A/N:  Thank you all my lovely reviewers – if it wasn't for you I doubt I'd have released the second chapter by now.  You all keep me inspired!  (though you also keep me from studying GRRRR)

Chapter 7 – Dreams

Jack O'Neill surveyed his surroundings, but the scenes kept changing.  At one moment he was in the Gateroom as the people worked, another in the Sanctuary – watching the Shirit'ai pray and practice. 

Faces came and went, until the images vanished and he found himself in the desert…surrounded by dead bodies.  Frantically, he turned them over to reveal their faces, to see if he recognized them.

He did.

Teal'c, Carter, Daniel, Hammond…their bodies torn apart and left scattered.

And in an instant their faces changed and it was the Shiriti'ai that lay dead at his feet. 

The scene shifted again and he was at the Sanctuary, but this time it was filled with military personnel.  He watched helplessly as they deconstructed the temple, trying to understand how it worked.  Running inside, Jack found Carter working on the Altar, while Daniel tried to translate the inscriptions. 

"Where are the Shiriti'ai?"

Daniel and Carter looked up, annoyed at the interruption.

"Oh…they were taken to a security compound for their own protection," Carter said offhandedly.

"They were safe here," Jack protested.

"Sacrifices have to be made," Daniel said, not bothering to look up.  Jack started to protest again when the Sanctuary vanished.

Now he was in the control room, watching as Kali's forces come through the Stargate – helpless to stop them.  Jack ran through the hallways, shooting Jaffa as he ran by.  But it wasn't enough, and all around him people – his friends – died.

He reached the doorway to the Stargate, only to find Carter dying.  He held her in his arms and she tried to look at him as her vision began to fade.

"If we had only been able to find the Sanctuary Daniel was telling us about, we could have prevented this," Carter whispered, coughing up some blood.  Another tremor shook her body, and she laid still.

Behind him he heard a laugh, and he turned to find himself face to face with Kali.  With a roar, he charged the Goa'uld but no matter how fast he ran he couldn't reach her.  Exhausted, he fell to the ground.  Looking up, he saw the mocking grin on her face.

"You killed them!" he yelled.  Kali's face just grew bigger.

"That is where you are wrong, Jack O'Neill – or should I call you Sruti.  It's your hands that are covered in their blood."

The false Goddess gestured downwards and to his horror Jack saw the blood on his hands.  The Goa'uld laughed at his expression.

Suddenly everything disappeared – except for the blood on his hands.  There was nothing but darkness beyond the single beam of light O'Neill stood in.  Out of the shadows he heard a voice ask, "If you can not save both whom will you chose?"

"I don't know what you mean!" Jack yelled back, trying to locate the voice.  Daniel Jackson walked out from the darkness and spoke.

"If you reveal the location of the Sanctuary, we can use the technology there to defeat the Goa'uld."

Another figure stepped forward.

"But if you reveal the Sanctuary, it will leave the Shiriti'ai defenceless."

The two disappeared and a new form stepped forward – their identity still hidden within the shadows.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Jack O'Neill!"

"But are you not the Sruti?"

"Forcryingoutloud!  I'm both!"

"Those two duties may one day contradict; what will you do then? Which oaths will you honour, and which will you betray?"

"I don't know, okay! Is that what you wanted to hear!" Jack snarled, reaching for the figure and pulled him into the light.  A surprised look appeared on Jack's face when he recognized the figure.

"Liam…why are you doing this?"

"You must prepare for what is to come," and with that he vanished.

"What's coming? Liam?"

"Liam!"

Jack jerked awake to find himself in the infirmary.  He looked around, bewildered, the dream still fresh in his mind.  Seeing her patient awake, Janet Frasier came over with a smile.

"Glad to see you awake, Colonel, you gave us a bit of a scare."

"What happened?" Jack asked, his voice a little hoarse.  The other members of SG-1 entered the room in time to hear his comment.

"We were hoping you could tell us, sir.  The monitors went down in the Gateroom as soon as you entered," Carter stated.

"Kali?"

"Gone, Jack.  Though we don't know why," Daniel answered.  Jack closed his eyes, trying to remember what happened before he blacked out.

"This was just a test run; she knew we would blow the joint rather than give the Goa'uld a stronghold.  She just wanted me as proof to the system lords that she could take Earth at any time."

"And why did she not, ONeill?  You were in no condition to offer any resistance," Teal'c wondered.

"Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence, T" Jack said sarcastically.

"I meant no offence, ONeill."

"But Teal'c is still right, why didn't Kali take you with her?" Daniel asked Jack, trying to see if the other man was hiding anything. 

An image of Liam flashed through the colonel's mind, as he presented Daniel with his best 'I'm just a colonel, don't ask me" expression.

"Jack!"

Everyone turned to see Liam, accompanied by his father.  The boy came rushing up to Jack and gave him a big hug.

"I waited in your office like you told me too, but you never came back," the boy informed him, a mischievous twinkle in his eye that only the colonel could see.  An answering twinkle shone back at the boy.  "Why are you in the hospital, are you injured?"

"Um, Jack fell when he was, um, turning of the alarms," Daniel lied – badly.

"Right, because it was a false alarm," Carter added.

It was the result of years of training that allowed Jack and Liam to maintain straight faces as they watched two members of a secret military operation try to lie convincingly to a twelve years old boy.

And failing.

"Liam, we have to get going now," Matthew Stanton said, a little unnerved by his son's attachment to the colonel.  The boy turned back to his father with a grimace.

"Do I have to? I want to spend some more time with Jack."

"Another time, Liam."

"Okay," Liam sighed, letting it show in his voice the supreme martyrdom he was experiencing.  The adults chuckled at the boy's behaviour and Liam reached over to give the colonel a hug.

Placing his mouth by Jack's ear, Liam whispered to Jack. 

The Stantons left the base, and it was on the drive home that Matthew asked his son what he had whispered to the colonel.

Liam continued to look out the window, so his father never saw the mixture of worry and sadness and resignation on his face. 

"I said, 'Sweet dreams'."

A/N: Hmm…I've been in a weird introspective mood lately – oh well, it resulted in the update.  Hope you enjoyed!