Chapter 15 ~ Broken

When the bright light faded they found themselves in the infirmary. Jack stood over the battered couple as if it was his presence that had guiding them to safety, Daniel knelt over Leesia, his hand still pressed firmly into her abdomen. He didn't even seem to notice their instant change in location, his attention focused solely on his deathly pale, unconscious wife. In the darkened ship the paleness of her skin tone was barely noticeable, but in the brightly lit infirmary it suddenly became painfully obvious just how much blood she had lost.

There was a short moment of astonishment from the medical staff at the sudden appearance of half the flagship team and the former Ancient into their surroundings, before Jack barked at them for assistance, Janet took charge and the infirmary became a hive of activity.

Daniel continued to apply pressure to her abdomen as the unconscious Leesia was lifted onto an bed and became the focus of Janet's worker bees. "How long has she been bleeding like this?" Janet asked him.

"I don't know, at least 15, 20 minutes."

"20 units of Oxytocin." Janet instructed. "And set up a large-bore IV, two units O negative." she said as she took over the fundal massage from Daniel.

"We've got a dislocated shoulder over here as well." Jack told the nurses, pointing at Daniel, who turned to stare at him in shock. "What?" Jack asked, seeing his friends stunned expression, "Did you think I didn't notice?"

The truth was, even though Daniel was still holding his wounded arm tight to his chest, he had forgotten all about it himself in the panic and chaos of the situation, it was only now Jack mentioned it that the pain began to register in his mind.

He was eased back, away from her and guided back onto a bed. He kept his eyes locked on Leesia, saw needles inserted and shots given, before he was manoeuvred onto his back and the mass of medical staff working around her blocked his view. Still he kept his sight fixed in her direction.

As professional fingers began prodding and fondling his injured shoulder he heard Janet announce that surgery was required and Leesia was wheeled out of the infirmary toward the theatre, escorted by Janet and her immediate team.

"Prepare an IV sedative," the Doctor examining him called to one of the nurses.

"No!" Daniel insisted, snapping his attention to the man for the first time. "I need to be awake."

"Doctor Jackson you will only be out for a few minutes."

"I said no." Daniel said softly, raising his eyebrows as if daring them to argue.

"Oh for crying out loud, Daniel," Jack snapped. "Just let them give you the damn anaesthetic."

"Jack," Daniel said, his tone was pleading and in that one mention of his name Daniel managed to tell his friend everything. Jack understood, with his wife in surgery and his newborn infant son missing somewhere in the cosmos, Daniel needed to think. He needed to be lucid. Now wasn't the time to be drugged, no matter for how long.

"Okay," the Doctor nodded, seeing that he had lost the support of the one person in the room who had a chance of talking some sense into Doctor Jackson. "Give me twenty-five millilitres of Novocaine."

Daniel tried not to wince as he was injected, repeatedly, directly into his swollen shoulder joint. "How did you find us?" he asked Jack, his curiosity flaring as well as wanting a much needed distraction from the pain.

Jack took a deep breath and keep eye contact with Daniel while he spoke, not wanting to see what the Doc was doing to his friend…or the size of the needle he was using. "Frasier got concerned when you didn't check in. When she rung you and got no answer I got sent round to check on the pair of ya. You need a new lock by the way. Anyway from the subtle clues you had left around the place, it looked like the pair of you had disappeared into thin air. An Asgard beam was the most likely explanation."

"Subtle clues?" Daniel questioned, his jaw tense as the physician took hold of his left arm gently, grasping above the inside of his elbow with one hand and holding his wrist with the other.

Jack continued. "Yeah, you know, house locked up from the inside, your bags still inside, as well as your keys, car still parked out the front, that sort of thing."

"Genius." Daniel said.

"Try to relax." the physician told Daniel, seeing how he was fisting the bed sheets with his free hand.

"This is about as relaxed as he's gonna get, Doc." Jack told him.

With another nod, the Doctor started slowly pulled down on Daniel's arm, forcing the clenched muscles to stretch.

