Well I thought it was about time Jack had a bit of a whumping (LoL, my spell check thought this word was supposed to be 'humping', hehehe (sorry, dirty mind and wrong fic!)
Ahem, getting back to the intro, I think Jack's gotten off too lightly in this fic, so I now present lots of hurt!
Thanks for the reviews, had a bad week and I needed a bit of a pick me up to boost my self-esteem. *Picks self up off the ground and dusts self off* *G* Thanks peeps, I feel lots better now. I would have posted sooner but sadly F.F has been up and down more times than a yo yo this week! Sorry.
Kara – As always, the KREE's are for you!
Spoilers: None in this I don't think.
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: It's mine, it's mine I tell ya…well the story anyway, and "The Powers That Be" own everything else!
~ ~ ~ ~ *End Chapter 18 – Mind Control*~ ~ ~ ~
Watching his 2IC slowly sink to the floor, he shouted to Amemait, "What have you done to her."
With a look of complete nonchalance in his eyes, he smiled as he left the female on the floor. "Oh don't worry Colonel, she's not dead."
"I said, *what* did you do to her!"
"I'm simply making her more co-operative. She didn't seem to want t comply before, so I gave her something special to ensure her obedience. You see, she really does care for you. My little experiment will determine how much. It'll be up to her if she kills you or not."
"She won't kill me." Jack replied with complete certainty.
"Only time will tell Colonel. Now, I must prepare my subject."
A frown creased over O'Neill's eyebrows as they knitted together, "What do you mean, 'prepare her'?"
"Oh did I forget to mention that aspect? I've been learning a few new mind control techniques. Very experimental of course, but since I now have a worthy subject I thought I'd put them to good use."
"If you harm one hair on her head, I swear I'm gonna…"
"Colonel O'Neill, *you* are in no position to do anything." Then walked away leaving a very worried Colonel O'Neill as he watched the guards take his 2IC away.
Chapter 19 – No Turning Back
Jack felt as if he'd been waiting for Sam to return, for what seemed like eternity. Initially it had all been quiet, he didn't know where she had been taken to, but everything had seemed deadly silent as he waited for the inevitable to come. Then he'd heard pitiful screams searing the silence. After about 15 minutes, the screams stopped just as quickly as they started, and his fear for Sam resurfaced once more. His natural instincts were to protect her, and he felt helpless that he had failed again.
Jack had no idea what sort of methods Amemait was using on her. He'd heard about it in his Black Ops days, and experienced the pain sticks himself that the Goa'uld were renowned for, but he was now about to witness the effects of Goa'uld mind control first hand. The stillness of the room was deafening as he waited for Carter, every sound magnified by the emptiness of the room.
Footsteps echoed along the hardened floor. Jack tried to lift his head, and managed it ever so slightly, but nothing was directly in his vision, so he tried moving his head carefully to the side. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw the return of Amemait, and standing side by side with him was his 2IC. Jack's initial thoughts overwhelmed him.
Jack looked at her intently; this wasn't the Sam that he knew so well. The Sam he knew covered his six when they had gone into battle. She was someone who consistently surprised and amazed him with her humour and intelligence. Her knack for putting something together in an effort to save the teams assess. The Sam who had put pure delight on his face when she had been forced to wear that blue smock, or would tease him on a daily basis when he grumbled about the amount of trees on each planet. The fact that he never understood a word she said, when she went into 'Carter babble', but she was also the Sam that he had secretly cared for, for the last 6 years.
To Jack it seemed as if *that* Carter was gone. The person standing before him may look like his 2IC, but it wasn't her. Her eyes were empty and unfocussed. She now looked directly at him, and he could see her face so clearly. Her once clear blue eyes were now lifeless. Sam's features showed no hint of emotion as she was nudged even closer towards him. Her walk was like an automaton. Jack knew then that he'd almost certainly lost her completely.
Whispering her name in disbelief, his thoughts took him back to the conversation he'd had earlier with Amemait. He had stood firm in his belief that Carter would never hurt him. Now though, with her looking at him, her eyes unyielding, he wasn't so sure.
