Symptomatic

On P7X-377 . . .

The giant alien's voice thundered in the vast emptiness of the pyramid, so painfully loud that one of the humans, a certain USAF colonel, was seriously considering sticking his fingers in his ears.

"Look again into the eyes of the skull."

On hearing those words, Jack O'Neill breathed a sigh of relief. This wasn't the most hospitable planet SG1 had ever been to, what with Jackson disappearing into the twilight zone for days on end and the rest of them being nuked half to death. But while Jack was more than happy to hear their cue to leave, he also wondered exactly who the command had been directed at. No one seemed to be reacting. Carter was still ogling the creature like she'd never seen a five hundred foot tall English-speaking alien before, and Daniel and Nick, having sorted out their disagreement, were now staring wordlessly at each other.

Jack cranked his head up till he was looking directly into the big fella's face again, and without giving it a lot of thought, pointed to his chest and mouthed, "Who, me?"

He waited for an answer, and felt pretty stupid when he didn't get one. Oookay. Obviously Mr I'm A Gi-normous Alien didn't give two hoots who did the deed, just as long as someone did it, and they all got the hell out of it's home.

Except that wasn't exactly true, was it? Not all of them were leaving. One crazy geek was staying behind, only this time it wasn't Daniel.

Ballard had volunteered to remain here on P7-etcetera to act as a one way exchange student. Hence the argument with Daniel, who understandably enough, didn't want his grandfather to stay. In fact Daniel had seemed pretty shaken up that Nick would even contemplate such a thing after they'd just been re-united.

Now Jack may have only laid eyes on Nicholas Ballard for the first time yesterday, but he wasn't surprised in the least by the old man's decision. Actually, he was more surprised that Daniel had been surprised, considering he'd had around thirty years or so to get used to this type of thing.

One minute was all it took for Jack to have Nick pegged. Hell, a couple of seconds would've been long enough to work out what made the old geezer tick. It all came back to that crazy family tree, in particular the branch with all the archaeologist nuts on it. Nick and Daniel had way too much in common -- like curiosity to burn and a stubborn streak about a few thousand miles wide, and that was just for starters.

Within the space of twenty four hours, Ballard had weaselled his way into the Cheyenne Mountain complex - only the world's most secure military facility; found out about the Stargate - only the world's most closely guarded secret; and to put the icing on the cake, talked his way into going through the damn thing as well. Only to end up somewhere he was never meant to be in the first place, and then decide he wanted to extend his vacation. Indefinitely.

Genetics sure had a lot to answer for.

Jack smiled at the thought and raised a hand in farewell at Ballard. What did you say to someone who preferred draughty pyramids and the company of aliens to all the comforts of home? Oh, wait a minute. Nick lived in the loony bin. Maybe this was a bit of an improvement.

Jack grinned wider and said, "Well Nick, take notes."

Ballard smiled back and said that he would, whereupon Jack did a quick about face and headed over to the pedestal. As he stepped up onto the dais, he couldn't help thinking that this was probably the best way for things to turn out. One of Daniel's kind was more than enough for the planet Earth to cope with. It was only fair to share the joy of the older version with the rest of the galaxy. With his smile still firmly in place, Jack bent down at the waist and looked directly into the empty eye sockets of the crystal skull.

For a long moment absolutely nothing happened. Plenty of time for Jack to feel even more stupid, and . . . worried. God, let this thing work again, because he sure as hell didn't want to think about the alternative.

He stared a little harder. And as he did, he became aware of a low humming in the air and that weird elevator feeling in the pit of his stomach. All at once the energy field burst into life, blossoming with golden flecks of light that began to revolve and gain speed around them. Before, the experience had been disorientating, but bearable. This time it was different. Jack felt as though his head was spinning out of control, whirling madly in time with the circling light. Way, way too fast . . . and his ears were screaming against an unbelievable pressure. He crunched his eyes closed and reached out blindly, leaning on . . . something.

Silence. Deafening silence. Just when he'd reached the stage of wanting to puke his guts up, it stopped. Jack blinked a couple of times, opened his eyes properly, and willed his stomach to stay where it was supposed to. The first sight that greeted him was that goddamned glass-head again, so he dropped his gaze and stared at his hands - the ones that were clenching the edge of the raised stone slab in a white knuckled grip. Vomiting all over an alien's teleportation thingamajig would probably not be the diplomatic thing to do, so he took a long breath and blew it out, then turned around and slowly sat down, facing the others.

Carter had followed him to the bottom of the steps and was standing, military straight and tall. She'd flown F16's under combat conditions, so he supposed a few extra gee's weren't going to faze her. The only thing that hinted otherwise was the hand she had raised to her forehead. Could be she was turning soft from spending too many hours in that lab of hers.

Jack decided to keep that particular observation to himself. There was stupid, and then there was suicidally stupid. He tried to stay out of the second category. Most of the time, anyway.

Further away was Daniel, also standing, but side on to Jack. He was staring at the space where his grandfather had been, or still was, or . . . crap, it was enough to give you a headache if you didn't already have one. Daniel had that lost look about him, the one he did so well - given that he'd had a lifetime of opportunities to practice it.

"Everyone okay?" O'Neill asked the all too familiar question.

Carter's hand dropped down by her side. "I think so." She gave a sickly little smile. "Sort of like a bad ride through the 'Gate."

"Sorta . . . worse," O'Neill replied dryly, watching and waiting for the other member of his team to say something. The one who looked particularly pale all of a sudden. "Daniel?"

Jack's unease climbed up a notch as the young man turned his head towards him. Fair enough, it was a response, but not the kind the colonel was hoping to see. Daniel looked even more out of it than he'd been a second or two ago. He closed his eyes and frowned, slowly opened them again, and mumbled, "Ah . . . what did you . . . what?"

Carter, with the benefit of a head start, made it over to Daniel first. Jack had to use the step behind to push himself onto his feet, which meant he arrived a few seconds later. By that time Sam was quietly calling out to Daniel, but not having any success. Using close on parade ground volume, Jack did the same. Loud but calm. Unflappable Colonel O'Neill was here, ready for anything. Which is what he invariably got on this command.

"Jackson, talk to me. Are you okay?"

Daniel's eyes seemed to be having a lot of trouble in the focusing department. He whispered, "I . . ." and his knees folded a tiny bit.

Jack quickly latched onto his arm, steadying him. "Whoa there, Danny boy. What planet you on?"

Crap. Stupid thing to say, Jack realised. Daniel would be sure to take the question literally, parrot off the exact designation of this good for nothing hunk of space rock that he wished they'd never seen.

But then again . . .

Maybe not. The only noise emanating from the linguist who could talk underwater with a mouth full of marbles was the sound of shaky breathing. Not good. So not good. Carter obviously thought it was a bad omen too, because she grabbed hold of Jackson's other arm.

"Daniel, what's wrong?"

That got through. Daniel replied, in a very small voice. "Just . . . need to sit d. . ."

The sentence never had a hope of being finished. Daniel's eyes rolled backwards and his legs buckled underneath him completely. He didn't fall, two sets of hands held too firm a grip. As they eased Daniel to the ground, Carter shot a worried glance Jack's way, which he did his very best to ignore. He knelt down and put an arm around Daniel's back, supporting him. God knows the kid looked like he needed it. He hadn't blacked out completely - not yet, but he was only hanging by a thread. It was hard to believe that this was simply a reaction to the carousel ride from hell they'd just been treated to. So . . . what?

He vaguely registered that Carter was talking, and tuned himself in.

". . . radiation levels are within safe parameters, Colonel, but . . ."

Jack took his eyes off Daniel for the moment and saw Sam checking the read out on the A.R.M. device again. The furrow on her forehead had grown a little deeper.

"But what, Major?"

She crouched down on the other side of Daniel and felt his face and neck with her hand. "He's hot."

O'Neill curled his fingers against Daniel's cheek, checking for himself. Yes, he was hot. He raised his eyebrows, hoping to prompt some kind of explanation from his second in command. Carter obliged straight away.

"I've been thinking . . ." she began, and Jack felt his brain spontaneously cringe. He braced himself, just in case she unleashed a barrage of multi-syllabic scientific mumbo-jumbo, and for a second thought his face might have given him away. But Sam didn't seem to notice, because she continued talking at her usual pace -- which was about fifteen words to the dozen.

"We don't really know where Daniel was before Teal'c came back for the skull, do we? I mean, we know he was here in this chamber, somewhere, somehow out of phase, but we're only theorising that happened because the discharge from the zat gun interfered with the transfer process in some way. But that's not even an educated guess. There's too much going on here that we don't understand, too many variables to be . . ."

She stopped suddenly, a sure sign that her brain was juggling probably a dozen or so ideas at once.

Alarm bells were ringing in Jack's head. Mainly due to the fact that Daniel was completely oblivious to what was going on around him, but also because the seconds were ticking by and Carter's mouth was still not making any noise.

"Come on Major, share with the rest of the class," he prodded. Then, from out of the blue, a very bad thought surfaced to accompany the very bad feeling.

Jack couldn't believe what he was about to ask.

"You think he's been exposed?"

Sam grimaced and opened her mouth to answer, but Jack wasn't going to give her a chance to say something he didn't want to hear. "That's crap, major. He was fine a minute ago when he was talking to that big alien guy."

Uh oh. That comment earned him the nod and the look, a combination Carter specially reserved for Jack O'Neill and other mindless cretins. Evidently, she'd already dismissed that fact as irrelevant.

