Lots of hugz for all those great reviews once again. So happy to know you're all still with me.

"If At First You Don't Succeed..."

by Lingren.

Previously:-

"Yes Sir." Came the rather subdued despondent replies. Hammond and Jacob watched them hurry as fast as they were permitted through the blast door, eager to see what had happened to their team leader.

Chapter 5 – Here We Go Again

Teal'c sat calmly in the chair beside Jack's bed while Sam and Daniel temporarily occupied the beds further down the ward. Janet had confirmed that Sam had only sprained her wrist but as it was a nasty one, she was applying some strapping to it. While she was busy working, she started filling them in on Jack's injuries. All three of them were shocked but knew he would be fine if Janet said so.

Daniel was still waiting to have his cut stitched, and the mood in the room was a light-hearted one, due to the fact that they were all relieved that Sam's father was found safe and well.

The good humoured bantering between the team members and Janet, petered off as soon as Teal'c announced that O'Neill was waking up.

"I'll be there in just a second Teal'c. I'm almost through here. Okay Sam?" Sam nodded and slipped from the bed to follow Janet down the ward towards Daniel.

Jack forced open his heavy eyes and blinked a few times, trying to focus on the dark shape that loomed over him. Recognition prompted his return to the world.

"Hey, Teal'c?" He was greatly relieved to see one of his team there at last.

Teal'c inclined his head slowly at Jack's greeting.

"O'Neill."

"You're back. Where're the others? They okay?"

"They are indeed here O'Neill. As are you, according to Doctor Fraiser."

Jack waived away the concern, never one to enjoy the focus on his own injuries. He didn't see anyone else around his bed, so focused on those further down the room.

"Oh for crying out loud!" he groaned, seeing Sam sitting on the side of one of the infirmary beds on which Daniel was lying, and who was being attended to by Janet. Jack also noticed that his young friend was holding a bloodied dressing over an obviously cut forehead. "What the hell happened to you two? Can't you kids stay out of trouble when I'm not around?"

"Excuse me Jack! Your a right one to talk. Who got himself into deep trouble when we weren't around to watch his butt?" Daniel yelled feeling disgruntled by Jack's uncalled for comment, and immediately regretted the loudness of his own voice. His head was still feeling delicate after hitting the ramp.

"That's a whole different kettle of fish ,Daniel," Jack retorted.

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"Not!"

"It is too!" Jack cried, wincing when he was a little over enthusiastic in his denial.

"Anyway," Daniel continued. "it's not what you think. We didn't get beaten up by Jaffa or natives or anything. This was purely...an accident," he finished softly with a flinch. Janet was now stitching the gash in his head and he went quiet, not enjoying the experience at all.

"An accident?" Jack looked puzzled at this statement and frowned up at Teal'c, raising an eyebrow hoping the Jaffa would explain it to him.

"Daniel Jackson exited the wormhole at too great a velocity, hitting his head on the ramp. Major Carter who followed, stumbled over his inert form when she too exited the wormhole at too fast a rate. Unfortunately, in her eagerness to stop her fall, she reached out with her hand only for her wrist to be damaged in the fall.

"Carter?"

"It's just a sprain sir. I'm fine."

"So, you're both keeping up the SG-1 tradition I see," Jack grinned.

Sam and Daniel exchanged ruffled glances.

"He's never going to let us forget this, you know that don't you Sam."

"I know Daniel. And he's going to be absolutely unbearable for a while."

"Okay kiddies!" Janet said, finishing her handiwork, thinking it was enough banter for one day, and cutting Jack's comment before he could utter the words. "Don't you three have a briefing to go to? The Colonel needs to rest."

"Ooops! Sorry," apologised Daniel.

"Hey, Carter, did you manage to rescue Dad okay?"

"Yes sir, we did. He's with General Hammond in the briefing room."

"You did good, Carter."

"Thank you sir."

They exchanged a little knowing smile, before Sam had to break off the contact, just as Janet reminded them that the General was waiting.

"See you later Jack."

"Sir, "

"O'Neill."

All three chorused.

"Not if I see you first!"

After the team left the room, Janet checked on Jack's IV lines, and his bandages once again.

"Hmmm! You're looking a little flushed this morning Colonel. How are you feeling!" she asked checking his temperature.

