1. Default Chapter

Shower of Sparks  
  
Summary: Reflective piece as Sam sits around the campfire with her three best friends.  
  
The fire crackled as a log broke in two sending a shower of sparks flying into the air and drawing Sam's eyes up the patterns of brilliant stars in the sky. Totally different patterns than from her childhood. She grinned to herself with satisfaction. Sometimes she still was surprised by her own job. Seven years. Seven years she had been doing this, going to other planets, meeting new people and all too often fighting with them or the goa'uld who had brought humans from Earth to populate these planets and be their slaves. Or worse still, to be their hosts. But today had been a good day. They had found no one.  
  
The stargate had emitted them into high mountain valley with only the remains of a mining operation long since abandoned. They could have gone home, back through the stargate, back to Earth, and back to the SGC, a concrete bunker deep under a mountain. She was glad the Colonel had decided to spend the night on PXC 513. It was like being on leave and finally getting out except they were together. All too often now they split up when they got leave, but it felt like the old days when they were first starting out as a unit together. She glanced around the campsite at the three men sitting comfortably around the fire and felt a deep contentment that made her sigh. This was her real family.  
  
"Sam?" said Daniel to her left, looking at her questioningly with his expressive deep blue eyes. He meant, are you okay, but they had long since needed to actually talk to communicate. The tall, lanky archeologist had come a long way over the years and she valued his knowledge and trusted his moral judgment over just about anyone. He was like a brother to her.  
  
She gave him one of her rare but trademark radiant smiles and he responded with an infectious grin of his own. "Pass the tea," Sam responded, although she really didn't need any more. Mundane tasks were their way of showing all was well. They were all too often responding to life and death crisis's not only for themselves but sometimes for a whole planet.  
  
"I too shall have some more," rumbled a deep voice across the fire.  
  
Sam turned her attention to Teal'c. The large black man with the golden symbol of Aphophis branded on his forehead, and an immature goa'uld in his abdomen should have been their enemy. He was a fierce and cunning warrior and one of the most honorable men she knew, and she trusted him with her life. Like an overprotective uncle, Teal'c would always watch out for her safety, but her satisfaction came in knowing that he trusted her to do the same for him. The first time he had turned midnight watch over to her and had actually gone to sleep had been a more satisfying accomplishment than even finishing her doctoral dissertation.  
  
Daniel rolled up onto his knees and reached for the pan sitting on the small sterno stove. After boiling their MRE ration packs to heat them for dinner, they had made tea in the left over hot water. He carefully decanted some into his own cup first and then into the cup Teal'c held out to him. "Pass your cup, Sam," he instructed.  
  
As she held out her cup to Daniel, he squeezed the side of her hand and patted his hand gently along hers until he scooped the cup out of her own. His solid warmth reassured her and the relief she had felt when they had found him alive again washed over her anew. The grief that had swelled as she stood by his deathbed after he had been exposed to a lethal dose of radiation had never completely faded even when she realized that his spirit was ascending to another plane of existence. She shook her head to herself at the irony of the result. The Ancients had punished Daniel for interfering with human affairs when he tried to save the people of Abydos from the evil goa'uld, but their punishment was her idea of a reward. They sent him back to them, completely healed and whole again, and she was grateful.  
  
"Hey kids, save some for me," joked the third man around the campfire, and Sam looked to her right to study him. Who was this man, Colonel Jack O'Neill? She watched as he passed his cup to Teal'c. To Teal'c he was O'Neill. The man he had forsworn all previous allegiances to in order to follow. She was there when it happened and still didn't really understand what it was in his look that Teal'c had responded to. One minute Teal'c was their enemy, First Prime of Aphosis ordered to kill them and all the innocent people that had been rounded up for host selection. O'Neill had stood up to the advancing Jaffa and said, "I can save these people. Help me," and he had looked right at Teal'c as he did so. The next minute Teal'c was firing on his own men and throwing a staff weapon to O'Neill who began firing it instantly and unerringly even though it was the first time he had held one in his hands. Warrior to warrior they had bonded and Teal'c had chosen to follow O'Neill to try to win freedom for his own people.  
  
