Title: NEVER ALONE

Author: Imagine

Feedback: on list or imagine647@msn.com

Webpage: http://www.oocities.org/limagine647

Rating: PG13

Pairing: J/D

Category: Pre-Slash, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fix-it

Date: 9th November 2005

Season/Spoilers: One - Solitudes. Also mention of Thor's Hammer, Brief

Candle and Children of the Gods

Archive: AlphaGate; Area 52; The Cartouche. Anyone else please ask.

Synopsis: Jack and Daniel are trapped in an ice cavern when the Stargate malfunctions. It is up to Daniel to find a way home for himself and a badly injured Jack.

Notes: This was first published in the AG 'Make it Write' zine - this is one episode I always wanted to make 'right'. I wanted to write it in First Person and it also seemed to be crying out for present tense which isn't how I usually write at all! I guess you could say it was experimental.

I'd like to thank PhoenixE for her wonderful help in what was my first submission to a zine.

Warnings: None

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Never Alone

by Imagine

Ow! It hurts! Legs, don't think I can move my legs -- wait, wait, there we go. Ow! What the -- God! What the hell… what happened?

I manage to pry my eyes open but quickly shut them again. White -- too much white, everywhere. What? That's not right. And cold -- it's cold.

Where the hell are we?

Let's try this opening the eyes thing again. Okay. So far so good. White -- that's ice. Ice? What?

Sitting up now. Ow! Hurts, but I can do this. Confused, and getting scared. More ice. A huge cavern full of it. Why? What happened? The Stargate! We went through the Stargate….

Where is the Stargate? Behind me. I remember going in, but not how I came out. Although waking up flat on my back and the way I feel -- from when we entered the Gate to how -- and where we've ended up -- something's very badly wrong.

We're in trouble.

The Stargate seems to hang there, white and ghostly, overshadowing everything in this strange white world where I find myself. Wherever we are, it's not where we're supposed to be. Not even close. Last time I looked the Gateroom didn't come with hot and cold running glaciers. No, that should be just…cold…

Where are we? Why?

We'd barely cleared the Gate when the firing started. Sam was babbling something about energy weapons, but Jack didn't want to stick around long enough to satisfy her curiosity. We were getting shot at, time to leave, end of story. Couldn't say I felt like arguing with him. One of the shots almost took my head off while I was dialling. But with Jack watching my back and Sam and Teal'c covering the Gate I got it open. Jack immediately ordered the others through, then grabbed me by the arm and hauled me after him. We hit the event horizon – together -- maybe thirty seconds after Sam and Teal'c.

After that, everything gets a bit…fuzzy. 'Till I came to -- here. Wherever here is.

Sam and Teal'c? Where? And -- Jack!

God, where's Jack? He was right by my side when we ran for the Gate on P4A-771; he still had a hold of me.

My head's clearing, eyes finally focusing, it doesn't take me long to find him, sprawled almost directly in front of the Gate and unconscious, crumpled and discarded. While I was lucky to have landed on a relatively soft patch of snow, Jack looks like he bounced off the ice wall across from the gate, and possibly the ground as well before coming to rest where he's currently lying, alarmingly still... I'm guessing he won't be happy when he wakes up.

And he is going to wake up. Soon.

Pushing aside my fears and the beginnings of a headache, I quickly crawl over to him and do a quick check for injuries. His head seems fine, which is a huge relief but his leg is another story. Definitely broken. Oh boy. That's all I can see that is wrong, but it's serious enough and I'm no doctor. Well, I am, but not of medicine. There could be other injuries I can't see, serious injuries. The possibility of internal injuries rears its ugly head, but I don't want to think about it. Cold, it's so cold. I remember something about how cold temperatures could be a good thing, if you were dealing with injuries. That is, I think it was a good thing. I wish I'd paid more attention, wish I didn't feel so damned screwed up and useless but most of all, I wish Jack would wake up!

Do. Do. I needed to do something. Something besides sitting on my rapidly freezing ass staring at Jack. Jack!

Of course, his leg is broken and he is going to be in agony when he wakes up. So... do something about that now. It needs setting and then I'll need to splint it. Just for once, Jack please do what I need and stay unconscious 'cause this is going to hurt like hell otherwise.

