The Stargate started dialing and the iris immediately sprang closed.
"Off-world activation!"
Alarms were going off everywhere as security personnel reacted as they'd always reacted; coming to the embarkation room with weapons up and ready to protect the SGC from whoever might be coming through.
Hammond had barely poured himself a cup of coffee and was starting to sift through the paperwork on his desk when he heard the first alarm. He was on his feet instantly, coffee and paperwork both forgotten as he scrambled to the door and down the steps to the command center.
"Receiving SG-1's code, Sir!" The sergeant called to him as he hurried through the door.
"Open the iris," Hammond ordered. Something had to be wrong. They'd only been gone fifteen minutes. "Medical teams to the embarkation room!"
The iris swooshed open just as the gate finished dialing and flared. Hammond didn't see this; he was already on the stairs on the way down to the room.
Teal'c was the first to come through. He was smeared in blood, and carrying Colonel O'Neill. There was a concerned murmur when the security teams saw who it was and what he had, but the Jaffa didn't hesitate. And he didn't stop when Fraiser and Hammond entered the room almost at the same time. He'd seen the severity of Jack's wound and knew he needed to be in the infirmary immediately, with no time to stop to be put on a gurney. He walked right past Janet, who understood immediately what the Jaffa was doing. Even as Sam came stumbling through the gate supporting Daniel and flanked by the two bloody labs, Janet was ordering medics to stay and check the rest of SG-1.
"Teal'c! What happened?" Janet was running behind and a little to the side of Teal'c, trying to get a first glimpse of the severity of O'Neill's injury.
"He was hit by a staff weapon," Teal'c informed her calmly, although his face was hard, which was a sure sign of inner turmoil. Jaffer came lunging down the hall, having done his duty to make sure Sam arrived home safely. He had bigger concerns now that she was safe; he had to stay with Jack. Frasier almost tripped over the black lab, who was literally dripping blood – most of it from the Jaffa whose throat he'd ripped open. Very messy.
"Do we need to call Monica?"
"I do not believe so." He turned and entered the infirmary, and a crowd of medics was already waiting for him and his burden. He laid Jack carefully down on the closest of the examination beds, and Jaffer jumped up immediately.
"No!" Janet reached for Jaffer's collar, and the black lab growled the deep warning growl that plainly said he didn't want her to touch him. He moved to Jack's feet, straddling his legs where he'd be out of the way, but when Janet reached for him again, the black head went down, and the growl turned into a snarl – something he'd never done to Janet or anyone he liked. With the blood still dripping off his jowls and teeth, it was truly a gruesome and frightening sight. Despite herself, Janet jerked her hand back.
"Teal'c! Move him!" She ordered, already cutting the remainder of Jack's uniform off to bare the wound on his chest. Certain the Jaffa could do what she couldn't, Janet was already calling out orders to her medics, who started working on O'Neill, all of them avoiding the black lab who was crouched over Jack's lower legs and watching for any threat to his position as he hovered over his charge.
Teal'c knew he'd be able to do no such thing. He wasn't afraid of Jaffer – no matter what he'd seen those teeth do to the Jaffa on the planet – and Teal'c had witnessed the black lab ripping the Jaffa's throat out, so there was no denying Jaffer was capable of anything. Teal'c didn't dare try to separate Jaffer from Jack.
"I cannot move him, Doctor Fraiser," The Jaffa said, stepping back so he was out of the way. "He wishes to remain."
Janet was too preoccupied by what she was doing to argue – although had she been thinking a little clearer she might have ordered one of the medics to sedate the dog. Instead, she gave O'Neill a shot of synthetic adrenaline, hoping that would give him a jolt. He was pale and unresponsive, and she'd already put a breathing tube down his throat since his breathing was sporadic at best – and his heartbeat wasn't much better. She didn't have time to argue.
..................
"Major! What happened?"
Sam had just turned Daniel over to the medics that had rolled a gurney into the embarkation room and she looked up from watching them begin to work on him to see Hammond hovering close by. Jaffer had just vanished at a full run out the door, and Sam knew he was going to find Jack. She wished that she could, too.
"Major?" Hammond's voice was softer this time, and Sam felt tears threatening.
"We were ambushed, Sir..." She said, hoarsely, trying to fight down the lump in her throat. The ambush hadn't been all that well planned and executed, but Jack and Daniel hadn't seen it coming, and she knew they should have. Sam hadn't been able to hear what they were saying to each other, but she'd known by the body language that they'd been arguing with each other and not paying attention like they should have been.
