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).

I come to a clearing close to where Daniel and I spent the first night...

There's a tent here, all kinds of gear. This must be where Red and his pal have been camped. A whole damn National Forest and I choose to camp next to a couple of drug runners....

I watch for a while, but don't see any signs that anybody's been here recently. I move in cautiously, trying to scan the perimeter and the camp at the same time, when I hear a low moan from the trees...

Sensing a trap, I move cautiously toward the sound....

It's Daniel...dumped there on the ground, bleeding and barely conscious...

I still don't see anything and my alarm bells are going off all over the place, but I can't leave him here.

"Daniel...?"

He's barely conscious, but registers the fact that I'm here.

"Where's Blackie?" I ask, still scanning the woods around us.

He licks dry lips, clearly making an effort to tell me. "I think...he's...um...he's....gone. Grabbed something from...." His hand waves weakly toward the camp. "Left..."

I nod in relief, still cautiously looking around. "I've got the other one locked in the trunk of your car."

He smiles a little at that and starts to cough, grabbing his side. The blood's run down his pant leg and soaked through...

"Hang on, Danny..." I tell him, reaching out my hand to give him something to hold on to..

The coughing passes and he lays there so quietly that I think he's passed out.

"Jack....help....?"

I don't know if he's asking if I got help or if he needs my help, but I go ahead and answer the first. "I got Hammond on the car phone...help's on the way."

He nods again. He's shivering now, so I go over to the tent and bring back a blanket. He looks....bad, worse than bad....

"Jack?" He's looking at me with eyes full of pain, full of things usually left unsaid between us, full of a weariness that just wants to let go...

It scares me. "Daniel, don't you go giving up on me...."

He smiles once, tears so near the surface that I absurdly wonder why they don't fall...then his eyes close.

"Daniel?"

I hear a chopper nearing the mountain and move back to the clearing to set off the last flare in my pack...

Running back to Daniel, I feel for a pulse...

Weak...terribly weak....

That look he had in his eyes haunts me....

It looked like he was saying goodbye...

"Daniel, you can't quit on me. That's an order!"

I just hope it's one he'll obey...

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