Disclaimers, etc. in Chapter 1

Chapter 2

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While Teal'c and Daniel packed up the tent, Jack attended to Carter. He had carried her outside and she was lying on the ground while he wet a cloth and applied it to her forehead in an attempt to cool her fever. The air temperature was cold and he was being careful not to actually chill her, since it was dangerous to do so even when her body temperature was so high.

"We are ready, O'Neill," announced Teal'c as he hoisted his pack over his shoulders.

"Okay, we'll take turns carrying Carter. Daniel, you take her first so we can defend against any snipers. I'll take point, Teal'c, on our six." Both men nodded at him and Daniel bent down to carefully lift Sam into his arms.

Their trek back to the gate was quieter than they expected, with no sign of anyone in the vicinity, especially a sniper. Sam's limp body was passed back and forth between them and they made good time in their journey, with Daniel carrying her through the Stargate.

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Jack knew that their early arrival would be enough for General Hammond to summon a medical team to the gateroom and he was relieved that his thoughts were proved correct as they emerged onto the ramp. Sam was quickly lifted from Daniel's arms and whisked away to the infirmary.

"Colonel, what happened?" asked Hammond as he watched them stare after Sam.

"Got caught in sniper fire. Carter got hit, but it was just a graze so we decided to keep going. Couldn't wake her up this morning though," replied Jack, his voice betraying his outer calm.

"Okay, hit the showers and then debrief in half an hour."

"Sir," started Daniel.

"I'll keep you informed of Major Carter's condition, Doctor Jackson."

General Hammond watched them as they left the room. All three were obviously affected by the events on their mission, even Teal'c's shoulders were noticeably drooping. Jack's brief statement of what happened concerned him, as he knew that Jack would blame himself for continuing the mission after Sam had been injured. His concern was warranted, as all three male SG1 members were heading for the infirmary, not the locker room, and they did not plan to be moved anytime in the near future.

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"Colonel, I'm sorry to have called you away," said Hammond as a morose Jack entered the briefing room and sat down heavily, glaring at his CO. "I know you're all worried about Major Carter, but I need to know what happened on that planet. All the intelligence we had pointed to that planet being unoccupied, so –"

"Yeah, well it wasn't unoccupied," said Jack hostilely, "it had a sniper."

"Yes, so we need to find out why we weren't aware of that."

"Well, obviously someone messed up with the intel!"

"Colonel," warned Hammond, "I'm sure I will hear your thoughts on that particular matter later, but right now I want to concentrate on what you saw and what happened to Major Carter."

Calming himself down, Jack proceeded to explain what had happened, giving as much detail as he could remember in the hope that something might be of use to help Carter. One of Doctor Fraiser's staff was making copious notes about the environment of the planet – the air quality, plant life, everything they could remember – and informed them that the soil samples taken the night before were currently being analyzed.

"General, how is Sam?" asked Daniel as he sensed Jack's hostility rising again.

"Doctor Fraiser is still running tests, trying to determine why she's unconscious. The injury to her arm and the rash around it is leading her to believe the two things are related –"

"Well, gee, I'd never have guessed that!" said Jack sarcastically, unable to withhold his bitterness at the situation.

"It's unlikely we'll know more until the test results are back," continued Hammond. "I'm sorry, I know you're all worried, but she's in good hands." Looking at the faces staring back at him, he knew he would receive no further information. Each of them looked deflated and even Teal'c was beginning to fidget. "Alright, you're dismissed. I would tell you not to disturb Doctor Fraiser, but I don't think it would do any good. You're on downtime until the situation with Major Carter is rectified."

Daniel was the first to bolt from the room, quickly followed by Teal'c who, as usual, bowed before leaving. To his surprise, General Hammond found himself staring into the eyes of Jack O'Neill.

"Colonel, you don't want to visit Major Carter?"

"Yeah, I…" He trailed off and dropped his head into his hands, elbows perched on the table. "I didn't realize she had become unconscious until I woke up this morning."

"Jack, you had no way of knowing," said Hammond softly. "From what you said, this was totally unexpected."

"Yeah, but –"

"Jack, don't blame yourself. Go and see her."

"I thought you wanted us to stay away?" he queried with a smirk.

"And you would listen if I ordered you to do so?"

With a wry smile, Jack silently left the room.

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"Before you ask, no, I don't have any results back yet," said Janet as Jack's head whipped round at the sound of her approaching footsteps. The deep sorrow in his eyes worried her and she said softly, "Colonel, she's stable for the moment."

"But she's unconscious," he pointed out, his tone almost emotionless, as though he was afraid to put any effort into speaking in case he lost control.

