Conflict
Conflict
by Obsessed
TITLE: Conflict
AUTHOR: obsessed
EMAIL: o_neill_obsessed@yahoo.co.uk
CATEGORY: Action/ Adventure (?), Romance, Drama (?)
PAIRINGS: Sam and Jack (less subtle this time)
SPOILERS: Er, The First Commandment
SEASON / SEQUEL: Sequel to Pace
RATING: PG-14 (just in case)
CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence (not loads)
SUMMARY: Direct sequel to Pace, Is Jack leading them to their death?
STATUS: Complete
ARCHIVE: Just say
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN THESE PEOPLE. I just really, really love them and am borrowing them. I don't own Stargate, this lot do- Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. And I'm making no money. At all...
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay-dokey, well this isn't great either but hey. It sorta just went a bit nuts. When I started it I never saw it go this way (the evil appeared). I was watching the repeat of Need last week and bits of it were inspired by that. And not a lot is explained, like the Nell aging thing. I had theories on it but I didn't wanna bore no one so I've kept them to myself. Tell me what you think. I gotta know. Anyone at all scared by this? (unlikely...but I ask). I know some bits seem to be there for no reason. Anyway here we go..............
"We have to make him listen" they were half way across the fields now, the ridge and valley before them now visible.
"He won't listen" Daniel said. He ran to walk beside Jack and went to stop him. He kept walking. "Jack, this is stupid" He didn't answer.
"Sir?" Sam ran up to them. Jack's pace remained the same but both she and Daniel had to run to keep up. She pushed him and he didn't respond.
"This is how he was before" she said, fear in her voice.
"I will stop him" Teal'c said. He too had to run to reach Jack and ran in front of him. He put his hand out to stop him. Jack simply walked around him. Teal'c tried again, this time physically grabbing him and holding him back. Jack stopped. Teal'c nodded, satisfied and stepped away. Jack continued to walk.
"He is persistent"
"Jack!" Sam cried. Jack stopped and she ran to his side.
"I know what I'm doing" he said. "You'll thank me" that scared Sam. Those words, the listlessness of his voice.
"Tell me what you're doing"
"I can't" he began to walk again.
"Jack" Sam tried but he kept walking.
"I will stop this" Teal'c said. He raised his zat and shot Jack. He fell to the floor unconscious.
"Do you think when he wakes up he'll stop?" Daniel asked.
"No" Armis said.
"We should go see where he was going" Molshack said.
"We can't leave him"
"I will stay with him Captain Carter"
"Okay" she said reluctantly. "Come on Daniel"
"Be careful" Armis said. "Be really careful" she sat on the grass away form Jack. Teal'c stood over him.
"I'll go with you"
"Molshack no"
"You'll be okay Armis. Teal'c will watch you"
"I will"
"Lets go. Before he wakes up" Sam said. She started to run in a straight line and Daniel and Molshack went after her.
"Sam, slow down" Daniel said.
"No" she called back. Daniel shrugged and they kept running.
They came close to the ridge and Sam slowed down, stopping to let Daniel and Molshack catch up. They walked a little closer but Sam stopped them.
"I'll go first" she said. She slowly, very slowly, walked to the edge and looked into the valley. What she saw made her jump back, fall to the floor and cover her eyes.
"Sam" Daniel said.
"Oh my god" she whispered. Daniel and Molshack peered into the valley. Littered over the valley floor were bodies, hundreds of bodies, burnt and charred.
"Oh my god" Daniel echoed.
"What on Nell is this place?" Molshack said.
"A mass grave"
"A massacre" Sam corrected.
"Seesun!" Molshack cried suddenly. He went to run down the valley when Daniel grabbed his arm.
"Where are you going?"
"Down there, my friend. She's down there"
"You can't go down there" Am got to her feet, recovered form the shock. She took another look.
"Armis was right. Jack was leading us to our death" Daniel said. He looked at Sam, she was almost heartbroken.
"We have to get back to him"
"I have to get to my friend" Molshack said.
"I thought it was just you and Armis"
"It us but not in the beginning. Four of us went through the circle on Nell. Seesun, myself, Armis and my friend Asrin. We all went together."
