I'd like to thank everyone for their great reviews. Thanks guys! Once again I'm overwhelmed by your response.

Finally we got my daughter's test results, and thank goodness, there was nothing untoward going on with her, apart from having an ulcer which they are treating. That's bad enough at her age, but she has been under a lot of stress lately, what with moving house, changing schools and then her GCSEs, so I guess it's all been a little too much. At least I can switch off the stress by losing myself in writing my stories and by reading other great fics.

So, on to the story now, hope you'll still be with me afterwards.

Censure.

By LetitiaRichards

Previously:-

Daniel nodded at her words of wisdom as he pushed the door open and he watched Jack's face lighten up when they entered. He looked closer and though Jack seemed genuinely pleased to see them, he could see the gratification never really reached those dark expressive eyes of his; they still appeared dull and lifeless.

Chapter 3

"Hi kids!" Jack quipped, trying to appear cheerful. "What have I missed?"

"Not much," Daniel said brightly, trying to appear normal. "Just the usual stuff; Debriefing; Dave Dixon's gone down with the Mumps which he caught off one of those kids of his, so he's gonna be off work for a while; Anson's finally got with the programme and came back from a mission in one piece. Oh, and Ken Barringer's announced his engagement which really surprised everyone as nobody knew he was even dating. You know, same old..." he finished with a shrug and a wave of his hand.

Jack gave a small smile, though it failed to impress any of his team as it was more like a grimace. They could see that it was just a false front, put up for their benefit, he was suffering inside as much as they were. Not knowing what was going on was practically killing them all.

"I bet Dave's loving that. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes," Jack snorted with amusement, though the smile never really reached his eyes "And Barringer's getting hitched, you say? Just goes to show ya, it's never too late," he sighed, looking straight at Sam, making her blush a little when their eyes locked on to each other. "After all this time too? Lucky Sonofabitch!" He dropped his gaze and sighed, it was full of the bitterness he was feeling right then. Could he never cut a break?

There he was, with Sam, teetering on the brink of happiness and now this...thing, whatever it was. He could see the sadness in her eyes; he could see the unspoken thoughts in the others too, but worse than that, he had seen Doc. Fraiser trying to be cheerful. Of course it didn't fool him for one minute. The Doc was worried; and if she was that concerned, then he knew he was in real trouble.

Daniel's droning voice roused him from his inner problems. He didn't care if he'd missed anything, he couldn't be bothered to listen quite frankly. The younger man was nodding gleefully; going over old ground that they all knew, expounding on the fact that Barringer was, up until then, a confirmed bachelor at 37 and the unexpected announcement of his engagement had surged along the SGC grape vine like wildfire, filling everyone with stunned surprise.

He knew all this of course but the effort needed to shut the Archaeologist up was too much. As for Dave, well, it was a well known fact that despite his constant denial of harbouring any feelings towards his ever expanding brood, he was a sucker for them, and was now suffering one of those annoying illnesses that one or another of them brought home from school on a regular basis. Though this one had to be one of the worst he'd caught from them, Jack mused.

Daniel stood there with his arms wrapped round his chest, holding in his darkest fears and trying his hardest to inject a little too much cheerfulness into his voice; Carter was...she was too quiet, which wasn't like her at all, and Teal'c, well, what could one say about Teal'c, except that he appeared to be more sober than usual. He slumped more heavily into the pillows, but Teal'c roused him with is next question.

"What is the Mumps?" Teal'c asked suddenly, bringing Jack reluctantly back into the conversation. "Why would you not wish to be in Colonel Dixon's shoes O'Neill?"

"Are you kiddin'?" he gasped in disbelief. "Believe me T, you wouldn't wanna be either," Jack assured him wryly.

"It's a childhood disease Teal'c that...em...affects us guys rather more than the girls if we're unfortunate enough to catch it," he chuckled rather nervously, "em...if you...eh...see what I mean," Daniel's explanation stuttered to a halt through embarrassment.

"Put it this way Teal'c," Jack added, filling in on Daniel's rather loose version with his own brand of candour, "Dave Dixon may not be needing any family planning aids in the future!"

"I see," Teal'c answered, realising what his team-mates were saying. "It would do well to avoid this disease at all costs if one wishes to procreate in future."

Sam giggled and Jack threw her a quick scowl, though he was sure he saw the Jaffa wince slightly in sympathy. Didn't all the guys?

"This is serious stuff Carter. It could ruin Dixon's reputation!" he said sternly, though she knew he didn't mean anything by it. It was a guy thing.

