Paths We Mean to Follow - The Search for Kanan
O'Neill tossed and turned as passed events played in vivid Technicolor, it was as if he was on that God forsaken planet once more. He watched the events play out in his mind as old memories broke free and floated to the conscious mind once more.
" What are you doing? You're a sitting duck, we need to find an alternative escape route, are you even listening to me? " O'Neill ranted at his symbiote.
" Will you be quiet? I know what I'm doing. I was infiltrating system lord strongholds long before your ancestors were even born " Kanan informed his reluctant host in a tone that O'Neill reserved for children which did little to impress the Colonel.
Realising how he had made yet another mistake as far as his new host was concerned, Kanan sighed, " I am sorry my friend, this way of thinking is still new to me, I will learn, I promise you " Kanan reassured the agitated Colonel, embracing him lovingly.
The Symbiote started to input the co-ordinates to their pit stop when he felt the burning of a staff weapon blast in his back and promptly collapsed, " I am sorry Jack, I must leave you or all will be lost for both of us " Kanan cried and left O'Neill's body causing O'Neill to loose consciousness.
O'Neill woke in a cold sweat, his breathing was still erratic and slowly it began to dawn on him what he had just witnessed. " I wasn't a prisoner, it was my idea to go get her " He gasped as a he rubbed his hand over his face. "I gotta sort this " He sighed sadly, all this time he had been giving the Tok'Ra grief and he had been the cause of the loss of yet another of their operatives " Oh why can't my life ever be simple ? " He asked himself while he wondered just how he was going to make things right.
" Sir I really need to speak to someone, it's about Kanan " Jack explained to his superior officer, whispering the last part of his sentence.
" I was waiting for this to happen Jack, come on over, we'll have a coffee before the day starts " George suggested to the troubled General who accepted the invitation whole heartedly.
" So you see, it was my fault." O'Neill sighed as he completed his tale of woe.
" Jack, you weren't to know " George said with a sympathetic smile.
" That's another thinking, why'd he block my memories?, he had to know how I'd react. I just don't understand why the little critter would pull a stunt like that " Jack pondered, George could hear the grief in the man's voice as he thought aloud.
" Jack, my heart goes out to you, it really does, but it's in the past, Kanan's dead " George sighed.
" That's just it sir, I don't think he is dead. You see, when we collapsed he left me, literally, he slithered off into the bushes. I think that maybe there's a swamp nearby and if I could….." Jack began but was cut short mid sentence.
" No " Was the very abrupt answer. Jack looked at his superior officer in shock. " Jack, you have to understand that that planet is still under Goa'uld control, the management would never sign off on that mission, sorry son " George was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Years ago he might have considered the request, but now, he had too much responsibility on his shoulders to even consider the request, there was just too much at stake.
Jack smiled politely, thanked the General for his time then left for work. " I'm coming my friend " Jack said defiantly, if Kanan could be saved he would be, whether the management liked it or not.
" Morning Sir " An extremely chipper Lt Colonel Carter practically sang.
" Carter, how do you survive on the amount of sleep you get? " An amazed and disgruntled General asked the new head of SG1, Sam just laughed and headed for the briefing room.
" You coming Sir? ", She asked as Jack headed towards the control room.
" Got something to take care of first, you go on ahead " , He smiled and went on his way. " Hey Walter, do me a favour will you ? Get me a coffee before I keel over please ? " Jack asked the gate technician. It wasn't an unusual request, Walter often got the General a morning coffee when he got his own morning caffeine kick, What was unusual were the claxons going off as he collected the General's favourite Homer Simpson cup.
" We're dialing out " He gasped and made his way hastily back to the control centre followed closely by SG1, they arrived just in time to see the General walking through the event horizon.
Sam moved quickly over to the computer console and started to frantically tap away at the keyboard. " He's gone back " She gasped.
" Where has he returned to Colonel Carter ? " Teal's asked with the innocence of a child.