"I'm going to make you pay!" Sam stated coldly, her eyes transfixed on his features. To her this was not her C.O, nor was he her friend, Amemait had made damn sure of that. The coldness in her voice took on an even icier tone as she leant down to Jack.
Amemait stood back and let his subject take control in torturing her colleague. Eagerly anticipating the amount of pain that she was going to inflict on Colonel O'Neill, a sly smile escaped his lips. The conversion had gone exactly as he planned. He had maintained her co-operation by continually plying her body full of drugs, altering her mind to disband any rational thoughts. The process had been an arduous one, but he felt it was going to be worth the wait. The easiest part for him was to latch on to a recent traumatic memory, and use it to get what he wanted. Half way through the process he'd learned about a Goa'uld who had inflicted severe pain on her friends, and nearly caused their death. Unleashing more memories, he had noted that she'd had to betray her friends to ensure their safety, this, he would use to his advantage.
Throughout the mind-altering process, she had begged him for some solace. He had enjoyed seeing her tormented soul become his. Once she had attained a suggestive state he had told her that he was her friend, and that the person lying on the table had hurt her friends in unthinkable ways, and that *this* was the only way that she would achieve retribution for their suffering. Towards the end, she had believed every word of what he'd said.
Walking over to where the instruments lay, Sam's hand drifted over each one as if assessing its purpose. Picking some kind of metallic implement, she pondered briefly over how she would use the instrument on the person who lay before her. Unbeknown to her though, the thoughts she had were not her own. Suggestions planted there by an evil system lord to take the life of the man in front of her. The person whom she believed had hurt her 'family'. Unaware of the fact that this was part of someone's plan, Sam felt the corruption within her leap to life once more, and she obeyed the instructions that had been planted by Amemait.
Resting his hands on Sam's fingers, he whispered, "Not that one. You want to make him suffer, don't you?"
Blindly following his advice, she replaced the object back on the metallic tray as he passed her another device saying with such calculated evil, "I think this one is more suitable."
All Jack could do was watch the interaction between the two, he knew he only had a slim chance of getting her back, but he would take it. Watching carefully as she retrieved the object from Amemait, she walked purposely towards Jack.
Inhaling deeply, he took a long look at her blank face and said with such a heartfelt plea. "Sam. You have to fight this."
Sam continued to stare at the 'man' before her, she heard the words, but to her they meant nothing. As far as she was concerned he had hurt her friends and family, he'd taken them away from her. The passiveness in her face changed to that of anger as she shouted with such venom. Her hands clenched in rage around the device she would use to hurt him.
"SHUT UP! Do you hear me? You lost the right to speak when you hurt my friends."
Jack looked into her eyes, pleading with his very soul to make her understand. "Sam, I'm your friend, trust me, it's me Colonel Jack O'Neill."
Sam raised her hands to her ears in an attempt to block out the sound of his voice that brought back so many painful memories. Tears filled the dark void in her eyes. As far as she was concerned he wasn't Jack O'Neill, he was Jaret, the Goa'uld that had nearly killed Jack and who had left Jonas for dead. The man who had kept her mind captive for days, and had forced her to commit an act of treason. A flash of memory resurfaced, this one was of Jack screaming in agony as he collapsed to the floor.
"You hurt me, and you hurt my friends, Jaret. Now *I'm* going to hurt you."
As she said the name, Jack looked at her, his face blank with confusion, wondering where the hell that had come from, she knew what had happened with Jaret after she'd gone through the Stargate, hadn't she? Then he remembered her initial confusion after Daniel had brought her back to life. Sam had been confused and had asked what happened, but he hadn't told her.
"Sam, please, this isn't you. You'd never hurt someone like this. Sam, think about what you're doing." Pausing briefly to allow the words to sink in, he continued, "Damn it Carter, snap out of it!" Jack implored hoping against all the odds that he would get through to her. Seeing her stop for a brief moment, he thought he saw something lurking in the background of her eyes. "If you do this Sam, you'll never forgive yourself."
Sam though didn't take any notice of his pleas as she replied coldly, "I won't regret this."
