A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, they let me know you want me to keep going. And BookWorm37, it takes place after Shades of Grey, so yes it does take place before Abyss.

Chapter 13

The drive back to the base had been a long one; too long for Jack. Now both men were seated in chairs waiting outside the infirmary, for a word; any update would be appreciated right now. Jack noticed that Rabb was oblivious to the fact he was covered in blood, or maybe just didn't care. "Airman!" Jack called out to a passing soldier, "Would you get Commander Rabb a set of BDU's to change into?"

The airman took in the appearance of the man in question, noting the blood, "Yes Sir, right away Sir." He saluted and hurried on his way.

Harm took note of the conversation, then looked down at his clothes, his face paled as he realized how much blood was on him. "Oh God, I hope she's going to be okay." he said as he held out his blood stained hands.

"You know Rabb, it probably looks worse than is, I'm sure they're doing everything they can for her. The doctors here are the best, she'll be fine." Jack was trying to convince Rabb as well as himself; when he thought back to how Carter looked, he felt both intense alarm hoping she would make it through her ordeal and intense rage at those who would do this to her. He was brought out of his thoughts by the airman returning and handing Rabb a set of clothing., then motioned for him to follow.

Jack sat quietly in the hallway looking down. "Any word?" Harm asked as he returned , now looking refreshed and clean.

"Nothing yet." Jack said as the infirmary door opened.

Janet was tired and worried, she did not like having to go and update the colonel but it was part of her job. As she stepped into the hall, she saw both men jump to their feet. "Sir, Commander." Janet acknowledged them nodding her head, and rubbing the back of her neck.

"So Doc how's Carter…and Mackenzie?" O'Neill asked anxiously.

"Well Sir, they both have very serious injuries, which will require surgery. Colonel Mackenzie received trauma to her back causing two broken vertebrae in the lower lumbar area of the back. We won't know how bad the spinal chord injury is until we operate. However right now she is more stable than Sam; who has internal bleeding from the beating she took and two broken ribs on the right side. Honestly Colonel, I don't know how she managed to stay alive, especially after they used that Goa'uld device on her." Janet was looking down and shaking her head truly disturbed by the condition of her friend.

Jack sensed Fraiser's sadness and put his hand on her shoulder, "I know you'll do everything you can Doc, Carter's a fighter, she'll make it."

Janet looked up into his eyes and gathered strength from him, "I'm sorry I have to go now Sam should be prepped for surgery by now."

"Ah Doctor, can I go in and wait by Mac's side?" Harm asked hopefully.

"Ah yes Commander, but only until they prep her for surgery." Janet looked at both men before turning around and heading back into the infirmary to the O.R.

"I'll show you the way Rabb." Jack led Harm into the busy infirmary to Mac's bed. He saw the nurses looking at him, "The doc said we could wait in here for a while." He said as he went to get a chair and placed it next to Mac's bed. "You can wait here, but try to stay out of the nurse's way; they can get pretty mean when they're annoyed." Jack said jokingly.

"Thanks Colonel, I appreciate the help." Harm said taking the chair and pulling it closer to Mac's bed, as he saw O'Neill walk away with his head bowed. Harm now sat down next to Mac and took her hand in his. Except for the bandage around her head, and her slightly pale complexion you wouldn't have thought she was that serious; but he knew looks can be deceiving, and prayed that she'd be alright. "Mac, it's me Harm, can you hear me?" There was no answer or movement. He stood up and leaned over the bed looking down at her face and brushing her cheek with the thumb of his other hand "Come on Mac, you're not the quiet type, wake up and argue with me." Harm thought he felt her hand move. "Mac, if can you hear me squeeze my hand." He waited, and a few moments then he felt it again. "That's it Mac, come on back I know you can do it." Harm was half laughing as he felt Mac responding to his voice. Then he watched her eyes start to flutter. "Nurse! I think she's coming around!" Harm called ecstatically.

One of the nurses came to the bed and checked over Mac. "Colonel Mackenzie, can you hear me?" She saw Mac's eyes flutter and called her name again.

