Body, Mind and Soul
Body, Mind and Soul
by Fischergirl
Summary: After a mission gone wrong, the Tok'ra believe O'Neill broke to the enemy and divulged everything he knew. With Jack not speaking in his defense, the President authorizes more persuasive measures to be put into effect. But will this prove O'Neill's innocence or kill his soul?
Category: Action/Adventure, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Episode Related: 215 A Matter of Time, 405 Divide and Conquer
Season: any Season
Pairing: Jack/Sam, none
Rating: GEN
Warnings: language, violence
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I 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 author(s).
Archived on: 2005-03-15
Body, Mind and Soul
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.
Chapter One "Incoming wormhole!" Shouted Sgt. Siler as the red warning lights came on.
"Do you know who it is yet?" Asked Gen. Hammond worriedly. Only SG-1 and SG-7 were off world and neither was due back until tomorrow.
"Receiving IDC, sir---it's SG-1!" "Open the iris SSgt!" The iris quickly spun, folding up on itself to reveal the calm blue surface of the open wormhole. The seconds slowly rolled by until a mass of people came through the gate all at once. Gen. Hammond saw Daniel Jackson and Major Samantha Carter standing near the front of the group, shielding what was behind them.
"Close the iris! We need a medical team in here!" Carter shouted as she quickly turned around to Teal'c and checked his charge. Gen. Hammond rushed into the gate room as soon as the iris was closed and marched up the ramp.
"Where is Col. O'Neill, Major?" He asked, unable to see behind her. Maj. Carter simply moved to Teal'c's side, allowing the General to see what Teal'c held limply in his arms... Col. O'Neill. He was wearing shredded BDU's that were covered in blood, a stark contrast to his ghostly pale face.
"What happened, Major?" He asked, shocked at his 2IC's appearance.
"We were taken prisoner by the locals, sir. They were working for the Gou'ld , Ba'al, and right off the bat, the Col. was separated from us for a little over 5 days. The head chief apologized for what had to happen and didn't allow any harm to come to us; he said that the information the Col. knew was all he needed. We escaped our cell during the night and found the Col. in a small box, bleeding and unconscious. We grabbed him and ran all the way back to the gate." By the time Carter had finished, the medical team had already placed O'Neill on the gurney, cut off all his clothing except for his boxers and had started an IV. They rushed him down the hall to the infirmary.
"Gen. Hammond, request permission to accompany O'Neill to the infirmary!" Teal'c said in his booming baritone.
"Granted. We'll conduct the debrief in 2 hours."
"Aye sir!", "Yes, Gen. Hammond", "Yes sir." The three rang out at once as they sprinted down the hall.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
As they reached the infirmary doors, they discovered an MP blocking the doorway, at attention. As Carter attempted to move around him he sidestepped her and blocked her forward movement.
"Out of the way, Airman!" Carter barked out.
"No, ma'am. Doctor Frasier told me no one was to be admitted unless they were medical personnel, injured or until her order was rescinded."
"When was this order given?" Carter demanded.
"As soon as she learned it was Col. O'Neill that was injured. She told me to tell you she'd be out to talk to you as soon as she could stabilize the Col., ma'am."
Carter's angry retort was interrupted as General Hammond arrived at the infirmary having heard the entire conversation between Carter and the Airman.
"There is nothing you can do for Col. O'Neill right now. Why don't we debrief now while Doctor Frasier does what she can." Reluctantly, SG-1 and General Hammond left the infirmary to go to the Briefing room. The three members went through the mission details as quickly as possible. 45 minutes later the debriefing ended and the General gave a nod towards the door, not bothering with formally dismissing them. When one of their own was hurt, he allowed a certain extra amount of leeway with his premier team. He sighed as they once again sprinted towards the infirmary.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
When SG-1 arrived at the infirmary doors, they were surprised to find the Airman gone and Nurse Silverman in his place. "Doctor Frasier said you can come in now as long you stay out of everyone's way and leave within 5 minutes of seeing O'Neill." With that statement, Silverman opened the infirmary doors and allowed SG-1 to enter.
The first thing Daniel noticed was that all the beds seemed to be empty, but then where was Jack? He saw Janet quickly walking up to them and quieted the question on his lips so that he could hear how Jack was doing.
"Col. O'Neill is currently having an MRI. He seems to have a severe concussion, which is our major concern at this point in time. He is extremely dehydrated and has lost a lot of blood. It looks like he was repeatedly stabbed with a long thin rod of some sort. I'm assuming that's where the majority of his blood loss occurred. His left collarbone is broken as well as both bones in his left forearm. He also has burns on his body that I would say were probably caused by electricity of some sort. His hands and feet are badly torn and it looks like they were ritualistically cut in the same pattern. He was also branded on the back with the symbol for earth. Guys, he was brutally tortured. All but his head injury are non-life threatening injuries and he should make a full recovery granted the head injury doesn't worsen."
At the end of Janet's run down of Jack's injuries, Daniel felt like he was going to throw up. Why did this have to happen to Jack? Hadn't he already been through so much already? Daniel's mind quieted as Jack's gurney was pushed back in and he was transferred to the infirmary bed. Once Janet had everything back in place she nodded to SG-1 to come forward and visit with their fallen leader.
"What did they do to you now, Jack?" Daniel murmured.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Chapter 2
Col. Jack O'Neill slowly became aware of his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was getting his arm broken by the Forlese head guard. He took a quick inventory of his injuries and discovered they weren't hurting as much as they should. O'Neill listened for any sounds and was able to make out a beeping sound which he determined must be his heart monitor. He was in the infirmary! The next thing he became aware of was a soft snoring coming from his right side. Deciding to take a peek at who was there, he shifted his head slightly and cracked open one eye. It was Daniel, looking like a little kid with his glasses hanging off his face and drooling on the edge of the bed while he snored. Jack smiled and went back to sleep.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
"How's he doin' Janet?" Major Carter whispered to her best friend while watching her CO sleep and Daniel snore.
"The swelling in his head has gone down and he should wake up any time now. There didn't appear to be any damage visible on his most recent MRI, but we won't know for sure until he wakes up and demands to be released."
Major Carter smiled at that thought. The way they could always determine that the Col. was going to be all right was when he started bitching and moaning about the facilities and how much quicker he'd recuperate at home. She walked over to his bed and stood at his left side. Major Ferretti had drawn an adorable bunny on his cast with the written words 'Hop to it! -SG-4.' The Col. would not be happy sporting that design for the next 6 weeks.
"Carter?" She heard the Col. whisper. "Hey Col., I'm right here." she said as she immediately turned to her best friend and waved her over.
"What is it? Oh! I see the Col. has decided to join is today. Col. can you open your eyes for me?" She said taking out her penlight. As she bent to shine it in his eyes he brushed her hand away from his face.
"Can't we do this later? Like when my head doesn't feel like it's going to explode?" He whined. Did she have to do that every time he got hit in the head? Didn't she realize that by doing that she was only making it hurt more? All he got in answer was a soft chuckle and a nod.
"Col., what do you remember about what happened?" Asked Janet, ever practical.
"I was taken prisoner by some beefy guys in the Forlese village. They beat the crap out of me and kept demanding to know where the location of the Tok'ra base was. They kept up for 3 days until they broke my arm and that's the last thing I remember." Janet looked slightly worried at his statement.
"What?" Jack asked completely baffled at her reaction.
"Sir, when you came through the gate yesterday, your arm had already been broken for a couple of days. We also found traces of an unidentifiable drug in your system. You're missing two days. It's probably just due to the fact that your head took such a severe pounding, but I'll have to keep an eye on you for a few days to make sure it's localized to just the last few days of your imprisonment."
"So that means I'm not getting out of here anytime soon?"
"Sorry Col., but no. I could probably safely release you into someone's care in a weeks time, but no sooner and that's only if you behave yourself. I'm going to go let Gen. Hammond know that you're awake. He wanted to talk to you." And with that, Janet left to go use the phone in her office.
