Images swamped her mind, flying at her, flitting this way and that, overwhelming her senses. Humans were never meant for this level of telepathy, never mind telepathic torture. Sam was in pain as she repeatedly got slammed by images designed to scare her, if not in content then in intensity, plucked from her memories by Fifth. She was dimly aware that she was on the floor of the Replicator ship, although she didn't know how she had come to be in that position. Fifth loomed over her as she pleaded with him. Had the decision been hers, she would have let Fifth come with them; she wouldn't have left him in the time dilation field.
But she had been following orders. And now those orders had returned to bite her so fiercely. Her bitterness about this however continued to be overwhelmed by the memories being brought to the fore. It was as though Fifth was inside of her head; as though nothing was sacred any more. Memories of missions, conversations, and work; firefights, injuries, learning of her mother's death, Martouf, Janet dying, O'Neill in stasis, Daniel dying; the latter appeared to drag on; as though Fifth wanted her to feel an overwhelming, all-encompassing pain. Why couldn't he understand that it wasn't her fault? That had the decision been hers...
The excuses faded into the background. She hadn't felt anywhere near this pain since Jolinar had sacrificed herself. Daniel came to the fore again, and in amongst the pain, there was regret. She would die so far away from home, and he would never know how she felt about him; how she had always felt. She would never see her brother again or his children. Her father. Pete. She sobbed during the brief reprieves when Fifth would verbally taunt her about what she had inadvertently taught him about humanity; none of the positive things that Daniel would wax lyrical about; the dark side: betrayal, pain, abandonment. Time was immaterial; the torture seemed eternal. She wasn't sure how long she would last; how much more she could take.
And suddenly it all came to a close; the darkness enveloped her, the images a distant memory. She sighed into the silence, relieved albeit confused at what happened and where she was. Had she died? Orbs of yellow light danced around her as she gazed up at them in wonder, ready to accept whatever fate was to come, feeling more at peace. The orbs soon coalesced into one large orb, which pulsated before bursting into tiny shards as she raised a hand to shield her eyes. Soon a single shard was left and despite her efforts, it entered one of her eyes.
Startled, she sat up, finding herself in a sunlit bedroom, upon a very comfortable bed, the sounds of birds and farm animals outside. These factors were far from her mind as she wondered where she was and whether she was safe. She was dimly aware that her usually short hair was now draped over her shoulders. Well, this was something new. Previous alien simulations had never put her in a domestic setting or take the time to grow her hair out. Confused, she cautiously moved towards the edge of the bed, her eyes roving her surroundings for potential weapons she could use in her defence. Not finding anything other than potentially a lamp, she found some clothes and got dressed.
With just as much caution, she left the bedroom, her eyes scanning her surroundings. Nothing untoward just yet, other than the house she had found herself in. She descended the staircase and found herself in a sunlit kitchen. If this was real, nothing was ringing any bells so far. She looked around at the rustic décor, eyeing a single rose in a vase on the kitchen table. She absent-mindedly fingered a petal, still confused at what was going on.
Finding nothing and no-one to explain her predicament, she emerged from the house, into a warm Spring morning. She appeared to be on a farm; as she tried to process this, a large golden retriever came bounding down the drive towards her excitedly. She petted the dog who then bounded away after a low flying bird as she walked towards a barn she had sighted. It all felt pretty real, if not surreal, but she could feel grass beneath her feet as she walked towards the barn, the sun's heat upon her. Next to the barn, behind a wooden fence, she gazed at the horses grazing in the enclosure. She smiled a little, the smile vanishing very quickly on seeing who had emerged from the barn.
Daniel.
He approached her, wearing casual clothing not out of place in their surroundings, and carrying a bucket. Her brow wrinkled in confusion as he smiled and said softly, "Hey, Sam; I thought you'd never get up." His cheeks reddened a little as he looked away briefly, appearing embarrassed. "It was a long night."
He walked past her to feed the horses in the enclosure. Sam turned to follow him and called his name. He turned back towards her, now looking concerned, as he said, "Sam? What's up? Is something wrong? Are you okay?"
She said with a sigh, glancing at their surroundings, "Yes, everything." When he continued to look askance at her, she sighed inwardly, wondering why he looked so homely. She continued, "This. What are you doing here? What am I doing here? What the hell is here?" Daniel looked at her in bemusement. Bemusement once again gave way to concern. He was about to speak, when she, sensing that it wouldn't be helpful to her predicament, whatever it was, spoke, "Daniel. I don't think this is real. The last I remember, I was with Fifth on board..."
