Title: In the Middle Part 7
Spoilers: None really
Summary: Interlude
Rating: R, themes
Archive: SJD yes
Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue me!
AN: Wow talk about a writer's block! I don't know how else to do this right now so I'll just update with this. I really didn't want the overall message lost…. So bear with it lol!! Minor S&J established I think. Feedback craved! I hope you enjoy!
Daniel, Jack, and Teal'c all felt like they were dying at their first day back at work. They all decided not to let anyone else know that Daniel was sick, and Daniel had to keep up the guise that he wasn't. He wasn't as sick as the day before, he managed to get rid of most of the fever, but his body still left like it had been hit by a truck, and then run over by a car while he was lying in the road.
Jack and Teal'c were still unbelievably sore. Their arms and shoulders ached with every movement, and having to lift large sacks and move them around wasn't helping them much. That, and they had to help Daniel out every so often. He was still a lot weaker than them, and they didn't want anyone to notice it. They could just imagine what Daniel was going through.
Sam left her disguise on. The mud in her hair was starting to become hard, but not too bad yet. And there wasn't much she could do about her swollen face. She didn't want any of the guards to notice that she looked different than last night. Some of the other women she recognized from last night shared sympathetic looks with each other. They were all terrified last night, they could've all died. And no one brought up those who did.
"Teal'c, I've been thinking about what you said last night, about the whole, 'Claiming to be a lord' thingy". They were back in the barracks after their hard day's labor. Daniel was laying down on his bed, paying attention and trying to rest at the same time. Held and Jack were sitting on his bed eating, while Teal'c and Sam sat on hers.
"And what was your conclusion?"
"I think that Held was right. Juest was claiming to be our lord, not serving his lord. I think there's going to be a coup, and we're going to be," she started.
"In the middle," Jack finished.
"You agree sir?"
"I do. I've been thinking about it too."
"As do I."
"So, back to the original question. How do we get out of here?" Held asked.
"Well, we could just wait for another attack and then try to escape then. But wait, Jack, that didn't work too well last time did it?" Daniel asked from above, raising his voice for everyone to hear.
"Yeah, maybe next time you can go and try to make contact. Isn't that in your job description?" Jack shot back, even louder.
"Hey! If something here is going to happen, we need to stay calm and quiet, and work together!" Sam yelled in a whisper, trying to get her team back together.
"Now is not the time to have a disagreement," Teal'c agreed. Jack just rolled his eyes before turning his full attention to what he did best; get out of jail. He just wished he has his card this time.
"Well, hopefully Khnum's troops will attack again sometime soon," Held offered, trying to break the awkward silence.
"Held, I find it most interesting that you do not refer to him as your lord., Teal'c offered.
"I may have lived where many people believed that Khnum is a god, but I was not one of them. Many of these people in here do not necessarily believe it. There is more than one reason for Mentu to throw people in here. You, yourselves, you do not believe that Khnum is a god, yet you are in here. Anyone who opposed Mentu, for any reason what so ever, was thrown in here to rot or die." The spitefulness dripped off of each and every word he spoke. He hated the Gou'uld as much as they did.
"This entire situation, it just isn't right," Daniel muttered from above.
"Daniel, you once told me your world went through this once before. What happened at the end?" Held asked.
"Ok, wow, sum up WWII very quickly. Well, basically Hitler, the leader of the enemy, realized that he was going to loose the war and killed himself. The allies, our side, liberated the camps the prisoners were being held in and tried to save as many people as possible, but some people were walking skeletons. Then, after the war was officially over, a group of leaders put the war criminals, the Nazi's, on trial for the horrors and crimes they committed.
"How many people were killed?"
"All together, about 50 million people," Daniel replied with a sigh.
"Did any of the people manage to escape?"
"Well, many of the Jews managed to hide in attacks or basements in the houses of people who wanted to help. Other's managed to sneak kids off of the trains through vents, or some even managed to forge papers, saying they were allowed to leave the camp and just never returned."
