For the second night in a row, Sam watched as Colonel O'Neill slept. This time, however, only a fraction of her attention was spared for keeping watch. He looked so pale in the firelight; his dark eyelashes contrasted sharply with the white skin of his cheeks; his lips were dry and bloodless. She forced down her rising despair at seeing him so quickly reduced to helplessness.

The Colonel shivered despite the warmth of the evening and the heat of the fire, and Sam tucked the blanket more firmly around him. She reached forward to check his forehead; he still felt hot beneath her palm, what medicine the natives possessed having proved nearly useless against the infection raging within him. Thank god she had been able to get him back to the village. As she'd hoped, the Jaffa assumed the entire team had made it back through the 'gate and didn't look too thoroughly for anyone else. So she and the Colonel had fortunately remained undiscovered, and she had watched from hiding as the Jaffa collected their naquadah 'tribute' and returned through the 'gate.

Unfortunately, probably suspecting the Tauri might return, the Jaffa had kept a squad on guard at the 'gate, making escape that way impossible and while the staff blast which hit the Colonel had missed anything vital, it was still a nasty flesh wound, especially considering her limited medical supplies. By the time she had finally managed to get the bleeding stopped and the bandage placed, the Colonel had lost a lot of blood -- a lot of blood. As if that didn't scare her enough, by the time she'd helped him back to the village – a process which had gotten steadily harder until she'd been afraid they wouldn't make it at all – the Colonel was shaking uncontrollably and was decidedly hot to the touch. Something had gotten into the wound before she could clean it, and she had only a small emergency supply of antibiotics with her, all of which were proving as useless as the native's own medicines.

So Sam was forced to sit and wait, praying that Jack could hold on until General Hammond got together a large enough rescue operation to break through the Jaffa at the 'gate and come rescue them. She only hoped it would be soon enough for the Colonel.

As if sensing her thoughts, Jack stirred, his eyelids fluttering open, his gaze darting around the room, searching. His eyes fixed on her. "Carter?"

She leaned over him, taking his warm hands in her cool ones, thankful that she could at least give him that here. His fingers curled around hers, and he smiled gratefully. "Yes, Sir. I'm here," she answered.

Jack's eyes closed with a sigh, and he visibly relaxed. After a moment, he looked up at her again, "Daniel and Teal'c?"

"They made it through, sir. I expect they're working on getting together some reinforcements as we speak." She smiled, trying to reassure him, but Sam could tell even this brief exchange was exhausting him. "Colonel, you should try to get some sleep." He nodded, his eyes drifted closed, and moments later he was asleep.

Later, the intervening time having blurred into countless blanket tucks and cool washcloths for his forehead, Jack stirred again. "Carter?"

"I'm still here, sir."

"What happened, Major?"

"We were ambushed, sir, as we were going back through the 'gate. We took out one squad, but a second hit our flank."

"Oh." She could see his eyes widen as memory returned. He glanced up sharply at her, "Are you okay?"

She smiled, nodding, "Yes, sir. Thanks to you, I'm fine."

He weakly returned the smile, though it barely made it past the pain in his eyes. "Good, there's that at least." His eyelids slid closed as he spoke the last word.

"Sir?" She tried not to let her concern show, but she knew she had failed.

His eyes opened, finding hers again. "I'll be okay, Carter."

"Yes, sir." She was determined to make his words true, and she would do anything to help him – get him whatever he needed to get through the night. "Is there anything I can get you, sir?" She half-rose as she asked the question, but stopped as Jack's hand tightened around her fingers. The look in his eyes was worse than anything she had yet seen. For one terrifying moment, fever induced panic overrode the pain in their depths.

"Don't go, Carter. Please. Stay with me."

She couldn't resist his need. Sam sat back down, gathering both his hands in her own. "I'm here, sir. I won't go anywhere."

He nodded, and let his eyes drift closed again. Several silent moments passed, until Sam was convinced Jack had fallen back asleep. Suddenly, though, he jerked awake, eyes flying open. "Sam?"

She squeezed his hands. "Right here, sir."

Jack's breath rasped out through his teeth. He nodded, and his breathing slowly returned to normal. His eyes did not close, however. Instead, he lay watching her in the near darkness.

"Sir," she finally said. "You need to sleep."

He shook his head. "I'm not tired."

"Sir." She knew he was lying, and he had to know she knew. "You need to sleep," she repeated.

He nodded, but his eyes remained open, watching her and she suddenly understood what had woken him earlier, and what kept him awake now. She understood because she had had similar dreams herself. She spoke as if to a small child: "Sir, if you don't close your eyes and try to sleep Right This Minute, I swear I'll have to try something drastic."

Despite his obvious pain, the corners of Jack's mouth turned up in a wry smile, though his eyes remained stubbornly open. "What?"

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"What do you know about naquadah reactors?"

"What?" This was clearly the last thing on earth -- or off it for that matter -- he had expected to hear.

"Naquadah reactors. You know, the reason we're here. I just realized that this might be a good time to go over some of the basics with you. Who knows when we'll get another opportunity? And, since you're determined to stay awake…"

"Carter…" he groaned.

"Good, then, first of all…" and so, throughout the hours of that long night, Sam proceeded to educate Jack on the basic science and engineering behind the naquadah reactor. Several times during her lecture Sam thought the Colonel had finally fallen back into his feverish sleep, but each time she let her voice trail off he tossed fretfully, and she was forced to continue talking to quiet him.

At some point, however, they must have both dozed off. Sam woke to find her head pillowed upon the Colonel's broad chest, having clearly fallen forward during the night. As she blinked the sleep out of her eyes, Jack's opened as well, still dazed with fever as they looked straight into hers.

Her immediate instinct at finding herself so close to him was to pull back, but he caught her behind the neck, pulling her still closer. "Sir… I…" she protested as he brought her face to within inches of her own.

He clearly did NOT hear her. His lips found hers, his mouth feverishly hot beneath hers as he held her close. It was a dream, only better. Jack tasted better than in any dream, sweeter and hotter, the pressure of his tongue more possessive, claiming her more thoroughly than in even her wildest dreams--

A part of her – the rational part that was still barely able to think – knew this was just the fever. Knew Jack likely had no idea who she was or where they were, that he had somehow confused time and place and who knows what else. But for one brief wonderful moment she knew she would treasure for the rest of her life, Sam didn't care.

Then, all too soon, it was over. Jack released her from the kiss. He kept her close, however, pressed tightly against his shoulder. And faintly, so faintly it may just have been desperate imagination, Sam thought she heard him breathe into her hair, "I love you, Carter…" before he slipped back down into unconscious sleep.

Within a few hours, the rescue team finally did arrive, and when, still later, after the fever had broken and his wound was well on its way to healing, Jack admitted to having no clear memory of anything that had happened while he was feverish, all Sam felt was immense relief that they would still not have to deal with 'it'. Yeah. That was it. Exactly. Relief…