Jack the Ripper
Part 5 of 'The Asgard Sequence'
Sequel to 'That that Lives'
By Gumnut
Sep 2003
There was humming, the sound of bees swarming.
There were voices, muffled in the dark.
But most of all there was quiet.
He lay there for a long time, hearing nothing, seeing nothing. Calm.
But all things come to an end and soon a nagging presence intruded in on his sanctuary. A hint of wrongness in the right.
And from the darkness came a voice.
"Have you met death?"
He flung his eyes open and gasped in a breath, his lungs heaving.
Light, he was surrounded by light. He twisted his head around, eyes tracking for familiarity as they focused. Where the hell was he? Sarcophagus? He tried to raise his arms but they were pinned to his sides. He could not move anything but his head.
Restrained. Captured?
He yelled into the light.
"Colonel?" Whispered mutterings. "Oh, god, get him out of there. Now."
**********
The moment Janet heard him yell, she knew she had made a mistake. If there was one thing the Colonel did not handle very well, it was being restrained. The man's history and his natural need to be in control tended to produce a resulting panic should his movement be restricted for any extended length of time. Combine that with an enclosed space...
"Colonel?" She moved to check the monitor. He was thrashing his head about. "Oh, god, get him out of there. Now."
Ropa fiddled with the control board and the scanning equipment shut down. The panels covering the Colonel fanned out, retracted, and the restraining field snapped off.
The moment he could move, the Colonel flung himself off the table, stumbled, almost fell, catching himself at the last moment. Janet watched as his eyes focused, scanning the room. There was a fearful predatory sense emanating from him, and, for all his obvious weakness, she knew he was fully capable of defending himself.
The Asgard specialists in the viewing room with her stared, shocked that he would be able to stay on his feet in his condition.
"Ropa, call Teal'c. Everybody else, stay here." She made her way into the scanning room. "Colonel?"
His head spun in her direction. "Doc?" The hands clinging to the bed were white knuckled, taking his weight as he struggled to stay upright.
"Yes, Sir. You are in the Othallan Medical Centre. Do you remember what happened?" She edged closer.
His eyes darted in thought, before fixing on her again. "The Asgard got sick." Anxiety flickered across his face. "They were dying." He brought a hand to his head, and he swayed, only to grab the table again for support. He looked at her desperately. "Thor? Where is Thor?"
"Thor's fine, sir. He was here earlier." She gestured to the bed. "Please sit down." Before you fall down, she thought to herself.
He ignored her. "The General was here."
"You were speaking to General Hammond when you fell ill."
"I'm sick?"
She felt the hitch at the back of her throat. If only it was only that. She blinked rapidly. She hadn't come to terms with it herself. She wasn't ready to tell him yet, and he wasn't ready to hear it.
As if he ever would be.
"Yes, sir, you're sick. Please sit down." He was trembling now.
His concentration was interrupted by Teal'c entering the room. From some inner reservoir Jack managed a smile. "Hey, T."
Teal'c came up beside her and bowed his head. "O'Neill."
Janet itched to go to the Colonel and now Teal'c was here to help her, she did not hesitate.
She was a fraction of a second too late.
O'Neill's legs folded and he hit his head on the table on the way down. They were just in time to prevent it from hitting the floor.
"What happened, Doctor Fraiser?" Teal'c gently supported the unconscious man's shoulders.
"I screwed up." She mentally berated herself. Damnit, she should have sedated him. "He woke while we were in the middle of a deep scan." She ran her hand across the side of O'Neill's head, searching for any wound. The isolation field surrounding him tingled on her fingertips, but she only found a lump. "We had him in a restraining field and he panicked when he woke." Double checking him for any further injury, she found none, and gestured for Teal'c to lift him on to the table.
"Have you made any progress?" Teal'c turned to her, his dark eyes calm, but concerned.
