OK, in response to the many pleas for me to continue, here it is!
Disclaimer: See prologue.
Remembering: Chapter One
General Hammond's head jerked upwards in disbelief as the warning claxons began to blaze.
"Unscheduled Off-world activation. Repeat. Off-world activation."
He hadn't even had chance to exit the control room after seeing Sg1 off on their mission. A dark premonition struck him suddenly and he looked down at the technician seated at the computer in front of him as the wormhole whooshed open.
"Receiving GDO transmission..." the technician looked up at Hammond in shock. "It's Sg1, Sir," he reported. Hammond nodded numbly.
"Open the Iris," he ordered. 'This has got to be a record even for them,' he thought as the SGC's first team exited the wormhole. Hammond's eyes went immediately to the limp body of his 2IC hanging in Teal'cs' arms. He grabbed at the microphone. "Sg1 report to the infirmary," he ordered. He realized he could have saved his breath.
Sg1 was hightailing it out of the 'Gate room before he could even open his mouth.
******
Doctor Janet Frasier looked over at the impatiently waiting team members sympathetically, then glanced at the patient who was lying with deathly stillness on one of the infirmary beds. Sam had taken the time to give her a brief summary of what had happened before Teal'c had practically thrown the Colonel into the waiting arms of her highly trained team of nurses.
Janet hadn't been able to prevent the brief thrill of fear that had coursed through her when she heard Sam's tale. It was bad enough having to treat all the various injuries the team received on the other side of the gate caused by a wide range of alien weaponry, not to mention the various plagues the Sg teams carried back for her to combat. If personnel started receiving injuries from 'Gate travel itself...
The door opened and the team standing vigil heads snapped round, Sam coming to attention when she saw that it was the General. Hammond nodded to her 'at ease' and she relaxed, then he turned his attention to her. Janet took a deep breath, then walked over to give them her report.
*****
Sam looked around as Janet walked over to them. As she did so she caught a glimpse of 'her' Colonel lying so still on the bed. She swallowed hard and looked anxiously at Janet.
"Well?" Daniel beat her to it. "What's wrong with him?" Janet sighed, checked the clipboard she was carrying, and then looked back up at the impatiently waiting foursome.
"Nothing," she said.
"What?" Sam and Daniel exclaimed as one. They glanced at each other, and then turned back to Janet to hear her explanation.
"What do you mean, Doctor?" General Hammond asked.
"Exactly what I said," Janet sighed. "His vitals are normal, blood work comes up clean, MRI; normal, x-ray... Physically, is nothing wrong with him."
"How can that be?" Sam asked, gratefully seizing hold of the chance to be able to perceive the whole mess just as a scientific puzzle, to distract her mind from the fact that the man she loved was lying comatose just a metre away from her. Loved. She could admit that now, even if only in her own head. She remembered the thrill her, the electric jolt to every cell in her body as she listened to him admit his feelings for her...
Firmly, she pushed the moment out of her immediate mind and concentrated on the now, on finding out what had happened to him.
"He was still inside the wormhole when it disengaged," she continued, "There is no way that there will be no effects from that."
"There may still be," Janet said quietly, "But we won't know about them until he wakes up." Sam stared at her in horror.
"You mean..."
"Mental problems," Daniel finished, voice grim. Teal'cs face grew even stonier if that was possible. Janet sighed despairingly.
"Honestly, what I am most worried about at the moment is if this starts to happen regularly."
"We have sent some probes through to that planet since Sg1 returned," General Hammond reported quietly. "So far there has been no more of these... anomalies."
"But, General," Sam interrupted, "It is quite likely that the... whatever it is only affects living beings."
"Then why did this only happen to Jack?" Daniel asked. "Why not to the rest of us?"
Hammond turned to the silent ex-Jaffa.
"Teal'c, have you ever heard of anything of this sort happening?"
"I have not," Teal'c answered. "I confess I am as much in the dark as you are about this." The room fell into a dour silence. If the Goa'uld in all their centuries of 'Gate travel had never come across this, or they had and saw fit to hide it from their servants...
A low groan from the bed interrupted the groups dark thought processes. Janet hurried over to check the Colonel's monitors.
