Time
For Twitch
By Gumnut
9 - 21 Dec 2003
Click.
It was a quiet sound, barely heard above the everyday noise of the jungle.
But he heard it.
And knew.
It was time.
**********
Time can have many meanings.
We spend time daily. We waste it, we savour it, we pay for it. But time is finite, and we only have so much. And so much can depend on what we do with it.
**********
Blood.
Blood spattered on leaves. The simple fronds of ferns drooping under the weight of glistening liquid.
Something blocked out his sight. He blinked, only to find that his eyelids had been the obstruction.
They drooped again, but he forced them open, his instincts singing.
Where was he?
He moved his head, but only encountered green. Many shades of green. Dark, ovate leaves shone dully. Delicate ferns arched in endless waves of lace. And far above him, a sun sparkled between the branches of the trees, creating daytime starlight that flickered as the forest moved in the breeze.
The starlight was peppered with black spots, and his sight faded in and out.
What?
He raised a hand to his head, and was surprised at how heavy his arm had become. He found something wet on his cheek, and he smeared it, his fingers coming up red in front of his eyes.
Blood?
Huh?
His hand fell with a thud to the forest floor, a small puff of dirt exploding in counterpoint to its impact.
And something rustled in the undergrowth.
*********
Time can be a great gift.
Time can be a curse.
Time may have a deadline, but a death will always need a timeline, and all that matters is when that timeline comes to an end.
**********
His body reacted instinctively, without thought. He tried to move.
And found he couldn't.
His world exploded in pain.
Ohmigod!
Was that his voice?
Birds, startled from their roosts, flapped amongst the trees, their cries echoing his.
He coughed out the pain, his throat choking on itself. The tree starlight above him wavered and ran in rivulets. His eyelids fluttered.
No, he had to stay awake.
There was something.
Something.
Or someone.
He reached a tentative hand down, down towards his waist, fearing what he would find there. His fingers hit something hard, and his fingernails scraped across wood. Searching by touch he found where the wood met his body.
It was warm.
It was damp.
It was him.
His hands came back red.
Shit, O'Neill, what have you done to yourself this time?
"Jack?"
**********
There was a time...
Once upon a time....
As time goes by...
The time that is now will never come again.
**********
The voice startled him.
Where?
Radio.
He reached a wet hand to his chest and fumbled with the button. He attempted to speak, but only a wet, unintelligible gurgle issued from his throat. He swallowed and tried again.
"D...Daniel?"
"Jack? You okay?"
"Uh?"
The black spots had returned. He watched them dance lazily above him, idly following one here and there as they pirouetted from tree to tree.
"Jack?"
Daniel? He looked around for the archaeologist. There was only green.
"Jack? Can you hear me?"
Yes, Danny, I can hear you.
"Jack, I'm coming."
Coming? Yes, something was coming. The undergrowth rustled again, but he knew it wasn't Daniel.
And he knew he wasn't alone.
*********
Time heals all wounds.
Except those that kill you.
In which case, time turns to dust.
**********
It was there, but it didn't reveal itself.
It was waiting.
And Jack feared what it was waiting for.
A sudden crunch of leaf litter and breaking twigs under foot, and Daniel Jackson burst into his world.
"Oh, my god, Jack!"
The archaeologist fell to his knees beside him, and Jack heard his joints crack.
"Hi, D..Danny." Jack attempted to smile, but the sight of Daniel's face swimming in and out of focus only made him feel ill, and the smile turned into a grimace.
"Jack, how...?" Daniel fumbled with his radio. "Sam? Teal'c?"
The faint answers of his team were suddenly overlaid by a scuffling sound. A horrid face appeared behind Daniel's shoulder, and before Jack could alert his friend, it snarled, and Daniel fell forward with a sigh, his body collapsing on top of Jack.
Jack gasped in a breath of agony as Daniel's weight came down on his injury, the scent of the man's aftershave filling his nostrils. The world faded away for a while.
***********
Time ticks.
Time fades.
Time passes.
**********
"Daniel?"
Another voice.
Carter.
He was staring up at the daylight starlight again. What? Hadn't Daniel been here?
He looked around. No, no Daniel. Dream?
But his eyes caught sight of one object that confirmed it a reality. A pair of glasses lay discarded in the dirt to his left, the absence of their owner all the more ominous for their presence. Daniel?
His voice came out as a croak, and something gurgled in his throat. He spat, his head spinning, and watched a spray of red droplets arc up above him before scattering into the air and falling to the ground. Wetness landed on a bare hand.
"Daniel? What's happened? Are you there?"
No, Daniel isn't here, Carter. They took him.
They?
Oh, god. The face. The face that appeared over Daniel's shoulder. It had taken him. Taken a member of his team.
"Colonel?"
Carter?
"I'm locating your position. If you can hear me, Teal'c and I will be there as soon as we can."
Carter! No, she shouldn't come!
His hand reached for his radio. "C...arter, no." Barely a whisper.
"Sir?" She paused. "Sir, we're coming."
"No." No, no, no, no, no,no,no,nononononono.....
**********
Time.
Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millennia.
But in the end only a second will matter.
**********
A moment of clarity.
They were after his team.
They wanted food.
And he was bait.
He had stumbled across them in his search for the fate of SG-6. What he had found had been conclusive. What he had found had brought up lunch, last night's dinner, and yesterday's breakfast. Even a seasoned soldier like himself had his limits.
The perpetrators were small, no taller than an Asgard, but stockier with wide mouths and a hell of a lot of teeth. Brown and green mottled skin made them hard to see in the brush, and they were nasty little critters. He thought they hadn't seen him. He had been wrong.
He hadn't been quick enough. Hadn't been quick enough to inform his team. Hadn't been quick enough to duck. Hadn't been quick enough to escape their trap.
His hand felt around the wooden spike embedded in his gut. They hadn't set out to kill, only to maim. They needed him alive to attract further prey. To use their natural instinct to protect help one another to their detriment.
Bastards.
A brief flash of memory. A member of SG-6 strung up like a Thanksgiving turkey, skin taught from burning.
Daniel.
Sam.
Teal'c.
Oh, god. No.
So, O'Neill what you think you're gonna do about it?
What?
What he always did.
He reached down, his hand caressing the wooden means of his impalement.
**********
Time is like a river. It winds its way amongst our lives feeding the stream of life.
