Downgrade
Downgrade
by Hallrho
TITLE: Downgrade
AUTHOR: Hallrho
EMAIL: Hallrho@AOL.com
CATEGORY: Drama, Angst
PAIRING: Sam/Jack
SPOILERS: Upgrade
SEASON / SEQUEL: 4
RATING: PG
CONTENT WARNINGS: none
SUMMARY: Jack reflects on his behavior and actions while wearing the armband and his secret.
STATUS: Complete
ARCHIVE: Heliopolis
DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. We have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the authors. Not to be archived without permission of the authors.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is Jack's P.O.V. The others will follow in the same genre. Thanks for reading.
O'Neill left the infirmary feeling tired and sore all over. It had been a wild day. Wilder than most, considering the nature of his job. He wandered down the hallway to his quarters at the Cheyenne Mountain complex. His mind was muddled with strands of disjointed thoughts. He exhaled heavily and raised his brows. He could still feel the pressure of the band on his arm. It was gone now, having unlocked while on Apophis's monster ship. What incredible timing for that stupid thing to decide to vacate the premises. He smiled slightly as he rolled around the corner to his room.Gone now. All gone now.He and his team blew that mother to kingdom come. He stopped short at his door and placed his hand on the doorknob. He stood there for a long moment, thinking how the bands affected their behavior and their actions. He wasn't real proud of himself.
He shoved the door open and eased into the room. He kicked the door shut and heard it click. Alone. Finally. He wandered over to his bed and flopped down. He slowly lowered himself and placed both arms over his face. His head hurt. Janet said it would. His hand touched a side pocket on his fatigue pants. Yeah, the bottle of pain medication was there. He elected to leave them alone. There was one lone light on in the room and it was by the bed. He debated on turning it off and just letting the darkness surround him.
He admitted a truth today.
Damn.
In a strange way, the armbands were a real kick in the butt. He really,really, liked the way they made him feel. It was..such an incredible rush. God, he stayed hungry. But then, so did the other's. And the slight headache that hung with him.. that was more than likely due to the increase of the pulse and blood pressure. But wow! The things he could do. He smiled again.
Teal'c. Never thought he could do that. That was fun. Knocked that big puppy on his ass. Was he sorry? Naw. And even admitting it, Teal'c knew he wasn't sorry. Okay, no point in lying. He rolled on his side away from the light. He just couldn't close his eyes right now. My God, the speed and strength they had. It made them crazy acting.
He wouldn't leave her. He couldn't.
He closed his eyes.
And they shot back open.
Oh dear God, the look on her face when she realized that the Jaffa was coming and she was trapped behind that damn shield. She begged him to leave her.
No!
He had never felt more helpless in his entire life. There she was, on the other side of that damn wall and he couldn't even reach out to touch her, to assure her that everything was going to be all right.
He decided. He wasn't going to leave her.
O'Neill rolled to his back again. He could not find a comfortable spot.
Why in the world did they ever trust the To'kra? They didn't know this Anise/Freda? They just took her word for it and allowed her to slap those wristbands on them. She lied to them. The To'kra had an ulterior motive all along and they used SG-1 to attain it.Gosh, who is stupid now?
Well, they certainly accomplished what they had set out to do. Yes sirree bob! If they had not been under the influence of the bands, it would have been court martial time. Man! O'Neill made a face with that thought.
We could have got ourselves killed.
Almost did.
He would have died than left her there.
They just gotlucky.
O'Neill stared at the ceiling. The sensation that had coursed through his body was like nothing he had ever experienced. Good God, he could do anything. When the three of them came bursting through the Stargate, they were plowing into those Jaffa like they were paperdolls. Those warriors never knew what hit them.
O'Neill smiled suddenly. He remembered just tapping the largest Jaffa there and sending him flying backwards. Like nothing.
Kind of like whopping Teal'c in the exercise room. Knocked him out. O'Neill frowned slightly. Hesaidhe was sorry. But Teal'c understood differently. Damn. Teal'c knew him too well. He really wasn't sorry. In fact, it was kind of fun. Teal'c always beat the crap out of him. Payback was sort of nice. In a strange perverted way.
But hey, Daniel got into the spirit of it also. Heck, they all did. They were..invincible. But also not thinking very clearly.
O'Neill's statement grew dark.
Like patting Siler on the shoulder and sending him careening over and down the staircase. O'Neills headache flared. That was an accident. And he did feel terrible about it. More so now than earlier.
What were they thinking? Were they thinking?
No.
Anise made it sound so appealing. But none of them had a clue as to how it was going to affect them. Not a clue.
O'Neill placed his hands behind his head. His stomach growled.Forget it.He was far too tired to go hunt something to eat. He smiled suddenly.
O'Malleys.
Oh yeah. Now that was fun. Really fun. Daniel did a Saturday night live. Ho-boy did he. Well, hell-bells, that guy called him a geek. A geek for crying out loud. Of course, he has called Daniel a geek before, but he has also called him space monkey, plant boy, and..other things. But no one else can call him those names. The look on Daniel's face was absolutely priceless. And, he tried to stop Daniel from starting something. Well, he didn't really start it, that ... stupid Marine started it. Golly, Daniel tore into that guy. Betca henevercalls Daniel a geek again. O'Neill was still smiling as he thought about the two morons he took care of. They never knew what hit them. Of course, they have been banned from O'Malleys forever. A real shame. Great steaks. His stomach growled again. Louder, angrier. He closed his eyes.
He was so tired. He felt old. He shifted slightly and a muscle in his back protested. Okay, so today was a little wilder than other days.
He opened his dark eyes again. They just did not want to remain shut.
She was just standing there. Telling him to go. To leave her. That it was too late.
God, his heart felt like someone had ripped it from his chest. He tried not to show how afraid he was of losing her.
He had to treat her like the other two members of his team.
Who was he kidding?
Certainly not the other two members of his team.
What were they thinking?
Oh yeah. This won't happen again. Ever.
O'Neill knew he should have gone with his instincts.
But because of their impulsiveness and carelessness, probably more his than theirs, they almost got themselves killed today.
But the fault remained with him. After all, he received the armband first.
There she was ... on the other side of that damn shield. Her bright blue eyes begging him to go. Save himself, leave her.
He tried to destroy the control panel at his side. No good. He tried beating the shield.
Nothing worked. Nothing. He was going to watch her die and there was nothing he could do.
He couldn't let her die. It was his fault that she was there in the first place. He told her to call up the information that Anise had downloaded on to the base computer. His bright idea.
O'Neill closed his eyes again. There wasn't a part of his body that didn't hurt. Wonder if the other's felt this way. Hope not. He felt drained. It had to be from the virus that the armband introduced into their systems. He still felt really hot. Janet said all the side effects should vanish in a few days.
Except the look on her face.Thatwouldn't go away.
She begged him to go. Save his sorry ass. She should have known better. He would never leave her.
He cared more for her than he was willing to admit. He would die for her.
Does she know that?
O'Neill shook his head slightly. He would have to be very careful. She cannot know the depth of his feelings for her.
Oh well, no one will ever have to know what happened on Apophis's ship. No one. It will be their secret. His secret.
O'Neill's last conscious thought before he finally fell asleep, was of Sam, and how they got lucky today. Really lucky.
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