" He's gone back to the planet that Ba'al captured him on, where Kanan…Oh my God, do you think he's gone back for Kanan? " She asked, she was horrified that he had gone alone," Doesn't he know we would have helped him ? " She asked no-one in particular, hurt that he couldn't come to her for help. " Walter, dial the Tok'Ra please, we'll need some help with this one " Sam ordered, she would be damned if she would leave Jack to his own devises, he tended to attract trouble.
" Yes Ma'am " Walter acknowledged and set about carrying out his orders.
" What's the problem Hun? " Jacob asked as he saw the concerned look on his daughters face.
" It's General O'Neill dad, he's gone A.W.O.L.," Sam started to explain what had happened and noting the increasingly worried expression that was appearing over her fathers face she blurted " He's gone to try and find Kanan ".
" O.K. hun, give me 5 and I'll be right there " Jacob smiled trying to put his daughter at ease. " What was he thinking Sel? "
" I do not know my dear one, let us hope we will be able to ask him " Selmak replied, she was just as worried as Jacob at this point. Selmak had grown to like Jack immensely, especially now that he had smoothed things over with Delek.
It didn't take much to convince the council to let them go as Delek was just as concerned for his new friends safety as Jacob. Jacob had laughed to Selmak that he'd probably agree to anything just to see Sam again.
" Unauthorised incoming worm hole " Walter announced to a very anxious Lt Colonel, She had been driving him mad pacing back and fore while waiting for the Tok'Ra to respond. " Receiving Tok'Ra IDC Sir " He informed Sam as he verified the pin number.
" Open the iris Walter " Sam said almost inaudibly. The Iris sprang back into it's resting place to allow the incoming traveller safe passage and all were surprised when a small platoon of Tok'Ra made their way down the ramp. " Meet me in the briefing room Dad, you too Delek. " Jacob acknowledged his daughters order even if it had ruffled some of his feathers that his daughter and subordinate had dared give him a direct order. He ordered the rest of the operatives to follow one of the airmen to the mess hall, he'd fill them in later. Jacobs orders were followed without question which surprised both himself and Selmak, " Things returning to normal Sel?"
" Let us hope so " She replied, still a little nervous that there had not been any objection, still, they would have been informed about everything that had transpired and were probably relieved that the alliance was back on track, let's face it host's didn't exactly grow on trees now do they.
Once seated in the briefing room Sam took a deep breath and relayed the days events so far including a rather disturbing conversation that she had with General Hammond that forbade anyone from the SGC to assist O'Neill in any shape or form. Jake listened to his daughter in absolute horror " George said that? "
" Word for word " Sam replied sadly.
" Get him on the phone, I want a word with our General Hammond " Jacob ordered sarcastically.
" Won't do any good dad, he's already thought of that " Sam said very carefully as if she were expecting her father to explode and take his temper out on her. After a short pause she elaborated " He knew I would call you so he asked the president for his input, and, well, the president has forbidden you to intervene." Sam continued, noting the look of thunder on her fathers face she added " Don't shoot the messenger dad, I'm not exactly happy about this either."
" Sorry kiddo, I'm thinking that when this is all over me n George Hammond are going to have words." Jacob stated.
" He can not forbid you to go Jacob " Delek notified his friend. He was angry that the president even thought that he could order a Tok'Ra around. Jacob smiled and reminded Delek that he was still a General in the United States Air force and technically, Yes he could order this! Tok'Ra around.
" Yes, but Jacob, Selmak is not " Delek said mischievously which brought a smile even to Teal'c's face.
" You know Jacob, he has a point. I do believe that there is something in the treaty that states as such if I am not mistaken " Selmak mused aloud, " but, George would know that surely ? " She continued, " This whole situation is very confusing "
" You're telling me " Jacob agreed, " George was at the signing, he even had input into the contents, what's he up to ? " Jacob mused aloud.