"Carter? I can't stand a week in this place! Break me out! Please?" He begged desperately.
Carter simply smiled at him, happy in the knowledge that he was going to be all right after-all.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
One week later...
"EASY! Col., I said carefully get into the wheelchair! I didn't say leap from your bed and jump into it!" Janet was red in the face by the time she had finished. How did he have the gall to try and undo all the work Janet had put into him?
Jack smiled sheepishly as he settled himself into the wheelchair that Daniel was standing behind. Without saying anything, Daniel conveyed a look that said are you sure it's ok for him to leave? Janet nodded tiredly.
"Remember Col., if you don't do as Daniel says and take all your medication, we'll bring you right back. And you have to come back in 3 days so I can take out your stitches. Do you understand?" She asked in a warning tone.
"Yeah, yeah. Daniel's my babysitter and I can't do anything fun. All right? Can we go now?" He asked grumpily. He'd been counting the days until he got released since the minute he first woke up and now Frasier was delaying him by reviewing all the rules he was supposed to obey with Daniel for the third time today.
Handing Daniel the medications (three different kinds), Janet gave a little nod towards the door and as they exited she sighed. The Col. was one of the best men she had ever met, but was by far the worst patient.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Three days later
Jack walked into the infirmary right on time for a change, looking for Janet. The infirmary was surprisingly quiet. Not seeing Janet, he walked over towards her office and heard her talking on the phone.
"Yes, sir, I understand. I was just saying-----well, of course I understand how important this is, but--------yes, sir, I'll bring him right up as soon as I've finished. Maybe 20 minutes from now. I'll try not to keep our guests waiting, sir. Yes, sir." Janet wearily hung up the phone and put her head in her hands. She refused to believe what she had been told. A knock on the door startled her.
"Hey Doc. Everything ok?"
"Why don't we get started, Col." She said not looking him in the eye or answering his question. She took the stitches out as fast as she could knowing the Gen. would be angry if she kept him one minute longer than the 20 minutes she had promised.
Noticing her mind was elsewhere and getting a sick feeling in his gut that something bad had happened, he asked, "what's wrong Janet?"
"The General would like to speak to you in the briefing room, sir. You're all finished up here." Janet stood up, offering him her hand and again avoiding eye contact. Jack's bad feeling increased. Something terrible had happened.
"Where's my team, Janet?" He demanded, worried for them.
"Carter and Teal'c are in the briefing room and Daniel should have been stopped at his office and sent there as well. Don't worry, nothing bad happened to them." She walked towards the door and gestured outside. Swallowing his nervousness, he straightened up and walked out the doors, Frasier falling in step with him as they silently continued their journey. At the doors to the briefing room, Janet stopped and gave him nod, then turned around and headed back to the infirmary. Jack took a nervous breath and stepped inside.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Chapter 3
The sight that greeted Jack did nothing to calm his nerves. The General was sitting stiffly at his usual place at the head of the briefing room. He didn't look very happy. To his left was Teal'c who had a slight frown on his face. Sam Carter sat on Teal'c's left and was glaring at her hands in her lap while she twiddled her thumbs furiously. Across the table was Jacob Carter who was looking extremely uncomfortable and although he was the only one to initially look Jack in the eye, he quickly broke off the look and stared at the table. On Jacob's right side was Daniel who looked both angry and in shock at the same time. Something is seriously wrong here, thought Jack.
"Col., why don't you have a seat." Said Hammond, finally speaking up after an uncomfortable few moments of silence. The tension was thick in the room and he saw that Jack had obviously caught on to the tense atmosphere. He was straight-backed and silent, a deadly combination with Jack O'Neill, and quickly sat down next to Maj. Carter and looked Daniel in the eye. The Gen. realized he was trying to gauge the situation through Daniel's reaction and he knew that O'Neill sensed something very unpleasant coming.
"Col. O'Neill, the Tok'ra have made some accusations regarding you and Jacob asked to be the one to deliver the news in person. Jacob?" The Gen. asked, swiftly transferring attention to his old friend. I'm not going to be the one to drop this bombshell thought the Gen.
"Jack...the Tok'ra base was attacked two days ago by Ba'al's forces. 14 Tok'ra are dead and two more might soon join them. We were able to evacuate the base through the Stargate, but we took quite a few casualties. We were, however, able to take one of the injured Jaffa captive with us through the 'gate. Before he died, he gloated about how his Master had found the base. Jack, he said that one of the planets under Ba'al's rule had captured some of the rogue Tau'ri and had tortured one of them for information to give to Ba'al. The Jaffa said this Tau'ri told them all about the base and much, much more. Jack, he said you broke. He spoke of you by name. God, I'm sorry Jack, but we have to know what else you told them."
For two minutes there was only silence as a shocked O'Neill tried to digest this information. His first reaction was anger, but as he tried to think of any holes or other possibilities in Jacob's story, he realized he couldn't find any. No one else on earth had known about the base besides Gen. Hammond and the President and neither one of them had been off-world; and if the Jaffa had been dying, what point would there be to lie? Had he cracked? He didn't remember two days of his imprisonment after all, but he had a hard time believing the locals had found a way to break him in five days, when the Iraqi's could not in four months. He found his mouth was dry, but forced himself to look Gen. Hammond in the eye and speak.
"Gen. I don't remember telling them anything. The last thing I remember that happened to me was getting my arm broken. I can't believe I would have told them anything, even under extreme duress."
At this, Teal'c spoke, "I too believe O'Neill did not divulge information to the enemy."
"Look, none of us want to believe that Jack broke, but the truth is, the Tok'ra had just moved into the new base a week before SG-1 went to PJ4-229 and only Jack and Gen. Hammond knew the location of the new base. I spoke with Janet earlier this morning to test the sample of the Col.'s blood for the unknown drug in his system. It came back positive for Cripthomine, a powerful hallucinogenic used for interrogations. It is highly effective, though rare, as few planets contain the herb needed. I know Jack is probably the least likely of all of us to give information under torture, but he doesn't remember the last two days of his imprisonment! I think we all have to face the fact that he probably did give his captors information and now we have to do our best to fix the situation." Jacob hated pointing the finger at Jack, a man he really liked and respected, but it was obvious even to him that Jack had been compromised.
"What happens now?" Jack asked numbly. Everything Jacob had said made sense, but it didn't make it any easier to swallow. He was the only one that could have betrayed the location of the Tok'ra base. He must have cracked and now 14 of Earth's allies were dead.
The Gen. knew Jack was having a hard time digesting the fact that he was indirectly being called a traitor to earth. However, all the pieces pointed to Jack. He was surprised Daniel and Carter had remained silent. When they were first told 10 minutes before Col. O'Neill walked through the door, they had been incensed at the accusation, but after Jacob had laid out the facts, they had quieted considerably as the facts sunk in.
Daniel looked around the table at the faces of the others. The only one that still seemed to believe in Jack's complete and utter innocence was Teal'c. No one seemed to be blaming Jack for anything that had happened and Daniel knew he still trusted Jack with his life. He was surprised Jack had been so accepting of the fact that Jacob had just called him a traitor. He had expected profanity and possibly even violence on Jack's part knowing how much he despised traitors, although he wasn't a traitor in the truest sense. He hadn't willingly told the enemy anything; surely he couldn't be held responsible for being drugged out of his mind? The Gen. cleared his throat after another lengthy pause.
"I have already informed the Pentagon of the situation and they will give us a decision as soon as they reach one. SG-1 is on stand down until this situation is resolved, and when it is resolved, Col. O'Neill will continue with his duties as leader of SG-1 and 2IC of this facility. No actions will be taken against Col. O'Neill and this situation will remain as need to know for now. In the meantime though, I'm sorry, but you'll have to be confined to base Col."
Jack nodded slowly, still in shock. Had he committed the unthinkable?
