Hellooo, I know I killed off Jack, but what can I say, couldn't let Sam have all the whooping now, could I. Anyway I promised myself that I would restrain from yabbering on for half an hour during this section, instead I'll just say these few words. Thank you soooo much for the reviews. Jez, my ever faithful spell checker, you are so much better than the one on my PC. LoL.
A special Thank you to the following people for reviewing from the start, and bearing with me whilst I whittled on endlessly; Naz, MurdocksChica (KREE!), Amel, Lynne, AnnaSun, Urmdreamkeeper, Kryptonite, Mugseymalone and Mara Jade, (and every one else who reviewed) Thanx heaps, peeps. Hey look I'm a poet and didn't even know it.
Okay, (Look Jez, I do take note) Shutting up now!
Spoilers: Bits and Bobs from Season 2 onwards
Stargate: *Sniff* – It aint mine you know, C'est La vie
Rating: Oh what the heck, we'll go for PG13 today.
WARNING: You'd all better go for pee breaks now, cos I went on a bit (Again)!
~~~~~ End Chapter 15~~~~~~~
After several minutes her body ceased convulsing and her vitals dropped to a more respectable level. Sam opened her eyes. Everything before her seemed to spin wildly out of control. Swallowing the bile that rose in the back of her throat, she found herself for the moment unable to speak. Trying to focus, she closed her eyes tightly to shake off the frightening images that swam before her. Amemait came round and stood directly in front of her, so that she could only be able to see one thing; him. Her eyes slammed to the back of her head, as his image appeared severely distorted. From Sam's perspective, he appeared to be coming at her with claws and fangs, his teeth snarling as he said. "It is working"
Not recognising who was stood there, all that she could see was an image in front of her made, that made her scream in terror. It was as if she were a child again, fearing the monsters that lurked in the dark. With her skin growing cold, and her hands shaking visibly, she squeezed her eyes shout hoping that if she couldn't see it, it wasn't real. Like a mantra, she reiterated to her conscious mind, "It's not real.. it is not real." However, that part of her was being taken over by the child within, and she had never been more afraid. Unable to control the rising panic within her any longer, she screamed in terror, "Help, me please! Somebody help me!"
Amemait was pleased to see that things were going to plan. He knew that within a short space of time, her fear would get the better of her. After a short while the hallucinations would become stronger, then she would be his.
~~~~~Chapter 16 – Whispers in the darkness II~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam thrashed wildly against the restraints holding her in place. Blood trickled down the side of her head from the metal probes that had been inserted into her cranium prior to the injection of Hallucinogen. Carter continued to scream until her throat felt like fire. Desperately trying to calm her ever-increasing panic, she shut her eyes tightly trying to erase the image that taunted her. It was like a nightmare. The creature, which she believed to be there, was peering over her so closely that she could feel it's hot breath on her cold skin. Goose pimples rose to the surface on her bare arms. Trying, with every ounce of strength she had, she needed to control her breathing as they were coming in quick consecutive gasps. If she wasn't careful, she would begin to hyperventilate.
Reiterating to herself over and over again, "You do not exist, you're not real." She steadied herself long enough to open her eyes only for a brief second, and screamed again so loudly towards the end, no sound could be heard. She whimpered, "Jack, help me, please." Tears now mixed with blood as they dropped off the side of her face. The creature's claws grabbed her face, and slithered its scaly skin down towards her neck. The claws on the monster glistened as the light reflected off it. She was sure it was preparing to slice her throat with the razor sharpness of its hand. In reality though she knew it wasn't a monster, it was Amemait. With the drugs in her system though, the image appeared real, and she couldn't distinguish between the two. Trying to concentrate on something other than the image before her, she tried to focus on her CO, who had been dragged away by the Jaffa guards a short while ago, at least she thought it had been. Her mind cleared for the briefest moment to allow her thoughts to move to her CO and her friend. Time seemed unimportant now, she didn't know how long she'd been here for, or how long he was going to keep on torturing her. While Amemait concentrated his efforts on her, Jack was left alone.
