Head Trip – Chapter 29 "Flashpoint"
When the neural disturbance came upon him, it was totally unexpected. Fifth had been finalizing plans for their departure. He would prepare a proper feast for Sam on Cistercia, a banquet fit for a queen. For now he simply wanted to quench her thirst and hunger with a light meal and find a suitable garment for her travels. Her beauty continued to amaze him and he thought of her in the flowing robe when she first came to him, freely, of her own will. In his mind, he could see again their walk in the garden. He remembered the feeling of tranquility that came upon him when she took his hand and led him into that idyllic setting. They embraced and he felt safe in her arms; he felt wanted.
Suddenly, his pleasant thoughts of Samantha were interrupted by another, more sinister sense of something, someone near … an intruder within the citadel! Fifth immediately beamed himself back into the control room to determine if there had been a breach of security.
In a moment, at a glance, his enemy was before him. Fifth silently rejoiced to see that it was O'Neill, the one who had destroyed his replicated creation of Sam. He could now discover what had happened when she was sent on that mission. He would find out the cause of her destruction, and then he would wipe out the destroyer. Vengefully, Fifth thrust his hand into the back of Jack O'Neill's head.
Sam looked from Jack's stricken face to Fifth's feverish glare. She knew that using her P90 would only be a temporary solution and, besides, Jack's slumped figure was blocking her aim. The final solution, her weapon of choice, was lying across the room at the Replicator's feet. She feared that any quick move towards the wave disrupter would result in severe injury to Jack. Sizing up the precarious situation, Sam decided that the best course of action was no action. If she continued the pretense of allegiance, she might be able to distract Fifth from the mind probe and eventually reach the disrupter. Regretfully, Sam placed her weapon on the desk behind her and watched, helplessly, as the painful scene unfolded.
Jack's eyes appeared unfocused and his mouth twisted in agony as Fifth relentlessly pushed farther and farther into his victim's mind. Carter stifled a cry of compassion knowing that it would condemn both her and O'Neill to the Replicator's wrath. So she stood, immobile and on edge, waiting for Jack's release.
Trying to feign disinterest, she said, "Fifth, my love, we have no need of O'Neill. Leave him."
The Replicator looked up and at her as if seeing her for the very first time. "Oh, no, Samantha … this is the man who caused me so much pain … I will have my revenge now and then we shall leave for Cistercia."
Fifth was already finding the secrets that Jack O'Neill had hidden deep within his mind, feelings and longings that had only recently begun to rise to the surface …feelings which were about to cause a devastating chain reaction for all of them.
The pain came in waves, crashing over him and then releasing him, only to catch him up once more in the maelstrom of images and scenes from his past life. He fought to defend himself from Fifth's violent intrusion but he had been taken so quickly and unexpectedly that O'Neill did not really have time to prepare himself fully for the mental assault. His mind was on Sam. Seeing her standing there before him, uninjured and safe, he wanted to rush to her side and wrap her in his arms. He wanted to tell her how much he really cared. Instead, he followed military protocol and threw her weapon to her, preparing for their escape. All of these most recent thoughts and feelings now became the property of Fifth.
The turbulence continued to rack Jack's brain, sweeping both him and his abductor along a slippery path of military data and past missions into the deeper vortex of personal encounters and cherished memories. He felt as if he were being stripped of all his most valued possessions. He tried to find something to anchor himself. He needed time to rebuild the walls which were now falling all about him … time to find a place to hide … to hide and protect … who? Who was it that he should not reveal? In the end, he saw only her face, the woman who filled his mind with hope and desire and love. At the closing stages of the probe, Jack O'Neill could not separate himself from his memories of Sam.
Teal'c waited, cautiously, for O'Neill to reappear at the back of the citadel along with Colonel Carter. He glanced once more at his watch and realized that the final minutes of decision were upon him. Knowing that he was deliberately going against his commander's direct orders to stand his ground and retreat without them, Teal'c, nevertheless, followed his own sense of urgency and headed towards the back entrance. He would not, could not, leave his teammates abandoned to their enemy.
Fifth felt a power and a sense of control that filled him with determination. He could tell from the first moment of impact that O'Neill had been taken by surprise and, knowing that, he became all the more relentless in his purge of the contents of Jack's mind. He soon managed to strip away and store the objective military data that his replicated sister had been sent to retrieve. This was offered up quickly and almost effortlessly. Around this, however, he began to see more and more images of Samantha: moments of O'Neill and Carter on missions together, feelings of connection and danger; a flash of the two of them standing face to face separated by some type of force field, looking longingly into each other's eyes; snatches of conversations; captivities and tortures; always returning to that look in their eyes, a deepening bond … Jack, at the bedside of Carter; Carter leaning on Jack's shoulder; a furtive embrace, a look, a touch … and a passion kindling under the surface of Jack O'Neill. Fifth could feel the heat of this desire and, with this feeling of desire, came an overwhelming sense of love. The love flashed out to another woman who looked like Sam … he realized with a jolt that he was seeing the Replicated Carter in the act of probing Jack's mind. He next saw her lifeless body lying on the floor of O'Neill's office. She had seen and felt what Fifth was now feeling! But she was not ready for this kind of earthly knowledge. Fifth had not yet instructed her in the art of love. He had not yet trained the Replicated Carter to experience such a powerful human emotion. Was this shocking revelation of a man's love for a woman so overwhelming that it somehow killed her?
