Disclaimers, etc. in Chapter 1

Chapter 5

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With the exception of Sam, all of SG1 were gathered around the Briefing Room table, along with General Hammond. Each was lost in their own thoughts and the only sound was of Jack's pen absently tapping against the table surface. Soon after he had left the infirmary, Carter had slipped back into unconsciousness and Jack had a feeling he was to blame. Unfortunately, he was to be proved right.

"General," said Doctor Janet Fraiser as she entered the room and walked to the opposite end so that she was able to see all of the occupants, "she's awake." Jack, Daniel and the General let out sighs of relief and Teal'c bowed his head to show his pleasure at the news. "However," continued Janet, "it's not all good news." Being the center of attention was a little unnerving and Janet rested a hand on the back of a chair as she tried to think of a suitable way to break the news to them. She had been thinking all the way there, but had come up with nothing. No matter how she phrased it, the end result would be the same.

"Doctor Fraiser," prompted General Hammond, "what happened?"

"I ran another brain scan after she became unconscious again," explained Janet, making brief eye contact will all four men, but then dipping her head and letting her gaze fall to the table. "The poison has started to attack her brain." Audible gasps were heard and Janet took a deep breath before resuming her explanation. "To put it simply, it's causing something like a tumor in a part of her brain."

"She seemed to be stable though, what caused the progression?" asked the General, emotion clouding his voice slightly.

Janet raised her eyes to meet those of the Colonel, deciding it was the least she could do in the circumstances. He stared back at her. "I've re-checked the results of the earlier scans and checked the timings of a few things and… it appears that Sam gets worse every time she sees Colonel O'Neill."

Stunned silence. Then, a pen dropping onto the table and rolling to the edge before falling to the ground. More gasps and stares of incomprehension.

"Doctor, what exactly do you mean?" queried Hammond, surveying everyone in the room and seeing the looks of shock and, on Colonel O'Neill's face, utter fear and guilt.

"I know it sounds crazy, General, but I've double checked everything and it's the only thing that makes any sense. I think that, because Sam is convinced the Colonel is dead, actually seeing him in the flesh is inconceivable. Her brain is working harder to try and make sense of it, which seems to allow the poison to attack more easily."

All eyes turned to Jack and he felt his heart rate quicken. He had been told not to go near the infirmary, but had anyway. Now, Carter had some kind of brain tumor and it was his fault. It was too much, he needed to be alone. Without asking for permission, he pushed away from the table and stood, walking to the door.

When General Hammond didn't say anything, Daniel called, "Jack," as he left the room. Jack just kept walking. "He's never gonna forgive himself for this," said Daniel quietly as everyone nodded in agreement.

"General, have you talked to Jacob?" asked Janet.

"No, I haven't been able to make contact with the Tok'ra yet, we're still trying."

"She seems to be stable again for now, the tumor grew very fast, but has stopped growing at the moment. We need to identify the two elements of the poison that we don't recognize though, we can't develop anything to counter-act it until we do," said Janet.

"I'll let Jacob know," said Hammond, his face showing how little he was looking forward to telling his old friend of Sam's condition.

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Daniel finally tracked Jack down in the commissary, where he was drowning his sorrows in jello.

"Blue, Jack?" teased Daniel.

"I figured I should see what Carter makes all the fuss about," he shrugged, aiming for nonchalant but not quite pulling it off.

Daniel took a seat opposite Jack and asked seriously, "How you doing?"

"I'm not the one in the infirmary," Jack pointed out. He scraped his spoon against the bottom of the jello container and then pushed them away in annoyance, knowing he could no longer use them to avoid conversation.

"Janet says Sam is stable again." Jack's head rose at that and Daniel smiled at him encouragingly. Jack nodded, but there was no smile. "What's the next step, Jack?" The Colonel looked at him blankly. "I know you're sitting here trying to figure out what to do, you're not exactly known for your patience and your ability to sit around doing nothing." Daniel's tone was teasing, but it was only there to lighten the serious atmosphere.