Daniel felt like he was trapped in a medieval torture rack as the doctor began to manipulate his bones, trying to coerce them to slide back into position. The pain causing his eyes to water and the moisture to run down his face into his hair. He tried to concentrate on Jack's story.

"Anyway, we knew it wasn't the Asgard 'cause they'd taken you guys and not, well, me and we knew that Osiris's ship had to still be in orbit, so Carter ran some sort of scan thingy and found that three satellites had been knocked out by an EM pulse."

"It was Leesia's ability." Daniel said with a wince. "She took out the entire ship." Despite the pain, the pride in Daniel's voice was noticeable.

"Yeah, we figured as much. Anyway after that it was easy to find you. Just needed a ship"

"So you contacted the Asgard?"

"I called in a favour." Jack nodded. "They owed me one. For the whole Loki situation. Plus I think Thor feels a bit responsible, you know, with it being his brain they picked to get the beaming technology in the first-."

The rest of Jack's story was drowned out by Daniel's strangled cry of pain, as a crack signalled that his shoulder had popped back into the socket.

Daniel sighed in relief, as the Doctor gently bent his arm at the elbow and positioning it across his chest.

"Okay, Doctor Jackson, just hold that there for a second and rest. You'll have to go for an x-ray to make sure it's set in place."

"Thank you," Daniel said, his tone sounding anything but grateful.

The second the Doctor left the infirmary to arrange the x-ray, Daniel pushed himself into a sitting position and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Jack wanted to protest and insist that Daniel should be taking it easy, for a while at least, but he knew better, it would only lead to an argument and that was the last thing his friend needed right now.

"Hey, guess what the ship was called…The Daniel Jackson."

Daniel fidgeted. "Yeah? That's…nice." He was itching to get out of the infirmary and find out what was happening with Leesia's surgery.

Picking up on his friends discomfort, Jack restlessly shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Yeah, shame you didn't get to see it."

"Maybe I will." Daniel said absentmindedly, his eyes focused on the door, more than a little tempted to make a bolt for it. He could have an x-ray later, once he knew Leesia was okay.

"Hope not," Jack continued with the small talk, doing his best to prevent Daniel's overactive mind from slipping into the turmoil that he could already see threatening in his distinct eyes. "Every time we're on one of their ships it's because something bad is happening."

"Good point." Daniel said, rewarding Jack with a slight smile for his efforts.

…

Daniel paced, his free hand deep in his pocket, his shoulders hunched forwards. Every time he reached the end of the observation room he stole a glance at the operating theatre below and each time he wished he hadn't. There was too many wires...and tubes…and drips…and blood…and latex gloves with red coated fingers, too many people in masks working over her immobile form and yet he couldn't seem to stop himself.

The second the x-ray had confirmed that his shoulder was set correctly and a sling had been fitted (which he was told he would have to ware for a few day to allow his stretched or possibly torn soft tissue to heal), he had sprinted from the infirmary straight to the observation area of the theatre. However, once there, the waiting had begun.

It had been hours. Hours of pacing and panicking. Twice his heart had lodged itself in his throat when the alarm had sounded its warning that her pulse rate had dropped to critical levels and the crash team had rushed into action. He hadn't been able to move…or breath as they worked over her, fighting to keep her alive…Until, after what seemed like an eternity, the machine had finally returned to its pulsating rhythm. Daniel had huffed out a sigh of relief so hard that it had hurt his throat and he returned to his pacing and panicking, but added praying into the mix.

Jack returned, with a coffee for each of them. He handed one to Daniel, who took it gratefully. "Any change?"

Daniel shock his head, taking a slip of the boiling beverage, wincing at the bitter taste 'Jack forgot the sugar…again.' He set down the mug and continued his pacing.

