He looked at the device suspiciously. He didn't like the idea of alien things messing with him. He'd never had any luck with them, starting back with that damned wedding cake all the way through the head-sucky thing.

Jacob and Sam had both tried to reassure him, but he just knew that something would go wrong. It always did.

But if he ended up with a damned tail, he was going to kill Daniel. Not because Daniel would have had anything to do with it, but because it was always easiest to take out his frustration on the space monkey.

"No tails, okay?" he muttered, half asleep.

Sam looked at her father, who gave her a smirk and a shrug. "No, Thor didn't say anything about a tail", he explained. "That's O'Neill's idea."

She nodded as if it was normal for her CO – her former CO to worry about growing a tail. Of course Jacob knew that Sg1 had seen enough bizarre things over the years not to bat an eye at something like that.

"You're sure this is safe?" she asked quietly. She glanced down at O'Neill, but he seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Her father was staring at her hand, which was tightly clutching O'Neill's, but after a second looked up. "It should be", he answered, not completely reassuring his daughter. "Thor didn't seem to think there'd be any permanent damage, although there might be some short-term effects."

"What kind of effects?" she frowned.

"Mmm – let's just get this going, okay? Jack looks like he's sleeping, which should make this a bit easier." Saying that – and ignoring his daughter's question, he placed the metal circle on O'Neill's head.

Sam thought at first that it looked rather like a crown, although a piece wound down over the bridge of his nose. "More like a helmet", she muttered. When her father looked up at her, a question on his face she just shook her head. "Nothing."

"Okay, here it goes", Jacob said. He reached down and touched a small button on the headpiece and it immediately started to glow.

"Ow!" Sam dropped Jack's hand, shaking hers out in discomfort. "It felt like a strong shock", she explained to her father. "Are you sure he's okay?"

Jacob turned his head to look at Janet, who was monitoring O'Neill's vital signs. "How's he doin' Doc?" he asked softly.

"There was a slight spike in his heart rate when you put the device on him, and his respirations sped up a bit, but both are within safe ranges. Everything else looks good."

While they were speaking a soft glow had begun to form around the headpiece. The blue colored light illuminated Jack's face, giving him a gray tinge and making him look ill. Sam noticed and her own heart began to speed up. If this went wrong she would never forgive herself.

"His heart rate is increasing slightly", Janet told them, "still within acceptable parameters." As she spoke the blue light began to move down, first hitting Jack's chin and then onto his neck. It stopped when it reached there and after a second the glow grew much brighter.

Jacob, Sam and Janet all watched the Colonel carefully, with Janet regularly checking his vitals. So far everything looked fine although whatever was happening was causing a small amount of stress on O'Neill's body.

It was almost ten minutes before the light began to move again and this time it descended until it reached his chest. It stayed there for a few minutes, although not as long as on his neck, and then began to move downward again.

"The light is obviously stopping where there's been damage", Jacob commented softly. "Does that seem right Doc?"

Janet glanced up and looked at the light for a moment, noticing anytime it paused in one spot for any length of time. "Mmm hmm, seems right."

"Then it must be working", Sam breathed out. "It must be healing him."

"We won't know for sure until he wakes up and we have time to check him out", Janet told her, "but I'm hopeful."

Just then the light stopped over Jack's groin, shining more brightly than it had since it had touched his neck. Janet winced, knowing that if O'Neill had been awake he would have been upset at the obvious implication – and the fact that Sam and her father now knew.

Sam sat there, stunned. She had had no idea that there had been any serious damage to Jack's – to there. He hadn't said anything and nor had Janet. She wondered briefly what it meant – what kind of damage the Colonel had suffered.

She glanced at her father, who was looking at his hands and then at Janet, who was studying the monitor carefully – too carefully. Both of them appeared uncomfortable and she wondered if her father had known.

Somehow his sudden discomfort and the fact that he had been the one to bring up the fact that the light paused over "damage" made her think that he hadn't known. She looked again at Janet, who was now watching her.

