Sam moaned funny she didn't remember falling asleep and why did her head hurt so much. She tried to rub her head but found she couldn't move her arms. 'What the hell happened?' she asked herself as she now tried to open her eyes. As soon as she opened them, she snapped them closed again against the pain from the light and let out another moan.
"Come on Carter wake up!" Jack said gruffly.
"S-sir?" Sam said groggily trying to lift her head up and open her eyes. After a few attempts, she was finally able to keep her eyes open. She saw that she was in the living room and Jack was sitting on the couch.
Sam blinked a few times, "Jack…what's going on, are you okay?" She asked totally concerned not knowing what happened to her or Jack.
"Drop the Jack!" Jack said angrily.
"What's going on…Sir?" Sam asked again trying to move her arms then realizing she was tied to the chair, her hands behind the backrest and her feet to the legs of the chair. Her gaze went over to Jack waiting for him to apprise her of the situation. When he didn't say anything she grew even more concerned that something was wrong with him.
Jack shifted over on the couch so he was closer to Sam. "How long Carter, or what ever your name is?"
Sam saw the coldness in his eyes as he looked at her. "What the hell are you talking about? You know who I am." Sam said letting her anger show as she struggled against her bindings. She could feel the pain in her head as she raised her voice and grimaced. She was also feeling rather cold then noticed that she was no longer wearing her sweatshirt. Looking down at herself and around the area, she tried to assess the situation.
"Look I know you're a Goa'uld, now how long have you been in Carter!" Jack said loudly leaning over Sam putting his hand on the back of the chair.
"What? I'm not a Goa'uld." Sam said stunned at the accusation.
"Oh yea!" Jack said angrily, grabbing Sam's hair and forcing her head down and exposing her neck. "Then how did you get that?" Jack yelled then pulled her head up so he could see the reaction in her eyes.
Sam was shocked and feeling the pain as Jack roughly moved her head around. She grimaced and took a calming breath before answering him. "Look Sir, I know how it looks, but the Goa'uld that infested me died and my body's absorbing it."
"Nice try, but I don't believe you." Jack said glaring at her, standing up straight and sitting back down on the couch.
"Look Sir, why don't you just call the base and ask General Hammond or Dr. Fraiser she's watching over the re-absorption process." Sam said calmly, understanding the shock he must be going through.
Jack got up and walked to the kitchen pulling his phone out and dialling the base. "Damn!" He yelled as he walked around the room trying to get a signal.
Sam's heart sank as she realized the heavy snow outside was interfering with the cell phone signal. "Don't you have a land line Sir?"
"If I had a land line don't you think I'd use it?" Jack answered angrily. "It is interesting though, that you tell me to call the base, when you know in this weather the signal won't go through." He placed the phone down on the counter and ran his hand through his hair. He looked down at the floor at the dried blood and broken coffee mug he used to hit Sam, 'no the Goa'uld'. He looked at Sam, whose back was towards him; he saw the dried blood in her hair and the stains that had dripped down her back. He never thought he'd be in this position again watching his 2IC and close friend taken over by a Goa'uld. By George, he was going to do everything he could to get rid of it. He went back over to the couch and sat down letting out a sigh.
"Look Sir, my last mission took place when you were with the Tok'ra. We were sent to check out a small town, Steveston in Oregon. When we got there, we discovered that the townspeople had been infested with Goa'ulds. These Goa'ulds were different though, they had been cloned from Adrienne Conrad's Goa'uld and were immature. The only way they were able to take over was when the people went to sleep, so they only came out at night. The worse thing about it was that the N.I.D. knew all about it and were watching the town. They discovered that the Goa'uld were building a space ship, and the N.I.D. were waiting for them to finish."
"And you Carter?" Jack asked taking this all in but not letting himself be taken in.
"Yes I was getting to that part Sir. During our investigation we came across a new drug that one of the scientists who was working on the cloning project had come up with. When the Goa'uld were closing in on me, I had no choice but to inject myself with it." Sam sighed before continuing. "I was taken to the sheriff's office where…where I was rendered unconscious, the next thing I knew I was waking up to the one of the worse feelings I've had. The Goa'uld was trying to keep control of me as it was dying… I was able to keep the others from finding out what was happening to me, while finding out what they were doing. We found out that the scientist had a built in a kill switch with the Goa'uld, the drug that I used. Afterwards the townspeople were given the drug."
"And everyone lived happily ever after, is that right Carter?" Jack said leaning forward rubbing his hands over his face.
"Look when Teal'c and Jonas get here they can tell you all about it." Sam said hoping she was getting through to Jack.
Jack looked out the window and saw that the snow storm had turned into a blizzard; there was probably no way they could get up here any time soon, and with the phone signal being lost he had a real dilemma. To believe Sam or not, it could just be an elaborate story the Goa'uld made up since it had access to Sam's brilliant mind.