Daniel filled the cup and leaned over the side of the fire to hand the cup over. To Daniel he was Jack. Jack delighted in teasing Daniel like the big brother he'd never had since Daniel had grown up as the orphan child of two archeologists. But when it counted, Jack loyally stood by Daniel backing him up in his seemingly wild theories that almost always turned out right. For his part, Daniel was the only one who teased Jack or even dared to question his orders. They shared the give and take that only best friends could, both praising and criticizing each other and so making each other better human beings.  
  
To her he was the Colonel. More often than not she simply called him Sir. He was like a brother in the way he teased her and minimized her scientific explanations. He was like an uncle who protected her fiercely above everyone else. He was like a teacher who had shown her the proper way to think independently. He was like a commander who could order her into the line of fire to accomplish their goal, and then be like a doctor whenever he field bandaged her after the firefight. He was like the class clown when he made flippant remarks in the middle of a tense situation, just to ease her nerves. He was like a child when he petulantly complained about working with the Tok'ra while she patiently explained for the umteenth time why they needed that alliance. He was like a lover, that week they spent as miners when they had been given false memories on the ice planet was still precious in her memory although they had done nothing more than hold each other against the cold during the night. But to the Air Force, he was her commanding officer and she was his second in command. They were trapped in that defining relationship and so he could only be the Colonel.  
  
"Major?" he asked in the same tone of voice Daniel had used only a few minutes before. Sam started and realized she had been staring at the Colonel while he had drunk his tea. His eyes glittered in the firelight with understanding and silent communication. He knew what she had been thinking just as surely as if she had spoken her thoughts aloud. But he also knew that their job didn't allow them the luxury of a personal life anymore, and he gave her a little smile and sighed with acceptance. "Show me your bauble again," he ordered.  
  
Sam took the breath she didn't realize she had been holding and snapped back into her military mode again, "Yes, Sir." She pulled her pack over and rummaged through a front pocket to pull out an oblong crystal about 20 centimeters long. It sparkled and glistened in the firelight except along a dark crack on one end. She scooted over towards the Colonel and held the crystal out flat in her hand. He carefully picked it up by one end, so that they never actually touched hands with each other. Her hand ached with emptiness longing for the touch of reassurance that he couldn't allow himself to give her. She quickly withdrew her hand and picked up her tea again to cover her embarrassment.  
  
"So this is like those Tok'ra crystals you can build tunnels with?" the Colonel asked.  
  
"Actually, it's more like the memory crystals used in the computer core," Sam responded. "The Tok'ra actually manufacture the tunnel crystals so that they can specify different shapes, and certain of the energy conduit crystals in their drive mechanisms can also be manufactured, but the memory core is different. Dad had to give me a crash course in crystal technology while we were repairing the drive to Aphophis's ship that one time." She began warming to her subject and falling into her role as scientist allowed her to relieve the tension she had felt building. She looked over at the Colonel but he didn't interrupt so she continued on, "He said they reused crystals over and over and that they rarely needed to replace them. In fact, the crystals somehow act synergistically so that the more you have, the better the information is stored and retrieved. They resonate with each other to echo and amplify stored..."she trailed off as she saw his eyes glaze over.  
  
"The goa'uld also use these crystals," Teal'c remarked. "There is much trading done when one must be replaced but I have not heard of a mine such as this."  
  
"Judging by the decay of these remaining buildings, maybe the crystals were mined from here long ago until the crystal vein played out," Daniel hypothesized.  
  
"When we get it home we can have the composition and structure analyzed. Perhaps we can manufacture some ourselves," proposed Sam.  
  
"Then maybe we will have something of value to bribe the Tok'ra with," the Colonel remarked dryly.  
  
"I don't know, Jack. Their technology is more advanced than ours. It's unlikely that these crystals can be manufactured that simply or they would have made them themselves long ago," cautioned Daniel.  
  
"Well, maybe we should look for some more unbroken ones in the morning" decided the Colonel holding up the cracked one in his left hand.  
  
"I wouldn't trust any of these old mineshafts as far as safety goes, Sir," advised Sam in her role as 2IC.  
  
"I observed a faint trail heading down out of this valley," offered Teal'c.  
  
"Really? Teal'c, why didn't you say anything earlier? Jack, maybe there's another site nearby with some old writings that we can get a look at and figure out who and when someone used this mine," exclaimed Daniel.  
  
