MEMOIRS OF

MAJOR GENERAL JACK O'NEILL

(Re-activated)

2. Foe

Chapter Three

By Arrietty

2008

I was lying on something flat and hard. The cold seeped through my thin clothes onto my skin. I gave an involuntary shiver before opening my eyes. I blinked them a couple of times before sitting up and the pale grey room began to twist and turn around me.

"Whoa!" I clutched the edges of the thin flat bed I was on. Soon the room righted itself. This looked really familiar.

"Thor!" My voiced was scratchy with disuse.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed onto the floor, this was when I realised that the clothing I wore looked like it must have come out of Thor's closet (not that he wore any clothes) it was a tad short and didn't quite meet all the way around the back. I wrapped the thin metallic sheet around my body and made my way to the door.

It opened just as I got there, a small figure stood in the doorway. 'Crap.'

"What are you doing out of bed?"

I found myself propelled around and prodded to go back the way I'd come.

"Where's La Haia?" I asked.

"She's sleeping and quite safe."

Dr. Fraiser pulled out the ever present penlight and shone it in each eye. I was beyond complaining and just sat on the side of the bed like a sack of potatoes. To be honest I was plumb worn out and most probably needed the rest that Fraiser was forcing upon me.

"Doc." I hesitated to continue. "Does she . . ?"

"No, sorry, Jack. She is still La Haia."

"She remembered, Janet. She called me sir." I looked earnestly at her.

"I know, Teal'c told me."

Oh how could have I been so remiss. "How are Teal'c and Daniel?"

"They're fine; Thor got you all out just in time."

"What are you doing here, Janet?"

She finished checking my pulse and then strapped one of those blood pressure cuff thingies around my arm and started pumping in the air.

"General Hammond thought it prudent to keep me out of the way, being from an alternate universe."

I sighed. As if we didn't have enough to contend with, without idiots as well.

"Jack, I need you to rest now." She pushed me down so I was lying on the bed.

As I started to protest I felt a prick as a needle slid home.

Angry at Janet for sedating me, I tried to sit up again, but all strength left me and I closed my eyes.

"Jack!" Janet's insistent voice penetrated into my sleep filled brain. It's Sam; we can't do anything with her. You need to wake up."

I groaned, not because of what was wrong, but the huge honking drug induced headache that was batting at my skull.

"What hit me?" I asked.

"Sorry, I had to wake you, but we can't do anything with Sam. She's . . ."

I opened my eyes and sat up, once again pulling the thin covering around my body. "What's wrong?" I didn't really need to ask as I had a fair idea what it was.

"No one can get anywhere near her." I looked into Janet's fear filled eyes. "Teal'c said you were the only one that can.

I nodded, "I need some clothes." As if on cue, Teal'c walked in with my pack dangling from one hand. He dumped it on the end of my bed.

Janet looked up at him. "You've left Sam alone?" she accused.

"I do not think my presence in conducive to Colonel Carter's well being."

I silently agreed as I pulled out my spare clothes which all seemed worse for wear. Basically, La Haia had been wearing them for the past few weeks.

Teal'c's deep voice interrupted my thoughts. "Colonel Carter is not alone, Thor is with her."

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing either, for La Haia's sake or for Thor's safety. I'd seen La Haia when she was cornered and it wasn't a pretty sight for the other party.

I turned pointedly to Janet. "Do you mind?" I said as I held a pair of pants in the air.

"Oh." Janet nodded and left the room, Teal'c followed her.

It didn't take long to get dressed and I was walking through the corridors of the ship alone. I wondered if the ship was 'The Daniel Jackson' or had they built another one and called it 'The Carter' or maybe even built another 'O'Neill'.

Pushing the trivial thoughts away, I realised I didn't know where La Haia was. I tried a few doors, but some were locked or the rooms were empty. Suddenly, I was walking in another room; Thor had beamed me there. The room was crowded, too crowded for La Haia who was crouched in the corner shaking from head to toe in fear. Thor was kneeling beside her trying to talk to the terrified woman.

"Thor, buddy." He looked over his shoulder at me.

"This is interesting; Colonel Carter does not seem to know me."