Memory is a boat that can only float upstream.
The river drains into eternity.
**********
Birds only recently settled were once more frightened into flight at the sound of his voice. It was the sound of splintered wood on flesh. He stared at the foot long spike that had pinned him to the ground, its point encrusted with the soil from beneath his body.
The wood clattered to the forest floor.
He didn't want to look.
But he had to.
So much depended on him.
He made his first attempt to sit up. The world blanked out in a flash of white hot agony. Okay, not a good idea. His vision swam once again.
"Colonel?!"
Carter, again.
Warn, must warn.
The hand that came up to his radio trembled, and was caked in half dried blood. "C..Carter?"
"Sir?! What happened?"
"H..had a li..little problem." He coughed, spitting blood everywhere. God, that couldn't be good. He screwed up his face as the pain in his chest took his mind and squeezed. Ah, shit. He gasped, desperately attempting to straighten out his breathing in order to say the urgent words. "C..arter, h..ostiles. Number un...known. D...Daniel captured."
"Oh, god, sir. You're hurt! We're nearly there."
"No, D..aniel. Get Daniel! Can...nibals!"
The gasp at the other end of the connection was enough to reassure him that Carter and Teal'c would go after Daniel first. True, literally speaking, the aliens weren't being cannibalistic by eating Humans, but the word had the desired effect, and he was just too damned tired to try and explain.
He sighed, letting his hand drop, and was surprised when it brushed against his sidearm. He still had his weapon? Damnit, O'Neill, straighten your head out! That should have been the first thing you looked for. You could have defended Daniel! He cursed himself repeatedly. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
O'Neill, sitting here, waiting for death is not going to help your team. Get your ass off the ground!
If only MacKenzie could see him now.
He rolled himself slowly sideways, managing to bite through his lip in the process. He spat more blood onto the ground, but now on his elbows, he levered his legs under him and pushed himself to his knees.
He nearly ended up flat on his back again. He hugged his arms to his chest, praying he wouldn't pass out.
Fortheteam, fortheteam, fortheteam, fortheteam,......it became a mantra. If they came to attempt to rescue him, they would be captured themselves. He had to get out of this on his own.
Speaking of capture....
His movement had been noticed. There was a rustle in the underbrush. He grabbed his beretta, as an alien jumped out in front of him, snarling. He didn't ask any questions, he just fired point blank.
Result? One dead alien.
He stared at it. Yep, definitely an ugly bastard.
There was another rustle, and another alien promptly joined the other.
Hmm, bright, but not overly.
The forest was silent except for its usual forest sounds, but O'Neill would not let himself relax.
Because if he relaxed it would be in death.
**********
Like sands through the hourglass....
Rock around the clock....
If you don't tell, time will.
**********
The bark of the tree was rough against his cheek, but it was all that was holding him up. His hands clung to the fibrous growth, desperate for grip as he slowly got his feet under him. He shouldn't be standing. He could almost hear Fraiser screaming in his ear.
He had managed, inch by agonising inch, to take off his jacket in order to wrap the material firmly around his waist. Hopefully to stop the bleeding, but also to hold in parts of himself he had no wish to see.
He had tightened it as firmly as he could tolerate without passing out. It had been close, the black spots returning in Mardi Gras proportions, but he had done it. His mantra bounced back and forth in his head.
Now, finally, he was standing, his vest half re-fastened over his chest, his step hesitant and unsure.
Damnit, O'Neill, you are not going to be any good to anyone if you can't stand on your own two feet.
He took one step. Another. Yet another.
A scream rent the air.
*********
Time waits for no one, and there is never enough of it.
You can plan, scheme, and devise all you like, but in the end, time will always win.
It is very patient.
*********
It was the voice of a woman. And there was only one woman on this planet.
He had never heard her scream before.
Screw walking. He ran.
By pure will alone, he forced his legs to move. Lifting one foot above the other, putting it down, firmly and as quietly as he could.
There was no pain. The body was not his, only a means of transportation.
Unfortunately no one had informed his body of that fact.
**********
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
**********
He awoke with a gargled scream.
His senses came online with a gasp. There was fire. There was smoke. There was sound.
But most of all there was pain.
Something solid came in contact with his gut. Something burning.
He screamed.
The smell of his own burning flesh curled up his nostrils.
Regaining his senses, he was able to see through agony-induced tears. A single creature stood in front of him, a burning brand in its small hand that had obviously been in contact with his gut. A brutal attempt at cauterization. It was grinning at him, all of its several hundred teeth glinting in the smoky light.
And everything was sideways.
He was tied to a rough hewn pole, trussed up like a Sunday roast, and hung between two supports. Flashbacks of old B-grade movies came to mind. Scenes of the jungle explorers captured by the local natives and strung up to be carried. Or Luke Skywalker and Han Solo in the Return of the Jedi except he had no damn fancy Force to play with, and had the added bonus of a gaping hole in his gut.
The lone creature, which resembled a cross somewhere between an Asgard and a Gremlin, looked him up, down, and sideways, the glowing brand in his hand waving in front of his eyesight like a promise of future pain. Gremlin-boy made some sort of satisfied grunt and turned away.
Jack's eyes followed the alien as he made his way between several other bodies.
His team.
Carter was strung up beside him, Teal'c just beyond her. The smoke in the air stung his eyes.
Daniel was a bit further off, and had had his jacket and shirt removed. The white of his skin stood out stark in the fading light.
The alien set his brand to the brush beneath the archaeologist and a fire started.
Oh, god.
No.
Jack struggled with his bonds as the flame around Daniel grew. God, no, this couldn't be happening.
The gremlins had tied him like professionals. He wrenched, he yanked, he tried desperately to free himself in order to prevent what was about to happen. He drew blood, both through splinters and friction, his arms sliding his bonds marginally down the pole. He flung his body around, attempting to over balance the flimsy looking structure he was tied to - apparently it wasn't as flimsy as it looked. In the end, as the smell of singed BDUs started to waft across the clearing, he resorted to teeth.
The bindings were leather, probably from some other unfortunate victim. They tasted foul, and his arms screamed as he pulled his mouth close enough to do some damage. Pure desperation lent him some success, and as the first scent of burning hair made it to his nose, he chewed through the first of his bonds.
One was all he needed.
