Chapter Four
They had been back at the SGC for under an hour. SG-1 were sitting in the briefing room, anxiously awaiting the appearance of General Hammond, who had been sleeping on-base.
Jack had been sent to the infirmary on arrival, and was installed in a private room.
Daniel was pacing the length of the table and back again, his worry for his friend shown in every aspect of his face.
Teal'c was staring out of the huge window, looking at the Stargate, but not seeing it.
Sam was sitting at the table, staring at her clasped hands. She had said nothing since they got back, and appeared to be deep in thought.
Jacob was sitting opposite his daughter, watching her closely.
Pete Shanahan, deciding he was neither wanted nor needed here, had gone home, after he swore he wouldn't say anything about the Stargate program. Sam had told him what could happen to him if he did.
General Hammond entered the room. Sam, being the only subordinate officer present, rose.
"At ease." Hammond said.
As the General sat at the head of the table, Teal'c and Daniel also took their seats.
"So what happened?" General Hammond asked.
Sam decided that she should be the one to debrief the general. "Sir, Daniel, Teal'c and I were captured by –"
"I know that, Colonel." Hammond interrupted. "What happened to General O'Neill?"
"Sir?" Sam asked, taken aback.
"Before he left, General O'Neill saw fit to call me and appraise me of your situation. I expressly forbade him to go, so of course he left immediately." Hammond said, smiling slightly.
He turned to Jacob. "What happened to Jack?" He asked his old friend.
It was some time later. General Hammond had been fully debriefed.
"So how do we get him back?" Hammond questioned.
Jacob placed a small object on the table.
"What's that?" Hammond asked.
"It's a modified Tok'ra memory recall device."
"Modified?" Sam asked.
"It can recall memories that have been suppressed. Selmak and I believe it will help Jack."
"It won't hurt him, will it?" Daniel asked.
"It shouldn't hurt him. Besides, he's still unconscious and non-responsive." Jacob said. "There is a chance he will feel the emotions the memories trigger, but it's our only shot, and it's a long one."
Sam shifted in her chair. "What if he doesn't want his memory back?" She asked.
"Why wouldn't he?" Jacob asked.
"Sam's got a point. Jack suppressed his own memory, he obviously wants to forget." Daniel interjected.
"I do not believe O'Neill would wish to forget his entire life DanielJackson." Teal'c said.
"What other explanation is there?" Hammond asked.
"I am unsure." Teal'c said.
Hammond thought for a moment, then reached a decision. "Well we need him back. Okay people. Let's do this." Hammond stood and walked into Jack's office. Daniel and Teal'c went to Jack's infirmary room to stand vigil over their friend.
Jacob turned to Sam and said, "Sam, we should work on a way to monitor Jack's memories."
"I'll meet you in my lab, dad. I want to ask General Hammond something."
"Okay kiddo." Jacob said, and exited the briefing room.
General Hammond looked entirely at home in the office that was his not so long ago.
Sam knocked and walked in at the familiar command, "Come."
"Colonel Carter." Hammond greeted.
"General, I just wanted to ask you something, if I may."
"Have a seat, colonel."
Sam took the proffered chair.
"You want to know if General O'Neill is going to get into trouble over this." Hammond stated.
"He was only doing what he could to save us sir. I know he went against your order but-"
Hammond cut her off with a hand gesture. "Colonel, don't worry. I've known Jack eight years. I knew what he would do."
Sam was taken aback. "You did?" She said, adding "sir," as an afterthought.
"Why do you think I gave him twenty-four hours?" The General chuckled, "I could have been down here much sooner."
Sam just sat there for a moment, taking in what the General had said.
"Anything else, Colonel?" Hammond asked.
"Huh? Uh… no, sir."
"Then I suggest you get to work. We need him back." Hammond said, smiling.
"Yessir," Sam said, and exited the room, heading for her lab.
General Hammond watched her go, gently shaking his head.
Sam worked with Selmak on a way to display and monitor O'Neill's memory. Sam still felt uneasy, if O'Neill hadn't meant to suppress his memory, what had happened?
Finally the equipment was ready and O'Neill was moved to an observation room. Sergeant Siler helped set up the monitoring equipment in the room above, so that Jacob could watch both Jack and the screen.
Daniel, Teal'c and Hammond had already taken their seats. Jacob was in the room below, waiting to turn on the memory recall device. When Jacob announced that they were ready to proceed Sam got up and made to follow Siler out of the room
"Colonel Carter?" Hammond queried.
