Bound Reflections
by Carlyn
Part 8

Back to Part 7

-22-

Several hours after his surgery Daniel again reclined into his pillows, eyes closed, willing his disquieted soul to calm. In spite of his bone-weariness and the anesthesia which hadn't quite left his system, making his brain feel heavy in his skull, he was unable to escape the memory of his attack and find rest.

His nostrils flared with a stuttered inhalation. Holding his breath for a few seconds he let it out in a slow stream, imagining his inner chaos escaping with the air.

Before he was able to achieve more than an easing of the ache in his shoulders, the brisk clipping of heels on concrete put his frazzled nerves back on edge.

Forcing open sluggish eyelids when the footfalls ceased at the side of his bed, Daniel sighed tiredly at the image of Janet Fraiser frowning down at him, a small white bowl nestled in the palm of her hand.

Waving the little cup under his nose, Janet instructed in her no-nonsense doctor voice, "Drink it, every drop."

His stomach contracting mightily at the smell of the broth, Daniel turned away.

"Janet, I just woke up," he whined, gesturing to the cast on his right leg, the reason for his recent chemical-assisted nap.

"You've been out of surgery for nearly four hours. You need to eat."

Daniel cut narrowed eyes in her direction and she pushed the vessel closer to his mouth. He squeezed his lips together, preparing for the battle of wills that had surely just been initiated.

This was the usual pattern when Daniel landed in her infirmary: Janet firmly insisting he eat, no matter how much his stomach protested; Daniel steadfastly refusing to abide by her wishes. The outcome was unpredictable; sometimes he gave in, sometimes she did.

But as illogical as it sounded, the battle was comforting, a sign that not all things were irrevocably changed.

"Daniel." Janet's tone indicated she had recognized the potential for rebellion in his stare and meant to quash it in its infancy. "You've not had anything to eat in two days..."

"All the more reason not to go dumping all that into me."

Janet thrust the cup into his hands, guiding it to his lips with her fingertips. "'All that' is one scant cup of broth. I know you're a little nauseous, but trust me, you will feel better once you get something in your stomach."

"Really, Janet, I don't wa —" His protest was cut off as the warm soup spilled over the rim of the cup into his mouth. Gently but firmly pushing the cup away from his face, Daniel drew in his lips. He considered spitting the broth back into the cup, but ultimately capitulated, swallowing with a convulsive gulp.

He lowered the cup into his lap. Bringing a hand to his chin, he swiped away the broth that had trickled from the corner of his mouth, his eye ticking spastically when his fingers made contact with the bruises on his jaw. He peevishly snatched the napkin Janet held out to him, crunching it, and dropping it into the soup cup.

Lifting accusatory eyes, he gingerly cupped his injured face with his palm. "I told you I wasn't hungry," he hissed.

Janet sighed patiently. "Daniel, you need nourishment. Your body is not going to heal if you don't give it fuel to do the work."

Daniel rolled his eyes to the ceiling, putting on his best long-suffering expression — the one he usually reserved for Jack when the older man tried to cajole him into spending a long weekend at the cabin fishing.

It worked as well on Janet as it did on Jack.

"If you prefer," the doctor countered, eyeing him harshly, "I can order an NG tube."

Swinging his gaze back to Janet, Daniel pursed his lips and studied her pinched face, striving to determine if she really was threatening him with a feeding tube.

After a moment, Janet's features relaxed. She lifted the cup out of his lax hand and, pushing the crumpled napkin aside with her fingertips, glanced inside.

"I guess a mouthful is good for a first try," she conceded, setting the container on the bedside table.

Pulling surgical gloves from her pocket, Janet donned them and tilted her head, her gaze directed downward. Stepping back, she reached down and tipped the edge of the Foley bag into the light. Seemingly satisfied with what she found, she looked back up at Daniel.

Her smile reassuring him at first, Daniel grew uneasy when his eyes met Janet's. Her lips were smiling, but something in her eyes belied the contented set of her features. Glancing at the edge of the bed, suspecting that the discharge from his bladder was the source of her discomfort, Daniel lifted his eyes back to Janet's, alarmed that they now contained a measure of dread.

"What is it?" he asked, his eyes widening slightly.

Janet straightened, deliberately taking her time removing her gloves. Tossing them in a nearby bin, she drew a fortifying breath and raised purpose-focused eyes to his. "Daniel, we haven't discussed the details of your captivity..."

Scoffing softly, Daniel jerked his eyes away. "What sort of details were you looking for?" he gritted out. Sinking lower into the bed, he pulled the blanket higher to cover his chest, an unmistakable attempt to hide from the impending conversation about his rape.

Janet sighed sadly. Giving him a minute to prepare, she crossed the room to retrieve the tall stool, moved there when Daniel had been taken out for surgery. Rolling the stool up to his bed, Janet pulled herself into the chair with practiced ease and studied her patient. As soon as the blanket had been positioned to shield him, tightly folded arms had been put into place, doubling the protection.

Janet's eyes habitually scanned the back of Daniel's left hand, checking that he hadn't disturbed his IV. Satisfied that his current posture, while undoubtedly increasing the discomfort in his shoulders, was not adversely affecting his health, Janet spoke softly.

"I need to know what Osiris did to you, how he... touched you..." She paused, taken aback when Daniel shot a look of undisguised fury in her direction. "This is not prurient interest, Daniel, you know that," she said, her voice calmly rational. "I wish I didn't have to ask you to relive it, but I have to know, to protect you... and my staff."

Daniel's glare softened but he remained silent. His respirations quickened, his breaths becoming shallow, his chest suddenly uncomfortably tight.

"You've already had one flashback. If we can map the trigger points, those areas where contact might set off a body memory, we may be able to avoid more."

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut. Reminded that he was not the only one affected by his flashbacks, he forced a deep calming breath, held it briefly then let it escape in a defeated sigh.

Revealing eyes that were now filled mostly with sorrow, he glanced at Janet. "I'm not angry with you," he whispered.

"I know," Janet assured him, resting a tentative hand on his arm.

Looking askance at the caring gesture of support, Daniel wrenched his right hand from behind his arm and rubbed at the end of his nose. "What do you need to know?"

Janet squeezed his bicep and settled back in the chair. "Okay," she began evenly, "I know you were anally penetrated." Though she'd clearly tried to keep the phrase from sounding dirty, still Daniel closed his eyes in distress and turned away.

Frowning, Janet shook off the guilt engendered by his reaction and pushed on. "Sa'reb said that the Jaffa tended to you... after. Three times?"

Daniel's response consisted of a curt nod and a wet sniff.

Janet reached over and lifted the tissue box from the bedside table, discreetly depositing it on the mattress between herself and her patient. Clearing her throat, and watching him covertly, Janet said, "There's a small cut on your penis..."

Daniel reached out and snatched a tissue, scrubbing indignantly at the tears that slipped from his eyes.

"Ribbon device," he explained, cutting his gaze in her direction. He lowered the tissue, and, seeing the uncertainty in her eyes, added, "He grabbed me. The edge of the ribbon device cut into my skin."

Janet offered a rueful smile, pre-apology for her next question. "Did he do more than grab you?"

Daniel's brows gathered in the middle of his forehead, and he shifted his uninjured leg, repeatedly sliding his foot forward and back on the bed.

"He... fiddled," Daniel forced out softly. His fist closed over the tissues in his hand, exerting enough force to drain the blood from his knuckles. "Licked... sucked."

"He orally raped you?"

Daniel's chin quivered, and he drew in a shaky breath. Fresh tears, shaken loose by his tight nod, trickled down his cheeks. He reached out for more tissues but his trembling hand knocked into the side of the box, nearly toppling it to the floor.

Janet reached out to rescue the box at the same time Daniel leaned over, attempting to catch it. Daniel ducked away from her gaze, but not before Janet saw the pure misery on his face.

Her soft gasp was followed by an equally softly spoken, "You ejaculated."

Daniel's head snapped up. "Just that one time," he cried, the tone manifestly defensive. "Never when he was in... me." Daniel faltered, realizing suddenly what he was saying. He covered his mouth with his fingers, a stifled moan escaping between them as he fell back into the pillows.

Janet held up a consoling hand, stopping just short of touching him. "Daniel, it's alright, I'm not judging you."

Daniel flinched, unwittingly alerting Janet to the possibility that she was not the one that Daniel was so desperate to placate. "But you're judging yourself, aren't you. Blaming yourself."

Daniel huddled further into the bed, squeezing his eyes together, the stress creating deep furrows around the outer corners.

Janet watched him for a moment, deep sadness molding her features into a sympathetic frown.

"Daniel," she said finally, "it wasn't your fault. It was a physiological reaction."

"Physiological response," Daniel said half a beat behind her. "Beyond my control," he added brokenly. Clearing his throat, he struggled to sit up, finally abandoning the effort with a drained sigh. "I know that... intellectually."

"But emotionally, it's hard to accept," Janet concluded.

Daniel merely looked away, swiping at his cheek with the back of his hand. He shifted again, attempting to push himself up in the bed.

Janet placed a restraining hand on his arm. Snagging a few tissues, she pushed them into his unresisting fingers. "Just lie still. I asked about the details of your assault because I want to remove your catheter. But I didn't know how you might react to being... touched there."

Daniel turned eyes heavy with grief and exhaustion on her. "Getting the catheter out would be great, thanks."

"Your urine is clear but I'll still need samples for a few days."

"Goody. I get to pee in a cup?" he asked with mock brightness.

"Or in a bedpan," Janet added, her apologetic grin softening the unpleasantness of the pronouncement. "At least until you're strong enough to get out of bed."

Daniel sighed. "The fun just never stops, huh?"

"Okay, that complaint sounded an awful lot like the colonel," Janet critiqued, a significant lift of her brow contradicting the straight line of her mouth.

Rolling wounded eyes in her direction, Daniel winced as the theatrical gesture pulled on the tender skin of his swollen cheek. "Now you're just being mean," he whined melodramatically.

Janet forcefully cleared her throat, an unsuccessful attempt to hide her unprofessional giggle. Shaking her head in awe of his attempted levity in the circumstance, she patted his arm. "Just relax and I'll go get Barbara."

"Okay," he replied, instantly sober. Settling deeper into the pillows, he closed his eyes.

Focusing on the quick, measured tap of her heels, Daniel tried to relax as ordered, but he found it impossible to convince his brain. His recent conversation with Janet, seemingly imprinted on his synapses, repeated in his head on a continuous loop.

About the third time the particulars of his ordeal were driven through his mind, the broth that Janet had force fed him began churning sickeningly in his gut. Slightly lower down, a creeping sensation made its slow way across his groin and warmth enveloped him, spurred by the memories of Osiris's fingers and tongue.

Daniel shuddered, his anxious eyes flying open. "How the hell long does it take to find one nurse?" he muttered through tightly clenched teeth.

As the minutes passed, his awareness of his crotch grew incrementally, until his penis was so hyper-sensitized, even the blanket's weight was becoming unbearable.

Daniel forcibly compressed his eyelids together and groaned. Kicking with his good leg, he attempted to shift away from the discomfort.

"Daniel?"

He stilled immediately, his body rigid with tension. He peered through anxious eyes as Janet neared the bed.

"What's going on?" she demanded, her tone tempered with concern.

"My dick is on fire," he moaned, grateful when he realized Janet was alone.

Janet reached for the blanket and Daniel grabbed desperately at her hands. "Don't touch it," he rasped, his worried eyes wide.

Gently pulling his grasping fingers from hers, Janet settled Daniel's agitated hands against his chest. "I have to look at it, Daniel," she said firmly. "I'll be careful, I promise."

Without waiting for his approval, Janet gingerly lifted the blanket and settled it against his legs. Keenly aware of her patient's grunted breaths, Janet eased the hospital gown away from Daniel's groin, exposing his flaccid penis. Visually confirming that the catheter was still in place and that there was no redness or blood evident, Janet repositioned the gown and smoothed the blanket back over his lower body.

Turning back to Daniel, frowning when she found him lying limp in the pillows, sweat beading his forehead, she said, "I don't see anything wrong. When did the burning sensation start?"

"Ri... right after you left," he wheezed.

"After we talked about the oral rape and removing your catheter," Janet stated significantly.

His breath still coming in harsh gasps, Daniel's turned a cautious eye her way.

"It's okay," Janet reassured, gently gripping his arm. "It's probably just anxiety — nervous anticipation of the catheter removal."

Daniel blinked several times, his brow drawn taut over his nose. "I've had catheters removed before," he reminded her, untoward testiness edging into his voice.

"But not after you've just been raped," Janet pointed out, her fingers tightening supportively. "It's not unexpected. You're going to be very touch sensitive for a while."

