--The O'Neill's Secret Location --
As he turned the crystal and watched Thor's image fade, Jack felt Sam's hands on his shoulders massaging deeply. Jack rotated his neck in appreciation and groaned, "I'll give you exactly one hour to stop doing that." His thoughts were still on Thor. Usually Thor projected a presence of confidence and efficiency as easily as Teal'c projected one of calm and dignity, but his usual implacable aura of control had been lacking – unnervingly so.
Head down as her strong fingers worked the kinks from his neck, he asked, "Sooo... Was it me… or, did Thor seem… different?"
"Yes. He was very pre-occupied, but that's to be expected. He's handling this without any help – impossible to do – as we've told him several times…" Sam said analytically as her mind replayed the meeting.
"I think it's getting to him" Jack sighed, "That damn future data of the Ancients … he's still got it and he needs to let it go." Jack reached for her hands to stay them as he said, "Needed that, thank you much."
Sam ruffled his unruly hair and stepped back, "Anytime, SIR." teasingly reverting back to her former appellation for him, which brought an appreciative grin to his face.
Verifying that the external shields that protected them were still up, he left the console and walked up to the large observation window studying the clear morning sky.
"I promised Jon that I would take him fishing today." Jack said softly his back to the room.
"When are you telling him that you're leaving? You don't have much time left." Sam asked her blue eyes wide in her tanned face as she moved up behind her husband to lean into him, her arms enclosing him tightly. He laid his head back, his bristly cheek nuzzling her soft one, "I'll tell him tonight – he already senses that something is up, but I've managed to keep it from him. Today will be only about fishing – a good day with good memories…no worries…no fish."
He turned to her and pulled her closer into a comforting hug. "This is the right thing to do. No more hiding, waiting for a strike out of nowhere. This is not how we're going to live our lives. This is not how we're raising Jon." Sam nodded her head snug in his shoulder. "Yes. The right thing." she agreed softly, and then grinded out, "God, I wished I was going with you."
Jack sighed, "Yeah, me too but Jon needs you here and even though I'll miss having my favorite second in command with me, I'll feel better knowing that you're with him. The most important job is keeping him safe and that's your assignment, Colonel." He held her even tighter as he then continued,
"My job is to neutralize the threat and I'll also need you for that too – only behind the scenes as my 'not so secret' weapon utilizing your intelligence, which as you know… I'm gonna need, big time."
Sam pulled back and stared into his dark eyes, her tone playfully derisive,
"Uh-huh, this is me… Sam…Your wife! Give it up. The 'dumb General' act does not work – never worked that well – and especially doesn't work with the Ancient data housed in your brain."
Jack grimaced as he explained, "Sam, you don't understand… I will need your help. Jon is becoming stronger and stronger at communicating psychically; he's pretty much inside my head at his will. This cannot continue when I leave here. No way is Jon gonna experience the evil and violence that I'll come up against." His voice grew stronger as he emphasized again, "NO WAY. I have to keep that …stuff from him." Jack paused as he considered his unusual problem.
"Sooo, I've been practicing and I'll be able to barricade Jon from my thoughts – from my mind -- which even though I can do it now, it takes a concentrated effort. I've discovered that I can shut him out completely when I also close off the Ancient Data totally as unfortunately it's all kinda twisted up together in here." He gripped the side of his head with one hand and then found the back of his neck and held on, trying to relieve the pressure. "What this means, dear wife, is that I'm gonna depend on your vastly superior 'smarts' to see me through things."
Sam stepped away and found herself suddenly, unexplainably shaken – her nerves twanging with dread and fear. Struggling for control, she 'soldiered up' and mastered her body, she had to keep these feelings from Jack as one thing he certainly did not need at this time was for her to go all emotional on him. This, she knew for a fact.
Clapping her hands and then rubbing them together, voice unnaturally loud, she visibly made an attempt at cheerfulness, "Okay Sports fans, today's agenda is as follows: Breakfast in 20 minutes, then, I'm packing a delicious lunch for my two favorite fishermen, who'll be out on the water for most of afternoon; which leaves the woman of the house … namely… me… an afternoon to do exactly what she wants.
"Which is…?" Jack questioned his brown eyes amused.
"Well, it's simple really…" Sam began but didn't finish as Jack interrupted,
"Uh-huh…as simple as soaking in a hot bath while reading that trashy novel I found stashed or… as simple as working in the Lab on that Ancient personal shield that you are trying to build from my plans?"
