Take a Chance on Me – Chapter 28
Author's note: I want to thank all of my reviewers, especially Clez, who almost single-handedly kept me from losing interest and abandoning this story. I also want to thank you for all of the suggestions and corrections. I haven't been able to work them all into the story, but don't think that they aren't appreciated. Keep them coming!
I must have completely rewritten this chapter eight times; I just couldn't get the pacing right. Well here it is in all its un-beta'd glory. heavy sigh.
Jack was awakened by a weight suddenly thudding on his legs.
Opening his eyes he watched blearily as an SF's struggled to pull Rayne off of the colonel.
"What the hell is going on here?" He shouted in his best badass colonel voice.
"Hi, Jack!" Rayne smiled cheekily as the airman pulled her off the bed.
"Stand down, airman." Jack dismissed in a muzzy voice before turning to his niece. "What's going on?"
She gave him an impertinent smirk, which only served to increase the colonel's bleary bemusement.
Jonas dashed through the door, and stopped by the bed, panting. "Colonel, I planned to tell you, but you weren't in the gateroom." He gasped out.
"What did you plan to tell me?" Jack asked suspiciously before turning to stare at Rayne, her pleasant mood finally sinking into his sleep-deprived brain. She grinned at him more genuinely and petted him on the head.
"Poor Jack. You're having a hard day, aren't you?" She asked as if speaking to a child. She crawled back up onto the bed and sat at Jack's feet.
Jack raised his eyebrows at her before turning to Jonas who smiled sheepishly. "She remembers. I think." Jonas informed him.
"Remembers?" Swinging his legs over the side of the bed to sit up, he looked at his niece, a mixture of emotions flooding over his features. "Rayne?"
An impish grin spread slowly across her face. "Hey Jack. How's it going?" She started swinging her feet back and forth.
Jack warily looked over his shoulder at the doors leading to the OR before turning back to his niece.
The smile slipped from her face. "Evan's in there, isn't he?" She asked him quietly.
Observing the tightened line of Rayne's lips, Jack realized too late that his expression had confirmed her question. "He just got here. That's why the klaxons sounded."
"Through the Chappa'ai?" She asked quietly, but not without curiosity.
Jack winced and Jonas stepped in. "We call it a stargate."
"Ah." An uncomfortable silence followed, Rayne's eyes locked on the hands twisting in her lap. After a moment, however, her expression changed. The discomfort melted and her eyes grew wide as her head turned mechanically toward the doors.
Standing in alarm at the change in demeanor, Jack grasped Rayne's arm. "He's not doing well." She stated dully, eyes widening in fear.
Jack and Jonas shared a concerned look over Rayne's head only to tear it away as she gave a startled jump, the color draining from her face, her arm wrenching out of Jack's grasp.
"What?" Jonas exclaimed.
She shuddered again. "They're shocking him." She replied in a raspy voice, reaching out blindly for his hand. Having recently spent so much time acting as her protector, he reflexively pulled her off the bed towards him, looping his arms around her waist, her back against his chest. She shuddered again less violently.
She stared at the door in silence, her face drained of color. Every few moments she jumped as if suddenly given a shock.
Jonas didn't know what to say. He tightened his arms around her waist in a vain attempt to stop whatever was surging through her.
Jack stared down at her, but she didn't notice. Her eyes were riveted to the door. "Rayne," he began carefully, "How do you know what's going on?"
Rayne turned glazed, disconcertingly unblinking eyes toward him. "Before she left, the symbiote connected us." She drew her eyes back to the door, her fingers tightening around Jonas' arms.
Jack was filled with dread. "Connected how exactly?" He asked in a voice so low as to be nearly a growl.
"If she couldn't have me as a host. She would have him." She turned back to him, her eyes narrowing and her voice turning bitter. "Or else."
Jack licked suddenly dry lips as he stared into the angry eyes of his niece. "Or else what?" He croaked.
He had barely spoken the words when Rayne slumped unconscious in Jonas' arms.
"Time of death, 1426." Dr. Warner said quietly. He switched off the heart monitor and the eerie silence that always seemed to fill a room descended. He pulled off his gloves, allowing them to pull against his fingers, the satisfying snap breaking the deafening silence of the room. He threw them disgustedly to the floor and took a moment to run his hands over his face. He'd have to call Dr. Frasier to cancel the emergency notification. Things had just progressed too quickly.
He hated losing people, especially when they were so young. He knew that this one would be an especially hard blow to morale. After a series of near misses on the planet, to have it end in failure was disappointing at best.
And now he had to go tell a very stressed Colonel O'Neill.
