It looks like the interest in this story is practically non existant, but I would like to thank those of you who did find the time to review. Here is the final part of the story. It was written for the 2005 Jack-fic-athon on the Jackfic website (see my homepage for the link to the other stories written for the fic-athon). We were each given a 'plot bunny' – the one I was given is at the end.

O'Neill Interrupted – an interlude. Part 11

"O'Neill, we are here." Herak roughly shook the sleeping man's shoulder. "Lord Anubis awaits you."

Jack nodded, pushing aside the terrible dream images of death and destruction, and rubbing the grit from his eyes. He stood, without even straightening his shirt, heedless of his ruffled appearance. The walk to the bridge wasn't long, but he was exhausted before they reached the end of the first corridor and for once he felt grateful for the protocol of kneeling before his god.

The Goa'uld stood over him silently for a time and when he spoke it was quietly, with almost a hint of amused affection. "Can you understand anything that I am saying, O'Neill?" He reached down, putting a hand on the kneeling man's head. "O'Neill, I wish for you to know you have served me well. You have your god's thanks. Once the battle is done, I shall see you are buried with full honors."

Jack opened his mouth, trying to think of the words, wanting to tell the Goa'uld what he thought of the honor, but shut it again within a couple of seconds, already having forgotten what he had been about to say and why. He began to move, awkwardly maneuvering so that his good leg took most of the strain.

Anubis stepped back, giving Jack room and allowing him to get to his feet. The Goa'uld followed him, watching carefully as he hurried to the modified ring transport device. Pieces of machinery littered the grey ring that took up much of the space on the floor in front of Anubis's throne. Jack pushed them away, clearing it while making last minute adjustments.

Before long it was ready. The Goa'uld stepped into the centre, Jack beside him, with a kull warrior in front and behind, their weapons ready.

Herak took up his position at the controls. "My Lord, please allow me to go in your place. This may be a trap. I do not trust this Tau'ri."

"Look at him." Anubis gestured to Jack. "What the mind control device and your torture could not do, the Ancient repository completed. Only instinct drives him now. I doubt he even knows he is betraying his own people. No, your place is here, at the head of my armies. With the weapon hidden below, I shall be unstoppable. The power of the Ancients is mine."

They turned as urgent words interrupted them. "We read numerous craft approaching, My Lord!" The Jaffa at the scanner controls pointed at the screen. "They appear to be small attack vessels. There is also a larger ship just entering the area, but our scanners show its weapons are inferior to our own."

The First Prime made a final plea. "My Lord, I beg you to remain here. It is too dangerous to ring to the planet until this threat is eliminated."

"I shall ring down as planned. See that you deal with this annoyance before I return."

"My Lord." With a bow, Herak activated the controls.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

The cavern was dimly lit, and Anubis gave orders for the two kull warriors to switch on the lights they had on their armament. Even with the extra illumination there were various alcoves and larger spaces the light didn't reach at all. Covering some entrance ways were decorations of fine tracery, delicate work seeming out of place in the darkness. The kulls' eyes glowed white as they stood, shining the lights over the large area.

Anubis allowed Jack to lead the way, following as the colonel walked towards a closet-like object, barely as high as the tall Tau'ri.

Jack leaned forward, resting both hands on either side of its doors.

"Dolmata."

"Sleep. Yes, O'Neill, you can sleep all you want soon." Anubis pushed Jack hard in the middle of his back, his patience at an end. "Show me the weapon."

Jack walked on, into a room containing a single chair, identical to the one at Proklarush Taonas. Getting down on his good knee, he held his hand over a spot on the edge of the dais, revealing a spent power core. The Goa'uld took the new one from under his cloak, handing it to Jack.

"Hurry." The single word was snapped out in a tone used to obedience.

Jack turned the core, clicking it into place and pushing down on it until it disappeared into the surface. He hesitated a moment, as if unsure of his next actions, then sat in the throne-like chair, resting his hand carefully on the arm controls, his long fingers playing over them as if they were a musical instrument.

The chair turned, and Anubis gave a disgruntled mutter, but before he could move around to see what Jack was doing, lights came on, bringing the cavern into clear view for the first time.

He hurried around the dais, coming to a halt in front of the seated man once more.

"Well?"

Jack stared at him, his face expressionless, his eyes vacant, but all the while his fingers danced on the control pad. He looked straight into the Goa'uld's face, shut his eyes and gave a small smile.

With a rumble of falling ice, creatures of yellow lava vomited forth from the hole that opened at his feet, shooting up and twisting into separate streams, each seemingly with a will of its own. The kull warriors raised their arms, completely unable to defend themselves against the seething onslaught, their bodies wreathed in fire as they fell to the floor.

"No!" Anubis took one step towards Jack, his outraged scream echoing in the chamber, before he put his arms over his face in a vain attempt to stave off the inevitable.

