"How is he doing?" Daniel asked as Sam taped another dressing in place on the back of Jack's neck.
Before she could respond, brown eyes slowly opened and the man himself answered. "He's doing just fine, thank you very much." He winced as he tried to get a good look at their surroundings, but the pain forced him to settle back without seeing much for himself. The only thing he could tell for certain was that he was lying on something hard and wooden, probably a table, and missing his shirt and jacket. He'd have to find his answers another way. "Carter, report."
"We're in the complex housing the symbiote removal device, sir. Teal'c is checking out some of the other rooms, but hasn't reported finding anything significant. Daniel has managed to confirm the writings on the stelae at the 'gate. This planet was once definitely inhabited by the Ancients. Or at least, this particular building was." He could tell that she noticed his voice was a little weak, but it was steady and she said made no mention of it. O'Neill looked past her to his right to find a wall of something looking vaguely like computer stations and immediately assumed that she'd been too distracted by them to work on the symbiote removal device.
"What about the device?" he demanded.
She hesitated before answering him. "I don't know, sir. I haven't been in to look at it yet."
His pained wince quickly turned into an annoyed frown. "And why is that, Major?"
Carter gave him a defiant look in return. "Sir, you've been unconscious for over an hour. Daniel was right, the gashes on your shoulder are very deep. I've been trying to get the bleeding under control."
Still annoyed, the colonel tried to get a look at his wounds. He found it difficult to believe she'd be able to pass up those doohickeys for very long after she had finished playing nurse. Or doctor. Whatever. And he wasn't hurt that badly. He'd certainly know it if he was. "So has it stopped now?"
Sam's tone was respectful, but it was obvious she becoming rather annoyed herself. "Colonel, you need to remain still. I've finally got the bleeding under control and if you move around you're going to start it up again."
Though suitably chastised, his irritation mounted. "But it's stopped now, right?"
With a reluctant nod, she conceded. "Yes, sir, for the most part, it's stopped. But you're going to have to stay quiet and rest to keep it that way."
Refusing to acknowledge her warning, he growled out orders. "Then maybe you should go have a look at the device and find us something to detect that…thing that attacked me so we can get out of here."
She stood, eyes blazing, and snapped off a curt "Yes, sir." After assessing him for a moment longer, she nodded sharply to Daniel, then turned abruptly and marched off.
Daniel, who had remained a silent observer to the exchange, stepped forward and called him on his childish behavior. "A little hard on her, weren't you?"
"Stay out of it, Daniel," he warned. "Isn't there something around here somewhere that needs translating?"
"Jack." Two could play at this game. He wasn't about to yield to O'Neill's sharp tongue the way Sam was forced to do.
"Daniel." Injured or not, Jack O'Neill would never back down.
He was determined to make O'Neill see reason once and for all. "Look, all I'm saying is that you could have been a little less contumelious about it, that's all."
"Was not."
"Yes, you were."
"Was not."
"Were too!"
"Not!"
"Were!"
"Not! And I thought you were going to go find something to translate!"
"Fine. Have it your way." Seeing the futility in continuing, but mostly not wanting to further agitate the man and start his wounds bleeding again, Daniel finally capitulated. Mumbling his doubts that Jack even knew what the word 'contumelious' meant, he went to gather his supplies from his pack and set to work.
He had no sooner settled in with a text than Jack again spoke, his irritation unmistakable. "Daniel."
"Yes, Jack?" Daniel allowed his own exasperation voice in his reply.
"Somewhere else! I don't need a babysitter."
Daniel heaved a weary sigh. "As much as I might beg to differ on the babysitting issue, I'm certainly not about to volunteer for the position, thank you very much. Take a good look around you, Jack. We're in their version of a library. Where else exactly should I be looking for information?"