Sam grinned, "You think you know me … don't you?"
"I KNOW I know you…" his comeback was immediate.
"Well if you did, you would KNOW that I'm doing all those things – lab first – then the hot bath and trashy novel."
"I also knew that!" Jack said smugly.
"Yeah… right…then you know that I'm gonna do this!" As she slapped him hard on his backside and added, "Hop to it Flyboy, go get your son ready."
"Yes Ma'am!" He saluted her, and turned smartly to make for Jon's room, on his way out he called back, his quirky grin in place, "By the way, Samantha, I did know you were gonna – and I didn't 'cheat' either!" earning a giggle he enjoyed as he left the room.
The smile faded off Sam's face as alone she made her way into the small kitchen. Her stomach was already nervously churning as she thought about being 'left behind' while Jack went off to battle for them. The thought of him going it alone was terrifying to her. If only she had some way of insuring Jon's safety without her – Jack needed her out there with him. Yet, what if they both died? That wasn't fair to their son. That had been Jack's argument and with that point, he had won. Even if he thought his silly game of paper-rock-scissors had decided it.
With her chosen profession and the life she'd led so far, she had never envisioned that she would have to endure the trauma of staying behind in safety while her partner went off into known danger, but that was exactly the situation she was now in. 'Dammit, this is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done' she thought gloomily. Exhaling heavily, she set about her chores.
Same day – fishing
The corks bobbled gently as they rode the gentle waves that lazily moved across the lake. The warmth of the hot sun reflecting off the water combining with the buzz of insect life cast a somnolent haze over the afternoon. Jack's head nodded as he dozed, his long form stretched out lazily in the primitive boat, an old Boonie covering most of his face.
"Dad, why don't you catch fish when you fish?" Jon questioned as he yanked his pole to and fro in the placid lake.
Jerking awake and then settling back down again, Jack answered sleepily, "It's about the process not the result."
"Mom always catches fish when she fishes."
"She doesn't do it right. No matter how many times I've tried to coach her… she continues to catch fish." Jack drawled from under his hat.
"But Dad... Mom wants to catch fish." Jon said as he held his own pole, diligently studying the cork in hopes of seeing it disappear.
"Well Son… you're old enough to know this, so I'll just say it once and we'll never discuss it again… Your Mother is a little strange. Uhh… Son…don't tell her I said that…it's just between us guys."
"But Daddy…" Jon replied hesitantly.
"What?"
"Mom said that you're a little strange when I asked her about it yesterday."
Jack chuckled, "Okay…I MAY deserve that…I guess you'll just have to decide on your own, son."
Jon sat in the bow of the boat, his tiny body enveloped completely in a cut-off t-shirt with one of his Dad's ball caps that was way too big for him, covering his blonde hair and most of his head almost like a bucket. So much like his father in that he was never still -- never more apparent than now -- as his fishing pole was never still in his small hands; yanking and jerking all the while hopefully watching the cork play across the water. His mouth never still as his extremely active brain constantly wondered and questioned all things in his small world.
After considering what his father said, he replied, "I don't think either of you are strange… just 'different' ".
"Thank you... I Think…" Jack's sleepy voice, muffled from under the Boonie hat.
"I'm different too." Jon's voice held sadness as he made the comment.
Jack always alert to his sons' mood sat up in the boat and pushed his Boonie hat back out of his eyes. He gazed with the marvel he always felt when he looked at the tiny figure. Sam and he had discussed his sons' advanced rate of development and growth, which had accelerated drastically in the last week almost as if a switch had turned out speeding up the process yet again. Now at five months of age, he looked like a toddler of two, yet spoke and behaved like a very intelligent seven or eight year old child.
There were simply no guidelines or charts to use as a reference for him. He was one of a kind and Sam and Jack had come to an acceptance of it. Early on, the Asgards had run a gamut of intensive tests and had ascertained that he was healthy but his cellular growth rate was undeniably different and unchartered waters even for them. Jack and Sam's concern had been that this growth would continue and he would have a very short life, but they had had this worry dispelled when Thor had grudgingly released one fact from the Ancient's future knowledge that he possessed and assured them that he would have a normal lifespan even as he would not say more on the subject.