"If there is nothing else to add? Very well, dismissed." Gen. Hammond watched as SG-1 formed a protective circle around their leader and guided him out. Jack would need them more than ever right now, whether we wanted to admit it or not.
"Jacob," Hammond said tiredly, "would you care for a drink in my office?" ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Chapter 4
A sharp rap at the door alerted Gen. Hammond that Col. O'Neill had arrived per his orders. He inhaled deeply and straightened up so that he sat ramrod in his chair. I need Jack to see me as his commanding officer and not as his friend. He won't tolerate what I'm about to say to him as a friend. He looked over to Daniel Jackson who sat in one of the two chairs across from the desk. He looked slightly pale and had a small frown on his face. Hammond hadn't been sure whether or not having Dr. Jackson there would help, but he didn't see how it could make the situation any worse.
"Come in." Hammond said briskly.
A moment later the door opened and a stiff-backed Col. O'Neill walked in holding his arm rigidly across his chest. He walked over to the desk and stood at attention as best he could with mostly healed wounds and a still broken arm.
"Reporting as ordered, sir." Crisp, professional and very not Jack O'Neill's entrance of choice.
"Have a seat Col." Hammond said gesturing towards the chair opposite Daniel.
The Col. sat down stiffly and uncomfortably. Daniel's presence had already told Jack that whatever the Gen. was about to tell him, it wouldn't be good news. The Pentagon's decision on how to handle the situation had been hanging over Jack's head like a dark cloud for a week now. I guess now I can finally get that retirement thing I've tried before. That is if they don't change their minds and put me in prison for treason.
"As you've probably already guessed, I've gotten official word from the Pentagon on how we are to proceed in this matter. I have good news and bad news, which would you like first?"
O'Neill just shook his head. It didn't matter, either way he was being kicked out from the only job that had given him a reason to get up every morning these past few years.
"Very well, I'll give you the good news first. As per my recommendation, the Pentagon has decided not to pursue any legal action regarding this situation. No court martial, no pay docks, no suspensions and no early retirement. Looks like you'll be sticking around for quite some time yet."
Jack just nodded mutely. It wasn't the good news he had been dreading. He knew whatever came next was going to being something awful because of the way Daniel was acting beside him. He kept trying to make eye contact with Jack and had moved his chair closer while Hammond had been talking. The only reason Jack could figure for that was that Daniel needed to be close enough to grab Jack, which did nothing for the butterflies in his stomach he seemed to have all the time now.
"Now for the bad news..."
Jack held his breath and prayed like he hadn't prayed in years. Hammond had already told him he wouldn't be reprimanded for his actions, but that didn't mean they couldn't put him at a desk despite Hammond's earlier belief that he would continue as leader of SG-1. He wasn't sure he could cope with that.
"The Tok'ra have asked to use a memory device on you as well as an experimental drug, much like the blood of Sokar, to discover how much information was revealed to the enemy. In the interests of diplomatic relations and national security, the Pentagon has authorized the procedure to commence two days from now. The Tok'ra assure me that the entire procedure should take less than 12 hours and then they'll leave."
Jack wasn't quite sure about what he had just heard. The Tok'ra wanted to use a memory device on him? Yeah, sure he didn't like memory devices, but he himself probably would have volunteered with the procedure if it meant finding out if he revealed anything about earth's forces. He didn't understand the need for the entire doom and gloom atmosphere that Daniel and Hammond exuded.
Daniel, seeing Jack's confusion in his eyes decided he had better speak up. Jack didn't realize exactly what was going to happen.
"Jack..." Daniel started hesitantly, "in order to get the information needed, the Tok'ra are going to have to go through your entire interrogation. In order to get an accurate account of events, they're going to administer this drug which is going to make everything you remember and experienced, feel like it's happening for the first time. In fact, you won't know that it isn't happening for the first time. It's basically like reliving your torture. And it'll be projected up on a view screen for the Tok'ra to see."
"What?!?" O'Neill shouted, jumping from his chair angrily. They couldn't just use the memory device and rely on him to tell them whatever was said? They wanted to drug him into a stupor and watch the whole damn thing happen?!?
Daniel put a restraining hand on both of Jack's shoulders and firmly pushed him back into his chair before he physically assaulted the Gen. in his rage. He didn't want him to do something that would get him court-martialed after just escaping one.
"I'm sorry Jack." The Gen. said, forgetting about keeping himself professional and slipping into his concerned friend mode. "I objected on your behalf. I told them it wasn't necessary, but they seemed to think otherwise. To be honest, I think they did it as punishment for what happened, since certain factions in the Pentagon couldn't boot you out of the Air Force. I don't like this anymore than you do, but we don't have a choice. We both take orders from someone else."
Jack sat still and thought for a moment, only then realizing that he was sitting again and that Daniel still had both his hands on his shoulders. He glared at Daniel, and Daniel partially smiled back and removed his hands, but remained standing behind Jack and slightly to his left. Then Jack thought of something Gen. Hammond had just said.
"What if I retire? Can they still force me to do it?" Jack asked very calmly in a softer voice.
"I'm afraid they won't allow you to retire until after this mess is all cleaned up. I hate to do this, but I'm continuing your confinement to base until the Tok'ra delegation arrives in two days time. I suggest you take the time to think things over and prepare yourself for the procedure. That's all. Dismissed."
Jack slowly got to his feet and walked to the door, numbly. As soon as Daniel shut the door behind them, he reached over and rested one hand on Jack's shoulder and asked, "Are you going to be okay with this?" very softly.
Jack paused as if thinking about it, then slightly turned towards Daniel and stiffly said, "No, but it's not like I have a choice. The military says 'jump', you say 'how high', they say 'we want you to get brutally tortured for information', you say 'sure, and why don't I relieve it so you can see better." Jack snorted disgustedly. He shoved Daniel's hand off and started walking away.
"I'm sorry, Jack, I really am. You know I wouldn't wish this on anyone, but as much as you don't want a friend right now, you're stuck with me because I'm not leaving your side." Daniel said with as much determination in his voice as he could.
Jack just turned his head to look at Daniel as if judging the sincerity of his words, and then quietly said, "I know," and continued on his way.
Daniel watched his receding back and promised himself he would keep his word to Jack. He would see him through it 'til the end. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Chapter 5
It was a much more subdued Jack that entered the briefing room two days later. To everyone else, he appeared very in control of himself, if uncharacteristically quiet. Only Jack himself knew that his supposed calm had everything to do with whiskey and nothing to do about coming to terms with his newest 'assignment.' The welcoming party for him was much smaller than he had originally anticipated with only Janet Frasier, Jacob Carter, Gen. Hammond, Teal'c and Daniel sitting around the table talking quietly amongst themselves. A lone infirmary bed lay in the corner. The briefing room was eerily silent and still, and while Jack understood that it was probably only that way because Hammond had ordered all personnel out of that area of the base except for the control room and Gate room, he still felt like it was a warning of things to come. As he walked over to his customary chair next to Teal'c with Jacob on his other side, he realized that the blast doors had been lowered. Guess Hammond wants as few people as possible to bear witness to my shame. What a comforting thought. Hammond cleared his voice and spoke at this point.
"I thought it might be better to clear out all unnecessary personnel to give you more privacy Col. You may have noticed that Maj. Carter is absent, but she wanted you to know it had nothing to do with the current situation. She believed it would be easier for you if had less of an audience and she wanted me to wish you good luck."
Col. O'Neill nodded at this and remained silent. He would prefer not to have anyone present, but he'd take as few people as he could get (or get rid of). Janet stood up and walked to Jack's side of the table, kneeling down.
"I'm going to give you a mild tranquilizer and pain reliever that Jacob assures me won't interfere with the Tok'ra's memory drug. It will help dull any sensations you relive and keep you calmer than you were the first time around. Because we don't really know what to expect, I'm going to have you lay down on a gurney and monitor your respirations and heart rate." With this said, she quickly administered the drugs she had just prepared and helped Jack get as comfortable as possible on the bed.
