Author: Della

Email: blindbadger@b...

Date: 8th June 2003

Category: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Adventure

Rating: 10+ for Violence

Pairing: None

Archive: Yes please... It's a General Fic... Jack centric...

Spoilers: "Children of the Gods" and "Show & Tell"...

Summary: "What the eyes don't see, the heart don't grieve", but SG1 find out the hard way just how wrong that is...

Disclaimer: I find myself often wishing that the characters from Stargate SG1 *were* mine, but sadly have to admit that they aren't... They belong to MGM, Gekko and anyone else that has a rightful claim to them and the programme... I just thought to borrow them and mess with them a while... Have fun with them, you know?... No infringement was ever intended with this Fic...

Author's Notes: Well, I hope you like it...

"...What The Eyes Don't See...
Chapter One

It felt like he'd run smack bang into a wall. He'd swear to it too if someone were to ask him, but right at this moment he knew that his voice was being held prisoner somewhere deep inside the middle of his chest, trying to break free. His hand automatically went to it to try and aid in its escape and he rubbed furiously at his sternum, but still it remained trapped.

He gritted his teeth against the uncomfortable sensation of not being able to breathe and against the stars that he swore should only be seen at night. A moan he'd felt coming the moment he'd hit that invisible wall escaped him. 'Well,' he thought, 'at least I've got my voice back,' and he internally waved a welcome at it.

He tried to roll onto his side and rise to his knees, but a pain that shot from the middle of his chest to the crown of his head protested it and screamed at him to stop. 'Oh crap!' was his second thought and another moan escaped him. He was not enjoying this one bit. What the hell was that wall anyway?

He decided that maybe lying on his back was a better option and he let out a sigh of relief as his chest and head totally agreed with him. He gulped in large deep breaths of air, furiously blinked the stars from his sight and then took a look around him.

He balked when he saw Daniel rise in the air, without strings, and float off to his right. He did the same when Carter appeared to perform the same elevation trick, all the while looking like she was unconscious while she tried it. He rested his head on the ground beneath him, groaned and rubbed at his eyes. His headache was back, but this time he understood why. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes then he would never have believed it. 'Maybe I'd dreamt it?' his mind helpfully supplied. He pinched himself, let go with a yelp and knew then that he'd seen it, all of it, and that it wasn't a dream.

If it wasn't such a dire situation, he would have laughed to see Teal'c's prone body floating away from him, but this was actually happening. He tried to rise, but felt something on his chest preventing him from doing so. He tried to force himself upwards but a blow to his face sent him, instead, spiralling downward towards an impenetrable darkness he really did not want to visit at this moment in time. He struggled against a pressure that was being applied to his legs, kicking out at whatever it was, but another blow to his face sent him into the darkness whether he liked it or not.

# #

"Sir?"

'Oh yeah,' he thought, 'I know that voice... Carter... You wanna go there flyboy?' His teeth chattered a little when he felt her forcibly shaking his shoulder and whatever choice he might have wanted to make was taken from him. 'Better get there soon,' he thought as he felt her shake his shoulder again, 'or she might just shake you into tiny little pieces before she's through.'

He blinked the fuzziness from his brain, or, at least, tried to, until Carter's face swam dizzily in front of him. "Carter?" he croaked out at her and promptly coughed to clear his throat.

"Thank God," she breathed out at him as she leant forward, placed an arm behind his back and heaved him forward when she saw him trying to sit. "Are you okay?"

Still trying to find his bearings, Jack simply rose an eyebrow at her, but instantly regretted it when her face fell. He sighed, and whispered, "Well, apart from the constant drumbeat in my head and someone doing their level best to perform some sort of ritual that consists of pain on my body, other than that, I'm just peachy." He winced when he finally managed to sit and automatically hugged himself with a groan.

He felt her hand on his back and couldn't ignore the concern in her voice when she called him again. He swallowed any other expression of discomfort and looked at her. Eventually he said, "I've had worse, Carter, I'll live."

"I'm sure you will," Sam replied, none-too-friendly if Jack had thought about it, and added, "But can I see for myself, sir?"

He would have protested it, had he'd the energy to, but he didn't and instantly gave up the sitting position he'd managed to get for himself to lie on his back. First he felt his jacket being opened and then a brush of cold on his chest as his t-shirt was raised away and up from him. He jumped when a hand pressed down on his ribs. "Cold," he muttered through gritted teeth, though in truth it had been more painful than cold when he'd felt the pressure there. He raised his head a little and looked at Carter to see if she had believed him and instantly sighed when he saw an imitation of his own raised eyebrow on her face.

"Cold? Not pain?" Sam simply asked with an air of disbelief.

He tried shrugging his shoulders but instantly regretted it. "Maybe a little," he eventually admitted a little breathlessly. Then, despite how good it felt to have her attention, the thought of Teal'c and Daniel, seeing their floating bodies, had him sitting in an instant. "Ah, crap," he whispered, "shouldn't've done that."

Sam didn't say a word. Instead she shuffled backwards a step and sat on her haunches simply looking at him.

He looked around himself trying to find his team-mates and friends and breathed a sigh of relief to see them both at the other end of wherever they were looking at him. Daniel waggled his fingers, but looked despondent. Teal'c simply rose an eyebrow at him. "Good to see you both too," Jack whispered.