She glanced at the Colonel. Now no longer dressed in his familiar uniform, but in the plain medical whites supplied by the Asgard, he looked vulnerable and alone. "Teal'c we have been able to stabilise him, but I don't know for how long." She sighed, rubbing a hand through her hair. "Damnit, why is it always him?"
She felt Teal'c's warm hand on her shoulder. "Colonel O'Neill has shown resilience in the past. He will not give up without a fight."
"I know Teal'c. I just wish he didn't have to fight at all."
**********
The next time he woke, his mind was clearer. He found himself back in the same room he had originally found himself upon awakening on Othalla. The room was just as dim as before, but this time there was no question that he wasn't alone.
Daniel's snores were obviously what had awoken him.
His friend sat on a chair beside the bed, slouched sideways, head flung back, singing to the ceiling. He was making enough noise to wake the dead.
He brought a hand to his face and was surprised when it buzzed and tingled on contact. What?
Holding his hands up, he noticed that they were still green - if anything, greener - but there was also something else different about them. They sparkled. With each movement, shiny, glittering points of light skipped across his skin.
What the hell is that?
"How are you feeling, O'Neill?"
He jumped, only then noticing Teal'c sitting on the floor at the end of the bed in the dark.
"Teal'c? Whatcha doin' on the floor?"
"I am meditating. We have been waiting for you to awaken."
"Well, I see it's my turn to wait." He grinned, shoving a thumb in Daniel's direction.
"Daniel Jackson has had little sleep since your collapse. His current state was inevitable." Teal'c's wiry smile had Jack grinning even more. Teal'c repeated his question. "How are you feeling?"
He turned his attention inward. "A little tired and achy." He felt a crackle and pop as he ran his hand through his hair. "What happened?"
"Do you not remember?"
"Bits and pieces. I was talking to Hammond. Talking to Doc." He frowned. "You were there. The details are fuzzy."
"While you were communicating with General Hammond you collapsed. Daniel Jackson raised the alarm. Doctor Fraiser has been attempting to locate the source of the problem."
"Well, I feel pretty good now. Am I fixed?"
"No, I'm afraid not, Colonel." Her voice was almost a whisper, as Janet, accompanied by Carter, walked into the room. As the lights increased in brightness, he realised that her eyes were red and swollen as if she had been crying. Carter didn't look much better.
Teal'c stood up and roused Daniel, who sat up straightening his glasses. "Uh, Jack, you're awake."
"Wakey wakey, Daniel."
The room fell silent.
Oh, damn, this couldn't be good.
"Hi, Doc. Hey, Carter. How's it going?" Forced cheerfulness.
Janet stared at him like she had just lost a member of her family. Sam avoided his gaze altogether.
Okay, approach the subject head on. "What's wrong?"
Janet took in a breath. "Colonel, we have found a fault in your DNA. A seemingly random chain of nucleotides has been added to one of your chromosomes."
When she didn't continue, O'Neill said, "And that means what?"
Carter spoke up. "As far as we can determine these nucleotides form a template for the creation of a pathogen."
Pathogen. He felt his heart sink to his feet. Oh, god, no.
"Carter, are you trying to tell me I'm the source of the disease that is killing these people?" Please say no, please say no.
"Colonel, your body has been genetically altered to generate a type of virus. This virus is specific to Asgard biology. You do not carry the disease, sir, your body is creating it."
The words spun in his head. Oh, god, no. His voice was rough, and he didn't look at them as he asked, "How is the disease transmitted?"
Janet cleared her throat. "It's airborne." Then quickly continued. "But now we have located the cause, the Asgard are positive they are close to a cure. A vaccine is in production now. With the genetic code and molecular footprint now known, the Asgard can program their force fields to destroy it. Nobody else will be exposed."
He could feel his heart breaking, cracks forming right down the centre. Eyes closed, he whispered, "How many?"
They didn't answer. He looked up at the two scientists. The sorrow on their faces carved chunks out of his soul. "How many?!" He demanded.
