CHAPTER THREE

"Incoming Wormhole!"

Sergeant Walter Harriman announced the activation of the Stargate in his usual urgent voice as General Hammond quickly entered the control room.

"We have no teams due back. Who is it, Sergeant?"

"SG-1's access code, sir."

"Open the iris."

As the metal shield that protected Earth's Stargate spiraled into itself, allowing the active wormhole behind it to come into full view, Daniel Jackson stepped into the control room.

"What's going on?"

"We're not sure, Doctor Jackson," explained Hammond. "SG-1 is apparently returning from their planetary survey mission ahead of schedule."

Daniel's brow wrinkled in concern, and his response was thrown over his shoulder as he headed down to the gateroom to see what had caused his friend's early return.

"That's odd."

Hammond looked after the young man and nodded his agreement, but nothing could have prepared him for the sight that soon greeted every eye that turned toward the Stargate.

The event horizon rippled briefly.

Teal'c stepped through the gate, carrying an unconscious Colonel O'Neill.

General Hammond's insides turned to ice.

He responded without thought. "Medical team to the gateroom!"

And then he waited. He could tell something else was wrong. The Colonel was injured, but that was not that unusual and it wasn't the only thing not right here. Somehow everyone knew it, including the General.

Teal'c's eyes were even more expressionless than usual, and every fiber of his being radiated defeat. General Hammond had never seen the Jaffa in such a state, and the ice inside of him morphed into an all-encompassing dread.

He ran to the gateroom to stand next to Daniel Jackson just as Janet Fraiser and her medical team arrived. His eyes were involuntarily drawn to the wormhole, waiting for the last member of SG-1 to appear.

She never did.

The wormhole disengaged just as a quiet Jaffa voice was heard.

"Colonel O'Neill was hit with a zat discharge at close range. He also has several other minor injuries."

There was a long pause, but finally the voice continued as Janet wheeled a gurney carrying Jack O'Neill out of the room while shouting orders to her staff.

"Major Carter is dead."

As he spoke these words, the normally unreadable expression of Teal'c's face changed dramatically. His mask of stoicism was stripped away, leaving nothing but shocked disbelief in its place.

To an inexperienced viewer, the changes were subtle, but to someone who knew him, Teal'c's heart may as well have been on his sleeve for all to see.

His eyebrows were lower on his brow. The outside corners of his eyes drooped downward. He seemed unable to focus on anything except the floor in front of him, and his mouth was loose, hanging open ever so slightly. There was a vulnerability about the huge man that was so uncharacteristic that it was almost scary.

Daniel Jackson's feet responded to that vulnerability before the spoken words had time to sink into his brain. They crossed the distance between him and his friend in four long strides. A hand reached out to touch a dark forearm.

When skin hit skin, Teal'c jumped as if he'd received an electric shock. His dark eyes focused on Daniel for the briefest of moments before they shut down again. Teal'c spoke only a few words, but his voice was hollow sounding, almost as if it was coming from very far away.

"I must accompany O'Neill to the infirmary."

General Hammond stepped up, concerned for his alien officer. "Are you injured, son?"

"No."

Teal'c spun on his heel as he answered and left a bewildered and dismayed General standing open-mouthed behind him. Daniel Jackson stood stock still for about ten seconds, too, rapidly blinking away unshed tears, and then took off after the Jaffa at a dead run.

XXX

When Daniel caught up to Teal'c, he hooked one hand into the much larger man's vest and yanked Teal'c around to face him.

"Teal'c! What happened?!? What's going on? Sam?"

Daniel's eyes were filled with pain as he spoke, and his voice was a plaintive cry, but Teal'c did not respond to the younger man. He merely shook off the hand and continued on his way to the infirmary.

Daniel called after the Jaffa angrily, his long legs following his teammate.

"Teal'c! Dammit! Tell me what happened! Where's Sam?"

Teal'c's steps faltered as Daniel asked this last question, and he slowly turned to face the Tau'ri.

