They moved along the path stealthily. After doing the math, Jack realized that there were still two more guards out there, not to mention Handar and two of his sons, who were old enough to help defend the compound. This was a threat that they could deal with, even with Carter trying to forestall the tremors and spasms that took over occasionally. "That stuff will go away soon," he told her, knowing that they hurt just as bad as when the lightening rod was sending out the bolts of excruciating pain. "It gets easier as time goes by." Carter nodded at him and he gave her an encouraging smile to let her know that he would be there for her if she needed him to grab on to.
"Thanks," she said, trying to smile back at him. "You weren't kidding about the charred skin," she added, as she grimaced.
"Are you going to be all right, Sam?" Mitchell asked. The concern on his face was real, and Carter responded to it immediately.
"I'll be fine," she said, as they moved into position outside of Handar's palace. The building was huge and Jack couldn't help but compare it to the hovels the slaves were forced to live in. He shook off the old resentment and focused his thoughts on the mission at hand. He was determined to get Padral out of there with minimal damage to any of his friends.
They crouched down next to a gazebo-like structure that served as a courtroom when Handar wanted to be outside while passing judgment on one of the slaves. It was here that Jack had been sentenced to a severe beating when he had whacked Balzor in the head with that shovel.
But it was the throne room where Handar could usually be found when he wasn't sleeping. It was a well-ventilated room that held the cool air in, making it the most comfortable room in the entire palace. This was the room where most of the punishments were carried out, and it was the room where Jack had lost the battle with his determination to not give in.
They moved into the palace quietly, Jack being extremely nervous that they had made it as far as they had without any more problems. Because of this, he had his P-90 ready, just in case they came up on an ambush. He was also worried for Taria, who was clinging to his jacket now that they were near the palace, but he was afraid to leave her alone out there. She would be an easy target for the enemy to grab in a hostage situation, which would leave the members of SG-1 completely vulnerable.
It was when they got to the throne room that Jack finally understood the enemy's strategy. They had barricaded themselves in that room, the one room where they could withstand a standoff for days, even weeks, if it came to that. Jack smiled grimly at that thought. He wasn't going to let it to come to that.
Handar was sitting on the floor behind a makeshift barricade and Jack steeled himself against the anxiety that washed over him when he saw the man. It was a fear that had manifested during that three day marathon of agony he had gone through, and Jack was determined to conquer the fear, as he stood there staring at his former 'master'.
"We aren't going to kill you, Handar," Jack said, feeling Taria's fingers digging into his waist as her terror caused her to hunt for safety. "All of your slaves are gone. No one is left, but you and your family. You are going to have to do all the work you forced your slaves to do in order to survive."
"You are lying!" Handar shouted, his face turning blotchy red with anger. Jack knew that look and would have been feeling extreme terror just a few weeks ago, but not now. Now, he was completely confident and triumphant as he thought about Handar's future.
"They're all gone," Jack insisted, the smile on his face growing as he saw Handar's face become pale. "You're on your own."
"You will not do this," Handar growled, apparently thinking he was still in complete control of Jack's life. "You and your mate will be punished for this misdeed."
Jack stood there for a minute, staring at Handar, before saying, "Umm… no. I don't think so. In fact, we are going on a little trip." He smiled at his former 'master', relishing in the knowledge of what he was going to do. "Enjoy your life Handar." This last was said with a flourish as Jack held up his own Asgard communication device. He pushed the button and watched astonishment and despair appear in the old man's face as Thor responded to Jack's call.
He and the rest of his companions found themselves in the middle of complete silence on Thor's ship. Every single slave that had been brought up was on their knees, silently waiting for something to happen. Some of them looked up when Jack shouted at Thor, telling him to lock onto Padral, who had been tied up approximately 5 feet from where Jack had been standing in the throne room. The frightened and weak slave showed up a minute later, falling to his knees – whether it was from weakness or from conditioning, Jack couldn't tell.
"Jack! Thank God!" Daniel exclaimed when the light cleared. "These people are terrified and absolutely refuse to trust me on anything."
"Calm down, Danny," Jack said, relief that he was no longer in the throne room making him feel just a little giddy. "We'll get them settled in. I want to make one last check to make sure we have everyone, because Handar is definitely going to do this on his own. I refuse to believe otherwise."
"I just hope that no other unsuspecting soul goes through their Stargate," Carter said, as she worked on getting her vest off without doing more damage to the wound in her side.
"The Stargate," Mitchell said. He and Jack stared at each other for a brief second, before they both shouted, "Thor!" at the exact same time.
"I will take care of the Stargate," Thor responded calmly. Nothing seemed to ruffle the little alien, Jack thought, with a grin.
