O'Neill Interrupted – an interlude. Part 3
"Crap!"
Jack's voice sounded loud in the silence.
He pushed himself off the surprisingly soft surface of the instrument panel and wiped a hand across his eyes, leaving his face streaked with dirt.
"Enough of this. Damned fool. Find a way off this hunk of rock and all you can do it feel sorry for yourself. Pull yourself together." He continued to mutter to himself, the sound of his own voice comforting after so long without contact with other people. "Maybe the ship's damaged, but you don't know how badly, so just get your act together and work something out." He thought for a second. "Come on, Jack, what would Carter do? Think."
He stood and looked around. "Doesn't look damaged. Maybe it didn't crash here. Maybe it landed." He continued to think out loud. "Try everything. Can't hurt. Be systematic."
He turned back to the front console, deciding it was a logical place to start, and began pressing every surface. It had worked for the hatch, so perhaps it would here as well.
It was almost night before the first sign he was on the right track appeared. Pressing both his hands on the somewhat squashy controls on each side of the left hand seat, he felt a slight tingling run through his palms and up his arms. For a moment there was the hum of machinery and the glow of lights from various spots in the ship then it died, the hum fading down to nothing. The lights flickered off and the small space felt even darker than it had just a few minutes before.
Pressing down in the same spot again didn't work. Nothing happened – the ship stayed dead. It was becoming too dark to see anything clearly, so Jack decided to rest and try again in the morning. Picking up his equipment, he limped out of the dim interior, feeling a little more optimistic. Maybe the next day would see him getting the craft up and running.
He lit a large fire, the flames chasing away the shadows that pressed in on him, ate a meagre meal, and settled down for the night, tossing a little as an unaccustomed heat surrounded him.
xoxoxoxoxo
It was well into the morning when Jack woke, his head throbbing in tune with his leg. He rolled over, biting back a cry of pain, and pulled the ragged cloth of his trousers away from his thigh. The wound was red and inflamed, with lines of obvious infection running from its centre.
He lay back again, his eyes closed, willing himself to get up – to do something. What, he didn't know, but it wasn't in his nature to just lie there, especially when the possible solution was right next to him. He needed to get the ship working.
Jack got to his feet slowly through a process of small movements; each one wrested from an uncooperative body, and moved carefully towards the craft. He shuffled like an old man, keeping his bad leg as protected as possible from jarring. It seemed like hours before he made it up the ramp and back into the craft's interior.
He stared at the instruments lining the sides for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do, but his thoughts tumbled in chaotic waves through his mind – the alien ship, the SGC, trees, his cabin, the lake at the village, all images that flashed past with the speed of a lightning strike. He couldn't concentrate, couldn't think straight. His mouth was dry and his tongue felt twice as large as it should.
He needed a drink.
Where was the water?
He had left it outside. He should go get it. Get a drink.
xoxoxoxoxo
Jack woke to the sounds of the forest at night. He was bitterly cold, yet he could feel sweat on his face, and in a moment of clarity he knew he was in serious trouble. He sat up, peering around, unable to recognise his surroundings. He was without his weapon, and his pack was nowhere in sight. Thick trees obscured his view, but he was obviously nowhere near the space ship. Somehow he seemed to have descended the slopes and made it back to the valley floor, but where he was in relation to anything he had no idea.
He looked up, trying to see the night sky. After so many months on the planet he was familiar with the stars and could use them to at least give him an idea of direction. He could only groan in frustration when all he saw were branches obstructing the view. What little he could discern was almost covered in clouds.
He gave a rueful laugh. Looked like rain at last.
So, here he was – totally lost and with a high probability of dying. Seemed par for the course.
And he was so damned thirsty.
He needed to get back to Harry. He had promised Harry he would return. A promise was a promise.
xoxoxoxoxo
If it hadn't been for the small stream he literally stumbled into, Jack would have died out there in the wilderness, luck—such as it was—was with him. The sudden freezing cold bath woke him from his fevered meanderings for long enough to get him up and moving again, albeit in the opposite direction to the village.
He wandered for almost another day, barely able to move one minute, hurrying through the dense bushes the next, delirium cushioning the effects of his injury. His leg was grossly swollen now, but there was nothing he could do about it, even if he had realised the perilous position he was in.
