Exposed This story and all themes and ideas contained in said story are the sole ownership of J.L. Scott. Any copyright infringements can be prosecuted in a court of law.

To borrow a phrase: Stargate SG-1 no mine......no money, no sue, please?

The lab was empty of all personnel. The three sedated members of SG-1 didn't require constant supervision anymore, and the midnight shift was a skeleton crew as it was.
Jackie was in her pajamas. She looked across at Sam and Teal'c, their chests rising and falling with their steady breathing. A feeling of severe despair had entered her chest and was lying in her heart, heavier than any stone could ever weigh. She thought back on all that had happened in the recent months, how absurd so much of it was. A car crash, aliens, cryogenic freezing, a secret facility with the power to send people to other planets. It was like some kind of movie, and she felt her part in it only lent to its incredibility.
But her brother's ashen face was not fake. The tubes in his arms keeping him almost comatose were not props for some movie. It was all real, as difficult as it was for her to accept it. It was all real and he was going to die.
"Jack..." Jackie could only shake her head. The words wouldn't come. What was she supposed to say? Goodbye? She couldn't do that. She wouldn't do that.
"You can't leave me behind" she whispered finally, "You promised you wouldn't. I know it was a long time ago. I couldn't have been more than six, but...you did promise. Please...of all of the promises you made, don't break this one. Not this one." She closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and felt something. It was deep within her, and she'd felt it before.
The stone on her chest started to glow. Jackie drew on its power, more and more, until she felt it pulsing through her body, until there was so much of it she had to let it flow out. It left through her fingertips, her palms, and she forced it down ward, forced it to course through Jack's veins. She could feel the drain on her own energy starting to take its toll and still she pulled more from the stone and poured it out through her hands. But it wasn't doing any good. She didn't know how, but she knew it wasn't helping any. This wasn't what it was meant for. This necklace was for battle, not for curing the sick.
But she couldn't stop. She had to keep going. She had to try. Jack had to live.
She collapsed across his chest and when her legs gave way she folded onto the floor. That was how the nurse found her a few hours later. Janet had her moved to a bed in the infirmary and called for Daniel and General Hammond.
"Will she be all right?" Daniel asked, glancing back at her sleeping face.
"She'll be fine" Janet assured him, "She just needs a few hours sleep and she'll be back to normal"
"What was she doing in there, Doctor?" Hammond asked.
"She must've been trying to use the Ferling device to heal the Colonel" Janet answered, "It draws heavily on the user's own body energy. She must've kept it up too long"
"And the Colonel?" Janet shook her head dismally.
"There's no change, sir" she reported, "Whatever she tried, it didn't work. I wish it had"
"So do I, Doctor, so do I" Hammond agreed.
Daniel took a seat next to Jackie's bed to wait for her to wake up. She did eventually, and when she opened her eyes she didn't look any worse for the wear.
"Hey" Daniel said. She closed her eyes again and turned her head the other way.
"It didn't work" he told her.
"I know" she replied, "It was only meant to heal battle wounds, not the sick"
"Janet says you can get up as soon as you eat something" Daniel said, trying to sound optimistic, but Jackie wouldn't partake. It was as if her spirit had been broken. The O'Neill's took untimely deaths badly.
"I don't think I can eat, Daniel" she told him.
"You can't just give up" Daniel warned her, "Jack gave up once and it almost cost him his life" He wasn't sure how much Jack had told his sister about the first Abydos mission and the death of his son. Jackie looked back at him, depression replaced by determination.
"I'm not giving up, Danny" she informed him, "I'm brooding. There's a distinct difference" Daniel had to let his lips curve upwards. Even now she retained her sense of humor. Jack would be so proud. She sighed and pushed herself up into a sitting position.
"I had to try, Daniel" she said, "I figured it wouldn't work, but I had to try"
"I know" Daniel responded, "I wish I had something to try"
"Only makes you feel worse when it doesn't work" Jackie told him.
"Still. At least I could've said that I'd done something" Jackie nodded. She ate the food Janet had left her and got dressed. There was nothing more she could do for Jack or the others, and they'd already established that there was nothing on the jar that would help them. All they could do was wait to be called down to the lab. So they returned to Jack's quarters to wile away the hours. Jackie grabbed up Jack's Gameboy, a toy she had been instantly enthralled with. Jack had gotten her her own and Daniel could recall entire nights where they would just sit around playing them.
Daniel was halfway through "The Once and Future King" and Jackie was into her fifth game when they got the call. They walked slowly into the lab together. Janet had cut back on the team's sedatives, so the three of them were conscious, but just barely.
"Doctor?" Hammond asked quietly, standing over Sam.
"The pathogens have started building up in their brains, sir" Janet reported, "I think that's probably what caused Dr. Carright's epileptic seizure" Sam looked up at them with a confused look on her face. In her drugged state, she didn't really understand what they were saying.
"Mur..derers...release me" Teal'c managed to breath. Hammond turned around to look down at the man who had many times over proven himself loyal and brave.
"We're not trying to kill you, Teal'c" the General told him, "There's nothing we can do" Teal'c didn't respond.
"Jackie?" Jack rasped.
"I'm here Jack" Jackie said with a slight smile for him. She held his hand and he gripped it tightly. All of the sudden he bucked in his bed. Sam and Teal'c bucked too, their eyes rolling backwards. Jackie refused to let go of her brother's hand while he shuddered in his bed, beneath his restraints. Janet and her nurses hurried around, checking vitals and trying to do something, anything, to help the most revered team in the SGC.
Then, just as suddenly as they had started, all three of them stopped. There was no tell tale sound of flat lines, no beeping alarms.
"Doctor?" Hammond asked. Janet was flitting back and forth between computer screens, going over the readings.
"It's stopped, General" she reported, "The pathogens are dissipating"

