"Col Carter!"

The urgency in Vala's voice had Sam at Daniel's side in less than a second. Knowing that he had broken ribs, she was able to make a diagnosis just by hearing his breathing. "One of his broken ribs must have punctured his lung." She turned to look Vala square in the eye, "they don't have much time. Get back to the gate, if the Odyssey can't beam us up right now, then we need two fully equipped med teams here ASAP." She saw Vala hesitate and understood her feelings. "I know you don't want to leave him, but I have more medical training and you're faster than I am. Take Constance with you so you don't get lost."

Vala nodded, took one final look at Daniel and Cameron, and ran off in the direction of the gate. Constance was only two steps behind her.

Carter turned back to Jackson. Without a Swann Dart there wasn't much she could do except to make sure that his condition didn't change. She glanced over to where Anna was hovering over Mitchell. "How's he doing?"

"There is no change, this wound on his chest continues to bleed heavily." She indicated the six inch laceration across Cam's right pec. Mitchell was stable but like everyone else, he had acquired several new injuries.

Carter dug in her pack and found a couple of gauze pads. "Use these to put pressure directly on the wound." She turned back to re-assess Daniel's condition. She knew that without treatment, air would continue to build up in the pleural cavity making it harder for him to breath and eventually forcing the lung to collapse completely. She desperately hoped Vala and Constance made it to the gate and back with help in time.

STARGATE: SG-1

Vala hadn't run this fast in years. She knew Constance was having difficulty keeping up, but she wasn't about to slow down. At this point, Vala was thanking every deity she had ever heard of that she had paid attention when the others had used the communications equipment. Finally she spotted that clearing where the gate was located.

Constance stopped before entering the clearing. "I will be put to death if my tribe finds me helping you. They will most likely come here when they discover the men missing."

Vala understood implicitly, this woman still had to make a life with her tribe. She also understood that Constance was doing her best to warn Vala of the danger she may encounter. "Stay here, you won't be seen, but you can still lead us back to the others if it comes to that."

Vala surveyed the clearing quickly before running to the gate. She quickly dialed the SGC, "Walter, its Vala Mal Doran. I need to speak to the General now!" The snapping of a twig had Vala whirling to face the business end of a spear. Luckily, she had the presence of mind to keep her hand on the transmit button.

STARGATE: SG-1

General Landry trotted down the steps to the control room two at a time; Walter had said that Vala sounded urgent. He could hear Vala's voice coming through the speaker as he entered the room.

"You can point those things at me all you want, but I am going to get help for Col Mitchell and Dr Jackson. They both need immediate medical attention. It wouldn't suit your purposes very well if they were to die now would it."

Even through the speaker, Landry could hear the fear and frustration in her voice. "Vala, what happened to Dr Jackson and Col Mitchell?"

Walter stopped him, "she can't hear you, sir. She must be holding down the transmit button."

"And I think she knows it, which means she's in trouble. Where's the Odyssey?"

"They are just about to drop out of hyperspace, sir."

Landry nodded, for once luck was with them. "Have the Odyssey get them aboard as soon as possible and be sure to let them know that they'll have at least two medical emergencies to deal with."

STARGATE: SG-1

Vala laughed as she eyed the spears pointed directly at her throat. "You think we needed help to escape your little village? Then you severely underestimate us, we would have been through the gate already if everyone had managed to stay on solid ground." She smiled widely as she felt the beginnings of the Asgard beam, "Bye-bye now."

Vala immediately began looking for the others when she materialized on the deck of the Odyssey. Maj. Marks saw her confusion when she didn't spot them. "I'll have them here in two seconds Ms Mal Doran." The others materialized as he spoke.

Sam looked up with relief when she realized where she was. "Med teams?"

"On their way, Col."

Carter turned to Vala who had just joined her crouched between Jackson and Mitchell. "Good work, I take it you didn't run into any trouble?"

"Oh I did, but General Landry must have gotten the message. He's actually rather intelligent, for a man." Vala was doing her best to lighten the mood, but the fear in her eyes belied the cheeriness of her voice. "How are they?"

"No change." Carter and Vala were forced to move out of the way as the med teams arrived and loaded both men on to stretchers. Neither Cameron nor Daniel showed any reaction to the manhandling. "You go with them, I'll stay to brief the Commander and General Landry."

Vala nodded and took off after her teammates.

STARGATE: SG-1

Daphne cleaned the cuts as gently as she could. "They just vanished?"

"Yes, there was a bright white light and then they were gone." Anna pulled on a long cloak to cover some of her new bruises. She rubbed at a cut on her cheek that had just been cleaned, "do you think they will believe that I was close to where the explosions went off?"

