Heya, miss me? Of course you did! Well, exams are done and so are the marks and reports- so I can spend more time with my writing now. This story is almost done, just another one or two chapters left. Thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts, you guys are awesome.
Thanks to my beta, C. Nicole, for making sure all the mistakes are zatted away! Enjoy.
General Hammond was sitting in his office a week later. The atmosphere around the SGC was grim. Everybody felt the severity of what had happened to the flagship team, but most importantly their leader. Colonel O'Neill was well liked and respected all over, and the fact that he might never wake up was like a dark cloud hanging over them. The infirmary had more visitors than ever and the CMO was having trouble making people understand that they couldn't visit him yet, if ever.
Hammond looked over the report from Doctor Fraiser and once again wondered how O'Neill was even alive. Jack was infuriating at best, but no one could have asked for a better second in command. Taking a look at the time, he figured he could go and relieve the SG-1 member that was on duty at O'Neill's bedside. This last week he had seen them deteriorate slowly- they hardly ate, unless forced, or slept unless threatened. Just as he got up from his desk, klaxons went off and Walter's voice came over the intercom announcing:
"Unauthorized off-world activation."
As Hammond walked into the Control room, he sent up a small prayer that the person coming through was an ally- no one wanted a battle with half of their minds absorbed with the thought of the man in ICU.
"Who is it, Sergeant?" Hammond came to a stop behind Walter, peering at the turning gate below.
"Receiving Tok'ra IDC, sir." A look came over his face that was a cross between relief and curiosity.
"I wonder why…" Hammond mused as he made his way down to the Gate room to meet the unexpected guest.
The wormhole made his customary whoosh and the blue event horizon rippled within the ring. Seconds later Jacob Carter walked through and the guards relaxed minutely. Hammond walked forward to meet his old friend, but instead of Jacob's usual voice greeting him, it was that of Selmac.
"Greetings General Hammond," the distorted voice of the Tok'ra said.
"Selmac, it is a pleasure to see you and Jacob again." The two men shook hands as they walked towards the door to the General's office. Once there, Hammond gestured for the human/Tok'ra to take a seat, after which he sat down behind his desk. Suddenly he realised that no-one from SG-1 had come to see who had come through the 'gate, which was strange, and all of a sudden Hammond wondered if something had happened to Jack. He turned to the man in front of him and plastered on a smile. By the look on Jacob's face, he didn't fool the man, or rather alien, one bit.
"So, what brings you to Earth, Selmac?" he had to ask, but that didn't mean he had to like the answer. Just like Jack, he was weary of the Tok'ra, although he didn't voice it as loud as O'Neill did- Hammond wasn't allowed to.
He was brought out of his reverie by his old friend's distorted voice, "My host and I heard of the visit to Fleasia. Jacob is still a little upset," he was silent for a while, "my apologies, he is still very upset. I thought it would be best if I brought him here to see if the team, and especially his daughter, are fine."
"Well, physically they are fine, except of course for Colonel O'Neill. They are all struggling with what hap….." he was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. After calling out for the person to come in, the door opened to reveal the CMO. The look on her face said everything he didn't want to know, but it answered all the questions he had as well.
"Doctor Fraiser, what happened?" he stood up, forgetting his visitor- his adopted son was more important.
Janet Fraiser greeted Jacob/Selmac with a nod and looked into the scared eyes of her CO.
"He had a setback, Sir." No need for a name, they all knew who she meant. "It's not, uhm, not looking too good, Sir." Hammond swallowed visibly, but nodded. He didn't draw attention to the tears rolling down the CMO's face. She just turned around and left.
"I have brought the healing device, General. Perhaps I could try to be of some assistance?" Hammond turned and looked into Selmac's eyes. Those eyes were so familiar, yet so strange. No words came to mind, so he did the next best thing and just nodded.
Selmac was having an internal battle with Jacob as they walked behind General Hammond towards the infirmary. Jacob was fond of Jack O'Neill even if he didn't show it and it seemed that if Hammond was the father figure in this little family then he was the uncle- Selmac was the extended family along for the ride. Jacob wanted to come forward, but his emotions were too much in control and if they needed to use the healing device, they needed to be able to concentrate. That was what the battle was about, Jacob wanted to be in control to help and reassure not only his daughter, but also his friend. Selmac remained in control to help Jacob, only Jacob didn't or couldn't see it like that. So the battle of wills continued. Selmac looked at General Hammond walking in front of them and tried to appeal to Jacob with the sight of the man. The normally straight-backed, no nonsense General was walking with a slight slump in his shoulders and his head down. Selmac suddenly realised that all the soldiers and guards standing along the corridor also looked to be in a daze, shoulders slumped even as their CO walked passed. Nobody seemed to care. It was in that moment that Selmac finally understood the concept of family and how it applied to the men and woman of the SGC.
SG-1
When the klaxons went off, the healthy members of SG-1 barely heard the announcement for unscheduled activation. They were too focused on the chaos surrounding their CO's bed. While Daniel was on 'Jack-watch,' one of the alarms suddenly went off and within seconds Daniel was shoved to one side and Janet, along with more than half her medical staff, started working on and around Jack. It happened about ten minutes previous to the announcement, and they were still busy. Judging by the looks on their faces, things weren't looking up.
