A/N: Sorry for any confusion, this story is #3, and Perchance to Dream is now #4. Blame it on the DVD mix-up of the order of episodes.

Set during The Nox

The Very Young...

O'Neill stood frozen, his eyes on the small boy laid out on the other side of the fire. Close...it was too close. Nafrayu's pose was eerily similar to Charlie's, as he'd been laid out in his...

No. Not another little boy. Damn.

He reached blindly into the pile for another shaft, his other hand pulling out a string to fasten the feathers to the end. His movements were jerky and automatic, his eyes locked on the tableau before him. So focused was he that he didn't hear Carter's approach.

"Sir?" Carter's voice was soft, in deference to the ceremony going on before them.

"Captain?"

"Ah...Teal'c's back."

"Fine."

Carter shuffled her feet in the dirt, stirring the mulch and releasing the mossy scent of the forest. She hesitated, knowing that her next words could rightly earn her a verbal slap from O'Neill. Crossing the line seemed to be something she was doing more and more with her Colonel; however, the pain etched across his face as he stared at the young boy made the gamble worth it.

"He's going to be okay, Sir."

"You don't know that, Captain!"

Despite expecting it, Carter's head jerked back at the Colonel's snarl. No, she didn't know Nafrayu was going to be okay, but she...God, she needed to believe it. That little boy reminded her so much of her nephew. He'd been so sweet when he'd introduced himself to her, laying his small hand on her shoulder. Across the fire, the Nox's humming increased in intensity, reminding her of their own seemingly miraculous recovery.

For a second she flashed back to when Daniel woke her, after the Nox had healed her.

"Colonel?" Frantically she ran her fingers over O'Neill's back, encountering only smooth skin where she knew she should be finding torn and burned flesh. Smooth, soft, and wonderfully warm...

Her fingers tingled briefly with the memory of the smooth skin of O'Neill's back. She shook her head, still unable to believe the Nox had brought them all back from the dead. If they could do that, surely they could work their magic again on one little boy. She closed her eyes and offered up a prayer, hoping it would help whatever force the Nox were using to heal the child.

O'Neill watched his Second's eyes close, already sorry for snapping at her. Damn it, but sometimes she was soft. Too soft. He shivered slightly at the ghostly recollection of Carter's fingers brushing across his back as she and Daniel woke him earlier. Firmly he pushed that memory aside, focusing on the task at hand.

"Look, Captain–"

"No, Sir. Sorry...you're right. I don't know." Carter frowned at the ground, then looked up to catch her CO's eyes. "But I do know that what happened to Nafrayu wasn't our fault..." She took a breath, then plunged in. "It wasn't your fault. Sir. It was Apophis, and we'll get him."

Daring, she laid a hand on O'Neill's arm. "When you're ready, we're over there." Carter walked away, leaving O'Neill to continue wrapping his arrow.

Jack bent his head to check his work, his hands deftly twisting and braiding the string into position. How could he think his young Captain was soft? One minute the woman flinched when he snapped at her, the next she'd let him know–with a few quiet words–that she was ready to take on the meanest bastard he had ever encountered.

With a last glance at the Nox, his gaze lingering on Nafrayu, O'Neill turned to rejoin his team. If the Nox wouldn't protect themselves, then he would step in. Carter's blonde head caught his eye, the bright flash such a contrast to the rest of his team–different in so many ways. He caught her eye and sent her a ghost of a wink. Game on, Captain.