"I'm sure you've noticed the weather and that's there's probably no way in hell they'll be able to get here in a while. You're just stalling for time."
"Look Sir, there's no way I could have influenced the weather…blow up a sun sure, but cause a blizzard? Come on." Sam said shaking her head then regretting it instantly.
"Oh no don't worry I don't think you caused the weather…you're NOT a god after all."
"Ahh, look Sir do you think I could get some aspirin or something? My head is killing me… What did you hit me with?" Sam asked looking up at Jack, seeing his expression turn from what she thought was indecision to pure anger.
"Oh, that's brilliant Carter, give the Goa'uld an aspirin." Jack said with a slight chuckle, "like Baal ever offered me an aspirin."
"Look Sir, I don't know how many times I have to say this but I am not a Goa'uld!" Sam said with her frustration getting the better of her.
Jack got up quickly and stalked to the kitchen; Sam cringed at his movement and wondered what he was up to. She heard him ruffling through drawers and slamming them shut. Suddenly she felt him behind her his hot breath at her ear.
"We'll just see about that Carter." Jack said just above a whisper, then he placed his hand on her shoulder and slid it towards the back of her neck, his hand went up her neck to her hairline.
Sam didn't know what to think about what Jack was doing? The movement of his hand sent a shiver down Sam's spine. Then she felt her head being forced down so her chin was against her chest. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what Jack was holding in his other hand.
Jack knew Sam…no the Goa'uld could see the knife he was holding just to the side of her face. It was Jack's fishing knife, it had a long curved extremely sharp blade with a small pointed end. He had cleaned and gutted many fish with knife and always kept it clean and sharp.
"W-what are you going to do with that?" Sam asked swallowing hard with nervousness.
"Oh I'm just going to check and see if that snake in you is really dead." Jack said holding tightly onto Sam's hair.
"No! You can't." Sam yelled struggling against Jack's hand and her restraints.
"What's the matter Carter, don't want me to hurt your snake." Jack said coldly, bringing the knife closer to Sam's neck.
"You know if you puncture the Goa'uld's body its blood will mix with mine and kill me." Sam said the fear in her voice apparent.
Jack watched carefully for any signs of the snake moving, he could see the lump in her neck, but with her struggling, he couldn't tell if the snake was moving or if it was from Sam's struggling.
"If you don't hold still, my hand might slip." Jack said trying to keep her head down and neck exposed.
"Well if you cut the snake I'm dead anyway." Sam said through gritted teeth, his hand causing pain to the injury on her head.
"Fine, I'll just have to find another way!" Jack said stepping back and releasing Sam's head. "You know I learned a lot about Goa'uld tactics from my time with Baal." Jack said with an icy voice, he grabbed the sides of the chair and tilted it backwards trying to keep Sam off guard.
Sam felt her stomach lurch as she was tilted backwards, now she was looking up into Jack's face trying to figure out what he was going to do next. All she knew is that she had to find a way to get away from him and soon.
Jack looked down at Sam, the one side of his mouth curling into a grin; he saw the reaction he was having on her as she nervously swallowed hard. Then he pushed the chair up letting it rock back and forth a bit.
Sam had never feared Jack before, but right now, she didn't know what to expect from him. She knew he had gone through a lot not just with Baal but also in Iraq and even though he tried to hide to his darker side, she knew it always lurked just beneath the surface. Now here she was at his mercy, hoping he wouldn't use the tactics he had learned on her.
Jack paced back and forth behind Sam; he wanted her to be nervous while he was thinking. Oh, he knew how to torture people, but wasn't sure about the Goa'uld, does causing pain to the host cause pain to the snake? Then he thought back to the first time when Sam had been taken over by Jolinar; the ashrak tortured and killed Jolinar by attacking the snake itself and not just the host. Only Jack had a problem, he didn't have the Goa'uld device or the ability to use it. 'Think O'Neill, think'. Jack paced a while longer trying to come up with an idea.
Sam heard Jack moving behind her, she craned her neck trying to see what he was up to, but only managed to strain it. Then she saw him walk in front of her to the couch; only he wasn't going to sit to down; he was going to lamp on the side table. She saw him remove the lampshade then the light bulb. Sam was getting a sinking feeling in her stomach.
Jack tested the lamp, turning it on and off seeing it spark; he also noted the look of fear on Carter's face. He knew just the right amount of electricity wouldn't kill, but would cause a lot of discomfort; and he was planning on causing this Goa'uld major discomfort. He went behind Carter and pulled the chair closer to the lamp.
"Sir stop! You can't do this!" Sam said pleading. "You're wrong, I'm not a Goa'uld!" Sam started struggling harder, but there was no way she could get her hands free.
