A/N: Yikes! The whole site was going totally nuts when I tried to post last time, but it seems to be working now... hopefully!

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far!

And, yep, there's more Jack coming right up. And plenty more in the chapters to come! :-)

Chapter 4:

Jack sat at his desk, a file open before him. But not just any file -- the file. The one containing all the information on Carter's abduction. And her abductor.

One by one, Jack slowly went through the photographs, just as he had done so many times over the past week. But no matter how many times he saw them, the sight of them still made him sick. And furious. In every shot, there was Carter, tied up and helpless. And terrified. The fear and horror in her eyes shook Jack to the depth of his soul. And yet, he kept looking.

He kept going through every scrap of information contained in the file, as if he were searching for some sort of answer, for some sort of sense in the midst of a senseless mess. Unfortunately, that wasn't something he was likely to find.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Daniel was just about to walk in through Jack's open office door when he stopped himself, realizing what his friend was doing. "Jack?"

At the sound of his voice, Jack quickly swept the photographs and papers into a file folder and out of sight, but Daniel already knew full well what he'd been up to. His eyebrows drawing slightly together in concern, he moved further into the office. "What good is that doing you?" he asked, his eyes moving from the file folder to the man sitting behind the desk.

Jack pushed the file folder aside. "What good is what doing me?"

"I think you know what I mean," Daniel said, knowing full well that he was right.

But still pretending to be clueless, Jack sat back in his chair. "Enlighten me."

Daniel crossed his arms and fixed his gaze on Jack. "All right." If that's the way Jack wanted to go about things, he was willing to play along. "I was referring to going over and over the details of Sam's abduction, torturing yourself by wondering if there was anything you could have done to prevent it, or to have found her sooner, or whatever other number of things are going through your head."

Jack looked ready to roll his eyes. "Daniel --"

"Come on, Jack," Daniel cut him off. "We both know that's what you're doing. And we both know it's not the first time. But beating yourself up over something that wasn't your fault isn't going to help anyone. Especially not Sam." He paused, but Jack wasn't meeting his eyes. "You did everything you could, Jack. And she's safe now. There's no point --"

"Daniel!"

This time, Daniel decided to stop and let him have his say. For the moment, anyhow.

Jack's voice was low, almost dangerously so. "Seven women, Daniel. Seven women that man abducted and killed over the past sixteen years. And why? To fulfill some psychotic notion that he was saving their souls?"

"Jack, we'll probably never really understand his motivations --"

"Well, I understand enough," Jack cut in angrily. "I understand that some sick bastard got his hands on Carter, and I understand that it was his full intention to kill her."

"Yes," Daniel agreed, his patience unfaltering. He knew where Jack was coming from, knew why he was reacting like this. Yet, there were things he needed to hear. "But he didn't kill her, Jack. She's alive and back here with us. And instead of focusing on Garrett and all the harm he caused while he was alive, don't you think we should be focusing on Sam?"

"You don't think I am?"

"I think you probably are," Daniel said carefully. "But maybe not in the right way."

Jack got abruptly to his feet. "Daniel, let's talk about something else."

It was a warning, not a suggestion. But Daniel wasn't completely done here. Not yet. "Okay, fine," he conceded. "But there's something I need to tell you first. It's important," he added quickly as he saw Jack was about to cut in again.

Daniel was on the receiving end of a dark glare for a moment, but then Jack sank back down into his chair in resignation. "Don't keep me in suspense," he said dryly.

"Yesterday afternoon while Sam and I were working in her lab, she had some sort of flashback," Daniel explained.

"Flashback?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"I'm not sure what else to call it," Daniel said. "She just started shaking all over and was totally out of it for a moment. She looked scared out of her wits... hell, she had me scared half out of my wits just watching her." He paused for a moment, letting the brief silence add emphasis to his next words. "It was bad, Jack."

"Why didn't you tell me this yesterday?" Jack asked sharply, clearly unsettled even though he was trying to mask his emotions.

"By the time I left her lab you had already gone home for the night," Daniel explained calmly, unfazed by Jack's tone.

"Have you heard of a telephone?"

Again, Daniel didn't even flinch. He knew why Jack was lashing out. He knew why, because he knew Jack. "The point is, I'm telling you now. And I think you should talk to her."

Daniel waited, knowing Jack was fighting to keep himself under some semblance of control. It took a few seconds, but eventually he did reply.

"Well, I can't talk to her right now."

"Oka-ay," Daniel said slowly. "Why not?"

"Because," Jack explained, "she's on her way to see General Hammond at the moment." He sighed slightly. "And I don't think she's going to like what he has to tell her."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Stress leave?"

Sam was stunned. Flabbergasted. She wanted to think she hadn't heard General Hammond properly but, unfortunately, she knew that she had.

"But I'm fine, sir." How many times did she have to say it?

"Major, you've been through a traumatic experience," General Hammond said kindly. "You need to take some time to let yourself recover."

"With respect, sir, that's what I did all last week." And nearly died of boredom in the process, she added silently. "I thought my recovery was going well."

"Physically, yes," Hammond agreed. "But Dr. MacKenzie feels that you're not ready to return to active duty, and I can't say that I disagree with him."

Sam closed her eyes briefly, forcing herself to remain calm. This couldn't be happening. She needed to get back to work. It was the best thing for her. Why didn't anyone understand that?

"Major, I know you don't believe this is necessary, but the matter is not up for debate. As of now, you're on a week's stress leave, after which time you are to report back to Dr. MacKenzie for re-evaluation."

Another whole week? Sam couldn't even bear to think about it.

"The doctor wanted me to let you know that you're more than welcome to make an appointment to go and see him anytime during the upcoming week as well."

Yeah, sure. Like that was going to happen. Look what the first session had done for her.

"Major."

Sam met General Hammond's gaze.

"When I say stress leave I mean staying off base. You need this time for yourself." He looked at her carefully. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," she responded dutifully. But she wasn't happy about it. Not at all. But she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

As soon as she was dismissed, she left the General's office and headed straight for her lab to collect her things. What in the world was happening? She had been so sure just the day before that returning to work was going to make everything better. But somehow, everything just seemed to keep getting worse and worse. And it was getting to the point where Sam really didn't know how much more she could take.

TBC…