She took a wind-up breath before shooting him down in flames.

"True. But we'd made the complete transition between dimensions, either through some kind of spatial shift, or a transmutation in our own subatomic structure. Remember, we think Daniel was suspended somewhere in the middle of the process. That in itself could be capable of causing serious physiological damage to the human body, but there's also a distinct possibility he wasn't immune to the radiation whilst in that state. Depending on how the process was engineered, and all contraindications aside, it may mean symptoms would only become apparent upon molecular reintegration."

Jack felt himself frowning and knew he should give some sort of reply. And he would, just as soon as he'd translated all that Carter-speak back into English. But he didn't get the opportunity to think, let alone say anything, before she started up again. Lowering her voice even further, till it was not much more than a whisper, she continued.

"The readings sent back by the MALP skyrocketed after we left, so we're talking a prolonged exposure of two hundred rems or more. By comparison, we received about an eighty rem dose, and you know how that felt."

A flicker of something raw passed across Sam's face, gone so quickly that Jack wasn't even sure he'd seen it, and then she closed her eyes. When she opened them again she looked directly at Daniel and slowly reached out to run her fingers gently through his hair. Just once. She left her hand resting lightly on the back of his neck and said nothing more, just went on silently staring at him.

Carter did that a lot. She'd rattle off a whole barrel full of facts and figures, safely in scientist mode. Only after all the information had been offloaded would the implications hit home. Except this time it wasn't just anyone or anything she was talking about. Jack knew that Sam was now seeing one of her closest friends there on the ground in front of her, and it was obvious she wasn't taking her own news very well.

Daniel, on the other hand, didn't even notice all the attention he was receiving. His eyes were all but closed, and he still seemed entirely unaware of his surroundings. Considering the topic under discussion, Jack thought that was a fairly fortunate thing. It also meant he couldn't see how Sam was looking at him, because at the moment it was down right scary. She was staring at Daniel like . . . ?

Like she was afraid he was about to disappear all over again.

Sam slowly turned her eyes towards Jack, and it seemed to take an age for her to say anything. When she did, it made his blood run cold.

"I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But if Daniel has been exposed, we better start praying he didn't get the full effect, because . . . " She paused, swallowed hard. "It was a long time."

She couldn't mean what Jack thought she meant. "A long time, as in . . .?"

The color was leeching from Sam's face. "Enough to kill within a few days of exposure."

Jack opened his mouth. Shut it. Finally regrouped enough to do a few mental calculations. Teal'c had recovered very quickly from the irradiation. He'd returned to P7X-377 about an hour after they'd come back the first time. Maybe two hours, Jack couldn't really be sure. He'd been out of it most of the time he was in the infirmary.

It couldn't be possible, could it? That Daniel was getting fried all that time? He was invisible for crying out loud. Did those little nintendo whosiwhats go through invisible things?

Jack's eyes were still locked onto Sam's, and he had the distinct feeling that she was reading his exact thoughts. They both looked away from each other at the same instant, turning their heads to stare at Daniel. He wasn't leaning as heavily on Jack's arm now, but was still pretty boneless. Legs splayed out in front of him, one arm hanging uselessly by his side, the other folded on his lap. His breathing was the most worrying thing. Very shallow and uneven. And now that Jack looked harder, he could see tiny tremors running through his body and down into his limbs.

"Daniel!" Jack shook him gently, and heard a low groan. He was about to shake him harder, but Carter intervened, grabbing hold of his arm.

"We have to get him back to base." Her voice was a perfect match for the expression on her face.

Jack's almost came back with a 'no, really?', but his throat suddenly seemed very dry, and very, very tight. This was just goddamn unbelievable. They'd beaten the odds again, got Daniel back from wherever the hell he'd been. Right now they should be laughing, Daniel should be saying he needed some sleep, and then they should be strolling back to the gate wearing big we-did-good smiles all over their faces. This was where the happy ending was supposed to go, not this . . . crap . . . Daniel . . .

He could hear Doc Frasier's voice in his head again, telling him they were lucky to get off this planet when they did. A few more minutes of exposure and it would have been a very different story.

They'd left Daniel here for two hours. Two hours with radiation at lethal levels.

Jack felt like throwing up again, but forgot all about it when he saw Daniel's head slowly lifting. Those big eyes drifted open, not all the way, and Jack wondered if his youngest team member was seeing anything at all.

"Uh, I feel . . . better." Daniel coughed to clear his throat. "I think."

His voice did sound a little stronger. Although his color scheme wasn't improving, not unless stark white was the in thing this season. Jack watched Daniel pull his legs up, then try to roll over onto one knee. Totally uncoordinated, even by Jackson's standards.

"Hang on, Danny," Jack put a hand on his shoulder, easily restraining him. "Chances are you'll fall on your ass if you try and get up. Believe me, I know."

Daniel peered across at him, completely confused, then looked at Sam. That's when the penny dropped and his eyes sprang open wide.

"You think I have radiation poisoning."

A statement, not a question. You had to hand it to Jackson. Zoned out to the max, and he still got the answer right in the space of five seconds. Although by the look of things, he was going to argue the point. He was shaking his head in slow motion, like it weighed a ton.

"No, it's not that. At least I don't think it's that. I've been fine up until now. I felt dizzy, that's all. Guess I'm a little tired."

Quite a speech for someone who hadn't said more than a couple of words in the past five minutes. And even though he'd used extremely short sentences, it cost him. Left him looking completely drained and out of breath. Daniel rubbed his forehead in a circular motion, then extended his hand to Jack. "Help me up."

O'Neill questioned Carter with a sideways glance. She didn't appear at all enthused with the idea, but shrugged both shoulders. Jack could almost hear her saying, 'Wrong sort of doctor, sorry.'

"Just be ready to catch him," she suggested.

Jack's smile was tight. "Thank you for the wonderful advice."

Daniel was obviously able to pay better attention now, because he let out a sigh and tried to get up by himself again. Jack was quick to lend a helping hand . . . or two. In fact he practically lifted Daniel back onto his feet. Once up there, he wavered a bit, which had Jack worrying all over again. He remembered how he'd peered over the edge of the platform into the dark abyss, trying to calculate how far the drop was. Not that the precise distance really mattered, all you needed to know was that it was splat height -- with an extremely narrow bridge back to the other side. Not ideal conditions for crossing by someone who could keel over at any second. Jack knew from painful experience -- he'd been there, done that, with Carter hoisted over his shoulder to make the journey all the more memorable.

He considered the options.

If worst came to worst, he could carry Daniel, but that would definitely be a last resort. Jack still didn't feel one hundred per cent himself, and the man wasn't exactly light. Even on a good day it would be a hard ask. And Jack knew that if he was still feeling crappy, chances were Carter was feeling a whole lot crappier, because she'd been hit harder by the radiation. Smaller body mass, or something. So getting her to lug one end of an archaeologist was out of the question as well. That left going back through the gate to get Teal'c, or a stretcher and a couple of medics to carry it . . .

Jack forced himself to back up a bit. Carter wasn't even sure that Daniel had been affected by the radiation. It could be that Daniel was right, he was just tired, maybe even a bit dehydrated. He didn't look that bad.

Well, on second thoughts, he did, but he was on his feet, and that was a start. The burning question was, could he walk?

Jack squeezed Daniel's arm, emphasising his words. "I'm not going to let you do this unless you're absolutely sure you're up to it. Because out there, falling over could be very . . . final." He nodded towards the walkway.

Daniel hated heights at the best of times, which explained why his face immediately turned a whiter shade of pale. He took a deep breath and set his shoulders. "Let's get out of here."

Jack patted Daniel's arm and allowed himself a small smile. That obstinate gene of Daniel's may have pissed him off monumentally on many an occasion, but at times like these it really came in handy. He looked over at Sam and gave the order. "You first, Carter. When you're on the other side, we'll follow."

No sooner did he have the last word out, than she began to protest.

"Sir . . ."

His hand automatically went up to silence her. "You go first, Major. Understood?"

Sam's eyes were blazing, but she gave a short nod, acknowledging the command. She may not have liked it, but Jack knew she understood and respected the logic behind the decision. If Daniel fell, there was always the possibility that the three of them would go over the edge together. Especially since SG1 ran on Murphy's law. If something could go wrong, it went wrong. Minimising the number of people involved minimised the casualties. Or fatalities, came the morbid afterthought.

Without another word, Carter strode towards the bridge and began crossing. Very soon she was safely on the other side. She turned around and silently watched them. Even from this distance, Jack could tell she was not a happy camper.

He gave his second in command a smile plus a tiny wave, which he knew would be sure to piss her off even more, then shifted his attention to Daniel. "Okay, our turn. Once we're out there, I'm going to walk behind you with my hands on your shoulders."

He expected another argument, but it never came. And now Jack felt really nervous. An obedient Daniel Jackson was not as good as it sounded. Usually it meant he was focusing on other things -- like staying conscious -- and often followed brain fricassee a la ribbon device, or some other equally nasty event. There was no time to dwell on past instances though, because Daniel was already walking. Not very evenly, Jack noted, and quickly moved to grab him by the elbow.

They crossed to the edge of the circular platform and stood there for a moment, Daniel gazing off at some distant spot. Jack gave him a nudge and a pointed stare.

"Ahhh, Daniel? If you're going to change your mind about this, now would be the time to do it."

Daniel waved him off without so much as a glance. He took the first step out onto the bridge. Hesitated slightly. Then continued, taking deliberate, measured paces.

