Chapter 23: Through Another's Eyes

"Is there any other way to break the connection?" Hammond asked. He wasn't going for the strike during the day thing.

"No, Sir." Jack answered quickly.

"I don't know if I want to risk sending you into this mission."

"General, if I may interrupt." Jack replied.

Hammond nodded.

"Okay. General, this creature is only active at night, and since it is clearly not night on that planet, we won't be in any danger. Sir, it may be our only hope of severing the telepathic connection. I'm afraid if we don't find a way to cut it quickly that Jonas's life may be in danger." O'Neill said in all sincerity. Okay, so Fraser didn't exactly say that Jonas's life would be in jeopardy, but it never hurt to stretch the truth a little bit.

Hammond stared into Jack's eyes, clearly searching for any signs of fibbing, but didn't seem to find anything, but sincerity.

"I want you to know that while I don't support your idea of this, Colonel, I'm willing to allow your team to move in on a voluntary basis. Therefore, if either of you does not wish to carry on with this mission, you are free to remain behind." Hammond said, his gaze floated between Sam and Teal'c.

"I wish to accompany O'Neill in his efforts." Teal'c replied almost instantly.

"As do I, Sir." Sam said, almost as soon as Teal'c had finished speaking.

"Very well then. It's settled. Leave as soon as possible." Hammond said.

"We're ready now." Jack said.

"Okay. You have a go." Hammond finished and watched the looks of relief that flooded across the faces of his lead team.

"Great, let's get going, we don't wanna waste daylight, do we? General, we'll be home before our curfew, the moment we see signs of night, we're outta there. See you in a bit." Jack stated and trooped off to gather his supplies.

"Good luck. Be careful." Hammond muttered after them, but none seemed to hear.

SG-1 walked slowly into the village, and saw that it had come alive since the last time they had been there. There were a great number of people milling about in the streets, some looking shocked and surprised, others were crying.

As the team looked to see what all of the commotion was about, they saw that the last body was being removed from in front of the law office. People stood in groups watching, until the body was wheeled out of sight.

Jack looked to the other two members of his team, and saw them merely watching the scene before them. From within the crowd, they could hear Johnston's voice speaking with one of the groups. O'Neill led SG-1 closer, and when Johnston saw them approach, he excused himself and came to the team. Even at a distance, SG-1 could see harsh lines on his face, lines that showed how troubled he was. His eyes reflected suffering, and sympathy, but aside from that, there wasn't much else that could be told in the way he appeared.

"I did not think that you would be back." Johnston replied.

"Neither did we, but there were some complications with the member of my team that was attacked." Jack said.

"Allow me to be the first to offer my deepest sympathies, but it was only obvious that once he was attacked that he would not last long. Nobody who is marked survives." Johnston said simply.

"Hey, wait, I think you're mistaken. Jonas isn't dead." Jack said quickly.

"I thought you said there were complications."

"There are, but not of the type you're thinking. No, it seems that Jonas has been telepathically connected with the walking shadow through the marks that he received."

"I have never before heard of such a phenomenon."

"Neither have we, but we want to find out how to stop it."

"How do you intend to do so?"

"We have to know where it camps out when it's not killing. Our doctor needs a blood sample to analyze and devise a cure."

"You cannot! There is no possible way that you would be able to get a sample without it waking up."

"Let us be the judges of that. Any ideas where he camps out?" Jack asked.

"It is not known to us. However, if you are determined on getting this . . . "

"We are." Jack interrupted.

"Well then, you may wish to try the forest. It is said that there is a cavern concealed within it in which he sleeps. Be warned though, it is just a rumor." Johnston said.

"Thanks, we'll let ya know how things go." Jack smiled and turned toward the forest, where he led his team into its depths.

In the infirmary, all was quiet. Jonas slept soundly as the final hours of daylight were extinguished. His sleep was filled with unsettling dreams, and none were good.

He had heard SG-1 telling Fraser about the sample of blood they were going to get for her. He'd tried to discourage them, the last thing he needed was his friends dying on his behalf. His words of discouragement and concern did no good, for Colonel O'Neill had simply dismissed his worries and said they were going with or without his agreement. All he could do was wish them luck, and hope that General Hammond would order them not to take the mission.

His hopes had been crushed however when about a half hour later, he'd heard Jack's voice floating toward him from the far side of the room. Fraser had said that he was sleeping, in truth, he had been, but he'd waken up only seconds before SG-1's arrival.

