Janet shook her head at the nurse as Judy moved toward Daniel's bed. Charting the linguist's gradually weakening vital signs could wait a few more minutes.

"Let's get a cup of coffee." With a last glance at the silver haired colonel, tears silently trailing down his cheeks, the two women entered Janet's office and closed the door.

"I don't know where you are, Danny but it's time to come back now. Everybody's waiting for you." Jack gently stroked the short hair with one hand, Daniel's limp hand resting in the other. "I know where ever you are is probably nice and safe. No assholes kicking the shit out of you.....No snakeheads....or smartass colonels giving you a hard time about always having your nose stuck in a book or teasing you about all those rocks you love so much.....Hell, for all I know you may be solving that meaning of life stuff, but we need you here with us Dannyboy....Give me a break here, it's been almost eight days!" He may not be a doctor, but the soldier knew the longer a person remained in a coma the greater the chance of brain damage or of never coming out of it at all. "I need you to come home....Who's gonna play peace maker with the natives when I piss them off?....Who's gonna explain that crap Carter's always spouting or....translate my jokes for Teal'c.....Damnit, Danny, it's time to open those baby blues and wake up!"

Other than taking a quick shower, leaving Teal'c or Sam to watch over their teammate, Jack hadn't left Daniel's side since the debriefing. He ignored repeated attempts to get him to rest, forty winks in the chair when his eyes refused to stay open any longer passed for sleep. He nibbled at the meals brought by Carter or Teal'c only because Janet threatened to ban him from the infirmary unless he ate.

Jack counted on that stubborn resiliency in Daniel that kept the young man hanging on, surviving situations that would have killed other men or at the very least have pushed them over the edge into insanity. He was also aware his young friend drew extra strength from the people he'd adopted as his family and the colonel intended to give Daniel all the strength he needed to fight his way back.

"You know....you're probably right about me....um...still feeling guilty...a little anyway...about that whole Tollen, Asgard crap. I hope you know how much I hated...you know...that whole scene at my house." O'Neill intensely studied the slim motionless fingers laying in his palm. "You know the real reason I didn't look back that day in the gateroom, when I supposedly was retiring offworld? I knew I'd see everybody again....and soon....I couldn't face you, Danny....I saw you standing in the control room...it hurt too much seeing that look of betrayal on your face...knowing I was the cause of it....You looked so damned...it doesn't matter....Don't leave like this Danny.... Don't leave....I need you...." his voice trailed off with the admission as he realized the words were true. He needed Daniel Jackson. "Don't leave me like this, Danny....I need you....we all need you!"

*****

"Dr. Fraiser?" Janet's eyes flew open at the quiet voice as Judy lightly shook her shoulder.

"Daniel?!"

"Yes ma'am."

"I'll be right there." Only going home for supper with Cassandra, Janet had spent the last several nights at her base quarters in case Daniel needed her. Throwing on a robe and slippers, the petite doctor rushed through the infirmary, sliding to a stop, a smile spreading across her face as the archaeologist weakly raised a finger to his lips before placing his hand gently on the silver hair of the colonel using his bed for a pillow. Fraiser's eyes automatically swept the monitors, pleased at the readouts.

"When I checked his vitals an hour ago, they were the same as before." Judy whispered, her own smile, shining in her eyes. "When I came back this time, our patient is telling me to be quiet because the colonel needs his rest."

"It's good to have you back with us Dr. Jackson." She kept her voice soft. "How are you feeling?"

"Hun-gry." His voice cracked from non-use, his throat as dry as the Abydoian desert. Janet placed the straw between his lips, supporting his head as he sipped from the glass on the bedside table. He gave her a tired, wan smile as she gently lowered his head back to the pillow. "Thanks...."

Working quickly and quietly around O'Neill's slumbering form, a satisfied smile settled on her lips as she stepped back, pleased that his vital signs were showing every indication of soon returning to those of a normal healthy archaeologist. "Well Daniel, I've very happy to report it looks like you're going to survive." Again, she added silently. "You're going to need therapy for that ankle and I know you're going to hate hearing this as much as I hate telling you but, it'll be awhile before you're able to do anything on your own. You're going to need alot of rest and recooperation..."

"I'll see he gets plenty of that Doc," a familiar voice cut in and both doctors turned to O'Neill, who had straightened and was stretching the knots from his back. "Welcome home Dannyboy!" The pleasure in Jack's eyes faded, his expression becoming as unreadable a mask as Daniel's own.

Janet looked from one man to the other with a small frown, suddenly feeling like a fifth wheel. Promising to scrounge something to satisfy Daniel's hunger, she excused herself with a puzzled backward glance at the two friends.

Daniel quietly studied Jack's face, noting the additional lines of worry, the dark circles of sleeplessness under the red rimmed brown eyes, the weary slumped shoulders, the wrinkled clothes and the trembling hand he raked through his hair, realizing with a start he was the cause of the soldier's haggard condition.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Wh-what?!" Jack brought startled eyes up to stare at the younger man, surprise all too evident in his face.

"I-I...." The linguist hesitated before stubbornly continuing. "I'm sorry Jack."

O'Neill blinked rapidly several times as the words slowly soaked into his sleep deprived brain. What the hell could he possibly have to apologize for? Daniel was the victim here! "For what?"

"I...I should've talked to you....Told you what was happening....Let you...."

The colonel shook his head with a derisive snort. "I haven't exactly been the most open minded or easiest person to talk to lately," 'Or to trust,' his inner voice sniped. "I'm the one who should be apologizing."