The gate shut down soon after O'Neill stepped out from the event horizon. He quickly made his way down the steps towards the DHD. O'Neill reached out and touched the DHD and as he did he suddenly fell to his knees as the memories started to flood into his conscious mind. " Too much " He gasped. The sound of Jaffa in the distance brought him back to his senses, slowly he got back to his feet and headed towards the direction his memory had pointed out to him.
Quickly Jack covered his tracks in a fashion that would even give Teal'c problems in tracking. The sound of running water brought him out of his thoughts and once again he set off towards the sound as that was the most likely place he would find Kanan.
Jack stood at the swamp and closed his eyes. Sam had once told him it was possible to sense the Symbiote's in the water if you concentrated hard enough. Sure enough a little while later and all the nerve endings in his body were tingling. " O.K.. Kanan I know your there, show your slippery little ass " Jack whispered, he didn't want to attract the Jaffa that were looking for him, and besides, he knew the sneaky little beggar had fantastic hearing, he just hoped the same couldn't be said of the Jaffa.
Jack didn't have to wait long, a little squeak alerted him that there was a Symbiote swimming at his feet. " Kanan?" Jack asked and let out a short burst of laughter before he composed himself. " Hey little buddy, you ready to go home?" O'Neill asked, the relief in his voice was noticeable even to Kanan. The Symbiote gently nudged his friends finger just before he jumped onto Jack's outstretched hand. Jack made his way to a nice shielded area so that the pair of them could blend again safely and once again he covered his tracks so that they would not be discovered as they slept. He settled down comfortably before placing Kanan next to his lips and opening his mouth in invertation. Kanan gently nudged Jack's nose affectionately then leapt into his mouth and making his way through to O'Neill's central nervous system. Once Kanan had reached his destination he sent out his many filaments once again connecting them to O'Neill's brain stem, he also sent a gentle sedative through O'Neill's system to put him to sleep while he completed the blending so not to cause his host un-necessary pain.
" Welcome home my friend " Jack said sleepily as the sedative took effect.
" Thank you my Cardia, rest now, there is much for me to do " Kanan replied as he sent his soul mate a hug which Jack accepted with pleasure as he drifted off to sleep.
In the distance the Gate once again sprang to life, the Jaffa were already on high alert so the poor M.A.L.P. didn't stand a chance, " Well, looks like we'll have to attack this a different way " Jacob sighed, " Any idea's people ? "
" Do we still have those Atoneek armbands ? " A familiar voice asked.
" Jack?" Delek asked, he was confused, this man looked years younger than the O'Neill he had come to call friend.
" That's not Jack " Jacob corrected, " That's, um, what you calling yourself these days? "
" I use Jon, can't call me Jack that would be way too confusing. So who's this guy? " The young man asked.
" Uh? Oh, this is councillor Delek and his host Anten, Anten, Delek, this is Jack O'Neill's clone, Um, Jon" Jacob offered, truth be told this whole Jack clone thing totally freaked him out.
" Pleased to meet you Jon " Delek said as he offered his hand in the usual Tau'Ri gesture. Jon decided not to offend the visitor and took hold of the outstretched arm making sure that he gave a very strong hand shake, wouldn't want to appear weak in Tok'Ra guy's eyes now.
" I'm here to offer my service's " Jon smiled at the very quiet audience.
" Um, with what exactly" Daniel asked.
" Jack's little problem " Jon replied, he saw the concerned looks on the SGC and Tok'Ra personnel's faces and decided to elaborate, " Jack and I decided not to keep in touch when he dropped me off at school that day and then out of the blue I get this phone call from him this morning, he told me everything, about how he nearly died and that he had taken a Symbiote named Kanan, then how he lost said Symbiote and how he suddenly remembered everything and needed help but Hammond said no way. He was supposed to call me a little while ago and he's missed his deadline, which I might add neither of us would do, so I figured there was something wrong and came to investigate. It didn't take much to figure out what the old man's gone and done from what I've heard." He said a little disappointed that Jack hadn't brought him in on this one earlier, he sooo wanted to go back through the gate.
