The End...
Even when Colonel Jack O'Neill had first taken up this mission, he'd had a bad feeling about the place. Something about the whole thing that had given him a chill in his bones he knew had nothing to do with the cold. But the urgency behind this mission, the desperate need for it to be a success, had superceded his instincts - he had gone blindly through the Stargate with the rest of his team.
Now staring at the business end of a gun, Jack decided that he should listen to his instincts more often. The colonel had tried to step forward, tried to talk to him, but the gun had swung towards him and all Jack could do was watch helplessly as the hammer cocked into the barrel.
"You don't want to do this," Jack said softly, eyes glued to his face rather than the gun. The colonel wanted to tell him to lower his gun, to say that everything was going to be all right.
But he never had a chance.
The shot rang throughout the forest, it's vibrations echoing, the sound shattering it's natural silence. Strange white birds took flight, suddenly filling the dark emerald sky with their startled calls.
+++++++++++++++++++++
The Beginning...
The blinding light that was shining through the small opening signalled that it was a new day. And, as always, the brightness hurt his eyes. He screwed them shut as tightly as he could and relied on sound alone, like he had in the endless days that had come before.
Too many days. He had lost count.
The sound of heavy footsteps pounding the stone hallways alerted him that he was going to have visitors.
They were coming.
Whimpering, the prisoner shuffled away from the door despite the many times before that he had found it pointless to resist. The guards would come into the room anyway, grab him painfully under the arms, and drag him out to...
To her.
And now they were coming back. Back to return him to her.
Soft cries of fear escaped his parched lips and he couldn't stop himself from trembling. He pressed himself against the wall, praying once more that the shadows of his dank cell would conceal him, praying that the guards would tire of looking for him. That somehow they would not see him hiding, deep in his dark corner where the rats squealed and scampered.
"This one," a voice said from outside the heavy door.
Teeth chattering, he wrapped his arms tightly around a chilled body shaking with minute convulsions. Knees drawn up to his chest, the man tried his very best to hide.
Have to hide. Have to hide. No more. Please. No more.
Clang went the bolt outside, and the thick metal door swung open. The shivering now shook the prisoner's entire body to a point that it sounded deafening to his ears. It was so loud that he didn't hear a gasp from near the doorway, or the soft-spoken cursing. Heavy boots clomped closer to where he was hiding. The rats squealed as one of his visitors kicked them away from him.
"Oh my God," a voice said, as the person speaking reached out to touch him.
Pain.
He whipped out his arms, frantically trying to push them away before the pain returned, but they were stronger than he was. They always were. He had to try! He had to stop the pain! So he fought, ignoring the excruciating needles that were stabbing into his stomach, his side, his back.
"Damn it... hold him still... he..." a gruff voice muttered softly, as someone tried to hold him.
"We have to hurry..."
Another voice, softer... like her voice... It sounded like her voice... No! She was here! In here, right now! He had to stop them from taking him back to her!
"I know, but we have to calm him down first before we can... oww!"
There. He had got one. He could feel the hands let go of him, and he fought harder. But more hands came. They were grabbing him by the ankles so he could no longer kick, clamping down on his shoulders so he couldn't twist away. He couldn't stop himself whimpering, and he heard the sound as it escaped from his throat.
He couldn't do it. They were too strong. Too strong. He was going back to her and the pain was going to start again...
"Damn it!"
"Are you alright?"
"Got me good, but I'm all right. Hold him still, Major. Let me try."
He felt himself being sat up and nausea swept over him like a wave. He found himself up against the wall, it's rough surface rubbing the wounds on his back. He cried out in pain and the gruff voice cursed again.
"Damn, his back is pretty bad. Lean him against me, I'll see if I can carry him."
"I can carry," a deeper voice, one he hadn't heard before.
"No, we need you to help give us cover, or we'll never get us out of here. I'll... I'll do it."
Strong arms, stronger than his, wrapped around his shoulders and under his knees and he found himself being lifted up. The gruff voice grunted.
"Sir?" The soft voice spoke up again.
"Nothing... I just realized..." The gruff voice paused and went deeper. "He's lost weight. He's a lot lighter than I thought. Those bastar-"
"Sir."
The gruff voice sighed, the man's arms tightened around him and he panicked. There was no escape now. He was going back. Why hadn't he fought harder?
He struggled against the gruff voice's hold but he felt the grip tightening. His lip trembled and he couldn't silence the panicked sounds that came mewling out of his mouth.
"Shh... It's okay. It's over. We're taking you home."
The words made no sense to him, but the tone was not harsh like the others had been. He opened his eyes cautiously. The light spilling in from the opened doorway burned his eyes and he shut them again quickly. The gruff voice cursed again and, from somewhere, he had a vague notion that this person did that a lot.
"Shit, Carter, get my glasses off. Put them on him."
He felt something being placed over his eyes and he stiffened. It was her device again!
They were here to give him pain. No! No!
"Sir!"
He felt himself fall to the ground as his struggles loosened the gruff speaker's grip on him. He cried out as hard stone touched tender bruises and he tried desperately to roll away. But his escape stopped when his throbbing shoulder met with the damp walls again. A strangled noise of frustration broke from of his lips as he realized that there was no escape.
"It's okay." The gruff voice was back. Closer. He could feel it's breath right over his own face.
"Open your eyes. Come on." The gruff voice faded a bit as it turned away from him for a moment.
"No. Let me handle this. It's okay. Just keep an eye out for me. See if the others are ready yet."
It sounded so familiar. Where had he heard it before? He knew the name for the voice. He...wait...it was...it was...
"Ja'k?" he croaked out and nearly jumped at the sound of his own voice. It sounded horrible, like the wind wailing through the cracks in a wall. It was barely audible.
Apparently though, it sounded more like music to this Jack. He could hear the smile, the relief in the voice as the man replied.
"Yeah It's me. Open your eyes. It's okay."
"Light..." he said in a small voice, shaking his head weakly. "Hurts..."
"Carter placed glasses on you. It's okay. Come on. Open them up. You need to see us here."
"...Dream."
"No dream." A hand reached out and gripped his shoulder tentatively. "Shh... it's just me... it's okay. Just open your eyes."
It was like trying to open rusty windows. They didn't open immediately. He had to scrunch his eyes closed before trying and his body tensed automatically, preparing itself for the burning sensation of light so long unseen. But when his eyes finally opened, all he saw was darkness. He gasped and twisted around to see... to try to see anything at all.
"Easy, easy," Jack's voice came again out of the darkness, his other hand now on his face to still the panicked movements.
"It's the sunglasses. They're dark, but you should still be able to see the door. D'you see it?"
He nodded numbly when the faint outline began to appear before his eyes and he relaxed. He could feel Jack's arms slipping behind his back and knees again, ready to lift him. Where are they going? His hand shot out, not to strike this time, but to grab onto anything. His feeble fingers found cloth. Jack's flak jacket.
"Take it easy. I'm just going to lift you up and get you out of here. Okay?"
He nodded. It was too hard to speak.
"Okay. Just hang on tight, Danny and we'll-"
Wait, what was that?
He moved his other hand to clutch the jacket more tightly. "Wh't?"
"Huh? What is it?"
"Wh't you c-call m...me?" He wanted to hear the name. He *needed* to hear the name.
Jack's voice sounded very sad. "Danny. I called you Danny. Christ. Your name... it's Daniel Jackson. Do you remember? Doctor Daniel Jackson."
Tears trickled down his pale face, down the faint stubble of a beard, and he nodded mutely. He had to be sure. He had to be sure it wasn't the... other name that she had called him by. He had to be sure.
"Danny?" Arms tightened around him, but this time, Daniel knew that these were safe arms. Not the arms of someone here to hurt him. Not their arms. Not even-
"I..." Daniel whispered, barely audible. He felt Jack tilts his head closer to his face. "I... d-don't want... to stay... h-here... Ja'k... p-please."