Tipping out our packs I grab what I need. God look at that! His leg is a mess but at least it looks like a clean break. Steeling myself I manipulate the bone into position before using the torn strips from my spare tee-shirt as bandaging to hold the makeshift splints each side of his leg. A few times during my amateur doctoring he moans in pain and tosses his head from side to side but thankfully he never wakes.

I sit back to admire my handiwork, pretty sure that'll keep it immobile until we get back to the SGC and get Jack into the infirmary.

Right now, Jack, you can wake up now! But no, he lay there quiet and still. I can't just sit there staring at him, that won't help either of us.

What would Jack do next? Threat assess! That's it! Look around, take stock of our situation. Get some Intel. Have something for Jack -- something useful -- for when he wakes up. Soon.

Damn it, Daniel, focus! Just Jack's luck he's ended up here -- with me. He'd be much better off if either Sam or Teal'c…

Damn, I've been so worried about Jack I forgot…. Sam and Teal'c! Where are they? Should be here and they're not. They went into the wormhole ahead of us so -- definitely should be here. Oh my god, where are they, what's happened to them?

Shaking. Gotta stop shaking. It's the cold, that's what it is and not…

Scared, I am not scared. Not. Haven't got time to be scared. Have to hold it together, have to--

Have to be strong, focused. For Jack. Jack needs me. I can do this. I can.

For Jack.

~~

Oh god, who's using my head as a bowling ball? I try to move. Big mistake. Besides the pounding in my head, which probably accounts for the dancing black spots behind my eyelids, my left leg is on fire and it hurts to breathe. Add to that, it feels like I'm lying on the floor of a freezer and I'd say the current situation sucks.

"Jack... "

Just the sound of his voice makes me feel better and I force my eyes open. Thankfully the spots fade somewhat. "Daniel," I croak.

"Don't move Jack, your leg's broken," he says.

"Yep," I say gruffly, "my leg's definitely broken." I've had broken bones before, I know what it feels like. Just like this.

I take a deep breath, agony lancing through my chest. Crap. Know what cracked ribs feel like too. This could be a problem.

I try again to sit up. "Jack!" he protests.

"Help me then!" I growl.

Struggling with a little help from a muttering Daniel, I manage to sit up and he slips the packs behind me as support. The first thing I see is that my leg is already splinted. Ignoring that for the moment I look around.

I don't know where we are, gotta find out. Don't see any signs of Carter or Teal'c -- yet. Daniel -- he looks okay. Scared, but not hurt. Good, that's good.

Concentrate. Forget about the pain.

"Daniel?" I gasp.

"Jack?" His eyes are huge, full of concern.

"You wanna tell me what you did with the Gateroom?"

"You noticed, huh?" he tries to smile but doesn't quite make it.

"Kinda hard to miss. Unless Hammond redecorated while we were gone we're definitely not in Kansas. Why aren't we in Kansas, Daniel?" My head feels like it's about twice its normal size. I'm seeing two of him, and neither one looks very happy with what he's telling me.

"I'm -- I'm not sure." He murmurs and hangs his head.

Dammit, I know that look. He thinks this is his fault. Thing is, maybe it is. He must have choked under fire and misdialled. That's the only thing that makes sense.

"Daniel, it's okay," I try and believe what I'm telling him but to be honest, if he did screw up and misdial, he could have killed us all. We got lucky this time, relatively speaking, but… "Things were pretty hairy back there. Easy to get confused, under the circumstances... Do you think you may have -- is this place a wrong number?"

Daniel's head shoots up like I've slapped him, cheeks flaming, eyes bright with hurt. "What are you saying?" he snaps.

He looks really hurt and I am sorry about that, but if he screwed up....

"Come on, Daniel," I grit my teeth as another shard of pain stabs me in the gut. Crap, that's not ribs. Damn, I've got some serious time in the infirmary in my future. Peachy. Where the hell are the others? We've gotta make tracks. "Look around. Our cosy little suite here in the IceBox Hilton? When you dialled home you got a wrong number."

Daniel's eyes glitter with stony disappointment, his jaw clenching with defiance. "I didn't misdial," he says stubbornly, his voice reeking with affront. "I know I didn't."

