In this chapter, Young gets a talking to while TJ and Camille head to Earth to report and hopefully get any useful information. Elsewhere, the Science Team discovers that there maybe something wrong with Destiny.

Disclaimer: I have never written a fic for SG1 and the last time I did watch it was a long time ago so I'm sorry if O'Neil, Daniel and Sam seem a bit OOC for you guys.

Chapter 5

TJ was immediately by Rush's side as he gave out a pained gasp. Young made to help but TJ glared at him. "Get out, Colonel!"

"TJ I-"

"You've done enough!" shouted TJ as he supported the scientist's weight. Her shouts alerted the others who stood outside the Infirmary and the doors opened to admit Eli, Chloe and Brody.

"Help me get him to a bed," ordered TJ to Eli and Brody who immediately went and helped her with Rush. TJ then nodded to Chloe and she went to readied some medical equipment that she knew TJ usually used.

Young could only watch as Eli and Brody finally got Rush's shivering form on the bed. TJ glared at him one last time before leaving the infirmary. He was not surprised to see Camille waiting just outside the doors.

"Is he alright?" asked Camille, concern written all over her face. Rush after all was a civilian and fell under her jurisdiction.

"Honestly?" asked Young as he turned to the closed doors of the infirmary. "I have no idea."

Camille studied him a bit before crossing her arms. Young knew he was in for another lecture but they best have this conversation now than later. "You can say it."

"Saying I told you so won't do us any good," replied Camille.

"Well why didn't you agree with him before then?" asked Young.

"Because we had bigger problems then," replied Camille. "Now, everything seems to be up and running but as soon as the next crisis comes, what do we do then, Colonel?"

"Like we've always done," replied Young. "We never had a plan for anything has come our way, Camille."

"Yes but it was always Dr. Rush who ended up saving all of us," fired back Camille. She sighed and leaned on the wall across Young. "Even after he had chest surgery, what did he do?" She paused and turned towards the closed doors. "He pushed himself to get up and do some repairs across the ship when he was breath away from collapsing."

It was the truth. He himself had told Rush to get some rest but the man pushed through even without proper supply of painkillers and meds. Even with the numerous tasks that needed to be done, through the pain of having his chest opened and a tracker destroyed...Rush worked pass all of those.

"What am I going to report, Colonel? That because you were desperate to save Colonel Telford's reputation, we have compromised the only expert we have on board." said Camille with a glare towards him.

"Rush knew the risks when he volunteered for this," said Young.

"To being undercover," argued Camille. "Not to being kidnapped and tortured. He counted on us to get him out and we didn't." She paused to let her words sink in. "This is exactly why he doesn't trust anyone of us, Colonel. Because everyone leaves him behind."

Young cringed at her words and that day came rushing back. "I didn't leave him behind this time Camille."

"No," agreed Camille but fixed the colonel with a hard stare. "You just chose a traitor over him." She turned to enter the infirmary but stopped and spoke again. "Tell me, colonel, which do you think was worse?"

She opened the doors and entered, not waiting for his reply.

Young sighed and punched the nearest wall. Things were just getting worse and from the looks of it everything was his fault.

It took TJ, Chloe and Camille's combined effort for Rush's shivering to stop and the scientist was out cold with yet another IV attached to the back of his right hand. Chloe and Eli had volunteered to watch over the scientist as TJ and Camille headed to the communication stones.

"I don't know what to report," began Camille as they walked. "I don't even know what to say at all." She had asked TJ to accompany her because she would know better what to say to the people back on Earth.

Normally it would Colonel Young who would do this but given the circumstances, TJ and Camille had decided to brief Earth themselves.

"I think it'd be better to just talk to Gen. O'Neil first before anything else," suggested TJ. "We'll tell him and he'll relay to anyone else who needs to know."

"You're right," replied Camille and they both prepared to use the stones.

TJ and Camille blinked and was now in the Pentagon. A few more pleasantries with other military personnel and finally they were led to Lt. Gen O'Neil's office.

"This is new," remarked O'Neil as he stood behind his desk. There was another man inside the office and from personnel files, both TJ and Camille knew this was Dr. Daniel Jackson.

"Something wrong?" asked Jackson. "Already?"