Both men then stood and joined Sam and Jack at the other wall of their cell.

"It is good to see you awake, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"Good to *be* awake, big guy," Jack replied and then gritted his teeth as another shot of pain took his breath from him, "Uh, I think," he eventually admitted.

"So, do you know where we might be? Or for that matter, just who is holding us prisoner, Jack?" Daniel asked.

Again with the raised eyebrow. Jack secretly admired his sometimes annoying ability to convey everything about how stupid a question was without actually saying a word, and judging by Daniel's softly worded response of an apology that he got, he guessed that this time, like many other times before, he'd managed to get his point over... again. He eventually sighed, rolled his eyes at the young archaeologist and said, "You know, Danny-boy, being unconscious kinda limits just what you can and cannot see. So, I'd say, your guess is as good as mine."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, Jack, I said I was sorry," Daniel softly protested.

"And you know what else?"

Daniel shook his head.

"I'd take that apology if it meant that you wouldn't ask stupid questions in the future, but I just know that you're gonna ask them anyway," Jack groused.

Daniel stood and stalked off to sit down at the other wall of the prison cell.

As Jack watched him move over there, he was convinced that it was his friend's own way of trying to elicit an apology from him. He fought the urge a moment or two, swallowing his instinct to utter his 'Sorry's', and he thought he'd succeeded, until, without any acceptance from his conscious self, he muttered, "Aww, c'mon Daniel, I'm sorry. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure Jack... And you know what else?"

Jack silently shook his head, biting his lip against the movement.

"I'd accept that apology if it meant that you wouldn't come out with any more sarcastic, condescending remarks in the future, but I just know you're gonna keep on making them."

"Yeah, all right, Daniel," Jack immediately muttered and added, "touchÈ and all that. Now are you gonna come back over here and help in trying to figure out how to get out of here?" Jack was convinced it was only the raised eyebrow that his friend was receiving from one stoic Jaffa seated next to him that had him moving, but whatever, it was good to see him rejoining the group.

"So, sir," Sam suddenly blurted, "any ideas?"

"Nope," Jack reluctantly admitted, "other than I really don't like the idea of not being able to at least *grouse* at the trees and moss before being taken prisoner." He looked up at that point and was pleased to see a smile on hers and Daniel's face, so he added, "Kinda grates on me, you know?"

"I'm sure it does, sir," Sam admitted with a giggle.

"I do not understand, O'Neill..." Teal'c suddenly announced, the resonance of his voice booming off the walls.

"What's that Teal'c?"

"The benefit of *grousing* at the trees and moss..."

Daniel let rip with his own laughter at that and clamped a hand on the Jaffa's shoulder as he said, "Me neither, Teal'c."

"Uh, people, can we get our minds back on our little problem here?" Jack groused at them instead. Once he was sure that he had their attention, he asked, "So, did any of you see what hit you before... well, *before* it hit you?"

Each shook their heads at him, until Teal'c asked, "Did you, O'Neill?"

"Nope," he replied and added, "I *felt* the locomotive but didn't see it at all."

Just as Teal'c opened his mouth to question O'Neill about the said locomotive, the door to their cell opened with a whine.

Each braced themselves and then looked to the door. Jack looked at Carter and then Daniel when it appeared that the door had opened but no-one was there. He silently waggled his fingers at Carter to help him up and once he was on his feet he nodded to Teal'c to come with him. He motioned Teal'c to the other side of the door and was about to take a look outside. He then double-took in the Jaffa's appearance. For some unknown reason Teal'c had turned a pale shade of grey and he had suddenly bent at the waist with a groan. His hand went to the Jaffa's side before he'd even thought about, but as he was about to utter his concern for the big man, he suddenly found himself flat on his back further inside the cell and gasping for air. "You see that?" he eventually managed to squeeze out.

"Well, if you mean you landing on your back, then yes I did," Daniel casually answered as he made his way to his friend, "but if you mean did I see anyone do that to you, then no I didn't." He'd managed to grasp Jack's jacket collar and ready himself to heave him to his feet when Jack suddenly flew out of his hands and land unceremoniously outside the cell. He winced when he saw his friend yanked to his feet, but still he couldn't see anything or anyone. "Sam, stop!" he shouted in warning as he saw Carter make a move towards the door. No sooner had he uttered the warning when the door slammed shut.

"Daniel?" Carter asked; smart turning on her heels to face Daniel and then thrusting her hands onto her hips to convey her exasperation.

"I'm sorry, Sam, I just didn't want you getting hurt too." If he could have Daniel would have bitten his tongue off the moment he'd said such a thing.

# #

"Hey," Jack yelled indignantly, trying to thrust his arms away from whomever or whatever had a hold of them, "take it easy, I'm coming aren't I?" He was also looking about him as they, he, whatever it was, was moving with him. He had to admit that it was a sterile place, cleaner than most jails, but sorta bare too. When he was suddenly forced to stop in front of a door, he grunted as his knee jarred painfully.

The door slowly opened and he shook his knee to try and get the kink out of it, but deciding that he was only making the pain worse, he stopped, looked up and into the room ahead of him and balked at the sight. 'Ah crap' he silently whined, 'this is definitely, without question, turning into a very *very* bad day.'

