Warning! This chapter is Jack whumping, if you don't like reading about it, please don't read it. Thank you for all the kind reviews. Meaning a lot to me. So, enjoy the next chapter… A massive thank you to my Beta Bettie. You are the best Hun…
Jack moved now. Since he heard nothing more, he assumed that he was alone. Carefully, he opened his eyes and continued to look around. The sound of the water had something soothing in it even if he could not see anything without a lamp.
Jack realized that it was pitch black and they had not even let stay with a light. He did not know how far he was from the lake and if he would manage to crawl there to at least wash his wound and drink something. Jack was scared. He could deal with many things; God knows what he suffered through his whole military life but the fact that he could not see anything made him panic a bit.
Sam woke up and after a check on her watch she realized that she was unconscious for over an hour. At this hour, the criminals could be anywhere else with the Colonel. She had memorized the license plate and said it repeatedly so that she could not forget it. Sam had struggled to her feet and started walking back to civilization. She felt thirsty and her thoughts circled around the Colonel.
Why had he done such a stupid thing? Why did he always have to play the hero? She asked herself so many questions although she knew exactly the answer. He was her CO. His sense of responsibility towards her and each of his team members was so high that if he could prevent it he did everything to get his team out of harm's way and if that did not work out he did everything in his power to find his kids and take them home.
He was Jack O'Neill, a USAF officer who had as much honor as she ever would have imagined. Nobody stayed behind with him. And that was what she had admired about him. Yes, Jack sometimes had a loose mouth and liked to provoke his enemies, but that was his way of dealing with difficult situations. He makes jokes to cheer up the mood and always has a loose saying in stock.
Sam remembered when they were trapped in the ice in Antarctica not far from McMurdo and he made suggestions as how to set it up there. He had told her then that they could do it and it took them a while until she believed him. But since that adventure, she had not ever doubted the word of her superior again.
Jack saw a beam of light reflected on the ceiling. He would probably get the same visit. He only hoped that it was not his special friend. The rest seemed ok and left him alone. All he had to do was beware of the one crappy guy and right now he did not feel that God was strong enough to take on the fight. Jack saw in the dim beam that a rock was behind him. He slowly backed up and leaned against it. It was good for him to sit upright and in this position, he waited for the end of him.
A young man stepped into this present home of Jack and found that he had not even gotten his shackles off his hands. Slightly timidly, the young man approached Jack and watched the battered man in front of him. "Well, would you like to have your hands free?" Asked the boy after a while. Jack was too tired to even lift his head, so he simply smiled and replied with a softly spoken yes.
Immediately he felt how he was leaning forward and got the pressure on his wrists. His arms fell to the side and the boy who had just helped him leaned Jack carefully back against the stone. "Sir, it's not much I can do for you, but I brought a small bowl here. You must drink something. The lake Jack had seen at the beginning was only a few inches away from him, so the boy had felt some water in the bowl and held it to his lips.
In small gulps Jack enjoyed the cool liquid. Only when the bowl was empty did the boy leave his captive alone, hoping the Colonel had a strong will if he wanted to survive this. Jack closed his eyes again and gave himself away to the abyss of the darkness that started to surround him. The kindness he had just learned warmed his heart and he thought to himself that not all of them were so cold-hearted and they had just brutally targeted an officer of the USAF.
Sam had reached the main road after a long hike and was now walking along it. Now, she would even be hitchhiking to get to her destination faster. She had to rescue Jack. She knew how bad he was injured and that he would not last long. Time was running against her. Out of the blue, a car came and drove in the same direction that she was going to. She kept her thumb in the wind and the driver stopped.
"Thanks for stopping. My name is Major Samantha Carter. Is it possible for you to take me to the next town? This is literally a matter about life and death. "In a firm voice, she had put her request to the man in front of her who did not hesitate for a second and cleared his passenger seat and let her get on board.
"My name is Adrian; the nearest town is only a few miles away. Shall I drop you off by the police if it's so urgent? "The driver replied, setting his vehicle in motion.
"This would be brilliant, many thanks." Exhausted, Sam leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. She did not sleep, just rested her eyes and paid close attention to all the noises around her. Adrian had seen how exhausted the Major was in his passenger seat and had decided against it to start a conversation.
He cleared his throat when they arrived in front of the police station and asked if he could help any further. Sam thanked him and with a warm smile she declined any more help but assured him that he was a tremendous help to her. With a few steps she entered the old building in front of her. She did not spend much time looking for an officer. Even if it was rather a small town, there worked at least five police guys at the present time.
She went to the counter and asked for a long talk with the station manager. From experience she knew that only with the leader there would not be so many problems and she did not have to explain everything twice or three times.
Jack did not know how long he had slept, but when he woke up, he felt himself shaking all over. The cave was damp and cold. The memories came back to him and he hoped so much that Sam had succeeded in her mission to notify anyone.
The noise of steps traveled to his ear. He listened and hoped that it was the nice guy from before. He had no strength to defend against anyone who wanted to torture him. The ceiling was first illuminated until the flashlight spread over the entire interior. Jack recognized a well-built older man and hoped that this was not his special friend, who was so much after him.