O'Neill gingerly rolled to his back and finally took a good look to his left. There were long tables in the center of the room, one of which held Daniel's notebooks and pens along with several thick books. Spanning the two walls and on either side of the door were floor-to-ceiling shelves, all completely filled with texts of varying sizes. Feeling rather foolish and not having a remotely appropriate suggestion for the linguist, he settled on simply ignoring the question. "I'm going to rest for awhile. Let me know if you find anything."
Jack turned over in his sleep, having dozed right off after his little verbal tussle with Daniel. He was so very tired, but something was beckoning him, impelling him to get up and leave. He rose to a sitting position with a groan and waited for the room to stop spinning, the blanket covering him falling to his waist. He shivered with the cool air on his naked chest and back, which set the pain of his injuries soaring to even higher levels. He glanced over at the archaeologist, who was totally engrossed in the text he was studying. Jack ignored the raging pain in his neck and shoulder and stood, again waiting, this time for his shaky legs to gain strength. The compulsion to leave intensified and he found himself silently stumbling toward the exit, leaning heavily on the shelves as he went. He paused when he drew even with his friend, wanting to say something, to call out to him. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words would form. He continued on silently, wanting to scream with pain and protest, yet unable to utter a sound. He paused at the doorway, willing the other man to look up and notice him. To stop him.
Back at his table, Daniel turned the page of the hefty tome and paused only long enough to scribble some notes on the pad of paper next to him before returning to his perusal of the alien symbols. He didn't notice the crashing thunder of the sudden storm anymore than he noticed his friend's unsteady exit.
Outside the complex, lightening danced across the sky in graceful arcs to the crescendo of accompanying thunder. A lone red-haired beauty stood serenely atop a nearby hill, her fiery, waist-length tresses billowing gracefully around her. Her gleefully evil cackle was all but lost in the din of the storm. Her green eyes flashed and glowed an eerie electric white as she strengthened the urge luring her victim to her.
Teal'c warily opened the door to the last room on the second floor. It appeared this story had been the scientists' living quarters and his search of it had yielded nothing in the way of technology or weapons thus far. He expected the same result from this final chamber. Still, one could never be too careful when exploring off-world. As if agreeing with him, a clap of thunder crashed loudly overhead. Though it didn't startle him, it did make him uneasy. He didn't like the suddenness of the storm. There had been no indication it was brewing; nary a cloud had been in the dark sky upon their arrival. There had been no stars visible either, only the perpetually full moon. It was as unnatural as the sudden storm.
He quickly surveyed the room before beginning a more thorough search. It was much the same as the others. A bed stood in one corner against the wall. Next to it, a small cabinet that likely contained personal items belonging to the former occupant. At the foot of the bed was a small wooden chest, where he would find blankets and other linens if what he'd found in the previous rooms held true here also. There was also a tall wardrobe along the same wall as the bed, probably still full of clothing.
He decided to start his search with the wardrobe and opened the doors. After sifting through the contents, he determined there was nothing within to help them. It was exactly as the others. Clothing and other gear was neatly hung, folded or stacked and waiting for its owner's imminent return. He was certain these Ancient beings had either fled in haste without packing or the entire group had met an untimely demise. Perhaps DanielJackson would be able to discover their fate from the writings they had left behind.
He moved over to start on the bedside cabinet next. As he reached it, lightening flashed brightly outside and caused the room's lights to flicker. Teal'c looked up and tilted his head. Amid the loud symphony of thunder, he could hear the faint sound of a woman's laughter. Curious, he crossed the room to look out the lone, small window. Though it was too high for most people to easily see out, he had no trouble. Lightning again flashed, illuminating a female figure atop a nearby hill. His own eyes opened wide as he took in the glowing orbs of the woman as she stood with arms outstretched. It was then he noticed a second figure struggling to the top of the hill where the woman waited.
"O'Neill!" He called out as loudly as he was able, but the colonel seemed not to notice. Shocked, he watched his friend finally reach the top of the hill and fall into the woman's arms. In the blink of an eye, he was out of the room and racing down the stairs.
