Mal stared down at Lee and Oliver from the observation room. There had been little change since they'd turned the heat up, but it had slowed the virus to a virtual crawl. Despite that it was still causing damage and he knew if Dr. Grayson and Van couldn't manage to get the antiviral drug to work they were in trouble. Though General Carter had done her best to get Dr. Farace here, he was occupied and couldn't make it no matter how she tried to convince him that this wasn't something he wanted to pass up on. The result had been a flurry of emails back and forth between Grayson and Farace. Delaney had given him as much information about the virus as he could without the man having clearance in an attempt to get some assistance from him.

He hoped that whatever he'd been told would help to save Lee and her brother.

"How are you doing, Colonel?" Sam asked as she took a seat beside him.

"Not well. All I can do is sit here and watch as they die. There's nothing I can do to stop it from happening. I'm helpless. This isn't an enemy I can see, one I can face and defeat, and I feel useless."

"I've been there. It's difficult to sit back and watch as those you care about suffer. You're here for them and that is what counts. You have helped, Colonel."

He snorted. "Very little."

"If it wasn't for you then Van wouldn't have figured out that the scientist was writing his notes in shorthand and you wouldn't have gone back to the planet and the two of you wouldn't have found that room. I'll remind you that the information you found in that room is instrumental in helping them to craft a cure."

"I appreciate that, ma'am, but it doesn't make me feel any less helpless."

"I didn't expect that it would. I was simply reminding you that you have contributed to the effort to help them." She patted his arm, stood and left.

Yes, he'd contributed, but it was Grayson and Van who were doing the bulk of the work. His phone trilled and he picked it up. The text was from Van. Lab now. He jumped up from his chair and ran down to the lab Van and Delaney were using to try and create the antiviral drug. "What is it?" he asked as he ran into the room.

Van held out a hand and Dr. Grayson slapped a ten dollar bill into it. "Don't bet against the master," Van said cheerily.

"Seriously? You made a bet on how quickly I'd get down here? You're supposed to be working on the antiviral!"

"Don't need to, we've found it. That is why I texted you. The bet on how quickly you'd get here was not the reason I asked you to come." Van was grinning at him.

"You're sure you've got it?"

"Yes, I figured you'd want to be there when we administered it to them," Van explained.

"Yes, I do. Thank you, Van."

"Yup, what are friends for?" He looked at Delaney. "Ready, Doctor?"

"Let's do this." Delaney picked up two syringes and headed out the door.

Mal grabbed Van by the back of his shirt as he passed. "You ever make a bet like that again and next time I won't be so forgiving."

"Right, gotcha, no more bets."

Mal released him. "Good boy, now let's go save Lee and Ollie."

"Yes, sir!" Van hurried out of the lab.

They stopped to put on hazmat suits, then entered the room. Dr. Grayson handed a syringe to Van. "I'll take care of Captain Kain, you get Dr. Kain."

Van nodded and moved over to where Oliver lay. They administered the shots.

"Now what?" Mal asked.

"Now we wait, if it worked we should see an improvement within an hour or so."

"And if it didn't work?" Mal stared at Lee and Oliver.

Delaney sighed and looked from Oliver to Lee. "Then there's nothing more we can do."

Mal stared at the twins. It had to work. He wasn't willing to give up on them. He bent closer to Lee. "You listen to me, Captain, fight this or I swear I will find you wherever you are in the afterlife and drag your ass back here. Is that clear? I'm not going to let you go, not like this. You fight, that's an order and one I expect you to obey." He glanced over to where Oliver was. "Fight it and haul your brother back from the brink with you." He stood back, nodded at Van and left the room.

Van hurried out after him. "Ordering her not to die isn't how it works, Mal."

"It's all I've got. Lee is stubborn and if she believes Oliver will die without her then she'll do everything she can to prevent his death."

"Mal, that's ridiculous! They aren't magically tethered together! Even if Lee were to fight her way back, how the hell do you expect her to save Oliver?"

A grin appeared on his face. "The only way she can, she'll badger him into it."

Van chuckled. "She'd do it too, wouldn't she?"

"Yup. Look, Van, I have no idea if she even heard that stupid little speech, but if there's any chance she can hear what's going on around her then I hope it helped."

"I do too," Van replied. "Want to go get some Jell-O?"

He laughed. "Sounds like a good waste of time while we're waiting." They took off the hazmat suits and started down the corridor. "Do you think that antiviral is going to work?"

"All of our tests and simulations did." Van shrugged.

"Then let's hope it also works in practical testing."

"Agreed."

Mal poked at his Jell-O with a sigh.

"Colonel Hughes and Dr. Walsh to the infirmary."

Mal and Van both jumped up from their seats, the Jell-O forgotten, as they ran from the commissary. Mal was the first through the door. "Doctor?" he asked when he spotted Delaney.

The doctor smiled. "Come, someone wants to see you." He led them through the room, pulled back a curtain and stepped back.

"Captain, you're all right."

Lee's smile was weak. "I swear to you here and now that I will never touch anything without permission again, sir."

Mal laughed. "I won't hold you to that. I know your curiosity tends to override your common sense. It's good to have you back, Captain."

"Damn good to be back, sir. What the hell happened?"

"You and Oliver contracted a virus the Goa'uld were working on. It attacks the ATA gene. It's why you two fell ill and we didn't."

She struggled to sit up. "Oliver! Where's my brother? Is he all right?"

"I'm perfectly fine, though I'm tired and I can't sleep with you yelling!" Oliver's voice came from the opposite side of the bed.

Mal moved over and pulled back the curtain. "Good to see you, Oliver."

"Yeah, yeah, we're all happy. Whooo. Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Someone is a cranky patient," Van said with a smirk.

"He has always been extra cranky when he's sick," Lee told them. "I never want to do that again."

"Agreed," Oliver muttered. "I swear if you don't listen when we tell you not to touch things I'm disowning you."

"Hey, that's not fair!"

Mal laughed. "It's good to see the two of you are back to normal. Get some rest and we'll come back and see you later."

"I'll bring you some Jell-O!" Van announced before he hurried away to talk to Dr. Grayson.

"I'll see you both later," Mal told them. As he turned to go, Lee grabbed his wrist and pulled him to a halt. "Do you need something? I can get the doctor."

She shook her head. "Thank you."

"For what exactly? I think it's the doctor and Van you would be thanking."

She shook her head again. "Yes, and no. I was in so much pain, it felt as if I was burning from the inside out. Like something was tearing out pieces of my soul bit by bit. Then from somewhere distant I heard your voice."

"You needed to know you weren't alone. You needed to know we were all here pulling for the both of you. No one ever gave up."

"It was your voice that dragged me back. I was giving up. The pain was too much and I wanted to get away from it. So thank you for pulling me back. For being there when I needed it."

He nodded. "Always, Captain." He grinned. "Not letting you out of my sight, Kain, you tend to get hurt that way." He left her with a wink.

"You didn't hear anything," Oliver told her.

She snorted. "How would you know?"

He looked at her. "Lee, I was in the same hell you were and I didn't hear anything."

"Ollie, I know you're a scientist and any of the spiritual mumbo jumbo out there in the world is fake to you because you find a logical explanation for it but I'm telling you, I heard Colonel Hughes' voice. I may not have been able to hear what he was saying clearly but I heard him all the same."

"If that's what you want to believe then I won't argue." He shut his eyes with a sigh. "Now, let me sleep."

She grinned at him. He didn't want to believe and that was okay. Whether they were here solely because of the antiviral drug or because of Colonel Hughes it didn't matter to her. All that mattered was that they were alive. And that was good enough for her.