"If at any time I feel your readings are getting too high or that you could be in any sort of danger, Jacob has given me the antidote to the memory drug and I can have you lucid within a minute."
Again, Jack simply nodded, still feeling the calming affects of the alcohol. I wonder if I should tell Doc that I had a few to drink...nah, she'd just get mad.
Jacob rose from his chair and dragged it over so that it was right next to the head of the bed on Jack's right. Daniel took the opposite position while Janet got comfortable very close to Jacob. Probably to hit him upside the head if anything goes wrong. Gen. Hammond sat near the foot of the bed on the left, but pushed back about 4 feet. He was there to write the official report to the Pentagon on the days proceedings so he had to be present, but not necessarily in the middle of the action. Teal'c stood at the foot of the bed where he could look straight at Jack. His presence was very soothing to Jack and he was glad Teal'c decided to stay.
Jacob fiddled with the memory device before finally placing it on Jack's head as if reluctant to do so. He asked Jack if he was ready and received a "Sure" in response. He activated the memory device, then readied the Tok'ra drug and hesitated.
"Go ahead, Jacob. It's okay." Jack said, and Jacob immediately injected the contents into Jack's bloodstream.
At first, the effects were not obvious. A few minutes later though, Jack began to mumble to himself and his eyes became unfocused. The memory view screen popped up with an image of the night sky.
"That's normal. I haven't asked him anything to put him anywhere mentally." Jacob assured. Then after a quick glance at Hammond, he began his questioning.
"Think back to when you were captured and tortured, Jack. Are you there?" Nothing showed on the screen so Jacob began more precise questioning.
"You were on a mission, remember Jack?"
"Hmmmm." Was Jacob's answer as a view of the desert at night appeared. To Daniel, it looked similar to the planet he was captured on, but he didn't recognize the exact location.
"Jack, you were captured, remember?" Was Jacob's next question. The screen showed Jack's view, as he looked down at himself in full gear being dragged at dawn by persons unknown.
"Do you remember what kind of questions they asked you?"
"Where my team was." Was Jack's monotone answer.
"Where was your team?" No answer came from Jack.
"Jack? Where was your team? You can tell me." Jacob persuaded insistently.
After a moment, Jack answered, but to everyone's surprise, the words he spoke were not in English at all. They were in Arabic. And he sounded pissed. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Chapter 6
"*Mosh ha addeek ay hagah shei!*" (I will tell you nothing!). Jack growled out at Jacob, suddenly focusing his eyes on him. Jacob appeared stunned and turned to Hammond for guidance. Hammond just returned the slightly shocked expression. Jacob shook off his stupor and attempted to placate Jack.
"Jack, no one is going to hurt you. You're in the briefing room, remember?" His words had no effect though as O'Neill clumsily sat up and started to sluggishly move off the gurney. Teal'c rushed over and grabbed both his arms, restraining him, as Dr. Frasier rushed to his side, antidote in hand.
"Wait!" Jacob cried out, "We just need to talk him out of it! If you give him the antidote the original serum won't work anymore! This will all have been for nothing!"
Janet opened her mouth to reply when a gentle, but firm hand on her arm stopped her. She turned and looked to see Hammond shake his head. She frowned for a moment and reached into a medical bag for the restraints she had the foresight to include with her usual medical supplies, not knowing what kind of effect the drugs could have. For someone whose been tranquilized, he seems very physically with it. She reached over the Col.'s body and began fastening leather restraints around his legs. As much as it pained everyone to see it, they knew there was no other option at this point. Jack was not in charge of his faculties and even in his drugged daze, he could still seriously hurt someone or even kill them. Teal'c held him even tighter and pushed him down so Frasier could put the strap across his midsection, but O'Neill would have none of it. He tried to roll himself off the bed, but Teal'c's presence and the leg restraint prevented him and he began to shout as loud as he could in Arabic. From the look on Daniel's face, Janet could only assume the words he spoke were very dirty. Wait a sec! Daniel spoke Arabic! She quickly turned to look at Daniel who once again looked shocked, and hissed at him,
"Daniel! Talk to him in Arabic! Anything to keep him calm!" Daniel nodded mutely and stood up to better look Jack in the face. While he thought of what to say to his panicked, angry friend, Teal'c spoke up to O'Neill hoping to soothe him so Frasier could finish with the restraints on his arms; the hardest part of him to keep still.
"It is alright O'Neill. I will not allow any harm to befall you. Cease your struggling!" Teal'c commanded, but instead of having the desired effect, it only seemed to make Col. O'Neill struggle even harder. Daniel couldn't stand to watch it anymore.
"*Min fadlak, wagef. Nahnu sadik!*" (Please, stop. We're friends!). O'Neill immediately stopped and looked Daniel straight in the eye before saying,
"*Anta laa sadik ana, Ahrabo hastid.*" (You are no friend of mine, Iraqi bastard .). Jack spit at Daniel after saying this, but otherwise remained calm and Janet was able to finish putting the last strap across his chest. He lay unmoving, staring at the ceiling with a cold look in his eyes. Daniel translated and no one had any doubts that he thought he was still a prisoner of Iraq. Daniel tried again after an encouraging nod from Hammond.
"Jack, fayn anta al ann?" (Jack, where are you now?).
"*Ilmak. Maza torid la' him kanzir?*" (You know more than I do. What do you want, pig?). Daniel quickly translated for the rest of the group and Jacob came to a realization.
"He thinks he's in Iraq because of the questions I was asking him. I wasn't specific enough! I never said anything about when or where he was captured and separated from his team." Jacob looked relieved that he had found out the reason for their predicament, but quickly frowned as something else occurred to him, "I don't know why he hasn't responded to my questions like he should have though. The drug was designed specifically so that the questioner had control over which memories to access. I just don't get it." He said, shaking his head. Janet decided to add her two cents.
"His memories of Iraq are bound to be some of the most powerful for him. If we can't give him the antidote then I think we just need to keep him talking until we can fast forward him to the more recent past. I would like to be on record though as disagreeing to not administer the antidote to the Col. I think this episode could have lasting affects on his psyche." Hammond, who had remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, made the decision as whether or not to continue.
"Damned if we do, damned it we don't." he muttered, "Continue to monitor him and if his readings reach dangerous levels, then and only then will we administer the antidote. Dr. Jackson, if you will continue please? He doesn't seem to be acknowledging English right now." Hammond stepped back to give Jack and Daniel as much space as possible as Daniel once again turned to his best friend to talk some sense into him.
"*Nahnu hum 'asdiqa qudama. 'Al-a'ila.*" (We are old friends. Like family.)
No response.
"*'Ismi Daniel. Ana ma fehempt lay ish anta ma mosh lak.*" (My name is Daniel. I don't understand why you don't know me.).
"*Ma lak?!? Mosh aref!*" (What do you want from me?!? I know nothing!). Then much quieter, he added, "*Ana roohul hurriyya. Ana salama anta la' him kanzir. Anta abgha roohul hurriyya al ann. Anta mosh aref wa ana mosh ha addeek ay hagah shei.*" (Let me go. I don't fear you, pig. You should release me now. You know nothing and I will tell you nothing.).
By this point, Daniel was worried with Jack's lack of understanding so he decided to only speak to him in English, say anything to get him to respond in English.
"The Iraqi's tortured you, didn't they Jack." No response came from Jack. Fine, if you want to play it like that then I'll play dirty.
"Did they hurt you badly, Jack? Did they make you bleed?"
"*Wagef.*" (Stop.)
Finally, a response to English, although not necessarily in English...
"Did they make you cry out? Did they make you beg for it to stop?" Daniel's voice getting harder and angrier sounding as he became more desperate to provoke a response from Jack.
"*Wagef*!" (Stop!)