"You're not. You're going home. We're not leaving you here."
Jack's voice sounded choked, as the grip became even tighter, almost to a point that it hurt - Daniel wasn't complaining. Daniel heard Jack cough awkwardly then, as he turned to the others.
"Let's go, kids. Let's get him out of here."
Daniel felt himself moving, cradled in his friend's protective arms. As they stepped through the doorway, Daniel felt air caressing his face for the first time in longer than he could recall, and he panicked.
Was it a trick?
"Daniel?" Jack whispered, feeling the tension return to Daniel's body.
"P-please..." Daniel stuttered faintly. "D-don't leave... me... here again... p-please..."
His body felt heavy. A great weight was pressing down on his chest, on his eyes, forcing them closed. It was forcing his body to sag against Jack's chest, the colonel's jacket rubbing roughly against his cheek. Spinning him around, pulling at him, the darkness took Daniel into itself, with a promise of relief, and he went to it obediently.
"What?" Jack asked confused, but Daniel could no longer reply. His head lolled back against the arms that held him and he drifted away.
"It should be pretty routine, Jack," Daniel commented.
He flipped through the folder's contents, oblivious to the fact that people in the hallway were dodging him, as he walked aimlessly, wandering in all directions.
"SG-5 found no functioning village... oops, sorry... around the Stargate in P7J973, but the dig site should have some interesting info... pardon me... on what must have happened to them. Strange though... oh sorry."
Daniel apologized as he bumped into another technician, who barely held on to all the test tubes he was transporting.
"The village looks fairly recent and yet the fragments we found so far seems to suggest abandonment maybe over a hundred years. I... oh! Excuse me, sorry!" Daniel yelped, nearly tripping as a cart from the labs brushed against him.
Jack rolled his eyes upward and grabbed Daniel by the elbow to steer him.
"For crying out loud, Daniel. Will you watch where you're walking?"
Daniel finally looked up and blinked.
"What?"
"Never mind."
Jack shook his head as he glared at the soldiers who were walking by, looking amused. He thought he heard someone mutter something about a mother, but he wasn't sure.
"Watch out! Gangway! Excuse us! Coming through!" Jack yelled, half-dragging Daniel through the hallway to their destination.
"Jack!" Daniel spluttered, as he had to jog to keep up with Jack. The colonel had latched onto his elbow, and was almost pulling him along.
"Wait! I-"
"We're here," Jack announced as they reached the lab doors marked Video.
Daniel glared at his friend, pushing up his glasses with his index finger.
"Thanks a lot, Jack. I think I left my boots back in C-3!"
"Look, you were running into every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the hallways back there-"
"I was not!" Daniel exclaimed.
"You had your face in that folder. Any closer and I would have had to have scraped it off your face!" Jack grumbled, opening the doors to the lab.
"You're exaggerating..." Daniel protested as he entered the lab after Jack. "Okay, I admit it, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going-"
"Ha!" Jack said triumphantly.
"However," Daniel stressed the word, glaring at Jack, "that doesn't mean you can start dragging me along like a mop, yelling for everyone to get out of the way!"
Jack grinned at the image.
"I wouldn't call it a mop, Jackson. Your hair is too short for that now."
"Jaack."
The colonel chuckled.
"Look. Get your stuff, whatever you need for this mission while I talk to Sanders about-"
Daniel looked confused.
"What do you need to talk to Major Sanders for? I thought he was leading the SG-5 team on this mission."
"He is, but I just want to go over some things with him before the mission."
Daniel crossed his arms, looking at Jack suspiciously. To his surprise, the colonel actually looked... flustered.
"What? What?" Jack defended himself. "Sanders needs to be warned about you and your... quirks."
"Quirks?" Daniel practically squeaked the word out. "What do you mean quirks?"
"Running around without telling anyone where you're going, picking up every rock you see without checking, jumping up to every native who approaches and-" Jack counted them off with his fingers.
"Jack! It's just a dig! It's not the first time I've been assigned to another team temporarily." Daniel sighed. "I don't think we'll be seeing any natives for me to greet anyway!"
"Still-"
"Jack!"
Daniel waved his arms, throwing them up in frustration.
"Look, I guess I'm... touched that you're concerned, but I'm very sure it'll be okay. No aliens, no major natural disasters, no-" Daniel stopped when he saw the doubtful look on the colonel's face. "What? You want to put a leash on me, with one end tied to the steel girders back here in the SGC?"
Jack grinned crookedly. He dropped an arm around Daniel's shoulders as he chuckled. "Nah. We can't sustain the wormhole that long."
"Jaack."
The colonel chuckled again, but sobered suddenly as he stepped away from Daniel.
"Look, we're not there to predict your... unpredictability so you've got to watch out for yourself. Do you hear me?"
Daniel was taken aback by how serious Jack was.
"Jack, I-"
Jack shrugged, trying to make it look like no big deal.
"All the shit that's been going on, I'm getting a bad feeling about this. That's all."
"Maybe I should-" Daniel started.
"No." Jack shook his head. "I'm just feeling paranoid. Just go on your field trip, play nice and bring back some nice rock that you'll bore me to tears with your tales about."
"Artifact," Daniel corrected his friend with a smile.
"Whatever."
Jack grinned as he watched Daniel, who was shaking his head and looking exasperated. Jack half-listened as his friend went on about the differences between a rock and an artifact, all the while watching him gather together the equipment he would need for the mission.
That would be the last time he saw Daniel. The anthropologist had disappeared soon after the team arrived at P7J973.
Jack jerked awake and found himself back in the infirmary, back in the private room where Daniel had laid unconscious for the past two days. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and reached behind to a sore muscle on his back. He winced as he tried to massage the kinks out of a back that had been seated in too hard a chair for way too long.
"I can have one of the nurses bring up a cot for you," a soft voice said from the doorway.
Turning only his head, since the rest of his body seemed to have melded with the chair, Jack grimaced when he saw Doctor Janet Fraiser standing there with a sympathetic look on her face.
"I'm fine just where I am, thank you," Jack grumbled, as he shifted again. He winced as he heard a joint pop.
"Have you eaten yet, colonel?"
"How're Sanders and the others?" Jack pointedly ignored the question.
Janet sighed, knowing that Jack was evading the issue again.
"Major Sanders is still in a coma. We just lost Smith and Tesh. I don't know about Sergeant Stone. He... he might not last the night."
"Damn," Jack cursed softly, feeling his shoulders sag with the thought. "Then Daniel might be the only one who is able to tell us what happened during those three days."
Jack rubbed his eyes wearily - they were feeling as though someone had poured sand into them.
"There's nothing you can do for him right now, colonel," Fraiser said softly. "It will probably be quite some time before Daniel wakes up. He's been dehydrated for a long time, and those burns on his chest and scalp were infected. He needs time to heal and that means keeping him sedated for now, at least until the fever goes down."
Jack scowled as he listened to the information Janet was giving him.
"What about his back?"
"Well, he's lying on his side now so he doesn't aggravate the wounds but..." Janet paused.
"What?" Jack asked tiredly.
"I think you shouldn't really concern yourself over the cosmetic details of his injuries, colonel," Janet said softly, seeing the older man stiffen. "His wounds will heal. I'm just concerned with the ones medicine can't reach."
Jack nodded.
"I wasn't worried about scarring." He paused. "Will there be scarring?"
"Probably." Janet's voice was tinged with sadness, both for the man who sat there waiting, for the man who was lying drugged on the bed. She felt for both souls who would have to steel themselves, when the time was right, to face what had happened.
"Whoever did this to Daniel, made sure that it would hurt, that it would bleed. They wanted the torture to las-"
"I get the idea," Jack interrupted harshly. "Dammit, you don't have to tell me what those bastards did. I have eyes. Just tell me that the moment he wakes up, it'll be over for him."
