For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1

Chapter 25: Reading the Signs, the Warning Signs
(Jack's POV)

"Jack, please sit down," says the general before I can even finish closing the door.

"Tough morning, sir?" I ask, taking in the look on the general's face and more than a little troubled by Janet's presence and serious expression... not to mention the fact that the general actually called me by name. I've spent enough years in the military to know that that's never a good sign.

"You could say that. I've been trying to sort out a particular situation that was dropped on my lap unexpectedly," he explains.

"Anything I can do, sir?"

"Well, son, I'm afraid it's a situation that's bound to impact SG-1," he warns me.

"Sir?" I ask, getting more worried by the minute. First he called me 'Jack', now he's calling me 'son'. This is going from bad to worse and I know it.

"There's no easy way for me to say this so I'm just gonna say it: apparently Captain Carter was raped while on a mission a few months ago."

"Excuse me, sir, did you just say that Carter was...?" I trail off, hoping to have misunderstood... he didn't just say that...

"Yes, colonel," he confirms, nodding his head.

"When?" I barely manage to croak.

"Back in Simarka," says Janet.

"But that was seven months ago!" I exclaim. "Why am I just hearing about this now?"

"Because she didn't say anything to anyone," explains the general before going on. "Dr. Jackson figured it out yesterday, confronted her and she told him. Earlier today he convinced her to come clean to Dr. Fraiser who came to me and now here we are."

"Daniel figured it out? Why didn't he just say something?" I ask, wondering what on earth could my archeologist possibly have been thinking.

"It wasn't his place to tell you and you know it, colonel. He handled himself appropriately," reminds me the general.

"Where is she now?" I ask.

"I suspect she is in her lab but I'm not sure, however you are not going to burst in there demanding an explanation," he warns me.

"She should have said something!" I exclaim, trying to keep myself from yelling at my commanding officer. Even after all these years that is not an easy thing for me to do under the circumstances.

"Probably, but going by what Dr. Fraiser's been telling me, the conditions here at the SGC were far from ideal for her to come forward at the time."

"Sir?" I ask, wondering what he's talking about... and what the ideal conditions should have been for something like this to happen in the first place.

"Do you remember who was in charge of the infirmary back in the early days of the SGC?"

"Dr. Warner... I see. No offense, sir, but that's a load of crap," I tell him. "She should have said something back on that planet long before she reached the infirmary. We allowed her to fight Turghan after it happened, for crying out loud! What could we possibly have been thinking when we allowed that fight to take place?"

"You were thinking exactly what she wanted you to think, that she was fine... and the truth is that in a way that fight against Turghan may well have been the key to her overcoming the whole experience, so don't you go blaming yourself for that particular situation," says Janet in a tone that leaves no room for argument.

"What do you mean, doc?" I ask.

"She defeated him, that made him human rather than a monster that was bigger than life in her mind," she explains. "Even if physically she was in no shape to take him on at the time, the fact that she managed to pull it off may have been more effective than anything any therapist could possibly have done for her after her return. She didn't have to displace the aggression, she was able to focus it back toward its source before it had managed to escalate into something she couldn't handle."

"Yes, well, somehow that doesn't make me feel any better," I growl.

"I understand that, colonel, but a more important question here is whether or not it made her feel any better and I can say that the answer to that question is almost certainly a resounding 'yes'," she reminds me. "When she was given a fighting chance she succeeded in besting Turghan and that was exactly what she needed at the time."

"Do you have any idea of just how dangerous that fight really was? He was ready to kill her and I wasn't sure whether or not we'd be able to do anything before he did some serious damage," I say, trying not to think of what might have happened... only now I am suddenly being confronted with the realization that that 'might have happened' --the might have happened I had believed had been avoided-- had already happened by that time and that makes me sick.

"But she won... and that was seven months ago."

"Oh yes, thanks for the lovely reminder, doc. What the hell could she possibly have been thinking, keeping something like this to herself?" I ask, even though as far as I'm concerned there's no explanation possible.

"If it makes you feel any better, I think she was mostly running on instinct and finding herself in an infirmary with what was at the time an almost entirely male staff didn't exactly help matters," says Janet.

"Come on, doc, that explanation doesn't make any sense at all and you know it," I point out.

"Maybe, but we don't know what was going through her mind at the time and the explanation I've been presented with means that her silence can be excused, do you want to look for a different one, colonel?" asks the general and I realize immediately what he isn't saying. This whole story may be a load of crap but it is an acceptable load of crap so he is willing to let it stand, even if he is not really buying it.

"Of course not, sir, what I'd like to do is to go back to Simarka and..." I trail off.

"Denied, colonel. While I certainly understand the feeling, I'm afraid I can't really allow it," he says, sounding almost apologetic.

"So what happens now?"I ask.

"Well, son, I've placed SG-1 on stand down for two weeks to give you all some time to regroup. As for Captain Carter, she insists she's just fine but I'm not sure how much I believe her," says the general before going on. "For the time being Dr. Fraiser will be keeping an eye on her to try and determine how she's doing."

