The Prisoner
The Prisoner
by coffeybean
Summary: An error of judgment and it's Jack who's in the wrong place at the wrong time, again!
Category: Drama, Hurt/Comfort
Episode Related: 107 The Nox, 216 The Fifth Race
Season: Season 3
Pairing: Team
Rating: GEN
Warnings: none
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: 2005-01-06
General Hammond stood anxiously in the control room. He hated times like these, when a team was overdue for contact. It was especially difficult when that team was SG1. Over the years he had grown very fond of them all, a little too fond, he thought. He knew he should be more detached but this was becoming more and more impossible, as the team, especially it's leader Jack O'Neill found their way into his heart. He regarded them as friends, no, more than that, he thought, family and here he was again like a father, waiting for his children to come home.
'Where the hell was SG1?'
Sergeant Davis looked at him with admiration wondering how the General always managed to stay so calm in these situations. Just then he heard the gate activating and re-focused his attention.
'Incoming wormhole' he shouted.
The wormhole engaged and the whole control room stopped to look, all waiting for the words
'Its SG1's IDC sir'
It seemed like an eternity before the words were out. Although no one spoke, the relief in the room was obvious, even the General seemed to relax. As he ran down the steps and into the gate room, closely followed by several armoured airmen, he wondered what problems SG1 would bring back this time. He inwardly smiled to himself; this team doesn't know the meaning of straightforward missions. Being the advance team of the SGC they had made a lot of enemies.
Teal'c, because his betrayal of Aphopis now undermined the loyalty of many Jaffa, Major Carter and Daniel Jackson, for their knowledge and expertise in figuring out how to activate the Earth Stargate and last but not least Jack O'Neill, a pain in the backside of many a system Lord. His endurance and skill in fighting them had made him and his team a priority target for elimination.
P4C 989 was the next planet dialled using the coordinates placed into the base computer by Colonel O'Neill, when he had the knowledge of the ancients downloaded into his head. It was not on the Abydos cartouche and therefore it seemed likely that the Gau'ld did not know about its existence. It had been difficult in getting an initial lock on the address but Major Carter had known which of the gate protocols she needed to bypass to get a confirmed lock. Ultimately the final decision to go had been his, Major carter just followed his orders. They'd bypassed protocols on a few occasions before, only once had it turned out to have been a mistake, K'tau!.
The initial information sent back from the MALP indicated a breathable atmosphere, moderate temperature and no signs of recent activity at the gate.
As SG1 watched the transmission Jack O'Neill grimaced,
"Oh God, more trees!"
Everyone smiled, knew that he hated planets with trees around the gate; he always said it was because the trees offered good cover for an ambush. In this case there seemed no signs of any sentient life. A UAV was sent to give further information and it had sent back detailed aerial scans of a long abandoned structure some 10 clicks from the gate, but nothing else. When Dr Jackson had seen the images he became very excited. He didn't know exactly what it was but to him it appeared similar to architecture of the Ancients they had encountered before, this made him even more excited.
General Hammond had smiled to himself then, as this was typical Daniel Jackson, a wide-eyed child who was about to be let loose in a candy store. Jack had just raised his eyes at Dr Jackson's enthusiasm mumbling to himself
'here we go again'.
The General gave the go-ahead for a 72-hour recon; Colonel O'Neill verbally indicating that he was not happy at what he saw was, for him, just a babysitting mission. Overruled by the General, a grumpy O'Neill led his team through the gate.
When the team did not report in for their first scheduled contact Hammond had opened the gate to try to raise contact, but to no avail. It was unlikely that they would be out of range as the structure they were going to explore was only 10 clicks from the gate. Despite O'Neill's somewhat casual attitude, he would never miss a contact deadline, not on purpose anyway. They were almost 12 hours overdue!
The General was brought back to the present when the gate shook into life and the ripples in the event horizon revealed the travellers. Major Carter appeared first,her back to the control room, she was carrying a motionless Daniel Jackson. Teal'c had hold of his legs. As soon as they were through the gate, all three fell to the floor. Teal'c remained on his knees but Major Cater was lying still but breathless on the ramp along with Dr Jackson.
'Medical team to the gate room' he shouted.
He rushed up the ramp towards the team, as Sergeant Davis ordered the medical team to the gate room. At this point General Hammond noticed that Colonel O'Neill had still not arrived through the gate. He looked at each member of SG1 visibly looking for any injuries. He did not see blood. Normally that would be a good sign, but off world travel had shown that the absence of blood did not mean that there were no injuries.
'Where is Colonel O'Neill?' he shouted at anyone that could hear him just as the wormhole disengaged.
Major Carter, looking obviously distressed, replied breathlessly
"We don't know, sir!"
At that point Janet Frasier and her team rushed up the ramp. The General stepped quickly aside, knowing that she would have pushed him aside if he hadn't. She immediately moved to Dr Jackson, allowing the other medical staff to attend to the conscious members of the team. Dr Jackson appeared to have no visible injuries but she soon took his pulse and checked his eyes. He was in a deep unconscious state and his breathing was shallow. His eyes were not responsive.
'Ok people, lets get them all to the infirmary'
she ordered as she stood back for a moment to allow her team to get Dr Jackson onto a gurney. As Major Carter and Teal'c attempted to rise she ordered them to wait until they could be accompanied. She did not want to risk aggravating any injuries that they might have.
