Okay, the 4th and final chapter is here! Sorry it took so long, real life got in the way!!
Thanks for all the reviews I've had so far, you're all too good to me! Tell me what you think of the finished story and if it's worth me carrying on writing or should I just go in to retirement at the tender age of 20?
Once again, big thanks to Naliza (sorry about the previous spelling :-) ) for being a wicked beta! Any mistakes are mine alone, by the way I know nothing about guns, it's all guesses and hear say if you didn't notice from the story!
Oh and I don't own any of this except the story (I suppose) they all belong to someone who isn't stressed out about whether they've passed their exams and can actually go back to university!! (Real life stuff, sorry :-) )
Okay, story time! If you're all sitting comfortably then I'll begin…
Jack once again found himself in the infirmary waiting for one of his team to regain consciousness. Security was sweeping the base, although they knew the creature was contained it could be anywhere on the base. The security in the infirmary was impressive, Jack had insisted on having a zat gun and 9mm with him, there were also four armed SF's both inside and outside the infirmary.
Jack sat between Sam and Daniel's beds. Sam had been shaken by the attack on Daniel and was blaming herself for what happened. Jack was also feeling guilty, he had been in Daniel's office a minute before the attack and had not managed to do anything to stop it and now a second member of his team was in the infirmary.
Jack looked up, reaching for the zat gun as he heard someone enter; he relaxed slightly as he saw that it was only Jacob.
"Sam, are you okay? George said the creature was spotted here on the base."
"I'm fine dad, it went after Daniel though."
"Is he alright?"
"He's still unconscious but Janet said he should be fine."
"That's good."
"Listen Jacob, how do we know you're you, I mean you could be the shape shifting alien pretending to be Jacob", Jack said with all seriousness.
"Jack please!" Jacob said raising his eyebrows.
"Fine."
"Sir, there's no evidence that this thing can imitate something as complex as a human."
"But there's no evidence that it can't either."
As Daniel regained consciousness, he mumbled slightly, Janet crossed over to him immediately.
"Daniel, Daniel can you hear me?" Janet asked, shining a pen light in his eyes. Daniel grunted weakly and turned his head away as the bright light shone in his eyes.
"Come on Daniel, play nice", Jack said dryly.
"J'ck it's here."
"We know, we're looking for it. Six foot grey blob huh?"
"It looked like a folder then."
"Then six foot grey blob."
"Yeah." Despite only being conscious for less than a minute Daniel was already sounding exasperated.
"How are you feeling Daniel?" Fraiser asked.
"Bit of a head ache but I'm fine, can I go now?" Daniel asked, attempting to sit up.
"I don't think so Daniel, you were unconscious for twenty minutes, you're staying, at least overnight" Janet admonished. "You know the rules."
"Fine." Daniel said resignedly.
After two hours Daniel was practically begging everyone in sight to bring him some reading material and coffee, eventually after complaints from the nursing staff Janet had stolen Daniel's glasses leaving him unable to read properly.
The phone rang and Fraiser answered it. Jack could not hear what was being said but could detect concern in Janet's voice. As she hung up the phone she crossed the infirmary quickly to where he stood.
"Sir it's been sighted, level 25. It attacked a couple of people and apparently it's still there. They're currently trying to contain it. General Hammond asked if you could head to the monitoring station on level 16. General Carter, General Hammond asked if you could help with the search."
"Umm, " Jack said looking at Sam and Daniel, who were both sleeping peacefully, "I guess."
It was obvious that Colonel O'Neill was not convinced about leaving but he went anyway. Janet grabbed supplies and loaded them on to a gurney, which she pushed out of the infirmary. Jacob followed her, with most of the medical staff following behind him, leaving the infirmary practically deserted.
***
Sam looked round, again finding herself in the now familiar surroundings of the fire on P4Y 379. She turned and saw Colonel O'Neill standing on the opposite side of the fire. The surroundings suddenly changed, Sam found herself in the SGC, she recognised it as level 16, O'Neill was still standing about six feet away from her and suddenly the creature appeared in front of him.
***
Sam woke, her eyes scanning the room for Colonel O'Neill, she knew he was in danger, this thing was after him now. After the last dream she had Daniel was attacked and he was the first person she saw in that dream, O'Neill had been standing next to him, she had suspected he was going to be next but did not know what to say. Her latest dream had just confirmed it. Looking round Sam did not see O'Neill, or anyone for that matter except Daniel sleeping on the next bed.
