Jack hadn't really wanted to leave the clinic but the crew of animals he had collected in a year and change on the island meant he had to wander back down to New Atlantis to feed the zoo. He'd managed to avoid most everyone until he got down to his and Sam's hut and started feeding the crew. He scratched Thor behind the ears and laughed hollowly when the wolf pup nipped at his fingers (pup used loosely--he was getting huge). Some things were always gonna be the same no matter what changed about the humans in their lives.

He called Cash over and started walking around the huts and back toward the Compound, the steady plop of his paws falling in a rhythm with Jack's own heavy steps. Cash had been here a long time and seen a lot of things; to hear Rodney tell it, he'd been on the island with a man called Sheppard that both Sam and McKay seemed to know. Jack had never heard of the man but if he was in command of an SGC facility, he had to be a decent guy.

"Sheppard ever run into anything like this, boy?" he asked, shaking his head when the dog didn't respond. Of course. The day he saw talking dogs was the day he checked himself in for a psych eval. Or, you know, Tuesday on the island.

"Guess we better find Vala and let her know. She'd want to see Sam for sure," Jack said, half to himself and half to the dog. Both padded to her hut and rapped lightly at the doorframe.