Cassie shifted the carrier Samantha was strapped into to get a better grip on it yet at the same time she was careful not to let go of J.J.'s hand. They were pushed into a small windowless room, and Cassie let out a sigh of relief as the door shut behind them.
"Cassie?" J.J. asked tearfully.
Cassie looked around the room as she walked over to the only piece of furniture, a single cot, and put the carrier on it. She helped J.J. climb on to the cot beside her then pulled him into her lap. "It's going to be alright, J.J." she said. "Your daddy's going to find us. Don't be scared." She continued to croon soothingly to the toddler as she surreptitiously conducted a more thorough survey of the room. She noted with some annoyance the camera mounted to the ceiling in the corner. That would make it more difficult for her to retrieve the intar.
They'd checked the diaper bag , but of course, they hadn't found anything in it that would arouse their suspicions. Little Sam was sitting on the weapon they'd thought to find in the diaper bag. She'd made such a fuss about the bag they hadn't even thought to question the carrier. It had been Sara's suggestion to hide the weapon under the fabric covering the child seat. She'd rightly guessed that no one who didn't have a child of their own would realize that the fabric was removable. Jack had spent the better part of a day carving a niche in the molded plastic seat just big enough for the weapon Charlie had built. There were other things hidden in the diaper bag, but nothing as important as that weapon.
The door opened and several men entered the room. Cassie moved J.J. off her lap and stood placing herself between the men and the children. Cassie felt her blood run cold as a final man wearing a white lab coat entered the room. "I need to take some blood," he said. Cassie bit down on the fear she felt but didn't mask the hate in her eyes as she held her arm out to him. He didn't even seem to notice her as he went about the task of collecting the sample. When he'd filled several vials with her blood he withdrew the needle from her arm and cleaned the area with an alcohol swab. "Them too," he said barely glancing at the children.
Cassie wanted to protest but she forced herself to remember what she'd been told to do if something like this happened.
"No heroics, Cass" Jack had ordered. "Just wait. We will find you."
"Do what they tell you," Chuck added.
"Don't take any unnecessary risks, but do everything you can to keep the kids with you," Charlie urged.
"Observe your captors closely," Teal'c had suggested. "Find their weaknesses. Discover patterns of behavior that can be used to your advantage."
Cassie bit back her protest and forced herself to help their captors take blood samples from both Samantha and J.J. As they left the room she shouted, "Hey we need something to drink after that!"
"She's right," the one in the lab coat admitted. "Get them something to drink. Juice or something."
One of the guards nodded his agreement as he shut the door leaving her locked in the room with two terrified children wailing at the top of their lungs. Cassie took Sam's carrier and set it on the floor. She rocked it with her foot as she wrapped her arms around J.J. and tried to calm him. A few minutes later one of the guards returned carrying a jug of apple juice which he held out to her. "It needs to be cut with water," she said as she rocked her sobbing son. The baby resting at her feet had already calmed.
"What?" he growled.
"They're too young to drink straight juice. It'll make them sick," Cassie said as her heart was beating a loud tattoo in her chest. The guard didn't appear much older than she herself was, but even so Cassie was nervous. Cassie snagged the diaper bag from the floor and rummaged inside with one hand. It took her only a few seconds to locate both J.J.'s sippy cup and Samantha's bottle. She held both out to the guard as she ordered, "Half water, half juice." She held his eyes waiting for him to react. In her mind she heard again Jack speaking to her in a quiet voice that wavered occasionally as they sat in the darkness of his rooftop observatory.
"Humans aren't that far removed from our more primitive ancestors," he said. "We still react instinctively to certain stimuli. Have yourself an old fashioned staring contest the first time your eyes meet your captors. Pick your target carefully, though. Don't try it on all of them. Pick someone less confident...younger. The first time your eyes make contact don't look away. Don't even blink. Make them look away first, and you'll have dominance in any situation after that. You might get a subtle advantage out of it. A split second hesitation that you can use to protect yourself."
In the darkness, she couldn't see his face as he spoke. It was probably among the reasons he'd brought her up here to have this talk. O'Neill wouldn't want to relive his captivity in Iraq, but he was doing so for her. Hoping to give her some bit of information that could help her should the worst happen.
"What do I do with the others?" she asked.