Jack mirrored him, stride for stride.

Their progression was excruciatingly slow, but steady. Jack knew better than to start feeling comfortable about the whole thing though, and just once, hoped he'd be proven wrong. It was not to be. When they were about half way to the other side, Daniel slowed down even more and began to sway to the left. Jack slipped his hands smoothly from the other's man's shoulders, down to the top of his arms, which had the effect of stopping all motion, both sideways and forward. The two stood there, frozen, before Daniel slowly lowered his head towards his chest and folded his arms across his stomach. Behind him, Jack's adrenaline was on overdrive.

"Daniel. We're almost there. Take a deep breath, don't move until you're ready."

Jack wasn't sure he'd been heard until he saw Daniel's shoulder's rising. He was inhaling a big lungful of air, much to the relief of his commanding officer. But midway through the action his body stiffened and he started to hunch over. Instantly, Jack tightened his grip.

"Daniel! What's wrong?"

No answer. Jack wished he could see Daniel's face, but that would mean leaning out to one side - and he wasn't going to risk doing that. Anyway, he knew without looking that the guy was in some sort of pain.

Sam called out, "Sir, let me help!"

"No! Stay there, Carter," he yelled back at her, thinking what a huge mistake he'd made. Shouldn't have let Daniel do this, should have -

Daniel took another tentative breath, not so big this time. "Wait," he whispered.

Good idea, Jack thought. We'll wait. Anything other than fainting and nose diving over the side sounded like an excellent plan at this point in time.

Awfully long seconds passed before Daniel brought his head back up and muttered, "Okay."

Keeping his voice level, Jack asked, "You sure about that?"

"Yeah," came the faint reply, not at all confidence inspiring.

Jack carefully shifted his arms back up to their original position. "Okay, but don't move till you're ready."

"You said that before. I'm ready."

Daniel put one foot out, then the other. His legs were actually wobbling underneath him, which did nothing to alleviate the massive knot in Jack's gut. The walking didn't improve much, but thankfully didn't get any worse. After another twenty four unsteady paces, of which the colonel counted each and every one, they were at the end of the bridge. Carter reached out to pull Daniel over the last couple of feet, and then helped him sit down.

Jack followed suite, dropping down on his knees in front of them. He took a deep breath and said, "That was fun. Wanna go again?"

No-one answered, not even a dirty look was aimed his way. Carter was checking that radiation measuring machine again, and Daniel looked like he'd just run a marathon. Jack wanted to ask what had happened out there on the bridge, but decided it might be better to let sleeping dogs lie. Whatever sort of pain Daniel had been in, it seemed gone now. Hopefully it was just a cramp or something.

But it was the something that could be a problem. And if that wasn't enough to make a few more gray hairs sprout, Sam was still staring at the A.R.M. with a serious degree of tension in her face. Jack leant forward, attempting to see the monitor as well. Not that he knew what he was looking at, exactly. The gizmo could have come straight out of a Star Trek movie. Bright green columns were moving continuously across the little window, rippling like some kind of crazy Mexican wave.

"Should we panic now and avoid the rush?"

Sam ignored the lame comment. "Rising . . ." she said, and to her credit, it came out sounding very calm. She kept watching the screen. "Wait."

Jack had never been a big fan of that word, and it just kept rearing its ugly head up at him. Time slowed, as it tended to do in these type of situations, and Jack couldn't take his eyes off the machine. The columns didn't seem to be moving as much now. That had to be a good thing. Surely.

Sam smiled, and her relief was palpable. "It's levelled off. We shouldn't hang around too long though." She slipped the device inside her jacket pocket and moved closer to Daniel, unhooked her canteen from her belt and put it into his hands. Uncapped it as well, but it took a while for him to register what it was. When he did, he proceeded to drink, much too quickly. Resulting in him coughing and spluttering half of it back up again.

Jack reached over and slapped him on the back a few times. "When you finish choking, we'll start walking again, whaddaya say?"

Daniel nodded silently - which continued to have a disconcerting effect on Jack - before taking a hitching breath and putting the bottle back up to his lips. He gulped down another few mouthfuls of water, and didn't look like he intended to stop anytime soon. Jack took hold of his wrist. "Hey, slow down or you'll drown. You can't be that thirsty."

Daniel's eyes stared out from over the canteen, making it abundantly clear to Jack that he really didn't know what he was talking about. He took one last big swallow before lowering the bottle and handing it back to Sam with a mumbled thank you.

The pastiness had gone from Daniel's face, but it wasn't good news. Now there was a hot flush going from the neck upwards. The whites of his eyes had turned pinkish-red as well, and his pupils had an unhealthy shine to them. Put simply, the guy looked ready to ignite. Jack was tempted to reach out and feel his forehead again, but one of Daniel's hands was already there, massaging a spot above his right eye -- the second time he'd done that since they'd sat down. His other arm was pressing across his stomach again.

Sam gently rubbed Daniel's back. "Feel any better?"

Well, it was nice to know that Carter could ask really dumb questions too. Daniel gave another tiny, very unconvincing nod and said, "Had a stomach ache." His voice tapered out to a whisper. "It's gone now."

Jack found that extremely hard to believe when Daniel was hanging onto his middle like it was going to explode. "It's gone?"

Jackson was one of those people who found it virtually impossible to lie. In any situation. Which was very useful to know when you were playing poker against the man, because you only had to look him in the eye for a couple of seconds and his face would give him away. Right now though, Daniel was staring at the ground. Jack dipped his head so he could see . . . oh yeah, that pain had gone all right. That's why Daniel's eyes were screwed shut and his face was turning a nice vermilion color.

"Not . . ." Daniel gasped, but the sound was cut off as he bit his bottom lip. He inhaled through his nose, held his breath for a second, and let it out slowly through his mouth. " . . . exactly."

All those alternate ways to get home were running through Jack's head again. He reached out and grabbed Daniel's shoulder. "Exactly how bad is it Daniel? You think you can keep going?"

Daniel slowly exhaled and took his arm away from his stomach. He put both hands on the ground and replied in a voice almost bordering on normal. "I'm fine. Yeah."

Jack looked at Carter, could tell this time she was dead against it. However, the choices were still very limited, and she was the one that kept pulling out the A.R.M. and staring at it like they were all about to turn into crispy critters. He slid his hand down Daniel's arm till he was holding onto his wrist. "Come on then, let's get this show back on the road. I know a doctor who's itching for a new plaything."

Frasier certainly wouldn't want to treat him again, not in this lifetime or the next, not after the crap he'd dished out on her. As a matter of fact, she'd told him so in no uncertain terms. Right after he'd called her a nasty little nazi. Or maybe Florence Nightmare. One or the other. But for chrissakes, he'd said it under his breath. Was it his fault the woman had bionic ears or something?

Jack's stomach suddenly lurched again. Thinking about Janet had made him think of the SGC, and . . . crap, why hadn't he used the radio transmitter? He'd completely forgotten he was wearing it, which was pretty near impossible to do when the thing was plugged into your goddamned ear. Hammond would be having seizures by now. And Teal'c . . . well they probably had to tie him down to stop him coming back.

Jack was still holding onto Daniel's arm but not doing much of anything else. He let go, and Daniel looked at him with a quizzical expression.

"Forgot something. Hang on," and he pressed the send switch on the radio.

"SGC come in. This is SG1."

"Go ahead, Colonel O'Neill," crackled through the receiver.

"SGC, mission accomplished. Doctor Jackson is back with us and we're on our way to the Stargate. Should be dialling home in the next ten minutes or so." Jack tried to keep the report emotionless, but the smile on his face came through strongly in his voice. Even Carter managed a pretty healthy looking grin. At that moment, having Daniel back with them was all that mattered. They'd deal with any other crap as it came.

If it came. Daniel didn't have radiation sickness, Jack told himself. He's just exhausted, hasn't eaten for a few days . . .

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of Hammond's voice, identifying himself. The general had responded almost immediately, which suggested he'd been sitting right next to the dispatcher, waiting for a report. Waiting a good twenty, thirty minutes, and he wasn't the patient type. Jack was expecting the worst, but instead heard only relief.

"That's extremely good news, Colonel. And Professor Ballard?

Whoops. Forgot to mention that. Jack's stomach did another roll. God, did Hammond have some sort of special SG1 crap radar, or what?

The general's voice echoed in his ear again. "Colonel O'Neill?"

Yep. Definitely some sort of sixth sense, Jack decided. "He's safe . . . but not returning with us, sir."

"Safe. But not returning," Hammond repeated the words slowly, in a tone that indicated an immediate post-mission debriefing was being scheduled as they spoke. "I see. And Doctor Jackson is okay?"

Oh crap. Jack could have kicked himself. That dose of radiation must have melted what little brain matter he had. "Ahh, actually sir, he's not doing so good."

"Understood. Dr Frasier is standing by. What is his condition?"

Jack had been studying Daniel the whole time he spoke, and even though he wasn't grimacing in pain anymore, he still looked like crap. Telling them that probably wouldn't do . . .

"He's running a fever, but he's conscious, walking and talking and all that, just not doing it very well. Major Carter thinks there's a possibility of radiation exposure."

"All right, Colonel. We'll be ready for you." The connection clicked off, and Jack looked at his team - minus one Jaffa.

"Okay kids, the hard part's over. No more thousand foot drops between us and home."

