Part Four
Prison Cell, Ba'al's Secret Outpost
Jack leaned his head against the wall, too mentally and physically exhausted to fight anymore. He just wanted the pain and fear to end. Turning around and sliding to the floor, he thought about his situation.
He truly wanted to fight to survive...not so much for himself, but for her. He knew what his death would do to her. But he knew that he could not take much more and he had very little hope remaining that he would be rescued.
Rubbing his hands over his face, he wondered where Daniel was and why his friend had abandoned him in his time of need. Why wouldn't Daniel help him? Why wouldn't he end this torment?
Daniel suddenly appeared in the corner of the cell, his brow knit in concern and his arms crossed defensively across his chest. "Why are you so opposed to ascension, Jack?"
Jack looked up at his friend with a blank expression. "You're the all-knowing one, Daniel. You tell me," he replied sarcastically.
"Oma would say that you are unable to release your burden. That you are holding on to the material world too strongly. You have to let it go..."
Jack angrily interrupted him, "You just don't get it, do you Daniel? I don't want to let anything go." He paused and quietly added, "I don't want to leave anyone behind."
Suddenly, a look of understanding dawned on Daniel's face. Jack had been unsuccessfully trying to make him understand all along. And now he finally got it. "That's it, isn't it, Jack?"
Jack looked away from his friend, not wanting to admit the true reason why he would never agree to ascension. He turned back to face Daniel, his face revealing a man who was on the edge of completely falling apart.
"I can't do it, Daniel. You should have seen her after you left and went all glowy. It broke her. I don't know what it would do to her if I left too."
Jack hated having to admit his feelings to Daniel. He couldn't even mention her name outright. Saying her name would make his feelings for her all too real – and he didn't want that, not now that he was most likely going to die before ever seeing her again. But he had to make Daniel fully comprehend his reasoning.
Daniel nodded sympathetically. "I know, Jack. It's why you took the symbiote in the first place. You didn't want to leave her behind. But do you think that dying will be any better? At least if you ascend, you will still exist. Believe me... you could still watch over her..."
"I can't do what you do!" Jack yelled, finally losing his patience. "I can't stand back and watch. I need to actually be there with her. I need to be able to protect her... to save her. Hell, I need to be there so she can save me. And she's trying right now, Daniel. She won't give up until she finds me – she never has and never will. If it turns out to be too late...well, I'd rather be dead than have to watch and not be able to do anything."
Daniel finally acquiesced, but left a parting request. "You're right, Jack. You're a man of action. But...don't reject ascension outright. Think about it some more...please."
And with that, Daniel faded into nothingness and Jack was once again alone. He sat there for a few precious seconds in peaceful silence until he once again heard the stomping feet of the guards coming towards his cell, knowing immediately that they were once again coming for him.
Daniel returned once again to the cell, finding Jack sitting against the wall in a crumpled heap. He stared for a long time at his friend. Jack was the strongest man he had ever known and it disturbed him that the man now sitting in front of him was so despondent, so hopeless, so completely...broken.
For the first time, Daniel regretted his decision to ascend. His journey so far had been amazing. He had learned so much about the universe and about himself. But standing there in that moment, all he wanted to do was to help his best friend...and he couldn't. The only help the Others and Oma would allow him was just to be there with Jack, offering the little support and comfort he could.
Jack's eyes blinked open and he looked up at him, "Daniel?"
"I'm here," he answered.
Jack sighed wearily and stared straight ahead into the room despondently. "You were gone."
Daniel looked at Jack with apologetic eyes. "I know, I'm sorry. There was something I had to do, but I'm back now and I promise I'll stay with you till this is over."
"It'll never be over." Jack's tone lacked all feeling...all hope.
Daniel reassured him, "Yes it will."
"Daniel...you have to end this," Jack pleaded once more with his ascended friend to end the never-ending cycle of death and rebirth that he was being forced to endure. He could handle no more torture...he had finally reached his breaking point.
"Jack, you just have to hang in there a little while longer..."
"No..." Jack insisted, "I can't go back in there. If I go back, I swear to God, I'll give Ba'al what he wants, I'll tell him."
"What?"
"That he loved her," Jack finally admitted dejectedly.
Jack's thoughts immediately turned to Sam, knowing instinctively that his love for her had in someway influenced the symbiote to risk their lives to save Ba'al's slave. Kanan had loved Shallan and had left her behind. It was something Jack would never have done and it disgusted him that Kanan had. His own feelings for Sam, combined with his sense of honor, had compelled Kanan to do what he did.
"Kanan?" Daniel asked.
"He came back for her. He wanted to save her." 'Just as I would have done anything to save Sam if it had been her,' Jack confessed to himself.
"Ba'al doesn't know this..."
"If he finds out, he'll do to her what he's doing to me. Daniel, if you don't end this...I'll tell him," Jack implored him once again.
"You won't have to...it's almost over, Jack."
Jack looked up at Daniel, for the first time in days hope appeared in his eyes. "How?"
"You were right. There's always a way out...at least there's always a chance. You're journey isn't over, Jack, not yet."
Jack stared at him in curiosity. "What'd you do?"
"I didn't do anything...it was Sam and Teal'c...and Jonas, too."
Jack immediately stood up with renewed vigor, curiosity not allowing him to remain depressed and defeated. "What?"
In the background a loud blast erupted, shaking the entire room.
"They thought of something..."
Just as quickly as he had appeared, Daniel vanished and Jack was once again alone. But this time he had left Jack with something the older man had lost in the preceding days, something that Ba'al had taken away from him – hope.
Jack looked up as the power went out, finally freeing him from the gravity cell that had entrapped him for days. Rushing out of the room towards salvation, he thought to himself about his team. He knew now that he should have never doubted their abilities and dedication. The members of SG-1 were masters at accomplishing the impossible. They had found him and they had figured out how to save him...yet again.
As he heard and felt the continuing blasts of the attack shake the walls of Ba'al's fortress, he thanked whatever real God was out there for delivering him from this Hell... and for the dedication and resolve of his ever-faithful team.
TBC