"Did you plead for your life? Did you ever consider giving up information for your freedom?" Daniel taunted, hating it but knowing he needed to get his best friend back and hoping, no, *praying* Jack didn't remember any of it later. Teal'c frowned at this line of questioning, but did not stop it, and in fact held Dr. Frasier back when she tried to step forward to stop Daniel. He trusted him to do what was necessary. Jacob and Hammond likewise remained silent knowing that if Jack were going to come out of it, it was going to be right now. Sure enough, they were right.
"Stop!" Jack Shouted angrily. "Stop it!" He breathed raggedly for a moment, his pupils dilated as he continued brokenly with much less ferocity, "I lost four months of my life there! I was tortured within an inch of my life and I never broke to the enemy!" The last part came out as a whisper, "Never. Just...stop."
Daniel nodded solemnly and placed a comforting hand near Jack's shoulder, but not touching him just yet, while his anger seemed to deflate more and more with each passing second. After a few more minutes, he looked confused as if his surroundings didn't make sense to him as he became more aware. Suddenly he realized what had happened and all that had been said as his memory returned. He closed his eyes in embarrassment and shame. I was supposed to have been helping earth's allies determine what information was leaked, not going off on a merry-go-round of pain and blowing up at Daniel.
"Jack...I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do. You would only respond to questions in Arabic and you were certain that you were still a POW in Iraq. I had to snap you out of it somehow and it was all I could come up with." Daniel mumbled this last part out, not making eye contact with Jack for fear of what he would see there. While logically he knew that Jack wouldn't hold it against him, being the man he was, it still didn't make it any easier to look him in the eye.
"Daniel, don't. Let's just forget it was ever said, alright?"
Daniel smiled a little and shook his head. "I know you never wanted to say any of that, but it doesn't change the fact that you did say it. I think we should talk about it, but not now. When this is all over, you and I are going to get drunk and talk."
Gen. Hammond cleared his throat and directed his next question at Jacob.
"Jacob, just exactly what went wrong here?"
"Well, obviously Jack got a little confused by my questions and ended up in a completely different set of memories, but what I don't understand is why he didn't come right back when he was questioned again. The only thing I can think of is that the drugs wore off prematurely leaving him really confused and more cognizant than he should be, yet not aware enough to determine where memories ended and reality began. Jack, did you do anything or ingest anything just prior to coming in here?"
Jack thought back to just a few hours ago. He had left his quarters and gone down to the cafeteria to grab some grub and remembered he wasn't supposed to eat anything and then he came right up to the briefing...no, I had a few shots of whiskey in my office first to calm my nerves. That couldn't be it, could it?
"Well...I did have a little whiskey." He said sheepishly. He didn't want them to know his steel nerves were actually just a case of slight intoxication. That would kill his manly reputation.
"Col.! I thought I told you nothing but water!" Janet exploded. She specifically told him the day before not to eat or drink anything but water beforehand because she had no idea how he would react to the Tok'ra drug. Way to throw caution to the wind! Selmak decided to make an appearance at this point as his booming voice rang out.
"That could explain what happened. This drug has never been tested with alcohol. It is possible that instead of depressing your system even more, the memory drug acted like a shot of adrenaline when mixed with alcohol and was powerful enough to fight off the effects of the tranquilizer." Jacob sat back pondering what Selmak had said, realizing that was probably what had happened. He turned to Hammond.
"George, I think we can still continue. Jack's body won't become naturally immune to the drug for another," he paused consulting the wall clock, "9 and a half hours. I suggest a few hours break to flush the rest of the alcohol from his system and then I can administer another dose and we can start again. It shouldn't be harmful for him to have a second dose," he said looking at Frasier before she could object, "but it is up to you George," and turning towards the gurney again, "and you Jack."
Jack sat up after having been released from the restraints by Janet and stretched out, thinking on what Jacob had said. It's not like that'll happen again, right? Jacob will be more careful in his questioning, I won't have any alcohol and we'll get the information we need. What could easier? Yeah, right! He thought sarcastically.
"Sure, why not? It's not like I had anything better planned for the day except being drugged up. Let's give it another go. What do you say General?" He said deferring to Hammond.
Hammond considered this while looking at O'Neill's face, searching for any kind of hesitation or unwillingness to go through with it on his part. He found none.
"Alright people. We'll take a 4 hour break and meet back here at...1330 hours, understood?" He received five nods in response.
"Col. I expect you to go with Dr. Frasier to be checked out more thoroughly before we begin again, and Jack? Please don't drink anymore alcohol?"
Jack smirked and gave Hammond a sloppy salute, sliding off the gurney table.
As Hammond watched Dr. Frasier leading out Jack, Daniel and Teal'c he overheard O'Neill say, "Besides, it's not like anything else could go wrong, right?" Oh dear. This is definitely going to be one of those days! ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Chapter 7 Jack sat in the infirmary, bored out of his mind and missing his conspicuous bodyguards, swinging his legs. Janet had just taken a blood sample and left to drop it off at the lab, but told him he couldn't go anywhere until she came back. His stomach growled. It not only growled, it gurgled. It almost sounded like it was trying to talk...did my stomach just tell me to 'bark?' Col. O'Neill was caught off guard when he heard a voice being cleared about 3 feet to his right. He twisted his head sharply to see Carter with a cute smirk on her face. Not cute! Not cute! She's my 2IC! Nope, not cute at all!
"Hi, Sir. Just thought I'd find out how it went. You are done, right?" She asked a little timidly as if not sure how to act around him right then.
"Nope actually. The first try didn't go so well so we're going to try again in about three hours. Hammond gave me your message." He stated, giving no clue as to what he was thinking.
Sam blushed and looked down for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "I just thought it would be easier on you to not have such a large audience."
"Normally, I would say 'yes, it would,' but it Daniel and Teal'c are going to be there anyways, you might as well join them. Wouldn't want you to feel left out or anything."
Sam looked surprised at his offer and looked him in the eye to see if he was serious. He was.
"If you really don't mind, sir, I'd really like to be there to give my support." She said with a winning smile.
"Consider yourself formally invited to join the party then." Jack said with a crooked smile. Just then, they heard the click, click of Janet's heels and turned in her direction.
"Alright. I can't find anything really wrong with you from this morning's session, but I want you to get something to eat and take it easy for the next," she consulted her watch, "3 hours and 12 minutes."
"I thought you said I shouldn't eat beforehand."
"If you eat something light then it should already be digested by the time we start again. That's if you leave now and eat and not wait." She said pointedly.
"Hey! Don't have to twist my arm! See you in a few!" Jack said happily, jumping off the side of the bed and turning to Carter.
"Carter? Are you going to join me?"
With a thousand watt smile she answered, "Of course, sir."
Jack waved her out the infirmary doors saying, "Daniel and Teal'c should already be there. Daniel needed a caffeine fix and I sent Teal'c along about 10 minutes ago. If we hurry, we might be able to catch them."
"Are you challenging me to a race, sir?" Carter asked innocently.
With a mischievous grin, Jack said, "Of course!" and took off running down the hall. Carter, after a brief pause, took off running after him yelling, "You cheated!"
Janet, watching from her position from just inside the infirmary, quietly laughed. Why is it that Sam being around him can perk him up like no one else? She thought to herself. Oh well, at least he's in better spirits.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Cafeteria
"Hey Daniel! Leave some for me!" Jack O'Neill exclaimed to Daniel, who was on his second cup already. Carter stood a few feet behind O'Neill, slightly out of breath.
"I thought you weren't supposed to eat or drink anything except water? And what's wrong with Sam?" Daniel enquired.
"Janet gave me the okay to eat, provided I do it soon, and Carter just lost a race to me." He smirked.
"Only because you cheated! You had a head start and you ran down Siler who I had to help back up! I would have beaten you if you played fair!" She retorted.
"I accept your challenge to a rematch. How about tomorrow, around 1000?"
"You're on, sir!" Carter grinned.