"I don't think General O'Neill would want us to watch his life as if it were a TV show, sir."
"Maybe not, but I do think he'll want his friends to be here when he wakes up. He'll want to know you're all okay." Hammond said.
Sam nodded and resumed her seat. Daniel leant over to her and said "Besides, how else are we ever gonna find anything out about him?" She smiled weakly in response.
Jacob was standing by Jack's bedside, inserting the memory recall device.
"This technology creates a third person viewpoint, so we'll be able to see Jack. It makes it easier to monitor what's going on." He informed them.
He left Jack's room and arrived in the room above a minute later.
"Are we going to have to watch his whole life?" Sam asked as he took his seat.
"That would take too long. Humans don't remember every little thing that happened to them. It'll be like his life is on fast forward a lot of the time. Occasionally we'll see something in great detail, but only if it's something important that Jack usually remembers. Everyone ready?"
Several images flickered across the screen. As predicted they moved very fast. After several minutes they stopped.
/The image on the screen was of two boys standing in what was obviously their bedroom. It was night-time and the scene was illuminated by a bedside lamp.
The boys looked to be about nine and eleven years old. They were looking up at an older boy of about fifteen. He was climbing out the window.
The nine year old spoke. "Where're you going, Patrick?" The small boy was skinny, with deep brown eyes and brown hair that stuck up at all angles. It was Jack.
"I'm leaving. I can't stay here anymore. You guys understand that, don't you?" The older brother asked, pleading with his eyes.
"No." The nine year old answered.
"Jack!" The eleven year old said, chastising his younger brother.
Jack ignored him. "I get why you're going," he said, Patrick looked relieved. "I just don't get why you're leaving us behind." Nine year old said, lisping slightly.
"He can't take all of us, JJ. Where would we all go, how would he support us, him and the girls?"
"So he's just gonna run away and leave us here? With the Colonel?" Jack asked.
Patrick looked hurt. "You don't know what the Colonel's like, Jack." He said quietly.
"Sure I do. Dad's an asshole." Jack replied, earning himself a gentle slap on the arm from his brother.
"He's way worse than that, kid." Patrick said. "When you and Joe are older you'll understand better."
"We understand now." Jack said, Joe nodding beside him.
"Then you see why I have to go. I can't take anymore." Patrick said.
"But you're leaving us behind." Jack said, sounding much older than his looks would suggest.
"I have no choice. Please understand." Patrick begged.
Jack said nothing. Both his older brothers watched him carefully. Finally he nodded. "Good luck."
"Thanks. Well, gotta go." Patrick disappeared out the window.
Joe and Jack stood looking at the window. After a moment Jack spoke. "Colonel's gonna be pissed."
His brother glared at him but before he could say anything another voice spoke. "Joe? JJ?" It was a little girl's voice. Both boys turned.
Standing in the open doorway to their bedroom were identical twin girls, about eight years old. One was sucking her thumb.
"Caitlin and me heard noises. Where's Patrick?" One girl asked.
"He's… gone Susie." Joe said.
Both little girls looked at their other brother for confirmation, he nodded./
The scene began to fade. Then the screen began flashing memories at its previous rate.
"O-kay." Daniel said. His sentiment was shared by the entire group, Jack had never mentioned, or even hinted at, siblings.
"Did you see the way they all looked to him, even though he was the middle child?" Sam asked.
Something else was bothering Daniel, "JJ?" He asked, sniggering.
The images slowed again.
/The scene showed the same bedroom, but slightly different. Joe was sitting at a writing desk. Jack was laying stretched out on a bed, idly playing with a yo-yo.
Jack was older this time, about fifteen, looking exactly the same as his clone had.
Suddenly his older brother slammed the book he was reading closed. "Dammit Jack, will you quit it with that thing already?"
Jack grinned and twirled the yo-yo again.
"I'll break it, I swear to god!" His brother sounded exasperated.
"Fine, fine." Jack put the toy down. Silence reigned in the bedroom, until: "What ya doin'?"
"Jack!"
"Tell me and I'll quit bugging you." Jack said, moving over to look over his brother's shoulder.
"You'll quit anyway. You've got an appointment with the General, something about a report card no one can believe?"
Jack merely shrugged. "What ya doin'?" He asked again.
