I hope this will explain some of the things for you, and not confuse you further. Thanks for all the reviews. Keep them coming pretty please?

Danger Zone.

By Lingren.

Previously:-

There were smiles all round the table, and in each of his friends' eyes he saw confidence and reassurance. He sagged back against his chair and knew he would be okay.

Chapter 20

Later that day Jack, with the aid of his friend's support stopped outside the holding cells. If he was going in there, he'd do it under his own steam. Sergeant Nicki Morrow had been caught trying to escape the mountain during the lock down and some of the drug had been found in her possession, now Jack wanted some answers.

Letting go of Teal'c strong support, Jack straightened himself up and sucked in a huge breath, fortifying himself.

"Are you certain you do not wish for my help O'Neill?"

"I'll be fine thanks Teal'c. I need her to see she failed in her attempt."

Teal'c nodded in acquiescence and Jack stepped through the doorway, standing just a few steps from it while the SF shut it behind him.

The woman sat up on the cot and stared at him, her lips curling into a sneer. She didn't attempt to rise or salute him, instead, she lay back along the bed and tried hard to ignore him.

Jack's steps were slow and deliberate; the last thing he needed was to fall on his ass in front of her. He had to show her that he was stronger than she'd thought, and that her drugs had not worked to kill him.

He stopped a few steps shy of the bars and shoved his hands in his pockets, keeping his eyes fixed on her face.

Eventually, she broke the silence.

"So, you survived then!" she frowned with distaste.

"Yeah, no thanks to you."

"What the hell do you want O'Neill?" she snorted with impatient derision.

"Why?"

The single word caught her unawares and she turned to gape at him.

"Why? Why what?" she asked, floored by the simple question. She'd expected him to rant and rave at her.

"Why'd you do it?" he asked, needing to know if she'd acted alone or in collusion with someone else, but most importantly, with whom?

She laughed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Why not?"

"It could make a difference!"

For the first time since he'd confronted her, he could see a spark of interest register in her grey eyes.

"Yeah, get real. Like that'll happen," she sneered.

"I could make it happen."

She turned herself sideways and rolled to sit up, her interest obvious now.

"How? I'd never be free if I squealed on them. I either wind up with a bullet between my eyes or under the nearest convenient truck."

"Then you shouldn't have played with the big boys now should you!" he admonished, keeping his face unreadable.

"I didn't have a choice O'Neill..."

"I've giving you one now Morrow," he countered. He didn't want to know what they were holding over her, only that she would deal.

"So what's in it for me?"

"A new identity..."

"That won't work. They'll find me."

Jack weighed up his assets and gave her one more offer.

"A one way trip to a new life off-world," he offered. "Take it or face a Court Martial for the attempted murder of an officer. Or, I could let you go and let it slip that you turned in evidence against them. We could take bets on how long you think you'd last out there in the real world."

"You drive a hard bargain O'Neill. I always knew you were a hard nosed bastard."

He acknowledged her bitter barb with a shrug, hiding the twinge of pain that the movement caused.

"I've had some practice," he retorted with a grimace. Practice he could well have done without if the truth were known, but the experience had saved his skin on numerous occasions, so he guessed he should be thankful he knew how to play hard.

He waited, hoping to get this over before his weakness manifested itself by letting him fall down on his ass. He willed his knees to stop shaking with fatigue. To cover his own frailty he reached out and grabbed the bars, hoping the action would just look like determination on his part to get the truth from her.

"Who set you up for this?" he demanded.

She looked at him hard, his eyes were dark and cold as ice, but deep down she knew he'd keep his word if he'd given it; that much she actually trusted of him. She bit her lip in reservation, wavering on what to do for the best.

"I want to go away Colonel. I can't stay here and live looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life however short that might turn out to be. Promise me I can go off-world!"

Jack sighed inwardly with relief. He was getting through to her.

"You have my word," he nodded.

