... my true love gave to me nine torture methods
The next time they woke is was to the sounds of Sam's screams. Hamzah had come in quietly and had touched the pain stick to her leg.
As soon as everyone was awake and glaring at him he removed the pain stick and said, "We have been ordered by our master to take you to the chamber where you will feel the wrath of our god for your disobedience."
They were all pulled to their feet and the chains taken off. Sam leant against Jack for a moment to get her balance and bearings; turns out getting woken by pain stick was not the nicest experience ever, before she stood straight and defiant.
Instead of being tied together again like they had all expected the Jaffa formed up around them, Hamzah in the lead, and they were marched through the corridors. They all looked for ways of possible escape, they couldn't help it, but they all knew that it was pointless; they weren't going to get out anytime soon, if at all, but none of them wanted to voice it out loud.
They were led down the corridors of Ba'al's home base to a room. When they entered Jack felt a shiver go up his spine, it was the same as the room that Ba'al had tortured him in the year before only bigger. Instead of just the one rack there were two and both were big enough to hold two people each.
Sam and Jack were pushed onto one and Daniel and Teal'c the other. The gravity changed and they were all stuck, Sam moved her head as much as she could to the side and looked at Jack. Seeing the look on his face she knew that they were in trouble. He caught her eye and she could see the fear there for a moment before it vanished and his professional mask descended, shuttering his eyes and leaving his face blank and emotionless.
Sam looked away from him Ba'al entered the room and headed towards the table at the centre of the room. He picked up one of the knives that lay there and asked quietly, "Are you sure you don't want to answer my questions?"
When no one answered he smirked, "I thought not."
He held the knife out towards Daniel, the point getting attracted by the gravity of the rack. Once the point was a right angle to the ground he let go and it sliced through Daniel's shoulder. Daniel felt the blade and was determined not to make a noise but he couldn't help the low moan that escaped.
Ba'al picked up anther knife and held it up too. "Are you sure you won't answer my questions?"
No one answered again and the knife sliced into Daniel's other shoulder. This time the moan was louder but not by much. Ba'al, Jack and Sam could all see the blood from the wounds being sucked backwards, behind the rack. Sam gave an involuntary jerk as Daniel's face began to pale and he began to sag. Ba'al smirked at her and said, "You can make this stop, tell me what I want to know and this ends."
Daniel shook his head weakly from side to side and Sam bit her lip, not saying one single word.
Ba'al sighed and picked another knife. This one went into Daniel's gut, creating another stream of blood. This time Daniel was silent, he didn't make a sound. Numb from blood lose and shock he hadn't even felt the knife go in.
Ba'al smirked as he got weaker and weaker before picking up something else from the table. Jack recognised the bottle and as Ba'al turned his attention to them he braced himself knowing what was coming next. He needn't have bothered though because Ba'al didn't send the acid towards him, he sent a drop spinning towards Sam.
Sam didn't moan, she didn't cry out, she just grit her teeth and stared at Ba'al as the acid burrowed its way into her arm. Jack was impressed because he knew how much that acid hurt and he could smell her flesh burning even as Ba'al sent another drop towards them. Sam gave a low hiss as it went into her leg, not loud enough for Ba'al to hear but loud enough for Jack to hear and know that it was hurting her just as much as it had hurt him.
Daniel suddenly went completely limp and Ba'al placed the bottle back on the table and clicked his fingers. Two Jaffa came in and Ba'al motioned towards the now dead Daniel, "Take him to the sarcophagus and when he revives bring him back, I want my answers."
The Jaffa nodded and while one kept their staff weapon trained on Teal'c Ba'al returned the gravity on the rack to normal, causing Daniel to fall into the waiting arms of the Jaffa. Once Daniel had been pulled back Ba'al pushed the button again and Teal'c was sucked right back up again. The second Jaffa, who had been covering Teal'c, lent his weapon on the wall beside the door before he returned to help the other one drag Daniel out of the room and the three remaining members of SG1 knew towards the sarcophagus room where he would be brought back to life.
As he left Ba'al smiled and pulled one of the double bladed knives that Jack had seen the Jaffa use before. The Goa'uld advanced on Teal'c and dragged the knife down his face, leaving two parallel cuts on his cheek.
