What do you do when everyone and everything you've based your world around
suddenly ceases to exist. Worse yet, what do you do when everything you've
based yourself around decides to turn the universe on its axis? If there
was an answer to that question, Jack O'Neill did not know it.
All that he knew was darkness.
* * *
It was the waiting that was getting to them. It had been four hours and what did they have to show for it? Nothing. Nada. Zip. And now the sun was starting to set.
"Goddamnit!" Sam swore under her breath, pushing herself to her feet, kicking dust into the fire pit in the process.
The Sa-ren remained impassive on the other side of the flames. His wizened old face wasn't exactly empty, but it was content. To him the universe made sense, and so did his place in it. The other four people around the fire were not so lucky.
Dr. Janet Frazier, seated by the fire, watched Sam pace with her peripheral vision. The other woman had spent the last four hours alternating between sitting and pacing. None of them had spoken since the Sa-ren had guided them to this place.
'This place' turned out to be a large patch of empty ground and what looked to be a well used fire pit. It was a good way from the village, and the petit doctor was beginning to wonder if the old man wasn't dragging them along on some sort of alien goose chase.
Daniel had spent the last four hours mentally reciting all of the four letter verbs in the Goa'uld language. When he'd finished with that he planned to move on to the seven letter nouns.
Jacob had spent the last four hours watching his daughter and her teammates, and being mentally 'yelled' at by Selmak. Apparently the old snake was of the opinion that he should be comforting his daughter. Jacob knew better, and so did Drs. Jackson and Frazier from the looks of it, whoever approached Sam first was going to find themselves beaten into a bloody pulp, if they were lucky.
* * *
General Hammond was drawn out of his office by the commotion in the 'gate control room. When he stormed down the stairs he was greeted by the sight of one mightily pissed off Jaffa in medical scrubs and a cowering Air Force doctor.
"Dr. Burgin!" Hammond shouted at his subordinate, choosing for the moment to deal with the less threatening figure. "What in the heck is going on down here?"
"Uh-ummm, h-h-h... Mister-uh, Te-te-te-" poor Dr. Burgin stuttered.
"I'm waiting, Doctor," Hammond glowered.
"Mr. Teal'c has l-left the infirmary without pe-pe-permission," the doctor finally managed to get out. "He's not fully recovered!"
"Mr. Teal'c?" the General asked, turning towards the large and imposing man. "What are you doing?"
"I am awaiting the return of SG-1" the Jaffa replied, standing at attention and meeting Hammond's eyes.
Hammond blinked, and sighed. "Teal'c," he said. "We have no way of knowing when they'll be back."
"Then I will wait here until their return," the Jaffa insisted. "I would have accompanied them, had I not been unconscious at the time," with this he directed a glare at the quivering Dr. Burgin.
"Uhm..." the Doctor whimpered.
Quickly assessing the apparent well-being of the Jaffa, General Hammond made a tactical decision. "Mr. Teal'c," he said, "why don't you come up to my office?"
One of Teal'c's eyebrows shot up, but he did his little half-bow thing and followed the General up the stairs.
* * *
Jack was in the dark again, and it was so far beyond old that he didn't even bother thinking something sarcastic about it, he just... stood, if one can stand in a place without any ground. Apparently the acid trip down memory lane had been put on pause, the last thing that he remembered was Nordstrom's face as he'd pulled the trigger. After that things got a little, fuzzy.
"Oh, look, you're up," a voice commented, it seemed to echo in the blackness that was surrounding him.
Jack groaned. "And which one are you?" he asked.
All the answer he got was his own echo.
"It's almost over," the voice informed him.
"Swell," Jack muttered. "So what's left?" he asked, turning and holding his hands out at his sides. "Are we gonna have another skewer the nut job festival?"
"No."
"Then what?" Jack asked, letting his arms drop.
"A question."
"A question?" Jack repeated.
"Yes."
Silence. Darkness. Cold.
"Well, what's the question?" Jack asked, finally growing too impatient to wait.
"Who are you?"
His mouth opened, then shut, then opened again.
"I'm-"
* * *
Daniel glanced up. "Holy..." he exclaimed, standing before he realized he was moving.
Three heads turned to stare in the direction that he was staring.