Daniel just slowly shook his head. "Riiiight. Anyways, I think they just brought out some mac and cheese if you're hungry, Jack." Daniel gestured with his head to further down the chow line.
Jack didn't even respond. He just took off at warp speed to beat the line already forming.
Carter laughed. "He sure does seem to have a lot of energy for someone who was just basically interrogated again."
Daniel smiled slightly as he drank some more of his coffee and responded, "I think that memory drug gave him that side-effect. I think that's why Janet tranquilized him in the first place. Normally, after something like that, he would be moody, angry and unbearable to deal with, but I'm liking this hyped up Jack." He mused.
Carter started walking with Daniel to their table where Teal'c sat, amusedly watching O'Neill trying to inhale the mac and cheese. Quietly, she asked, "Why did you guys take a break?"
"He got confused with the questioning and thought he was in Iraq. We had to keep talking to him and wait for the tranquilizer to wear off a little until he'd realized where he was and what was going on. After that, Gen. Hammond thought everyone needed a break and here we are." He concluded. Nearing the table, they stopped talking for fear that Jack would hear what they were discussing, his least favorite subject, him. Daniel sat next to Jack while Carter pulled up a chair next to Teal'c. The three of them just sat there enjoying watching carefree, happy Jack. A face they rarely got to see, never mind that this time was due entirely to the Tok'ra drug still in his system.
Daniel suddenly laughed, "You're going to choke if you eat any faster!"
Jack looked up into the three smiling faces and smiled back, eating slower, but not slow enough to talk just yet.
Daniel thought of how much happier his friend seemed and got a thoughtful look on his face, I wonder if the Tok'ra could be persuaded to give us more of that damn drug...nahhh! ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Chapter 8
"O'Neill. I do not believe this was what Janet Frasier had in mind when she told you to 'take it easy.'" Teal'c scowled at the marine who was currently warming up with his boxing gloves on one side of the ring, while Jack O'Neill rotated his shoulders on the other side.
"What-did Carter rat me out?" He asked Teal'c over his shoulder.
"There was no rat involved, O'Neill, but she did inform me of Dr. Frasier's wishes and instructed me to 'keep an eye on you,' although I believe it best to keep both of them on you at all times."
O'Neill froze and slowly turned to look at Teal'c, deadly serious. "T, did you just make a joke?"
"Indeed."
Jack grinned and continued, "I just want to get off a little excess steam before I'm confined to a bed, that's all. You can understand that, right T?"
"I can, O'Neill. However, in this situation I believe it unwise to participate in such an activity."
"It's okay, T. This jarhead won't lay a fist on me. I guarantee it!"
Teal'c looked very unhappy at this. "Indeed."
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` 15 Minutes Later
Daniel walked into the gym with Sam Carter after being directed there by a marine with a broken nose. He saw Jack in boxing gloves trying to convince Teal'c to gear up and spar with him.
"Common, T! I won't hurt you, much, anyways." O'Neill said with a grin.
"No." Teal'c replied succinctly.
Daniel shared a quick grin with Sam before coming up to stand beside Teal'c, facing Jack.
"Jack, you wouldn't happen to know anything about a marine with a broken nose and a hurt ego, would you?" Sam decided to add her own two cents at this point.
"Teal'c, I thought you were going to watch him!" She exclaimed.
"I would not have allowed any harm to befall O'Neill. I could not, however, talk him out of battle with the man."
"Carter, it wasn't T's fault. I just needed to blow off some steam. No harm done, right? No reason to talk to Frasier, right?" He asked hopefully.
Daniel interjected, "No harm done? Did you see that guy's nose? And there's no reason for any of us to tell Janet about any of this," Jack's face brightened up while Carter looked at Daniel sharply. Daniel smiled back at her and continued, "because when that man goes to the infirmary to get his nose fixed, he'll tell Janet for us."
Jack drooped his shoulders. Man is she going to make me pay! "Daniel?" He asked, void of emotion.
"Yes, Jack?" Daniel replied.
"You suck."
"So I've been told...several times...by you."
Sam, again being the practical one said, "You have 30 minutes before we need to report to the briefing room, sir. Plenty of time for you to get cleaned up and presentable so Janet can't see any evidence of your activities on you. Who knows? Maybe she'll go easier on you."
As one, Sam, Daniel, Jack and Teal'c all thought, yeah right!
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Briefing Room
A much cleaner, more presentable Jack O'Neill entered the briefing room 25 minutes later with the rest of SG-1 in tow. Gen. Hammond and Jacob were just walking out of Hammond's office laughing at something Jacob said to him. Wonder what's so funny? Jack wondered. As his eyes continued to scan the room, he came face to face with an angry looking Frasier.
"Enjoy your break, Col.?" She asked sweetly, belying the anger hidden just below the surface.
"Er, yes?" He asked hesitantly with a sheepish grin.
Janet didn't answer back, but lost some of her stiff posture. She couldn't fault him for feeling the urge to pound something. She just wished it hadn't been someone's face.
"Major Carter? Will you be joining us this afternoon?" Hammond inquired.
"Yes, sir. Col. O'Neill thought SG-1 should all be present this time." She said respectfully.
Hammond gave her a nod, while Jacob gave her a smile and said, "Glad you could join us." She smiled back and gave him a hug.
"I wish you could stay longer, Dad. It feels like I never get to see you."
"I know, Sammy, but this time I don't have to go back for a few days. What do you say we spend that time together?" He asked expectantly.
Sam smiled again and responded with a simple, "Sounds good, Dad."
Hammond cleared his throat and began, "Why don't we get started? Doctor Frasier, if you will prep O'Neill?"
"Yes, sir. I'm going to give him slightly less potent tranquilizers this time. That way, if anything goes wrong like last time, we can talk him out of it easier. The pictures on the screen won't be as detailed, but he'll be more aware of his surroundings. He'll be able to tell the past from the present, but still give us an accurate account of what happened."
"Very well, Doctor." Hammond sat in his chair and the others took his example and sat down as well. Sam sat next to Daniel, closer to Jack's hand than his face so he didn't have to turn his head any to see her and she could grab his hand if he needed it.
Janet finished up her part of the preparations while Jacob affixed the memory device.
"I shouldn't need to administer a second dose of the Tok'ra memory drug. It should still be just as effective, if a little less concentrated."
As Jack relaxed from the effects of the tranquilizer and pain reliever, the room became very silent. Everyone was tense and trying to expect the unexpected.
"All right, Jack," Jacob started very softly and soothingly, "why don't you tell us what you can remember about what happened on PJ4-229?"
Slowly, the screen of the projector came to life... ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Chapter 9 This time the picture was less clear, leaving more to be filled in by the imagination. Clothing was nondescript, even those of Jack's own teammate's faces weren't as defined. The environment as well was fairly neutral looking with no landmarks to really speak of. In the memory projector, Jack was quickly leading them through the day prior to his capture without prompting from anyone. Walking through the SGC, then the pre-mission briefing, stepping through the event horizon of the Stargate and the short hike to the village. Then the projector stilled.
"Jack?" Jacob asked. If Jack could walk them through what happened without being prompted, so much the better. That way he could go at his own pace.
Jack O'Neill didn't answer. His face was neutral, but everyone could see the underlying tension in his shoulders and the rigid way his arms were being held despite the tranquilizers. Now that he was aware of what was going on, he was much more hesitant about having so many people present to see the shameful event. Suddenly, he realized it was his decision of who to have there besides Hammond, Frasier and Doc. He almost opened his mouth to make his request that the rest of SG-1 leave before continuing, when he felt a small warm hand enter his own. Looking down and to the side, he could see that it was Sam's hand that now embraced his and looking into her eyes and seeing the encouragement there, he couldn't ask her to leave.
Again, Jacob spoke up when Jack remained silent. "Jack? Are you ready for this?"
Still looking at Sam and seeing her give a small nod and a gentle smile, he found the courage he needed and nodded to Jacob.