Throwing his head back, Daniel raked the ceiling with tormented eyes. "So, I'm gonna freak out every time I even think about someone touching me?"

"No," Janet soothed. "I'm touching you right now and you're not 'freaking out.'" She squeezed his bicep as a reminder. "We just have to be careful where we touch you and warn you beforehand. And, you're going to have to learn how to deal with what's happened."

Settling his gaze on hers, Daniel narrowed his eyes. Wariness tensed the corners of his mouth.

Janet held his glower unflinchingly. "I know a counselor who specializes in rape..."

Screwing up his face, Daniel shook his head vehemently. "Janet," he muttered, a low warning growl.

"It's non-negotiable, Daniel," she decreed, without regret. "If you want to go through the Stargate again, you will get counseling. The regulations are clear in this instance."

His chest clenching at the thought that one more aspect of his life was suddenly out of his control, Daniel closed his eyes against growing feelings of despair.

"Dr. Fraiser?"

As Janet released her grip on his arm, Daniel turned his head, raising distress heavy eyelids, and acknowledged Barbara Moreland with a fragile smile.

Setting the tray she carried down on the rollaway table, Barbara pushed it next to the bed and moved to the side opposite Janet. "I'm glad you're back, Dr. Jackson," she said.

Daniel grinned distractedly, warily watching them don sterile gloves. As Janet reached for the drape that covered the tray, he apprehensively followed the motion, his body tensing reflexively.

"Daniel?"

Alarmed blue eyes darted from the tray to Janet's caring face.

"I can give you a tranquilizer," she said softly.

Pulling a shaky breath, Daniel contemplated the offer. "No," he said determinedly. More for his own benefit than for Janet's, he added, "I'll be fine. It's just you and Barbara."

"I'll be fine," he repeated, concentrating on the words as Barbara lifted the blanket from his waist.

"Agent Webb is definitely compromised." Jack's lips skewed to one side, his repugnance for the woman plain on his face. "And right now I'd say she's almost as big a threat to Daniel as Sarah is."

At the mention of her name, the small cut on Jack's brow throbbed angrily. He rubbed at the wound, grateful again that Hammond had accepted without question his assessment that he had had no choice but to strike out against the prisoner when she took a swing at him.

"You think she'd harm Dr. Jackson?" George Hammond's considering gaze took in both the Colonel and Major Ferretti.

"I agree, sir," Ferretti opined. "From what we heard, Agent Webb is convinced that Dr. Jackson belongs with Sarah Gardner. If she were free, I think she'd do whatever it takes to make that happen."

Hammond nodded curtly, his lips pursed irritably. "Major, there was nothing like this in your report of your first interview."

"She never said anything even remotely threatening when I talked to her. In fact, she was downright meek. Honestly," Lou dipped his head briefly, his mouth pulled in a chagrined line, "I was convinced she had no knowledge of what Sarah Gardner was up to."

Jack slapped his friend supportively on the back. "Don't beat yourself up, Lou. They reserved that little show just for me."

"Colonel?"

Sitting straighter in his chair, Jack held Hammond's steely regard. "Almost from the moment she stepped into that room, Agent Webb was on edge, like there was something she wanted so badly to get out that the anticipation was almost too much."

"And she did seem especially gleeful imparting her knowledge, too," Lou observed with a wry smirk.

"Oh, yeah." Jack cut his less-than-amused gaze to the man sitting on his left then turned his attention back to the man behind the desk. "Her attitude definitely mirrors Sarah's. She really wanted to rub my face in that crap about Sarah ultimately getting Daniel back under her control."

"Which proves your point that she's compromised," Hammond concluded. Eyes dropping to his desk for a second, Hammond raked Jack with his questioning gaze. "Any feel for whether Dr. Gardner has shared her knowledge of your relationship with Dr. Jackson?"

"I don't believe Agent Webb knows anything about it, sir. Her attack was definitely personal, but she addressed me more as Daniel's friend and CO than... anything more than that." Cinching his left eye in an uncomfortable squint, Jack looked askance at Lou.

"Again, I agree, General. Agent Webb wanted to hurt the colonel. If she had had more intimate ammunition, she would have used it."

Hammond's lips stiffened briefly as he studied them both. Reaching to his right he pulled a file folder in front of him. "These are copies of the reports Agent Webb has been filing with her superiors since her assignment as Sarah Gardner's bodyguard."

Jack brought his hand up, casually resting it against his chin, hoping he had been quick enough to mask his convulsive swallow. He crossed and uncrossed his legs, his fingers flicking nervously at the small stack of papers revealed when Hammond opened the file. "Anything interesting in there?"

"Not in what she says, no." Hammond fanned out the pages, purposefully redirecting his focus from his 2IC's fidgeting. "But the change in tone of the missives over the months is definitely curious."

"Curious, sir?" Jack stilled, his discomfort forgotten, and leaned closer, skimming his eyes over the upside down reports.

"I have it on good authority that the NID was about to pull Agent Webb from the case. There was some concern that she'd become... enamored of her ward."

Jack's quick, dark eyes jumped from the desk top to the general's face, widened in surprise.

"Each successive report she's filed speaks of Sarah Gardner in increasingly glowing terms. This last one is almost fanatical in its praise." Hammond turned the page around so that Jack could read it.

"Fanatical, you say?" Jack smirked ill-humoredly, scanning the report before passing it to Lou. "There's no mention of Daniel in there."

Hammond shook his head. "Nor is he mentioned in any of the others. If Agent Webb did know about the two of you, it appears that at least she didn't divulge that information to her superiors in the NID."

Discontent that there was still the possibility that he and Daniel had been exposed, Jack asked cautiously, "What about someone other than her superiors?"

"I guess we won't know that unless someone comes forward with the information."

Jack's head dropped between his shoulders, bobbing resignedly.

After a moment, Hammond gently cleared his throat. "Though, I think it's safe to say that nothing Agent Webb has said in the past few months, or may say in the future, will be given any sort of serious consideration. The Director has indicated to me that Agent Webb will be decommissioned from the NID, and will be turned over for whatever actions the Attorney General deems appropriate. In addition, the agency will disavow any statements she has made or might make later, concerning Dr. Gardner or intelligence she might have received from Dr. Gardner. That will pretty effectively kill any credibility Agent Webb might have had."

"And make it very difficult for anyone who might have thought about cashing in on any information she passed on concerning the colonel and Dr. Jackson," Lou pointed out with a pleased nod.

"And all this before we've even proven she was under the influence of a foreign substance. That won't do much for her reputation, either." Jack slumped in his chair and released a relieved sigh.

Hammond started gathering the copies of Agent Webb's reports, stacking them neatly in the folder again. "Well, now that Dr. Jackson has had his surgery, maybe Dr. Fraiser will find the time to test the substance you found in Dr. Gardner's apartment."

"Aw, geez," Jack sat up hurriedly, checking his watch as he came to his feet. "Sir, permission to go to the infirmary. Daniel should be awake and ready for visitors."

Hammond flashed a paternal smile. "Go ahead, Colonel."

"Thank you, sir." Jack turned towards the doorway behind him. Barking out a curt, "Rain check on dinner, Lou?" he waited just long enough to see his friend wave off the IOU before heading at a brisk clip to the elevator.

Having gotten through the catheter removal without incident, as well as the sponge bath that Janet had offered afterward, Daniel lay quietly, contemplating his bandaged wrists. His outer calm masked the turmoil that stirred within him.

He'd given up trying to rest, his mind still periodically replaying the events that had ended with his confinement in an infirmary bed, his muscles — and other areas — whining their discomfort to him. Present, too, in his thoughts were the unanswered questions of what those events would mean for his future, especially his future with Jack.

Squeezing his eyes closed, the resulting tension in his forehead increasing the pain marginally, Daniel lifted a ponderous hand to massage the ache in his right temple — a product of the overcrowded condition of his less-than-one-hundred-percent-functional brain.

"Do you require Dr. Fraiser's assistance?"

Startled by the rumbling inquiry, Daniel cracked care-weary eyes and lowered his hand.

"Sa'reb," he croaked, smiling warmly at the young Jaffa standing in the doorway of his room. "Come in."

"The young woman outside said I could see you now," Sa'reb explained, gesturing over his shoulder. "Are you in pain? You looked as though —"

"I'm fine," Daniel interjected, not even convincing himself with the hollow-sounding vow. "I'm glad you're still here."

"General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill said that you would want to see me before I leave."

Pointing to his right, Daniel invited, "There's a stool over here. Sit down."

"I am sorry, I cannot stay long. I must return to Moloc's stronghold. He will demand news of Osiris's battle with Anubis."

Blinking until his slow moving brain caught up, Daniel recalled that, when they left Osiris's ship, the crew was preparing to engage Anubis's ha'tak.

"What happened?" With effort, Daniel shifted, rolling himself onto his left side so that he fully faced the Jaffa. His hip and shoulder complained loudly as his weight settled on them but Daniel suppressed the pain, perfecting his concentration for the answer to his question.

"Anubis destroyed Osiris's ha'tak. Had I not been forced to come with you to Anat, I would be dead." Sa'reb bowed respectfully; granting Daniel the same reverence he would have had the man dragged him unconscious from a flaming ship.

"So, Osiris is dead?" Daniel asked hesitantly, afraid he had misunderstood Sa'reb's statement.

"Dead, yes. But not on his ship."

A furrow appeared over the bridge of Daniel's nose. "I don't understand."

"What do you remember?" Sa'reb asked, stepping closer to the bed to search the half-lidded blue eyes.

Daniel shook his head. "The life pod. You put me in a life pod, and after that... nothing."

Sa'reb's mouth twitched sideways. "We were taking fire from death gliders; your pod was hit and crash landed on the planet."

"Yes, Dr. Fraiser said something about that. It's how I got this." Daniel shifted his casted foot.

Sa'reb glanced at Daniel's leg and nodded. "Osiris sent Jaffa to retrieve you. Ba'al had a garrison on the planet. The rival Jaffa joined in battle. Your comrades and I engaged the Jaffa on both sides and were able to extract you."

"Wait a minute, back up." Closing his eyes to aid his concentration, Daniel briefly rubbed his temple then licked his crusty lips. "You said Osiris wasn't on the ship when it exploded."

"Osiris had also ringed down to the planet," Sa'reb said as though stating the obvious.

Daniel blinked again and his mouth dropped open. "He ringed down? In the middle of a firefight?" Surely his overtaxed brain had scrambled that message.

"Osiris risked a confrontation with Anubis to keep you for himself, Daniel," Sa'reb reminded him. "Obviously ensuring your recapture was more important to him even than his own safety."

Considering Osiris's possessive behavior and the Goa'uld's knowledge of Sarah's obsession with controlling him, this news should not have come as a shock. Still, Daniel lay stunned, staring at the wall behind the young Jaffa's back, unable, in his befuddled state, to fully process the implications of that statement.

"Osiris's Jaffa kept us at bay long enough for the Goa'uld to reach your life pod," Sa'reb continued. "Major Carter and I attempted to stop him, but were rendered incapable by his ribbon devise."

As Daniel's concerned blue eyes slid to his own, Sa'reb offered a calming smile. "We are both fine. Osiris was opening the pod doors when Colonel O'Neill killed him with a staff weapon."

Daniel's eyes widened further. "Jack killed him?" He rolled onto his back, grunting softly when the pain in his shoulder flared significantly as the weight was lifted from it.

"Yes. You were not aware of this?"

Taking a moment to allow his screaming shoulder muscles to quiet down, Daniel stared at the ceiling, breathing slowly. Finally, sighing heavily, he turned to Sa'reb, slightly taken aback to find the Jaffa watching him, self-reproach evident in his bright eyes.

"I would like to have been the one to avenge your honor," Sa'reb said quietly. "I regret that I was not able to save you from —"

Daniel lifted his hand to halt the apology. "Sa'reb, you got me away from there. I can't thank you enough for that."

Though Sa'reb's answering smile was tight, tinged with remorse in spite of Daniel's forgiveness, it was nevertheless sincere.

"I must go now. Dr. Fraiser tells me that you will make a complete recovery in time."

"Yes," Daniel said, though at the moment he was unable to muster any conviction to back up the pledge. "I wish you well, wherever you go next."

"Thank you. I wish the same for you." Sa'reb tipped his head and turned to leave.

As Daniel watched the retreating back, he was struck suddenly by something the young man had said. His eyes widened slightly in alarm at the memory.

"Sa'reb?" When the Jaffa turned, Daniel poked out his tongue to wet his lips, but found that his mouth was suddenly dry.

"You said that you would like to have been the one to avenge my honor."

"Yes," Sa'reb confirmed, walking slowly back to the bed.

"And... am I correct in assuming you were referring to the assault?"

