4
Sam tried to move she struggled for all she was worth giving out grunts and whimpers as he rose from the bed. She HAD to get him to talk to her! If he left her hoping that she would last several days, even a week because she had a symbiote, she would be dead before he even thought she would be in danger!
He looked down at her sadly as she struggled and left the room, closing the door behind him. She was alone! He was going to leave her and she was going to die! She heard another door shut and an engine start and pull away from the building, silence descended quickly as the noise died away, and then the insects started up again, filling the vacuum that nature so abhors.
The night passed, she couldn't move at all, the ropes holding her were too well tied and she knew that the Colonel knew all the tricks, damn he had taught her several that she had not even thought of before, so he knew just how far her knowledge extended, and what to do to negate her. Her ankles had rope burns as they were the only thing she could get any real purchase on, the rope under her arms and across her chest was digging in as well, but she had got exactly nowhere. She fell into an exhausted sleep as the sun rose.
Hours later she woke, thirsty, chewing on the ball in her mouth produced a minimum of saliva, it was better, but she needed a drink. She looked around the room now she had more light. It was a cabin by the looks, she was on a single bed away from the walls, there was a bottle of water on the dresser on a tray, and she thought she could see a packet of sandwiches too, strange, why would he put them there if he was leaving her to die? Torture? Being able to see the water and not reach it WAS torture and she knew it would only get worse.
The furniture was all real wood, good stuff, hand made by the look and the rooms bare walls were polished to a high shine, wherever she was, this was no rustic backwater cabin, this place was well looked after. Was she in the famous 'fishing' cabin? She doubted it, apart from the fact that it would be one of the places the General would look for him, it was a hell of a long way from the SGC and if the Colonel thought the place was compromised, he wouldn't take a trip to Minnesota before seeing to it.
She couldn't see her watch and had to gauge time by the shaft of sunlight creeping up the bed, by what she reckoned would be late morning, going on noon, the gap in the curtains meant that a shaft of light was directly in her eyes. She was blinded!
She heard a car, it came up to the building and someone got out! She started thrashing about on the bed as best she could, but she was making no sound, the springs in the base had been well oiled! She tried to shout past the gag, and she heard a door open and shut… someone walked towards the room she was in, she grunted loudly, the footsteps stopped, then turned and walked away again! NO! IN HERE! She shouted in her mind, but whoever it was didn't appear. She allowed tears to run down her face for the first time since it all began.
After an hour or so she thought she could hear something, a voice, someone was talking, probably in the room beyond the door to the one she was in.
"No, I'm telling you she's a Goa'uld!" It was the Colonel, for some reason he had not abandoned her "She has a scar on the back of her neck" she couldn't hear anyone answering him, "So how did it get there? How do you know? Weren't you busy with me then? How do I know you aren't a delusion from the withdrawal? Ok yes, last time you were right, I got out, but how can I know you are here now? You said you were leaving."
He kept pausing as if listening to someone, but she had no idea who the hell it was! She heard him moving about a little during the day and he kept coming close to the door, but he never came in again. She drifted off to sleep again for an hour or so, as she was waking she heard him moving in and out of the building, packing the vehicle probably. He came back in and stood just on the other side of the door, she heard him talking again, this time in a low voice as if to avoid her hearing him.
"She will be thirsty now, can I ask you to keep an eye on her? If the snake leaves her you could come and get me… no look she IS a snake, just keep an eye on her. GODDAMMIT! Look if you don't want to help then say so! Thank you! You know where I'll be. No I'll be fine, I've been through withdrawal before, I know what to expect, I helped you through it didn't I?" he moved off again, still she couldn't hear anyone else. Maybe he was delusional and talking to himself? Daniel hadn't done anything like that that she knew of, but then it had been the Colonel who had helped him most, stating he had done it before, she wondered how many people he had helped, and what had happened to him to make him go through it.
She needed to pee. She had been tied up, or unconscious for almost a full 24 hours now. She had held on as long as she could, but with tears of frustration running down her cheeks she had to allow her bladder to relax, at least the room was warm, warm and wet was more pleasant than cold and wet.
She lay looking at the ceiling and thinking over her life, she realised she had not a lot to think about. She had always been independent, the only time she had ever allowed anyone any control it had been Jonas, and she had learnt her lesson from THAT quite quickly. Apart from that she had done nothing but work. Her dad would miss her, eventually, Teal'c and Hammond would notice soon, if they hadn't already, Jonas wouldn't know enough to be worried. No one else would know, or even care.
She sobbed slightly, she was VERY thirsty now. Crying was wasting her body fluids, she tried to stop them falling, but it was no good, she realised. There wasn't much point, she had another 2 days, max, she couldn't last as long as he was thinking. She wasn't sure she wanted to last the full 2 days. Thirst was not a nice way to die, she had been told.
She tried to work out sums in her head, but she saw no point to it. As far as she could see there was no way she was going to survive this. She lay back and stared up again, at least the sun was out of her eyes now.
Night fell, she couldn't sleep, but she was too emotionally drained to try anything, she realised she had given up. And she hated herself.
Next morning she heard the car pull up again, this time the Colonel walked straight to the door of the bedroom and opened it. He still looked ill, he wouldn't meet her eyes and ignored the sounds she made as he looked all around the room, checking all over the floor. He straightened and left again, closing the door firmly behind him, she heard him shouting at whoever it was.
"You told me she had lost the snake! There's no way it could have got out of that room! For fucks sake I was almost in the SGC when you called me out! We will never be able to finish this unless I get in and take out Hammond!" she didn't know who it was, but she now did think someone was there! If it was just a delusion they would not be pulling him back when he was so close to his goals… would they? It? Whatever. She realised she wasn't thinking straight either now.
She heard him talking again for five or ten minutes and then she heard something that gave her hope "You think so? Yeah I suppose so, I'm sure Jacob would help remove it if I keep her alive." The door opened and he walked in and headed for the tray, he picked up the water and went to the head of the bed, he leaned down and pulled at the gag, he removed it and opened the bottle, pouring a small amount into her mouth. It was warm, tepid, but she didn't care, she thought it was the best water she had ever tasted!
She said "thank you" as soon as she had swallowed it and he gave her some more, looking towards the open door as he did so. She decided to risk it and started to speak
"Sir, if you would just allow me to explain" he picked up the gag again and she shook her head "I'll be quiet" she clasped her lips tight together and he looked at her he offered her the bottle and she nodded her head and he tipped it up for her, until she had finished the drink. "bathroom?" she asked quietly, he looked at her, realising that she had wet herself and soon would probably soil herself if he left her as she was, he nodded and pulled out a Zat, he shot her and untied her while she was writhing at the blast.