A sudden squeal and a chattering had him being forced forward. He tried to force his head away when the thing in front of him went for it, but another strong something or other grasped each side of his head and held it immobile. At the last moment he saw what was in the claw that was in front of his nose. He kicked out, but to no avail and only managed to jar his knee again. As he felt the pressure on his head increase and when the stars started to appear again, he arched his back with a groan and then before he could do anything about it the small device in the claw was placed inside the left temple of his head.

His legs immediately buckled as the pain inside his mind screeched at him. A brilliant, bright, white light enveloped him and sent him crashing to the floor.

# #

Teal'c groaned and sank to the floor.

Daniel and Sam were at his side in an instant. "Teal'c?" Sam softly asked."

"My symbiote," Teal'c gasped, "is most distressed."

"Why?" Daniel asked with a frown.

"I... I believe that it senses something that it does not like."

"But there wasn't anything here..."

"Oh yes there was, Daniel," Sam suddenly exclaimed and quickly added, "A Reetou."

"What?"

"Teal'c was like this when Charlie and his mother were at the SGC..."

"It would explain many things, SamanthaCarter," Teal'c admitted through gritted teeth.

"Oh boy," Daniel gasped, "Good or bad?"

Despite Carter's sigh, Teal'c said, "I would say that this would be bad DanielJackson. I would also say that those that hold us here are the rebel faction within the Reetou that wish to destroy the human race."

Daniel could not help himself. He looked at the door where Jack had been thrown past, that was now closed. He felt his heart skip a beat and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end with a fear he always felt when his friend was separated from them. He briefly wondered if it was the same fear Jack felt whenever he would get too involved in studying the latest artefact.

He felt a hand go to his shoulder and heard Sam's whispered question aimed at him. He tore his gaze from the door and shrugged. "Sorry, Sam," he whispered guiltily, "just wondering what was happening with Jack." 'Perhaps having his tongue cut out *would* be a good thing?' he thought as the concern for him wavered on Sam's face and then strengthened when she also looked to the door.

Chapter Two

Consciousness came at a price for Colonel Jack O'Neill from Chicago the 'Windy City'. No sooner had he opened his eyes than he balked at the Reetou that was leaning over him. He would have laughed, yeah, he would have had he found the situation he was in funny enough, but even though his brain had registered the hilarity of this Reetou above him talking to him in his native language, he still found himself in a not so hilarious position. He blinked up at it and then tried to rise. His head hurt first, but he ignored the shooting pain and at least got as far as his knees, which also protested at him, before stopping to take a breather.

"I have been told," a deep resonant voice said to him, "that the last place Colonel O'Neill would wish himself to be, is on his knees in front of the enemy."

Jack softly growled. "Yeah, that would be right," he whispered through gritted teeth as he forced himself to his feet. He would have fallen if an invisible claw, he surmised, had not grasped his arm at that point and held him steady. He tried to shrug it off, but he knew that only the clicking of the claw of the Reetou in front him had actually freed him. He didn't like that one bit, but he'd die first before he'd let this Reetou know. Instead he said, "How come I can see you," he waved a hand indiscriminately to indicate the room, before adding, "but not these two?"

"I *wish* for you to see me."

"Oh," Jack shrugged at the unexpected answer. "So, you got a name then?" he asked out of the blue.

"What name would you give me?"

Jack actually laughed out loud at that and admitted, "I got a few, but the only fun I'd get would be if you understood them in the first place."

"Ah," the Reetou muttered, "perhaps I should take the name Charlie then?"

Jack straightened at the question, but anything he might have wanted to say was taken from him as he heard a loud high-pitched screech coming from the right of him. He watched as a smaller Reetou came hurtling into the room, skidding to a halt at the side of the larger Reetou. He double-blinked as he swore he heard the smaller of the two call out 'Daddy' and then bounce on the spot in front of the larger Reetou. ëHuh?' his thoughts helpfully supplied and then 'Huh?' again when the larger one admonished the smaller Reetou.

He shook his head, instantly regretting the motion, as he witnessed with his own eyes the smaller Reetou, whom he now knew was called Antel, visibly shrink, and if he wasn't mistaken actually look embarrassed at his 'Dad(?)' He blinked again when he heard the Dad order his son(?) to his room. Despite where he was and what could possibly happen to him, he laughed out loud. He continued to do so when the kid turned and blinked at him.

"What's that?" Antel suddenly asked, pointing a claw at Jack.

"For the moment, Antel, *that*," the elder spat, pointing at Jack, "is none of your business. Now, do as I say and go to your room. I shall be there soon."

Jack watched as Antel shrugged his shoulders and stomped out of the room. He then looked up at the Reetou in front of him and with a smirk said, "Kids, huh?" He was sure, if he could have seen one, that the Reetou in front of him had raised an eyebrow at him, but the sudden sting of his cheek and a fuzziness in his brain occupied most of his thoughts. He worked his jaw until he could find his voice again and then sarcastically said, "Do I get to call you Dad too?" A blow to his face almost took his head off, but it was the result he was expecting. This time he moved a hand to his jaw and whispered, "Nice."

"My son is impetuous, O'Neill, but be rest assured he will learn of your kind and the hate we afford you."

"Yeah? Bit one-sided don't ya think?"