As the hours passed he became more and more desperate to reach what he had come to think of as home. He began to mutter to himself, trying to hold conversations with the teammates now walking along with him. Teal'c was always on point, looking back only occasionally, without speaking, Daniel walked beside him, not touching even to prevent Jack from stumbling, and Carter had his six, but seemed to be lagging further behind with every passing minute. No matter how hard he tried, Jack couldn't get a response from them to anything he said. He had gone from joking, to ordering, to shouting without any reaction, and it was frankly beginning to piss him off. It was as if they didn't care about him. At this rate he might as well not be there.
He decided to ignore them.
He tripped more often as the hours passed and it was after one such fall, while he lay spread-eagled on the ground, he realised darkness had crept up on him without his noticing. He twisted slightly, just enough to look for his silent companions.
Teal'c and Carter were setting up tents. Jonas was standing looking rather forlorn, watching them. Of Daniel there was no sign.
Jack called out hoarsely. "Hey, guys. Could you give me a hand?" He waited, fully expecting them to come hurrying over once they saw he was sick, but they carried on with their tasks without even turning.
"They can't hear you, Jack. They aren't really there. But you know that, don't you."
Jack frowned, seeing Jonas turn and look at him but not make any move to approach. "Of course they're there." He waved a hand angrily towards his teammates. "They'll be over in a minute."
Daniel squatted down and stared intently into Jack's face, his expression serious. "There's just you, Jack. You have to do it yourself."
"You're here, and if you're here, then they must be too." Jack knew the logic of his statement wasn't sound, but he was quite pleased with his argument none the less. "They wouldn't have left me."
"Not deliberately, no." Daniel shook his head, the light glowing behind him allowing Jack to see the sadness in his eyes. "They tried, they really did. You have to remember that."
"Then why didn't they come? Why didn't they?" Jack attempted to keep his voice unemotional, but knew he hadn't succeeded. The hurt in his words was plain even to his own ears.
"Sam never worked out you were on the moon. Kinsey tried to have her brought up on charges of negligence."
"What! Why?"
"Maybourne took her by surprise. She let him escape and you were lost because of it."
"That's crap. It wasn't Carter's fault."
Daniel shook his head at Jack's exclamation of protest. "That's what happened, Jack. I know it wasn't fair, but it's done now. Sam was suspended, pending an investigation. By the time it was all over and the charges were dropped the tape showing the moon had been archived and forgotten." He paused as Jack's attention wandered back to the campsite. Teal'c was on watch now, Carter and Jonas sitting beside the fire, cradling coffee mugs and talking. "Jack! They aren't there. Believe me. You're on your own."
As Daniel spoke Jonas wavered out of sight. Jack turned back to his friend and glared.
"Stop that!"
"It isn't me, Jack."
Jack caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked over just in time to see Carter and the tent vanish as if by magic.
He shouted as he began to push himself up. "T, wait!"
For a second it looked like Teal'c had heard him. The Jaffa paused in his slow pacing of the camp perimeter and glanced over, but his eyes flickered, without stopping, across the spot where Jack was lying.
And then he too was gone.
Jack slumped back, his head thumping on the ground, and put a hand over his eyes, unable to bear the thought of being alone again.
"Come on – get up. You can't stay here."
"Why?"
"Because it's going to rain."
"You're an all-powerful, glowy weather forecaster now? Way to go – talk about putting those super powers to good use."
Daniel stood, crossing his arms and glaring down at where Jack lay on the ground. "Get up."
Jack shook his head stubbornly. "No, don't want to."
"You have to. You'll die if you stay here all night."
"Gonna' die anyway."
"You aren't going to die." Daniel raised both hands in a gesture of exasperation. "Not if I can help it." He tapped his foot impatiently.
"I thought you weren't meant to interfere?" Jack didn't give him a chance to answer, continuing on, "So why now? Why care now? You didn't help before."
Crouching beside him again, Daniel spoke softly, "I explained. I couldn't use my powers to rescue you. But it worked out in the end, didn't it?"
"Worked out!" Jack gave a cynical laugh. "Sure – in the end. My end. Over and over and over." He laughed again, this time louder. "All worked out. Yep. Not a problem. Ba'al and I agreed to disagree and we parted best of friends. Easy." He lifted his arm and glared. "Thanks for the help, Daniel. Now piss off."
Daniel rocked back on his heels as if struck. There were several minutes of silence with each man staring at the other before he spoke again. "I know you don't want to hear this, Jack, but you have to get up. Just try."
"Why? I asked you that before. Why?" The words were spat out. "Give me a reason."
"I can't."
"Can't or won't?"
"It's not allowed."
Jack shut his eyes again. "Then go away." When he opened them again, Daniel was gone.
xoxoxoxoxo