"I think you know the answer to that."
Jack sighed heavily. "Damn."
"But it will be over for him, maybe not now, but later."
Janet studied the grim set of Jack's jaw, the way his eyes watched Daniel intently while he was sleeping, and the way Jack's hands were clenched into tight fists.
"I think you'll make sure of it. Won't you... Jack?"
"I shouldn't need to be worrying about that," Jack said softly. "He shouldn't even be here. I shouldn't be here cursing everything that's holy right now, wondering why life could be so unfair to a guy who would never even try to hurt anyone deliberately."
"He'll be okay."
The doctor ventured closer and dared to place a gentle hand on Jack's shoulder. No one else had tried to approach the colonel for those two days while he had sat a vigil over his friend. Even Sam and Teal'c couldn't get the colonel to leave. His rigid back basically screamed for everyone to back off.
"I mean, he made it this far, right?"
"For a while there," Jack confessed. "We didn't even think he was going to make it at all."
"Colonel O'Neill," a voice from behind spoke, halting Jack in his tracks.
He turned around, careful of the burden he was carrying. Lieutenant Johnson of SG-3 lagged behind him, his arms full with the stretcher that carried Major Sanders.
"We're going to need to stop for a second, colonel," Johnson said, glancing behind him to his own men. "Smith's getting worse. We're gonna need to get some fluids into him."
Jack nodded wearily in agreement.
"It'll still be a while before we reach the Stargate. Carter," Jack called out. Sam came up from front guard immediately. "You and Tomes search for a water source. Teal'c said he heard running water earlier. We'll make a rest stop here for the time being."
Sam nodded, pausing only to gently brush back a stray strand from Daniel's clammy forehead, before silently cutting through the brush, away from them. Two other soldiers, Booker and Sterns, took over guarding the area, keeping an eye out for guards who might be still pursuing them.
The colonel tracked her journey only until she disappeared into the landscape. He then carefully turned away and was startled to find Teal'c standing right there.
"May I be of assistance, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked solemnly, extending his hands out to offer to take over his burden.
Jack smiled wearily and shrugged.
"I don't know if you can pry him off of me," he remarked, nodding towards the claw-like grip Daniel had on his jacket.
So, instead of taking Daniel, Teal'c merely helped Jack sit down on the ground, carefully positioning Daniel between them. They used Jack's pack as a pillow, both their jackets placed over his frail body to ward off the chill. Daniel's head lolled back, against Teal'c's thigh and the Jaafa pushed the young man's head back with a gentleness Jack had not imagined possible from him.
A shadow loomed over them and Teal'c started.
"Whoa, it's just me," Johnson's dark face came into view. He frowned down at Daniel. "How's he doing?"
"Bad," Jack said tersely, not yet removing the two fingers he had placed over Daniel's carotid artery. "He's burning up right now."
Daniel murmured something, brow furrowing worriedly as if he was picking up on Jack's concern. Jack squeezed Daniel on his good shoulder and watched as the anthropologist sighed softly before drifting back to sleep again.
"Smith might not make it," Johnson said softly, his eyes going back to the men laid out on the stretchers, back to where his own team members were desperately attending to their fallen comrades. "Shit. This was supposed to be a milk run operation. What the hell happened to them?"
Jack narrowed his eyes. Three days. It had taken three days of scouring the planet before they had found the underground complex. Three days before they were able to return with SG-3, break in and find their comrades. They had been locked in separate cells like animals, barely conscious enough to realize that they had been rescued.
Three days.
Damn it all to hell, Jack thought.
"It was most unfortunate that we were unable to extract a prisoner for questioning," Teal'c said coldly. He looked like he had wanted to do the... questioning himself.
Johnson shook his head. "Damnedest thing I ever saw. They outright shot themselves rather than be captured." The team leader's eyes darkened with the memory.
"I didn't recognize the symbols on their foreheads, Teal'c," Jack murmured. "Did you?"
Teal'c shook his head. "I regret I do not. It is a symbol I have not seen before."
"Tomes didn't recognize it as Egyptian," Johnson said, referring to his team linguist, who had left with Carter in search of water.
"Sir!" A voice said from behind.
The three men turned their heads to see a tall soldier named Anderson, his face stained with camouflage paint, waving frantically at them. He ran up to them, stopping a bit away from Daniel.
"Smith's awake, sir."
"Teal'c," Jack said urgently, easing Daniel over to the Jaafa. Teal'c just nodded, taking the bundle carefully. Jack took one last look at Daniel before forcing himself to follow Johnson over to the other men.
A bloody face with glazed gray eyes, stared back unblinkingly at the men hovering over him.
"S-sir?"
"Relax, lieutenant," Jack murmured, kneeling down besides the soldier. "It's SG-1 and SG-3."
"G-god... wh... wh't kept you?" Smith breathed.
Johnson sat on his heels. "I wish we'd gotten here sooner, Tom. I really do."
"T-two weeks..." Smith croaked out, tremors racking his body, his hand shooting out to grasp Johnson by the arm. "W-we tried... ever... everyt-thing... b-but we c-couldn't... too m-many gu'rds..."
Johnson and Jack looked at each other puzzled. Jack mouthed "Two weeks?" to the other man, who shrugged.
"Smith," Jack leaned closer anxiously. "Did you see who they were?"
"N-no... D-doc... Jackson... m-might have..." Smith coughed harshly, hunching over. Anderson grabbed the soldier by the shoulders, bracing him.
"Easy, Tom," Anderson soothed, shooting a worried glance over to his CO. "Man, the things you do to back out of being my best man at next week's wedding."
Smith laughed, though the sound was more like a sob than a chuckle.
"I... t'ld you... h'te speeches... And'rson..." Anderson laughed too, though it sounded a little strained.
"Smith," Jack spoke again. "What did you mean Doctor Jackson might have seen?"
"The... the gu'rds... kept takin' Ja'kson out... ev'ryday... he... shit!"
Smith's back arched as pain raced through his body.
"Tom!" Anderson exclaimed, bracing the soldier down firmly. Jack cursed - he tried to grab Smith's ankles, to hold him still, but it wasn't necessary because suddenly, Smith groaned. His body shuddered and then stilled.
"Smith?" Johnson whispered, tentatively shaking the soldier's arm, but getting no response. He checked the pulse. Sighing, Johnson rocked back on his heels. "Still with us."
Jack didn't say one word, as he brooded over what Smith had told him.
"They targeted Doctor Jackson," Anderson voiced Jack's thought aloud. "What the hell did they want with him?"
"I don't know," Jack muttered, "but they won't have him or anyone else. They'll have to walk over my bloody bones before they can."
"O'Neill," Teal'c called out softly.
Jack and Johnson turned around in time to see Carter and Tomes return with water. The two soldiers set out to distribute it, Jack taking the canteen Carter handed to him and going over to Daniel.
"Teal'c, sit him up," Jack said quietly, kneeling down once more by his friend.
He bit his lower lip to stop the urge to scream with rage when he saw the stark contrast between white skin and dark bruises.
"We've got to clean some of these burns a bit."
Jack focused on the angry welts running along the temples, disappearing into Daniel's hair. Jack silently thanked whoever it was up there, whoever was keeping Daniel unconscious so the young man wouldn't feel this. But then he remembered that whoever he might be thanking up there might also be considered to have had a hand in putting Daniel in the situation in the first place.
But the blame couldn't be shouldered solely by some powerful being.
Cool water trickled out of the canteen's mouth, washing over Daniel's hair. Rivulets of blood mixed with water flowed down from hidden wounds, washing down Daniel's face, making it into a frightening red mask. Jack swore softly, but didn't stop until he was certain the wounds were washed clean. He carefully parted the damp strands of Daniel's hair, wincing inwardly at the sores he found there. Not daring to wrap anything over those wounds, Jack had to content himself with washing the burns, with trying to cool them down a little.
