A/N's: thanks for your pm's, reviews and birthday wishes! you guys are great... an extra long chapter today... so enjoy.

Major Sam Carter had been on watch for almost two hours. Daniel and Janet were sleeping soundly next to each other, while she was waiting for dawn to rise.

The rest of the night had been quiet and, out here in the open, Sam had found herself sitting under the sky, looking at the stars above her head. Her mind still set on her CO, she wondered how many nights he'd spent in his life, gazing at the stars, either because he couldn't go to sleep because he was on a mission somewhere or because he couldn't sleep with the memories of certain missions haunting him. They'd spent too many nights in the fields for her to not notice, although the Colonel tried to hide as much as he could from the rest of the team. She knew he had a telescope on his roof and he had told her once that those stars were the only certainty he'd had in the past, knowing that they were always there, no matter where on Earth he was. She remembered him explaining that watching them gave him peace, or at least some semblance of it.

She stirred.

A soft sound attracted her attention. It came from the south, soft, as if somebody was approaching them.

She rose, quietly, bending over Daniel, waking him with probing one finger on his shoulder. She didn't need to say anything; the linguist was immediately on full alert, drawing his weapon closer.

Carter pointed with her finger and Daniel understood. She wanted him to cover one side while she quickly woke up Janet, one hand over the doctor's mouth in case she startled. "Ssshh," she whispered in Janet's ear, then turned her attention back to her surroundings.

They all waited, silently, on full alert, listening.

Another sound, soft scraping over rocks; clearly someone was heading into their direction. A familiar whistle pierced the air and Sam
relaxed, knowing it was Teal'c approaching them. She acknowledged the sound, letting him know they were present and awaiting them.

Only two minutes later, Colonel Bayfield appeared in front of her, with Teal'c on his heels.

"Sir," she softly greeted Bayfield, glancing at the burden on Teal'c's shoulders.

"Well done, Major," Colonel Bayfield complimented her. He assisted Teal'c in carefully lowering the injured man down. "Major Crook unfortunately didn't make it. Doc," he addressed Fraiser, "do what you can. We're leaving in five minutes."

Janet didn't waste any time, but was already on O'Neill's side, checking his vitals.

"Dr. Jackson, prepare a stretcher, then help Dr. Fraiser if there's still time. I want to move out and find a safer place so we can rest when it gets too hot to hike. Teal'c, cover that side, Major..." When he looked at Carter, he saw her, her shocked eyes looking down at her CO, taking in his condition.

"Major!" Bayfield stepped forward, took her firmly by the arm and guided her backwards. "Keep your eyes open. Remember: it's the Doc's job to keep him alive, but it's our job to keep them safe." The words sounded rough even to his own ears, but he needed her focused on her task; they really didn't need any surprises right now.

Carter was desperately fighting off the tears she felt welling up behind her eyes. Having performed field medicine more than once since she was assigned to the SGC she had needed only one look to understand that her CO was off in a bad way. Shaking her head, she tried to get her attention back on the task at hand.

She looked resolutely at Bayfield. "Yes, Sir, thank you."

Janet was rushing, knowing she hadn't much time. Her first quick exam finished, she knew that her patient was breathing without too much difficulty, his pulse was fast, his temp was high and that his pupils were responding properly to her penlight. He was awake, but unresponsive; which worried her, although his fever alone could be responsible for that. There was no time to examine him more thoroughly, but her eyes hadn't missed the shape and swelling of the left arm, the equally swollen right arm and the fact that his pants were torn. Knowing from the satellite photos that the Colonel had been caught in a mine detonation, she guessed that embedded shrapnel in his flesh was at least one of the problems.

She expertly inserted two separate IV-cannulas, taping them in place on his right hand and underarm. Rolling out the portable IV tubes, she quickly hooked him on to it, giving him the much-needed fluids and then injected him with a first shot of antibiotics and another strong pain medication through one of them.

Daniel was ready preparing the stretcher and worriedly bent over his friend, talking softly to him, but the only response he got was incoherent mumbling.