"I do not understand one-sided, but it will be the truth that he will learn."

"You know nothing... *nothing* about us," Jack protested.

"We know enough and soon we will know how to eradicate you."

Jack felt a shiver go up and down his spine as the last statement sank in. "Wipe us out?" he gasped.

The Reetou nodded and said, "It is the only way we know to stop the Ga'ould."

"What if I can give you another way?" Jack asked hopefully.

"There *is* *no* other way and I waste time with this debate. You will come forward and give me all the information I need."

Jack struggled against the invisible claws that then grasped him and propelled him forward. He managed to dig his heels in for only a moment, before he found himself on his knees in front of the visible Reetou. He looked up in time to see a claw move forward and clasp his head. He gritted his teeth against the pain as the talons dug into his skull.

"Now, O'Neill, tell me what I want to know."

He tried to shake his head, but that only made the talons dig deeper. "No," he eventually gasped, "over... my... dead... body..." He screamed as the claw constricted and then slumped forward as a blessed darkness took his senses in an instant.

# #

"Sir?"

'Is that Carter again?' he thought as he blinked open his eyes. A hand automatically went to his head and he groaned. He felt, rather than saw, hands go to his back and lever him to a sitting position. He leant an elbow on one of his knees and tried to rub the pain he felt from his temples. Thankful for just the tiny bit of relief his action gave him, he then looked up at his 2IC and whispered, "De-Ja-Vous?"

"I guess," Sam said, unable to keep the waver of concern from her voice, before she added, "and to compound that, sir, I'm going to ask you if you're okay."

Jack pulled his hand from his temples, surprised to see it slick with blood, and softly answered her, "I think I look worse than I feel... I, uh, I think," he muttered as a wave of nausea threatened to empty his stomach. Again he felt a couple of sets of hands go to his back, but this time they were gentle and thankfully helping him to lie down. He sighed the moment his back rested against the floor and he whispered his thanks to those that had helped him get there.

"Uh, Jack," Daniel began, "what exactly happened to you?"

"Got my head squished, Daniel. I *don't* recommend it."

"O-o-okay, so the obvious question would be, why?"

"Oh just something to do with how best they can wipe out the whole human race and that they think that *I* would know something about how to do that."

"So this *is* to do with the rebel faction in the Reetou then?" Sam asked.

"Yep..."

"O'Neill..." Teal'c suddenly blurted.

"Yeah, Teal'c," Jack muttered, but when the Jaffa did not answer him, he risked a little pain by raising his head to look at the big guy. He then looked to where Teal'c was pointing and saw Antel, the kid Reetou, shuffling, well if it could be called that, by the doorway. If he wasn't mistaken; and he fully acknowledged that he could be; but the kid looked like he was curious.

Jack slowly rose and wobbled over to the door. "Hey there, Antel," he said in greeting as he sat down by the doorway, then he frowned when the kid just stared right back at him. "Uh, does your dad know you're here?" he eventually asked.

Antel shook his head and then continued to stare.

Jack's frown deepened, but still he asked, "So, whatchya doing here then?"

"My father says you're a bad Human, someone we should kill. I've never seen a bad Human, or even a Human before."

"Right," Jack muttered, ignoring the curious glances from his friends and colleagues. "Well," he shrugged, "you shouldn't believe everything* your daddy tells you."

"My father is always right," Antel stated and crossed his claws over his chest in defiance.

"Yeah, well dads mostly are, but in this case your dad is soooo far from the truth it's laughable."

"He is not!"

"Is too..."

"He is NOT!" Antel stated and stomped one clawed foot on the floor to accentuate his annoyance.

Jack blinked at the kid Reetou suddenly becoming aware of the absurdity of the situation. Here he was on an unknown planet, caged by a very powerful enemy, having an 'is not-is too' conversation with an alien kid. He shook his head, which caused him to groan and a hand automatically went to his temple again. He moved so that he could lean against the wall, then he looked at the kid Reetou and whispered, "Trust me, Antel, he is."

"I do *not* believe you!"

"I didn't expect you to, but what's the truth is the truth."

"I agree, O'Neill," another deep resonant voice agreed, "and the truth is what I have explained to my son."

Jack sighed audibly, but muttered sarcastically, "Daddy's here." He frowned as he said, "You know, *Da-ad*, we can show you another way to wipe out the Ga'ould if you want."

"If that were true, O'Neill, then why do the Ga'ould still exist?"

Jack grimaced at the accuracy of that statement, for once unable to answer it at all.

"As I suspected," the elder Reetou sighed, "you try and bargain with a child for your safety, but it will not work."

"I hadn't actually gotten to the bargaining part yet," Jack whispered and rubbed his temples again.

Oblivious of the whisper, the elder Reetou said, "I need to know the codes to all the planets that hold any potential and also the strength of yours and their armies. And I *will* get them."

"Well, *Da-ad*, you won't get them from me."

"Perhaps not, but what of the others here with you?"

"You won't get squat from them," Jack blurted, feeling a cold fear constrict his heart, "It's a need to know basis," he quickly added, "and seeing as we're peaceful explorers and nothing else, they never need to know anything."

"And I should simply take your word for it?"

"Hell, why not?"

"Because you try and contaminate my son with your untruths of being peaceful explorers whilst carrying weaponry that can kill."