A familiar figure was standing at the edge of the firelight, hands shoved into his pockets. "Hiya, kids," he said, stepping into the light.
Daniel got to him first, so the first welcome he got was a hearty bear hug, followed by a smack upside the head and an even hardier "Bastard!"
The others stared at them. Jack smiled. "It's good to know I'm welcome," he muttered.
"S-sir!" Sam stuttered, eyes wide, then she smiled. "It's good to see you, sir."
"It's good to be seen," the Colonel replied, then he ran his hand through his hair. "Now, would someone mind telling me what in the name of all the saints is going on here?"
Four pairs of eyes stared at him. Four mouths gaped. One snake chuckled.
"It is finished," the Sa-ren said, in English, causing everyone to stare at him. He didn't say anything else, he just levered himself up and started off for the village in the darkness.
Jack half turned to follow his progress, then turned back as the older man was lost to the night. "So, who's gonna fill me in?"
* * *
"I don't believe it," Jack exclaimed, staring at each of his teammates in turn. They'd returned through the stargate, been checked out in the infirmary, and now they were debriefing him.
"It is the truth, O'Neill," Teal'c informed him from across the table.
"You've seen the footage for yourself, sir," Sam piped up.
Daniel was just staring at him, and had been staring at him ever since he'd shown up at the fireside.
Jack turned to Hammond and raised an eyebrow. The General was staring down at a very thick, closed, folder, with the words Top Secret stamped on the cover in red. He looked up, meeting the eyes of everyone in the room. Instead of answering, he turned to Major Davis, who had been waiting in the corner.
"Ahem," the Major said, stepping forward. "As far as the Air Force is concerned, this never happened."
* * *
"Finally!" Jack exclaimed, unlocking his door and walking into his own house for the first time in what felt like years.
Daniel followed him in, closing the door behind himself. He watched the older man carefully as he made his way around the living room, turning on the lights and making faces at the dust.
"Jeeze," Jack muttered. "I need to get a cleaning crew in here."
"Probably," Daniel replied, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. "So," he said, as Jack moved towards the stereo.
Without really caring what it was Jack hit play. The delicate chords of Metallica's Sandman flooded the living room. He turned taking in Daniel's posture and the look on his face.
"Just who the hell are you?" the anthropologist asked.
END.
All that he knew was darkness.
* * *
It was the waiting that was getting to them. It had been four hours and what did they have to show for it? Nothing. Nada. Zip. And now the sun was starting to set.
"Goddamnit!" Sam swore under her breath, pushing herself to her feet, kicking dust into the fire pit in the process.
The Sa-ren remained impassive on the other side of the flames. His wizened old face wasn't exactly empty, but it was content. To him the universe made sense, and so did his place in it. The other four people around the fire were not so lucky.
Dr. Janet Frazier, seated by the fire, watched Sam pace with her peripheral vision. The other woman had spent the last four hours alternating between sitting and pacing. None of them had spoken since the Sa-ren had guided them to this place.
'This place' turned out to be a large patch of empty ground and what looked to be a well used fire pit. It was a good way from the village, and the petit doctor was beginning to wonder if the old man wasn't dragging them along on some sort of alien goose chase.
Daniel had spent the last four hours mentally reciting all of the four letter verbs in the Goa'uld language. When he'd finished with that he planned to move on to the seven letter nouns.
Jacob had spent the last four hours watching his daughter and her teammates, and being mentally 'yelled' at by Selmak. Apparently the old snake was of the opinion that he should be comforting his daughter. Jacob knew better, and so did Drs. Jackson and Frazier from the looks of it, whoever approached Sam first was going to find themselves beaten into a bloody pulp, if they were lucky.
* * *
General Hammond was drawn out of his office by the commotion in the 'gate control room. When he stormed down the stairs he was greeted by the sight of one mightily pissed off Jaffa in medical scrubs and a cowering Air Force doctor.
"Dr. Burgin!" Hammond shouted at his subordinate, choosing for the moment to deal with the less threatening figure. "What in the heck is going on down here?"
"Uh-ummm, h-h-h... Mister-uh, Te-te-te-" poor Dr. Burgin stuttered.
"I'm waiting, Doctor," Hammond glowered.
"Mr. Teal'c has l-left the infirmary without pe-pe-permission," the doctor finally managed to get out. "He's not fully recovered!"
