Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG1, nor any of the show's characters or settings. All I own is the plot, and that's riddled with so many clichés that even that claim of ownership is somewhat dubious.
A/N – Well, hello! First of all, thank you for clicking on my story. Secondly, I feel as if I should warn you slightly before you start reading. For those of you who have read one of my stories before, you'll know that I love a bit of angst. In fact, my stories are almost always pretty much saturated with angst - and whump - with usually with only smidgens of fluff interspersed throughout the plot to keep people from getting too depressed whilst reading. I also love a good cliché, and this story definitely falls under that category. So if you don't like either of those kinds of things, click away now. If you do, enjoy!
~ Inmates ~
Chapter One
"Ow…"
Colonel Jack O'Neill hit the floor with a hard thud, his whole body jarring in pain as landed. The bars clanged shut behind him, but he barely registered the sound. The world span, both inside and outside his mind, and for one moment, Jack was sure he was going to puke his guts up. He knew, intellectually, that his body was lying still on the ground, and yet for some reason, his head was spinning so much that it made him feel as if he was on some nauseating ride through space instead…
"…you okay, Colonel?"
Jack groaned, and shifted slightly, although pain flared through his chest at the brief movement, causing him to almost black out. His world stopped spinning for a moment, but it felt as if he had a hundred knives pressing into his lungs instead, and breathing was becoming more and more difficult by the second. God, it was agony…
"Colonel…?"
The voice barely registered as Jack fought to regain control of his mind and work out what the hell was going on. His condition felt familiar, and in the dark recesses of his mind, Jack saw flashes of Iraqi soldiers, and felt their sharp punches as they swore at him in Arabic, leaving a combination of sand and blood mixed together in his mouth…
Jack swallowed hard, trying to push away the dark memories to the back of his mind where he knew they belonged. This felt…similar, but different. His mind was moving slowly to catch up, so he focused on the little he knew for sure about his current situation.
He was lying face down on the floor – concrete or stone by the feel of it – and though he couldn't quite find the energy or will to open his eyes, he got the impression that the room was clean and that the ground was smooth. It was cool as well. Nothing like the stuffy, dirty cell he'd been trapped in when the Iraqis had got hold of him. It had taken him months to wash away all the dirt and sand once he'd finally made his way home…
"…Colonel…"
Jack gritted his teeth, trying once more to push away the bad memories, though his throbbing mind just didn't seem to want to co-operate this time. Ghosts of the past pounded through his head, interspersed with the very real pain that his current captors had laid on him this time. God, what was it about him that always invited the scum of the Earth – or universe for the matter - to want to torture him?
His thoughts and memories were finally starting to trickle back into his mind, though he knew there was something he was still forgetting…
Jack groaned again as his ribs jarred during a shaky breath. His energy was fading fast, and despite the fact that he didn't even know where he he'd been dumped, Jack decided that – for now at least - he was quite content to stay as he was. In fact, forget about trying to work out what had happened, he told himself tiredly; passing out sounded like a much better idea…
"Colonel, you can't go to sleep," came that annoying voice again, and Jack groaned. "You need to stay awake."
"Shuddup…" Jack muttered in reply. He briefly – and with no small amount of difficulty - pulled his head off the floor to try and see who it was who kept disturbing him. His vision was blurry, but he could just about make out a figure next to him on his left. It was a woman, he realised, concentrating a bit harder. A blond woman dressed in green BDU's...
Jack pushed through the fog that was filling his mind, pushed away the pain in his chest, and concentrated again…
"Carter?" he asked hoarsely, allowing his eyes to fall shut and his head to rest against the concrete once the effort to hold it up became too great. "That…you?"
He'd been on a mission, Jack realised with a jolt, as his memories flashed back as if in Technicolor. He'd been on a mission with SG1 this time, definitely not in Iraq. He vaguely recalled that they'd arrived on the planet expecting peaceful negotiations. Obviously something had gone wrong if he was feeling like this, though he couldn't for the life of him remember what had happened…
"Yeah, Sir," she replied, and Jack felt relief flood through him. "It's me. Are you okay?"
