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Kasluvsg1: you're right! He is!
SLEEPING BEAUTY.
by LetitiaRichards
Previously:
The man raged in temper and looked round quickly when he heard someone call his name. He turned and fled from the room, slamming the door shut behind him and once again they found themselves in almost the same situation as when they had arrived. Sam crawled to Jack's side to sit vigil over his unconscious form.
Chapter 9
It wasn't long before the door slid open again and Daniel jumped up from the floor and backed away when two huge people entered the room.
Even Teal'c was dwarfed by their size. Daniel guessed that they must have been about 8 feet tall; one was slightly shorter than the other. Both were dressed in similar fashion to Balazah but he was more their height, maybe a little shorter.
When the shorter of the two spotted the two prisoners, she held out her hands in a gesture of apology, and her expression was one of sorrow and remorse.
"Please forgive Balazah. We had absolutely no idea what he was up to. You must understand that he is not quite like the others. He will of course be punished and his other toys taken away from him for…"
"Wait...wait...wait!" Daniel cried in disbelief. "Toys? A...are you saying he's just a...a child? Or that he is like a child?"
The shorter one answered again and Daniel took her for a female of the species. She smiled indulgently.
"He is our son, yes. He suffered some brain damage as a baby and has been as a young child ever since. When we realised what he was doing we came down here to stop him. We are so sorry for your poor treatment. You are free to leave whenever you wish. We mean you no harm."
"Ah...There are two more of us but Balazah wouldn't tell us where they were. He said they had to be punished for breaking his 'toy'.
"Again I must apologise for his behaviour. He is such a handful sometimes. Why, only the other day I caught him watching his sister and her husband in their bedroom... Well, he has this fascination with making babies. He just loves babies, plus he is besotted with fairy-tales too. He just can't get enough of them."
"Oh my god! Jack and Sam." Daniel cried out and clutched at Teal'c's sleeve when he put two and two together. He just hoped the situation wasn't as bad as they thought. Jack and Sam had this unresolved 'thing' between them. What if he manipulated them into...? The thought didn't bear thinking about. "We have to find them!" he said urgently.
The mother gasped when she too was hit by the clue bus and came to the same conclusion.
"They are male and female of your kind?" she asked full of dread.
"Yes. Can we just go and find them now?"
They rushed out into the corridor and round several corners, but the parents had a distinct advantage over the two team-mates; their legs were a lot longer and Daniel heard a deep voice ahead of them call out.
"Balazah! What are you doing? Come here at once!"
Daniel could only assume that it was the father, but it was also obvious that the 'child-like' Balazah didn't stop so he was chased around the winding passages.
Daniel saw another doorway and the female opened the mechanism making the door slide upwards. She flicked her hand over another of the controls and a light came on lighting up the room.
"Sam! Jack?" Daniel cried on entering, just as she too cried out his name in relief.
"Daniel! Thank god! Teal'c."
Teal'c went to kneel at Jack's side, checking his injuries.
"Major Carter what has transpired here?" he asked.
"Balazah shot him with some sort of weapon. He was actually aiming at me, but Ja..." she paused to cough, hoping to cover up her near mistake of using is given name. "em...Colonel O'Neill pushed me out of the way," she explained hastily.
"Let me take a look at him for you. I doubt that the weapon did any permanent harm. Balazah knows he is not allowed to play with anything dangerous. It was more likely he used a stun weapon."
Sam leapt backwards and fell onto her butt, her eyes wide with surprise when she saw the giant woman advancing on them.
Daniel went to her side and put his arm around her while the female knelt beside Jack's inert form.
"Are you okay Sam?" Daniel asked when she just sat there stunned, still ogling the giant. "You look a mess Sam." Daniel was pointing at all the bloody finger-marks on her outfit.
"Uh...yeah Daniel," she said swallowing her embarrassment at the bloody smears all over her. "It's the Colonel's blood. I'm fine. Just...confused."
Daniel's eyes widened but he refused to pursue the questions rampaging through his mind at what that statement conjured up.
"This," he indicated the woman. "is Balazah's mother. He's been a naughty boy, playing with things he shouldn't have. Meaning us!" Daniel sighed.
"Oh god!" Sam gaped at her friend. "He made us..." she swallowed whatever it was she was going to say, obviously thinking better of broadcasting it, even to her team-mates.
Now Daniel's mind was in overdrive at what she wasn't revealing.
"It's okay Sam. It's over. We can go home!" he placated her and stopped her from dwelling on whatever had happened to them.
Jack groaned, taking all their attention, and tried to roll over onto his back, but it still hurt too much. He opened his eyes, blinking rapidly in the brightly lit room after being in the dark so long.
"Carter?" he called hoarsely. "What the hell hit me?"
"It's okay sir, I'm here. So are Daniel and Teal'c, Colonel. We can go home once you've recovered a little."
"I'mmm ready now," he muttered, pushing himself over with an effort.
Once on his back he came face to face with the female giant!"