"Look, all these maybe's are getting us nowhere in the dark. We'll check in with the SGC in the morning and get a mining crew lined up to shore up this place, then we'll go on a brief exploratory hike. Brief , Daniel," decided the Colonel. "Let's all get some shut eye. Teal'c take first watch," he ordered. Teal'c immediately stood, picking up his staff weapon and walked out into the darkness that surrounded their fire to check their perimeter. Daniel turned to his pack and busied himself with his bedroll.  
  
It was Sam's turn to clean up the little cooking stove they had and she reached for the other cups of tea to toss the remaining contents on the fire. The Colonel stood up with the crystal in one hand and his tea cup in the other and held them out to her at the same time. He flinched with surprise as she accidentally flung tea on his hand and the crystal. In slow motion, the crystal flipped in the air as little droplets of tea cascaded around it twinkling in the fire light. They both grabbed for the crystal to save it from smashing on the ground, and caught it simultaneously. Their hands overlapped each other with the glistening crystal between them and a jolt of electricity shot through both of them. The fire crackled sending a shower of sparks skyward again and their eyes locked together. For a brief instant, they were on a beach, the roar of surf beside them, entwined in a passionate embrace. Then Sam let go of the crystal in a panic, but the Colonel clutched all the more desperately.  
  
Who was this man?  
  
He was the father.  
  
The father of the children that she could never have, and Sam's eyes filled with the tears for her family that could never be. 


	2. Light of Dawn

Shower of Sparks: Chapter 2:  
  
Summary: Jack's anger turns to panic as he discovers Carter is missing.  
  
Dear Readers, Thanks for the kind reviews. Your encouragement has inspired me, and thus the saga now continues...  
  
He knew dawn was coming. It was an amazing thing that no matter what planet they found themselves on, no matter what the rotation period of the planet, there was always a pattern to the coming of day. All the little noises of the night that you would get accustomed to without even realizing it would fade into an expectant hush. As the nocturnal creatures tucked themselves into their burrows and nests, a new set of noises would begin. Crackling, chirping, twittering, squeaking from an entirely alien yet somehow familiar set of insect-like and bird-like creatures would build to a crescendo with the rising of that planet's sun.  
  
Jack lay on his bedroll, not entirely comfortable but accustomed to sleeping outdoors on the hard ground. It had been a long night and he wasn't ready to face the new day just yet. He could hear the soft, deep breaths of Teal'c on one side and knew he was still asleep, and he could sense the empty space between himself and Daniel. He could hear the archeologist softly snoring like he always did, as his sinuses always acted up on away missions. He knew Carter was up and on watch, and he lay motionless listening for her. Usually he could hear quiet footsteps as she patrolled their campsite, or the quiet rustling of the fabric of her jacket as she turned to scan the surrounding area, or perhaps he'd be lucky enough to hear her humming softly to herself and he would know that she was content. But the predawn quiet was complete.  
  
Where was she? He decided she had patrolled out farther than he could hear and rolled over on his side as he recalled the events of the night before.  
  
What was it that had happened? They had been so comfortable around the campfire, just sipping tea. But when she had accidentally thrown tea on his hand and he had flicked that crystal out of his hand, something had happened when they had grabbed it together. Damn phallic symbol, his mind had filled with such passion for her that he would never allow himself to entertain normally. But worse than the electrical shock that passed between them was the tragic look she had given him afterwards. At first he thought he had offended her, but after a long restless night he remembered where he'd seen that look before, and he NEVER wanted to see it again on Sam's face. It was the same tragic look that Sara had given him at the hospital when they had lost Charlie. For a moment he was filled with grief for the family he had lost, but he squashed his feelings into the small place in his heart that he allowed for them.  
  
Where was Sam? He should have heard her returning footsteps by now. The dawn chorus was starting to tune up, but it wasn't loud enough yet to mask her rhythmical footsteps. Maybe she had gone to get more water from the small spring they had seen yesterday on the other side of the mining ruins. Normally, Daniel was the one on the last watch and he would have been busily preparing coffee to satisfy his morning caffeine craving. It would be like Carter to thoughtfully start preparing for the morning ritual.  
  