One brow raising in inquiry, the young Jaffa again responded in the affirmative.

"And you weren't able to... avenge me, because Jack had beaten you to it."

The pain level in his head escalated with the effort of his deliberations, but Daniel squeezed his eyes closed and battled past it, stubbornly searching for a perceived connection between Sa'reb's statement of regret and Osiris's demise at his lover's hands. "So, when Jack killed Osiris..." he murmured. 'Please, no.'

Daniel's eyes shot open, and he desperately sought those of his new Jaffa friend. "Sa'reb, when Jack killed Osiris, did... did he know that Osiris had..."

"He did," Sa'reb said solemnly, lowering his eyes from Daniel's.

"How?"

"Osiris boasted to O'Neill of his evil deed." Sa'reb's lip curled in distaste.

Daniel's mouth dropped open, his silent gasp frozen in his throat, threatening to strangle him. "He told Jack?"

"I did not hear it myself, but Colonel O'Neill said later that Osiris had informed him of his attack on you." Sa'reb's features turned thoughtful. "I must admit, I am a bit confused."

In spite of his distraction, Daniel's brows rose reflexively in a silent 'How so?'

"It is not unusual for a Goa'uld to brag of his conquests in battle. But to impart information of such a personal nature... unless he intended it as a direct attack on Colonel O'Neill."

Daniel felt the blood drain from his face and he sunk, lightheaded into his pillows. His eyes slid closed as he nodded in understanding.

"Are you alright?" Sa'reb placed a warm hand on Daniel's shoulder.

Forcing his eyelids up to assuage the Jaffa's concern Daniel smiled fleetingly. "Yes," he said. "Thank you."

Gently squeezing the shoulder, Sa'reb lifted his hand, placed his fist against his chest and bowed. "Goodbye, Daniel. I hope we will meet again."

Watching the young warrior cross the threshold, Daniel ruminated on the man's revelations.

'Osiris goaded Jack, flaunting the fact that he had...' Shuddering physically, Daniel shook himself mentally. 'Get it together,' he silently berated himself. 'You're gonna have to say it sometime.'

Daniel inhaled deeply, and the words, barely audible to his own ears, floated on his released breath. "Osiris... raped me."

Struck hard by the reality that statement represented, even spoken at such an inappreciable volume, Daniel agonized over the impact such news would have had on Jack — especially delivered in such a heinous manner by Daniel's rapist.

"What must it have done to you, Jack, hearing about it from Osiris himself?"

His forehead bunching with the thousand thoughts suddenly rolling around behind it, Daniel's eyes lost focus, his breaths stifled in his chest as the burden of his concerns crushed him.

'God, Jack, did you kill Osiris because he gloated about the rape? I know you'd want to.' Daniel's tongue crept out, mechanically sweeping across his bottom lip, pausing in the right corner to absently prod a bit of dead skin, before retreating to its dark, warm cavern. 'And if you did, what would the military say about it? Is it an actionable offense?

'There's got to be some regulation against killing an enemy strictly as an emotional response. We are talking about a Goa'uld here... still, is it acceptable to kill even a Goa'uld in retaliation for assaulting someone you care about?

'What if he's brought up on charges? Court-martialed or... imprisoned because of it?'

The breath he'd been holding came out in a panted gasp. "I have to know. I have to talk to him."

"Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel blinked, the featureless fuzz of his intense ruminations resolving to the familiar, if myopically indistinct, details of his room in the infirmary. Biting his lip to stifle a groan, he pushed himself to a sitting position, and turned, addressing the person who had just called his name. "I need to see Colonel O'Neill," he said hurriedly.

Barbara set the tray on the rollaway table and pushed it to the bed. "Dr. Fraiser wants you to eat something."

"I'm not hungry." Ignoring the tray set before him, Daniel asked, "Is Colonel O'Neill still on base? What time is it?" Swiveling to scan the walls, irritated that none contained a timepiece, Daniel turned back to Barbara.

Finding her standing immobile, face scrunched in a fair imitation of her CMO in no-nonsense mode, Daniel nevertheless snapped, "Are you gonna get the colonel for me or do I have to get up and find him myself?"

Throwing himself forward, Daniel shoved the table out of his way, the force exerted causing it crash loudly against the bottom of the bed. With a grunt, he tossed the covers back and started sliding his good leg to the side of the mattress.

"Dr. Jackson, you can't get out of bed." Grabbing his arm, Barbara put her shoulder into his chest, fighting to keep Daniel from advancing.

"Daniel!"

"Janet!" Daniel called as the petite doctor hurried towards him, "I need to see Jack."

Offering no response to his request, Janet Fraiser raced behind him and wrapped her deceptively strong hands around his other arm.

"Let me go!"

Janet pulled against his increased efforts to get out of bed, yet Daniel still succeeded in moving away from her a few inches. "Singleton, get in here!"

Pausing in the doorway to assess the situation, the orderly pushed himself off the doorjamb and slid in between Barbara and Daniel. Immediately, Daniel began slapping and shoving at him. Grasping the flailing hands, Singleton slid the right one between his body and Daniel's, and leaned his full weight on top of the squirming archaeologist, pressing him into the mattress. He tightened his hold on Daniel's left hand, mindful of the IV tubing protruding from the back.

"Get me two mgs Versed," Janet barked at Barbara, who after disentangling herself from Daniel, stood watching the scene in mounting disbelief. Shaken from her stupor by the order, she scurried from the room.

"No! Janet, I need to see Jack. Please, let me see... Agh! Get off me!" Daniel shouted, struggling under the orderly's considerable weight. The strain was quickly bleeding any strength his agitation had engendered.

Seeing Barbara return seconds later with the syringe, Daniel renewed his struggle, turning pleading eyes on the doctor. "Janet, please. I have to talk to Jack." He released a small cry as she swabbed high on his bicep and plunged the needle in, emptying the contents into his arm.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Jack!" Daniel turned rapidly blurring eyes in the direction of that beloved voice as Jack O'Neill stomped to the side of the bed.

"You can let him go now," Janet said to Singleton. The orderly straightened, gently crossing the faintly grasping hands against the patient's chest. Flashing a grim smile, he quickly left the room.

Receiving a dismissing nod from Fraiser, Barbara followed.

"Jack," Daniel breathed, lifting a drug-heavy hand in his lover's direction.

Entwining the grasping fingers in his own, Jack scowled as Daniel finally succumbed to exhaustion and the effects of the sedative.

"What the hell just happened?" he snapped. His eyes held a mixture of anger and concern.

"I don't know, sir," Janet said, fingering away the perspiration rolling down Daniel's temple. "Beyond the fact that Daniel was borderline hysterical and asking to see you."

Catching the movement as she pocketed the syringe, Jack glared at her. "Did you have to sedate him?"

"He was combative, Colonel, and he tried to get out of bed. He could have re-injured his ankle, torn open some stitches, or fallen and given himself his third concussion in two days. Would you have preferred that?"

Jack had the grace to look chastised. "Sorry," he muttered. Skimming his fingers over the back of Daniel's lax hand, he laid it gently on the bed beside his partner.

Janet blew out a frustrated breath. "No, sir. I'm sorry." Gazing at Daniel's still form, unaccountable guilt evident in her posture, she said softly, "I wish it hadn't been necessary, but, as weak as he is, Barbara and I couldn't keep him from getting up and I didn't dare let Singleton restrain him for too long."

Taking in her tense features, Jack offered a brittle smile. "You did the right thing," he confirmed.

The sound of boots scraping hard across the concrete drew their attention to the doorway just as Samantha Carter careened around the corner, followed at a more normal pace by Teal'c.

Pulling up short, she briskly walked the remaining meter to Daniel's bedside. "Someone said there was something wrong with Daniel," she puffed. Coming to stand beside O'Neill, she started upon finding the man in question apparently snug in the arms of Morpheus. "He's sleeping."

"Brilliant observational skills there, Carter," Jack sneered at his 2IC. He acknowledged Teal'c as the Jaffa took up his customary post at the foot of Daniel's bed.

"Sorry, sir. I heard someone say Daniel was in trouble and naturally I..."

"He's fine, Sam," Janet assured her, then, giving that assessment some thought, she amended, "Understandably, Daniel's emotions are very near the surface right now. He just got overly excited and I had to sedate him."

"Colonel?"

Jack turned at the sound of his CO's voice. "General?"

"Is Dr. Jackson alright?"

"He's going to be fine, sir," Janet responded with emphasis. "Excuse me."

Not even waiting for the General's permission, Janet stormed out of the room and into the infirmary proper, her speed and the stiff nature of her gate telegraphing the fury Jack saw in her eyes upon the General's inquiry. Someone in the infirmary was talking out of turn, and when Janet found out who it was, he or she would be lucky to have a job at the end of the day.

As Hammond came around the bed to take up Fraiser's vacated spot, Jack nodded and smiled at the general — offering not only a greeting but also confirmation of Fraiser's diagnosis.

Returning his attention to his softly snoring partner, Jack couldn't help but think how embarrassed Daniel would be if he woke now and found the four of them staring down on him so fondly. 'Probably turn three different shades of red — and wonder why everyone would bother fussing over him.'

Surreptitiously glancing around the bed, Jack smiled inwardly, grateful that Daniel had such a support system.

'Face it, love; there are a lot of people who care about you. And we're all staying right here to help you through this.'

-23-

Sleep heavy eyelids fluttering upward, Daniel sensed immediately that the lights in his room had been dimmed. Turning his head towards the door, he noted that even the glow from the infirmary's main ward was muted. 'Night time.'

Something out of place on the periphery of his vision brought his head further around.

Daniel smiled gratefully. Jack O'Neill slumped in a hard infirmary chair next to the bed. His long legs were extended in front of him, crossed at the ankles, heels jammed against the floor to keep him from sliding completely out of the seat. His arms were folded loosely across his chest, his chin resting just above them.

Rubbing his sleep-crusty eyes and blinking to clear his vision, Daniel gazed with open affection at the man who had fast become his best friend... and much more slowly, the man who held his heart.

Suddenly Jack's head came up, his eyes flashing darkly.

Daniel was not surprised by the sudden movement. He knew that Jack's black ops training was so deeply ingrained that his lover could still sense that someone was watching him — even from the realm of slumber.

Quickly unwinding his arms and legs, Jack hoisted himself up and scooted awkwardly to Daniel's bedside. "What are you doing awake?" He lifted his hand over Daniel's temple then, thinking better of it, lowered the hand to the mattress.

"It's okay, Jack, you can touch my hair if you want to," Daniel offered, aware that the older man found the action calming.

"Yeah?" Jack asked quietly, clearly tempted by the invitation. "'Cause as much as I'd love to do that, I'm pretty sure someone in security is still awake, even though it's the middle of the night." Angling his chin, he indicated the camera in the corner of the infirmary.

Cutting his eyes in that direction, Daniel sighed.

Recalling the scene Jack had come in on a few hours ago, Daniel studied the foot of his bed. "Great, so there were more witnesses to my performance this afternoon," he huffed. "If Janet's keeping count of my breakdowns, she probably thinks I'm a real basket case." Daniel tossed the words off in a humorous tone, but the tension beneath was evident.

Quickly clenching and relaxing his hand, Jack rested it gingerly on Daniel's arm. "First of all, Fraiser would never think that" — 'again,' he added mentally — "and secondly, I don't think that two... episodes in two days is excessive, considering what you've been through."

Daniel felt the warmth of flush. His eyes crawled slowly from his own feet to Jack's intense eyes. "Janet didn't tell you about the other two, huh?"

Jack's face fell briefly into a frown before he rearranged his features into a neutral aspect. "No," he said simply.

Daniel shifted, trying to turn in the bed. "Hang on a sec," Jack ordered, sliding a hand behind his lover's shoulder. Gingerly lifting Daniel into a sitting position, he splayed his hand against the younger man's back to keep him in place, and raised the bed using the remote control. Once it was at a suitable level Jack settled Daniel against the pillows and released his hold.

"Thank you," Daniel breathed. Pressing his shoulders into the pillows, he wriggled until he found a comfortable position.

"Dr. Jackson, Colonel, everything alright in here?" The night nurse stood on the threshold, no doubt having stopped there when she realized they might be having a private conversation.

Glancing around Jack, who turned slightly to acknowledge the nurse, Daniel smiled. "Everything's fine, Lieutenant, thank you."

Nodding, Lieutenant Miller warned, "I'll be back in about thirty minutes to check your vitals."

"Okay, thanks," Daniel confirmed. As soon as she disappeared from view, he glanced back up at Jack, a smile ghosting over his features as he noted his lover's pinched face.

"Ugh," Jack cringed, affecting a shiver. "You got Nursezilla?"

"Lieutenant Miller is a competent, compassionate professional, Jack."

