Immediately, Jack could hear the frantic footfalls of his team as they ran back to him. Teal'c had his staff weapon already primed for battle as they emerged from the deeper forest.

Thinking fast, Jack knew that last thing Carter needed was for all three of her teammates to crowd around her. He glanced down at his Captain and saw that she was unfocused, but conscious, breathing in small, uneven breaths as she attempted to gain control of her pain. Jack wanted to give her the space to do so. He looked up into the worried eyes of his male teammates.

"Captain Carter seems to have had a bit of a problem with her pack," he explained to Daniel and Teal'c, attempting to downplay Sam's reaction. "I'm going to check both it and her out,and then we'll figure out what our next steps are." Jack could see how desperately Daniel wanted to say something. He looked his friend in the eye and gave his head a slight shake. Daniel got the message and quietly walked several feet away with Teal'c, eyes still glued on his obviously shaken teammate. Teal'c in turn continued to scan the trees and horizon. He would keep everyone safe until Captain Carter was well enough to move.

"I'm sorry, " Sam whispered as she attempted to swipe at her tearful eyes. Unfortunately, due to her rapidly stiffening back, the full movement wasn't possible. Sam only got halfway to her eyes before she let out a strangled moan and allowed her hands to drop back to her lap.

"Dammit!" She hissed angrily through clenched teeth as he eyes continued to leak unwanted tears.

"Carter, breathe." Jack ordered, as he took a couple steps backwards and carefully lowered both of them onto the fallen log. He was nearly as angry as Sam, but didn't think now was the appropriate time to yell at her for not telling him she was injured. And hell, this had to be one doozy of an injury for her to react this way.

"Where, Captain?" Jack asked succinctly, looking at Sam with a critical eye.

"My back," Sam admitted. In a rush, she explained how she had attempted to escape Turghan and how that prick of a chieftain was going to beat an innocent woman, his wife, as punishment for Sam's escape. Of course she couldn't let that happen.

"Of course you couldn't," Jack said quietly, urging her to continue.

"I baited him into beating me, sir. So he wouldn't hurt her." Sam balled her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. She had hated feeling so defenseless.

"With what?" Jack probed softly. He needed to know what to expect.

"A leather whip of some sort," Sam whispered.

"How many times?" Jack asked feeling sick to his stomach.

"Until I cried out," Sam replied.

"How many times, Captain?" Jack asked again. He needed to know.

"Seven," Sam replied. "He lashed me seven times before I screamed at him to stop." Sam dropped her head with that admission, unable to look at her Commanding Officer. Her shoulders shook slightly as she struggled not to cry.

Jack awkwardly reached into one of the pockets in his vest and pulled out a mostly clean handkerchief. It was actually a backup for Daniel, but Carter didn't need to know that. He gently dabbed her eyes as she couldn't do so herself and then lifted her face towards his own.

"Is there anything else?" he asked softly. Sam was quiet.

"Captain Carter, did Turghan do anything else to you?" Jack asked in his most hard-ass commanding voice. He held his breath as he waited for her answer.

"No, sir." Sam replied. "I mean, not really."

"Not really?" he repeated, eyebrows shooting up in question.

"I wasn't raped, sir." Sam said looking her CO in the eye. She knew that was his primary concern. "If you hadn't arrived when you did, I think that was a definite possibility, but it never happened."

"Where's the not really part come in?" Jack asked.

"He threatened me with a knife." Jack could tell that wasn't all.

"And..?"

"And he kissed me," Sam said in rush. A disgusting, reeking kiss full of hatred and possession.

Jack's stomach turned at the admission, but he knew it could have been so much worse. Idly he wondered if Carter had a boyfriend. A boyfriend could replace that wretched kiss with one of love and compassion.

They sat in silence for a few more moments before Jack spoke again.

"You knew I was in the Gulf war, right?" Sam nodded. "I was captured and all sorts of unholy shit was done to me." He scrubbed his face with one hand as he remembered the horrors. "There was some fairly perverse crap, but they were particularly fond of whippings." Sam looked at him, large blue eyes glistening. She hadn't known.

"And those beatings hurt, Sam," Jack said honestly. "A hell of a lot" They stared at one another for several long moments before Sam broke away.

"You need to see it now, sir, don't you?" Sam asked in a resigned voice. Jack nodded.

"I don't suppose I could convince you to just wait until we're back at the SGC?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Considering, Captain , that you scared away half the wildlife with that scream of yours, I'm thinking it's serious enough to take a look at now." Sam hung her head in defeat.

"What I want to know is how the hell you could have ridden a horse, changed your clothes, slept, stood watch and then turn around and fight the asshole that beat you with your back in that condition!" Jack had refrained from sounding angry up until now, but a Commanding Officer could only take so much. Sam hadn't so much as grimaced the entire time! She should have said something. Immediately, dammit!

"It's that medicine of theirs, sir," Sam said. "After the b..beatings, the women took me into their tent and administered that antiseptic stuff of theirs. It really helped." Jack nodded for her to continue. "The next morning, they realized I couldn't wear that ridiculous blue dress anymore, so..."

"Why?" asked Jack. Sam looked acutely uncomfortable.

"Carter, explain." Jack ordered. In a rush, Sam continued, kicking herself for saying anything at all about that goddamned dress.

"Turghan had me kneel in front of him, sir," Sam explained. "He then..." Sam bit her lip in memory, determined not to cry. "He then ripped the back of the dress completely off and... administered the punishment. The dress was in shreds with... dried blood." Sam frowned in distaste at the memory. "They gave me something different in the morning."

Jack was furious. A member of his team had been subjugated and tortured and he hadn't been there to stop it. He hadn't even known. Part of him was thankful they were so far from Turghan's camp now, otherwise he might have marched right back there and put a bullet between the bastard's eyes.

"It's okay, Carter," Jack said reigning in his anger and squeezing his Captain's hands. "We'll clean up the worst of it and get you back to the SGC. " In a lighter tone he continued, "I hear we have a new CMO now," he paused as if considering what to say next and leaned in to whisper into Sam's ear. "She's a girl."

"Woman, sir," Sam said automatically. "Dr. Janet Frasier is a woman."

"I dunno, Carter," Jack continued. "I read her bio and she is pretty tiny." He held up his thumb and index finger to indicate just how small. "I think she might be a munchkin." A small giggle escaped her throat, causing Sam to tense up in pain.

"No giggling, Captain." Jack said grimacing. So much for making her feel better. "I need to get some things, but I'll come back and take care of your back, ok?" He patted her gently on the hand and stood up, knees creaking. Sam nodded, suddenly very tired. This mission was definitely worse than the one where she accidentally got inebriated and took off her... Sam closed her eyes in memory. Yeah, this was definitely worse. Acute embarrassment doesn't actually hurt.

A/N - It's nice hearing from you guys! I wasn't going to post this until tomorrow, but as I'm feeling all shiny happy at the moment, I'll do one more. :)