Since Jack still wasn't talking, Jacob figured he would get him started and hopefully Jack would take over from there. Jack's account of events would be much more linear than if Jacob had to keep interrupting with questions that would jump through Jack's memory.
"Jack, we don't need to really see what they did to you for the first three days. Just think of the last thing you actually remember happening and then the memory drug will uncover the rest of the memories."
The projector almost seemed like a VHS player in fast forward at that point. They could see Jack being mistreated on the screen, but the screen was going too fast to make out details. It went on for about a minute before playing in real time speed.
They saw the inside of a hut with a sandy-dirt floor where Col. O'Neill was currently residing. He was covered in blood and had holes in his uniform from where he had been stabbed with a thick skewer-type instrument. His arm was bent unnaturally and he seemed to be unconscious until the projector zoomed in and they could see his eyes open to just slits, desperately clinging to awareness. Two of Jack's tormentors were sitting at a wooden table a few feet from Jack's head, taking a break until their prisoner 'woke up' again. The entrance to the hut shifted and the head chief walked through.
Jacob told Jack to stop at this point and shot a look to Gen. Hammond who considered something for a moment and then nodded. Jacob got up and left while Hammond explained the situation to a confused group.
"Because the projector does not play sound and Jacob and I figured it might be very important to hear what was said, we have arranged for a professional lip reader to join us. He has signed a confidentiality contract and has been told one of our personnel was taken hostage in South America and that we are testing brand new technology on him. We will explain the Gou'ld, should any appear on the screen, as drug lords and we will discontinue the projector as soon as SG-1 is reunited on the screen so he won't see the Stargate. I know I don't have to tell you not to make any questionable comments in his presence?" He asked, while looking to Daniel Jackson. Five people shook their heads negatively.
The whirring of a motor had everyone turning their head to look at the briefing room window, which was being covered by a large metal slab descending from the ceiling. With a clang, the Stargate was effectively covered up.
The room remained in a tense silence until Jacob returned with an African American man wearing a black shirt and a dark gray pinstripe suit with a red tie. He was tall and well built, though not as large as Teal'c and had a friendly, yet professional air about him. He walked straight up to Gen. Hammond and held out his hand.
"General." He said shaking Hammond's hand.
Gen. Hammond turned to the waiting faces and introduced the newcomer. "This is Vincent Hoss. Mr. Hoss, allow me to introduce my personnel. This is Maj. Janet Frasier, our head medical doctor. This is Col. Jack O'Neill, the officer who was taken prisoner. Maj. Samantha Carter, our resident Astrophysicist. Doctor Daniel Jackson, our consultant. Murry White, our head of security and I believe you have met Jacob Carter?" Hoss nodded as he finished briskly shaking hands.
"Are you ready to begin Mr. Hoss?" Jacob asked cordially.
"Ready when you are." Hoss replied without hesitation.
Jacob reached over and flicked the projector back to "On" and looked at Hoss for his reaction. Hoss' face betrayed no emotion at the advanced technology. Jacob fiddled with the projector until it suddenly grew in size until it resembled a 56" big screen tv. Hoss' eyes widened slightly at this, but again portrayed very little emotion.
"Alright Jack." Jacob said. "Take it from the point I stopped you at."
Jack frowned at the change in situation. Then, concentrating on the hand that still remained in his, the projection screen again filled with images, although this time they were slightly slower than real time, allowing Hoss to read more clearly.
The chief walked through the entrance to the hut and the two men left to stay with O'Neill jumped to attention. The chief's lips moved and a half second later Hoss' deep bass voice followed.
"Has he given any information yet?"
One of the 'guards' shook his head no. The chief frowned at this and looked down at O'Neill.
"Our God will not be pleased. I think it is time to use more persuasive techniques to get what we desire. Fetch the Cripthomine our God left."
One of the two men quickly left the screen, coming back into frame a minute later with a glowing yellow substance in a metal looking syringe-like object. At a nod from the chief, the man bent down and stuck the tip into Jack's neck, suddenly rousing the man. Jack fought viciously on the screen but was quickly subdued by the second man pinning him to the ground, and the effects of the drug making him weak.
A few minutes passed on the screen this time before the chief squatted beside Jack and began to speak again.
"Where is the base?"
Jack's mouth moved back, but Hoss couldn't make heads or tails with what he had said. Apparently he wasn't the only one either, as the chief on the screen looked confused and looked to the other men in the hut to see if they could understand it.
"I can't understand what he said. I think he might've been speaking in another language." Hoss said.
"Arabic probably." Daniel muttered, then suddenly brightened. "Can you sound out what he's saying so I can translate it?"
Hoss paused a moment to think about it before saying he could try. Jacob asked Jack to go back a little and play it more slowly. With a 'what the hell' look to Sam, he complied, just as curious as Daniel as to what he actually said.
"*Mrioft griisht noodlge pleds fligre awoij laiek dkwi dmson diusm fhgi lusij msjs.*"
"Alright." He said, looking at Jack. "I think you just said, 'the base lies at 153 degrees, 12 minutes and 8 seconds by 95 degrees, 16 minutes and 3 seconds.'"
Sam looked confused at this. "We never plotted meridians on the Tok'ra planet and even if we did, those coordinates wouldn't help anyone find their base."
For the first time in a while, Jack spoke up. "That was the location of the base I was stationed at prior to being a prisoner of war in '81. His question must have confused me just like it did when Jacob asked me."
"Why don't we continue to see if all Jack's answers are to past events." Gen. Hammond said, refocusing the group who were looking suspiciously confident at this point.
Once again, the projector started to move forward at a slow pace as the chief continued with his questions.
"Do you speak English?"
"*Jish.*" Hoss sounded out.
"Yes." Daniel translated.
"Why won't you answer my questions?!?"
"*Afghe soekd.*"
"I am, asshole." Daniel grinned openly at this translation.
"Where is the base of the traitors to my God, Ba'al?"
"*Okljasdlj ljl lsjdl woeird lsiej iisjoi asekij kdiek cjuwdj siaui au aduab.*"
"There is only one God and his name isn't Ball. I don't even think he has a proper name."
"Why are you so insolent, refusing to answer me!?"
"*Paweo awoei skd asoi. Sdnnls asih.*"
"I am answering you; you're just not listening. Deal with it."
"What is the address of the Tok'ra base?"
"*Oidj asdk ou aosijsd slk oijekw lkjd sdoi lsi sodfijs alskdjflsdu.*"
"I could probably show you if I could see a DHD."
Unfortunately for the chief, he had no idea how close Jack was to actually betraying the Tok'ra, as he said to the guards, "his head injury must have permanently damaged him. Put him in the sweat box to die while I inform our God." And with that, the chief left the room.
Sam grinned so hard, she thought her face would rip apart if she grinned any more. Jack hadn't betrayed them! Sure, he had come close, but close doesn't count. Her joy was dimmed as soon as her father spoke up.
"The fact remains that the Tok'ra base was revealed and the captured Jaffa was adamant that it was you that betrayed the location. I think we need to see this to the end."
Daniel openly glared at Jacob and opened his mouth to object and tell the Tok'ra off until a harsh look from Hammond silenced him. Sam frowned at her father, but knew the logic of his statement. Janet remained silent, content to simply observe for now. Of all of those present, only Teal'c looked like he might inflict damage on the Tok'ra.
"JacobCarter. Surely this has proved O'Neill's innocence."
"I agree that it looks like he didn't break and divulge information to the enemy, but we have to be sure. Surely you don't want Jack to have doubts about his involvement for the rest of his life. If he is innocent, then finishing would prove that beyond a doubt."
Teal'c continued to glare until O'Neill himself verbally agreed with Jacob and asked that they continue so he could get it over with.