"He didn't want anyone to know", the doctor said softly.

"How bad?" was all Sam asked.

"Not good," Janet told her.

"I – see." And she did. Suddenly things became much clearer. Of course the Colonel wouldn't accept a relationship with her, not if he'd been – disabled – down there. Part of her was angry that he would think it would stop her from loving him, but part of her also loved him even more. He was willing to sacrifice his own happiness for her. Of course she didn't agree with him – but knew him well enough to know that he would never have made any other decision. She also felt even more horrible about all he'd been through.

She sighed as the light began to move. So far they'd been in the room for over an hour and she knew that they'd be there for a while more. Jack's knees, ankles and feet had been badly damaged and would probably need a lot of time to fix. She watched as the light inched down his legs, hovering finally over his knees.

"Might as well get comfortable", Janet suddenly announced. "This will probably take some time," she told the other two. She sounded her usual straightforward, clinical self. However, when Sam glanced up, it was to see Janet staring down at her patient, a gentle expression conveying her concern and caring for this often obstinate, sometimes irritating, and always courageous man.

Sam stood beside the bed, watching the man who was her comrade, her friend and the person she loved more than any other in the universe, and prayed that the treatment was working. He'd been through so much – he needed some good luck. She smiled softly as she watched his slow, steady breathing and itched to reach out and thread her fingers through his hair.

Just as she was about to put out her hand, unconsciously following that thought, the light abruptly shut off. It took her a moment to realize what had happened. When she did she lifted her head to see the reaction of the other two. What she saw did not reassure her. He two companions looked as startled as she felt.

"What happened?" Janet asked.

"Uh – I don't know," Jacob said, frowning down at the Colonel. "Maybe the button got jarred and it shut down?" He reached out and touched the "on" button, but nothing happened. "Janet?"

"I have no idea", she said. "He seemed to be doing fine – there was nothing in his physical signs that should have stopped it from working."

"Maybe it has an overload button", Sam theorized. "It could be that it can only expend so much energy, or it knows that his body could only take so much at one time. Maybe we have to wait for a while and use it later?"

Jacob nodded, although he looked slightly skeptical. "That's probably it", he agreed. With that he reached out and gently removed the device from O'Neill's head.

Jack let out a soft groan and his head flopped to the side. He continued to sleep.

"Janet? Can you tell if it did anything?" Sam asked.

"Not really", she said. "I'll wait until he wakes up and then examine him. For now it's best to let him sleep."

The three of them continued to watch O'Neill for a few more minutes. When it became obvious that he was in a deep sleep Jacob decided to leave. "Let me know if there's any change, or when he wakes up. Sammy? Do you want to come with me?"

"What?" she glanced up as if surprised.

"Did you want to come and grab something from the Commissary? Jack looks like he's going to sleep for a while."

"Thanks – no. I'll just sit with him."

Jacob pursed his lips and spoke silently to Selmak, his now life-companion. After a moment he sighed and nodded. "Okay, but don't forget to get something to eat. O'Neill is sleeping and won't even know you're gone."

Sam nodded distractedly, her eyes still focused on her former commander. Jacob caught Janet's eye, but she just shrugged. As far as she was concerned it was better to have Sam here, in case Jack woke up, but she knew Jacob would see things differently.

"I'll make sure she gets something to eat Jacob", she said after a moment. With a nod he turned and left.

"At least sit down, Sam", Janet told her. "No point in exhausting yourself."

Sam sat down on the chair her friend pulled up, barely noticing that she'd done so. She continued to watch the Colonel, finally putting her hand out and grasping his. "You're sure you can't tell?"

"No, I'm sorry. I can tell he's doing fine. His vital signs are all strong. He's just sleeping."

"Deeply," Sam said, looking at him closely.

"Yes – very deeply. I expect he hasn't slept all that well since this happened."

Sam glanced up sharply at that. "He's been getting better", she stated, not wanting to think of Jack suffering at all. He'd had enough of that.