"What happened?"
"We argued. Asrin has always disliked Armis. Jealousy mainly but it came to a head one time and we split up. Seesun went with Asrin, she didn't want him to be alone. We've not see them for a long time" he stared down at the body of his friend. "I have got to get to her"
"It's too late to change anything. Why risk your own life" Daniel said. The boy nodded.
"Lets get back" the three of them ran back to Teal'c and Armis.
"What did you find?" Teal'c asked.
"Death" Armis answered.
"Hundreds of bodies. Burnt" Sam said.
"Seesun was with them. I could see her."
"Was Asrin with her"
"No" Jack rose suddenly and looked around, then he continued walking.
"Colonel O'Neill where are you going?" Teal'c asked.
"There is something to show you" he said. "You will thank me"
"You will kill us" Sam cried. Jack didn't stop.
"You will thank me"
"No we won't" Daniel said. They followed him.
"Shall I shoot him once again"
"No Teal'c" Sam said. "Jack, sir, please" she looked at him. "Jack?" she could've sworn she'd seen something. Seen his eyes flicker. "Jack" she said his name softer and this time she was sure. "Please Jack, listen to me" she took his hand. He didn't stop but he slowed down just a little he was less eager. "Jack" she squeezed his hand a little tighter and kissed him on the cheek. He stopped. She kissed him gently on the lips until she got a response and he was kissing her back. He looked at her.
"Sam" he said. "Sam, oh god, Sam" he fell to the floor and she knelt beside him.
"Are you alright? Are you with us?"
"Oh god Sam" he repeated.
"Tell me Jack. Tell me what happened" she said holding his hand again.
"I heard, I felt something. He wanted me to take you to the valley, to lead you down."
"Who?"
"I don't know, I can't remember" he said almost sobbing. "He wanted me to take you there to sacrifice you. And he would reward me. He would let me work for him"
"Who Jack?"
"I really don't know. Sam he was going to kill you all. He was going to kill *you*" he drew his knees up and began to rock back and forth. She sat next to him, holding his hand still.
"What are we going to do?" Daniel asked.
"This thing, this person controlling the colonel has killed a lot of people" Sam said.
"We should discover him and stop him" Teal'c said.
"Sir, can you tell us anymore"
"We should go. We should get away form this place" Armis said.
"No!!" Jack cried. "He still wants to kill you" He got up shakily, glad Sam was still holding his hand. "He's still out there, he's got people working for him"
"Slaves?"
"Slaves"
"But we don't know anything"
"Yes we do" Jack said. "I think I do" he started walking, his hand still attached to Sam's.
"Can you take us to him colonel?"
"I think so" he said "I can lead you somewhere if you're willing to follow"
"Sure Jack"
"Armis?"
"Okay sir" she said. Jack carried on and Sam let go of his hand. The second she did it, he took it back again.
"Colonel?"
"Jack" he said. "You already kissed me" she blushed. "I need you to hold my hand Sam, you brought me out of this. I need you to keep me out of this" she smiled and squeezed his hand.
"I will Jack"
Jack led them to the valley but he didn't lead them down, he turned and they walked along the edge, trying not to look down at the bodies. Armis hid her head in her friend so she wouldn't accidentally glance down.
"Can you feel that?" Armis asked
"Yes" Jack answered.
"What?"
"The evil" he told Sam.
They walked for what seemed a long time but was in reality only short. Fear and tension running through them made it longer. They were afraid of the unknown ahead of them, putting their trust in Jack. Sam kept a tight hold of him and smiled at him, to show she was there for him. The gesture did not go unnoticed. Soon the valley opened up wider and in it was a small square based temple of stone. It surrounded by hundreds of people, all shapes and sizes, shifting huge piles of stones and wood to another site. A bigger site. The workers were thin and exhausted and Sam couldn't help but think of Jonas, that didn't go unnoticed by Jack either and he pulled her hand to him.
"Slavery" he said.
"Can you see Asrin?" Molshack asked. He received no answer from Armis and looked over at her. She was shaking slightly, staring down at the site.
"I, I can't see him" she said.
"Are you okay?"
