When he entered the clean room to check on her, Carson felt his stomach clench so tightly that he thought for a moment that he was going to be sick. Her entire system was in shock from the sudden loss of Talon, and she was showing signs of that shock. She'd already been violently ill, twice, heaving until there was absolutely nothing left in her stomach to bring up and then heaving some more.

He'd had her placed on an IV to keep her hydrated, and with the same IV he'd already started her on a heavy regime of antibiotics. Antibiotics that weren't going to do much to keep her safe, but might slow down whatever illnesses that might be laying in wait for just this chance.

Her ankle had been sprained and was already swelling, but they'd iced it – and would continue to keep it iced – and it was really the least of their worries right then. At the moment, she was in her bed, lying on her side with her knees tucked up almost to her chest and a pillow clutched in her arms, miserable. She was experiencing the ultimate withdrawal symptoms, and Beckett knew that she wasn't going to recover from them until Talon was back where he belonged.

Wearing a clean set of scrubs – fully sterile – a cap on his hat and a mask over his mouth and nose (he wasn't going to take any chances), he walked over to the bed and crouched down beside it, getting on the same level as she was, without sitting on the bed like he wanted to. The movement of the bed – even a slight movement from his weight joining hers – could make her sick again, and he didn't want to risk it.

Her face was as pale as the sheets, and looked even more so because of the dark fabric of the gown they'd put her in, and she was sweating. He reached for a dry cloth and wiped her forehead and cheek, running the cloth down her neck.

"Melony?"

She opened her eyes almost immediately, proving to him that she wasn't asleep. He had been pretty sure she wasn't going to be, though.

"Carson…"

He gave her a smile he had to force – and one she couldn't see anyways. Not with his mask covering his mouth.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm cold…"

She wasn't, but he knew it was a symptom of the shock. He pulled her blankets up, tucking them carefully around her, and she gave a shuddering breath.

"How long…?"

He understood what she was asking.

"Eight hours."

"That's all?" She closed her eyes, her face pinched with pain. "Feels like years…"

And it was only going to get worse.

Before he could say anything, though, she opened her eyes again, meeting his worried gaze.

"The others?"

He hesitated. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice.

"The Jaffa have been reanimated. They seem to be fine, but we're checking them just to make sure."

"Jack?"

He shook his head.

"We're not sure, yet."

She nodded, closing her eyes again. And just when he thought he'd avoided the one question he didn't want to hear, she opened them again.

"The other pilots?"

His hesitation was a bit more noticeable this time, and she caught it. Her eyes clouded.

"Carson?"

"We lost Tao, Melony…" he said, softly. He couldn't lie to her. She'd never have forgiven him for it, and there was so much she'd already forgiven him for, he just couldn't… "His dart hit one the spires and broke apart."

"You're sure?"

He nodded, feeling like crap for adding to her pain with sorrow. He reached out and brushed her cheek with the cloth once more, unwilling to risk touching her with his hand, even with gloves on.

"I'm sorry, Melony."

She closed her eyes again, and this time rolled away from him, still holding the pillow, cuddling against it.

"It's my fault…" she whispered, but she didn't say anything else, and Carson didn't know what to say to make her feel better. But he tried.

"It was just an accident."

She shook her head.

"Is there anything I can bring you…?" Beckett asked her, softly, once he was certain she wasn't going to say anything else.

She shook her head again, not turning, and not looking at him.

"Just leave me alone… please?"

He nodded, and pulled the blanket up around her once more.

"I love you."

All he heard in response was a sob.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The Jaffa were all healthy, and showing absolutely no side-effects from the time they spent in the Wraith databases – which didn't surprise Rodney McKay one bit. He'd known that they wouldn't. He'd checked it out, after all, right? Once it was clear that the Jaffa were fine, there was a quick conference with Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson and Elizabeth Weir, and the four of them decided that the Mok would probably come to no harm if they had to wait a couple more days to be reanimated. Melony hadn't exactly told them where she wanted to take the Mok, and they didn't want a herd of the huge beasts running around the corridors of Atlantis. Even if they were cute and fuzzy.

Teal'c had told the assembled Jaffa about Tao's death, but had only mentioned that Talon was unavailable just then, and that they would have to wait for further instructions. As a former First Prime himself, Teal'c had no problem getting obedience from his people, and they settled into their auditorium quarters to wait until they had their next set of orders – which would undoubtedly be orders to return home. There was speculation among those assembled as to who would be Talon's next First Prime, but that was something that would have to wait for an announcement from their goddess. And they were patient. And flushed with the knowledge that they'd succeeded in doing what they'd set out to do. Their goddess was certainly pleased with them – but not as pleased as they were!

With the Jaffa settled in, a group of engineers checked out the tower Tao had crashed into and began the rebuilding process, and Sheppard, Teal'c, and Duck took the remaining darts offworld, to one of the swampland planets that held very little by way of population – unless you counted bugs and other insects – and started testing for any sign of indication that any of the Wraith might have survived. Everyone else simply waited. That was all they could do.