Warning - Getting to the gory bits now. Remember, I did put horror as a category, so no complaints.
Jack's Fangtastic Adventure - Part Five
"He isn't here." Daniel stopped in his tracks, and sat, taking his hat off and wiping his brow with his bandana. "He's just vanished."
"O'Neill cannot have vanished, Daniel Jackson. Even if the animals somehow pulled him from the battle, they could not have taken him far. We must continue to search."
Sam crouched beside Daniel, her face red from the heat. "Teal'c's right. The Colonel must be somewhere close by." She took another swig of water, then carefully recapped the bottle, nodding as if she had made a decision. "We need more manpower. We'll go back to the SGC and request some additional teams for the search. It's only two hours walk, and we'll be back here before nightfall."
Teal'c shook his head. "If O'Neill is still bleeding he may not have two hours."
"And he may already be dead." Sam snapped back. "Those hyenas may have killed him by now. All we might find is bones, but at least we will have found him!" For a moment she glared up at her two teammates, her expression furious, then, with an abrupt movement she stood, easing her pack on her shoulders and started walking.
"Ah, Sam?" Daniel quickly rose, throwing Teal'c a questioning look as he did so. "Sam?"
There was no answer from the Major as she continued walking in the direction of the gate. The others hurried to catch up, Teal'c giving a last and almost desperate scan of the area they were leaving before he too strode after the woman.
"Sam, wait!" Daniel grabbed at her arm, tugging at her to make her stop.
She rounded on him, her eyes flashing. "What? What, Daniel? You want to stay here and keep looking for the Colonel? We've been searching for hours. There's no sign of him, and I don't see what more we can do. We need help." She shut her eyes for a second, before pulling her arm away.
Daniel took in the stiff back, and the quick glance he caught of the expression in her eyes. Just for a moment, the pain of leaving Jack behind shone through, before the soldier's mask came down.
He put his hand on her arm once more, but this time, not to stop her, but to support her decision. "You're right, Sam. We don't know what we're dealing with here." He smiled a little. "We'll find him. I'm sure we will."
"I hope that you are correct, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c stepped up beside them, his voice deep and serious. "There must be something more to these creatures than first appeared. They acted with great intelligence."
The others nodded in agreement. The hyenas' attack had ended with a startling suddenness, the animals vanishing completely, leaving only the scuffed ground and a few patches of blood to show they had even been there. They all just disappeared, dead as well as wounded, and it was only when the stunned teammates regained their feet and looked around that they realised Colonel O'Neill was gone as well.
The three turned back towards in the direction of the gate and started walking, leaving their leader behind them.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
A low growl insinuated itself into the buzzing that was background noise to the kaleidoscope of light flashing across the back of Jack's eyeballs. The volume of the sound seemed to depend on his movement. Flinch a little and it grew louder, move his legs and it rose to an angry snarl.
So he stayed as still as possible, his mind slowly cycling through possible scenarios.
Jack began to catalogue his injuries. His leg was aching, but not too badly, just the dull ache of a healing wound. His throat was much worse than his leg, feeling like it been staked out in the sun for hours, hot lines of pain dragging down it. He began to raise a hand to investigate, but found he couldn't do more than twitch his fingers. He was beginning to feel panic hovering at the edges of his consciousness when he flinched again, startled as cool water was stroked across his neck, making him wonder if someone was reading his mind. It felt unbelievably good – soothing the heat, taking away the pain, and making him sigh in relief.
He must be in the infirmary.
Now if only he could remember what he had done to himself this time.
The damp cloth was wiped down the side of his throat once more. He shivered with the mixture of pleasure and pain, coolness and heat, feeling and numbness, and a sensation of euphoria swept over him.
Jack relaxed, his eyes open and staring, seeing only lightning strikes of colour. The growls, forgotten in the rapture of confused stimulation, diminished as his lethargy grew until they stopped completely.
Soon the only sound was Jack's harsh breathing, and the lapping of tongues against flesh.
xoxoxoxoxoxo