"He's waking up," she whispered. Silently, the waiting three gathered around the bed as Janet and Hammond stepped back to give O'Neil's teammates precedence.
*****
Jack groaned as he reluctantly dragged himself back to consciousness. His head was pounding, he noted sourly. Cranking upon one eye he noted with disgust that it seemed that he was once again a human pincushion.
Giving into the inevitable, and reasoning that he might as well wake up the whole way as he had got this far, he forced his eyes open and immediately noticed his team standing around him, identical worried expressions on Carter and Daniel's face and even Teal'c allowing some emotion on his usually expressionless face.
"Wha' happened?" he managed, disgusted to hear himself slurring the words. His friends and family exchanged glances.
"You don't remember?" Daniel asked
"If I did, I don't think I would be asking, now would I, Daniel?" O'Neil asked sarcastically.
"Oh, I don't think there's much wrong with him," Daniel murmured, a slight smile on his lips, but he couldn't hide the genuine relief in his eyes. Jack felt a small measure of fear course through him in response.
"What happened?" he repeated more urgently, struggling to sit up. A dark hand pressed down on his chest, forcing him back down onto the bed, and he glared up at Teal'c.
"You must rest, O'Neil," the big Jaffa told him, not at all perturbed.
"He had us all worried Colonel," the quiet voice of Doctor Frasier intruded.
"Why?" said Colonel demanded, getting more and more frantic, "For the last time, 'what happened?'" The Doc glanced sideways at Sam, 'Carter, ' he corrected himself, and she stepped.
O'Neil listened in mounting disbelief as she described what had happened to him, but he knew she would never lie to him. When she was done, he lay back on the pillows and stared ahead.
"Wow." He commented. Frasier and the others exchanged looks and the Doctor stepped forward.
"Colonel, there seems to be no adverse affects on your health from your experience, but I would prefer if you were taken off active duty for a while, and received regular check ups." O'Neil nodded tiredly, he had expected nothing else. "Also," the Doc added, "I would like for you to attended some sessions with McKenzie to assesses your mental state." He stared at her in disbelief.
"Oh come on Doc!" O'Neil exclaimed loudly, "The man's a quack!"
"Colonel," Hammond's voice broke in for the first time. "Until Doctor Frasier declares you fit for active duty, I am taking you off the duty rotor, and if that means permanently, then so be it, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Sir," Jack mumbled, "I will do everything the good Doctor says, Sir." He looked hopefully at Frasier. "Can I go now?"
******
It was two days later in the briefing room.
"Oh come on General!" O'Neil complained loudly. "Look, I've let Doc Frasier examine me on the hour, every hour, hell, I've even stared at McKenzie's inkblots! I'm fine, really! So howabout giving us a mission? Whaddya say?"
"Colonel." Hammond repeated firmly. "You and your team will be placed back on active duty when both Doctor Frasier and myself are agreed that it will pose no hazard to either your health and mental state or that of your team, do I make myself clear?"
O'Neil rolled his eyes, stood up, and walked over to stare out of the windows at the dormant Stargate. He honestly didn't know why Hammond had requested he come to this meeting, he didn't really have anything to add to the techno mumbo, and the lingual jumbo, and the only thing he understood of the whole conversation was Teal'cs comments on the alien artefact that Sg2 had brought back's relevance to the Goa'uld.
He rather suspected it was a ploy of Hammond's to keep his very bored 2IC occupied in a way that didn't include him wondering round the base causing trouble. Jack stared at the Stargate. In his minds eye he could see it spinning, the coordinates lighting up one after the other, the seventh chevron locking...
"Someone's coming." O'Neil's voice broke into the discussion. Hammond looked over his shoulder at his best soldier.
"Colonel?" he asked, puzzled. Jack was staring through the window at the dormant Stargate.
"Someone's coming," he repeated.
"Jack," Hammond was beginning again when the warning claxon started blazing through the base.
"Off world activation! Repeat! Off world activation!" He stared as Jack turned slowly around to face them, face pale and something as like to fear in his eyes as Hammond had ever seen. He had to swallow twice before he had enough moisture in his throat to speak.
"Colonel, report to the infirmary," he ordered.
"Yes Sir," Jack almost whispered, and turned, and left.
