Author Note from Jackie: Flatkatsi has summed me up pretty well, (she's referring to the answer I put in the reviews: Flatkatsi) I love Jack, and I write strictly for my own pleasure, sharing it is an added pleasure and I write what I would like to see happen in the show. I am in no way a romance write, but I love the chemistry and love between Sam and Jack. I do try and remain faithful to the characters, especially Jack (with some poetic license of course.)
The show in cannon gives us a tremendous amount of brief torture scenes (pain sticks and hand devices, zats and whips, drugs, acid and knives, death, dying, rape - it just doesn't show the weeks after of heartache and nightmares and healing, hey he was pinned to the gateroom wall for hours suffering as well,) but mental anguish goes much deeper and is much harder to heal - I find that more difficult to write about than physical pain and it can take much longer to heal if ever too.
There's no way without some tragedy and pain that Sam and Jack are gonna get it on! Sam's too frightened of involvement without high stakes - something has to force her out of her reservations - we saw that continually on the show - look at the way she acted with Cassie in the elevator scene - kick scream cry ! and whoa, what about being nasty with the scientist and then in the locker room with Teal'c in PL? and Heroes - she broke cover when he went down and she cried for Janet quite openly on the base and then his shoulder (oh sigh sniffle) whole lot of occasions when Sam shows tears oh yep remember Out Of the Fire ... in Hathor's base when she sort of went looking for him? oh that hug brings tears to my eyes ... and Jack ... well he's gotta be resisting and have a reason to let his defense down hasn't he? A true hero does hurt, can die ... you gotta have some suspense and reality in fiction land or you get terminal boredom!
Hugging her colleagues? Well yes Sam has done that ... does hug her dad too (Hey even hugged Hammond remember? and he was only retiring FCOL!) now - going off possibly to die? Yep I would hug folk too - they're family FCOL - but most of all I would hug Jack hehehe firmly and lovingly forever!
I love Jack - he deserves so much for being a true hero but I also love action and spitting in the eye of the baddies before he gets his Sam!
As for Flatkatsi, a fabby writer - oh boy, yes I am an amateur in the whump stakes in comparison, she has also dipped her toes into the ship water and personally I think if she practices writing lots more ship (evil grin here!) she will get better and better :) (ignoring vision of Flatkatsi sticking more than tongue out at me!)
ANYWAY... I really would like to thank you all so much for your kind words and comments, the response has been overwhelming. I really appreciate them, every single one and I don't mind food for thought, I can always draw on it all for another fic, so hopefully my writing continues to improve. AND a huge thank you to Flatkatsi, to not only her kindness and patience but her invaluable experience and assistance, without whom my scribbles would have died a death a long time ago xxxxx
And now, without further ado – the next part
A Single Man of Courage – part fifteen
"Everyone to the infirmary before debrief," ordered the General as he stood waiting on the foot of the ramp.
"Any word on Colonel O'Neill, Sir?" asked Sam the moment her feet hit the ramp. She stood, still in the white outfit, holding her P90. She presented an alluring sight with the light behind her from the gate and the SF's stood there catching flies with their open mouths.
The General moved up to her and took her P90. "Not yet. He's been taken into surgery. You might want to go clean up and change first, Major," he said kindly and turned, giving the SF's his best general's glare. They snapped to attention.
Sam didn't notice anything; she was too tired and too worried.
It felt like she had half the desert in her clothes and hair. A hot shower did wonders for her physically, but her worries for the Colonel didn't allow her to tarry too much. Sporting a clean uniform and wet hair she made her way to the infirmary.
Masters and Parker were being attended to. Daniel and Teal'c were sitting together on one of the beds waiting their turn.
"You look better," commented Daniel as she entered.
"A hot shower does wonders. I feel better not carrying half the desert around." She pulled herself up on the bed opposite them. "Any word on the Colonel?"
"No, nothing yet."
Doctor Warner finished up with Masters and Parker. There was nothing physically that a few bandages and time wouldn't heal and they were admitted for observation, their mental states being more the worry at the moment.
Teal'c went in next, which didn't take long, then Daniel and lastly Sam.
Once given a clean bill of health, other than orders for rest and food, they sat together waiting for news of Jack, but it was a couple of hours before Janet came to them.
"Thought you wouldn't be far," she commented, "We've closed the knife wound and done a few repairs. Was he burned as well?"
"The Colonel was hurt when we were getting SG-6 out of the cells. That's how they caught him; he held them back long enough for us to get clear. They … well they apparently stopped the bleeding by cauterizing it. Kissain reopened the first wound again," said Sam quietly, the distress in her voice clear.