Colonel Bayfield softly clapped his hands, alerting everyone it was time to move on. While Janet picked up the IV's, Teal'c and Daniel gently lifted O'Neill onto the stretcher. Janet secured the IV-bags in place, then fastened the straps to keep the injured man from rolling off.

"Ready, Sir," she said.

"Okay, people, let's move. Dr. Jackson, can you carry the stretcher with Teal'c? Major, watch our six." With that, Colonel Bayfield took point
and led the group, heading up north.

They continued their trek up north until eleven in the morning, with only brief rests to change carriers and quickly allowing Dr. Fraiser to
do a vitals check and replace an empty IV-bag with another full one. Although everybody needed to keep their eyes on the track and surroundings, they all threw worried glances into the direction of their injured friend. Jack was awake most of the time, although not lucid
enough to recognize any of them. He was thrashing within the constraints of the straps, twisting and turning restlessly on the stretcher, softly murmuring incoherent words and moaning whenever he moved parts of his body he really shouldn't.

Fraiser walked close to the stretcher, ready to sedate her patient at the first order from Colonel Bayfield. She hastily wiped the sweat from his brows along the way and made sure the IV-lines stayed in place. She had no means of knowing whether he heard her at all, but she kept talking to him, softly, soothingly, in an attempt to calm him down.

They reached the position where Colonel Bayfield considered it safe to stay for a couple of hours and lowered the stretcher to the ground.

O'Neill was quiet now. He was breathing in slow, shallow gasps, his eyes open, but without really looking. His face was grimaced from the obvious pain he was in as he was really in need of another dose of morphine, but Janet wanted to thoroughly examine him before administering it.

Teal'c made himself useful by quickly sorting out blankets and sleeping bags, making a provisory bed, then gently lifted his CO from the stretcher and placed him on it, while Daniel carried the IV-bags along.

Colonel Bayfield wasted no more time. "Teal'c, you've had a long night. I want you to rest. Major, that leaves us on guard, while Dr. Jackson assists Dr. Fraiser."

"I believe you are also in need of rest, Colonel Bayfield," Teal'c frowned, looking at the leader of the group. "I can watch while you sleep."

"I'm fine. I want you fully alert when I close my eyes. Take as much as you need. I can sleep tonight."

"As you wish." With that short statement, Teal'c settled down in a corner and started Kel'no'reem.

Janet, meanwhile, had opened up her emergency medkit and was taking Jack's vitals. Daniel dropped on his knees next to his friend, looking questioningly at her. Fraiser checked the Colonel's pulse, lungs, and pupils then took his blood pressure. Placing the back of her hand against his forehead confirmed the still present fever.

"Colonel, how do you feel?" she asked, worried about his lack of response. She took his hand to squeeze it gently. "Sir?"

He didn't answer. He kept staring over her head instead, without even blinking an eye, but his eyesight was unfocussed, dazed.

Janet exchanged looks with Daniel. It was as if he hadn't heard her at all. She tried again. "Sir? It's Janet. Daniel's here, too. Can you squeeze my hand, Sir?"

She gave up, for now, as nothing happened and continued with her examination by letting her hands ran over his body, starting with his
head, probing, feeling, searching for anything amiss. The bruises on his jaw and above his eye were already fading. The eyes were sunken, probably caused by the dehydration. When she probed his shoulders Janet felt the slight swelling on his left side.

"Daniel, get me a pair of scissors. I need to cut off his shirt," she said, waiting for Daniel to hand her the requested equipment. After cutting away the material she was able to fully concentrate on her job.

She examined his shoulder by touch, flinching as her actions drew a soft moan from the Colonel's lips. "What happened here, Sir?" she asked, not really expecting a response but hoping she would somehow reach him.

"Is it broken?" Daniel asked.

"I don't think so," Janet said, frowning. "Everything seems to be in place. I can't tell without an X-ray." Already taking in the swollen arms, she first probed his chest and abdomen. Nothing gave where it shouldn't and his stomach felt soft, so no signs of internal injuries as yet.

She now turned her attention to his right arm, which was swollen from the elbow to the shoulder. The back of his arm was badly bruised; the dark blue and purple stains were ugly to look at. The skin felt hot to the touch and Fraiser took notice of the heavily infected areas.

