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"We've switched roles a little, haven't we?" Jack joked, the strain evident in his voice.
Daniel snorted, but he spared his lover a quick glance before his eyes returned to scanning the horizon. Jack was obeying for once, staying still and not disturbing the two makeshift splints Daniel had put around his arms. Having both arms broken was probably the only reason Jack wasn't demanding his gun back and insisting on keeping watch as well, as he usually did when he was hurt.
Not that Daniel wasn't fully capable of keeping watch, or even defending them from the hostile natives if need be. He had proven himself at the range and even off-planet over and over again. But still, Jack tended to see him as the defenseless geek he had been when they first met. "I don't believe I get hurt that much more often than you," he chided gently.
"I didn't mean that," Jack protested. After a long pause, during which his breathing got heavier, as though he had attempted to shift one of his arms and was now trying to breathe through the pain, Jack continued. "Though, now that you mention it..."
Daniel continued to scan for any sign of either hostiles or Teal'c and Sam returning so that they could evac. "You know, you've been in the infirmary more often than I have this month," he corrected Jack.
Jack was blissfully silent for a few minutes, probably trying to do that math. "That can't be right," he mumbled after a while.
Daniel didn't answer, focusing on a hint of movement in the distance. When it finally resolved itself into one of the bear-shaped herbivores that flourished in these woods, he relaxed. "Face it," he told Jack, shooting him a quick smirk. "I'm the soldier boy now, and your old, breaking-down carcass is the liability."
Back when the program restarted, Daniel had spent the better part of eight months attempting to convince the Marine units at the SGC that he wasn't a liability, but the word still had a little sting to him, even these few years later.
Jack sputtered for a moment before heatedly complaining. "I am not old!"
Daniel snorted again, but chose not to point out their relative ages. Another hint of movement in the distance had him focusing again, while Jack muttered to himself in the background.
The movement resolved into two figures the right sizes, but Daniel wasn't sure yet if they were Sam and Teal'c. Carefully, he shifted his gun into a better position to fire in their direction.
Jack immediately quieted, obviously having seen the movement and understood the reason.
After several tense moments, Daniel recognized Sam as the smaller figure and relaxed slightly.
Jack took that as a sign to continue his earlier complaint. "I'm checking with Janet, once we get back," he whined. "No way have I been in the infirmary more than you."
"You do that," Daniel agreed. "After all, you'll be there for a while this time with those arms." As soon as they saw him, he signaled Sam and Teal'c to check on the hostile that he had shot earlier. They would need to see if it was still alive, though he hadn't seen it move recently. As soon as they did that and then got to his and Jack's position, the team could get back to the Stargate and back home.
Jack seemed to be considering his comment, and the fact that Daniel only had a deep scratch on his shoulder from the same tumble that had broken both of his own arms. "Well she'd better let me out in time for the Avalanche game," he finally declared, neatly changing the subject.
Daniel simply snorted again. "If she doesn't, I'll TiVo it for you," he promised, expecting the familiar request.
"Not the same," Jack grumbled.
"Then maybe you should stay out of the Infirmary next time," Daniel teased, as Sam and Teal'c slid behind their defensible rock pile.
Sam winked at Daniel and then sighed gustily. "Are you broken again Sir?"
"It is a good thing that Daniel Jackson was here to protect you," Teal'c added.
As Jack groaned, Daniel just smirked and swept the horizon for hostiles again.