You can't save them all - can you? pt 15
You can't save them all - can you? pt 15
by Whisper99
Summary: A slow day at the SGC has brought the team a mystery. Chapter: Promises
Category: Mystery
Episode Related: 704 Orpheus
Season: any Season
Pairing: none
Rating: 13+
Warnings: character death, language, violence, none
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story was created for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 08/20/05
Stargate & SG-1 belong to lots of other people and entities. Jess was my idea. Thank goodness for late night visits from the Muse.
Warnings: There's some very strong imagery coming up in this chapter that involves violence, a major character death including some child abuse. And there's more cursing in this one. Sorry about that, folks.
***A few hours later***
Jack walks into the infirmary, hands stuffed into his pockets as he heads over to Daniel's bed. He stands there, watching his friend as he sleeps, noticing the bruises on his pale face starting to turn yellow around the edges. Listening to the steady beeping of the heart monitor attached to Daniel, his thoughts drift back to the events that occurred yesterday, at the summons of Dr. Fraiser.
Jack walks into the ISO room, surprised at the whirlwind of activity. "What's going on Doc?" He nods a greeting at a solemn looking Teal'c who stands at the entrance of the room.
Holding a chart in her hands, Fraiser looks up, sighing as she orders another test from one of the nurses. "Colonel...when you left her, how did she seem to you?"
"A bit cranky. Tired. What's happened?" he asks again, trying to see behind her.
Moving to one side, Fraiser gestures for them to enter the room, "Sir, Teal'c called one of the nurses because he noticed she had become unresponsive. We're monitoring her closely because her blood pressure is dangerously low and unfortunately, all her blood work is showing signs of multiple organ failure. We've put her on ventilator as a precaution, in the hopes her oxygen levels would improve."
O'Neill says in disbelief, "But she was fine...she was talking to me just a little while ago. God, she was yelling at you...she was fine."
Fraiser looks at O'Neill, compassion in her voice as she says, "At this point Sir, I have to assume the alien device she came into contact with caused more damage than was apparent at first. Something it did besides the obvious burns on her arms and abdomen."
Coming up from behind O'Neill, Hammond asks, "Doctor, what is her prognosis?"
Fraiser makes a notation in the chart, saying, "It's hard to say sir, but if she doesn't start to show signs of improvement within the next 6-8 hours..."
Jack asks hopefully, "But she's going to pull through, right?"
Fraiser answers with a gentle, "I don't know, sir."
Jack is silent as he walks over to stare down at Jess, taking in the various tubes and wires attached to the still girl. Unbidden, a memory comes of another child lying in a hospital bed, tubes and wires attached in much the same manner...Charlie. Jack closes his eyes, willing the memory away as he focuses on the sounds of the heart monitor, slowly lowering his head into his hands.
Lost in the memory, O'Neill doesn't notice Daniel waking up. He's startled out of his thoughts as he hears a softly spoken, "Hi Jack."
Dragging a smile out of somewhere, he says, "Oh, hey Daniel. Sorry about walking out earlier..."
Shifting slightly in his bed, Daniel murmurs, "It's ok." Fingering the cut on his lower lip, he frowns before adding hesitantly, "Sam told me what happened...I...I'm so sorry."
"Hey...yeah, well." Jack shrugs, moving to sit down on the chair next to Daniel's bed. Changing the subject, he asks, "How're you feeling?"
Daniel shifts again, trying to get comfortable, "I'll live." Taking in his friends tired face, he asks, "How're you doing?"
Jack shrugs his shoulders again, no longer looking at Daniel as he answers, "Oh, you know me. I'm just peachy." He asks, "So, feel up to talking about what happened in that warehouse?" and he reaches out to grab a blue, plastic medical instrument, fiddling with the flexible mouthpiece.
Daniel leans over, stifling a groan as he reaches to get his glasses, grabbing them and settling them on his face, finally saying, "I uh...thought you weren't supposed to investigate this."
Jack answers, flipping the plastic device upside-down, "I'm not investigating anything...I'm just curious."
Daniel gives him a look, asking, "Just curious?"
Jack shrugs a bit, nodding, "Yeah."
Daniel takes off his glasses, gingerly pinching the bridge of his nose before answering, "Uh...ok, then. Sam said you caught one of them."
Jack nods as he taps the plastic device on his knee, causing the ball inside it to bounce around, saying, "Tall, short dark hair. Goes by the name of Roger Smith."
"Bad breath?" Daniel asks.
Jack chuckles, though there's no real humor in the sound, "Yeah...notice that, did you?"
Daniel makes a bit of a face, replacing his glasses and peers up at Jack from above the rims, "Kinda hard not to."