"I only had contact with a guy called Michaels. Freddie Michaels, he works for some other guy who's one of Kinsey's muscle men. That's all I know I swear! Oh and I don't think Kinsey knew about me. There were other guys too; small fry though. I don't know their names, but one of them works at area 51. Michaels said something about he wouldn't fail this time despite what Kinsey said to let it go for now. There were others that I didn't know of, but I heard someone mention some cop who was on the payroll too. I think his name was Gruber or something like that."

Jack cringed inwardly. Kinsey. Why was it always him? He knew why in reality. He'd always managed to piss Kinsey off often enough, but he didn't think the man would stoop that low. It might be enough though. For now anyway. He had some names and both Hammond and Davis could start the investigation with them. He knew Kinsey would have already covered his tracks.

"Thank you," he said, releasing his last hold after turning away, ready to get the hell out of there. He wouldn't be able to stand for much longer. Doc was gonna give him hell, he just knew it.

"Hey?" she yelled as his hand hovered over the door knob. He looked back over his shoulder, unable to make his legs shift round to face her.

"What?" he asked. Now what?

"When do I get outta here?" She sounded desperate, and worried. Had she fallen for a ruse? she wondered.

Jack sighed. He didn't know; truth was he still had to ask Hammond about letting her go off-world. It had been a last ditch attempt at making her talk; now he had to make it right.

"As soon as I okay it with General Hammond," he replied and stepped out of the room, leaving no room for argument.

Teal'c was still there and caught him when his knees finally buckled. Teal'c eased him into the wheelchair he had strategically placed nearby knowing that Jack would need it. He had been pushing himself too far too soon, and Doctor Fraiser would be reading him the riot act.

He rubbed the soreness away as Teal'c wheeled him back to the infirmary.

"Hey Teal'c. We're headin' the wrong way. General Hammond's office is that way," he cried pointing behind him.

Teal'c ignored the puzzled voice of his leader as he pushed him ever closer to his goal. O'Neill would rest first, General Hammond could come to see him while he rested in his bed.

Minutes later and after a lot of protesting on Jack's behalf, Teal'c stopped the chair in front of the bed, locking the wheels, and stood over Jack with his arms folded across his chest, standing immovable like a rock , stalling any further arguments from Jack.

Jack gave up with a heavy sigh and a shrug. He tried to get up but found his legs wouldn't support him, so Teal'c practically lifted him onto the bed like a child.

Jack glared up at his stoic friend and pouted when he saw a slight twitch of the Jaffa's lips.

"Teal'c...so help me if..."

"Ah, you're back Colonel. Now. Let me see what damage you've done by standing way too long."

Janet Fraiser was all business like, standing over him with her clip board. She'd excused Teal'c with a smile of thanks, and pulled the curtain round the bed, waiting for Jack to pull his pants off.

Jack scowled but undid the pants and pushed them down, dropping the boots off the side of the bed while Janet stood there tapping the toes of one foot while she waited.

She placed the clip-board on the bed and began to palpate Jack's knees, eliciting a few hisses and winces from him in the process.

"You took a real beating on your knees Colonel. You shouldn't have been standing on them, let alone for so long. What were you thinking of?" she demanded.

Jack shrugged her concern off.

"I had some questions to ask," he retorted.

"You could and should have stayed sitting in that wheelchair or at least used some crutches."

"I couldn't do that Doc."

Janet looked down at his face then, and she could see that he could do no less than look whole in front of Morrow. It would have made him appear weak and he wouldn't have been able to intimidate her.

"Did you get what you wanted Colonel?" she asked suddenly, taking him by surprise. He'd been expecting more of a lecture.

"Ah, yeah. As a matter of fact I did."

"Good. Then this was probably worth it. Rest for now Colonel. General Hammond will be here any minute. The sooner we get the ball rolling, the better for you and everyone else. I'd like to get my hands on the men who did this sir, just as much as you would, I'm sure."

Jack grinned. Janet perhaps wasn't quite such a tyrant as he'd expected, but god help those guys if she ever did get to lay hands on them. Those honkin' big needles would be put to good use at last!

TBC