"We carry those to defend ourselves."

"Perhaps," the elder Reetou grudgingly agreed, but then added, "perhaps not."

Jack shrugged and sighed heavily, before he turned to his friends and said, "Anyone *else* wanna have a go?"

"Well," Daniel muttered, "it would help if we could understand first, Jack."

"You don't understand?"

Daniel shook his head and mouthed 'Nope'.

"Huh?" Jack muttered and then looked to the Reetou for an explanation. He wasn't to be disappointed.

"The disc in your head, O'Neill, enables you to understand the Reetou and there is such a disc in my own so that I might understand you and your kind."

"And what about Antel? How come he understands me too?"

"He too has such a disc."

"You put him through that pain, just so he can understand me?" On receiving a silent nod from the elder Reetou, Jack then asked, "Why?"

"So he may come to understand why it is necessary for me to gain the information needed to eradicate you and your kind."

"Again... Why?"

"I do not understand..."

"Why the need to wipe us out?"

"Have I not already explained? You and your kind are potential hosts for the Ga'ould and therefore need to be eliminated. Once achieved, the Ga'ould will have no place to plant their lava and they will eventually die."

"Yeah I got all that from Charlie's Mother and I'll tell you what I told her, we are *not* potential hosts. We'd rather die first than become one of them."

"And I am sure those that *are* hosts felt the same as yourself, moments before they unwittingly *became* such a host."

Skaara, his friend from Abydos sprang into his mind; his pitiful cries for help as he was being led away to become such a host; his encounter with Skaaa later whilst a host inhabited his body. "For crying out loud, you son of a bitch," Jack suddenly exclaimed, "what will it take to convince you that we are *not* potentials and we can actually help you in getting rid of the Ga'ould?"

"You cannot, O'Neill. This, that I intend to do, has been agreed by our elders as the only viable course of action that will determine the end of the Ga'ould once and for all."

"By wiping out potential allies in the fight against them?"

"No, by the eradication of those that are potential *hosts* for them."

"Alright, alright," Jack conceded, "say you manage to do that, what about those that are left? The System Lords, the Jaffa that serve them, say they decide that they don't *like* having their potential hosts taken from them and they launch an all out attack against you again. Who you gonna call for help?"

"A good point, O'Neill, however to know that in the future the Ga'ould will no longer exist is good enough."

"What if they wipe you out and any others that are left with their all out attack? What about that? No future for anyone, other than the Ga'ould."

"Another good point, but it will not happen."

"How the hell can you say that?" Jack hissed with exasperation.

"I do not understand you O'Neill and I grow tired of this bantering. You *will* give me the information that we need."

"You know I'd die first than give you anything, right?"

"As you have already stated."

"Then why don't you just let us go?"

"Perhaps, as those that are taken for hosts and despite their noble thoughts of dying before such a thing could happen to them, you will do the same for the Reetou and give me the information required to eradicate you and all the other potentials."

"Over my dead body..."

"Yes, as you keep informing me," the elder Reetou agreed, "However," he added, "more accurately, perhaps over one of *their* dead bodies?"

"Don't even think of it buddy!"

"We shall see..." With that the elder Reetou placed a claw around his son's shoulders, turned and led him away from the cell.

Jack watched on a while until the door was unceremoniously slammed in his face.

"O'Neill?" Teal'c softly asked.

"I'd guess by the face that you're pulling that it didn't go quite to plan?" Daniel surmised and grimaced when Jack simply shook his head in his direction.

"So, what now? Sam asked.

"Now?" Jack asked, and continued without waiting for a response, "Now I think I've just given the Reetou the ammunition they need to get what they want."

"And that is?" Sam asked perplexed.

"How to dial home and wipe out the human race."

"Whoa, wait a minute Jack," Daniel suddenly exclaimed, "that's not what I got from you at all."

"Nope, but it's what you would have gotten from the Reetou."

"I do not understand, O'Neill," Teal'c muttered.

"Let's just say that he's already bored with *me* and wants to try to get to know someone *else*."

Teal'c frowned, "I still do not understand..."

"What he did to me he's gonna do to you and I've got a feeling that I'm going to get a free, front seat view of it."

"He couldn't break you by *breaking* you, so he's going to try breaking one of *us* to break you?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah," Jack muttered and as the Jaffa next to him opened his mouth, he raised a finger in front of him and said, "And so help me, Teal'c, if you say you don't understand one more time..." He let the sentence patter out as he realised that the threat that had been on the tip of his tongue really wouldn't hold true against a Jaffa that had once been First Prime to Apophis. So, instead, he sighed dejectedly, closed his eyes and willed the headache that had risen away.

"I was merely going to thank you, O'Neill, for the explanation." Teal'c solemnly muttered.

Again Jack sighed in response and he thought he muttered an apology to the big guy, but he wasn't sure. 'Maybe in the morning,' he tiredly thought, 'I'll *make* sure.'

Chapter Three

"Father?"

"Yes, Antel..."

"That bad Human called, O'Neill, he did raise a very good question whilst you were interrogating him."

"I was not interrogating him, we were holding a discussion," the elder Reetou clarified and then added, "However, what point are you referring to my son?"