Jack sat back in one of the few office chairs, ran his fingers through his greying hair and observed his closest friend. It seemed impossible to think that this was the same person whom, only two nights ago, he had been chasing around the bar trying to keep him away from a 'Hathor' look-a-like and listening to his giddy banter. That Daniel had been so excited, happy and carefree, that he radiated joy to the point where his smile had been contagious. This Daniel, however looked…broken. Sure, in true 'Jackson' style, he was putting on a brave front, but Jack knew him too well and for too long to be fooled by the act.

He was aware that the chance of getting Daniel to take a break where slim to none, but he tried anyway. "Should you really be up?"

"It's just my shoulder, my legs are fine."

"And they're gonna be a couple of inches shorter if you keep pacing up and down here like a caged beast."

"I'll risk it." Daniel said drying.

"Okay, but when you fall through the hole you're warring out in the floor, and end up in the mess, you can bring up the coffee." Jack said, hoping that he would raise at least a polite smile from Daniel. He was disappointed. The archaeologist just continued his relentless cycle; Pace to the end of the room, steal a glace at the theatre, eyes back to the floor, back to the other side of the room, another glance…and so it continued.

Subtlety hadn't worked, so Jack tried the direct approach. "Why don't you get some rest? I'll can keep a visual."

"I'm fine."

There is was; the 'fine' always used when things were undoubtedly not 'fine'. "Never said you weren't," Jack answered quickly. "But you might as well, while you've got the chance."

"No, I need to be here when she wakes up." Daniel said with a firmness that told Jack it would be pointless to argue with him further. He was determined that the first thing Leesia saw, the second her eyes opened, would be him. The thought that the last thing she had seen, before she passed out, was him hurting her was haunted him. Even if he had been trying to stop the bleeding and save her life, he hated the fact that he had caused her more pain. The scream that she had let out as he had squeezed her abdomen echoed through his deeply troubled mind. She had tried to push him away, but he had stood his ground, like some harbinger of agony. If she died on that table and that was the last thing she saw…

"…If she wakes up," he added under his breath.

"You can't think like that. Besides won't she just…" Jack raised his arms, palms up, fingers wide, miming something rising up to the ceiling.

"Ascend?" Daniel offered, shaking his head so minutely that had Jack not been watching him as closely as he was he would have missed it altogether.

"Why not? She could take a trip to the lighter planes, catch up with some old pals and be back in time for breakfast."

Daniel shook his head sadly, his chin dropping to rest on his chest. "It doesn't work like that. When she became human, it was permanent. There's no going back."

"One way ticket ay?" Jack said with a thoughtful nod.

Daniel took a quick look at his friend over the top of his glasses. It was clear what he was trying to do; keep the mood light in an attempt to drive away the negative thoughts and feelings, it was Jack's way…it was SG-1's way. Their faked nonchalance attitudes kept them strong in the face of overwhelming odds, grave dangers and potentially deadly situations. However, this was not one of those times and Daniel was struggling to erect the protective walls around his heart.

He collapsed into a chair and quickly covered his face with both his hands, to hide the wetness that suddenly started leaking from his eyes. "I can't lose her." he whispered desperately, even saying the words made the ache in his heart flare.

"That's not gonna happen, Danny boy." Jack said confidently. "That's Janet Never-Gives-Up-On-A-Patient Frasier with her. To say she's in the best possible hands wouldn't do the Doc justice. You know better than most what that woman-" Jack's speech was interrupted by the buzz of the telephone on the wall behind his head.

Jack picked it up on the second ring. "O'Neill…Yes, sir…We're on our way."

"We are?" Daniel asked with raised eyebrows as Jack replaced the phone.

"Carter and Teal'c are back, Hammonds called a briefing."

Daniel's attention turned longingly back to Leesia. His need for information regarding his son conflicting with his need to be with her. He didn't want to be away from her for any length of time, but what choice did he have.

Seeing Daniel's reluctance to leave, Jack quickly stepped out into the hallway. "Hey you!" he shouted at a passing Lieutenant. "You busy?"

