So, finally I've managed to get chapter 13 ready, just when one area of real life gets sorted another gets messed up. Life can annoying that way!!
Thanks to those who sent feedback, it's always very much appreciated! Mara Jade, I hope this is uncomfortable and USTy (I don't think that it a word but hey!) enough for you!!! Thanks also to Naliza, my wonderful beta reader and friend!!
So on with the story…are sitting comfortably? Then I will begin…
Janet rushed down to the holding room after ordering one of the other doctors to complete the examination of Daniel. She entered the small cell and saw O'Neill standing with his back to her. He span round as he head her enter.
"What are you doing here?" he yelled.
"I'm just here to make sure you're alright," Janet replied, trying to keep her voice level.
"Alright? How can I be alright stuck in this hole? Just get me out of here. Don't you understand what's happening?" he shouted.
"Why don't you explain it to me?" Janet tried.
"I can't do that, you can't know, you won't understand."
"I can't understand unless you explain it to me," she said trying to reason with him. It was however becoming clear that he was not open to any reasoning in the state he was in.
"You can't. So get out, just get out of here. Just get out now."
"I can't do that Colonel, not until you calm down. I can't leave you in this condition."
Suddenly he ran towards her, anger flashing in his eyes and his jaw set firmly. The guard standing at Janet's side reacted and put himself between the Doctor and the approaching form of Jack. With an impressive tackle the guard brought O'Neill to the floor.
At first O'Neill struggled against the man who was pinning him to the floor but then he stopped moving and froze. Sensing that O'Neill had stopped his struggle the guard moved and pulled him roughly to his feet, but he was ever mindful of the fact that the man he was restraining was a superior officer.
Janet could see O'Neill's eyes darting around he room, trying to ascertain what had happened, they then fixed on her and offered a silent plea for help. The change in his eyes was remarkable, a few seconds before they had contained more anger than Janet would have thought possible and now they contained fear and confusion.
"Colonel?" she asked uncertainly.
"Doc, what just happened?" he queried, his voice uncharacteristically quiet and lacking inflection.
"It's okay Sir. Nothing really. You didn't hurt anyone," she reassured him.
"Why is this happening? Is someone trying to get their kicks by messing with out heads?" he asked with a short, humourless laugh.
"I don't know Sir but I may have a lead on what's causing this. Doctor Jackson has agreed to undergo some tests."
"Anything I can do?"
"I'll let you know Sir. So what do you remember?"
"Nothing. I don't remember anything at all. One minute I was sitting there, the next, I'm on the floor with my new best friend," Jack explained, indicating the SF who still had his hands held firmly behind his back.
"I think you can let the Colonel go now Airman," Janet advised.
The airman holding Jack looked dubiously at both Janet and O'Neill before deferring to the doctor and releasing O'Neill's arms. Jack stretched out and went back to sit on the bed. It was obvious that the airman did not trust O'Neill as his hand rested against his pistol which was sitting in the unfastened holster on his hip. Janet could not blame the man for being cautious, a minute before he had been forced to tackle O'Neill as he made a move to attack her.
"Sir, I'd better get back to the infirmary. Is there anything before I go?"
"Can I see Carter?"
"Colonel?"
"I want to speak to Carter. I need to talk to her."
"I don't know if that's a good idea Sir."
"Look, I don't care if I'm in handcuffs and surrounded by every SF on the base but please, let me talk to her."
"It's not that, I don't know if she's up to visitors right now."
"Why, what happened?"
"You know I can't tell you that Sir."
"Please," he implored.
"She pulled a gun on Daniel. She left the infirmary last night and Daniel tracked her down. She thought that people were going to throw her off the base," Janet explained with a sigh.
"Seriously?"
"Yes Sir."
"Are they both alright?"
"Daniel's fine. Sam's a bit more shaken up, she remembers what happened unlike Daniel and yourself."
"Wait a sec, why does Carter remember and me and Daniel are enjoying blissful ignorance of our homicidal tendencies or in Daniel's case, laziness tendencies."
"I don't know, it could be due to the head injury she sustained," Janet suggested. It was the only variable that she could suggest as being the cause of the difference.
"Thanks for reminding me of that by the way," Jack added with some humour.
"I need to go and check on Sam, I'll talk to her then."
"Thanks Doc," he replied sincerely.
Janet left the cell, she pulled one of the guards aside, she needed more information about what had just happened.
"What happened before I arrived?"
"I'm not really sure Ma'am, he started shouting so I went into the cell. I tried to get him to calm down but he wasn't listening to anything I said."
"What was he saying, specifically?"
"That it was their fault and he had to go back. And he was saying something about 'her', that he was going to make her pay but he didn't say who she was or what she had done wrong."
Janet was immediately on edge, she figured that 'her' was probably Sam and so was less eager for Sam to see O'Neill if he had a vendetta against her. Even if it was only in his 'altered' state.
After giving the guards orders to watch O'Neill closely and to let her know if there was any change. She went to Sam's quarters and found her sitting on the bed, looking bored.