"Whoa!" he cried in alarm at seeing her. First Dragons, then thorns, now giants? He will definitely have to see Doc Fraiser when he gets home. He really must have hit his head harder than he thought.
Sam was at his side instantly, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay sir. She's...helping us."
"Okaay," he drawled still a little wary of the woman hovering over him.
The woman in question smiled down at him with benevolence, and Jack relaxed slightly. He wouldn't fully relax until they were standing on the ramp back at the SGC.
She took his smaller hand in hers and pressed what he took to be a stone into it, forcing his fingers to clasp it tightly.
"Hold onto this tight and don't let go no matter what it feels like," she commanded.
"It won't hurt, will it?" he asked dubiously.
She shook her head and smiled.
"No, perhaps tingle and burn a little that's all."
Jack stared up at her and gasped when it seemed to burn its way into his whole being. He felt a warmth creep over him and his body tingled under the onslaught. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling; quite the contrary, it felt good. It soothed away all his aches and pains, even his scratches, leaving him healthy and happier once more.
The stone or whatever it was, turned cold again and she took it from him.
He clambered up from the floor, feeling more like his old self.
"You know we could do with a few of those for the infirmary. I'm sure Janet would love them," Sam said, voicing exactly what the others were thinking at seeing Jack fit once more.
"I could spare you but a few, as they are in short supply and they don't last for very long. If our enemy knew we still had some, then they would try to take over the mines where they are found."
"Enemy? Who's your enemy?" Jack asked, wondering if they were still in any danger.
"You need not fear them Colonel O'Neill. They are not here. We have not fought a battle with them in overone hundred years. You are quite safe, but please tell no-one of our gift to you. It is the least we can do to make up for our son's behaviour towards you. I will fetch you some when you are ready to leave.
"Uh...Could I have my clothes back please?" Sam sighed. She really hated this dress.
All the men turned towards her then, and Sam could see the light of amusement in their eyes.
"Oh, I don't know Carter. You look good in it," Jack said, grinning widely. Of course, he thought to himself, she'd look even better out of it, but he couldn't say that.
Sam glared at him and the alien mother smiled knowingly too.
"You do Sam!" Daniel added, and Teal'c rumbled an amused "Indeed!"
She closed her eyes tamping down the exasperated need to scream in frustration. When she opened them again she was struck by their sympathetic looks, and released her clenched fists, feeling deflated.
"My son did nothing wrong to you when he put you through that scenario," the woman suddenly said, sensing a tenseness of something hidden between Sam and Jack in the looks they exchanged.
Jack and Sam gaped at her in surprise, wondering what she meant.
She looked at them both with an understanding smile in her eyes.
"The machine doesn't make you do anything you are not inclined to want. All it does is enhance what is already there, hidden beneath the surface. If you felt nothing towards each other then you would no doubt have been ignored or irritated by the other's proximity. I dare say it would not have worked the same way had it been the Jaffa Teal'c or Dr, Jackson in with you at the time Major Carter."
"How come you know all about us and our names?" Jack changed the subject quickly and was wondering about these strange beings, seeing as they seemed to know a lot about them. The folks back at the SGC had heard nothing about these 'giants'. He needed to cover up his embarrassment in front of his team for having improper thoughts about his 2IC.
"Your team's fame and reputation has spread widely among the stars Colonel O'Neill. You are responsible for ridding the galaxy from another terrible enemy, the Goa'uld. Since you have begun to decimate their ranks, they have left our world alone. We do not make suitable hosts but they seek the secret of the stones. Another reason for us to thank you."
"Then I guess that's good. So, we'll be leavin' you good folks just as…"
"Ah...sir?"
Jack glanced over at Sam who was blushing under his intense gaze.
"What?"
"I still need to change sir. There is no way I am going home dressed like this." She pulled at the dress in question. It was a little worse for wear now, with smudges of his blood over it from his earlier embrace to wake her up.
"Ah...yeah, good idea Carter," he agreed seeing as how the last thing he needed to explain to Doc and the General was how come it was his blood that ended up all over Sam in rather revealing places where he'd held her. "And we need all our gear back too," Jack added, turning back to the alien. One thing was for sure he'd be glad to cut any conversation with these aliens short; he was getting a crick in his neck keep having to look up at them.
"Of course. If you will come with me I will secure them for you."
They followed her out into the corridor and along the passages until they came out into the main body of a castle.
"So you really do live in a castle?" Daniel gasped when he took a good look round.
"Of course," she replied and clapped her hands. A scurrying of feet announced the arrival of several young men who bowed low before her.
"We are your servants your Majesty, what is it that you command us do?" spoke the elder of the small quartet of flunkies present.
The four team-members gasped in surprise at this piece of news she had failed to mention to them.
She ordered them to find Sam's clothes and all their equipment at once. They bowed low and hurried off on their errand.
"You...you're...a...a Queen?" Daniel stuttered in amazement.
TBC