oOo Chapter 7: Setbacks and Obstacles
Jack pried himself out of the tiny car, relieved to be able to move again. Maybe he'd get one of those live mustangs the government was giving away. It couldn't be much harder on his six than the mechanical version was on his knees. He refused to bend over and rub the spot where the keys gouged his knee, walking slowly instead, extending his long legs fully at every step to stretch them and encourage circulation.
The team was ready and waiting for their morning coffee. Apparently they were enjoying this new ritual as much as he was. He sighed gently as he noted that all were present and healthy. Confirmation that his team was safe was more of a 'fix' than the caffeine. They wandered off to their own morning plans as he headed to his bouts with Touch-Me Tina and Mad Max McKenzie. At least the afternoon held some promise. Pretty sad when you started looking forward to running obstacle course training.
He made an effort to relax his body as he waited for Tina to arrive. The past few times hadn't been as bad, actually. Tina hadn't attempted to make inane conversation with him since the 'tattoo' comment a few days ago. He'd been angry about that at first; she had no right to make comments about his body or anything on it.
After he'd had some time to think, he decided she was just not too bright. Ok, he thought she was stupid, but he couldn't say that out loud. She thought it was a tattoo, and she didn't even recognize the image. Dimwit. Although, picturing her as just another piece of brainless equipment did make the touch therapy easier to take.
He was finally accepting it, though he still thoroughly despised the fact that he had no control. In the beginning, vivid memories of abuse welled up at every little touch. It would build during the session, waves of pain, ripples of fear, rivulets of remembered blood, flowing together into a tidal wave that threatened to overwhelm him before the hour was up. Now he could hold the flood at bay by focusing on other things. He'd begun playing a mental game while he was in there, counting how many ways he could irritate McKenzie without getting caught.
He was lying there, being the model patient as always, offering himself without cover or resistance, mind innocently thinking of pleasant things like putting itching powder in McKenzie's chair, when it happened.
She hurt him.
The pain shot up his neck and down his back like fire. He reacted instinctively, pushing away his attacker and rolling in the opposite direction. He fell off the table and onto the floor while she screamed and knocked over a pile of those metal trays that were always stacked in medical offices. He stared at her for a moment, already aware that there was no serious threat, and felt the stabbing of the invisible knife surpass the ebbing physical pain of whatever she had done to him. As soon as you start to relax┘
People came running, of course, to see what had happened. They gaped at him, sprawled on the floor, naked and abused, and her, standing on the other side of the room fully dressed and perfectly fine.
And they commiserated with her.
Even when she admitted that she had pushed too hard on a pressure point, and that his reaction to the electric-shock sensation was natural, they still consoled her. Poor Tina, it was just an accident. Poor Tina, you're lucky you weren't hurt. Poor Tina, my bare ass! What about him? He was the injured party here, not Poor Tina!
They patronized him, said that they understood that it must have hurt, but he needed to understand that Poor Tina was under a lot of stress lately.
At least they could all agree that this session should end early. He stalked out, hearing the sudden silence as he passed the break room and knowing that they were whispering about him.
He so wanted this whole thing to be over, to have his whole life back to normal. He found himself once again looking forward to the afternoon's obstacle-course training; the cadets didn't know him and would have no reason to talk about him like that.
oOo
Colonel O'Neill smiled at his troops. If they knew him, they'd have been worried about that. "Colonel Conroy has asked me to run you through a little obstacle course training today," O'Neill told them. "So, in ya go," he waved to the troop transport truck.
The men exchanged glances. The obstacle course was only half a mile away and he was going to let them ride in a truck? This guy from Cheyenne Mountain was gonna be easy! Smiling in anticipation of a vacation day from 'real' training, the climbed aboard.
The truck headed toward the obstacle course. And kept going right on past.
When they finally stopped several minutes later, the cadets were confused. They'd gone way too far. They must be off Andrews Air base by now.
The Colonel opened the flap on the back of the truck and smiled up at them. "Here we are, boys!"
They emerged to find themselves in the parking lot of a kids' entertainment complex. The Colonel led them inside. A few of them laughed; still thinking it was going to be easy.
The place was filled with miniature objects. Small tubes, resembling habitrails used by gerbils but sized for small children. Ramps and bridges made of rope woven like hammocks. Slides of all kinds. Gauntlets of punching bags swayed idly, held at top and bottom by ropes but free to move between.
"Welcome to planet P-U-N-Y," the Colonel told them cheerfully, grinning at the disbelief on all the faces before him. "The enemy comes in all shapes and sizes," he continued. If they only knew the half of it, he thought to himself. "Some small folks have hidden an object of strategic importance in this outpost. Your job is to retrieve the object and bring it to me." With little more direction than that, and no specific description of the object to be retrieved, he sent them off.