He touched her forearm gently and said, "Look, I'll make you some breakfast; you must be starving." When she appeared unconvinced, he said, "You... we haven't worked at the SGC for over a year; not since you were put on medical leave for stress." He smiled bashfully. "Someone had to look out for you."
Continuing to be confused, even more so at his account, she asked, "Where are we?"
He replied with a soft expression albeit with a touch of sarcasm, "We're in Montana, because someone thought it was a good idea to leave the wonders of the SGC behind to live with stinky animals." He chuckled softly. "The pigs smell better than Jack's farts."
Despite everything, she chuckled too, and then grimaced, not wanting to dwell on a particularly gross memory from a previous mission. The nostalgic grimacing gave way to her initial composure. She was about to express her doubt in her current reality, when he said seriously, "Sam, you just had another nightmare. It's okay." He reached for her hand and led her back towards the house. "I'll cook something."
Back in the kitchen, she was seated at the kitchen table and watched as Daniel whipped up breakfast. She smiled slightly. She hadn't had pancakes in the longest time. She snapped out of her wistfulness, wondering what any alien species could gain from this scenario. She hadn't said anything or revealed anything classified so far. Perhaps they were trying to lull her into a false sense of security. And who better than with Daniel? Her smile returned; he knew her the best. The smile faded again as she thought of Pete. Where was he? Why was she here with Daniel? What had happened?
Somehow, in the midst of her reverie, Daniel appeared behind her and began to massage her shoulders. Distracted by this, she lost herself for a moment. Trying to retain her composure, she cleared her throat and he stopped, instead sitting down beside her. With a serious expression, she regarded him as he reached for her hands and gently stroked them. Tears surged in her eyes as she met his gaze. This really wasn't real, but it felt real; it felt more than real, as though she was living a life she never thought she would ever live. She mentally steeled herself. She couldn't stay here.
As though sensing the turn her thoughts had taken, he looked away from her, his jaw clenched in an anger he tried to hide from her. She said quietly, removing her hands from his, "I know this isn't real. I don't know what you want from me or what you hope to achieve from this."
He turned back to her, his eyes now appearing cold, and she shook her head in disbelief, her own belief strengthened by the words he spoke next, his voice low but barely masking fury, "I gave up my life for you."
She sighed and got to her feet. She said, continuing to shake her head, "See, I know that's not Daniel talking."
He got up to face her, his face remaining the same. "How patient do you expect me to be?"
She retorted angrily, "You would know if you're in my mind."
Her eyes widened in horror as he slowly morphed into Fifth. Fifth tried to touch her cheek but she dodged his caresses. His expression softened as he gazed at her, and he said, "I love you."
She stared at him. The pain had been real; he had tortured her, throwing image after image from her subconscious mind into her conscious mind, torturing her with things that had happened, things she couldn't change, things that had caused her overwhelming pain, time and time again. He was still torturing her, with this bizarre masquerade even if he wasn't torturing her with the past; he was torturing her with something she could never have.
She asked, processing what he had said, "Did you really think that you could convince me that this illusion was my life; that I would accept it?"
She found herself seated at the kitchen table once more with no memory of sitting down; and he was sat in the chair next to her. He said with a slight smile with a touch of shyness, "If it was something you wanted badly enough in your mind."
"Is that why you tortured me for so long, that I would want this as an alternative?"
He shook his head as he gazed at her. He said quietly, "I tortured you because I was mad. I hated you so much for what you did to me. When you let me inside of your mind, I saw you like no-one else ever could." He chuckled sardonically. "Not even Daniel." When she looked affronted, he said, "Don't act as though you didn't want it. You feel for him much deeply than Pete."
Tears surged in her eyes again as her anger swelled. She felt violated; Fifth had had no business being inside of her head without her consent; mocking her feelings. She shook her head as she made to get up from the table, to get away from him. "I could never be happy like this."
He remained seated as he said, his gaze steely, "Then you will be unhappy for a long time."
Her surroundings melted into the darkness like sugar in hot water, until she found herself embedded in a wall of the Replicator ship, imprisoned by Replicator components; the dark grimness of the ship's interior a stark contrast to her previous surroundings. She began to sob as she realised the futility of escape. She was trapped.