Thank you for all the reviews! I'm happy to see so many of you still reading. I have to apologize again - my ISP is still only working sporadically and refuses to upload my chapters so it's been tough to update as I would have liked. Today its impossible to even send email! I'm posting this hurriedly from another location, so please forgive any errors and let me know so that I can try and correct them.

At least 2 more chapters remain if you can just be patient and hang with me!

WARNING: Implied violence.Adult themes.Sams tells her story in this chapter and I don't think it's too bad, but warning just in case. All input welcome- so please review.

...and now on with the story.

-------------------------------------------

Tangled Web 8. Comforting Carter

Several stormy hours had passed and the men of SG1 now sat in Jack's living room. Jack's anger had only mildly subsided, but Daniel had marveled at his gentleness with Sam as he led her to his bedroom and convinced her that she was safe and needed to rest. Finally she'd given in and after a long while fell into an exhausted sleep with Jack sitting patiently at her side.

"Do you think she needs a doctor? Should I call the base and get someone over here?" Jack looked to Daniel, obviously too upset to make the decision on his own.

"Let's wait until she wakes up. Maybe she'll tell us more then."

"I don't think I want to hear anymore, Daniel. He's done something to her, convinced her she can't fight him, can't get away. We have to fix that and soon."

"How, Jack? We can't let her go back into that situation."

"No, he won't get near her again if I can help it, but there's more than physical damage being done. He's brainwashed her, taken away her confidence, he's almost broken her. What the hell did he do that the Goa'uld couldn't do? I've never seen her like this."

"She's not broken, Jack. She's been fighting you for weeks."

"Yeah. Why was she doing that?"

"He probably used you against her, Jack. That's why she didn't fight him, she was protecting you."

"Me? From what? From him? I could break him in two without even thinking about it."

"Yes, you could in a fair fight, but you and I both know he probably wouldn't even attempt that. It's like you said, he brainwashed her. Somehow he made her believe he could get to you, hurt you, maybe all of us. Then he alienated her from us which increased his power over her."

Daniel saw a flicker of understanding and then sadness flash across Jack's face. "Just as if she were a prisoner…he…he tortured her by threatening us."

"Yeah, I think you're right."

"Sam!"

"Hey!" She tried to smile at them, knowing that her eyes were puffy from crying and she looked like hell. Her angels. They were just sitting here waiting for her to wake up, protecting her. How had she let Pete separate her from them?

"Feeling better?" Jack smiled broadly at her wanting to give her comfort in any way he could.

"Yeah, some."

"Good. I was just about to send Daniel and Teal'c to get some of your things." He saw fear blossoming in her eyes as he spoke.

"I don't know, Sir…."

"You can't go back there, Sam. We're not going to let you…"

"But…"

"It's ok, I promise. Everything will be ok."

She nodded her head reluctantly, but didn't speak.

"Daniel, you guys get what you need for a few days. We're all staying here till we figure out what to do. I want at least one of us with Sam at all times. Then pick up her stuff and some groceries and head back here. Sam, tell them what you need from your place."

Sam hugged herself, shivering with restrained emotion and started talking quietly to Daniel, giving him a short list of what she needed from her house. Jack took Teal'c aside and instructed him to pull Carter's car into his garage so that it would be out of sight. Then he walked into the kitchen to call the base.

"Pete's out of town, right Sam?"

"Yes."

"Good. Make sure, Daniel, just in case he decided to drop in. If he's there don't go in, just come back here." He handed Carter's keys to Teal'c and they left the house. Jack closed the door and returned to the living room where Carter sat curled up in the corner of the couch. She looked on the verge of tears again and Jack's heart ached as deeply as his anger burned.

"You ok, Carter?"

Sam looked up at him through red, puffy eyes. "Carter? What happened to 'Sam'?"

Jack smiled at her warmly and crossed the room to sit closely beside her on the couch. He placed his arm around her and pulled her against him, leaning over to place a soft kiss on her hair. "You ok, Sam?"

"Yeah, I'm better."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid. Afraid of what he might do. And I didn't want you to think I was weak."

"Sam…"

"It's the military way, right Jack? I've been trained not to show weakness but I let him scare me. I didn't want you to know."

"How? What did he do to you? You're the strongest woman I know."

