Too Strong Part 8 of 11

Disclaimer: See Original Post

Jack hated waiting.

Always had.

Always would.

Especially when it came to the important things . . . the important people in his life.

Like Sam.

Within weeks, she would be legally bound to another man. She'd be Mrs. Pete Shanahan. Or Samantha Carter-Shanahan . . . or whatever she had decided to do. Either way, she would be his and he would be hers . . . yada yada yada.

It didn't change the fact that Jack would do anything for her. He had accepted it as a shortfall in his military make-up, oh, about four years ago. Ironically, over a damn Za'tarc thing.

Course, back then the threat to him and Sam hadn't been real. The biggest threat had been themselves . . .

Now, today, the threat was very real.

And it scared the crap right out of him.

Anise/Freya/Tok'ra Spice had arrived seven hours ago and once again they were approaching midnight. Jack felt like this nightmare had been going on for days. She had been with the other SG members the Doc had marked as infected, and he and Sam waited for her to come back.

Well, he waited. Thankfully, Sam slept.

In the last several hours, her frayed hold on reality had grown weaker and her desperate need for him overwhelmingly intense. It was so bad now, he barely dared take two minutes to sneak into the head. In that short period of time, he would come back to a trembling, sweating, near hysterical Sam Carter who would immediately burrow against him – clinging and hanging on until the voices edged away.

Even now, he lay half-reclined on the bed, his upper body back against the headboard with the pillows as support and his legs stretched out in front of him. She was curled against him, using his stomach as her pillow with one leg tossed over his. He had one hand behind his head, the other absently stroking her hair as he stared off into the dark room.

And waited.

The lock clicked and the door opened, and Jack immediately brought a finger to his lips. Sam stirred, but didn't wake, as the same three visitors from earlier in the evening came into the room. Jacob shot him a none-too-happy glare at their current position, but just like his opinion about everyone else – Jack didn't really care right now.

This was what she needed.

And she damn well was going to have it.

If she needed some strange alien spice from some giant bug infected planted three galaxies away – she'd have it.

If she needed the last drop of his blood . . . she'd have it.

"So?"

"In the last four years I have perfected the technology involved in reversing the Za'tarc effects, and despite the refinement of the drugs used, the treatment was completely successful on the other members of your team," Anise said, stepping to the foot of the bed.

"So, you haven't seen this new drug, either?" Jack asked.

"No, we haven't," Jacob answered. "And we sure as hell would like to know who did this. Unfortunately, although the treatment reversed the effects it also removed any memory the other members had of who may have done this."

"Okay. So, now you do Carter?"

"I am afraid that I have some unfortunate news in regards to Colonel Carter's condition."

Jack looked from Anise to Jacob to Doc Brightman, and back to Anise. "What?"

The Tok'ra drew a long breath before speaking. "We have never seen a reaction to the Za'tarc mind control similar to the one we are seeing in Colonel Carter."

"And what does that mean? Exactly?"

"We believe that this intense reaction is because the command planted in Colonel Carter's mind is one that so radically contradicts her own thoughts and feelings, that her subconscious is actively and violently fighting the control."

"The command to kill you, Jack."

Jack looked to Jacob when he spoke, and saw something in the man's eyes he wasn't sure he knew how to define. Understanding? Maybe? He didn't know.

"So, she's just fighting the command . . . "

"It's more than that, General O'Neill. Colonel Carter is virtually fighting a battle within her own psyche. The command that has been planted is telling her to either complete the task – to kill you – or to end her own life if she fails. Her subconscious is stronger than that command, demanding that she not let it happen. She has successfully managed to prevent your death, yet she has this overpowering voice or thought that is repeatedly telling her to either do it, or die. Her need for your physical proximity is, most likely, a concrete stabilization for her subconscious – assuring her that you are still alive and that she has not failed. We have never witnessed, or even imagined the possibility of a mind so strong that it could withstand the programming with such verocity. It would truly be an amazing phenomenon to study further "

"Excuse me?" Jack spat out, cutting Anise off.

"I am merely stating that with such a rare and unique situation, further study could be justified as warranted."

"Jacob " Jack said in warning.

Jacob raised his hand. "We've already had this discussion, and it's not happening. We're here to fix this, and not turn Sam into a lab experiment."

Jack glared at Anise, "Thank you very much."

Anise sighed. "General O'Neill, I assure you my interest is purely scientific. No one has ever shown even the slightest resistance to the Za'tarc programming, let alone attempted to fight it to the degree in which Colonel Carter in demonstrating. To be able to document examples where an individuals mind is potentially stronger than the will of the programmer is truly a fascinating possibility. I meant no disrespect, and promise you I will do anything in my power to help."

Jack looked down at Sam as she slept. He could still see the bruises and scratches she had left on her own body as she slammed herself against walls and furniture, and clawed at her own skin. He felt the bump on her skull whenever he ran his hand over her hair just right.

Punishment

"So, you're saying she's winning?"

"Yes, but barely. And at a severe price. As we all can see," Doc Brightman answered.

Jack swallowed, his throat suddenly dry, and kept his gaze on Sam as he spoke. "She tried to tell me earlier what she did . . . what would kill me. But she couldn't. She said they wouldn't let her."

"That is probably very much the way it seems to her. Voices and other entities commanding her – driving her to the point of either allowing the plan to follow through, or to end her life. Thus, in all likelihood, ending in your death when the source of her sabotage is never found," Anise explained.

"You can't fix this the same way you did the others?"

"I will be happy to make the attempt, but I am not hopeful in its success. I fear that because Colonel Carter is so adamantly fighting the mind control, her subconscious will also fight the attempts at relieving that control."

If he could have, Jack would have punched something.

"So, what do we do?"

"We force Sam to break through completely. We push . . . hard . . . harder and further than we want to. But we have to make her break the ties. When she does, she'll be free." Jacob attempted a smile. "By we, Jack, I mean you."