'I do not need assistance, Dr Frasier'
Teal'c stated as he rose and started to make his way to Major Carter. He put out his hand to assist Carter as she rose to her feet.
'Sam, can you tell me where you are? Does anywhere hurt?'
Dr Frasier shouted to Carter as she made her way towards her. Sam did not respond and she again shouted
'Sam, Sam, can you hear me?'
Suddenly Carter raised her head and looking directly at Janet said quietly
'It's ok Janet, I'm not hurt'
Disbelieving her, she instructed Teal'c to take her to the infirmary. Dr Frasier knew that if Teal'c was up and about, it was likely that he was not injured. His symbiote was a marvel she thought, and then shivered at the momentary lapse in concentration, it was still a Gou'ald after all.
Once Dr Frasier had them all on a bed she began her examination.
General Hammond approached the Major's bed,
'What the hell happened? Where is Colonel O'Neill?'
As she looked at him he saw the distressed look on her face. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she tried to suppress them. She was trying to say something but Dr Frasier interrupted,
'General, just give me a few minutes to assess their injuries and then we can debrief. Dr Jackson is still unconscious and even though Teal'c and Major Carter seem to be uninjured, I think they may be in shock. I'll give a brief report in 30 minutes, sir'
General Hammond knew better that to argue with her. She was also right, he knew that. She put the welfare of her patients above all else. He was sure that when she had assessed their injuries he would be the first to know. She had a soft spot for Colonel O'Neill and would be as anxious as the rest of them to know where he was. For the moment he would just have to wait.
Hell, he'd done that before, too many times, he thought.
***********
Jack opened his eyes and tried to remember where he was. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to clear the ever-present headache. This time he thought it was worse than when he woke up yesterday. He attempted to bring his arm up to his head but found he couldn't move.
"What the hell..?" He said out loud.
Then he suddenly remembered, he wasn't at home he was on planet PX... something or other. Damm, why could he never remember the names?
' Oh god' he thought 'Not again!'
This was becoming a habit, gate to an apparently lifeless planet, wake up in a strange place, prisoner of the snakeheads! Not able to move! Can't see a damm thing! Yep, been there, done that!
'Don't seem to be injured' he thought as he quickly took stock of his body.
"Daniel, Carter, Teal'c!" he shouted, but no one replied
'OK, Jack, think, what the hell happened.' He whispered to himself.
Slowly he began to remember. They had come through the gate and found nothing on the other side. Carter had checked the DHD and found that it hadn't been used for quite a while, but was in full working order.
'Good sign' he had thought to himself.
He and Teal'c had made a sweep of the area and found no signs of activity. Daniel just couldn't stay still. Jack could see he was desperate to find the structure shown on the UAV. He ordered them to move out, Daniel had never moved so quickly.
The weather seemed very much like Earth and they had estimated that it would take them approx 5 hours to reach their destination. When they had finally got there Daniel had just stood and gasped. The structure was huge, made out of some kind of grey and white marble. There seemed to be no windows or doors and there was no writing that they could see.
They'd looked around trying to find the entrance but couldn't find one. He'd decided to set up camp for the night and told Daniel that they'd look again in the morning. Daniel didn't look too happy, but he was always like that, it was their game.
"Oh. Come on Jack, there's at least a hour before it gets dark, lets carry on looking" he protested.
" NO Daniel, we need to get the camp set up before dark, We'll look again in the morning"
"Jack, come on?"
"No Daniel!"
"Jack!"
"Daniel?"
Daniel had stamped his feet like a petulant child and Jack had just laughed. Daniel hated that Jack treated him like a child but he did what he was told.
The evening had been nothing out of the ordinary. MRE's that tasted like shit and Daniel theorising about what the civilisation might have been. Jack had switched off after ooh.... 30 seconds.
They had gone to bed after arranging the watch shift. Daniel, too hyped up to sleep, went first followed by Carter, then Jack and finally Teal'c. He'd been just about to get up when he heard Teal'c shout,
"O'Neill!!"
He'd jumped up grabbed his gun and darted out of the tent. The others were just coming out of theirs when abeam of light shot out from the top of the structure and enveloped them.
Then he'd woken up.
********
Major Carter, Dr Frasier and Teal'c were already sitting in the briefing room when General Hammond strode in.
"OK, people, what happened out there"?
Major Carter briefed him
".... And then a blinding light came from the top of the building and surrounded us, all I remember is seeing the others members of SG1 Standing in a beam of light. We appeared to be inside something, maybe the building, I don't know. I couldn't move or talk but I could see everyone else"
"Major Carter is correct." Teal'c spoke up. "I experienced that also. Whilst I could see, I was unable to free myself; it was then that I f ound myself outside of the building with Major Carter standing beside me. O'Neill and Daniel Jackson were not there."
Major Carter continued,
" We tried to get into the building, but we still couldn't find an entrance. I tried to raise the Colonel and Daniel on the radio, but there was no reply. After about an hour of searching I decided that we should head back to the gate and apprise you of the situation, Sir. It seemed to take us longer to get back to the gate and when we about 500 metres away we saw a beam of light land near the gate. As we approached we saw someone lying on the floor, it was Daniel, sir, and he was unconscious. I tried to rouse him but he was totally out of it. That's when I dialled the gate and brought him home."
