Sam Carter awoke to a fog of color and sound. The first thing she noticed was she was alive. The second was that she was on duty. Unless she'd started a hobby of napping on stone floors. She tried to sit up.

Ouch.

'Not trying that anytime again soon.

Not unless I want to break in half.

So why am I here?

Right, the alien. Telekinesis. Gotta tell the colonel not to talk back to her anytime soon.

I fell, that would explain this.

Well I can rule out spinal injury. Paralysis would be much more…paralyzed.

And this wouldn't hurt so-

OW!

Okay, found the main source of pain, left ankle.

Head doesn't feel great either.

Or ribs.

Damn.'

"Carter, you with us?"

The voice interrupted her inner dialogue, and reluctantly she opened her eyes. In between the purple and yellow dots obscuring her vision, she could make out the blurry features of her CO. After noting he had rather a large nose, she realized he had a rather worried expression on his face. Guess that meant she should get up.

"Ow!" Oh right, she'd already decided that was a bad idea.

Concussion, definitely a concussion.

"Easy there Carter," a hand on her shoulder, helping her up. Considerate as it was, she'd much have preferred to stay where she was. There was a sickening crunching sensation in her right side, and her head swam. Ankle didn't feel great either.

This was turning out to be a bad, bad day.

When her vision resolved itself into somewhat clearer images, she noticed Daniel sitting against the wall nearby, Teal'c with him. Daniel looked pretty white, and his jacket was in a makeshift sling holding his right arm.

"Daniel?" Sam managed, trying not to let her voice waver form the pain now radiating strongly from her ribs. Daniel gave her a shaky smile and seemed about to reply when,

"Dislocated shoulder, broken wrist, and a nasty concussion, Carter." Colonel O'Neill injected, still with a hand holding her arm to steady her. "We just set his shoulder before you came round. Speaking of which…" He held a hand up in front of her face, "How many?"

Sam sighed, "Three sir." He nodded,

"Good, so where does it hurt?" she gave him a cautious glance, estimating how much she could get away with, "The truth Carter, I need a honest assessment of our situation and bravado, however noble it seems won't help me with that."

He had a point, Sam reluctantly concluded. "Concussion, probably. Cracked ribs maybe. And I did something to my ankle." Her CO looked at her shrewdly,

"Anything else?"

"Just a lot of bruises sir."

He looked her straight in the eye for a second, then apparently satisfied, nodded. "Okay, lets do something about it then."

Half an hour later Sam leant back against the cool stone wall, mentally willing the pain in her head to ease. After a rather painful inspection, they'd found she had one definitely broken rib and a couple of doubtful ones. Either way it hurt. Teal'c and the colonel had bound up her ankle, which thankfully appeared just sprained, and her ribs, with strips torn from their regulation black shirts. It wasn't great but it would do. Daniel looked about as bad off as she was. The sickly white color was slightly less evident now, but he was still too pale for her liking. The colonel seemed worried about him too but there wasn't much any of them could do here. Nothing except sit and wait for whatever the enemy had planned.

Her favorite occupation.

She spent the next hour in a fitful doze, Daniel's head resting on her shoulder. The colonel and Teal'c sat talking in hushed whispers nearby, giving Daniel and herself concerned glances. She wanted to reassure them they'd be fine, she was in fact fine. But couldn't quite summon the strength of will right now. Plenty of time for the 'brave solider' routine later. Now she just wanted to sleep, maybe it would ease the frightful pounding in her skull.

She was just falling asleep again when,

"What the heck are you doing back here?"

Dazed, she opened her eyes, and next to her Daniel also roused himself. Colonel O'Neill was standing facing the now reappeared alien woman. She glanced at them coldly before replying,

"I would hope you would show more respect after your previous insubordination caused your teammates pain Colonel. Or perhaps you do not value their lives as much as you claim to."

Sam watched as her commanding officer winced uneasily, before replying steadily, "If it wasn't for you my team and I wouldn't be in this mess. Why can't you heal them? You did before, when we…died."

"There is no reason to heal them. Their injuries will not cause their deaths in the relevant future. Nor will it prevent them from their trials."

"You expect them to take these test things hurt???"

"It will cause no difference to the outcome."

"Oh for crying out loud!" Closing her eyes, Sam willed her voice to work properly, and was pleased when she came out with a decidedly unshaky, "We'll be fine Sir." Next to her, Daniel nodded, his good hand holding his obviously aching head. The Colonel opened his mouth to reply, when the alien cut in,

"As I have previously stated. This is not optional. You will complete your trials or you will certainly die. We have selected the next participant." The woman turned her cold, colorless eyes towards them; Sam shivered inwardly, "Daniel Jackson."

Instinctively Sam looked to the man sitting next to her. She was dimly aware of the Colonel arguing with alien again, and Teal'c backing him up in the intense manner he always did. Daniel was looking back at her, a shocked but resolute expression on his face. He was going to say something.

But everything was spinning again, was it the alien? No, it was her head that was spinning. Some still functioning part of her mind acknowledged the irony briefly, till black cut across her vision, and she lapsed into unconsciousness.