Jack shifted again, and pain flared in his chest once more, quickly reminding him of his predicament. Broken ribs, he realised, making a mental note not to move again for a while. Probably three or four, if he had to guess. A couple might be cracked as well, though it was hard to tell with all the pain stabbing through his chest. Had he been beaten up and tortured then? He had a feeling that he had, though his brain was quite up to speed yet, so he wasn't sure…
Jack took a deep shaky breath, and did a quick inventory of his other injuries as his mind began to focus a little more, running through his usual post-torture checklist. His right shoulder felt a little funny; probably dislocated, he realised, which would explain why his arm wasn't really cooperating with him. He felt something dribbling down his eyebrow and over his eye as well, which he figured had to be blood. That could definitely mean trouble, especially when he added it his difficulty with forming coherent thoughts. Probably concussion if he had to guess…
"Are you okay?" Carter repeated, and Jack blinked hard as he tried to force his mind to comply. Oh, definitely concussion…
"Just…peachy, Major," Jack muttered, opening his eyes once more. This time he blinked hard, forcing the blurriness away. His head burned with pain, but eventually his eyes complied. His entire body ached as well with what was no doubt a plethora of bruises, but other than that he felt…okay. Well, his ribs hurt like a bitch, and he could barely concentrate due to the thudding in his mind, but he was alive at least…
"Sir…"
"Daniel…Teal'c…?" he asked before Carter could build a head of steam, a little angry with himself that he'd forgotten his duty as leader so quickly, quite ignoring the fact that he could barely think straight. All he could focus on was the fact that he needed to know that they, at least, were alright. "They…okay, Carter?"
"Yeah, I…er…I think so, Sir," Carter replied anxiously. "They got away. I'm not sure if they managed to make it back to the gate, but they definitely weren't with us when we were taken."
He would have liked her to sound more confident, but he didn't blame her for her hesitation. In fact, he had a feeling that she had been part of the reason Teal'c and Daniel had even had the chance to get away in the first place. Jack fought to remember exactly why he thought that, but it just wasn't coming…
Jack frowned towards the floor, before he shook himself slightly and realised that he was once again failing in his duty as the leader of SG1. He'd been through this before, he told himself furiously, already gritting his teeth in preparation for what he was about to do. He could handle a bit of pain…
"Help me…up, Major," Jack began hoarsely, making the decision quickly before he could change his mind. He vaguely remembered deciding that moving was a bad idea, but he brushed that thought away. He had to know what was going on, and for that, he needed to be upright, not lying face down on the floor.
"Sir, I don't think – "
"That's an…order, Major," Jack interrupted with no small amount of difficulty, doing his best to keep his breathing shallow to take the pressure of his ribs.
She would cave now, he knew. Carter was good like that. Not like Daniel, who saw orders as guidelines at best. Yep, Jack was grateful for his Major, and he couldn't help but be glad she was here with him, even though the thought made him feel immediately guilty. No matter what their current situation was though, and what state he was in, Carter had always respected the fact that he was still her commanding officer. She would cave…
"Fine, Sir," Carter replied quietly as he had known she would, though he could practically hear the disapproval in her tone.
Knowing Carter, Jack thought to himself, she'd probably get her own back by telling Janet how stubborn he'd been, and then the Doc would get out one of her honking big needles and stick it…
"Ow…" he moaned, when Carter began to pull him up unexpectedly. He must have blanked out again, because he didn't remember her coming closer. His ribs felt on fire, as if his chest was burning from the inside out, and for a moment, he was sure he lost consciousness completely.
"Sorry, Sir."
"Don't…worry 'bout it," Jack replied through gritted teeth. She didn't reply, and Jack was grateful for her silence. He was finding it hard enough to breathe, let alone hold a conversation.
He tried to focus on anything but the pain as Carter continued to pull him up, a task that was proving infinitely harder since his body wasn't co-operating with his commands. Pain ripped through his head and his chest, and by the time he was finally sat up, he was breathing so heavily he was half-certain that he was about to pass out again…
In fact, now that he thought about it – and he really didn't want to think too much – his head was hurting more than he'd originally anticipated…
"Ow…" he groaned, bending his head down as he tried to get the world to stop spinning.
"Sir?" Carter began worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"Ow," Jack repeated gruffly, scrunching his eyes tightly shut as he rode the new wave of pain. "Hurts…Carter."
"I know, Sir," she replied softly,
"Situation?" he asked, knowing that they needed to get down to business. He wasn't sure how long his battered brain was going to last before he passed out, so he knew he had to get as much information as possible, as quickly as possible…
"Not good, Sir," she replied, clearly recognising his need for fast information, though her eyes were pinched in concern. "Do you remember what happened?"
Once again he felt flashes of punches and heat, but this time, he also had a faint memory of shouting, running and then pain. A lot of pain…
"Captured?"
"Yeah, we were captured by those soldiers," Carter continued. "They knocked us both out, then they dumped us in this…prison, I guess."
Jack decided now would be a good time to look around for himself. They were in a room barely big enough to hold the two of them, though they did have a little wriggle room thankfully. Unfortunately, the walls looked to be solid stone, and the bars that were holding them in seemed to be about six inches thick each.
"We were left alone for about ten minutes, and then they grabbed you and took you away," Carter continued. "You were gone about an hour." She hesitated. "Judging by your current condition, I'd guess…well, I'd guess that they tortured you."
Jack took another difficult breath, focusing his mind on the not too distant past. This time different memories flashed across his mind; strangely dressed men, as big as Teal'c, holding him down and asking him endless question after question in a language he didn't understand whilst another man was punching him over and over…
Jack tried to hide his shiver. "Yep, definitely torture. Can't…remember what they wanted from me, though."
