Finding Home
By: ArchAngel1973
Disclaimer: Characters and plot lines that appeared in the series, movies, etc, and the concept of Stargate SG-1 are not mine. No copyright infringement intended.
Pairing: Jack and Sam predominantly, but also Daniel and Janet.
Rating: M to be safe.
Summary: Sam went missing off-world but once she's found she has to find her way home.
Author's Note: This is a story I started quite a few years ago and had never finished but I've recently started a re-watch of SG-1 and it's had me digging up a handful of old stories I wrote. When I started reading this one I had the urge to finish it so I figured if I started posting I'd have a reason to put my nose to the grindstone. I have an attachment to Daniel and Janet so they're in all of my old stories, but I'll admit to a very strong affection for Daniel and Vala… however, since these old works were written pre-Vala, they're D/J all the way!
Part 1
Mornings were the worst. Even worse than the torture, the beatings, and the isolation. Morning meant she would have to move abused muscles that had been immobile for hours in a damp, cold cell.
She didn't know how long she had been there – she didn't even know where 'there' was. She hadn't seen anyone except her captors since… when? She didn't know if the team she had been with had managed to elude capture but she prayed that they had.
The aliens were a race they hadn't encountered before and she had hoped like hell that SGC troops would storm the facility and blow the creatures to hell. As more and more time passed that hope began to fade until little more than a spark remained.
She couldn't remember the last time she had heard a voice, human or otherwise. The aliens had no mouths and so she had speculated that maybe they were telepathic.
All of the aliens that she had seen so far had been identical. There were no variations in their height, color or size. They stood six feet tall even with stooped shoulders, their feet were webbed with razor-sharp talons, and they had four arms ending with hands that would have seemed human were it not for the fact that they had retractable claws. They had wings that resembled that of a bat – only much larger. Their heads were oblong in shape and their faces were grotesque. Black, almond-shaped eyes that never blinked, gill-like slits that ran up both sides of their necks, a large ridge in the center of their faces that curved around their heads and she thought might be a nose.
Even though they had no visible ears they had no tolerance for sound of any kind. She had quickly realized that the pain was turned up a notch if she so much as whimpered. They had a fondness for their version of the cattle prod; it delivered a painful shock that felt like her skin was being burned from the inside out, but it never left a mark. Most of the things they had done hadn't left marks in the physical sense. She supposed she should be grateful that their forms of experimentation hadn't involved anything of a sexual nature; their interests seemed to focus on her pain threshold more than anything else. Most of the wounds they inflicted had been repaired after they were satisfied with their test results. Broken bones and dislocations either confused them or their sadistic nature just allowed them to watch her suffering with no remorse whatsoever. She knew for sure her left shoulder was dislocated and she was pretty sure her left knee was in the same shape; it was hard to be sure with that same leg broken in two places.
Time had no meaning in this place and she never knew if it was day or night. She was kept in complete darkness unless she was taken out of the cell for another experiment. She had no idea how much time had passed since the last time the creatures had been by to check on her. They usually brought her some kind of tasteless bread and water and she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten.
She began to drift in a pain-induced haze and she wondered where Jack was and what he was doing. He had long since stopped being the colonel in her mind; being forced to retreat into herself had been the only way she could deal with the constant agony and his presence had helped her maintain her sanity.
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Colonel Jack O'Neill paid no attention to the men and women who scattered as he stormed through the corridors of the SGC. People had been walking on eggshells around him for so long that he no longer noticed and he had stopped caring months ago.
Everyone in the corridor held their breath when he approached his office and the airman that was waiting for him. The man was blocking the door as he stood at attention, his eyes staring straight ahead.
"What?" Jack ground out when the man didn't move.
"Sir, the general – "
"Tell him I'll be there in fifteen minutes, Airman."
"Sir – "
"Are you still here?" He wanted to smile when the kid swallowed hard and stood his ground, but his facial muscles no longer permitted that.