Sam stood up slowly without passing a comment. Exhaustion was evident in her movements, and her face was drawn. Jack didn't need to remind himself that she'd been senseless to the world, flat on her back in the infirmary not that long ago. He knew exactly how she felt, but asked anyway.

"How you doing, Carter?"

The question had an immediate response. Sam threw her shoulders back and dusted herself off. "Fine, sir."

Samantha Carter was good, no great, at everything she did. And that included being a soldier. Jack kept his smile to himself and said, "Excellent. You lead the way then."

Carter nodded smartly and moved away. Jack reached down to haul an almost dead-weight Daniel back on his feet. "How about you Daniel? You still dizzy?"

"Mmmm. I feel . . . weird." Daniel's forehead crunched up, as though he was searching for a better description. "Heavy," he mumbled.

"Yeah, well I got news for you, buddy," Jack growled. He strung Daniel's left arm up over his shoulder, held it there with his left hand, then put his right arm around the archaeologist's waist. "You are heavy."

A short, soft chuckle, more a puff of exhaled air than anything else, sounded next to Jack's ear. Daniel was definitely not himself at the moment. Jack would often get a grin out of Carter with one of his remarks, but Daniel wasn't so easily amused. Except of course when he was drunk, then he'd smile at every one of Jack's jokes. But a laugh? Well, that would take at least two beers.

Jack took a deep breath, readying himself to walk with the added burden of most of Daniel's weight, but his thoughts were already elsewhere. His main concern was the weather, which hadn't looked at all promising when they'd arrived. Black clouds had been hanging low in the sky, threatening to burst open all over the top of them. Giant ones, no less - what else would you expect on Jumbo Pain In The Ass Planet? Even if it wasn't raining yet, a blustery cold wind had been blowing. Daniel didn't have his jacket, was just wearing his military supply - black tee shirt and a long sleeved cotton drill over it, unbuttoned. That was plenty for now. The inner chamber of the pyramid and corridor were cool, but not overly. Wearing extra clothing in here would just push his temperature up. Dragging him though a storm was a whole different kettle of fish. Jack would need to rug him up - put his jacket on him. Maybe throw Carter's over the top as well.

He glanced up, intending to tell Sam to go on ahead and check outside, but it seemed she'd had the same idea. She was already out in front by several yards, about to turn the corner in the passageway.

Beside him, Daniel croaked, "I know how to walk . . . by myself."

Jack glanced sideways and realised Daniel was going to try and say some more. The man picked the greatest times to get all conversational. Since it was always best to try and shut him up early in the piece, Jack raised his voice and talked loudly over the top of him.

"Yeah, well I want to get home sometime this year, Daniel, so stow it."

Daniel smiled, and Jack could see the pain back in his eyes. Which made him wish they were already through the gate and on the ramp. Because the next step would be the infirmary. He tried to concentrate on the positives as they began to move.

One. The crap had been kicked out of SG1's favorite archaeologist in every conceivable and inconceivable way over the years, and Daniel always managed to bounce back.

Two. Radiation poisoning was only a theory. And a pretty thin looking theory at that.

Three. Daniel had even been dead a couple of times, yet here he was alive and well. Well, not well. But whatever it was this time, it would be just a stroll in the park for someone with that track record.

Jack kept sneaking side-on glances at Daniel, and could see his smile slowly dissolving. After another three or four steps it was gone altogether. His lips parted as his breathing progressively became more labored.

Not exactly a stroll, Jack thought grimly.

By the time they were at the end of the first section of passageway, Daniel was really doing it tough, and they had slowed to a snail's pace. Jack thought he heard Daniel say something, but it could have been a groan.

"What's that Daniel?" Jack was surprised to hear himself puffing. Seemed he was running a bit short of breath himself.

Daniel grunted painfully and mumbled one word which was impossible to decipher.

"What?" Jack panted.

"Stop!" Daniel yelled, well almost yelled, and his legs shuddered to a halt underneath him. He pulled his arm away from Jack's shoulder. "Gonna be . . ."

The message was well and truly received as Daniel started to gag and slump forward to the floor. Jack tried to slow the descent, and managed to get him down safely onto his knees. Daniel immediately threw his hands out in front, so he was on all fours, and began throwing up all the water he'd consumed a few minutes earlier.

The only constructive thing Jack could think to do was rub Daniel's back in small circles and make sure he didn't collapse face first into his own vomit. And maybe take his glasses off too, since they were about to fall off and land in it. Jack pried them carefully from behind Daniel's ears, then folded and pocketed them. Oh, and last but not least, he tried not to look like he wanted to barf as well. Funny how seeing someone puke always made you want to puke too.

A noise made Jack look up, just in time to see Carter coming back around the corner. When she saw what was happening she increased her pace, and very soon was down on her haunches next to them. Well to one side of the activity, Jack noticed. She winced and said, "Shouldn't have let him drink so much."

"You think?" Jack quipped, but his heart wasn't really in it. Daniel was winding down to small, dry heaves, and finally, the retching stopped. He wiped a shaky hand over his mouth and began to reposition himself to sit down. Jack caught Sam's eye, gestured with a nod of his head to the right, and together they helped move Daniel over to side of the passageway, settling him with his back resting against the wall.

"What's the news from outside?"

Jack was talking to Carter, but his eyes were trained on Daniel, taking in the complete, sorry picture. His head was rolled back, eyes were closed, and his face was covered in a fine sheet of perspiration.

"Wind's really starting to pick up, Colonel. Not raining, but it has been. It's slippery underfoot."

Jack held his breath and considered counting to ten. "And why does that not surprise me?" He hadn't intended to say it out loud, let alone raise his voice, but that's exactly what he did. Carter winced again. Daniel's eyes popped open.

"What's your problem Jack?" he whispered, and damned if there wasn't a little half-grin on his face.

"Nothing Daniel." Jack felt his scowl start to loosen up. "I'm calling home. Mom can come pick us up."

Sam nodded her agreement, but Daniel's eyes narrowed. "Huh?"

"I'm requesting a medivac, Daniel," Jack explained, and went to click his transmitter on. Daniel's hand was suddenly there on top of his arm, almost knocking the connecting wire out of it's socket.

"No."

Jack tried to maintain his fleeting composure, reminding himself of the situation. Daniel wasn't well. That, of course, ruled out yelling at him. He actually dredged up a smile, but whether it looked homicidal or not was hard to say from this side.

"Not no, Daniel. Yes."

Staring at him through very red, bleary eyes, Daniel argued weakly, "Jack. How many gate activations had been made on this mission already? It's only a couple of hundred yards from here. I can make it."

"Daniel," Sam softly interjected. "It would only mean one extra dial up, and we really don't think you should walk. The conditions outside are dangerous."

Jack was staring at Daniel in shock. "Please tell me you're not worrying about mission expenses all of a sudden, because I'm beginning to think there's something really wrong with you."

Daniel smiled wanly and slowly pulled his knees up to his chest. His head was drooping down towards them, but he forced it back up again. "I think you're overreacting. I drank too much and got sick. And . . ."

"Daniel. Shut. Up."

Since yelling wasn't permissible right now, Jack stressed every word and left a good gap in between each of them as well. He adjusted the radio plug in his ear, making sure it and the wire were still in place. Everything seemed fine, all in working order. He glanced back at Daniel, intending to give him a bit of a glare, but when he saw how bad he looked, suddenly felt a twinge of remorse. Sam was giving him the imbecile stare again too. God, save him from civilians and over protective 2IC's.

Jack tilted his head skywards and shut his eyes for a second, then looked back down at Daniel. "Okay. Please shut up."

Sam smirked, but Daniel didn't say anything, just gave in to his exhaustion and put his forehead down on his knees.

Jack pressed the send button once again. "SGC come in."

There were a few good seconds of scratchy static, then the dispatcher's voice. "This is Stargate Command. Colonel O'Neill, go ahead."

"SGC, we have a problem," Jack responded, cringing at his choice of words. He hadn't meant to do a bad impression of Tom Hanks in Apollo Thirteen. "Ahh, the weather's closed in here, and Doctor Jackson's condition seems to be deteriorating. Requesting a medical evacuation."

This time there was an even longer period of static. Then, "Roger that, Colonel O'Neill. We have a go on the medivac. Please hold for Doctor Frasier."

A loud beeping noise drew Jack's attention away from the conversation. It was coming from the vicinity of Carter's jacket. What the . . .? Oh crap. Sam was pulling that damned A.R.M. out of her pocket, getting to her feet and grabbing Daniel's arm at the same time.

The dispatcher was asking if the message was received, and Carter was yelling, "Radiation's peaking, sir. We have to move, NOW!"

"SGC, abort the medivac," Jack shouted as he helped pull Daniel up. "Repeat. Do not send anyone through the Gate. We have dangerous radiation levels here." As they stumbled up the last section of passageway, Hammond's voice sounded through the receiver.

"Jack, the team's almost assembled. Are you certain about this?"

O'Neill called across at Carter. "General wants to know. Are we sure?"

Carter took another quick glance down at the machine. "We're a minute away from passing out. Might be better outside."

They were almost there, rain and sand were blowing in through the pyramid's opening. Daniel was trying his hardest to run with them, but they were dragging him more than anything else.

"Give me a second, General," Jack gasped, and put his head down, trying to summon up enough strength for all three of them. They emerged from the safety of the pyramid.

Into the mother of all gales.