Jack rolled back on his back and flexed his knees experimentally. They felt pretty good today. It would actually be fun to go for a hike and look for some more ruins. He felt the emptiness beside him again and missed her by his side. They had gotten into a habit of putting all their bedrolls together for warmth and safety. Carter was always in the middle. It was a tacit understanding the three men had, to always protect her. But last night after his shift he had woken up Daniel and not her. He could tell she had finally fallen asleep and he wanted her to be well rested. They had all lain down when Teal'c took first watch but only Daniel had fallen asleep. Normally, Jack could make himself fall asleep under just about any circumstances. He'd developed the ability to survive on short naps during his black ops training, and would give himself the rest he needed to keep up his strength, but last night he had just lain there. She had curled up on her side with her back to him, uncharacteristically closer to Daniel, and that had made him irrationally jealous. He could tell she was awake and upset by the way she swallowed and sighed, and he had longed to gather her in his arms and comfort her, but instead he had just lain there. Finally, Teal'c had tapped his shoulder and he had been relieved to get up and take over watch duty. But now he missed waking up to her by his side. It was the only way to start the morning; her tousled blond head next to his shoulder, her clear blue eyes opening as he called her name, that lovely smile that she gave only to him...  
  
Where was she? Had she gone off into the wooded area to relieve herself in privacy before they all woke up? She wasn't normally this long in her morning ablutions.  
  
He finally sat up and looked around the camp in the gray dawn light. The chirping and twittering had grown louder and was now accompanied by rustling and fluttering as the diurnal creatures began to get on the move. But he saw no movement of anything large, nor specifically the camouflage jacket that he was longing to see coming this way.  
  
At his movement, Teal'c awakened instantly and executed a perfect sit-up to straight backed, alert posture. He looked at O'Neill questioningly, but Jack simply gave a little shrug of his shoulders. In his grave way, Teal'c nodded an acknowledgment and turned to his pack to retrieve fresh socks and put on his boots.  
  
Jack leaned over and tapped Daniel on the shoulder, interrupting him mid- snore, "Hey, Danny-boy, rise and shine."  
  
To his credit, Daniel awoke instantly as well. He rolled up on one arm and rolled his head around to crack his neck as he surveyed the camp. "Where's Sam?" he asked with a slight yawn.  
  
Jack shrugged again, "Must be taking care of business," he said nonchalantly, but his worry was beginning to rise. He hadn't heard any sound of her since he had awoken several minutes ago.  
  
The three men efficiently prepared for the day and put on their gear. Like clockwork, Daniel got the coffee pot going on the sterno stove, and pulled out breakfast bars to pass out to everyone. Teal'c stood stirring the fire and covering it with dirt to make sure it would go out. Jack rolled up both his and Sam's bedrolls and crouched by their backpacks to strap them on. He finished his first and remembered in time before flipping her pack over that he had set the crystal hurriedly on top last night in a desire to be rid of the thing. He didn't want to break her pretty bauble, not only because she wouldn't like it, but also because it might actually be something they could use in their war against the goa'uld. But the crystal wasn't on top where he remembered setting it. He checked the front pocket he'd seen her pull it out of the night before, but it was empty too. He scanned the ground around the pack, thinking it had slid down and hoping it hadn't broken, but again no sign of it. He stood and slowly pivoted in place scanning the camp for the crystal and with increasing irritation for Sam as well.  
  
Where could she possibly have gone?  
  
Teal'c picked up on his posture right away and leaned over to pick up his staff weapon that was on the ground nearby. "Do you hear something, O'Neill?" he asked as he alertly scanned the forest nearby.  
  
"It's what I don't hear," replied Jack irritably. The semitropical forest was really starting to swing now with the music of the dawn creatures announcing themselves to each other. The rosy fingers of dawn, well, make that the orangey fingers of dawn were striping the sky and highlighting clouds on one side of the valley. It would not do to forget that they were on an alien planet. He was officially worried now. What if Sam had fallen on patrol? What if she had been hurt? Maybe there were bigger creatures out there than they had anticipated? What if they were predators? What if there were hostile people here on this seemingly deserted planet? He bit his lower lip to get himself under control. He needed facts, not what ifs and he refused to let his imagination get away from him.  
  