"What's that mean?" Hammond wanted to know.
"I don't know, sir!" Janet replied.
"Doctor?" a nurse called Fraser over to Teal'c's bed. There was a fine sheen of what appeared to be sweat on his brow, but it was down his arms and across his chest as well.
"Gloves" the Doctor ordered. Someone handed her gloves as the rest of the medical team pulled their own on.
"Sponge this up. Don't get it on your skin. I want it disposed in radioactive bags and sent to Major Carter's lab for analysis" The nurses worked on all three of the patients, soaking up the moisture and securing it in safe bags. It took nearly an hour, Daniel, Jackie and General Hammond just watching and trying to stay out of the way. The last of the guards were leaving with said bags when Sam's eye lids fluttered and she moaned.
"Sir?" she rasped. Everybody crowded around her bed. She squinted against the harsh lights of the lab as she looked up at them.
"What happened?" she asked.
"We aren't sure just yet" Hammond answered, "But you're going to be all right"
"I had the strangest dream. You were all trying to kill me" she shut her eyes and grimaced. "What's a man got to do to get rid of a headache around here?" "Jack!" Jackie ran to his bedside. Everybody else followed. "I had the strangest dream" Jack said, "And you were there, and you were there, and you were there" "Well, you're back in Kansas now Dorothy" Jackie smiled. Teal'c woke up too and later, when they were all a little more lucid, General Hammond explained everything to them. "So it wasn't all a dream" Sam said. "No, Major" Hammond answered. "How interesting" Jack commented, looking at Daniel. His friend didn't reply, but he didn't avert his gaze either. They were all moved into separate rooms to recuperate. It was the next night when Jackie went to visit her older brother by herself. "Hey, how you feeling?" she asked as she pulled a chair closer to the bed. "Like I just had an alien virus invade my brain" Jack answered, "How are you?" Jackie smiled, but it faded. "You scared me" she admitted, "I thought you were going to leave me for a while there" "I promised you a long time ago that I wouldn't leave you behind" Jack reminded her. "I'm glad you kept that promise" Jackie told him. Jack didn't say anything for a moment. There was something else on his mind. "So" he finally started, "You and Daniel, huh?" Jackie had known it was coming. She just nodded. "Yep" she said and waited for him to start the tirade. He didn't and it surprised her. She looked at him. His face may have changed in 20 years, but his eyes were just as young as they'd always been. And maybe a little wiser. "He's a good man" he told her finally. She nodded. "Yes, he is" she said. There was a quiet minute between the two of them. Soon, they both began to develop smiles. They continued to grow right into grins, and before they knew it, they were both laughing.

Look for the "Jackie" conclusion, "What Dreams May Hold" coming out soon!