" How did you get in here?" Sam asked, more than a little concerned about security.
" I'm not going to tell you all of my little tricks now Sammie. " He grinned, " Let's just say I understand a lot more than I did the first time I was this age and I believe that I can give you a good run for your money these days Dr Carter. I've got my own Doctorate now and I finally understand all that techno babble you keep spouting off, so I believe that I could be invaluable in this mission." Jon stated proudly.
" O.K. go get into something more appropriate and be back here in 20" Sam said trying to keep a straight face. She looked at the concerned face that her father was now wearing. " It's O.K. dad, that is a 56 year old man in that 20 year old body " She explained.
20 minutes later and Jon was back with the rest of the team beaming with joy, " Man I missed this " Jon sighed.
" So what exactly were you thinking? You mentioned something about the Atoneek armbands." Daniel asked curiously.
" Yeah, well I expect that because of the Quirky way that Loki made me I could probably get away with wearing one of the Armbands, I can zip through the gate, take out the Jaffa, job done." Jon explained to an amazed room. He looked around at the people in front of him that looked less than convinced, " Oh come on, I've been missing the old doorway to heaven, and well, life's been a little to academic of late, I need some action Carter!." He said with more than a hint of desperation in his voice that just begged " Please let me go."
" Well that's settled then, let's go before I change my mind." Jacob ordered, Jon didn't need to be told twice, he was down the stairs and into the gate room before anyone could say another word.
" Are you sure about this? " Daniel asked slightly worried, Jack, full grown Jack was like a kid at the best of times, this Jack, or Jon was a kid. He still saw the spotty little teenager that turned up at the SGC claiming he was Colonel Jack O'Neill.
" Daniel, it's Jack, any way you look at it, that is Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neill, he's just younger that's all." Jacob explained " And besides, this one has actually paid attention in school, he's proved that by getting into the SGC unchallenged, he'll be OK. " Jacob smiled and was more than amused by Daniel and Sam's expression.
Sam sighed, " Dad's right Daniel, as I said earlier, he is a 56 year old man in a 20 year old body." Daniel nodded his head as he thought about what Sam had said, she was right of course, hell she always was, it's just it was hard to think of Jonathan as full grown.
" We better be going kiddo, I'm expecting unwanted visitors. I don't want them to put a stop on this."
Everyone said their goodbye's and started to file into the gate room. " Let's go kid before someone else joins this party " Jacob grinned as young O'Neill started muttering under his breath.
" Maybe you should not have called him, kid!" Delek whispered to Jacob as he watched the young man continue to rant and rave to himself. Jacob continued to smile as Selmak giggled and called him a wind up merchant.
" It's nice to hear you laugh my friend " Jacob sighed to his little soul mate and suddenly felt a familiar warmth as he received a hug from Selmak.
Sam sighed as she watched the Tok'Ra and Jonathan disappear through the gate. Her father explained in detail that everything would have to be run from the Tok'Ra base as no! SGC personnel could get involved in any shape of form, as soon as they started the mandatory physical on young Jack someone would alert the management or possibly worse, the Trust, and that's the last thing they needed.
" O.K. where is he ? " A familiar and most irritating voice asked as he entered the gate room.
" To whom are you referring Mr Wolsey?" Teal'c asked innocently.
" You know exactly to whom I am referring." The trembling man replied. " The General, General Carter, where is he?" Wolsey asked again.
" We have sent him home, as he was not allowed to assist in the hunt for O'Neill Selmak decided to return to the Tok'Ra." Teal'c answered truthfully.
" Just like that? No arguments? " Wolsey asked suspiciously as he gave SG1 the evil eye." I want all of you in the briefing room immediately, the committee are waiting for your account of the days events so far." He added. There were more than a few groans at that last comment, even Teal'c let out what sounded like a sound of exasperation. " You too, Mr Harriman." Wolsey shouted up to the control room as he walked through the doors with SG1 in Tow. Walter took a deep breath and proceeded to the briefing room.