"No." she said.
"Plans?" Daniel asked.
"I think we should go down there" Jack said. "Not guns a blazing" he added quickly. "But we have to do something" Sam looked at him and saw the look of guilt on his face.
"I agree" she said.
"Okay" he let go of her hand. "Let's go" there were two ways down to the valley. Straight down the valley side, where everyone could see them and take a shot at them. The other way was through the line trees that followed the valley around and down behind the temple. The convenient line of trees, Jack thought but that was just his paranoia kicking in. The part of the brain that came up with the worst case scenarios. He took it at face value and his group to the trees, keeping away from the valley edge, and then came down through the trees, to the bottom of the valley. Jack didn't take Sam's hand again, not that he didn't want to but he was all business now. Eager to free some slaves and kick some ass. He was angry, angry he'd been so easily persuaded into leading his friends to their death.
"Asrin, look Molshack, it's Asrin" Armis said excitedly. So Asrin was horrible to her but Armis *was* just a kid. She held no animosity.
"I see"
"Which one is Asrin?" Sam asked. They pointed out a young man of 20, with black hair, thick eyebrows and a worrying red scar down his bare left arm. Molshack held Armis back. He was shifting logs from the lumberjacks to a store near the group.
"I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay" Jack murmured to himself.
"Jack?"
"Sorry, Monty Python" he shrugged. "Okay Teal'c, you and me will wait till only Asrin's at that store and grab him. Quietly and quickly. Ask him some questions" Teal'c nodded.
The rest of the group moved back into the trees and hid in the foliage, only their eyes peeping out so they could watch. Jack and Teal'c stood, backs up, against the small wooden shed and watched as Asrin walked with a large pile of logs and dumped them in the shed. Then he jumped out and grabbed him, hand over mouth and with Teal'c pulled him up to the group. Quickly and quietly. Asrin struggled hard and they held him up against a tree. Molshack jumped up and looked at his friend. He looked into his eyes.
"Asrin" he said. "Asrin, come on" he didn't answer him.
"He's not there" Armis said. "Asrin?"
"Asrin. What happened As? What happened to you?" he said the last words softer and put his hand on his friends shoulder.
"Asrin?" Armis said again. "I'm sorry Asrin, really I am" he blinked.
"Mol, Molshack, Armis"
"As" he hugged his friend and the man collapsed in a heap on the floor. "Asrin, we're here to help. Tell us what happened to you"
"Oh god Mol." he got out. "Seesun"
"We found her" Armis whispered.
"What happened?"
"I did it, I did it" he said. "I killed her"
"No"
"Yes. I lead her down the valley. I watched as he burnt her with his eyes"
"Who?"
"The master, The Lord"
"Lord?"
"The Lord. He controls us. He controls us. He told me, he said." he stopped and looked up at Molshack and Armis.
"Tell us what you can Asrin" Armis said. He looked directly at her.
"He calls out to those in conflict. Those more easily taken over because they have other things on their mind. And I was still angry with you Armis. And I lead her down the valley." he whispered down the last words and Jack understood. His mind had been wandering, in Sam's direction.
"It's okay. Asrin. We're here to help. Our friends, here. They're gonna help us" Armis said smiling slightly.
"He's evil Armis"
"I know"
"Who is he?"
"I don't know. I can only remember his eyes. Those eyes, those burning eyes green" he got to his feet. "His eyes are the eyes of the Ashna, Molshack"
"The Ashna"
"A story told to children. The Ashna is an evil monster" Molshack explained.
"I believe it" Armis said.
"You are a child"
"Hey!" she protested.
"Can we go? Get away from here?" Asrin asked
"No, we have to stop this" Jack said. "I nearly led my friends and your friends to their death and I will not let anyone else do that"
"Any ideas?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Me and Teal'c will go down there and sneak inside the temple. See this Lord" he said.
"No!" Asrin said. "If your mind is still in conflict, the Lord will take you"
"I can put it to the back of my mind. I have been for a couple of years now" he said.
"I'll go too sir" Sam said. He nodded, a small smile escaping him.
