Five

Ghost examined Gary. He looked terrible. He gently passed a hand over his face. Gary let out a garbled whimper but remained motionless.

"Shit." MacTavish said from the door. "Medic!" He went and knelt beside Gary, opposite Ghost. "Roach?"

"He's sustained an injury to his head. I think he has a few broken ribs, and his left leg is badly broken. He isn't responding to anything that I've tried. We can't move him without help, not without making him worse."

The medic arrived finally. He began to examine Gary very throughly.

"Well?" MacTavish asked.

"Eight broken ribs, the rest of his ribs are severely bruised. His left leg is broken in two places. All of his older injuries are mostly healed, there will be some scarring. Theses here look fresh, but there is no bleeding. It may have been that they heated a knife and caturized the injuries as they caused them to minimize blood loss. He's been starved, judging by the fact that I can clearly see his rib, and most likely he's been denied water as well. The injuries from the sledgehammer are bad enough, but complied with the injuries from before, well, he's not in very good shape. Hold his head still."

Gary was put into a head and neck brace. Then the three men got him onto a stretcher. The other medic arrived to help carry it. They heard deranged cackling.

"He'll never survive, not after what I've done to him." Andre laughed. Ghost's eyes flashed and before MacTavish could stop him, he had stalked to where Andre was laying, hand on the gunshot wound.

"I'll join you in a few moments." Ghost said. MacTavish knew that tone. Ghost wasn't leaving until the man died screaming. Not that he blamed Ghost. He ushered the medics out of the room with the stretcher. If Roach were to wake up and see what Ghost was about to do…not pretty.

Some time later, Ghost came up the stairs, covered in blood. Archer looked possitively green, his sharp mind suppling what he hadn't seen. Toad was fussing over the water they were trying to give to Gary, it wasn't cool enough, then it was too cold, then it was too warm.

"Enough!" MacTavish said after Toad had made six trips from the sink to where they were waiting for evac.

"I don't want to send him into shock."

"I'll test the water before giving it to him. Just bring it."

Meat and Royce were standing guard at the door. The medics were still tending to Gary's wounds. MacTavish hadn't left Gary's side except to bat Toad upsdie the head for delaying and changing the temperature of the water, again. "Don't let the kid see you like that Ghost, you'll frighten him.

With a glance in Gary's direction, Ghost left to clean up. Toad had finally given the water to MacTavish and returned to the sink where Ghost was trying to clean up.

"Here, this might help." Came a quiet voice. Ghost glanced at Toad through the cornor of his eye. Toad was holding a wash cloth.

"How is Roach?"

"The medics have stablizied him, so he'll survive. But he's going to need better medical care than what he's getting. His broken bones have to be casted and he's gonna be bedridden for a while. He's still out though. One of the medics thinks that he might have a fracture in his skull but they can't be sure."

Ghost frowned. Toad chattered for a while, something he did when he was nervous. Had the situation been somewhat different Ghost would have laughed. He seemed to be nervous because of what Ghost had done.

"Toad, shut up."

Toad fell quiet. By now, Ghost had cleaned up the blood covering his body, thank heavens for water resistant clothing. He then approached the stretcher. It was laid on the table. He gently took hold of Gary's hand. The gesture wasn't lost on MacTavish, who was keeping a watchful eye on the medics.

"He's not in any pain right now, we should be grateful for that. He'll wake when his body allows."

"ETA on evac?"

"Five minutes. I told them that we had a badly wounded team member, so they know that he can't be jostled."

Ghost refused to leave Gary's side. Five minutes later, he was still sitting with Gary. He shook his head, he could only imagine what Gary would have said if he'd been awake. Probably would have teased Ghost for being so sentimental. It was another few hours before they got to base, where Sheppard was waiting. He looked livid.

"You all disobeyed direct orders!" Ghost bit his tongue and focused on Gary to keep his temper in check.

MacTavish stepped in.

"We weren't about to leave our man behind to die. These are good men. If anyone is to take the heat, it's me." Ghost was surprised. MacTavish wasn't the type to defy his superiors, ever. Sheppard made a sound of annoyance and left. Somehow they'd managed to escape getting arrested for kidnapping. One of the medics blinked and waited till Sheppard was out of earshot before chuckling.

"I don't think I've ever seen General Sheppard at a loss for words before. Let's get your friend to the hospital."

Sometime later, Ghost waited in the main area for the doctors to finish with Gary.

"Calm yourself Ghost. He needs us calm. Panicking isn't going to help." MacTavish soothed. Ghost stopped pacing and sat. Most of the 141 had gathered to see if Gary was alright. After a few hours of waiting, they filed out, promising to return to check up on him, only a few actually stayed. It was four hours after he'd been admitted that the doctors finally came out. Ghost was on his feet.

"How is he?"

The doctor sighed.

"He's sustained a small hairline fracture in his skull, he's still unconscious so we can't tell if there was damage to his brain. His leg has been set, that will recover in time. But over all he was very lucky. He'll be all right. I have very high hopes that he'll make a full recovery. If you want, you can see him now."

MacTavished allowed Ghost to enter the room alone while he stayed behind to talk to the doctors. He knew Ghost needed to confirm with his own eyes that Gary would be all right. When he entered the room, he found Ghost in a chair beside Gary, but that wasn't all. Ghost was holding Gary's hand and was shaking with the force of his sobs, quietly pleading the unconscious man to wake up and to forgive him for leaving him behind.

To say that MacTavish was stunned was an understatement. To his even greater surprise was when Gary's eyes opened and he heard him rasp quietly.

"Ghost?" Ghost's head flew up and he stared at Gary.

"You're awake!"

"Please, not so loud, my head hurts."

"Sorry."

Gary looked exhausted and he was. He glanced from Ghost to MacTavish. Then smiled, it was weak.

"You both would have been so proud of me. I was brave. I didn't tell them anthing, though it hurt not tell them anything. Don't be so sad Ghost, I'm not mad at you."

"Roach, I'm so sorry I didn't come sooner. I promise from now on, it will never happen again." Ghost swore. Gary's smile faded.

"I was so scared, Ghost. When he attacked me with the sledge hammer. There was something in his eyes that told me once he started he wouldn't stop."

Ghost gently squeezed Gary's hand.

"He'll never hurt you ever again, I promise. You look tired, get some rest."

"I have a head injury, I shouldn't…"Gary mumbled as he fell asleep once more. Ghost was glad to see that Gary's captivity hadn't destroyed his child like innocence, it was that innocence that made him particularly loved by the others. It was that innocence that allowed Gary to be as forgiving as he was. The one trait that Ghost wanted to protect at any cost. He smiled at the sleeping man.

"Get some sleep, little brother. I'll watch over you."

MacTavish left with a relieved smile, he knew Gary was well looked after. Ghost would likely strangle anyone who dared to harm a hair on the kid's head. He announced to everyone that Gary was resting and would make a full recovery, finally some good news to report to his men, his brothers.

The End

AN: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. Maybe I'll do a sequel.