Both intuitively understood that their own bodies were not like any other humans – Jack having the Ancients data as part of him; experiencing nanites, Asgard gene marking, not to mention Baal's sarcophagus regeneration countless times – and that was just a few of the things that had happened to him. Then of course Sam had her own gene altering experiences as well. So when faced with that, it seemed inevitable to them that their child would be different. That he was healthy and happy was all that mattered to them. He was part of them now and the most important thing in the world was keeping him safe.
Jon, still flicking his pole added, "We have to live apart from other people because I am different. Right?"
"Yes, Son." Jack's life-long policy of total honesty when at all possible continued in force. Yet he felt his sons' emotions as if they were his, and so he felt the mixture of sadness, loneliness and confusion that his son was dealing with. Summoning the words he needed to help his small son, Jack responded,
"Jon, we'll handle whatever comes our way. We're a team. Your Mom and I love you and wouldn't have you any other way than the way you are. " Jack's low tone rang with the sincerity of what he was saying.
"I don't like being different." Jon responded so quietly that his words were barely audible.
Quietly Jack laid his pole down, then pulling his Boonie off, he ran his long fingers through his terminally wild hair before he began speaking; his voice unnaturally loud across the water,
"Then I'm sorry, son. It's my fault. There was no way on God's green earth that you could have ever been 'normal'." Jack's hands air quoted as he spat out the word as if it was distasteful.
"Why Dad?"
"Cuz you're an O'Neill – that's just for starters – the family tree is chock full of odd O'Neill's all the way back to Brian Boru!"
Jon forgot about his fishing line to gaze at his father, his dark eyes full of interest. Jack seeing this, revved it up, his tanned face intent as he continued his story,
"Normal is NOT an O'Neill trait. I don't think it's ever been used to describe an O'Neill. My own Granddad was completely whacko – but what's funny…." Jack leaned forward as his voice grew conspiratorial and Jon unconsciously leaned-in to hear, as Jack whispered, "The O'Neill's' relish the fact that they're different."
"They do?" Jon queried aghast.
"Ya sure you betcha…If anyone had ever told my Pa that he was 'normal' well, that would have been the last thing said – at least for however long it takes to nurse a broken nose."
"Really?!"
"Yep…definitely fighting words to us O'Neill's'."
Jack leaned back again, adding another salvo to his tale, "And THEN ya have to figure in your Mom! There ya have that whole 'Crazy Carter' side of your family tree."
"Crazy Carter?" Jon repeated wonderingly, a smile starting to grow on his face.
"Yep. Not a 'normal' one in the bunch. All different… Every…Single…One...!"
The gusto in Jack's voice dissipated any doubts Jon might have felt about the veracity of his Father's words.
"So, son. Let's just say – you never had a chance at being 'normal' – and I'm sorry bout it. I really am."
Jon's smile had widened and grown by increments as he listened to his Dad's words, until it stretched broadly across his little face – that was almost a miniaturized version of his Dad's- they were so similar.
"Hmmm" Jon said thoughtfully as he turned back to his fishing and pondered what he had just heard. A long companionable silence enveloped the gently rocking boat.
"Daddy." He finally spoke again.
"Yes?" Jack asked
"I guess being different is okay by me." Jon conceded.
"Glad ya think so. We 'O'Neill's' have to stick together." Jack's brown eyes gleamed with love as he grinned at the small form persistently working his fishing line.
Jon's little head still focused on his fishing, nodded once to himself and Jack saw his dimples as he smiled again.
"You, Mom and I are the team?" He queried.
"Affirmative." Jack retorted.
"Who's the boss of the team?" Jon's cap fell forward completely covering his face as he swung around to look at Jack waiting for his answer, one hand pulling the large cap up so that his dark eyes were barely visible.
"Uhh…that would be me. A clear chain of command is necessary or chaos will reign supreme." Jack asserted assuredly with a flourish of his hands that sent his pole almost into the water.
"But Mom sai…" Jon began when Jack interrupted, "Aack! Jon we've already discussed your Mom's little idiosyncrasies…. Now haven't we?"
"uh-huh… I mean… YES SIR!" Jon smiled
"That's my boy!" Jack said with pride.
"We're a team." Jon repeated to himself and Jack heard him in his mind and felt his sons' pain and hurt dwindle and dissipate and was satisfied that he had achieved his objective.
"Son, since I'm the leader of this team, I'm commanding you to take watch while I finish my important business here of… napping." Jack once again reclined in the gently rocking boat.
