Note: This is part of a series. The first digit in the title stands for the series, the second stands for the part. You are reading the 1st part of Series 1.

Jack was surprised to find General Hammond in front the door of his personal quarters on base. He had thought it to be Daniel for he was always running to him about every little new detail he would find on his ancient tablets. Jack was always a little pissed about the archaeologist. Don't get him wrong, Daniel was a very valuable member of the team who had proven himself in a lot of dangerous situation but his sense of eagerness, exploration and always wanting an answer to all of his questions right the exact moment really didn't work well with Jack.

Thus the obvious surprise as it wasn't Daniel in front of him.

"General - ?!"

"Jack" the General stated with not much of an emotion and invited himself into the room. Jack didn't stop him. But he somewhat grew a little nervous.

General Hammond wasn't normally the person to come down personally if he wanted something from him. Under normal circumstances he was phoned or announced via speakers to head to his office immediately. This usually happened when he was about to be scolded about his last report or what so ever.

Thus it was a very unusual situation to have his CO standing in his private quarters. The fact that it wasn't the cleanest didn't improve the situation a bit.

"I'm sorry, Sir" he voiced as he grabbed for a discarded towel on his bed to store it appropriate.

"At ease, colonel" the General replied as he knew Jack for years by now. But still no emotion.

To break the awkwardness of the situation Jack asked Hammond to take a seat but the general refused. He wanted to stay. Now this was getting awkward.

Just then Jack noticed the folder in Hammond's hand. With a quick glimpse he found it to be the report of the last mission he had handed in. Jack knew perfectly well about his non-existing writing skills, however the fact that the General was here right now already showed him this wasn't about a whole lot of spelling errors he knew he made.

"Let me come to the point right away" the General stated clearly, still no emotion.

Jack straightened himself. He somehow got a feeling which part of the report may cause a little problem.

Again they had been captured by some Goa'uld foe. Jack had it up with it by now! Their missions almost never gone as planned and always ended it some kind of spontaneous savings or unprepared safe-yourself-situation with not much strategy.

But there situation right now was far away from a spontaneous escape. They were basically just at the beginning of their unprepared for adventure.

They were lined up in front of a Goa'uld. Jack hadn't even made himself remember the name. He would make Daniel do the debriefing of the mission later.

Thus he hadn't really paid attention to the "I want to rule the galaxy" type of speech their foe was giving them. He had it up to here with these Goa'uld!

But then his alarm bells had started to ring as they were to be brought into their cell – except for Carter!

Jack wasn't the type of leader who was overly protective about his team. He knew that everyone on the team was perfectly fine in watching out for themselves – except for Daniel on some occasions maybe – but they didn't need his protection. But in this situation he grew extremely nervous when they were about to be separated. He was still the leader of SG-1 and he wanted to bring his team home safe!

His 2IC locked eyes with him. Jack looked into a mixture of insecurity, shock and a little fear but still a large amount of strength and strong willpower. Still he didn't like it.

"I think you'll take me."

One Jaffa placed a hit on the back of his head. It didn't really hurt but kind of showed him his place he was supposed to take.

"But I want the female" the Goa'uld announced again.

With this the boys were pushed to the door. Jack could see Carter following them with her eyes. They seemed to be saying to him "I got this, Sir." but Jack didn't want her to get this. He knew that Carter was strong, stronger than most soldiers, male or female, and he could always count on her strength, but still he didn't want her to go through any hardship if he could take her place.

He tried to shake off the strong hand from his shoulder but it didn't work. He could see Daniel try it as well but of course the archaeologist didn't have the strength or technique. Teal'c was flanked by three guards and wasn't even trying for he would have failed anyway. But his eyes were wild and unfocused.

Only a few seconds later Carter's face disappeared behind a column. Jack grew even more nervous the moment he didn't see her anymore.

They were led through a hallway to their cell. Luckily it was one them were the door wasn't made of solid material but just a grid so they still would have the possibility to reach the outside of their cell.

They were harshly pushed inside, even Teal'c. None of them fell but they had to stop themselves from doing so. Then the door slit shut behind them. Jack could hear the lock coming into place.

While the other two searched for some place in their new location, Jack almost immediately stood at the door looking into the hallway. He was basically just staring straight ahead, only thinking about Carter. He didn't like it that they were separated from her.

After a few minutes of nothing happening he turned around. Daniel was leaning on the wall, arms crossed over his chest, looking annoyed. It didn't take much to see that the archaeologist wasn't happy about the situation either. He and Carter treated each other with great respect as they both were scientists and Jack knew they have formed a good friendship and camaraderie by now.

Teal'c had decided to sit himself, his face stoic as ever. But because of his body posture Jack could tell on instant that he was anything but stoic or chilled.

After yet some other minutes Jack started to run in circles. Not hearing from Carter – it was driving him nuts!

Daniel was face palming, still leaning on the wall. Jack didn't know if he was pissed because of the situation or because he had started his circles like hours ago. Teal'c was still stoic.

And then they heard it.

It was something that Jack didn't want to hear ever again.

A scream.

More like a shriek actually.

And a high one too.

It wasn't the first time he heard her scream, but it was the first time he heard her shriek. In such a high voice Jack was almost surprised she was able to produce.

All the guys reached for the door in a matter of seconds. Jack's fingers found their way into the grid, pressing down hard. It was hurting.

"Let go! Don't touch me!"

They could basically see her struggle as if they were there. Jack didn't know what was actually worse: seeing it or having his mind imagine things. He chose the later as his mind was playing awful videos right now.

Suddenly her screams died out. Only muffled groans and moans were audible.

