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Janissima – I promise that this is the last bit of angst, so bear with me, it gets fluffier from the next chapter onwards.

Junior

By Lingren.

Previously:-

Jack couldn't reciprocate the action, he was leaning heavily onto one hand, while trying to stem the flood of blood with the other, all the time riding the waves of agony. He spoke soft words of comfort, reassuring the boy that he was okay for now.

Chapter 30

Ba'al watched the scene with amusement, until he'd had enough; sickened by this show of human affection.

"Enough!" he boomed, making Jon jump as if he'd been bitten. "Move away from O'Neill," he commanded.

Jon was reluctant to move, and Jack was just as reluctant to let him go.

"Move away boy, or I will kill your father where he lays!"

Jon gasped and stood up, moving back; he didn't want Ba'al to kill his daddy. Tears still ran down his cheeks, and he wiped them away with his sleeve; upset at seeing Jack suffering and all because he was forced to pull the trigger.

Jack sighed heavily, wondering what the snake was up to now, because he had no doubts that he was planning something big. Maybe the final showdown?

Jon stood where he was, trembling in fright, sobbing softly; his terrified eyes looking between Jack and Ba'al. Afraid of what was going to happen next. He'd already seen his family killed by this nasty man, and he knew he could kill his daddy too.

Jack's heart was torn between the need to comfort his son and the need to kill the SOB snake.

Ba'al stalked round the room, and it wasn't until he stood over Jack, that Jack realised he still had the pistol in his hands. He closed his eyes knowing that Jon was about to witness his death too. If he was going to act now would be a good time.

He was mustering up his energy when he heard the gun fire. Again he expected the agony to tear into him.

Jon screamed.

Jack's eyes flew open, only to see his son lying on the floor, his little body unnaturally still; blood soaking the shirt over his chest.

Jack had never felt so much rage in his life. His heart was breaking into tiny pieces. He choked back a sob.

"Nnnooooooo!" he screamed. "You bastard!" He'd known Ba'al would do, but it still came as a shock to see it.

Determination surged through him, it was time. There was only one thing on his mind right now, even if it killed him in the process. He flung himself at Ba'al's legs. The momentum making the Goa'uld stagger backwards, not expecting the assault. He dropped the gun as he pin wheeled his arms trying to stop himself from falling. Jack scrambled towards the weapon, grasped it and fired several shots.

Ba'al regained his balance and laughed as his personal shield withheld the onslaught.

Jack was furious, wondering what he could do now. His side was hurting like the devil and he could feel the weakness creeping back into his limbs as the adrenalin left him. Had Ba'al won? He'd killed his son, and he knew he was next.

Sporadic gunfire and staff blasts sounded outside, and Ba'al was momentarily distracted.

The First Prime charged into the room to inform his god that they were under attack, but Jack didn't need to hear his words to know that help had arrived. Ba'al was furious, knowing that it was a fight to rescue Jack and his son.

Jack took the opportunity, when it arose. The First Prime suddenly crumpled; his face twisted in agony as a staff blast blew him away. Teal'c entered the room and stood facing the Goa'uld, his weapon raised to fire. He took in the inert body of Jon Junior lying on the floor and then looked at Jack who was struggling to stand.

Teal'c fired his weapon at the snake but the personal shield was activated once more, while Ba'al laughed at Teal'c's dilemma.

"Laugh it up snake! Now it's your turn to die," Jack sneered cruelly.

They all knew that nothing like a speeding bullet or staff blast could penetrate the shield, but if a knife could, then he hoped this would. He'd taken a chance with the gun and pushed it slowly through the shield until the cold muzzle rested against the base of Ba'al's head at the back of his neck.

Before Ba'al could react to the Tau'ri's words, Jack pulled the trigger at point blank range. Several times until the clip was empty.

The shield deactivated as Ba'al dropped to the floor. The back of his head blown away; the light in his eyes gone for ever.

Jack wavered where he stood, sickened by the whole desperate struggle. He threw the gun down in disgust and staggered over to his son, dropping to his knees beside him. Another sob choked him as he gathered the boy's limp form into his arms. He kissed the slack features of his face, his tears running freely, his name torn from his lips in a silent cry.

The images in his mind kept playing that same moment when Ba'al shot him, just as other images of Charlie swept through him too. He buried his head into the child's neck, unaware of movement on the other side of the room.

Teal'c had moved forward along with Daniel and Sam. They barely concealed their own tears, feeling for their friend and what it must have been like for him to see this happen to another son. Sam's legs almost gave way at the shocking sight and Daniel had to support her.

Teal'c nodded to the others, then gently tried to prise the child's inert body from Jack's arms, but Jack tightened his grip.