"Asrin, give Sam your coat. Teal'c lets get some coats of our own" they disappeared down to the wood store and returned with two unconscious men. They placed them next to each other on the ground and took their heavy brown coats, he and Teal'c taking one each.
"Okay" Jack said. "Daniel, if it all goes horribly wrong, go back to the SGC and come back with reinforcements"
"Will do"
"Keep your eye on this lot"
"Will do" he looked around at two unconscious men and the three Nell. "No problem"
"Let's go"
Jack, Sam and Teal'c went down to the valley floor and slipped in with a line of slaves going back to the lumberjacks for more wood. They passed the guards and slipped off into another group of slaves nearer the temple. They did this tow or three times until they came to the wall. They ran round it's square shape until Jack stopped suddenly at a corner. He looked around and saw three guards at what looked like an opening. He watched as they paced back and forth, only stopping to let slaves in. Jack would've loved to shoot his way in but instead he led his team around, heads down.
"The Lord, he wishes for our presence" he said.
"Are you new?" the guard asked.
"Yes sir"
"Then pass" he moved aside and the three went in, heads bowed.
The sight that met them was fire. In the middle of a large room, with a high ceiling, sat a massive fire. Flame coloured, orange, red and yellow but with a hint of green. They walked up to it but felt no heat.
"Sir? Do you no where to go?"
"Yes, unfortunately"
"You still fell the evil Armis spoke of?" Teal'c asked.
"Too well" he led them around the fire to two staircases leading up to the left, the other to the right. Jack led them up the right staircase and through a door at the top. The corridor was dimly lit by the same flames as the fire in the main room. Curious Sam reached up to touch one.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh" she screamed pulling her hand away. Jack went to her side, his face full of deep concern.
"Sam, what happened?"
"The flames emit heat" she said shaking her hand. He took her hand and looked at it. He wanted to kiss her fingers better.
"Why did you touch the flames Captain Carter?"
"I, I couldn't help myself. I had to find out" she shrugged and let him wrap up her fingers in the cloth from her coat.
"You okay?" Jack asked
"I'm fine" she said. "I was quick"
"You were daft" he said. He let go, with a small smile, and carried on up the corridor. There were doors either side of them but Jack didn't give them a second thought. He kept going, he was scared that he knew where he was going but marched on. Sam kept away from the flames.
"This is it" Jack said stopping at the very end of the corridor. Even Sam and Teal'c could see it was the Lords door. It was lit by torches each side and was green, made of thick wood. A symbol was engraved above it, a fire. A green fire.
"He is there" Teal'c stated.
"Tell you the truth, I've forgotten what I planned to do" Jack said.
"I suggest we go inside Colonel O'Neill"
"Okay" with their weapons ready Jack slowly opened the door and put his head around. Then he opened the door fully and walked in, sitting on a throne was a man of sorts. A man with a green tinge to his skin and flame red hair. He was staring right at Jack, who dropped his gun and began to move towards him. Form behind guards appeared, one grabbed Sam, the other two fought with Teal'c. Jack moved forward to the man. To the Lord.
"Jack!" Sam screamed. Jack stopped. The Lord didn't move at all and continued to stare at Jack, willing him to come forward. "Jack" Sam called out again, struggling under the guards grip. Teal'c flipped over one of the guards and sent him flying hard onto the floor. Sam struggled with hers, he held onto her waist and neck, tightly pulling her back, away form Jack. Jack stood still, he couldn't move but he could stop himself form going any further. Teal'c managed to elbow the second guard and turned to zat him. Free, he ran to Jack to try and stop, wake him. Jack didn't move and Teal'c raised is zat to the Lord and fired. The fire simply melted into a stream of blue liquid, that splashed on the floor. The Lord's eyes remained on Jack. Teal'c instead freed Sam form the guard before he could drag her away and she ran to him.
"Jack, sir? Jack" she said. He didn't look at her, his eyes locked with the Lord. She took her handgun and shot the Lord twice. The bullets melted and splashed to the floor. The Lord didn't flinch and Jack took a couple of steps forward. Sam stood in front of him.