His brother groaned before taking a deep breath and replying. "Math."
"Show me."
Joe handed his homework sheet to his younger brother who looked over it briefly before picking up a pencil from the desk. "This, this and this." He said, writing on the paper.
"What?"
"They're wrong. You don't do these types of questions like that."
"Guess I know where you got those A's then. So how do you do them, geek boy?"
Jack pulled a face at his brother, and was just about to answer when a man's voice yelled, "Jonathan!"
"Aw crap." Jack said.
"General's home." His brother said, looking sympathetic.
"Gotta go." Jack said, turning towards the door.
"You gonna be okay?"
Jack snorted at that and exited the room.
Once he was downstairs he approached a door and knocked.
"Come!" A man's voice yelled, angrily.
Jack entered what looked like a study. Inside were a man and woman who were obviously his parents. His mother sat on a large couch over on Jack's left. She was a slim woman who looked extremely nervous. She smiled weakly at Jack.
Jack's father had obviously just gotten home. He was still his uniform, that of a Marine Brigadier General. He was sitting behind a large desk, glaring at Jack./
Daniel looked shocked, "Jack's dad was a Marine?"
"Shh." Sam chastised.
/"You wanted to see me?" Jack asked.
His mother replied, "Sit down, JJ."
"I will deal with this, Laurie. And don't call him that. His name is Jonathan." Jack's father spoke with a clipped tone, obviously trying to control his temper, and failing.
Laurie looked stricken.
Jack's father stood and moved around the desk. He was an even six foot, and towered over Jack, who obviously had a bit of growing to do before he reached his full height. He held a piece of paper out to Jack. "What's this, boy?"
Jack glanced at it. "It's my report card, sir."
"And would you care to explain how you managed to get these grades, when your teachers swear they only see you once or twice a month?" Jack's father was getting nastier, his tone sneering.
"I always do my assignments and I always take exams." Jack said, then added, "Sir."
"Don't speak to me like that boy! How can you get A and B grades when you aren't in class? You can't pass exams without going to the classes!" Jack's father was yelling at him now.
"You explain it then." Jack replied, looking his father straight in the eyes.
There was the hiss of a sharp intake of breath from his mother. His father merely glared at him all the harder. But there was something else in his eyes: triumph.
"You've been cheating!"
Jack finally lost his temper. "I was not cheating! How dare you accuse me of that!" He yelled.
"Jonathan!" His mother reprimanded.
Jack's father ignored her and continued. "Yes you have, you little bastard!"
"John, I really don't think…" Jack's mother began.
Jack's father turned to face her for a moment. "No you don't! So stay the hell out of this!"
"Don't talk to her like that, asshole!" Jack shouted.
Jack's father backhanded him across the face. Hard. "Go. To. Your. Room!" He yelled.
Jack glanced at his mother, who nodded almost imperceptibly. He turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him./
The images on the screen started to fly past again.
"Whoa." Jacob said.
"Yeah. Nice guy." Daniel said.
The images seemed to be of Jack at the Air Force Academy. They saw him flying a variety of airplanes, then the images slowed again.
/Jack jumped out of the small fighter plane he'd been flying. As he walked across the airfield a jeep drove towards him at high speed. Jack stopped as it reached him.
The jeep stopped and a man jumped out.
It was Jacob Carter. ColonelJacob Carter.
"You!" He yelled, pointing angrily at Jack./
"I don't even remember this." Jacob remarked.
/"Did you just fly that?" Jacob yelled.
Jack looked around at the plane. "Yes, sir."
"No one was cleared to fly! You are in so much trouble right now, kid!"
"Yessir." Jack said, looking at his watch. "Can it be later, sir, I really have to get to class."
Jacob's eyes narrowed at the lanky young man. "Fine. What's your name, kid?"
"Cadet O'Neill, sir." Jack said.
Jacob waved him on. "Get to class. You'll be reprimanded for this."
Jack nodded, saluted Jacob and walked past him. When he had gone a little way, Jacob called after him, "O'Neill!"
Jack turned. "Yessir?"
"Nice flying, kid."
Jack grinned. "Thank you, sir."
Jacob turned and began to climb into the jeep again.
"And, sir?" Jack called.
Jacob looked at him.
"That's O'Neil, sir, one L."
Jacob nodded and his driver took him back to the base./
"When he wakes up, remind me to kill him." Jacob said, amused. "I had Cadet O'Neil, one L, reprimanded for that, poor kid."