"So, not so easy," Jack offered, listening closely to Daniel.
"No, not so easy." Daniel laid back down.
"I don't know sir. I can't think of anything." Sam sounded defeated.
"What? You? Not being able to think? I'm shocked Major. Just don't worry about it. It'll come when you're not worrying about it." Jack added the fake shock and perched his hand over his heart. He was hoping that it would make her smile, and he was slightly rewarded, but he knew she was doing it so he would feel better. Even know, in the worst of times, she was doing it for him.
"Yes sir."
"Why don't we go to sleep early today? Everyone's had a rough day. Go on, hit the sack." Held rose and bid the team good-night, and Jack laid down and stretched on the bed. Teal'c nodded at them, and climbed up to his bed, not wanting to use Sam's again.
Jack awoke to someone tossing and turning in their sleep. He looked over to see Sam turn over again and again in her sleep. After a moment she seemed to stop, and Jack was going to try to sleep again, if possible. He closed his eyes, and he felt himself slipping away, ever so slowly, falling into the safe, warm, depth of sleep, where he knew he was protected from any harm. Just as he almost forgot the pain in his shoulders, he heard her turn and smack her hand against the side of her bed that made a very loud clanking noise that fully woke him up again.
Grumbling to himself, he ever-so-quietly made his way out of bed. Just because he couldn't sleep doesn't mean the other kids didn't have to wake up, he thought. He sat on the side of her bed, debating on whether or not to wake her. After watching her for a moment, he decided she was alright. As he was about to stand up to go back to his bed, she whipped in her sleep, and the back of her hand whacked his upper thigh and let out a "SMACK!" Her eyes jerked open, surprised with the sound and the contact.
"Sir!" she whispered loudly, not wanting to wake anyone else. He sat for a moment, noticing that she never moved her hand from his thigh. 'If this was a different situation…' he thought grimly to himself.
"Carter! Uh, you kept me up." His words were fast to hear and spouted out of his mouth.
"Um, sorry?" she offered, obviously confused?
"Uh, yeah. You were tossing and turning, I thought I'd wake you up," he offered. He saw her raise her eyebrow, then saw where her hand was on his leg. She lifted it as if it was on a hot stove.
"Sorry, sir." She laid back down so she was flat on her back. After interlacing her fingers and laying them over she ribcage, she looked out of the corners of her eyes and saw her CO, still sitting where she saw him, looking at him.
"Was there something I could help you with?" she asked slowly, starting to feel uneasy.
"Are you ok?" he asked quickly.
"Sure, I'm great."
"Bad dream?"
"Doesn't everyone get them?" she countered. She knew he had to have had his fair share.
"Yeah, usually when something happens." She never replied to his starter, so he continued. "Did something happen?" His voice was deep and quiet, full of concern.
"Oh, other than getting stuck here, having to sew everyday, getting branded, getting beaten up, and nearly being picked to be someone's slave, then no, nothings happened." Her face was completely un-readable. Stone cold and stoic.
"You need some more girlfriends, Carter. You're starting to act like all of us."
"Oh, and now you're insulting me!" she nearly yelled, turning her head away from him.
"Shh! Keep it down!" he hissed. "No, I didn't mean it like that Carter. You've become like us."
"What? Manly? Do I have hair growing on my chest? Or what about on my upper lip? Am I starting to lose my hair in a U shape on my head?" She turned to look at him again. Her voice was the same as if she were asking, "What color is the sky? What's two plus two?" Incredulous, but it got the point across.
"No. You're becoming hard. It's just, I don't know. Daniel's always been Daniel. All whiney and stuff. 'What about the grass Jack? We can't kill the grass! It has feelings too!'" His voice was high and whiney, his hands flapping in the air, making fun of Daniel. "And Teal'c, he'll do whatever it takes to do anything. I think he takes guilt better than I do. Which brings us to me. I'm the dark, shady one, who gives out the horrendous orders that you hate. You, you're the good one. You know the line between me and Daniel, you can call either one of us on a situation. Now, you're becoming more like me and Teal'c."
