Okay MajorSam - this is for you!
Davis came back from the gas station bathroom where he'd taken the call when it finally came through.
"Any word?" asked Daniel.
"Yes. It looks like he's on his way to Mrs. Simkiew's house. He should be there in about five minutes." Davis quickly got into the car, knowing that the other two would want to leave immediately.
"Why would he be going there? Especially at this time." The men had been waiting for hours in their car, hoping for news. It was already past 2:00 a.m. and they'd almost given up hope that Grayson would appear.
"They may believe that O'Neill is still there." Teal'c spoke from the back seat. "It may be that the Asgard have what they were looking for and so have decided not to involve Grayson anymore."
"Yeah, but that still doesn't explain how they knew where Jack was or why they're going to Molly's place. It must have been the Asgard who told them, unless there's a leak so high up we haven't seen it."
"I don't think so. Other than the President and Chief of Staff no one knew. I can't imagine the Canadians are involved." Davis sat quietly for a moment. "Maybe they've gone to clean things up." Daniel pulled the car out of the gas station and turned towards Molly's.
"What?" Daniel didn't like the sound of that at all.
"Well, they may think that the Pentagon is still in the dark as far as Jack is concerned. Right from the beginning they've worked to ensure no one knew what was happening, or that an Asgard was involved. Maybe Grayson and his men have been sent to make sure there are no traces of Jack."
"What about Molly or Chris?"
"Well, if they think they're still there they might try to do something as well. Otherwise why would they be going to the house at this time?"
"Thank God they're not there."
"I do not think you should thank your God Daniel Jackson. We believe they are not there because they were taken by the Asgard. I do not believe that is preferable."
"Yeah, you're right Teal'c. I just don't like to think of anyone hurting Molly or the boy. And if something did happen to either of them Jack would never forgive himself."
"If something does happen I expect he wouldn't be around to feel bad. It will have meant that the Asgard were successful in what they were trying to accomplish." Davis said what everyone was thinking, but it didn't make his words any more palatable.
Daniel pulled the car to a stop and turned out the lights. They were about half a block from Molly's. They could see the other car sitting a few hundred feet beyond her house. After about five minutes they could see the doors open and the three men got out of the car. They were dressed in black and kept their heads down, but it was clear that one of the men was Senator Grayson.
"I can't believe he's directly involved in this. You'd think he wouldn't want to be seen."
"He's either being bribed or blackmailed." Davis spoke as if he knew something. They kept watching as the men slowly moved towards Molly's.
"Why do you say that?"
"We did a very quiet check on him after he went to see Hammond. It turns out his wife left him." He stopped, watching as one of the men moved towards the side walkway of the little white house.
"What does that have to do with him being bribed or blackmailed."
"It was the reason she left him that's why I think it's likely."
"Which was?"
"He was involved with quite a few hookers – had been a number of times. It also turned out he was into drugs and gambling. He's lost thousands of dollars. It'd been going on for years but he kept it well hidden. I guess the wife knew and couldn't take it any more. Looks like he began to fall apart after she left. That was just a little while before the sting operation in which Jack was involved." Davis stopped. "Okay guys, looks like they're on the move. They're going around the back, trying to get in. Let's go."
The three men got out of the car and carefully made their way to the darkened house. They waited until they were sure the others had entered. They could see a small light shining through one of the basement windows.
With a gesture Davis indicated that they should go in the back door. Quickly, quietly, they entered.
"In here Grayson!" they heard a voice coming from the basement. A small rustling sound could be heard followed by a sharp "my God, what happened?"
The basement light went on and Davis and the two members of SG1 heard small bits of the ensuing conversation.
"….kill him! …. promised…..."
With a nod Davis indicated that Daniel should head with him down the stairs. Teal'c would stay at the top as they weren't sure if all three were downstairs or if one of the intruders had gone to the main floor.