The Colonel snapped into full military mode. The simplest explanation is always the best they had taught him at the academy, although working at the SGC had taught him that the most outlandish explanation often turned out right. Well, the simplest and most outlandish thing he could think of was that she was mad at him for last night and had left just to worry him and teach him a lesson. Carter wasn't normally so petty. In fact, he thought they had a pretty clear understanding with each other after that Zatarc incident that while they may care for each other more than they were supposed to in the military, their jobs at the SGC were too important to jeopardize, and they would only be friends. But something had definitely passed between them last night, even though he really didn't want to acknowledge his own feelings.  
  
"Ja-a-ck?" asked Daniel in his long, drawn out voice meaning, I'm getting worried, what's going on.  
  
"What happened when you woke her up for the last watch Daniel?" he demanded in reply.  
  
Daniel stood up, glancing all around the camp with a worried expression on his face. "She looked pretty tired, but she got up right away. She said goodnight to me, grabbed her P-90 and stood over by the fire. I fell asleep pretty quickly. It was a really quiet night. I didn't hear anything unusual," reported Daniel.  
  
"Any signs besides ours?" the Colonel asked as he turned to Teal'c, who was by far the best tracker of all of them.  
  
Teal'c walked slowly in a spiraling circle studying the ground, but the Colonel knew he wouldn't find anything. It was impossible that something or someone had come into their camp without her giving an alarm. After a few minutes, Teal'c looked up at him and shook his head.  
  
The Colonel shrugged on his fatigue vest and toggled the radio that they all had positioned on the shoulder. "Carter, report." He waited a moment. "Carter, come in." But there was no response. What was she playing at? Leaving your post was a serious offence. She knew better than to leave the camp and them unprotected when she was supposed to be on watch. She should have woken him up. Fine, if she was mad at him, she could have woken up Teal'c. What could possibly be so interesting that she would go off on her own like that?  
  
Suddenly the answer was clear to him. Crystal clear. "Do you see that crystal thingy anywhere?" he asked the other two. They all moved around looking around and under all of their gear. Carter's pack was still here, but she seemed to be wearing her vest and had taken her gun. Well, at least she hadn't taken leave of all her senses. "I think she's gone to get more crystals," he declared angrily.  
  
"If she was in a cave that could explain why she wasn't getting our radio signal," offered Daniel scientifically.  
  
"But did she not caution you herself about the danger of going into such old mines?" asked Teal'c looking at O'Neill with concern.  
  
"Damn right, and we had a plan for obtaining more in a few days. What's she in such a hurry for," exclaimed the Colonel.  
  
"Jack, you don't know for sure that's where she is," cautioned Daniel.  
  
"Well, she's supposed to be on watch right here, and if she had stepped in the woods for a bit of privacy, she still would have her radio on," he snapped back. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration, and then gestured to their packs. "Let's move out and find her," he ordered tersely.  
  
They had camped a little ways up the valley so they had a view of the land below them. While the sky was filled with early morning light, the sides of the valley blocked the direct rays of the sun and it was still in gray shadows. As they walked into the clearing they looked for movement up ahead. They paused at the stargate on their right and Teal'c studied the ground looking for signs of anyone having come through its portal beside themselves. It seemed virtually impossible that the gate could have been activated without them hearing it, but the Colonel was not about to assume anything in making a thorough search. Again Teal'c silently shook his head indicating no other footprints were there and they moved on toward the ruins of the mining buildings.  
  
"Sam!" Daniel began calling loudly as they approached the buildings. "Sam!" he called repeatedly.  
  
"Major Carter!" Teal's voice echoed among the empty ruins.  
  
The Colonel walked up to the first obvious mine shaft and called into it, "Carter!" He tried his radio next, stepping just inside the dark, dank smelling opening. "Come in, Carter," he toggled the switch hoping any radio interference might be minimized now.  
  
They searched the area for some time, the valley filling with light backwards from west to east as the rays of the sun made their way over the valley walls and illuminated the greenery that was slowly encroaching and covering over the ruins. The dawn chorus had reached its full crescendo and so did Jack's patience.  
  
"Major Samantha Carter, where the hell are you!?!" he roared into the valley and all the native creatures were shocked into silence.  
  
As usual, it was Daniel who had the insight in what to do next, "Teal'c where's that old trail you saw yesterday?"  
  
