Before he opened his eyes he could hear the pitter-patter of rain outside and he slowly opened his eyes to gauge his surroundings. The place looked familiar but he couldn't quite place it, and a familiar voice made him turn his head.
"Welcome back. You've been out for almost an hour. I was getting worried." Sirius stepped forward and handed Jack a chocolate bar.
Jack broke off a piece and popped it into this mouth. "I'd forgotten just how much those damned things effected me."
"Rather like Harry, you are. He's fainted each time he's encountered those bloody creatures."
"Where's my team?" Jack asked as he ran a hand through his graying hair.
"There downstairs getting some rest of their own. I told them I'd watch you for a bit."
Jack nodded and slowly tried to sit up. His body still felt weak and he stuffed another piece of chocolate in his mouth and chewed on it as he dragged himself to a sitting position.
"So you've been hiding in this old place?"
"No one would think to look here. It's haunted after all." Sirius and Jack both laughed, knowing the truth of how the Shrieking Shack came to be thought of as haunted.
"You know Remus is here, don't you?"
Sirius nodded. "I've seen him. I wish I could have told him the whole truth back then. He doesn't even know about Peter. I'm sure he thinks I betrayed James and Lily."
"He does. He came to see me just before the beginning of term and told me as much. Said he wanted to warn me that you'd escaped. As far as he knows, you're here to kill Harry." Jack lowered his head and turned away and Sirius shook his head furiously.
"It's not fair! We all lost so much. Our friends, family, all because of..." Sirius trailed off, the bitterness clear in his voice.
"I know, Siri. It sucks, but there's little we can do about it now. We can't change what happened, but we can try and make it right now."
"How do you suppose we accomplish that?" There was a mocking tone in Sirius voice as he looked Jack square in the eye waiting for a response.
"While I was unconscious, I got an idea. You need help here if you want to try and catch Peter," Sirius shook his head as if to say he wasn't trying to catch him. "Don't even try to lie, Siri. I know you far better than that. You want him dead as much as I do, but to do it you'll need help. My friends and I can do that. At least I'm pretty sure we can. If we can catch Peter then we have a way to save the both of us. He's the only proof that neither of us is guilty."
Sirius nodded as Jack's words began to sink in. They made sense even though part of him wanted nothing more than to kill the sniveling traitor for what he'd done to those he'd called his friends. He listened as Jack unveiled his plan of attack, and nodded in agreement as the rain outside continued to fall.
A few minutes later Teal'c walked up the stairs and stuck his head inside the room to check on his friend. He saw Jack and Sirius taking quietly together and knocked to make his presence known.
"T-Murray." Jack caught himself before he slipped and waved his friend inside. "Where are Carter and Daniel?"
"They are resting downstairs. Are you well?" Teal'c stepped closer and Sirius nodded to both men as he made his exit.
"I'm fine. Good as new." With grin Jack stood up to show that was truly alright.
"We were concerned when you did not awaken as quickly as SiriusBlack thought you would."
"Those damned dementors were a little more than I expected." Jack sighed and sat back down, motioning for Teal'c to join him. "Listen, I need you, Daniel and Carter to help me out with something..."
Jack told Teal'c his plan and the Jaffa nodded in approval and silently left the room to ponder the situation and ready himself and the rest of the team for what was to come.
The next morning Jack and the other woke to find Sirius gone, and as Jack gave them all their orders for his plan to work, they each set out to finish their tasks. It would be a week or so before the plan could be put into place. Jack had found out from Sirius that Peter was hiding from Crookshanks, but Sirius was sure they would soon find the little rat...and they did.
Three days later, with the help of Crookshanks, Jack and Sirius had found Peter, but unfortunately he slipped through their fingers and back into hiding before they could catch him. The plan was nearly perfect, but Peter proved to be more determined than either had anticipated. Jack was set to hatch another plan when his team brought up something he had forgotten.
"Sir, we have to be back on base. There's no way we can stay more than another night."
Carter's words rang in his ears and he bit back a curse. "Maybe I can get Hammond to give me a little more time."
Daniel shook his head at Jack. "He already gave us almost two weeks. He wants us ready to work by the time we get back."
"How do you know that?"
"Jack, we've been in contact with him since we left. We were only supposed to have three days, but he agreed to giving us the rest of this week. While you were busy working with Sirius, we've been telling him we were getting closer to figuring things out."
Jack stared open-mouthed as his teammates nodded back at him. "I...I didn't realize."
"O'Neill, our flight departs at 0900 tomorrow morning. We must go back."
He sighed as Teal'c did his usual eyebrow raise and waited for him to respond. "I can't leave now. We're so close."
"Jack, you have a life outside of this. You've helped me tremendously. I should be able to draw Peter out. He can't stay hidden for too long. Crookshanks and I will be just fine. Go home, if you can then come back, but don't worry about me."
"How can I not worry, Siri. You're surrounded by dementors, trying to catch Peter by yourself." Crookshanks hissed at Jack and he turned to smile at her. "Sorry girl. I guess he's not all alone."
The feline purred softly and Sirius smiled as she moved next to Jack and let him stroke her back. "She seems to have taken to you quite well."
"Are you sure you'll be alright?"
"Like I said. Don't worry. You've done more than anyone else would have. Go back where you'll be safe. I'll send an owl if I really need you."
