His chest was burning and he coughed as his lungs struggled to allow him to breathe. His body was under attack again, so he just laid there with his eyes closed waiting for the end.
"Jack," someone called to him. "Are you awake? Jack?"
"His lungs are failing him again," a woman said, as he felt something brush against his lips. "He's coughing up blood."
"Can you do something for him?" asked the man O'Neill identified as Gallagher. He tried to open his eyes, but he was just too weak and couldn't find the strength.
He knew relief when he felt the warmth seeping into his chest, as he realized that someone was using the healing device on him again. He tried to relax to let the device do its job, but the agony hadn't completely left his body and it took too much energy to even try to relax, so he laid there tensely until the warmth left him, the pain still running through him, although not as badly as before.
He tried to open his eyes again and was glad to find that he was able to. The first thing he saw was Gallagher leaning over somebody else and he remembered the woman's voice. "Carter!" he said, struggling to get up.
"No, Jack, lay back down," Gallagher said as he pushed him back to the bed. "Don't move yet, I don't think she was able to finish the job."
"How is she?" O'Neill whispered. The effort it took to get up had weakened him considerably.
"She probably shouldn't have been the one to help you, considering her own problems," Gallagher replied, "but she was the only one around that could even begin to try."
"Is she going to be okay?" O'Neill asked again. He was starting to get pissed here.
"Yes, she is," Gallagher rushed to assure him. Carter took that opportunity to approach the bed to prove him right.
"How are you feeling, sir?" she asked with concern in her eyes. She was wavering slightly, which caused her to quickly sit down on the bed. "I couldn't hold on, sir. I'm sorry."
"I'll get Jacob or one of the other Tok'ra to come help," Gallagher said. "You two just try to relax until they get here."
"No, I'm fine, really I am," Carter said, getting up to try again.
"With all due respect, ma'am, you're lying through your teeth," Gallagher said as he forced her to sit back down on O'Neill's bed. "Just sit here for a little bit, okay?"
Those words angered Carter, causing O'Neill to chuckle as he saw the look on her face. The chuckle turned into a groan as the movement caused even more pain. "Oh man, that hurts," he said, bringing Carter's attention back to him. "Hurts to laugh," he muttered.
"Dad?" Carter said into her radio, her eyes boring into O'Neill's. "The General's coughing up blood and I wasn't able to help him out very much. Can you send someone down here?"
"Sam? What did you do? Did you try to heal him?" Jacob's response came over loud and clear. "Didn't I tell you that you were not well enough to even try? Are you okay? Janun's on his way."
"Yes, to all your questions Dad," Carter said. "And thanks for sending Janun."
"What were you thinking?" Jacob continued to interrogate her over the radio. "You are still suffering from a head wound; possibly a concussion and you go and try to heal.... Sam, so help me," he threatened.
"I love you too, Daddy," she said sweetly as she grinned at O'Neill and Gallagher. O'Neill could just picture Jacob's grin as he did whatever it was he was doing up there.
"Okay, tell me where it hurts," Carter said, "and don't try to play the macho man with me on this. Your life is at stake here and we need to know every detail."
"It hurts to breathe," O'Neill grumbled. She must have been taking lessons from Janet Fraiser. "There is some pain in my arms, particularly my right arm and I think the poison is headed for my head because my throat is starting to hurt."
"Give me the device, Colonel Carter," Janun requested. He must have heard O'Neill's complaints as he immediately held the device over his upper chest to try to heal as much as he could. O'Neill once again felt the warmth seep through him and he closed his eyes to wait for the relief. It came slowly this time around, but he did finally feel the pain disappear as he felt himself falling asleep.
Nirrti was on the run and the Tok'ra, along with the Tau'ri, were determined to keep her from getting away. Gallagher had decided to take a break from hovering over O'Neill and left him in the capable hands of Carter. He hated sitting around waiting, doing nothing, he needed to keep occupied. Promising her he would send Daniel to relieve her, Gallagher made his way to the control room.