Sam was squeezing Daniel's hand in her right and Teal'c's hand in her left. Her heart stopped beating when Janet called for the crash cart. One shock later and the beating of the heart monitor made everyone exhale. The three teammates glanced at each other, all feeling sad and worried. Janet walked over, her eyes guarded and her features grim.
"I'm sorry guys. It's not looking good." She patted each of them on their arms and left after giving instructions to her nurses. The team moved forward, Sam on the left side of the Colonel's bed, Daniel on the right and Teal'c at the bottom. Each touching a part of the Colonel, without saying a word they were trying to send their combined strength into the injured man who had fought so many battles.
That's how they were found later when Janet walked in followed by a worried General Hammond and to Sam's surprise, her father. One look told her that Selmac was in control. Everyone approached the bed and suddenly Sam wanted to lash out. Their eyes were filled with pity and she knew that Jack wouldn't like that. She was paying so much attention to the man (when did she stop thinking of him as her CO?) on the bed, that she didn't hear General Hammond talking to her.
"Major Carter?" her head snapped up and she saw everybody looking at her, a blush creeping onto her face.
"Yes, Sir." She moved away from Jack when she realised that Selmac was trying to heal the Colonel.
Tense minutes passed as Selmac/Jacob concentrated on healing Jack. The faint glow was evidence that it was working, but the frown on his face was in stark contrast to the healing light. Finally, Selmac opened his eyes and looked around. The tension was thick around the room and everyone stopped breathing for a second.
"Well?" Daniel was never a patient man. Selmac sighed, Sam's heart sank. Sighing was not a good sign at all.
"I have healed some of his injuries, but not all. I cannot understand why." He was frowning, his head bowed and when he lifted his head again, Jacob was in control.
"We think that the injuries he sustained himself were healed. The rest weren't his." Jacob walked over to his daughter and without question pulled her into a hug.
"I don't understand." General Hammond spoke up. "The wounds are on him, how can they not be healed?"
"Because it wasn't done to him." Sam spoke quietly and every head that could turn was turned in her direction. "The injuries or wounds were done to us, not to the Colonel. So technically- he didn't get hurt, we did." Several nods told her they understood.
"What does that mean?" the normal quick thinking Dr Daniel Jackson still needed to hear it out loud even if he understood.
"It means that Jack needs to heal on his own now," Jacob answered.
"Colonel?" With one word, Doc Fraiser had all the attention of everyone in the infirmary. She was doing a check to see if the healing device helped, when she noticed that the injured man was frowning. She leaned in closer and was relieved to see his milk chocolate eyes looking back at her. The eyes were clouded and pain filled, but they were open and looking at her. She took his hand in hers and spoke to him, ignoring the people around her, forcing hope on her face, knowing the man on the bed won't like the pity in her eyes.
"Colonel, squeeze my hand if you can hear me." She prayed like never before to feel his hand squeeze.
SG-1
When the blackness suddenly evaporated, Jack was actually scared. For a few minutes he believed that he was back in the tank on that damned planet. Then he heard the voices.
"I don't understand." General Hammond, the name flashed through his cloudy mind accompanied by a face.
"Because it wasn't done to him." Oh Sam, lovely Sam. "So technically- he didn't get hurt, we did." Wait. What? His team got hurt, then why does it feel like he got hit by an eighteen wheeler? He needed to wake up, his team needed him. He felt the hands on his arms, hands he recognized from the countless times they had taken his pulse and blood pressure. Doc was here, he was in the infirmary. Now he needed to find out how bad he screwed up- how bad his team had gotten hurt.
"Colonel?" Fraiser spoke softly and the background chatter disappeared suddenly.
That's when he opened his eyes- with a huge effort. He blinked at the bright light of the infirmary. He met her brown eyes and tried to smile, but the damn plastic contraption in his throat made it next to impossible.
"Colonel, squeeze my hand if you can hear me." Well, duh! Of course I can hear you, he wanted to scream and instead he concentrated on flexing his fingers around the soft hands of the doctor. He saw her smile and then the tears in her eyes as she looked over her shoulder.
"Let's be brave and take the tube out, shall we?" she said after consulting one of the million-and-two screens above and next to the bed. 'Oh I could kiss you doc,' Jack thought as he followed instructions and coughed. Finally he took a breath on his own and closed his eyes in pure bliss as Sam put some ice chips in his mouth. He didn't even realise she was next to him.
"My…..team….how….bad?" he croaked out. Was that really his voice? Someone laughed, making Jack frown.
"You're team is fine, Colonel." Janet said "I'm giving you something for the pain and then I want you to rest. We can answer all your questions when you wake up, ok?" he must have nodded, because not long after that he drifted off to dreams of a planet with a water tank for a prison.
SG-1
After the Colonel closed his eyes, Janet turned to the group standing behind her and smiled. Everybody stood there with smiles on their faces, and some even had tears in their eyes (this was never to be mentioned, of course!). General Hammond relaxed visibly and ordered everyone down to the commissary for lunch. Now that Jack was on the mend, they could relax.
The room was empty save for the lone figure on the bed and his visitor.
"I am so glad you are back with us, Jack." She bent down to kiss him on his forehead. "Please get well soon. I think it's time to tell the truth."
With those last words Sam left to join the rest of the group in the commissary.
So what do you think? Please go check out the poll on my profile. Oh, think I'll make 50 reviews for this story? Till next time- CSIflea