She looked directly at General Hammond and he could see the agony in her eyes as she said,
"Sir, we have to go back to the planet and find the Colonel. He must be there somewhere"
"I agree, Major Carter but I think we should send a further MALP to make sure that conditions have not changed. If the pictures come back OK, I'll authorise a rescue mission"
She nodded in agreement.
Hammond turned to Dr Frasier,
"Doctor, what's the condition of Dr Jackson?"
"Well sir, I don't really know what to tell you. He's still unconscious but does not have any physical injuries that I can see. All the tests that I have done show that he's in a deep sleep. I've tried everything to wake him up. I'm still waiting on the results of the blood tests for all of them and the MRI on Dr Jackson sir. As soon as I have those I hope I can give you better news"
"Thank you Doctor",
turning his head to Major Carter
" I want a MALP on the ramp in 30 Minutes, Major"
"Yes, Sir" she confirmed as he stood and walked out of the room.
'This is a first' O'Neill said to himself. 'I've been here a while, I think and no snakehead has been to see me'.
He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. He still couldn't move. It appeared that his hands and feet were tied, no, chained to either the floor or a table. He was stretched out, but either it was very dark or he had gone blind because he was in total darkness. He didn't know how long he had been there but it must have been a while, he was thirsty and a little disorientated. He certainly wasn't hurting.
'Well not yet anyway'
He suddenly felt something brush past him, very lightly. 'Stay calm, Jack' he whispered to himself, knowing that there was someone, or something in the room with him. Hearing a noise to his left he quickly turned and tried to see. He could feel a tingling in his temples and realised that something was attached to his head. His back arched as he felt a sharp pain shoot through his body. He knew that there was someone watching him and he didn't like it. He needed to be in control. He needed to see the face of his attacker, to show his defiance. All he could do was shout at the blackness.
" Who are you, turn the damm lights on and show your face!"
Another surge of pain hit his body.
' Not your usual Goul'd MO' he thought as the pain subsided. ' those arrogant snakeheads usually like to see the pain they inflict'
As soon as the surge was over he sank back onto the table. His head really hurt now, he'd realised that he had something attached to both temples and that was delivering the pain. He couldn't understand why no one had asked him a question.
"Sadistic Bastards" he said loudly so who ever it was could hear him.
Another pain filled surge came and went, leaving him breathless and shaking. He'd suffered a lot of pain in his life, not all physical, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua and numerous other missions in his black ops days. The loss of Charlie had been his biggest pain, the feelings still lingering even after all this time. Now the Stargate programme, that had in itself opened the door to a great deal of pain. SG1, and Jack himself had had more than their fair share of pain at the hands of the Goul'd and other enemies. Hell they'd all died at some stage over the last couple of years, he mused. Inwardly laughing to himself at the sheer enormity of dying and rising again!
It seemed to Jack that the surges of pain being sent through his body were on a timer. Every time he released the breaths he had been holding, another wave came. He began to get exasperated.
" For crying out loud, speak to me, don't hide in the shadows like a damm coward, face me"
Silence,
"Who are you? He shouted.
Just then the lights came on, bright lights, too bright, Jack thought. He squinted as the light hurt his eyes. He tried hard to focus and get used to the light. After a few moments he could now look around the room. White walls, White floor, White ceiling.
"Hey have you guys never heard of Martha Stewart?"
The pain came back but this time it wasn't surging through his body quickly, it was taking its time to reach his extremities. It took longer for the pain to subside this time, leaving him exhausted and extremely thirsty. He looked around again at the empty room.
Jack closed his eyes, just to rest them for a minute.
*********
Dr Frasier knocked on the General's door.
"Enter," he shouted
Dr Frasier stepped into his office,
"I've got the results of the blood tests and DR Jackson's MRI, There are no abnormalities in any of the blood samples, but I've found something in Dr Jackson's MRI, it appears to be a small mechanical device no bigger that the size of a pin head. It appears to be emitting a small electrical charge"
"Is that why Dr Jackson is still unconscious?" Hammond replied
"I really don't know, Sir All I know is that I can't remove it"
"Thank you Dr" as Hammond sank back into his chair. Hammond rested his head into his hands, trying to fight the tiredness he now felt. He knew that Dr Frasier was doing all she could to get to the bottom of Dr Jackson's condition, but it didn't make him feel any better. Knowing that his second in command was still out there he murmured to himself
"God, Jack, where are you?"
Dr Frasier returned to the infirmary and looked in at Daniel. He was lying motionless on the bed; suddenly she saw movement and rushed to his side. He appeared to be in pain, for just a second, but then as quickly as he had stirred, was back into his deep sleep. She felt helpless, laid her hand on his and walked back to her office. She ordered one of the nurses to maintain a constant watch over him and to report any movements immediately.
Major Carter was just completing her checks of the MALP before returning to the control room to activate the gate. She was anxious to get this rescue going. It had now been almost 18 hours since they had returned. God knows what could be happening to the Colonel.
As General Hammond entered the room she confirmed that all was ready and he gave the order. It seemed like an eternity before the gate was activated and the MALP made its slow ascent up the ramp and into the event horizon.
"We should be receiving telemetry right about...now" She commented.
As they looked at the video feed they could see exactly the same pictures as before, still no signs of life or any noticeable disturbances. Carter had set up the UAV as well and now that was to be sent through. Eagerly she waited the several minutes until the data was sent back. It took the same flight path as before but the structure they had encountered was nowhere to be seen. She double-checked her readings.
"Are you sure that this is the same aerial shot, Major?" The general enquired.