Spitting on the ground, he renewed his wrenching, the bindings loosening at every yank. Then his hands were free, and clinging to the pole. He reached down to start on his feet and came face to face with Gremlin-boy.
The alien simply smiled at him.
O'Neill didn't smile, he simply lashed out. One hand, one neck, one dead alien. O'Neill didn't even pause.
Feet freed, he let himself to the ground, and was on his feet and moving as fast as his debilitated state would allow.
He didn't attempt to untie Daniel, he simply pushed him away from the flame, and the archaeologist fell to the ground beside the fire.
Jack knew he wouldn't remain undiscovered for long, and he desperately looked around for a weapon of some sort. A pile of green at the edge of the clearing caught his eye. He made a beeline for the discarded equipment, and was rewarded with a P90, probably Carter's, a knife, and the solid support of Teal'c's staff weapon.
He turned back towards Daniel and was confronted by five gremlins. They did not look pleased.
Gun in one hand, staff weapon in the other, he gestured, warning them off. The breeze continued to waft the smoke throughout the clearing, making his vision hazy.
The gremlins didn't back off, so he fired, killing three of them. The other two got the message, and ran.
He knew his time was short. They would be back. He stumbled over to Daniel, shaking the archaeologist, but getting no response. Damnit, Daniel, he couldn't do this alone. Three members of his team, and he was only one, and an injured one at that.
Daniel moaned. Jack dropped the P90 to the ground, and fumbled with the knife to cut the bindings, and the archaeologist finally stirred.
"Ja-ack?"
"Daniel." A final flick of his wrist and the man was free. He shoved the knife into the archaeologist's hands, not hesitating over possible injuries, there was no time. "Free Carter and Teal'c, we've got company."
And they did. Daniel's eyes darted about momentarily confused, but then fixated on the group of aliens appearing from out of the trees.
A group of small, snarling, very unhappy aliens.
Jack stood up with a gasp of pain, the P90 once again in hand and pointing in the direction of his opposition, and Daniel staggered to his feet behind him, going to the aid of their teammates. More and more aliens made their way into the clearing. All were snarling, all were showing their nasty looking teeth, but all flinched when he gestured slightly with his gun.
Nice.
A little scared are we?
You should be.
**********
If time is relative, does it have an end?
If we perceive time in relation to ourselves, does it end with us?
Does the refrigerator light go off when you shut the door?
**********
They were cornered.
Three humans, two dazed, one almost incapacitated, and one unconscious Jaffa.
Surrounded by hundreds of small, smelly, evil-looking aliens with mean looks on their faces and more teeth than a school of sharks.
It was not looking good.
Teal'c was still unconscious. It was obvious that it had taken more effort on the part of the bad guys to take the Jaffa out, his body looked they had used it for a pin cushion. He was down and he wasn't getting up anytime soon. Jack just had to pray it wasn't permanent. Carter and Daniel had managed to haul him up between them so they were mobile, but for the moment they weren't going anywhere.
Daniel and Carter seemed for the most part to be okay other than dazed, and Jack had managed to maneuver their little group into range of the discarded packs, so they had grabbed a zat each. Jack hung onto Teal'c's staff weapon for support and his P90 for effect while stuffing a grenade into each pocket.
The aliens did not like his P90 one bit. They flinched when he moved it, and they backed off when he pointed it at any of them, their golden amber eyes broadcasting their anger and frustration. These guys had some sort of dart weapon, Jack knew, and he had to keep his eye on every single one of them, and impossible task at best. It was a stand off.
He could see only one way out. They were going to have to make a run for it.
The hole in his gut had stopped bleeding, the little alien with the hot poker had seen to that, but he was hardly up to the Olympics. Couldn't be helped, he would just have to make the most of it.
Flicking a quick glance at his team behind him, he signalled with his eyes their exit point from the clearing before turning back to his audience.
"Guys, thanks for the invite to dinner, but we've made other plans." They froze at his voice, and suddenly the clearing was eerily quiet.
The sound of a pin drop.
The whistle of an object flying through the air.
SG-1 turned and ran for their lives.
**********
Every dog has its day.
Everybody has their two minutes of fame.
If now is the time, then where is yesterday?
**********
The whip of branches on his face, the sting of bloodless welts. He hobbled, he stumbled, but he moved. He took the team's six, and sprayed bullet after bullet into the pursuing enemy. It became mechanical after a while. Stagger a few steps, turn and fire his P90, stagger a few more, avoid incoming missiles consisting of darts, spears, and every size rock between pebble and boulder, and keep on staggering.
His breathing came in gasps, once or twice reducing him to coughing, blood spraying over the ground in front of him. They had to keep moving. The grenade had taken some of them, but certainly not enough to reduce the threat to his team.
Carter and Daniel continued to drag Teal'c ahead of him, each darting worried looks at him every two seconds or so. Every now and again a gremlin would get too close, and would be enveloped in a flash of zatfire, the song of the adopted goa'uld weapons, music to his ears.
Halfway to the stargate, he ran out of bullets. The sound of Teal'c's staff weapon replaced the sharp chatter of his automatic. Unfortunately he now no longer had the support of the staff to lean on, and he stumbled more than once.
He kept killing, and they kept coming. More and more seemed to appear out of nowhere, but the gate was close, he could see it through the trees. Not much further, they could make it.
Suddenly a tree root caught his foot, and he fell.
They were on him like flies on a carcass.
**********
What's the time, Mr. Wolf?
**********
They bit him.
At close range the staff was useless as a projectile weapon, but it was damn efficient as a club. Jack had spent several sessions with Teal'c in the past learning the fine art of Jaffa self defense, and the staff weapon was no small part of that. Weak though he was, he still managed to fling dozens of the gremlins off himself even as each movement turned the phantom knife in his gut. But try as he may there were just far too many of them.
One sunk its teeth into his ankle, as another attempted to take a chunk out of his ear, and he realised as they latched on - they weren't attempting to maim, they were trying to eat.
He let out a hoarse yell, struggling with dozens of bodies eager for lunch, their combined weight driving him repeatedly back to the ground. Then the staff weapon was gone, wrenched from his hands. He fought back with his hands and feet, but soon they, to, were ensnared by the aliens.
The gremlins began to gnaw. Colonel tartare.
Somewhere a tooth grated on bone.