This was not what he was searching for! This was a terrible truth that filled him with anger at the humans who were responsible for his beloved's death! It was not only O'Neill … it was Samantha Carter too! Fifth could see clearly now – this man's love was reflected in the eyes of his beloved. Their fleeting moments of intimacy had all played out before him as he probed Jack's mind. His own Samantha was gone, lying dead in O'Neill's office. The woman he thought he now loved had deceived him once again. The woman who was to be his future companion had given her heart to the man who knelt before him.
A cry of despair rose from his chest as Fifth released Jack from the probe. It became a keening, horrific sound of grief and anger as the Replicator kicked O'Neill aside and lunged towards Sam.
"He loves you! You have betrayed me!"
The shock of those words stunned Sam and, before she could reach back for the P90, Fifth was upon her. The strength of his impact sent them both hurtling out onto the observation tower of Level Three. Sam took the brunt of the fall, her head and shoulders crashing onto the metallic surface of the deck. Fifth landed on top of her and immediately put his hands around her throat. He raged at her as he closed his fingers on her neck.
"You never loved me! You love him!"
He was inches from her face and his eyes burned with such hot anger that she felt she would be consumed by the fire. The pressure on her windpipe and her need to free herself from his stranglehold brought her back to her senses. Her vision was starting to dim and she knew she only had seconds left to think clearly. Reaching up, she raked her fingers across his eyes. As he screamed in pain, she found the leverage she needed and pushed him to her side. He reached for her leg as she twisted and tried to scramble away. She was slammed to the surface, and then felt herself being lifted from behind and thrown back into the control room. Her body careened, headfirst, into the monolith. She could feel the crushing blow but forced herself to stay conscious. Her own anger was now rising. Her own need to survive, to save Jack and herself, to bring these mechanical aberrations to an end began to give her added strength. Sam ignored the blood running from her forehead as she turned and saw Fifth coming. He had turned into a bastardized version of his former self. His features were so distorted with rage that she could not believe it was the same gentle almost-human form who had professed to love her. It was best to see him like this; it would make it easier for her to do what she knew must be done. She got to her feet quickly and prepared for the next assault.
This time she was ready. As he moved towards her, she lashed out with a high kick which caught him squarely on the jaw. He staggered backwards, but did not fall. Sam advanced swiftly, throwing several punches to his body and a blow to his head. All landed successfully but he still refused to go down. As she lashed out once more, he reached out and grabbed her wrist with such force that she could feel the bones snap. The sudden pain shooting up her left arm and his continued pressure on the injury caused her to fall to her knees. As she looked up, she saw the flash of the back of his hand as it met her face. Her fierce determination to stay alive matched his determination to punish her. Even as she lay there, stunned and half conscious, she was planning her next move.
Teal'c had made careful note of the Claymores and knew that O'Neill had placed timed explosives throughout the interior of the citadel. As he turned into the cavernous building, he scanned the large room looking for any sign of replicator activity or his friends. Nothing seemed to be happening on the lower level. All machinery and boxes appeared to be stationary and the building seemed to be some type of storage and housing facility. Indeed, there were three levels of cell-like rooms with surrounding walkways. It was then that he realized that all the building materials were made up of replicator blocks. He could see some of the C4 charges as he slowly moved towards a stairwell which he hoped would take him to his missing teammates. However, before he could mount the steps, a sudden movement on the highest level caught his attention. Someone had come out on to what appeared to be some kind of observation tower or balcony.
He then heard the following command echo off the cavernous walls: "Come forth, my children, come forth!"
Sam watched as Fifth moved out on to the third level and knew what he was about to do. As she heard the chilling words of activation, she crawled towards the wave disrupter and Jack's prone body. He was still unconscious from the mind probe. If he were here, though, it was highly improbable that he came alone. He must have come with Teal'c and Daniel. Her mind now started to clear and she realized that her situation might not be as dire as it seemed. Fifth had thought he left her unconscious; she deceived him once again. And she now lifted the wave disrupter and herself from the floor, albeit a bit unsteady. She had to cradle the weapon in the crook of her left arm because of the broken wrist.
Things could be worse. It would be awkward but she knew what she had to do. Thank God, she wasn't a lefty! Her right arm and trigger finger were working just fine. She knew that the P90 would also be needed once Fifth had awakened all his 'children'. For now, though, she had to eliminate the leader and take out as many human-form Replicators as she could before their mechanical brethren joined the party!