Pulling up his reserves of strength, he walked toward the door and into the short hallway that led to the main infirmary.
He certainly didn't expect to find the scene that lay before him. He immediately went to work, all thoughts about the death of Lt. Trevis quickly pushed to the side for the time being.
He dashed over to the bed where, Rayne O'Neill lay sprawled. Clearly whatever had happened to her had happened within the past few moments; he would have been informed by what staff remained in the infirmary had it been more than that. Plugging his stethoscope into his ears and he called over a nurse and began taking Rayne's vitals. "What happened?" He demanded of Jonas and Jack.
"She just collapsed a few seconds ago. Her pulse is strong, but her breathing is a little off." Jack volunteered urgently.
"She said that she's telepathically connected to Lt. Trevis." Jonas added in an urgent voice, his face blank of emotion, but his insides churned with fear. "He's dead, isn't he?"
Dr. Warner shot him a quick look but turned quickly back to his patient. "Yes." He responded, surprised. "He died a few moments ago."
"About the same time Rayne collapsed." Jack mumbled to himself.
"Let's get the monitors hooked up. I need some help here. Get some people out of the OR. Dr. Frasier should be here any minute. See if you can hurry her through upstairs; we need her here now."
Jack glanced up at Jonas and gestured to the OR as he headed to the door of the infirmary. Loath as he was to leave Rayne, he was the only one with enough clout to hurry Janet along. As much as he trusted Dr. Warner's competence, he trusted Janet that much more.
Jack paced impatiently outside the infirmary. Dr. Frasier had promptly kicked him and Jonas out of the room as soon as she arrived, shouting out test orders the moment she walked into the door. That was almost two hours ago.
"Colonel." Jonas began tentatively. "Do you think we should call her brother?"
Jack's eyes snapped up to look at him. "Why?"
Jonas stared at him curiously. "He's her brother. And he might be able to help."
"How?" Jack snapped. "He has a snake in his head – one that we apparently cannot remove."
"He can also communicate with Rayne telepathically." Jonas returned.
Jack's eyebrows shot up. "He can what? And you didn't think this was worth mentioning?" Sarcasm oozed through his voice.
"Well, I wasn't quite sure – I'm still not - and then things got hectic..."
"Yeah. Okay. So what kind of 'control' are we talking about here?" Jack interrupted.
"I'm not sure, really. They may just be suggestions, but I think he's actually able to 'speak' to her. I suppose it's possible that he even knows what's going on. If that's the case, he may as well be here. We'll never know unless we ask him."
Jack glared furiously at Jonas. He grabbed the nearby wall phone and barked an order for SF's to escort the younger O'Neill to the infirmary. Hanging up the phone he re-dialled. Jonas looked at him warrily.
"Carter!" He barked into the phone a seconds later. "I need you to step up that call to the Tok'ra." He paused to listen. "An hour? No, I need them now." He then explained briefly what was going on, his voice tight. "Just, get them here. Please." He finished, his voice near a whisper.
Jack hung up the phone, his jaw clenching. He picked a waiting room book and hurled it against the wall. He plunked down onto a chair and squeezed his eyes shut running his hands roughly through his hair.
John O'Neill was escorted into the room just as Jack was getting up to pace again. The lieutenant's face was pale and he looked at the colonel with concern.
"What's wrong with her?" John asked in an artificially calm voice.
"The young man who was hosting her snake is dead. She lapsed into a coma." Jack informed him through clenched teeth. "And just how did you know something was wrong?"
John swallowed hard and drew himself up. "Our symbiotes are able to shed minute parts of itself – kind of like receivers - when going to a new host. It allows the new host some control over the former."
Jack's eyes bulged with anger and before the younger man realized what was happening, Jack had him by the collar and was yelling into his face, noses touching they were so close. "YOU DIDN'T TELL US? SHE COULD BE DYING BECAUSE OF YOUR PRECIOUS SNAKE! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"
Clearly cowed, but surprisingly still able to speak, John whimpered out, "I just found out right after the klaxons began blaring, I swear." He turned to face Jack, swallowing hard as if to keep his stomach in check. "My symbiote regained some control; I could barely get it back. It told me what it was going to do." He shuddered. "I heard it laughing in my mind." His eyes took on a distant terrorized look before shaking himself from the memory and continuing. "I was able to communicate with her before, but I didn't know why. Now I know my symbiote was registering that part of hers because their genetic structures are so similar. The symbiotes are the Goa'uld equivalent of identical twins." He sat down heavily in the chair and continued miserably. "I didn't know. And now I can't sense her at all." A hitching sob left his throat and he whispered. "Not at all."