He tried to yell, but hands clamped over his mouth, and a single face appeared in his vision, close enough to block out all the others. Amber eyes glinted between leathery lids, and a snarling mouth decorated the face with teeth. A gurgling hiss issued from its throat as it raised a wooden spike above its head and brought it down hard.
And he knew.
It was time.
***********
Light danced in his head. A pretty blue rainbow of light. It sung. It danced. It made the boogeymen go away. He basked in it, letting its colour touch every extremity.
But everything must come to an end, and eventually the light faded, the music lost its voice, and oblivion turned to pain.
A voice called his name.
"Jack!" The world moved. "Jack, come on, you stubborn son of a bitch, wake up!" A force gripped his jacket and the world swayed into the vertical. Wha? Daniel? He opened his eyes.
A blur. "Daniel?"
"C'mon, Jack, you can do this for me."
There was support under one arm and his feet were being forced into motion. Walk? He could do that. He tried, but someone had lined his boots with lead.
There was a sudden flash of familiar blue light, and the air sung again. Zatfire! It lit up the forest in an almost continual stream of brilliance. And at its source stood a defiant Samantha Carter, her form backlit by the beautiful glow of the stargate's active wormhole.
"Jack, you can do it. One foot in front of the other. C'mon, get your ass in gear, O'Neill."
He tried, he really did. But something was not right. Some part of his body refused to forward on the commands to his feet, and Daniel mostly dragged him along, cursing the entire way. God, Daniel, I know you're a linguist, but come on, even I wouldn't use some of those.
Suddenly there were steps in front of him. You want me to what?! Stairs?! The world wobbled as he found himself forced to ascend the rocky steps. He stumbled, tripped, and fell hard on the rocky slope, taking Daniel with him.
"Godamnit, Jack! On your feet, soldier!" Arms grabbed him and he was propelled forward, plummeting into eternity as the wormhole swallowed him whole.
**********
Stars sing, did you know that? An ultrasonic song, speaking of life, death and the ages, coursing out of the passageway between event horizons.
He could have listened to it forever.
But he didn't have time.
**********
His feet hit the ramp, his knees buckled, and his spine followed, bringing his face to an abrupt stop on the hard metal grating. A brief thought of requisitioning something soft to lay at the bottom o the stargate wandered across his mind - not for the first time.
The clatter of boots on the grating beside his ears caused him to flinch, but he had no energy to move, and as the wormhole snapped out of existence he found himself quite happy to stay where he was.
But they wouldn't let him.
"Colonel?"
Ah, Janet, the star of his little parade had arrived. A hand touched his shoulder.
Nope, he didn't want to move. Movement meant pain, and he was content to lie still for the moment.
"Jack?" Daniel, wondered where he had gotten to. Carter? Teal'c? The sudden need to assess his team's safety drove his head up and he came face to face with Janet Fraiser - just moments before his body registered the movement and the pain shut down his brain.
**********
Fade in.....
Sounds.
Panic.
Voices yelling.
Touch.
Hands on skin. Cold, cold metal.
The hiss of air. The cloying confinement of plastic on his face.
Pain.
Pain.
Gripping, tearing.
Paaaaaaaaaain.
Oh, god. Pai-
Fade out.....
**********
Fade in.....
Sounds.
Clunking of metal. Beeping of machines. The soft drip of liquid.
Heels on concrete.
Reassurance.
Fade out.....
**********
Fade in.....
Hot.
Damp.
Voices.
Whispers.
"How long?"
"I don't know. We haven't been able to identify the bacteria involved."
"Will he make it, Doctor? That is what I need to know."
"I don't know, General! He's fighting it, but whether or not he is going to win that fight....I don't know!"
Rustle of fabric.
"I'm sorry, Janet."
"I'm fine, sir. I'm sorry, it's just..."
"I know. Keep me informed."
Footsteps.
Doc?
Fading....
Doc?
Fade out....
**********
Fade in...
Snarling face.
Teeth like razorblades. Cutting, tearing. Eyes, golden, staring, promising. Hunger.
Struggle in the heat.
Escape.
Must escape.
Escape, escape, escapeescapeescapeescapeescapeescaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaape....
Hands, rough, holding, restricting.
No! No, no, no, no, noooooooooooooooooooo....
"Jack!"
Daniel?
"Jack!!"
Help me.
"Jack, you're safe."
Help me.
Please.
Fade out.....
***********
Fade in....
Limp.
Tired.
Hot.
Teary.
Whispers in the dark.
"Godamnit, Jack, don't do this."
Daniel?
"You are one hell of a pain in the ass, but one I've grown use to. Don't you dare make me break in a new Colonel." Pause. A breath. "It just wouldn't be the same."
Pressure on the bed.
Soft touch of a hand.
"Da-"
"Jack?"
Fade out.....
***********
Time.
It comes, it goes.
It is allotted, it is taken.
It is not his own.
But he hasn't finished with it yet.
***********
"Jack?"
Huh?
"Come on, Colonel. Time to wake up."
Go away.
"O'Neill, your presence is required."
Wha? He flung his eyes open. A fuzzy image cleared to the form of Teal'c standing at the end of his bed.
"Jack?"
He turned his head. Daniel stood with Janet and Carter. "Welcome back, sir."
He opened his mouth to reply, but only a hoarse gasp came out. Janet offered him some ice chips, gently placing them in his mouth, their coolness melting on his tongue.
He tried again. "Where have I been?"
"Don't you remember, Colonel?" Janet's chocolate brown eyes queried him, ever alert for his responses.
Jack thought back. A planet. Well, it was always a planet. Flashes of faces, trees, plants, fire.....teeth. He shuddered, his eyes latching onto those of his team, seeing the truth floating there. Those aliens had had a hunger.
His eyes flickered back to Janet. "Janet?"
"You're going to be fine, sir. There were some rough spots courtesy of some alien bacteria, but I expect a full recovery." She half smiled. "If you stay in bed and do exactly as I tell you."
It was at this point that he suddenly realised that he was swathed from head to toe in bandages like some reject from the Mummy movies. He wanted to ask but the words wouldn't come....he was so tired.
A hand touched his shoulder. "Sleep, Colonel, you need it."
Never one to disobey an order unless absolutely necessary, he drifted off.
He could ask later.
He had time.
**********
FIN.
