A/N: People, we're halfway through the series (well, technically past-halfway, but who cares really...). First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for your wonderful reviews, I just hope I can live up to your expectations with the remaining chapters. Special thanks goes to mia66, to whom I'm so grateful for her kind support :)

Part three is a missing scene for season three episode The Devil You Know. Before writing this one, I was kind of torn between three episodes, not sure which one to 'tag', those three being The Devil You Know, Beneath The Surface and Metamorphosis. I eventually chose the first one, because there's been so much written for BTS that I just wasn't sure I could come up with something remotely original and as for Metamorphosis, I realized it would have been too much like what I have in mind for number four.

Again, this short fic contains some language, I'm thinking about changing the rating just to be sure. Please, let me know if I should. So, here it goes, I hope you'll like it!

Third Time

Thinking of the third time made a shiver run down his spine. It wasn't a pleasant memory for either of them, all the worse, it had triggered a chain of some even more painful ones.

*

He was sitting on the hard ground, leaning against the cold metal bars and nursing his right thigh where that son of a bitch had shot him when he'd tried to stop him from taking Carter away. Which he had anyway.

Jack looked around 'The Pit', as the denizens affectionately nicknamed their holding cell. Daniel was sitting on the other side of the room with his back to the entrance. His eyes were closed and Jack assumed he was trying to get some sleep. Or maybe he just couldn't bear staring at the dark rock that was the wall anymore, Jack knew he couldn't. Behind him, on the other side of the fence, he could hear Martouf whispering quite words of comfort into Jacob's ear. The older man had been unconscious most of the time and Jack had to admit he was glad. He was better off not knowing that his daughter had been taken away by Apophis' guards, probably to be tortured for information.

A wave of guilt washed over Jack. He should have tried harder to stop them. He should have done something! Of course he knew they would most likely have killed him and taken her anyway, but it just didn't make him feel any better. He was her CO and as such he had the duty to protect her. He'd let her go before, when she'd insisted that if she only could get closer to that Boner guy, she might be able to figure out how Jolinar had managed to escape. He'd had a bad feeling about it, but she'd given him that look, the one that he couldn't say no to. He may not have liked the idea, but the way her blue eyes locked his had just caught him off guard.

Footsteps. Someone was coming. He watched as Daniel and Martouf tensed. Somewhere in a far corner of his mind, Jack couldn't help but be proud of the way the young archaeologist had gradually adapted to military thinking. Jack sat up, too, but realized that, due to his injury, he wouldn't be much good if any trouble were to arise.

The door opened with a loud screeching noise and one of the guards dumped a limp body rather carelessly onto the floor.

Carter's head hit the ground with a loud thud and the guards turned to leave.

Before he knew it, Jack struggled to get up and along with Daniel and Martouf hurried towards her, ignoring the sharp throbbing pain in his leg.

He knelt by her side, Daniel already checking her pulse. "She's alive," he breathed out.

Jack let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He gently lifted her head, letting it rest on his good leg and leaned against a cold rock.

"Dad…" she mumbled faintly, not opening her eyes.

Jack exchanged a look with Daniel, who stood up and went to check on Jacob, taking the hovering Martouf with him.

"He's okay," Jack whispered soothingly, adjusting their position slightly, so that her head and shoulders were resting in his lap.

Her eyes fluttered open and Jack could see that her pupils were widened, almost making the blue of her irises disappear. She stirred and shook her head weakly.

"I… Dad…I won't…" her voice trailed off again and she closed her eyes.

She was delirious, Jack realized as he stroked her dusty hair tenderly. "Shhh… It's okay, Sam…"

He moved his hand carefully to feel her forehead. She was running high fever. Whatever they'd done to her, it must have been terrible. A new feeling of guilt grew heavy in his chest. It was his fault, they'd done this to her because of him. When they'd come, he should have fought them, offered himself in her place, anything just to… Just to protect her from this.

Sam's body twisted in a cramp and she let out a weak moan of pain. Jack propped one of his arms under her head and rubbed soothing circles on her shoulder and upper arm. Her muscles eased again and her breathing became a little more even, though it was still shallow and quick.

Suddenly, Jack realized he was tracing the white lines of pain on her face with his index finger. Somewhere inside him a little voice nagged that he should stop immediately, but he couldn't bring himself to it. Carter needed him. Not some weird alternate reality twin version of her, his Sam Carter was in need of comfort and it was him who was holding her trembling, heated body in his lap.

She muttered something unintelligible and shook her head again.

Jack gently removed a few dusty strands of hair that were sticking on her sweaty forehead as he muttered softly: "It's alright, Sam, you're gonna be alright…"

Sam seemed to relax, as the tension in her muscles that Jack hadn't even realized had been there eased, and she shifted herself a little, resting her head on Jack's stomach. After a few moments, Jack noticed that her breaths were becoming steadier and deeper. She fell asleep.

Jack continued to watch her face, but didn't touch her, afraid it might wake her up.

Suddenly, he heard heavy footsteps in the corridor leading to their holding cell.

A guard who would have made any Earth pro-wrestler crawl under a table and cry out for his Mommy unlocked the door and opened it loudly, without much concern for the sleeping woman.

"You!" He pointed at Jack. "Come with me!"

Jack looked down at Sam. She seemed to be fast asleep. "Ah… As you see, I'm a little busy at the moment…"

The guard made a few steps towards him and hovered threateningly.

"Okay, okay…" Jack relented. He started to lift Sam's sleeping form carefully and could see from the corner of his eye that Martouf was standing up.

Jack darted a look at Daniel, who got up immediately and hurried to take his friend's limp body from him.

As Daniel accepted Sam and nestled her carefully in his own lap, he and Jack exchanged a look. Daniel nodded almost imperceptibly.

As Jack managed to get up and made his way out of the cell, he could see Martouf's slightly sulky face as he was kneeling next Jacob again.

And deep inside, Jack couldn't help but smile with smug satisfaction.