Sam sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She winced as she stood, feeling a ripple of pain through her chest and abdomen. She searched the infirmary for some clothes that would cover slightly more than the gown she was currently wearing. She found some surgical scrubs and gently pulled them on, looking at the extensive bruising across her chest and stomach. She gingerly peeled the tape from the dressing on her stomach, pulling a face as she saw the three-inch cut on her stomach, held together with neat stitches.
She turned and left the infirmary, walking slowly and awkwardly due to the assortment of injuries plaguing her. She headed to the nearest elevator, waiting impatiently for it to arrive. She jabbed at the button for level 16, as the elevator arrived and the doors opened Sam did not see anything out of the ordinary. She relaxed slightly, thinking that she had been mistaken.
She rounded the corner, a SF laid unconscious, his MP-5 next to him. Sam knelt gingerly at his side to check his vital signs. Finding a steady pulse and regular breathing Sam left the SF and taking the weapon continued her search.
As Sam turned the next corner, she knew she was on the right track. Doors had been flung open; one had been ripped from its hinges and was laying across the corridor. She looked into the first room, the lock had been smashed and the office ransacked, paper laid all over the floor and the furniture had been upturned.
Sam was shocked at the violence this thing was now displaying; she did not want to think about what it could do if it met up with its next target, Colonel O'Neill. She had barely survived the attack at her house; sooner or later this thing was going to kill someone.
She left the office and continued down the corridor, checking every room in turn, in the last room she found Sergeant Siler laying halfway inside the door entrance, semi-conscious. Sam knelt next to him.
"Sergeant, can you hear me?" The resulting sound was somewhere between a grunt and a croak but Sam took it as an affirmative response. "Did you see where it went Sergeant."
Siler did not answer; he just weakly raised his arm, pointing to the right. Sam gently tapped the injured man's arm and stood, picking the phone from the floor she dialled the control room.
"This is Major Carter, I need security and a medical team to level 16 ASAP." Sam did not wait for a response; she hung up the phone and slowly knelt beside Siler again.
"Med. team is on its way Sergeant." Siler nodded slightly, obviously in pain.
She left the office and headed in the direction Siler had indicated. She realised that she did not need directions, this thing was on a rampage, searching for something, or someone Sam thought, thinking back to her dream. According to the dream, O'Neill was somewhere on this level and this thing seemed to know it as well.
Sam realised she was gaining on the creature, she could hear things being thrown around, sounds of a violent search. She quickened her pace, she was not going any faster than a brisk walk but was already exhausted, the only thing that was keeping her going was adrenaline and the thought that Jack was in danger.
***
Jack had been in the monitoring station when he first heard the disturbance. He ignored it at first but when it did not stop he opened the door and looked out, his years of military experience kicking in. He took the gun from the holster he was wearing, as comfortable as he was carrying a gun he felt uneasy being armed on base.
As he sounds of violence increased and where punctuated by a feminine scream O'Neill quickened his pace. As he reached the location of the disturbance he saw the creature that had put two of his team in the infirmary and was now on a rampage through the SGC. It had a female officer he did not recognise by the throat; she was still conscious, thrashing around in a futile effort to free herself from the grip she found herself in.
Seeing O'Neill enter the creature dropped the young officer to the floor, she fell hard and immediately pulled herself as far as she could from the creature while still gasping to regain her breath.
"So this your job, or are you just doin' it for kicks?" O'Neill asked dryly. He levelled his gun at the chest of the creature, he had no idea if shooting it would help or where its vital organs were, assuming it had any in the first place, but like he had been taught he aimed for the centre of the target.
He was not about to wait for the first move. He fired and emptied the clip into the thing he saw before him. Jack marvelled at the creature since as it was hit with each bullet it took a step backward but did not fall. Instead it began to approach its intended target slowly. Jack started backing away; he knew when he could not win a fight. He needed backup; he had no chance of taking it down alone.
"Get security here NOW." He barked at the officer who was still sitting on the floor clutching her throat. Acknowledging the urgency she pulled herself up using the cabinet behind her, Jack turned and ran from the room. He looked back only once to make sure he was being pursued.