For Twitch
By Gumnut
9 - 21 Dec 2003
Click.
It was a quiet sound, barely heard above the everyday noise of the jungle.
But he heard it.
And knew.
It was time.
**********
Time can have many meanings.
We spend time daily. We waste it, we savour it, we pay for it. But time is finite, and we only have so much. And so much can depend on what we do with it.
**********
Blood.
Blood spattered on leaves. The simple fronds of ferns drooping under the weight of glistening liquid.
Something blocked out his sight. He blinked, only to find that his eyelids had been the obstruction.
They drooped again, but he forced them open, his instincts singing.
Where was he?
He moved his head, but only encountered green. Many shades of green. Dark, ovate leaves shone dully. Delicate ferns arched in endless waves of lace. And far above him, a sun sparkled between the branches of the trees, creating daytime starlight that flickered as the forest moved in the breeze.
The starlight was peppered with black spots, and his sight faded in and out.
What?
He raised a hand to his head, and was surprised at how heavy his arm had become. He found something wet on his cheek, and he smeared it, his fingers coming up red in front of his eyes.
Blood?
Huh?
His hand fell with a thud to the forest floor, a small puff of dirt exploding in counterpoint to its impact.
And something rustled in the undergrowth.
*********
Time can be a great gift.
Time can be a curse.
Time may have a deadline, but a death will always need a timeline, and all that matters is when that timeline comes to an end.
**********
His body reacted instinctively, without thought. He tried to move.
And found he couldn't.
His world exploded in pain.
Ohmigod!
Was that his voice?
Birds, startled from their roosts, flapped amongst the trees, their cries echoing his.
He coughed out the pain, his throat choking on itself. The tree starlight above him wavered and ran in rivulets. His eyelids fluttered.
No, he had to stay awake.
There was something.
Something.
Or someone.
He reached a tentative hand down, down towards his waist, fearing what he would find there. His fingers hit something hard, and his fingernails scraped across wood. Searching by touch he found where the wood met his body.
It was warm.
It was damp.
It was him.
His hands came back red.
Shit, O'Neill, what have you done to yourself this time?
"Jack?"
**********
There was a time...
Once upon a time....
As time goes by...
The time that is now will never come again.
**********
The voice startled him.
Where?
Radio.
He reached a wet hand to his chest and fumbled with the button. He attempted to speak, but only a wet, unintelligible gurgle issued from his throat. He swallowed and tried again.
"D...Daniel?"
"Jack? You okay?"
"Uh?"
The black spots had returned. He watched them dance lazily above him, idly following one here and there as they pirouetted from tree to tree.
"Jack?"
Daniel? He looked around for the archaeologist. There was only green.
"Jack? Can you hear me?"
Yes, Danny, I can hear you.
"Jack, I'm coming."
Coming? Yes, something was coming. The undergrowth rustled again, but he knew it wasn't Daniel.
And he knew he wasn't alone.
*********
Time heals all wounds.
Except those that kill you.
In which case, time turns to dust.
**********
It was there, but it didn't reveal itself.
It was waiting.
And Jack feared what it was waiting for.
A sudden crunch of leaf litter and breaking twigs under foot, and Daniel Jackson burst into his world.
"Oh, my god, Jack!"
The archaeologist fell to his knees beside him, and Jack heard his joints crack.
"Hi, D..Danny." Jack attempted to smile, but the sight of Daniel's face swimming in and out of focus only made him feel ill, and the smile turned into a grimace.
"Jack, how...?" Daniel fumbled with his radio. "Sam? Teal'c?"
The faint answers of his team were suddenly overlaid by a scuffling sound. A horrid face appeared behind Daniel's shoulder, and before Jack could alert his friend, it snarled, and Daniel fell forward with a sigh, his body collapsing on top of Jack.
Jack gasped in a breath of agony as Daniel's weight came down on his injury, the scent of the man's aftershave filling his nostrils. The world faded away for a while.
***********
Time ticks.
Time fades.
Time passes.
**********
"Daniel?"
Another voice.
Carter.
He was staring up at the daylight starlight again. What? Hadn't Daniel been here?
He looked around. No, no Daniel. Dream?
But his eyes caught sight of one object that confirmed it a reality. A pair of glasses lay discarded in the dirt to his left, the absence of their owner all the more ominous for their presence. Daniel?
His voice came out as a croak, and something gurgled in his throat. He spat, his head spinning, and watched a spray of red droplets arc up above him before scattering into the air and falling to the ground. Wetness landed on a bare hand.
"Daniel? What's happened? Are you there?"
No, Daniel isn't here, Carter. They took him.
They?
Oh, god. The face. The face that appeared over Daniel's shoulder. It had taken him. Taken a member of his team.
"Colonel?"
Carter?
"I'm locating your position. If you can hear me, Teal'c and I will be there as soon as we can."
Carter! No, she shouldn't come!
His hand reached for his radio. "C...arter, no." Barely a whisper.
"Sir?" She paused. "Sir, we're coming."
"No." No, no, no, no, no,no,no,nononononono.....
**********
Time.
Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millennia.
But in the end only a second will matter.
**********
A moment of clarity.
They were after his team.
They wanted food.
And he was bait.
He had stumbled across them in his search for the fate of SG-6. What he had found had been conclusive. What he had found had brought up lunch, last night's dinner, and yesterday's breakfast. Even a seasoned soldier like himself had his limits.
The perpetrators were small, no taller than an Asgard, but stockier with wide mouths and a hell of a lot of teeth. Brown and green mottled skin made them hard to see in the brush, and they were nasty little critters. He thought they hadn't seen him. He had been wrong.
He hadn't been quick enough. Hadn't been quick enough to inform his team. Hadn't been quick enough to duck. Hadn't been quick enough to escape their trap.
His hand felt around the wooden spike embedded in his gut. They hadn't set out to kill, only to maim. They needed him alive to attract further prey. To use their natural instinct to protect help one another to their detriment.
Bastards.
A brief flash of memory. A member of SG-6 strung up like a Thanksgiving turkey, skin taught from burning.
Daniel.
Sam.
Teal'c.
Oh, god. No.
So, O'Neill what you think you're gonna do about it?
What?
What he always did.
He reached down, his hand caressing the wooden means of his impalement.
**********
Time is like a river. It winds its way amongst our lives feeding the stream of life.