Teal'c quickly led them away from the mining ruins and to the left angling down the valley. Wildflowers and weeds filled the path with larger trees still some ways off on either side. It had to have been a wide road at one time. Without a careful eye it would have been hard to distinguish from a boggy field, but the trees marched away in too straight of lines to have grown naturally.  
  
"Did you go far on it yesterday, Teal'c?" queried the Colonel.  
  
"I did not," intoned Tealc' gravely, "I merely noticed its presence."  
  
The Colonel pointed to some broken weeds that seemed to make a trail into the tall grass, "Carter?" he asked hopefully.  
  
"Indeed," agreed Teal'c.  
  
"What was she doing way out here in the dark? How did she find it even with her flashlight?" wondered Daniel, but obviously no one answered.  
  
They continued to find signs of trampled grass until they reached a little rise in the valley where the walls made a turn from due south back towards the east. They scrambled up and over the rocky area and looked down on a breathtaking view. "Wow," breathed Daniel. The high narrow valley they were in broke and spread out in a series of tumbling cliffs into a wider valley below that undulated gracefully in verdant greens to a sparkling blue ocean below. The rising sun sat surrounded with layers of brilliantly colored clouds, seeming to look down majestically over its eden like realm. It would have been perfect if there had been four, not three of them gazing down on the splendor of PCX 513.  
  
"O'Neill!" Teal'c exclaimed pointing to a darker green bundle down the slope.  
  
The jolt of adrenaline sent his heart pounding and Jack began scrambling down the hill heedless of his own danger. He slid on some scree, coming dangerously close to a cliff, but checked his speed using his hand to brake. His hand dripped blood from the deep scratches he acquired but he was oblivious to the pain and continued climbing down to where the tumbled boulders met a surprisingly smooth path winding down into the valley. He crouched down and touched Carter's vest gingerly. She had been here. Here was the evidence. But why? And where was she now? Had she fallen? But then why would her vest be here?  
  
Jack heard Teal'c and Daniel coming down behind him as he looked fearfully over the edge, afraid he would see her broken body below. But rocks and tenacious grasses were all that he saw. His relief was only short lived when he heard the tone in Teal's voice.  
  
"There are other footprints here, O'Neill. And some kind of wheel rut."  
  
He turned slowly and made his mind focus on the markings Teal'c was pointing to. Two tracks were pressed into the thin soil that could only have come from a wheeled vehicle and it must have been recent or the wind would have blown the dirt around. Faintly he saw the impression of the Major's boot, the army issue tread pattern a dead give away and right beside it a nondescript flat impression of some kind of sandal. Maybe it was just some friendly natives, but she would have brought them back to him. He knew without a doubt that they had somehow lured and kidnapped her away from him.  
  
"Daniel, go back to the gate and tell General Hammond what's happened. Get another SG team as back-up. Send the UAV out and get some reconnaissance. Radio me as soon as you're back," the Colonel ordered. "Teal'c and I are going to follow this track and try to rescue Carter."  
  
Ice filled his veins at the thought of his Sam being hurt, or possibly even captured by goa'uld. He was not going to let that happen, ever. 


	3. Bright Morning

Shower of Sparks: Chapter 3:  
  
Summary: Teal'c's POV on the situation  
  
"Let's move out," commanded O'Neill.  
  
"Jack, don't just run after them, guns all a blazing," cautioned Daniel.  
  
"They've got Carter," O'Neill replied tightly.  
  
"Yes, but you don't know why. From the trail we just followed, she appears to have hiked here on her own," continued Daniel bravely facing the glare of O'Neill. "The point is, Jack, that she may have been hurt and maybe they're helping her."  
  
Teal'c watched the exchange impassively as usual. He found the interaction of the two men endlessly fascinating. They were so opposite in temperament, and yet both so alike in their zeal to defend others. O'Neill's brand of military zeal had immediately found an echo in his own soldier-like upbringing, while it had taken some time for him to appreciate Daniel Jackson's particular idealism. The ideas that all men are equals and that one should be considered innocent until proven guilty were so fundamental to the Tauri and yet so alien to all other societies he had seen over the years. It had taken him a while to realize that these ideas were what he was fighting for against the goa'uld and these ideas were what he wanted to give to his own people some day. That day when they could live in freedom from the tyranny of the goa'uld was the vision that kept him going. At the moment, the best way to accomplish that goal was to help these men in the fight against their common enemy.  
  