Sam giggled all the more and he sighed resignedly.

"So...ah, Jack, what happened out there?" Daniel brought the laughter to a sudden halt with his question, plummeting Jack's morale like a lead weight.

"You tell me! I don't have a clue. One minute I'm checkin' the place out like I'm supposed to, then the next I'm waking up on Teal'c's shoulders about to enter the Stargate. Feel free to explain it all to me when you've figured it out," he sighed, feeling another headache coming on.

"Were you dizzy at all sir?"

"Don't start with the questions Carter. I've had enough of that from that...that 'throwback' from the Spanish Inquisition," he grumbled, meaning Frasier. His head was hurting fit to burst again. He couldn't help but lift his fingers to try and massage it away. He could feel himself beginning that flush, his ears buzzing, signalling that he was about to pass out. He fought it off.

"I'm just trying to help sir," she sighed.

Jack shook his head in resignation, which didn't help. He really wasn't up to thinking clearly right now. He was too overcome with tiredness to care.

"I need to get some sleep. I'll see you kids later," he said, laying back on the pillows, turning away from them in dismissal and closing his eyes, needing to surrender to the darkness, hoping they would take the hint.

All three exchanged glances and shrugs but left him to sleep.

"Okay," Daniel sighed, "We'll...em...catch you later Jack."

Jack merely mumbled an incoherent reply, but didn't move. They waited for a moment, but no further comment was forthcoming; he'd already surrendered to the pull of oblivion.

They walked away from the infirmary no clearer in their minds than when they entered as to what had gone so wrong. Jack seemed to be okay apart from the, headaches, tiredness and the obvious irritability. Maybe by now Janet had had the results through so they made their way to her office.

OoOoOoOoO

"There has got to be something there!" Daniel cried, thumping the table and making the coffee cups rattle on their saucers, as well as startling everyone else in the commissary who all turned to look accusingly at him.

The three team-mates had been told by Janet to get something to eat and stay away from the infirmary for at least another hour and by then perhaps she would know something more, but as far as the scans went, there was nothing visible showing up except that there was a slight swelling of the brain tissues around his ear, for which she had no explanation. There was no external bruising so she'd ruled out hitting his head as a reason. She really needed to run some more tests.

"How? Why? I just can't understand what happened out there any more than you do," Sam bemoaned in frustration.

"Perhaps we should return to PZ4 295 and investigate further," Teal'c suggested. "If indeed, this is related to anything on that planet, then we need to discover the cause and find some way of reversing its effect."

"I already mentioned that to General Hammond, but he's unwilling to risk anyone else getting into trouble without knowing exactly what happened to Jack first," Daniel stated gloomily.

"But the Colonel doesn't remember what happened to him," Sam sighed. "It's a catch 22 situation."

"What is a catch 22 situation Major Carter?" Teal'c asked curiously. He knew a great many of Earth's clichés and idioms but so far he hadn't come across that one.

"Jack could be damned if we don't return to find out what happened and he may be damned even if we do, especially if we find nothing there, or it has nothing to do with the mission at all." Daniel groaned, "And Jack's the one that loses out each time. Besides we still don't actually know if this isn't just Earth related; there's no reason to suspect it has anything to do with that planet. It could still be a tumour Sam."

"I see," the Jaffa said, understanding dawning. "O'Neill would appear to be in a no-win situation?"

"You got it Teal'c!" Sam sighed in growing frustration. The more she thought it over, the worse it seemed to be.

"That is not a desirable outcome," he expressed, frowning slightly.

"You can say that again!" Daniel sighed.

"That is not a des..."

"Ack! Teal'c. It's a figure of speech, you don't actually have to say it again," Daniel said, automatically correcting the Jaffa, even though he knew that by now. It was a sort of standing joke between the members of SG-1.

They fell into silence, each deep in their own thoughts. They had to do something.

"Daniel didn't you bring home any of those disc things to study?"

"I was going to but with all that happened I left them to get to you and Jack. Why?"

"Well maybe there was something on them that would explain all of this. If we promise not to go into the building where we found the Colonel, perhaps the General will let us return just to collect them," Sam said hopefully. "I know it's a slim possibility but we have to do something!"

"Do you think so too?" Daniel asked rising to his feet. "What are we waiting for?" he said, taking off.

Sam pushed back her chair and hurried after him, Teal'c brought up the rear, though at a more sedate pace.

TBC