"Is there any word?" Jonas entered the briefing room, carrying a tray with coffee. Sam and Teal'c were sitting at the table, neither of them speaking. They hadn't yet heard whether Yu's forces had attacked Ba'al's stronghold.
"No," Sam shook her head. "I feel like he should have been home by now if it worked."
"It would take time for Yu to arrive at Ba'al's planet," Teal'c reminded her. "We also do not know what it took for O'Neill to escape."
"Or even if he could escape," Jonas commented, gathering a glare from both Teal'c and Sam. "Uh – of course he did. I mean, we all know the Colonel. I'm sure he got out …." He grimaced and stopped talking, and instead set down the tray.
The three teammates sat, sipping their coffee quietly, waiting to hear about the Colonel.
It was almost an hour later when the announcement of an incoming wormhole had them all leaping out of their chairs and rushing to the Control Room. They met the General on the way.
"Who is it, Sergeant?" asked Hammond as they entered the room.
There was a pause and then Walter looked up. "It's the Tok'ra, Sir," he said.
That garnered a frown from the General. Right then none of them were very happy with their allies. They'd allowed Thoran to leave and all of them had been glad to see him go. But they hadn't expected to see another one of the Tok'ra for a while, especially since Thoran had still been angry when he left. None of them particularly wanted to see the Tok'ra right now, unless they brought word of the Colonel.
The event horizon whooshed in and then settled back to its usual deep blue surface. Everyone waited, their eyes glued to the gate.
A lone figure walked out, but it took a moment before anyone recognized him in the Tok'ra brown clothing. By the time they did, he had already begun to sag to the ground, landing on the metal ramp with an ominous "thud".
"Colonel!" Sam cried, rushing out of the Control Room, followed by Teal'c, Jonas and the General. Walter was already calling for medical assistance.
Sam was the first to arrive to the side of her commander. She quickly squatted down, frowning when she saw his shirt. She felt for a pulse.
"Is he - ?" Jonas asked.
"He's alive. I can't find any bleeding," she said, sounding puzzled. Just then Janet arrived with two of her nurses.
"Who is it?" she asked. "Colonel!" she then exclaimed as she caught sight of him.
"He's alive," Sam told her, moving over so the doctor could look at him. The others all stayed back, anxiously watching as Frasier examined him
"Let's get him on the gurney," she cried. "I don't know," she said, before anyone could ask how he was doing. "To the Infirmary, stat! I'll let you know General," Janet said as she hurried out of the room behind the gurney.
Less than 5 minutes after appearing in the Gate Room the Colonel was being wheeled to the Infirmary. His teammates and General Hammond were left standing by the ramp.
"Uh," Sam said.
"Go," General Hammond said, watching as the remainder of Sg1 hurried out behind the Doctor and her patient. He shook his head, worried about his 2IC, but knowing the Doctor would let him know as soon as she could.
Janet continued to watch the Colonel as they travelled quickly through the SGC corridors. She was puzzled by his symptoms, especially since she could see no outward sign of any wounds. She'd been in the business long enough, however, to know that not everything was visible.
They arrived in the Infirmary and her team instantly went to work. They moved the Colonel to an exam table and began checking him out thoroughly. Janet was puzzled by his shirt but didn't have time to think about it too closely, more worried about discovering what was wrong with him.
A few minutes into the flurry of activity O'Neill's eyes began to open. Janet stopped everyone by holding up her hand. So far, she didn't think the Colonel was suffering from anything life-threatening and she figured it was more important to hear from him before continuing treatment.
He was staring, bleary-eyed at the ceiling. He didn't appear to notice anyone but continued to stare and then to blink slowly.
Janet carefully bent over, so that she was looking directly into his face. It took a second, but eventually his eyes focused and he looked at her.
"Colonel, it's good to have you back."
Jack blinked and then took a slow breath. "Doc?" he asked softly.
"Yes Sir, it's me. How are you doing?"
That caused the Colonel to frown, as if he wasn't quite sure how to answer that. Finally, he spoke, although his voice remained faint. "Uh – okay." He took another slow breath. "I'm home?" he asked.
"Yes, Sir, you're home."
At that, his eyes closed, and he remained completely still. A few seconds later and Janet was shocked to see a tear trail out of his eye.
"Sir?" she asked gently, covering his hand with one of hers. "Are you alright?"
He gave a single nod, although another tear left his eye, causing Janet to frown in concern. She couldn't remember ever seeing the Colonel cry. "We're just checking you out to make sure everything's okay."
It took a few seconds, but he finally opened his eyes again and looked at her. "I'm fine," he said. "Just tired."
She nodded. "Well, we're going to let you sleep for as long as you want but first, we need to take a few tests. We'll also get you out of these clothes and into something more comfortable."
He nodded but didn't say anything further.
He remained quiet as Janet and her nurses helped him strip and put on scrubs and then proceeded to do a number of tests including taking blood samples. He didn't notice Janet pick up his shirt and instruct one of the nurses to put it in a bag and set it on the counter.
It was only as they brought the ultrasound machine over that Jack finally roused himself and spoke. "The symbiote – Kanan - is gone," he said.
"I thought so, Sir," Janet said calmly. "But you understand that I still have to check? It's protocol."
He nodded again and lay quietly as she had him rolled on his side and ran the wand over his neck and spine.
"There, all done Colonel," she told him. "It looks like you're a bit dehydrated, so we're going to set you up with an IV in order to replace some fluids. We're waiting for your tests to come back, but in the meantime, is there anything I should know about what happened to you?"