"What about MacKenzie?" I ask, dreading the answer to that question.

"Dr. MacKenzie is not really an option here for the same reason there was a problem with Dr. Warner in the first place," explains Janet. "She doesn't feel particularly comfortable with him and I suspect this is a situation in which, unless things take a sudden turn for the worse, then trying to force her to see someone she doesn't trust could end up causing more harm than good. If this had been disclosed seven months ago, foregoing some form of counseling wouldn't have been an option but right now the fact is that she's been functioning --and functioning without incident-- for a fairly long time. Besides, Dr. MacKenzie is not a rape counselor which is what she really needs right now."

"I guess we don't have one of those on staff here," I say, almost rhetorically.

"Exactly," she agrees, "and if we were to bring someone in, even if we could find a specialist with the necessary clearance to be told about the stargate, there would be no way to bring him, or probably her, on board without having this whole incident become public knowledge, which is something we definitely don't want."

"So Carter is left to deal with this whole mess on her own and you are fine with it?" I ask, not liking that particular scenario much better than the one involving MacKenzie. The whole thing sounds too much like leaving her out to dry and that bothers me.

"No, Dr. Jackson and I will do everything we can to offer her as much support as we can. Unfortunately we are far from an ideal solution, we are merely the lesser evil under the circumstances," she explains.

"Why Daniel?" I prod, not quite following Janet's reasoning on that one. I agree that MacKenzie is not a good option here but Danny is an archeologist, for crying out loud, what does he know of something like this?

"Because she trusts him and he is not military," Janet points out. "That means that she may feel less pressure to maintain her image as a soldier in front of him... in fact in that regard Dr. Jackson may well turn out to be a better choice than any military psychologist could ever hope to be."

"So what do I do?" I ask, realizing that she may actually have a point there.

"The first question here is how do you feel about Captain Carter remaining on your team?" asks the general, catching me totally off guard. "Do you think you can move past this or is this something that may end up compromising SG-1's ability to function as a unit?"

"WHAT? Of Course I want her on my team, what kind of question is that, sir?" I all but yell. I was really not expecting that question and I hate being blind-sided.

"Good, I was hoping you'd feel that way but I still had to ask. In that case you will have to mend some fences to make it happen," he warns me.

"I'm going to have to go talk to her, won't I?" I ask, knowing what the answer to that question is going to be... and dreading that particular encounter.

"After you've had some time to think things through, yes," says the general.

"So how is she really doing? Anything I should be worried about besides the obvious, anything I can do to help?" I ask, turning to Janet.

"From what we've been able to see so far she's doing reasonably well under the circumstances... or at least she's putting up a very good front," she says. "I'm sure that hearing that you don't want her out of SG-1 will help set her mind at ease somewhat. I won't lie to you though, there are some problems, I'm just not sure how bad they are just yet."

"So what do I do?" I ask, not wanting to mess this one up more than I absolutely have to... which will almost certainly be more than enough messing up to last Carter a lifetime anyway.

"Don't try to fix it... and make sure you think things through before you go charging into her lab. Remember that she has enough on her plate right now without her having to worry about taking care of everybody else's feelings as well. This whole thing happened months ago, remember that... and be careful with what you say, I really don't want to see you in my infirmary," she warns me.

"Uh?"

"Let's just say that Sam's made it pretty clear that the consequences of anyone calling her either a victim or a survivor won't be pleasant so you may want to watch what you say around her, just to be on the safe side," explains Janet with a rather chilling smile that has me swallowing hard.

"Okay, thanks for the heads up, doc. Are you absolutely sure you won't authorize a return trip to Simarka, sir?" I ask, turning my attention back to the general.

"Sorry, colonel, you know I can't do that, however right now your top priority should probably be your 2IC," he reminds me.

"I know, sir... it's just that..." I trail off.

"That this is a lot to take in? Believe me, son, I know. Just remember that this is not about you," he says.

"Yes, sir."

"May I give you some advice?" asks Janet.

"Sure, doc, what is it?" I say, knowing that I'm going to need all the help I can get here.

"Before you go looking for Captain Carter you may want to drop by the gym for a while," she suggests. "I think there's a punching bag there with your name on it... and you may also want to talk to Daniel about this whole situation. So far I think he's the one who understands what's going on with Sam the best so you may find his input useful."

"Oh, I'll speak with the little... I can't believe he didn't warn me about this," I growl.

"Believe me, colonel, Dr. Jackson is no more comfortable with the situation right now than any of us," says the general, who I suspect has no clue as to just how sick this whole thing is really making me.

Author's notes: Hi guys, okay, first of all, thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them, especially because I am well aware that this is not exactly an easy fic. Also, sorry about the delay in getting to Jack. I know it took a while but at least now he knows what's going on (and hopefully I didn't mess that one up too badly... I like Jack but the truth is that in this story he had me more than a little worried).

Anyway, stay tuned for the next update (it should be posted next week) and keep reviewing!

Alec