For the final time, the projector screen came to life and continued from the point of the guards dragging O'Neill out to the edge of the village and placing him in a smaller coffin sized black wooden box in the sun. They nailed it shut and the projector went black for only 7 minutes as Jack sped up the time. Then the lid was opened revealing an angry looking Teal'c with a background of a starry night. They could see Sam's horrified face and Daniel's queasy looking one as the three ran back to the Stargate. Jacob reached over and turned off the projector and told Hoss his job was done that the MPs would escort him off base.
The room remained in perfect silence until Hoss left the room and Daniel let out a huge whoop as he jumped up and hugged a surprised Jack who was sitting up. Jack was even more surprised when Sam forgot herself and also hugged him as well as giving him a peck on the cheek before she went to hug an exuberant Daniel. She hugged Janet as well who looked relieved more than anything else. Teal'c smiled majestically and clapped one hand on O'Neill's shoulder. Even Hammond was smiling and in an uncharacteristic fatherly manner, ruffled Jack's already messy hair. Jacob walked over and the room was thrown into silence as they awaited the two men's reactions.
Jacob stuck out his hand to Jack and said, "I'm sorry I ever believed you had cracked. Will you forgive me?"
Jack grinned and shook Jacob's hand. "What are friends for?"
The room once again became jubilant until SSgt. Siler knocked and entered the room.
"Gen. Hammond, sir? There is a message from the Tok'ra we just received that I think you would like to hear."
Everyone threw curious looks to each other before walking out to the control center to hear the message. As soon as everyone was gathered around Siler, he played the message.
"This is Edmund, host to Tulgar of the Tok'ra. I am trying to contact Jacob Carter, host to Selmak to inform him that the Tok'ra's betrayer was not of the Tau'ri, but the Tok'ra. Alshir revealed the location of the base to Ba'al, who told his Jaffa that it was the Tau'ri O'Neill, hoping word got back to us. He hoped to disrupt the Tok'ra-Tau'ri alliance. Once again, do not question the Tau'ri O'Neill as we have found and captured the Tok'ra informant."
The silence was thick enough to cut with a chainsaw until Jack said, "So I guess this means you owe us one. Right?" ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Chapter 10 A week and two days had passed since Jack had been questioned at the SGC regarding his involvement of the massacre at the Tok'ra base. Shortly after receiving the message from the Tok'ra, Jack left with Dr. Frasier to the infirmary for 24 hours observation, and Sam had left with her father for a few days bonding time before he had to return home. She had said good-bye to Jack in the infirmary, squeezed his hand, and taken off. When Jack was released, he went home, packed, called Gen. Hammond to request a week off and disappeared, supposedly to his cabin in Minnesota. He was 24 hours overdue when Hammond called a meeting with SG-1. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Sam sighed as Daniel's head once again made contact with her shoulder as he continued snoring. She looked over to the window seat of the airplane and saw Teal'c enthusiastically, well, enthusiastic for the stoic Jaffa anyways, peering through the window at the swiftly moving ground. After Hammond had booked them on a commercial airline to Minnesota, Daniel had somehow managed to talk her into sitting in the middle seat as Teal'c had never ridden in a commercial plane before and Daniel would have to have easy access to the bathroom for tissue if his allergies acted up. So far, Sam had not heard one sniffle from him the entire trip. She sighed once again when the captain came over the intercom to say they were waiting for clearance to land. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Daniel stretched as he exited the driver's seat of the rental. He glanced over at Carter in the passenger seat who still looked a little surly at having sat between him and Teal'c for 3 hours. Teal'c exited the back seat and they all turned to regard the cabin in front of them.
It was small and quaint looking, like a cottage, but built to withstand the harsh weather the winter brought. It was made entirely of wood except for the fireplace, which was made of brick. Along one side of the cabin was a porch, complete with a swing and flower pots filled with wild flowers. Just visible from behind the porch was a rented vehicle with Minnesota tags, so they knew Jack was still there. Unwilling to disrupt the peacefulness of the area, the three split up silently in search of their friend. Teal'c started to circle the cabin, while Daniel went inside and Sam decided to head down to the lake, which was mostly hidden from view by trees.
Upon nearing the lake, Sam could clearly make out Col. O'Neill standing ankle deep in water, far away from the pier that still held fishing gear and a chair. She could tell that he knew she was there long before she had spotted him, so she continued to walk in a straight line towards him. Upon reaching his side, she took off her socks and shoes and rolled up her pant legs, stepping in to the chilly water. She gazed out on the lake and took in its beauty and serenity before turning to regard O'Neill.
"Sir?" She asked, hoping he would understand the unspoken end of her question. Why are you still here?
"Carter?" Apparently not. Sam decided to be a little more straightforward.
"Sir, you were due back yesterday morning. What happened?"
When he started to speak, he was very subdued and spoke in a soft voice, belying the anger and emotion behind his words. "Besides being called a traitor by my own government? Besides being coerced into reliving days of torture? Besides having everyone look at me with pity in their eyes?"
Sam looked down for a moment and then back up to his face. She smiled wryly as she asked, "Stupid question, Sir?"
Jack turned to respond with a small smile of his own and noticed Teal'c and Daniel standing on the hill just below his cabin. Teal'c returned his gaze and Daniel smiled at him before pulling out his cell phone, probably to tell the Gen. that he was alright. If only that was true. "Hammond didn't think you could bring me back alone?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sam blushed ever so faintly as she too turned to look at Teal'c and Daniel and said, "He thought you might want the moral support, Sir."
Jack refocused his gaze on the lake where ducks were lazily making their way across. "Carter, I think I'm too old for this shit."
To his surprise, Carter merely looked like she had anticipated his statement and she said very calmly, "If you quit on me now, I swear I will resign from the Air Force because there is no one I trust more to lead me into battle. If you resign, who will look out for the team? Who will keep me on my toes? Who will keep Daniel from getting killed again? Who will teach Teal'c that the wings aren't actually all that great at Hooters?" Jack turned and gave an actual smile at that before Sam continued. "I know you're feeling betrayed and angry and you should. That anger keeps us honest and will keep us from making any other mistakes like this. You may feel like the government turned its back on you when you needed it most, but don't turn your back on it. Be the bigger man. Let them know that you still have honor and integrity and lead by example. We, I, need you Sir, now more than ever." This last part was said with so much confidence and was so heartfelt that Jack started reevaluating his reasons for retirement. Sam was right. He could still do his job better than most of the younger soldiers, even if his knees weren't what they used to be...Wait a minute!
"Hey Carter?" He said while turning to completely face her. "Does the Tok'ra healing device repair torn cartilage and frayed ligaments?"
Sam looked very confused at the turn in subject, but considered his question as seriously as if he had asked her to blow up another sun. "I think so Sir. Why?"
Jack grinned fully at her before saying, "I think I may have discovered part of what the Tok'ra can do to pay me back." ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` "Alright Jack. Tell me how that feels?" Jacob asked after setting the healing device down.
Jack tested out his 'new' knees and gave a perfunctory whoop of victory at his flexibility. "Thanks Jacob! I think I'll take them for a spin. Join me Carter?"
Carter smiled at him and replied, "Of course, sir."
Walking side by side they passed a grinning Janet standing next to Jacob and exited the infirmary.
They walked in mutual silence for five minutes before Jack cleared his voice.
"Um, Carter?"
"Yes sir?"
"About what you said a few days ago...about needing me? Did you really mean it or were you just trying to get me to come back?" He asked with no small amount of fear.
Sam slowed slightly and turned so she could see his face as she gently smiled and said, "I meant every word of it, sir."
Jack smiled back so big he thought his face would split open. "Sweet."
Sam rolled her eyes slightly as she smiled widely and said, "Com'mon sir. I think I remember seeing that airman that ratted you out in the gym earlier. Feel like giving it another go?" She asked knowingly.
Still smiling at her happily he said, "You betcha!"
The End
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Fischergirl
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Body, Mind and Soul
by FischergirlSite Navigation
Support Heliopolis