"Who gets her jollies outta bullying sick people," Jack contended.

Daniel's mouth slid into an amused smirk. "I think the real problem is you can't bully her. Maybe if you just tried cooperating with the medical staff..."

"Yeess," Jack drawled, one brow lifted in a sarcastic arch. "Why don't you tell me how that's done? Being the model patient and all."

His smile slunk away shamefully and Daniel cleared his throat. "Where were we?"

Sobering immediately, Jack recalled, "You were just gonna tell me about your other breakdowns."

"I was?" Daniel asked, his feigned look of surprise suggesting that was news to him. "I don't remember saying —"

"Tell me," Jack coaxed, the soft command oddly encouraging.

Blinking into Jack's earnest brown eyes, Daniel sighed wearily.

"Right after you left this afternoon, before my surgery, I lost it — cried like a baby on Janet's shoulder."

Lowering his eyes, Daniel brought his hands together and fingered the edge of the bandage on his left wrist.

Knowing the restless movement was Daniel's way of distancing himself while discussing the uncomfortable topic, Jack pressed gently down on Daniel's arm — an attempt to keep the younger man from his distraction and a reminder that he was not alone. 

"I think something like that is a natural reaction," Jack offered, his tone accepting.

"Yeah, so Janet said. Supposedly, it's cathartic."

Jack's mouth twitched sympathetically at the implication inherent in the words. "Didn't help, huh?"

"Not so much," Daniel replied, a touch of bitterness coloring the comment, "especially, if what happened shortly thereafter is any indication."

Glancing at Jack's nervously questioning expression, Daniel's lips twisted in a lopsided frown. Having committed to revealing the information, and concluding there was no need to drag it out, he drew a large breath and blurted, "I kind of freaked out when she said she was gonna remove the catheter."

"Hey, that freaks me out, too," Jack commiserated, adding a dramatic shudder to emphasize his point.

Smiling appreciatively at Jack's supportive response, Daniel clarified, "Well, this was before she even laid a glove on me." He quickly explained the sensations he'd experienced while awaiting Janet's return, concluding, "Janet said it was probably just anticipation anxiety."

"And not at all unusual in a situation like this," Jack stated authoritatively.

"Yadda," Daniel replied, rolling his eyes impatiently.

Jack grinned at the use of his own catch phrase. "Heard it all before, huh?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Daniel groaned. "Yes. And apparently, I can look forward to hearing it repeated two to three days a week for a while."

Lowering his hand, Daniel found Jack watching him, his lips pulled tight at the corners. "Janet wants me to talk to someone," he spelled out.

"A psychiatrist?"

"I guess," Daniel sighed. Returning his fingers to his brow, he massaged gently. "Apparently, it's mandatory after... something like this."

Pulling a wry face at the remark, Jack nevertheless nodded understanding. "You know, you could talk to me, too."

Daniel's hand dropped, revealing eyes that stared in open disbelief.

"I mean, you know, if you want to," Jack added, awkwardly.

"I didn't think you'd want to know the details..."

"I don't, particularly," Jack confessed, his voice edged with anger. "It's hard enough just knowing it happened."

Lowering his head a bit, Daniel turned away.

His face screwed up at the response and Jack leaned closer to his lover. "Daniel, look at me."

Once the blue orbs, now shiny with moisture, trained on his face again, Jack drew a calming breath.

"In truth, I don't want to know what that son-of-a-bitch did to you. I could go my whole life without knowing." Blowing out the breath, Jack cautiously extended his hand and, receiving a nod to the questioning tilt of his brow, gently squeezed the younger man's shoulder. "But when we made the decision to start this relationship, we said we'd stick together, no matter what."

Flashing a sad smile, Daniel redirected his gaze to the hands that fidgeted in his lap. "I warned you about getting involved with me," he said softly.

"I remember. 'High maintenance,' you said."

Daniel's head bobbed acknowledgment.

Jack tightened his grip minutely, waiting for Daniel to raise his eyes. "But I knew before I ever kissed you that you were a pain in the ass, so I figure I was already forewarned." His mouth sliding into a sly smirk, almost immediately Jack's features evened out. "Still didn't keep me from wanting to get closer."

Covertly checking the angle of the security camera to confirm that his fingers would be hidden from view behind Daniel's head, Jack lifted his hand to catch the tear that escaped the corner of his lover's eye. Watching the droplet slide down the digit to pool in the juncture between his forefinger and thumb, he pulled his fingers in against his palm, and gently ran his knuckles along Daniel's bruised jawline before withdrawing the hand.

"There's another reason I think you should talk to me about what happened," Jack urged, softening his gaze when Daniel's eyes widened slightly. "I... I need to know where... it's okay to touch you."

Daniel gasped softly, his expression so hopeful Jack's heart lurched. "You still want to?"

"Why would you think I wouldn't?" Jack scowled as Daniel cast his eyes downward.

"I saw your face when Janet took the bandage off the bite mark on my leg," Daniel divulged under his breath.

"I was reacting to the wound, Daniel," Jack asserted, slightly exasperated. "You know I don't handle that kinda stuff very well."

As Daniel's eyes rose haltingly to meet his, a vaguely chagrined look on his face, Jack reached out blindly and found the younger man's hand. Gripping it firmly, he pinned his lover with a pointed stare.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen up."

Glancing over his shoulder to make sure Lieutenant Miller hadn't decided to return early; Jack turned and locked brown eyes to blue.

"I love you, Daniel Jackson," he whispered fervidly. "I know I haven't said the words often enough, but I hope that my actions over the last few months have proven to you that it's true. Believe it, and believe, too, that nothing is going to change how I feel. Nothing." Frowning slightly as Daniel brushed away still more tears, Jack straightened, sniffing discretely. "So you better just get used to the fact that I'm not going anywhere."

Pulling up the blanket to wipe his nose, Daniel quirked a wan smile. "That's good. Because I don't think I could get through this without you."

"There, you see, so it works out for everyone," Jack concluded, putting on his too-large 'Mr. Positive' grin.

Daniel grinned, too, and gestured for the tissue box. Snagging a handful, Daniel briskly wiped his eyes and blew his nose with a decisive honk, tossing the used tissues in the waste basket, which Jack proffered with a fond smile.

Sighing softly, he twisted, his face clenching in a responsive wince. He squirmed and sighed again, resignedly this time, obviously unable to find a completely pain-free position.

"Hey, you alright?" Jack quickly set the waste basket back on the floor and reached for Daniel's shoulder, helping him settle. "Maybe we should stop now. You need pain meds?"

"No," Daniel gasped. "Well, yeah," he conceded grudgingly, "but not right now. I have to ask you something."

Proficient at reading Daniel's body language, Jack eyed the younger man critically. Weighing Daniel's admitted need for pain relief against his desire to talk, Jack determined from the furrowed brow and Daniel's unusually stiff manner that, while the archaeologist was uncomfortable, he was not in severe pain.

Not that Jack's opinion mattered. If Daniel was determined to talk, nothing short of unconsciousness was going to stop him. Inwardly groaning at that bit of truth, Jack relented, "Shoot."

Daniel flinched, barking a short cough to disguise the fact. "Sa'reb told me you killed Osiris."

"He had it coming, Daniel," Jack grumbled, his hackles instinctively stirring at the possibility of having to defend his actions to his pacifist partner. "If the damn Tok'ra had killed him like they were supposed to, none of this would have happened. I'm sorry the host had to die with him, but —"

"I'm not upset that you killed Osiris, Jack," Daniel interrupted, looking suddenly like he had just acquired a two hundred pound weight on his already wounded shoulders. "I just... I need to know why."

Taken aback by the unexpected direction of Daniel's reply, Jack echoed, "Why?"

Chewing anxiously on his bottom lip, Daniel asked bluntly, "Did you kill Osiris because he told you he raped me?"

Jack's brows dropped and rushed to meet each other over the bridge of his nose, the collision creating a deep crevice. "No, Daniel. I killed the SOB because he raised his ribbon device to take me out so he could get his damn hands on you again."

Startled by the small cry his lover emitted, Jack gripped Daniel's shoulder, growling softly in response to the fine tremors swiftly wracking the younger man's body.

"Daniel?"

Getting no immediate response, Jack muttered worriedly, "I'm getting the nurse."

As he turned away from the bed, Daniel's hand shot out to stop him.

"I'm fine, Jack," Daniel grunted, the sudden movement decidedly ill-advised. "It's... I think it's just a reaction." Daniel's eyelids dipped tiredly and he shuddered outright, his grip on Jack's arm tightening reflexively. "I was so afraid." The confession was barely audible.

Placing his hand over the one that clasped his forearm, Jack took the step back to Daniel's bedside.

"Afraid of what?" he asked, concern making his question more forceful than he had intended.

Wary blue eyes shot open at once in response to the angry tone.

Silently berating himself for unwittingly causing Daniel additional stress, Jack gentled his gaze. "Sorry," he whispered.

A stuttering breath passing between his lips, Daniel hastily dropped lids over eyes that seemingly threatened to again spill over. He held up a finger, an obvious signal that he needed a minute to collect himself. Pulling a shaky lungful of air, he let it out in a slow, calming stream.

"Okay?" Jack slid his fingers over Daniel's knuckles, soothingly caressing the tightly clenched hand until its grip loosened.

Daniel nodded, sniffling wetly.

Tenderly squeezing Daniel's fingers, Jack gently removed his lover's hand from his arm, and lowered it to Daniel's abdomen.

"Okay. Now," Jack said, his tone drawing Daniel's startled eyes. "What was that about?"

Still sheltering behind half-masted eyelids, Daniel smirked sheepishly. "Uh, I thought... I thought that you might have killed Osiris out of revenge for what he did to me," he admitted hesitantly, bringing his eyes back up to meet Jack's.

Apparently reading disbelief and confusion in Jack's pinched expression, Daniel elaborated. "When Sa'reb was here earlier, he said he wished that he had been the one to avenge me. So, I wondered, or at least the possibility occurred to me, that your actions might be construed that way... and that you might face disciplinary action because of it."

"Is this why you were so upset this afternoon?" Realizing he'd allowed his worry and anger to again harden his tone, Jack banked the emotions before observing, "Sa'reb is a Jaffa, Daniel. Their system of justice is completely different from ours."

Daniel's eyes retreated again. "I'm sorry —"

"Don't be." Waiting until Daniel's eyes crept from their hiding place, Jack said evenly, "Because, except for the snake in the gut, I'd have gladly joined their ranks that day, if it meant getting the kind of satisfaction that particular revenge killing would have given me."

Snorting a small laugh, Jack affected an aggravated sneer. "The kicker is I couldn't have enjoyed it for long." The put-on smile turned genuine. "You see I've got this pesky hundred-and-eighty or so pound conscience that's been trying to teach me that I can't just take matters into my own hands. That it's wrong to kill someone, just because he needs killing."

Eyelids fluttering lazily, Daniel flashed a weak smile and nodded. Sniffing again, he wiped a stray tear from his cheek and sighed deeply.

"And on that note," Jack said, tugging the end of Daniel's blankets upward, "it's time for all good archaeologists to say goodnight or..."

"Good morning," Daniel said in unison with him.

Jack smiled broadly at the rightness of it, their togetherness. Gazing down at Daniel, whose smile, though strained from pain and fatigue, was no less expansive; he patted the younger man's arm.

"I'll go get Nursezilla, shall I?" he inquired, gesturing over his shoulder.

"Yeah," Daniel replied, not at all fooled into believing he actually had a choice. "Thanks."

As his lover turned away, Daniel rubbed sleepily at his face. "Jack?" he called, his inquiry causing the older man to spin awkwardly. "What happened to your eye?" Daniel flicked a forefinger at his lover's left orb.

"Oh," Jack coughed, fingering the mark he'd hoped had escaped Daniel's notice. "Paper cut. Smacked myself in the head with one of Carter's reports and the darn thing bit me. You know that technobabble makes me crazy." He lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug and pivoted back towards the door.

Chuffing a soft laugh, Daniel shook his head fondly. He gratefully closed his eyes on Jack's departing back, silently thanking any deity that might be listening that, while the journey back to what they had pre-Osiris would undoubtedly be long and arduous, today Jack had stated his intention to travel that path with Daniel — carrying him if necessary — until they found themselves home again.

The serenity accompanying that realization overtook him quickly and Daniel was comfortably asleep before Jack and Lieutenant Miller returned to the room.

-24-

"You wanted to see me, General?" Skipping over the top step and into the briefing room, Jack shouted his greeting across the expanse to the man standing in his office doorway.

Hammond looked up from the file cradled in his hands. Closing the folder, he turned to the airman who had brought it to him, dismissing the young man with a nod.

"Come in, Colonel," Hammond called.