"Doctor Jackson. All will be revealed in time. Major Carter is indeed dead. I must speak with O'Neill immediately. Please allow me to continue on my journey."

Something in Teal'c's voice touched Daniel's soul on a primal level, and he gave the Jaffa the slightest of nods as his hand came out to rest on Teal'c's shoulder. A pure sadness exuded from Teal'c, and Daniel could no more argue with him than he could've stopped his own pain at the thought of losing Sam.

Teal'c nodded back, deeply and with closed eyes. When his eyes came up again, they shone with tears. The sight was so rare that Daniel involuntarily took a step backwards and released his hold on Teal'c's shoulder.

Teal'c responded by turning back toward the infirmary and murmuring a response. "Thank you."

It took Daniel a full three minutes to snap out of the stupor that overcame him after his encounter with Teal'c. When he did, he began to stumble blindly toward the infirmary. He had to know that Jack was ok. He had to find out what in hell had happened on that planet. There were no hostiles present. It was supposed to have been a simple survey mission. Daniel was lost in complete disbelief that Sam could've been lost to something so simple.

It was a good thing Daniel knew the way to the infirmary well. His eyes and ears seemed to receive little stimuli as he tripped and faltered through the familiar hallways.

When Daniel finally reached the infirmary, however, his senses immediately came online to full alert. The scene that greeted him as he rounded the last corner before the infirmary was not something he ever expected to see, and his jaw dropped in astonishment.

Three uniformed SFs were attempting to restrain a very incensed Jaffa.

A loud shout from Teal'c rang out in the hallway, hurting Daniel's ears as it echoed.

"I must be allowed to speak to O'Neill! You must let me in!"

The SFs tried to calm Teal'c, but were obviously having no effect.

"Doctor Fraiser says the Colonel is sedated, sir. You can't go in there right now. She left explicit orders that we were to allow no one entrance."

"I do not care what Doctor Fraiser has ordered! You do not understand! I must be allowed inside! I must see O'Neill!"

As Daniel watched, Teal'c began to struggle more fiercely against the guards. His left elbow smashed a nose. The crunch of bone was audible in the concrete hall. Kicks landed anywhere they could, and things started to get really ugly just as another SF rounded the corner, nearly knocking Daniel to the ground in his haste to help his comrades subdue the angry Jaffa.

This guard had obviously run to the nearest armory while his buddies were fighting Teal'c.

He drew a zat and began to target Teal'c.

"Teal'c! Stand down or I will fire!"

The guard's physical contact and words jarred Daniel into action. He ran into the foray and managed to get himself between Teal'c and the nearest SF. His face was mere centimeters away from Teal'c's. Daniel shouted as loudly as he could.

"Teal'c! Calm down!"

His words had no effect. The guard with the zat fired, but his shot somehow went wide, and danced across the wall behind the fight.

As the weapons fire slowly dissipated, the only person who stood half a chance of stopping the nonsense in the hallway emerged from a doorway.

Janet Fraiser stepped out into the hall wearing an expression of puzzlement which rapidly turned into one of sheer shock and angry disbelief as she shouted a question that demanded an answer.

"What the HELL is going on out here?"

As the petite doctor's words rang out in the hall, six men immediately froze. Then the four SFs slowly released Teal'c and stepped out of the way of the wrath of Janet Fraiser. Daniel studied the floor very carefully, and Teal'c stepped forward to speak with the physician.

Teal'c's voice was quiet, but undermined with passion. "I must speak with Colonel O'Neill. The security forces would not allow me entrance to do so."

Janet huffed a little in indignation. "On my order, Teal'c. I don't want anyone going in there right now, and I have my reasons. This is MY infirmary, and I give the orders around here."

"Doctor Fraiser, I must be allowed…"

Janet interrupted. "I don't have to allow anything, Teal'c. You are NOT getting in there. Besides, the Colonel is sleeping right now. There is no point in a visit."