The first thing he saw when got there was the scene outside the window. Death Gliders were swarming through space, shooting at each other and at the mother ships of their opponents. Janun had joined the others in the control room and was communication with Ba'al, telling him that he would be willing to help him if he so wished it. Ba'al, being a typical Goa'uld, denied that he needed help from anyone, but of course he did say he wouldn't mind if he opposed Nirrti on his own.
Gallagher saw Daniel standing to one side of the room. In an effort to stay out of everyone's way, he walked over to join him asking, "What's happening?"
"Nirrti is trying to leave the area, but Ba'al has other plans for her," Daniel replied. "I suppose he's going to make an example of her. Selmac has been monitoring their communications and it looks like Nirrti is blaming Ba'al for the attack, while he is blaming her, and both have pretty much forgotten about us."
"That's what we were hoping for, wasn't it?" Gallagher asked.
"Yeah, but it just seemed so easy. Everything is falling into place perfectly and I guess I'm just worried about that," Daniel said with a frown.
"Jack would tell you that not everything went perfectly," Gallagher said quietly, his thoughts going back to his counterpart.
Daniel nodded his head sadly, but didn't respond. They both stood there quietly, lost in their own thoughts while the others watched the battle raging outside the window.
"I wish I could have taken his place this time," Daniel said, as he turned to look at Gallagher.
"I know the feeling, probably better than you do," Gallagher replied, as he nodded his head. "I know what drives him and what makes him do these things, but I am on the outside looking in right now and all I want to do is punch his lights out for doing this stuff."
Daniel's grin surprised Gallagher, because he was being serious. He smiled right back at him though, glad that they were able to relate to each other.
"Carter wants you to go down there to watch over Jack, while she comes up here to help out. I promised her I would send you back down there as soon as I saw you," Gallagher told him.
"I'm on my way," Daniel said, turning to leave. "You okay?" he asked as an afterthought, his expression showing his concern.
"Yeah, I am," Gallagher responded. "Thanks."
Daniel gave him one last look, then left to go give Carter a reason to be up here where the action was.
Gallagher turned to watch the battle, which seemed to be tapering off. Selmac was talking to someone over the communication device and Gallagher caught the tail end of the conversation.
"...ready to transport you at any time. Send a signal when you are ready."
"Wait a minute," Gallagher said worriedly. "Who are you talking to? Don't tell me you invited Ba'al up for a visit." What was going on here?
"We had an operative on Nirrti's Ha'tak," Selmac said. "We will be transporting her here before Ba'al destroys the ship."
Gallagher nodded in understanding as he continued to watch the battle. "Should we launch a couple of Death Gliders to help defeat Nirrti?" he asked. "God!" he exclaimed as his eyes widened. "I can't believe I just said that! Imagine me, wanting to help Ba'al." The whole idea defied logic, he thought, as he started to worry about his sanity again.
"I believe that would be a step in the right direction," Teal'c agreed. "Ba'al may choose to leave us alone if we assist him. I will pilot one of the Death Gliders."
"So will I," Gallagher volunteered. "I want it known that I am not doing this to help Ba'al out though," he assured them. "I am merely helping to get rid of Nirrti. That's all."
"C'mon Jack," Jacob goaded. "We all know why you really want to do this. How long has it been since you've flown anything?"
"Three years too many," Gallagher said disgustedly, as a signal came through the Tok'ra communication device.
Janun ran from the room to meet his comrade at the transportation rings, passing Carter as she walked in. "What's going on?" she asked.
"We're bringing up the Tok'ra operative from Nirrti's ship," Jacob replied, "and those two," he pointed at Gallagher and Teal'c, "are planning to take a couple of the Death Gliders out for a ride to help Ba'al out." This last remark was aimed at Gallagher, who promptly glowered at Jacob.
"How's Jack?" Jacob continued, as he grinned at Gallagher.
"He's still sleeping, but he is definitely going to need us there full-time. I'm glad that we have another Tok'ra who can help us heal the damage," she said, clearly still worried about the General.
"He will survive this," Teal'c said with conviction. "Of that, I have no doubt."
Gallagher was raring to go, "C'mon, Teal'c, Let's go kick some Goa'uld ass!"