As O'Neill passed the airman, he turned and eyed the young man, a hint of suspicion twitching his lips. Spinning back to face the general, he stumbled slightly at the dour face the older man sported.

"Have a seat," Hammond said, gesturing to the two chairs in front of his desk. Hammond closed the door behind them and trudged the short distance to his desk. He dropped the folder on the desktop and executed an impressive controlled drop into his own chair.

"What's this about, sir?" Notwithstanding the general's invitation, Jack stood at ease before the large desk, projecting his usual bold confidence. But beneath the surface calm, his innards stirred in response to the general's obvious disquiet.

The disturbance in his gut became a full blown roil when a soft tap on the hallway door heralded the arrival of Janet Fraiser. His mouth dropped open to accommodate his body's sudden need for extra oxygen. 'Damn. It's about Daniel.'

"Sorry, sir," Fraiser puffed, slightly out of breath. "One of the members of SG-7 needed stitches."

"That's alright, Doctor. Come in," Hammond nodded at the chairs. "I assume someone has checked on Dr. Gardner today."

"Yes, sir. She's fine," Closing the door behind her, Fraiser moved up beside the colonel. "Dr. Cho followed up this morning since she answered the call to detention yesterday. Dr. Gardner suffered a slight bump to the right side of her head. The abrasion required nothing more than some disinfectant and a band-aid."

"Very good," Hammond replied, gesturing for the doctor to take a seat.

"Colonel?"

Turning automatically at his commanding officer's summons, even in his distracted state, Jack stared dumbly at the General.

Recognizing that the appearance of the base CMO had triggered the Colonel's stupor, Hammond softened his own features. "Sit down, Jack," he said gently.

Darting his eyes between them, Jack slumped into the vacant chair next to Janet.

Hammond shifted and softly cleared his throat. "Doctor." He bobbed his head at Fraiser, turning the meeting over to her.

"You might remember that yesterday I left Daniel's room rather abruptly," Fraiser began.

"Ye-ah," Jack drew out, his brow slanting curiously.

"After Major Carter and the general both came in with questions that indicated they had advanced warning of Daniel's agitated condition, I surmised that someone in the infirmary had been sharing confidential patient information."

"Right. I figured you went to sort out the gossiper." Jack shrugged, shaking his head.

"Yes, sir," Janet affirmed, suddenly interested in her hands. "But it wasn't anyone on my staff."

"Then who?" Jack snapped, immediately mouthing an apology for his volume.

"Dr. Arthur Cooksey," Hammond announced. "SG-10's linguist."

"One of Daniel's guys?"

Nodding confirmation, Hammond pulled the man's file in front of him, resting his folded hands on top of it. "Apparently he's been expressing some rather interesting opinions about Dr. Jackson over the last few weeks."

'Ah, shit. Daniel so does not need this crap right now.'

"What sorts of opinions?" Jack leaned forward in his chair, menacingly, imagining the little weasel — not that Jack could actually remember what the guy looked like — squirming under his glare.

"It appears he's been questioning Dr. Jackson's position as head of Archeology and Linguistics," Hammond said.

"Sounds like jealousy. Maybe Cooksey's after Daniel's job," Jack opined, knowing it couldn't be as easy as that.

"If that was all he'd said, I'd agree." Hammond's lips nearly disappeared into the compressed line his mouth had become.

Glancing at Janet, Jack's pique escalated when he found a similar expression marring her delicate features.

"What?" he demanded, making no apology for the outburst this time.

Janet shifted towards him, settling purposefully, taking a minute to firm her composure. Weaving her fingers together, she settled her conjoined hands on her lap.

"When I questioned my staff, I learned that SG-10 were still in the infirmary getting post-mission exams when Daniel tried to leave his bed yesterday afternoon." Janet's hands squeezed together, her agitation evident in the thumbs that wrestled with one another on top of them.

"One of the nurses who was helping with the exams, told me that when they heard Daniel shouting, Dr. Cooksey mumbled something like, 'Told you he's unstable.'"

"Son of a bitch," Jack muttered angrily.

"It was the resultant buzz in the infirmary that made me think Dr. Jackson had had a setback," Hammond said, clearly regretting he hadn't taken the time to question those who had been 'buzzing.'

"Once Dr. Fraiser reported what she heard to me I thought it prudent to dig a little deeper. That's when I learned that Dr. Cooksey has been questioning Dr. Jackson's fitness to even remain at the SGC. He's apparently been emphasizing Dr. Jackson's memory loss upon his return to human form, the unfortunate events surrounding the passengers of the Stromos and Dr. Jackson's captivity in Nicaragua to back up the assertion."

"What does Cooksey say? Does he actually believe that crap?"

"Dr. Cooksey isn't talking. Probably because of this." Hammond slid the folder across the desk.

"What's this?" Jack asked, his brow lowering over eyes squinted in suspicion.

"It's a copy of Dr. Cooksey's bank records," Hammond responded, motioning for Jack to take the file.

Opening the file and scanning the contents, Jack's brows soared. "He made a fifty thousand dollar deposit the week before Daniel disappeared?"

"And another one just yesterday," Hammond confirmed.

"Well, I knew the civilians were better paid, but..." Jack let the inappropriate remark trail off.

"I only wish this money had come from legitimate sources," Hammond grumbled. "But I suspect we're going to find that Dr. Cooksey has made some questionable business deals with someone outside the SGC."

"You think someone paid him to badmouth Daniel? To what end? To get Daniel removed from the SGC? No one with that kind of decision-making power would give that much credence to this guy's opinion." Jack angrily flipped through the pages of the report.

"No. But someone obviously wants to stir up trouble for Dr. Jackson and probably for the SGC as well."

"You want me to talk to Cooksey?" Jack slammed the folder shut and pushed it back towards Hammond.

Leaning back in his chair, Hammond eyed the folder then lifted his gaze to Jack. "No," he sighed. "I think it would be better if a 'disinterested' party looked into this. Dr. Cooksey is in custody; but, like I said, he's not told security anything of interest." Hammond fingered the edges of the file. "I'm going to let him sit a while then I think I'll have a little talk with him myself."

Jack eyed his CO dubiously. Knowing Hammond's fondness for Daniel, Jack thought to challenge the general's assessment that he was a disinterested party — then thought better of it. Next to himself, he most trusted Hammond to look out for Daniel's interests in this matter. Finally, he nodded in agreement.

Hammond turned to Fraiser. "Doctor, is Dr. Jackson strong enough to debrief this afternoon?"

"Yes, sir, I think so. It appears he had a very restful night. He even ate a bit of his breakfast." Glancing at Jack, she smiled appreciatively. "I did mention to him that you might like to speak with him sometime today, and he assured me that he is up to it. He was just starting lunch when I left the infirmary so if you could give him an hour?"

"Of course. Have you been able to schedule a time to analyze the substance found in Dr. Gardner's apartment?"

Thrown for just a second by the seeming non sequitur, Janet shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir, not yet. I'll coordinate with Sam. Hopefully we can get to it this afternoon."

"Thank you, Doctor, that'll do." Hammond glanced at his watch. "Will you inform Dr. Jackson that I'll see him at 1400? Colonel O'Neill, I assume you'd like to sit in?"

"Yes, sir, I would. Thank you," Jack replied, shifting to the end of his seat, anticipating the general's dismissal.

"Then I'll see you both in the infirmary at 1400. Dismissed."

Catapulting from his chair, Jack raced to the door. Pausing just long enough to let Janet precede him, he made his way quickly to his office. He had just over an hour to find Lou Ferretti and get him up to speed on the latest threat to Daniel's well-being.

Daniel scanned the contents of his lunch tray without enthusiasm. Touching his fork to the mound of green beans, he pushed and flipped them around, finally settling on one near the bottom of the pile. Spearing it mercilessly, he lifted the little pod to his mouth.

Biting his bottom lip instead when the scent of the food caused his stomach to lurch sideways, Daniel let the fork, with its burden, slip from his fingers. It landed with a soft thud in the mashed potatoes, creating an impressive spray of gravy that dotted both his hand and the sheets with creamy sauce.

Swiping at the mess with his napkin, he pushed the table away, screwing his mouth in discontent. Janet could come back at any minute and she would be decidedly unhappy to find very little missing from his tray.

'Maybe I could hide everything under the rim of the plate.' he mused idly. 'Sure, my foster parents always found the peas when I tried it, but that's because they cleared the table. If I can get someone to take this tray back to the commissary, Janet'll never know.'

"Is there something wrong with the chicken, Dr. Jackson?"

Startled out of his machinations, Daniel looked up, wide-eyed, at the large orderly looming next to his bed. Following the other man's frowning gaze to his mostly untouched plate, Daniel grimaced.

Reaching up, he grasped the edge of the tray with his fingertips and moved it a little further away. "I'm sorry. I'm... I'm not really very hungry." Daniel would have added the man's name to the apology — he preferred to personalize that way — but he'd only heard it that one time, and they hadn't really been properly introduced.

"Dr. Fraiser wants you to eat something, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel glanced up, jerking back when he found the orderly hanging over him. Scrunching his eyes at the slight edge of... annoyance he detected in the man's voice, he turned away, suddenly too aware of the other man's presence.

"Can I get you something else?" the orderly asked, not at all good-naturedly.

Concentrating on the tray, Daniel picked up the fork again. "No, this is fine." Poking at the cold chicken, Daniel glanced at the orderly out of the corner of his eye.

"Where is Dr. Fraiser?"

"She had a meeting with General Hammond."

Daniel's brow knotted at the curt, grudging response.

Huffing impatiently, the orderly suddenly reached over and lifted the tray from the rollaway table. Instinctively, Daniel recoiled as the hand shot into view.

"If you're not going to eat this, I'll get it out of your way." The man held out a hand for the fork Daniel still clutched.

Staring at the palm displayed before him, Daniel gingerly dropped the utensil in the center, blinking flinchingly as the fingers closed around it.

Daniel watched the man stalk from the room, absently rubbing his hand on his blanketed thigh. He was still contemplating the wide back when Janet came through the door, breaking his concentration. Seeing her frown, he ducked his head, dutifully awaiting the 'you have to eat' lecture.

Janet tapped softly to his bedside. "What's wrong?" she asked, taking in the bowed head and the fingers that worried the edge of the blanket.

Glancing up, a slightly surprised look on his face, Daniel shrugged. "Nothing. The food was fine. I'm just..."

"Not hungry," Janet supplied with a sad smirk. "How's the pain?"

"Not bad."

"Do you have any nausea?"

His nose wrinkling disagreeably at the mere mention of the word, Daniel nodded slowly. "I think I'm just a little nervous about the debriefing," he admitted.

Janet sighed. "I'm sorry, Daniel. Maybe we should put it off a day or so."

"No. I really don't think I'm going to be any more relaxed about it tomorrow. I'd rather just get it over."

Eyeing him critically, she nodded. "Okay, well, the general and Colonel O'Neill will be here at 1400." Janet rubbed his arm and smiled sympathetically. "Why don't you lay back and rest until then?"

Half-heartedly returning her smile, Daniel leaned back and shifted against the pillows, trying to find a comfortable spot. Once he stilled, Janet squeezed his arm gently and left him alone with his thoughts.

Over and above his mounting trepidation over the impending debrief, Daniel's mind kept wandering back to the orderly and his questionable bedside manner. 'If I didn't know better I'd say he was trying... well, at least it felt like he was...' Closing his eyes, Daniel replayed the orderly's overly-aggressive actions in his mind, and his disjointed thoughts finally came together. Heavy lids slowly lifted over pensive, confused eyes.

'But why would he want to intimidate me?'

In spite of the turmoil his thoughts had become over the orderly's behavior, Daniel's abused body eventually pushed him to drowse while he waited for Jack and the general.

Waking suddenly when faltering footsteps scuffled the concrete near the door, he smiled to himself when he heard Jack's half-whispered, "Nah, it's okay. We'll just wake him up."

"Colonel, maybe we should ask Dr. Fraiser..." Hammond murmured.

Daniel gingerly stretched his back and cracked open gummy eyes.

"It's alright, sir," he croaked, "I'm awake." Coughing softly, he grimaced at the absolute dryness of his mouth and tongue — and the realization that his mouth had probably dropped open in his sleep.

Jack rushed over to the bed as Daniel struggled to sit, gently guiding the younger man into an upright position and propping him up with the pillows.

Daniel coughed again. "Can I have some water?"

Jack turned to retrieve the glass and pitcher that always sat on the table next to the bed and frowned when he found the pitcher missing.

"I'll take care of it, Jack," Hammond said from the doorway.

"Thank you, sir," Jack called after him as Hammond turned the corner heading out of the room.