"Sir."
Carter, done with the others, hunched down by her teammates. She cast her eyes towards where Daniel lay, making a sound that she promptly squelched.
"H-here's some more water."
Jack admired her restraint. The colonel himself felt the urge to begin ranting, to start throwing things, breaking things. Anything was better than just sitting here like a lump, nothing more than a cushion for his friend to lean on.
"O'Neill," Teal'c's soft voice cut through Jack's thoughts. "He appears to be waking."
Shit, Jack thought as he looked down at Daniel, where he was resting his head in the hollow of Jack's shoulder. He could feel Daniel's fingers curling subconsciously, as if feeling for the cloth he had been clutching onto before. When Daniel's fingers found nothing, the young man stiffened, and his eyes flew open.
"Whoa, easy there," Jack soothed as he felt the young man buck in his arms. Teal'c and Carter leaned forward anxiously. "It's okay. We're right here."
"Ja'k?" Daniel whispered. He coughed, shuddering at the pain that ensued.
The older man nodded. "Right here. We're all here."
"H'me?" Daniel whispered desperately. His fingers found Jack's flak jacket again and weakly curled around the fabric.
"W-we're almost there, Daniel," Sam's voice broke a bit. She took a deep breath before she continued. "Do... are you thirsty?"
"Y-yes."
"Teal'c," Jack said quietly.
The Jaafa nodded, understanding immediately. He took hold of Daniel, carefully positioning the man so that he would lean against the Jaafa's sturdy chest. One arm was braced over Daniel's chest to keep him still, the other on Daniel's cheek to keep his head upright.
"Small sips," Jack warned as he tilted the canteen slowly to Daniel's cracked lips.
He watched as Daniel opened his mouth, letting the cool water trickle down his dry throat. Daniel tensed, suddenly coughing.
"Daniel!" Sam called out, reaching out to brace her friend.
Daniel whimpered, curling over Teal'c's arm as coughs racked his body into convulsions. The Jaafa, alarmed, shuffled away a bit to rub his hand up and down Daniel's back. But it didn't help and the young man's face was beginning to turn red from his exertions.
Jack nearly fell when Daniel crashed against him, his tremors literally breaking him free from Teal'c's grip. Automatically, Jack's arms flew up and around his friend. Jack found himself murmuring... anything and everything... as he rubbed Daniel's back, his hands moving in small circles. Finally, he felt Daniel begin to calm down, moaning as he crumpled into Jack's hold.
"Danny?" Jack asked softly.
Shaking his head, Daniel didn't look up. Jack carefully turned Daniel until he was facing up and Carter gasped.
"Sir," Sam said, her eyes glued to Jack's uniform.
Jack looked down and froze at the sight of the blood staining his jacket. He opened his mouth, about to say something, when Daniel moaned again.
"It's... not tr'e..." Daniel whimpered.
"What?" Sam came closer, not quite hearing him. "Daniel?"
"Ja'k?" Daniel looked up, his eyes unfocused, still looked anxious. "Not... t-true?"
"I don't understand, Daniel," Jack answered softly.
Daniel's face crumpled, silent sobs heaving painfully in his chest.
"N-not true? P-please, Ja'k... it's... n-not true?"
"O'Neill."
"Sir."
The two looked at Jack worriedly, but the man couldn't think of anything to say to reassure Daniel.
So Jack lied to him.
"No, Danny." Jack tightened his grip on the young man. "It's not true."
"P-promise?" Daniel whispered, his body visibly relaxing.
Jack bowed his head slightly.
"Promise. I promise, Danny. It's not true."
The young man buried his face in Jack's uniform, shuddering as he tried vainly to hold on to the cloth. Jack closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, trying to tell himself that this wasn't Iraq. That this wasn't some fresh faced soldier dying in his arms, listening to him lie about how they would break out of prison soon.
This is different. It's not the same.
Jack kept repeating this to himself, over and over again, even as he was placing one shaky hand over Daniel's fingers, squeezing them so that they could clutch the jacket more tightly.
"Just hold on all you want, Daniel," Jack said softly. "It's just a little bit longer."
"'K..." Daniel sighed.
To their horror, Daniel shivered once and then became still.
"Jack?"
The colonel shuddered, pulling back from his memories, from reliving the horror of trying to coax a weak heart to start pumping again, from remembering how that heart fluttered and stopped again when they finally reached the Stargate. Those two times had nearly made Jack's own heart stop as he had begun CPR, pressing down on Daniel's chest almost frantically, Carter doing the breathing for Daniel. It resulted in two cracked ribs, but Daniel was still stubbornly clinging on to life.
Janet stepped in front of Jack.
"Colonel?" She bent down a little, reaching out to shake him by the shoulder. "Jack?"
Startled, Jack tensed, his arm whipping up to knock her hand away. Janet gasped, staggering back to avoid the blow. Her soft cry brought Jack back to awareness.
"Wha- Oh shit."
Jack stood up, grabbing Janet before she could fall.
"You okay?"
"I should be asking you that."
Janet composed herself, smoothing out her white lab coat, aware she was using the gesture to hide her shaking hands.
"Crap, I was thinking." Jack swore when he saw the doctor's trembling hands stick themselves into her pockets.
"Very powerful thinking, colonel," the doctor joked lightly.
Jack scowled but didn't comment on that.
"Get some rest," Janet said softly. "Like I said before, it'll be some time before Daniel will come to. I can send someone to get you when he does."
She pressed on even when Jack wearily shook his head.
"You can't keep this up. He's going to need your help later, but I'm afraid by then you won't be much help to him."
Jack was opening his mouth to say something when a red faced soldier burst in through the infirmary's double doors.
"Colonel O'Neill! We have a situation here! ! Smith... and... Major Carter-"
Before Jack could ask what was going on, he could hear shouting coming from down the hallway. With one last look at Daniel, Jack raced out of the double doors to find the source of the noise. Janet and the soldier were behind him.
"What happened?" the doctor demanded as she followed Jack down the hall, turning the corner.
Vaguely, she noted that they were heading for the morgue. Already a few soldiers who had heard the commotion were rushing in the same direction to help.
"Major Carter had got the toxicology reports from Doctor Collins. She was going to bring them over to you when Smith suddenly got up from the table and grabbed he-"
"What?" Fraiser exclaimed. "Smith?"
Jack skidded to a halt in front of them.
"I thought you said Smith was dead!" Jack demanded.
"He... he was. He suffered massive internal injuries and went into cardiac arrest on the table. We tried for over ten minutes. There was no brain activity, no pulse, no-"
Fraiser was at a loss for words.
Another crash was heard and suddenly a soldier came bursting out of the doors leading to the morgue. He stumbled slightly before dropping to the ground.
"Then who," Jack grated out, pointing to the scene with a jerk of his thumb, "did that?"
Not bothering to wait for a response, Jack reached the morgue, flinging open the doors as, back in the corridor, Fraiser was helping out the felled soldier.
"Carter!" Jack shouted as he ducked behind the lab table. He wrinkled his nose at the sour smells of chemicals from shattered bottles. "You okay?"
"Not... really, sir."
Jack looked over in the direction of her voice, from behind his shelter, and tensed.
Carter was standing there stiffly, immobilized by a dead man.
"Tom! What the hell are you doing?"
Sergeant Anderson was there, his face a mix of shock and concern. Jack could imagine how the man must have been feeling. To grieve for a good friend, to believe him dead, then to find him alive and holding someone hostage....
"Tom! Look at me! It's-"
"You keep away from me!" Smith shouted, tightening his grip on Carter's neck.