"Yes SIR!" Jon's voice rang out once again.
Almost as soon as Jack got comfortable, Jon yelled,
"Dad, you've got one!" The pole lying across Jack's lap jerked mightily and began sliding quickly over the side, Jack snapped it up just before it disappeared into the water and held the bowed rod tightly as a large fish leapt completely clear of the lake, fighting and thrashing on the taut line.
"Crap!" Jack exclaimed in disgust as he whipped the pole to one side and then the other.
Quickly he landed the fish, depositing it into the bottom of the boat as Jon excitedly laughed in delight. Wiping his sweaty face with his boonie, Jack knelt beside his son, whose full attention was riveted on the writhing fish.
Jon gingerly touched the smooth scales as he commented, his voice full of awe, "Wow, this is the biggest fish we've ever caught!" His brown eyes were round with wonder as he watched his Dad efficiently remove the hook and grip the inside of the fish's mouth to lift him up.
"Guess we know what we're having for dinner." Jack said in resignation as he examined him closely before slipping him on the stringer.
"Pesky fish…. I need to change bait." Jack muttered as he re-baited his line and threw it back out, swishing his hands in the warm lake water before settling back down in his seat.
"Why Dad? This bait always catches a lot of fish for Mom."
"EXACTLY" Jack grumbled, "I'm gonna go back to using my own formula."
"What is your own formula, Dad?"
"Canned corn."
"Fish don't like canned corn… Dad…"
"EXACTLY"… Jack said with a satisfied smile as he lay back once again to sleep.
Jon smiled as he studied his sleeping father, and whispered, "Gotta love fishing."
- Thor's Plight -
Thor woke to find himself bound and gagged in darkness. He struggled but could do little to change his situation. The table he laid on felt as if it was metal but was oddly warm. As his head cleared he remembered the pain from being struck from behind and he wondered how long he'd been unconscious. He wasn't on Othalla anymore – he felt the slight vibration through the flooring signifying a spacecraft of some kind. Everything felt a little 'off' in small ways, the air was not quite right; the gravity seemed heavier. He was definitely in an alien vessel, but of what type, he was still unaware.
He tried to concentrate bringing his intellect to play but the pain throbbing in his head was without relief. How had this happened? He was the Supreme Leader of his people, who could have done this and gotten away with it? Where were his bodyguards? All these questions and more were coursing through his mind.
A click of a door opening came from the direction behind his head, which when he tried to raise felt as if a laser beam pierced it -- the pain intense. Tensing he waited while the steps came closer. He struggled in vain as a dark shrouded form moved around to stand in front of him. The dark room hid all but his outline as Thor strained to see more.
His mouth gagged, he could barely breathe and he concentrated on his airflow; trying to calm himself so that he would not suffocate. Suddenly the form moved swiftly toward him and he felt the gag pulled from his mouth.
"Who are you? What do you want" Thor managed to ask, his voice weak with his pain.
"Who I am is not important but what I want is -- the location of the O'Neill child." The whispered voice wafted back disguised in its softness.
Thor responded, "I am the Supreme Leader of the Asgards…you will never escape. Your punishment will be severe if you harm me."
Silence met this statement until finally the dark figure stirred and answered, "I do not care what happens to me personally. The future of my people depends on my succeeding in my mission." The figure stepped forward, removing the long cloak and Thor stared at a face that he thought was long dead,
"Felspre!" He gasped in shock, "I thought you were lost to us in the battle."
"Hewaslost to you." The figure answered coldly. The known face of his old friend contorted into lines of hatred and contempt.
Shaken, Thor stated, "No. You are decidedly not Felspre. I do not know you." He studied the form and realized that it was Felspre's body but that was all. Thor strained to see any sign of his friend but in vain, only an aura of evil emanated off the familiar face.
"You may have heard of our race but we've never formally met. Through our own technology we were able to use this body for our infiltration into Othalla, as your sensors are devised to look for anything other than Asgards. We were also able to transport you away – just as easily." The being moved slowly around the room, all the while studying it's captive.
"How did you …find Felspre?" Thor's voice quavered in pain as he tried to understand.
