Chapter 2: Breaking
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A/N: This is a very short chapter…I'm so sorry!! Thank you all so much for your reviews!! I learned what 'whumping' is. Huh…you really do learn something everyday!
This isn't going to be a very long story…probably only a few more chapters…but, knowing me, a few can mean two or twenty. (But it won't be twenty)
Thanks muchly for reading!!
ENJOY!!
Daniel hit the cement on all fours. He felt Teal'c land on his knees next to him and heard Jack hit the floor on his back. The colonel leapt to his feet and lunged for the bars that had slid shut, effectively locking them in this…prison.
It really couldn't even be called a prison. It was a cage near the center of a square that was just high enough for Teal'c to stand up in. The three men watched in horror as Sam was dragged to a wooden platform that stood erect in the middle of the square, a mere three feet from where they were.
Sam wasn't fighting them. She had quickly learned that any action to hinder them only resulted in Daniel, Teal'c, and the colonel getting hurt. Her mouth ached from having a hand clamped over it for so long. She looked up and blanched. Standing high in front of her was a wooden pole with chains attached to its middle.
"Oh god." She breathed as she realized what they were going to do. Three pairs of hands grabbed her, hoisting her into the air. They ripped off her jacket and her boots. They had already disarmed the guys. They slammed her against the pole and wrapped the heavy chains around her stomach, legs, and neck, binding her hands to her side. She heard Daniel begin to yell something about an apology for breaking their law and that they'd never do it again. Teal'c had grabbed two men by the neck and shook them, demanding to let them all go.
Jack was yelling at the men and the witnesses. He demanded that they let them go. He screamed insults and curses and called out to her.
"I'm fine, sir." She called out with as much confidence as she could. The chains really inhibited her ability to breathe, much less speak.
"Dammit! Let her go! Now!" the colonel yelled, his eyes filled with fury.
"You wish to take her place?" one of the men asked and the clamoring crowd instantly quieted.
"Yes!" Jack yelled. "Yes! I want to take her place!"
"No!" Sam yelled thrashing her head. "No, he doesn't!"
"Yes, I do!" the colonel yelled again.
"Sir!" Carter yelled turning her head enough to meet his eyes. "Shut up!" She hadn't meant to say it; the words just exploded out of her mouth. She saw his eyes widen and she pleaded with him with her eyes. "Sir, please."
Jack opened his mouth to shout again that he would take her place, but Daniel laid a hand on his arm. "You'll make it worse."
"What?" Jack whipped around to face him, murder in his eyes. Daniel took a quick step backwards, but met the colonel's glare.
"The Rite of Palak…" Daniel repeated the words that the apparent "leader" had spoken a short while ago. "Jack, in some ancient cultures women don't have any rights. If a man is seen treating a woman as an equal he is sentenced to death. However, the woman can plead for his life and invoke the Rite of Palak."
"But what is it?" Jack hissed.
"She takes the man's place. The only difference is," Daniel's eyes filled with disgust and fear. "The woman is publicly tortured before she is killed." Daniel spat the words out and stepped back as Jack advanced upon him.
"Publicly tortured?" he spat, venom filling his very being.
"That is correct O'Neill. I have seen this right before, however, on Chulak we call it The Haldesh." Seeing the confusion in the colonel's eyes he clarified. "Death to the Unworthy."
Jack took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. Getting worked up wouldn't help Carter. He whipped around, thinking hard. "Daniel." He tossed over his shoulder. "How do we get out of this?" Dread filled his body when Daniel didn't say anything. "Daniel!"
"Dammit, Jack! I don't know!" Daniel shouted banging his fists against the bars. Jack heard his own fear echoed in Daniel's voice and Teal'c's silent stance.
"I'm not going to just stand here and let them torture her to death!" Jack said grabbing the bars tightly and attempting to shake them loose.
"O'Neill." Teal'c said suddenly, the urgency evident in his tone. He glanced up and, instantly, a wave of sick fear clenched his stomach. The leader was advancing on Carter with what looked to be one of those cattleprods that had been used to tame the Unas.
Sam's eyes betrayed no emotion, but her chest was heaving painfully against the chains. She looked at the device and a wave of sick recognition washed over her. That had been used on Jolinar…she remembered the pain all to well. She watched helplessly as he slowly…tauntingly….walked towards her. The wide sneer that he wore was enough to send her breakfast back up. She bit down on her lip, willing the bile back down, She tasted her blood and flinched.
The man laughed and the crowd followed suit. Lifting the device so that it hovered just under her ribcage he spoke jeeringly. "Let us see how strong this one is." The crowd roared and jeered. "I think she'll break just as easily as the rest." He snarled.
"Do not!" Teal'c yelled.
"Stop! We can work this out!" Daniel also yelled, desperation in his tone.
Sam ignored them and smiled coldly down at the man. "Screw you."
"Carter!" Jack cried shaking the cage violently.
Laughing louder than ever, the man jabbed the weapon into her. Pain erupted through her entire body. She felt the electricity shoot through her pushing itself out her of eyes and mouth, but she refused to scream. It was burning her insides, melting her brain. The pain blinded her, deadened her senses. She couldn't hear or see anything. She couldn't think…all she could do was feel. And that was the one she wished she couldn't do.
The metal of the chains only worked to intensify the electrical pain shooting through her. They conducted the energy and sent it sparking over her flesh. Sam kept her tongue pressed to the roof of her mouth to keep from screaming.
'I won't break. I am stronger than this.'
TBC
A/N: Short chapter…sorry! Please R&R!!