"I have no idea, Daniel," he said sadly. "I have to do something though, you're right about that."

"Jack, this isn't your fault," said Daniel as he identified the guilt in Jack's voice and posture. "You couldn't know Sam would get worse from seeing you."

"That's not what's bothering me."

"You couldn't know she was going to fall unconscious either. She said it herself, the bullet just grazed her arm."

"Not that either," grunted Jack.

"Then what?"

"She got hit by a bullet when she was standing next to me, Daniel and I didn't even notice."

"No, she kept it from you, Jack, she didn't want you to know," he pointed out.

"Exactly, Daniel. I'm her CO and she didn't feel she could tell me she'd been shot!"

"Because she knew you'd make her stop fighting and attend to her wound."

"Damn right I would have," agreed Jack gruffly.

"She knew she was capable of continuing to shoot though, Jack, but she knew you wouldn't listen to that." Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Daniel cut him off. "If it was anyone else that had just been grazed like that, Jack, say me, or Teal'c, would you have ordered us to stop?" Jack glared at Daniel and then stood up, walking towards the commissary exit. "Jack, where are you going?" called Daniel.

"Back to the planet," he tossed over his shoulder as he left.

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"You are not going back to that planet, Colonel," said General Hammond firmly, for the third time.

"General, there's nothing I can do here. At least on the planet I can track down whoever shot Carter and get some kind of anti-venom."

They had been arguing about the situation for ten minutes, ever since General Hammond told Jack that Jacob Carter was on a mission and couldn't get to the SGC. Although Jacob was concerned about Sam, he knew that she was in good hands and was assured that she was stable for now. Jacob didn't think the healing device would be of much use without knowing what the poison consisted of, but he said he would send a Tok'ra operative to investigate. They were expecting someone within a few hours. Jacob would be completing his mission on a planet that contained a Stargate, so said he would be able to get there in a hurry, if necessary.

"Colonel, I'm not going to discuss the option of going back to the planet until we have determined if the Tok'ra can be of assistance. I can't take the risk of anyone else being shot by one of those bullets, especially since we don't even know what the poison really does."

General Hammond knew that Jack was furious at the decision, but he didn't have a choice; he really couldn't take the risk. Any further discussion was prevented by the arrival of Janet.

"She's resting," said Janet immediately to their unasked question. "I've talked to her again and she's still determined that the Colonel is dead. Daniel has talked to her as well, but she won't listen. Every time we mention it, she gets more agitated and I'm worried that it's going to affect her condition even more."

"What do you suggest, Doctor?" asked Hammond.

"I'm sorry, Sir," she said, looking at Jack, "but I think you need to avoid all contact with Sam until we can find a way to combat the poison, or at least figure out exactly what its purpose is."

"You still have no idea what it's supposed to do?"

"No, General, I don't. I know it's staring me in the face, but I just don't understand. I know it's now affecting her brain, but it's in a part that I wouldn't expect. None of her other organs are affected though, which is the really strange part. The poison is throughout her body, carried in her bloodstream, so why only her brain?"

"Keep doing what you can, Doctor," said Hammond gently, knowing how much it was upsetting her. "In the meantime, Colonel, you'll need to stay away and I'll make sure that your name is not mentioned around Major Carter."

Jack emitted a frustrated sigh and tugged at his uniform in annoyance. "This is like some kind of bad dream," he muttered.

"That's it!" exclaimed Janet. Turning to them both, she said, "Sirs, I have to go talk to Sam. I'll be back." With that, she left the room, leaving the two officers staring after her.

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TBC…

Okay, I'm thinking this is going to be wrapped up in a total of 8 chapters, which is way longer than I ever planned. Thank you for the continued reviews, they're actually encouraging me to devise more cliffhangers ;-)

I should also mention that I'm not using a beta for this fic, mainly because I want to get the chapters out as soon as possible. So, if anyone spots any errors, please email me and let me know.