Inescapable Chapter 13

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Wow! I didn't expect such response to the last chapter... but thanks and sorry this took so long. I've been awful busy and will continue to be for a while soI apologise for any delays in the future. Anywho, enjoy! Any mistakes you find - I'm sorry, this one was done in a hurry!

"Doc?" It was all he could do to get that one, abbreviated word past his lips. The Doctor looked up from his chart, his eyes regretful as he made another adjustment to Daniel's medication.

"He had some internal bleeding; the burns were minor but…" The Doctor took a heavy breath as he let the pages of the chart fall back down into place, giving Jack his full attention. "His head injuries were a bit more serious." Jack shoved his hands into his pockets, making fists with both of them. He gave a short nod of his head. He knew what was coming from the look on the doctor's face. "There's a minimal amount of swelling but I'm confident he'll be okay." Another nod. At least there's that, he thought glumly. He cleared his throat as his eyes drifted to the left, resting on the other bed. The Doctor followed his gaze.

"Colonel Carter…sir," Jack lifted his chin a little unable to appear unaffected by the rock that seemed to be in the physician's throat. "The blast caught most of her upper back; the vest insert wasn't as kind to her as Dr. Jackson. The charge travelled up her spinal cord, there's a lot of swelling in the brain and I'm afraid there may be some damage to the hindbrain, her-" The doctor paused as he took in the fatigued hand that pressed against the general's forehead and pulled at battle weary skin as it slid down his face, obviously zoning out of the bleak medical condition of his 2IC. His friend, the doctor added absently. Normally, by now General O'Neill would be swatting air and throwing a sarcastic remark, possibly something about a nutshell. A nutshell he would give him then, as he didn't seem able to voice it.

He would not use words like cerebellum, pons, medulla - regulation of breathing, motor coordination, posture, balance … no, the General didn't need to know. "I don't know if she'll wake up, sir." O'Neill's eyes suddenly flashed back into the room. "She's in a coma and will remain until, at the very least, the swelling goes down and I can assess if any damage has been done." Another nod and the Doctor took a moment to watch the wretchedness in his superior's eyes before he left him alone.

Jack wandered over to Sam almost reluctantly. From afar, he could almost pretend it wasn't his friend lying there, dead to the world… or almost at the very least. How many times had they been here before? How many times had Sam been here before? Too Goddamn many. He was at her beside now, taking in the pale visage, the near lifeless body, tubes springing from her, making her look like some appendage of the machines keeping her alive. Jack's gut twisted. He hated this. Waiting. Just damn well waiting. Carter was possibly on her death bed and all he could do was stand and wait. Wait to see if the scales tipped in the balance of life or death.

Sycophantic shit-eating snake heads! His mind screamed, the colour in his cheeks only softly reflecting the fury seeping through his blood. Teal'c had been debriefed while the medics worked furiously on the two fallen soldiers. They had been ambushed by a group of Jaffa.

Daniel had been driving Carter nuts, or as Teal'c put it, he was 'being acutely DanielJackson' that day. Jack knew what that meant. Nagging, moaning, arguing, griping…maddening! Jack smiled sadly as he gazed at Daniel's still face and replaced it with the animate picture he was used to. There was no doubt that Daniel Jackson could be infuriating at times. And this time, it had been Carter that fell victim to it. She had ordered them back to the 'gate and Daniel spent the entire trek back wearing her down. He wanted at the very least to be able to make a slight detour to the original ruins before they gated back but she was having none of it, already sick of the planet after over a week.

Daniel insisted and she ignored him so he began to stalk off on his own after a loud shouting match, where they traded barbs. He felt that if he could hurry and get ahead of schedule that he could pull an hour or so at the ruins and still be on time. Carter, of course, wasn't letting him run off on his own. And just as she was spewing out some colourful adjectives at Daniel's shrinking form, her toe caught in an exposed root in the soil and she tumbled with a solid thud to the ground. Her cursing only got worse when she realised that she'd twisted her ankle. Teal'c attended to her and Daniel was forgotten fleetingly as she got fixed up and ready to move out again.

That's when they heard it. Ear-splitting screaming. A few moments later they were fighting for their lives against eleven Jaffa. They managed to take out eight of them, escaping past their motionless bodies, slumped around Daniel's blood encrusted body. They made it to the 'gate eventually, Carter holding off the enemy as Teal'c, with Daniel thrown over his shoulder, dialled home.

And ironic that it was Carter that was now fighting for her life.

I'll never get used to this.

"Ja...ck?"

Jack spun around on his two feet as he heard a scratchy voice from behind. Daniel's eyes fluttered.

"Daniel." He rushed to his bedside as he struggled into consciousness. He laid a hand on his shoulder, willing him with his touch to wake up. Daniel's eyes finally focused on him, dull and hazy. His lips twitched in what might have been a smile had he tried but it ended up more like a grimace. His eyes grew wider and sparked. He shot his head off the pillow and Jack moved to push him back down. "Sam! Teal'c!"

"Lay down, Daniel," Jack ordered quietly, pressing on his shoulder as the pain finally ripped through him, protesting at the movement. "Teal'c is fine. Carter's…" He swallowed moderately, stopping himself short of saying 'fine'. The last thing he would do to him now was lie. "…here." He blinked a few times and relaxed back onto the pillow. Daniel then turned his head and spotted Sam in the opposite bed and Jack was surprised at how fast his eyes shone. "She was hit in the back by a stray blast that came through the 'gate." Daniel looked away quickly.

"Will she be okay?" Jack's hands went back into his pockets again as he felt an insane urge to ruffle his hair nervously.

"I don't know." There was nothing like the cold hard truth to make shining eyes spill. "Daniel…" Jack wanted to comfort him but he couldn't lie, and comfort was something he couldn't find within himself right now even if he reached into the farthest, deepest, lost corners of his being. He just didn't know what to say, so he let his lips close slowly.

"It's my fault," Daniel said, his words filled with guilt. Jack was shaking his head slowly already and raking a hand through his hair again.

"It's not your fault, Daniel," he told him firmly as he returned his hand to his pocket.

"I was bugging her about the ruins, I ran off. Jack…" Daniel looked up at him. "I abandoned them and the next thing I knew I was getting tossed about by Jaffa… lots and lots of Jaffa." Daniel swallowed and Jack shifted on his feet, glad he wasn't privy to the particular memory Daniel was reliving through horrified eyes. "The last thing I heard was Sam shouting my name and telling me that I was gonna be okay."

"And you are," Jack reminded him.

"At what cost to her?"

"Daniel..." Jack began, exasperatedly. He did not need to beat himself up over this. "It. Was. Not. Your. Fault."

Daniel avoided his eyes and stared hard at the ceiling, the memories haunting him again.

"Understood?" He was gonna get confirmation out of him if he had to force it.

"Yeah," Daniel offered and Jack could tell he didn't believe it.

He stared at his wounded archaeologist a moment and he seemed completely lost in his own thoughts, just as he was. Guilt wasn't only haunting Daniel, it was also having a go at him and he couldn't look at those haunted eyes anymore, knowing that while Daniel was bearing the blame, it was entirely his own fault. "Get some rest, Daniel."

He felt Daniel's eyes follow him out and he wondered if he would realise exactly whose fault Carter's injury fell to when he stilled his mind for a second and had the clarity to ask the details from the moment they came back through the 'gate. He should've had the iris closed faster. Carter could've died because he wasn't concentrating. That was most certainly his fault. And he would never forgive himself for it.

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