Author's note: I want to thank all of my reviewers, especially Clez, who almost single-handedly kept me from losing interest and abandoning this story. I also want to thank you for all of the suggestions and corrections. I haven't been able to work them all into the story, but don't think that they aren't appreciated. Keep them coming!
I must have completely rewritten this chapter eight times; I just couldn't get the pacing right. Well here it is in all its un-beta'd glory. heavy sigh.
Jack was awakened by a weight suddenly thudding on his legs.
Opening his eyes he watched blearily as an SF's struggled to pull Rayne off of the colonel.
"What the hell is going on here?" He shouted in his best badass colonel voice.
"Hi, Jack!" Rayne smiled cheekily as the airman pulled her off the bed.
"Stand down, airman." Jack dismissed in a muzzy voice before turning to his niece. "What's going on?"
She gave him an impertinent smirk, which only served to increase the colonel's bleary bemusement.
Jonas dashed through the door, and stopped by the bed, panting. "Colonel, I planned to tell you, but you weren't in the gateroom." He gasped out.
"What did you plan to tell me?" Jack asked suspiciously before turning to stare at Rayne, her pleasant mood finally sinking into his sleep-deprived brain. She grinned at him more genuinely and petted him on the head.
"Poor Jack. You're having a hard day, aren't you?" She asked as if speaking to a child. She crawled back up onto the bed and sat at Jack's feet.
Jack raised his eyebrows at her before turning to Jonas who smiled sheepishly. "She remembers. I think." Jonas informed him.
"Remembers?" Swinging his legs over the side of the bed to sit up, he looked at his niece, a mixture of emotions flooding over his features. "Rayne?"
An impish grin spread slowly across her face. "Hey Jack. How's it going?" She started swinging her feet back and forth.
Jack warily looked over his shoulder at the doors leading to the OR before turning back to his niece.
The smile slipped from her face. "Evan's in there, isn't he?" She asked him quietly.
Observing the tightened line of Rayne's lips, Jack realized too late that his expression had confirmed her question. "He just got here. That's why the klaxons sounded."
"Through the Chappa'ai?" She asked quietly, but not without curiosity.
Jack winced and Jonas stepped in. "We call it a stargate."
"Ah." An uncomfortable silence followed, Rayne's eyes locked on the hands twisting in her lap. After a moment, however, her expression changed. The discomfort melted and her eyes grew wide as her head turned mechanically toward the doors.
Standing in alarm at the change in demeanor, Jack grasped Rayne's arm. "He's not doing well." She stated dully, eyes widening in fear.
Jack and Jonas shared a concerned look over Rayne's head only to tear it away as she gave a startled jump, the color draining from her face, her arm wrenching out of Jack's grasp.
"What?" Jonas exclaimed.
She shuddered again. "They're shocking him." She replied in a raspy voice, reaching out blindly for his hand. Having recently spent so much time acting as her protector, he reflexively pulled her off the bed towards him, looping his arms around her waist, her back against his chest. She shuddered again less violently.
She stared at the door in silence, her face drained of color. Every few moments she jumped as if suddenly given a shock.
Jonas didn't know what to say. He tightened his arms around her waist in a vain attempt to stop whatever was surging through her.
Jack stared down at her, but she didn't notice. Her eyes were riveted to the door. "Rayne," he began carefully, "How do you know what's going on?"
Rayne turned glazed, disconcertingly unblinking eyes toward him. "Before she left, the symbiote connected us." She drew her eyes back to the door, her fingers tightening around Jonas' arms.
Jack was filled with dread. "Connected how exactly?" He asked in a voice so low as to be nearly a growl.
"If she couldn't have me as a host. She would have him." She turned back to him, her eyes narrowing and her voice turning bitter. "Or else."
Jack licked suddenly dry lips as he stared into the angry eyes of his niece. "Or else what?" He croaked.
He had barely spoken the words when Rayne slumped unconscious in Jonas' arms.
"Time of death, 1426." Dr. Warner said quietly. He switched off the heart monitor and the eerie silence that always seemed to fill a room descended. He pulled off his gloves, allowing them to pull against his fingers, the satisfying snap breaking the deafening silence of the room. He threw them disgustedly to the floor and took a moment to run his hands over his face. He'd have to call Dr. Frasier to cancel the emergency notification. Things had just progressed too quickly.
He hated losing people, especially when they were so young. He knew that this one would be an especially hard blow to morale. After a series of near misses on the planet, to have it end in failure was disappointing at best.
And now he had to go tell a very stressed Colonel O'Neill.