The air temperature was icy, no more than a couple of degrees Celsius. Savage gusts of wind belted into them from all directions, laced thickly with sand and other assorted grit. There were a few not so tiny bits of pointy hard stuff thrown in for good measure too. Jack found that out in the worst way when one of them smacked into the back of his head. Stars exploded, and he tripped over his own feet, letting loose a few choice swearwords. Carter took up the slack. They didn't fall.

A warm trickle of blood dribbled down Jack's neck. He shouted at Sam through chattering teeth. "Levels?"

Carter was already shaking her head. "Not much lower."

Jack nodded and sent his final transmission. "General Hammond. Abort the medivac. Repeat. No medivac. O'Neill out."

"Keep it going!" he yelled at his team.

Sam improved her grip on Daniel's arm and somehow they were running again. Another fifty meters to the Gate. Jack felt his own arm sliding down Daniel's waist and cinched it in even tighter. In a reflex action, Daniel's entire body tensed and seemed to contract in on itself. The trio stumbled, slowed down. Daniel shuddered.

Jack turned his head, saw Daniel's face twisting, his mouth screwed shut with pain. He thought he could hear moaning, but the wind was blowing so wildly now it was impossible to tell. Suddenly Daniel's legs gave way, forcing them to stop dead in their tracks. Moving was an impossibility, they were only just managing to hold onto him and not be blown off their feet.

Jack shouted directly into his ear, "DANIEL. WE CAN'T STOP!"

Daniel bit his bottom lip and nodded. There was sweat all over his face. He locked his knees, pushed one leg out in front, and crumpled.

This time Jack distinctly heard it. And he could only think that if Daniel had taken to swearing, he must be dying. He looked across at Carter, and yelled into the wind. "PUT HIM DOWN!"

Daniel was trying to shove Jack's arm away from his waist, and it was throwing them both off balance. Jack's feet were slipping. He felt himself falling, couldn't do much about it, and knew Carter was being pulled along as well. The three of them hit the ground together, Daniel immediately clutching both arms to his stomach, pulling his knees up against them. Jack tried to roll him over on his back, but stopped when he saw Carter up on one elbow, taking Daniel's pulse at the neck. The wind was flicking her hair into her eyes, and she had to wait until she'd finished what she was doing to push it back and speak.

Her lips were moving, but her voice wasn't carrying. Jack thought she might have said 'we shouldn't move him,' but it was pointless. They had to move him. Now Sam was trying to look at the A.R.M. again, but her hand faltered on the way up. Her eyes rolled up in their sockets and she fell forward, landing nose first on Jackson's shoulder. Daniel had succeeded in curling himself into a ball, and Jack couldn't tell whether he was conscious or not.

Some part of Jack's brain that was still working said it really didn't matter. Then it told him to move. But his body wasn't responding.

MOVE!!

Jack staggered up onto his feet, opened his stance wide to fight the impact of the wind. He stared down at Carter and Jackson from one end of a long, dark tunnel. Black edges curling in . . . he snapped his head back up and forced himself to think.

Which one first?

Doesn't matter. Get one to the gate and come back, his weary brain argued. Just do it. NOW!

He reached down, snagged hold of Carter's jacket and started dragging. Sorry Sam. Bruises beat being dead. Jack's legs felt rubbery and his ears were buzzing. No, not buzzing. Making a noise like the sound of the Stargate engaging. He turned his head and his eyes slid upwards. Red lights through the flying sand.

Keep moving. Not real.

More sound behind him. A whoosh of soft air that felt completely different to the wind.

A thump vibrated through Jack's body, but he didn't realise he'd fallen down until he opened his eyes and saw his legs folded underneath him. He idly wondered when that had happened and began inching backwards towards the gate on his knees, Carter's body more off his lap than on.

"O'Neill."

Someone was standing over him, which could not be happening, so Jack shook his head, hoping to clear it. A large shape came down through his field of vision and suddenly Carter was being moved away.

"Teal'c?"

"Yes, O'Neill. I will take Major Carter."

Jack had never heard a sweeter sound. He used Teal'c's body to climb up and onto his feet. Standing there, holding onto the Jaffa's left shoulder and swaying, he poked his finger in the general direction of where Daniel lay, half buried in the mounting sand. "No, get him," he slurred. His tongue was heavy and unresponsive. Just like the rest of his body.

Teal'c nodded in understanding, then laid Carter's upper body in Jack's arms. The colonel almost fell over again, and was actually quiet surprised that he didn't. He wrapped his arms around the front of Carter's chest and took a shaky step backwards, then another, dragging her along with him. Her arms swung limply against his thighs and the heels of her boots made trails in the sand coating the pathway, but all evidence of their passing was quickly erased by the swirling wind. As if that wasn't enough to thwart their retreat, it had really begun to rain in earnest as well. Jack tucked his head down into the crook of Sam's neck to avoid the sting of the elements on his face. It was really warm in there too, but he was too far gone to comprehend that she was running a fever. The only thing he knew was that he had to keep moving. Stopping, passing out, were not allowed. No way.

"No way," he whispered into Sam's ear. And kept mumbling it, over and over, until he couldn't even remember why he was saying it. He lifted his head and woozily turned to look over his shoulder.

Fuck. The gate seemed no closer. He put his face back down against Carter's cheek and fought a strange urge to start laughing.

Suddenly he felt Sam being lifted away again. "NO!" he screamed. Why didn't Teal'c understand? "GET DANIEL!"

The Jaffa's voice boomed, "Daniel Jackson is through the gate, O'Neill. I can now assist yourself and Major Carter."

Oh, Jack thought. "Good," he muttered. "That's good."

Teal'c positioned Carter under one arm like a sack of grain, and grabbed a handful of the colonel's jacket in a spot between the shoulder blades, meaning Jack did a wonderful imitation of a Thunderbird puppet as they walked towards the blue vortex. His feet were basically on the ground, and his legs were moving, but they felt like a couple of strands of overcooked spaghetti.

Their entrance onto the ramp earth-side was accelerated by about half a desert's worth of wet sand blowing in behind them, and for Jack, the next few minutes became a series of disjointed sights and sounds -- short bursts of sensation with gray nothingness in between. The thud of the iris closing behind them, and overwhelming warmth. Metal biting into his knees and the heels of his hands, and pins and needles in his arms and legs. A blurry vision of Teal'c standing close by with Sam draped across his arms, and the Jaffa's voice coming from the top of the mountain that was his body.

"O'Neill, you are bleeding. Are you badly injured?"

Jack looked and listened and wondered what the hell all that was supposed to mean. He tried to rub his hands across his face and succeeded in poking himself in the eye. The next thing he knew Sam was being taken away on a stretcher. Then someone's hand was on the back of his head.

" . . . scalp laceration needs suturing . . ."

Now the hand was holding his chin, forcing it up, and a bright light was stinging his eyes. He flinched.

"Let me up," Jack managed to grind out, but the words sounded warped to his own ears. "Frasier?" Hot light was shining in his other eye and it was impossible to see.

A deep voice answered, "Doctor Warner, actually. How many fingers?"

There was a pink, funny shaped blob in front of his face with a couple of long things attached. Jack was totally confused, unable to concentrate on any one signal his brain was receiving. His eyes were red raw and watering and things were starting to spin. Where was Daniel? And Sam? Teal'c?

"I am here, O'Neill." The colonel sensed rather than saw Teal'c crouch down beside him, and since the Jaffa wasn't a telepath, Jack realised he must have been talking - no, rambling . . . out loud. The reassuring touch of his friend's hand was on his shoulder. "Daniel Jackson is in the care of Doctor Frasier, and I believe you witnessed Major Carter being removed to the infirmary."

Whoa . . . yeah. Maybe. "Help me up." He fumbled his hand out sideways and grabbed hold of Teal'c's jacket.

Dr Warner's voice sounded again. "You can ride this one out, Colonel." The words rang through Jack's head, bouncing around on the insides of his skull. Things were looking even fuzzier and the room was spinning again . . .

Jack whispered, "Goodnight," and the lights went out.

Daniel screwed up his nose and made a disapproving tut-tut noise. He wagged his finger from side to side and then leant forward, nose to nose in Jack's face.

"It's longer than mine!" He hooted in disbelief and tugged on a clump of Jack's hair just to prove his point.

"Owwww," Jack went to pull away, but Daniel was yanking harder now and squeezing Jack's shoulder with his other hand, digging his fingers in.

"You look like a geek," Jackson snorted. "Get a hair cut."

Jack tried to shove Daniel out of the way. Only . . . he blinked his eyes open, and it wasn't Jackson standing there in front of him -- unless Daniel had turned into a red-head . . . and a female all of a sudden.

The woman didn't look very happy. Probably had everything to do with being pushed in the solar plexus by someone having a weird dream. A very weird dream.

"Welcome back, Colonel."

Corporal . . . nope, Jack couldn't quite get her name. Anyway, Corporal-whoever wasn't doing the talking, that was coming from somewhere behind him. And his scalp was still being pulled away from his skull. This time Jack was sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Just lie still while I finish up here," the baritone voice said. "That local hasn't worn off yet has it?"

Ahhh, things were becoming about as clear as mud. He was lying on his side on a hard mattress, he could smell antiseptic, and a woman was squeezing the bejeezus out of his shoulder, pinning him down while she did a ventriloquist act.

And --

Awwh crap. They'd put a hospital gown on him. Didn't they ever think to tie these frigging things up at the back? That air was brisk.

"Warner?" Jack guessed.

"Yes. One more stitch ought to do it."