TJ and Camille turned to each other before getting on with what was currently happening in Destiny, particularly Dr. Rush.

As TJ finished with her current run down on Rush's current condition, Jackson turned and glared at O'Neil. "I told him Dr. Rush's life was in danger and look at what that got us."

"What's done is done," replied O'Neil as he looked at TJ. "Any indication that we've already passed the worst of whatever it is that is happening with Dr. Rush?"

TJ shook her head. "The problem is I'm not really familiar with the device that was used on him." She turned to Jackson. "A member of the Lucian Alliance had said that the device was an improvement on the Rod of Anguish by the Goa'uld. I'm not sure there is anyone who has lived through the device to tell us anything."

Jackson and O'Neil exchanged a nervous look which both women caught. There was clearly something that the two men had not shared with all at SGC.

"There might be one person," offered O'Neil.

"Technically she wasn't really tortured though," pointed out Jackson but he was moving towards the door. "But I'll go find her."

"Her being?" asked Camille.

"Samantha Carter."

Brody had left Eli and Chloe in the infirmary once Rush was sleeping soundly. He didn't want the two knowing how completely shaken he had been seeing Rush like that.

The problem was, he needed to tell the others what had happened and Brody didn't know if he could take that.

But just as he appeared in the Interface Room, the other members of the Science Team all looked grim. "What?"

"We're still having malfunctioning systems," replied Volker. "The biggest ones are the shield."

They had dropped out of FTL a couple of hours ago and were scheduled to leave in another eight hours. "The shields are only at 2.5% shield strength and if we don't get that up, we're going to be in very big trouble."

"Not to mention the FTL drive itself looks like it's encountering some problems," said Park. "Not really sure though…"

Brody sighed. "You mean we need Rush to look at it."

"How is he?' asked Park. "Honestly.'

"Honestly," began Brody as he looked at the console. "Not good...and I don't think he'll be up and working in time for to fix anything on this ship." He looked back at the console. Rush was out and he didn't want to die in space. "What could be wrong with the shield?"

'It over exerted itself," pointed out Volker and Brody gave him a confused look. "Hear me out," he voiced out raising his arms. "The shields weren't meant to have that amount of power for a long time. It's capacity was exceeded and thus its ability to house power might have been compromised."

"Like overcharging a battery?" offered Brody and Volker nodded. "It's capacity might have decreased...but at that much?"

"Or it's just not taking power because of what Destiny had done," said Park. "Destiny diverted most of its power to the shields during that time...it's original programming may have been overwritten."

"That explains everything else thats wrong with the other systems too," pointed out Brody. "Destiny did an overwrite to all its system to save us from the radiation."

"And someone needs to write them back," replied Volker, knowing full well that there was really one person who could do that.

The man unconscious in the infirmary.

"You want anything to eat?" asked Eli as he continued to pace the infirmary. Chloe sat on the bed right next to where Dr. Rush laid. Eli had been trying to distract himself since TJ and Camille had left to use the communication stones.

"I'm good Eli," replied Chloe although her eyes weren't looking his way. She was far too focused on the small hint of Rush's chest rising and falling slightly, a rhythmic breathing pattern that told her the scientist was fast asleep. At least not dreaming this time around.

Eli finally gave up his pacing and chose to sit next to her on the bed...well leaning on the bed next to where she sat.

"What do we do?" asked Eli, his voice barely above a whisper. "Volder and Lisa were saying that the ship's systems weren't in good shape and they don't think we'll be able to fix it without Dr. Rush...and it's not like I want him to be alright like that so he could save us again but we also-

"Eli," said Chloe sharply but quietly. The boy was having a small rant but she knew that it wouldn't help things, for Rush and for him, at all."Don't wake him."

"I'm sorry," came the immediate apology. "I just...everyone thinks I'm some sort of boy wonder when the truth is, I rely on Dr. Rush to save my own ass from my own careless mistakes."

"He's done a lot for us," agreed Chloe. "And everyone still blames him for getting us out of Icarus...alive if I can just point out."

"Yeah," whispered Eli, looking at the sleeping man. "I think we would have destroyed Earth if we had dialled home." He paused as he continued to study Rush's form. "He made that decision. Dial Earth with the chance that it would destroy the galaxy or dial the unknown and hope to rescue everyone and Earth in the process."