"Nooo!" Jack yelled, struggling to stand. Sam and Daniel rushed forward to help him up by grasping his elbows, Sam's own distress forgotten in her need to help Jack. He shrugged them off, staggering a little until he felt steadier, then ignoring their inquiring voices, he carried Jon out of the room and into the next, barely able to walk but determined to do so.

As soon as the rest of them had seen where he was headed they had followed, each of them breaking out into smiles.

Jack laid the small body into the sarcophagus, kissing the cooling forehead before he let go, then stood back watching as it closed; anxiously waiting for it to do its work.

He didn't speak at all; never even acknowledged their presence. His silence had them all worried. Time was limited and they kept throwing worried glances at the door where they could still hear sporadic gunfire down the hallways.

The minutes dragged on endlessly.

The tension mounted.

The atmosphere strained.

All this time, Jack had stood silently leaning against the magical box, his own pain numbed by his concern for his son. No-one moved, no-one spoke, but his friends just exchanged worried looks towards Jack. They remained quietly observing him, not wanting to intrude on what must have been excruciatingly traumatic thoughts tumbling through him. There would be plenty of time to talk later, for now it was enough they were there and they would be going home.

Ba'al was dead, and if they had any say in the matter, he would stay dead.

The lid of the sarcophagus slid open and Jack stifled another sob when he saw the boy had been healed; breathing again, though he was still asleep. He reached in and lifted his son, cradling him to his chest with a deep sigh of relief.

He kissed the lax face and turned to his friends.

"Teal'c!" he said with barely concealed anger. "Destroy it! I don't want that they should revive that Sonofabitch!"

With that he moved back into the other room, quickly followed by Sam and Daniel who hovered round him like flies round a trash bin. They all heard the staff weapon fire and then Teal'c was there, hurrying them away from the room before the healing sarcophagus exploded. Jack struggled to keep up, but refused to allow anyone to take Junior from him. He needed to hold him, if only to be certain in his mind that Jon was really alive, the warmth from his flesh, reassuring him.

Daniel spoke into the Asgard communications device and suddenly they were all surrounded by a bright light and before Jack realised what had happened, they were standing on Thor's ship.

"Greetings O'Neill!"

Instead of offering a greeting, Jack motioned him to look at the boy.

"Could ya check him out Thor? Make sure he's okay?" he pleaded; he wasn't averse to begging if he needed to, for Junior's sake.

The next thing they knew, they were all in the medical bay, where Jack was asked to place Junior onto a metal slab which served as an examination table.

Jack did so, but wouldn't let him go completely. He leaned heavily on the table, his hand still clutching Jon's, the other smoothing the hair back from the boy's brow.

Thor moved to a consul and began shifting the oval stones around a panel.

"The child is well, O'Neill. He should wake very soon," Thor announced to the relief of everyone in the room.

Jack leaned over his son, cupped his face gently and then swept a kiss over his brow. Softly whispered, 'I love you son!' before sliding clumsily to the floor as the darkness overwhelmed him.

"Jack!" Daniel and Sam both yelled as Jack collapsed.

"O'Neill!" cried Teal'c and Thor together.

Sam was on her knees beside him instantly wondering what was wrong with him. She rolled him over onto his back with Daniel's help, only to gasp at the fresh blood soaking his shirt and pants at his side.

"He's been shot," she gasped in horror. She hadn't known he'd been hurt too. "Thor?" she pleaded looking up into the Asgard's big black eyes.

Thor blinked and nodded. A second later Jack had been transported into a stasis pod across the room.

"His life signs are weak but stable. I am attempting to heal the wound," Thor announced.

Daniel nodded at Sam and she left Jon Junior's side to walk over to see how Jack was. Now that he was lying down, she could see evidence of other wounds that at some stage had been healed and she wondered just how many times Jack had been killed and revived again. Would it have affected him as much as last time? She had no way of knowing until he was able to tell them about it.

Thor was busy with his control panel, and Daniel was keeping an eye on Junior; Teal'c was keeping a close eye on Sam. She wondered if he'd suffered the same fate as Jack, when the full implications of the whole fiasco suddenly revealed itself to her. Jack had had to watch his son getting killed. Again; yes. And how devastating could that have been for Jack to witness? But how many times had he had to watch? She asked herself, the boy's clothes were soaked with blood. She closed her eyes as if in pain, as she thought about the terrible agony Jack must have gone through, and she thanked god that Ba'al was now dead and would not be able to rise again without his sarcophagus. Jack was right to order its destruction.

TBC

That's enough with the torture! Believe it or not, I don't really like to dwell too much on that aspect of the story, but this is Ba'al we are talking about here! On to much pleasanter things now they've been rescued.