Disclaimer: They're not mine. I forget who owns them, but it's definitely not me. Something to do with some kind of Reptile, I think...
Into That Good Night
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
(Dylan Thomas)
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Six: Rage Against The Dying Of The Light
As I said earlier, these night terrors would ensure I woke up every time, my throat emitting screams loud enough to wake the dead.
And in all these years, nothing had changed. I awoke suddenly to find myself screaming the Colonel's name, violently shaking; sweat and tears raining down my face.
Slowly reality fought it's way back to my conscious, and I found myself locked in a cell, once again a prisoner of the Goa'uld.
Too weak to raise myself into a sitting position, I remained lying down on the cold wooden bench. Turning my head slightly I tried to look around me, desperate for a friendly face. My breathing was more controlled now, and I managed to raise a limp hand to wipe at my tear stained cheeks.
The room was dark, and images of my own brother pointing a lethal weapon at me flooded my mind so suddenly my breath caught in my throat.
"Major Carter?"
Never in my life have I been so happy to hear a familiar voice and I tried in earnest to raise my head and get a better look around.
"Teal'c? Where are you?" I noticed, with some measure of surprise that my voice was weak and throaty. What the hell was going on? For some inexplicable reason my mind was struggling to remember the last few hours of my life. It was caught somewhere between lying in this damp, dark cell, desperately searching for the face belonging to the voice, and holding my hands up in some futile defence against the gun held in my brothers hand.
"We're in the next cell, Sam. Are you okay?"
Jonas. Thank God for sweet, naive Jonas. I smiled to myself as images of his innocent face, filled with wonder invaded my burning mind.
In fact, as I thought about it, I realised my whole body was burning. Pain so intense that I could hardly breath was invading every pore of my skin. An agony the likes of which I had never before experienced.
Then my memory returned.
Not slowly, you understand; No subtle moments of clarity leaking into my mind, easing me gently back to reality, but suddenly, obtrusively, sharply. Like my own mind was raping my consciousness with facts that I immediately wished had remained forgotten.
We were in Nirrti's prison.
Oh, God. We were in Nirrti's prison, and I really was dying.
I cried out suddenly as everything came flooding back, the physical pain I was feeling, nothing in comparison to the emotional agony I suddenly endured.
"Sam?" Jonas sounded concerned now, and my usual, very bizarre maternal instincts for the newest member of the team suddenly forced their way to the surface and I made a conscious effort to control my breathing; to calm down.
"I'm okay Jonas. Just had a bad dream is all."
"I know." He replied, matter of factly. "I didn't realise you suffered from night terrors Sam."
Despite my very apparent agony, I looked across the bars at my team-mates, who, in turn, were staring worriedly back at me.
"How did you learn about Night Terrors?" I asked, before realising, through the fog of pain, that conversation was a really bad idea when your DNA is trying to re-write itself.
"I read it somewhere." He replied, almost embarrassed at his above average intellect, and constant hunger for information. "I've read pretty much everything in Doctor Jackson's library, so Doctor Frasier said I could borrow some of her medical journals."
Suddenly I realised the Colonel was missing. Ignoring the pain coursing through my body, I forced myself to sit up slightly. "Where's Colonel O'Neill?" I asked, too weak to try and mask the panic in my voice.
There was an uncomfortable pause on the other side of the bars and I looked over at Jonas and Teal'c.
"Guys?" I repeated, slowly and meticulously. "Where's the Colonel?"
They looked at each other before Jonas spoke up. "With Nirrti." He said quietly.
"Oh God." Tears flowed down my face in earnest and the pain inside my body returned tenfold, forcing me to lie back down.
I closed my eyes in anguish. It was bad enough that I was dying - and there was absolutely no doubt that that was true, but why did she have to kill him too?
Wanting nothing more than to curl into a tight ball and pretend that I was still dreaming, I closed my eyes and let the tears fall, mingling with the perspiration already moistening my face.
Now, I'm not a religious person. I have a hard time believing in any form of Deity - not just because of what the Goa'uld have done, but also because, as a scientist, I need to see tangiable evidence before I can accept any theories. Having said that, I believe that at that moment, all my prayers were answered. Because just as I was giving up hope and began to pray for death to come swiftly, I heard the bars of my cage rising and footsteps on the floor.
Giving another shot at fighting the inevitable, refusing one last time to give in to this Good Night, I opened my eyes for what I was sure would be the last time, and I saw an angel.
Colonel O'Neill was coming towards me.
He was alive. Oh, God. He was okay.
Convinced I was hallucinating, I desperately tried to reach out and touch him, but my body was not willing to obey orders and my arms remained at my sides.
Refusing to give up on myself, I tried another tactic. "Sir." I murmured. It was all I could do.
Something unrecognisable to most flashed in his eyes. But I knew what it was. The same look I had so often desperately tried to hide in my own.
Love.
Despite the raw emotion in his eyes, he said nothing. Instead, he just scooped me up into his strong arms and ran.
End
----------------------------------------------------
I hope you all enjoyed it, and thanks a lot for all the support and feedback I received throughout this little work-avoidance exercise.
Please be nice and let me know what you thought of the ending. Were there too many twists? Was it an Anti-climax? Were you expecting the whole 'Metamorphosis' allusion?