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Jack opened his eyes and felt as if he were encased in a tomb, it was pitch black. All he knew was that he couldn't move his arms and legs; something was blocking his efforts. Desperately trying to recall the last memory he had, he concentrated hard. After a few seconds his memories resurfaced as initially broken images. He remembered Carter screaming his name, and then he remembered the staff blast to his back; he'd died. Suddenly a beam of light passed through the centre of his body, sounds of sliding rock echoed in the coffin where he lay. He shook his head slightly, it wasn't a coffin; he was in a sarcophagus. "Great!" He thought, I'm gonna end up doing the whole strapped to the bed thing again, when withdrawal took over.
As the sides of his tomb opened fully, he sat up, not quite sure who to expect. He was greeted by two Jaffa guards, and if his recollection served him, it was the same ones he had tried to ambush earlier whilst trying to protect Carter. Before his thoughts could go any further, one of the guards hauled him up by the arms and took him out of the sarcophagus; their weapons pointed directly at him to thwart any escape attempt he had planned.
"Come with us Human." The Jaffa barked, nudging him with a staff.
"Where are we going?" Jack asked stoically, hoping that they were going to take him directly to Sam, he first priority was to make sure she was okay.
"You will find out soon enough, human. Now be quiet and keep moving."
"One good thing's come out of this", he thought, at least getting killed cured his ankle, and now with having two good ankles meant that there was still a chance he and Sam could try and escape. Then as they slowly moved down the corridor, his thoughts turned to his 2IC, he'd done a stupid thing trying to take them all on with no weapons to hand. Getting himself killed like that meant that it left Sam vulnerable and in the hands of Amemait, who had made it clear from the start that he was not just interested in torturing them. He had other things planned for Sam; things that made Jack's skin crawl. He'd seen what they did to female prisoners, and he had no reason to disbelieve that this Goa'uld would be any different.
Completely lost in thought, he hadn't realised which direction he was being taken to and found himself back in the cell where all this had first began. As the Guards opened the cell door, he was sure the rancid smell that he and Carter had found so distasteful had become stronger, but again it could have been the bitterness in Jack's mouth as a result of leaving Sam to Amemait's mercy. He was once again pushed heavily into the empty dark room. Seating himself in the corner of the room, where he and Sam had slept earlier. All he could do was sit and wait for her to return, but deep inside he didn't know if she would. Jack for a few moments allowed himself to cry.
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Amemait looked at his female prisoner, and noted that her eyes appeared more focussed than before. He knew she had held a symbiote within her, he had sensed that from the very beginning. She was so very different from other hosts though, and didn't know why she did not carry one now, but in time he would retrieve the answers. He had ways and means of abstracting any information he desired, and she would not be the first to beat his powers of persuasion.
Carter looked at the person staring intensely at her, her mind for the time being becoming her own once again. What stood before her was not a monster that she had perceived him to be earlier; it was a Goa'uld system lord. All she had to do was too keep that thought as close to the forefront of her mind for as long as she could.
Unfortunately that moment didn't last long as Amemait injected her once again. Her body arched once more from the effect the poison was having on her wearisome body. It once again tore through her veins like a tornado picking up speed as it consumed everything in its path. Her brain furiously tried to seek solace in some dark corner of her mind, fighting to retain some sanity. Once again Carter screamed into the darkness, "Ahhhh, stop, please stop." But noone was there to hear her cries; she was alone.
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With his knees bent deep into his chest, his arms holding them so tightly, his tears now abated. Jack ran his hands listlessly through his hair; he couldn't sit there any longer. His thoughts were in turmoil, as he heard cries billowing through the hallway. He didn't know who's they were, they were too faint for him to make out. He knew though from the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, that it was Carter. Moving aside his feelings for his 2IC for the moment, he got up and walked towards the entrance to his prison, hoping to see or hear something. All he could see though was two guards stood at either side of the doorway.
Without warning, a piercing scream shattered the stillness of the room; it was Carter, begging for the torture to stop. What happened next though caused his skin to go ice cold, his stomach preparing to empty its contents on the floor below. Jack could hear her shouting his name, begging *him* to help her. Feeling so helpless, all he could do was bang increasingly harder on the metal structure that lay between him and 2IC.