Nervously, the young man looked up at the senior officer. "Well, actually, sir I was-"

"Good." Jack interrupted. "Listen, I need you to keep an eye on the situation here. The second there is any change, no matter how small, you're to call the briefing room immediately. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir."

Jack stepped out into the hall and waited for Daniel to join him. With one long lingering look at Leesia, Daniel reluctantly followed.

The corridors were busy with SGC staff, most of whom gave them curious looks of concern as they passed by, telling them that the news of what had happened to their resident Archaeologist and his new bride during the night had filtered through the grape vine.

When they reached the briefing room they found the others already waiting for them.

Hammond gestured for the pair of them to be seated and turned to Daniel. The younger man kept his head down to hide his red lined eyes, but it was clear to everyone he was worried sick. His usual can-do, never give up spirit seemed to have been replaced with a more subdued hopelessness, as if he carried the weight of the world on his weary shoulders.

"It's good to see that you're alright, Son." Hammond said in his usual Texan drawl. "I realise you must be keen to be with your wife, but I thought you would want to be here to hear this first hand."

Mutely, Daniel nodded, not trusting his voice not to break at that moment.

"What is the condition of Leesia Jackson?" Teal'c inquired.

Daniel coughed to cleared his emotionally tight throat, so he could answer, but before he got chance to speak Jack answered for him. "She's still in surgery at the moment, T."

"Let's start at the beginning people." Hammond ordered, calling the meeting to order. The quicker they got through this briefing and into action the better for all concerned. His flagship team would not sit around twiddling their thumbs and wagging their tongues for long before their patients ran out, but he needed to have all the bases covered. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the briefing table and interlocking his fingers, turning to Sam gesturing for her to start the proceedings.

"When we got to the ship it became apparent that the power had been taken out. We assumed it was Leesia's ability." Sam said, looking to Daniel for conformation.

He nodded, taking a long wavering breath.

"It was caught in the gravitational pull of the sun. A scan of the ship showed only two human life signs on board."

"Doctor Jackson and Leesia?"

"Yes, sir." Sam validated.

"So, where was the baby?"

"The glider bays were damaged and a substantial number of the gliders missing." Teal'c said. "We deduced that when Anubis's Jaffa where unable to return power to the ship they used them to make their escape, taking the infant with them."

Sam continued her explanation for the General's benefit. "Colonel O'Neill and I beamed aboard to find them and assess the situation. Once we found them it was clear that Leesia's condition was critical so Colonel O'Neill brought them back here, while Teal'c and I searched the ship for any clues and Thor towed the ship back into our orbit."

"So what did you find?" Jack asked.

"We did managed to extract some data. It looks like Anubis knew about Leesia's pregnancy before she became human. Once she did he began looking into human/Ancient hybrids."

Teal'c took over. "As a part ascended being, any humans he took as host quickly perished. It is his belief that he will achieve better results with the Jackson's son. If he is successful then he will become a more formidable enemy."

"Oh, hell no!" Jack shot out angrily. "That's gonna happen over my dead body. Tell me you got an address."

"We got an address." Sam confirmed.

"Yes!" Jack said punching the air.

No one joined him in his celebration.

"Not, yes?" he inquired, lowing his arms slowly.

Sam looked pained. "The ship was heading for Tararus."

"As in Super Solider grand central?"

"Yes, sir."

"Damn." Jack sighed out.

Daniel pulled off his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes closed, as if he could will out the images that flooded into his mind. Tararus, Anubis's main base of operation, was primarily used as a lab. The thought of what his son would be subjected to when the Jaffa reached their destination sent a fierce shiver down his spine.

"Would you like a minutes, Doctor Jackson?"

He looked up to find four pairs of eyes watching him with concerned sorrowfulness.

"No, I'm fine." he managed to choke out.

Unconvinced, but needed to keep the briefing moving Hammond turned to the others. "How do you propose getting there? The force shield over the Stargate made it impenetrable to all but the Kull warriors."