Jack felt another tug at the back of his head, then heard a metallic clatter. The nurse moved away as the doctor walked around the base of the bed to stand in front of him, and Jack rolled over carefully onto his back, trying not to disturb the newly acquired needlework. Wow. His head felt a couple of hat sizes bigger than he remembered.

"Feeling better?"

"No."

The pen light appeared in Warner's hand. Jack quickly dragged his arm up off the mattress and covered his face.

"I'm fine, Doc. Really." And he rattled off his name, rank, serial number and birth date to give truth to the lie. "Satisfied?"

"I suppose I'll have to be," the doctor replied, sounding more than a little miffed.

There were only two M.D.'s on permanent staff at the SGC. Which meant if he pissed Warner off very much more, there'd be no more doctors left to practice their malpractice on him. That sounded pretty damn good to Jack. He uncovered his eyes and tried not to squint. "Major Carter and Jackson?"

Warner moved sideways, giving Jack an unrestricted view over to the next bed. Carter was stretched out on her back under the covers, sleeping or unconscious.

"She okay?"

Sam groaned and tried to open her eyes.

Jack raised his voice. "That a yes Carter?"

She slowly rolled over onto her side, facing them. "Uggggh. I feel like something the cat dragged in. God, this is getting old." She blinked slowly. "You?"

Jack was thinking how close to the mark that 'dragging' comment was, and working on a witty reply when Carter shot up straight in bed. "Where's Daniel?" She looked anxiously at Jack, then Warner.

"Major Carter, please lie back down." The doctor quickly moved over to her side. "After I've examined you, I'll explain everything."

Warner's departure gave Jack the opportunity to do the same thing as Carter. He sat up, and . . . whoaaa. His head did not like that one bit. It throbbed viciously to let him know not to move again in the near future. A good few seconds elapsed before he could swing his legs over the side of the bed.

Ignoring the pain as best he could, Jack took a good look around.

He and Sam had been placed at the far end of the infirmary. Two nurses were at the desk by the doorway, one sitting, one standing, and the curtains had been drawn around the bed nearest them. There was no movement behind those curtains that Jack could see, and there was no sign of Janet. It was very quiet. Deathly quiet.

"I think we'd both feel better if you just told us now," Jack said to Warner, as calmly as possible. He couldn't drag his eyes away from those damn curtains.

"Colonel O'Neill," Warner snapped as he turned around, but his voice immediately softened when he saw where Jack was staring. "Doctor Jackson's sedated. Doctor Frasier's chasing up the results on the preliminary blood tests, but I'm sure she'll want to talk to you as soon as she gets back."

Sam was staring wide-eyed at Warner, not moving, not speaking.

"Not enough information, Doctor." Jack was determined to remain under control, unless, of course, he didn't find out what he needed to know in the next two seconds. "Just tell us. Does Daniel have radiation poisoning?"

Warner shook his head in frustration. "It's not that simple, Colonel. There's a myriad of tests we have to run, and . . ."

The door opened at the other end of the room. Janet Frasier hurriedly walked in, a sheaf of papers in hand and a clipboard tucked under her arm. She was looking straight ahead, oblivious to the fact that she was being watched.

Carter and Jack both called out to her in unison, Jack's "Hey doc!" drowning out Sam's "Janet!".

Frasier turned her head in surprise. She raised her hand, palm facing outwards like a traffic cop giving a stop signal. "Keep your voices down. I'll be with you in a minute." She slipped through the opening in the curtains, and Warner walked off to join her.

Meanwhile, Sam had transferred the wide-eyed look to Jack, and it was making him feel even more dreadful, if that was possible.

"You know what, Carter? Scientists no longer top my list of the most irritating breeds of human beings. That honor goes to those wonderful people in the medical profession."

Usually a remark like that would have Sam jumping to the defence of Janet and the whole scientific world in general, but not this time. Jack sat there in an uncomfortable silence that stretched on and on.

"What do you know about radiation exposure, sir?"

Crap. Jack knew that Sam would eventually have to say something, but he wished it had been anything else but that.

"Not much." He tried to divert the conversation to a safer subject matter. "Hey, I wonder where Teal'c is?"

"You know, different types of radiation produce different effects at the same dose. A dose of alpha particles causes about ten times as much damage as the same dose of X-rays, so they're said to have a quality factor of ten. Neutrons have factors ranging from . . ."

"Carter, will you give it a rest!" Jack put both hands to his head and scrubbed his forehead roughly. "This is not helping."

"I'm sorry sir."

When Jack heard the tremor in Carter's voice, he dropped his hands into his lap. Sam was fighting hard to stay in control.

"It's just hard sometimes knowing what I know," she whispered.

Jack slid off the bed and, holding the rear of his 'dress' closed with one hand, walked unsteadily over to Carter's bed. He put his free hand on her shoulder and searched for something to say.

"You know, I know it's hard for you to know what you know."

The beginnings of a smile were tugging at the corners of Sam's mouth. Encouraged, Jack went on. "Just don't ask me to repeat that."

Sam's eyes brightened. "I won't," and she broke out into a genuine smile that lasted all of two seconds.

"So," Jack said, "you want to tell me all about it? That way I might be able to understand what Janet's talking about." He looked up towards Daniel's bed. "That's if she ever comes out of there."

Sam nodded, but Jack gave her a warning. "Keep it simple, okay?" A pounding headache wasn't going to help his powers of concentration.

"Okay," she agreed, and settled herself into a more comfortable position. "There are some types of cells that are more easily injured by radiation than others. The most sensitive ones are those undergoing rapid replacement. Skin, bone marrow, intestines, lymph. . ."

Jack interrupted. "Wait a second. Intestines?" In his mind's eye, he could see Daniel clutching at his stomach again. "What about intestines?"

Sam closed her eyes. "It's referred to as the gastrointestinal effect. Large doses of radiation, say one thousand rems or more, can destroy the cells lining the digestive tract. Bacteria from the intestines invade the bloodstream. You die from septicaemia."

A light bulb was trying to click on in Jack's head. Carter had mentioned something relevant to this back on pyramid planet, he was sure of it. Right after Daniel collapsed that first time. He suddenly remembered.

"I thought you said he'd had a dose of around two hundred rems?"

"It was a stab in the dark." Carter looked at him, not comfortable with the concept of being so obtuse. "Janet will be able to tell us more."

Jack gave a short nod and they lapsed back into silence. He could tell that Carter was dwelling on what she'd just said, or probably something worse that she hadn't said, so this time he was determined to change the subject.

"My butt cheeks are frozen." He glanced around, trying to keep his head movement to a minimum. "I wonder where they put my uniform."

"In the incinerator, like they did last time."

"They did? My underwear too?" He watched Carter roll her eyes. "Damn. I was wearing my lucky pair."

The sound of curtain rings moving on metal made them both turn their heads. Frasier was coming towards them, looking like the grim reaper.

"Colonel O'Neill. Get into bed."

Jack backed up to the edge of his mattress. That was as far as he was willing to go at the moment.

Janet's face remained stormy as she stopped by the end of Carter's bed. She folded her arms across her chest and, in that tone of voice that really grated on Jack's nerves, started up with the doctor spiel.

"You've both been subjected to significant amounts of radiation within the last three days. Apart from having regular blood tests and follow up work in the next few weeks, you need to rest."

Jack gave Janet's stare a good run for its money. "What we need is for you to tell us how Daniel is."

Frasier pursed her lips, and for a moment it looked like she was going to heartily disagree. But then she let out a long breath and said, "He's severely dehydrated and suffering from acute abdominal pain. The initial blood work supports a diagnosis of radiation exposure, but we'll run him through a series of scans shortly that will help identify the problem."

Jack and Carter both started talking at once. This time Frasier put both her hands up to restore the peace. "Until we have those results, there's no way of telling how badly he's been affected. There are more than a few things that don't add up. Radiation sickness usually presents with a decrease in white cell ratio, but Daniel is showing an elevated differential count. His pain seems to be localised as well, although if he's been subjected to a large amount of radiation, that would not be totally unexpected."

Jack had come to the end of his tether. "Look, Janet. All we want to know is whether he'll be okay. Does he have that gastrointestinal effect thing or not?"

Straight away, Janet looked at Sam.

"We've been discussing a few worse case scenarios," Sam admitted.

"I see." Janet paused for an extra long time. "I haven't ruled it out. The pain Daniel's in certainly points that way, but his temperature isn't fluctuating as we've come to expect from this type of exposure. It's very high, but it's staying up there. I don't think the hypothalamus has been seriously affected." Janet stopped and seemed to be considering what she was going to say next.

"I would love to be able to tell you yes, he'll be okay. But I can't. Not until the remainder of the tests are complete." She frowned hard at Jack. "So if you get back into bed, I might have the answers a little sooner. I want to take Daniel up for those scans A.S.A.P."

Jack was staring into space, thinking about things he really didn't want to be thinking about, so he didn't realise he was being spoken to until he felt Janet's eyes burning a hole through the side of his head. He refocused his attention on the doctor and said, "Where's Teal'c? And is there a uniform around here for me somewhere?

There was a spark of something predatory in Janet's eyes as she smiled. "Teal'c has been waiting outside. Since you both had to be completely stripped and scrubbed down, among other things, I thought that might be best."

Jack's eyes wanted to pop out of their sockets, and his mind was boggling over the way she'd said 'other things'. But as he looked at Frasier, he had a feeling his leg was being pulled. He sincerely hoped that's what it was anyway.

Frasier pointed behind him at the bed. "You don't need a uniform in there. And I don't have time to argue."

