Author's Note: If you skipped the last scene of the previous chapter, you missed Jack's rescue. Suffice it to say, Sam and company were able to boost him from Astarte's clutches, and Sam gave Astarte the lethal zat blast.

And yeah, I'm updating a half a day early just because I feel like it. :)

Getting out of town was surprisingly easy considering Sam had killed their leader. Because there was no clear succession of power, the powers that be were far more concerned with what happened next than they were with what to do with the woman who had set the current events into motion. Their justice system seemed almost non-existent, to the point where Sam wondered how they dealt with internal affairs. Truthfully, the other women didn't seem to be too upset that Astarte was dead. And so, while the upheaval was still in progress, Sam, her team, and her father, hotfooted it out of town. Sam spent the first five klicks, though, looking over her shoulder and she pressed the group forward with speed that the colonel didn't really have in him.

Halfway back to the tel'tak Sam was becoming convinced that the colonel wasn't going to make it. He was trudging, his eyes on the ground right in front of him, silent. Daniel had tried to engage him in conversation several times, but the colonel's answers were perfunctory, at best. Eventually, Daniel had shot her a questioning look and a shrug so she looked pointedly at the colonel and shook her head. Daniel stopped trying at that point. Sam thought the colonel appeared a little less downtrodden once the attempts at conversation stopped. But that could have been wishful thinking.

She kept one eye on him all the way back and noticed that, when they boarded, he flicked his eyes once over the bridge to watch her father settle into the pilot's seat, then he made his way out of the room. She didn't follow him. She didn't presume to know where he went, but she assumed he wanted – no, needed – some time alone. Daniel, on the other hand, didn't seem to assume the same thing. When he noticed the colonel had wandered off, he, too, drifted off into the bowels of the ship. She wondered if the colonel would allow himself to be found.

With nothing left to do and a feeling of being at loose ends after having found the colonel but having found a man who didn't much resemble the man she'd come to know, she settled into the seat next to her father's and watched as the ship rose up, up through the atmosphere and into space. They sat quietly for a long time, her father casting furtive glances in her direction until, finally, she said, "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," he said immediately.

"Yes, I do. There was no telling what we were walking into. And you offered to do it without hesitation."

Her father shrugged self-consciously. "It's Jack."

"Hmm," she said, and nodded because it was, but it wasn't. Not anymore. She wondered what, exactly, had been done to him. Wondered if what happened to him on the planet left him with deeper issues that would take professional help to straighten out. Oh, she thought, he'd love that. She supposed, being in command of the mission and all, that she should try to talk to him, assess his state of mind, but she found herself wary of intruding into his space. Of course, Daniel still hadn't returned, so it was likely that the two men were together wherever they were and perhaps the colonel would like a break from the loquacious doctor.

A half an hour later, while she was still trying to talk herself into going to check on him, Daniel reappeared. "He's asleep."

"Did he say anything?" she asked.

"Nothing," Daniel said with a sigh and leaned against a wall.

"All that time and he said nothing?"

"Not a word. Not even get out. Though it was pretty clear he wanted me to."

Sam thought it figured that Daniel could tell he wasn't wanted but would stick around anyway. He was persistent when someone he cared about was hurting and because he didn't need it, he didn't understand the need for space.

Sam thought about the colonel, stretched out on one of the bunks in the bunk room, feigning sleep so Daniel would leave him alone. The idea of him alone there, it called to her, he called to her. But she knew her presence would be unwelcome and, as much as she didn't want to make the situation about her, well, her heart couldn't take it. She couldn't be an albatross for him again. It was bad enough the way he'd pushed her away after Edora, but to push again so soon after would be more than she thought she could take. And she knew he'd have little choice but to do just that. So she avoided putting either one of them in that position.

But eventually, it was time for her to get some rest, too. Daniel had long since gone to bed and Teal'c was off somewhere kel'no'reeming. Her father was looking zen staring out at the vastness of space.

"You should go catch some shut eye," he said just moments after she realized the same.

In a fit of honesty she wouldn't have pegged herself for, not with her father, anyway, she said, "Do you think I should go sleep in there? After what was done to him? Maybe it would be better if I..."

"Sam, Jack might be in a bad place right now, but he knows you'd never hurt him. He didn't look at you like you were a threat, not once."

He was right. The colonel hadn't looked at her like she was a threat. He'd barely looked at her at all after meeting her eye while he was inside another woman. Because it was rape, it hurt differently. She hurt for him, not for herself. She was upset about finding him in bed with Astarte, but not because it trampled on her fragile feelings but because of what it meant for him. As a matter of fact, she found it very simple, now, to separate Edora from the undercover mission from Astarte. Suddenly she had a clarity she hadn't possessed before. None of it was about her – not that that was news. She'd never thought he felt for her the way she felt for him. But the way it hit home made her feel bad for being upset with him.

"Go to bed, Sam."

She sighed. She felt as if she could go in there now. She wouldn't disturb him. She'd take the bunk furthest away from him so he wouldn't have to deal with her being close if that really was going to be an issue for him. And she'd sleep. She was exhausted. It had been a long, stressful day.