Hammond snorted his amusement.
/Jack was standing in the hallway of his parents' house, wearing Air Force blues. He was talking to his brother, Joe.
"So you gonna marry her then?" Jack asked.
His brother seemed shy. "I haven't asked yet. Hopefully. Too bad you can't be here."
"Yeah." Jack began to say something else when the front door burst open and about five teenage girls tumbled in, giggling.
Jack turned to face the new arrivals.
"Jack!" One of his sisters exclaimed.
"What're you doing home?" The other one asked rushing to hug him, closely followed by her twin.
"Ow! Cait, Susie, not so tight, need to breathe!" Jack gasped.
The girls that had come in with Cait and Susie were still standing in the doorway, suddenly shy.
Susie turned around to them "Girls, this is our other brother, Jack." She said, by way of introduction.
There was a chorus of "Hi Jack"'s then the girls, as one, looked at their feet. Jack merely grinned at them.
"So, why're you home?" Cait asked.
"I came to say goodbye for a while." Jack replied. "Air Force is sending me someplace else."
Both girls looked disappointed.
"I'll come home soon." Jack reassured.
"He hopes." Came a voice from the top of the stairs.
"Hi mom." Jack said to the woman now descending the stairs towards them.
"JJ." His mother replied, opening her arms for a hug. Jack stooped to put his arms around her.
"Don't call me that, please." Jack said, making his mother laugh.
"You'd prefer Jonathan, Mr. Air Force?"
"Jack."
"Okay. Jack." She said, smoothing down the front of his jacket
Jack glanced at his watch.
"You have to go already?" Joe asked.
"Yeah, got a flight to catch. Told you I wouldn't be here long. Sorry guys."
There was the sound of a car pulling up outside.
"That'll be your father." Jack's mother said quietly.
"Crap." Jack said.
Joe slapped him gently on the arm. "Language." He said, in response to the look Jack sent him.
"Uh… we're just gonna…" The girls disappeared upstairs with their friends.
"Yeah, well gotta go." Joe said scurrying off down the hall.
"Nice." Jack said.
John O'Neill came through the front door. Before anyone could say anything he said "What the hell is he doing here?"
"I just came to say goodbye." Jack said levelly.
"Air Force. That where you've been?" John O'Neill said, eyeing up his son's uniform.
"Yessir." Jack replied.
His father snorted, he was obviously drunk.
"Never thought a son of mine'd be a goddamned flyboy."
Jack said nothing.
John peered at Jack's uniform.
"Lieutenant? How'd you get to be a Lieutenant so quick?"
Jack didn't answer.
"Where're you going then?" His father seemed determined to get something on him.
"I can't say." Jack said. "It's classified."
"Ooh, Special Ops, huh? Thought you had to be a bit more experienced for that stuff."
Still Jack said nothing.
"Hate Special Ops. 'Specially Air Force Special Ops. Damned secretive bastards. You're no son of mine -"
Jack interrupted his father's tirade, "Fine by me."
"Don't interrupt me, boy!" His father shouted.
"I don't have to take this shit." Jack moved to push past the older man, who grabbed him and shoved him back into the hallway.
"You ain't goin' nowhere, flyboy!"
Jack growled and moved quickly. Suddenly John O'Neill was pressed up against his front door, his son's hand on his throat.
"I'm going. And you're gonna let me."
John glanced over his son's shoulder at his wife. Jack noticed. "Don't even think about blaming this on them, 'cos I'll find out and I'll come back."
Jack's father looked truly horrified at this prospect.
It was quite surreal seeing the large man pinned to the door by Jack, who, at a couple of inches over six foot, was taller, but was still what could only be described as lanky./
Once more the images began to speed.
The group gathered around the screen could find nothing to say. Even General Hammond hadn't known anything about Jack's family. It had been assumed that his childhood was, well, normal, and happy.
They saw Jack's first few missions. When the images began to slow they saw him hit someone while on a mission. The man was knocked unconscious. Then the images once again began to play in real time.
/Jack wandered into a bar. He scanned the room, looking for his friends. Spotting them, he wandered over to their booth.
Sitting in the booth was Charlie Kawalsky and a few other Air Force officers. Sitting in the corner of the booth, surrounded by the guys, was Janet Fraiser./
"I didn't know Jack knew Janet before." Daniel said.