"She goes by Mac." Harm told the nurse, while he still held onto her hand he stroked her hair at the top of her head, keeping away form the bandages. Then he saw the most beautiful thing, her eyes opened. "Welcome back Mac." He said to her as he squeezed her hand.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to leave Sir, while I assess the patient." The nurse told Harm.

"Okay, but come get me as soon as I can see her again." Harm said then left the infirmary to wait where he was waiting before. When he entered the hall way he saw O'Neill seated looking down and ringing his hands. "Colonel."

Jack looked up at the sound of his name being called. "Oh, Rabb, I didn't hear you come."

"Yea well you have other things on your mind." Harm said sitting down next to him.

"So they kicked you out already?"

"Yea, because Mac woke up." Harm said grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, that's great news; how is she doing?"

"I don't know yet, I got kicked out pretty quickly so they could do an assessment.'

Jack chuckled under his breath. "Yea they have a habit of doing that, I think it's so they can order superior officers around, gives them a feeling of power."

"You can come back in Sir." The same nurse said as she poked her head through the door.

"Mind if I join you?" Jack asked Rabb as he was headed back into the infirmary.

"I don't see why not." With that said the two men headed back into the infirmary with Harm leading the way.

Mac was still lying flat on the bed, in same position she was in earlier. She spotted Harm and O'Neill coming towards her and gave a slight smile. "So I guess we made it?" She said quietly.

Harm came up to her and sat down next to bed again. "How are you feeling Mac?" he said as he once again reached for her hand.

"I've got a pounding headache, a little sore but that's about it." Mac didn't like the position she was in because she was having a hard time seeing what was going on around her, she attempted to turn on her side and was given the shock of her life. Panic started to set in as she squeezed Harm's hand tightly. "Harm…I …I can't move my legs!" She looked desperately in his eyes for answers.

"Mac, I know it's hard but try to calm down."

"What's wrong with me Harm?" She said with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Mac listen, calm down and I'll explain." He was now on his feet, holding her hand looking down into her face. When she started to calm down, he began talking to her soothingly. "Mac, when we found you part of the ceiling had fallen on your back while you were covering Sam. We got you two out and to the infirmary; the doctor's said you have two broken vertebrae in your lower back…but they won't know the extent of the damage until they operate."

It was a lot for Mac to take in, she was still groggy from her head injury and coming too, "So you don't know if I'll be able to walk again?"

"I'm afraid we won't know until the surgery."

"Well what are they waiting for? Why aren't they operating yet?" Mac said looking wildly into Harm's eyes, the look of fear most evident.

Jack took this as his cue to enter the conversation; "I'm sorry Colonel Mackenzie, but Major Carter is in surgery right now."

Mac couldn't believe that in her panicked state she had forgotten about Sam. "Oh Geez I'm sorry…how is Sam?"

"Well like I said she's in surgery right now." Jack said looking down at the floor sounding despondent.

"Ah Sam had internal bleeding, that's why they took her to surgery first." Harm said seeing that O'Neill was clearly distressed.

"Is she going to be alright?" Her panic being replaced by concern.

"We're still waiting to find out. They've been in there a long time now." Jack said looking at the clock on the wall.

Mac let out a sigh, thinking back to the ordeal. "Those bastards…they just kept hitting her over and over again, only letting up when she passed out. They had her…hanging from a metal hook, like she was some slab of beef." The fury in her voice was evident.

Jack's face paled at the description of some of what Carter had gone through, "Don't worry Mackenzie we have our people rounding up everyone that was in that building, we'll find the one's responsible." 'They just may not live to see the light of day' Jack thought to himself.

"Ah the man in charge, his name is Kennedy, Colonel Kennedy."

"Yea Mackenzie we know, Carter told us before the medics took you two away. Is there anything else you can tell us about the people helping him?"

Mac took some time to think, "There were two women, one who kept taking blood samples from Sam. Sam actually figured out she was a PhD in biology, and five men that we saw off and on; but the one called Stan…that pig, was enjoying torturing her. He won't be hard to find look for the guy with two black eyes."

