CHAPTER 11

Sam walked over to the elevator on the 25th floor. Pete was going to arrive any second, and she did not know what she was going to say. They hadn't parted on very good terms, and she dreaded their talk. The doors opened to reveal a smiling Pete. It was not what she imagined, but it reassured her a little.

"Sam how are you?" He asked, kissing her cheek.

"Not to bad, thank you."

'Lie.' She thought.

"You?" She asked.

"Oh well, I' had time to think about our last talk and I behaved like an idiot. I'm sorry." He replied as they arrived at Sam's lab.

Pete closed the door and faced her.

"I should never have told you all that."

He approached her and kissed her tenderly. Sam took time to answer his kiss, finding it a little too easy. They had not really had a lot of arguments, but this one had taken a strange turn. She put an end to the kiss and looked at him.

"You had to tell me if that's what you think." She told him.

"Well I ... I'm sorry Sam. You're close and you understand-"

"No I don't understand, not at all. I'm close to Daniel and Teal'c too. They were not the ones you blamed." She said to him with a reproachful tone.

"He has... this way of looking at you. He has his constant visual attention on you. You move, he moves. You understand each without needing to speak."

"Pete. We're military. We move in faction, it's strategic. And fortunately the years I've spent with the General, it means he no longer needs to talk to me to make me understand things, it saved us quite a few times. You must understand that they're like my family. By accepting me you have to accept them."

"Does your last sentence mean a 'yes'?" Pete said in a smile.

"Uh I..." Sam sputtered.

The loudspeakers suddenly started.

"Colonel Carter is expected in room 1 level 37. I repeat Colonel Carter is expected in room 1 level 37."

Sam closed her eyes. She did not know whether it was from relief or annoyance, or a combination of both.

"I'm sorry I have to go. If everything goes well I should be free to come back home quickly." She said, apologized to Pete.

Pete kissed her again before speaking.

"Come back to me quickly..."

"You can wait here if you wish. But you don't walk in the corridors."

"I'll wait for you..." He answered with a deep look.

Sam left her lab to go to room 1. Thor had to have arrived with his equipment. She sighed deeply before getting out of the elevator. When the doors opened she had a welcome committee: Daniel, Teal'c, her father and Jack were waiting for her.

"Thor is ready Carter, only you missing. Ready?" Jack asked her.

"I think so." She answered him.

She saw Kerry walking toward them.

"Colonel Carter!" Kerry said.

"Yes?" Sam said dryly.

"Please excuse my behavior earlier, I lacked tact..."

"Ah, you think so?" Sam replied, scathing.

Jack gestured to Kerry not to continue the talk with his 2IC. They moved towards room 1, where Thor and Janet were waiting for them with a medium-sized device.

"Colonel Carter, are you ready to begin?" Thor asked.

"Yes let's go."

She sat on the bed while Janet set up the scope. A nurse gave her an infusion intravenously, 'just in case' Janet told her. Sam looked up and saw that the team had moved into an observation room.

"Sir?" She asked.

The latter approached her. He was sitting on a chair in the room, he did not want to be too far away in case of worries.

"Yes Carter?" Jack said.

"Would it be possible to do this in a closed place?"

Jack looked up, and knew what Sam meant by 'closed place'.

"Agent Johnson, could you wait in the corridor please?"

Kerry seemed surprised, but followed Jack's order.

"Thank you, General. I don't know what I'm going to say, I prefer it to remain between us."

"Of course Colonel. Relax you'll be okay. And don't forget that whatever you see is a memory."

"Yes, of course, Sir."

Sam understood the implication. Although she would live the torture again, Jack was here waiting for her in a corner of this room. She took a deep breathe and then told Thor she was ready. He set up a kind of headband and then told her he would start the device. He advised her to concentrate on Ba'al's technology.

She plunged into darkness. She opened her eyes and found herself in front of Jack, being tortured. She began to panic but Thor's voice reached her mind.

"Colonel Carter please concentrate on the Ba'al device. Where is it?"

"The General is tortured, he must be helped!" Sam yelled.

"Colonel you're in a memory, O'Neill is fine. Relax and concentrate on the device." Thor said.

Sam looked away from Jack and looked around the room.

"It's standing near Ba'al. He doesn't seem to touch it."

"Very well, how far is it from you?" Thor asked.

"I'd say twenty foot."

Jack's screaming caught her in the gut.

"We must hurry, he's going to die!" Sam yelled again.

