Chapter Text
Jack used immaturity to hide his helplessness. It was his coping mechanism. So when he ended up face down in a puddle with a bullet in his back and arm while Carter- the one he'd come to save for cryin' out loud- stood guard over him, he couldn't shut up.
"How hard could it be for them to slap some sleeves on these things?" he grumbled. He tried to shift his position by rolling over, but his wounded arm disabused him of that notion with a harsh, resounding spike of pain. He froze, a yelp clenched tightly behind gritted teeth, which he slowly released in a hiss. "Shit."
"Try not to move, sir," Carter's voice came from the darkness. He could turn his head at least, but the shadows of the dark tunnels revealed only the vaguest of shapes to indicate where exactly she was. "I'll talk to requisitions about shoulder and arm pads when we get back to the mountain."
"I'd appreciate that, Major." Anything else he had to say evaporated abruptly when Sam jerked,, bringing the pistol in her hand to bear down the hall behind them. Jack froze, listening intently for whatever had alerted her. When he heard nothing but the occasional drip from a leaky pipe a couple yards in front of them, he relaxed slightly. Carter did not. "Carter?"
"I heard something, sir." The gun clicked quietly in her hand as she shifted her grip in sharp, jerky movements. Jack frowned; Carter was one of the steadiest shots he'd ever seen.
"Don't forget we've got a couple of friendlies en route, Carter."
"And a Goa'uld on the loose, sir."
"He wasn't armed." Jack had seen Conrad clearly. The newly minted host had been weaponless in front of him, no other threat on his person than the snake in his head. The shots that left him in a shallow puddle had come from behind. Bastards. Carter lowered the gun, but remained stiff, on edge.
"Maybe not, Colonel, but his security is. They pointed weapons at me, sir, and he needed me alive. The same may not be said of you."
"My feelings are a little hurt," Jack griped.
"Oh." The sad sound of realization pierced the growing haze of pain clouding Jack's mind. He quickly continued to clear the air.
"That was a joke, Carter."
"Huh? Oh. No." She took a shaky breath in the darkness. "I just realized I guess they didn't need me alive after all."
Jack's jaw locked. Storming into that hospital room-old, empty, and downright creepy- to see Carter fighting for her life and losing had set off too many alarms. He'd almost shot them dead right there, and still almost wished he had. Only their proximity to Carter had kept him from firing. He'd seen the syringe in one's hand. He hadn't taken the time to learn what was in it. Now he knew. Poison, or an overdose.
"They… they were going to euthanize me." Sam's realization came soft through the shadows, twisting Jack's insides like someone had put a knife through him. It hit him then, how lucky they'd been. One minute, one second later, he would have been too late. In the eyes of the law, it would have been murder, but Carter was right. There had been no malice in the act. That made it all the more chilling. Those doctors he'd almost shot barely saw Sam as a person; she was a puzzle, a means to an end. When they'd tied the tourniquet around her arm, they had seen it as the next phase of an experiment, not the ending of a life.
Sam settled heavily on the cement, abandoning her crouch. Jack focused on her, pushing his own pain aside as best he could. "Carter?"
"Fine, sir. Just a little… unsteady," she chose, after a tiny pause. "It's been a long few days."
Jack grunted, unwilling to reveal the truth of her statement. It had been the longest days of his life. He would never forgive himself that she'd been gone for almost two days before they knew she was missing. Those bastard had been smart, choosing a Saturday to take her. A free weekend was precious for SG-1; no one had thought to contact her, or each other, until Monday.
"How long?" she asked. In the shadows, her hand turned to glance at the hall behind them, scanning for threats.
Jack swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat. He didn't want to think what may have happened to her that didn't let her count the days. "Six days," he said finally.
She inhaled quietly. "Oh."
Before either of them could say more, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. Carter's entire body tightened; her arm came up to point towards the sound, and her breathing hitched as she steeled herself to deal with whatever threat came into view.
A moment later, the footsteps halted, and Teal'c's voice carried down the corridor. "Major Carter, we have arrived with medical assistance."
The gun in her hand lowered to her lap, the weight of it suddenly too much for her. Leaning against the wall, she seemed boneless, and Jack kicked himself. What had he been thinking? He should have let Maybourne hunt the bastard Conrad down while he himself took Carter someplace safe. A little voice in him argued that Carter wouldn't have accepted the gun he offered if she wasn't up for it; the rational voice in him pointed out that Carter would have accepted that weapon even if she'd been bleeding out. To be handed control after a week of feeling trapped and alone… Jack might as well have been throwing a life preserver to a drowning man.
"Here." she called Teal'c's silhouette appeared a moment later. Daniel and a pair of medics followed close behind, and immediately pushed towards Jack. Teal'c split off from the group to crouch beside Carter, while Daniel knelt next to Jack's hip. The archaeologist gave him a look, which Jack redirected towards Sam with a tilt of his head.
"Hey, Sam," Daniel said, giving her a relieved smile. "You doing okay?"
Her head bobbed slightly. "Yeah."
"I am relieved to see you well, Major Carter," Teal'c told her. His hand rested gently on her shoulder, prompting a small smile.
"Thanks, Teal'c." It didn't seem to occur to her that she'd used his real name in front of civilians. Her eyes tracked his hands as they moved to remove the gun from her hand. Her fingers relinquished it without a fight, but the distance in Sam's eyes as she processed the exchange made Jack uneasy.
"Hey, T, why don't you take Carter upstairs to get checked out?" he suggested. "These guys will roll me out when they're done poking around the inside of my arm."
Sam shook her head. "I'd rather stay here."
Jack and Daniel shared a brief look when she failed to tack on any kind of honorific. In fact, her tone was almost petulant. "Really? You wanna wait in the dark sitting in puddles until these yahoos eventually realize it was a through and through and there is no bullet?" He glared at the medics. One of them felt the opposite side of his bicep and found the exit wound. "No way," Jack finished.
"Colonel-"
"Do I need to make it an order?" he interrupted before she could try to argue. His tone ignited some of her usual spark; her chin lifted, shoulders squaring.
"No, sir," she agreed solemnly a few moments later.
Teal'c was quick to take advantage of her acquiescence. "Come, Major Carter." He took her hand and gently helped her to her feet. Once there, she swayed ominously, but didn't go down. "Do you require assistance to walk?"
"No, I'm okay." She shuffled down the hall the way Teal'c and the medics had come, unsteady but ambulatory. Teal'c respected her independence, but remained close should she falter.
Jack watched in approval until they were out of sight, and then turned to the medics. "Who the hell gave you a medical degree?"
"We don't have medical degrees, sir."
"Then why the hell are you trying to operate on me?"