"Understood, doctor." Jack obediently climbed back into bed and pulled the covers over himself. "Could you please send Teal'c in, I'd like to bring him up to speed on Daniel, if you don't mind."

Hah! Janet was trying hard not to look surprised, and failing miserably. Two could play at the mind games.

"Oh. Yes. Well, certainly." She turned to Carter and struggled to regain some authority in her voice. "What I said to the colonel goes for you to. Rest. Try not to worry. I'll keep you both informed on Daniel. As soon as we know something, you'll know."

She walked away. The curtains were being pulled back from Daniel's bed, and Jack craned his head to get a better view, but still couldn't see much. There seemed to be more machines hooked up to Daniel than Jack had ever seen before, but a few of them were being unplugged as this very moment. A monitor with dangling wires still connected to Daniel's chest was put onto the end of his bed, and there were two bags hanging on the I.V. stand instead of one. The red-headed corporal slipped them off the hooks and held them aloft as the bed was moved by Warner and the other nurse towards the door.

Daniel appeared to be deeply asleep as they pushed the bed out of the infirmary. Jack kept watching the back of the door after it had swung closed. He didn't dare look at Sam for the time being.

A minute or two later, General Hammond and Teal'c came in. Teal'c strode silently up to the end of Jack's bed, and Hammond followed, stopping to stand in the spot Janet had just vacated.

Hammond looked them over. "Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter. Dr Frasier says you're both doing well."

"Yes sir," they replied in stereo.

"I'm sure we'll have good news on Doctor Jackson very soon," Hammond offered.

Jack didn't have anything useful to say to that, but when he realised Carter wasn't about to answer the general either, he responded flatly, "I'm sure you're right, sir." The colonel met the general's gaze square on, and volumes were said in those few seconds of silence.

Hammond was the next to speak, and he was back down to business straight away. "We'll meet upstairs for a debriefing as soon as possible. I want to know the reasons behind your decision to leave Doctor Ballard on P7X-377, Colonel O'Neill."

Jack immediately tried to explain. Hammond didn't let him.

"Not now, Colonel. When you've been given a complete medical clearance, and not before. By then we should be aware of this mission's full ramifications on Doctor Jackson, because that's number two on the agenda."

One thing Hammond was really good at, Jack thought. Shutting people up before they even got started. Now that he'd been put well and truly in place, Jack replied crisply, "Yes sir."

Satisfied, Hammond turned and left.

"I am pleased to see you are both well," Teal'c crooned. His voice was like a balm after the sting of General Hammond's dressing down speech.

"Thanks Teal'c," Sam smiled.

"Teal'c, I have a job for you," Jack said.

Teal'c cocked an eyebrow. "If this is in any way connected to you departing the infirmary without the permission of Doctor Frasier, then I am afraid I cannot be of assistance, O'Neill."

Jack tried to look offended at the accusation. "Just go and get one of my spare uniforms from the locker room, Teal'c, okay? And relax, I'm not going anywhere until we find out what's happening with Daniel. But there is no FREAKIN' way I'm staying in this little number any longer."

He pulled on the top of the hospital gown to better illustrate.

Teal'c nodded solemnly. "Doctor Frasier has grave concerns that Daniel Jackson may have suffered significant internal damage from exposure to the radiation on P7X-377."

Carter and Jack exchanged a look.

"Janet told you that?" Sam asked.

"I was present when she informed General Hammond. If I had returned to the planet earlier, this situation would have been avoided."

Jack swore under his breath. "That's complete and utter bull, Teal'c. You just saved all our asses for the fifty millionth time. You went back to that craphole of a planet and brought us home, when I know Hammond wouldn't have ordered it. Before that you went back for the skull. The skull, Teal'c, not Daniel. We didn't know where he was, or what was happening to him. We still don't know for sure. You volunteered to go back there before any of us could, and before you really should have, so just let it be."

Jack tried to reassure Teal'c some more, very difficult to do when there were no reassurances to give. "Daniel will be fine, Teal'c."

"I hope you are correct, O'Neill."

"I'm always correct, my friend."

Teal'c pondered that for a moment. "I have not saved your ass fifty million times."

Jack stared at the Jaffa, convinced that one of these days Teal'c was going to crack a smile. Today wasn't going to be the day, though. Jack sunk back down into the pillow and put his arm over his eyes again.

"Just go get my uniform, willya? Get Carter one too." Before the Jaffa had a chance to walk away, he added, "And thanks Teal'c. For everything."

"You are most welcome, O'Neill."

Teal'c had only been gone for five minutes tops when Jack heard the infirmary door open again. He uncovered his face and saw Corporal red-head coming his way. With a wheelchair?

"Colonel O'Neill, sorry to disturb you, but Doctor Frasier wants you down at Imaging right away."

Imaging? Oh right, where they did all the MRI's and CT scans . . .

Crap. Daniel.

"Is Daniel all right?" Carter was sitting up in bed again, asking the question that was on the tip of Jack's tongue. She threw the covers back. "I'm coming too."

"That's not necessary, Major. Doctor Jackson wants to speak with Colonel O'Neill, you can see him a little later." She turned to look at Jack. "I was told to hurry."

Jack was already out of bed. "Carter, it's probably nothing. Stay here." He said to the nurse, "Thanks all the same, Corporal, but I'd prefer to walk."

Teal'c chose that moment to come back with the uniforms. Exceptional timing from the Jaffa for the second time that day. Jack grabbed a pair of pants that he hoped were his and began pulling them on, making sure he didn't give anyone an eyeful in the process. As he carefully zipped up his fly, since Teal'c hadn't thought to bring any boxers, he could see the big man staring at him with the Jaffa equivalent of a suspicious look.

"Stay here and keep Carter company. I'll be back shortly."

He didn't worry about a shirt, just stuffed the gown into the back of his waistband so it wouldn't fall open at an inopportune moment.

"O'Neill. You assured me that you would not leave -- "

"Doctor's orders, Teal'c," he called back over his shoulder as he went through the door. Out in the corridor he wanted to break into a run, but settled for a half trot -- his head was killing him each time his bare feet hit the floor. He only had to go down the end of the corridor, turn left . . .

Frasier was waiting for him in the hallway when he rounded the corner.

"There's nothing to worry about, Colonel. Daniel woke up on the way here and he's insisting on talking to you straight away."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jack went to open the door, but Janet stepped in his way.

"Before we go in, I want to warn you that he's not making a lot of sense. We've given him some heavy duty medication for the pain and nausea, on top of that, he's exhausted."

Jack stared at her as if to say, 'so . . .?"

"I want to get him settled as quickly as possible so the diagnostics can be run. Don't let him get wound up, okay?"

"Like I said, what are we waiting for?"

Janet pushed open the door. Daniel was lying on the skinny metal table that slid into the cylinder of one of the scanning machines. He still had the I.V. in, and the lines snaked up behind his head, the bags of fluid obviously lying back there somewhere. The machine that had been hooked up to his chest was gone, but as Jack got closer he could see a few round red blotches on Daniel's skin where the pads had been stuck. However, the thing that Jack noticed first and foremost was what Daniel was wearing. Dark green scrub pants, the kind the medical personnel sometimes got around in.

Tucking a stray corner of his hospital gown back into his pants, Jack crouched down to his friend's eye level, wondering why certain archaeologists were so privileged all of a sudden.

"Hey, anybody home?"

"Jack?" Daniel's eyes sprang open immediately, but his pupils were the size of dinner plates. Whoo boy. This was going to be one hell of an interesting conversation.

"I'm here Daniel, you want to tell me something?"

"We have to go!"

"To . . . ?" Jack raised his eyebrows as Daniel reached out and grabbed his forearm in a vice-like grip. Daniel started to bring his other hand over as well, the one with the I.V. needle stuck in the back of it, but Janet was there in a flash, holding his arm down. Eyes fixed directly on Jack, Daniel didn't even seem to notice Janet's none too gentle touch.

"To Peeee . . . you know what I mean," he slurred, still managing to sound exasperated. "Where we just were."

"Okay, Daniel. Settle down."

"Shhhhhjack. Just listen. If Samsssright, and I got like this when I wasoutta sssync . . ."

Jack often found it hard to follow Daniel at the best of times, let alone when his words were rolling into one another courtesy of a couple of gallons of joy juice. There was something really worrying him, that much was certain.

Daniel screwed his whole face up. Whether it was from pain or frustration, Jack couldn't be sure. "You okay?" he asked warily.

"Outta, outta phase, " Daniel was trying to jump start his brain into remembering what he wanted to say. His eyes came open again, but they were very heavy, and he had to make a huge effort to get the next words out clearly. "Nick might not be safe . . ."

Realization hit Jack like a ton of bricks. He gave Janet a quick but meaningful look. So much for Daniel not making any sense. He was trying to tell them there was a chance that the radiation was present in the alien's dimension as well, and Nick could be getting zapped at this very moment.

"I know what you mean, Daniel. Don't worry, I'm on to it. Nick will be all right."

In response, Daniel squeezed Jack's arm again, but his strength was waning. "Thanks Jack. I'm really tired."

Jack covered Daniel's hand with his own. "Janet will have you fixed soon. Go to sleep."

"Get Nick back." Daniel's eyes were closing. "Tell him --" His voice cracked, the rest of the words just wouldn't come.

Jack waited a while, but Daniel just lay there with his eyes squeezed shut, his breathing short and raspy.