"It was a long time ago." General Hammond replied.
/"Hey." Jack said in greeting.
Suddenly all five people snapped off a salute.
"Sir!" They said in unison, barely controlling their grins.
"Knock it off!" Jack growled, sliding into the booth.
"Aw c'mon Jack, you get promoted for assaulting a superior officer, and we can't find it funny?" Kawalsky said, grinning. He added, "Sir."
Jack grinned suddenly. "Did good, didn't I?" He asked.
"Yessir, Captain O'Neill, sir!" Janet said.
Jack glared at her briefly, only half-seriously, before saying: "Hey Doc. How's med school?"
"It's hard." Janet said, pouting.
"What did you expect?" Jack laughed. "Don't worry, Doc, you'll be in charge of the big needles in no time."
"Yeah…" Janet still sounded unconvinced. Then she brightened up. "I'm engaged!" She said, proudly waving her left hand in the air.
"Cool!" Jack said. "Lemme see." He added grabbing Janet's left hand and inspecting her ring./
As the scene was replaced once more by speeding images, the people in the room all found themselves feeling sad at seeing Janet again.
"Assaulting a superior officer?" Jacob asked, looking at Hammond.
"Jack was on a mission that went wrong. His CO panicked, and started making orders that endangered the team. Jack tried to get him to listen to reason, but the officer concerned wouldn't. Lieutenant O'Neill knocked him out and commanded the rest of the mission. The officer concerned tried to bring charges, but the rest of the team stood up for Jack."
"He has a way of… inspiring people." Daniel said.
"Indeed." Teal'c said.
/The next image was horrible. Jack was strapped down to a bed in a dirty looking cell. Someone was looming over him pushing a needle into his arm.
"Wha's that?" Jack asked, obviously pretty out of it.
"Heroin." The man's speech was thickly accented.
The man waited for the drug to take effect then left the room./
/It was some time later. The man was back. He waved the needle in front of Jack's face. "You want this don't you, American scum?"
Jack remained silent.
"I know you are addicted. You will be begging me for this soon enough. What was your mission here?"
"Major Jack O'Neill. USAF" Jack replied, his voice hoarse. His eyes had not left the needle.
"I asked you your mission!"
"Major Jack O'Neill, USAF." Jack said weakly, closing his eyes.
"For two months this is all you tell me. You will say something else." The man whirled and left the room./
The scenes began to whirl once more.
"Heroin?" Sam said, disbelievingly.
"The drugged out strapped to the bed thing." Daniel said, remembering something Jack had said years ago.
Below them Jack was squirming slightly.
Jacob got up and left the room, appearing in Jack's room a moment later. He switched off the memory recall device.
"Let's take a break guys. I think we all need it and so does Jack." He said.
"Two hours people." Hammond said.
Two hours later General Hammond, Teal'c and Daniel walked into the observation room to find Sam already there.
"Did you even try to get some rest?" Daniel asked, in a convincing imitation of Jack.
"Yes." Sam said.
Jacob joined them and switched on the screen. "Time to go again." He said. The others took their seats as the images flickered again.
/Jack was walking up to a house. It was the middle of the night. He knocked on the door. As he waited, he lit a cigarette; the first time those watching had seen him do so. A few moments later it was opened by Charlie Kawalsky, wearing what appeared to be a bathrobe.
"Jack, what the hell are you doing here? Doc said you couldn't be discharged for a coupla weeks yet." Kawalsky narrowed his eyes at his friend. "You don't have permission to be here, do you?"
"Not exactly." Jack replied. "Charlie, I need my bike."
"Where're you going?"
"Please Charlie."
"You're going AWOL aren't you?"
Jack said nothing. Kawalsky sighed and reached out to his key hooks. He unhooked Jack's motorbike keys and handed them to him. "It's in the garage." He joined Jack in his front yard and opened the garage for him. Jack wheeled his bike out, climbed on and started it.
"Thanks." He said. He flicked the cigarette butt towards the street.
"You're just replacing one addiction with another y'know." Kawalsky said, nodding towards the cigarette butt.
Jack glared. "You sound like Doc."
"I'm just sayin'."
"I know." Jack replied in a softer tone.
"You know, you look like shit. You should go back to the hospital." Kawalsky said seriously.
"Nah. I won't be gone long." Jack replied.
"Where're you going?" Kawalsky pressed.