Jack made himself comfortable to watch the show. They squirmed through tunnels too small for their shoulders, dragging or pushing their packs. Loaded packs, of course, since an army never traveled empty handed. Every one of them was toting a hundred pounds of sand. A bit more than the typical backpack, but it made up for not having to carry a weapon.
One man cursed as he got stuck in a covered slide. His legs waved comically out of the bottom as he scrabbled with his feet against the smooth plastic in an attempt to pull himself out. Jack had conveniently brought a camera, and he was glad of it. Another man's legs were now sticking out the other end of the slide as he went in head-first to try to push his fellow soldier out. He could hear them yelling for help; they were now both trapped inside the yellow-plastic tube. It was probably quite cozy in there, but the fact that he could hear them so well told him it wasn't airtight. He'd let them figure a way out.
His attention was distracted as a man fell into the seven feet of hollow plastic balls that had been Jack's own addition to the layout. The man shrieked in surprise as he disappeared under the balls. A second brave-but-not-wise soul dove after him. And disappeared. Jack wondered how many Teal'c would take out before they thought not to dive into places they couldn't see into.
He glanced over, careful not to look right at Carter. She lay flat atop a large roof-like area in one corner. A small maze was under her position, with padded doors that swung to change the layout. The doors could be held in place by metal pins from above so as not to frighten the smallest children when they played in there. Carter cheerfully pinned and freed various doors to trap the men in tiny prisons or confuse them as they tried to follow other soldiers.
Soldiers, Jack thought ruefully. They were children themselves, that's what had given him the idea. They were all so very young, relatively new to the Andrews base and to the service itself. It made the SGC's new recruits look mature. Even little Hailey looked older than these guys. She was certainly wise enough not to make the mistakes these kids were making.
Daniel was enjoying their foibles, though. He was in charge of the punching bags. Or, rather, the ropes that held them. They mostly hung loose, and the men pushed past them with little notice. Until Daniel put tension on one of the ropes, turning the object from a heavy curtain into a solid wall. He seemed to have it in for the biggest guys, making them run smack into a bag that the little guy in front pushed aside.
Finally they found what they were looking for. Sealed up in one of Carter's little traps. They struggled for a while to get it, and then one man got the door open. He grabbed the object, only to find that he was now trapped along with it. It took them a long time to get him free. Some would say it wasn't fair, but this one was a test of tenacity, not logic. They figured out that they could flatten their prize and slide it out, but that left their man inside. Another test, to see if they would leave a man behind to accomplish a mission objective.
Finally, they stood triumphantly before him, offering him the strange blue object. He told them flat out that they passed for not leaving a man behind and for their tenacity in retrieving man and object.
"May I ask what that is, sir?"
He smiled. They were fast learners; they responded with worried looks. He was sure he saw someone poke the man in the side for asking such a dangerous question. "Better than that, you can use it." He led them outside to a shallow pit already dug in the ground. The arranged themselves warily around it, none getting too close. He enjoyed the tense looks. Soldiers should be cautious when appropriate.
But they should also get a break now and then. He asked for three volunteers, trying not to laugh as they all squirmed and hoped someone else would do it. Finally, three stepped forward, looking as enthusiastic as if he were going to bury them in that shallow hole. He had them unfold the mysterious object in the pit. And then fill that sandbox liner with the contents of their packs.
He had them in formation in front of the truck when the bus arrived, full of children. The obediently followed their teacher out of the bus and made a double line next to her in front of their new sandbox, looking for all the world like a miniature version of his own fresh-faced crew. The teacher smiled and raised her hand, and all the kids saluted, shouting 'Thankyou, Colonel Jack!' Jack saluted back, and his men followed suit. Jack held the position for a moment, and the kids watched the military leader carefully. He snapped his hand down smartly and they leapt into the sand, squealing and laughing.
His own 'kids' were smiling, too, as they climbed in the truck for the trip back to base.
oOo What Friends Are For
Teal'c strode purposefully towards O'Neill's office. The Colonel should have returned there moments ago. The bizarre 'touching' ritual assigned by Dr McKenzie troubled his friend, and Teal'c wanted to help him overcome his reaction to it. The man would not wish to 'talk about it' as was so popular among humans of the Tau'Ri, and Teal'c would not attempt to make him speak of it. He would simply 'be there' for his friend.
He used O'Neill's own excuse for this new found habit of visiting every day after the touching ritual. Coffee, consumed in solitude, did not taste the same as coffee imbibed with a friend. As O'Neill was responsible for convincing him to drink the beverage, O'Neill should be the one to share a mid-morning coffee break. A flimsy pretext, perhaps, but it served as an explanation for his daily visits.
The fact that O'Neill did not look past this paltry excuse only confirmed the value of the exercise.