"Colonel Carter is injured," Teal'c announced. "May we use your medical facilities?" he asked.
"Yes, of course," Thor responded, walking over to Carter to give her a once over. "Follow me please," he told her.
"It's just a burn," Carter said, obviously not used to all the fuss made over her.
"Okay Sam, what happened to you this time?" Daniel asked, as he turned into a mother hen right before Jack's eyes. Yep, Carter was going to be just fine.
Jack smiled as he watched his friends walk away, then turned his attention to the people who were still on their knees, but curiously peeking up at him. "Everything is going to be okay," he told them, reaching down to help the nearest person to stand. "You are no longer slaves." He was heartened to hear some of them grumbling, so he continued in this vein. "We are not in Handar's domain anymore and there is absolutely no way he will ever find you. You are all safe."
No one spoke, but Jack knew that he was getting through to them. "We have everybody, right?" he continued as he worked through the crowd, helping others to their feet. "Look around you, is everyone accounted for?" He grinned as the people dutifully looked around, but he had the feeling this was all for show. They had already accounted for their families and friends before he even showed up. They may have been slaves, but they were also a tight knit community.
"Where are we?" Taria's father got up the nerve to ask. "What is this place?"
"You are on a spaceship," Jack responded, feeling that it was better to lay it all out to them honestly. "The little gray men are friends and they have agreed to help us free you from your life of slavery. This is just temporary though. I have some friends who are looking for a place for you all to live your lives in freedom."
"Freedom," Dargan said, his expression taking on the look of a dreamer. "I remember when you told me of your life as a free man," he said, causing Jack to stare at him in surprise. He always had the impression that Dargan thought his words were fairy tales. "Oh, I know I used to scoff at your stories," he added, seeing Jack's surprise, "But I was listening. I never thought I would ever see it, though."
"Freedom doesn't exist," Neatha said to add in her own two cents. Typical, Jack thought with a wry grin. This woman would find fault with anything.
"Oh Mother," Taria said with a sigh, as she went to stand next to Neatha. "Will you try to believe in it, please?" She had that look on her face that used to make it almost impossible for Jack to say no to her during the early part of their relationship, but Jack knew that her mother had become immune to it over the years.
"There is no such thing," Neatha insisted, and Jack suppressed a sigh. Some things never change. The good news was that the slaves had relaxed now that it was only Jack and Mitchell in the room with them. Mitchell apparently put them at ease just with his presence alone. Jack knew that in all reality, it was probably because they trusted Jack, who wasn't afraid of Mitchell.
"Freedom exists, Neatha," Jack said patiently. As long as the others believed in it, it really didn't matter if this woman didn't. She would have to give in sooner or later.
"I can vouch for freedom," Mitchell said, apparently feeling left out. "Not only does it exist, but it comes with a whole lot of responsibility." Jack gave the man a questioning look, which prompted Mitchell to rethink his words. "I'm just saying," he said, sheepishly. Jack just shook his head as he turned to grin at Dargan. They had a lot to talk about.
They arrived at the SGC a day later in a brilliant flash of light. Actually there were several flashes of light, but the fact that he was home free made Jack want to shout. He kept his cool instead; it wouldn't do to act like that in front of his counterpart, who was ambling into the gate room with his hands in his pockets and a big smile on his face.
"I see you all had a successful mission," he said, with a grin.
"Yes sir," Colonel Mitchell responded, his own face split into a wide smile. "You missed out on all the action."
"No need to rub it in, Cameron," O'Neill said grumpily.
"Sorry sir," Mitchell said, trying to look like he meant it.
"What are you still doing here?" Jack said, interrupting his companions. "I thought you couldn't wait to get back to Washington so you could 'get lost in the Pentagon again'."
"I thought I would hang out until you got back to see if you screwed up," O'Neill said, after a moment's hesitation. "Besides, I aim to make sure you honor your word about talking to Mackenzie."
Jack supposed he deserved that, but he couldn't help the glare he directed at the General. "Yes sir," he grumbled.
O'Neill smiled broadly at Jack, then looked over at the refugees who were all huddled in a tight group, looking as if they were scared out of their minds. It was no wonder, what with all the SFs standing around, Jack thought belatedly. He had forgotten to prepare them for what they would face when they got here.
"So," O'Neill said, "Which one of these beautiful ladies is Taria?"
Jack grinned at his wife, as she tried to melt into her mother's shadow. They hadn't had a chance to talk, but Jack was so grateful that she was alive that he already felt a kindred spirit with her. She didn't smile back, but he was hopeful that he would soon be the recipient of the smiles that had haunted him for the last week.
