DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions.  This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it.  Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended.  Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.  Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.  Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).

Dammit....

Daniel's looking paler by the minute as I pull open the jacket to get a better look.

The bullet's gone through his side at an angle...from just below the left ribs in the back and exiting a few inches lower in the front...

Daniel doesn't make a sound; I don't have to tell him how important it is to keep quiet. Now more than ever, it's vital that we don't give our position away....

I pull the little first aid kit out of my pack...not much to work with in here: antiseptic, gauze pads, bandaids, tape, thermometer. I open the bottle of antiseptic and give him a warning glance so he knows it's coming. There's a sharp intake of breath as I pour it liberally over the wounds and he digs both hands deep into the ground, but he doesn't make a sound. I tape on the gauze pads, but blood soaks through the thin stuff in seconds...

I pull off my fatigue shirt and then my undershirt, using my pocket knife to cut it into strips. I try to be gentle as I wrap the strips around his body, but by the time I tie it off, Daniel is shaking from the pain and the effort of holding back any sound.

I put my shirt back on and gather him to me as he tries to breathe through the pain...

"You okay?" I whisper it.

*Well, that's a bright question, Jack...*

As I watch in the fading daylight, he nods a little, still trying to breathe. He squeezes my arm tightly and his muscles relax slowly as he visibly wills the pain away. I just hold on to him, there's not much else I cando.

For now at least, he's got it under control. He's had more than his share of practice at dealing with pain...

"Jack...?" His voice is low, barely more than a breath of sound.

"Yeah, Danny?" I lean close to hear him.

"You should get out of here...."

*Like hell.....*

He knows me well enough to know what I'm thinking.

"Jack, you have to go while...."

Maybe it's not a good command decision. Maybe it's a purely emotional, and totally selfish decision, but...

*I'm.

Not.

Going.*

"Forget it, Danny. Together or not at all."

His head moves in a brief nod and his hands tighten on my arm as the pain takes over again...

Somewhere along the line, we doze off.

I wake up to the feeling of Daniel shaking against me and heat...fever...

*Murphy's law must work overtime when it comes to us...*

I hold him tighter, trying to share what little body heat I've got. It's colder now than it was last night and we can't risk a fire...

He's getting restless.

"Sha'uri...?" His voice is lost, plaintive; the fever has taken him down into the thoughts he's fought against all day.

I just whisper to him, trying to keep him quiet.

He grips my arm tighter. "She's really gone, isn't she, Jack?" He says it without a trace of hope; the facts he knows, it's the reality he doesn't want to accept.

I rub his back, trying to express what can't really be said...

"Yeah, Danny...She is." He doesn't need it sugar-coated; Daniel is more than a little familiar with dealing with the cold, hard facts of life and he expects me to give him the truth. It's one of the many things I've learned from Daniel...

He gives a little gasp that's almost, but not quite, a sob. "What do I do now, Jack?"

*Just ask me a tough one...*

Nothing I can say will make the pain go away. Nothing's going to make it go away. From my own experience, there's only one thing I know to say that may even make a difference...

"You never forget."

I can feel him nodding against me...he understands. I try to tell him that it's a day to day thing...that some days are harder than others...and it never really goes away. It just gets to a point of familiarity; a shadow of pain that becomes a part of the soul. He knows this already...it's been a part of him from the day he watched his parents disappear beneath a rush of crashing stone. He just needs to know that, this time, he's got us here to help...

"You aren't alone anymore, Daniel," I whisper. "You've got another family now...and we're here...whenever, whatever...we're here..."

He squeezes my arm again, but not in pain this time...

He knows.

I just hope it helps...

"I promised her, Jack..."

That gets my attention. "Sha'uri? What promise, Daniel?"

His body tenses and his voice is full of emotion, "To find the boy...I promised I'd do it..."

The boy? Kasuf told me that was why Daniel had gone back when the rest of us were trying to pull out...but when did he make that promise? Amaunet was in control the whole time in that tent, wasn't she?

There's a noise off to our left and I know before it happens that they're coming in after us. I finger the trigger of my gun, but realize I've only got four bullets. If I shoot, I have to shoot to kill... Daniel's too badly hurt to run for it again. Daniel reaches for my hand, pushing the gun down and I hope I'm reading his signal right.

He's got a plan...

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