"The one where if we kill all the potentials, who would we be able to call for help should the Ga'ould attempt an attack on us."

"The Ga'ould have *already* attacked us and have also succeeded in depleting our population to a third of what it once was. There was *no* help then."

"But wasn't that because they did not know about us then?" Antel countered.

"How can you be so sure, my son, when even *I* do not know?"

"Didn't Salaena's transmissions to us state such a thing?"

"Salaena was working for another faction within the Reetou population. Those that believe the potentials are not the threat we all know them to be. Her transmissions were deemed dubious and I feel, as do others, that they were tainted by her own desire to see the potentials survive."

"But didn't this bad Human O'Neill save Charlie?"

"Yes, yes he did, but it had already been established that Charlie was one of their own kind, so I expected him to do so. However, he did little to save Salaena."

"Well, he made sure that Salaena was not killed by Selmak and wasn't he *injured* *before* he could save Salaena?"

The elder Reetou sighed and looked down at his son, "Are you questioning me, Antel?" he suddenly snapped.

"I believe that I am, Father," Antel replied with a shrug and added, "I think this bad Human O'Neill raised a valid point and one that I thought you should think about. Perhaps instead of simply viewing O'Neill and the others like him, as potentials, we instead might be able to determine that they *could* be allies and perhaps they *do* have another way to stop the Ga'ould."

"As I stated to O'Neill, if that were the case, then how is it that the Ga'ould still exist."

"Perhaps, like us, they have a plan that will take time. However, with *their* plan the extinction of the Ga'ould might be permanent and therefore ensure our futures free from any fear of retribution from such a race... Father," Antel gently added, "he was right when he said that those Ga'ould that would still exist *would* want retribution from us for eliminating their potentials and he was also right to imply that we would not have anyone to call on for help should we continue with our plan."

"For you, my son," the elder Reetou promised, "I shall think on such a topic, but I cannot guarantee that the outcome will change. Our own elders have sanctioned this and at the moment I am in full agreement with them."

"That's okay, Father," Antel shrugged, "I don't expect you to change your mind, only that perhaps you should at least think on O'Neill's point."

"And I will," the elder Reetou promised, "Now go to bed and I shall see in the morning."

"Yes, Father."

# #

"Jack?" Daniel called, shaking the Colonel's shoulder. He grimaced when he received a moan and looked up at Sam. "This isn't good, is it?" he softly asked.

Sam placed a hand on Jack's forehead and almost took it away again. He was burning up. "Nope, Daniel, not good at all," she stated. She pulled the pack that had been left with them from under a cot and started to search for the medical kit. The moment she found it she opened it up and took out a bag of gauzes, some antiseptic and antibiotic cream and some bandages.

Daniel placed a hand on Jack's shoulder as the Colonel started to shift in his sleep. "It's all right Jack," he murmured, "I'm here and you're safe."

"That supposed to help in some way, Daniel?" Jack whispered and then grimaced. "My head hurts," he added.

"Well, Jack, I guess getting it squished didn't help."

Jack blinked up at his friend, then pulled a face and murmured, "Ha... ha..."

"Colonel," Sam said, "I'm going to have to clean the wounds to your head. You might already have an infection there, but hopefully the antiseptic and antibiotic cream will help a ways."

"It's... it's gonna hurt isn't it?" Jack whined, "Like, like when you put that damned splint on?"

"Not sure, sir... I've brushed up a little on my first aid since then, if that helps..." she gently offered.

"I'll let you know after," Jack replied and scrunched his eyes shut as he saw Sam move forward.

"Hey, Teal'c," Daniel suddenly sing-songed at the Jaffa, "Who'd've thought that our brave and heroic Colonel would be such a cry baby, eh?"

"Yeah, well, *Daniel*, maybe when you've had your head squished," Jack took a sharp intake of breath at that point, the moment Sam administered the first of the antiseptic cream, but then quickly added, "maybe when you've had *your* head squished and the Major here is applying something that STINGS LIKE HELL!!!, then maybe, just maybe, you might not be so free and easy with your laugh-a-minute quips."

Jack could have sworn that if he'd had a knife on him he could have cut a hole in the silence that had suddenly descended. "Okay, bad example," he softly admitted, "and I'm sorry.... Okay?"

"Sure, Jack," Daniel muttered, "and you know what else?"

"Ah, ah," Jack replied, raising a finger in the air, "I got it, *okay*?"

Daniel silently nodded, mouthed 'good' and then resumed sitting on his haunches beside his friend. He knew that Jack would never believe it, but he was quite relieved to hear his friend being a little pissed at him again. It was comforting in an odd way. The moment he'd seen Jack slide to the floor onto his side and remain there he'd felt a fear, much like the earlier one, take his breath from him.

He surmised that the only thing that remained of the man he had first met on Abydos was the stubbornness, oh and the sarcastic remarks, but those he knew were tempered with a strong bond of friendship that had developed between them both. He remembered an entry in his diary, 'Jack says we'll find Share, and if anyone could then Jack would.' He knew, even now, what had prompted him to write such a thing and actually believe what he had written and that belief was still strong in him; all because of a stubborn, sarcastic, sometimes caustic Colonel that would never let go until the job was done... one way or another.

That's why he had felt the fear when Jack had remained unconscious through his attempts to waken him and why his relief now was still palpable.