I don't have time to nursemaid him now. We need to leave before we all turn into frigging popsicles. "What does Carter say?" I reach for my radio. "Where the hell is she anyway? And Teal'c?"

"I've already tried that," Daniel says, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder. He's still a little pissed at me, but concern is obviously winning out. "They're not here," he adds with a small frown.

"What?" I gape at him. "That's not possible. They went through the gate before we did. They have to be here!"

"Trust me, they're not," Daniel shrugs. "You were out for over two hours -- I've had plenty of time to look around. I know it doesn't make any sense, but we're alone here."

Okay, now that's not possible.

"Near as I can tell, we're at the bottom of a glacier," Daniel continues. "Maybe this planet is in the middle of an ice age and the Stargate was overrun. Whatever, we're damned lucky it was ice covering the Gate and not something …else, and the expanding wormhole cleared it away. If it hadn't, when we came through --"

Splat," I finish for him.

"Yeah," Daniel nods, clamping his jaw shut so tight a muscle in his cheek twitches violently. "There's a little light filtering through from above. Could mean some breaks in the ice, a way to the surface. I don't know. I haven't tried to climb up and check it out yet."

"Why bother?" I say, suppressing a groan. "What's the difference? Where we are, how we got here, we'll sort it out after we get back to the base."

Which is where we should be, right now. The cold must be seeping into my brain; I'm just realizing Daniel's told me we've been here for over two hours. Why? Why are we still here?

Daniel stares at me. There's fear in his eyes. I've got a bad feeling about this.

"Daniel, dial it up and get us the hell out of here."

"Um -- slight problem with that," he finally says, after a brief silence.

Really bad feeling.

"I can't find the DHD," he admits, like it's killing him to finally come clean with me.

Well, now I know why we're still here. Waaaay up shit creek with icicles. "So," I say, trying to sound a lot cheerier than I feel. "We're in trouble."

"Yeah," Daniel nods, his similar attempt at a brave smile equally pathetic. "You could say that."

I collapse back against my pack, exhausted and not a little afraid -- not that I'll let Daniel know that.

My leg is throbbing like the devil now, probably should never have moved. My leg!

"Daniel, you splinted my leg?" I didn't mean to sound as surprised as I did.

He just shrugs.

I give him a smile, "Well thanks for that, would've hated to have been awake for that. Have it done before in the field and it's not an ordeal I wanna repeat."

"You have? What happened?"

"Let's just say it's not a good idea to go parachuting without the chute, especially not over enemy territory."

"And?"

"And I hit kinda hard."

"You were behind enemy lines, you were captured then?" he asks sympathetically.

"No," I frown, wondering what gave him that idea.

"Well I assumed the enemy doctors set whatever you broke."

"No, Daniel, I had to see to it myself, then find a way to get out of there. Took me a few days but I made it."

Daniel frowns and as I don't want to talk about Iraq, I say, "Nice job you made of it anyway," waving a hand in the direction of my leg.

"Not the first time I've set a bone in the field either," Daniel tells me.

"Don't tell me, on a dig?" I smile.

"I saw it done on a dig, did it myself on Abydos."

~~

I really want to stay just where I am, holding Jack against my chest, feeling his warmth and the beat of his heart under my hand, but if I want both of us to survive this I have to do something.

"Jack, what do you need me to do next?"

Jack sighs but replies immediately, "First, we gotta know how we stand in the supplies department, food and drink, and so on."

"I checked our packs before, when you were still out. There is nothing else here. I estimate we have enough food for about three days."

"We can stretch that," Jack says.

I nod and carry on, "We have a little drinking water, but," I smile looking at our surroundings.

"Ice melts." His smile is a little forced this time.

"We got flashlights, blankets, cooking gear. We'll be okay. I just wish we had the first aid kit so I could give you something for the pain," I add. Jack thinks I haven't noticed how much pain he is in.

"So what do we need?" Jack asks.

"You mean besides central heating and a DHD?"

Jack smiles for real this time. "Yeah, well I suppose we can do without the central heating but what the hell happened to the DHD?"

"Been thinking about that," I reply. "If as I suspect this planet was caught up in an ice age, the ice flow could have simply buried the DHD somewhere near. If I can find it I can probably just dial us out."

"You think it will still work, after all this?" he asks, indicating the ice surrounding us.