"Can't tell you."
"I won't tell anyone."
"Yeah, but if they find out you knew…"
"Okay, okay. Plausible deniability, I know. They're gonna court martial you when you get back, y'know."
"No. They won't." Jack replied.
"Why not?"
Jack's face hardened. "Best of the best. Apparently they need me." He said bitterly.
Kawalsky looked at his friend sympathetically. "See you around, Jack."
For the first time, Jack smiled, weakly. "Yeah, sure. You betcha." And rode off./
"How the hell that guy has never been court martialled I'll never know." Jacob said.
"He said it." Hammond replied. "Best of the best. He was too. Still is." He went on sparing a guilty glance at SG-1. They didn't care though. They believed it as much as Hammond did.
Finally, Daniel spoke, breaking the silent watching of flickering images. "So what, whenever Jack breaks the rules, it gets covered up?"
Sam's ears pricked up at this.
"Yes and no, son." Hammond said. "We try, but he's such a goddamned stubborn bastard, he won't accept 'no punishment' as an answer. He's got at least a dozen reprimands in his record. And, of course, it depends on the rule, and the reason he broke it."
Jacob snorted. "More like two dozen."
The images slowed once more.
/Jack was sitting by a lake outside a log cabin. Behind him were two elderly people. The man looked a little like Jack. They were his grandparents.
His grandmother was speaking in a voice she -wrongly - thought Jack couldn't hear.
"He looks awful. So thin, so tired looking. I want a word with that boy's mother."
The man smiled at her gently. "He can't go home. Our daughter's husband has forbidden it."
"He's an asshole." The woman replied.
Unseen, Jack smirked at this.
"You know he's AWOL, don't you?" The man asked his wife.
"I don't care. If he is it's for good reason. My JJ would never do anything wrong." There was firm conviction in her voice.
"Hah!" her husband snorted.
"Well… not morally wrong, in any case." The woman conceded, smiling fondly at Jack's back.
"Yeah. Just don't let him catch you still calling him JJ, that's all."
"Why is he here, did he say?"
"He said he 'needed to get away'. Whatever that means. Something bad happened to him. He's not the same kid we knew."
"And he needs a haircut." Jack's grandmother snorted, eyeing Jack's sticky-up hair.
Her husband laughed at that. "He always needs a haircut!"/
The images flickered again. And sped on. They went for quite some time before slowing.
/Jack was chained up in a dirty cell. /
"Iraq." General Hammond said.
/There was a loud scream. A young woman, a teenager really, was dragged into the cell opposite Jack's by a huge man with a scar that ran over one eye.
The man yelled at the woman in his own language before ripping her clothes from her body.
Jack looked away, closing his eyes.
He couldn't shut out the sounds of the rape. The woman's screams, the huge man's heavy breathing and laughter.
Jack looked as though he wanted to throw up. Suddenly the noises stopped.
Jack turned, slowly. The woman lay dead on the ground beneath the man who turned and grinned at Jack. The woman's throat had been cut. The man made no move to cover her body; he just left her laying there in the filth of the cell.
Jack turned away and threw up./
Daniel and Sam both looked as though they wanted to be sick too. Teal'c felt angry, even though he'd seen much worse as Apophis' First Prime.
Jacob and General Hammond were also both angry and sickened.
Daniel said, "That man wasn't Iraqi." Trying desperately to distract himself.
"No. He was a mercenary." Hammond answered, his voice flat.
The next time the images slowed it looked as though Jack was escaping from the prison.
/Jack was running blindly through dank and dirty corridors, stumbling occasionally.
A knife flashed in his hand. Jack looked a mess. Dirty and unshaved. His clothes were torn and hung from him where he'd lost weight.
He turned a corner and was brought up short by the sight of the huge man dragging another young woman through the corridors.
Jack lost it. He grabbed the larger man and freed the young woman, pushing her roughly aside.
The man yelled and threw Jack against the wall of the corridor. Then he put his hands around Jack's throat.
Jack brought the knife up into the man's groin, castrating him. The mercenary's blood poured over Jack's hands.
Jack growled something in the man's own language as he pushed him to the floor. Then he ran on./
The images sped on.
The occupants of the room looked to Daniel. "What did he say?" Sam asked.
"May Shaitan eat your soul." Daniel translated.
"Oh."
"Hey, I didn't know Jack spoke another language, or can he just curse in one?" Daniel turned to General Hammond.