"I think everyone should leave the room. And . . ." I held up my hand to stop Thor from beaming everyone out. "Leave the conventional way, please." Thor nodded, straightened and walked towards Janet and Teal'c. All three left and I turned back to La Haia.

"La Haia." I sat down beside her on the floor.

"Tzak where are we?" Her voice trembled.

"In a huge space ship that flies in the stars."

"I'm afraid."

"I know." I slipped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her onto my chest. It was then I noticed that she was only dressed in one of Thor's skimpy clothing, but someone had wrapped a sheet over her. I pulled it tighter around her to try and help with the shivering and by wrapping my arms around her shoulders, but it didn't work.

"What happened," she asked.

"We were on that misty planet and trapped by those plants. Do you remember?"

"Yes." She shuddered.

I held her more tightly. "Thor must have beamed us out and healed us."

La Haia screamed and clutched her head. I didn't know what to do. She spasmed and fell onto the floor and began to writhe with pain.

There was a flash of light, and she was gone. A second later I followed.

I was sitting on the floor of another room. La Haia was sedated and lying on a flat bed which was slowly moving towards a machine. It was grey and very similar to an MRI, but a bit smaller.

"Thor?" I scrambled to my feet and walked over to them. The smooth floor felt warm on my bare feet. "What ya doin'?"

"O'Neill, someone has interfered with Colonel Carter's brain chemistry, I will now rectify this."

"What do you mean interfered with her brain?" Worry making me impatient.

"I believe whoever held her captive tried to remove information from her mind, similar to what was done to me by Anubis, but in this case they have done it incorrectly and damaged part of Colonel Carter's mind."

I felt numb. The words damage, mind and Carter just didn't go together very well.

"Can you fix her?"

He turned and looked directly at me. "I do not know, O'Neill. It depends on how her mind is damaged. I fear that what Colonel Carter has forgotten has been removed permanently, but there is hope that Colonel Carter herself, out of preservation of her thoughts, protected the one part of her mind that is most precious to her from the device."

"It was Baal," I spat out. "It was Baal that did this to her." I was angry. Way beyond angry. I wanted to hit something.

Thor stopped the machine and peered at a screen covered in Asgard script. He gave a relieved sigh. "It is good, her mind is intact. Self preservation has placed her memories into a protective pocket which was most probably put there by Jolinar when she was blended with Colonel Carter."

"Can you open the err . . . pocket? And how did she manage to hide her mind?"

"I do not know O'Neill. There are signs of tremendous abuse and scientific experimentation. Any of these could have been the cause for Colonel Carter to retreat into her mind. And yes, O'Neill, I can open the pocket, but it will be totally up to Colonel Carter whether she will access the information or not."

"Can I touch her?" I asked. Not being able to touch her at this moment had been unbearable.

"In a moment, O'Neill." There was a buzzing sound as the grey metal band passed over her head again. Then it stopped. "I have done all I am able, O'Neill. Now it is up to Colonel Carter." Thor turned to leave.

I moved over to her and lifted her small cold hand in mine.

"Thor do you have anywhere we could go that is more . . ." I looked around the stark room, "Comfortable?"

He nodded and I suddenly found myself in a small room filled with furniture that looked suspiciously like my sofa, chairs and coffee table that I'd put into storage. Carter was lying on my sofa still out to the world. There was no sign of the others.

Sitting on my coffee table was a box of granola bars. I wondered which shop Thor had stolen these from as I picked one out the box. I was hungry. I reached over to Sam and gently pushed back a lock of hair from her cheek. She was so beautiful. I wanted my Sam back.

The sofa wasn't long enough for me to sit on it as well as Carter, so I sat in my favourite chair. My body ached and my head still was thumping away. Soon my eyelids heavy with fatigue began to droop and I was soon asleep.

"Jack." A soft voice in my ear. "Jack." A little more insistent now. I reluctantly opened my eyes. It was La Haia. I was disappointed I'd hoped it would've been Carter, but I must give her time, I reminded myself.

"Hey, are you feeling better?"

I recognised the bright intelligence in her eyes, only seconds before they turned into horror and she sank to her knees beside my chair. I slipped out the chair and gathered her up and took her over to the sofa. Her body trembled in my arms and she clung to me like a limpet. A sob escaped.