"I was all right, but isn't it a bit much to expect me to wake up and stay calm when I see two of my team in here needing medical attention?"

Janet could see that it had shaken him a bit in his weakened state. Not that he would admit to being alarmed by it in front of his team, but the result was making his pulse too rapid; and she now confirmed the fever had risen again. She shouldn't have let him get so worked up. She was going to have to warn the General to go easy on him until he was in a fit state to face the dressing down she knew he was in for.

"How's our guest doing Doc?" he asked a moment later still sounding breathless.

"Well, he's still hanging on Colonel. We won't really know how he feels until he wakes up."

"Until? not if?"

"That's right Colonel...'until'. I think he's going to be okay, but there are always complications waiting round the corner to sneak up on us unexpectedly."

"Yeah...and mine just appeared," he quipped sarcastically when General Hammond walked into the room.

Janet quickly took the General aside and whispered something to him that Jack couldn't hear. He saw Hammond nodding and turn away to walk towards Jack, looking as serious as Jack had ever seen him look. This was so not going to be good, he sighed with resignation, but he would take his punishment like the honourable officer he was, despite what it looked like on his record.

"General...I need to apologise to you about the other night. I had no idea what was going to happen. Well I did, that's why I wore the vest, but I swear I was only meant to be gone for an hour tops, sir."

"Colonel I'm not going to go into any details about your little unscheduled foray right now, that can wait until you're fully recovered. However, despite my displeasure in your behaviour, I am relieved to see you're feeling better this morning."

Jack had the grace to look suitably abashed for his thoughtless actions and what it had cost his CO to have to keep the disastrous outcome a secret.

"There is one thing I would really like to know Colonel, and that is, why you disobeyed a direct order and went to meet Maybourne on Monday night?"

Jack swallowed and closed his eyes against the mental pain of giving Hammond cause to doubt his dedication to the SGC and what they were doing; he could clearly read the disappointment in the older man's eyes. He took a deep shuddering breath, and although he winced when it hurt, a coward he was not, so he spoke up without further hesitation. It wouldn't be the first time Hammond had pulled him up short over something similar, and he doubted it would be the last.

"He rang me Sir. Said he was in trouble and needed help. He had something important which he needed to tell me, but wouldn't say what it was over the phone; he said I had to go meet him. Sooo...I went sir."

"You went? Knowing that I'd specifically said NO-ONE, Colonel, from SG-1 was to leave this base?" Hammond had turned a deep shade of pink and it made Jack cringe at his tone.

"Did he actually get around to telling you what was so all fired important that you had to disobey my orders?"

"No Sir, he didn't get the chance."

"Tell me, was he okay when you got there or was he already wounded?"

"We'd only just started to talk sir when he was hit. Then they got me before I could move fast enough. All he got out was that it had something to do with what Simmons' had planned before his arrest. Sort of a fail-safe plan General."

"Whoever it was, Colonel, Dr. Fraiser informed me he used a standard military issue MP-5. You're damn lucky you weren't both killed."

"Yeah," Jack sighed wretchedly. "So Doc tells me." And god, it hurt too!

"Maybourne must have had something very important to pass on, if they intended to kill him just to stop him from talking to you."

"Well if that was the case Sir, then why did I end up with five bullets and Maybourne with only two?"

General Hammond had to think about that for a moment and he didn't particularly like the only answer he could come up with.

"Then just, maybe, Jack, the real target was you again. Maybourne could have been just...an accessory...an extra bonus that, whoever was behind this, used as bait to get to you. Especially if Simmons was behind it...he doesn't give up easily it seems."

By now, Jack was feeling really tired again. He pinched the bridge of his nose wearily, and closed his eyes, as he took in the gravity of the General's statement. Supposing he was the real target? Was Simmons really behind it all, again? He sure was getting fed up with this whole scenario of revenge or whatever they labelled it as. He seemed to spend far more time in the infirmary these days than actually on missions.

Janet, who had been hovering at the other end of the room, could see Jack's actions and immediately interrupted them, insisting that the Colonel rested now. She wasn't shy in telling the General that they could talk again at a later date.

As Jack watched his CO leave, he couldn't help feeling desperate to know what exactly it was that Maybourne had to say to him, and how it would affect the SGC.

TBC