myself! Come, my precious little ones, let us have some wonderful ice cream!"

The distraction worked. Both children raced to Erin's side. "We'll be right back, Daddy. Do you want ice cream, too?" Emily asked.

"Maybe later, Princess," Daniel replied. 'Case, get them out of here, now!'

Casey stood and hurried to her mother's side. She knelt down, kissed her babies, then looked at her mother. "I'll come for you," she said softly.

Erin nodded, took their little hands and led them away.

Daniel sighed, then gave into the tremors that washed over his body. "Could you have taken any longer to get them away from here?" he snapped.

Casey looked steadily at him. "Probably."

He started, looked up into her green eyes. Saw the Fire dancing in them. "Not gonna deal with it any more, huh?"

"Let's just say that when that tox report comes back clean, if you ever speak to me like that again I'll knock you into next week. Then I'll hit you again when I catch up to you!"

He chuckled. "Okay, I consider myself duly warned. Uh…I might need some help here, Angel."

She reached down to help him up. Gave a squeal of surprise when he pulled her into his lap. "Daniel, I thought you had the shakes!"

"I do…or did. It's passing now. Maybe it's just time for my Angel fix," he grinned, wrapping his arms around her.

She smiled. "Think so?"

"Oh, yeah." He lowered his head and kissed her. Thrilled when she returned the caress with as much passion as he felt. "Yep. Definitely what I needed," he sighed.

"Well, maybe I should make sure that you've had enough," she whispered. She put one hand in his hair, the other on his cheek, and lifted her lips to his.

"Hey, you two! Blood draw…room…now!" a familiar voice drawled.

She giggled against his lips. "Jack has the-"

"Worst timing," he finished. "Get up, babe. Let's go prove to the doctor that I'm okay now."

A  A  A  A  A  A

They were waiting for the results of the blood test. Casey had tried to get everyone to go home, but none of their friends would leave until they were absolutely sure that Daniel was over his addiction, at least physically.

Emily had insisted on bringing Daniel ice cream. Wade and Teal'c had gone to the cafeteria to bring bowls of the cold, creamy treat for everyone. They were sitting in the room eating, laughing, talking.

Dr. Montigue came in, a huge smile on his face. "Doctor Jackson, your blood work came back clean. Get out of my hospital. There are people who really are sick and could use that bed!"

Emily's eyes grew wide. "Daddy! It worked! I told the bad medicine to come out and it did!"

Daniel hugged his daughter tightly. "You're right, Princess, it did work! What do you say we go home?"

"Home, Daddy!"

<< Previous | Story Intro | Return to Stories | Next >>