Warning: Inevitable mush.

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The rain was finally slowing, but Daniel still shook. Though he couldn’t see it, he could feel it. The only warmth his body held was flowing out of him. Shakily feeling along his rib cage, his frozen fingers found the main source from which the blood came. The gash was easily the width and length of three fingers and by the slick feel of it, didn’t plan on clotting any time soon.

Breathless, Daniel laid his hand against the wound––for he lacked even the strength to apply pressure.

What a pickle he was in.

No pack, no vest—so no medical supplies. And even the spare sterile gauze he kept in his BDU pants was gone.

Oh, how he ached for his team. For home. Not just to ease the unbearable feeling of loneliness, but to know they were alright. It was the only way to know if he would be alright.

Were they lying unconscious somewhere in the rain, bleeding like he was? Did they know what had happened? He had to find them. He had to know. He had to make sure they were okay.

If only he had his radio.

If only he could move.

---

“It’s not true.”

“Colonel––”

“Daniel’s not dead, sir.”

“Jack…” Hammond’s eyes filled with sympathy, and grief of his own. “You heard Murphy just as well as I did, son,” he said gently. “Dr. Jacks…Daniel was directly in the path when the dam broke.”

“I don’t care what he said, sir. He’s not dead.” Jack said with utmost conviction, then sombering, turned his back and looked down on the ‘gate—on the one thing separating him from his friend. “I’d know it,” he added softly.

“The Colonel’s right, sir.” Carter spoke, entering the briefing room. “I don’t know how I know…but Daniel’s alive.”

“I, too, share in this belief.”

The General was at a loss. He wanted to believe them, but he feared they were just kidding themselves—unable to accept the truth, especially when they had just gotten the young man back.

Still, if anyone would know, it was the people standing before him. “Go,” he ordered hoarsely. “Find our boy and bring him home.”

---

Daniel opened his eyes, light rain falling on his lashes. He must have passed out after packing his wound with mud to slow the bleeding. Vision clearing, his heart leapt in his chest. Cracked, blue lips parted, “Jack,” he nearly sobbed with relief.

“You promised, Daniel,” the man said, crouching down before him.

Daniel’s mind was whirling. “Jack?” he panted, confused, not having the energy to do more than just lay there.

“Get up, Daniel,” his friend ordered. “We’re waiting for you.”

“Where?” he asked, lethargically looking around for the rest of his team.

“Home, Daniel,” Jack answered softly, face saddening. “Home.”

And then he was gone.

“Jack?” Daniel whimpered, frantically trying to look through the thick forest before him. But he was gone. And Daniel was once again alone, bleeding into the rain.

---

They hit the ground running and headed straight downstream.

They didn’t fear what they would find—only that they wouldn’t get him back in time—before the stargate got washed away, before Daniel’s body gave out.

When they found him, though, an hour from the ‘gate and thankfully on the same side, they stopped in their tracks…as did their hearts.

It looked like they were too late, after all.

They had almost passed him by. They would have if he wasn’t in the open like he was. Covered in mud from head to toe, he blended into the background. The blood… the blood had given him away.

“Christ, Daniel.” Jack ran to his friend, a lump in his throat as he dropped to his knees. He hesitated, though, before reaching for him.

“Is he…?” Carter’s choked words had him moving again.

“No,” he said steadily before he really knew for sure. Then placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder and supporting his neck, he gently rolled the limp form onto his back.

And lost his breath.

God, Danny.

His clothes were ripped to shreds and Jack could feel him literally vibrating beneath his fingertips. “He’s alive,” he breathed, and the remaining two members immediately knelt beside them.

Reaching out, Jack palmed the cold, marred cheek. But before he could utter reassurances to the unconscious man and himself, Daniel opened his eyes.

Jack didn’t know whether to smile or cry. He ended up settling somewhere in between both. “Hey,” he rasped warmly.

Dazed blue met concerned brown. “‘M I late?” Daniel whispered faintly, his eyes already closing again.

Meanwhile, Teal’c had taken off his jacket and laid it over their friend. “Of what does he speak?”

Eyes still on the younger man, Jack just shook his head, lightly rubbing his thumb against Daniel’s cheek. The Christmas party couldn’t have been further from his mind. “Carter?” He got straight to business, the corner of his mouth turning up sadly when, even unconscious, Daniel leaned into his warmth.

“He’s in shock and borderline hypothermic, sir,” she announced, trying to remain detached as she delivered the facts. “He’s lost a lot of blood from a wound in his side.” She paused with a sterile pad in her hand and took a closer look––both amazement and pride lacing her voice when she continued. “It looks like he used mud to slow the bleeding, sir. It’s a crude method, but…it probably saved his life.”

“That’s my boy,” Jack whispered, continuing his strokes. “Can we move him?”

Placing the pad over the wound in case it started bleeding again, “We don’t have a choice, sir,” Carter replied, then taking a thermal blanket from her pack, laid it over their friend. “There’s no time to make a stretcher,” she admitted softly. Not if they wanted to reach the ‘gate in time. Not if they wanted to get Daniel back in time.

“Teal’c,”

Without another word, the large man moved to pick up their injured friend.

“Easy.” Jack winced in sympathy when a listless Daniel moaned. He wished, not for the first time, that Fraiser, or someone, could have been spared to accompany them. As it was, the rest of SG-3 had them pretty swamped.

When Daniel weakly curled into Teal’c, the Jaffa tucked the younger man’s head under his chin and held him a little tighter than he probably had to—mindful of his injuries. “You are safe, DanielJackson,” he whispered, taking a moment before he had to stand and place him over his shoulder, taking a moment to enjoy his relief.

“Home?” came a small voice.

Jack looked at his teammates. Kneeling on some random planet light years from earth, the wind roared in his ears and the rain was literally threatening their existence, but they were together again. All of them. And he knew what his friend was really asking. Home wasn’t a place—not for the man currently curled up in their Jaffa’s arms. “Yeah, Daniel,” he laid a hand on the quaking shoulder. “You’re home.”

Daniel smiled softly and relaxed into Teal’c. While he was dragging his way from the bushes—looking for, what apparently was hallucination-Jack, it had all come back to him. “Teal’c’s Christmas spirit?”

The Jaffa raised a quizzical eyebrow.

Jack ignored the hundred-and-something-year-old-man and smiled crookedly. “I’d be more concerned about fitting into those tights, Dannyboy.”

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The end.

A/N: I know. This was really short and rather angstless compared to my norm. lol Hopefully you still enjoyed. //hugs and cookies//