"Night, dad," she said, pushing herself up out of the copilot's seat and touching his shoulder on the way by.

"Night, sweetheart."

She ambled to the bunk room, not in a hurry, as tired as she was. From outside she wondered one more time if she oughtn't bunk down somewhere else for the night, but where would she go? She squared her shoulders and walked into the room. The soft glow of the ship's lighting bathed the room in amber. She could make out Daniel in the bunk at the foot of the colonel's. Of course, he'd want to be close. Just in case. Sam crept by the men, her boots sounding heavy on the floor. She watched their faces as she passed hoping the sound of her steps didn't rouse them. Neither man moved.

She climbed into the bunk furthest from them, as she'd thought she would, but found herself staring at the ceiling, one arm flung over her head. Occasionally she'd hear Daniel's distinctive snore. She thought about the two week trip home and how long the trip was going to feel if the colonel stayed isolated. She was so used to his inanity, to his candor, to the way he'd play up, that having him around and holed up would feel off and wrong and, truly, depressing. She turned it over and over in her head, how it would feel if he'd talk to her, if he didn't, if he associated her with trouble, or with safety. She thought, incongruously, of one of his hugs and wondered if, as tactile as he was, if simple touch would be a comfort to him or if he'd find it unpalatable after what happened to him.

Her brain turned it all over and over again, one scenario after another of going to him or staying away from him. After a while, she let the rhythmic quality of Daniel's snores to lull her to sleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He stayed holed up in the bunk room the better part of three days. Mostly, he slept the deep and thankfully dreamless sleep of the truly weary. Occasionally he'd lie awake and stare at the ceiling, recounting what he'd been made to relive again and again, rehashing the things he'd felt, revisiting the familiar tightening in his stomach that told him that the memories were far too real. Like clockwork, Daniel brought him MREs. Jack picked out bits and pieces to eat, not up to a full a meal at any given point. He'd venture out of the bunk room long enough to use the facilities, to wash up, but then he'd return to his chosen bunk, to be alone.

Save for the nights when Daniel and Carter both would trickle in, Daniel first, Carter much, much later, and take their places. He noticed Carter stayed far away. She hadn't said much to him, but he feigned sleep when she was around – when Daniel was around mostly, too – because he wasn't really up to talking, not to anyone.

By the fourth day, though, he realized that he was going to go stir crazy if he stayed in that bunk room with no one but himself for company for the entire trip home. He'd learned from Daniel that it was going to take two weeks to get back to Earth and Jack wasn't exactly known for his patience. He ventured out of the bunk room and onto the bridge where he found, unsurprisingly, everyone.

"Hey," he said, his voice rough from disuse.

Carter whirled around, unsteady on her feet, clearly surprised to see him. Daniel looked up from his seated position on the floor, his finger holding his place in a book. Jacob and Teal'c each turned from one of the pilot's seats. Jack felt small under the scrutiny of four pairs of eyes.

"You're up," Carter said, sounding unsure. He bit back a smart retort but it must have shown on his face because she next asked him, "Did you need something?"

"To not be staring at the same four walls." His voice held and acerbic edge.

Carter visibly bit the inside of her cheek at his tone and he felt bad. He stopped to really look at her for a moment. She looked as tired as he felt. He wondered what was eating her, why she wasn't sleeping, if it had anything to do with him. He felt a flash of something deep inside that felt good when he thought that maybe she had worked herself up over him.

She moved just right and the gold of her hair caught the light and for a moment he felt lit up in a way he hadn't in maybe months and months. Then, with a suddenness that surprised him, he shuttered himself off from her. How dare she make him feel like there was light again? How dare he allow himself to feel that way? He felt his face harden and he suddenly didn't feel bad at all for making her feel uncertain around him.

His eyes flitted to Jacob's and he saw the older man appraising him. He felt like Jacob could see all the things going on his mind because the man was giving him a hard look and glancing between him and Carter in a way that made Jack wonder what the man was thinking.

"Why don't you take a walk, Jack?" Daniel asked, diplomatically, his gaze, too, drifting between Jack and a visibly upset Carter.

"Trying to get rid of me already?" Jack spit. He didn't know where the anger was coming from, really, and he couldn't seem to help the things that were coming out of his mouth.

"You just don't seem to want to be out here very much," Daniel pointed out.

"How much longer until we're home?"

"Approximately ten days," Teal'c said.

"Ten days," Jack muttered to himself. What the hell was he supposed to do, alone with his thoughts, for ten fucking days?

"Are you hungry?" Daniel asked.

"What are you? My nursemaid?"

"Just asking..." Daniel said and pushed his glasses up his nose.

Jack turned his eyes back to Carter and noticed how she was staring at the patch of floor right in front of the toes of her boots. "Whatsa matter, Carter? You haven't got any bright ideas about how I should be spending my time?" He knew he was only goading her because he was mad at her for having hair that made him feel alive.