They've gagged her, Jack thought sadly, in one way or another.

Jack didn't know how to react. On one hand his blood was boiling with rage. He wanted to crash all these f*cking Goa'uld with his bare hands right now. With the more violence the better. And very, very slowly. On the other hand he felt so incredibly sad he could break out in tears right now.

He had failed her.

The reactions of the others were the same and confirmed his sad thoughts. Daniel's eyes were so longing to help her while Teal'c's face was the grimmest he had ever seen. Open the door and the Jaffa would bulldoze the whole ship in a matter of seconds.

"We need to open this door" Daniel started to whisper. With his turn to Jack his voice grew almost terrible loud. "Jack, open this freaking door!"

As Jack looked helplessly around to desperately find a way to open this door, their only female teammate chose exactly this moment to start crying. She had stopped her struggling and moaning, only her sobs were audible.

His heart exploded. Jack died.

She never cried.

A wave of desperation swapped them all away. Jack started to shake the grid, not that it would break, but he had to. Daniel had started to scream into the hallway to release her some time before and was now lost for words. And the mimics on Teal'c's face were unreadable. But he would definitely break the first available neck his hand could grab.

Of course no one came to release them.

After time that felt like hours but were probably only minutes her sobs quieted out as well. It was a silence that was even more haunting than her screams.

The boys had already broken.

What was about her then?

Then – finally – they heard steps. Rage was written all over their faces. The moment the door would open they would go berserk out there. Whoever was in their way.

However the moment they could finally see her, in between all these Jaffa, all thoughts of revenge, rage and outburst were forgotten.

She looked so broken.

Carter was a relatively tall woman, but now she looked so small. She almost seemed lost between the Jaffa in their armor. Her outstanding presence was gone for all. She looked like a walking shadow ready to flee in the dark.

But what Jack shocked the most were her eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes. They weren't beautiful anymore. They were red from all the crying even though no more tears were visible anymore. Jack didn't know if she did it to not show any weakness in front of her team or because she simply didn't have any tears left to shed. But the most shocking part was they were dull. They seemed so lifeless.

The door slit open.

No one moved.

She was pushed inside and just walked past her team. The boys were following her very steps with their eyes but no one made a move on her. They just didn't know what to do.

Jack knew his 2IC and he knew she didn't like it to be coddled. She would then basically kick their asses. However he also knew that she could enjoy their hugs and comfort when the timing was right.

Was the timing right?

Carter managed to walk all the way to the other side of the cell, facing nothing but the wall. Jack couldn't see any blood on her which was kind of a relief, but there was some bruising on her face and neck. They had obviously choked her. Her hair was visibly disheveled and her clothes had been stretched far more than the material would give in under normal circumstances. Her shirt was loose, the collar hanging low and the shirt's shoulder seams weren't there were they were supposed to be anymore. She would have to toss her shirt away when they were back home.

Home.

Still the guys waited by the door.

Still Carter hadn't turned around.

She wasn't crying. She wasn't sobbing. She wasn't even shaking.

She was just standing there.

Jack didn't know how to react. Thus he was more than happy when the more sensitive Daniel made the first step.

"Sam?" he asked with caution. He didn't want to scare her.

She didn't really react at all. She still faced the wall keeping her back to them.

Daniel made some steps towards her. He was especially slowly not to drive her even more into the corner. "Sam?" he asked yet again. Still no reaction. Thus he kept going. "Sam, I'm coming for you" he informed her. But she didn't seem to listen at all.

As the cell wasn't this big it only took him a few steps to actually reach her. "Sam?" He was standing right behind her. Again no reaction.

Daniel decided to reach for her shoulder. Jack could see him hesitate the last second but then he just touched her. To all of their surprise there was no reaction at all. Daniel who had mentally braced himself for a hit started to hesitate again. Looking for help he looked to Jack. But Jack as well didn't know how to react.

Thus Daniel kept going. He was still afraid of her freaking out every second.

He moved in closer. His hand pressed down hard on her shoulder to show her he was there for her. To get her out of the trance. He was somehow afraid of hurting her but she still didn't react. Jack felt like she was cocooning herself in to distance herself from their situation right now. It was her way to not be affected by emotions.

Daniel was now so close to her he shifted both of his hands. The hand on her shoulder moved around her upper body to embrace her in a little back hug. His other arm found its way around her stomach area to hold her even more. It was a strange position for him but he didn't feel like turning her around to give her a normal hug. In this situation it just felt more natural.

He just wanted to feel her right now.

And it was this back hug that finally erected a reaction from her.

As she was falling out of a dream her body straightened visibly. It was like she just now started to understand what Daniel was doing – and why he was doing it.

She didn't even try to shake him off. Her hand searched for his arm around her upper body and she gripped for his wrist to ground herself. It was a strong grip that actually hurt Daniel. She was with her team again and it rolled all over her.

Jack heard a shaky breath from her. He didn't need to see her face to see the tears that were silently rolling down her cheeks. He saw her leaning in into Daniel's embrace and his hold on her tightened. The moment she allowed Daniel to rest his head on her shoulder and kissing her neck softly was the moment Jack fell into darkness.

She was not the person to ever allow them to do so.

To be there for her in such manner when she was broken.

If she would allow something like this it means – !

Now they could hear her sobs. Her shoulders shook visibly and she leaned in even more into Daniel's touch. The archaeologist began to rock her a little and hugged her even stronger. Her sobs grew deeper and finally she slipped down to the floor. Daniel just allowed her to do so instead of keeping her upright. He followed her movement and still kept her hugged when she was crying on the floor.