"The Gate still works and think about it Jack. These Gates have been working for thousands of years. Whoever built them designed them to last, even in an ice age I expect." I hesitate a moment, there's something I want to ask him but I'm not sure I'll like the answer.

"Jack, you believe I misdialled, caused this ...disaster. You trust me to dial us out of here?"

He sighs and gives me a twisted sort of smile, "Daniel, I don't know what the hell happened and that includes whether or not you misdialled, but I do know I trust you. If you tell me you are positive you didn't misdial then I believe you and, of course I trust you to dial us out of here."

He'll never know how much I rely on his belief in me, or how the knot inside me untwists at his words. I nod but don't reply.

After a moment I start talking about the DHD again. "Now looking at the evidence of this flow," I say indicating to Jack the way the ice built up in layers towards the right hand side and rear of the large cavern, "I think that is as good a place as any to start searching."

"I'll help you," Jack says.

"No way!" I declare. "You need to rest that leg. I can manage perfectly well. If the time comes when I do need help I'll tell you."

"Who is the Colonel here?" he grumbles.

"In the case of injury a doctor outranks a colonel," I say haughtily.

"For crying out loud, Doctor Jackson, don't remind me of Fraiser, gonna be spending weeks under her tender care as it is!"

I laugh and clamber up the slick ice using my knife for leverage, Jack's mutterings about diminutive tyrants following me all the way.

~~

I watch Daniel as he tries to find the DHD and I suddenly feel grateful that he was the one trapped with me. Kinda selfish I suppose but... Can't imagine being stuck here with Carter, she'd spend half the time explaining stuff to me I don't give a damn about and the other half of the time I'd have to bolster her nerve when things didn't go her way.

Daniel might be afraid because he has so many unanswered questions but he can just put them aside and get on with what's needed. He is stronger than I think even he realises.

God, look at him up there, clambering over the ice as if... I suddenly have a terrible fear that he will never get out of here.

"We might be able to climb out of here," I say, turning to look at Daniel who now appears to be digging away at the small hillock of ice with his knife and I add, "You might, anyway." I really have no wish to send him off on his own, but neither can I keep him by my side if I have no way out of this tomb of ice.

"What?" Daniel says frowning at me.

"I said you might be able to climb outta here."

He stares at me and then turns away continuing to dig as if I've never spoken. I knew, of course, that it'll be difficult to make him leave me.

"Jack, I've found it!"

"Found what? I ask irritably.

"The DHD!"

Don't care what he thinks I'm gonna help. I struggle to get to my feet to pull myself up doing my best to ignore the pain shooting through me.

"Jack!" he objects.

"I need to see," I say gritting my teeth to keep the pain inside.

Slowly I move over to the edge of the block to see if I can help, but I can't let him know just how much I'm hurting. Each breath now is like a knife in my chest.

"Ah…God!" I gasp as I finally reach the top. "Can we dig it out?" I ask, just making out the top of the device through the layer of ice.

"Even if it doesn't work, we can use the chopped ice to melt for drinking water," Daniel says with a grin.

Trying to make me feel better, that's my Daniel. The only way that would happen was if we got out of there. I began to dig with my knife on the opposite side to where he was working. God but that hurt!

"What's wrong with your chest?" Daniel suddenly asks, stopping his digging immediately.

Obviously I hadn't been as careful as I’d thought and he saw me wrap an arm around my painful chest. "I think I cracked a rib too," I admit, concealing that I think it's two or three.

"Why didn't you say something?" he asks plaintively.

"I was afraid you'd try to put a splint on it," I say snidely and then regret it when I see his expression. "I'll be fine," I add and quickly continue to chip away at the ice. He seems to get the message because he doesn't say anything else, just continues to dig.

A few minutes later, he says, "I've been thinking about where Sam and Teal'c might be."

"Yeah?"

"Some pretty powerful energy was hurtling around the Gate when we went through. What if it was struck and the Gate overloaded or jumped or something, need Sam for all the technical stuff," he shrugged, "But the result was the Stargate malfunctioned during transit. Anyway, they got sent back to Earth but for some reason we got sent here."

That's possible but it doesn't really help us now. "Alright, we'll assume they made it back to Earth. They'll start sending search parties," I say positively, desperately trying to concentrate on what he's saying and not the long pliant fingers with which he aids his speech.