"Stop. Don't go to him"
"I have to"
"You don't please" she said. She stood her ground and he moved forward, standing an inch away from her. He didn't look at her and kept moving forward. As he pushed past Sam he took the gun form her and pushed her aside. She let him move forward, stopping Teal'c form intervening.
Jack slowly moved forward, the gun hidden under the long sleeves of his coat, only half acting by himself. The Lord was telling him to come forward, that he could solve all his problems. That he had all the answers. The other half of Jack's brain was telling him he was lying, that he could end this and this time Sam would thank him. He approached the Lord, stood on the step of the throne and lifted his gun, pointing it at his face.
"Who are you?" Jack asked, his hand was shaking.
"I am the Lord"
"You are evil" Jack stuttered out.
"You will thank me Jack. Everyone will thank me, everyone does. I solve their problems."
"He's deluded" Sam said. Her voice in his head now, Jack didn't hesitate any longer and pulled the trigger. Four bullets went flying forward, each one connecting, killing him.
"He was trying too hard" Jack said falling backwards, released. Teal'c caught him.
"We still don't know who he is" Sam said.
"Do we really want to?" Jack asked. He smiled, sweating badly. "I feel great"
"Let's get out of here" Sam said taking his arm. He nodded and the three of them made their way out of the temple. In the opening room, the green fire had gone out.
Outside hundreds of people had stopped. The slaves were stood looking at each other, at the scene around them.
"Everyone's awake" Jack said.
They made their way back to Daniel and the others, explaining to one or two on the way what had happened. That they were free. Daniel was still hidden but jumped up when he saw Jack.
"What's going on?"
"We're going home"
"You killed him" Armis said. Jack nodded.
"And everyone's free. We'll come back and sort this lot out. Let's just go"
**********************
"The people who were form the planet didn't want to stay there so they're being relocated at the moment." Sam said in a debriefing a few days later. SG-1 had spent two days in the infirmary, for no good reason, except Janet felt they needed the rest and the Lords slaves were had been staying in various Air Force bases in Colorado for some care too. "Nearly all the people that were unfortunate enough to travel there have been sent home" Hammond nodded.
"What about Molshack and his friends?" Hammond asked.
"We've not been able to find their home yet"
"What about the Lord?"
"One or two people have remembered a few things. He was form the planet, lost his family." Daniel said.
"One guy said, he always thought he was a bit strange" Jack added quietly.
"Okay" he paused and looked at his slightly refreshed team. "Dismissed." he smiled and left. Daniel and Teal'c followed, not noticing when Jack took Sam's arm to hold her back.
"I read you report" he said
"Sir"
"You left out the part where I held your hand"
"Sir, I'm sorry sir"
"And the part where you kissed me"
"I shouldn't have done that"
"I needed it to wake me up"
"Yes sir"
"And it was nice" he grinned at her and she blushed.
"Er, yes, er, yes sir"
"Yes Jack" he said in a low voice. "Thankyou Sam, you pulled me out of another tight spot"
"My pleasure Jack"
"I won't forget it" she smiled.
"It's no big deal, I saw, I could" she didn't know how to explain it without blushing further. "I saw how you responded to me sir, Jack"
"My conflict was over you Sam" he confessed, he dipped his head.
"Over me?"
"You were on my mind again when we went through the gate. That's why I was so vulnerable to the Lord"
"Jack, I don't' understand" she did, she knew what he meant, she felt the same way but at the same time she wasn't sure. Jack leant on the long table and looked at her.
"I want you but I know it's against the regs" he said "And I don't know if you feel"
"The same?" she finished. "I do, I really, really do"
"I did special ops. I'm dam sneaky" he grinned.
"That's good enough for me" she smiled and moved a little closer to him than she knew she should in public. On a base. "Just be careful"
"I promise I won't hurt you Sam. Ever. I love you"
"I love you too"
"Hey guys!" Daniel said, bursting into the room. "We found Nell"
"Great" Sam said jumping away from Jack. He smiled.
"Oh yeah, great, a planet full of 900 year olds that look 9 and 9 year olds that look 900" he said.
"And trees" Daniel added. "Molshack there's lots of trees."
"Super"
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to o_neill_obsessed@yahoo.co.uk
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