"Yes," agreed Janet solemnly. She moved to Sam's bedside and checked a few monitors and then used her penlight to look into her eyes. "No change," she said quietly in answer to Jack's silent question, asked only with his eyes. Bringing her hand to rest on his shoulder, she squeezed gently in support, hoping to transfer some strength to him. Every time Sam was hurt, Janet would find the Colonel in the infirmary just watching and waiting. The arrival of a nurse interrupted them and Janet took the papers being thrust towards her, studying them closely before turning to the Colonel. "She's been poisoned."

"What?!" said Jack in shock, shaking his head as if to clear it, not believing what he had just heard. "Poisoned?"

"Her blood work is showing a toxin in her system, Colonel."

"What kind?" he demanded, standing up and pacing the floor, but never letting Carter out of his sight.

"I don't know. We need to try and isolate a sample and determine it's chemical make-up, it's not showing up as a recognizable poison," she explained. Jack looked at her blankly, pleadingly, before returning his gaze to the woman lying unconscious in the hospital bed.

"What can you give her?" he asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

"We can't give her anything until we know what the poison consists of, we can't take the risk of giving her something and having it react with the toxin, instead of against it."

Nodding, Jack slowly returned to his seat, far enough away from Carter that he couldn't give in to his urge to take her hand in his, but close enough that he could see the steady rise and fall of her chest.

"I'll run some more tests and we'll try to find something to counter-act this," said Janet.

"How the hell did she get poisoned?"

"It seems to have entered the bloodstream from her arm, so it must have been the bullet."

"It was only a flesh wound though, just a graze," he said, repeating Carter's own words about the injury.

"I know. I can only guess that maybe the bullet was coated in something and, when it grazed her arm and drew blood, it was enough to start the reaction. Colonel, General Hammond will need to be informed." Her tone was hinting that she wanted him to be the one to tell the CO that one of his personnel had been poisoned and Jack finally locked his gaze with hers and nodded. She knew he would fulfill his task when he was ready and she left the room to organize the further tests, leaving him alone with Sam.

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Jack walked back into the infirmary after telling General Hammond the latest news, his eyes immediately searching for Carter. Noticing him arrive, Janet walked back into the room and acknowledged him with a brief dip of her head.

Pre-empting his question, Janet said immediately, "We're having difficulty breaking down the poison into its chemical components, Colonel, it could take some time."

"Does she have time?"

"There doesn't seem to be any change, she's no better, but she's no worse either. The poison is fully in her bloodstream, but it doesn't seem to be adversely affecting her."

"She's still unconscious," he pointed out tersely.

"Yes, but I meant that there's no apparent damage to any of her organs. The unconsciousness may well be her body's way of trying to fight the toxin."

Everything she was saying made sense, but Jack still found himself glaring at Janet, willing her to give him better news. As if his prayers were answered, the nurse in the room quietly said, "Ma'am, she's waking."

Moving quickly to her side, Janet called quietly, "Sam? Can you hear me?" Two eyelids opening groggily were the only response, but they were enough. "It's okay, Sam, just take your time."

"What happened?" croaked Sam as she finally managed to get her eyes to stay open long enough to focus on Janet.

Holding a glass of water out in front of her, Janet urged Sam to take a sip from the straw to quench her thirst a little and moisten her lips. Satisfied she was ready to hear it, Janet finally told her, "You became unconscious during your mission and were brought back here. Your bloodwork is showing you've been poisoned." There was no point in trying to tell her gently, it would only annoy her, but Janet felt guilty about being so blunt.

Sam seemed to remember something, as she nodded slightly at Janet's words. Her eyes then widened and took on a look of panic as she whispered, "Colonel."

"It's okay, Sam, he's here," soothed Janet, motioning for Jack to come forward.

"Hey, Carter," he said as he stood beside her bed and looked down into her eyes. Her reaction was something that was sure to stay with him for the rest of his life.

"Get him away from me!" screamed Sam, her voice hoarse but obviously terrified.

"Carter?"

"Get out of here!" she screamed again, reaching out with her uninjured arm to push him away.

"Sam, what's wrong?" asked Janet as Jack stood beside her in shock.

"That's not Colonel O'Neill," replied Sam, her voice almost a hiss. "Get him out of here."

"Of course it's Colonel O'Neill, Sam," said Janet.

Sam's eyes darted from Janet to the Colonel and back again. Resting her gaze on Janet, she said firmly, "That is not Colonel O'Neill." Both Janet and Jack started to speak, but Sam continued in a small voice, "Colonel O'Neill is dead. I saw him die."

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TBC…

A/N: Told you I was working on my cliffhanger endings! :-D

A/N 2: Thank you for all the reviews, I really appreciate them.