I sat down on the sofa, making sure her legs were laid out on the seat. She scuttled up beside me and slid her arms around my torso holding me tight and buried her face into my chest. We sat like this for what seemed hours, but must have only been a few minutes.

A muffled, "Sir," came from Carter. "Sir, hold me, don't ever let me go."

"No I won't, Sam. I promise." I tightened my arms around her shoulders and without a thought, placed a kiss on her head. I didn't care what anyone thought anymore, I was retired anyway. My Sam was home.

Now it's all very well hanging onto someone you care about, but after a while, other things start to make themselves known, like hunger and a visit to the facilities, of which I was well aware that Thor had none, which was a pain and a nuisance. I just hoped he'd stolen a portable toilet along with my furniture and food. He'd done that once before, so I am pretty sure he'd have done it again.

I really needed to move, but I'd promised, promised to never let go of Sam and I never break my promises. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't so sentimental. I sighed. The granola bars were tantalisingly just out of reach. Then a stomach rumbled and it wasn't mine. Sam stirred and slowly sat up and leaned against the sofa beside me.

"I need to pee," was her earth shattering statement. She then dug me in the ribs with her finger.

I smiled. "You're still there?" I asked, not needing an answer as I knew that La Haia was in there somewhere.

She nodded. "I remember everything." Her eyes filled with tears. She dug me in the ribs again. "I need a pit stop."

I laughed. I knew those eyes; they were Sam's intelligent, lovely beautiful eyes. "Come," I said, "Let's go and see what else Thor has stolen, hopefully a portable toilet."

I stood stiffly, my joints protesting after the prolonged stillness. I snagged a couple of granola bars and handed one to Sam. "I'm famished," she stated before she ripped the end off the packet with her teeth.

"Sir, what happened back on the planet?"

I turned to face Sam, "I don't know and you can cut out the 'sir' right now. My name is Jack."

Sam stood in front of me, one hand clutching the sheet around her and the other grasping the food bar. Realisation hit me at what I'd just said and what it could really mean for us, at the same time Daniel barged in.

"Jack, Sam, you're awake," he said stating the obvious.

I reluctantly turned away from Sam's gaze. "Daniel, Teal'c, Janet, Thor!" I said as they trooped in one after another.

"How is Colonel Carter?" Thor asked.

"I am well thank you, Thor." She knelt down in front of him and smiled. "It is you I have to thank for restoring my memories."

Thor inclined his head in acknowledgement. Janet rushed forward and hugged Sam. In fact Sam was hugging everyone, but none were directed at me. I watched Sam disappear in Teal'c's bear like hug. A tingle of jealousy wormed its way into my heart. I didn't like the feeling.

"Thor, where are the facilities?" I waved my hand in Sam's direction. "And Carter needs some clothes."

When I returned to the room, Sam was fully dressed. Her boots, although not looking shiny, were on her feet. She was wearing the second set of clothing Hammond had sent.

I saw my boots sitting on the floor and they were in a sad state, scuffed and a couple of holes in the toes. I tried not to think too hard about that, but I still checked my toes and mentally counted them to make sure they were all still there Yup, ten, all accounted for. Sitting on the coffee table in place of the granola bar box was a large grey metal box. Daniel and Sam were poking around in it with long metal sticks.

"I've found it," Daniel announced. I noticed that they were both wearing latex gloves. Daniel's hand shot into the box and pulled out the small canister which held the microfilm that Hammond had sent. He plopped it into a dish that Thor beamed away. I noticed my boots went with it. "I think that is all we can salvage," he announced with a sigh.

"No," Sam said and reached in and pulled out a battered photograph. Half was missing. She turned it around and showed me. All our legs had been removed at the knees, but our faces were untouched. It was the precious photo of SG-1. She placed it into another dish which was immediately beamed away.

I peered into the box and saw a heaped pile of blood soaked remnants of our clothing Buttons and belt buckles the only items untouched by the creeping vine. Remembered fear clutched at my heart. I turned to Teal'c to hide my discomfort.

"I'm sorry about the leather coat, Teal'c." Why our leather boots survived was a mystery as the leather coat was decimated. I suppose it was all the spit and polish we rubbed into our boots.