"I cared about him, trusted him and like Daniel said, he used that against me and then when he started to threaten you...I could protect you in the field, but in everyday life, every minute - I knew I couldn't do it."

"You heard that? God, Sam, I'm sorry…"

"Some of it but it's ok. I know you guys are just protecting me…it's just that I don't usually need protecting." A small sad smile appeared on her face for a brief moment as she realized the irony of the situation, she could hold her own in battle and protect any of them if she had to, but now, here on earth she needed them to protect her from one angry boyfriend.

"I know. Don't worry, you'll get through this and be stronger than ever but for now, just let me take care of you." She shook her head in agreement and hugged her legs up to her chest, groaning softly as the movement sent a small sliver of unexpected pain through her.

"You're not ok. How bad is it? Do you need a doctor?"

"I'm fine, it's just some bruises."

"How long has this been going on, Sam? And what started it?"

She laughed softly. "I'm not sure I can tell you all of it."

"You can tell me anything, Carter, you know that. Nothing you could say will make any difference in my opinion of you."

She smiled then, really smiled. And for the longest moment she just stared into his eyes remembering all their days together, the battles, the laughter, him saving her, her saving him, his bad jokes and his goofy sense of humor. She felt comforted by those memories and she wrapped them around her like a warm blanket and began to tell O'Neill what happened.

"Things were great at first. We were happy. Pete was sweet and loving but I never really gave myself to him completely and he must have known. You know we always hold back, we have to – there's so much we can't talk about. He didn't like not being included in my work life. He thought I was hiding something from him, something other than military secrets. I suppose over time he convinced himself that I had a lover and it was driving him crazy. He kept asking me if I loved him, if there was anyone else…."

"And you told him there wasn't…"

"Yeah, but he didn't believe it. And then one night we were making love and…" She paused as she felt Jack tense against her. She glanced up at his face and saw that he had closed his eyes and his brow was wrinkled. "I'm sorry, you don't want to hear this..."

He opened his eyes suddenly and looked at her. "Yes, I do. Well, no I don't…it's just…I know he hurt you." She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. "Tell me the rest."

"I didn't respond the way he thought I should…"

"What?"

"I already knew I didn't love him as much as I should but I'd made a commitment and I intended to keep it. Honor, you know, all that crap. But I was…sort of…drifting in my mind, going somewhere else…fantasizing and…and I…I wasn't making love to him. He was making love to me but in my mind he was someone else. Somehow...he knew." Sam dropped her head as she remembered and shame filled her as the memories rushed vividly back into her mind.

She felt every muscle in Jack tense and caught a slight grimace as it fluttered across his face. "He thought I was cheating on him, he didn't know it was all in my mind. He thought…" She let her voice trail off, unable to complete the sentence.

Jack knew exactly what Pete thought and tried to imagine what he would have felt, it would have crushed him, but he couldn't imagine wanting to hurt her. 'No need to explore that subject any further', he silently reprimanded himself, 'concentrate on Sam.'

He closed his eyes and leaned his head over on top of hers, gently pulling her closer into his embrace, trying desperately to prevent the images she was creating for him from being burned into his memory. He didn't want to re-live this; he didn't want her to re-live it. He didn't want to picture her making love to Pete, or anyone else for that matter. His hand softly stroked her shoulder and he placed a gentle kiss on her hair. She needed to talk this out and even if he didn't want to hear, she needed someone to listen.

They sat quietly for a few moments; each trying to maintain their composure and finally Jack spoke to her softly. "And that was the first time he hit you?"

"No. He didn't hit me. He just got dressed and left without a word. I didn't hear from him for two weeks. He wouldn't return my calls, nothing. Then he just…came back. I came home one day and he was there. I felt so awful, I apologized, tried to explain but he brushed me off, wouldn't talk about it…that's when he made it conditional that I not work at the SGC. He said he couldn't live with that, wouldn't spend his life wondering if I was in your bed instead of at work."

'My bed?' Jack thought and unconsciously tilted his head upward, sighing softly as understanding settled around him. He closed his eyes and made himself listen to her words.

"I wanted it to work and I felt guilty, so I went along with it but after a while I knew it would never work, he would never trust me again. I tried to break it off but I couldn't get away. Every time I tried to put some distance between us he'd pull me back begging me to stay, saying he couldn't live without me and so…I stayed."