Daniel moved quietly, pressed to the side of the stairwell. Davis followed close behind. Both men carried handguns - Daniel spared a small thought at how comfortable he was with weapons after all these years. They arrived at the bottom, still hidden from the direct sight of the men who were standing by the broken table.
"What the hell were they thinking? What will the police say? They're gonna know something suspicious went down and the Pentagon will be informed in no time." It was Grayson's voice.
"Why would they call the Pentagon? The locals will just think it was a robbery or something. They won't know anything happened."
"They'll know O'Neill was here."
"Yeah, but it looks like he wasn't using his real name so they won't know who he is. They'll assume that he did something to the kid and old lady. They'll take one look at this and label him a psychopath. They won't know who he really was."
"They'll show his picture around."
"Yeah, but it's still a local crime. It's not gonna get shown in DC. It'll just be a mystery never to be solved here in BC."
"God, I hope you're right. I thought Angrboda would do a better job in getting them out. What the hell is wrong with her?"
"She's crazy, that's what's wrong. I wouldn't want to be on her bad side, that's for sure. God, I can't even imagine what she's doing to O'Neill. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes for anything."
"No, me either." At least Grayson sounded guilty. He clearly didn't like being involved in this. Shows what an addiction to hookers and drugs could do to a person.
"Come on, let's get out of here. Make sure you don't leave any trace. They're gonna go over this with a fine tooth comb."
"What're we gonna do now?" Grayson's companion asked.
"Now we'll report to the crazy Asgard and let her know everything is looked after. She'll beam us up to her ship and then back to DC. We instantly show ourselves to establish an alibi. We'll get paid when she's ready to head out." Grayson had stopped and looked back one more time to see the destruction and the blood. He felt sick, seeing what he'd become. At one time he was a man with principles. He'd wanted to do good, to make a difference. He'd had a wonderful wife and three great kids. At what point had he started to throw that all away, he wondered? He thought back to that night almost ten years ago – when he'd been off at a conference and had been enticed into going to his first hooker. He'd immediately felt guilty but couldn't seem to stop himself. God – he couldn't believe what he'd become.
"You sure she's gonna follow through on her promises?" the man with him asked as he turned towards the stairs.
"Yes. She knows that the whole story will be leaked to the President and the Joint Chiefs if she reneges and they'll take it to the Asgard High Council. It's worth it to all of us to keep our promises." The two men had reached the stairwell when Daniel and Davis stepped forward, guns drawn.
"I suggest you men don't move, unless you want to add to the blood down here." Grayson started and turned pale. The other man reached back and tried to grab his gun. Davis quickly lifted his and shot the man in the shoulder. The man dropped to the ground, groaning in pain. Grayson backed up, his arms in the air.
"I'm unarmed." He looked scared to death. Just then they heard noises upstairs. There were a number of loud thumps, followed by a groan and a short scream. The silence that followed made them wonder what had happened.
"Everything is secure Daniel Jackson, Colonel Davis." Teal'c's voice floated down. Davis looked over and grinned. They should never have even wondered.
"What are you going to do with us?" Grayson asked.
"Well, we're gonna have you take us with you to the Asgard ship." Daniel looked towards Davis. "I expect the police will be here shortly. I think you'd better stay with the two men and explain to the cops what happened. Teal'c and I will go with the Senator."
"Great! Just what I wanted – to try and explain to local police why I'm holding two men prisoner in a strange house – hell, in a different country even." But he nodded, knowing it was necessary. "I'll contact General Hammond right now and he'll get in touch with the President. I'm sure the Canadian's will send in the RCMP pretty quickly."
"So Grayson, I think you said you were going to contact that crazy alien? Why don't we go do that?" Daniel grabbed his arm and pushed him up the stairs to where Teal'c was waiting.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Sam inched along the corridor, making sure that she wouldn't be surprised by an Asgard they weren't aware was on the ship. As far as they knew there were just the two, but she couldn't be sure.