TBC...
What did you think?
Disclaimer: See prologue.
Remembering: Chapter One
General Hammond's head jerked upwards in disbelief as the warning claxons began to blaze.
"Unscheduled Off-world activation. Repeat. Off-world activation."
He hadn't even had chance to exit the control room after seeing Sg1 off on their mission. A dark premonition struck him suddenly and he looked down at the technician seated at the computer in front of him as the wormhole whooshed open.
"Receiving GDO transmission..." the technician looked up at Hammond in shock. "It's Sg1, Sir," he reported. Hammond nodded numbly.
"Open the Iris," he ordered. 'This has got to be a record even for them,' he thought as the SGC's first team exited the wormhole. Hammond's eyes went immediately to the limp body of his 2IC hanging in Teal'cs' arms. He grabbed at the microphone. "Sg1 report to the infirmary," he ordered. He realized he could have saved his breath.
Sg1 was hightailing it out of the 'Gate room before he could even open his mouth.
******
Doctor Janet Frasier looked over at the impatiently waiting team members sympathetically, then glanced at the patient who was lying with deathly stillness on one of the infirmary beds. Sam had taken the time to give her a brief summary of what had happened before Teal'c had practically thrown the Colonel into the waiting arms of her highly trained team of nurses.
Janet hadn't been able to prevent the brief thrill of fear that had coursed through her when she heard Sam's tale. It was bad enough having to treat all the various injuries the team received on the other side of the gate caused by a wide range of alien weaponry, not to mention the various plagues the Sg teams carried back for her to combat. If personnel started receiving injuries from 'Gate travel itself...
The door opened and the team standing vigil heads snapped round, Sam coming to attention when she saw that it was the General. Hammond nodded to her 'at ease' and she relaxed, then he turned his attention to her. Janet took a deep breath, then walked over to give them her report.
*****
Sam looked around as Janet walked over to them. As she did so she caught a glimpse of 'her' Colonel lying so still on the bed. She swallowed hard and looked anxiously at Janet.
"Well?" Daniel beat her to it. "What's wrong with him?" Janet sighed, checked the clipboard she was carrying, and then looked back up at the impatiently waiting foursome.
"Nothing," she said.
"What?" Sam and Daniel exclaimed as one. They glanced at each other, and then turned back to Janet to hear her explanation.
"What do you mean, Doctor?" General Hammond asked.
"Exactly what I said," Janet sighed. "His vitals are normal, blood work comes up clean, MRI; normal, x-ray... Physically, is nothing wrong with him."
"How can that be?" Sam asked, gratefully seizing hold of the chance to be able to perceive the whole mess just as a scientific puzzle, to distract her mind from the fact that the man she loved was lying comatose just a metre away from her. Loved. She could admit that now, even if only in her own head. She remembered the thrill her, the electric jolt to every cell in her body as she listened to him admit his feelings for her...
Firmly, she pushed the moment out of her immediate mind and concentrated on the now, on finding out what had happened to him.
"He was still inside the wormhole when it disengaged," she continued, "There is no way that there will be no effects from that."
"There may still be," Janet said quietly, "But we won't know about them until he wakes up." Sam stared at her in horror.
"You mean..."
"Mental problems," Daniel finished, voice grim. Teal'cs face grew even stonier if that was possible. Janet sighed despairingly.
"Honestly, what I am most worried about at the moment is if this starts to happen regularly."
"We have sent some probes through to that planet since Sg1 returned," General Hammond reported quietly. "So far there has been no more of these... anomalies."
"But, General," Sam interrupted, "It is quite likely that the... whatever it is only affects living beings."
"Then why did this only happen to Jack?" Daniel asked. "Why not to the rest of us?"
Hammond turned to the silent ex-Jaffa.
"Teal'c, have you ever heard of anything of this sort happening?"
"I have not," Teal'c answered. "I confess I am as much in the dark as you are about this." The room fell into a dour silence. If the Goa'uld in all their centuries of 'Gate travel had never come across this, or they had and saw fit to hide it from their servants...
A low groan from the bed interrupted the groups dark thought processes. Janet hurried over to check the Colonel's monitors.
