Ice Lessons 2

He was so cold, it was freezing.

No he was freezing and his head hurt. Hathor! Shit! Snake time! Hadn't he done this already? Talk about déjà vu. That thought snapped his eyes open. Ow Bright lights way up in the ceiling, lots and lots of lights.

Smooth cold was seeping through his clothes. Not the Infirmary, not Hathor, then where? Oh yes the ice rink. Cassie!

He put out a hand to sit up- and then wished he hadn't as pain shrieked up his left wrist, up his arm and connected with the dots in front of his eyes.

Crap - that really hurt.

His moan and movement signaled to someone that he was awake

"Don't move."

What a good idea his body agreed, but his stupid mouth said otherwise.

"I'm ok just give me a minute."

"The cops are on their way."

"Oh God- Cassie!"

"It's okay she's safe, she won't come to any harm now."

"What? You see who did this?"

"Yes. Me."

"I don't understand." he figured it was one of the students, but why?

"It's for your own good. We know who you are, what you are. Did you think you'd never get caught? We've been patrolling the schools."

"Huh."

"Oh come on. The papers have been full of it for months. 6ft male greying hair, charmer, probably has a cabin or hideaway. Opportunist. Bastard how could you!" this last was punctuated by a swift boot to the ribs.

All he could do was curl up on the ice, trying to figure out what the heck was going on. He was so afraid for Cassie. That was when he realised that when he'd blacked out they'd removed his skates; no wonder he was so cold.

He started to move his legs to get up, but hands grabbed him turned him onto his front, holding his legs down.

"Let me go, dammit." he ground out.

"No way mister, the cops are coming for you."

His face was scrunched into the ice, as more hands moved his arms behind his back to stop him from moving. Fighting the pain in his nose and face, not to mention the agony from his wrist- he wasn't going anywhere soon.

Outside a siren wailed and stopped. Doors slammed and several pairs of feet headed towards the rink as he watched blood from his nose pool and freeze on the ice. Not long now he hoped and this could all be cleared up. Radios squawked as the police officers got to the side of the rink.

"Ok which one of you called it in?"

"Me- officer. Rob Ackerly. We made a citizens arrest."

"Were you not told to wait for the proper authorities, son?"

"He was going to get away with the girl!"

"Everybody just calm down, one at a time."

"He's got a black truck!"

"Right, we'll check that out as well, now where is he?"

"Down here." and the officer leant over.

"Jeeze, he's a mess. He put up a fight against you?"

"Um, no that was me. I'm on the boxing team at school."

"Great just great. I see. Where's the girl now?"

"She's out front with what looks like her mom or a friend who's just arrived- we heard him say he'd be out in 10 minutes so we acted fast, they'll be coming back any minute."

"Spencer, get Rob here to point out the girl then you're all coming in to make statements and sort this out at the station house- separate cars. We need statements from everybody at the rink this afternoon." he ordered the second officer.

"Sir? Stay where you are. Those kids are going to let you up, but I'm going to have to handcuff you and search you."

"I haven't done anything, officer." Jack stated as he was hauled onto his protesting knees before standing upright. Stiffly he shuffled the two steps off the ice and onto the rubber matting.

"Where's your shoes and wallet sir?"

"Just here." Jack nodded towards the still open locker where Cassie had left it. The officer put his shoes on the floor for him. Slowly Jack did his shoes up, his wrist complaining about the twisting motion.

"Turn around sir." he did so and hissed as the cuffs pulled and then snapped tightly round his wrists.

"What?"

"Think I've busted my wrist."

"Says you, the kid popped one on your nose that's all I can see." said the officer as he was pulled towards the wall and searched. He fished out his wallet and truck keys

"Colonel O'Neill?" the officer queried reading from his ID card

"Yes that's me." why did the guy sound so surprised? Half the town must work in the Mountain.

"Are you going to charge the kid- Rob was it? for assault, because he started it?"

"Well at the moment sir, you are helping us with our enquiries."

"What enquiries?"

"You were seen acting suspiciously; you match the description of an individual who has been attacking young girls in the county for the past few months. The perpetrator owns a black truck. The kids thought you were going to abduct the girl. We just need to check a few things out."

"What! No way! You've made a huge mistake here pal."

"We'll see back at the station sir. A detective from serious crimes will want to interview you."

"Hang on, let me call Gen…" he started

"You can make your call later." the officer interrupted as he led Jack out through the lobby and to the squad car.

Doctor Janet Fraiser

She had had a very long day in the Infirmary, and was glad that the Colonel was free to pick up Cassie from school unexpectedly. She had cleared him for duty and given the all clear to go off base that morning once they were sure that there were no side effects from being frozen twice, not to mention the breakdown products of the Goa'uld that had been briefly implanted.

The only thing she was worried about really was the effect this had had on the Colonel and the rest of SG1. This was a nightmare come true. She knew better than to expect him to say anything to her about how he really felt about it, what the Goa'uld had felt like- that sort of thing. He would brush it aside and make light of it. It was a typical reaction from him given what life had thrown him.

He'd left a message mid afternoon saying they were still at the ice rink – a strange choice given recent events but she wondered if he needed to get out of the SGC complex- to convince himself that he really was in Colorado, and not on another planet. Still, she managed to get away from the base around the time the Colonel said they'd still be there by, so she expected to see both of them waiting for her when she arrived.

Janet met Cassie in the foyer- she was watching one of the TVs showing an ice skating competition. Cassie immediately began telling her what a great afternoon they'd had, and then asked about her day at the SGC. They lost track of time and the Colonel.

Suddenly they heard police sirens and saw two squad cars pulled up, officers got out and made their way purposefully through the foyer to the rink side.

"I wonder what's going on- maybe someone's had an accident." Cassie wondered.

"No paramedics." said Janet

Then an officer and young student came and identified Cassie, the officer started asking Janet how come she hadn't picked Cassie up that day and who she was with, did she really know him and what car he drove and that it was best if they answered further questions at the station.

As they were herded towards the car they were stunned to see the Colonel coming out walking handcuffed between two officers, bloody nosed and slightly dazed. This was a new record for him; he wasn't even safe on this planet let alone an alien one. No-one else seemed to be hurt so he hadn't started a fight. It was unlike him to be clumsy or caught off guard.

Janet tried to talk to him, Cassie was crying in the background, she didn't understand what was going on, and the officers wouldn't let them near. Janet could see him struggling not to get in the car as he shouted

"Phone Hammond!"

She nodded as he was pulled into the car and sped off. Their car followed at a slower pace. Doctor Fraiser sat in the back with one arm around Cassie as she speed dialed with the other.

"'General? It's Doctor Fraiser here. Yes sir, I know I've just finished shift but we've got a situation here."

"It's Colonel O'Neill; it looks like he's been arrested. Cassie and I are on our way to the police station as well. We'll keep you posted when we know more details."