Janet's voice was barely a whisper. "Several thousand. They are still finalizing the statistics." She looked at her feet.
Several thousand more souls who had their cause of death listed as Jack O'Neill. His mind was frozen in shock. Several thousand. All because they had tried to save his life. How much did the universe think he was worth? How many more deaths could his life take?
"Oh, god." It came out as a whimper.
"Jack, it's not your fault." Daniel placed a hand on his arm. "This was done to you, not by you."
He didn't answer. It was all too much. His mind spun until it locked on to one thought.
"Cassie." He looked up at all of them. "I'm Cassie."
It was Carter who answered him. "That's pretty much our conclusion, sir. You were captured, genetically altered, and placed in a situation where Thor would need to return you here, or another Asgard world, to save your life."
The pain in their eyes spoke of things yet unsaid.
"There's more, isn't there."
Janet's turn again. "Sir, the added gene has compromised your body's ability to repair itself on the cellular level. Cells are not undergoing successful mitosis, and those that die, or are damaged, are not being replaced." She paused, reinforcing her composure. "The Asgard specialists have managed to slow the degradation for the moment, and you are stabilised, but unless we can reverse the genetic tampering..."
"I'll die." He finished for her.
Her voice was quiet, almost defeated. "Yes, sir."
The silence in the room was deafening. He could feel his friends' grief emanating from them in waves. It was too much for him to handle at once. He needed to get away.
They must have seen it in his eyes, because Daniel suddenly increased the pressure on his arm. "Jack?"
He quietly answered. "I'd like to be alone for awhile."
Daniel studied his feet for a moment. "Okay. We'll be just outside." He stood up and with Sam and Janet walked towards the door.
Teal'c followed, but paused at the end of the bed. "We will find out who did this, O'Neill. Their lives will be short and painful."
Jack did not answer. Teal'c bowed his head before leaving.
He had no doubt Teal'c would stand beside him in vengeance. But would it be enough to satisfy the souls of several thousand people? Could his soul repent for that many lives?
**********
Thor was beginning to think O'Neill was right. He should beam all politicians into some black hole somewhere.
He had spent half the day trying to convince the Council that this disease was not an act of aggression against the Asgard by the people of Earth. Most of the Council understood clearly that a third party, most likely Anubis, was responsible, but one particularly dense councillor was not to be swayed.
He swore the man had only gotten on to the Council through some serious backhanded maneuvering. He certainly did not have the brainpower to get there by himself.
The idiot had managed to keep the Council riled up for hours. May the seven stars of Karnass give him starna warts.
O'Neill would be awake by now and he needed to give the man his assurance that he was not blamed by himself or the Asgard people.
He flicked a control and beamed himself into the corridor outside O'Neill's room.
The corridor was full of SG-1.
They all looked pale, even by Asgard standards. Even Teal'c looked a little grey. The noise coming from the room behind them the obvious cause. He could hear the sound of breaking furniture, punctuated by curses. He wondered why none of them had gone in to check on O'Neill.
"Major Carter, what is Colonel O'Neill doing?"
There was an extra loud thud as something hit the other side of the door. The four humans flinched.
"Uh, Thor, he is a little upset right now. He asked us to leave him alone for awhile."
"You have told him." The devastation on their faces was a clear answer. "I must reassure him that we, as a people, do not hold him accountable."
"I'm not sure you should go in there right now." The cursing suddenly stopped, and there was silence.
"I assure you that I am fully capable of defending myself if need be. However, I do not think O'Neill would seek to harm me."
"He wouldn't, Thor." This from Daniel Jackson. "I think he considers you a friend as much as any of us."
Thor bowed his head at the archeologist. "And I him." He gestured down the hallway. "Please, take your leave for a moment. I would like to speak to O'Neill alone."
They seemed reluctant, and cast thoughtful eyes towards the door, but, with a word from Major Carter, they headed off down the corridor towards the lab.