The Jaffa guard turned to face O'Neill who continuously smashed his fists into the metal, causing his fingers to bleed. With a grin etched on the guards face, he spoke with hatred for the Tauri that stood before him, "You are next human." Jack didn't care though; his only thoughts were for Sam. After 10 minutes his hands were raw and bloodied, and he realised that this was a futile gesture, it wouldn't bring Sam back any quicker. Again he returned to the solitude of the dark corner, and waited. It seemed like an eternity for Jack, he'd paced the cell god knows how many times, trying desperately to rid himself of the darkness growing ever more rapidly within his soul. Thoughts of Amemait and Jaret played in his mind like cancer growing deep inside, full of blackness. With killing Jaret it had been too quick, that man had not suffered enough. Amemait had hurt Sam worse that Jaret had, and revenge was his. He was going to hurt this man in ways that he didn't believe was possible. Remembering all the equipment in Amemait's possession, he would use every single one of those implements twice over, and then wait for him to beg for mercy, and then repeat the process all over again. Totally consumed by anger now, he failed to hear the footsteps that quickly approached him.
The cell opened heavily, and there stood in the centre was Carter being dragged by two guards. Jack was speechless. Expecting them to place her on the floor near the opening, he observed a grin escaping the guard. Knowing full well what to then expect, he rushed over towards Sam. Preparing to catch her when they threw her inside. He literally just got there in time to stop her crashing to the floor, her face deathly pale. "Oh God Sam, what have they done to you." He said quietly and to noone in particular.
Gently he sat down, still holding her tightly in his arms, fearing that in her fragile state, she might break. His gaze for the most part lay watching the guards wearily, until the cell closed shut once more. With his hands shaking slightly, her face was matted with dried blood around her soft features. Jack noted what appeared to be holes in her forehead, he daren't touch them incase they began bleeding again. He used this opportunity to find out what other injuries she might have sustained during her time with Amemait.
Laying her gently on the ground, he knelt over her and began assessing her for injuries; thankful to Janet who had made them all take first aid classes. Carefully he began at her head, softly touching and pressing each contour of her body to make sure that there weren't any life threatening ones. He pressed on her collarbone, but needed to check that her breastbone was still intact, his hands paused shakily over them for a moment, not wanting to touch parts of her body that a CO should touch, but knowing that it was necessary and not a sexual thing. "Sorry Sam, I gotta do this." Then he carried on watching her closely for any sign of movement or any indication that there was a hidden injury. He continued until he got to her feet. Thankfully there didn't appear to be any other injuries, apart from the marks on her forehead.
Now with the top to toe survey complete, he tried to wake her, flashbacks surfacing from the last time he had to do it, Jack shivered involuntarily, reiterating to himself, that this wasn't the same thing, and that she was still alive, and if she was alive, there was hope.
Jack gently tapped the side of her face, waiting for any indication that she was wakening, he said softly. "Sam...Sam, Cmon Sam."
Still no response from her he continued, "Carter, wake up." Again there was nothing, not even a flicker. "Carter, I need you to wake up…Sam, please don't do this to me. You have to wake up, Carter."
Sam felt herself coming back from the empty void that her mind had taken her to. Her body shook from the effects of the drugs, which were now completely taking hold of her. With her body became taught, spasms of pain washed through her. Jack realised that something was very wrong; he felt her body go tense as his hands remained gently on her shoulder. He backed up slightly as her body flinched by his touch. Carter's eyes were now fully open, and alert. Jack saw that they were unfocussed, her pupils almost completely dilated. He didn't know how to react, as she turned to face him, but it wasn't the same Carter that he cared for, it was like a stranger had taken over her as she screamed in panic, unaware of her surroundings.
All Sam felt was the touch on her skin, but to her, it wasn't her CO. It was the monster was clawing at her. Feeling that she wasn't restrained any longer, she struck out wildly, using her own nails to fight back. Jumping with a start, she grabbed hold of the creature's hands, and scrapped them fearlessly. The once she'd finished her assault on his hands she went for his face, gauging at the soft flesh that faced her. Jack for an instant didn't realise what was happening, then feeling the pain in his already bloodied hands tried to restrain her, but damn it she was as strong as he had ever seen her. He couldn't hold her, she continued assaulting him once more, attacking anything in reach. There was only one thing he could do, and that was to push her as far away from him as possible, at least until he could get himself to a standing position, which would hopefully give him an advantage over her. Throwing her off balance, this gave the opportunity to get off the floor.
Sam, seeing this as her opportunity to escape from the evil before her clambered towards the other end of their confine, fear clearly evident in her movements as she coward away from Jack. Trying to hide herself in the corner of the room, she realised as Jack stepped towards her that she had boxed herself in the corner. Screams of fear and pain encumbered her tortured body as she watched the evilness come nearer; her arms outstretched to ward off the enemy. Everything around her appeared distorted in her drug-induced mind. All she knew was that he wouldn't touch her again.