"Or by ship." Sam continued. "While the power is still down for most of it I did managed to get this working." Sam said, placing on the desk in view of everyone a modified hand device. "It's the same as the one Osiris used to beam directly in and out of Daniel's house. It activates the beaming technology on the ship remotely. We can use it to beam directly onto the planet."

"There are powerful sensors surrounding the planet that would detect the approach of a ship?"

"Yes, sir, but that's where we ran into some luck."

Daniel's head shot up, hope flaring in his blue eyes for the first time.

"The ship was fitted with a homing beckon, similar to the ones Apophis fitted to his death gliders."

"Anubis will be expecting the ships return." Daniel realised with a nod, seeing where Sam's thoughts were leading.

"Exactly." Sam said with a smile, pleased that she could give him some much needed good news. "So, he wont fire upon it. All we have to do is get the ship working again and let the homing beckon do its job."

"Then we can beam down and snatch the kid back," Jack said. "Piece of cake."

"The modified TER's have yet to be been testing in live a situation." the General said.

"I'm willing to take the risk, sir." Daniel insisted.

"So am I." Jack added, at the same time that Sam said "Me too, sir."

"As am I." Teal'c concluded.

The General nodded, unsurprised by the teams response. "How long will it take to have the ship operational?"

"It'll take at least a few days to get the engines and hyper-drive up and running, the rest can be repaired on route."

Everyone's eyes turned to the phone as it rang. The General picked up the receiver. "Hammond…thank you Lieutenant." He looked over to Daniel who was on the edge of his seat. "She's out of surgery."

Before Hammond had even hung up, Daniel was up and sprinting from the briefing room. He ran as fast as his exhausted body would allow and only realised that the rest of SG-1 were hot on his heals when he was stalled waiting for the elevator.

He repeatedly jabbed at the 21 button in a futile attempt to speed up the elevators assent. The second the doors parted, he was off running again, coming to a skidding halt when he almost collided with Janet.

"Howisshe?" he asked so quickly the question came out as one word.

"She's going to be fine," Janet assured him quickly and Daniel let out a held breath, that he hadn't been aware of holding, in a long sigh of relief.

"The main danger was her haemorrhaging and the amount of blood loss she had already sustained when she came in. We've given her a transfusion and she's now stable, but there was a lot of internal damage. It was close, but thankfully, we managed to avoid a hysterectomy."

Daniel's stunned wide eyed, open mouthed expression deepened. He was aware of the haemorrhaging, that had been painfully obvious, but internal damage sever enough for Janet to consider a hysterectomy was a shocking revelation. "It was that bad?"

"I'm afraid so. The damage that she has sustained isn't typical of a natural or assisted delivery." Janet's features softened, turning her from professional Doctor to concerned friend in an instant. "Daniel, I'm really very sorry, but looks like the baby was taken from her by force."

"Oh, god…" Daniel croaked. He forced himself to ask the question he didn't want to hear the answer to. "How?"

"I can't be sure, but the damage looks too...precise."

"He was cut out?" Daniel said hearing the same emotionless tone to his voice that he had heard from Leesia before. Although his mind was closing itself off, trying to protect itself, but apparently his body had other ideas. Janet handed him a tissue. He hadn't even realised he was crying.

Janet's small nod was deeply troubled. "That's what it looks like. To be honest with you, I'm surprised she even survived it."

"Jeez." Jack breathed, placing a comforting hand on his friends shaking shoulder.

"And if it wasn't for your treatment, she probably wouldn't have. Daniel, your quick thinking probably saved her life."

Daniel turned his tear stained face up to her, the news did little to ease the ache in his heart. "Can I see her?"

Janet nodded. "She's been moved to recovery for the moment. It'll be a while for the anaesthetic to ware off, but I'm arranging for some private quarters for you both given her aversion to the infirmary. She'll still need to be monitored regularly, but I think it'll be less stressful for her this way."

"Thank you," Daniel said sincerely, knowing how much an inconvenience that arrangement would be for her and her staff. "I should be there when she wakes up."