The mouthpiece of the plastic device comes apart in his hands suddenly and Jack quickly puts it back on the table, saying, "Yeah, right. So anyway..."
Daniel interrupts, "Jack... I keep replaying what happened and I can't figure out how to make it right... I wish there had been another way." He swallows past a lump in his throat and admits, "God Jack...I made her promise to help."
Jack sighs, leaning back into his chair and gestures vaguely with one hand, "Daniel, nobody made her grab hold of that box. She decided to do that on her own, ok?"
Sounding distressed, Daniel says, "I know. It's just... if I had known what could happen...Dammit ...Shifu brought her to me. She was my responsibility and I screwed up!"
Jack takes a deep breath, holding it for a moment before saying, "Mackenzie give her a shot of something...a drug...before she uh..." and he wiggles the fingers of his right hand in front of his face, "talked to you." He shrugs his shoulders a bit as he continues, "...Fraiser thinks it probably impaired her ability to make rational decisions...so I don't think anything you could have told her would've made a difference in how it played out. You can't start second guessing yourself here."
Feeling Daniel stare at him, he scratches his chin with one hand and effectively changes the subject again by asking, "So, about that guy..." A sudden flash and darkness surrounds him.
Jack finds himself standing in a dark Corridor that seems to go on endlessly. He turns around, startled as he calls out, "Daniel?"
In the distance he hears a familiar voice, "Jack...?" and almost in the same breath, he finds Daniel standing before him.
Jack blinks, asking in surprise, "Weren't we just...?"
Daniel blinks, finishing Jack's question, "Talking?"
Jack asks, "In the infirmary, right?"
Daniel nods slightly, looking around, "Yeah..."
Jack takes a step back, reaching out to touch one of the walls on his left. "Ok...this is weird. Wonder which one of us is hallucinating?"
Daniel follows suit, feeling along one of the walls, "Not me"
Jack says, "Of course it's you. You're the one in the infirmary all drugged up, remember?"
Daniel frowns, saying, "Am not. I mean, I'm not drugged up."
"Are too."
"Am not." Daniel places both hands flat against one of the walls, palms feeling oddly cool as he asks, "This feel solid to you too?"
Feeling solid walls beneath his hands as well, Jack relents, "Ok. So not a hallucination. What just happened then? He walks around, still feeling at the walls. "Asgard maybe?"
"Uh..." Daniel looks down at himself, both hands moving to his abdomen, belatedly realizing he's feeling no pain.
Watching him, Jack observes, "Looks like they fixed you up."
"Yeah..." Daniel makes a face, idly touching his stomach, as if to make sure. He looks around, taking a moment before saying, "Wait a minute...I know this place."
"Oh?"
"Yeah...I was here with Jess, before...it felt different though." He voice trails as he cocks his head, looking down one end of the corridor. Holding a hand up, fingers raised, he asks, "Did you hear that?" In the distance, they can hear the faint sound of someone crying. Daniel takes off in a run in that direction.
Jack says, "Daniel! Wait! God, I hate it when you do that!" and he follows after.
Running towards the sound, the corridor seems to open up and they stumble into a bright room. It takes a moment for their eyes to adjust as they take in the view; Light from partially shaded windows, set high in the walls, flooding into the room, illuminating the area.
A door opens and a man walks in, dragging a small girl by the hand behind him. She struggles to break free, kicking with her legs and finally sinking teeth into the hand that is holding her. The man yanks her, slapping her on the side of the face and she lets go with a cry. Behind them walk in another two men, holding a struggling man between them.
Daniel is startled to see himself as the struggling man; glasses gone from his face; his hair, longer than he wears it now, hanging down over his forehead.
Jack shouts, "Hey!" and makes a run at the one manhandling the child and is stunned as he passes right through them. Catching himself as he stumbles, he whirls, eyes wide open as the insubstantial group continues as if nothing has changed. Looking at Daniel, his voice sounding murderous, he demands, "What the hell is going on?"
Making a move as if adjusting the glasses on his face, Daniel watches, fascinated until his eyes widen, recognizing what it is he is seeing. "I...I...oh, God...that's Jess."
Still struggling, Daniel shouts, "Don't! Don't you hurt her!"
A man walks in behind them and asks, "Or you'll what, Dr. Jackson?"
Jack looks over at Daniel for a moment, before turning to look at the newcomer, recognizing the man as unmistakably one Major Paul Tate.