"Hey Sam, how are you feeling?"
"Fine, well bored actually."
"You sure?"
"Yes Janet, I feel fine. Slightly embarrassed, a bit shaken with a bit of a headache but I'm going out of my mind being stuck in here."
"And you want to go and do some work," Janet finished, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah. Look I feel fine, no blurred vision, confusion or tiredness. There can be a guard there the whole time."
"Let me check you over and then we'll see. And, um, Colonel O'Neill wants to talk to you."
"Really?"
"He wanted me to ask you but you don't have to see him if you don't want to."
"I know but I want to."
"Do you want me there?"
"No, I need to do this on my own or on my own surrounded by heavily armed guards."
"Okay, if you're sure."
"I am, thanks Janet."
"Sure," came Janet's less than convinced reply. She was unsure about how good an idea it was for Sam to see Colonel O'Neill and the fact that they were both violent was only one of the things bothering her.
Janet could find nothing wrong with Sam, there did not appear to be any lasting effects from her injuries. Janet agreed to let her do some work after she had seen Colonel O'Neill, providing she had an escort and did not over exert herself. Janet left Sam to shower and change while she informed the guard of the plan.
The guard swiped his card through the reader again and held the door open for Sam. She took a deep breath before entering the room. Jack was sitting on the bed, playing with a yo-yo, he had obviously badgered the guards until they had given in and fetched the toy from his office.
Sam smiled slightly as he tried to untangle the string, he was so wrapped up in what he was doing that he had not noticed his visitor. It was only when she cleared her throat slightly that he looked up. He quickly put down the yo-yo, seemingly embarrassed over what he was doing to pass the time.
"Colonel. How are you?"
"Fine, but then again I wasn't beaten up in the last 24 hours."
"It's nothing, Janet cleared me and everything."
"Look Carter, there is a reason why I asked to talk to you."
"Yes Sir."
"Why don't you sit down," he said, in an obvious bid to stall.
"Okay," Sam agreed, perching on the end of the bed.
"I'm so sorry Carter. For what I did, what I said," he offered.
"You remember?" she questioned.
"No but I've been told. I've been filled in on all the gory details."
"Right."
Sam had no idea where he was going with this. She did not really understand why she had agreed to see him. It had brought back the memories of when he attacked her in her lab. She knew that she would have to do this sooner or later, she could not exactly avoid him forever. She didn't want to have to avoid him forever.
"You have to know that I'd never hurt you, not like that."
Sam did not say anything, she nervously looked at her hands. Jack continued when he realised that she was not planning to say anything.
"I hate the fact that I hurt you like that and that I just left you. I could have killed you and I don't know what I would have done then."
"But you didn't kill me. I'm okay and I know that it wasn't you. You were so angry, I have never seen you like that, not for any reason and that's how I know," Sam explained.
"So we're okay?"
"Yes Sir. I don't blame you, just like Daniel doesn't blame me for almost shooting him and I'm pretty sure that Janet doesn't blame Daniel for kissing her." Despite the fact that she did not blame him for what he did, not when he was like this anyway, she remembered all too well the fact that seemed to enjoy hitting her, causing her that pain. She could not forget that and was reminded of it when she looked at him. However, she felt that she could not tell him this, he was having a hard time dealing with this as it was, she did not want to make it worse for him.
"What?" Jack asked, his eyes widening. That piece of information had passed him by. "Daniel 'ladies-man' Jackson strikes again," he said, smiling broadly.
"I probably shouldn't have said that," Sam muttered, chastising herself. She knew that both Daniel and Janet would be in for some ribbing now. "Anyway, my point is there's something wrong with us which means we're not acting ourselves. So yes Sir, we're okay."
"Good," Jack said, smiling broadly again.
"I'll um, leave you to it Sir," Sam offered, pointing to the yo-yo half-hidden behind his back.
"I'm training, yo-yo's were originally weapons y'know?" he said in his defence. His eyes alive with laughter.
"Yes Sir," she agreed, smiling back at him. A barely concealed laugh in her voice.
Sam turned to leave, the guard on her heels. As she reached the door she turned back when he called out to her.
"I'm still sorry about this."
Sam smiled slightly and nodded before she left the room, leaving Jack to his yo-yo which had managed to get more tangled in the short time it had been on the bed.
Sam was in her lab, working on her laptop. The work she was doing was not in the least bit urgent but the sense of normality that was associated with it was calming to her. That was a welcome change to the usual hypersensitive feeling that she had been aware of the past few hours.
The guard watching her, however was bored. He had no chance of understanding anything Sam was doing and had long since stopped paying any attention to her activities.
And as such, he did not notice when Carter began to focus solely on the computer screen. For almost an hour she did not detract her gaze from the computer, her fingers were flying across the keys.
It was only when the klaxons began to sound that the guard turned to look at Carter. After a few seconds the klaxons shut off, corresponding with the base being plunged into pitch darkness.
So there was chapter 13, feedback? Please…pretty please with sugar on. :)