The being was silent for a long moment, his Asgard features reflecting scorn as he haughtily deigned to answer,
"We were monitoring the Battle of the Asgards in what we had hoped would also be the destruction of your race but unfortunately was not – when we saw the escape pod eject and then malfunction. We were able to retrieve it – but only the Asgard called 'Felspre' survived." He paused as if expecting a response from Thor but when none was forthcoming he continued,
"He was of valuable assistance to us – his mind abounded with knowledge of the Ancients, the importance of a certain child, and of course all sorts of data on the legendary O'Neill and his wife, Samantha Carter – all of which, we have used to our benefit. Unfortunately, Felspre's mind refused to divulge all its knowledge when he realized our goal – he chose to sacrifice his intellect for a human." Disbelief and disgust in equal parts sounded in his voice as he emphasized the word.
Thor found the strength to ask, "Are you a bounty hunter? If so, I will give you the ransom that is being asked – and you do not have to do anything more… Just depart." Thor studied the being as he waited for the response. His questions geared to finding out all he could about his captor.
"I am NOT. The bounty has proven to be nothing but a nuisance and the O'Neill's have also proven to be extremely proficient in eluding capture. The decision was reached to finish the goal ourselves." The disdainful voice so at odds with Felspre's features, made Thor's already fractured mind reel with confusion.
Then Thor realized that he was in the presence of whoever was behind the nightmare that had hounded his existence as well as the O'Neill's. His excitement grew despite the danger that he knew he was in.
"You are wasting your time. I will never tell you anything." Thor replied and wished his voice were not so shaky.
"Yess… We surmised as much. Propitiously for us, talking is not necessary."
At this Thor stiffened, his thoughts turned to the 'future' knowledge that he had thought he alone possessed and wondered if that was actually still true as they had thought Felspre and the other four Asgards who had the 'future' knowledge had died during the Battle, only now to discover that Felspre had in fact survived and evidently had been captured by this nameless enemy.
As the O'Neill's chief medical technician, Felspre had known much and most especially he had been fully aware of the vast importance of the O'Neill child.
With his apparent torture, Felspre's extensive knowledge must have been taken from him, but to what extent?
Thor hated the idea that Felspre, who had been so dedicated to the O'Neill's had been used in this fashion and hoped that his sacrifice would not be in vain; that the child would live and the O'Neill's would succeed in vanquishing the threat.
"Who are you? " Thor asked again and this time, fervently hoped that they would reveal themselves.
"You will know in good time. I have only borrowed this ill-suited body for my purposes – and will discard it once I'm through with it."
The being approached Thor and stood over him, touching the bleeding head wound and examining the blood on his hand with a grimace of distaste. Critically examining the bound figure as if he was an unusual, yet revolting subspecies.
"You asked why … it is simple, our race is superior to all living things in this universe. We are also infinitely patient and not afraid to wait for our rewards. Our scientists have also been following the trail of the Ancients – to procure the knowledge we need to advance our exalted race.
You are a dying species – we, on the other hand are thriving. Patiently we have been studying you from afar to discover the means to eradicate you. In our evaluations, it was easy to discover your weaknesses -- a major one being your strange proclivity to aid weaker beings." Thor recoiled and closed his eyes finding it impossibly hard to view the evil expression on what was once his dear friends' face.
The alien arrogantly continued, "Once the Asgards have died out, we will simply take your place. Our superior race will rule both this galaxy and many others as our plans are to make our realm limitless."
With increasing contempt the small being went on, "We have had dealings with the Tauri and discovered them to be trivial, stupid creatures that never plan beyond the scope of their own generation – if that far. To learn from Felspre's interrogation that a mere human child would be so important in the scheme of all things was almost impossible to believe. Yet in our own study of the Ancients data – we have faced that he must be dealt with. Therefore, we will find and destroy this insignificant creature so that our own brilliant race will dominate, as it should."
Thor's hurt, aching head had cleared enough that the ramifications of his own intelligence falling into the hands of these evildoers hit him full force. He had specifics that no one else should know. He had information that would drive the sanest individual over the edge and he felt no hope that these beings were even close to being as stable as the Asgards.
This could not happen – would not happen. And fortunately he had a way to prevent it. His thoughts turned inward to reflect on his life, on his accomplishments and what he had hoped to still accomplish and he hoped that Freyr would be able to continue the good work. He then thought of O'Neill and Samantha Carter and fervently wished that things had gone differently and silently he asked their forgiveness for his failure.
Then he clamped down on the capsule hidden in his teeth and felt the numbness spread quickly through his limbs, his last thought before the darkness claimed him being:
'This is for the best.'