Tate continues as he surveys the room, "General O'Neill has a lot to learn about disregarding my associates' requests. But don't worry. She'll be fine..." he walks over to the girl, reaching out to stroke her hair. Looking down at her, he smiles gently, taking her chin in his hand and lightly traces the red mark left behind by the slap, saying, "It's okay, sweetheart, you don't need to cry. We've got something very important for you to do. You're going to be daddy's special delivery girl." He kneels next to her, pointing at Daniel, "I need you to watch your uncle Daniel very carefully sweetie, so you can remember to tell your dad everything that happens today. Can you do that?"
Sniffling, she looks at her Uncle Daniel, then back over to Tate. Wiping her nose with the back of her free hand, she nods slowly as her eyes go back to her Uncle.
Daniel turns away, looking sick. "You may not want to watch this Jack..."
But Jack can't take his eyes off the girl and the scene unfolding before him..
Tate straightens and beckons to a man standing to one side. "Do it. Make it _painfully_ obvious to the General that the only reason this happened was because he wouldn't cooperate."
The man nods, pulling out a knife. Realization dawns on Daniel as he looks at the man with the knife, then at Jess, and he tries to be very calm about it, "Jess...you need to close your eyes right now. Please sweetheart, close your eyes right now." Daniel struggles to get free again, as he looks at Tate, begging, "Tate...Paul...Please...don't do this. Don't make her watch this...".
Tate chuckles softly, reaching again to stroke Jess' hair, "Ah, but Dr. Jackson...a lesson needs to be learned. And there's nothing better than a visual aide to drive that lesson home." He gestures to the man holding the knife.
The knife goes in slowly as Daniel bites down, swallowing a scream. Panting, he keeps his eyes forward, staring beyond the man who is killing him. Jess stands in the grip of another man, watching as blood appears on her uncle's clothes but says nothing as she stares.
The knife goes in deep until the hilt meets the resistance his flesh offers, stopping forward motion...so now the blade begins to twist and a slow moan escapes Daniel's lips as his knees start to buckle. The man with the knife smiles grimly as he works the blade, not stopping until, along with the blood, he draws screams from Daniel.
Jack scowls darkly, not able to turn away, "Christ..."
Satisfied, the man pulls out the knife and the two holding Daniel let him collapse to the ground. Tate nods, starting to walk out of the room. Dropping the knife, the man removes his gloves and overcoat, letting them drop to the floor as he follows Tate and the others out. The man holding Jess lets her go with a slight shove and he walks out. The door closes with a click; the sound of a lock being slid into place.
On the floor, Daniel has curled himself in a ball, hands pressed tightly at the wound in his belly. Eyes only on her uncle, Jess scrambles towards him, kneeling beside him. He takes a deep, shuddering breath and is terribly still...
The room goes dark and they are back in the corridor.
Jack exclaims, "Son of a bitch!" as he pounds his fist into the nearest wall, "What the hell did we need to see that for!?"
Daniel swallows hard, taking a deep breath as he tries to compose himself, "I don't know...Shifu...Shifu says dreams teach. Maybe it's him, trying to teach us something."
"Well, the only thing I've learned today is that I want to beat the crap out of Tate!"
Stunned, Daniel turns to Jack and asks, "That isn't...is that the same Major Tate?"
Jack replies angrily, "Oh yeah. That's the rat bastard we left her with at Peterson."
Daniel's stomach turns as he remembers Jess' words in the van...days ago...was it only days ago? She was a special delivery...always a special delivery...Tate said that to her...in this reality too. Placing a hand over his mouth, Daniel takes a deep breath, holding it for a moment before releasing it, "God...".
His eyes flicker over to Jack, and seeing the dangerous expression on his face, Daniel moves to stand in front of him, trying to reassure him by saying, "Ok, but listen, it wasn't him. You can't blame the Tate in our reality for this."
Scowling at Daniel, Jack roars, "I'm mad enough right now that I don't care! I..." Caught in mid tirade, Jack straightens suddenly, as movement catches the corner of his eye. Walking past Daniel, he finds Jess kneeling on the floor with her head bowed low.
Jack kneels down in front of her, barely noticing his friend has followed and now stands behind him. A hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach begins to form as he reaches out with both hands to check her over for injuries. He says nothing, not trusting himself to speak as his hands go up both her arms and around her torso. Finding her whole in body, his allows himself a bit of relief as he reaches out with a slightly trembling hand and lifts her chin, "You all right?"
She shrugs slightly, not meeting Jacks eyes even though her face is tilted up to look at him. Voice barely above a whisper, she says, "I don't want to be here." Jack rests his free hand on her shoulder, looking up at Daniel as if seeking answers.
Daniel blinks, thinking quickly, "Jess...this is the place where you brought me before, isn't it?" She makes no motion to answer him so he continues, "You said...you said it was safe here."