"Yes Sir, but I don't understand, there's nothing there" She answered incredusiously.
They both stared at the pictures and wondered what the hell was going on. Hammond reluctantly ordered the gate shut down and proceeded back into his office to use the red phone.
He emerged about ten minutes later,
" After a little persuasion, the president has agreed to send a small rescue team, Teal'c, Major Carter you will return to the planet with SG5 and attempt to locate the Colonel. You have 48 hours!"
"Yes Sir!!" they all agreed, as they jumped up from the table and made their way to the locker rooms.
***************************
Jack was once again plunged into darkness. He was now getting seriously pissed off. He'd been here, god knows how long, he hadn't seen anyone, hell, he hadn't even sensed anyone, not since the beginning. He'd had no food, no water and the searing pain regularly shot through his body did nothing for his mood. How he longed for a little water. His whole body ached from being restrained and the pain was becoming more intense. The change from darkness to light and back again along with the differing intensity of pain was a tactic he knew all too well. Sensory deprivation, intermittent pain leading to sleep deprivation was a well tried and tested method for breaking a man down.
'Well,' he thought 'its working, I'm so dammed tired'.
He'd experienced something similar before, in fact Major Carter had mentioned a programme on the subject when they were sitting around the fire the first night they had arrived on the planet.
Pain...Pain.. He thought as it spread through his body like a knife cutting his flesh. Then he heard it,
"Jack..Jack.. Are you there?"
Jack opened his eyes and turned to the sound of the voice. Once again realising it was dark he spoke softly,
"Daniel?"
"Yes, It's me" the voice replied.
"Where are you?" Jack whispered.
"I don't know, it's dark" with a desperation in his voice he continued "Jack, tell them what they want to know, I want to go home"
Jack was just about to reply, when another surge passed through his body. He tried to concentrate on Daniel's voice, but something was wrong. It didn't sound like Daniel. Yes it was his voice, but Daniel would never ask him to give up, would he? Perhaps Daniel had been tortured more that Jack, perhaps he was giving up.
"Daniel", he said, trying to regain his breath, "Have they hurt you?"
"I can't feel anything, I don't think so, but I can't see."
"I know, neither can I, Daniel who are they? And what do they want to know, I haven't seen anyone"
There was no answer,
"Daniel?...Daniel? " he shouted but only the darkness echoed and once again the pain hit him and he closed his eyes once more.
*****************************
SG5 and the remaining members of SG1 were all geared up in the gate room. Carter and Teal'c had been down to the infirmary to see Daniel Jackson. His condition remained the same. Although he was in a coma it did not appear to be life threatening. They felt reassured by that news, they were wary of leaving him there, but knew that he was in safe hands. He would want them to find the Colonel.
When General Hammond gave the command, they all stepped through the gate. Arriving on the other side, they proceeded to scan the area looking for signs of any activity. When they did not find anything, two members of SG5 remained at the gate while the others led by Major carter proceeded to the place they had set up camp.
The campsite was just as they had left it, tents were still erected and the supplies that they had left there before escaping had not been moved. Looking for tracks, they scouted the perimeter of the camp. There were none. Whatever or whoever had taken them had left no trace.
Quietly moving towards the location of the structure, Major Carter hoped that they would find something to help them locate the Colonel. It had been over 36 hours since they had returned through the gate to Earth. '36 hours is a long time', she thought. Arriving at the location, there was nothing, no tracks, no structure and definitely no Colonel!
Teal'c' voice broke the eerie silence
"I do not believe that O'Neill is here. I also do not believe that this is a Goa'uld planet. There does not appear to be anything of military value on this world. The system lords would have nothing here over which to exert their power"
Major Carter looked at him in defeat. She knew he was right; the Colonel was long gone from here, but where and by whom? She kicked her boot into the ground sending up a storm of dust and stones. As she did so she heard a noise. One of the small stones she had kicked had hit something. She looked at Teal'c and knew that he had heard it too. She bent down and picked up a large stone. Hurling it expectantly forward. About 25 foot in front of them the stone struck a solid object and fell to the floor.
"Oh my god!" she exclaimed, "the structure we saw before did not just disappear, it's cloaked!!"
"The Goa'uld possess no such technology," he stated.
"No, they don't but we have seen something similar before, the NOX!!"
"But Major Carter, the Nox are our allies, they would not imprison a member of the Tauri" Teal'c offered.
"I know" she replied, "but it has to be, doesn't it?"
Major Carter, Teal'c and Captain Anderson proceeded to try to find someway of being able to penetrate the structure. By touch they could feel it but could not find any break in the walls. They tried to find something that could help them get in but after 2 hours, they could not find anything. Major Carter decided that they had done all they could for the moment. She knew, they all knew, that Colonel O'Neill was inside, but they couldn't get to him. She decided they needed to go back to the SGC and contact the Nox; perhaps they could shed some light on what was happening.
*********************************
Jack didn't know how long he had been there, day's weeks. It felt like forever. He was tired, hungry, exhausted and he hurt. His couldn't lift his head up, pain swept through his body as he tried to move. Each time the pain had come the lingering effects seemed to last forever. He was never without the pain. The light, then the dark had his mind so disorientated, he was sure that he heard Daniels voice. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but it was real, wasn't it.
What had he said, 'Tell them what they want to know!' Tell them what, tell whom what. Jack couldn't concentrate. He kept thinking of Daniel, if he were there he would be hurting too. Jack shuddered at the thought.