"The general – "
"Do you have any idea how many ways there are to kill a man?" The swallow was audible this time. "Would you like me to give you the list? Alphabetically?"
"No sir, I really wouldn't, sir."
"Then get out of my way. Now!" he snapped.
"No sir."
"No sir?" he repeated incredulously. "Do you know who I am, Airman?"
"Yes sir."
"And you're still here?"
"General Hammond ordered me to escort you to his office as soon as you arrived, sir."
"Then stand aside while I – "
"Sir, SG-13 came back with Intel on Major Carter's location!"
The stack of folders slipped from suddenly nerveless fingers and the colonel ran back in the direction he had just come from. Inside the elevator he swiped his card and selected the level that housed the general's office.
One hundred and twenty-nine days had passed since she had been ripped away from him. Nearly four and a half months since SG-11 had stumbled through the 'gate without his second in command.
He had been in Washington, arguing with the brass over their need for more people and in his absence the rest of SG-1 had been temporarily reassigned. Sam had been on loan to one of the scientific teams, Daniel had been loaned to SG-7 to handle some translation or other, and Teal'c had been off world training a group of new recruits.
She had been declared MIA after thirty days and he had sat down at the computer in his office at home and typed up his resignation letter. It had stayed with him since that night and he had vowed that he would retire the moment she came home. He had gone to see the general at home and informed him of his intentions but he was certain the man hadn't believed him.
"Jack!"
He paused at the foot of the staircase that would take him to the briefing room and General Hammond's office and turned to glance over his shoulder. Daniel, Janet, and Teal'c hurried to catch up with him when he continued on his way.
"Jack, wait up," Daniel grumbled. "What's going on?"
"Major Griffin's team just came back…" He took a deep breath as he took the final four steps two at a time. "They've got Carter's location."
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The teams converged on the structure, sweeping through the ground floor before descending to the lower levels. The stench of death hung in the air and several of the newer guys had been forced to return to the main floor after becoming violently ill. At this moment Jack had no patience or tolerance for their weakness; he didn't have the time or the inclination to cater to them.
They checked the rooms and Jack felt fear settling heavily in the pit of his stomach. The informant had been certain that even though the creatures had deserted the building that Carter had been left there. But they were making enough noise to wake the dead and he couldn't hear her voice coming from any of the cells, letting them know which one she was in.
He could hear the voices of the other team members calling out numbers as they tagged the bodies they found. The bodies showed marked evidence of torture and most appeared to have been there for a while. The smell of decay and rotting flesh became stronger the deeper they went into the structure and Jack forced his mind away from the memories it dredged up. It was a scent that once experienced, could never be forgotten. The visual images that accompanied the rancid smell were horrific and impossible to forget once they had been imprinted on the memory. He barely gave the horribly bloated and partially decomposed bodies more than a cursory glance as he passed them, his only concern the woman they were searching for.
"We've got Sgt. Cavanaugh," Major Griffin called out as he backed out of one of the cells, his face an odd shade of green.
"Griff?"
The major raised his head to meet O'Neill's questioning eyes head on. "Not a pretty sight, Jack; he's been gone a while but it looks like he put up quite a fight."
"At least his family will be able to put him to rest now." He nodded at the other man before continuing on his way. He refused to dwell on the fact that the only other person that had been taken with his second in command was dead and had been for some time.
After checking along the rest of the corridor he made his way to the stairs that would take him to the next level. The deeper they descended into the bowels of the structure the colder and damper it became. Water crept down along walls that were overgrown with whatever local plant life this world supported and the scent of the damp vegetation was strong and hung heavy and thick in the air.
Light poured from the cells although there was no light source evident. He ignored the other teams as they searched the cells that were largely unoccupied, all of his senses focused internally. He couldn't explain it but he knew she wasn't in one of the cells they were searching. He glanced into each cell as he passed them, his expression masked to hide his concern that they still hadn't located his major.