Memory is a boat that can only float upstream.
The river drains into eternity.
**********
Birds only recently settled were once more frightened into flight at the sound of his voice. It was the sound of splintered wood on flesh. He stared at the foot long spike that had pinned him to the ground, its point encrusted with the soil from beneath his body.
The wood clattered to the forest floor.
He didn't want to look.
But he had to.
So much depended on him.
He made his first attempt to sit up. The world blanked out in a flash of white hot agony. Okay, not a good idea. His vision swam once again.
"Colonel?!"
Carter, again.
Warn, must warn.
The hand that came up to his radio trembled, and was caked in half dried blood. "C..Carter?"
"Sir?! What happened?"
"H..had a li..little problem." He coughed, spitting blood everywhere. God, that couldn't be good. He screwed up his face as the pain in his chest took his mind and squeezed. Ah, shit. He gasped, desperately attempting to straighten out his breathing in order to say the urgent words. "C..arter, h..ostiles. Number un...known. D...Daniel captured."
"Oh, god, sir. You're hurt! We're nearly there."
"No, D..aniel. Get Daniel! Can...nibals!"
The gasp at the other end of the connection was enough to reassure him that Carter and Teal'c would go after Daniel first. True, literally speaking, the aliens weren't being cannibalistic by eating Humans, but the word had the desired effect, and he was just too damned tired to try and explain.
He sighed, letting his hand drop, and was surprised when it brushed against his sidearm. He still had his weapon? Damnit, O'Neill, straighten your head out! That should have been the first thing you looked for. You could have defended Daniel! He cursed himself repeatedly. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
O'Neill, sitting here, waiting for death is not going to help your team. Get your ass off the ground!
If only MacKenzie could see him now.
He rolled himself slowly sideways, managing to bite through his lip in the process. He spat more blood onto the ground, but now on his elbows, he levered his legs under him and pushed himself to his knees.
He nearly ended up flat on his back again. He hugged his arms to his chest, praying he wouldn't pass out.
Fortheteam, fortheteam, fortheteam, fortheteam,......it became a mantra. If they came to attempt to rescue him, they would be captured themselves. He had to get out of this on his own.
Speaking of capture....
His movement had been noticed. There was a rustle in the underbrush. He grabbed his beretta, as an alien jumped out in front of him, snarling. He didn't ask any questions, he just fired point blank.
Result? One dead alien.
He stared at it. Yep, definitely an ugly bastard.
There was another rustle, and another alien promptly joined the other.
Hmm, bright, but not overly.
The forest was silent except for its usual forest sounds, but O'Neill would not let himself relax.
Because if he relaxed it would be in death.
**********
Like sands through the hourglass....
Rock around the clock....
If you don't tell, time will.
**********
The bark of the tree was rough against his cheek, but it was all that was holding him up. His hands clung to the fibrous growth, desperate for grip as he slowly got his feet under him. He shouldn't be standing. He could almost hear Fraiser screaming in his ear.
He had managed, inch by agonising inch, to take off his jacket in order to wrap the material firmly around his waist. Hopefully to stop the bleeding, but also to hold in parts of himself he had no wish to see.
He had tightened it as firmly as he could tolerate without passing out. It had been close, the black spots returning in Mardi Gras proportions, but he had done it. His mantra bounced back and forth in his head.
Now, finally, he was standing, his vest half re-fastened over his chest, his step hesitant and unsure.
Damnit, O'Neill, you are not going to be any good to anyone if you can't stand on your own two feet.
He took one step. Another. Yet another.
A scream rent the air.
*********
Time waits for no one, and there is never enough of it.
You can plan, scheme, and devise all you like, but in the end, time will always win.
It is very patient.
*********
It was the voice of a woman. And there was only one woman on this planet.
He had never heard her scream before.
Screw walking. He ran.
By pure will alone, he forced his legs to move. Lifting one foot above the other, putting it down, firmly and as quietly as he could.
There was no pain. The body was not his, only a means of transportation.
Unfortunately no one had informed his body of that fact.
**********
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
**********
He awoke with a gargled scream.
His senses came online with a gasp. There was fire. There was smoke. There was sound.
But most of all there was pain.
Something solid came in contact with his gut. Something burning.
He screamed.
The smell of his own burning flesh curled up his nostrils.
Regaining his senses, he was able to see through agony-induced tears. A single creature stood in front of him, a burning brand in its small hand that had obviously been in contact with his gut. A brutal attempt at cauterization. It was grinning at him, all of its several hundred teeth glinting in the smoky light.
And everything was sideways.
He was tied to a rough hewn pole, trussed up like a Sunday roast, and hung between two supports. Flashbacks of old B-grade movies came to mind. Scenes of the jungle explorers captured by the local natives and strung up to be carried. Or Luke Skywalker and Han Solo in the Return of the Jedi except he had no damn fancy Force to play with, and had the added bonus of a gaping hole in his gut.
The lone creature, which resembled a cross somewhere between an Asgard and a Gremlin, looked him up, down, and sideways, the glowing brand in his hand waving in front of his eyesight like a promise of future pain. Gremlin-boy made some sort of satisfied grunt and turned away.
Jack's eyes followed the alien as he made his way between several other bodies.
His team.
Carter was strung up beside him, Teal'c just beyond her. The smoke in the air stung his eyes.
Daniel was a bit further off, and had had his jacket and shirt removed. The white of his skin stood out stark in the fading light.
The alien set his brand to the brush beneath the archaeologist and a fire started.
Oh, god.
No.
Jack struggled with his bonds as the flame around Daniel grew. God, no, this couldn't be happening.
The gremlins had tied him like professionals. He wrenched, he yanked, he tried desperately to free himself in order to prevent what was about to happen. He drew blood, both through splinters and friction, his arms sliding his bonds marginally down the pole. He flung his body around, attempting to over balance the flimsy looking structure he was tied to - apparently it wasn't as flimsy as it looked. In the end, as the smell of singed BDUs started to waft across the clearing, he resorted to teeth.
The bindings were leather, probably from some other unfortunate victim. They tasted foul, and his arms screamed as he pulled his mouth close enough to do some damage. Pure desperation lent him some success, and as the first scent of burning hair made it to his nose, he chewed through the first of his bonds.
One was all he needed.