We can only get better with constructive feedback!
Newromantic.
Into That Good Night
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
(Dylan Thomas)
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Six: Rage Against The Dying Of The Light
As I said earlier, these night terrors would ensure I woke up every time, my throat emitting screams loud enough to wake the dead.
And in all these years, nothing had changed. I awoke suddenly to find myself screaming the Colonel's name, violently shaking; sweat and tears raining down my face.
Slowly reality fought it's way back to my conscious, and I found myself locked in a cell, once again a prisoner of the Goa'uld.
Too weak to raise myself into a sitting position, I remained lying down on the cold wooden bench. Turning my head slightly I tried to look around me, desperate for a friendly face. My breathing was more controlled now, and I managed to raise a limp hand to wipe at my tear stained cheeks.
The room was dark, and images of my own brother pointing a lethal weapon at me flooded my mind so suddenly my breath caught in my throat.
"Major Carter?"
Never in my life have I been so happy to hear a familiar voice and I tried in earnest to raise my head and get a better look around.
"Teal'c? Where are you?" I noticed, with some measure of surprise that my voice was weak and throaty. What the hell was going on? For some inexplicable reason my mind was struggling to remember the last few hours of my life. It was caught somewhere between lying in this damp, dark cell, desperately searching for the face belonging to the voice, and holding my hands up in some futile defence against the gun held in my brothers hand.
"We're in the next cell, Sam. Are you okay?"
Jonas. Thank God for sweet, naive Jonas. I smiled to myself as images of his innocent face, filled with wonder invaded my burning mind.
In fact, as I thought about it, I realised my whole body was burning. Pain so intense that I could hardly breath was invading every pore of my skin. An agony the likes of which I had never before experienced.
Then my memory returned.
Not slowly, you understand; No subtle moments of clarity leaking into my mind, easing me gently back to reality, but suddenly, obtrusively, sharply. Like my own mind was raping my consciousness with facts that I immediately wished had remained forgotten.
We were in Nirrti's prison.
Oh, God. We were in Nirrti's prison, and I really was dying.
I cried out suddenly as everything came flooding back, the physical pain I was feeling, nothing in comparison to the emotional agony I suddenly endured.
"Sam?" Jonas sounded concerned now, and my usual, very bizarre maternal instincts for the newest member of the team suddenly forced their way to the surface and I made a conscious effort to control my breathing; to calm down.
"I'm okay Jonas. Just had a bad dream is all."
"I know." He replied, matter of factly. "I didn't realise you suffered from night terrors Sam."
Despite my very apparent agony, I looked across the bars at my team-mates, who, in turn, were staring worriedly back at me.
"How did you learn about Night Terrors?" I asked, before realising, through the fog of pain, that conversation was a really bad idea when your DNA is trying to re-write itself.
"I read it somewhere." He replied, almost embarrassed at his above average intellect, and constant hunger for information. "I've read pretty much everything in Doctor Jackson's library, so Doctor Frasier said I could borrow some of her medical journals."
Suddenly I realised the Colonel was missing. Ignoring the pain coursing through my body, I forced myself to sit up slightly. "Where's Colonel O'Neill?" I asked, too weak to try and mask the panic in my voice.
There was an uncomfortable pause on the other side of the bars and I looked over at Jonas and Teal'c.
"Guys?" I repeated, slowly and meticulously. "Where's the Colonel?"
They looked at each other before Jonas spoke up. "With Nirrti." He said quietly.
"Oh God." Tears flowed down my face in earnest and the pain inside my body returned tenfold, forcing me to lie back down.
I closed my eyes in anguish. It was bad enough that I was dying - and there was absolutely no doubt that that was true, but why did she have to kill him too?
Wanting nothing more than to curl into a tight ball and pretend that I was still dreaming, I closed my eyes and let the tears fall, mingling with the perspiration already moistening my face.
Now, I'm not a religious person. I have a hard time believing in any form of Deity - not just because of what the Goa'uld have done, but also because, as a scientist, I need to see tangiable evidence before I can accept any theories. Having said that, I believe that at that moment, all my prayers were answered. Because just as I was giving up hope and began to pray for death to come swiftly, I heard the bars of my cage rising and footsteps on the floor.
Giving another shot at fighting the inevitable, refusing one last time to give in to this Good Night, I opened my eyes for what I was sure would be the last time, and I saw an angel.
Colonel O'Neill was coming towards me.
He was alive. Oh, God. He was okay.
Convinced I was hallucinating, I desperately tried to reach out and touch him, but my body was not willing to obey orders and my arms remained at my sides.
Refusing to give up on myself, I tried another tactic. "Sir." I murmured. It was all I could do.
Something unrecognisable to most flashed in his eyes. But I knew what it was. The same look I had so often desperately tried to hide in my own.
Love.
Despite the raw emotion in his eyes, he said nothing. Instead, he just scooped me up into his strong arms and ran.
End
----------------------------------------------------
I hope you all enjoyed it, and thanks a lot for all the support and feedback I received throughout this little work-avoidance exercise.
Please be nice and let me know what you thought of the ending. Were there too many twists? Was it an Anti-climax? Were you expecting the whole 'Metamorphosis' allusion?
We can only get better with constructive feedback!
Newromantic.