Jack let out a long slow breath, and then nodded. "He – put me in the sarcophagus quite a few times," he told her.
Janet swore to herself but tried to keep her face from showing the anger she felt at what had been done to the Colonel. It was a good thing that the symbiote was gone, because she would have been tempted to strangle it!
"Can you tell me what happened before going into the sarcophagus?" She didn't want to ask, but she had to know what the Colonel had gone through if she was going to treat him appropriately.
"I – died," he answered, not going into any details.
She swallowed and had to take a deep breath before speaking. "Do you know how many times you were in the sarcophagus?"
He shrugged, but then finally told her, making her want to swear loud and long. She also knew, based on Daniel's experience, that he was probably in for a bad time ahead.
"Okay Sir – we're going to take you into one of the rooms and let you rest. If you need anything, let me know."
"Thanks," he said softly.
A few minutes later and he was hooked up to an IV and settled into a bed. In a matter of seconds, he was asleep.
Janet, on the other hand, was spitting angry. She knew she was going to have to let the General and Jack's teammates know that he was relatively okay – but first she had to calm down.
She returned to the exam room and grabbed the bag with the Colonel's shirt. Based on his brief explanation, she was pretty sure she knew what she was going to find. She wasn't looking forward to confirming what she suspected, but the General, at least, would want to know.
She laid the shirt out on the exam table, and carefully fingered the holes. Each hole was surrounded by a brown stain, which she knew was blood. That it was Jack's blood would have to be confirmed, although she really had no doubts. That there wasn't more seemed to indicate he must have died quickly from his wounds.
She frowned as she looked at the holes more closely. Many were sharply defined and were clearly made by some kind of blade. The large round hole on the back was most likely from a staff wound. She'd seen enough such wounds in her career to recognize the pattern. But there were other smaller holes that were less defined, more ragged. She touched them carefully, curious as to what could have made them.
Finally, she called for one of her lab assistants.
"Yes Doctor?"
"Take this shirt and have it analyzed," she told the technician. "I want to see if there's anything on here."
"Yes Ma'am," the tech said. After she was gone, Janet sighed, rubbed her eyes, and picked up her phone. She gave the General a brief report and then slowly hung up. The next job was to tell the Colonel's team.
"How is he Janet?" Sam immediately stood as she walked out into the hallway.
"He's fine," she said. "I just had him taken to his room. He's very tired and is sleeping, but I can't find too much wrong with him."
"Thank heavens," Sam replied. "What about Kanan?"
Janet shook her head. "There was no symbiote," she told them. "The Colonel didn't say what happened. I'm sure he'll tell us all when he's awake."
"We are grateful that O'Neill is alright," Teal'c said.
"Yeah, we were worried about him, especially when he collapsed like that," Jonas added.
"Yes, well – he's not out of the woods yet," Janet warned them. "It looks as if he was placed in a sarcophagus a number of times. I'm afraid he's going to experience some withdrawal symptoms."
"You mean like Daniel?" Sam asked.
"Exactly," nodded Janet.
"But wait – why was he in the sarcophagus?" the Major asked, looking confused.
"He hasn't said much," Janet said, "so I can't really say. I'm sure that when he's rested, he'll let us know everything that happened. In the meantime, I suggest we let him sleep. You can check back in later today."
The rest of Sg1 walked out of the Infirmary and headed towards the commissary. None of them had eaten much since they'd heard the Colonel – and Kanan – had disappeared. Now that he was safe, they decided to eat and to discuss what could have happened to him.
"But why the sarcophagus?" Jonas asked.
"We can assume that he was killed," Teal'c informed them, "or injured enough to warrant its use."
"But that many times?" Jonas said, puzzled.
"Indeed. The sarcophagus can be used to revive people many times."
Jonas eyes grew big. "Do you mean that Ba'al hurt or killed the Colonel over and over again?"
"I believe it is a possibility," Teal'c replied.
"If that's true I can't imagine what he must have gone through," Sam said, picking at her salad with a fork. "Why would he have done that? What did he want?"
"Ba'al?" asked Teal'c. "He may not have wanted anything. The Goa'uld enjoy inflicting pain. He may simply have enjoyed torturing and killing O'Neill."
"The poor Colonel," Sam lamented. "It must have been terrifying."
"Will he be okay?" asked Jonas.
"The sarcophagus heals the body," explained Teal'c, "so I believe he will be fine."
"Physically yes, but emotionally," Sam said softly, "maybe not. It's a different thing. We're going to have to be here for him."
"We are always here, Major Carter," Teal'c told her.
"I meant we're going to have to support him."
"Uh, I want to help, but I don't think the Colonel really likes me," interjected Jonas.
"You are a member of his team," Teal'c told him. "Liking has little to do with it. We will support him because he deserves it from us."
"Of course – I didn't mean I didn't want to help him, just that he might not like me – uh – around."
"We'll figure out the best thing to do," Sam responded. "I just feel so badly for him."
"O'Neill will not appreciate our pity, Major Carter," Teal'c said. "He is a proud man."
"I know Teal'c – that doesn't mean I can't feel badly for him. No one – no matter how courageous – deserves to go through what he did."
"Of course not," Teal'c agreed. "We shall be there for him, as you say. I will endeavor to video tape the Simpsons for him. He will need laughter to heal."
Sam smiled and Jonas chuckled, although all of them knew it was going to take more than the Simpsons to help the Colonel.