Chapter 25: Senses

When the lights came back on Jack and John looked at each other, both knowing what it signified. John felt the blood drain from his face and from the look on Jack's face it was painfully obvious that he had changed colour. Deciding to sit down before he fell down he decided he needed to find something constructive to do to occupy his mind "I'm going to try and find a way to connect with the ship" he told Jack as he sat, leaning his back against the padded walls. "If there's a control chair on board I may be able to detect it, or I can try forcing a connection with the ship if all else fails..."

Jacked nodded understanding exactly what Sheppard was intending to do. "Do you need an anchor?"

"I don't know," Sheppard shrugged "If I'm not back in thirty minutes give me a shake."

"Ok" Jack agreed, he wasn't even sure what he'd meant when he had asked if Sheppard wanted an anchor or what he would have done to 'anchor' him had he wanted one. As he watched he saw Sheppard's breath slow and deepen as he sunk into himself. As ancient genes went he and his elder self had pretty strong versions but they were nothing like Sheppard's, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous and a little useless as he sat down to keep track of time. As soon as he thought this though he kicked himself; if he was an adult that never would have crossed his mind but he was letting his teenage hormones get the better of him. He sat down in a position that allowed him to keep one eye on Sheppard and one eye on the corridor, the occupants of the cell opposite him had all gone to sleep save Cam who noticed him watching and gave him a brief nod.

Jack liked Cam, he was pretty sure his older counterpart did too but there was always a slight air of stiffness between O'Neil and Mitchell. Jack was pretty sure this was only because of the difference in rank as he got on really well with the guy every time they met up. When he had first been put into foster care and restarted life as a teenager he thought he would be able to segregate himself from his former life but he still found himself wondering every time the government issued a statement about some strange happening and he had still been invited to gatherings that took place between SGC staff and their families; the earth wasn't constantly in dire peril and just like any other work place staff enjoyed getting together to share their lives and their friendships. It was at one of these events that he had met Cam and forged a friendship. Deep down he knew that with the knowledge and experience he had he would never really be able to turn his back on the military and the SGC and as soon as he was legally old enough he fully intended to re-enlist (or enlist for the first time depending on who he was talking to). He looked across at the scarred torso of the man sitting nearby and realised that many of the kids 'his age' only had a basic idea of the sacrifices they might one day be asked to make.

After he judged that half an hour had passed he discreetly picked up a towel and approached Sheppard. As he got closer he could see a sheen of sweat coated Sheppard's torso and head, careful to wrap his hand in the towel he shook Sheppard gently. Sheppard opened his eyes and looked at Jack; "Was that really thirty minutes?"

"Yep" Jack confirmed, "are you alright? You look a bit... warm?"

"I'm fine I guess that just took more out of me than I thought it would. I can't feel a control chair or make a connection with the ship, not from here anyway, not as far as I can tell... there are a lot of people on this ship, not just on this deck, everywhere. I can feel them I'm just glad most of them are healthy."

This statement confused Jack somewhat but he wasn't going to let Sheppard know that at this point; his mind was obviously elsewhere at the moment and he didn't want to distract him.

Sheppard sat up and readjusted his position so he was more comfortable as he had slipped somewhat while his mind had been search for a chink in the armour of the ship's control system. He coughed as he shifted but it was nothing like the body wracking coughs of earlier, his accelerated healing had obviously started doing its work he just didn't understand why it didn't work instantaneously like other peoples. He supposed twice as fast was probably better than normal speeds though. Sighing at the thought of the impenetrable wall he had come up against at every turn he turned to look at Jack; "How long do you think the General has been gone for?"

Jack shrugged; "I can't really tell I'm not great at telling the time. They seem to provide three meals at regular intervals and then after a longer gap they start again, I'm guessing that that's probably about a day, you were gone for four meals but we haven't even been given one meal yet so I think he may be gone for a while yet..." He looked miserable at this statement and Sheppard had to wonder how intrinsically attached they actually were.

"You don't feel what he does do you?"

Jack looked shocked at the thought "No its nothing like that, thank heavens, I just don't like the thought of anyone's body being used in such a crude manner."

"You and me both kid. Hey is there a toilet around here?" as he said this Sheppard became aware of movement in his peripheral vision. Looking directly at the point of movement Sheppard was in time to see a panel slide away from the back of their cell to reveal a small cubical.

"It appears when you think about needing the toilet, it closes when you enter and opens again when you're ready for it to do so, pretty cool huh?"

Sheppard could see the enthusiasm of youth bursting from the young man in front of him and couldn't help but laugh as he unwillingly compared him to the seemingly dour general that he knew. Smiling he added "Just like puddle jumpers."

Jack smiled and shook his head. "You may have to explain that one to me at some point."

"Oh yeah well, it's certainly handy." Sheppard agreed as he pushed himself to feet, that he was embarrassed to say only just held him up, as he shook from head to foot. Steadying himself using the wall he made his way to the miniature bathroom counting his blessings that they even had a bathroom; the same could definitely not be said for some of the cells he had ended up in in the past few years

A/N: I haven't forgotten this story but life has been busier than I had thought it would be. Your reviews have kept me writing (some of them have been incredibly flattering) and I now have pages and pages of writing im just struggling to find the time to type it all up. The good news is that on paper at least this story is nearly finished and im typing as regularly as I can justify round work so keep reviewing and I will do my best to get into some sort of regular posting routine!