His eyes were glazed, but were darting wildly at the soldiers surrounding him. His face was a frightening mass of purple bruises. He was holding a broken beaker with his other hand. Jack waved the other soldiers back with his hand and a shake of his head. Anderson paused, torn, but finally another soldier jerked him back. Jack sighed. Last thing he wanted now was to have Smith panic.
Even though technically, the man was dead.
"You get away from me!" Smith bellowed as he saw one of the soldiers take another step.
Okay... maybe not a dead man, Jack thought to himself.
He stood up from behind where he had been sheltering, his hands in the air to show he was hiding no weapons. Smith started when he saw the colonel.
"Lieutenant," Jack said carefully. "What's going on here?"
"I'm not dead!" Smith said in a panicked voice.
"I can see that." Jack replied calmly. "You certainty don't look dead to me."
Smith swung his arm wildly.
"They were going to cut me open! They didn't hear me screaming for them to stop!"
Wincing, Jack eyed the surgical tools on the tray, thankfully still out of the crazed man's reach.
"But they didn't do it, did they?"
"That's why you guys left us?" Smith asked, in a distressed voice.
His arm had begun to shake. Carter winced as the grip around her throat began to tighten.
"You guys thought we were all dead and just left us!"
"But we didn't leave you behind."
The colonel tried to take another step closer. Smith jumped and waved his makeshift weapon towards Jack now. Carter grunted as the chokehold began to increase. She coughed as she felt her oxygen supply beginning to falter and grabbed weakly at the soldier's massive arm. Her eyes stayed glued on the colonel's face, waiting for a signal, a sign.
Jack, realizing that time was growing short, dared to take another step.
"We came back, Smith. Remember? We got you out of that place."
"T-two weeks." Smith stuttered. "It... we... we were in that hellhole for two weeks!"
"S-smith," Carter croaked out before Jack could stop her. "You were missing three days. Not... urk!"
"You're lying!" Smith raged, his pale face flushed now. "You're lying! I was there! Not you! You weren't there when they came every goddamn night, dragging us out like animals, beating us with their sticks, hearing him scream!"
Who? Jack thought as he slowly took another step. "Major's telling you the truth, Lieutenant. You were gone three days."
"You w-weren't there..." Smith whispered as he continued to back away from the circle of men. "You didn't hear us... hear him... screaming for help... God, we tried everything... even h-hanging ourselves but those bastards," Smith swallowed, his body beginning to shake. "Those b-bastards wouldn't let us die. And you left us!"
Smith's eyes suddenly flashed, focussing on Jack.
"I-I saw you! You left us there to die!"
Jack was taken aback. "Wha-?"
Smith began screaming again.
"Don't lie! I saw you! He was screaming for you to help him! He kept calling your name! I heard him every night until his voice gave out! Every goddamn night! And you came and left him there! Left all of us there to rot in that hell! You!"
With that, Smith let go of Carter and lunged for Jack. The woman stumbled weakly, falling down hard onto her knees.
The older man, too surprised at first to react, was thrown back by the force of Smith's weight upon him. Before he could roll away, Jack felt hands around his throat. He threw up his own hands to grasp at the wrists to try and pull them away. Two soldiers jumped on top of Smith, trying to pull him off, but with a roar, the lieutenant threw them off. Jack wrenched away and tried to take a step back when Smith tackled him. The two crashed into the cabinets hard. On impact, Jack heard something snap in his chest and he grunted.
"You! You just walked out and left us there!" Smith screamed, his pupils like pinpricks.
Jack could see the other soldiers trying to physically remove him, not daring to draw their gun on their comrade.
"Tom! Let him go, you're killing him!" Anderson shouted, grabbing for an arm.
What the sergeant got instead was a fist to his mouth. Jack tried to take advantage of the distraction and roll away, but Smith's grip was surprisingly like iron.
Pretty strong for a dead guy, Jack thought faintly as spots began to dance in front of his eyes.
He tried to push the body away by kicking out his feet, but for some reason, his legs were like butter. The shouting above him faded into whispers, the fluorescent lights dimmed to shadows and his hands began to slip.
Then suddenly, there was air.
Jack coughed, gasping as he suddenly found himself able to breathe. The weight that was on his chest and the impossibly strong grip on his throat were gone. He blinked blearily and saw a worried Fraiser to his left, Carter to his right, and Teal'c looming above him.
"Are you alright, O'Neill?" the Jaafa asked worriedly, still holding on the ranting soldier in a headlock.
He stood there calmly as the soldier clawed at his arms, twisting and kicking without jarring the alien at all.
"Colonel?" Fraiser tried to help him up. "How are you feeling?"
"...Peachy," Jack managed before he passed out.
The cell reeked of decay and sweat, it's stone walls barely muffling the sounds of screaming and begging from the other cellmates. He sat there, in the corner, waiting for the same shadow to pass by, stop by his door, and shove the plate of food through the little door.
During his imprisonment, he had contemplated using that slot on the edge of the door, perhaps to grab one of the guards by the ankles and trip them, to maybe try and grab their keys. But he had tried stretching his hand out and all he had got was a vicious stomp to his hand, so hard that his hand had been left throbbing for days.
Or was it weeks?
He couldn't tell any more. He was too tired to scratch any more marks on the walls, which he had been doing to try and keep up with the transitions from day to night. But he knew that it had been long. The only thing that kept him alive, kept him burning with determination to escape, was the thought of who had left him behind.
"T-they here?" a weak voice asked.
He looked down at his lap, to the frail, painfully young face resting there. Blue eyes that barely saw him blinked wearily.
"No," He replied, his own voice cracking from thirst, from anger-
From fear.
Yes. He knew fear now. It was the feeling of not knowing, the feeling of helplessness, the feeling of hands shaking of their own accord.
It tasted like bile rising up in his throat, like dry lips that hadn't tasted cool clean water in a long time.
He knew now that he didn't like fear. He much preferred hate.
"D-do... do you think they've... g-given up?"
He looked down again, his eyes shuttered to hide the hate in them.
"No."
"I... It's been so l-long..."
"They're looking for us," he said simply.
The head on his lap nodded weakly.
"Of c-course... sorry..."
"It's okay."
He had to be the strong one here, for those who were still left.
"I'm s-scared."
The trembling admission stopped him from making his usual replies. He paused, wondering how to respond. To admit it himself, would mean to let that sickening taste of fear back into his mouth, letting it to overwhelm him.
"They're coming," he said dully, the script too stale for him to inject some hope into it.
Nevertheless, the words eased the lines of pain on the younger man's face and he curled up onto his side, head still on his lap and went to sleep.
And each and every day, he said the same lines, said the same lies, until that young man died.
"Colonel O'Neill?" a soft voice asked, hand on his shoulder, anchoring him back to the present.
Jack opened his eyes, half expecting his surroundings to be dark and damp. When he saw fluorescent lights instead, he blinked, and his mind flashed back to-
"Smith."
The colonel tried to sit up, only to find that he was on a hospital bed, his shirt gone and a brace wrapped tightly round his chest. Jack stared at it stupidly, wondering what had happened.
"You cracked a rib, sir," the soft voice spoke again.
Jack turned his head and saw Carter there, seated to his left. She smiled at him, looking relieved to see that Jack looked like he was alert.
"Where's Smith?" Jack croaked out.
He was surprised to hear his voice sound so harsh. Then he looked back at Carter, saw her reddened neck and remembered Smith's hands on his throat.
Jack also remembered his words.
"Don't lie! I saw you! He was screaming for you to help him! He kept calling your name! I heard him every night until his voice gave out! Every goddamn night! And you came and left him there! Left all of us there to rot in that hell! You!"
"Where's Smith?" Jack repeated, eyes searching the infirmary.
They fell upon Daniel instead and Jack swallowed. For a moment there, another face superimposed itself over Daniel's, but when Jack squinted it wavered, returning to the pale features of the anthropologist.