"No, sir," she said softly, yet strongly, and he had to admit to himself he was a little proud of her for not being completely snowed under by his bad attitude.

"Teal'c?"

"I believe you would be better off alone, O'Neill."

Jack nodded. The Jaffa was probably right. "I think I'll go for a walk."

"You do that, Jack." Jacob said and turned back towards the view of space, effectively dismissing him. Jack got the feeling Jacob wasn't pleased with his attitude. Well... tough.

Jack turned on his heels and wandered in the opposite direction from the bunk room. There wasn't far to wander on the small ship, but he could at least see some different sights, could spend some time in his own unpleasant company.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sam took deep, calming breaths. The encounter with him made her want to keep her distance. It was clear he didn't want to be around anyone in general and it seemed he had a specific acidity for her if that look he'd shot her was anything to go by. She wasn't even sure what she had done. She hadn't said anything preceding the hardening of his eyes besides asking him if he needed anything, and that usually didn't prompt a bad response.

Then, she reasoned, she probably wouldn't have had to do anything specific. He had a right to be in whatever sort of foul mood he wanted to be in. Sure, they had no clue what, specifically, he'd been through, but they knew it ended in rape and that was enough to allow him to process his feelings in whatever way he saw fit. And if it meant she needed to buck up and allow him to spew at her for a while, well, then, that's what she would do. It didn't matter if it hurt.

She put on her resolve face and discovered that she was under the watchful gazes of both Daniel and her father. Figured. Without explaining herself to either one of them, she turned and stalked off in the same direction the colonel had gone in. It wasn't that she was looking for him, exactly, or that she wanted to talk to him, or that she thought he needed to talk. She didn't even think she was necessarily the best face for him to be seeing at the moment, being that she was the only female person on the ship. But she didn't wander off intent to avoid him, either. If she ran into him, she figured, she'd deal with it.

She avoided the bunk room, purposely, thinking perhaps that he would have retreated to the quiet there despite having said he was going to take a walk. But it wasn't a large ship and she knew, if he was walking, it was only a matter of time before... she turned a corner, and there he was. He was standing, staring at a wall of golden glyphs.

He must have caught her movement out of the corner of his eye because he visibly stiffened. "What do you want, Carter?"

"I didn't come to talk."

For long moments he didn't say anything, then he braced a hand against the wall and leaned heavily against it. "Then what did you come for?"

"I don't know. I think I was just walking, too."

"Not too far to go on this ship," he mused warily.

He seemed less caustic when it was just the two of them and she wondered how much of his bad attitude was feeling hemmed in by a group of people and how much was her specifically. "I know you probably just want your space..."

"Yeah."

"But it's going to be hard to give it to you."

"It might help if you didn't follow me when I walked away." His words stung, but he hadn't said them unkindly. If anything, there was some measure of amusement in his voice.

She blushed. She couldn't help it. "I think I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm as okay as I'm gonna be. Okay?"

She nodded slowly even though he wasn't really looking at her to see the gesture. She started to offer, "If you want to talk about-"

"I don't," he cut her off abruptly.

She'd known that was coming. She wouldn't have wanted to talk about it either. But, "You're going to have to talk about it sometime."

"That time isn't right now, Major," he broke out her rank to prove that she was walking on ground she didn't really have a right to.

"Yes, sir." It was good to have the reminder of who he was. She'd spent the past month with the built up version of him, the version of him that was all her feelings and the built up little moments between them, in her head. Having the guy who was just her CO stand in front of her and call her major was a shocking bucket of cold water that her system really needed.

She tucked all her tender feelings down deep inside herself and gave herself a stern reminder that what she felt for him was as one-sided as it was inappropriate. She'd done her job, and she'd gotten him home, almost. Now it was time to let the other guys do their work. She'd be back in the lineup when it was time to go back out through the stargate. Everything that happened between now and then wasn't any of her business.

Except... he might be her CO, and she might have developed inappropriate feelings for him, but before Edora, before the undercover mission, she'd have said they were friends of sorts. And when friends were hurting, you helped them out. You didn't leave them to hurt alone. She desperately wondered what had happened to him on that planet. He seemed, fine, except... not. The sleep gave him away. He'd never been a big sleeper. She wondered if he'd been sleep deprived on the planet. Or, if he'd been given Sokar's blood, if he'd just been desperate for a dreamless sleep.

She wondered what he'd been made to recall. She wondered what other substances might have been used on him. She wondered how long he'd been used the way they'd found him. But instead of asking him anymore questions, she looked at the way he was still braced against the wall and shook her head.

"I'll leave you alone, sir."

He took a couple long, slow, deep breaths. "Thanks, Carter."

She turned, ready to leave him to his own devices, despite the heavy feeling it gave her inside.

"Hey Carter?"

She stopped and looked back at him over her shoulder.

"I'm glad you guys showed up when you did."

Her heart broke a little because they hadn't shown up in time to save him from at least one indignity. But she could, she thought, appreciate the sentiment, "Me too."

As she walked off, though, it felt like an old thank you that she'd never really gotten, and it lightened her step.