Although he wanted to stay and wait to find out O'Neill's condition – as well as discover what was wrong with Colonel Mitchell and Talon – Teal'c had another duty to perform. As the only representative for the Jaffa just then, it was his responsibility to make sure that his people were returned to normalcy safely. With that in mind, he went with McKay and Grodin as they left the briefing and headed for the area that the darts had been parked.

"Are you going to tell them what happened to Tao?" Rodney asked Teal'c.

The Jaffa nodded.

"It is their right to know what has happened."

"How will Colonel Mitchell choose a new First Prime?"

"That is for her to decide."

"How are they normally chosen?"

"You must first be Jaffa…"

Rodney rolled his eyes.

"I'm not asking for the job, I assure you."

Teal'c frowned; cutting short any other smart-assed comment McKay might have said next.

"Normally a system lord will choose a few candidates and they will fight to the death. The winner is the strongest – and therefore is the best choice to be First Prime."

Grodin had a pained look on his face at that, and Teal'c knew that neither would ask him another question about how to become a First Prime.

For that matter they were quiet the entire trip, and Teal'c stopped by the first dart, watching as Rodney and Grodin entered the craft.

There was plenty of room on the dart landing pad, more than enough room for several hundred Jaffa – there might not have been, except that two of the darts weren't there. The database out of Tao's dart was in Grodin's hand, and he'd be able to animate those in that database by using one of the other darts once they'd finished the others. It would take several hours to complete the task, and one that gave Teal'c plenty of time to debate with himself what to do next.

Teal'c decided that he'd settle the Jaffa back into their room in the city, and then talk to them after they'd had a chance to acclimate themselves to the success of their mission first. That would also give him time to decide how to tell them what had happened – and maybe give Mitchell a chance to come around.

OOOOOOOOOO

While Teal'c was settling the Jaffa – slowly but surely – the others were hovering around the infirmary, waiting for any word. No matter that all of them – those who'd been on Atlantis, any way – had been woken from sound sleep. None were tired, and all were worried.

The Light Ones were represented as well. Kale had been bandaged and released from the care of the medics, as had Char, who it turned out was the Light One who had saved the Jaffa database from the damaged dart that had crashed into the Northern spire of the city. The Light One had been in bird form – no other form could have reached the crash site so quickly – and had badly burned his right hand and forearm pulling the device free of the control panel. The rest of the dart – which also held Tao's lifeless body – had been more accessible to human rescuers.

His burns were more serious, but he assured the medics that he'd be fine, and they'd released him as well. After bandaging his arm and hand and reminding him to keep the bandages clean and return if he felt too much discomfort.

When Beckett finally made an appearance – several hours later – he was exhausted, and spattered with blood – although he'd obviously changed out of the surgical scrubs he'd been wearing. He stopped at the doorway, looking at the group that immediately looked up at the sound of the opening door.

"How is he?" Daniel asked, walking over, and followed by all the others, until Carson was pretty much buried under the crowd – especially with the Light Ones towering overhead.

"He's in a coma." Carson looked at Sam, reaching out and taking her hand. "I put him in it, though."

"Why?" Weir asked.

"Because it's the best way to help him heal as quickly as possible."

Carson took a deep breath, and sat down at a table, waving for the others to do the same, so they weren't hovering over him. He didn't blame them for being worried; he would be, too. He was, too.

"General O'Neill was badly injured. He has several internal injuries and numerous broken bones. He's in critical condition and despite extraordinary measures… I'm not sure if he's going to pull through."

"There's nothing else you can do?" Daniel asked, feeling ready to throw up.

"What sort of extraordinary measures?" Weir asked, curiously. The way he'd said it, it didn't sound like he meant his own skills as a surgeon.

Carson sighed, running his hand along his cheek.

"Melony was with me when I reached the General. She saw his condition and obviously realized that it was very serious. Very serious. And took matters into her own hands – or Talon did. I'm not sure. Maybe both of them."

"Talon?" Sam asked, confused.

"Talon transferred to General O'Neill."

"What?"

"She'll die," Weir said, aghast.

Carson shook his head.

"Maybe. Probably." There was no doubting the fear in his expression. "I can only assume they knew what they were doing – or thought they were. Talon's healthy, and Melony wasn't injured enough for him to worry about any immediate injury… or I can't believe he'd have gone."

"Can Talon heal General O'Neill?" Sheppard asked, curiously. He'd always assumed that once Talon was in someone he was stuck there.

"I'm not certain. And I'm not certain that any of them will survive this…"

"Why not?" Elizabeth asked, confused. "Talon's healthy, right?"

"Without Talon, Melony will die. For sure. It's only a matter of days."

"What? Why? You said she wasn't seriously injured...?"

"Not seriously."

"But by being blended with Talon for so long, Melony's immune system is shot…" Daniel said, softly, figuring out now why Beckett had insisted no one be allowed near her. "If she's exposed to anything – even a common cold – it can kill her."

"Aye." Carson nodded his agreement. "I'm going to keep her isolated, and hopefully keep her from being exposed. Hopefully we can give Talon time to take care of General O'Neill's injuries… but there's a chance that Talon won't be able to heal him, and might exhaust himself for no reason."

"And make him too tired to return to Colonel Mitchell?" Sheppard asked, catching on.

"Aye."