Daniel raises his eyebrows and asks, "To where?"

Frowning, I say, "Here, I hope."

"Jack," he says in that whiny tone of voice that I loathe. When he uses that he's trying not to be condescending and he doesn't seem to realise that's just as bad. "How? They haven't a clue where we are. With all the Stargates out there it could take years!"

Unable to keep from eying his long fingers, I lick my suddenly dry lips to reply, "Not if they look here first."

"Jack..."

"Daniel..." I make my voice even whinier than his and the bastard grins at me.

We started chipping at the ice again.

~~

My arm is almost numb, sweat is dripping off me, mingling with flying ice chips as I drive the knife into the mass encasing the DHD again and again and again. I'm exhausted but I can't stop. I have to keep going. I have to get Jack home.

He tried to keep it hidden from me while he was helping me dig, but that internal injuries thing I was worrying about? At least I made him lie down and get some sleep a couple of hours ago.

I'm so tired I can barely lift my arm to drive the knife into the ice one more time, but I have to get over it. Keep going, keep going. It won't be much longer and we'll be home. Jack will be fine, he'll be all right. I just have to get him home.

Keep going….

"Soup’s on," Jack's cheery voice rings out unexpectedly, startling me. I shoot up my head up over the DHD and see him there, crouched over our small camp stove, beaming like a loon.

Dammit, I thought he was sleeping!

"I cooked!" he says proudly, gesturing toward the small pot bubbling on the feeble flame "Melted ice and MRE's," he explains, licking his lips. "Yum!"

"Cooked?' I throw him a sour look. "Don't you mean heated?"

"Whatever," Jack shrugs. "It's here, it's hot, come and get it already."

"Where's a pizza place when you need it?" I tease.

"Hey, you dissin' my cookin'?" Jack pouts.

"Jack, I've tasted your cooking, remember?"

"Touché. Get over here and dig in before it gets cold."

I hesitate. I'm hungry, I'm tired, but I'm so close. I shouldn't stop now.

"Daniel," Jack says kindly. "Eat. The DHD is still going to be there."

Yeah, but will you?

He won't eat until I do, so with a sigh I put down my knife and scramble over to his side. I try to smile as he hands me a cup, try to pretend I don't see how tired he looks, and how weak. I'm scared again, and can't stop myself from shivering.

"Cold?" he asks.

"Yes," I reply, which wasn't a lie, just not the whole truth.

"Sit closer to me," he says with a smile and I happily oblige.

We sit side by side against the ice coated rock wall as we eat -- well, I eat, he just kind of plays with his food and tries to keep me from seeing how much pain he's really in.

"Jack, I think perhaps I should take another look at you."

"No, I'm fine. Eat."

"Jack," I begin but he interrupts me.

"Daniel, leave it. There's nothing you can do."

God, he's right and that hurt so much. Suddenly, as if someone kicked me in the gut, I realise that if we can't get out of here I may have to watch him die.

Well, there's no way in hell that's going to happen. I'll get him out of here if it kills me.

"Jack –" I start to blurt out, not even sure what I'm trying to say.

"Tell me later," Jack says softly. "When we're home. And safe. "Tell me then."

You have my promise, Jack.

~~

I struggle back to consciousness feeling cold, confused and uncomfortable; my chest in particular is painful. I don't remember going to sleep. My last clear memory was of Daniel finding that Jaffa. I attempt to turn, to ease the pain of my ribs but the movement makes me aware of the weight lying across me. Daniel. Damn he's been lying so close and I’d slept through it!

"Jack?" he says sleepily, lifting just his head to look at me.

"Daniel. Well, this is nice..." I suddenly realise I should be grateful it's so damn cold, otherwise Daniel may realise why I think it's nice. Just thinking about it makes the blood surge faster through my veins.

Grinning he says, "Yeah, you make a nice pillow. Now, try to sleep, you need rest."

"Is that what we were doing? I don't remember..."

"You passed out. I shouldn't have let you do so much."

He lay down again and snuggled against me. I so want to pull him closer, hold him to me but I don't have that right though my body is reacting anyway. I'm almost grateful for the pain in my chest; I can tell myself it isn't my heart, it's just my ribs.