Daniel went even paler. "They cauterized it?" He croaked "How?"
"Just heated something up and jabbed it in I'd say," said Janet bluntly. "We've had to debride the burned tissue. We also had to pack the wound because we weren't able to close it all the way due to infection. I imagine from the state he's in they didn't stop there. He's got several broken ribs. We've repaired some internal bleeding, and he's covered in bruises, with some very bad bruising to his stomach and kidneys. He's very weak, as he's suffering from dehydration as well as severe blood loss."
"Can we go in?" asked Daniel.
"Five minutes," ordered Janet, knowing they wouldn't rest until they'd seen him. "Then I want you to all to rest. I won't allow you back in until morning."
Janet escorted them to Jack's bedside and left them.
They stood looking down at the still figure on the bed. He was wired up to various monitors and on oxygen. Lines carrying blood and fluids disappeared into the bandages. His face, what was visible, was covered in bruises and cuts.
Sam hung back and let Daniel and Teal'c go out first. Then she moved nearer to the bed and took his hand.
"Sir … you get well … we need you …" she whispered, willing him to wake. She was still holding his hand when Janet came back in.
"Come on Sam, get some rest. You can come back later. General Hammond has postponed the briefing until 0900 tomorrow."
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Sam went to her quarters, but it was a long time before she slept. She missed the feel of curling up beside Jack. She found she was already missing him badly.
The regulations floated around in her tired mind. They'd come so close to breaking them back on the planet. Did she want to break them? Did she want to risk everything she'd worked for all these years? All for what? Sex? No, No, not just sex. She knew it was more than that, much more. Eventually she drifted off and dreamt of Jack.
She woke early, showered and forced some food down before she went to the infirmary, to avoid Janet's doctoring
The night staff saw her, but they let her in to the Colonel's room, having been forewarned by Doctor Fraiser.
Quietly Sam moved a chair up to the bed while the nurse noted down the readings from the machines.
"Has he woken yet?" she asked.
"Briefly last night, but the Doctor sedated him again."
A few minutes later Sam was once more alone with Jack. She sat holding his hand; staring down at his battered face. The cuts looked even more vivid with the sutures holding them together and what was visible of his upper body bore the marks of his ordeal as well. Just a sheet covered him from the waist down, allowing her to track the various tubes entering his body, the deep red of the blood line stood out grotesquely from the swathes of the heavy bandages.
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It was still early when Daniel awoke with a start, trying to figure out where he was. He dressed quickly, checked Sam's quarters and found her gone. He grabbed two coffees from the commissary and made his way to the infirmary.
He found Teal'c standing at the foot of Jack's bed and Sam fast asleep, her head on the bed close to Jack, her hands still clasped to his.
"How long?" whispered Daniel.
"Perhaps an hour or two," replied Teal'c. "The nurse said Major Carter came in at 0500."
"The briefing's at nine." Daniel looked at his watch. It was still only seven am.
Sam stirred and sat up, stretching herself stiffly.
"Uh hi, Daniel, Teal'c, oh thanks." she said, accepting the coffee Daniel handed over.
Janet came in a few minutes later to check on Jack herself. She adjusted the IV medication. "His temperature's still high," she explained as she checked his eyes with her penlight. "Reactions seem normal though."
As if on queue Jack began to stir.
"Colonel O'Neill, can you hear me?" she called to him.
"Mmmm," came a mumbled response.
"Come on Colonel, you can do better than that," cajoled Janet as she lifted the oxygen mask.
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The voice calling to him echoed around in his fuzzy mind, the pain coming into sharper focus in his body. "Go way," he mumbled. His throat burned dry, his head pounded hard; he hurt all over.
"Colonel," came the voice again, insistent.
His mind drifted away. He drifted back to the dungeons. The voice came at him again and it became Samels' voice. He saw the red hot metal poised above him and Samels' evil grin as he took a vicious hold on his face.
He felt the grip of the hand.
Jack's eyes flickered open. He saw Samels above him, but he could move his arms this time.
He cried out and brought one hand up to grab at Samels' throat.
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As Janet reached out, touching the Colonel's face gently, she saw his hand coming up. Luckily his injuries and the bandages made his attempt clumsy and it gave her time to pull back, his hand catching the side of her face. Surprisingly, it made contact with enough force to knock her away and she went down, stunned for a moment.
Jack was halfway out of bed, IV lines pulled, the stands starting to topple over. Teal'c moved quickly to Jack's side and held him to restrain him. He was surprised at how strong the Colonel was, given his injuries.
Jack's eyes were open, but they were glazed and unfocussed.