Keeping his eyes closed, he'd listened to the conversation, heard Fraser wish them luck, and then heard the footsteps of his friends leaving. He stayed awake for quite some time, but eventually found himself drifting off, and the next thing he knew he was thrown into one of the most frightening dreams he'd had since this connection had been created between him and the shadow.

In the dream, or what he could only presume to be a dream, he found himself standing in the centre of a forest, his eyes locked onto a dark cave that was set against a bank. He knew what was in the cave. The shadow creature was there, sleeping, or waiting. From where he was, he couldn't tell.

He heard the voices of SG-1 coming to him through the trees, and seconds later saw Colonel O'Neill emerge from the forest, followed by Teal'c, then Sam, and they all stopped talking, the last unfinished sentence hanging and dying in the air. Suddenly the team was all business, O'Neill gave a few hand signals and the other two moved into position.

Jonas stood in the centre of the clearing, watching them, wanting to speak, and finding that nothing he said could be heard, not even by him. He felt his mouth move, knew what he wanted to say, but only silence escaped.

"Think anybody's home?" Jack murmured to himself.

'Yes, Colonel, someone's home. He's in there, I can tell. Please, just turn and go back, I'm sure Doctor Fraser will find some way of severing the connection without the blood sample, and if that doesn't work, why not call in for backup from one of our allies? Surely someone will be able to help.' Jonas tried to speak the words, but only found that he couldn't, he was caught in silence.

Without warning, Jonas felt like he was being sucked through a vortex, and the next thing he knew, he was looking around a dark cavern, he felt the joy of murder boiling inside him. He was going to kill those who dared trespass into his land. Movement whispered from outside, and he knew that the Earth team had returned. For what, he didn't know, but they were back.

Wait, he did know why they were here, they wanted a sample of his blood for their doctor to analyze. Why? The reason was simple, the Earth doctor hadn't yet found a way to help him, the marks were puzzling her.

That was good, he would kill the three outside, and they'd never be able to help in her developments. He knew they were there, but they didn't know he was onto them. He closed his eyes, he'd wait, they were sure to come inside, and when they did, he'd kill them.

Footsteps coming toward him, his plan was working perfectly. He felt the presence of someone kneeling next to him, only a few more seconds. A tiny pinprick in his neck, good, that meant that one of them was carrying out their job. The prick was removed, someone got up, and turned away. He opened his eyes. The older man stood, back to him. Perfect. He quietly got to his feet, raised a hand and swiped the man off of his feet. The man yelled, and drew his weapon upon hitting the ground. There was commotion outside, and he knew the others were coming to help the older man which he'd just grounded.

They were too late, he brought his hand down and pinned the man to the ground, turned him roughly over and raised his other hand.

Jack! He was going to kill Jack, he couldn't do it, he had to fight it, had to stop himself.

The cave lurched out of focus, only to fade into darkness. Darkness from which Jonas surfaced, yelling with terror. What had he done? Had he stopped himself in time?

"Jonas!" Came Fraser's shout, and she appeared next to him only seconds later, a very urgent look on her face.

Jonas was damp with perspiration, as were his bed sheets. Blinding pain lanced sickeningly through his wounds, his stomach turned over, and his head pounded viciously. Seconds later, he lurched to the side of his bed, surfacing a few moments later. Fraser brushed a hand across his cheek, and her eyes clouded with concern.

"Your temperature's spiked again. Jonas, what happened?" Fraser asked in concern.

"Colonel O'Neill is going to be killed, unless he already has been. I don't know, I was pulled from the dream before I found out." Jonas said, his chest felt tight, and then he realized his breath was coming in panicked gasps.

"Jonas, calm down, you're hyperventilating." She handed him a glass of water, which he downed quickly.

"Someone has to go and check on him." Jonas said.

"Jonas, Colonel O'Neill is fine, he should be back in a little while." Fraser said, but her voice sounded doubtful.

"What if he doesn't come back? Doctor Fraser, I know what I saw, I'm connected with that thing, remember? What I saw makes me doubt Colonel O'Neill's swift return. Someone has to go and pull them out, the creature isn't sleeping, it's awake, it knows what they're planning, it's awake and it's going to kill them all." Jonas's voice sounded desperate.

"I'll tell General Hammond to send in SG-2." Fraser said.

"Let me go with them! I might be able to provide some help." Jonas replied.

"No, Jonas. You're not fit to be going off world, you're staying here, SG-2 can handle it."

"No, they can't. Doctor, please." Jonas said, his voice was harsh, but also pleading.

"No, Jonas. You're staying." Janet said, her voice sharp.

Jonas sighed roughly and glared past her shoulders to the door. General Hammond stood there, and he was looking very alarmed.