Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. Hope you are all following this. The answers will come a little later, so by then you'll be able to understand my devious scheming a little better.
Have A Nice Day, Jack!
by Lingren.
Previously:-
With sheer determination he gritted his teeth against the pain and the punishment of his body, if only to stop himself from crying out. He managed to stagger to his feet, ready to make a run for the alarm button, but a sweeping blow to both his knees took him straight down again, knocking the wind from him when he landed hard onto his already bruised arm. He felt the world tilt on its axis as blackness hovered waiting to claim his consciousness.
Chapter 5 – "Who Did That?"
It was also obvious to Jack now, that his attacker knew of his intentions, and would go all out to stop him from alerting the base to an intruder. For once he just wished he hadn't guessed right, as blow after blow rained down onto him. His only defence now was to curl himself into a foetal position and cover his head with his arms, affording it a little protection.
However, the beating continued, striking his back and shoulders, legs and arms, anywhere they could reach. He knew he wouldn't be able to take much more of this. He had to make it to that alarm button, even if it meant him dying in the process, better that, than die doing nothing and leaving the base compromised.
It was painful to breathe now, and darkness narrowed his vision; the agony of punishment, eating away at his awareness. It was now or never. With an extreme effort and in acute agony, Jack rolled sideways and climbed to his feet, tucking away the pain so that he could accomplish his task. He literally launched himself across the room, and in the process had taken his unknown attacker by surprise.
His fingers had barely brushed against the button though, when his world exploded into millions of bright stars and the blackness rushed in on him. He was unconscious even before he hit the floor.
OoOoOoOoO
Daniel hastily finished washing and patching up his hands as best he could. He was reluctant to go and see Janet because she would ask awkward questions. He'd never forgotten the last time he'd gone to her for something like this, knowing he'd probably be sent to see McKenzie again, and he would come off worse in the fight for his sanity right at this moment. Escape. The sooner he was out of here the better, because escaping from the SGC was his only hope of regaining control over his emotions, so he quickly made his way up to the surface. Once he'd reached the parking lot he got straight into his car and drove home, trying not to break the speed limit on the way. At least, this way, he knew Jack would be safe without him there to cause any more hurt.
OoOoOoOoO
Jack never knew if he'd made it to the button before he lost consciousness, but it rang out loud and clear around the hallways of the SGC as he lay comatose in a bruised and bloody heap in the darkness of the lab.
Sam and Teal'c were actually in the hallway just 50 yards or so, from Daniel's lab when the alarms rang. They had been on their way to tell the young man that General Hammond had wanted to see him. Sam grabbed the nearest phone asking for details of the emergency. Teal'c waited patiently by her side for her to finish the conversation.
"It's Daniel's office Teal'c!" Sam explained as they hurried round the corner and along the corridor to where Daniel worked.
Once they'd reached there, they stopped and peered into the gloom, looking for anything suspicious. They were joined by a couple of SFs who Sam ordered to stay sharp. Teal'c stepped softly over the threshold of the lab with Sam on his heels. Both of them stopped dead at the sight that greeted them when Teal'c flicked on the lights.
Jack was lying unconscious on the floor, blood spattered around him and Sam could see an extensive gash on the back of his head. The bright red blood seeping from the wound looking stark against his greying hair.
"Oh God! Colonel!" She gasped, rushing over to kneel beside him quickly feeling for a pulse.
Teal'c made sure that they were alone in the room before he sent the SFs to search the corridor. He picked up the phone asking the petite Doctor to hurry with a medical team. That done he rang General Hammond to apprise him of the situation.
Sam's fingers soon found a pulse, relieved it was still, but it was rapid and weak. Jack's skin felt cool and clammy.
"He's going into shock, we have to get Janet quickly."
"Doctor Fraiser and her team are already on their way Major Carter," Teal'c informed her as he hovered over his fallen friend.
Teal'c had found some tissues on the desk beside them and handed them to Sam who folded a handful of them up and placed them over the gaping wound on Jack's head to stem the flow of blood. Gently probing his body with her other hand she felt some of his ribs give way under her touch, and lifted his tee-shirt. What she saw was a horrifying mass of purple bruising and knew that whatever had happened and whoever had done this to him, that it was very bad. Teal'c appeared to be as shocked as she was, but she felt overwhelmed by her feelings of sadness.
"Who would do this to O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, puzzled by the idea that this had been no mere accident. Would it have anything to do with the other events which had occurred throughout the day? he wondered.