Jack didn't know where to begin, he'd seen mind control, and from the looks of his 2IC, this had all the markings of it. He knew that he would have to go very gently in the beginning to gain her trust. He didn't know what images Carter's mind was producing, but from the look on her terrified face, it wasn't anything good.
Quietly he stepped up towards her treading as softly as he could.
"Sam, it's me Jack! Do you know who I am?" Sam continued to leer at him, a shrillness coming from her throat. "I promise I won't hurt you Sam." Jack continued, silent tears begging to take over.
"Please, Sam, just listen to me. I'm your friend, I would never hurt you, you know that don't you." He begged relentlessly.
Sam couldn't see him though, all she saw was that the monster was going to get her, she screamed back at him, "GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Those four words tore Jack's heart in two, but to get her back, he had to push all his hurt and anger at Amemait to one side for hurting her like this. He stopped moving forward to try and give her a bit of space, as she continued to force herself as far into the corner as she could get; trying desperately to protect herself.
"I can't do that Sam." Jack stated simply. "You need to listen to me. Try and remember where you are. You're on a Goa'uld mother ship, we were taken prisoner, remember." But she didn't, and her eyes continued to fill with tears.
"Sam, remember when we were on the planet, and I held you in my arms, I didn't hurt you then did I? You wanted to protect me, Teal'c and Jonas from Jaret, do you remember that?" Rubbing his hands across his tired face, he wasn't getting through to her at all, but he was determined that he was not gonna lose her to this. "Do you remember who you are? You're Major Samantha Carter, your an astrophysicist who works in a team called SG1. Please Sam, try and remember. You're my 2IC, we watch each others backs every day, we look out for each other. You and me care for each other, more so than we should. I don't wanna lose you Sam!" He ended quietly.
Jack noticed that she wasn't screaming as she had done earlier, and her eyes took on an intensity of uncertainty, which in itself gave him a glimmer of hope, as she warily watched him from a distance. He used this opportunity to move slightly forward, she didn't recoil as she had done earlier. He sat himself as close, but not close enough to cause her to retreat again. Looking directly into her eyes he continued, "Your dad's called Jacob, and he'd love to have me as his son in law ya know, but don't tell him I said that." Sam tipped her head slightly as Jack said the name 'Jacob'. Somewhere in the depths of her confused mind, things were becoming clearer to her, but the fear was still built up within her. "Did I ever tell ya Sam, how much I enjoy working with you? You make coming to work special, everyday I enjoy coming to work, just because I know you'll be there."
Jack held his breath as Sam looked as if she was about to say something; he felt his heart catch in his throat. He clenched his fist in anticipation, his thoughts and feelings coming thick and fast. "Cmon Carter, come back to me."
As her mind began to clear, the image of the evil slowly disappeared to reveal a very worried Colonel Jack O'Neil, she wasn't sure if this image was real, or just another hallucination. She had to take the risk though, if only to try and regain some sanity. Cautiously she whispered, "Sir?"
Jack, letting out the breath he hadn't realised he was holding, smiled. Never in his life had he been grateful to hear that one little word. Matching her whisper, he moved closer to her, "Yeah Sam, it's me!"
Crawling out of her corner, she shakily took hold of the hand Jack had offered, and grabbed onto it as if her life depended on it, "He was real, he was really there." Seeing the complete recognition in his eyes he moved even closer, and consumed her with a hug, and held onto her for dear life, his own body shaking with relief at having her come back. They continued to rock in each others arms, Jacks arms wrapped around her body, his hand moving around the back of the head holding it gently, his other hand moving in a circular motion on her back, trying to ease some of the heartfelt sobs that came from his 2IC, the women he secretly loved. Softly murmuring to her, "You're okay, I got you, I promise he won't ever hurt you again. I got you Sam…I got you."
End of Chapter 16
A/N Ya know this was gonna be one of my shorter chapters, but hey, I should know better. Let me know what you think, did ya like it loathe it, couldn't be bothered to read it cos it was too long. Want more ship in the next chapter? I nly know if you tell me, so go on, ya know you want to, leave me a lil message.
Thanking you all.