Thor straightened his shoulders, and walked through the door.
He almost tripped on a broken piece of chair. The chair had been the only piece of furniture in the room apart from the bed, and it looked as if it had born the brunt of the human's anger. It lay in pieces all over the floor.
Thor did not see O'Neill at first, his form hidden by the bed, but he soon found the human on the floor at the far side of the room, knees drawn up, his head in his hands. He did not look up as Thor approached.
"O'Neill."
His head shot up, alarm on his face. "Thor, you shouldn't be here."
He hurried to ease his concern. "I do not have the sickness, O'Neill. It seems that I am immune."
The anguish in his small dark eyes did not abate. "I'm so sorry." The whispered words tumbled out.
"You could not have known. We do not hold you responsible."
O'Neill focused into the distance, the pain lining his face. "All those people."
Thor looked at him, before reaching down and taking his hand. He moved it to his own throat. "You once told me, Jack, that while there is life, there is hope. Feel the life in my body. I live. And so do millions of other Asgard - all because of you." He paused, watching O'Neill's eyes meet his. "What has happened is a tragedy, and we mourn. But those we have lost will be remembered with honour. Do not blame yourself for what could not be avoided."
Thor felt O'Neill's warm fingers on the skin of his throat, the isolation field prickling, his own pulse reflected in the human's eyes. A spark ignited.
O'Neill's voice was rough. "I want to find who was responsible. Will you help me?"
"I have already begun making arrangements. The Asgard do not take an attack on their people lightly." Their eyes met. "We will find them, O'Neill. I promise."
Some of the tension left the human's body. Taking his hand back, O'Neill stood, and, looking down at Thor, said, "Then I better get ready." He turned towards the door.
A young Asgard stood in the doorway, a weapon pointed at O'Neill.
"Colonel O'Neill," His voice was startling in the sudden silence, assuring himself of their attention. "For your crimes against the Asgard people."
The weapon fired.
**********
FIN
Part 5 of 'The Asgard Sequence'
Sequel to 'That that Lives'
By Gumnut
Sep 2003
There was humming, the sound of bees swarming.
There were voices, muffled in the dark.
But most of all there was quiet.
He lay there for a long time, hearing nothing, seeing nothing. Calm.
But all things come to an end and soon a nagging presence intruded in on his sanctuary. A hint of wrongness in the right.
And from the darkness came a voice.
"Have you met death?"
He flung his eyes open and gasped in a breath, his lungs heaving.
Light, he was surrounded by light. He twisted his head around, eyes tracking for familiarity as they focused. Where the hell was he? Sarcophagus? He tried to raise his arms but they were pinned to his sides. He could not move anything but his head.
Restrained. Captured?
He yelled into the light.
"Colonel?" Whispered mutterings. "Oh, god, get him out of there. Now."
**********
The moment Janet heard him yell, she knew she had made a mistake. If there was one thing the Colonel did not handle very well, it was being restrained. The man's history and his natural need to be in control tended to produce a resulting panic should his movement be restricted for any extended length of time. Combine that with an enclosed space...
"Colonel?" She moved to check the monitor. He was thrashing his head about. "Oh, god, get him out of there. Now."
Ropa fiddled with the control board and the scanning equipment shut down. The panels covering the Colonel fanned out, retracted, and the restraining field snapped off.
The moment he could move, the Colonel flung himself off the table, stumbled, almost fell, catching himself at the last moment. Janet watched as his eyes focused, scanning the room. There was a fearful predatory sense emanating from him, and, for all his obvious weakness, she knew he was fully capable of defending himself.
The Asgard specialists in the viewing room with her stared, shocked that he would be able to stay on his feet in his condition.
"Ropa, call Teal'c. Everybody else, stay here." She made her way into the scanning room. "Colonel?"
His head spun in her direction. "Doc?" The hands clinging to the bed were white knuckled, taking his weight as he struggled to stay upright.