Jack watched his friend slump off in the direction of recovery, the wariness of his movements was a heartbreaking sight. He was physically and emotionally exhausted and Jack doubted that would ease once Leesia was awake.

"We need to get out there, get the kid and bring him home as soon as possible." he said, unnecessarily to the other two members of his team. 'For both their sakes.'

…

The sight that met Daniel in the recovery room was not a pleasant one. However, he appreciated that it was substantially better than the one he had been faced with for hours before while he had watched her surgery. The ghostly paleness of her skin was now replaced with a tender pink tone, that was closer to the colour he was used to seeing on her, yet there was a waxy coolness to it, that served as a subtle reminder of what she had endured. As if he needed one.

There was a plastic hard-backed chair in the corner of the room and he quickly dragged it across the floor as close to her bed as was physically possible. He perched on the edge to get closer still and gently took hold of her hand. It seemed so small in his. Her hands were naturally tiny, but now it just made her seem more delicate, more fragile, more breakable. He swallowed back a hard lump in his throat, as he wondered if the way the tingles had decreased were due to her not being pregnant anymore or because of her weakened state. Quickly he pushed the thought aside, both could be true and neither made him feel any better.

The regular electrical beep, beep, beep, from the machine that were monitoring her vitals, echoed through the still sterile air. He was used to that sound, in his years on SG-1 he had heard it more times than he cared to remember. Usually he found it irritating and tuned it out, but now each tiny bleep reminded him that she was alive! Each pulse proved that there was a silver lining around this thick black storm cloud. He embraced the ray of joy that stabbed though the bleakness of his overwhelming despair. He hadn't lost her, she was going to be okay and they had even had a plan to get their son back.

Their son. He had been desperately trying not to think about what could be happening to him. Knowing that when he breached that void it was be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to pull himself out of the whirlpool of anguish that he would find himself in. But now they had a plan, they would get him back…the silver lining grew a little thicker.

Tenderly, he pressed a kiss on the back of her knuckles and laid his weary head on his wrist, close to their joined hands. From this distance he could smell the subtle floral citrus scent of her skin. It was the aroma of comfort.

Slowly, his heavy eyes flittered closed.

It only seemed like moments later (although the dryness in his mouth and stiffness in his neck told him that it must have been substantially longer) that a slight moan rolled softly from her and woke him. Instantly, Daniel jerked his head up. "Leesia." he called hopefully, pressing the call button to alert Janet.

There was a long seconds pause, before her lips slightly parted. "Daniel?"

"I'm here."

Keeping her eyes closed, she reached for him. He took her hand and pressed her palm against his cheek. "I'm right here. We're home. You're safe."

"You got us out."

"No, it was the others, they found us."

"Our baby?" she asked in a hushed voice, engraved with agony.

Daniel fought down the lump in his throat. "I'm so sorry, Lees. I couldn't leave you like that and when Jack and Sam got there he was already gone. But we know where he is. We're going to get him back."

She turned her desperate eyes up to him, they flared with agony. "You didn't find him."

"I'm sorry." he said, bowing his head. "I didn't get us out in time. I let you down… I fail you."

"Daniel." Jack's voice broke through his guilt ridden confession. He hadn't even realised Jack was there. "Can I borrow you a minute?"

"Now's really not a good time." Daniel sniffed.

"Has to be now." Jack insisted.

Daniel scrubbed his hand roughly over his face in annoyance. "I'll be right back." he told Leesia, leaning over her and gently leaving a kiss on her forehead. She gazed up at him fleetingly as he rose, but didn't respond.

As soon as they were alone Jack rounded on his best friend. "I'm only gonna say this once Daniel. This guilt you're putting on yourself …Get over it!"

Daniel mouth dropped open and he stared at his friend in disbelief.

"We all know that you can be a stubborn little S.O.B sometimes, well most of the time actually, we all can and that's probably what's kept us alive doing what we're doing. You've needed it, but trust me when I say this is not one of those times."