Trying to keep calm, instead I say, "It's okay, Daniel, I had to help. Still it's hard to sleep with broken ribs when someone's lying on you."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," he mutters, moving to lie along my side.

"That's better," I lie, grateful that he moved before he felt my burgeoning interest.

"Get some rest, maybe I can find a way... Tomorrow, we can try again tomorrow," he murmurs.

"Okay. Night." I know he's trying to make me feel better. We've almost got the DHD exposed but we have no idea if the damn thing will even work. It's been buried for god knows how long in the ice. We knew the Gate worked, but the DHD?

Tomorrow, he says. Tomorrow may be all we have.

Trying to sleep but somehow, even as exhausted as I am, sleep won't come. My mind's full of Daniel and the more I try to stop thinking about him the more my mind swirls with memories of him. The way he looked when I first met him, the way he stared at me when he held the staff weapon on the steps of Ra's pyramid. The look in his eyes when he asked me to wait for him as he held Sha're tight in his arms.

Sha're. The way he looked at her even then. He's since spent a year with her as her husband and now he searches for her with each breath of his body. I have no right to even think of him the way I do but I can't help it. I love him and there's nothing I can do about it.

He is lying so close and I have this insane urge to lean down and place a kiss on his temple. I wonder how he'd react to that. Is Daniel really as clueless as everyone assumes? I find that hard to believe but then he did get married without knowing it! How many men can say that!

Would he just assume it's his friend saying 'I care' or even 'goodbye'? I hate the idea of saying goodbye to Daniel. It isn't so much my own death that bothers me, after all I'm a professional soldier and the possibility of death comes with the territory. But the idea of Daniel dying ... god, of having to watch him die. Then it hit me. I'm the one injured, I'll die first then he'll be left all alone -- waiting to die. God, no!

I know, of course, he isn't really asleep; I can almost hear him thinking! Every so often he'll drift off, I can tell from his breathing pattern, until a few minutes later he'll be planning again, trying to find a solution. If anyone can, it'll be my Daniel.

My Daniel. If only... I wonder then if I can die without telling him how I feel. He deserves to know, doesn't he? That someone cares, someone loves him? How can I not?

Yet how can I? It would be unfair to put such a burden on him at such a time. I'd only be making me feel better.

~~

I know Jack is still awake but he seems to want to keep up the pretence of being asleep so I let him have his deception. I have my own; I too pretended to sleep, lying quietly pressed against his side. I had been surprised by his unexpected erection and I studiously ignored it.

Trouble is I'm also swamped by an unexpected jealousy. What -- or rather who -- was he thinking of to cause such a reaction? It didn't help, of course, that on top of the jealousy I also feel damned guilty. No matter how I look at it, my thoughts, my desires betray Sha're, but then they always have.

I do care for her, my beautiful Sha're, I wouldn't have stayed with her otherwise, but I'd never claimed to love her and nor had I hidden from her the fact that I loved someone else, someone I couldn't be with. I never told her who it was but it was pretty clear that she guessed, somehow. I'd been bowled over by the way she had kissed me that day when Jack came back to Abydos for me. She was never that demonstrative in public. Until then I had no idea that she had worked out my secret. She laid claim to me in front of him, I couldn't miss that look she directed at him.

Coming back to the present, I became aware then that Jack's breathing settled into the rhythm of sleep and I allow myself to relax and follow him into slumber.

I came to first the next morning -- that designation of course, being relative. Can't really tell if it's day or night, I simply go along with my body's internal clock. I'm still plastered against Jack and I let myself bask in his warmth for a few minutes until I realise that his breathing sounds odd, laboured. Raising myself carefully I take a good look at him and he's obviously in a deep sleep. Too deep?

Carefully, I open his jacket and then his shirt, push his tee up and take a look at his abdomen. I bite my lip as I see the bluish/black bruising across the right half of his chest continuing round his right side towards his back. Gingerly, I touch the area and it feels spongy -- think that's indicative of internal blleeding. I cover him up again and roll out from under the bedding, tucking it back around him to keep him as warm as possible.

It's even more urgent that I get us out of here, Jack needs help and soon.

Climbing back up to the top of the DHD, I continue to dig.

~~

"Come on, dammit, come on! God, I'm so close."