Here in the hole, no one had any more masks on which Jack concluded that they would not let him go by any chance. No, these men wanted to inflict agony and pain on him if his weakened body could endure it. Grinning, the older man stood in front of him and looked at the heap in front of him. Jack gave him a miserable picture.
"How are you doing? Hungry? "In a smoky voice he asked two precise questions without further ado, to which he immediately expected an answer. Jack tried to focus his attention on the figure and with his clattering teeth he replied, "I'm fine and yes I'm hungry" His opponent began to grin again and knelt next to Jack.
He looked at the Colonel a little more closely and without warning he grabbed him by his sweater collar. With this abrupt action, Jack was caught off guard and groaned in pain. That seemed to please the older man. He lifted Jack a few inches into the air and threw him in the direction of the lake. Headfirst, the colonel landed in the lake and struggled to get his head again over the water.
His tormentor was already above him. With an iron grip, he pulled Jack up by his hair, causing him to scream. His sweater was now completely soaked, and it would not be long before his jeans did the same. He coughed and tried to get his arms under his torso to support himself better.
His opponent had noticed that and kicked his arms away with his feet. Then he let go of the Colonel's hair, which ended with Jack again under water, this time he felt a knee between his shoulder blades which pressed him down. Jack tried to hold his breath for as long as possible and on his best days he had probably done more than 2 minutes, but today was not such a day.
Jack tried to fight back with all the strength he could find anywhere in him. With one last stroke of strength, he managed to push his adversary from him and desperately he breathed the necessary oxygen. His breathing was so fast that he had to be careful not to panic and then hyperventilate.
He knew that would be the end. `been there, done that, got the fucking t-shirt' he thought to himself. With an ugly laugh and another kick for good measure, the hostage-taker let go of him and disappeared again. Slowly and panting, Jack crawled out of the water. If he was not careful, he would probably get pneumonia. He leaned against his stone again and tried once more to bring his breathing under control.
The effort and the withdrawal of oxygen made his breath sound more like a steam train than the breathing of an adult man. Slowly, the Colonel calmed down, realizing how much his stomach was rebelling against the fact that he had nothing nutritious all day.
Since it was his special friend who asked him if he was hungry, Jack did not expect that he would get anything today. He did not even know how to dry himself off. But he knew he could not stay in the wet clothes. So, he started in the dark to get rid of his sweater and then his pants. He did not believe that he would again be disturbed today. Almost naked, he now leaned against his stone and was glad to be caught by the black fingers of darkness.
When Jack awoke, he felt miserable. The blood loss coupled with the torment left its mark. He shifted slightly to allow his stiff limbs a better blood circulation. With his good hand, he wiped many pebbles aside until he felt bare stone underneath and he laid himself down, pulling his legs up as far as it goes to his chest and embracing it with his arms. He had checked his clothes, but they were still wet and so he couldn't put them on. His teeth clattered and eventually Jack lost consciousness again.
Sam had spent the longest time arguing with the man of the law and tried to explain what was going on. Now she was about ready to send her interlocutor to the desert and just call General Hammond of the SGC. But since both were not on duty, the police had the right of prerogative and Sam had to play by their rules.
"So Major, again from scratch" the Sheriff just wanted to be sure that he really understood was this woman in front of him was telling as Sam went up through the ceiling.
"No, not again, I've told you tens of millions of times. Every minute you waste here, my supervisor's chances of survival drops." Sam blushed in her face and just managed to get herself together again before she completely lost control over herself and she knew as an officer of the Air Force she could not do this. But enough was enough and her rage exploded.
She stormed out of the building and took a deep breath before she fumbled her cell phone out of her pocket and did what she should have done from the start. She called the General. Her anger escalated so much that Sam threatened to lose control. She let one or two tears run wild. She worried so much about Jack and felt let down by the local authorities.
Jack woke as he heard footsteps again. Not long after, the same old guy, who had last paid him a visit, was standing right in front of him. Jack did not move but his eyes followed every step. He heard a Zippo snap and the rubbing from metal on metal to light a flame. Shortly afterwards, cigar smoke got into his nose.
Not that Jack had anything against it. He liked the smell. Jack's master was walking slowly around him so that the Colonel could not see him anymore. O'Neill did not want to know what was coming and closed his eyes. He did not care. At that moment, he felt something hot glowing on his skin which spanned over his ribs.
Again, and again in different places but still close to each other Jack felt round burns of his skin. This bastard imprinted his cigar on him. Jack moaned softly, hoping he would soon have his peace and freedom again to turn to his fresh wounds. Again, and again he listened to the Zippo sound and again and again the cigar was lit. Slowly, Jack wondered what that perverted pig was.
If he had had the strength he would have long since jumped his torturer's throat and overwhelmed him. He wondered how it came that this man hated the Air Force so much. Jack could not endure the pain at the end and lost consciousness. Should the guy kill him anyway. That did not matter. The main thing was Carter was safe. Yes, she was worth saving. He was just an old, squeamish soldier who talked with sarcastic slogans.