The infirmary started to get noisy and busy as Jack and Harm noticed more people entering wheeling in a gurney. Jack took a few steps closer to see that it was Carter being wheeled back in. He wanted to run up to the gurney and make sure she was alright, but he knew the doctors would just force him away, at least over here he could see what was going on. He watched as they transferred Sam to the bed and hooked her up to the machines next to her bed she had an IV, which had a clear bag, and a smaller bag of blood hanging. He saw the nurses put a mask on her face, and take her vital signs and writing in a chart. He finally saw Janet coming into the room, look at the chart and then to Carter. "Hey Doc, how's she doing?"

Janet looked up, a little startled to see the colonel in the infirmary so soon. "Well Colonel, she lost a lot of blood but we managed to stop the bleeding, the beating has also caused some damage to her kidneys and liver. All we can do now is keep an eye on her and hope they will heal on their own in time. So for now all we can do is wait and see, and pray she's strong enough to pull through."

"She's one of the strongest people I've met." Mac said just loud enough to be heard.

"That she is." Jack said chiming in.

"Ah, I see you're awake Colonel Mackenzie, I'm Dr. Janet Frasier." Frasier said as she walked over to Mac's bed. "They're getting the O.R. ready for your surgery next; I don't know if anyone told you about your condition."

"Yea, Harm told me and Dr. Fraiser…I can't feel my legs." Mac said quietly.

"Well Colonel, we're going to do our best to hopefully change that; but I can't make any promises. Now the nurses are going to give you some medication for the operation, but first I'd like to check your eyes." Janet took out her pen light and checked her eyes. Then a nurse came over forcing Harm and Jack to move out of the way. Within a few minutes Mac was falling asleep and being wheeled out.

Harm took the opportunity when Mac was out of the room to talk to Janet. "Dr. Fraiser, what are her chances?"

"Like I said before we won't know until we operate, but we will do everything we can. If you'll excuse me, I have to go and scrub up." Janet said taking her leave.

Jack made his way to the foot of Sam's bed; he waited until the nurses finished up before moving to her side. He looked down on her, noticing her skin was pale, where it wasn't bruised. He wished he could hold her hand, and squeeze it to reassure her she was safe. Yea safe, that's what he was supposed to do keep her safe…and he failed. Damn it, the most important assignment he's ever had, and he failed. He had to blink away the tear that had started to form. Then he cleared his throat before speaking. "Rabb, could you do me a favour?" He said without looking up.

Harm moved over to stand beside O'Neill, and placed his hand on his shoulder. "What ever you need Colonel."

"I need you to stay close to Carter, while I go to the site and help look for those…"

"You got it; I'll stay close by, both of them. You don't have to worry."

"Thanks just let me know if anything changes; I mean I don't want her to be alone." Now Jack couldn't help himself, he started to rub her arm up and down, avoiding the bandage on her wrist, and shaking his head. He felt useless here, he had to go out into the field and make things right. He then turned and walked away, not looking at anyone he walked by.

"Yea okay Jack, we'll keep an eye out." Daniel said hanging up his cell phone. "Well Teal'c Jack gave us a description of one of the men helping Kennedy. He said we can't miss him since he has two black eyes; apparently received from Sam."

Teal'c tilted his head to the side, "Indeed."

"We're also looking for two women and six other men."

"Any thought of how we are to find them among the vast number of people we have here?"

'Well Jack should be here any minute, I'm sure he'll come up with an idea. After all I don't think we can detain all these people indefinitely."

"Indeed."

Daniel heard his name being called, turned around to find Jack jogging to his location. "Jack, how's Sam doing?"

"She just got out of surgery when I left, God Daniel, she looked terrible. The doc said she lost a lot of blood, and has internal injuries."

"Major Carter is a formidable warrior, she is very strong and I am sure she will be alright."

"Thanks T, I hope you're right. So what's happening here?" Jack asked looking around seeing the security force had a larger group of people crowded together; using the lights of the parking lot to help keep an eye on them.

"Well we're trying to figure who among this vast number of people aided Kennedy, who by the way we haven't found yet." Daniel said exasperated.

"Well let's go have a look, Teal'c I want you beside me, give them that angry Jaffa look."

"I do not know of what you are talking about O'Neill?"

"Ah just think about what they did to Carter, that look should scare anyone with a guilty conscious. '

"Very well O'Neill."

The group headed to the crowd, they searched the faces and just hoped O'Neill's Jaffa plan would work, because without Sam or Mac to point them out, this was going to be a very difficult task.