Not allowing him a second chance to speak, she placed the device on his chest and watched as an electric surge tore through his body. Jack screamed in protest, then as quickly as it came, the surge dissipated for an instant. With his concentration elsewhere, he failed to see the smile on Amemait's face. A moment later Jack was hit with a second charge, this time, Samantha Carter increased the setting, and let it continue for over a minute. Leaving Jack O'Neill lying breathless against the metallic table, the current of electricity careered through his whole body, bouncing back through him by the metallic surface. On his chest scorch marks resided where she had placed the device. Jack felt the reflected heat emanating from the table go through his back, and he gritted his teeth against the pain.
Struggling to get his breath back, he whispered to his 2IC, "Carter, Sam…whatever happens, I forgive you."
This simple statement increased her hatred for him, and she activated the device further down his stomach and hit him with another charge. The third charge was enough to knock the Colonel out, his breathing ragged from the pain that coursed through his whole body, and he sank into unconsciousness.
Looking at his still form, Samantha Carter didn't feel an ounce of regret. Her emotions retreated; she watched his eyes roll towards the back of his head. Sam felt drained. Anger and hatred towards this man had taken so much out of her.
Amemait approached her, goading her into believing that this was the correct course of action. "Very good Samantha, when he awakens we will use an alternate method, so that he can see in your eyes how much pain he has caused you."
An exhausted Samantha Carter simply nodded, she was bone weary. Every fibre in her body burned through the very centre of her. The heat emanated from her body due to fever and she wiped her sweaty brow, wanting nothing more than to collapse in to the darkest corner she could find, but she couldn't rest until Jaret was dead.
Trying hard to remember where she was, she struggled to find the answers of how she came to be here in this dimly lit room. Fragments of memory surfaced every now and again, but they were too hazy to latch onto. Every time she tried to recollect what had happened, the memories receded even further into her subconscious until she was left with a searing headache.
Moving away from 'her' prisoner, she looked up at Amemait who was stood talking to some people she didn't recognise, and she frowned, she knew something wasn't right about this situation, but she couldn't figure out what it was.
A sound from behind her disturbed her thoughts and she glanced back to see 'Jaret' stirring. Calling her 'friend' over she said softly, her voice barely recognisable, "He's awake!"
Searching for the 'right' tool to use in the next stage of his punishment, Sam moved over to a table furthest from her current position, and noted that there were several syringes already loaded with some form of liquid. Picking it up carefully, she examined it closely, the needle was approximately 2cm in length and the liquid within was a decidedly rusty colour. Holding it in her hands, she felt strange, the more she held it, the peculiar she felt as she recalled Colonel O'Neill's disliking for needles.
Sam felt a hand on her shoulder, and she nearly dropped the hypodermic on the floor. The voice was cold and sinister; as he spoke to her it brought shivers down her spine. Raising a hand to her head she wondered why she felt like this, surely if this man was her friend he wouldn't cause fear to build up inside her…would he?
"An interesting choice Samantha." Amemait sneered taking hold of the glass syringe.
She shivered involuntarily at his touch once more, and asked, "What does it do?"
"This causes the body temperature to rise drastically causing the body to reach its limit, it can cause convulsions, and possible death. This one however causes the reverse." Amemait explained a touch of excitement clearly evident in his stern features, as he grasped hold of a second needle, which contained blue liquid. "This causes the body temperature to decrease rapidly, and can cause a persons body chemistry to shut down one system at a time."
Sam eyed the two hypodermics carefully, and walked towards 'Jaret' with one of the syringes tightly grasped in her hand. Carelessly placing her hand on the table in front of her, her fingertips slightly brushed his, but she didn't remove them. She peered into his eyes, and saw that he was more or less completely conscious now. Jack's eyes searched for something, moving back and forth across her strained face. So engrossed in his eyes she felt a hand on top of hers, and it was like she was hit with an electric bolt, quickly she moved away from the edge of the table.
Surprised by her actions or rather lack of it, it gave Jack the hope he needed to believe that he could still reach her. Jack raised his voice slightly so that she could hear him, every ounce of effort to ensure that she heard him. "I know you're in there somewhere Sam. You recognised my touch didn't you?"