Spitting on the ground, he renewed his wrenching, the bindings loosening at every yank. Then his hands were free, and clinging to the pole. He reached down to start on his feet and came face to face with Gremlin-boy.
The alien simply smiled at him.
O'Neill didn't smile, he simply lashed out. One hand, one neck, one dead alien. O'Neill didn't even pause.
Feet freed, he let himself to the ground, and was on his feet and moving as fast as his debilitated state would allow.
He didn't attempt to untie Daniel, he simply pushed him away from the flame, and the archaeologist fell to the ground beside the fire.
Jack knew he wouldn't remain undiscovered for long, and he desperately looked around for a weapon of some sort. A pile of green at the edge of the clearing caught his eye. He made a beeline for the discarded equipment, and was rewarded with a P90, probably Carter's, a knife, and the solid support of Teal'c's staff weapon.
He turned back towards Daniel and was confronted by five gremlins. They did not look pleased.
Gun in one hand, staff weapon in the other, he gestured, warning them off. The breeze continued to waft the smoke throughout the clearing, making his vision hazy.
The gremlins didn't back off, so he fired, killing three of them. The other two got the message, and ran.
He knew his time was short. They would be back. He stumbled over to Daniel, shaking the archaeologist, but getting no response. Damnit, Daniel, he couldn't do this alone. Three members of his team, and he was only one, and an injured one at that.
Daniel moaned. Jack dropped the P90 to the ground, and fumbled with the knife to cut the bindings, and the archaeologist finally stirred.
"Ja-ack?"
"Daniel." A final flick of his wrist and the man was free. He shoved the knife into the archaeologist's hands, not hesitating over possible injuries, there was no time. "Free Carter and Teal'c, we've got company."
And they did. Daniel's eyes darted about momentarily confused, but then fixated on the group of aliens appearing from out of the trees.
A group of small, snarling, very unhappy aliens.
Jack stood up with a gasp of pain, the P90 once again in hand and pointing in the direction of his opposition, and Daniel staggered to his feet behind him, going to the aid of their teammates. More and more aliens made their way into the clearing. All were snarling, all were showing their nasty looking teeth, but all flinched when he gestured slightly with his gun.
Nice.
A little scared are we?
You should be.
**********
If time is relative, does it have an end?
If we perceive time in relation to ourselves, does it end with us?
Does the refrigerator light go off when you shut the door?
**********
They were cornered.
Three humans, two dazed, one almost incapacitated, and one unconscious Jaffa.
Surrounded by hundreds of small, smelly, evil-looking aliens with mean looks on their faces and more teeth than a school of sharks.
It was not looking good.
Teal'c was still unconscious. It was obvious that it had taken more effort on the part of the bad guys to take the Jaffa out, his body looked they had used it for a pin cushion. He was down and he wasn't getting up anytime soon. Jack just had to pray it wasn't permanent. Carter and Daniel had managed to haul him up between them so they were mobile, but for the moment they weren't going anywhere.
Daniel and Carter seemed for the most part to be okay other than dazed, and Jack had managed to maneuver their little group into range of the discarded packs, so they had grabbed a zat each. Jack hung onto Teal'c's staff weapon for support and his P90 for effect while stuffing a grenade into each pocket.
The aliens did not like his P90 one bit. They flinched when he moved it, and they backed off when he pointed it at any of them, their golden amber eyes broadcasting their anger and frustration. These guys had some sort of dart weapon, Jack knew, and he had to keep his eye on every single one of them, and impossible task at best. It was a stand off.
He could see only one way out. They were going to have to make a run for it.
The hole in his gut had stopped bleeding, the little alien with the hot poker had seen to that, but he was hardly up to the Olympics. Couldn't be helped, he would just have to make the most of it.
Flicking a quick glance at his team behind him, he signalled with his eyes their exit point from the clearing before turning back to his audience.
"Guys, thanks for the invite to dinner, but we've made other plans." They froze at his voice, and suddenly the clearing was eerily quiet.
The sound of a pin drop.
The whistle of an object flying through the air.
SG-1 turned and ran for their lives.
**********
Every dog has its day.
Everybody has their two minutes of fame.
If now is the time, then where is yesterday?
**********
The whip of branches on his face, the sting of bloodless welts. He hobbled, he stumbled, but he moved. He took the team's six, and sprayed bullet after bullet into the pursuing enemy. It became mechanical after a while. Stagger a few steps, turn and fire his P90, stagger a few more, avoid incoming missiles consisting of darts, spears, and every size rock between pebble and boulder, and keep on staggering.
His breathing came in gasps, once or twice reducing him to coughing, blood spraying over the ground in front of him. They had to keep moving. The grenade had taken some of them, but certainly not enough to reduce the threat to his team.
Carter and Daniel continued to drag Teal'c ahead of him, each darting worried looks at him every two seconds or so. Every now and again a gremlin would get too close, and would be enveloped in a flash of zatfire, the song of the adopted goa'uld weapons, music to his ears.
Halfway to the stargate, he ran out of bullets. The sound of Teal'c's staff weapon replaced the sharp chatter of his automatic. Unfortunately he now no longer had the support of the staff to lean on, and he stumbled more than once.
He kept killing, and they kept coming. More and more seemed to appear out of nowhere, but the gate was close, he could see it through the trees. Not much further, they could make it.
Suddenly a tree root caught his foot, and he fell.
They were on him like flies on a carcass.
**********
What's the time, Mr. Wolf?
**********
They bit him.
At close range the staff was useless as a projectile weapon, but it was damn efficient as a club. Jack had spent several sessions with Teal'c in the past learning the fine art of Jaffa self defense, and the staff weapon was no small part of that. Weak though he was, he still managed to fling dozens of the gremlins off himself even as each movement turned the phantom knife in his gut. But try as he may there were just far too many of them.
One sunk its teeth into his ankle, as another attempted to take a chunk out of his ear, and he realised as they latched on - they weren't attempting to maim, they were trying to eat.
He let out a hoarse yell, struggling with dozens of bodies eager for lunch, their combined weight driving him repeatedly back to the ground. Then the staff weapon was gone, wrenched from his hands. He fought back with his hands and feet, but soon they, to, were ensnared by the aliens.
The gremlins began to gnaw. Colonel tartare.
Somewhere a tooth grated on bone.