"It is all right, O'Neill. The coat was yours to do with as you wished."

I started to explain that the plants' eating the coat was not my wish, but decided against it. Sam had slumped down on the sofa. She looked tired and worn.

I sat down beside her and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

The following day, I pinned Thor down and asked him what had happened on the planet. We were all interested and were grouped around his chair as he flew the great Asgard ship 'The Daniel Jackson' through hyper space.

"General Hammond contacted me and asked me to take Dr. Fraiser to meet with you on the planet Lanat. As soon as I heard the name we came as quickly as possible. It is known as the planet of ghosts. No one goes there and survives if they stay for more than two days. The plants wait until their prey is asleep. Once asleep the person dreams that they are in paradise and will not be aware of what is happening to their physical selves, by the time they realise it is too late. In fact, O'Neill if I had not come along when I did, it would have been too late for everyone but Teal'c."

"Teal'c how did you escape the plants?" Daniel asked.

"I was checking the perimeter and was not asleep when the plants attacked you. When I returned I thought you'd gone, but I saw Daniel Jackson's boot and pulled back the vines."

Thor continued to fill us in the gory details. "The vines devour all flesh and live off the nutrients and then lie dormant until another victim comes along. They re-produce after digesting and thus making the planet even more unsafe. The reason why it takes a while for them to attack you is that they have to come out of hibernation."

Remembering the poor unfortunate man who had warned us, I asked, "Is there anyway we can save the people that have already fallen victim?"

"Sadly no, O'Neill. Their bodies have already been consumed and gone."

I shuddered at the thought of the lost man that had tried to help us.

"So what now?" I asked everyone in general.

Teal'c shifted slightly on his feet before speaking. "I wish to visit Rya'c and Brat'ac as I have not seen them in quite a while."

Yeah, Ishta too I thought, grinning smugly to myself.

"Any objections?" I queried.

An all round shake of heads. "It's off to Ishta's planet we go then." I couldn't help smiling at Teal'c who pointedly ignored me.

It wasn't until later that I managed to get Sam alone again. She seemed back to normal and didn't want to talk about her time captured by Baal or Neeron. I'd hoped it was because she didn't want to talk to the others about this, and would talk to me, but I was to be disappointed. She didn't want to talk to me either.

"Sam, what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Jack."

"You need to talk to someone, if not me, at least Janet." I caught hold of her arm, but she twisted it free and turned towards me.

"General, I do not want to talk about it," she said with vehemence.

It felt like a slap on the face, she'd called me general.

She walked quickly away from me, towards the bridge. I stood like a stunned mullet. I suppose I should have listened to her when she'd said she didn't want to talk about it, but La Haia and I had such a close relationship and I missed it terribly.

Things were going from bad to worse. I slowly followed her to the bridge, wondering where all this was going to go.

Since the disagreement in the halls of Thor's ship there had been a distinct cooling from Sam, I didn't know how to repair it or what to do about it. She hung around Janet and Daniel mainly. Maybe safety in numbers I don't know. At least Daniel and Janet seemed to be making headway. They were definitely a 'couple' there was no avoiding it. I was glad for both of them. I always felt that there was something brewing well before our Janet had died and there was certainly something in Janet's alternate universe. I was happy for them, they both deserved it after all their heartache and pain they'd suffered.

So what about me? I just grumped around the halls of Thor's ship as he flew the ship towards Ishta's planet.

Even though Sam had cooled somewhat we did seem to slot back into our old relationship; the one where I was the commanding officer and she was the subordinate. At least she didn't call me general or sir anymore, but I felt she had to really work on it to stop herself from calling me either. Then again, I had to remember not to call her La Haia or Carter as well. So sometimes it was easier not to say her name or even not to talk to her at all.

Poor Brat'ac, he nearly died of a heart attack when we were beamed into his tent unannounced, but he soon got over it and was pleased to see us all; especially Sam. He'd had no idea that she was alive.

The strongest memories I have of our early days there was that we partied all night and I never got to dance with Sam. Everyone else seemed to, but me. It wasn't from lack of trying, but she was very clever at avoiding my advances. It was then I decided to give up. I'd had enough of heartache over the past four years and this was just making me feel worse, so I drank myself into oblivion. I regretted my decision the following morning as I puked my guts out - repeatedly.