Concentrating solely on his voice as Jack had hoped, she failed to hear Amemait come up beside her, she backed away from them both, her face clearly showed a hint of confusion as to why his touch felt so familiar.
Amemait whispered to Jack, his voice was low and menacing so that his Protégé couldn't overhear the conversation. "Tut Tut, Colonel. You're not playing fair!"
"Oh there are rules to this are there. Darn it. I'd have broken them a lot sooner had I known." Jack replied sarcastically, pleased that once more he had something to fight for.
"*I* have control over her Colonel O'Neill. She does what *I* tell her. I would have thought that was evident by now. Or perhaps another demonstration is in order."
"She's a lot tougher than you give her credit for, ya know."
"Yes, I can see that by the way she's cowering to one side. A real show of strength don't you think." Amemait retorted smiling slightly at the thought that this woman would be able to break the control he had over her.
Jack wrestled against the restraints that bound him, he'd struck a nerve, and it caused him to try and lash out. Thoughts and feelings rose speedily towards the surface, his anger becoming apparent as the tone of his voice changed to deep and threatening.
"You son of a …"
"Oh such language, and in the company of a lady as well." Amemait replied softly, noting that Jack's hands were now tightly clenched, the sound of chains rattled around his wrists as he struggled fiercely against them. "I think a show of demonstration of her loyalty is necessary, don't you?"
Calling Sam over, Amemait watched as she refused to comply. Instead she moved further aware from them. Jack grinned at the fact that the system lord appeared to be losing some control over her as he watched Sam's face turn to confusion once more.
Amemait observed a grin on the Colonel's face as Jack retorted, "You were saying!"
Anger seethed beneath the surface, his eyes grew steely. Raising his hand, Amemait struck Colonel Jack O'Neill squarely on the jaw, which strangely elicited a smile from the Colonel. Jack thoroughly please with the fact that he'd gotten under Amemait's skin.
Marching over to his protégé he fiercely grabbed hold of her arm, Sam in fear and surprise dropped the syringe, and it smashed into minute fragments on the ground. Glass splinters bounced across the floor, and she felt some of the pieces embed in her leg. At that instant, Sam felt herself taken back to the time Jaret had been lurking at her house. She remembered a lamp breaking; unconsciously she lowered her hand to her leg, and felt a slight stickiness against her fingertips. Removing her fingers from her leg, she inspected them closely; she was bleeding, just like that night at her house. Gazing up at them man who had grabbed her arm, a curious expression washed over her. Sam felt a hand slap her face.
"Stupid girl, do you know what you've done?"
Dazed and confused, her face stung from the impact of his hand, and she replied, "I'm…er… Sorry."
Doubt clouded Amemait's vision, as he felt as if he were losing control over her. Grabbing the second vial, he forced her towards Jack, which gave him the perfect opportunity to try and bring her round.
"Inject him with the substance." He told her coldly, thrusting the second syringe into her hand.
Sam looked at him with mistrust, and then forced her vision to the man lying on the table. Strangely she didn't feel the hatred for him that she had before. Her hands trembled slightly as she felt the poison contained in her hand, the hand she would use to inflict pain on the man before her.
Sam's thoughts churned within her, a second voice questioned what she about to as she remembered what this man had said to her earlier, 'This isn't you…You'll regret this…I forgive you." How did this man know her so well? Jaret had been cold and calculating, but nothing this man said, brought back the empty feelings and fear that she had succumbed to when Jaret had taken her mind prisoner. He was right. This wasn't 'her way', but he had hurt her and her friends…hadn't he?
Jack seeing the window of opportunity as he witnessed clouds of doubt filtering through his 2IC's mind.
"Sam, listen to me. I know you're having doubts about doing this, it's because it's not who you are. You're being manipulated Sam, and if we're going to get through this, you have to listen to what I'm saying…trust me."
Amemait was incensed that Major Samantha Carter was listening to him. "I said inject him! NOW!"
Her hands wavered over Jack's body as she felt the pressure inside her, reaching boiling point, she didn't know which way to turn. Feeling as if she had no alternative, she plunged the liquid into Jack's chest.
End Chapter 18.