Hammond had sent an Airman in order to fetch the Major. He could not quite understand on the phone what she told him because she spoke too fast and the connection here in the mountains was not the best.
When Carter sat a short time later in the office of her supervisor and had told him everything, he sat in silence for a second. That was so typical Jack to always throw himself in the line of fire to protect others. He called a few of his computer geeks; Carter gave them the license plate and so they went looking for the car to locate.
Some days later
"Sir, you called me?" Sam stepped into the office's light.
"Major, I am very sorry but so far we have not achieved a result. We monitor every street and every corner. I even sent drones over the Rockys. Nothing. The we are looking for, is as if swallowed from the ground of the earth. We do not even know if they stayed here in the area. They could be elsewhere. I am very sorry, but I can`t keep the search going for very much longer. If we do not find Jack soon, it will look bad for him. That's all Major. Dismissed." to allow no further discussion, Hammond devoted himself again to his files and reports.
Sam wanted to say something but knew that the General had set his mind. She knew how hard it had to be. Slowly, she went back to her lab to continue pondering. She had set up a corner with a precisely detailed Map that represented the mountains. She tried now to find out where the crooks could have hidden with Jack.
Sam could not imagine that the four were driving very far with a wounded hostage. `Jack, please hold on. I am coming; I do not know how long it will take, but please hold on. ` She implored her CO in thought.
Jack finally had his jeans and sweater on for the last two days because it had taken so long until they were half dry. The young man from the beginning had occasionally brought him something to eat and saw how cold Jack was. He did not know what was going to happen to the prisoner and he did not want to know, but he wanted to make his life a little easier.
In this case if it is a blanket, then so be it. Very often it is so. Jack had often been left alone for the last few days. His tormentor was rarely visiting him and so Jack had the opportunity to gain some strength which was almost an impossibility with the few calorie intakes he had. Often, the Colonel had the feeling that he was forgotten and so it was no wonder that he lost more and more weight.
His body showed scars and cuts everywhere. Some cuts were made by the older man who just wanted to see what it takes to get Jack to scream. So far, he had not done it again. Just at the beginning but since then he remained mute. The captive on the iron chain had a strong will, but he knew he was going to break it.
Everybody has a breaking point. You just had to find it. He had found this point when he remembered the wallet. The old man rummaged through every single card and every single compartment till he found what he was looking for.
Jack was nestled in his clothes in the blanket on the bare rocks, ignoring the pain in his limbs as much as he could bear. He heard footsteps again and his eyes focused on the passage while he hoped it was not the old man again. His luck was not going for him today. This time he even had something in his hand.
With a big grin, the old man now stood in front of Jack and pulled him up on his right shoulder. Jack obeyed decently as this shoulder had not healed properly and it was causing him great pain. As he stood in full length before his grinning tyrant this ogre gave Jack a fully blown punch in the stomach.
The Colonel dropped to his knee, holding his abdomen while convincing himself there is not enough pain to scream. His face was consumed with pain. He coughed and groaned, but he did not scream. That was the only thing he had left over what he had control and he did not want to take this little action.
His head was pulled backwards harshly by his hair and breathing became difficult at first. Wide-eyed, Jack now realized what he had previously seen from far away in the man's hand. Jack got tears in his eyes. This pig had a picture of Charlie in his hand. His photo was from his purse and these dirty fingers draped around his photo. That was his. Anger rose in Jack and he thought for a moment whether he should dare to overpower his opponent or whether he should continue to give in in small ways.
He decided to fight, though he did not know yet how to get out of his ankle bracelet. Everything he ever wanted was a fair chance to fight. With full force he jumped against the grinning man, who did not know for the first moment what had happened to him. He staggered back and Jack fell brutally to the floor.
Driven by anger and the naked will of peace, he immediately jumped up again and threw his opponent a left and then a right in his face. So, involved in the fight and feeling confident that he had a chance, he did not notice that one of his comrades came from behind.
Jack just hit his head hard before he collapsed and fell unconscious. Breathing heavily, the older man gathered his thought and grinned at his buddy who had just helped him and was now unpacking a cable binder, asking with a wry grin if he wanted to make use of it.
Of course, this sadist wanted to use it. He tied both feet together and both hands behind Jack's back, regardless of any loss or pain the Colonel could suffer. For him, it was only about the greatest possible pain to torment without killing his victim.
When all his limbs were tied, he linked them together behind the Colonel's back. Even from the look it looked painful and uncomfortable. They then let him lie right on the spot where Jack fell unconscious.
It was not too long before Jack regained some of his senses. Somewhat disoriented, he quickly realized that he could no longer move. This bastard had taken this kind of freedom now as well. But he was not going to scream. Nothing in the world will make Colonel Jack O'Neill do something he does not want.
He could still move his head and looked around the cave. He had been given a permanent light since yesterday. So, he finally could see something. The pain increased every minute. His body lay so unfavorably on the small pointed stones that stabbed them into his tender flesh. The gravity and weight of his body then took care of the rest. He felt weak again; he felt that his infection, which he had in his shoulder, was still there. He had only learned to handle it and to displace the feeling of weakness when necessary.