A/N:Thanks to all who reviewed What Happens When Uncle Pete Comes To Town. Bookworm37, Soccer-Bitch and ScifiGillian, you get a special thank you because you've reviewed like everything, so thank you very very much. To all those who want another chapter for that, my little sister and unofficial beta is also lobbying so you might get it, when I learn how to write Pete. Anyway, here's chapter 18, finally finished, with both myself and muse happy with it. It's short, but that's because I was feeling guilty about not having it don't last weekend so I wanted to get it done as fast as possible. So read, enjoy, and please review. It's the least you can do, since I am taking the time to post this on my birthday.
sChapter 18
Sam screamed, her throat was raw and her voice horse, but her scream could have put any sports fan to shame. She was pressed up against the gravity wall and the only thing keeping her sane at the moment were a pair of gorgeous brown eyes, and trying to figure out how the gravity wall worked.
"Now Major Carter, I really don't want to have to keep hurting you. Just give in, agree to my terms and the pain will end." Ba'al's silky voice washed over her. Concentrating, she forced herself to focus on him.
"Your terms suck, bastard," she spat as she lost the battle with the encroaching darkness.
As he watched her body go limp, Ba'al muttered, "A pity my dear. A pity."
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Jack paces the small room. She had now been gone longer than Daniel had been. As part of his brain conjured images of what Ba'al could be doing to her, the other half of his brain played a relentless slideshow her over the last seven wonderful years. Her smile, her giggle, the way she crinkled her nose when she was deeply involved in a problem, the glare she gave him when he made a bad joke about one of their "allies" or anyone they knew really, the way her whole body would shake when she was desperately trying not t laugh; but along with these images came the memories of all the times she was hurt and trying to hide it, the times she was worried about Daniel or Teal'c or her dad, or even him.
Finally when it seemed like his brain was about to overload with all the memories of her, the door opened. In an eerily similar scene, the same goons who had taken her tossed a battered and bruised Sam into the room. This time though, Ba'al's First Prime chose no one to take, rather he and the goons silently slithered away.
Jack sprang from his position against the far wall opposite the door to the bloodied and bruised heap that was his Carter.
Gently with trembling hands, something he hated as much as Katie did, he checked her for injuries. He was semi-relived that while it seemed like she'd been worked over extremely well, there were no life threatening injuries. Of course, the holes and tears in her uniform indicated that Ba'al had used his favorites, knives, and acid, on her. At the moment, Jack loved the sarcophagus for preserving her life, but he knew from experience what the constant torture, death, and resurrection could do to a person. Even without the insanity, the sarcophagus caused and of course, without the ever so fun withdrawal he knew Sam would have to go through.
Leaving Teal'c to care for Daniel, Jack gently moved back to his spot at the wall, taking Sam with him. Holding her wouldn't do much to help her physically, but it would help them both mentally and emotionally he knew.
He smiled slightly as he held her, her head resting on his shoulder.
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Sam stirred, the formerly impenetrable darkness now giving away to light. Despite the numerous aches of her battered body, she was surprisingly comfortable, and when she opened her eyes, she discovered why. A pair of deep chocolate brown eyes were watching her intently, and the body that was attached to those caring eyes, was holding her. "Jack?" she whispered, voice still horse from screaming.
"I'm here Sam, I'm here. You're safe, he's not here."
As her eyes started to droop again, Jack struggled to find a way to keep her awake, he was 90 sure she had a concussion. She only called him by his name when she was snaked or had a really really bad concussion. He said the first thing that popped into his head, "Come on Sam, stay with me. You still haven't agreed to go fishing with me yet."
Blue eyes blinked, as if she was trying to puzzle out his words, then a slow smile graced her bruised face, "I know."
The same smile spread across Jack's face as he asked her to tell him about her latest doohickey. For some reason he couldn't help but feel that things were looking up.