With a heavy sigh Jack stroked Crookshanks fur one last time and then reached a hand out to Sirius. They shook hands and Jack pulled the wizard into an embrace that startled him.
"I may not be able to come back for a bit, but I will be back to help you. Just stay safe. Don't take any chances that you don't need to."
"No worries, Jack. I'll be fine. Aren't I always?" Sirius grinned wildly and Jack rolled his eyes.
He didn't want to leave, but he knew his life in the States was every bit as important as the life he had here. Risking one for the other wouldn't help him, or anyone else for that matter. Reluctantly he turned back to his team and began to walk away.
It took everything in him to get on the plane the next morning and leave Sirius behind. His heart was screaming that it was wrong and he should stay, but his head told him that he needed to go back, that he owed Hammond and the SGC at least that much.
As the plane took off, Jack closed his eyes and tried to think about anything but the friend he was walking away from. He knew Sirius didn't see it that way, but everything in Jack told him that was exactly what he was doing, and not for the first time.
His eyes drifted shut and an image flashed before him that shook him to the core. There were dementors everywhere, flying above and around Sirius. A boy was leaning over Sirius prone frame, and he was screaming, trying to stop it but he couldn't. The dementors were too many, and the boy fell, still clutching onto his wand.
With a jolt Jack opened his eyes and was surprised to see Teal'c and Daniel standing over him looking visably shaken.
"What happened, Jack?" Daniel looked worried and Jack blinked up at him and shook his head.
"What are you talking about?"
"The flight attendant was ready to have the pilot turn the plane around. You were shouting about Sirius and Harry for several minutes. No one could rouse you." Jack shook his head at Daniel in denial and the younger man nodded. "I'm not lying, Jack. Why do you think everyone is looking over here?"
Curiously, Jack peeked his head around the seat and noticed that several eyes were focused in his direction, and he hung his head.
"It was just a dream...a bad dream. I'm fine."
"Isn't that my line?"
"What?"
"'I'm fine.' That's usually my line."
Jack smiled half-heartedly and nodded. "I suppose so."
The rest of the flight was uneventful, but the images were burned in his mind. He wasn't sure if it was his 'sight' or if it was just his subconscious playing tricks on him, but more than ever he knew he had to get back to Sirius, and soon.
Less than 24 hours after he had reported in at Cheyenne Mountain, Jack pulled the General aside. "General Hammond, can I have a word?"
Colonel O'Neill looked straight into his CO's eyes and the older man knew something was different about his 2IC. "What is it, Jack?" Hammond asked as soon as they were safely in his office, with the door closed.
"I need some more time off. I can't explain why, but this something I have to do."
"Tell me why and I'll consider it." Jack shook his head and General Hammond sighed. "I can't just agree to this without a reason."
"It's complicated."
"Does it have to do with your missing time?"
"In a way it does, and it doesn't. If I could explain it I would, but I can't." Hammond brought his hand to his forehead.
"I'm sorry, son. I can't approve it."
Jack hung his head, looking defeated. "Fine."
"Dismissed." Without another word Jack stood and let himself out of the office. He knew he might regret what he was about to do, but as far as he was concerned he had no real choice. Leaving Sirius alone wasn't an option anymore, and saving Harry was far more important than anything else.
He walked back down the hall and into his office. He took a moment to fumble around his desk and took a seat with a pen and paper in in hand. Slowly he began to write and didn't stop for several minutes. When he was finished he folded the piece of paper and left it in the middle of his desk.
Taking a few things from his right side drawer, he grabbed his jacket, got up and walked out. A few people stared at him curiously as he went topside, but he ignored them as he left the mountain and got into his truck. He managed to get back to his house before a familiar sounding car pulled into his driveway and there was a knock on his front door.
"I know you're planning to leave, but don't you dare think you're going alone." Jack shook his head at Daniel as the younger man stepped inside the house completely uninvited.
"You really are insane, aren't you Daniel?" The younger man rolled his eyes and smiled.
"If that's the best you can come up with to stop me-"
"Don't worry." Jack raised his hand and cut Daniel off. "I know you well enough to know when to argue and when not to."
"So when are we leaving?"
"I have flight out in about an hour."
Daniel sighed. "I guess that doesn't leave me much time to pack."
"You mean you actually unpacked?"
Both men laughed at Jack's quip and Daniel nodded. "Okay, so I guess the better way to put that would have been 'it doesn't leave me much time to pick up my bag.'"
"And you call yourself a linguist?"
An hour later both men were seated on the plane and Jack turned to Daniel and stared at him. The younger man shook his head in response.
"You look like you want to say something. Spit it out."
Jack sighed. "Why are you here?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean why are you here and not Carter or Teal'c?"
Daniel shook his head in disbelief. "Are you saying you don't want me here?"
"Not at all. I'm just curious."
"Carter could get court-martialed, and Teal'c, well he's got too much invested in the gate, with Ry'ac and Bra'tac. I'm the only one with nothing to lose."
Jack shook his head to disagree. "You have as much to lose as any of us. The gate is your life as much as it is mine, Carter's or T's."
"That may be so, but you're my friend. I'm not going to let you go into a potentially dangerous situation without at least some back-up. You wouldn't let me do it, and I won't let you."