"Well?" O'Neill said, as he nudged Jack's arm. "You have talked of nothing else for the past week. Which one is she?"
"It's apparent that I inherited all the charm," Jack told O'Neill sarcastically. O'Neill just grinned and Jack knew when his chain was being yanked. He grinned back, then went over to take Taira's hand and pulled her over to meet his counterpart. "Taria, this is General O'Neill. General, this is Taria."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," O'Neill said, taking her hand in his. "I've heard a lot about you."
Taria gave him a little curtsy, too afraid to lift her gaze to meet the General's eyes. O'Neill looked at Jack, who just shrugged and said, "We have a lot of work to do. They've lived their entire lives in extreme oppression."
O'Neill nodded, then said, "We've got a team lined up to help them adjust to their lives of freedom. They need to make a visit to the infirmary first, then we can take them to their new home."
Jack nodded at that, as it was what he'd expected. "What about Taria?" he asked tentatively.
"That's up to you," O'Neill said, as he smiled at Taria. He gave Jack one last look, then turned his attention to his old teammates, "Okay, who got hurt this time?" he asked, his gaze on Carter. Jack rolled his eyes when he realized that O'Neill already knew.
"Come on," he said to Taria, as he took her hand. "We might as well get down to the infirmary to get this stuff over with." She turned to look at him, then nodded, her expression telling him that she trusted him completely. This made Jack all the more determined to have that talk with her real soon.
The infirmary was clearing out slowly, but surely. Jack sat on a bed waiting for the last of the refugees to be released from the Doc's care. Padral was in the bed next to the one Jack was sitting on, tucked in and hooked up to machines that filled the room with their insistent beeps and sounds. It had taken Jack a good half hour to convince Padral that he was not being hooked up to some torture device and it didn't help matters any when a nurse inserted the needle for Padral's IV. Silence that had always preceded the screams on Hulmeshur spread through the room at a rapid pace and Jack couldn't help the tremor of fear that crept through him as the silence became complete, broken only by the nurse's soft, soothing words of comfort as she prepared the needle.
Jack had sat on the bed, clutching the sheets with his fists, wishing that he was back in his cell. This odd thought was what broke through the old fear and caused him to force himself to get to his feet and go over to his friend, calmly telling Padral that this was just a temporary thing. The needle was only going to hurt for a second, but that it was going to provide him with the nourishment he needed to survive the effects of the feasting. Padral didn't say anything to Jack's words, but it was Dargan who came up and provided Padral with the words that calmed him. "You have not been tied down," he said. "You can get up anytime you want."
Jack sat back down on the bed and pondered his reaction to that silence. There was no way in hell that he was going to tell anyone about it, especially O'Neill and Mackenzie. Instead he sat quietly as the doctor and her staff continued to poke and prod the slaves… refugees, he amended. Most of them had been checked out and released to the rooms that were provided for them until they could be transported to their new home. But there were a few left and since Jack had been ordered to be the liaison for both sanctions by General Landry and by the unspoken actions of Handar's former slaves, he was still here.
"Hey," Carter said, as she came up to stand next to him. "How is he?" she added, nodding her head toward Padral.
"He's going to be fine," Jack responded. "Doc says that she wants to keep him here for awhile, just to make sure he's going to be okay." Carter nodded at that, and Jack had to ask, "How's the burn?"
"The Asgard were able to heal most of it," she replied, her smile easing some of the tension running through him, "But Doctor Lam still insisted on checking it out. I'm pretty sure it's going to leave a scar."
"General O'Neill won't mind too much," Jack mused, knowing it wouldn't distract him in the least; he just knew that his counterpart wouldn't care either. Carter just gave him a secret smile, which lightened Jack's mood tremendously. Yes, he thought contentedly, it's definitely about time.
"I'm going home," she finally said, breaking the companionable silence they had found themselves in. "Will you be alright?"
"Yeah," he responded. "I'm hoping that I'll be able to say the same." This was said with a hopeful look sent her way, but somehow he knew better.
She just shrugged, then told him, "You'll have to clear it with General Landry."
"And Mackenzie," he added resignedly.
"We put in a good word for you," Daniel said from the doorway. He had apparently been there long enough to hear what they were talking about. "It looks promising. There were no flashbacks or lashing out on that planet, and nothing since you've been back. I think they might be willing to let you try."
Jack couldn't help but look at Carter, as he remembered cold-heartedly torturing a dying guard. Carter shrugged her shoulders once more, then offered her sympathy. "You're probably going to be needed here until the refugees go through the Gate," she said, obviously chalking that event up to another Jack O'Neillism.