"Tell me how to get out of here?" A voice echoed in the room. It wasn't Daniel, Jack knew that.
"Tell me how to get out of here or I will kill your friend"
Jack couldn't concentrate, 'What friend?' He thought......'Daniel!'
"Help me Jack, please...........!" Jack heard Daniel's voice pleading in the blackness.
A surge of a different pain was rushing through his head, it felt like someone digging a knife in. Jack groaned as the pain subsided, but his heart was racing and his breathing was shallow. "God.. Help me" he mumbled.
"No one can help you but yourself" the voice retorted. "Tell me how to get out of here, and I will let you live. Resist me and you will hear your friend die, and then you will die"
"I don't know" Jack murmured so quietly; he could hardly hear it himself.
"Jack, oh god Jack, tell him!!" He heard Daniel scream. He couldn't react, he couldn't move. Oh god he was so tired.
As soon as the rescue team had arrived back through the gate. Major Carter had briefed the General on the situation. He had sent a team through the gate to contact the Nox. It would take several hours before they knew if the contact had been successful. Hammond knew where SG 1 would be when the contact was made. He had suggested that they try to sleep; he hadn't made it an order. He knew that with the Colonel missing and Daniel in the infirmary the rest of the team would need each other.
In the infirmary both Major Carter and Teal'c were sitting at either side of Daniel's bed. Carter was holding his hand. Dr Frasier had informed them that Daniel had appeared to stir slightly on a couple of occasions, but did not wake up. At these times the readings from his monitors showed an increase in electrical activity in the brain, probably caused by the device in his head. Dr Frasier couldn't understand it. She didn't think that Daniel was in any pain, but she could be wrong. After all alien technology often had her stumped.
Suddenly the peace was shattered by the sound of an off world activation. Teal'c, Carter and Dr Frasier quickly got up and ran to the control room. The iris was closed but then seemed to warp. Lai of the Nox stepped through the iris.
""Greetings" she said as she looked directly at General Hammond who was awaiting her arrival in the gate room. He quickly asked her to accompany him to the briefing room. He found the remaining members of SG1 standing there.
"How can the Nox assist you?" she requested.
General Hammond motioned for them all to sit and asked Major Carter to fill in the story. Once she had finished Lia requested that the planet in question be shown to her on a star chart, as the Earth designation did not mean anything to her. As soon as she saw it her eyes became darker.
" This is a planet once occupied by the ancients, a former ally of the Nox and of the Asgard. It had long since been abandoned. I need to return to my home and contact the Asgard. I will return shortly"
She hurried back to the gate and immediately the gate spun into life. As she stepped through it those that were left stared at each other in total bewilderment.
*********
Jack O'Neill was falling in and out of consciousness. He was becoming confused. He knew Daniel was here, but where? He had heard someone ask for help but he couldn't see anyone. Where were his team? Why hadn't they come back for him?
'Snap out of it Jack' He told himself. 'You've done this before, Hold on and they'll get you out'
"No one can help you except yourself" the voice stated "Tell me how to get out of here and I will spare your friend"
He heard a scream "ARGHHH!!!!!
"Daniel, Daniel!!" He shouted as loud as he could.
"You bastard, whoever you are, I don't know anything, I don't even know where I am. How am I supposed to know how to get out of here"?
"You have the knowledge"
Jack could feel a wave of pain, intense pain rushing through him.
"Tell me how to get out of here"
Jack was oblivious to the question. His eyes closed but he could not sleep. He knew he needed to keep as level a head as possible. He had to save Daniel, he had to save himself. He needed to know how to get out of there.
" It won't be much longer," the voice snorted, "Soon your mind will be open to me and I will just take what I want. If you tell me now, I will allow your friend to live"
Jack groaned and pretended to be out of it. He knew that the voice was right Jack could feel himself slipping away and for the first time in a long time he felt as if this could be the end.
The briefing room became a wash of bright lights as Thor, supreme commander of the Asgard appeared at the head of the briefing table. He was accompanied by Lia of the Nox.
"I am most disturbed by the events that have transpired here." Thor's voice echoed through the room. "This planet, you call, P4C 989, has long been abandoned by the Ancients. In fact this is a prohibited planet. No travel to or from there has ever been permitted in the millennia since the Ancients left our galaxy."
General Hammond looked at the rest of the team and saw their astonishment. Thor continued
" How did you establish a connection? The gate protocols have been altered on this gate to ensure that none can use it."
Major Carter spoke sheepishly
"Well with the interface that we designed I am able to overrule some of the protocols that prevent us from getting a lock."
"I see" Thor replied, shaking his head.
Teal'c turned to Thor "Why has this planet been abandoned and disconnected from the Stargate system?"
" As you already know many years ago the Ancients were part of the four race alliance against the System lords. The Ancients were a vastly superior race at that time. All but a handful were in agreement with the alliance. There was however a small contingent that openly opposed the alliance and wanted to align themselves with the system lords against the four. They thought that by using their powers in conjunction with the military minds of the Goa'uld they would be able to share in the spoils of conflict. These rebels were powerful ancients and as such were an immense threat to the alliance. A rebellion of sorts happened on a distant planet and many Ancients ceased to exist in their natural form. The rebels were among those whose power became so great that they no longer had a body. The conflict lasted for many years. The Alliance eventually found a way of neutralising the rebels but in one case we were unsuccessful, Arann. He was the leader of the rebellion and the most powerful Ancient known. The alliance managed to find him, but was unable to eliminate him. He was imprisoned on the planet you visited. The structure you saw is his prison and he cannot leave."