Pulling up his reserves of strength, he walked toward the door and into the short hallway that led to the main infirmary.
He certainly didn't expect to find the scene that lay before him. He immediately went to work, all thoughts about the death of Lt. Trevis quickly pushed to the side for the time being.
He dashed over to the bed where, Rayne O'Neill lay sprawled. Clearly whatever had happened to her had happened within the past few moments; he would have been informed by what staff remained in the infirmary had it been more than that. Plugging his stethoscope into his ears and he called over a nurse and began taking Rayne's vitals. "What happened?" He demanded of Jonas and Jack.
"She just collapsed a few seconds ago. Her pulse is strong, but her breathing is a little off." Jack volunteered urgently.
"She said that she's telepathically connected to Lt. Trevis." Jonas added in an urgent voice, his face blank of emotion, but his insides churned with fear. "He's dead, isn't he?"
Dr. Warner shot him a quick look but turned quickly back to his patient. "Yes." He responded, surprised. "He died a few moments ago."
"About the same time Rayne collapsed." Jack mumbled to himself.
"Let's get the monitors hooked up. I need some help here. Get some people out of the OR. Dr. Frasier should be here any minute. See if you can hurry her through upstairs; we need her here now."
Jack glanced up at Jonas and gestured to the OR as he headed to the door of the infirmary. Loath as he was to leave Rayne, he was the only one with enough clout to hurry Janet along. As much as he trusted Dr. Warner's competence, he trusted Janet that much more.
Jack paced impatiently outside the infirmary. Dr. Frasier had promptly kicked him and Jonas out of the room as soon as she arrived, shouting out test orders the moment she walked into the door. That was almost two hours ago.
"Colonel." Jonas began tentatively. "Do you think we should call her brother?"
Jack's eyes snapped up to look at him. "Why?"
Jonas stared at him curiously. "He's her brother. And he might be able to help."
"How?" Jack snapped. "He has a snake in his head – one that we apparently cannot remove."
"He can also communicate with Rayne telepathically." Jonas returned.
Jack's eyebrows shot up. "He can what? And you didn't think this was worth mentioning?" Sarcasm oozed through his voice.
"Well, I wasn't quite sure – I'm still not - and then things got hectic..."
"Yeah. Okay. So what kind of 'control' are we talking about here?" Jack interrupted.
"I'm not sure, really. They may just be suggestions, but I think he's actually able to 'speak' to her. I suppose it's possible that he even knows what's going on. If that's the case, he may as well be here. We'll never know unless we ask him."
Jack glared furiously at Jonas. He grabbed the nearby wall phone and barked an order for SF's to escort the younger O'Neill to the infirmary. Hanging up the phone he re-dialled. Jonas looked at him warrily.
"Carter!" He barked into the phone a seconds later. "I need you to step up that call to the Tok'ra." He paused to listen. "An hour? No, I need them now." He then explained briefly what was going on, his voice tight. "Just, get them here. Please." He finished, his voice near a whisper.
Jack hung up the phone, his jaw clenching. He picked a waiting room book and hurled it against the wall. He plunked down onto a chair and squeezed his eyes shut running his hands roughly through his hair.
John O'Neill was escorted into the room just as Jack was getting up to pace again. The lieutenant's face was pale and he looked at the colonel with concern.
"What's wrong with her?" John asked in an artificially calm voice.
"The young man who was hosting her snake is dead. She lapsed into a coma." Jack informed him through clenched teeth. "And just how did you know something was wrong?"
John swallowed hard and drew himself up. "Our symbiotes are able to shed minute parts of itself – kind of like receivers - when going to a new host. It allows the new host some control over the former."
Jack's eyes bulged with anger and before the younger man realized what was happening, Jack had him by the collar and was yelling into his face, noses touching they were so close. "YOU DIDN'T TELL US? SHE COULD BE DYING BECAUSE OF YOUR PRECIOUS SNAKE! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"
Clearly cowed, but surprisingly still able to speak, John whimpered out, "I just found out right after the klaxons began blaring, I swear." He turned to face Jack, swallowing hard as if to keep his stomach in check. "My symbiote regained some control; I could barely get it back. It told me what it was going to do." He shuddered. "I heard it laughing in my mind." His eyes took on a distant terrorized look before shaking himself from the memory and continuing. "I was able to communicate with her before, but I didn't know why. Now I know my symbiote was registering that part of hers because their genetic structures are so similar. The symbiotes are the Goa'uld equivalent of identical twins." He sat down heavily in the chair and continued miserably. "I didn't know. And now I can't sense her at all." A hitching sob left his throat and he whispered. "Not at all."