"By whom? Jaffa?"
"Eight of them. They came from all directions." She shook her head. "We'd never have made it out if the dogs hadn't seen it coming and broken it up."
"Are you injured?"
She was smeared with blood in a few places, but Hammond couldn't see if it was hers, or someone else's.
"No, Sir."
He put his arm around her – to support her, of course – and walked her down the corridor, waving off a medic who came over. Sam leaned against him, unable to keep from taking the support he offered so obliquely. It had all happened so fast. Jack was down. Daniel was badly hurt. She bit back a sob, and Hammond's grip tightened just a little.
"Easy, Major." He murmured gently to her. "They're in the best of hands, and you know it."
"Yes, Sir."
He took her to the infirmary. The main room was bustling with organized chaos as two teams of medical personnel worked at separate tables on Jack and Daniel. Janet was snapping orders with a practiced voice – calm and steady, despite the fact that she was working hard to stabilize Jack, who wasn't stabilizing. The other team was just as serious, but the main focus on this team was Daniel's leg, which had been mangled by the shot he'd taken. The competent doctors were already working on saving the leg, patching it together like a jigsaw puzzle – albeit one that had several pieces missing.
Sam looked around for Jaffer, wondering where he'd gotten to and why he wasn't in the infirmary like she'd expected him to be, when a corpsman working on Jack moved slightly, and she saw Jaffer was on Jack's legs, blood dripping off his black hide, and his steady gaze focused on watching Janet work. Sam couldn't believe Janet was allowing it, but she understood a moment later, when one of the medics came too close to Jaffer and the black lab's lips curled back into a snarl when the man tried to push him out of the way.
She was allowing it because Jaffer'd given her no other choice. He wasn't going to leave Jack's side, no matter who wanted him to. Sam doubted she'd be able to get him to move, and she didn't even go over and try. She felt strangely comforted by the fact that Jaffer was with Jack, and she bit back another sob as she watched the teams of medics continue their work. She was so intent on it, she didn't even notice when Hammond released her, turning her over to Teal'c, whose strong arm came around her – to support her, of course, in case she was injured. Although the Jaffa knew Carter hadn't taken an injury. Not a physical one, anyway.
"Off-world activation!"
Alarms were going off everywhere as security personnel reacted as they'd always reacted; coming to the embarkation room with weapons up and ready to protect the SGC from whoever might be coming through.
Hammond had barely poured himself a cup of coffee and was starting to sift through the paperwork on his desk when he heard the first alarm. He was on his feet instantly, coffee and paperwork both forgotten as he scrambled to the door and down the steps to the command center.
"Receiving SG-1's code, Sir!" The sergeant called to him as he hurried through the door.
"Open the iris," Hammond ordered. Something had to be wrong. They'd only been gone fifteen minutes. "Medical teams to the embarkation room!"
The iris swooshed open just as the gate finished dialing and flared. Hammond didn't see this; he was already on the stairs on the way down to the room.
Teal'c was the first to come through. He was smeared in blood, and carrying Colonel O'Neill. There was a concerned murmur when the security teams saw who it was and what he had, but the Jaffa didn't hesitate. And he didn't stop when Fraiser and Hammond entered the room almost at the same time. He'd seen the severity of Jack's wound and knew he needed to be in the infirmary immediately, with no time to stop to be put on a gurney. He walked right past Janet, who understood immediately what the Jaffa was doing. Even as Sam came stumbling through the gate supporting Daniel and flanked by the two bloody labs, Janet was ordering medics to stay and check the rest of SG-1.
"Teal'c! What happened?" Janet was running behind and a little to the side of Teal'c, trying to get a first glimpse of the severity of O'Neill's injury.
"He was hit by a staff weapon," Teal'c informed her calmly, although his face was hard, which was a sure sign of inner turmoil. Jaffer came lunging down the hall, having done his duty to make sure Sam arrived home safely. He had bigger concerns now that she was safe; he had to stay with Jack. Frasier almost tripped over the black lab, who was literally dripping blood – most of it from the Jaffa whose throat he'd ripped open. Very messy.
"Do we need to call Monica?"
"I do not believe so." He turned and entered the infirmary, and a crowd of medics was already waiting for him and his burden. He laid Jack carefully down on the closest of the examination beds, and Jaffer jumped up immediately.