As blood began to run down Teal'c's cheek slowly Ba'al moved down his body and proceeded to make little cuts all over Teal'c's body, concentrating on places where it would hurt the most. He continued for hours until Teal'c was covered in half healed cuts and newly formed scars from some of the deeper ones. Every so often Ba'al would pause, as if waiting for someone to speak, but when no one said a word he would carry on.
He stopped completely when Daniel was dragged back in; looking a whole lot better than he had when he had left, and put the knife down.
"Good to see you Daniel, welcome back to the party," Jack said as he entered.
Daniel looked at him and answered, "Great to be back Jack."
The Jaffa holding him pushed him roughly as he spoke and he was soon back beside Teal'c, stuck up in the air.
Ba'al went to pick up the knife once more but then the staff weapon by the door caught his eye and he went towards it. He picked it up and levelled it at Jack, pushing the button to prime it and shooting him in the arm, not hitting him straight on but giving him a glancing blow that burnt his flesh and that would hurt and probably get infected if it wasn't treated soon.
Jack cursed heavily and Ba'al laughed and shot him again in the arm, slightly higher this time. He cursed again and Ba'al smiled but didn't fire again, instead he placed the staff weapon to the side and smirked evilly. "I could heal your injuries O'Neill, all you have to do is tell me what I want to know."
Jack shook his head as much as he could; gritting his teeth against the pain in his arm.
Ba'al laughed, "Just as I expected." He clicked his fingers again and a pair of Jaffa came in, carrying a pitcher of some sort of drink and a tray of food, which they placed on the table where Ba'al had left the acid and knives. Another came in behind them carrying a chair which they put down by the table before all three left the room once more. Ba'al took a seat and started on the food.
He ate it slowly, clearly enjoying it, teasing the four members of SG1 by saying, "You haven't eaten or drank in days, you've got to be hungry by now." He took a bite into some sort of meat and the juices squirted everywhere. "You can all eat like kings, all you have to do is answer my questions." Again no one said anything so he continued to eat and drink slowly, dragging it out for as long as possible. When he finished he left the tray and pitcher on the table and stood, picking up a zat as he did so.
He turned it on Sam and fired it once. Jack winced slightly beside her. Ba'al's smirk grew and he said, "I will shoot her again if you don't tell me what I want to know."
Sam laughed at him, "No you won't. I'm the only one who knows the information you want to know about the Tok'ra, you kill me and you'll never get it."
Ba'al shook his head and shot her again, killing her. "NO," both Daniel and Jack shouted as she slumped down.
Ba'al laughed and clicked his fingers. The same as what happened to Daniel happened to Sam. Two Jaffa came in and took her away; the only instruction that Ba'al gave them was to put her back in her cell when she revived.
Ba'al turned his attention back to table and replaced the zat, picking up a pain stick instead. He advanced on Teal'c and used it on the Jaffa, sticking it into his symbiote pouch once more. Teal'c screamed, but still no one said anything.
When Ba'al got bored he went back to the table and put the stick down, picking up the hand device and using it on Daniel. Unlike before when he had used it just to torture he now used it to try and break Daniel, to get him to tell him what he wanted. When Daniel remained silent however Ba'al stopped just before he killed the young man. He then picked up the final thing they could see on the table, a jar with an ugly looking worm in it.
Ba'al unscrewed the cap and, using a pair of tong like things; he pulled it out and advanced on Jack. He placed the worm onto Jack's arm and stepped back. For a moment the bug didn't move but then it began to make its way up Jack's arm until it came to rest between the two staff blast wounds where it proceeded to rear up and then began to dig its way into the flesh of Jack's arm.
For a few moments Jack was silent but then the pain got too strong and he yelled out.
The next thing he knew he was lying on his side on the hard floor, he tried to sit up but a hand stopped him. "Slowly Jack."
Jack slowed sat up and leant against the wall. "What happened?" he questioned, moving his arm as little as possible as he tried to get comfortable.
"You blacked out," Daniel answered, "He took the bug out and then sent us back here."
"Where's Carter?" Jack asked, realising that she was still missing.
"She hasn't been brought back yet," Daniel said in a worried voice, "But we haven't been back very long, maybe fifteen twenty minutes."