"What's that?" Daniel had to know, his eyes wide with shock, his voice strained from what he saw.

"I think this is caused by the mine detonation. There's probably still shrapnel left in his flesh and it's badly infected," Janet said, already having moved on and now looking at the abraded wrist.

"But why is it so bruised?"

"The guards probably struck him there, Daniel," Janet said, shivering involuntarily. "Without the proper equipment, there's no way of telling how much damage is done. This here," she motioned at the Colonel's wrist, "is from chains or ropes, I gather."

She now removed the bandages that kept the left arm immobilized. "See? His left arm is in similar shape, although this looks even worse." She touched the swollen elbow and this time the Colonel moved, trying to withdraw from her touch, a soft moan tearing from his lips

"Easy, Sir. I need to see what's wrong." She kept her tone soft and reassuring. She hated hurting him, knowing he'd endured enough, but she had to continue. "His elbow is dislocated. I'll have to set that." She now moved her hands over his hips and legs, without finding anything further amiss except the damage she knew about on the back of his thighs.

"Sir, I want you to roll over a bit, so I can examine your back. Can you do that for me?" Janet thought for a while, thinking how to do that without damaging the Colonel's dislocated elbow any further. "Daniel, why don't you sit over here, and we'll roll him on his right side. You can hold him steady while I check his back."

Daniel quickly moved, helping to roll Jack over, leaning the injured man against him. "How's that?"

Janet inhaled sharply. She now had a good look on the Colonel's bare back and saw the black and blue stains spreading out over the lower part of his back.

"What?" Daniel bent forward. "Oh, my God," he hissed.

"Damn," Janet didn't curse easily, but couldn't hold it back any longer. Somebody had either hit or kicked him there and, after finding a spot with the shape of a foot, she guessed the latter. "I need a MRI, damn it, to see if there's damage to his kidneys or liver." Fraiser softly pushed on the bruised spots, biting her lips as O'Neill groaned. She really needed to re-examine his abdomen.

"Let's check out his legs," she announced, and cut off his pant-legs. Both of the limbs were in similar shape as his arm; badly bruised, swollen and infected in several places from the shrapnel left in his flesh. Welts across the troubled areas told her someone had hit him there, too. Having seen enough, she signaled Daniel to roll the Colonel back and carefully examined his belly once more.

"Okay, Sir, done." Janet softly ran a hand through his short gray hair, checking his forehead afterwards. "I'm going to give you another painkiller, the next shot of antibiotics and then we'll try to set that elbow first, okay?"

This time his eyes moved, searching for her face, confusion evident in his features. "Doc?" he whispered, his voice hoarse and rough.

"Yes, Sir, it's me," Janet said, smiling encouragingly at him. "How do you feel?" She quickly injected the pain medication in his IV and prepared the shot of antibiotics without losing eye contact with him.

He paused for a moment, as if considering. "Like crap," he admitted.

"Here, Jack. Drink some water," Daniel said, holding out the canteen, preparing to lift his friend's head. The younger man had a hard time removing the shocked impression from his face, and fought to regain control over his muscles that trembled with suppressed rage.

"Daniel?" Surprised, O'Neill moved his head, staring at the archaeologist. "Happened?"

Janet interrupted, motioning for Daniel to let him sip the water. "What's the last thing you remember, Sir?'

He sipped, thought for a second, frowning. "I was... oh, God..." He closed his eyes, and attempted to move his right arm to cover his face. The effort proved to be too much and with a grimace he gave up.

"What, Sir?" Janet insisted, wondering how much she should push him.

A deep sigh, then his eyes opened up and he searched her face. "I was... looking for... Charlie," he whispered.

Janet Fraiser swallowed. It was not what she had expected, although she realized she should have known his feverish dreams would be about his dead son. She softly patted his arm. "Charlie's gone, Sir."

"I know. Where are we?" He looked around, frowning again, searching his memory.

"We're still in Tyberia, Jack," Daniel said.

"Tyberia?" The injured man fell silent, then the lines of surprise vanished from his face as his memory slid back into place. "Oh."