"Jack was Special Ops, son. He speaks four or five languages."
"Four or five…" Daniel repeated. "He never said." He finished indignantly.
"Daniel, you speak what, twenty three languages? Why would he say anything?" Sam asked.
"Definitely smarter than he acts." Daniel said.
"Did you ever doubt that, DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked, raising an eyebrow.
The images slowed once more.
/Jack was answering the door to his house. He looked older. Twenty-nine, thrity-ish.
"What?" he growled at the knocker. It was Janet Fraiser, soaked through. "Jeez Doc!" Jack exclaimed, yanking her inside, out of the rain.
"What the hell are you doing, trying to break my door down? My wife and kid are sleeping." He hissed.
"I need your help." Janet said. It all came out in one breath as she stood, shivering. Jack pulled his jacket off the wall hook. "Here." He put it around her shoulders.
"Thanks, Lieutenant Colonel." Janet said, with a trace of her usual mischievousness./
"Lieutenant Colonel?" Jacob questioned.
"They had to do something to get him back after four months in Iraq." Hammond replied.
"But he's so…" Sam began.
"Young?" Jacob finished.
Hammond merely nodded.
"Shh." Daniel said. On screen Jack had just been his usual subtle self and told Janet to:
/"Cut the crap, Doc. I haven't seen you since I went AWOL –"
"I was reassigned." She interjected.
Jack waved a hand in a gesture that broadly meant, 'Not important'. "And you turn up now? What's wrong?"
Janet suddenly seemed much smaller than usual, something that should have been impossible.
"Doc?" Jack interrogated softly.
"I want you to kill my husband." She said.
"What!" Jack yelled, momentarily forgetting his sleeping family. Then, quieter, "What!"
"You heard me." Janet said, recovering slightly.
"Why?"
"He's… hitting me, Jack." Janet said, softly. "He threatened to kill me."
"So divorce him." Jack said, though not in an uncaring way. "I'm not gonna kill your husband for you Janet."
It was evidently the first time he had used her name in a long time and Janet's eyes widened, momentarily, before she took in what he'd actually said. "Jack, please."
"Why're you askin' me?"
"You're my friend." She began.
Jack cut in "Oh yeah, you like me enough to send me to jail!"
"You wouldn't get caught. You're too good."
"Doc…" Jack said, warningly.
"Please, Jack." She said again.
"What about Sara, and Charlie? I can't just kill your husband and come home and play nice, Doc." Jack was angry. Very angry.
"You won't do this for me?" She asked, incredulous.
"I can't." Jack replied.
"You do it every time you're deployed." Janet almost snarled.
"That's my job."
"Oh, yeah. They pay you to kill people you know nothing about. Is that it? You want money, Jack?"
Jack glared at her. Then stalked away, out into his back yard. The light from the house dimly illuminated the lawn. There were toys strewn everywhere. Baby toys.
Janet followed him out. She was still fuming. So was Jack.
"Get lost, Fraiser."
"Fraiser is it? Fine, sir." She said. Jack visibly winced at the 'sir'. "No, sir."
"I'm not gonna do it." He replied.
"You selfish son-of-a-bitch." Janet said. "I brought you back from the whole heroin thing. I practically nursed you back to health single-handedly, and you won't do this thing for me?"
Jack spun to glare at her. "So what is it? A life for a life? I take your husband's life in return for you saving mine? No way." He glared at her for a long moment before continuing, "How the hell can you throw that back in my face?"
Janet seemed to realise what she'd said. "Oh, god, Jack, I'm sorry." She sagged, and tears began to fall. "I'm so scared."
"Leave him."
"He'll find me." She said in a small voice.
"He won't look." Jack said. "I'll make sure of it."
"No."
"No?"
"I can't ask you for anything. Not after what I've said to you tonight. I'm sorry." Janet turned and practically ran through Jack's house.
"Doc!" Jack called her back, but heard her car drive away. "Shit."
"Jack?" Sara O'Neill appeared in the doorway.
"Sara, you should be asleep."
"Who was that woman?" Sara persisted.
Jack frowned. "An old friend." He replied. "From the Air Force."
"Are you being deployed?" Sara asked.
"No."
Sara was silent for a moment.
"Sara?"
"Jack, are you having an affair?" She questioned.
"What? No!" Jack was shocked and angry. And hurt.
