"Colonel O'Neill. Major Carter," General Moore said.
"Not now you ass!" Chegwidden snarled as Sam and Jack continued to kneel in a daze on the ramp of the Stargate.
Colonel Rivers obviously had a stunted sense of self-preservation because he didn't take Admiral Chegwidden's warning to heart. "Airman," he ordered. "Take Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter to a holding cell."
Dr. Williams objected, "The only place they're going is back to the infirmary."
"Screw that," Sam growled. "You're not locking us up, and we're not going to the infirmary. We're going to find our children!"
"Can you even stand, Major?" Dr. Williams asked. The tone of his voice implying that he knew very well the answer to his question.
"We've been worse," Jack argued helping Sam to her feet. Everyone in the room could see that they were kept upright by sheer force of will more than anything else. "We're going after our kids!"
"You're running on adrenaline," Williams said patiently. "And as soon as it wears off, you're going to crash. I need to get you on IV fluids to replace the nutrients you lost."
"Where's Janet?" Sam demanded. "She'll...oh God..." Sam moaned as she realized that her friend would most likely have been in the infirmary during the attack. "Janet?" she asked Hammond.
"She's in surgery at the academy hospital now," the general said confirming her fears. "Her chances are good. Your friend, Webb, was taken there as well, gentlemen," he told the Navy officers.
"Is anyone with Cassie?" Daniel asked.
"We haven't told her yet," Hammond said.
"Sir, permission to get Cassie and go to the hospital," Daniel requested.
General Hammond nodded but added, "Not until you've had your post-mission physical. That goes for everyone." His glare brought even O'Neill and Carter into unwilling submission. "Nobody does anything or goes anywhere until the post-mission physicals are done," he reiterated when it looked like Commander Rabb was about to object.
"Yes, sir" the returning team chorused.
Daniel moved toward Jack to help him from the room but stopped at the slight shake of General Hammond's head. Daniel nodded his understanding. It would be a matter of pride with Sam and Jack that they walk unassisted to the infirmary. Instead he fell into step beside his friends as General Hammond and the two Air Force JAGs walked with them as well.
"It was a well planned attack," Hammond informed them as they walked. "Two had zats, and the other two had silenced glocks. We haven't figured out how they got into the mountain. We've got four people still unaccounted for."
"Either they were in on it or they're dead," Jack said. "Zats," he murmured.
"Do we know if the Russians got their hands on any zats while their Stargate was operational?" Sam asked.
"According to the records they turned over, no they didn't" Daniel answered. "But..."
"But that doesn't mean anything," Jack agreed as they turned the corner into the infirmary. "I think the NID's a more likely suspect."
"We'll start with you, Dr. Williams," Dr. Warner announced as he approached them. It was obvious from his appearance that he'd been in the infirmary at the time of the attack. The right side of his face was already turning a lovely shade of purple, and his eye had swollen shut. His arm was strapped to his chest in a sling. "Once I'm done with you, you can help with the other exams."
"Why don't you let me heal those injuries, Doctor?" Jacob suggested. After receiving a nod in answer Jacob pulled the healing device from his pocket.
"Major Carter. Colonel O'Neill," Nurse Thea Allison said. "If you'll come with me? Dr. Frasier..." she took a deep breath before continuing. "Dr. Frasier thought you'd really want a shower when you got back so we got some things ready for you. You can use the showers in the locker room through there."
"Someone needs to stay with them, Thea" Williams ordered from where he sat on the gurney letting another nurse draw blood. "I don't want them passing out and getting a concussion on top of everything else."
"Yes, sir" Nurse Allison acknowledged the order as she ushered the two exhausted soldiers into the locker room. "My mother is a beautician. I used to help her in her shop. If you'd like, I can...."
Jack didn't let her complete her offer before accepting it gratefully. "God, yes!" Jack said as he gave her a sloppy wet kiss. "A haircut!"
Thea laughed quietly as she handed each of them a plastic basket full of soap, shampoo, and other products. "I'll wait out here," she said.
"We don't need..." Jack started to protest.
"Don't get her in trouble, Jack" Sam warned tiredly as she began to tug off her clothes. "Besides if you piss her off we won't get our haircuts."
That shut him up. Not so much what she said as the expression on her face. He didn't say anything more until they were in the shower. With the steaming hot water pouring down on them and Thea considerately waiting outside the shower Jack held Sam tightly too him and whispered, "It's going to be okay, Sam. Danny's right. We're going to get them back." They clung to each other as they cried in relief for their freedom and in fear for their children. The noise from the shower only partially masked the sound of their crying, but Thea sat completely still giving them at least the illusion of privacy.
"You ready for that haircut, Colonel?" Thea called when ten minutes later they still hadn't emerged from the shower. She knew they needed this time alone before they faced what was to happen next, but she also realized that she couldn't keep everyone out for much longer.
"Give us another couple minutes," O'Neill requested, and if his voice was thick from the tears he had shed, he knew that Thea would never say. "Turn around," he commanded as he followed Sam from the showers a few minutes later wrapped only in a towel.
"Colonel, I've been your nurse for seven years now. There isn't anything you've got that I haven't seen," she said as she traded an amused look with Sam. "Who's first?" she asked holding up scissors and comb. Sam didn't even bother to dress. She simply sat down in the chair Thea indicated and gave herself over to the woman's ministrations while still wrapped only in the towel.
"Where are our clothes?" Jack demanded a moment later when he realized the BDUs they'd been wearing had been removed and the hated hospital scrubs left in their place.
"Sorry, sir" Thea said as she continued to snip at Sam's hair. Daniel slipped into the room in time to hear her say, "Dr. Williams says to put those on."
"Damn it!" Jack growled grabbing for the scrubs. He stopped abruptly though and his hand hovered above them as he caught sight of the photos Thea had taken from the pocket of the BDU's Sam had been wearing. With a hand that shook slightly, Jack picked up the photos and began leafing through them.
"You're not going to do them any good if you collapse, Jack. You can barely walk without assistance as it is. Let the doctor put you on the IV and get some sleep while you can," Daniel said quietly.
"I'll never be able to sleep," Sam said rejecting the idea as Thea gently pushed her head down to cut the back of her hair.
"Let him give you a sedative then," Daniel urged. "Sam, you need to be thinking clearly."
"Yeah, we heard," Jack snarled. "We're being court-martialed."
"It's a bull shit charge, Jack" Daniel agreed, "but you're going to have to deal with it before you can be free to find the kids." Daniel paused giving Thea a considering look before saying, "I'm going to get Cassie now. Is there a message you'd like me to send to 'Starsky', Jack?"
Jack's head came up at that, and he too turned to look at Thea. "Want me to leave the room?" she asked.
"No, that won't be necessary," Jack answered. "Send G. Gordon a message at the same place. Say..."
"Need more breadcrumbs," Sam supplied.
Jack nodded. "Sign it Hoover," he added.
"Got it," Daniel assured them. He gave Jack a squeeze on the shoulder and Sam a kiss on the cheek along with a few whispered words of encouragement then left.