Chapter 27: Depersonalisation
Jack looked over at Sheppard from where he was giving Lucas yet another bottle. The kid was good for the most part as he would play quietly on his own, only really making a fuss when he was hungry or needed his nappy changed.
Jack was worried about Sheppard though, he was sleeping quietly for the first time since they had arrived on the ship but Jack could see a sheen of sweat on his forehead and he wasn't sure the lack of nightmares was due to Sheppard finally relaxing rather than a fever or exhaustion taking hold. Sheppard's breathing was less laboured but you could still hear the crackling of the liquid in his lungs if you moved closer.
Jack had had his share of nightmares when he was younger and his foster family had struggled to deal with them when he wouldn't share what his dreams had been about. They had assumed that he had been abused as a child and dealt with it as best they could; it wasn't until he had been able to talk to his counterpart that he had learnt to deal with the nightmares himself.
Sheppard had been pushing himself hard; once he realised that he couldn't find a way to contact the ship he had begun to 'push his senses out'. Jack wasn't entirely sure he knew what he meant by that but Sheppard's explanation had been that he could sense people and their injuries and wanted to try and get a bit more control over this ability.
Regardless, he was either sleeping or passed out and Jack was left with the kid. He was starting to wonder when the General would be brought back; they had had a third meal delivered not long before and Jack had managed to rouse Sheppard long enough to encourage him to eat before he had fallen asleep again. He looked over to the other cell to see Mitchell and the other three deep in conversation and he could only hope that they were coming up with an effective plan.
A wave of uselessness washed over him, he hadn't had a chance to leave the cell yet and had no information and no idea how they were going to get out of this. He, and his counterpart, had never been good at sitting still. He had been told by his school he probably had ADHD but he knew for a fact that had never been an issue during his first childhood. Maybe it was the fallback answer for kids that were active or maybe he had yet another thing to blame on Loki.
In the past when they had been captured they had generally known who their enemy was, what sort of technology they utilised and where they were or where they were going. The gaps in their knowledge about their current captors were infuriating.
Straining to hear Jack suddenly realised that he could hear soft footsteps approaching. This was not like other times as there was none of the stomping of large numbers of heavy military boots. They didn't stop at any point as they approached their end of the corridor and, given the amount of traffic their cell had seen in the past couple of days, Jack had a strong suspicion that they would soon meet the owners of the approaching shoes.
He wasn't wrong, within a minute of him noticing the sound of the footsteps there was a group of four people stood in front of him; two guards, the man that Jack had noticed giving the guards orders on several other occasions and the man they had seen berating the other man when they had arrived on the ship. Jack thought the last one had a mean, predatory look to him; he was also the one that seemed to be in charge of the group. As Jack watched him he indicated to his subordinate to open the door.
Jack watched with keen interest as the subordinate pulled a controller from his pocket and pressed several buttons while saying something. Seeing where Jack was looking the man in charge gave a slow, dangerous smile, leaving jack with no doubt that the man knew what he was thinking about.
The door slid up but Jack made no move to go anywhere, now was not a good time to do something stupid. The guards entered the cell and once again headed for Sheppard who was still fast asleep. They hauled him to his feet and Jack saw that although he still appeared groggy his eyes were sharp, taking in everything in seconds. Before he had managed to get his feet under him the guards began dragging him towards the corridor and Jack winced on his behalf as he watched the implants on his back light up in response. Jack saw a drop of red fall on the floor and looking back at Sheppard's torso he saw blood running from the site of his surgical incision, it looked like he had popped his stitches which was inevitable really given the way he was being manhandled.
As they moved out of the cell Jack looked around realising that Lucas had been sat next to the plexiglass front of the cell before it had opened. He got to his feet unsteadily as the soft floor engulfed his feet but nevertheless he started to move forward as he saw the tot waddling towards the man who appeared to be the second in command. Jack didn't get very far before the guards dropped Sheppard unceremoniously on the floor and raised their weapons in his direction.
Jack paused but never took his eyes off of Lucas. The leader followed his gaze and sneered when he saw the toddler standing by his second in command holding his arms up in a plea to be picked up. "Put it back Harvey" he told his subordinate. Harvey nodded, picked up the child and walked into the cell. Jack had not missed the depersonalisation of the tot and looked over at the other cell. The others had been following the exchange and Jack could see the look of concern on Mitchell's face as he pondered the depersonalisation. It was impossible to tell what Ronon was thinking but it appeared that the reference had been completely by the other members of the cell. His thoughts were interrupted at this point as Lucas was deposited into his arms. He jiggled the tot in his arms and he laughed causing the man called Harvey to look over his shoulder as he left the cell. Jack could have sworn he saw a look of regret on the man's face. One thing was for sure; from now on whenever he heard anyone moving in the corridor Lucas was going straight into his cot-substitute which he was going to move into the far corner away from the door.