"So how is he able to beam people in and out of there," Major Carter asked.
Thor continued,
"Even though he is held in the prison, he still has some of his powers. He has impressive powers of thought control. He can manipulate power sources and use them. Until now, he has been isolated. I fear that now he has Colonel O'Neill he will be able to escape"
He could see the questioning looks of the Tauri,
" Arann has not interacted with anyone for millennia. There is a power source on the planet that is preventing him from escaping, but we were unable to strip him of his powers. He has slept for millennia and you have awoken him."
General Hammond looked around the room; he could see that Major Carter was devastated by the news. He had ordered her to override the protocols. Their mission dictated that risks needed to be taken. On this occasion it had backfired on them. They had unleashed a powerful Ancient and condemned Colonel O'Neill and Dr Jackson to god knows what fate.
It was Lia who spoke next.
" It is extremely unfortunate that it was SG1 that had gone to the planet. I am sure that had it been another team they would have been able to leave the planet without harm"
They all looked quizzically at her.
" Colonel O'Neill" she continued, "has had the knowledge of the Ancients downloaded into his brain. The memories, although hidden are still there"
They all gasped, "but I thought that the Asgard deleted the knowledge" Hammond Asked.
"Yes, that is what we wanted you to think", Thor answered. "Unfortunately we are not able to remove it but we placed a barrier around it. Colonel O'Neill cannot access this by his own devices. Arann has methods that can be used for extraction. I believe that that is why he was taken and you were released. There is insufficient power to sustain more than one human body. Arann will use whatever methods he can to obtain sufficient knowledge to release him from his prison."
"But what about Dr Jackson?" Dr Frasier asked. " He is in a coma and has some kind of device in his brain."
"Yes, that is one of Arann's methods of mind control. He would have implanted the device to access his mind. He would have been unable to hold him physically due to the power needed. Arann will be using his memories, his voice, to help control Colonel O'Neill, it is method he has used on many occasions."
"Can we remove it?" Dr Frasier asked.
"Yes, but I feel that now is not the right time, If we remove it, Arann will know and will kill O'Neill."
Thor replied. He saw the worried looks on their faces and reassured them "he will not suffer any ill effects of this device. If we can retrieve O'Neill, I will remove it and he will have no memory of it."
As soon as he had said that the Asgard transporter engulfed them and they found themselves back on the planet, their gear lying beside them.
******************************
Jack opened his eyes to the bright light once again. He was weak now, he knew that, His body a mass of unending pain.
His head was full of memories, Daniel, Carter, Teal'c, Charlie, Sara every time he tried to blank them out a surge of pain hit him and the memories returned. He knew that his time was short, he could feel it, he had been there before. Each time he had known the reason for his distress, for his pain. This time however he hadn't a clue. Didn't know how to get out of there, didn't care right now. Jack knew he had let Daniel down. Daniel had pleaded with him to help him, Jack couldn't. That was something he could never forgive himself for. He had never left anyone behind. He had said it before; he would rather die himself that allow one of his team to die. They all knew that. That was why the team worked. They didn't have much in common really apart from the Stargate programme, but they were a team.
"Soon I will have the knowledge to escape" came the voice, " pity it will be too late for your friend. He is close now, you will follow, but I want you to experience the pain of losing him. I have seen your thoughts, I know!"
Jack was brought back to reality when he heard Daniel Scream.
"ARGHH!! Jack please help me, please help me"
Jack shouted to him, " Daniel, I'm sorry!!" Jack closed his eyes at that moment and felt the tears come. He stifled a cry as the pain surged through him.
"You are close!!" came the voice "tell me now"
Jack let his thoughts take him elsewhere. He didn't want to think about what was happening to Daniel. He couldn't think about it.
"Your friend has gone, you have failed him, you have killed him" The voice gloated.
Jack closed his eyes and let the pain take him away.
********************************************
"OK" Major Carter said, looking at Lia "What now?"
"We must go to the prison and meditate" She replied
"Meditate!" she said impatiently.
"Yes", Lia replied, "It is only in this deep state can we communicate with Colonel O'Neill. Arann's power is in mind control. We should be able to communicate with O'Neill but we need to do it quickly. Once Arann hears our thoughts he will know we are here"
Lia transported them to the prison and proceeded to sit and meditate. Teal'c immediately accompanied her. Major Carter was sceptical, but trusted her.
"Concentrate on my voice" she instructed them.
They could hear Lia talking to them, but her lips were not moving. She was communicating telepathically. Suddenly they could all see a room with O'Neill lying on the floor, restrained. He did not appear to be moving and Lia requested that they not move or say a word. Lia closed her eyes and they could hear the words she was telling O'Neill.
"O'Neill" She spoke, "O'Neill, it is Lia of the Nox"
Jack could hear a vague sound. "Daniel" He mouthed, but no words came. He tried to move his head but couldn't.
"O'Neill, you have been captured by an enemy. You must fight his control over your mind. Daniel Jackson is back on Earth, he is not here. I can see your thoughts. You must not give up or you will die" Lia told him
"Colonel try to do as she says, we cannot do anything to help until the connection between you and him is severed" Carter pleaded.