"Yes, Sir. You are in the Othallan Medical Centre. Do you remember what happened?" She edged closer.
His eyes darted in thought, before fixing on her again. "The Asgard got sick." Anxiety flickered across his face. "They were dying." He brought a hand to his head, and he swayed, only to grab the table again for support. He looked at her desperately. "Thor? Where is Thor?"
"Thor's fine, sir. He was here earlier." She gestured to the bed. "Please sit down." Before you fall down, she thought to herself.
He ignored her. "The General was here."
"You were speaking to General Hammond when you fell ill."
"I'm sick?"
She felt the hitch at the back of her throat. If only it was only that. She blinked rapidly. She hadn't come to terms with it herself. She wasn't ready to tell him yet, and he wasn't ready to hear it.
As if he ever would be.
"Yes, sir, you're sick. Please sit down." He was trembling now.
His concentration was interrupted by Teal'c entering the room. From some inner reservoir Jack managed a smile. "Hey, T."
Teal'c came up beside her and bowed his head. "O'Neill."
Janet itched to go to the Colonel and now Teal'c was here to help her, she did not hesitate.
She was a fraction of a second too late.
O'Neill's legs folded and he hit his head on the table on the way down. They were just in time to prevent it from hitting the floor.
"What happened, Doctor Fraiser?" Teal'c gently supported the unconscious man's shoulders.
"I screwed up." She mentally berated herself. Damnit, she should have sedated him. "He woke while we were in the middle of a deep scan." She ran her hand across the side of O'Neill's head, searching for any wound. The isolation field surrounding him tingled on her fingertips, but she only found a lump. "We had him in a restraining field and he panicked when he woke." Double checking him for any further injury, she found none, and gestured for Teal'c to lift him on to the table.
"Have you made any progress?" Teal'c turned to her, his dark eyes calm, but concerned.
She glanced at the Colonel. Now no longer dressed in his familiar uniform, but in the plain medical whites supplied by the Asgard, he looked vulnerable and alone. "Teal'c we have been able to stabilise him, but I don't know for how long." She sighed, rubbing a hand through her hair. "Damnit, why is it always him?"
She felt Teal'c's warm hand on her shoulder. "Colonel O'Neill has shown resilience in the past. He will not give up without a fight."
"I know Teal'c. I just wish he didn't have to fight at all."
**********
The next time he woke, his mind was clearer. He found himself back in the same room he had originally found himself upon awakening on Othalla. The room was just as dim as before, but this time there was no question that he wasn't alone.
Daniel's snores were obviously what had awoken him.
His friend sat on a chair beside the bed, slouched sideways, head flung back, singing to the ceiling. He was making enough noise to wake the dead.
He brought a hand to his face and was surprised when it buzzed and tingled on contact. What?
Holding his hands up, he noticed that they were still green - if anything, greener - but there was also something else different about them. They sparkled. With each movement, shiny, glittering points of light skipped across his skin.
What the hell is that?
"How are you feeling, O'Neill?"
He jumped, only then noticing Teal'c sitting on the floor at the end of the bed in the dark.
"Teal'c? Whatcha doin' on the floor?"
"I am meditating. We have been waiting for you to awaken."
"Well, I see it's my turn to wait." He grinned, shoving a thumb in Daniel's direction.
"Daniel Jackson has had little sleep since your collapse. His current state was inevitable." Teal'c's wiry smile had Jack grinning even more. Teal'c repeated his question. "How are you feeling?"
He turned his attention inward. "A little tired and achy." He felt a crackle and pop as he ran his hand through his hair. "What happened?"
"Do you not remember?"
"Bits and pieces. I was talking to Hammond. Talking to Doc." He frowned. "You were there. The details are fuzzy."
"While you were communicating with General Hammond you collapsed. Daniel Jackson raised the alarm. Doctor Fraiser has been attempting to locate the source of the problem."
