CHAPTER TWELVE

Much later, Jack O'Neill woke. As his mind slowly cleared from an anesthetic induced fog, he knew exactly where he was by the soft rhythmic beeping and other vaguely mechanical noises around him.

'Ah, the infirmary,' he thought. 'Hello again.'

As Jack's eyes slowly slid open and his brain gradually became more able to focus, he looked slowly around the room. He tried not to move his head too much, as his experience with anesthesia had taught him that wasn't wise, but he did roll it partially to his left, and his hooded eyes took in a sight that surprised him.

Samantha Carter was looking right back at him, fully awake and with a bemused smile on her lips. She was lying on her side in another bed about ten feet away.

Her smile widened when his eyes made contact with hers. "Morning, sir."

Jack moved his tongue experimentally a few times to see if it would follow his commands before thickly replying. "Hey, Carter. How ya feeling?"

"Just glad to be alive, sir. You?"

"Well, I've had better days…" Jack trailed off, and thought for a moment while looking at his former 2IC. If somehow everyone had made it back from that shithole of a planet, then he was beyond fantastic, despite the itch of new sutures in several places and the searing pain in his calf that had woken him. Fear and hope sprung up in his heart simultaneously, and he asked the only question on his mind. "The others?"

Carter continued to smile, letting Jack know the answer before she spoke. The General still wanted to see all of his friends for himself before he would acknowledge that they were ok, but Sam's radiant grin was a good sign.

"Well, we've got two other bunkmates in this high class establishment. Reynolds is behind you, still sleeping off his anesthesia from the repair of a bullet wound to his right shoulder. Siler is behind me."

O'Neill craned his head a little, and saw Carter was right. A tousled blonde head stuck out above thin covers pulled high in the bed next to hers. The beleaguered sergeant appeared to be sleeping. When Jack saw the rhythmic movement of the covers, he started to feel better, and rotated his head to his right, a little too quickly for comfort. When the sudden dizziness caused by his movement subsided, Jack could see Colonel Reynolds laying in another bed, also about ten feet away. A young attractive nurse sat next to the bed with a clipboard, monitoring the recovery of the officer.

Carter didn't miss the disorientation and the small grunt Jack let out when he moved. "Careful, sir. You took quite a blow to the head, amongst other things…you should take it easy for a while."

Jack's head swung back around, more slowly this time, and he actually laughed a little at Sam. "Right. Like you're doing."

Carter's eyes dipped downward for a half second before she looked up again, amusement shining from her eyes like firelight. "That's not the point, sir. Someone has to keep you updated on what's going on around here."

The expression was not lost on Jack, and for the briefest of moments there was nothing else in the universe. Only the radiant happiness of his teammate and friend existed. Jack's chest constricted a little, and it was hard to breathe. He almost felt a touch of something like utter joy, but it fled as quickly as it had come, and Jack's inner world came crashing in on him. His eyes widened, and a sense of panic seized him. His mind, which had still been slightly muddy until now, suddenly become fully awake, and the extent of what he had brought back from P5X-462 hit him. He tried to speak, but only succeeded in moving his mouth vaguely. No sounds came out.

Carter didn't need words to know what had just happened, though. The fear on Jack's face told her everything she needed to know, and she tried to put every bit of strength she had into her next words. "Daniel's going to be ok, too, sir."

The relief Jack experienced was overwhelming. He shut his eyes, trembled a little, and took more than a few deep breaths before facing Carter again. When he looked back at her, slightly embarrassed at his loss of control, Sam just nodded her head ever so slightly, complete understanding on her face, and Jack O'Neill knew he was home. Why had he ever thought he could leave these people and work in Washington? He belonged here, with his family.

When she was sure Jack would hear her, Carter continued. "He's still in serious condition, and he has a long road ahead of him, but they think he's going to pull through without too many long term effects. He'll have some new scars, but he'll live."

Jack smiled wryly then, thinking about scars, both physical and emotional. Everyone he knew had too many of them, but at least they were alive.

Carter didn't seem to notice his thoughtfulness, and pushed on with her dialogue.

That only made the General smile more. Some things never changed. He tried to tune into Carter's words, but he was feeling groggy again, and it was difficult. He heard a few things that made their way through to his conscious mind, but mostly he was falling asleep, lulled by the voice, the infirmary sounds, and the drugs still in his system. He watched his Colonel with half-closed eyes.

"Teal'c, of course, is fine, after receiving a few more doses of Tretonin. He's taken it upon himself to watch Daniel while the rest of us are in here. He's also begun questioning everyone who was on the planet in an attempt to figure out exactly what happened there. It seems your buddy Burke, who's also doing fine despite some pretty serious reconstruction of his thigh, sabotaged several key spots in the enemy compound while you and Colonel Reynolds came after me, Daniel and Teal'c. We probably wouldn't have made it out without him."

Jack smiled a little at that, but he couldn't fight the sedation any longer. He slurred out his next word groggily. "Carter."

It took a second for Sam to register her name and the state of her General, but when she did, she smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, sir. We can talk more later."

Jack grunted a little chuckle. "S'okay, Carter. Go to sleep."

With that last effort, O'Neill slipped back into the land of Morpheus, and Carter followed him shortly, her own injuries and fatigue catching up with her.