She sat up half way through his speech, feeling awkward laying down with him talking to her. She sat through his dedication, almost shocked by his words. And she couldn't help what happened next. She turned her head away for a second, and tried to cover up her smile with her hand, but it didn't work. Her silent laughing sent her body moving up and down, and he noticed it.
"What?" he asked, obviously offended.
"Oh, god no sir it isn't you! It's just that two minutes ago, I was asleep, and now, I just sat through one of the deepest conversations I've ever had with you. It's just crazy. Sorry. I don't know. I just guess this place is getting to me," she stammered out quickly. The laughing wasn't meant to be offensive…. His eyes softened after the last sentence.
"Completely understandable Carter." After that, the two just fell into silence. For a bit. Actually, Sam was starting to wonder what the deal was. She was kinda tired.
"Are you ok sir?" she finally asked.
"Sure, I'm great," he mimicked. "This place just kinda makes me hate the military," he added, which shocked her.
"What? You are the military," she reminded him.
"I know, but there are some parts of the job that really suck. War, killing people, giving crappy orders, regulations, you know, stuff like that." He had to look at her for that one word.
"Yeah, they really do." They just shared a look for a moment. It wasn't lustful, or even desire. Just acceptance of what they did - or didn't - share.
"You know what part I hate the most?" she asked him. He just shook his head no, a little nervous. He knew he started it, but he didn't know what else he could say.
"They stopped taco Tuesdays in the mess hall a few weeks ago." She had such a serious look on her face for a moment, he didn't know what to do. After she smiled at him, one of her smiles for him, he laughed with her.
"Try to get some sleep Carter." This talk was good for them. They both needed it to get through the rest of it. It was getting harder and harder every day, he didn't know how much longer they were going to have to stay here.
"You too."
TBC… Feedback craved!
AN: Wow talk about a writer's block! I don't know how else to do this right now so I'll just update with this. I really didn't want the overall message lost…. So bear with it lol!! Minor S&J established I think. Feedback craved! I hope you enjoy!
Daniel, Jack, and Teal'c all felt like they were dying at their first day back at work. They all decided not to let anyone else know that Daniel was sick, and Daniel had to keep up the guise that he wasn't. He wasn't as sick as the day before, he managed to get rid of most of the fever, but his body still left like it had been hit by a truck, and then run over by a car while he was lying in the road.
Jack and Teal'c were still unbelievably sore. Their arms and shoulders ached with every movement, and having to lift large sacks and move them around wasn't helping them much. That, and they had to help Daniel out every so often. He was still a lot weaker than them, and they didn't want anyone to notice it. They could just imagine what Daniel was going through.
Sam left her disguise on. The mud in her hair was starting to become hard, but not too bad yet. And there wasn't much she could do about her swollen face. She didn't want any of the guards to notice that she looked different than last night. Some of the other women she recognized from last night shared sympathetic looks with each other. They were all terrified last night, they could've all died. And no one brought up those who did.
"Teal'c, I've been thinking about what you said last night, about the whole, 'Claiming to be a lord' thingy". They were back in the barracks after their hard day's labor. Daniel was laying down on his bed, paying attention and trying to rest at the same time. Held and Jack were sitting on his bed eating, while Teal'c and Sam sat on hers.
"And what was your conclusion?"
"I think that Held was right. Juest was claiming to be our lord, not serving his lord. I think there's going to be a coup, and we're going to be," she started.
"In the middle," Jack finished.
"You agree sir?"
"I do. I've been thinking about it too."
"As do I."
"So, back to the original question. How do we get out of here?" Held asked.
"Well, we could just wait for another attack and then try to escape then. But wait, Jack, that didn't work too well last time did it?" Daniel asked from above, raising his voice for everyone to hear.