" Can this day get any worse?" He asked himself as he shut the door to the briefing room behind him.
O'Neill woke abruptly to the sound of Jaffa in the distance and by the sound of it they were beginning to close in on him and Kanan. "Kanan, Kanan wake up " O'Neill whispered. Kanan, slowly stirred with a little chuckle escaping him.
" Why are you whispering Jack? They can not hear you."
" Force of habit my friend." O'Neill laughed as Kanan's comment sank in. " Come on, we've got to go!"
" Agreed. There is a network of caves just through those trees." Kanan said pointing out a collection of ornate trees in the distance which reminded O'Neill of the little Bonsai trees that were native to Japan. Kanan watched as O'Neill rifled through his memories and gently pushed O'Neill onwards.
" There will be time for trips down memory lane when all this is done and dusted my friend." Kanan said gently. O'Neill silently agreed, his mind had a tendency to wander since he lost Kanan and wondered if that was why he was flying a desk, an expression that more than confused the little Symbiote. " How does one fly a desk?" Kanan asked innocently, sending O'Neill into fits of laughter.
" It's an expression Kanan. You don't actually fly the desk, it means you get stuck behind a desk doing paper work and administration duties." O'Neill explained in disgust, all his expertise and he was stuck pen pushing.
An hour later and they came to the mouth of the cave. The pair had sufficiently covered their tracks to throw the Jaffa off of their scent, but that also meant that they were totally cut off from the gate.
" We need to move a little deeper into the network so that we may build a fire. The night becomes very cold on this world and the Jaffa will see the smoke from here." Kanan stated, although the thought had already crossed O'Neill's mind, along with an " I'm going to suffocate in here." Which raised another little giggle.
" There is too much air in the caves to burn out in a week let alone one night." Kanan laughed, he soon stopped when O'Neill gave him a little mental clout. " Sorry, but you can be a little, shall we say dense at times. It is most annoying, especially when your I.Q. could possibly rival Carters. I never understand why you do this." Kanan sighed.
" That's easy, I like where I'm working. If they knew I knew what Carter was babbling about, do you think I would still be at the SGC now?" O'Neill explained.
" Probably not " Kanan agreed. A sound of falling rocks near them stopped their conversation dead in it's track's. The two took cover behind a rock as something moved closer towards them.
" What is it? " O'Neill asked as he turned around and saw the biggest cat he had ever seen edge it's way slowly towards them.
The gate shut down as the Tok'Ra team stepped out onto the platform. Jonathan hadn't realised just how much he missed travelling through the infernal thing, hell he even missed the damned heat of the planets that the Tok'Ra seemed to like so much.
They quickly made their way to the giant transport rings and disappeared into the ground. The looks Jon was getting as the team made their way to the healing chambers were bordering on hysterical, Jonathan couldn't help but smile, but that soon dropped when he found out it would be Anise performing the tests. " Just my luck" he grumbled to an amused Jacob.
" the sooner we get this done Jon, the sooner we can be on our way." The General notified the youngster.
" Jake, do you think that maybe you could talk to me properly?, I might look like a teenager but my heads still nearing 60. Stop taking to me like a friggin 2 year old will ya for cryin out loud?" Jon sighed.
" Would you watch your tone of voice young man?" Jacob asked with a grin and walked calmly into the healing chamber as steam started to escape from Jon's ears.
" Will you stop winding him up? He will refuse to help us if you keep this up." Selmak stated flatly, trying and failing dismally to stop a little giggle escaping as she told her host off. Jon followed Jacob into the chamber to face Anise and a string of tests that made the SGC look totally un-concerned with health and safety.
" Now I know what a lab rat feels like. " He grumbled as Anise started her tests with a smile that said " I want to eat you for breakfast." Jon slowly turned towards Jacob and gave a look that spelled out H.E.L.P.!