"Well, I feel pretty good now. Am I fixed?"
"No, I'm afraid not, Colonel." Her voice was almost a whisper, as Janet, accompanied by Carter, walked into the room. As the lights increased in brightness, he realised that her eyes were red and swollen as if she had been crying. Carter didn't look much better.
Teal'c stood up and roused Daniel, who sat up straightening his glasses. "Uh, Jack, you're awake."
"Wakey wakey, Daniel."
The room fell silent.
Oh, damn, this couldn't be good.
"Hi, Doc. Hey, Carter. How's it going?" Forced cheerfulness.
Janet stared at him like she had just lost a member of her family. Sam avoided his gaze altogether.
Okay, approach the subject head on. "What's wrong?"
Janet took in a breath. "Colonel, we have found a fault in your DNA. A seemingly random chain of nucleotides has been added to one of your chromosomes."
When she didn't continue, O'Neill said, "And that means what?"
Carter spoke up. "As far as we can determine these nucleotides form a template for the creation of a pathogen."
Pathogen. He felt his heart sink to his feet. Oh, god, no.
"Carter, are you trying to tell me I'm the source of the disease that is killing these people?" Please say no, please say no.
"Colonel, your body has been genetically altered to generate a type of virus. This virus is specific to Asgard biology. You do not carry the disease, sir, your body is creating it."
The words spun in his head. Oh, god, no. His voice was rough, and he didn't look at them as he asked, "How is the disease transmitted?"
Janet cleared her throat. "It's airborne." Then quickly continued. "But now we have located the cause, the Asgard are positive they are close to a cure. A vaccine is in production now. With the genetic code and molecular footprint now known, the Asgard can program their force fields to destroy it. Nobody else will be exposed."
He could feel his heart breaking, cracks forming right down the centre. Eyes closed, he whispered, "How many?"
They didn't answer. He looked up at the two scientists. The sorrow on their faces carved chunks out of his soul. "How many?!" He demanded.
Janet's voice was barely a whisper. "Several thousand. They are still finalizing the statistics." She looked at her feet.
Several thousand more souls who had their cause of death listed as Jack O'Neill. His mind was frozen in shock. Several thousand. All because they had tried to save his life. How much did the universe think he was worth? How many more deaths could his life take?
"Oh, god." It came out as a whimper.
"Jack, it's not your fault." Daniel placed a hand on his arm. "This was done to you, not by you."
He didn't answer. It was all too much. His mind spun until it locked on to one thought.
"Cassie." He looked up at all of them. "I'm Cassie."
It was Carter who answered him. "That's pretty much our conclusion, sir. You were captured, genetically altered, and placed in a situation where Thor would need to return you here, or another Asgard world, to save your life."
The pain in their eyes spoke of things yet unsaid.
"There's more, isn't there."
Janet's turn again. "Sir, the added gene has compromised your body's ability to repair itself on the cellular level. Cells are not undergoing successful mitosis, and those that die, or are damaged, are not being replaced." She paused, reinforcing her composure. "The Asgard specialists have managed to slow the degradation for the moment, and you are stabilised, but unless we can reverse the genetic tampering..."
"I'll die." He finished for her.
Her voice was quiet, almost defeated. "Yes, sir."
The silence in the room was deafening. He could feel his friends' grief emanating from them in waves. It was too much for him to handle at once. He needed to get away.
They must have seen it in his eyes, because Daniel suddenly increased the pressure on his arm. "Jack?"
He quietly answered. "I'd like to be alone for awhile."
Daniel studied his feet for a moment. "Okay. We'll be just outside." He stood up and with Sam and Janet walked towards the door.
Teal'c followed, but paused at the end of the bed. "We will find out who did this, O'Neill. Their lives will be short and painful."
Jack did not answer. Teal'c bowed his head before leaving.
He had no doubt Teal'c would stand beside him in vengeance. But would it be enough to satisfy the souls of several thousand people? Could his soul repent for that many lives?