"For crying out loud, Daniel, for once will you just do what I order you to do without arguing. Just go back to the stargate and get us some help," O'Neill said in exasperation. As he flung his left hand out towards the cliff they had just climbed down, several droplets of blood flew out arcing down onto Daniel's jacket.  
  
"O'Neill, you are injured," a surprised Teal'c announced the obvious. He shrugged off his pack and produced a small first aid kit from one of the front pockets.  
  
"It's nothing," protested O'Neill.  
  
Teal'c took O'Neill's forearm in his own strong hand and rotated O'Neill's palm up so he could see the injury. Teal'c shook his head, "It is not. You have several cuts including that one deep one, and they need to be attended to."  
  
"We NEED to get going," argued O'Neill impatiently.  
  
"You don't need to risk getting an infection, and you'll need your hand as healed as possible if we should go into battle," argued Teal'c patiently. He could tell O'Neill was determined to be stubborn, so he pulled out his best argument. "Besides, we need to observe Daniel Jackson return up the cliff safely before we can continue." Teal'c knew that O'Neill would never put himself first, but if the safety of any of his team was in jeopardy he would always see to it.  
  
O'Neill's eyes softened as he gave in to Teal'c and allowed the big man to push him away from the cliff edge and down on to a boulder to sit with a view of the way back up to the high valley they had come from. "Go on then," he scolded Daniel.  
  
Teal'c looked over at Daniel who was still standing there with a look of concern on his face. "I will take care of him," he reassured the archeologist. The two exchanged a look and Teal'c knew that Daniel had understood. He would both take care of the injury and make sure that O'Neill did not do anything rash.  
  
"Right," acknowledged Daniel and swung his own backpack off. "But first, let me give you the rest of my supplies. He handed Teal's two bottles of water and a Ziploc pouch with field rations. "I'll be back as soon as I can," promised Daniel Jackson as he swung the pack back on, turned and began climbing back up the slope.  
  
Juggling the supplies for a moment, Teal'c set all but one bottle of water and the first aid kit he still held down by his pack, then Teal'c turned his back to the cliff and knelt on one knee beside O'Neill. First, he poured some water onto the hand to wash away the blood, then he rested the injured hand on his other knee like a table and examined the injuries more closely. "There are a couple of pieces of gravel under the skin that I must remove before I bandage your hand, O'Neill," he warned. O'Neill just grunted. All throughout the procedure, O'Neill stared stoically up the cliff, flinching only once when Teal'c dug out a sharp bit of rock. Teal'c admired his stoicism. It was easy to be stoic when a symbiote protected and healed you, but it was another thing to endure injury unaided. Finished with taping the gauze on, he returned those supplies and retrieved two pill bottles from the first aid kit. He poured out two analgesics from one bottle and a huge capsule containing a mixture of antibiotics from the other, and held them out to O'Neill.  
  
"Not one of the Doc's horse pills," complained O'Neill, but he gratefully placed them in his mouth.  
  
"Drink some water," Teal'c handed him the bottle.  
  
"Yes, mother," O'Neill replied sarcastically. Teal'c gave a small smile, knowing that the man was all right when he was able to make jokes.  
  
"Good luck guys!" came a cry from the top of the cliff and they both looked up to see that Daniel Jackson had made it safely to the top. He waved once and then disappeared out of view as he turned the corner back into the high valley.  
  
"Now let's go rescue Sam," ordered O'Neill with an agonized look, more in pain with worry than with his own injury.  
  
Teal'c raised an eyebrow at his word choice. O'Neill almost always called her Carter, never Sam. He suddenly realized how much the woman really meant to the man. "Indeed," he replied in agreement, and quickly turned to reorganize his backpack. Then the two men set off jogging down the trail into the bright morning.  
  
Dear Readers, Thanks so much for your kind reviews. I'm sorry this is rather short, but I am leaving on vacation tomorrow. Hopefully, the rest of the story will only be enhanced by my ruminations on the beach in Hawaii! Look for another chapter at the end of the month. Thanks all! 


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