His eyes locked on a cell at the end. Unlike the others no light was present below the door and he found himself moving towards it, his long stride determined. Releasing the rather primitive catch on the door he pulled it open and stepped inside, unprepared for the sight that greeted him.
He quickly lowered the flashlight when she tried to block the light and he stepped back and yelled for the medics. The muted light from the corridor fell across the floor and allowed him to just make out her pitifully thin outline. She had buried her face in the crook of her right elbow, doing her damnedest to cover both ears without enlisting the aid of her left hand.
Kneeling on her right side, Jack carefully touched her hand and she slumped against him without a sound. She tensed when light and sound invaded the tiny room and he cupped his hand over her left ear and pressed the right side of her head against his chest as he realized what was going on. Heat was pouring off of her body, her breathing was labored, and he could feel each rattling breath she took as he held her thin body close.
Janet motioned wordlessly for the rest of the medical team to leave them alone and she stepped closer to the colonel and his second in command.
"Sir?" she questioned quietly.
"She's very reactive to light and sound," he responded just as quietly. "We're talking extreme sensitivity."
"Has she said anything?"
"She hasn't made a sound." He settled more fully on the ground cradling her to his chest. "Do whatever you've gotta do so we can move her."
"Jack…"
His head shot up at the doctor's use of his first name and he followed the beam of her flashlight, inhaling sharply when he saw Sam's left leg. The angle was anything but natural and it looked like more than one break.
"You're sure she hasn't made a sound?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Well, other than that rattle in her lungs. Why?"
Janet frowned as she glanced back at him. "Jack, she should be able to feel that; I've seen grown men beg for their mama's with a break like that. I've almost never seen a break like that not get a verbal response."
"But you've seen it, right?"
"In cases of paralysis," she said, her tone grim.
"Well, what do we have to do to get her – " The woman in his arms tensed again and her right hand gripped his arm in a painfully tight grip as her breathing became labored and harsh. "Doc, what're you doing?"
"Checking her knee; it looks – "
"Did you touch it?"
"Yes, I – "
"She felt it." Beads of sweat were forming on her forehead but her breathing was starting to calm down. He could feel tears splashing against his forearm in a rapid downpour and he brought his free hand up to brush the moisture from her face. "She feels pretty warm, Doc."
"I'd be surprised if she wasn't. I've got some antibiotics and a mild sedative she can take for now. See if you can get her to take them and maybe drink a little water too."
He unscrewed the cap off of his canteen before setting it on the ground and taking the bottles of pills from Janet.
"Jack, what're you – "
"How many?"
"Two of each."
She watched him as he switched the hands pressing Sam's head to his chest then reached down to take her hand. He placed the bottle in her palm, wrapped her fingers around it beneath his own hand and shook it a couple of times. She was surprised when Sam nodded and she felt tears spring to her own eyes when the colonel shook out two pills from each bottle and placed them in the major's shaky hand. Several tries later the pills made it into her mouth and he placed the canteen in her hand before using his own hand to steady hers as she brought the canteen to her lips.
Leaving the canteen within easy reach he focused his attention fully on Sam again. When she tensed at the doctor's probing fingers he had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming at the woman. Instead he hugged Sam just a little bit tighter and pressed a kiss to her filthy hair. "I've got you, baby, I've got you."
"O'Neill."
"Teal'c," he acknowledged without looking up. "Where's Daniel?"
"Right here, Jack," the archeologist responded from the doorway.
"Other than us and the medics, no one sees her like this."
"We'll take care of it."
"No one," he repeated.
Daniel and Teal'c slipped away quietly to ensure their CO's orders were carried out.
"Jack, I need to get my team in here so we can get her ready for transport and I want you to wait outside."
"No."
"Jack, she's gonna be in a lot of pain and I can't give her anything that will – "
"If you were me and she was Daniel, would you leave?" He accepted her silence for the concession it was.