"Look, Jack I appreciate what you're trying to do, but-"

"-No buts, Daniel." he interrupted. Jack observed his shoes carefully as he continued. "After Charlie…with Sara…" he swallowed hard, unable to finish either sentences. "I couldn't let it go. She forgave me, but I couldn't. Even now. It cost me my marriage. What happened was not your fault, Daniel and if I know that young lady in there like I think I do, she wont put any blame on you, so don't put any on yourself. Don't make the same mistake I made."

A light tapping of high heels on the hard floor announced Janet's arrival moments before she appeared around the corner.

"She woke up a few minutes ago." Daniel told her.

Daniel went to follow the Doctor, but paused and turned back to Jack. "You know, what happened to Charlie…that wasn't your fault either."

"Yeah." Jack sighed doubtfully, his attention staying fixed on his shoes as he kicked at the floor.

Briefly the two friends made eye contact. They didn't need to put into word what was being said. The simply look was all the pair needed to convey their understanding of the depth of each others pain and show that they knew they had the support of the other.

With a thoughtful nod, Daniel turned and jogged away to catch up with Janet, managing to fall alongside her as they entered the recovery room.

"Hey," Janet greeted the former Ancient, "How're you feeling?" she asked as Daniel immediately took up his post by his wife's side.

Leesia didn't respond as Daniel took back hold of her free hand, she just blinked up at the Doctor who had started checking over her vitals. "Uh, confused, tired, nauseas, sore, yet…numb." she admitted weakly.

"Well, that's to be expected. You're on a lot of medication at the moment. But you're going to be just fine." Janet told her, patting her arm.

Daniel squeezed her hand and she finally looked up to him, a flitting glimmer of hope shining briefly on her face, before she dropped her gaze and her fingers grazed delicately over his sling. "The Jaffa?" she asked. "You fought back."

He nodded. "It's okay." he whispered, wishing that she would look at him. Over their time together he had seen many emotions playing through those beautiful eyes of hers, but he had never before seen what he had just witnessed in her fleeting glance. She had seemed…hallow, empty on the surface, but there was another emotion intensely burning beneath. It looked almost like…anger.

With Leesia vitals all in the green, Janet escorted the couple to the private quarters she had arranged for her recovery. When everything was set up, she pulled Daniel aside.

"There is a proviso to you using this room." Janet began, noticing she only had half of Daniel's attention, his eyes wouldn't leave Leesia for longer than a few seconds. "And that is that you get some rest yourself."

"I'm fine." Daniel replied with his automatic response, his arms wrapping around his waist, his gaze falling back to his wife.

"You've been up for over thirty hours straight, Daniel. You're physically and mentally exhausted." she argued. "Get some sleep. Doctors orders."

"I'll try." Daniel said with a small nod.

"That's all I ask." Janet said turning to leave, but Daniel called her name, halting her in the doorway. She turned back to face him.

"Thank you." he said with a weak smile, the sincerity of his words shining though his troubled eyes.

She returned his smile. "If either of you need anything-"

"-I'll call." he promised.

As soon as Janet closed the door behind her and they were alone, Daniel undone the Velcro straps of the sling, slipped it off and tossed it onto the sideboard. He expected to hear Leesia protest, insist that he keep it on, but she remained completely silent. And when he glanced over to her, he saw that she had turned on her side to face the door and was staring, blankly into some obligatory space ahead of her.

"You okay?" he asked gently, knowing it was a stupid question, only wanting to hear her voice something, anything. Mutely, she blinked, gave him a fleeting glance, then continued her stare into nothing.

Realising she wasn't willing to speak about what she had been through, Daniel moved around the bed and slipped in behind her. He wrapped his good arm around her, offering the only comfort he could think of. She gripped his hand tightly, pulling it even tighter around her as she trembled in his arms. He raised himself up onto his elbow to allow it. It made his shoulder throb, but he didn't care, he would give her any comfort he could, regardless of any pain it cost him.