Sam had made a frantic grab at the stands to stop them falling completely, but the lines had torn free from the struggling Colonel.
Daniel hauled Janet up to her feet and she quickly grabbed a syringe, filling it, and jabbed it into the struggling man's neck. It was only a short while before he slumped in Teal'c's arms and the Jaffa gently lay him back down on the bed.
"You okay, Janet?" asked Daniel, tearing his eyes away from his friend. He was obviously shocked by the expression on Jack's face as he'd struggled.
"Holy Hannah, what happened there?" asked Sam, clearly shocked as well.
Janet pushed her hair back and started to sort out the IV.
"It's okay. God, I should know better than that." Janet was angry with herself. She set about repairing the damage. "Look I need to check he hasn't opened his wounds. Go and get some coffee … I won't be long."
She saw their reluctance to move. "I'll join you in the mess hall. That injection will put him out for hours. Go," she ordered.
Once they reluctantly departed she set about checking the Colonel over. Presently she was satisfied he hadn't hurt himself further and she called a nurse to sit in with him, repeating the standing orders all the infirmary staff had regarding the Colonel.
She tidied herself up quickly and made her way to join the others. She grabbed a coffee and headed over to their table.
"The briefing starts soon," she observed, checking her watch.
Sam was staring at her.
"Did you ice that?" she asked, referring to the swelling darkening on Janet's cheek.
"Oh! Janet put a hand up to her face. "Ouch, I forgot about that, it'll have to wait until after the debriefing though."
"What happened back there?" asked Sam.
"I should have known better than to wake the Colonel like that. It's my fault so I don't want it mentioned to him."
"He's bound to ask what happened to your face."
"Well, we'll see. I'll have to inform the General obviously, but that's all. It was my own stupid fault. I forgot it was Colonel O'Neill and what he's just been through."
"What do you mean?" asked Sam.
"Anybody who's gone through torture like that would react if they were half asleep or drugged."
"So he thought he was back on the planet?" asked Daniel.
"There or somewhere else," said Janet evasively, "and anyway I'm lucky."
"Lucky?" cried Daniel.
Teal'c nodded in agreement. "Indeed, if O'Neill had not been incapacitated so, then the good Doctor would now be dead. O'Neill was attempting to break her neck."
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Sam shuddered at the thought. She realized Jack could have so easily killed Janet by accident.
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Sam gave her report at the debriefing. She made it clear that Colonel O'Neill was suspicious from the start of the mission, but she refrained from mentioning Daniel's rebellion. Daniel however, wasn't one to spare himself and admitted to thinking Jack was over reacting and that he'd argued with the man, questioning his orders.
None of them could fill in the General on what had transpired when Jack was captured, but a good guess could be ascertained from the Colonel's injuries.
Janet finished her summary, leaving out the most recent event.
"And what is Colonel O'Neill's present condition?" asked Hammond.
"He's sedated at the moment, but I expect him to wake sometime today. He's showing signs of infection and a high fever, which we're treating. He should make a full physical recovery, but it will take time, he's been beaten and tortured quite badly."
"I see." Hammond regarded the Doctor solemnly. "Doctor Jackson, I'll speak further to you when I've spoken to the Colonel. SG-1 you are on stand down until further notice. Dismissed, except for you Doctor," he nodded to Janet.
When SG-1 had left Janet alone with the General, he continued the questioning, concern showing on his face.
"Doctor, you weren't injured on the planet. Care to tell me how you got that?" he pointed to the injury.
"It was due to my own carelessness, Sir." Janet told him the bones of it.
Hammond nodded at her thoughtfully; he knew some of Colonel O'Neill's history and fully understood.
"Do you wish to take any further action on this?"
"No Sir, as I said it was an accident and I should have taken the usual precautions."
"Such as?"
"Not getting too close for starters," smiled Janet.
"I had to ask," smiled the General in return. "Thank you."
"No problem Sir. If you'll excuse me, I'll get back."
"Certainly. Let me know when Colonel O'Neill is fit for de-briefing."
Janet smiled, knowing the General didn't want to know when his 2IC was just fit for debriefing, she knew the man wanted to be kept closely informed of the Colonel's health. She returned to the infirmary to find SG-1 waiting for her, just as she expected.
"Everything okay?" asked Sam.
"Yes fine, don't worry. I won't keep you long and then you can sit with him."
She checked Jack once more before letting SG-1 in and then left to treat herself to an x-ray and some painkillers. Once she was satisfied that her cheek was only badly bruised she grabbed an ice pack and retired to her office to grab some much needed sleep on the couch.
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