Daniel stared at the ceiling, still hating himself. Teal'c sat at his side and said,

"If you blame yourself, then know this – you are not at fault. Hippolyta and her people forced you to join with ColonelCarter."

Daniel replied in a hoarse whisper,

"I could've stopped it – I'd rather die than hurt Sam."

"How could you have prevented it from happening? They had removed our weapons and repeatedly assaulted you and ColonelCarter. The blame lies with Hippolyta. You could not have done anything to change the outcome."

Daniel snapped, "I'm the linguist, the diplomat, for crying out loud! I'm supposed to be able to prevent diplomatic incidents like this from happening! I've hurt Sam and I hate myself."

Teal'c placed his hand on Daniel's arm in an attempt to calm the Archaeologist, who said as he closed his eyes,

"I'm sorry Teal'c – you didn't deserve that."

"Perhaps you should pay ColonelCarter a visit to put your mind at ease. I do not believe that she would blame you for what had transpired."

Daniel sighed but said nothing as he continued to stare at the ceiling.

The door opened to reveal Cam and a very upset Sam, who gasped slightly on seeing Daniel. Daniel, who had thought it was just Lam or a Nurse, turned to look at the door in surprise. He closed his eyes before looking straight up at the ceiling, saying,

"I'm sorry Sam."

Teal'c stood to leave, silently gesturing for Cam to do the same. The Southern Colonel reluctantly left, not before saying to Sam,

"I'll be right outside."

The words barely registered with her as she softly made her way to Daniel's bed. Images of what had happened flashed through her head and more tears ran down her cheeks, her mind a whirlpool of a large multitude of emotions. Taking him by surprise, she lay down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Still not looking at her, he whispered,

"I'm sorry."

Gazing at him through her tears, she tentatively touched his jaw and replied,

"You don't have anything to apologise for. I don't blame you and I never will. They made us do it."

He turned to look at her, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he said sincerely,

"Sam, I didn't want to ruin things for you and Jack… he's going to pummel me when he finds out."

She put a finger on his lips and replied, "Don't mention him – this has nothing to do with him. Nothing."

"But…"

"No… Despite the rumours, no. Nothing happened."

He closed his eyes and whispered, "He's still going to pummel me."

"He can try… being a Major-General isn't going to help him much though."

He gazed at her in surprise and whispered, "You'd do that?"

She nodded and he tenderly pushed her hair out of her eyes. He whispered,

"We'll get through this."

"I know… it just hurts a lot."

"Same here… I – I didn't hurt you did I?"

She shook her head and replied with a small tearful smile,

"No, you… you were something else… How's the bruising?"

He grimaced slightly as his fingers ran over the fabric of his scrubs. She gazed at him, a silent question in her eyes. Instantly understanding what she wanted, he whispered,

"It could be scary."

In reply, she lifted his t-shirt and a gasp left her lips as she saw the heavy bruising. A mixture of sadness and anger rushed through her as her eyes followed the marks that defaced his body. He gently placed his hand over hers, lowering his t-shirt, tears in his own eyes.

She looked over his shoulder and realised that they were alone. She tentatively stroked his shoulder and whispered, forcing herself to be calm,

"They've gone – where are our clothes? We can make a break for it."

He rolled off her, and she was about to close her eyes in anticipation of sighting his naked torso when she gasped on seeing the ugly bruising. He turned, hearing the sound, and asked,

"Sam?"

"Oh God, Daniel, what have they done to you?"

He gazed down at his own torso briefly before replying, tears threatening to fall again,

"It's not as bad as what they did to you."

She gasped at the intensity of her flashback, and he held her, asking with a worried expression,

"Sam?"

Snapping back to the present, she whispered, "Flashback," before burying her face in his shoulder as the tears fell harder.

He nodded in understanding as he caressed the back of her head, replying,

"I've had some too… come on, let's try to get some sleep before Doctor Lam comes to drag you back to your bed."

She nodded, and gazed up at him, whispering,

"In answer to what you asked me back on the planet, I don't forgive you, because there isn't anything to forgive."

Amazed, he exhaled and whispered,

"Oh Sam."

He kissed her hair before they both closed their eyes, smiling slightly at the warmth of each other's bodies.