The Death Gliders were completely operational and Gallagher was in his glory as he maneuvered one of them out of the Ha'tak. This was one of the reasons he re-joined the Air Force. He loved to fly, and although he didn't have too many chances to do so while he was with the SGC, the opportunity did present itself once in awhile. He pushed away the memory of being stranded on a ship, along with Teal'c, and brought his thoughts back to the present mission - to destroy Nirrti.
He followed Teal'c as they flew toward Nirrti's fledgling fleet. She only had a handful of Death Gliders left and they were valiantly trying to defend Nirrti's mother ship, failing miserably in their attempts. Ba'al's forces were just too strong for Nirrti and she knew it. She tried to leave the area, only to be stopped by Ba'al's Death Gliders, as they fired their weapons.
Gallagher and Teal'c guided their ships closer to the Goa'uld's mother ship. One of Nirrti's Death Gliders saw them, turned and opened fired. The blast missed as Gallagher dodged it. He turned his ship around toward the Death Glider and fired his own weapon, destroying it. "Yes!" he yelled, before dodging a blast from yet another enemy Death Glider.
He looked around for Teal'c and saw that he was headed for Nirrti's mother ship. Gallagher figured that he'd better cover his friend, so he fired several blasts at the enemy, causing them to turn on him. This gave Teal'c a little leeway, although there were still several Death Gliders that tried to stop him. Ba'al's fighters realized what the two newcomers were doing and provided cover fire to give Teal'c the opportunity to get closer to the mother ship.
Gallagher stayed busy as he steered his ship to alternately allow him to fire then flee. It was on one of his attempts to fire at his attackers that he noticed Teal'c's Death Glider fire at the mother ship, causing it to shudder due to the weakening of the shields during the battle.
Gallagher's eyes widened as he saw a blast of energy from Ba'al's Ha'tak racing toward Nirrti's ship. "T, get out of there!" he yelled into his radio, while turning his own ship away from the inevitable fallout.
He felt the explosion as his Glider reacted to the shock waves that followed him while he raced through space. He worried about Teal'c even as he fought the controls of his ship, trying to steady it so that he could see the aftermath of the explosion.
Gallagher stared in awe at the scene of the crime when he finally got control of the Death Glider. There was nothing left of Nirrti's ship, other than the miscellaneous pieces of metal floating in space. Ba'al's Death Gliders, at least those that had survived the explosion were milling about, probably looking for stray enemy ships. Gallagher couldn't tell if Teal'c was in any of the surviving Death Gliders and he was extremely worried for his friend. He didn't want to risk using the radio in case Ba'al was monitoring communications, so he was relieved to hear Janun's voice over his radio a few minutes later. "Jaffa! This is your Lord Sal'trey," he announced. "You will return to the Ha'tak immediately."
Gallagher steered his Death Glider toward the Tok'ra mother ship, hoping against hope that he would see Teal'c when he got there. His friend had been extremely close to Nirrti's mother ship when it exploded and Gallagher feared Teal'c didn't get out of there fast enough.
"I am returning now, my Lord," Gallagher said into his radio as he eased into the Death Glider bay. He docked the Death Glider and got out, looking around anxiously for any sign of his friend. Carter entered the bay, offering him a smile of relief.
"Teal'c?" he asked when she was close enough to him. He was terrified for his friend and he knew it was showing in his eyes.
She stopped and stared at him, her fear mirroring his own. "We've not heard anything yet," she said.
"Whoo hoo!" Jacob's voice cheered over the ship's intercom. "Get out of the way, he's on his way in!"
Gallagher grinned and grabbed Carter's hand as they both moved out of the cargo area. They stopped when they were safe enough to allow the cargo doors to open and waited for what seemed like hours for Teal'c to land his Death Glider. Their anxiety increased as they waited to find out if he had been hurt.
Gallagher was relieved when Teal'c finally brought in the Death Glider. At least he's alive, he thought, as he watched his friend dock the Glider, then climb out. Carter raced into the bay, followed closely by Gallagher. They were able to catch Teal'c as he fell.