"Ye – es", Janet agreed. "His physical condition has been getting better – slowly – but there was a lot of damage Sam. He was never going to improve that much – not without intervention."

"Janet -" Sam paused, not quite sure how to ask the question.

"You want to know about -" Janet stopped and made an indeterminate gesture. Both of the women knew to what she referred.

"Yes. You said – it was bad?"

"Sam, you know I can't tell you anything. I wouldn't have said anything at all if it wasn't for that light."

Sam nodded, knowing that Janet really couldn't say anything. "I had no idea."

"No, he didn't want anyone to know."

"I want to kill him", Sam said softly.

"Who?" Janet frowned, puzzled. "The Colonel?"

"Who? What? The Colonel?" Sam sounded confused. "No – Raijin."

"I don't very often think things like that", Frasier answered, "but in this case I totally agree with you. If I had a zat I'd shoot him three times."

"You're too nice. I'd think of a much more painful, slow death! I was thinking of a hacksaw!"

"Kinda bloodthirsty - there Carter", a soft voice chimed in.

"Colonel!"

"Not anymore", he smiled, although his eyelids began to droop almost instantly. He suddenly let out a huge yawn.

Janet stepped up to his side and took his wrist, feeling his pulse even though the monitors were still attached. "How are you feeling Sir?"

"Tired," he mumbled.

"Let me just look you over quickly and then you can go back to sleep."

"Kay", he said, although so softly that Janet could barely hear. A moment later he was back asleep.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to wait", Janet said, still looking at the Colonel.

"Is it normal for him to be that tired?" Sam wanted to know, a frown on her face.

"I have no idea," Janet answered. "Jacob didn't say anything about it. But everything still looks fine, so it must simply be that the healing took a lot out of him. I'll keep monitoring him, but there's really nothing to do but to let him sleep."

Sam stayed with the Colonel for the next couple of hours, but he didn't wake at all during that time. Janet and her nursing staff were in and out of the room, even though they could check his readings from a separate room.

Janet continued to say that the Colonel looked fine and that there was no need to worry.

But Sam did. She knew the Colonel's dislike of alien technology – at least as applied to him. And she had to admit that he hadn't had a lot of luck in that area. But this – God, she hoped it had worked. He deserved to be healthy again, to get his life back. If the healing worked he could come back to Sg1 and they could return to what it had been like before.

A small voice in her head told her she was deluding herself. Even if the Colonel was restored to full health, she doubted very much whether the powers that be – or in this case Hammond – would put their team back together. Things had changed and she was pretty sure that the past was gone forever.

"Hey, whatcha thinkin' about so hard?"

"Sir!" She looked down at the bed, to catch Jack peering at her with still sleepy looking eyes.

"Not Sir", he whispered. His words were followed by a couple of slow blinks and then Jack started to look around the room, almost as if he were confused by where he was.

"Jack", she reached out and gently touched his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Still tired," he murmured. "What happened?"

"Well, the healing device appeared to do something, but Janet says she can't really tell until she examines you when you're awake."

"Oh goody," he said sarcastically, which caused Sam to smile. It sounded so much like the old Colonel.

"Does anything hurt?" she asked.

"No – well, my ankles still ache," he said, starting to blink even more. His eyes slowly began to close again, and Sam cursed herself. She had forgotten to buzz Janet. She reached over quickly and pressed the call button, but by the time the Doc had arrived Jack was back asleep.

"Are you sure he's okay?" she asked Frasier. He can barely keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds.

"I'll take a look at him again", Janet said. "Did he say anything?"

"Just that he was tired and that his ankles still ached."

Janet frowned. "Just his ankles?"

"That's what he said. Does it mean something?"

"Well, it could be good news. Although he didn't say anything, I expect with the injuries he sustained he must have been in pain most of the time, especially his knees. If he just said it was his ankles – which we know the device didn't get to – it implies that maybe the rest has been helped."