"No!" Janet reached for Jaffer's collar, and the black lab growled the deep warning growl that plainly said he didn't want her to touch him. He moved to Jack's feet, straddling his legs where he'd be out of the way, but when Janet reached for him again, the black head went down, and the growl turned into a snarl – something he'd never done to Janet or anyone he liked. With the blood still dripping off his jowls and teeth, it was truly a gruesome and frightening sight. Despite herself, Janet jerked her hand back.
"Teal'c! Move him!" She ordered, already cutting the remainder of Jack's uniform off to bare the wound on his chest. Certain the Jaffa could do what she couldn't, Janet was already calling out orders to her medics, who started working on O'Neill, all of them avoiding the black lab who was crouched over Jack's lower legs and watching for any threat to his position as he hovered over his charge.
Teal'c knew he'd be able to do no such thing. He wasn't afraid of Jaffer – no matter what he'd seen those teeth do to the Jaffa on the planet – and Teal'c had witnessed the black lab ripping the Jaffa's throat out, so there was no denying Jaffer was capable of anything. Teal'c didn't dare try to separate Jaffer from Jack.
"I cannot move him, Doctor Fraiser," The Jaffa said, stepping back so he was out of the way. "He wishes to remain."
Janet was too preoccupied by what she was doing to argue – although had she been thinking a little clearer she might have ordered one of the medics to sedate the dog. Instead, she gave O'Neill a shot of synthetic adrenaline, hoping that would give him a jolt. He was pale and unresponsive, and she'd already put a breathing tube down his throat since his breathing was sporadic at best – and his heartbeat wasn't much better. She didn't have time to argue.
..................
"Major! What happened?"
Sam had just turned Daniel over to the medics that had rolled a gurney into the embarkation room and she looked up from watching them begin to work on him to see Hammond hovering close by. Jaffer had just vanished at a full run out the door, and Sam knew he was going to find Jack. She wished that she could, too.
"Major?" Hammond's voice was softer this time, and Sam felt tears threatening.
"We were ambushed, Sir..." She said, hoarsely, trying to fight down the lump in her throat. The ambush hadn't been all that well planned and executed, but Jack and Daniel hadn't seen it coming, and she knew they should have. Sam hadn't been able to hear what they were saying to each other, but she'd known by the body language that they'd been arguing with each other and not paying attention like they should have been.
"By whom? Jaffa?"
"Eight of them. They came from all directions." She shook her head. "We'd never have made it out if the dogs hadn't seen it coming and broken it up."
"Are you injured?"
She was smeared with blood in a few places, but Hammond couldn't see if it was hers, or someone else's.
"No, Sir."
He put his arm around her – to support her, of course – and walked her down the corridor, waving off a medic who came over. Sam leaned against him, unable to keep from taking the support he offered so obliquely. It had all happened so fast. Jack was down. Daniel was badly hurt. She bit back a sob, and Hammond's grip tightened just a little.
"Easy, Major." He murmured gently to her. "They're in the best of hands, and you know it."
"Yes, Sir."
He took her to the infirmary. The main room was bustling with organized chaos as two teams of medical personnel worked at separate tables on Jack and Daniel. Janet was snapping orders with a practiced voice – calm and steady, despite the fact that she was working hard to stabilize Jack, who wasn't stabilizing. The other team was just as serious, but the main focus on this team was Daniel's leg, which had been mangled by the shot he'd taken. The competent doctors were already working on saving the leg, patching it together like a jigsaw puzzle – albeit one that had several pieces missing.
Sam looked around for Jaffer, wondering where he'd gotten to and why he wasn't in the infirmary like she'd expected him to be, when a corpsman working on Jack moved slightly, and she saw Jaffer was on Jack's legs, blood dripping off his black hide, and his steady gaze focused on watching Janet work. Sam couldn't believe Janet was allowing it, but she understood a moment later, when one of the medics came too close to Jaffer and the black lab's lips curled back into a snarl when the man tried to push him out of the way.
She was allowing it because Jaffer'd given her no other choice. He wasn't going to leave Jack's side, no matter who wanted him to. Sam doubted she'd be able to get him to move, and she didn't even go over and try. She felt strangely comforted by the fact that Jaffer was with Jack, and she bit back another sob as she watched the teams of medics continue their work. She was so intent on it, she didn't even notice when Hammond released her, turning her over to Teal'c, whose strong arm came around her – to support her, of course, in case she was injured. Although the Jaffa knew Carter hadn't taken an injury. Not a physical one, anyway.