The scientist's eyes flared wide in surprise as he repeated Jack's question. "For what?"

The soldier toyed with the edge of the blanket, unable to meet the scholar's tired gaze. "For all those things I said back...back when I told you.....your friendship didn't matter...."

"You already apologized for that Jack. Why can't you believe I understand..."

"Damnit! Stop it!!!" O'Neil jumped to his feet, pacing next to the bed. "I looked you in the eye and lied to you. Basically I told you, the past years together didn't matter...Our friendship didn't matter.....You didn't matter! I made you feel....I put you through hell! To top it off I got so wrapped up in my own.....everytime I looked at you, it....intensified my own guilt and regrets...which made me even angrier....I stopped listening to you Daniel...I-I shut you out and because of that...you damn near got killed." Falling silent, he blew out a deep breath. "Friends don't hurt each other like that Daniel."

Silently, the scientist stared at some spot on the far wall as he listened to Jack berate himself because of an accident he had no control over. "Are we Jack?"

O'Neill's eyes locked with the patient's intense blue ones. "What?"

"Are we still friends?" Daniel whispered, a myraid of emotions washing across his face. Painful emotions.

Jack's heart ached. He was the cause of that pain. Daniel had put his faith and trust in the colonel and he had carelessly, wantonly destroyed it, not considering the cost or the effect his words and actions would have on the younger man. He should have known. Hadn't Daniel been kicked around enough in his young life? Didn't he have enough disappointment to last several lifetimes? Hadn't he finally believed he had found a place where he belonged, here at the SGC, with friends who stood by him? Yet it was a friend...his best friend....who had so cruelly hurt him again.

Misreading Jack's silence, Daniel looked away, chewing on the quivering lower lip, trying to quell the tears he felt building in his eyes. It might have been better if he'd remained in the coma, where nothing hurt or mattered and he could just quietly slip away. A strange memory surfaced, tickling his mind. Daniel had been comfortable in that darkness, safe somehow. Feeling the presence of Sha'uri and his parent's. Had been ready to let go and have them embrace him in their warm love, when a small boy with chocolate brown eyes and Jack's smile had taken his hand leading Daniel back to the path of consciousness, urged him to return to the living. Begged him to go back because his daddy needed someone to take care of him....his daddy needed his friend. Happiness lighting his eyes after eliciting Daniel's promise to look after his father, the child had stood waving, gradually fading into the mist as Daniel's heartbeat grew stronger and his eyes fluttered open.

Devastated by the expression on Daniel's averted face, Jack sank back into the chair, stunned that once again he had inadvertantly hurt his friend.

"I hope so Danny.....I hope you still consider me your friend although God knows I don't deserve it..." O'Neill swallowed the lump in his throat. He had never been one to share his emotions, not even with Sarah, always falling back on sarcasm and hoping those closest to him understood, yet at this moment he knew there was nothing more important than opening up to the young man laying in the infirmary bed. Making him believe how important he was to Jack. "I don't wanna go back to what I was Danny...I can't be.... Thorp!....I can't go back to being that...."

"What the hell are you talking about?" The archaeologist interrupted, confused. "You're not Thorp, Jack! You were never...." Surely Jack couldn't honestly believe he was anything like the man who'd been SG-8's team leader. While it was true when they first met, O'Neill was a hardass, by the book officer, the resemblance stopped there. Reacting to overwhelming loss and blaming himself for the senseless tragic accident that claimed the life of his only child, Jack had retreated behind a wall of rules and regulations, where he didn't have to think....just obey.

Unlike Thorp, while Jack might not give a damn what happened to himself, he did care what happened to the people under his command. Nothing could change that. O'Neill had happily accepted that first trip to Abydos, knowing there was every possiblity it was a suicide mission. He had been ready to die....had wanted to die....had welcomed death, yet had been unwilling to sacrifice his men or thousands of innocents when given the opportunity to complete his assignment and return home safely. That first mission through the Stargate had allowed Jack to find himself once more.

Daniel waited, reluctant to interrupt again, knowing how difficult it was for the career officer to express emotions he had long ago buried deep inside himself out of necessity and self preservation.

"I very easily could have been!.....If not for you....." He swallowed again, his words coming out in a rush before he lost his courage. "I need you Daniel, at my side, watching my back...on my team. I need your friendship. It saved me on that first mission and I need it now!....I miss it!" Jack stared at the floor, embarrassed, unable to face the blue eyed gaze. "These past weeks, the distance between us....it was my fault, not yours....but it wasn't the same Daniel....It wasn't right....like my lifeline was gone and I was slipping away....getting lost like I did....after Charlie died." He choked back the tears, "It was like a part of my soul was gone....lost....I knew I'd lost something very precious and very rare again....but this time....it was your friendship." He slowly raised his head, finally meeting Daniel's wide eyed stare, expectantly. "I know, I can't expect things to be the same as before but......can we be friends again......Can you forgive me Daniel?"

Daniel's blue eyes shimmered brightly as he continued to stare at the silver haired man who had just ripped his soul open, laying his heart out for the scholar to heal or destroy. Sitting on the edge of the chair, Jack's hands were clenched together, his expression hopeful, pleading, waiting....waiting for Daniel's response. "My daddy needs his friend." The small pleading voice ringing in his ears, Daniel realized his next words would make or break the both of them.

His voice was a mere whisper as he reached out and laid his hand gently on Jack's. "Between friends, Jack there's nothing to forgive."

That's All Folks