"Teal'c's with him right now," Carter explained, not realizing that her CO's mind was elsewhere now. "Janet needed all the help she could get to restrain him. The tranquilizer she gave him wasn't enough and-"
Jack swung his legs around and was off the bed before Carter could stop him.
"Sir!" Carter stretched out her hands to catch him, but Jack waved her off.
"I'm okay."
Jack was glad to see his shirt hanging on a hook by the bed. Slowly, he pulled his arms through the sleeves of his shirt with a wince.
"I just want answers. Like how a dead guy can get up and start walking like that."
"That's what I like to know, Colonel."
Janet walked in with Teal'c and General Hammond.
"Sir," Jack greeted the general.
"Colonel O'Neill," Hammond returned, eyeing the man critically. "Should you even be up?"
Janet sighed.
"Could I even keep him down?"
Shrugging, Jack grimaced at the dull ache in his chest and mentally reminded himself to never do that again.
"Where's Smith?"
"Isolation," Fraiser told him, writing something down on her clipboard. "That tranquilizer is burning out of his system so fast... We had to remove the beds and furniture just in case-"
"Doc," Jack interrupted, "no offense, but I think the more important question is why we even needed to do that in the first place. We were already saying our good-byes to a good man when he suddenly wakes up... different."
"I don't know," Janet confessed. "We've haven't been able to calm him down enough to get a blood sample. We tried to get a jacket on him to immobilize him but he was too violent. Teal'c barely was able to hold on to him long enough for us to move him to isolation."
General Hammond thought about this for a moment.
"Do you think there is a connection between this and their capture?"
He paused. The General already knew the answer and, by the grim looks on the others' faces, they had come up with the same conclusion.
"He'll exhaust himself soon and with that large dose of tranquilizers I gave him," Janet said quietly, "I'll be able to take another blood sample."
"And find out why the dead are walking," Jack finished.
He turned his head over to the bed a few rows away. Jack's eyes narrowed as he focused on Daniel's still figure.
"How's Daniel doing?"
"If his temperature keeps rising like that-" The doctor didn't finish. "Sanders hasn't waken up yet either."
"Two weeks," Sam said abruptly. "Smith... back there, he was shouting about two weeks. Sir?"
The Captain turned to Jack questioningly.
"I don't understand it either, Carter," Jack murmured. "They were gone for three days, not two weeks."
"It could have been a ploy," General Hammond said in a voice tinged with memory. "By whoever did this. They could have tricked them into thinking it was longer than it really was. To wear down their defenses."
Teal'c nodded. "Perhaps to break down their resolve. In order to gain the information they require in the smallest amount of time."
"But what information?" Sam protested "Smith... none of them... mentioned that they were interrogated, just..." She swallowed. "Just tortured."
"They might not have remembered." Jack crossed his arms in front of his chest. "It wouldn't be the first time." Jack's eyes darkened for some reason. "Physical pain doesn't just reveal themselves in bruises and scars alone."
Fraiser glanced over to Jack but made no comment.
"Smith..." Sam hesitated, wondering if it was worth mentioning at all. "He said he saw you there, sir."
"Could have been a delusion when they were imprisoned," Jack muttered, his mind elsewhere with memories.
He glanced around the infirmary, half expecting it to suddenly shroud into darkness. Jack could almost hear voices, the sound of screaming - the colonel wasn't really sure if they were from his memories or from his imagining what Daniel must have gone through.
"Or maybe another trick of the enemy," Teal'c's voice rumbled.
"Yeah, but we won't know that until Daniel wakes-"
A weak voice, so soft that it was barely audible, but when it spoke, everyone froze.
"Ja'k?"
Jack's feet turned the colonel around before he realized he had even reacted at all. He gaped at the bed across the distance that separated them, and saw Daniel's head turning weakly. The young man must have heard Jack's voice and was trying to locate it.
"Ja'k?" Daniel's voice was growing more confused.
"Here."
Jack got there before anyone else could. He sat down on the chair beside the bed and leaned closer so Daniel could see him.
"Hey there."
Daniel blinked, and visibly relaxed when he focused on Jack's face.
"Ja'k."
The older man grinned, his relief evident.
"Aren't you going to say anything else besides that, Jackson?"
Janet stepped in at that point.
"No he isn't, Colonel. Daniel's going to stay quiet while I check on his vitals."
She smiled gently at the anthropologist, brushing back damp strands of hair away from his forehead. Daniel just looked back at her with dazed eyes.
"Glad you're back with us, Daniel."
She nodded towards a nurse, who approached the others to usher them out.
Reluctantly, the group turned to leave Janet alone with her examination, but Daniel's eyes widened in panic. His hand flashed out and grabbed Jack's sleeve before the colonel could leave.
"Doc?"
Jack stopped then, looking down at the fingers which were tightly curled around his sleeve, refusing to let go.
Janet just nodded, her eyes sympathetic, as she continued with her checkup.
Jack sat down again, patting Daniel's hand absently as he watched Janet check his friend's temperature. Jack studied Daniel, who was staring at the ceiling with a frown.
"Ja'k?" Daniel whispered softly.
"Yeah."
"Wh't?" Daniel swallowed, trying to speak clearly.
"What, Daniel?" Jack eyed Janet, who had stopped her ministrations.
The young man's frown deepened as he tried to gather his thoughts. Unconsciously, Daniel's fingers tightened around Jack's sleeve. The colonel leaned forward, concerned.
"Wh't happened?" Daniel whispered, looking puzzled.
Jack was stunned.
"You don't know?" He lowered his voice, exchanging a worried look with Janet. "You don't remember?"
"M-mission?" Daniel guessed. He bit his lower lip as he thought it out. "P9T172? No... came home..." Daniel grew more and more confused. "Ja'k?"
The colonel didn't know how to tell Daniel. He just sat there, his mouth slightly open at this new piece of information.
"Daniel... that was two weeks ago." Janet took charge instead. She eyed Jack worriedly as she gave Daniel the news.
"Two...weeks..." Daniel repeated. His eyes widened and he turned to Jack anxiously. "Ja'k?"
"She's right, Daniel." Jack felt the fingers twist the sleeve's fabric. He patted the hand once more. "That was two weeks ago."
"I..." Daniel's eyes wide with bewilderment. He began to struggle to sit up.
"Daniel, you need to lie still. You shouldn't be-" Janet started to say when the young man cried out softly in pain.
One hand automatically went over his stomach, while he curled up on his side. His face turned gray and for a moment, it looked like he had stopped breathing.
Daniel?" Jack got up hastily, knocking the chair over in his alarm.
"Hurts..." Daniel gasped out as Janet reached out to the medical tray for a syringe. "Back...stomach..."
"Doc-" Jack trailed helplessly as Janet inserted the needle into the bottle, filling the tube with clear liquid.
"He had internal injuries and the stitches in his back are still-" Janet froze when Daniel tensed suddenly at the sight of the needle. "Daniel?"
She came closer, needle still balanced in her hand. "It's just something for the pain."
Daniel paled to a point that he was almost transparent. He shook at the sight of the needle.
"No," he wheezed, one hand jerking the sleeve closer to him, unaware of the fact that Jack was being pulled down along with it.
The older man tried to reassure Daniel.
"Danny, it's okay. It's just to make you feel better-"
"No..." Daniel screwed his eyes shut. "No...no needles...please, Ja'k."
"Why?" Jack whispered, hunched over so low now that he was practically hovering over Daniel's face.
"D-don't know..." Daniel whimpered, shuffling away, the lines of pain etched on his face revealing how agonizing the movement was to his back.
"Keep away... please..."
His voice cracked and Daniel shrank back, almost as if he was trying to hide behind Jack's arm.
Janet caught the helpless look on the colonel's face.
"Okay, Daniel. No needles."
The young man sighed. Jack lowered his head, whispering into Daniel's ear. Whatever it was, it looked to Janet that it was working. Daniel nodded silently and shifted slightly away from Jack, allowing the older man to ease him back down on the bed. Daniel shook his head.