I received no sympathy from any quarters and Sam wouldn't talk to me for several days. To this day, I have no idea what happened while I was drunk. Maybe I don't want to know.

After a few miserable weeks, we began to get restless. Fortunately, my list of planet addresses had been in my pack and was safe from man eating plants. Daniel, Janet, Sam and I decided we wanted to explore, see what was out there. Teal'c was quite happy to stay with Ishta until our next meet. He had the address so would meet us there in two and half months time.

Thor had been busy when collecting my furniture. I hoped that this wouldn't cause Hammond too many problems back at the SGC. He had enough to contend with. Thor had collected clothes and ammunition. With these supplies we headed out through the gate to our next destination.

We stepped through the gate onto a grassy semi-circle. An old beaten track meandered its way through overgrown hedges which once upon a time would have neatly lined the road. The dust rose in a small cloud around my boot as it touched the surface.

Beyond the hedges were fields of waving wheat stretching over the horizon, reminding me of similar plains in Kansas.

"After you, Dorothy," I slipped her a private smile as I waved my arm out towards the track.

She moved forward without acknowledging me. Ignoring her, I spun around on my heel and watched Janet move up beside Sam. She studiously avoided looking at me. I just wish I knew what I'd done wrong.

Withholding a sigh, I fell in step beside Daniel and in companionable silence we followed the rest of my team up the dry, beaten track.

After about two hours of solid walking we came to a small village. No sign of activity, just buildings in severe disrepair, doors hanging on one hinge and tattered curtains blowing through busted windows in the small breeze.

The fountain in the middle of the village square bubbled up through the middle, sparkling from the bright sun. The water was clear and I could see the fresh footprints in the sand around the lip of the fountain. A few houses surrounding the square were in pristine condition with brightly painted doors and window boxes full of colourful blooms. It was nothing like the sorry state of houses on the edge of the village. There were still no signs of people.

I nodded to Carter and Janet to check out one of the nearest houses, while Daniel and I continued on through the village. Once again, we past houses in disrepair, obviously not lived in or been lived in for several decades.

"It's like a ghost town," Daniel muttered under his breath. I agreed silently with him. As we reached the outskirts of the village, Carter contacted us on the radio.

"Sir," I visibly winced at the 'sir'; Daniel was watching me openly, "There's no answer from the houses, I don't think anyone is home."

"Right, Sam. We're on the outskirts of the village, join us please." If she wanted to act like it was business as usual and all commanding officer versus subordinate, she could, but I wasn't going to stoop to that level of sour grapes and if she didn't like it then tough, I didn't like the way she behaved either.

Stretching away from the village were long rows of black plastic like material with small plants imbedded about a foot apart in the centre of the black mounds. I moved closer expecting to see bright red of strawberries peaking out from under leaves, but I saw a smaller yellow strawberry like fruit, nestled under the leaves.

I heard the scuff of a boot on the rough ground behind me, and turned to see Carter and Janet skirting some broken furniture piled up at the edge of the village.

"Hey guys." I gave them a quick wave not lifting my elbow from where it rested on my P-90. "Check it out," I turned back and gazed across the striped fields.

"Alpine strawberries," announced Sam from beside me. She bent down and pulled one from the plant, "They're ripe too." She smiled and popped one into her mouth.

"Is that wise?" Daniel blurted as he reached out too late to stop her eating the fruit.

"Yes," she replied, still smiling, reminding me of La Haia when she found the pods in the forest. "They are also called winter strawberries. Although why they are growing in the middle of summer I have no idea." She bent down and retrieved another strawberry, bigger than the first one and popped it in her mouth. Yeah, this definitely reminded me of La Haia and the pod episode.

While I was remembering what'd happened on that adventure, at the same time, I heard Daniel say, "Uh, guys, I don't like the look of this."

Distracted, I followed Daniel's pointing finger and saw a huge floating machine hovering over the strawberry fields. The familiar sinking feeling coalesced into a deep hollow feeling of fear. Then alertness, but we were too late. A sudden sharp pain, then I felt my limbs and torso begin to spasm and watched helplessly before following my team as they fell convulsing to the ground.

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