" Would you mind telling me why you allowed General Carter to leave the SGC?" The Chinese ambassador asked Sam in a tone that caused an instant dislike.
" I wasn't aware I was to place my father under arrest." Sam said smugly to the inconvenience that sat across the table from her.
" We did not ask you to arrest him." The ambassador replied in the same tone of voice Sam had just used on her.
" You didn't ask me to detain him either." Sam countered, not bothering to hide the distain in her voice.
" You should have prevented him from leaving." The Chinese ambassador repeated.
" Why?" Sam asked, she didn't see the point in all of this.
" Because he will disobey his orders." The annoying woman said smiling and using a tone of voice that should be reserved for a naughty child.
" My father would never disobey a direct order." Sam bit at the ambassador venomously through narrowed eyes.
" Uh, Um, ladies." Wolsey stammered as he envisioned the two women coming to blows at any minute. " I need to put my hand up to that one I'm afraid. I, um, forgot to ask Lt. Colonel Carter to ask her father to stay." He said meekly."
" And we will talk about that later." The ambassador notified Wolsey menacingly.
" I don't see what difference it would have made anyway, he had a small contingent of Tok'Ra with him, it would have effectively ended the treaty again if we tried to detain one of the Tok'Ra high council again, and I'm sure none of us would want that now would we." Sam said to everyone, but never once did she take her eyes off of the Ambassador.
" You know he will interfere." The ambassador sighed defeated.
" Why don't you admit it? You just don't want a Symbiote in charge of the SGC". Daniel sighed tiredly, his glasses in one hand and the other rubbing the bridge of his nose. " Why can't you people actually realise that this could be good for us? It would solidify the alliance no end and show the Tok'Ra that we are at least trying to trust them." He continued.
" Mr. Harriman, why did you leave you post?" The French ambassador asked ignoring Daniels statement.
" Well Sir, The General asked me for a cup of coffee, and he usually keeps an eye on things when I'm out of the control room. He likes his Homer Simpson cup, so I had to go get that from his office, and well, that's pretty much it." Walter explained. " Rules don't state that I can't leave my post, just that I can't leave my post without cover, and I did have cover, so I thought nothing of it." He continued.
" That is all for now, you may leave." The French ambassador said, making a brushing away movement rudely with his left hand. Everyone got up to go when, " Lt. Colonel, I'm not finished with you yet." He said arrogantly.
" Yes Sir, you are. Until a replacement officer arrives to take over from General O'Neill I'm in Command, and quite frankly, I have more important things to deal with than your childish tantrums." Sam sighed, then promptly left the briefing rooms shocked contents to their own thoughts.
" Well, what is it?" Jack repeated to an unusually terrified Symbiote.
" It's a Cwmzant Tigress, not unlike your sabre tooth tiger of old, but quite deadly. The fangs are venomous, and if bitten we would be dead within hours. Not even I can cure that poison and the Tok'Ra have never been able to make an antidote for it either." Kanan explained.
Another noise from the cave opening attracted the attention of all the caves occupants, and caused two of them to sigh in relief as one of them stalked off to investigate the noise.
"That was close." Kanan sighed in relief." It is not a nice death, it is slow and very painful. The Goa'uld used to use it to torture their victims to death." Kanan elaborated, he showed O'Neill what he had witnessed which caused O'Neill to grimace.
" Yeah, there's a disease on Earth that pretty much does the same, it turns everything to mush." O'Neill offered a squirming Symbiote as a scream could be heard in the distance followed by the sound of a Zat not long after.
" sounds like we've got more company coming." O'Neill said, stating the obvious.
" Jack" A voice shouted. Kanan pricked up his ears at the mention of his host's name.
" That voice seems familiar." He mused.
" It should, that's me." O'Neill laughed as he felt Kanan grow more and more confused until he was shown the events that lead to a twin being born, so to speak.