Jack nodded, giving her a sad smile. He should have known that they wouldn't believe that he was miraculously cured. Hell, he didn't even believe it, but he also knew that he had to get away from this place. Doctor Lam came into the room at that point, leading Taria by the hand, and Jack squared his shoulders, determined to prove to them once and for all that he wasn't going to screw things up this time.
"We're running out of blankets," the Doc said, as she smiled at Jack. He didn't really see her smile though, he was mesmerized by the one Taria gave him when she saw him. His whole being seemed to focus in on that smile, and he continued to stare at her as she came over to stand next to him. It was the first one she had given to him since he had gone back for her and he wondered at the emotion that roiled through his soul.
"We've turned up the heat in the rooms they are staying in," the Doc was telling Carter. "I sure hope you've found a planet that has a warm climate."
"Not as warm as Hulmeshur," Carter admitted. "But I think they'll be comfortable."
"This clothing has helped," Taria said shyly. Jack tilted his head to get a better look as he gave her the once over from her head to her feet. He grinned as he took in the sight of her standing there in a sweatshirt that was way too big for her and the green pants that would have normally been right at home on a soldier. "I am not as cold as when I first came here," she felt compelled to add.
"Just as beautiful as ever," Jack told her.
She turned to look at him, gazing into his eyes and Jack had the feeling that she was looking for something. "Does this mean that you have forgiven me?" she asked.
Jack couldn't respond. He stared at her as dark memories ran through his mind, memories of pushing her away, of snarling hurtful words at her every time she tried to explain why she betrayed him and of the nights of coldly going through the ritual of producing a future slave. He remembered her tears and her determination to win back his love. He watched as her expression grew sad when he didn't answer, but he needed time to sort through all this.
"Well, I think it's time I got out of here," Carter said, grabbing Daniel's arm to drag him out with her.
"Uh… yeah, me too," Daniel said, taking the hint. "I have some translations that I want to tackle."
"Daniel," Jack finally spoke up, realizing that he was in a quandary, "We need some place to talk. Some place private?" he asked, hoping Daniel would be the one to get him out of the SGC.
"That cell you were staying in is the only place without a camera," Daniel replied, looking a little worried for even bringing it up.
"No way," Jack snarled, anger making him jump up off the bed. "I don't ever want to see that place again!"
"It was just a suggestion," Daniel said, holding his hands up in an effort to calm Jack with a gesture. "Maybe you should talk to Jack. He might be able to help."
"All right," Jack agreed, working on calming down. "Where is he?"
"Whatever you decide," Doctor Lam said, "Do it elsewhere. You're upsetting my patient." Jack couldn't help be reminded of Janet Fraiser, the woman who turned into a harridan when it came to taking care of her patients. Doc Fraiser was gone now, Jack thought sadly, but here was someone who was doing a great job of following in her footsteps.
"Yes ma'am," he said, smiling audaciously at her. She, in turn gave him a surprised look, which turned into a relieved smile, causing Jack to wonder what was going on with the woman.
"Jack?" Padral spoke up for the first time, his anxiety clearly coming out in waves.
"You're going to be okay," Jack told him, realizing what Padral must be thinking. "This woman and her people only want you to get well. I promise that they won't hurt you."
"What if they want to stick me with that… whatever that thing was," Padral whispered, his fear increasing as he realized he was going to be left alone with the strangers.
"They're called needles," Jack said patiently. "They only use them if… Doc," he said, as he turned toward Doctor Lam, "Are you guys going to be sticking any more needles into him?" It would be better if he didn't lie to his friend.
"No," she said, bestowing her best bedside smile to Padral. "If we need to inject anything, we'll use the IV."
"See?" Jack said, trying to ease Padral's concerns. "No more needles. Just sleep and let the medicine help you. Okay?"
"Medicine?" Padral asked, his fear turning into awe. No slave had ever been allowed medicines when they were sick.
"Yeah," Jack said with a grin. "Real medicine. I keep telling you that you aren't a slave anymore, don't I?' Padral nodded, but still looked alarmed when Jack moved away from his bed. Jack sighed, then decided to play his ace. "Look Padral, I need to talk to Taria. You know, to work things out?" Jack knew his technique was working when understanding dawned on Padral's face.
"It is time that you did," Padral agreed heartily. "Go!" he said when Jack didn't move right away. "Have that talk."
"You will be all right here by yourself?" Taria said, having found her voice.
"Yes Taria," Padral replied. "Go."
Jack nodded and took Taria's hand in his. "First we have to find some place private," he told her. "Daniel, where's O'Neill?"