# #

Jack scrunched his eyes shut, not because he was in pain, which he was by the way, but because he could feel the nausea rising in him and the last thing he wanted to do was puke on the boots of his 2IC. He breathed deeply through his nose and exhaled in a puff through his gritted teeth. For the first time he suddenly realised how stuffy the cell was. 'No air,' he thought.

He thumped his foot on the ground when Sam found a particular tender spot and it flared to life when she prodded it. He was sure that all of his expression of pain had remained tightly secure behind his greeted teeth, but maybe something had escaped because he then felt the gentle shaking of her hand on his wound and also heard her whispered apology to him. "S'alright, Sam," he whispered back at her, but impatiently added, "Are you done there yet?"

"Almost, sir," Sam replied, her voice wavering and rendering it slightly breathless. She blew her fringe from her eyes before adding, "Just one more wound to see to, then we can start wrapping them in a bandage. I, uh, I need you to roll on your front."

"O-o-okay," Jack muttered and got as far as lifting his head off the ground. "Uh, you think you could help, Daniel?"

Daniel looked at Sam, unable to keep his concern from showing. It was one thing that Jack couldn't perform such an easy task himself, but it concerned him more to hear his friend actually *ask* for his help. The only other time he'd heard that before was when it was directly related to deciphering a code that was in an ancient writing of sorts and even then he'd laughed to see that Jack had tried to decipher it himself.

Daniel shook the memories from his mind, took a breath and heaved Jack over onto his front. He bit his lip when his friend moaned and bit it a little harder when he saw the wound at the back of his head. The collar of his t-shirt was now crimson with blood, his neck was coated in it and the wound still sluggishly bled. He was tempted to press on the wound with his hand, but Sam got there before him with wet gauzes that he suspected were saturated with the antiseptic cream.

He grasped Jack's shoulder when his friend groaned and shifted his head. "Sam's nearly finished Jack," he softly whispered and rubbed a circular pattern of comfort on his friend's back. He grimaced when another moan escaped. As Sam started to pack away the wet gauzes and the creams, she called out," Daniel?"

"Hmm?"

"Put these on the wounds..." She handed him some dry gauzes, before adding, "We're going to have to get him seated first though."

"We can't do it with him lying here?"

Sam looked up at her friend and silently shook her head. She then shuffled forward, to Jack's left shoulder, and prepared to lift him.

Daniel remained silent, but was actually shocked at the haggard look on Sam's face. Okay, not one of them had slept well, apart from Teal'c whom was still in Kel-No-Reem, but still, he guessed that his face was far from showing the same wretchedness of Sam's. He sighed promising himself to get her to go to sleep after this, then he too shuffled forward to Jack's right shoulder and on a silent count of three both he and Sam lifted their friend until he sat leaning against the wall again.

"Can you please get whomever it is to stop shaking the room so much?" Jack gruffly groused, "Not doing my headache the world of good here," he softly added.

"Sorry, sir," Sam muttered, "but we need to put the bandages on first before I can order Daniel to punch that guy's lights out."

"You could always bite his hand, you know?" Jack gently chuckled at her.

"Yeah, I guess I could," Sam replied, then silently indicated with her head for Daniel to start applying the gauzes.

Daniel splayed his fingers to try and separately hold each gauze over each wound. They protested a little, but he managed it. The moment the first round of bandage had circled his fingers, he let go and sat back to watch Sam wind the rest of it around Jack's head.

"You know," Jack muttered, "I'm getting a little tired of being mummified every time I get hurt... You sure you need all that, Carter?"

"Yes, sir," Sam simply replied.

"Okay," Jack breathed out at her, "just thought I'd ask."

Sam silently tied a knot in the bandage and then sank back on her haunches.

"Finished, sir," she murmured a little breathlessly and added, "Though I guess I don't have to tell you that Janet will have your hide when we get back?"

"Yeah, she's gonna get this *nice* *big* needle, ram it in my ass with a claim that it will kill all know bacterium's dead," Jack muttered, "but why she picks my ass every time, I'll never know." Jack then looked up and added, "She pick your ass, Carter?"

"Every time, sir," Sam said with a smile.

Daniel thought that that smile was the first he'd seen her express since Jack had been hurt and seeing it also made him smile. "Mine too, Jack" he decided to confirm.

Jack actually sighed with relief. "Well that's good to hear. For a moment there I thought she had this... this fascination with only *my* ass." He then blinked at them both and said, "Maybe, when we get back, if I asked her to pinch it, it might stop her from wanting to put anything near it again?" What d'ya say? Eh?"

Sam giggled, "Well it*might*work."

"Worth a try at least," Jack muttered,

Sam shrugged but then sighed, "You amaze me, sir..."

"I do?"

"Uh-huh..." Sam confirmed, "I can't believe, given where we are and what might happen soon, that we are sitting here, with your head in bandages, discussing the pro's and con's of your ass?"

"You don't think my ass is *worth* discussing, Carter?"

Sam blushed from her blonde roots to the tips of her toes, before she managed to splutter, "Uh, I think time and a place, sir."

Daniel chuckled, but stifled most of it behind a hand. He was also a little surprised by the discussion, but at least it had made Sam smile, so whatever his misgivings he thought it a good thing if only that it *had* made Sam smile; oh and blush too. He stifled another laugh, before raising a finger at Sam and mouthing his apology to her.