"Sam, I'm sorr…"

She cut him off before he could finish his words. "Don't apologize, Jack. You had nothing to do with this. None of this is your fault and I won't even think about letting you take the blame." She looked at him with stern eyes and he looked away from the pain he saw there. "It just slowly got worse after that. Every time I'd go on missions he thought I was with you and he'd fly into an uncontrolled rage, then one day it got the best of him and he slapped me…. hard. I wasn't expecting it and I staggered back against the wall. I called him a bastard and he hit me again before I could react, much harder that time. I fell and he started kicking me."

Jack quickly pulled away from her and turned her so that he could look into her face. Anger greater than any she'd ever seen was clearly evident in his dark, stormy eyes. "Your ribs. He broke your ribs and you told me you did it on the mission…"

"Yeah. What was I supposed to say? 'My boyfriend threw me against the wall because he thinks I'm sleeping with you?' I don't think so and besides I didn't want you to know."

"Your face…you had a bruise the next day that I hadn't noticed before and your lip…" Jack's hand moved to her face as the memory came back to him, his thumb softly stroking her lips, where they'd been cracked and bruised. His stomach threatened to abandon its contents as his mind brought back a picture of Sam in the infirmary the day after her mission, after she'd been cleared and pronounced fit.

He felt like such an idiot, he should have known something was wrong. He should have made her tell him. He remembered wondering why the doctors hadn't found the injuries the day before but she'd said she tripped on the steps at home and must have complicated the minimal injuries she'd received on the mission. The doctors accepted her explanation and he'd trusted them and let it go.

"It just went on like that. Occasionally, he'd lose control. Usually without warning - he'd just 'go off' and I'd be taken by surprise. Most times I recovered quickly enough to avoid anything too serious happening...usually. Then he started threatening you. He threatened to kill you…all of you if I ever said anything and I knew he could do it. I don't know...I thought each time would be the last and afterwards he'd apologize and want to take care of me, but I wouldn't let him. I tried not to let him know I was even hurt. Then yesterday...he came home and said he'd made plans to go out tonight. I told him that I already had plans and when he asked what plans, I told him."

Jack's mouth dropped open and he looked at her in disbelief. "Why did you tell him, Sam? You must have known what he'd think."

"I didn't want to lie to him. I thought that would make his suspicions worse. I thought if I was honest...if I told him I was coming here to meet with all you guys that he would understand that it was a normal team night, nothing more. I thought he'd understand I wasn't hiding anything from him and maybe start to trust me again. But I was wrong. He said ok, that it would be fine and everything seemed normal. We went to bed and I fell asleep. I guess he kept thinking about it, anyway he got up during the night yelling that I was not to come here for any reason ever again. He was in a rage and started hitting me with his fists and his nightstick across my back and legs before I could up. Then I couldn't get away, Jack." She started sobbing in his arms and he felt a tear crawl down his cheek as he held her, closing his eyes against her pain, damning himself for not seeing what was happening to her.

"God, Sam. I'm sorry I didn't know…"

"How could you know? I was hiding it from everyone. I don't want to go back but I'm afraid to stay away. He could hurt you – any of you. No one can be on guard every moment of every day and you know it. If someone is determined enough...I just felt helpless to stop him. I thought everyone would be safe if I stayed with him and left the Air Force."

"You're not helpless, Sam, but you're not going back, not yet anyway. You need to stand up to him someday and take back what he's taken from you, but first you need to heal."

"He'll come here looking for me, Jack. He thinks we're lovers!"

"I know…but he won't be staying long. I can take care of myself. He's not going to hurt you anymore, I promise." He hugged her to him, wrapping both his strong arms around her and his calm, soothing voice close to her ear.

She wanted to believe him, she trusted him and if anyone could keep them safe, it was Jack O'Neill. She really didn't feel any better though. She had just succeeded in dragging Jack into her problem, exposing him to the very risk she'd been trying to protect him from; exposing all of them to danger she couldn't control. Turmoil raged within her, wondering when and how Pete would retaliate. Yeah, Jack could take care of himself – if he saw it coming. And in the safety of Jack's arms, she realized it was that fear that had allowed him to control her.

His voice dragged her back into reality. "How about a shower while I find us something to eat?"

She smiled at him slightly, "Yeah, that sounds good."