Fraiser prepared herself for her next job. "The painkiller must have kicked in by now, Sir. I'm going to set your elbow. What do you remember?" She positioned herself, taking his upper arm in her left hand, ready to grip his wrist with the other.

"Enough," came the short reply, the roughness of his voice making Daniel flinch.

"So?" she asked, hoping to keep the conversation going.

"So, get this over with," he snapped.

Janet firmly took his wrist and wrenched, pulling with one hand, extending the elbow with the other.

Daniel turned his head to look away while Jack hissed. "Oww... damnit."

"Done, Sir," Janet said hastily. "It's done." She waited, Daniel wiping off the Colonel's face, while O'Neill fought for control over his breathing. He now looked around, taking in their surroundings.

"What's our status?"

"Colonel Bayfield and Teal'c broke you out of that place, Jack. Now we're trying to bug out of the country," Daniel informed him, taking in the stunned expression on his friend's face at the mention of Colonel Bayfield's name. "We're taking a break, so please, let Janet do her job."

"I need to treat those infected areas on your arms and legs, Sir, then we'll immobilize that arm. What happened to your shoulder?" the Doc interrupted, moving closer to help the injured man to roll onto his stomach. Daniel hurried to help her.

"Somebody loved pulling it too hard," O'Neill muttered under his breath, shifting to find a more comfortable position.

Daniel fell backwards, shocked, and pressed one hand in front of his mouth.

"Who set it back in place?" Fraiser asked, starting to clean up his left arm with antiseptic, rubbing the swollen infected parts open to push the purulence out and let it drain.

"I did... oww, Doc," came the weak reply as he was trying to lie still while Doc did her job. "Ma... Marc did it the second time, I think."

Daniel's face was ashen now, as he inhaled sharply at the thought of Jack relocating his own shoulder. He sat back, leaned against a rock and drew his knees up. He watched in silence as Janet worked, having a hard time keeping his emotions under control. Without thinking he suddenly broke the silence. "You should never have gone alone, Jack."

Fraiser sharply turned her head towards the linguist, her eyes angry, shaking her head to tell him to shut up, then worriedly looked back at the prone man.

"How can I be what I'm not, Daniel?"

Although the words were spoken softly, Janet and Daniel both heard them loud and clear.

Janet sighed deeply. She instinctively knew O'Neill would be having a hard time dealing with the guilt issue and she really, really didn't need Daniel to add fuel to the fire right now, no matter how good his intentions were. She placed a hand on his right shoulder, squeezing it softly. "Of course you can't, Sir," she agreed, glaring at the archaeologist of the team, who was looking back sheepishly, and mouthed a silent sorry at her.

They all were quiet while Janet worked, treating the Colonel's other arm and legs. She finished her work by wrapping antiseptic drenched gauze over the wounds. Last, she rinsed and dressed his abraded wrists, wrapping the gauze around his thumbs to keep them secure. "Daniel, please get another shirt for the Colonel."

Daniel searched through their gear, digging up a spare shirt and handed it to the diminutive doctor, who in the meantime had assisted O'Neill in sitting up. She used her small scissors to cut off the entire left arm of the proffered shirt, and opened up the right arm on the seam. This way he would be able to get it on without jarring his injuries too much. Fraiser didn't want to leave him in his bare torso; to prevent him from too much exposure to the sun.

"Let's get it over your left arm first, Sir," she said, sliding the shirt over the damaged elbow. He now fought to lift his other arm, attempting to help her. Janet unlocked the IVs for a minute and then he had his shirt on.

After hooking the IVs back in place, Fraiser now guided his left limb into position across his stomach and lifted the shirt from the bottom upwards, so it supported the injured arm. Taking a roll of bandages she wrapped, securing her improvised work tightly to his chest. "That should do it, Sir," she said, tucking the end of the bandage away.

"Sweet," he commented shortly. He was sweating now and he was having a hard time staying seated, exhausted as he was.

Fraiser felt his forehead, hoping that the medicine and dressings would bring the fever down soon. She supported his body as she encouraged him to lie down. "Rest, Sir."

He was already asleep.

a/n's: and there, in Janet's capable hands... what could possibly go wrong now...

see you guys on Friday!