"How l-long was I... out?"
"Two days," Janet said quietly. "You've been very sick, Daniel."
Daniel nodded, wincing as the tightness of the wounds pulling at his side and back testified to that.
"I... I don't remember... Ja'k! I don't... w-who was w-with me?" Daniel's other hand grabbed onto Jack's wrist now.
"Just rest, Danny," Jack said numbly. "We'll talk about it later."
"Colonel-"
"We'll talk about it later."
Jack shot a glare at the doctor. Surprised, Janet held her tongue. He pulled up the blankets over Daniel, tucking them around the shivering body.
"I'm going to talk to Doc now, okay Daniel? I'll be outside. Just rest. We'll talk later."
Daniel's blue eyes stared right at Jack then, and he flinched inwardly. Those eyes looked at him as if Daniel was dissecting his thoughts, checking to see what other lies were hidden away in the colonel's mind. Jack kept the calm smile on his lips and stared back steadily at his friend.
This seemed to reassure the anthropologist, and he nodded meekly. Daniel shifted, moaning softly at the pain but when Janet tried to approach him with the painkiller, he shook his head adamantly. So Jack sat there, letting Daniel's hands twist and wring his sleeve to the point that Jack thought he was going to tear it off of his uniform. The colonel could feel Janet's eyes on him too, boring into him at the back of his head.
Only when the fingers stopped fidgeting, did Jack dare to pry them loose from his uniform. He tucked the slack hand back under the blankets and sighed heavily.
"Colonel O'Neill," Janet said softly.
"Give me a second, will ya?" Jack answered wearily.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
He rubbed his face with both hands, mentally telling himself that the worst part was over. Daniel was awake. That was all that mattered. Then Jack squared his shoulders and stood up. He looked down at his friend once more, then forced himself to turn around and walk out.
"Please..." Daniel begged the eyes glowing in the darkness. He shivered violently. It was so cold. "I can't..."
"But you will..." The voice held mild amusement at the sight of Daniel struggling. "You will... otherwise..."
Daniel cried out as another jolt shot up his spine, setting every nerve, every muscle on fire. His hands bunched into fists, clenched so tightly that his nails dug bloody gashes into his palm. That miniscule pain was nothing compared to the wave after wave of shocks that ran throughout his body, stealing every breath he managed to draw in before the next jolt.
Gasping, Daniel crumpled to the floor, his arms hanging painfully from the chains attached to the ceiling above him. His knees fell short of the ground, but he was too drained to even try and stand.
"Once more," the voice said coldly.
"N-no..." Daniel whimpered. "I won't..."
Another jolt. This time to the bottoms of his feet. Daniel jerked his legs up but was unable to hold the stance, and they came slamming down on the stone floor. Hot met cold and Daniel screamed.
"Aren't you going to tell us that you mean us no harm?" the voice mocked.
Daniel's head hung down, his chest heaving as it struggled to get air in. It seemed like each time he tried to gulp in some air, the pain just pushed it back out again. He swallowed, feeling the bile building up in his throat.
"Aren't you going to tell us that you're peaceful explorers?" the voice asked again, in a hateful tone.
Looking up, Daniel tried to see through the darkness, but all he saw was the eyes. He closed his eyes as he heard muffled screams coming from outside the room.
"They're dying."
"N-no..." Daniel moaned.
"Because you refused."
Daniel's teeth chattered.
"W-why are you doing this?"
He made a feeble attempt to stand, but as soon as his feet set flat on the floor, he gasped. The scalding burns made him shriek with pain when they made contact with the ground. The voice laughed.
"I do this because you refused. They will suffer because you refused. It is not doing you any good. He will die anyway. Your refusal means nothing."
Another jolt. This one to the back of his neck. Daniel arched his back, screaming. The chains dug at his wrists, rubbing till they were raw and bleeding. He twisted his body, desperately trying to avoid the hot jabs from the needles surrounding him, the bolts of fire from their pricks. All his efforts achieved were the needles digging deeper into his flesh, drawing blood from him along with his screams.
Then suddenly, it stopped.
The chains abruptly released and Daniel fell to the ground, his arms barely around his head in time before he slammed onto the stone. He lay there, in a crumpled heap, wheezing, shivering.
Crying.
The voice became gentle.
"I do not wish to give you pain, but you leave me no choice. He has to die. You must not refuse."
Hands reached down to touch his head, caressing the temples. Daniel flinched away, moaning. Softer the voice grew still as it continued.
"I ask again. Yes or no?"
Daniel swallowed, remembering what had happened the last time that he refused. He knew what would come next and he silently told himself that it was a small price to pay.
"Yes or no?"
"N... n-no."
The hands pulled back. The voice grew hard. "You will say yes."
Daniel shook his head mutely.
"You will, or I will kill them all, one by one, in front of you."
"W-why are you doing this? Who are you?" Daniel whispered.
He lifted his head a bit, squinting hard into the darkness, trying to see.
"Do you not remember?" the soft voice said as light footsteps approached him. "It has not been that long."
A light shone down from the ceiling and Daniel grimaced as the brightness hurt his eyes. Blinking, he watched a figure step into the light. Teary eyes tried to focus and gradually Daniel was able to see the person. He saw the slim waist where the jewel gleamed under the spotlight, the soft slope of shoulders and the-
No. It couldn't be.
No!
Daniel woke with a scream.
"So he doesn't remember anything at all?" Sam whispered as they stood outside the infirmary in a small circle. "Nothing at all?"
Teal'c silently digested all this, his ears tilted towards the private room to keep a listening ear out for Daniel. The Jaafa did not like this feeling of helplessness, listening to others talk in medical terms he couldn't even begin to comprehend. So he set himself to guard the vulnerable anthropologist, even if it was just by listening.
Fraiser shook her head, her eyes glancing over to Jack.
"In severe trauma cases such as this, it's not surprising that the memory would be blocked out, as a way of... protection."
She sighed. Sticking her hands in her lab coat pockets, Janet suddenly felt very tired.
"It could come back now or much later on or..."
"It wouldn't come back at all," Jack finished. He didn't look like he considered the latter was such a bad alternative.
General Hammond frowned.
"Doctor Jackson may be our only link to what happened to SG-5, colonel. As much as I would like to leave Doctor Jackson alone with this, we have to find out who this new threat is."
Jack scowled, turning his head slightly towards the door. General Hammond softened.
"I'm not a heartless man, colonel," Hammond continued, "I'm not suggesting we ask Doctor Jackson now, but it's inevitable."
"We know that, sir," Sam jumped in. "We just... I don't even know if I want to learn what happened to him. The..." Sam swallowed before continuing. "His back... and those burns..."
The group grew silent. Finally, when it became too much, Jack spoke again.
"What about Smith?"
"We got him calmed down and took a blood sample. We should be getting the results back soon."
"What about Tesh?" Jack asked. "Is that going to happen to him?" Jack paused. "I mean, is he going to suddenly return from the dead and-"
Janet frowned at the idea.
"Well, we're not taking any chances. I've found no stages of decay or temperature decline. His core temperature is still at a steady 98 degrees and-"
"Wait a minute," Sam interrupted. "98 degrees? That's almost normal body temperature! Wouldn't the body temperature begin to drop from a certain point after death?"
"That's why we're not taking any chances." The doctor nodded towards one of the isolation rooms. "I've moved him to ISO 2, lowered the room temperature just in case, and have two guards posted there. If we hear anything or the sensors set up there pick up anything, I'll be the first one to know. Tesh died a few hours after Smith so it could be that he wouldn't... wake up until much later."
Janet made a face. She couldn't believe, in all her years of medical practice, that she would be discussing about people rising from the dead. Then again, being here at SGC, she had seen many strange things. And rising from the dead was just that.