"I must be crazy", he muttered. There was a homicidal six foot grey blob on base and he was trying, and succeeding, to get it to follow him. Jack decided that this was right up there in his 'Top 5 crazy things I have ever done' list, bumping agreeing to try Anise's armbands off the list.
Jack had to admit to himself that he had no idea what he was going to do. As he ran he ejected the spent cartridge from the gun in his hand, he pulled a fresh clip from the holster, inserted it and chambered the first round in preparation.
As Jack turned the corner he realised that he had reached a dead end, he had nowhere else to go, he was going to have to face the creature on the spot.
***
Sam continued her search of the level in search of her superior officer. She quickened her pace as she heard gun shots being fired and swore under her breath. She turned corner after corner, frantically searching for O'Neill. She turned another corner and saw him sitting on the floor against the wall, blood trickling from a small cut above his eye and from his left nostril. With the 9mm pistol clutched in his hand he fired again, the creature's right shoulder span backwards and it retreated two steps also.
Jack saw Carter coming around the corner. She did not look too good, she was breathing heavily, her face shining with a slight film of sweat and she was holding an MP-5 in her left hand. O'Neill noticed the creature seemed to sense her approach almost before he did.
The creature made a move towards Carter. There was no way she could survive another sustained attack and there was even less chance of Jack going to let it get near enough to attack her. He charged headfirst at the creature, although football was not his game he still managed to pull of an impressive tackle, pushing the creature away from Carter.
The tackle seemed slightly too powerful as he heard the unmistakable sound of a bone breaking as he collar bone gave way to the surprisingly solid mass of the creature.
Jack rolled away from the creature, holding his left arm to his chest and watched in horror as the creature straightened itself without an effort. The look of shock on Carter's face, which had appeared as O'Neill made his tackle, was replaced by a look of determination. The creature suddenly swiped an arm towards her, which threw Sam against the wall. She gasped in pain and clutched her stomach as the twisting motion caused some of her stitches to tear. To O'Neill's surprise and delight she remained on her feet.
She raised her weapon; appreciating the light composition of the MP-5 she was carrying, and fired five rounds in to the creature's head at almost point blank range. O'Neill seizing the opportunity fired a further two rounds into its head.
The creature fell to the floor, finally beaten, taking Carter with it. She moaned in pain as its arm fell across her abdomen causing more damage to her already reopened wound.
Jack quickly crossed to Sam and unceremoniously pulled the now silent creature off his second-in-command, she smiled weakly to thank him. Jack noticed with some concern that there was already a small amount of blood on the surgical scrub top she was wearing. Jack returned her smile with more gusto; she had just saved his life.
"You okay Carter?"
"Yes Sir. You?"
"Peachy. Not that I'm not grateful Carter, but what are you doing her."
"I um…I knew it was coming after you, Sir and there was no one in the infirmary so I came myself."
"Nice shot by the way."
"Yes Sir."
"You reckon it's dead?"
"I don't know, you think it has a pulse?"
"Umm…" Jack poked the creature with an outstretched finger, an unsure look on his face. When it did not react he reached and felt for a pulse where he would on a human. "Nothing, but not sure what that means."
Suddenly a security team rounded the corner, guns drawn.
"Took your time didn't ya?" Jack said tiredly.
"We got here as quick as we could Sir. Do you need a medical team?" Jack looked over at Sam who shook her head slightly.
"We can escort ourselves to the infirmary Sergeant. The area needs securing, we don't know if this thing is dead, unconscious or what."
"Yes Sir."
Jack stood and gently helped Carter to her feet. She winced slightly. "You do know old doc Fraiser is going to have your ass."
Looking down and seeing the blood Sam nodded. She knew the two things Janet hated most was when patients sneaked out the infirmary and did not take good care of their stitches.
Feeling sore from the fight they made their way slowly to an elevator and noticed a number of medics working on those who had met the creature along the way, thankfully there appeared to be no serious injuries.
When Jack and Sam made it to the infirmary the look on Janet's face that greeted them stopped O'Neill from making any of the sarcastic comments he was planning to. Sam, without being asked took up the bed she had recently vacated. Jack smiled as Janet drew the curtains around Sam's bed. Using her apparent sixth sense Janet stuck her head out through the curtains just long enough to address him sternly.
