Title: He Only Ever Has Four Nightmares Anymore

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I don't own or have any rights to Stargate or its characters.

Comments: WARNING: SPOILERS FOR TALION! I'm not even sure this story is going to be worth writing, so please review. This is probably more angsty than it needs to be, but Ben Browder just plays "broken" sooo well. This story was brought on by seeing a Farscape pic of him curled in the fetal position, totally made me want to cry, as did parts of this episode.

Mitchell sighed with relief when Landry finally left the observation room, glad that he was at least pretending to buy the falsified report. Not like he'd never told a little white lie on a report before, but this was different. This could easily lose him his job.

He turned his attention back to Teal'c and Bra'tak in the room below him. Their relationship reminded him of him and his dad's: the kindred warrior (or in their case, pilot) spirit, the innate closeness, but most of all, the mutual respect. It was the respect that killed Cam the most. He knew that on some level, Teal'c respected him at least a little, but that wasn't enough for him.

He was so involved with his own thoughts that he didn't realize Bra'tak had left Teal'c to return to his own room. It took another minute to realize that Teal'c was staring at him. Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, Mitchell inclined his head and promptly got the hell out of dodge.

He had some of his own issues to work through before he was ready to talk to Teal'c.

Cam decided to head to his office for the last hour of his day. No one ever looked for him there because he was never in there, and his head could really use some peace and quiet. He needed some time alone to think before everything he was dealing with made its way to the surface.

"Mitchell!"

Cameron did his best to suppress the growl when he heard Daniel call his name. "What's up, Jackson?"

"Oh, nice bruise you got there, betcha got a nasty headache to go along with it, huh?"

Cam let a sliver of the frustration he was feeling seep into his voice, "and some blurred vision. Did you need something?"

Daniel bounced on his heels, slightly taken aback by the other man's sour mood. Of course, if he'd just gotten his ass kicked by someone that was supposed to be a friend, he might be a little pissed off too. "Well, I was going to see if you were up for a game of basketball, but I'm guessing the answer's no?" He continued when he received a nod of affirmation, "so, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He gave Cam a good natured slap on the back.

Mitchell couldn't help but drop to one knee at the sudden pain that flared through his chest. Damn that hurt.

Jackson immediately knelt beside him and winced at Cam's ragged breathing. "Sounds like you forgot to mention the broken ribs to anyone."

"Yeah, nice aim," he wheezed. "Now give me a hand up before someone else sees this." He snatched his arm away when Daniel reached for his right arm though, "other hand."

Jackson nodded and moved to help his team leader to his feet, but it quickly became apparent that Cam wasn't capable of standing on his own yet, so Daniel let them both slide back down to sit against the wall. "What else did you manage to slip by the medical staff while they were preoccupied with Teal'c?"

Cameron silently unbuttoned his sleeve and held up a shaky right arm for Jackson's inspection.

Daniel let out a low whistle at the deep shades of blues and purples covering a good portion of the Col's forearm. "No wonder you've had your shirt sleeves down since we got back. You sure its not broken?"

Cam nodded, and immediately wished he hadn't as it only intensified the pounding in his head, "positive. Look, I'm going to go home, get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." He used the wall to slowly pull himself to his feet.

"Yeah, I don't think so. You're in no condition to drive or be alone tonight." It didn't take an expert in languages, spoken or otherwise, to know that something besides his injuries was bothering Cam. "I'll drive you home, stick around for awhile."

Mitchell was too tired to argue, so he just allowed himself to be led to Jackson's Subaru. It didn't even occur to him that he'd left his keys on the base until they reached his front door. He gave Daniel a sheepish smile as he lifted the doormat to retrieve his hide-a-key. He would have gone head first into the bushes if Jackson hadn't caught him. Note to self…

Daniel kept a hand on him and guided him toward the couch. "Sit, aspirin's in the bathroom?" He didn't wait for an answer and soon returned with three pills and a glass of water. "Got anything in your fridge?"

"Not that's edible." Cam didn't even bother to open his eyes as he answered.

Jackson would have laughed, but the sad fact was that the reply would have been the same no matter whose house he was at. "Thought so, I'll go get us some dinner, be back in a few."

Mitchell waved a dismissive hand in his teammate's direction. He wasn't hungry in the least, but Jackson could so whatever he wanted at this point as long as he was quiet. He waited until he heard the front door close before he rolled onto his uninjured side and wrapped his arms protectively around his broken ribs.

STARGATE: SG-1

Cam's eyes were bugging out of his head as he struggled to draw a breath. Thankfully the hand constricting his throat loosened slightly as the other fist slammed into his already battered face. His attacker appeared to take great pleasure in mixing verbal abuse with the physical.

"You are a great disappointment, Col Mitchell, Gen O'Neill would have never made such a mistake." A feral look hardened the dark eyes. "You should have taken my advice the first time we had this type of conversation."

Cameron collapsed to the ground as the hand was taken away. He was only able to draw a single breath before a large boot was inserted into his ribs. He tried to focus on the tattoo of the face looming over him.

"You will never deserve this position or our respect, and now I shall have to kill you."