"It doesn't matter, Sir," Carter said. "I know you wouldn't tell them anything."
Jack smiled despite his pain, and pushed away his own doubts. "I….know that Carter. Been there, already got…the torture t-shirt. Besides, I didn't even understand…what they were saying. It was similar to…German, but not enough that…I was able to recognise it…"
Jack closed his eyes, riding another wave of dizziness as heat shot across his mind. God, he was in bad shape. Even saying that much had exhausted him…
"Daniel would know…" Carter paused. "Wait, you know German?"
Ah, Jack thought, she didn't actually know that about him, did she? He'd forgotten that. There was a lot his team didn't know actually, and, as Jack was quickly beginning to realise, it seemed like his concussion-addled mind thought that now was a good time to start revealing everything. Though, he also realised, that might not be the worst thing in the world. Daniel wasn't here to bug him, for one, but also, it might prove a good distraction for Carter. And if he could keep her spirits up until they were able to escape of until Daniel and Teal'c rescued them…well, then all the better for him.
Jack gritted his teeth again, trying to hide how much of a beating he had taken. No use in worrying Carter too much. He felt better now that he was sitting up anyway – sort of. His head was still spinning, and his chest and shoulder felt like they were on fire, but he definitely felt...better…
"Sir?"
He'd been quiet too long. Damn.
"Sorry" he muttered. "Head rush."
"Concussion?" Carter asked sympathetically.
"Probably," Jack replied, trying not to shrug since he knew it wouldn't do his ribs much good.
"That's not going to get you out of telling me, you know," Carter told him, a small smile on his face. "You know German, don't you?"
Well, in for a penny…
"Ja," Jack grinned despite his pain. Jack deliberately didn't elaborate, mostly because he was struggling to talk without it hurting, but also because he wanted to get Carter's brain working. And there was nothing she liked more that a problem to be solved...
"It's not just German either, is it?" she asked shrewdly, comprehension dawning on her face. Jack tried to keep his poker face on, though he wasn't sure he succeeded. Damn concussion...
"How many languages doyou actually know, Sir?" she asked, clearly curious even despite her concern about him.
"More than one, less...than ten," he joked hoarsely.
"Come on, Colonel," she pleaded. Jack bit back a smile; Plan 'Distract Carter' was a go...
"Please, just tell me..."
Jack made a show of sighing loudly, though he made sure to keep his breathing shallow. "Fine, Carter...if you must know...six."
"Six?" Carter asked, and Jack couldn't help but be pleased, and also a little bit insulted, by the amount of surprise in her expression. "Really, six?"
"Six," Jack confirmed with a tired nod. God, his head was throbbing again. He hated concussions…and broken ribs…and torture for that matter…
"Fluently?" Carter asked, and Jack forced his attention back to his second-in-command.
"More or less," he replied, once again forcing himself not to shrug.
"Which ones?" Carter asked impatiently, as if she was doing her best to take advantage of the fact that he was actually revealing something about himself. "Come on Sir, don't hold out on me now. Not now that you've got me all curious..."
Jack sighed again. "Fine…er German, French, Arabic, Russian…and Spanish. And English…obviously."
"Wow…" Carter replied, clearly surprised. Jack would have been insulted, except he knew he couldn't really blame Carter for believing his dumb soldier act. She was supposed to, after all.
"Does Daniel know?" she asked, a teasing glint in her eyes.
"Nope," Jack replied, forcing a smile. God, his head was hurting like hell now…and his ribs… "And I…forbid you to tell him. Better to surprise him one day…"
"That's evil, Sir," Carter grinned. "He's going to be so pissed when he finds out."
"He'll get over it," Jack grinned back, the smile coming a little easier this time. His ribs were definitely beginning to stab into him again though, and his brain was starting to get that fuzzy feeling that he knew came just before he passed out…
Ah…
"Carter…" he muttered, before she could ask another question. He knew he didn't have long. "When they come back…wake me up."
"Wake you…?" she began, concern and confusion clear in every word she spoke. "What do you mean…Sir? Colonel…?"
He barely heard her. He was already falling, into the blackness, down, down, until he knew no more.
A/N – So, there we are. The beginning of my newest project. In case you were wondering when it's set…well, I'm not exactly sure. All I can tell you for certain is that it's set after season 3, and Daniel and Janet are alive. Other than that, the choice of timeline is entirely yours. It's definitely not going to be long, I can tell you that much (I know I always say that, but this time it's true!). Please let me know that there is some interest in this continuing; I'd love some feedback, especially if there's something particular you want me to include. I'm planning on alternating the viewpoints for each chapter between the two 'inmates', so next up is Sam. For now though, thanks for reading!