"He didn't give that burden to anyone else," began Chloe, suddenly finding it difficult to look at Rush. "He made that decision knowing that everyone else would blame him for it."

Her thoughts went back to her father and how she had shoved Rush to the floor and blamed the scientist for her father's death.

And then it shifted to when the aliens had abducted her and Rush had rescued her and brought her back to Destiny.

Rush could have left her alone there. But he didn't. He went and risked his own life to get her and save her He didn't stop there. He still helped her whenever she got the nightmares of being back on that ship.

Eli sighed and made to say something when the doors to the infirmary admitted the very grim faces of the Scientist Team. Eli's eyes widened and Brody turned to him, "We have a problem."

He had expected Sam's glare when she had entered the office. Of course Daniel would have told her everything, and of course she would have gotten an earful from Jackson but as he had pointed out what's done was done. It's not like he could go back in time and change things.

Sam had wanted a word before she would talk to the two from Destiny and O'Neil had ushered her out of his office.

"He was your friend, if I remember correctly," said Sam as soon as he shut the door. "And the fact that he is a civilian scientist."

"Sam," began O'Neil but the glre kept him in place. "I made a wrong choice."

"No you let Young do what he wanted," corrected Sam. "We all know how the colonel felt about Dr. Rush and given the choice between him and Telford, we know where Young's priorities are."

O'Neil winced at that. He didn't actually do anything to take command of what Young was doing. He didn't feel comfortable taking charge when he didn't understand a lot of things with regards to Destiny but he should have stepped in to save a civilian.

"There's nothing I can really share with Ms. Wray and Lt. Johansen," said Sam after a moment. "That you and Daniel don't already know."

"Anything will help them at this point, I think," replied O'Neil as they went back inside.

"Ms. Wray, Lt. Johansen," began O'Neil as he sat back down behind his desk. "Brigadier General Samantha Carter."

"Lieutenant, Ms. Wary," replied Sam as she shook their hands. "I'm not sure I can be of help, but I will try."

"Thank you General," replied TJ. "I was just in need of any information that could help me treat whatever is happening with Dr. Rush."

"You said that the device used on him was some form of the Rod of Anguish?" asked Sam and TJ nodded. "All I can tell you Lieutenant, is that Dr. Rush went through levels of pain unimaginable to anyone else."

TJ and Camille all exchanged a worried look. "Did the pain linger?"

"I'm sorry?" asked Sam as she turned to Jackson.

"Rush is apparently having episodes wherein he feels the torture he had endured," explained Jackson. "Not just the pain, as I understand it, am I correct Lt. Johansen?"

"He had mentioned that during the episodes, it would feel like he was back on the Alliance's ship and can even remember what Kida and her men were saying above him." clarified TJ.

"Not to mention the traumas his body endured while he and Col. Telford were still using the stones." added Camille.

"What did the man from the Alliance said about the device?" asked Sam.

"That unlike the Rod of Anguish, it sends a pulse to the brain instead of an electric shock," remembered TJ. "

"Commanding it to fill pain," finished Sam her eyes widening. "Did he say how to undo it?"

"Nobody has been subjected to the device for such a long period as they did on Dr. Rush," answered Camille.

"So this device," began Jackson. "It's like if used too much, it'll basically make the person feel chronic pain or," he swallowed. "Make the person feel the torture over and over again."

"Varro, the member of the Lucian Alliance, had said that it was an effect that the Alliance were wary about that is why they never used it too much on a person," replied TJ.

"Until they were desperate." added O'Neil.

Silence fell upon the office.

Samantha swallowed and straightened up. She turned to Jackson. "I'm sure we can find something on this device that can help with whatever Dr. Rush is suffering under."

Jackson nodded and turned to the two. "We'll get right on it. As for Dr. Rush, I think the safest thing to assume right now is to keep him relaxed or calm or unconscious."

"And have someone with him at all times in case he has another episode," added O'Neil.

"Given the last episode," began TJ. "I don't think he'll be up any time soon."

"Let's just hope nothing happens with Destiny while we're dealing with this," said Jackson, but he had spoke too soon.