Daniel stood and stretched, stiff from hours of painstaking translation. "Okay, I've got something, Jack." He sifted through the pages in his hand, straightening the stack into a more orderly sequence. "You're going to love this. The entire city was dedicated to. . .an Irish. . ." He stopped speaking when he realized that he was now alone in the room. Frowning, he keyed the mike on his radio. "Jack?" He patiently waited for a response, but none came. A stirring of unease passed through him and he tried again. "Jack, you there?" Still no answer from the leader of SG-1.
His disquiet at the lack of response grew, but he tamped it down and tried a different tact. "Sam?" For a third time, he query was met only with silence. His rapid conclusion was that the absence of any response from his teammates was probably a result of equipment failure, namely his, so he tried one final time. "Sam, Teal'c, can anyone hear me?" As with the previous attempts, there was no answer and his sense of dread increased. His only option was to go find them and he quickly concluded Sam would be the most logical starting point. She'd most likely still be working on the technology in the room at the end of the hall, whereas Teal'c could be anywhere in the complex by now. Jack never handled inactivity well, not even when he was injured as was now the case. Maybe he had tired of Daniel's total absorption in his work and gone to pester Sam, in spite of her admonition for him to remain still and rest. The thought comforted him as he carefully folded the notebook pages and slipped them into his vest pocket on the way out the door.
He pulled out his flashlight and started on his way to Sam's last known location. Daniel shivered, in part from the chilly temperature and in part from the medieval castle-like feel of the place. The architecture was unlike anything of the Ancients' they had ever encountered, but the technology and writings within were definitely Ancient in origin. He had determined from one of the texts in the library that the original Celtic population had erected the building and given it to the visiting Ancient scientists for their research.
Thunder rumbled loudly outside and he shivered again as he turned the corner to the final hallway leading to Sam's work area. If he'd interpreted the correctly, the Ancients had left behind a device to remove a symbiote from its host, leaving the host alive and well. The promise of that alone had been enough to gain authorization for the mission, but he was well aware the higher-ups were hoping for more. Much more. Even alone, however, the device would be a huge boon for their side in the war against the goa'uld.
The hallway he was traveling shook with the next burst from the storm, jolting him from his thoughts. It was long and dimly lit, unlike the majority of the building's rooms, and it reminded him of the constant darkness outside. Sam had explained in the briefing how conditions here were similar to those on P3X- 797, often referred to as the Land of Light. Here, the city never experienced more natural light than from a full moon, but he'd tuned out the particulars of the exact cause as he rechecked his notes for his own presentation. Both he and Sam had found it curious that only a small handful of the rooms had windows, though given what his translations had revealed, he now understood why. He couldn't help but wince as he visualized Jack's reaction to that little bit of information. They'd be hearing wisecracks for a long time to come, of that he was certain. As he approached his destination, he was disappointed to hear no voices within. Either Jack wasn't there or he was being rather uncharacteristically quiet. Neither option bode well for the injured colonel.
He entered and was immediately relieved to see Sam bent over a low altar-like slab studying a hand-held meter of some sort. Jack, however, was no where in sight. "Hey, Sam. Have you seen Jack? I tried to reach him on the radio, but apparently mine's not working."
Sam looked up at him in surprise, the tool in her hand now forgotten. "No, I thought he was resting in the library with you."
Daniel reluctantly admitted the truth. "Ah, yeah. He was. But you know how Jack gets when he's bored, and you saw how he was when you left. To be honest, I kind of tuned him out after awhile, so I guess he got annoyed and went elsewhere. I'm sure he probably said something, but I must not have heard."
Sam smiled, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "But that's so unlike you, Daniel." She instantly sobered when she realized the implications. "He may have started bleeding again. We need to find him. Fast."
Daniel gave her a dirty look, but his gut feeling that something was wrong kept him from responding to her teasing in kind. "I know. Look, if he's not here, then he's probably with Teal'c."