**********
Thor was beginning to think O'Neill was right. He should beam all politicians into some black hole somewhere.
He had spent half the day trying to convince the Council that this disease was not an act of aggression against the Asgard by the people of Earth. Most of the Council understood clearly that a third party, most likely Anubis, was responsible, but one particularly dense councillor was not to be swayed.
He swore the man had only gotten on to the Council through some serious backhanded maneuvering. He certainly did not have the brainpower to get there by himself.
The idiot had managed to keep the Council riled up for hours. May the seven stars of Karnass give him starna warts.
O'Neill would be awake by now and he needed to give the man his assurance that he was not blamed by himself or the Asgard people.
He flicked a control and beamed himself into the corridor outside O'Neill's room.
The corridor was full of SG-1.
They all looked pale, even by Asgard standards. Even Teal'c looked a little grey. The noise coming from the room behind them the obvious cause. He could hear the sound of breaking furniture, punctuated by curses. He wondered why none of them had gone in to check on O'Neill.
"Major Carter, what is Colonel O'Neill doing?"
There was an extra loud thud as something hit the other side of the door. The four humans flinched.
"Uh, Thor, he is a little upset right now. He asked us to leave him alone for awhile."
"You have told him." The devastation on their faces was a clear answer. "I must reassure him that we, as a people, do not hold him accountable."
"I'm not sure you should go in there right now." The cursing suddenly stopped, and there was silence.
"I assure you that I am fully capable of defending myself if need be. However, I do not think O'Neill would seek to harm me."
"He wouldn't, Thor." This from Daniel Jackson. "I think he considers you a friend as much as any of us."
Thor bowed his head at the archeologist. "And I him." He gestured down the hallway. "Please, take your leave for a moment. I would like to speak to O'Neill alone."
They seemed reluctant, and cast thoughtful eyes towards the door, but, with a word from Major Carter, they headed off down the corridor towards the lab.
Thor straightened his shoulders, and walked through the door.
He almost tripped on a broken piece of chair. The chair had been the only piece of furniture in the room apart from the bed, and it looked as if it had born the brunt of the human's anger. It lay in pieces all over the floor.
Thor did not see O'Neill at first, his form hidden by the bed, but he soon found the human on the floor at the far side of the room, knees drawn up, his head in his hands. He did not look up as Thor approached.
"O'Neill."
His head shot up, alarm on his face. "Thor, you shouldn't be here."
He hurried to ease his concern. "I do not have the sickness, O'Neill. It seems that I am immune."
The anguish in his small dark eyes did not abate. "I'm so sorry." The whispered words tumbled out.
"You could not have known. We do not hold you responsible."
O'Neill focused into the distance, the pain lining his face. "All those people."
Thor looked at him, before reaching down and taking his hand. He moved it to his own throat. "You once told me, Jack, that while there is life, there is hope. Feel the life in my body. I live. And so do millions of other Asgard - all because of you." He paused, watching O'Neill's eyes meet his. "What has happened is a tragedy, and we mourn. But those we have lost will be remembered with honour. Do not blame yourself for what could not be avoided."
Thor felt O'Neill's warm fingers on the skin of his throat, the isolation field prickling, his own pulse reflected in the human's eyes. A spark ignited.
O'Neill's voice was rough. "I want to find who was responsible. Will you help me?"
"I have already begun making arrangements. The Asgard do not take an attack on their people lightly." Their eyes met. "We will find them, O'Neill. I promise."
Some of the tension left the human's body. Taking his hand back, O'Neill stood, and, looking down at Thor, said, "Then I better get ready." He turned towards the door.
A young Asgard stood in the doorway, a weapon pointed at O'Neill.
"Colonel O'Neill," His voice was startling in the sudden silence, assuring himself of their attention. "For your crimes against the Asgard people."
The weapon fired.
**********
FIN