"When you think of something, you can tell him yourself." Jack lifted Daniel's arm back up and tucked it in next to his body, but had to lean his head against the side of the table before he could even begin to think about standing up again.

Janet reached across Daniel's chest and put her hand on Jack's shoulder. "We really have to get these tests done now, Colonel."

Jack didn't even put up a fight when he saw the corporal rolling the wheelchair up beside him, and he let himself be pushed all the way back to bed without uttering a word.

The debriefing was not really a debriefing as such, really more a bed-side gathering, since it was conducted in the infirmary, and neither Jack nor Carter had been given a medical clearance -- both doctors were still busy with Daniel. Hammond had immediately come back down from his office at Jack's request, but he'd made it clear it was to discuss one thing only. To retrieve Ballard, or not to retrieve Ballard. In Jack's opinion, there was no gray area, they had to bring the old archaeologist back, regardless of the associated risk. He could understand why Hammond was dragging his feet, but there was such a thing as being too over-cautious.

"I can't really be certain, General."

That made it ten. Ten times Carter had said that exact same sentence in the past five minutes, and Jack could stand it no longer.

"Forgive me for interrupting General, but I don't want to be the one to tell Daniel that the last surviving member of his family is now dead because we were too busy fiddle-assing around to do anything constructive. Like going and getting him off that planet?"

Hammond's jaw clenched a little tighter, which Jack would not have believed possible if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

"Colonel O'Neill. I am willing to make certain allowances for your behaviour given the circumstances, but I will not suffer arrogance and stupidity - from anyone, at any time. Understood?"

With a smile that said 'bite me', Jack barrelled on regardless. "With respect sir, I'm only trying to stress the obvious fact that there's no time to lose. We can sit here all day and listen to theories about muon radiation and altered states, and still be none the wiser. The only way to know if Professor Ballard's life is in danger is to go back to P7X-377. Now."

Jack waited for the general to do something. But apart from the eye bulging thing he had going at the moment, Hammond was silent. Probably considering a number of responses that Jack knew he wasn't going to like.

Teal'c headed off the potential disaster. "General Hammond, I believe O'Neill is correct on this occasion. I am willing to return to P7X-377 and retrieve Nicholas Ballard."

Jack answered before anyone else could. "Not an option, Teal'c." And somehow he resisted the urge to say, 'and what do you mean, on this occasion?'

Carter quickly pointed out, "The skull won't transport you Teal'c, remember?"

"I am aware of this, Major Carter. Perhaps I could accompany a member of another team to ensure their safety, someone who has not already been irradiated, like yourself and Colonel O'Neill."

"Thank you Teal'c," Hammond answered, apparently over his blood pressure crisis. "That may be the only way I'll authorise this mission. But before I make a decision, I want the MALP sent back through the gate to check the radiation levels. If they are anywhere near an unacceptable level, no one, I repeat, no one will be returning to P7X-377. Do I make myself clear Colonel O'Neill?"

"Crystal, sir," Jack said, not intending to be sarcastic, but not caring if the general thought he was. He rubbed away at the pain in the side of his head, wondering how he'd break the news to Daniel if they had to leave Nick stranded. An easy day on this job every so often, like once every millennium, would make a welcome change.

Carter was talking to Hammond about setting MALP telemetries now, which cheered Jack up a little bit. Served the general right. He moved his hand further around the back of his skull to feel where the stitches were pulling a little too tight, and damned if he didn't find a whole patch of . . . nothing. Crap! Warner had shaved, or cut, or otherwise hacked a hunk of his hair out to put the stitches in. Oh yeah, things just kept getting better and better. Maybe it was time for a proper hair cut after all.

His wandering thoughts came to an abrupt halt when the infirmary door practically flew open. If Janet Frasier had been hurrying last time she came in, this time she was flying. Hammond and Carter immediately stopped their discussion.

"Oh good, you're all here," Janet said breathlessly, slowing to a more civilised pace as she walked up the middle of the infirmary towards them.

Hammond nodded his head in greeting and said, "I take it you have some news for us, Doctor."

Jack added a rider to the general's statement. "Good news."

Janet gave a tight little smile. "Given what we expected to find in the scans, I think you'll agree it's good news."

"You THINK?" Jack spluttered out.

Janet wasn't put off by the outburst. She went on as if she hadn't heard him. "Daniel's being prepped for surgery as we speak. His appendix needs to be removed immediately, it's on the verge of rupturing."

"And just how is this good news?" Jack couldn't get past the prepped for surgery part of the doctor's explanation.

Hammond must have been on the same wavelength as Jack, because he said, "I'm not following, Doctor. Did the radiation poisoning cause this condition?"

Janet shook her head. "It probably exacerbated it, but no, it's not responsible."

"So, Daniel has appendicitis?" Sam smiled hesitantly. "That's all?"

"I wouldn't say that's all, Sam. He's suffering a slightly higher level of radiation exposure than yourself and Colonel O'Neill, as well as the after effects of his . . ." she paused while she found the right word, "experience over the past few days. Dehydration, muscle weakness, some chemical imbalances."

Jack was starting to feel better than he had in days. "But he's going to be all right?"

"Barring any complications with surgery, yes, he is. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an operation to conduct." Janet looked to the general.

"Of course, Doctor." Hammond smiled. "Thank you."

As soon as Frasier was out of the room, the discussion took up where it had left off. But the mood had lifted, relief clearly showing on everyone's face.

Carter spoke up first. "I don't want to be the wet blanket here, but this doesn't mean that Professor Ballard is necessarily safe in the alien's dimension. There's no discernible pattern to the radiation spikes, Daniel's out of phase time may have simply coincided with a period of lower levels. I'd have to compare the time-line of Daniel's disappearance to the MALP recordings to be sure."

"I'll have the relevant information sent down to you, Major." The general then turned to look at Jack. "In the meantime, the MALP will be returned to P7X-377. The viability of a rescue mission will be reliant on it and Major Carter's findings. Are there any questions?"

There weren't.

Daniel groaned and tried to roll over. He stopped before he got very far, and groaned even louder.

"Daniel." Jack squeezed his shoulder, hoping he was finally going to wake up properly.

Jackson moaned something that started with a sort of 'ja' sound, and opened his eyes a fraction. He swallowed once and winced, then whispered, "Jack."

"Hey, Radioactive Boy." Jack grinned. "How you doin'?"

Daniel stared at him for a long moment, and it was obvious he was not back to the land of the fully conscious yet.

"You with me Daniel?"

"Yeah," Daniel said slowly, his voice gravelly. "Is Nick here?"

Jack winced and lowered his head for a second. "Daniel . . ."

"He's dead, isn't he?"

Jack looked up again. "No, he's not dead." But he was thinking, well, not that we know of anyway. "We couldn't risk anyone going back until we were sure it was safe, so we sent the MALP through just after I spoke to you." Jack stopped there, unsure of the best way to say what had to be said.

By now, Daniel was starting to wake up a bit more, and, as Jack knew all too well from his own post-operative experiences, was starting to really hurt. He tried to shift a little in the bed, and just like the last time, he stopped pretty suddenly, grimaced, and said something very un-Daniel like. It wasn't entirely under his breath either.

Jack looked around for a nurse, but Daniel stopped him going anywhere by saying one word.

"And?" Daniel's expression was expectant, with a lot of pain mixed in.

"And . . . the skull's gone." There. He'd said it. Maybe he could just leave now.

Daniel's eyes slammed shut, but he opened them again virtually straight away. "The skull's gone? Are you sure?"

Jack's throat was feeling sore just from listening to the grate in Daniel's voice. "It's gone Daniel. Look, I was supposed to get a nurse when you woke up. I'll be back in a minute."

Jack went to walk away, but didn't get very far. When he faintly heard, "God, where is he?" he turned around again. The look on Daniel's face made him retrace the few steps he'd taken away from the bed.

"I'll show you the pictures we printed off from the transmission tomorrow. The skull's gone. Nick's gone. There's no way to get him back, Daniel. Hammond's authorised a follow up in a week. Now, let me go and find Janet or somebody, okay? You look like crap."

Daniel closed his eyes and was silent. Jack stood there for another few seconds, wishing he'd made a few different decisions, wishing there'd been a better outcome. Daniel was sure as hell overdue for one. Jack was about to move away again, but Daniel mumbled, "Maybe that alien wasn't an alien."

Jack wondered if Daniel was talking in his sleep.

"A hologram. Inhabitants somewhere else. You know, radiation."

Okay, so Daniel wasn't in the land of nod. Close enough to be talking in riddles, but not quite out for the count.

"I'm going now, Daniel," Jack said quietly. He'd find a nurse on his way out. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Mmhmmm," Daniel sighed. Then he whispered, "Nick's all right. I know. Thanks Jack."

Jack wondered if he'd feel the same way when he was lucid. He patted Daniel lightly on the shoulder. "Okay Daniel. I'll call in and see you tomorrow. SG1's got some time off, thanks to you. Those bass are calling to me."

Jack didn't say anything more, because Daniel looked like he was asleep. The guy was really in need of some R&R. He'd have to talk to Frasier tomorrow, see if he could get the okay to take Daniel away with him. This fishing trip was going to be the best one yet, Jack just knew Daniel would love it. Teal'c was going to visit his family, but there might be a chance they could drag Carter away from her lab, at least for a couple of days.

Yep. SG1 had been on hyper-drive for far too long. The time had come for nothing but peace and quiet. Jack smiled to himself as he went to find the nurse. Things were starting to look up.

THE END