Daniel's brow furrowed in worry at the doctor's words, and Teal'c's did likewise. Teal'c spoke the question that caused the concern for both men.

"O'Neill should have recovered from the Zat'n'ktel blast by now."

Janet nodded. "He did."

"Why, then, is he still unconscious?"

Janet sighed dramatically. "Because, Teal'c, when Colonel O'Neill regained consciousness, he demanded to speak to you, in a most emphatic way. When I denied him his request and attempted to treat the multiple lacerations on his hands, arms, back, and face, he became violent. I had to call security to restrain him and then I was forced to sedate him to examine his injuries. He was a threat to himself as well as my staff."

As Janet spoke, Daniel became aware for the first time of her slight trembling and ragged breathing. She was worked up about something, that much was certain. Daniel also noticed a slight bruise forming on Janet's left cheek, and anger began to build in him. What the hell was going on? Had Jack done that? And if so, WHY? Jack would never act in such a fashion without a damn good reason. Daniel began to wonder if Jack and Teal'c had been infected with some sort of alien pathogen that was causing their behavior. One thing was for sure, something big was going on here, and Daniel wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Daniel was torn from his musings and brought back to the present by a direct question from Janet.

"Now, does someone want to tell me what's going on here? And where's Sam?"

Janet looked up and down the hall questioningly as she interrogated the only two men left in front of her-Teal'c and Daniel. The SFs had conveniently disappeared.

Daniel's eyes, which had cleared during his confrontation with Teal'c, refilled with tears and he could only vaguely shake his head before casting his eyes to Teal'c. Although Teal'c couldn't see it, Daniel's eyes were begging for an explanation.

As Janet took in Daniel's expression, she looked to the big Jaffa too.

Teal'c's response was as immediate as it was overwhelming. The solid rock of Jaffa faltered. A breath caught in his throat, and Teal'c took one step backwards to lean slightly against the wall behind him before answering.

When he had taken a few deep breaths, Teal'c stepped forward again and addressed Janet, in a voice filled with pain but strong nonetheless.

"Major Carter is dead, Doctor Fraiser. Her body will need to be recovered from P5X-901 as soon as is possible. Seismic activity in the area surrounding the gate makes it unsafe to do so at this time."

Now it was Janet's turn to falter. The doctor's hand flew involuntarily up to her mouth, and a loud gasp escaped her chest. She stumbled on her feet, and probably would've fallen if Daniel's strong arms had not been there to catch her. Without thought, Daniel stepped forward and enveloped Janet in his arms. Janet turned into the embrace and quietly asked for confirmation.

"Daniel? Is it true? Sam?"

Daniel smoothed auburn hair and whispered gently. "I don't know. I know what you know. Sh… we'll figure this out. We'll get to the bottom of this. Sh…"

As Daniel comforted the physician, his eyes found Teal'c's above Janet's head. One glance told him all he needed to know. Teal'c was telling the truth, at least as he knew it. Unless by some miracle Teal'c had been brainwashed or something, Sam was dead. The emptiness and despair radiating from the Jaffa confirmed that fact for Daniel.

Janet Fraiser took only a minute to compose herself. In ninety seconds, her professional demeanor was back. She extricated herself from Daniel's embrace, and she spoke with only the tiniest strain in her voice as she addressed Teal'c.

"Teal'c, report to Doctor Warner in exam three for your post-mission physical. Daniel, please make sure the necessary arrangements are taken care of for a debrief with General Hammond ASAP. I need to get back to the Colonel for now, but I want to know what happened out there."

Janet's eyes hardened to pure steel as she spoke, and her sharp gaze skewered Teal'c's back as the Jaffa turned toward the secondary entrance to the infirmary that was used for more routine work. As Teal'c walked away, shoulders slumped, Janet turned as well and headed back into the infirmary. Daniel was left alone in the hall, and he lingered only a moment before he too left the hallway for more important duties.