A/N: Thank you, again, for your warm and positive reviews! I'm trying to update every second day or so, but bare with me. In case anyone is wondering, italics at the start of chapters are Sam's memories/thoughts.

CHAPTER THREE – The Collapse

Her wrists we breaking, snapping her hands clean off them under her own weight, she was sure. She lifted her eyes to look at the men circling her, their faces dripping with greed and malice, eyes raping her naked and battered body. She was going to be sick, physically sick, each time one of them stepped forward to run his hands along her thighs. One of them, one she couldn't see, declared, "Sold! Congratulations, Chancellor," she shut her eyes against the malevolent cheering from the crowd. She felt her stomach muscles clench, the need to scream roaring within her; scream until she could not scream any longer, until every fiber of her being disintegrated under the vibrations.
Suddenly, she couldn't hear. Daring to open her eyes, she noticed that the crowd had fallen silent, and then she saw him – Jack, followed by Daniel and Teal'c, rushing towards her. She was suddenly and acutely aware that she was almost naked, and tried to will herself invisible.
Regret and shame swelled from the pit of her stomach; she could not believe that
he was seeing her like this, so exposed, broken, and vulnerable. It wasn't like she hadn't shared vulnerable moments with him before; she remembered with great sadness the day that Janet had died just a few months ago, and the intimacy she'd felt when he took her in his arms in the infirmary. No, this was a different kind of vulnerable. She didn't want him to remember her as his weak, hung up to dry, 2IC. If he was ever going to see her in her underwear, well… it wouldn't be like this. She welcomed the protective arms of Teal'c, and even more so Daniel's jacket.
Too weak to stem the tears falling, she allowed them to flow freely. Was it the exploitation she'd endured that had her hiding her face from her teammates? Was it the look of terror and anger on Jack's face? Was it the ache in her chest, of regrets and missed opportunities, finally coming to the forefront as she had been stripped of her soldier exterior to reveal the woman beneath? Was it an overwhelming combination of everything? She thought of Pete, and wished it was him rescuing her. She could handle him seeing her this way, but Jack… he was touching her, pulling her up and his hand was on her waist – he kept her covered, and she tried to stop a fresh wave of tears.

He felt guilty watching her sleep. Quietly, he rejoiced in it. Her head was relaxed against the adjacent wall, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms folded against the chill of the stone cell. His eyes followed her hair as strands fell across her eyes, stress lines were less prominent and he wanted to touch those around her mouth; he closed his eyes briefly to remember the sound of her laugh.
"Carter," he said quietly. Even more than watching her, he felt a tremendous amount of guilt in waking her and bringing her back to reality. "Carter," he said again when she did not stir. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle nudge. She woke with a start, searching his eyes curiously, momentarily forgetting where she was and why he was waking her up. Realization dawning on her, her eyes softened and she sat up straight, humming a brief note of acknowledgment.
"They've taken Teal'c," Daniel said dryly from the opposite wall, not looking at either of them. Carter's eyes widened in shock, and she looked to Jack for the truth; he nodded, fear and guilt evident in his eyes as he found interest in a spot of wall just beside her head.
"How long was I out?" She asked, her need to change the subject obvious.
"About twelve hours," Jack said, finally relieved to have something other than imminent torture and death to talk about. "We've missed our check-in with Hammond," he added.
"On our own now," Daniel said to no one in particular.
Jack shifted against his patch of wall, glancing at Carter. Her eyes were out of focus, still leaning in the corner of the cell. She'd zipped Daniel's jacket up so that it was now more of an oversized night shirt, and every so often Jack couldn't help but notice a pair of legs he'd never seen before. Legs he'd always hope to see. Legs, now that he was aware of their existence, he wished he could look at forever. He shifted a fraction closer to her.
"You okay?" he asked quietly. She moved her eyes in his general direction, but remained quite still. He watched her breathe slowly, her eyes closed for a moment before opening them again.
"Yeah, sir," she smiled briefly, falsely, "Fine."
He shifted closer to her again, hesitating as he felt her breathing still, and placed his hand on her arm, "Sam," he said knowingly, begging her to talk, to let him in, to not let this experience destroy her.
She looked down at his hand on her arm, then to his eyes. Hers were moist, filling to the brim; she placed her opposite hand on his, running circles with her thumb. He watched her eyes, searching for answers, for unspoken words. His chest was tingling at the sensation of her fingers running along his hand. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but then closed it again.

Suddenly, an unmistakable cry of pain filled the cell. It echoed down the corridor from an unseen cell and filtered into theirs, bouncing off the walls.
"Teal'c!" Daniel shouted, standing and pounding on the door, "Teal'c!"
Another scream shattered their senses, Jack joined Daniel at the door, pounding as hard as he could on the hard wood. Carter was standing, her hands to her mouth.
"TEAL'C!" Jack roared, "DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM YOU SON'S OF BITCHES!"
Daniel collapsed against the door, eyes straining against tears. He hit the door with his elbows, "Teal'c!" he shouted one more time.
Jack continued pounding against the door, yelling threats and heinous remarks about their captors' mother.
"Colonel!" Carter shouted, suddenly finding her voice and understanding the need for calm.
Jack stopped, his head resting against the wood, panting heavily. He hit the door once more, before storming back to the wall he and Carter silently designated theirs, and sat on his heels. He buried his head in his hands as further screams echoed around their cell.
Carter sat next to Daniel, placing an arm around his shoulders as he shook with sobs that refused to transform into tears. Jack watched them, his eyes fluttered around the cell hopelessly looking for means of escape, searching for answers to ease his guilt and justify his colossal failure. He watched his teammates comfort each other as another was being tortured just a few cells down. Tears burned in his eyes, but he shoved them down far, far away, where things like the truths Zanex detectors revealed were hidden.

He was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. His jacket was rolled into a ball underneath his head, and the cold was now seeping into his skin, causing millions of tiny bumps to sprout along his arms. He didn't know when the screaming had stopped, but in its stead was a lifeless silence perhaps even more painful than the cries of pain. At least then he'd known that Teal'c was still alive. Now all he could hear were his own thoughts, and he swore that Daniel was breathing that loudly on purpose. Carter was pacing, he could hear the soft brush of her feet on the stone floor, and had it been any other situation, he might have found it endearing, but now he was irritated beyond belief. Just as he sat up to berate his teammates for being so infuriating, they heard a chink and then a clunk from the door. Daniel scurried away, he and Jack taking positions on either side of the door. As it slowly opened, Jack jumped the guard first – punching him across the face and kneeing him in his gut. The guard doubled over and fell to the floor as a second guard was bowled over by Daniel, who seemed to abandon his limited training and adopt a more animalistic approach. As Jack moved to disarm the first guard, he felt a sudden excruciating pain along his spine and his muscles seized, he fell to the floor and writhed in pain. It was as though hundreds of white-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, burning holes through the flesh and contorting his muscles and bones. Suddenly, it eased and he relaxed onto the stone. Stars and green blotches clouded his vision; he could hear Carter protesting, Daniel crying out, and then footsteps approaching. Hands picked him up off the ground, and he was dragged from the room. He heard the cries of Carter and Daniel fade away, the door bolting shut, and soon he was thrown onto another stone floor just as his vision started to return.
He lay limply on the ground, and it took him a moment to register just what had happened, and the sight before him: Teal'c was on his side, his blank eyes staring at him, clearly, unmistakably, dead.

TBC…

A/N: Thank you for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated. From here on out, the timeline starts to get a little fuzzy. I've tried to base it between seasons 7 and 8, but in the next few chapters I'm going to merge them together in my own world.