In the room, Jack stiffened in his chair. His 2IC relived memories extremely painful and he blamed himself for this.

"Heart rate increases to 120. Blood pressure 167/95." Said Janet.

Thor re-focused on Sam.

"Does Ba'al take the device in his hand?" Thor said.

"Yeah right now. He slides his finger ten degrees towards ... Aaaah!" Sam screamed.

They all looked at her. Sam screamed, holding her head in her hands, eyes still closed.

"Heart rate 190, blood pressure 223/116. You've to stop right now! Give her one bulb of cardene!" Janet quickly told Thor and the nurse.

Jack got up from his chair.

Sam opened her eyes, a migraine pounding her skull. She looked around her. She recognized the cell in which they had been placed on Ba'al's ship. Jack was dead but was soon to reappear. Suddenly, a light beam encircled them, and they found themselves on board the Tok'ra ship, in front of Jacob.

"Everything's okay? Sam!" He said as he approached his daughter, curled up on the floor.

"How were you able to find us Jacob Carter?" Teal'c asked.

"The base sent us a message, and thanks to our new teleportation device we could locate you all. Where's Jack?" Jacob asked.

Sam's heart raged. Jack should have been with them when the Tok'ra had teleported them on their ship. Teal'c looked at Jacob gravely and then shook his head from left to right.

"I'll be right back." Jacob said.

He left the team and Pete in the middle of the ship and headed for Anise. He whispered a few words, then after a few minutes he returned to the team.

"Come with me."

He took them into a maze of corridors before stopping in front of a door. He lowered his head and Selmak spoke.

"Shita'a is taking care of your friend. I'm deeply sorry."

"What do you mean when you say 'taking care'?" Pete asked.

Sam remained stoic behind the four men. She must have misunderstood. She would soon return to reality. She was looking for Thor's voice in her mind, but there was not a sound. Selmak took them to an adjoining room, where he gave them water and some food. Sam did not touch anything. A very heavy silence surrounded the room. At the end of an hour a woman appeared in front of the door.

"He's ready." She simply said.

Then together they all got up to go to the room in which their friend was. Daniel opened the door softly, and saw a mattress on the floor, Jack's feet over it. As he opened the door, Jack's body unveiled a little more. He was extremely pale, almost grey, with his hands resting on his abdomen. His face looked peaceful. Daniel swallowed. At the level of Jack's throat, a notch had been carefully sutured. Tears came to his eyes.

"Oh my God..." Daniel whispered.

They all went into the room, and Sam was staring at the wall in front of her. She refused to look down.

"I'm sorry." Said Pete.

"Rest in peace, O'Neill." Teal'c said leaning towards his friend. "It was an honour to fight by your side."

Daniel was holding a hand on his mouth. The vision was hard. He was not prepared for this reality, even though Teal'c seemed to have guessed it. Jacob had his head bowed, dismayed by this frightful news. Pete stepped out of the room, finding the atmosphere stifling. He left the door open to allow others to follow him. Teal'c got up and looked at Sam. He walked over to her.

"I offer my sincere apologies to you Colonel Carter." He said.

She did not react to his friend's words, her eyes still glued to the wall. Jacob turned his head towards his daughter, and Daniel also turned to them.

"Sam... Please say something." Jacob said.

"Sam..." Daniel said too, his voice broken.

Then she spoke, without really looking at them.

"Get out." She said in a breath.

Teal'c nodded and reached the door, Jacob followed him. Daniel passed in front of his friend, and put a hand on her shoulder. Sam closed her eyes and did not open them again. He went to the door, which he closed behind him. The four men remained in the corridor, Daniel - his eyes red with tears - sat down near Pete, whose face was closed. They heard Sam fall on her knees, but they did not come in. Everyone knew that what was to follow would hurt them even more.

Sam knelt before Jack, still staring at the wall. Her legs no longer had the strength to carry her. Her eyes gradually slipped to her CO's face, on his chocolate eyes that were now closed. The first sob took her to the guts, then a second. A gaping hole was forming in her chest, hurting her so badly. The scream she uttered was like a lament, a scream that would have broken the heart of anyone. She hit the ground with her fist, as if she wanted to wake up from a bad dream. She leaned over him and continued to cry, the pain tearing at her heart, her guts.

In the corridor the four men heard her and felt useless. They could hear their friend crying, crying for a man they all loved in some way. Someone that was indispensable to them. Their friend cried for Jack. Her Jack.

Jack O'Neill was dead.