Daniel smacked desert-dry lips and futilely swiped at them with his equally dehydrated tongue. Jack smiled fondly at the sleep-rumpled form.

Poking his fingers into the corners of his eyes to clear away the crustiness, Daniel blinked and narrowed his eyes at Jack's knowing grin.

"What?" he asked, in mock irritation.

Jack leaned slightly forward and whispered conspiratorially. "You know as cute as the mouth-breathing thing is, I would think that, as a linguist, you'd like to keep your speaking parts in good working order. Letting your tongue dry out is not really taking proper care of your equipment."

Daniel sneered tolerantly at the remark. "It only happens when I'm overly-tired," he muttered.

"Which is about three-fourths of the time," Jack countered, pointedly referring to Daniel's tendency to work too much and sleep too little.

"Well, I'll have plenty of time to catch up," Daniel grunted gloomily. "I have a feeling Janet's not gonna let me out of here..." he glanced up and around the small room, "for quite some time."

As the younger man's head bowed tiredly, Jack rested his hand on Daniel's shoulder and squeezed it sympathetically. Gesturing to Daniel's chin with his other hand, he asked conversationally, "Someone gave you a shave, huh?"

Looking askance at his lover, Daniel fingered his jaw, his mouth turning slightly downward at the corners. "Yeah. I got a pretty thorough sponge bath, too." The frown deepened to a scowl. "I asked Janet if I could have a shower, but she said the sponge baths are the best I'm gonna get for a while."

Gently squeezing the shoulder again, Jack dropped his hold and stepped back as General Hammond and Dr. Fraiser came into the room, the latter carrying a Styrofoam pitcher and a cup with a straw poking out of its plastic cover.

Behind them came a tech pushing a small cart containing some audio recording equipment. The portly staffer situated the cart at the foot of the bed, set up the device to record, then, receiving Hammond's nod, retreated without even acknowledging the man in the bed.

Handing the cup to Daniel, Janet elbowed Jack out her way, and put the pitcher on the bedside table. Watching Daniel pull on the straw until the cup was drained, she reached down to the pulse point on the arm that lay lax at his side.

Taking the cup when he'd finished drinking, Janet refilled it and set it beside the pitcher. She smiled reassuringly at Daniel then swung her gaze to the general, who had moved to the opposite side of the bed.

"I'll leave you to it, then," she said. "I'll make sure you're not disturbed, but call if you need anything." She nodded towards the call button next to Daniel's arm and returned to the main infirmary.

General Hammond stepped a little closer to Daniel. "Are you sure you're up to this, son?"

Daniel sighed wearily, but he met Hammond's concerned eyes with a steady, determined gaze. "I can't say I've been looking forward to it, but, yeah, I'm ready to get it over with."

"Alright," Hammond nodded in understanding. "You can submit your written report as soon as you feel up to it." Turning, he pulled the tall stool over to the bedside, seated himself then cleared his throat.

"Dr. Jackson, I'm not going to ask you to tell us any more about the assault than you're comfortable with."

"Thank you, sir."

"But, if there is anything you can tell us that might help us understand why —"

"Yes, sir," Daniel acknowledged, lowering his eyes and swallowing hard.

Hammond watched the young man for a moment before catching the eye of his 2IC, who had chosen to remain standing next to the bed at about knee level with Daniel's recumbent form. He tipped his head in the direction of the recorder.

Jack compressed his lips into a quick, tight smile aimed at Daniel and shuffled over to turn on the machine.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Hammond suggested.

Daniel's bowed head bobbed rapidly in assent. He pulled his hands into his lap, his fingers grasping the edge of the blanket, bunching the fabric between them.

"Two days ago..." Daniel glanced up in confusion, his eyes automatically seeking Jack's. "Was it two days or... three?"

"Let's just call it the morning of your abduction," Hammond offered, understanding immediately why Jack had placed himself midway down the side of Daniel's bed.

"Okay," Daniel breathed.

Pulling a lungful of air, he continued. "Um, I started the shower and went for coffee. I remember I had a headache, and I got some aspirin or... Tylenol. Anyway," he quickly shook himself out of his inane focus on his choice of pain reliever, "I leaned down to drink from the tap..." he offered Jack a chagrined shrug, "and when I stood up I saw a flash in my mirror and... he was there.

"I smashed the bottle of bath salts Sam gave me, and I thought I could keep him away with the sharp edge, but, ah, he had a ribbon device — I hadn't noticed that before. I think I cut him with the bottle...?" Daniel swung his inquiring gaze from one listener to the other and nodded himself when both confirmed his recollection.

"I tried to get away from him but he grabbed me, and I hit my head," Daniel fingered the wound at his temple.

"The next thing I remember, I woke up in a storeroom or something. I knew I was on a Goa'uld ship. From the size of it, I figured it was an al'kesh and that it was likely cloaked and orbiting Earth. I had also guessed that my kidnapper was a re-hosted Osiris. But that didn't make sense because Osiris was supposed to be dead."

Daniel glanced at Jack, who turned away — but not before Daniel saw the words 'son of a bitch' form on his lips.

Daniel cringed, not at the epithet but at the memory of what came next. "Um... Osiris planned to make me a host," he said quickly.

Jack's head whipped back. "What?"

His face paling visibly, Daniel flashed a sick smile. "Showed me the symbiote and everything," he said, closing puffy lids against the horror in Jack's dark eyes.

"God, Daniel."

Daniel sniffed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. His fingers crept slowly upward, massaging his brow. "Lucky for me..." Daniel's lip curled at his choice of words, "he decided he'd rather rape me instead."

He laughed once, a soft, fragile sound — an involuntary response to the irony of his assault.

Jack moved his hand instinctively towards Daniel's, needing to clutch, to hold. Suddenly aware of how inappropriate his touch would be with Hammond sitting on the other side of the bed, he paused, his hand suspended fifteen centimeters above the pale skin.

Afraid he had already crossed the line of Hammond's tolerance, and only half caring that he had, Jack glanced at his CO, his respect for the general balancing precariously with his concern for his soul mate. His mouth opened in a silent gasp when he found the general staring, eyes glued to the fingers poised over Daniel's, an odd expression on his ample face.

The general's gaze shifted and as clear blue eyes met deep brown, the general's countenance softened to one of acceptance. His nod was almost imperceptible.

Without hesitation, Jack lowered his hand and pushed his fingers gently through Daniel's slack grip.

The hand that rubbed his forehead dropping into his lap, Daniel shot open surprised eyes. His startled gaze bounced about frenziedly, trying to take in all at once their conjoined hands, the open affection and worry on Jack's face, the security camera in the corner and General Hammond watching it all.

"Jack?" he whispered as though he hoped the general wouldn't hear.

"It's alright, son," Hammond assured him when Daniel tried to slip his hand out of Jack's grasp. Sliding out of the stool, the general paced over to the bottom of the bed and turned off the recording equipment.

Jack tightened his hold and Daniel pulled hard against it, his level of agitation increasing incrementally with each failed attempt to loose himself.

"The general knows, Daniel," Jack said, sliding closer to the bed. His right hand came up and rested gingerly on the younger man's shoulder. "I had to tell him about... us."

Daniel stilled, and he stared at Jack, bewildered, his mouth and eyes wide.

"What? Why?" he finally managed, shooting his gaze to the general. Of their own accord, his wary eyes crept to the security camera over the older man's shoulder.

"You have nothing to fear from me, Daniel," Hammond said. "The colonel isn't in any trouble here."

The use of his first name, so rare from General Hammond, captured Daniel's scattered attention and gathered it all on the earnest crystalline eyes boring into his.

Hammond smiled fondly. "Though I don't necessarily agree with this relationship, I think I understand why you've decided to go ahead with it. You're putting yourselves at great risk of exposure but, God knows, you put your lives on the line every day, fighting for this world, this galaxy. You've each had your brushes with death and I can't, and won't, deny you any measure of happiness you might find in those few quiet moments you have between crises. And I trust you both to remember and respect your positions here and keep any overt fraternization out of the public eye."

Hammond leveled a quasi-stern glare on the men. His aspect softening almost immediately, he sighed ruefully.

"I can't promise there won't be repercussions down the road. I won't lie to you — it'll likely be damned hard to keep this quiet in the long term. But I will say, and you have my word on this, that no information that anyone may get concerning an alleged relationship between the 2IC of this command and any other SGC employee will come from me. And, should such an allegation ever be made, I pledge to do everything in my power to protect you both."

He gestured over his shoulder. "Power to that security camera has been temporarily interrupted. And Dr. Fraiser assures me your privacy will be safeguarded for as long as you're a patient in her infirmary."

Daniel blinked and glanced over at Jack, who smiled gratefully at the general. He released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding since Hammond had used his given name.

"General... sir, I don't know what to say. I... Thank you."

Hammond smiled softly and Daniel hoped the general read much more than those two simple words in his sincerely appreciative, if stunned, expression.

Daniel's eyes darkened suddenly, and he turned them on Jack. "But why was it necessary to tell the general?"

Jack floundered for a second, his mouth opening then closing without uttering a sound.

"Why don't we get through your debrief first," Hammond suggested. Without waiting for a reply, he turned the recorder back on and climbed into the stool, watching Daniel expectantly.

Daniel stared blankly at the recorder. A slight pressure on his hand, a gentle reminder that Jack was near, prompted him.

"Um, he moved me from the al'kesh," Daniel said, and paused as the significance of that fact struck him suddenly. Shifting his leg to push himself up, he turned to Jack, decidedly more animated than a moment ago. "We used a cargo ship, so the al'kesh might still be in orbit over Earth. Wouldn't it show up on satellite images or something? Maybe we can —"

"Whoa, Daniel." Jack pressed on the younger man's shoulder, urging him to lay back. "Relax, okay. We'll get Carter on it."

Daniel collapsed against the pillows and Jack patted his shoulder soothingly.

"Okay, so they moved you. Where to?"

Daniel's eyes locked with Jack's encouraging gaze. "A ha'tak. I don't know where it was when we boarded. I was, um, unconscious at the time."

Scowling, Jack glanced at Hammond and Daniel flicked his eyes in the same direction.

The general sat passively watching the exchange, obviously content to let Jack conduct the interview, no doubt understanding that it gave Daniel some measure of comfort to discuss such personal matters with his friend.

Daniel watched Jack out of the corner of his eye. Biting his lip, and looking as though he wished such restraint would keep him from asking the question, Jack pressed, "Had he already..." his hand twitched vaguely in the air near Daniel's head, grasping for a painless way to request the information.

"No." Daniel said, his eyes retreating to his lap. He cleared his throat, harshly. "The, ah, the assault happened on the ha'tak."

Slowly lifting his gaze, he stared at the wall in front of him. "Osiris had a small army of Jaffa. I saw..." he closed his eyes, his brow scrunching in concentration, "four different tattoos. Osiris told me that Anubis had given him some of the Jaffa that he'd demanded from the other System Lords."

Daniel sucked in his bottom lip, his jaw working slowly as his teeth scraped the flesh.

"They restrained me. I fought them, of course, but there were too many. Um, I had chains..." One hand absently pulled at the bandage on the other damaged wrist. "They suspended my arms over my head and then locked my ankles into iron shackles bolted into the floor."

Daniel smiled crookedly, an obscene expression on a mouth telling such a tale, and cut his eyes to Jack. "It took six of them, and I got in a couple good licks, too."

As much as the narrative clearly pained him, Jack offered Daniel an approving 'atta boy' grin.

"Kinda pissed 'em off, though," Daniel confessed, and his hand drifted to his shoulder, gingerly fingering his hospital gown above the spot where a Jaffa blade had sliced his flesh. He tipped his head and shrugged an apology when Jack's smile morphed into a grimace.

Daniel lowered his eyes and shifted restlessly. After a moment, he pulled a deep breath.

"The, ah, one of the Jaffa cut off my pants and blindfolded me. Then Osiris came in."

Swallowing involuntarily, Daniel clasped his hands together. Nervously picking at his cuticles, he distracted himself with his fidgeting fingers as he continued his narrative.

"I forgot when I told you Osiris was gonna Goa'uld me, that, before he changed his mind, he was acting..." shaking his head, unable to come up with a suitable description, Daniel finally settled on, "weird."

"Weird, how?"

Darting his eyes upward to acknowledge Jack's question, Daniel again concentrated on his hands. "He, um, he seemed overly interested in... touching... and he commented on how I'd filled out." Daniel's hand flapped loosely near his shoulder. "How I was more muscular than when Sarah knew me back in Chicago."

Jack muttered something unintelligible. Startled, Daniel glanced up and found the older man glaring angrily in the general's direction. Cutting his eyes to Hammond, Daniel observed a similar expression. Both men quickly disguised their reactions but not before Daniel caught on that they had shared something — something unknown to Daniel — and that their mutual reactions were caused by his last statement.