"Yeah, maybe next time you can go and try to make contact. Isn't that in your job description?" Jack shot back, even louder.
"Hey! If something here is going to happen, we need to stay calm and quiet, and work together!" Sam yelled in a whisper, trying to get her team back together.
"Now is not the time to have a disagreement," Teal'c agreed. Jack just rolled his eyes before turning his full attention to what he did best; get out of jail. He just wished he has his card this time.
"Well, hopefully Khnum's troops will attack again sometime soon," Held offered, trying to break the awkward silence.
"Held, I find it most interesting that you do not refer to him as your lord., Teal'c offered.
"I may have lived where many people believed that Khnum is a god, but I was not one of them. Many of these people in here do not necessarily believe it. There is more than one reason for Mentu to throw people in here. You, yourselves, you do not believe that Khnum is a god, yet you are in here. Anyone who opposed Mentu, for any reason what so ever, was thrown in here to rot or die." The spitefulness dripped off of each and every word he spoke. He hated the Gou'uld as much as they did.
"This entire situation, it just isn't right," Daniel muttered from above.
"Daniel, you once told me your world went through this once before. What happened at the end?" Held asked.
"Ok, wow, sum up WWII very quickly. Well, basically Hitler, the leader of the enemy, realized that he was going to loose the war and killed himself. The allies, our side, liberated the camps the prisoners were being held in and tried to save as many people as possible, but some people were walking skeletons. Then, after the war was officially over, a group of leaders put the war criminals, the Nazi's, on trial for the horrors and crimes they committed.
"How many people were killed?"
"All together, about 50 million people," Daniel replied with a sigh.
"Did any of the people manage to escape?"
"Well, many of the Jews managed to hide in attacks or basements in the houses of people who wanted to help. Other's managed to sneak kids off of the trains through vents, or some even managed to forge papers, saying they were allowed to leave the camp and just never returned."
"So, not so easy," Jack offered, listening closely to Daniel.
"No, not so easy." Daniel laid back down.
"I don't know sir. I can't think of anything." Sam sounded defeated.
"What? You? Not being able to think? I'm shocked Major. Just don't worry about it. It'll come when you're not worrying about it." Jack added the fake shock and perched his hand over his heart. He was hoping that it would make her smile, and he was slightly rewarded, but he knew she was doing it so he would feel better. Even know, in the worst of times, she was doing it for him.
"Yes sir."
"Why don't we go to sleep early today? Everyone's had a rough day. Go on, hit the sack." Held rose and bid the team good-night, and Jack laid down and stretched on the bed. Teal'c nodded at them, and climbed up to his bed, not wanting to use Sam's again.
Jack awoke to someone tossing and turning in their sleep. He looked over to see Sam turn over again and again in her sleep. After a moment she seemed to stop, and Jack was going to try to sleep again, if possible. He closed his eyes, and he felt himself slipping away, ever so slowly, falling into the safe, warm, depth of sleep, where he knew he was protected from any harm. Just as he almost forgot the pain in his shoulders, he heard her turn and smack her hand against the side of her bed that made a very loud clanking noise that fully woke him up again.
Grumbling to himself, he ever-so-quietly made his way out of bed. Just because he couldn't sleep doesn't mean the other kids didn't have to wake up, he thought. He sat on the side of her bed, debating on whether or not to wake her. After watching her for a moment, he decided she was alright. As he was about to stand up to go back to his bed, she whipped in her sleep, and the back of her hand whacked his upper thigh and let out a "SMACK!" Her eyes jerked open, surprised with the sound and the contact.
"Sir!" she whispered loudly, not wanting to wake anyone else. He sat for a moment, noticing that she never moved her hand from his thigh. 'If this was a different situation…' he thought grimly to himself.
"Carter! Uh, you kept me up." His words were fast to hear and spouted out of his mouth.