"Oh," was all Sara said, before walking back into the house.
"Shit." Jack said again./
"Wow." Daniel said.
"Jack and Dr Fraiser never spoke again. Until I mentioned to him one day that we'd need a good CMO. He had her reassigned here." Hammond said quietly.
An hour after they'd begun to watch the images slowed once more. But they were fragmented.
/A garden. Jack was with his wife. A gunshot.
"Charlie!" Sara yelled.
Jack was running. /
"Oh, god. We shouldn't watch this." Sam said, not able to take her eyes from the screen.
/Blood. Blood was everywhere. The car was covered in it. Sara was screaming, endless sound. Jack was driving. Swerving in and out of traffic. 80mph. 90. 110. The needle kept climbing. In the back seat Sara was cradling their son. Jack had evidently gone into crisis mode. /
/The relatives room at the hospital. Sara was pacing. Jack was sitting stock still in a chair, staring at nothing. A man entered.
"Dad!" Sara said, practically falling into the old man's arms. He rubbed her back, rocking her gently as she sobbed./
/Later. Sara's father was gone. A doctor entered the room.
"Mr. and Mrs. O'Neill?"
"Yes." Jack said, his voice heavy./
"He knew." Daniel murmured. "Before they told him he knew." He was alarmed at watching his friend turn into the man he had met on the first trip to Abydos.
/"I'm very sorry –"
The rest of the doctor's speech was drowned out by Sara's scream.
Jack met the doctor's gaze. The man nodded and left the room.
"Sara…" Jack began.
"You!" She yelled, venomously, "You did this! You killed our son!"
Jack looked stricken. He spun on his heel and started to leave.
"Jack! No! I'm sorry!" Jack left the room, almost running into Sara's father. "Jack!" Sara yelled./
The images began to speed once more.
Daniel had his eyes closed. "Oh god." He whispered.
Sam was openly crying. Teal'c and the two generals had tears in their eyes; all three imagining what it would be like to lose a child like that.
"Oh god." Daniel repeated.
/Jack was sitting in a psychiatrist's office.
"You really should talk about this, Colonel. It would help." The psychiatrist sat opposite Jack.
Jack said nothing. Didn't meet the doctor's eyes. He seemed catatonic.
"You feel responsible for your son's death…" the psychiatrist prompted.
Jack said nothing.
"Colonel O'Neill, I cannot recommend you for active duty unless you-"
"Then don't." Jack spoke at last.
"I'm sorry?"
"Don't recommend me for active duty. Sign me off."
"I'm afraid I can't do that…" the doctor began.
Jack stood.
"Sit down, Colonel."
"Bite me." Jack said, turning and exiting the room/
The images began to accelerate again.
/Jack sat alone in Charlie's room. He looked awful. His hair had grown out more than usual, he was unshaven. He was looking down at the gun in his hands. There were voices downstairs.
Two men appeared in the doorway to Charlie's room. They were wearing Air Force dress blues.
"Excuse me, Colonel O'Neill?"
Jack didn't look up.
The man continued, "We're from General West's office, Sir. We're here to inform you that you've been reactivated."
The airmen faded from Jack's view. He could still hear them though.
One of them said: "The guy's a mess, how'd he get like that?"
"His kid died, accidentally shot himself." The other replied.
"Jesus."
Jack got up and walked into what was, presumably, his and Sara's bedroom. Opened the closet and pulled out his dress uniform. He slung it over one shoulder then walked out of the room.
He was confronted in the hallway by Sara.
"Where are you going?"
He said nothing. Tried to move past her.
"Jack."
"Work." Jack's voice was hoarse, as if with disuse.
"Now?"
"Yes."
Jack reached the top of the stairs.
"Jack O'Neill, if you walk out on me now I won't let you come back."
Jack stopped. Slung his uniform over the banister. Walked back to Sara. He put his arms around her and held her tightly to him.
Then he turned, walked back to the banister, picked up his uniform and began to walk down the stairs.
"Oh my god. You're not planning on coming back, are you?" Sara's voice was almost a whisper. Something in her voice betrayed the fact that she knew he planned to die. Not just leave her. Die.
"Jack…" She said brokenly.
Barely audible, from somewhere near the bottom of the stairs came, "I'm sorry." Then the front door closing and the sound of a car starting up and driving away./
None of the occupants of the room moved. They'd been sitting there so long, but they were riveted.