She nodded and keyed the mike. "Teal'c, is Colonel O'Neill with you?" She frowned when he didn't respond. "Teal'c, this is Carter. I repeat, we're looking for the colonel. Is he with you?" Again, the only answer was dead air. "Teal'c, this is Carter, do you copy?" The pair looked helplessly at each other while waiting for a response that never came.
"Maybe it's the storm," Daniel suggested.
"Storm?"
As soon as Sam asked the question, Daniel suddenly realized that he could hear no sign of the storm that had been raging outside when he'd entered just a few minutes prior. "Yeah, one blew in suddenly a little while ago. It was pretty intense. A lot of thunder and lightning, but no rain yet."
Sam looked puzzled. "I haven't heard anything."
Daniel looked skeptical. "You can't be serious. That last peal of thunder a few minutes ago literally shook the building."
The look on her face clearly said that had the situation not been so serious, Sam would have thought he was trying to play a joke on her. Her frown deepened. "No, I haven't heard or felt anything."
Daniel shrugged. "That's odd, because there's a heck of a storm raging out there. Maybe this room is shielded or something?"
Sam nodded. "It's possible. That could explain why the radios aren't working in here. And it's possible that the storm might be interfering with the signals outside." Her conclusion reached, Sam traded her meter for her nearby P-90 and turned back to Daniel. "Come on, let's go find them."
Bolts of lightning flashed brightly around him, pummeling the ground beneath his feet in symphony with the accompanying booms of thunder. He fell heavily for the umpteenth time, jarring his knees and sending agonizing spikes of pain through his injured shoulder. He was aware of the chilly air on his skin, though strangely enough, he did not seem to feel it. He wanted so very badly to stop, to just lay there and let the darkness take him, but that damnable urge to press onward would not allow it. He didn't really know where he was headed, only that he had to keep going, to make it to the top. Despite the storm's light show, darkness swirled around him, spinning ever faster and robbing him of his equilibrium. He had to keep his right hand on the ground for balance now as he stumbled ever upward, chest heaving from the exertion. His foot slipped, sending him again crashing to the earth, his injured left shoulder taking the brunt of the fall this time. He rolled to his back, cradling the injured limb to his body as tears of pain slipped from his eyes to trail down his sweat-dampened face. After barely a moment's rest, he was turning back around and struggling to his knees, cursing the intense compulsion that forced him onward and upward.
He literally crawled the remaining distance, until finally he crested the top. Instead of flopping down and allowing the dark void of unconsciousness to claim him as his body demanded, he wearily struggled to his feet. As he stood there gasping for air and swaying, he became aware of a beautiful redheaded woman standing before him, her arms open wide. She was taller than he, with a curvy figure any woman would envy. When his eyes finally traveled to her face, his inner voice screamed at him to run, but he was unable to look away from her glowing eyes. To his absolute horror, he found himself moving forward until he was securely wrapped within her embrace. Her hands lovingly caressed his bare back and shoulders, her touch igniting a blaze of passion throughout his torso.
"At last my pet, I have you. It has been so very long since your kind have walked among us." Her voice had a mesmerizing quality and he barely noticed when she ripped the bloody, sodden bandages from his neck. Her laughter sounded loudly in his ears as she bent her head to the exposed wounds. He shivered as her tongue slowly traveled the length of one of the gashes. A renewed rush of warmth flowed over him, setting every nerve ending in his body on fire with blissful euphoria. He closed his eyes and tilted his head to allow her better access. As the storm continued its dance unabated around them, she reveled in her tongue's exploration of each open claw mark and the burning rapture within him increased.
She literally purred with pleasure as she reluctantly pulled back, savoring the taste of him. "Oh yes, my sweet. I am so looking forward to feasting on you more fully. Come, let us journey to my lair where we will be more comfortable as we partake of each other." She released him and held out her hand, smiling with lips crimson from her sampling of his vital fluid. To his utter terror and complete dismay, he grasped the offered palm and found himself meekly following along.
His inner voice wailed.