He tried to yell, but hands clamped over his mouth, and a single face appeared in his vision, close enough to block out all the others. Amber eyes glinted between leathery lids, and a snarling mouth decorated the face with teeth. A gurgling hiss issued from its throat as it raised a wooden spike above its head and brought it down hard.
And he knew.
It was time.
***********
Light danced in his head. A pretty blue rainbow of light. It sung. It danced. It made the boogeymen go away. He basked in it, letting its colour touch every extremity.
But everything must come to an end, and eventually the light faded, the music lost its voice, and oblivion turned to pain.
A voice called his name.
"Jack!" The world moved. "Jack, come on, you stubborn son of a bitch, wake up!" A force gripped his jacket and the world swayed into the vertical. Wha? Daniel? He opened his eyes.
A blur. "Daniel?"
"C'mon, Jack, you can do this for me."
There was support under one arm and his feet were being forced into motion. Walk? He could do that. He tried, but someone had lined his boots with lead.
There was a sudden flash of familiar blue light, and the air sung again. Zatfire! It lit up the forest in an almost continual stream of brilliance. And at its source stood a defiant Samantha Carter, her form backlit by the beautiful glow of the stargate's active wormhole.
"Jack, you can do it. One foot in front of the other. C'mon, get your ass in gear, O'Neill."
He tried, he really did. But something was not right. Some part of his body refused to forward on the commands to his feet, and Daniel mostly dragged him along, cursing the entire way. God, Daniel, I know you're a linguist, but come on, even I wouldn't use some of those.
Suddenly there were steps in front of him. You want me to what?! Stairs?! The world wobbled as he found himself forced to ascend the rocky steps. He stumbled, tripped, and fell hard on the rocky slope, taking Daniel with him.
"Godamnit, Jack! On your feet, soldier!" Arms grabbed him and he was propelled forward, plummeting into eternity as the wormhole swallowed him whole.
**********
Stars sing, did you know that? An ultrasonic song, speaking of life, death and the ages, coursing out of the passageway between event horizons.
He could have listened to it forever.
But he didn't have time.
**********
His feet hit the ramp, his knees buckled, and his spine followed, bringing his face to an abrupt stop on the hard metal grating. A brief thought of requisitioning something soft to lay at the bottom o the stargate wandered across his mind - not for the first time.
The clatter of boots on the grating beside his ears caused him to flinch, but he had no energy to move, and as the wormhole snapped out of existence he found himself quite happy to stay where he was.
But they wouldn't let him.
"Colonel?"
Ah, Janet, the star of his little parade had arrived. A hand touched his shoulder.
Nope, he didn't want to move. Movement meant pain, and he was content to lie still for the moment.
"Jack?" Daniel, wondered where he had gotten to. Carter? Teal'c? The sudden need to assess his team's safety drove his head up and he came face to face with Janet Fraiser - just moments before his body registered the movement and the pain shut down his brain.
**********
Fade in.....
Sounds.
Panic.
Voices yelling.
Touch.
Hands on skin. Cold, cold metal.
The hiss of air. The cloying confinement of plastic on his face.
Pain.
Pain.
Gripping, tearing.
Paaaaaaaaaain.
Oh, god. Pai-
Fade out.....
**********
Fade in.....
Sounds.
Clunking of metal. Beeping of machines. The soft drip of liquid.
Heels on concrete.
Reassurance.
Fade out.....
**********
Fade in.....
Hot.
Damp.
Voices.
Whispers.
"How long?"
"I don't know. We haven't been able to identify the bacteria involved."
"Will he make it, Doctor? That is what I need to know."
"I don't know, General! He's fighting it, but whether or not he is going to win that fight....I don't know!"
Rustle of fabric.
"I'm sorry, Janet."
"I'm fine, sir. I'm sorry, it's just..."
"I know. Keep me informed."
Footsteps.
Doc?
Fading....
Doc?
Fade out....
**********
Fade in...
Snarling face.
Teeth like razorblades. Cutting, tearing. Eyes, golden, staring, promising. Hunger.
Struggle in the heat.
Escape.
Must escape.
Escape, escape, escapeescapeescapeescapeescapeescaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaape....
Hands, rough, holding, restricting.
No! No, no, no, no, noooooooooooooooooooo....
"Jack!"
Daniel?
"Jack!!"
Help me.
"Jack, you're safe."
Help me.
Please.
Fade out.....
***********
Fade in....
Limp.
Tired.
Hot.
Teary.
Whispers in the dark.
"Godamnit, Jack, don't do this."
Daniel?
"You are one hell of a pain in the ass, but one I've grown use to. Don't you dare make me break in a new Colonel." Pause. A breath. "It just wouldn't be the same."
Pressure on the bed.
Soft touch of a hand.
"Da-"
"Jack?"
Fade out.....
***********
Time.
It comes, it goes.
It is allotted, it is taken.
It is not his own.
But he hasn't finished with it yet.
***********
"Jack?"
Huh?
"Come on, Colonel. Time to wake up."
Go away.
"O'Neill, your presence is required."
Wha? He flung his eyes open. A fuzzy image cleared to the form of Teal'c standing at the end of his bed.
"Jack?"
He turned his head. Daniel stood with Janet and Carter. "Welcome back, sir."
He opened his mouth to reply, but only a hoarse gasp came out. Janet offered him some ice chips, gently placing them in his mouth, their coolness melting on his tongue.
He tried again. "Where have I been?"
"Don't you remember, Colonel?" Janet's chocolate brown eyes queried him, ever alert for his responses.
Jack thought back. A planet. Well, it was always a planet. Flashes of faces, trees, plants, fire.....teeth. He shuddered, his eyes latching onto those of his team, seeing the truth floating there. Those aliens had had a hunger.
His eyes flickered back to Janet. "Janet?"
"You're going to be fine, sir. There were some rough spots courtesy of some alien bacteria, but I expect a full recovery." She half smiled. "If you stay in bed and do exactly as I tell you."
It was at this point that he suddenly realised that he was swathed from head to toe in bandages like some reject from the Mummy movies. He wanted to ask but the words wouldn't come....he was so tired.
A hand touched his shoulder. "Sleep, Colonel, you need it."
Never one to disobey an order unless absolutely necessary, he drifted off.
He could ask later.
He had time.
**********
FIN.