The desperation in Daniel's voice is clear to me even in my sleep befuddled brain. I try to roll over and the pain washes through me taking my breath away. Gritting my teeth, I pant through the pain until I slow my breathing back to something like normal. It's then that I realise Daniel's left my radio near my hand and reaching for it...

"Daniel, Daniel... "

"Jack!"

Ignoring his radio, he jumps down from the ice block and hurries towards me. "Jack?"

"I'm usually the first one up," I say with an attempted smile, it feels more like a grimace. I wonder how it looks to Daniel.

"Stay still, don't try and move," he says, hurriedly placing a hand on my chest as if to keep me in place. Truth was I can't move even if I want to. "Jack, listen. You're bleeding internally, I'm sorry but I don't know how badly. I don't know for sure but you may already have frostbite... I can't tell. I've been trying to warm you up with the last of our cooking fuel but that's about had it."

"What's the bad news?" I quip. We're running out of time, I can't expect Daniel to cope with this by himself. I've got to do something. "Help me up," I say.

He looks horrified. "No, Jack, you need to heal. That's an order," he adds firmly.

I smile, "I give the orders around here."

"Not doctor's orders," he says with a lift of his chin and a flash of those remarkable eyes. He reaches over to take a pan of water off the nearby cooker and pours a little into a cup. "I want you to drink as much of this as you can. Once that fuel dies, we won't be able to thaw any more." Lifting the cup to my lips, he adds, "I should have gotten you out of here by now, I'm sorry."

I take a couple of sips of the warming drink before remarking, "It'll be okay, you will."

"God, I wish I had your faith in me." He holds up his hand to stop me saying anything to that. "Look, I've been working for the last twelve hours and I finally uncovered it."

"Show me," I say firmly.

"Jack..." he says, that whine starting so I cut him off quickly.

"No, Daniel, show me."

He looks at me and then quickly nods and pulling the blankets away helps me up. I grit my teeth as the movement sends sheets of pain through me but determinedly I take a step, then another. Painfully I make my way to the DHD.

Staring down at the surface of the DHD, quietly he says, "Well, no reason to wait, I guess... it's now or never?"

"I've always preferred now to never." Unfortunately I finish the quip with a hacking cough. I meet Daniel's eye and he resolutely ignores the specks of blood on the ice.

"Here goes," he says pressing each glyph in turn as he dials the Earth Gate and then looks at me for approval as he leans on the central crystal.

One after the other, the chevrons glow and Daniel gives a tentative smile, but when the seventh one lights up there's an odd sound and the ground shakes as if it is too much hard work for the Gate to connect. Then the sound dies and the lights fade.

"God, no!" Daniel exclaims.

~~

"You dialled the right address?" Jack asks me in a quiet voice.

"Yes! I know I did!"

He's doing his best to conceal his despair but I know he was relying on me. On me.

Don't know how bad his internal injuries are but I know damn well coughing up blood is not a good sign. Could I have made a mistake in my desperation?

Try again, same damned result. It so nearly works. What's wrong, dammit? The power's getting through, why won’t it connect?

There's enough power to dial the Gate, the address locked, at least for a few seconds. That sound has to be the mechanics of the thing trying to work but something's ...something's ...interfering.

The shaking, the excessive vibration, surely that had to have meant something. Not that the Gate under Cheyenne Mountain didn't used to shake because it did -- until they installed some kind of dampening system. Wait, Cheyenne Mountain. What if the problem is at that end?

Of course! It can't be the DHD 'cause the power is reaching the Gate. Not that I know the first thing about the mechanics of the DHD, but I remember that clearly from when we were stuck on Ernest's planet. That DHD was definitely broken and the chevrons wouldn't move at all. Not a one lit up.

I look over at Jack who is leaning heavily on the DHD now. I know he can't survive much longer here, the cold's sapping what strength he has left; this is his last chance. Our last chance. If it doesn't work I'll lie beside him, hold him, comfort him. Or is it myself I'll be comforting?

I shake myself out of my self-pity. Need to think.

Can't dial Earth, so dial somewhere else. Where? Somewhere Jack can get help if we can't get home yet.

