Jack was sitting alone in the cell. The guards had taken Sam over two hours ago, at least. He had tried to get them to take him instead, to no prevail.
He heard a sound coming from the distance and looked up in despair. Two guards were dragging Sam back into the cell. He watched her chest jaggedly rise and fall with each breath. She was unconscious and badly injured, but at least she was alive. They dropped her by his feet and then walked casually away. He hated their smugness.
"God, Sam, what the hell did he do to you?"
He sat on the floor and laid her head on his lap. She shouldn't have to lie on the cold concrete. Softly, he stroked her hair as he examined her injuries. He almost had to look away. Her clothes were ripped in places a woman's clothes should never be ripped. He took off his sweatshirt and wrapped it around her. It would be cold in his t-shirt, but that didn't matter. There were already fresh bruises starting to form on her wrists where they must have held her down. She slowly started to open her eyes, and her eyes instantly started to well up with tears, not only from the severe pain but from the shame. He pulled her head close to her chest as tears started to form in his eyes, too. Nothing needed to be said. Slowly, she begins to mutter into his chest.
"I hate being beautiful."
He wasn't good with words. He didn't always know what to say, but he knew he needed to try, for Sam's sake.
"Don't say that."
"Do you realize how many threats of this I have received over the years based solely on the way I looked? He just keep telling me how rare my beauty was, and how that should be enjoyed."
His heart deeply ached. He wanted to vomit, but she needed his strength more than ever now.
"Hey, they're Goa'uld. They don't care about anyone but themselves. Beauty is not a possession. Beauty is not something to be used. It should be cherished. You should be cherished."
"Jack…"
"No. Because it's not just your outer beauty, Sam. It's your inner beauty. You are better than them. You are way better than this. Those of us that have had the privilege of being near you are lucky to have just felt your glow."
"I was just going to say 'thank you.'"
"Oh."
She burrowed her head deeper into this chest, and he held her a little tighter. He gently wiped the tears from her cheeks as she slowly began to drift off to sleep. When he was sure that she was sound asleep, he softly whispered I Love You as a single tear made its way down to his chin.
Jack was still holding her tight when his own eyes started to drift shut. His mind began to wander as it had so many nights over the past couple of years. His dream was another that was recurring but definitely not unwanted. He was standing in a tent with the most beautiful woman he could imagine. He can still hear the words vividly. Look, ah, I will not wear this thing over my face. I do not care how much embroidery it has on it. And this dress, or whatever it's called, I mean I can't move, I can't walk... He takes another breathtaking look at her. I don't know. It...it kinda works for me. I... Usually, in this dream, Jack would keep trying to walk towards her as she moved further away…an unattainable goal. Tonight, however, instead of her moving away, she moved towards him. Just as their lips were about to meet, a loud noise awakens Jack from his bliss. When he reopened his eyes, two Goa'ulds were standing over him.
"You. Come with us."
He didn't argue. He knew that he would have to go with them, and he knew where they would be taking him. There was no sense in waking Sam with a struggle. She needed to rest right now, not worry. He gently laid her head down on the floor and exited with the two guards. He soon found himself in front of the man he despised the most.
"Ba'al. Always a pleasure…"
"So we meet again, General O'Neill."
"What do you want this time?"
"Well, now. I thought that would be obvious. Revenge"
"Your gripe is with me not her. Why didn't you just leave her out of this?"
"Oh, don't think I don't despise Colonel Carter as well. She, too, has made a mockery of me over the years, and that is something that I just cannot allow to go unpunished."
Ba'al stood there with a smug smile on his face, laughing, as Jack's face got beat red.
"However, as much as her punishment was for herself, it was always for you."
"Oh, for crying out loud! What in blazes are you talking about?"
Ba'al got within a
foot of Jack's face and started to laugh. He sounded more devilish
than ever.
"Don't think of me as a fool. I know you have
strong feelings for her. You didn't think that I would use that to
my advantage? I was able to do something to her that you had always
dreamed of but never could, and it was wonderful."
"Ba'al, I swear to God…"
"You see. I have hit a sensitive spot within you."
"I would never, and I mean NEVER, hurt Carter. You are one sick and twisted man to think I would EVER do that to her."
Ba'al just laughs boastfully as the two guards hook Jack up to the powerful magnet device that was all too familiar.