"Um, sorry?" she offered, obviously confused?
"Uh, yeah. You were tossing and turning, I thought I'd wake you up," he offered. He saw her raise her eyebrow, then saw where her hand was on his leg. She lifted it as if it was on a hot stove.
"Sorry, sir." She laid back down so she was flat on her back. After interlacing her fingers and laying them over she ribcage, she looked out of the corners of her eyes and saw her CO, still sitting where she saw him, looking at him.
"Was there something I could help you with?" she asked slowly, starting to feel uneasy.
"Are you ok?" he asked quickly.
"Sure, I'm great."
"Bad dream?"
"Doesn't everyone get them?" she countered. She knew he had to have had his fair share.
"Yeah, usually when something happens." She never replied to his starter, so he continued. "Did something happen?" His voice was deep and quiet, full of concern.
"Oh, other than getting stuck here, having to sew everyday, getting branded, getting beaten up, and nearly being picked to be someone's slave, then no, nothings happened." Her face was completely un-readable. Stone cold and stoic.
"You need some more girlfriends, Carter. You're starting to act like all of us."
"Oh, and now you're insulting me!" she nearly yelled, turning her head away from him.
"Shh! Keep it down!" he hissed. "No, I didn't mean it like that Carter. You've become like us."
"What? Manly? Do I have hair growing on my chest? Or what about on my upper lip? Am I starting to lose my hair in a U shape on my head?" She turned to look at him again. Her voice was the same as if she were asking, "What color is the sky? What's two plus two?" Incredulous, but it got the point across.
"No. You're becoming hard. It's just, I don't know. Daniel's always been Daniel. All whiney and stuff. 'What about the grass Jack? We can't kill the grass! It has feelings too!'" His voice was high and whiney, his hands flapping in the air, making fun of Daniel. "And Teal'c, he'll do whatever it takes to do anything. I think he takes guilt better than I do. Which brings us to me. I'm the dark, shady one, who gives out the horrendous orders that you hate. You, you're the good one. You know the line between me and Daniel, you can call either one of us on a situation. Now, you're becoming more like me and Teal'c."
She sat up half way through his speech, feeling awkward laying down with him talking to her. She sat through his dedication, almost shocked by his words. And she couldn't help what happened next. She turned her head away for a second, and tried to cover up her smile with her hand, but it didn't work. Her silent laughing sent her body moving up and down, and he noticed it.
"What?" he asked, obviously offended.
"Oh, god no sir it isn't you! It's just that two minutes ago, I was asleep, and now, I just sat through one of the deepest conversations I've ever had with you. It's just crazy. Sorry. I don't know. I just guess this place is getting to me," she stammered out quickly. The laughing wasn't meant to be offensive…. His eyes softened after the last sentence.
"Completely understandable Carter." After that, the two just fell into silence. For a bit. Actually, Sam was starting to wonder what the deal was. She was kinda tired.
"Are you ok sir?" she finally asked.
"Sure, I'm great," he mimicked. "This place just kinda makes me hate the military," he added, which shocked her.
"What? You are the military," she reminded him.
"I know, but there are some parts of the job that really suck. War, killing people, giving crappy orders, regulations, you know, stuff like that." He had to look at her for that one word.
"Yeah, they really do." They just shared a look for a moment. It wasn't lustful, or even desire. Just acceptance of what they did - or didn't - share.
"You know what part I hate the most?" she asked him. He just shook his head no, a little nervous. He knew he started it, but he didn't know what else he could say.
"They stopped taco Tuesdays in the mess hall a few weeks ago." She had such a serious look on her face for a moment, he didn't know what to do. After she smiled at him, one of her smiles for him, he laughed with her.
"Try to get some sleep Carter." This talk was good for them. They both needed it to get through the rest of it. It was getting harder and harder every day, he didn't know how much longer they were going to have to stay here.
"You too."
TBC… Feedback craved!