At this, she finally responds with a slight nod and a quiet, "Yes..."
Daniel tells her as he watches Jack stand, "I...Jess, I think Shifu is doing this. I think he's trying to help you."
In one smooth motion, she lifts herself to her feet and whirls to face Daniel, eyes wild as the words explode from her, incredulous, "Help me!? How!? By bringing me here?!"
Surprised, Daniel takes a half step back, saying quickly, "You told me nobody could hurt you here. He must know that!"
She stares at him for a moment, repeating his words carefully, "Nobody can hurt me here?" And then laughs bitterly, asking, "God, how could you be so stupid?! There's plenty of pain to go around, Daniel. Want some?" And with that, she launches herself at him, arms outstretched and hands formed into fists.
Reacting quickly from behind her, Jack grabs hold of her wrists and pulls her towards him, restraining her. She twists in his grasp, choking back a scream as light filters into the corridor and the dark walls around them change....
A door opens and a man walks in, dragging a small girl by the hand behind him. She struggles to break free...
And as that single moment from Jess' memory begins to play out again, she sags in his arms as her legs give out. Holding her tightly, Jack helps keep her on her feet, surprised and unsure of what to do, he looks helplessly at Daniel.
Fighting back a sob, she cries, "Why is this happening? I keep coming back to this!" She turns her face into Jack's chest and he reaches up a hand, resting it on her head, and turns slightly, using his body to block her view, protecting her from this the only way he can. He asks softly, "Daniel?"
Daniel exchanges a helpless glance with Jack and chews on his lower lip, thinking out loud, "There must be something, something about what happened that day you're supposed to remember. Maybe that's why we're here...to help you remember." He buries his own feelings as an errant memory of a time, years ago when he too was forced to repeatedly watch a horrifying event from his past surfaces.
Jess lifts her head, turning to stare at Daniel and says, voice filled with disbelief, "You think...you think I should remember this?" She then looks up at Jack, tilting her head up slightly as she tells him, "Mackenzie kept asking me...He wanted me to remember. Is that why I'm here?" Horror fills her eyes and she begins breathe quickly, panicking, "He gave me those drugs and, and...I told you, I TOLD you I couldn't come back from that. I TOLD YOU! Is that what this is?"
Frowning, Jack says, "Stop it! It's not the drugs. Don't you remember what happened?" but he doesn't let her answer, telling her in a voice filled with anger, "You touched that damned Panda Box thing and it's killing you!"
Jess holds her breath as she stares up at Jack, snapping out of her panic as she listens to his words before saying hesitantly, "I...no...Mackenzie did something to me. I...I remember...the box...the Pandora's box...Daniel helped me remember..."
Jack nods, brushing the hair back from her face and resting a hand lightly on her cheek, as he tries to contain his own anger, "Yeah, he did. Then you decided to play the hero and it all went to hell right after." He closes his eyes and shakes his head as he finishes saying those words.
Drawn to the sound of her Uncle's cries, Jess turns her head, breaking away from Jack's grasp and stares at the child as she scrambles to her Uncles side. Jess frowns and shakes her head, whispering, "No...no, that's not how it happened." Taking a step back as she watches her Uncle take his last breath, she turns and takes off at a run.
Caught by surprise, Jack calls out, "Hey! Stop!" And he runs after her.
Daniel moves to follow but hesitates as he notices the memory doesn't stop playing as it did before. Instead it continues and once again he finds himself staring at his alternate but something is happening...something different...and Daniel watches, mesmerized.
The child that was Jess reaches out a small hand, resting it on his forehead even as her other hand moves towards his bloody stomach. Daniel shifts, freeing one bloodied hand and reaches out to push hers away, saying through clenched teeth, "No Jess. You can't."
Tears in her eyes and one tiny hand remaining on his brow, she says bravely, "They hurt you...I'll make it better."
Daniel tells her in a strangled voice, "No sweetheart, it's too big for you to fix." He pauses, panting as if trying to fight back the pain, before he can continue, "You'll only hurt yourself too."
Jess looks at him, a stubborn tilt to her head as she reaches out her small hand again towards his stomach. Too weak to move her hand away again, Daniel curls within himself moving his head so she breaks contact with his forehead, "No, Jessie. Please...promise me you won't. Just...just wait for your daddy to come, ok?" Voice fading, Daniel asks one last time, "Promise me?"
Sitting back on her legs, she lets her hands drop into her lap. Tears falling now, she answers softly, "I...I promise..." and watches as he takes a deep, shuddering breath and is terribly still...
The room goes dark and Daniel finds himself standing back in the corridor. Hope flares in his chest as he takes a deep breath and runs towards the sound of arguing voices in the distance.