Sam simply shook her head and started to move away, but she stopped when a hand grasped her wrist. She looked at the owner, winced to see the glaze of pain in Jack's eyes, but then sat down anyway.

Jack smiled at her and then looked over to Teal'c whom was seated near the doorway in Kel-No-Reem. "Daniel, you think Teal'c's had enough time in Kel-No-Reem that he can safely join us?"

Daniel shrugged, "Won't know, until I wake him."

"Then go wake him, Daniel, we've got to talk and I don't think I'm up to repeating myself."

"Okay, Jack," Daniel murmured and then moved off, shook the Jaffa's shoulder, stepping back once he had, and then silently returned with Teal'c behind him.

Once Teal'c and Daniel completed the circle of friends, Sam asked, "So, sir, you wanted to talk? Even though I think you should be sleeping instead," she decided to add.

"More of an explanation, Carter, and I can sleep after," Jack replied.

"Alright, sir, so talk."

"Thank you Carter," Jack snapped at her, but quickly raised a hand of apology and continued, "Those codes they want?"

"Yes, sir,"

"Those codes that I can't give, no matter what?"

Sam simply raised an eyebrow at Jack and then said, "I know where you're going with this, sir."

"Well bully for you, Carter," Jack sniped and added, "but can you at least give me the satisfaction of actually *getting* there?"

"You don't need to, Jack," Daniel softly said, "We all understand."

"Indeed, O'Neil," Teal'c murmured.

"Well, *maybe*, just *maybe*, I might feel a little better by actually *saying* it?"

"But what *we're* trying to say, Jack, is..." Daniel softly began, but stopped when Jack interrupted him.

"I know *exactly* what you're *trying* to say, *Daniel* but can you at least *let* me say it out loud?"

"Fine, Jack," Daniel snarled throwing his arms up in exasperation, "be the hero. Go on, say it then. Say that if there was any way you *could* give those codes and not endanger the human race then you would. Say that you're sorry that we might have to die, that *you* might have to die, but as long as those codes don't get given, then that's all that matters. Say it, Jack. Go on, make yourself feel better."

Daniel looked at his friend, panting slightly as he tried to calm his anger and also catch his breath, but the moment Jack had returned his look, the fire left him in an instant and he found it difficult to breathe past the lump that had formed in the middle of his chest when he saw the stricken look on his friend's face. He was about to mutter an apology, but Jack had held a hand out to Teal'c and the big man had helped him to his feet and then to a cot at the other end of the cell.

He looked at Sam and got a disgusted look in response to his enquiring one. "You know, Daniel, I thought you were better than that," she whispered angrily at him.

"Me too," he whispered back, but when he only saw the back of her and that it was moving to another cot in the cell, he knew she hadn't heard him. 'Yeah, maybe,' he thought, 'just maybe having my tongue cut out, *would* be a good thing.'

He sighed as he stood and then made his way, dejectedly, over to the cot that Jack was lying on. He saw Teal'c turn to him and wasn't surprised to see the raised eyebrow of recrimination being aimed at him. However, the moment that Teal'c had slightly bent towards him and had moved off, Daniel sat on his haunches beside the cot, placed a hand gently on his friend's shoulder and started to whisper, "Jack, I'm sorry. I mean it, I am."

Jack sighed, "I know you are, Daniel, and it's okay."

"No it's not."

"Is too..."

"It so isn't and... and I'm not going to let you ridicule the seriousness of this... this *conversation* by having an 'is not-is too' debate with you."

"O-o-okay," Jack murmured, "well there goes my fun for the evening... Uh, morning... Whatever..." he sighed.

"Jack," Daniel practically yelled, "when are you ever *ever* going to take things seriously?"

Jack turned slowly onto his side, a hand automatically reaching to cradle his head, and then he looked at Daniel and whispered, "Of all the people, Daniel, I thought at least *you* would know."

And he did, he truly did. He knew, despite the wisecracks and the sarcastic remarks, he knew that Jack, the closest thing he had to a brother, his friend, was about as serious as anyone could be. "I do know," he eventually muttered.

"I just wanted *them* and *you* to know that I was sorry, that was all."

"I know Jack, but..."

"Look, Daniel," Jack whispered tiredly, "let's just leave it there. You were right and so were they, so I guess I didn't really need to say it anyway." Without waiting for a response, Jack sighed, "Go to sleep, Daniel, because tomorrow promises to be a big day for all of us." And with that said, Jack turned onto his back, resting an arm behind his head, and closed his eyes.

He thought this chat would have helped, but it hadn't and he thought that sleep would be the furthest thing on his mind. Still, he gently squeezed his friend's shoulder, not knowing why he did, but only that he felt the need to, then stood and sauntered over to his own cot.

He sat there a moment and looked around the cell. He welcomed the brief smile he got from Sam, but it did not take away the ache he felt. He looked to Teal'c and was surprised to see the Jaffa also afford him a tiny smile. 'So', he thought, 'at least they forgive me, so, why can't I forgive myself?' He eventually shook his head and then lay on his side facing the stark grey wall that faced him. 'Sorry, Jack,' was his last thought as he slipped into a restless sleep.