Jack watched her struggling and saw some blood drip from the rope around her wrists. 'Don't think of her as your friend', the words resounded in his head from when Teal'c said them all those years ago. 'Yea I know, she's not Sam; Sam wouldn't want to live as a host.' Jack reasoned with himself.
"You have a choice here, you can leave her now and I'll make sure you get through the gate to a planet of your choice. Or you can suffer until you either leave her or die." Jack said looking into her eyes, waiting for the glow.
"Shit! Sir it's dead already, no matter what you do it's not going to come out. The only one you'll be hurting is me! No, you'll also be hurting yourself when you find out I've been telling you the truth all along." Sam said angrily.
"Well we'll just see about that." Jack said moving back behind Sam grabbing the lamp with one hand while pushing Sam's head down yet again. He took a deep breath before he placed the end of the lamp against Sam's neck. He saw Sam's reaction as her muscles contracted and convulsed, he could smell the burning flesh as the sparks flew out, worst of all he heard the scream of pain before he took the lamp away.
Jack couldn't see the snake moving around under her skin, but he wouldn't be fooled by that. He remembered Kawalsky, how they were fooled into believing they had removed the snake. He wouldn't be fooled this time either. There was no way he was going to let a Goa'uld keep Sam as a host. He knew she would rather die than be a host, hell they had all talked about the possibility and making a pact not to let the person live like that. Now here he was, trying to keep his word and hating himself for it.
Jack walked in front of Sam, her head was lolling back and forth, he put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up. It was heavier than he thought as he saw she was only semi-conscious and he could see the streaks on her face from the tears.
'Damn O'Neill, what if she's telling you the truth!' Jack argued with himself. 'How many Goa'uld have you seen cry? Shouldn't a Goa'uld be able to withstand more than that before passing out? Too many questions Jack, and not enough answers.'
Sam couldn't help but let out a moan, she didn't want Jack to know she was coming around; she hoped if he thought she was out of it he would leave her alone for a while. She couldn't believe how much that hurt, her body was still sore from her muscles convulsing, and she was pretty sure she bit her tongue. Sure, she's been shocked before, but not to this extent and not to her neck.
Jack heard Sam moan and knew she was coming around. "What next O'Neill?" Jack asked himself out loud moving away from Sam and rubbing his neck with his hands.
"Try the phone again." came a weak response from Sam, her only hope was that Jack could get in touch with Teal'c; he would surely believe Teal'c Through her half opened eyes she could see it was starting to get dark outside and the snow was still falling.
Jack let out a breath of air then headed for the counter where he left the phone. "Damn still no reception."
"Why don't you try going outside and try to pick up a signal, move around a bit you may be able to pick it up." Sam said almost desperately.
Jack looked at her suspiciously, could she be right, could he get a signal outside? All he knew was he should try it, but first he would make sure Carter was still secured to the chair.
Sam felt Jack come up behind her then felt him tugging at the ropes. "Ah, do you mind that hurts!" Sam said angrily, but didn't get a reply.
As Jack checked the ropes, he could see how red and chaffed her wrists were, and the blood that had stained the rope. He shook his head in distaste at having to do this, but at least she was secured. "I'll be back in a few minutes, don't go anywhere." Jack said in his sarcastic tone.
"Funny Sir, real funny." Sam huffed out.
Jack went to the front door putting his coat on and hesitated a moment thinking if he needed his boots. He decided better safe than sorry and quickly put his boots on, then opened the door bracing himself against the bitter gust of wind that confronted him. He made his way outside and started to try and find a signal.
Sam felt the cold air rush in the room causing her to shiver, 'damn why did Jack remove her sweatshirt?' There was no time to think about that now; Sam knew she didn't have much time to try to escape. The ropes were too tight and well secured, so there was only one way she could get loose. Sam started shifting her weight in the chair and finally got it rocking; 'one more good rock should do it.' Finally, Sam felt herself falling sideways. Sam landed on her side the force causing tremendous pain to her left arm, but more importantly causing the chair to break. Her arms were finally free of the chair but still tied behind her. She manoeuvred her legs so she could slide the ropes off the chair legs. Sam rolled on to her stomach and got up on her knees, then managed to stand up. She went over to the couch and sat down so she could manoeuvre her arms in front of her. There was no time to rest, for Jack could be back at any moment. She looked at the ropes and knew it would take her quite a bit of time to get out of them. "Damn." She whispered to herself, then she got up and rushed to the door leading out to the deck. There was no way she could use the front door with Jack out there and with her hands tied up no way she would be able to keep her coat on. There wan only one thing could do, and she didn't like it one bit.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, very much appreciated. The rest of the story is coming up.