Jack nodded before asking weakly, "How are you and Teal'c doing?"
"I'm as fine as can be expected; unfortunately I recover quickly from a hand device now that they've been used on me so much. Teal'c is kel'no'reeming to aid his symbiote." As he spoke he moved to the side a little which gave Jack a clear view of the meditating Jaffa.
The door then opened and Sam was thrown in. She rolled to a stop and sat up slowly. Her face brightened slightly when she saw them all sitting there. "Thank god you're all still alive," she said with a sigh of relief.
Jack nodded at her and she noticed how he was holding his arm, stiff and still. "How are you all?" she questioned.
"Teal'c is healing, I'm fine, but Jack's arm is pretty screwed. After he," Daniel paused before saying, "After you left Ba'al put a burrowing grub into his arm and he didn't do anything with the staff burns."
Sam nodded and made her way to Jack. "I'm going to take a look sir," she said quietly, "We don't want you to lose that arm do we."
Jack wordlessly nodded once. Sam tried to roll the remains of his sleeve up but she couldn't do it so instead she said, "Sir this is going to hurt for a minute and I'm sorry ok."
"Just do it Carter," Jack said, he knew what she was about to do, "I trust you."
"What are you doing Sam?" Daniel asked, coming to rest beside her.
"I have to take his sleeve off to look as his arm properly but there are bits of it in the wounds on his arm," Sam answered, as she started on the seam that attached the sleeve to the jacket.
After a few moments of careful ripping so not to jog Jack's arm more than she had to she said, "On the count of three sir." Jack nodded and Sam started counting, "One, two," she never said three just pulled on two.
Jack hissed in pain as the material pulled at his wounds and then brushed over them but otherwise was silent. Once the sleeve was clear Sam took a closer look at his arm, "The staff blasts are cauterised on the surface but they could still get infected, I know it's going to be difficult but try and keep them as clean as possible until we get back to the SGC were Janet can take a look at them." She was saying it to keep their hopes up he knew, but it worked, even though he knew just how difficult it would be he stood by his words from yesterday, if anyone could get out of here it was this team.
Sam peeled off her own jacket and then her t-shirt too, leaving her in just a dark coloured tank. "What are you doing Carter?" Jack asked.
"Making you some bandages sir as this is the cleanest thing I could think off."
She ripped the shirt into strips and after using one to cover the hole left by the bug, which was still slowly oozing blood, she used the rest to cover the staff blasts. She thought about asking Teal'c if he wanted any but then realised that with Junior present he wouldn't need them for very long.
Once she was done she lay Jack on his side, ignoring his protests and saying, "We're not chained up sir so we might as well make the most of it." After that he went quietly and once he was sure that Sam had everything under control Daniel lay down in front of Teal'c, out of the way of both Sam and Jack so he didn't accidently hit Jack's arm in his sleep if he started to move like he normally did.
When she was sure he was as comfortable as he could be she slipped her jacket back on and said, "Good night sir, try and get some sleep."
"I'll try Carter," Jack said.
Sam noticed the slight chatter of his teeth and sat up again, "You ok sir?"
"As ok as you would expect for someone with three holes in their arm," Jack answered sarcastically.
The chatter of his teeth was even more obvious now. Sam lay back down behind him and wrapped one arm around his middle, pulling her body flush to his back.
"What are you doing?" Jack questioned, tapping the back of her hand with his good arm.
"Keeping you warm sir. Your body is lowering its internal temperature to deal with the two burns on your arm."
She felt him take a breath to speak again but used her free hand to cover his lips. "Just leave it sir, I'm not going anywhere and you can't make me so suck it up and try and get some sleep."
She felt his lips twitch under her finger as he smiled slightly before he nodded and mumbled, "Ma'am yes ma'am."
"Good," she said, taking her hand back. She moved closer, meaning her nose was pushed right against his back.
It took them a while to fall asleep but eventually they did, cuddled up together.
That was the longest chapter so far and it was also one of the harder ones to write. The burrowing grub thing is an idea I got from the book Inheritance by Christopher Paolini while the others are ones that I've seen on Stargate before, except the food one which was because I realised that they hadn't eaten in a few days.