Teal'c's jaw clenched as he spotted a man at the back of the crowd looking down as if trying to hide his face. "There O'Neill!" Teal'c pointed out the man in question.

Jack got an idea and hoped it worked. "Stan!" His heart raced when he saw the man look up with two distinct black eyes. Jack launched himself into the crowd heading straight for him. He could only see red as he approached the man, who now was trying to run away, but unable to with the guards surrounding them. With Jack's blind fury, he didn't see Stan raise the stick he had concealed in his jacket until it was too late.

"Ahhhh!" Jack cried out, as he came into contact with the stick, but it only lasted a few seconds as Teal'c was right there; knocking Stan to the ground with one powerful punch to the nose and grabbing the pain stick.

"Jack! Are you alright?" Daniel asked helping Jack stand up.

"Yea Daniel, I'm fine." Jack said out of breath. He couldn't believe how much that hurt and he was only exposed to it for a few seconds, mind you a very long few seconds. "Get that creep over here; I want to have a little talk to him."

Teal'c dragged the whimpering man over to O'Neill by the collar, and threw him to the ground at Jack's feet. "Let me see that thing will you Teal'c?"

"Most certainly O'Neill." Teal'c said handing the device over and bowing his head.

"Ah Jack, don't you think we should take this somewhere else, you know a little less public." Daniel advised Jack not wanting Jack's emotions to cause him to do something that could get him in trouble; like use an alien device in front of a crowd.

Jack looked at Daniel than at all the people watching him, he had to agree with Daniel on this one. "Yea Daniel you're right, let's move this questioning to the van." Jack said motioning Teal'c.

Teal'c once again grabbed Stan by the collar and pushed him along following Jack and Daniel.

When they arrived at the truck Jack ordered the guard out, then he, Daniel, Teal'c and Stan entered the truck. More like Stan stumbled in when pushed by Teal'c. The once feared man was now shaking nervously while holding his nose. "I think you broke my nose again."

"Ah, I'm sorry does that hurt Stan? Your name is Stan isn't it?" Jack said coldly.

"Ah no, no its not, my name is John." He hoped this ploy would work.

"Well John, let me guess your last wouldn't be Smith would it?" Jack was taking his time toying with this piece of slime.

"Yea, how did you know?" Stan said still not sure of the situation he was in.

"Well, for now I'm going to call you Stan. You see a very good friend of ours had a run in with this guy named Stan; it seems he enjoyed himself torturing her. Kind of like I'm going to enjoy myself torturing him." Jack said keeping his voice even, showing no emotion, which was even more frightening. Then Jack held up the pain stick and watched Stan's face go pale. "Oh, I see you know what this is. Seeing on how you used it on our friend."

"No…no I don't know what it is, I just found it…picked it up." Stan said swallowing hard.

"You know Teal'c, I've always wanted to try one of these things out; and I think I've found the perfect subject."

"Indeed O'Neill I think he would make the most perfect subject."

Stan was very frightened now, he remembered the horrendous scream that came out of Carter when he used that on her, and wanted to avoid that for himself. "No please don't! I'll tell you what ever you want to know." Stan pleaded.

"Damn Teal'c, he caved too soon, I was soooo looking forward to using this on him."

"We want to know where Kennedy is, and we want all those who were working with you." Daniel told him.

"Okay what ever you say, but I think Kennedy got away, he didn't leave with us, one minute he was behind us the next he was gone."

"Well you better hope you can help us find him. In the mean time I want you to show us the people who helped you, ALL OF THEM!"

They opened the back door of the truck and all four men got out, with Teal'c keeping a restraining hand on Stan as they headed back to the crowd. Then Jack's cell phone rang. "O'Neill"

"O'Neill its Rabb, I think you might want to get over here."

Jack's face paled as he hung up the phone, "Look guys I have to get back to the infirmary. You two round up all the people we're looking for and get them back to the base. Ah Teal'c could I speak to you for a second." He waited for Teal'c to come up close, "As soon as you get everyone in custody I want you to have a little talk to Stan with this." He said handing the pain stick to Teal'c. "I'm sure we can get one of the others to help us if we need to."