"God, I hope so." She watched as Janet looked over the Colonel, although she knew that the Doc couldn't really tell much at this point. She sighed, feeling impatient to find out how he was doing.

"Go get something to eat Sam," Janet finally told her. "You're not doing any good by starving yourself and sitting here staring at him isn't going to make him wake up any faster. He will wake up when his body tells him too."

"But -"

"No 'buts'," Janet said firmly. "I will stay with him and call you if he wakes up. Now go! Doctor's orders."

"Fine", Sam sighed and stood up slowly, staring down at the Colonel. "You'll -"

"Yes! I'll call you. No Go!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going." She gave the Colonel one last look and then she was out of the room.

Janet laughed softly and shook her head. Sam had it so bad for O'Neill. She looked down at the sleeping man. "And I expect you feel the same way Sir."

She sat quietly by the Colonel, reaching out every few minutes to feel his pulse or to check his temperature. She knew it wasn't strictly necessary – the monitors kept track of everything – but she also believed that human touch was vital. The medical profession had lost so much in the way of human contact with patients and it was something she didn't want to ever lose.

"Hey Colonel," she said softly when she saw his eyes open. "How are you feeling?"

Jack blinked a couple of times and then his lips turned up a little bit. "Doc – watcha doin' here?" He frowned then. "You're not going to shine that thing in my eyes are you?"

"No Jack, I'm not," she grinned. "I'm just sitting here to make sure you don't decide to cause trouble."

"Who? Me?" he asked innocently. At that he looked around the room, a small frown reappearing on his face.

"I sent her to get a bite to eat," Janet told him without being asked. "I practically had to pry her from the chair."

"Oh," he looked down, and began to fidget with the covers. "There's nothing – I mean – we're not -"

"Don't worry," she said, lightly touching his hand. "I'm not thinking anything other than she's a good friend and she's worried about you. I had to ban Daniel and Teal'c from coming in until we knew how you were doing, but I'm sure they'll be here as soon as I let them."

He nodded gratefully, and yawned, but this time his eyes seemed to want to stay open. "So, how am I?"

"You tell me Sir," Janet smiled. "Your vital signs all look good but I won't know for sure until we can run some tests and you can tell me how you're doing. Do you feel any pain?"

He had to actually think about that for a moment. He hadn't not felt aches and pains since he'd returned to Earth. It had just become part of his life. But right now he felt good – better than he could remember feeling in a long, long time. He gently stretched, first his arms, and then his neck, back, hips, knees – "hey – my knees don't hurt!" he said, his eyes growing big. "Doc, they don't hurt!"

"That's wonderful Jack. What about your feet and ankles?"

He stared at her for a moment and then nodded. With a look of concentration he went to bend his ankles and "Ouch!"

"You've still got pain?"

"Yes," he sighed. "So, not healed?"

"Well, the device seemed to operate with some kind of healing light. It moved down your body but stopped after your knees. Sam thinks there may have been some kind of overload switch – to keep it from burning out after a certain length of time. Either that or your body could only take so much and the machine knew that. We're going to wait a while and then try it again." She stopped for a moment and regarded the man who still looked as if he wanted to sleep.

"But how's everything else?"

"No pain," he said, "And I don't think I feel as stiff, but I'll have to wait until I get out of bed to tell for sure. Hey, when can I get out of bed?" he asked hopefully.

"Soon – but not yet," she told him, lifting up her hand. "And what about the throat?"

It had been a long time since Jack had done anything but speak softly. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth but suddenly grew nervous. What if it hadn't worked? He tried again but was stopped when Janet reached out and put her hand on his arm.

"Just leave it for now Jack. You're still tired and you don't want to overdo. You can try again tomorrow."

He nodded, feeling relieved. He was encouraged that things had gone well, but was still nervous that it hadn't done as much as he needed. There was also the worry about his ankles and feet.

"Stop worrying Jack. Just rest. Sam will be back soon."

With those words he shut his eyes and allowed himself to dream of Carter.