He held her that way for a long time, until he finally heard her speak.

"I feel dead." she said, her tiny hollow voice shattered the still silence.

His brow furrowed in pain as he listened her words that seemed to punch straight through his chest.

"I can feel the air filling my lungs with each breath…and I can feel every throb of my heart…but I am dead."

He reached over her and softly cupped her cheek in his palm. "Feel me, Leesia." he whispered as the tingles jumped between them. She had used the same method, albeit the other way around, to show him exactly how exhausted his body had been once before, he used it now to show her how much life still flowed inside her. "You cant be dead if we still spark."

She broke down then, big heavy tears poured freely down her cheeks as she shook with sobs. She spun in his arms so she could bury her face into his chest, her tears wetting the front of his t-shirt.

"I wish I were. You should have let me die Daniel. Why did you save me, only to face this?"

Her words it him like a slap. He pulled her tighter to him, to ensure the look of horror that he knew was plastered to his face was hidden from her and whispered "Because I need you."

Slowly she brought her head up to look at him. Her tears had ceased and she wore a look of shocked mournfulness. "Oh God, Daniel." she gasped. "I'm sorry…I should…I should not have said that. I did not mean…Daniel?"

"It's okay, it's okay." he tried to sooth her.

"I did not mean that Daniel. I do not know why I said that…I could never leave you. I need you also." her fingers grazed over his face as if she could wipe away the hurt look he wore with her touch. "I am sorry…so sorry."

"We'll get him back. I swear to you, we will"

He held her that way, tight to his chest, while rocking her gently, until (after much silent sobbing) she succumb to the effects of the painkillers and fell asleep in the safety of her loves arms. It was a long while later that Daniel's own exhaustion forced him to surrendered to the demands of a much needed slumber himself.

He didn't know if it was mere minutes or hours later when he was awoken by her moans and a pain that flared through his shoulder, as it protested to the position he had been in.

Realising he was too anxious to return to sleep, he gently eased himself away from her sleeping form and as carefully as he could, slipped out of bed. The throbbing in his shoulder forced him to put the sling back on and he started padding silently back and forth along the room. His arms wrapped around himself in a self hug, his eyes never leaving her. Her moaning grew louder and more frequent as he continued pacing up and down. Then she twisted in the bed. The tiny thrash wrapping, the already low sheets, down around her legs.

The warmth in the room meant she wouldn't get cold, but the movement showed off the new flatness of her abdomen and Daniel had to bring his clenched fist to his mouth to bite back a cry of rage. Her startled twitch informing him that it was a nightmare she was having and not just a dream. He thought about waking her, but hesitated, unsure. She had been through so much, emotionally, as well as physically and she needed to rest, in order to heal.

"No…Please…do not…My baby!" her cries, soft and low, but full of pain, made his decision for him. He moved quickly to the bed to wake her. He may not have been able to spare her the reality, but he could rescue her from the nightmare. But as he got closer he noticed something.

Because of her twisting the gown that she wore had ridden higher on her, revelling a wide stripe of her torso. In the dim light he had mistaken the markings for shadow, but as he neared he saw the reality. Angry black-purple markings, leaked out from under the hem, staining her pale skin, as evidence of what she had endured. He had never seen bruising that severe before. Janet's words echoed through his head 'taken from her by force'.

"Leesia, wake up. You're dreaming." he said softly as he held her.

She thrashed, trying to break the confines of his embrace.

"It's me. It's Daniel. You're safe. It's okay." he told her trying to sooth her. He held his grip on her, even though she had twisted around and was shoving against his chest with all her strength.

It took a few moments for her to realise what he had said, but she stopped fighting him and looked up at his face. She looked so weary and confused. "Daniel?"

"I'm here. It's okay." he soothed, pulling her back into his arms and kissing the top of her head.

"It is not okay." she said her voice muffled against his chest.

"I know." he admitted mournfully, "…But it will be." he added, making his words a promise. He would stop at nothing to make his vow true.