It was no use.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

There had never been much noise down in the caves under the ice.

No cries as Jack fed on the vast energy concealed within him. No holy dread from worshippers. Instead he sat there alone, a man with the powers of gods.

And as the last of the fountain of light was forced from the cavern at his feet, and the huge ship that hovered in the sky above him exploded into thousands of pieces, his head flopped to one side, a god no longer, not even a man - just a husk that had for a brief moment held the fate of worlds in his hands.

His heart fluttered in his chest as he gave himself up to all-consuming tiredness.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

The whump of a ring transport broke the silence. Flashlight beams pierced the darkness, coming to rest on the man in the chair.

Footsteps thudded dully on the ice covered floor, as four people ran to cluster around the figure, their faces reflecting their astonishment.

"Jack, god. . . how?" Daniel shook his head in amazement.

:"He must have been with Anubis all this time, otherwise how else could he have gotten here." Dixon turned his gaze shifting from corner to corner as if seeking out a hidden enemy. "What's his condition, Major?"

Carter let her weapon drop as she reached a tentative hand out to the colonel's neck, as if afraid he would vanish at her touch. "His pulse is erratic." She leaned in, speaking straight at him, her tone fierce. "Don't you dare leave us now. We've finally found you."

Her voice seemed to rouse him. His eyes opened, not fully, just slits but enough for them to see the familiar brown looking back at them. They moved, taking in each of them in turn, lingering longest over Daniel and Carter.

"Morte?"

None of them needed the whispered word translated. It was Teal'c who chose to answer, shaking his head emphatically. "No, O'Neill, you are not dead."

"Please, Jack."

He was able to give her only one word in response.

"Dolmata."

She shook her head, looking to her teammates for help. "I don't understand."

"Sleep. It means sleep."

Jack fought to raise a shaking hand, pointing towards the box, its call already loud in his head. "Dolmata."

"Check it out. Major," Dixon ordered, his eyes never leaving his fellow colonel's face. "Hang in there, Jack." There was no answer as Jack's eyes closed once again.

"He must have had another Ancient library of knowledge downloaded for him to be able to use this equipment." Daniel was looking around, but his hand remained firm on Jack's arm. "But how long ago? How much time do we have? We should contact the Asgard. They helped before." The words rushed out faster and faster as his agitation grew. "We have to do something."

Teal'c answered, a hint of moisture shining in the corner of his eyes, exposed by the beams of the lights. "Perhaps there is nothing we can do. O'Neill may have reached the end of his journey."

"No – I refuse to accept that. We just need some time to find a solution."

"And that device may be the answer." Carter came up to them, touching the fingertips of her left hand on Jack's arm as she spoke. "It seems to be similar to the cryogenic chambers on the 'Stromos'. Maybe that's what Colonel O'Neill wants – to be put into it until an answer can be found."

Dixon nodded, but raised an objection. "Do you think it will work? It doesn't look like this equipment has been used for a very long time."

"Something must be working. I assume it was Jack who activated the weapons that destroyed Anubis's fleet." Daniel blinked, his next words spoken more slowly. "Anyway, I don't think we have a choice."

Dave straightened, the decision made. "I agree. Teal'c?"

Teal'c reached down as the others stepped away, lifting Jack from the chair. He carried him the short distance to the chamber, the door opening as they approached. At first it looked like Jack would be unable to stand as he slumped bonelessly in Teal'c arms, but then his eyes opened and he stood, leaning slightly against the cold wall.

xoxoxoxoxo

He knew they were there – enough of him was still left to recognise the faces, with their mixed expressions of joy and sorrow.

He was dead. He must be, because Carter and Daniel were dead.

But they looked so real, so alive. Dim memories of his conversation with Doc Fraiser surfaced, and he struggled to put the pieces together.

If they hadn't died. . .

There were so many things he needed to say.

He needed to tell them about Harry. That he had made a promise to come back.

He needed to tell them about the alien craft he had found and where he had hidden it.

He needed them to get that damned machine out of his head, to let him think his own thoughts without them being twisted for a snake's evil whim.

He needed to tell them, to explain that he had never hated them, that even at his lowest he had kept fighting the Goa'uld, fighting to hold on long enough to ensure his world was safe.

He needed to tell them not to grieve. That he had always known they would never have given up looking for him.

And that he understood.

There were so many things he needed to say, but none of them would come. So, as the ice formed across his eyelids, he whispered the only thing he had left in him.

"Aveo. . . amacus."

Goodbye, friends.

And finally slept.

The End

Plot bunny assignment:

Time frame: AU S6 "Paradise Lost" Pairings: Gen; S/J UST, or Ship okay, but not central to the story
Plot: What if the photos showing the moon in 'Paradise Lost' were misplaced for some reason and Sam never put it all together, so the Tok'Ra didn't send a ship and Jack and Maybourne weren't rescued? How would Jack get off the moon and back to Earth?