"What?" he asked, swinging his head from one to the other.

"Nothing," Jack said, donning his most believable mask of innocence — the one that fooled everyone, except Daniel. "Why don't you just continue —"

"Osiris came in, he raped me, Sa'reb got me to the tel'tac, we escaped to PB5-926. You know the rest," Daniel growled quickly, clearly agitated by Jack's stall tactic. He leveled a determined glare on his lover. "Now, tell me what's going on?" He turned a slightly less piercing gaze on the base CO.

When neither man responded, Daniel sighed wearily, squeezing his eyes against the added tension winding its way up his back and into his neck. Cupping a hand at his nape, he massaged stressed muscles for a minute, rotating his neck to stretch the tautness out.

Leaning back, he cracked open tired eyes to find Jack and Hammond sharing another look, one of resignation. He shifted more comfortably into the pillows and waited.

Finally, Jack drew a deep breath and exhaled forcefully. Walking to the foot of the bed he turned off the recorder. Glowering at the floor, he made his way back to the side of the bed and raised his eyes, steadily meeting the expectant glare of his partner.

"Some things have been happening here, while you were gone."

"Things?" Daniel's forehead wrinkled as his brows rose impatiently at Jack's nebulous statement.

"Daniel, I'm sorry, I had to tell General Hammond about your history with Sarah Gardner." Wincing at Daniel's sharply drawn breath, he quickly clarified, "Not the specifics, just that she... she was rough."

Daniel gaped, distress flooding from his too-wide eyes. "God, Jack, do I have any secrets left? Did you tell everyone I read by candlelight in the bathtub, too?"

"No, Daniel, I haven't told anyone anything. Except the general — and Teal'c — but only because I needed their help."

Daniel cupped his forehead, rubbing ineffectually at the ache originating on the other side of his skull. "Needed their help for what?" he growled through tightly drawn lips.

"The possibility was raised that Dr. Gardner was somehow involved in your disappearance, son," Hammond responded. "We had no choice but to check it out."

Daniel dropped his hand and blinked, his brows huddled in consternation over the bridge of his nose. "What?"

"I went to Denver and talked with her," Jack hastily placated, his mouth immediately pulling into a sullen line.

"But, she didn't..." Daniel gasped. Unable to finish the thought, his mouth hung open in shocked dismay as he recalled Osiris's claim that Sarah had fully cooperated with him while they were blended.

"No," Jack confirmed, again grasping Daniel's hand. "But she's not as innocent as she pretends to be either."

Daniel's eyes narrowed, and unaccountably his mind took him back to the last fight he and Jack had had about Sarah — just before his abduction — the same defensive anger he felt that night accompanying the memory.

"What are you saying?" Daniel firmly removed his hand from Jack's grip.

Jack squarely met the challenge in Daniel's eyes. Though normally gratified for any opportunity to display knowledge superior to Daniel's, this time the thought of one-upping the younger man visibly sickened him.

"Sarah's been following you, Daniel," he said, softening his gaze in an effort to lessen the impact of his words. "Apparently, she's obsessed with getting you back. We found a... a shrine to you in her apartment."

"You broke into her apartment?" Daniel pushed up on his left elbow, grunting irritably when the weight caused his shoulder to complain.

"Not exactly," Jack said evenly, putting a firm stranglehold on his anger when it became apparent Daniel was going to argue Sarah's position.

"Well, what, exactly?" Daniel nearly shouted, obviously incapable of the same restraint.

Jack glanced over his shoulder clearly expecting Fraiser to appear at any time in response to Daniel's increasingly agitated — and loud — questions. He turned back to Daniel ready to answer his inquiry, startling when a response came from the other side of the bed.

"Dr. Gardner was arrested on suspicion of stalking, among other things," Hammond said calmly.

Daniel turned sharply towards the general and almost immediately his attitude, which had only been powered by Jack's imagined attack on Sarah, deflated, along with his defensive posture. Unable to pass Hammond's statement off as jealousy, Daniel sunk, defeated, into his pillows.

"Stalking?" he asked meekly, blinking for a few seconds before raising a limp hand to rub at his eyes.

"I told you, Daniel, she's been watching you."

Dropping the hand into his lap, Daniel swept his gaze over his blanket-covered legs, his eyes slowly climbing to meet Jack's.

Wincing at the apprehension Daniel couldn't keep from his eyes — and no doubt feeling guilty for his part in putting it there — Jack reached out and stroked a comforting finger across the top of Daniel's thumb. "She admitted to me that she had taken compromising pictures of the two of us. That's why I had to tell the general."

Daniel scowled in confusion and shook his head, as though this was the first he was hearing about the photographs.

"Yeah, like I said, she had a whole collection pinned to the wall in her closet — some sort of tribute to you, or something." Jack's voice held none of the usual impatience he displayed when dealing with an obtuse Daniel.

"A collection." Daniel's eyes bulged with an odd mixture of curiosity and fear. "How many?"

"I don't know. Fifty or so?" Jack looked to Hammond who nodded his corroboration.

"You've seen them," Daniel stated to, more than asked, the general.

"Yes, son, I have," Hammond confirmed. "But rest assured they are in a safe place and only those who we..." he nodded in Jack's direction, "trust implicitly know of their existence."

"Teal'c and Lou," Jack supplied when Daniel's concerned eyes shot to him.

"Oh," Daniel acknowledged, nodding absently. His eyes returned to the bottom of the bed, locking onto some unseen item of interest.

He had no idea how much time passed before Jack prodded his arm with the back of his hand.

"Hey, you feel cold," Jack announced, rubbing the bicep. "You alright?"

Daniel peered at Jack's hand, briefly confused, then turned away and quickly expelled a breath.

"I was just thinking about something Osiris said about Sarah." Unable to meet the eyes of either man, he spoke into his chest. "It was just something he said in passing. I thought it was just, you know, part of the mind games or something..."

Jack tipped his head closer to Daniel's. "What did he say?" he asked quietly.

Daniel stirred and, as Jack straightened, Daniel's gaze shifted, traveling from Jack's midsection to his narrowed, questing eyes. Ordinarily, he found refuge in Jack's overly-solicitous attention but the intensity that resided now in that brown-eyed sanctuary unsettled, rather than comforted, him.

Jack squeezed the younger man's arm to reclaim his attention.

"Daniel," he said gently, "Sarah made certain claims about her time as host to Osiris. If the snake said something that might help us verify the truth of those claims, we need to know."

Daniel swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand but was unsuccessful in removing the weariness that made his eyelids seem inordinately heavy.

"It's okay," Jack promised, backing the words with a firm squeeze of Daniel's arm.

Raising his head, Daniel blinked at the raw appeal that accompanied the assurance. Jack was asking Daniel to trust them — trust Jack and the general — with his dignity.

He nodded once, firmly. This he could do.

Reclining back into the bedding, Daniel turned to Hammond. Reaffirming his decision in his mind, Daniel nodded again, and drew a quick breath.

"Obviously Osiris knew everything from that time," he began, shifting uncomfortably in spite of his resolve. "He told me that when Sarah and I were... together... Sarah's need to control me was more than just a... sexual quirk."

Poking his tongue between cracked lips in a vain effort to transfer moisture from his suddenly dry mouth, Daniel startled, eying the cup that miraculously appeared in response to his silent wish for water.

He blinked his thanks to Jack, accepted the cup, and drew long and hard on the straw, suppressing the 'ahh' of relief the cool liquid inspired.

Handing the cup back to his lover with muttered thanks, Daniel squirmed a bit and rearranged his blankets, smoothing them down with fidgety fingers. Finally, he stilled — except for his right index finger, which picked uneasily at the cuticles on his left hand.

"Osiris made it sound like Sarah had some sort of agenda," he resumed, "like she had some ulterior motive other than just sexual domination." Daniel's face scrunched, a sign that he was working to understand the Goa'uld's contention in spite of his discomfort with the topic.

"But he also said that Sarah willingly accepted his control over her — even helped him look for Isis." Glancing at the general, he shrugged slightly as though dismissing the thought.

Hammond's usually gentle features hardened, his mouth pressing into a taut, straight line and his piercing blue eyes shifted upward slightly. Following their line of sight, Daniel was not surprised to find that Jack was also oddly affected by this information.

"She told you the same thing, didn't she?" Daniel surmised. "She really did cooperate with Osiris," he quietly confirmed for himself.

"She didn't have much to say to me."

Daniel swung his gaze back to Hammond, startled to find the general's mouth twisted in obvious disgust.

"You talked to her?" Daniel's brows shot up his forehead. He stirred restlessly, the quest for information producing its usual agitating effect, even in his weakened condition.

"I did. I found her condescending and evasive," Hammond said, glancing meaningfully at Jack.

Daniel easily read in that look what the general didn't say — that, though Sarah had refused to give him any satisfaction, she had been more forthcoming with her second interviewer.

Daniel fixed Jack with an intense stare and encountered the equivalent of an emotional wall. His forehead knotted as it always did when he tried to see past Jack's protective barrier, frustrated, as always, that Jack erected those obstacles, not to safeguard his own feelings; he did it only to shield Daniel.

Though Jack tried valiantly to disguise his hatred of Sarah Gardner for the things she had done to Daniel — and for her part in the pain Jack was inflicting on Daniel by making him relive it — eventually, inevitably, Daniel discovered the chink in his carefully constructed wall and wormed his way behind the defect and into the older man's heart, discerning his true state of mind.

"What did she tell you?" he asked firmly. The level of hostility he sensed from Jack was frightening, and, he knew, spurred by more than jealousy. Obviously, Sarah had said something that tripped all of Jack's "danger" alarms — and Daniel was determined to find out what that something was.

"Daniel..." Jack reached for Daniel's shoulder.

"No." Daniel swiped at the hand intended to comfort him. "Tell me what she said. All of it," he demanded, his glare uncompromising.

"Okay, look," Jack grabbed at the hands that flapped combatively at his. "First, you're gonna have to calm down or Fraiser'll come in here, and then we're both gonna get one of her big needles."

Daniel slowly uncurled the fingers that had automatically tightened against Jack's when the older man clasped his hands. Jack let him go, and Daniel lowered the hands into his lap. Closing his eyes for a second, he inhaled deeply, making a show of collecting himself.

After a moment, he raised his eyelids and blinked placidly.

Jack smirked knowingly at him then narrowed his eyes in warning.

As 'Jack' was one of the unspoken languages he understood well, Daniel knew from that look that one) Daniel needed to work on his meditation playacting; and two) Jack had acquiesced to his demand for information but would stop at the first sign that Daniel was becoming agitated by what he heard.

Pouting unhappily at having been caught in his pretense, Daniel quickly sobered and nodded resolutely.

Jack mirrored the nod, accepting Daniel's assurance that he would at least attempt to control his emotions. Glancing at Hammond, who had watched the exchange with some measure of trepidation, Jack sighed deeply.

"When you disappeared, I went to see Sarah at that college where she's working," Jack began, his hands closing into loose fists at the memory of that first meeting. "It was pretty clear almost from the get go that she's... not right."

Suppressing a grimace, Daniel self-consciously ducked his head.

"She did admit to me that she had cooperated with Osiris," Jack continued, "and that she's angry that the Goa'uld was removed."

Daniel's head bobbed faintly, the slightest movement of his jaw evidence that his teeth were worrying at his lip again.

"Apparently, the Goa'uld let her have control sometimes. He, ah, he let her look through your things when they were here a few months back."

Daniel looked up sharply, his lips parted in astonishment, his eyes slightly haunted.

Jack's brow tightened in consternation. "You know, maybe we should —"

"All of it, Jack," Daniel urged, the pleading quality edging out the fear in his eyes.

Jack watched him for a moment, the tight set of his mouth letting Daniel know he was proceeding under protest.

"She read your private journals, Daniel," he stated quickly. "And she found out about us, our relationship."

Daniel slammed his eyes shut and turned away, resting his chin just over the wound on his right shoulder. He opened his mouth and drew a few deep breaths.

Watching his own hands clench together somewhere in the vicinity of his midsection, Jack added, "Later, before or after Osiris manipulated your dreams in hopes of finding the Lost City, he allowed Sarah to see your actual dreams." Mouth sliding sideways, he smirked uncomfortably. "Apparently, you dream about me a lot."

"Colonel."

Seemingly only reminded of Hammond's presence when the man urgently called his name, Jack looked over and found the general on his feet, his disconcerted eyes locked on Daniel's face. Skipping quickly around the bottom of the bed, he recognized immediately that his lover was in some sort of distress.

"Hey, you okay?" Jack bent over the younger man, his eyes widening at the realization that Daniel was gasping, his body rocking with the effort not to vomit.