***Elsewhere***
Jess stands with her forehead resting against the wall, palms flat against the wall, fingers spread out. She shakes her head and her right hand forms a fist, and she punches into the wall as she listens to Jack and fights back tears.
Scowling, Jack tells her, "You can't keep running away. I am not going to stand here and watch you die!"
Turning, she rests her back against the wall now, but does not meet his gaze, "I stood there and watched him die, what difference does it make!?!"
Jack runs both hands through his hair, exasperated, "Don't give me that load of bullshit! You're trying to take the easy way out again!"
Crossing both arms tightly across her chest, she says harshly, "It's not like I have a choice!"
Jack begins to pace in front of her, gesturing wildly with his hands, almost as if he's ready to start hitting something or someone, "Like hell you don't! You need to fight this thing, goddamnit! You will NOT surrender to this!"
From behind them, Jack hears Daniel call out, "Jack! Wait, I think I understand what's going on..."
Turning to face him, he watches as Daniel takes a deep breath and blurts out, "She can heal..."
Daniel briefly rests a hand on Jack's shoulder, offering him a small but reassuring smile before moving towards her and saying, "Jess, you tried to heal your uncle but he wouldn't let you. He said it would hurt you if you tried."
Jess shakes her head, eyes half-closed as she insists, "No...you're wrong. It didn't happen that way. He died."
Walking right up to her, Daniel is adamant, "I saw you try to heal him...I saw that memory!"
Jack turns to look at Daniel, an incredulous expression on his face, "What're you saying Daniel?"
"I'm saying that she's like Ayiana, the ancient you found frozen in the Antarctic, remember...?" Looking over his shoulder at Jack, he adds quickly, "She should be able to heal herself."
The word escapes as barely a whisper from her lips, "Mother?" and she frowns, confused as she takes a step backwards, pressing herself flat against the wall and stares down at her hands.
Jack suddenly reaches out and grabs hold of both her arms. Pulling her towards him, he shakes her once, demanding, "You mean to tell me you can fix this? What the hell are you waiting for!?"
She looks up into his face, her eyes wide as she shakes her head, looking lost, "No...I can't...no...I promised!"
Daniel tilts his head, unsure at Jess' hesitation until her words make him understand. Very carefully, Daniel says, "Jess...your uncle never meant for you to stop using your gift. Please..."
She pushes away from Jack and screams, "It hurts!"
Inches from her face, Jack screams right back, "Then fix it!!"
Her back against the wall, she all but stands on her toes, glaring at Jack as she shouts, "I CAN'T!"
Jack watches her, seeing the confusion and pain playing across the features of her young face, his own eyes searching hers, his hands once again grabbing hold of her arms. In the span of three heartbeats, he makes a decision, ignoring Daniel's hand on his shoulder. Pulling her up to him, he leans over her and whispers in her ear, "So, you're just going to let Tate win?"
Jack can feel her body start to tremble beneath his hands. She shoves him away, hard, and the words are torn from her throat, "FUCK YOU!"
Light filters into the corridor and the scene around them changes...
A door opens and a man walks in, dragging a small girl by the hand behind him. She struggles to break free...
Jack sets his jaw, then turns, grabbing Daniel by the arm and dragging him along, "C'mon Daniel. We're done here."
Daniel is shocked and tries to pull away, "What?! No! We need to help her!"
Jack gestures at the scene around them, asking, "You know why she keeps coming back to this?" Not waiting for an answer, he continues,"She never left." He shakes his head, tugging on Daniel's arm again, "Maybe if she watches enough times, she'll remember why her uncle died."
Disbelief thick in his voice, Daniel asks, "How can you say that!? Jack!"
***Back in the infirmary***
Daniel calls out, "Jack!"
Blinking, Jack finds himself back in the chair he was sitting, hearing the heart monitor beeping a bit faster than before, "Daniel?"
"God Jack, what did you do?" Daniel lifts his head to look at his friend.
Meeting his gaze, Jack says quietly, "That Shifu kid...he didn't teach as much as remind me of something. We O'Neill's can be very stubborn. She needed to be pushed...so I pushed."
Daniel blinks a few times, trying to come to terms with being back in his body, wincing at pain he had the brief opportunity to forget. He moves to sit up even as Jack stands, realization dawning for both of them as they wonder if the push worked. He grimaces, waving Jack off, "Go, go, go!"
Jack hauls ass out of the infirmary.
*To be continued - Feedback is adored!!*
Thank you all for your kind reviews! If you didn't already hate Tate, I suspect you'll despise him by now. Even I can't stand him. Grrr! :)
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Whisper99
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