"His blood work didn't show anything either though."
"What about Major Sanders?" Jack asked. Janet shook her head.
"Still nothing. We've upgraded his condition to critical and placed him in ICU."
"So all that's left is Daniel," Sam said softly. She missed the glare Jack gave her, but Fraiser caught it.
"We may have to resort to some alternatives in making him remember," Fraiser agreed, continuing hastily as she saw Jack was about to protest. "When he is better though."
"O'Neill," Teal'c spoke up abruptly. "Daniel Jackson-"
Jack didn't wait for the Jaafa to finish. He heard then what Teal'c had picked up first. A high pitched scream, muffled by the doors, but still audible enough to raise the hair on the back of his neck. Jack pushed through the group without any apology, on through the door and heading straight for the source of the scream.
Three medics were already there, trying to restrain the young man, who writhed and twisted, still caught within his nightmare. Eyes still shut, Daniel was crying out when he felt hands roughly pinning his wrists and ankles down. Not knowing whether they were friend or foe, Daniel struggled against them weakly, his wailing growing steadily higher in pitch and more filled with terror.
"What the hell is going on here?" Jack demanded, shoving one of the medics aside.
"He started screaming and we tried to get him to calm down, but it's just not getting through to him," one of the medics tried to explain. The other began taking the buckled straps and wrapping them around Daniel's ankles.
"What are you doing?" Jack snapped, slapping the hands away. "He doesn't need those!"
Daniel's cries lowered and he began to whimper as he felt the restraints on his legs. His head shook left and right in denial. Jack glared at the three to back off as he sat down on the bed and placed both hands on Daniel's shoulders. The young man stiffened at the touch.
"Daniel," Jack said firmly as he kept Daniel still.
He winced as he thought of the bandages on Daniel's back and how they must be chafing the wounds they covered on contact with the bed.
"Daniel. Open your eyes. Come on... wake up here..."
He felt rather than saw, the others coming over and Fraiser motioning the medics away. But Jack didn't bother looking up to convey his gratitude. He kept his eyes on his friend.
Daniel moaned softly at the sound of Jack's voice and responded by opening his eyes a bit. At the lights, he shut them again.
"Lower the lights," Fraiser ordered in a quiet voice to her staff.
Almost immediately, the lights dimmed to a soft glow.
"Come on, Danny. It's okay. Wake up now. That's it..."
Jack pasted a reassuring smile on his face as he saw Daniel's eyes flutter open. Dull blue eyes blinked as they tried to focus on Jack.
"Wh't..." Daniel shifted and then tensed as his back throbbed, punishing him for the movements before.
"Take it easy," Jack soothed, gently squeezing the shoulders under his palm, not yet letting go. Only when he felt the muscles begin to relax did he pull back.
"Dre'm?" Daniel asked weakly.
Jack's throat felt dry as he nodded.
"Yeah. Dream."
Daniel looked at Jack desperately. "Dre'm?"
Somehow, Jack had a feeling Daniel wasn't asking about just his nightmare. What could he say? He could feel everyone's eyes on his back, waiting to see what he was going to say.
Each and every day, he said the same lines, said the same lies, until that young man died.
He's not going to die here! Jack thought angrily to himself, furious at himself for indulging in memory when the present was in dire need of attention.
Weakly, Daniel's hand reached out and latched onto to Jack's sleeve again. The colonel didn't pull away. Jack could almost see the infirmary melting away. It's walls turning into stone, the clean floor now muddy and damp, the lights gone, and the sounds of medical machines becoming the screaming of prisoners.
It's not going to happen to him. Not to him.
Jack swallowed, mustering up another smile.
"Yeah, Danny. Just a dream."
A soft sob, more of relief than fright now, and Daniel nodded. He pulled away from Jack, looking a little ashamed for being so scared, but before Jack or anyone else could reassure him, he was curled onto his side with his back towards them. Within seconds, he was asleep again.
"Oh, Daniel," Sam said softly, her heart breaking at the sight.
She couldn't stop herself - stepping forward, she pulled the edges of the blanket and covered her friend once more. It was more for her benefit than for his. The image of him huddling within himself, shivering even though he wasn't cold, was just too much.
"O'Neill," Teal'c spoke softly. "Was that... wise?"
He understood what Daniel was asking and he was surprised that Jack would lie outright to Daniel, dismissing everything as a dream.
"Colonel," Hammond said simply.
"Just... just until he's better," Jack said dully, not rising from the bed yet.
He was waiting for the infirmary to return and become the infirmary again. He was waiting for the screams to fade and becoming the annoying chirps and beeps of medical machinery again.
"Then...we'll ask."
"Fine," Janet said shortly. She shot the others a look, telling them silently to leave the two men alone for now.
Jack ignored them all, not even bothering to say goodbye as he watched Daniel sleep. He knew the nightmares were only beginning and Jack would be damned if anyone was going to pull him away from here.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Anderson rubbed the sides of his temples wearily. He was almost tempted to sit down somewhere, but duty demanded that he stood there by the ISO rooms. To his left was Smith and to his right...
Tesh.
"Gives me the creeps, if you ask me," Anderson's bunkmate Booker muttered. "Guarding a dead guy."
"I didn't ask you so shut the hell up, will you?" the sergeant said, without much anger in his voice.
He glanced to his left, at the ISO room where Smith was, quiet now after hours of screaming and ranting. Anderson had tried talking to him, but Smith had backhanded him before the others could restrain him. Now he was sitting in a corner, hidden within the shadows of the room, slumped over like before. It was the same as when he and the rest of the rescue team had first found them. It gave Anderson an eerie sense of déjà vu.
"You think Tom's okay?" Booker asked anxiously, his ruddy face flushed with concern. "I mean, being dead and all-"
"He wasn't dead!" Anderson snapped, standing up to his full length. He towered a good few inches over Booker and made good use of it. "Damn it, Tom's not dead!"
Booker, never one to shrink back from anything even for his own good, pressed on.
"He was dead for three hours, Terry. A guy doesn't just wake up from that. It ain't-"
"Will you shut the hell up?" Anderson said a bit more harshly now. "Tom's a good man! I've known him since I was a green faced Marine in Fort Dix! What the hell are you trying to do, sullying his name like that?"
Booker finally took the hint, pretended to look at ISO 2, and through the criss-crossed barred windows to the gurney inside where Tesh was.
Sighing, Anderson rubbed his shoulder, looking down at the floor to his boots.
"Damn, Booker. Didn't mean to bite."
"S'okay." Booker grinned crookedly, never one to hold a grudge. He paused.
"You think Doctor Jackson's going to be like that?"
Anderson grimaced, remembering the look on Colonel O'Neill's face when he broke into Jackson's cell and found him there.
"I hope to God not. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to transfer to another base, rather than face him stalking the base's halls." Anderson shrugged. "Jackson's been through plenty of shit. He's always bounced back. He'll be okay."
"Yeah, I guess-" Booker perked up. "You hear that?" He turned to peer into the ISO 2 window. "Holy shit! Tesh is gone!"
"What?" Anderson drew out his sidearm. "Are you sure?"
The stocky soldier nodded.
"The gurney's on the floor. I don't see him."
He peered at the darkness, at the bed lying sideways on the ground. The overhead lights showed nothing except the gurney, the cameras at the corners. Booker grabbed for his keys to open the door.
Suddenly, a contorted face pressed itself right at the window.
"Shit!" Booker yelped, startled. "Never mind, I found him!"
The door thundered as fists pounded at the metal surface. Tesh, his face red with rage, screamed wordlessly. The door rattled and Anderson could have sworn he saw the wall shake too.
"O'Neill!"
Tesh's scream was so full of rage that Anderson felt goosebumps rising along his forearms from the sound of it.
"I'm going to kill you!"
© July 28,1999 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.