"Most likely." Daphne watched as the rest of the tribe returned; she heaved a sigh of relief when she spotted Constance in the middle of the group. The women's faces were a mixture of confusion and anger at the loss of their prizes. "Well, they were a nice addition to the village scenery while they were here."

STARGATE: SG-1

It had taken several hours for Sam to get out of the command deck. She watched for a second as Vala paced in front of the infirmary. "Any word?"

Vala jumped at Sam's voice. "Not yet, but apparently we'll know soon enough." They both watched as the doctor approached.

"You two need to get checked out."

"Later," they answered together.

The doctor laughed, "thought you might say that. Both Dr Jackson and Col Mitchell are stable, but they're going to be spending a lot of time in the infirmary in the near future. One of Dr Jackson's fractured ribs punctured his lung, we've repaired the damage but it will take some time to heal completely. His other injuries consist of a fracture to the greater trochanter of his right femur, and some very nasty bruising and abrasions down his right side. Col Mitchell informed us that the abrasions where from a fall into a ravine, so they have been cleaned thoroughly."

"Wait, they're awake?"

"Col Mitchell is and Dr Jackson should be coming out of sedation within the hour. And to answer the standard question, yes you can see them. Be prepared though, Col Mitchell is a little loopy, we've got him on a pretty strong cocktail of pain meds and antibiotics."

"How bad are his injuries?" Sam had a good idea, but figured it was best to get a professional's opinion.

The doc started ticking off fingers, "fractured left scapula, ribs and ankle. There's also quite a bit of ligamentous injury to the ankle which will probably require surgery. He's got a fairly nasty concussion as well. Poor guy is going to need a wheelchair to get around for awhile."

"Oh, he's just going to love that." Carter had seen how much Cam hated using one after Antarctica and she could just imagine the fight he would put up against having to use one again.

Both women had been around the Stargate Program long enough to not be surprised by the sight of their teammates in the infirmary. Daniel was surrounded by monitors, but Cameron was surprisingly machine-free.

"Well look who decided to join the party; its Mary Poppins and Snow White!" Mitchell though his joke was extremely funny and giggled uncontrollably. He stopped when a new thought occurred to him, "oh, Snow White doesn't really fit does it?"

Carter and Vala had no choice to but to laugh at his slurred words and befuddled expression. Vala wanted to be offended but she just couldn't when he looked that cute. "How are you feeling Col Mitchell?"

"Great!" Cam threw his right arm in the air to prove his point, his left was strapped to his chest to protect his shoulder blade. Unfortunately, raising his right arm still pulled on his left ribs. "As long as I don't do that again," he winced.

"Mitchell, would you kindly shut up!"

"Jackson! He lives!" Cam gave his best impression on Dr Frankenstein.

"That's not what I call shutting up," Daniel grumbled as he tried to bury himself further under the blankets.

Knowing that their friends would live, Sam and Vala decided to leave the Bickerson Twins to their devices.

STARGATE: SG-1

"Give it a rest Col, no amount of bargaining or batting those blue eyes will get you out of this. You are going to need a wheelchair for awhile."

"But Carolyn-"

"Mitchell, seriously give it a rest." Daniel had gotten tired of that conversation about ten minutes ago.

"Fine," Cam pouted. They'd only been in the infirmary for two days and already he was going stir crazy. They had scheduled his ankle surgery for tomorrow, so he was glad to get that over with, but he couldn't stand the thought of having to spend more time in a wheelchair. He's sworn he'd never go near another one of those after Antarctica.

Jackson waited until Dr Lam moved on to another patient before he spoke up again. He knew Cameron was upset about being confined to a wheelchair again, even if it was temporary, so he had to find something to take his mind off it. "You ever going to tell her?"

"Tell who what?"

Daniel would have to remember that Cam could 'play' dumb a little too well, but he smiled anyway. "You know exactly who and what I'm talking about."

Mitchell finally smiled wistfully, "yeah, someday I will, maybe. Hey, you know what Sam and Vala have been whispering about since we got back?" he deftly changed the subject.

Jackson shifted trying to find a more comfortable position for his hip. "I have no idea, but I don't think it bodes well for us whatever it is."

"Knowing those two, you're right."

Fortunately, Daniel and Cameron didn't know how right they were, yet. At that moment, a group had formed outside the mess to read a new poster that was hanging on the door. A poster entitled 'Things to ask Col Mitchell and Dr Jackson about:' and it began with losing their clothes to a tribe of women.

THE END