" In here." Jack called out, and was surprised when Delek, followed Jonathan into the cavern.
" Do you have Kanan?" Delek asked hopefully. O'Neill bowed his head, when he raised it again his eyes flashed, and a stir of excitement rushed through the Tok'Ra. " I am here my friend. " Kanan smiled as he felt the feeling of fondness radiate from his host.." I see much has changed since my disappearance." Kanan sighed contentedly.
" we will fill you in later Kay, first we gotta get outta here, there will be more Jaffa looking for their friends. " O'Neill stated worriedly,. Truth be told, he was very relieved when Delek came out with the exact same words.
" Time to go campers." O'Neill smiled.
" What? So soon?" An unwelcome visitor asked sarcastically. Everyone tuned around to find Ba'al grinning at them along with a few kull warriors with their weapons trained on them.
" Doh" was the simple phrase that came from Kanan.
" So nice that you have found your little friend once again." Ba'al grinned, " I look forward to questioning you both this time." He laughed as he noted the expression on the older O'Neill's face. " I see you remember your stay with me, I can assure you it will be just as enjoyable this time around, for me that is." Ba'al chuckled.
" I'm so sorry to disappoint, well, no, actually, I'm not really." Daniel said as the kull warrior's were neutralised.
" You took your sweet time." Jacob hissed at SG1 & 4.
" Sorry Dad, but they weren't going to let us come. It wasn't until Wolsey pointed out to the management that they would likely loose the power sharing if they upset the Asguard and the Tok'Ra, Oh that and the fact that the president threatened to deport them if they continued to put the global security at risk." Sam gloated as she remembered the look on the bitches face when General Landry threatened to throw them behind bars until they signed off on the new orders.
" It seems that the new Tok'Ra/Tau'Ri alliance states that the Tok'Ra also have a say in the running of the SGC if it comes down to Tok'Ra operatives safety, and visa versa. So Persus had the deciding vote, so here we are, eventually. " Daniel explained. " And besides, I think things will be smoothed over somewhat when we hand over Ba'al here don't you think?." He said proudly as he bobbed up and down on the balls of his feet. Daniel laughed as he caught sight of Ba'al's face, it was one of complete and utter shock, mixed with a little disbelief.
" All righty then, shall we be on our way?." O'Neill said rubbing his hands together with glee. The other's didn't need to be asked twice, Teal'c relished in placing Ba'al into restraints and smiled as the system lord grimaced at the tautness of the binding around his wrists, he took even greater pleasure in telling his captive just what delights lay in store for him as they set off towards the gate.
The trip back to the Stargate was unnervingly uneventful, it seems no-one wanted to injure their God, " Either that or they're glad to see the back of him." O'Neill told Kanan, who was highly amused by the statement. The team soon reached the gate, imputed the Tau'Ri co-ordinates and Iris code, then stepped through the giant puddle one by one along with their quarry and old friend.
" No doubt their will be a game of twenty questions on both sides of the fence when we get back." O'Neill sighed as he entered after the others.
" You have survived worse my friend." Kanan smiled as he hugged his host.
" Uh, no, actually I didn't. The snake killed me a few times if memory serves." O'Neill corrected.
" We will be just fine dear one, this I promise you." Kanan assured O'Neill lovingly. Somehow O'Neill knew that Kanan was right, he didn't know how he knew, he just knew. Jack felt like he could take on the world and win, and judging by the look on some of the faces that were there to meet him, that was a good thing.
" Oh well, here we go." Jack sighed as he smiled and walked confidently town the ramp towards something that was going to make Ba'al's torture look like a walk in the park.
" As you say on Tau'Ri, the sooner we get this done, the sooner it will be over with." Kanan informed his host, but soon turned into a nervous wreck as he caught sight of Persus.
" Like you said Kanan, everything's going to be just fine." Jack smiled as they followed everyone to the debriefing room for the showdown of their lives.
TBC
The Exchange Programme.