'That was Carter's voice,' he thought. 'Daniel's still alive, how can that be?' He was confused. How could he break the connection? What were they talking about? He tried hard to clear his thoughts, 'he had heard Daniels Screams and the voice had told him Daniel was dead'. He tried to piece together what he knew. 'If Daniel was alive, then he hadn't let him down, this bastard had used his love for Daniel to torture him. Damm it, Jack how could you have believed that. Never believe what the enemy says unless you see it with your own eyes, even then be sceptical. Wasn't that what he been taught?
He tried to gather his thoughts. It was hard to concentrate.
"Where are you?" he shouted, "come here and I will tell you what you want to know."
The voice returned "Yes, you will tell me now"
"Er, sorry to disappoint you but No, I know what you're up to and I know Daniel is not here. You can kill me if you like, but I won't tell you anything" He stated
"No, No!!" the voice shouted. From the tone Jack knew that the voice had realised that his mind was stronger now, that he could not continue. He felt an intense pain through his body, only this time it didn't stop, Jack was shaking, he was dying. As the pain increased his eyes closed and Jack let the darkness take him once more.
The sound of the gate activating sent General Hammond and Dr Frasier running to the gate room. AS they arrived the wormhole engaged and Lia of the Nox appeared closely followed by Teal'c and Major Carter carrying an unconscious Colonel O'Neill.
Janet Frasier ran up the ramp closely followed by General Hammond. She immediately went to her knees and looked at the Colonel. She could see that he was in a bad way. He was obviously dehydrated and looked pale and thin. She could see his face etched with pain.
"Let's get him to the infirmary" she shouted to her team.
They picked up the fragile O'Neill and put him on a gurney and rushed him through the doors. Dr Frasier was by his side checking his vital signs as they quickly made their way to the infirmary, closely followed by Major Carter, Teal'c, Lia and General Hammond.
By the time they reached the infirmary, she had lost his pulse.
"Get the crash cart now!" she shouted while starting compressions on his chest. She was about to charge the paddles when Lia of the Nox came forward and placed her hands over his body. She stepped back and looking at the Doctor whispered,
"He is alive, he is sleeping now. I cannot undo all of the damage inflicted upon him, but with rest he should recover fully."
Janet Frasier looked at O'Neill. He did appear to be sleeping soundly, but she still busied herself and her team in assessing the injuries.
"Major Carter", Hammond interrupted the silence, "What happened?"
Carter turned to him with a relieved look on her face,
"Well Sir, I'm not exactly sure, at one point we were communicating telepathically to the Colonel and the next minute he was there, lying on the ground beside us. I don't know how. I just wanted to get him back through the gate, so we just picked him up and ran" She turned to Lia and Lia began to fill in the missing details,
"Once we had convinced O'Neill that Dr Jackson was not there and that he was being manipulated, he managed to tell Arann that he was prepared to die before giving any information. Once Arann realised that O'Neill would indeed do that, he severed the link and I could transport O'Neill out."
"What about Arann?" Carter enquired.
"He will remain in his prison for the rest of time. O'Neill was his only hope. He had wanted to break down the barriers in O'Neill's mind in order to access the memory of the Ancients. I feel that O'Neill was close to allowing access. We were just in time. Had Arann accessed the information, he would have been released and he would have tried to take over the galaxy. Believe me when I say that this would not have been a good thing."
Thor appeared in the control room just after the rescue and had proceeded to instruct General Hammond and Major Carter in removing this planet from the database. Thor had also given them several other addresses where they should not visit. He warned the General that any other incidents involving overriding the gate protocols would not be looked upon favourably by any of their allies in future. General Hammond and Major Carter agreed. This had been a close one, they both thought.
****** Dr Frasier had made her preliminary examination of O'Neill. He was severely dehydrated and some of his body functions had been impaired. She had noticed two red circles at his temples and two puncture marks. From what Lia had told her, the Colonel had experienced a great deal of pain almost constantly, throughout his entire captivity. She ran her fingers through his hair as she fought back the tears. This mind control must have been strong, O'Neill was Special Forces trained and could resist a lot of pain. She knew, however, that Arann had accessed his mind and once there he had found O'Neill's weakness. His love for his team and the fact that in his world, no one gets left behind. O'Neill would have given his life if it could save Daniel.
Lia had helped relieve him of much of the pain; she could not erase all of it and could not erase any of his memory of what happened. His mind was weak after his ordeal and any further intrusion would only exacerbate the situation. Dr Frasier hoped that he would be able to forget, but she knew him well enough to know that there were a lot of emotions and memories already buried within the Colonel's mind. She didn't know how he coped with it all, she had read his file, 'too much, too much for any normal man to carry' she thought.
Thor had visited the infirmary and easily removed the devices from both Daniel Jackson and O'Neill. He had explained that Arann needed the devices to aid his mind control techniques. He has accessed Dr Jackson's brain and took what he needed to make O'Neill believe that he was with him, his voice and his emotions. Neither of them had woken up yet, but Thor assured her that Dr Jackson would have no memories of what happened. She knew that O'Neill would not be so lucky.
She had put both members of SG1 in the same room in the infirmary. Alongside them were two chairs. Major Carter sat at one and Teal'c at the other. This was a ritual that SG1 had, if anyone was in the infirmary the rest of the team would be they're making sure that someone was there when they woke up.