"Mr. Teal'c?" the General asked, turning towards the large and imposing man. "What are you doing?"
"I am awaiting the return of SG-1" the Jaffa replied, standing at attention and meeting Hammond's eyes.
Hammond blinked, and sighed. "Teal'c," he said. "We have no way of knowing when they'll be back."
"Then I will wait here until their return," the Jaffa insisted. "I would have accompanied them, had I not been unconscious at the time," with this he directed a glare at the quivering Dr. Burgin.
"Uhm..." the Doctor whimpered.
Quickly assessing the apparent well-being of the Jaffa, General Hammond made a tactical decision. "Mr. Teal'c," he said, "why don't you come up to my office?"
One of Teal'c's eyebrows shot up, but he did his little half-bow thing and followed the General up the stairs.
* * *
Jack was in the dark again, and it was so far beyond old that he didn't even bother thinking something sarcastic about it, he just... stood, if one can stand in a place without any ground. Apparently the acid trip down memory lane had been put on pause, the last thing that he remembered was Nordstrom's face as he'd pulled the trigger. After that things got a little, fuzzy.
"Oh, look, you're up," a voice commented, it seemed to echo in the blackness that was surrounding him.
Jack groaned. "And which one are you?" he asked.
All the answer he got was his own echo.
"It's almost over," the voice informed him.
"Swell," Jack muttered. "So what's left?" he asked, turning and holding his hands out at his sides. "Are we gonna have another skewer the nut job festival?"
"No."
"Then what?" Jack asked, letting his arms drop.
"A question."
"A question?" Jack repeated.
"Yes."
Silence. Darkness. Cold.
"Well, what's the question?" Jack asked, finally growing too impatient to wait.
"Who are you?"
His mouth opened, then shut, then opened again.
"I'm-"
* * *
Daniel glanced up. "Holy..." he exclaimed, standing before he realized he was moving.
Three heads turned to stare in the direction that he was staring.
A familiar figure was standing at the edge of the firelight, hands shoved into his pockets. "Hiya, kids," he said, stepping into the light.
Daniel got to him first, so the first welcome he got was a hearty bear hug, followed by a smack upside the head and an even hardier "Bastard!"
The others stared at them. Jack smiled. "It's good to know I'm welcome," he muttered.
"S-sir!" Sam stuttered, eyes wide, then she smiled. "It's good to see you, sir."
"It's good to be seen," the Colonel replied, then he ran his hand through his hair. "Now, would someone mind telling me what in the name of all the saints is going on here?"
Four pairs of eyes stared at him. Four mouths gaped. One snake chuckled.
"It is finished," the Sa-ren said, in English, causing everyone to stare at him. He didn't say anything else, he just levered himself up and started off for the village in the darkness.
Jack half turned to follow his progress, then turned back as the older man was lost to the night. "So, who's gonna fill me in?"
* * *
"I don't believe it," Jack exclaimed, staring at each of his teammates in turn. They'd returned through the stargate, been checked out in the infirmary, and now they were debriefing him.
"It is the truth, O'Neill," Teal'c informed him from across the table.
"You've seen the footage for yourself, sir," Sam piped up.
Daniel was just staring at him, and had been staring at him ever since he'd shown up at the fireside.
Jack turned to Hammond and raised an eyebrow. The General was staring down at a very thick, closed, folder, with the words Top Secret stamped on the cover in red. He looked up, meeting the eyes of everyone in the room. Instead of answering, he turned to Major Davis, who had been waiting in the corner.
"Ahem," the Major said, stepping forward. "As far as the Air Force is concerned, this never happened."
* * *
"Finally!" Jack exclaimed, unlocking his door and walking into his own house for the first time in what felt like years.
Daniel followed him in, closing the door behind himself. He watched the older man carefully as he made his way around the living room, turning on the lights and making faces at the dust.
"Jeeze," Jack muttered. "I need to get a cleaning crew in here."
"Probably," Daniel replied, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. "So," he said, as Jack moved towards the stereo.
Without really caring what it was Jack hit play. The delicate chords of Metallica's Sandman flooded the living room. He turned taking in Daniel's posture and the look on his face.
"Just who the hell are you?" the anthropologist asked.
END.