"God, I just don't know Teal'c, but they're not going to get away with it, that's for sure. General Hammond knows?"
"He does."
"Oh c'mon Janet, hurry up please." Sam held Jack's hand in hers, it felt so lifeless and cold, that her tears threatened to overflow down her cheeks. 'Don't die on us please Jack,' she pleaded silently. They perhaps could have accepted losing him on the field of battle, but not like this; not on his home turf as it were. Not on the base!
A slight moan escaped from Jack, he was murmuring something that Sam couldn't quite make out. His breathing was shallow and rapid, and he coughed and groaned a little louder. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but she recognised his humour even through his pain.
"Oww…thaaat...hurrrrrt!" His voice sounded so weak and slurred, she had to strain her ears to hear him.
"Sir!...Colonel!...it's me, Carter."
"Caarder...thaaat...you?"
He was barely aware of anything, his head hurt so much and his mind was befuddled. He looked across at what he took to be Carter, and she could see his half-open eyes appeared to be glazed and unseeing.
"Yes Sir. Stay still, Janet's on her way. Sir who did this to you? Did you see who it was Colonel?"
He was incoherent, he couldn't see straight, let alone think straight. What was it she was saying? He couldn't hear her properly because his the painful throbbing going on in his head hurt too much, and he could only just make out her fuzzy lips as they moved but nothing was making any sense to him at all.
"Whrss...Dannnyal?..." he coughed once again, painfully, and another trickle of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, and she cringed in sympathy, biting her lip. Jack screwed up his face with the agony of it all, but he wanted to know where his friend was and if he was okay.
"Say again Sir," she forced herself to keep nagging him, needing to get the answers.
"Whrss...Dannnnyal?" he gasped, and his eyes closed again, in losing the struggle to keep then open. "Noooo-oone...thheeer. Goddda...waarrn... Hammmnd." He coughed again, and moaned weakly, his mind already closing down his scattered thoughts.
"Daniel? Sir? Daniel actually did this?" Sam gasped in shock. "Why do we have to warn the General Sir? Colonel?" There was no reply because he had drifted back into unconsciousness. Sam desperately searched for his pulse again, sighing in relief when she discovered it was still there.
"Daniel?...Daniel did this? Why the hell would Daniel do this... I mean...how? I just don't see how he ever managed to get through the Colonel's defences, let alone leave him in this state. I just can't believe it Teal'c. He wouldn't...he couldn't have done this, could he? It's impossible, he's never been able to outmanoeuvre the Colonel at any time." Sam's brain wasn't coming up with any reasonable answers to her questions, and now she wondered what it was that the Colonel wanted to warn the General about?
"Major Carter, it looks as if this was used as a weapon against O'Neill," commented Teal'c, pointing to a thick, stout wooden artefact lying on the floor behind the desk. Blood covered one end of it and Sam shuddered at the thought of all the damage it could have done, and held Jacks hand tighter.
A clattering down outside the door indicated Janet's arrival with her team in tow.
"Okay what's the emer...Oh my God!" she exclaimed on seeing Jack but unhappy at not receiving an answer from him. "What the hell happened?" She dropped onto her knees and felt his pulse, then checked his eye responses. Sam stood up and made way for the nurse.
"Colonel? Colonel O'Neill?" Janet tried to get through to her patient but with no reaction at all.
"Janet I think he has a couple of broken ribs at least, he's been coughing up blood. There's a mass of bruises all over his back and chest. He came to, briefly, just a minute ago. He didn't say much though, and it just didn't seem to make a lot of sense."
Janet lifted up his black T-shirt and grimaced as she ran her fingers lightly and professionally over his upper body. She listened to his harsh, shallow rasping breaths through her stethoscope. "More than a couple of ribs, three at least," she commented, far too professional to let the sight of his beaten body get to her. Over the years of working at the SGC, the Colonel and his team were her most frequent patients, but then that was because they were the front line team, and they had all become her personal friends in the process. They had given her Cassie for which she could only thank god for; SG-1 and Cassie were her family and she hated to see them hurt so badly.
The medical staff rolled him over gently and she continued her preliminary examination, coming to a quick decision.
"Let's get him to the OR stat...I need to operate now, or we could lose him."
They all lent a hand at lifting Jack's limp body gently onto the waiting gurney and Sam could only stand and watch them as they rushed her CO to the infirmary, and pray that he survived.
TBC