It had now been over 12 hours since the device was removed from Daniel Jackson; he opened his eyes and looked around him. He could see that he was in the infirmary and could see the drip attached to his arm. As he turned his head to look around Carter's face approached his
"Hey there Daniel! How are you feeling"?
"Fine.... I think... What happened?"
Teal'c left O'Neill's side and went to Daniel's side.
"You have been asleep for some time"
Daniel sank his head back into the pillow; he didn't know what had happened, why he was there. He certainly didn't feel any pain. He started to sit up and Carter pushed him back down.
"I'll go and get Janet, She can check you out first."
He closed his eyes and sighed. Then his eyes opened with a start. He had realised something was wrong. Sam and Teal'c were there, so where was Jack. Normally Jack would be the first person he saw.
"Jack?.. Where's Jack"
He looked at the faces of his friends and immediately knew that something was wrong.
"Oh my God, what's happened to Jack?" He screamed
"Calm down Daniel, He's over there" carter pointed to where Jack was lying.
Daniel sat up and looked over. Jack was still and pale, he had monitors hooked up to his body, the sheet was resting at his waist but Daniel could see no bandages. He had never seen Jack so still.
" What happened?" he asked calmly.
Just then DR Frasier came into the room. She looked at Dr Jackson and them at Colonel O'Neill. She could see the concern and confusion in his face. She walked over to him and began to try to settle him back down onto the bed. AS she was doing some tests to see what his condition was Sam began to tell Daniel what had happened. She could see his face drop when he had realised that he had been used to deceive his friend. He couldn't imagine what Jack had been through and felt guilty that their friendship had been used in such a callous way.
Janet Frasier had completed his examination and spoke to him.
"Well Daniel, there appears to be no lasting effects from the device. Although being unconscious for this long you need to build up your strength. I will have one of the nurses bring you something to eat. Then I want you to get plenty of rest, do you understand"
"Yes" he replied "What about Jack?"
glancing over at O'Neill, she lowered her head,
"I don't know, he's physically getting better, most of his body functions have returned to normal, but he's in a deep state of unconsciousness. He has been through a lot and his body will need time to adjust"
"Is there anything we can do to help?" He pleaded.
"Just be there for him, talk to him, be there when he wakes up"
"He will wake up, won't he?"
"I..I hope so" She tried to reassure him.
Daniel got out of bed assisted by Major Carter and made himself comfortable in the chair next to Jack's bed. He reached over and took hold of his hand. It felt clammy. He started to talk to Jack and asking him to come back.
Daniel maintained his vigil at Jack's side for the next couple of hours until the Doctor ordered him back into his own bed. Sam and Teal'c then took their turn in talking to and comforting Jack.
Daniel had been officially released from the infirmary three days ago, but he never really left there. He stayed on the base and took his turn, no, more that his turn, watching over Jack, talking to him. Jack had not stirred. Daniel was used to being at Jack's side when he was injured. He had sat through many nights listening and comforting Jack when he had his nightmares. Jack had a lot of them, but he never discussed them. Daniel was just glad to have been there a nd he thought Jack was too.
This evening, Dr Frasier had checked up on Jack and had shook her head to indicate that there had been no change.
Daniel was sitting in the chair reading a book when he heard a murmur. He immediately put the book down and moved closer to Jack. He was still asleep but Daniel could hear him muttering, suddenly Jack's back arched and he cried out,
"Noooooooo!" then fell back onto the bed. The monitors began to bleep more hurriedly. His heart rate had shot up and an alarm sounded. Janet and a team of nurses rushed into the room a nd pushed Daniel aside. Looking at the monitors and checking him over, Janet Frasier was relieved to see that the readings had gone back to normal. She looked at Dr Jackson, his arms folded across his chest. This was his usual demeanour when he was agitated.
"Dr Jackson, he's back into normal rhythm now." She smiled, "This is a good sign. At least it's a different response. He'll be back." She placed her hand on his arm "we just have to give him time"
Daniel wasn't convinced; he had heard the pain and hurt in the voice. Hadn't Jack been through enough? He settled back into the chair. Looking at Jack he thought back to all the times t hat Jack had been there for him. NO, he wouldn't give up hope, he'd bring Jack back, he had to.
The pain surged through his body and he arched his back. Jack tried to open his eyes but couldn't. He heard Daniel's voice and shuddered. Daniel was still there with him. Didn't Carter tell him that Daniel wasn't there? 'Oh god' he thought ' I'm still there, Daniel's dead, it's all my fault,
Noooooooo!" he screamed.
He heard a flurry of sounds, bleeping. That sound he'd heard it before, what was it? Just then he felt a touch on his hand. It was real, a hand over his. He tried to open his eyes to see it. He couldn't.
'Damm it O'Neill, get your act together; open your eyes' He could hear his voice inside his head telling him. It was his voice wasn't it?
He tried once more, he was weak, he felt that, gradually he could see the light peeping through. He tried to focus but the light hurt his eyes. He scrunched up his eyes and tried once more. He looked around and realised that he was in the infirmary. A place he knew all too well. He focussed his eyes on the figure sitting, sleeping, next to him. Daniel, he smiled.
"Daniel" he whispered hoarsely.
Daniel stirred; he thought he heard a voice. He looked at Jack and could see his eyes blinking open. His heart leapt,
"Jack, Jack, ...
"Daniel" Jack O'Neill murmured thankfully, closing his eyes, smiling to himself and drifting off into sleep.
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