" Don't challenge them verbally. Do exactly as they ask, but always look them in the eye when you're doing it. Keep your eyes down and stay quiet," Jack answered. "Be subservient...meek. Make yourself as invisible as you can to the guys with tempers. If something happens remember you're not a POW. You're a hostage, and hostages have value. Use that if you can."
The guard's gaze dropped to the cups in her hand. He reached out and grabbed them from her hand then stalked from the cell. Cassie's breath whooshed out in relief as soon as the door shut behind him. A few minutes later he returned with the children's drinks and the jug of watered down juice. He handed her both J.J.'s sippy cup and Samantha's bottle after setting the jug on the floor by the door. When he turned to leave Cassie spoke up, "Can you put the baby's carrier on the cot so I can feed her as well?" Again she stared the young guard in the eyes. Chronologically, he was older than Cassie, but despite his current occupation, Cassie knew she had more life experience to draw on. Again, it was the guard who broke eye contact first as he bent to lift the baby's carrier onto the cot. Cassie didn't allow her eyes to leave his face though. She continued to stare at him as she aimed the bottle at Samantha's face. The baby grabbed the bottle with both hands steering the nipple to her mouth. Cassie held it in place as she continued to stare somberly at the guard who took one step backwards before turning and leaving the room.
"When's Daddy gonna come?" J.J. asked quietly as he finished the juice. He laid his small head against her chest as one small hand gripped the fabric of her shirt.
"I don't know, baby" she told him. "We're just going to have to be brave until he does. Do you think you can do that for me?" J.J. nodded though the expression on his face told Cassie he wasn't really sure he could do as she asked. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you or Samantha," Cassie promised. "We're going to be fine."
Cassie renewed her quiet survey of the room trying to decide how she and the children would sleep that night. Finally she lifted J.J. down from the cot and set Samantha's car seat in the corner. She pulled the thin mattress from the cot to the floor then pushed the frame up against the wall making sure it overlaid the door just slightly. Cassie hoped that to her captors it would just appear that she'd carelessly moved the frame out of the way. In reality, if the door opened the scrape of the metal frame along the floor would hopefully wake her. She pushed the mattress against the wall and helped J.J. remove his shoes. She stripped him down to his cotton t-shirt and diaper to sleep in. With some cajoling she got him to lay down at one end of the mattress. With J.J. now settled, Cassie then lifted Samantha from the confinement of the carrier and laid her at the opposite end of the mattress. She sat between them with her back to the wall. Covering all three of them with the single blanket she resigned herself to an uncomfortable night's sleep sitting against the wall.
It hardly seemed like she'd fallen asleep when Cassie heard the scrape of the door being opened. Being careful not to disturb the children, Cassie scrambled to her feet once again placing herself between their captors and her children. The man who had taken their blood a few hours earlier entered the room followed by a different set of guards. At least it seemed like only a few hours had gone by. This room had no windows. So she had no way of knowing how much time had really passed since. He noted the cot by the door then the children sleeping on the mattress by the wall. "You're a resourceful young woman aren't you," he commented. When Cassie made no reply he shrugged. "The blood samples we took from you last night are quite fascinating," he said. "My informants tell me these are your children...or at least the children of a version of yourself from an alternate reality." He paused again waiting for Cassie's comment, but the only response she gave him was a quick glance down at J.J.'s sleeping form. He knew her as Aunt Cassie and was much to young to understand what the reality. "Still no comment?" he asked. "Oh well. The DNA tests will confirm or disprove that information easily enough. Tell me about Neerti," he ordered.
"She's a goa'uld," Cassie responded.
"Oh, I know that much," he told her.
"She pretended to be a god. She was doing some kind of experiment on the people of my world," Cassie said. "Something about evolving us. It made me sick. She made General Hammond let her go in exchange for healing me."
"What else?" he asked.
"I don't know any more," Cassie told him. "I was sick! Delirious."
"What did she do to cure you?" he questioned.
"I dont' know!" Cassie hissed. "She used some kind of healing device she wore on her hand."
"Like this?" he asked pulling his hand from his pocket. Cassie felt the blood drain from her face as she got a good look at the object in his hand.
"You can't use it," Cassie informed him.
He smiled in response. It was a smile that chilled her heart. "We'll see," he replied. "Sleep well, Cassandra." He turned and left the room with the guards on his heels.
She waited until the door had closed then sank back down onto the makeshift pallet and only then gave into the tremors that shook her body. "Find us soon, Charlie" she whispered as she hugged herself in an attempt to still the shaking of her hands.