Quickly go through my options. Still have my GDO so a quick turn round would be possible -- Abydos is out, buried the gate. Chulak? No too risky, no help there for Jack. Really need somewhere he can get treatment if the Earth Gate is out of commission. Land of Light, possibly, it's safe and warm, but their medicine is archaic. Cimmeria is another good possibility, we would be welcome and safe there and if nothing else there's always Kendra.

Just debating asking Jack's opinion but he's coughing again and he looks all in. Have to help him lie down -- Argos!

It hits me just like that! The perfect place, warm, safe and there's an SG team there! General Hammond has stationed one there periodically since Jack almost died of old age, and SG5 left only two days ago for a week long visit.

~~

"You did it!" I gasp as I hear the familiar sound of the gate activating. The pain in my chest is a permanent agony now.

"Yeah, well kinda," he says, grinning at me like a loon. "It's not Earth ... think the problem must be ... well don't need to go into that now. I got through to Argos. We can get home from there."

He sounds confident, cheerful so why do I think he's keeping something from me.

"Argos?" I say, for a moment I can't remember where that was -- then I get a vision of Kynthia and cann't help the shudder. "Ah," is all I say.

"Right," he says briskly, "let's get you to the Gate. The sooner we get through the sooner you'll be in the infirmary."

"Is that supposed to be an incentive?" I quip as Daniel helps me to my feet. It's no use trying to hide my pain from him, he knows me too well. He wraps my arm around his neck as he places his arm around my waist, careful not to put any pressure on my injured side. Leaning against him as he takes most of my weight I hobble over to the open wormhole.

Taking a last look round and feeling no sorrow at all to be leaving, I turn to Daniel and we step through together ...to emerge in Pelops' temple on Argos.

"Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Jackson," an excited voice greets us and it is only then I remember the SG teams stationed here from time to time. Daniel knew of course, his memory is phenomenal.

He's safe now and I don't have to be strong for him any longer. I let the pain take me and the last thing I hear as I slip into darkness is his voice calling my name.

~~

Jack collapses against me almost as soon as we arrive and I interrupt Lieutenant Phillips who is still on his knees by the plinth of the destroyed statue of Pelops.

"Do you know if the Gate is working, in the SGC?" I ask moving out of range of any opening wormhole but staying on the dais.

"God, Dr. Jackson, they're searching for you and the Colonel..."

"Phillips! Is the Gate working?" I interrupt harshly.

"Yes, it is now, it was out for twenty-four hours but..."

"Dial it, now! Send the code."

"Yes, yes of course." He runs for the DHD and dials Earth.

Struggling to hold onto Jack's gratefully not-dead weight, I wait impatiently for the wormhole to engage -- I've never enjoyed a sight more as the wonderful blue light washes over me before the event horizon settles back into the stone ring.

"Daniel?" Jack's voice surprises me as I'm about to move through.

"It's okay, we're going home now," I say, holding him tightly as I step through.

~~

Finally, staggering exhausted through the Gate at the SGC, I collapse onto the ramp. I guess I finally hit that proverbial wall. I try to hold onto Jack, but he slips from my grasp to fall at my side and he cries out in pain.

"Sorry, Jack, sorry," I gasp, "but you're safe, you'll be okay now." Even as I spoke I could hear the voice of General Hammond shouting orders. "The doc is coming," I add as I heard the sound of running feet.

Jack smiles at me, "I'm okay thanks to you."

My heart swells, I brought us home, I didn't let him die. I saved us both I realise as he's lifted onto the gurney. He'll be fine now; yet all at once standing alone as they take him from me, I feel ...abandoned. Surrounded by people yet I'm alone.

Then I realise he's staring at me as they push his gurney towards the entrance and, self-consciously, I smile. He gives me his shit-eating grin and my stomach flip-flops.

Suddenly life is exciting.

Who knows what tomorrow may bring?

~~

I watch as the blush suffuses his face at my words while the sound of pounding feet fills the Gateroom. They're here now, voices asking questions even as hands pick me up, careful of my hastily splinted leg.

I'm a little surprised to see the loss in his eyes as they begin to wheel me away and then our eyes meet. Daniel smiles at me and I feel a familiar flutter in my stomach. I smile back and his eyes light up. He squares his shoulders and the arms that had begun to wrap around him fall to his sides instead.

Sweet, I did that for him. Tomorrow is another day.

FIN

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