"Take a seat, I'll be with you in a minute Sir." Her use of the word 'Sir' made it clear that if he was not a superior officer she would probably cause more damage to him than the creature had.
"Has she got X-ray vision or something?" Jack remarked to no one in particular. He chose the bed next to Daniel, who was now awake and had looked very relieved when Jack and Sam staggered into the infirmary earlier on.
"What happened Jack?"
"Carter saved my butt. That thing came after me, Carter took it out with an MP-5."
"Is it dead?"
"Don't know, it was down and not getting back up. Which is good enough for me."
"Is Sam alright."
"I think she pulled a couple of stitches but she's tough."
Daniel smiled and nodded. "What about you?"
"Broken collar bone, no big deal", Jack replied flippantly.
"Course not Jack."
Jacob rushed into the infirmary, panic evident in his face. "Jack, where's Sam? Is she all right? What happened?"
"Firstly…she's with Doc Fraiser, secondly she's fine, no more major damage and thirdly she saved my life. That thing came after me and she took care of it!"
After a few minutes Janet emerged from the curtains around Sam's bed but not before everyone could hear her clearly admonishing Sam for leaving the infirmary and pulling her stitches. Jacob took the opportunity to check on his daughter. Janet headed over to where O'Neill was, sitting on the edge of the bed, still cradling his arm.
"So Colonel?"
"Broken collar bone, football is so not my game."
"Sir?"
"I tried to tackle it, it's pretty solid."
"It looks broken," Janet said looking at his shoulder, "we'd better get an X-ray to be sure."
"Right."
Janet stuck a temporary dressing over the cut above O'Neill's eye. It was not serious since the bleeding had already stopped and it also did not look like it would need stitches. Jack stood and headed off before he was forced to go in a wheelchair, something he considered to be the ultimate embarrassment.
Janet busied herself treating the other victims. Eight people had crossed the path of the creature and were now entering the infirmary for treatment. Miraculously there were no serious injuries, everyone realised it could have been much worse.
***
2 Days Later
SG-1 sat around the table in the briefing room. , Both Sam and Jack had one of their arms in a sling. The bruises on Sam's face had faded significantly but were still clearly visible. Daniel had a slight bruise on his face from his impact against the wall. Teal'c was the only member of the team who had escaped unscathed. Jacob sat next to Sam and Janet sat across from Daniel, they were waiting for Hammond so they could start the debriefing.
Hammond entered and took his seat at the head of the table. "I have just been informed the creature has arrived at the Area 51 facility."
"Are we sure it's dead, I mean in horror films…"
Hammond cut him off "Yes Colonel, we're sure." The tone of his voice was the same as an adult talking to a petulant child. "Initial analysis seems to show it has a high concentration of Naquadah within its body."
"That would make sense, it could explain why I was the only one to hear and why I knew where it was going."
"It could?" O'Neill asked looking confused.
"It is possible Sir. We don't really understand most of the properties of Naquadah, especially when incorporated into a life form. I mean, Sha're communicated with Daniel through the ribbon device."
Hammond nodded, "Hopefully in-depth analysis will be able to tell us more, especially about the morphing powers it had."
"Yeah, that would be cool if we could do that."
"Yes Colonel", again the special tone he reserved for O'Neill moments such as this was back.
After half an hour's discussion the debriefing was finished.
"So, Carter, any word 'bout when you're getting out of the infirmary?" Jack asked as they stood, he noticed that both Jacob and Sam reacted to his comment.
"Tomorrow I hope."
"Nice."
"Yeah, I'm looking
forward to it."
"I'll bet. Five days of infirmary food
and I'd be climbing the walls."
***
Jacob pulled up outside Sam's house in a borrowed Air Force car. He could sense Sam was nervous about going back into her house after what had happened.
"You sure you're up to this Sam?"
Sam nodded, "I'm not being kept out my house by the memory of a dead alien."
Jacob just smiled. His daughter was such a fighter, she was not going to let a memory keep her out of the house she loved and away from the work she had dedicated herself to. As Sam entered her house Jacob realised the fears he had about his daughter's emotional well being were unfounded. She had friends who would go to the end of the Earth and literally further to protect her and that was good enough for him.
OK, it's over with, phew! Please, please review. Tell me what you think! I'm pretty new at this and need to know if I should carry on! (Shameless begging moment, worrying I know!)