"He's waking up," she whispered. Silently, the waiting three gathered around the bed as Janet and Hammond stepped back to give O'Neil's teammates precedence.
*****
Jack groaned as he reluctantly dragged himself back to consciousness. His head was pounding, he noted sourly. Cranking upon one eye he noted with disgust that it seemed that he was once again a human pincushion.
Giving into the inevitable, and reasoning that he might as well wake up the whole way as he had got this far, he forced his eyes open and immediately noticed his team standing around him, identical worried expressions on Carter and Daniel's face and even Teal'c allowing some emotion on his usually expressionless face.
"Wha' happened?" he managed, disgusted to hear himself slurring the words. His friends and family exchanged glances.
"You don't remember?" Daniel asked
"If I did, I don't think I would be asking, now would I, Daniel?" O'Neil asked sarcastically.
"Oh, I don't think there's much wrong with him," Daniel murmured, a slight smile on his lips, but he couldn't hide the genuine relief in his eyes. Jack felt a small measure of fear course through him in response.
"What happened?" he repeated more urgently, struggling to sit up. A dark hand pressed down on his chest, forcing him back down onto the bed, and he glared up at Teal'c.
"You must rest, O'Neil," the big Jaffa told him, not at all perturbed.
"He had us all worried Colonel," the quiet voice of Doctor Frasier intruded.
"Why?" said Colonel demanded, getting more and more frantic, "For the last time, 'what happened?'" The Doc glanced sideways at Sam, 'Carter, ' he corrected himself, and she stepped.
O'Neil listened in mounting disbelief as she described what had happened to him, but he knew she would never lie to him. When she was done, he lay back on the pillows and stared ahead.
"Wow." He commented. Frasier and the others exchanged looks and the Doctor stepped forward.
"Colonel, there seems to be no adverse affects on your health from your experience, but I would prefer if you were taken off active duty for a while, and received regular check ups." O'Neil nodded tiredly, he had expected nothing else. "Also," the Doc added, "I would like for you to attended some sessions with McKenzie to assesses your mental state." He stared at her in disbelief.
"Oh come on Doc!" O'Neil exclaimed loudly, "The man's a quack!"
"Colonel," Hammond's voice broke in for the first time. "Until Doctor Frasier declares you fit for active duty, I am taking you off the duty rotor, and if that means permanently, then so be it, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Sir," Jack mumbled, "I will do everything the good Doctor says, Sir." He looked hopefully at Frasier. "Can I go now?"
******
It was two days later in the briefing room.
"Oh come on General!" O'Neil complained loudly. "Look, I've let Doc Frasier examine me on the hour, every hour, hell, I've even stared at McKenzie's inkblots! I'm fine, really! So howabout giving us a mission? Whaddya say?"
"Colonel." Hammond repeated firmly. "You and your team will be placed back on active duty when both Doctor Frasier and myself are agreed that it will pose no hazard to either your health and mental state or that of your team, do I make myself clear?"
O'Neil rolled his eyes, stood up, and walked over to stare out of the windows at the dormant Stargate. He honestly didn't know why Hammond had requested he come to this meeting, he didn't really have anything to add to the techno mumbo, and the lingual jumbo, and the only thing he understood of the whole conversation was Teal'cs comments on the alien artefact that Sg2 had brought back's relevance to the Goa'uld.
He rather suspected it was a ploy of Hammond's to keep his very bored 2IC occupied in a way that didn't include him wondering round the base causing trouble. Jack stared at the Stargate. In his minds eye he could see it spinning, the coordinates lighting up one after the other, the seventh chevron locking...
"Someone's coming." O'Neil's voice broke into the discussion. Hammond looked over his shoulder at his best soldier.
"Colonel?" he asked, puzzled. Jack was staring through the window at the dormant Stargate.
"Someone's coming," he repeated.
"Jack," Hammond was beginning again when the warning claxon started blazing through the base.
"Off world activation! Repeat! Off world activation!" He stared as Jack turned slowly around to face them, face pale and something as like to fear in his eyes as Hammond had ever seen. He had to swallow twice before he had enough moisture in his throat to speak.
"Colonel, report to the infirmary," he ordered.
"Yes Sir," Jack almost whispered, and turned, and left.
TBC...
What did you think?