"Uh," Jack exclaimed impotently, looking around the room for something Daniel could throw up in.

Finally finding an emesis basin beneath the tabletop of a rollaway cart, Jack thrust the bowl under Daniel's chin. When Daniel's hands came up to desperately clutch the container, Jack stood and waited, stroking the younger man's back while Daniel retched convulsively, his breath coming in sharply drawn gulps between spasms.

Wincing apologetically on Daniel's behalf, Jack suggested to Hammond, "Sir, would you mind getting Dr. Fraiser."

"Right," Hammond agreed, walking briskly from the room.

Daniel pushed back against his hand, and Jack shifted his hold to Daniel's shoulder, gripping gently to assist his lover's descent to the pillows. The younger man appeared drained, the strain of his effort sapping the last of his store of energy.

"Colonel?"

Jack looked up as Janet and Daniel's day nurse rushed into the room. Janet's concerned brown eyes quickly assessed the pale figure in the bed.

"Ah, he was kinda sick," Jack said, one finger flicking at the emesis basin cradled between Daniel's lax right hand and his hip, grimacing at the wet stain on Daniel's chest.

"Kinda," Fraiser smirked humorlessly, motioning the nurse to take the bowl. "Karen, bring me a basin of warm water and a clean gown, will you?" she called after the retreating back.

"Yes, Doctor," Karen responded, exiting with the remains of Daniel's meager lunch.

"I'm fine," Daniel wheezed. Finding their attention smothering, he tried to roll away. Unable to gather enough strength for even that small show of self reliance, he stilled, releasing a small whine with his frustrated sigh.

Janet scowled at Daniel's half-masted eyes, the chest rising and falling in too-quickly drawn respirations. "Just this once, why don't you let me be the doctor?" she reprimanded. Placing her hand on Daniel's wrist, she slipped her fingers around it, tightening just enough to thwart his attempt to pull his arm free from her grasp. Shooting him a 'cooperate or else' glare, she turned to Jack.

"What happened?"

"He had a bad reaction to some information about Sarah," Jack responded, his thumb absently brushing at the trickle of perspiration running down Daniel's neck. His eyes shifted to the wan, exhausted face.

"I thought he was supposed to be giving information," Janet snapped accusingly.

"It's not his fault," Daniel rasped, his own irritation matching Janet's.

"Doctor?"

Janet looked up from Daniel's sweaty face. "Sir, I think Dr. Jackson is through, at least for the time being."

Hammond nodded tersely. Turning his gaze on Daniel, he offered a comforting smile, which faded quickly as Daniel's eyes closed tiredly. "I'll send a tech for the recording equipment," he said before turning to leave.

"Yes, sir," Janet acknowledged mechanically, her focus back on her patient. Instantly her expression softened. In the few seconds her attention had been directed elsewhere, Daniel had seemingly relaxed, his eyelids finally covering his red-rimmed baby blues.

"I should have made him wait another day," Janet admonished herself, stroking her fingers soothingly over Daniel's arm. "He's not really physically strong enough yet to deal with all of this."

Jack smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, but you know how he is. If he was determined to meet with the general, nothing you said was gonna deter him."

With some effort, Daniel dragged his eyelids up, his brows pulling tightly together over the bridge of his nose. "Could you not talk about me like I'm not lying right here in front of you?"

Jack's mouth dropped open. Snapping it shut he motioned to the door. "I'm gonna let you get him settled," he said to Janet, shrugging apologetically when Daniel shot him another glare.

Tentatively patting his lover's shoulder, he grinned crookedly. "I'll be back in a while, okay? Why don't you just, um..." He dropped off mid-suggestion when Daniel's brows rose, their hard set indicating Daniel had a suggestion of his own for Jack. "I'll see ya later," he blurted, making a beeline for the exit.

As he turned the corner into the hall, he encountered Karen, returning with the items Janet had requested. Sidestepping the little droplets of water that tipped over the side of the basin when she stopped suddenly, Jack grinned apologetically.

"You might want to watch your fingers," he said with the air of one who spoke from experience. "He's pretty worn out, but his mouth seems to be working just fine." Leaning back he glanced at his lover's rigid form, shuddering dramatically for Karen's benefit. "As pissy as he is right now, I wouldn't put it past him to snap at you. Literally."

Karen's brow twitched in astonishment, and she smiled uncertainly. "Thank you, sir. I'll take that under advisement."

Stepping back to allow her to pass, Jack exhaled forcefully and beat a hasty retreat.

"What have you got for me, Lou?" Jack muttered, slowly spinning his coffee cup between his hands. He flicked his fingers when some of the hot, black liquid spilled over the side.

Ferretti rotated his head to each side, ostensibly to crack his neck, and stealthily stole a glance at the room behind him. The commissary was practically devoid of personnel this late in the afternoon. Still, the colonel had chosen an out of the way table in the corner, and had placed his own back to the wall so he could watch the room.

"I haven't had time to check too deeply," Lou said quietly. Reaching into the breast pocket of his BDUs, he extracted a sheet of note paper folded to approximately the size of a 3X5 card, and pushed it across the table. "I checked Cooksey's private cell phone records," Ferretti explained as the colonel opened the paper and smoothed it out on the tabletop.

Jack's brow rose sharply. "I thought you needed a court order or something to look at phone records."

"Not the way I do it, sir." Accepting Jack's awed grin with a nod, Ferretti redirected his attention to his hastily written notes, poking a finger at one particular entry. "Cooksey has called this number nine times over the last two weeks."

Glancing down, Jack frowned at the series of numbers. "Shit."

Ferretti's eyes flew from the paper to his friend's face, brows scrunching at the anger displayed there. "What?"

"NID headquarters."

Lou sat back and raised an awed brow of his own. "You know the number? I didn't find it listed anywhere. Though, if I had had more time I would have tracked it down."

"I don't doubt it for a minute," Jack said sincerely, glancing up appreciatively at the major before returning a menacing glare on the paper.

"Looks like we've got us a mole, Lou. I'd better go talk to Hammond."

"Colonel!"

Spinning rapidly on the ball of his foot, Jack nearly stumbled into Janet Fraiser, who had rushed out of her office to intercept him on his way to Daniel's room. All thoughts of the information he'd received from Lou Ferretti and his follow-up meeting with General Hammond fled the second she called his name.

"Is he alright?" Jack asked automatically, alarmed by Janet's slightly frazzled appearance.

"He's sleeping. I gave him a sedative," Janet responded, turning sad eyes in the direction Jack had been headed.

"Why?" With supreme effort, Jack managed to keep any hint of anger out of the inquiry.

Sighing wearily, Janet spun away from him. "Come on back to my office."

With a concerned glance back down the hallway, Jack reluctantly followed her. Taking the proffered chair in front of Janet's desk, Jack slumped inelegantly, impatience, and not a little anxiety, radiating from his severe, dark eyes.

"After you left, I tried to get Daniel to rest," Janet began. Closing the door, she came around the desk and lowered herself into her own chair. "As you saw, he was extremely unsettled. When Karen tried again to get his vitals, he became belligerent." Her lips grew taut. "So, as much as I hated to do it, I gave him something to calm him down."

Slouching further, Jack offered a curt nod of understanding. He pulled a sour face and scraped his palm roughly over his face.

"Do you mind if I ask..." Janet hesitated, pushing on when he lowered his hand and trained weary eyes on her, "what were you talking about just before he became sick?"

Jack pushed himself up, expelling an explosive gust of breath.

"I told him that while she was host to Osiris, his former girlfriend read his private journals and invaded his... God, invaded his dreams." Jack groaned in sudden comprehension. "I had just told him that the Goa'uld who'd raped him physically had also done it mentally."

Janet tipped her head, clearly considering his deduction. "If Daniel made that same connection, I'm not surprised he became ill. Rape victims often have physical, as well as psychological and emotional reactions to their assault." Janet picked up the pen on her desk and began absently doodling on her prescription pad. "He's been experiencing nausea, so it's possible he won't get his appetite back anytime soon. We can expect him to have difficulty sleeping, and he'll likely have nightmares at some point."

Jack snorted humorlessly. "He has nightmares on a good day, so, yeah, I'd guess we have those to look forward to."

"And, I'm afraid, this is just the beginning. He's not even been back two days and already he's had a flashback, a panic attack and an emotional breakdown. Plus he's twice been so agitated that I had to administer a sedative." Janet frowned at her pad, the small lines in her forehead and her dejected posture showing just how much she regretted having to drug Daniel again.

Jack's features pulled into a disconcerted sneer. "You know the first time he became so upset? It was because he was afraid I'd killed Osiris in revenge for the attack. He'd worked himself up worrying I might go to prison because of it." Jack shook his head, obviously at a loss to comprehend his lover's reasoning. "We kill Goa'uld all the time; it's just part of the battle we've waged against them. What would make him think I might be punished for killing this one?"

Janet smiled in sympathy at his frustration and concern. "He wasn't thinking rationally, Jack. The events of the last few days have robbed Daniel of his sense of security and your presence in his life is vital to that. I'm no psychologist, but I'd imagine that, under the circumstances, any threat that he might lose you, even an imagined one, would terrify him. Not surprisingly, his reaction was a wholly emotional one."

"A lot of his reactions in the debriefing were strictly emotional, too," Jack said, recalling his lover's vacillating behavior. "Daniel was all over the place. The transitions were subdued, subtle even, but I noticed him swing from his usual, assertive self to troubled and shaky, damn angry one minute then upset and confused the next."

Janet set her pen down and folded her hands on the desk. "That's to be expected, sir. As I said, Daniel is very emotional right now. He's hurt and no doubt feeling quite a bit lost. Sexual assault is a life altering event. Frankly, I'd be concerned if he weren't emotional."

Jack dropped his gaze to the hands twisting in his lap, suddenly fascinated by the interlaced fingers pressing against each other. "He'll come through it," he stated decisively, wondering whether the forceful tone was for Janet's benefit or his own.

"He will," Janet agreed, adding when Jack lifted his eyes and met hers with a steady, if somewhat dazed stare, "Daniel is one of the strongest people I know. I've seen men completely undone by less severe trauma than he's suffered over the years."

Grimacing, Jack interjected, "I hear a 'but' in there."

Janet smiled grimly. "But... I'm afraid that, right now, he's only holding himself together through sheer force of will. And he won't be able to sustain that long term."

"He told me you want him to see a shrink." It was a statement only, not an accusation.

She nodded. "I'd like you to consider it, too."

Jack's mouth fell open and he shut it with a resounding snap. "You want me to go to counseling with him?"

"Separately, together, whatever the two of you are comfortable with."

When Jack moved to protest, Janet leaned forward, her eyes taking on that earnest, caring quality that made even the worst news palatable.

"Jack, your life is intimately intertwined with Daniel's. Like it or not, you have been adversely affected by his rape."

Suddenly her gaze was too penetrating, and Jack's eyes bolted to the top of her desk. "It doesn't change how I feel about him," Jack said, his lip curling self-consciously at the anger that had stolen into his voice.

"No," Janet replied solemnly, obviously not surprised by the declaration. "But it will change how you interact with him. As much as you care about Daniel, having to make those adjustments will be stressful. You'll need an outlet to vent your frustration."

Taken aback for a moment at Janet's choice of terms, Jack grinned crookedly. "I've got Teal'c. He's always willing to meet me in the gym for a little sparring."

"That might take care of your anger," Janet conceded, "but what about your grief?"

Jack cringed involuntarily. "I don't do grief very well," he growled, suddenly feeling overexposed.

"My point exactly," Janet smirked, taking Jack's answering glare in her stride. Softening her features she suggested, "Just think about it. Please."

Jack maintained the hard look for a few seconds more. "Okay. I'll think about it," he muttered.

Having obtained at least a promise of cooperation, Janet decided to press her luck. "Why don't you also think about going home tonight?"

Jack shook his head decidedly. "I can't. What if he needs me?"

Janet snorted a little self-deprecating laugh.

"Same thing's keeping you here, huh?" Jack ventured.

Janet glared in mock menace at his too-knowing grin. "Yes," she acknowledged, "but I have enough sense to use the bed in the on-call room. You on the other hand keep trying to sleep in that hard plastic chair."

"You'd be surprised where I can sleep." Jack waggled his eyebrows.

"No doubt," Janet replied dryly. "But for tonight, why don't you try it in your on-base quarters. I promise if Daniel wakes up, I'll call you."

Suddenly incredibly weary, Jack sighed dramatically. "Can I at least see him before you send me to my room for the night?"

"Of course," Janet said, smiling smugly.

Though their conversation had ultimately turned light-hearted, Janet's somber warning hung over Jack as he followed the CMO to Daniel's private room: the worst was not over.

Part 9

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