After walking for a few minutes she came to a doorway at the end of a long corridor. She'd put her necklace back on and it had gotten slowly warmer and more 'active' the farther she'd gone. Placing her fingers on it now she felt the heat emanating from it and the intense 'buzzing' coming from it. She knew Jack must be near.
With a deep breath she reached over and hit the control panel on the door. She quickly moved into the room and over to the side, looking around the chamber carefully. It looked like there was no one present. Just then, however, she saw the metal table over to one corner and saw there was a body on it. Crap! She just knew it was Jack.
Shutting the panel door she walked over, sweeping the room with her eyes. She really wished she had a zat gun. She would have taken the aliens weapons but she'd been unable to figure out how to use it. She was pretty sure it was someone built to be operated only by the Asgard.
As she grew closer she sucked in a deep breath. Jack lay naked on the table, blood everywhere. She couldn't see an open wound but it looked like a number of livid and very recent scars adorned his abdomen. He had some kind of helmet like thing on his head although she couldn't see if it was doing anything. Ironically his leg was still in its cast, although it too had blood on it. His eyes were closed and he was totally still. She prayed he was only unconscious, and not dead.
Just as she reached his side his eyes flew open and he looked at her. Oh God, he was conscious, but why wasn't he moving or saying anything? It took her only a couple of seconds, and the terrified look in his eyes, to know that he couldn't. He was totally paralyzed.
"Shit!" she said softly. "I'm gonna get you out of here Jack, it may just take me a minute." She looked carefully at the machinery surrounding him. She saw that he was immobilized on the table although why that was necessary when he couldn't move she didn't know. She looked around until she saw what looked like a control. With a short prayer she hit it and the restrains circling his ankles and wrists fell away. She saw another one that must have gone around his waist but it had already been opened – obviously to allow for whatever surgery (she didn't even want to think 'torture') had been done to him.
Okay, that part was done. Looking carefully it seemed like the only other thing restraining him was the helmet thingy. She touched it gently and nothing happened. She attempted to remove it but could instantly see the distress in his eyes. It amazed her how expressive they were, even with him unable to move the rest of his face.
"Okay Jack, don't worry. I won't fiddle with it for now. I need to figure out how to work it." Looking down at him she saw that his eyes kept moving to a point beyond her. She turned and saw a consol over to the side with what looked like various controls. There was also some kind of bracelet sitting on the surface.
"Is it over there?" She looked down at Jack and he blinked. Okay, she was gonna assume that was a yes. She walked over and looked at the controls. God, she had no idea what they did. She glanced down and saw some kind of metal rod. She was about to turn to something else when she realized it was covered in blood.
Closing her eyes she felt sick. Looking at the various instruments and the amount of blood she knew that Jack had been experimented on. She just prayed that what had been done to him wasn't irreversible. It looked like nothing was missing on him – at least on the outside.
Looking at the things in front of her she felt terribly frustrated. She really couldn't tell what anything did and didn't want to fool around with anything, not knowing what the consequences would be. At the same time, she couldn't just leave him here! She reached over to one of the controls and knocked the bracelet onto the floor. She instantly heard a vibrating noise and, glancing up, saw the helmet move a bit. Jack's eyes grew wide and she could tell he was terrified. She reached down quickly and picked up the silver object.
She turned it over and saw the buttons - this was definitely some kind of controller. Based on what had just happened she realized it must control the helmet – and maybe other things on the table.
Studying it carefully, she thought she could kind of figure it out but knew whatever she did would be a leap of faith. She looked up at Jack.
"Does this control the thing on your head?" She wanted to make sure. He blinked.
"I can try it but I'm not sure what will happen. I don't know how much time we have. Sir, are you okay if I try and use this?" she held it up. He blinked again – he wanted out.
"Okay." She walked over to the General and gently put her hand on his chest, just below the collarbone. "I'm not going to let her get you again Sir, don't worry. We're gonna get you back to the SGC and everything will be okay." He just kept looking at her, but she was almost sure she could see the trust in his eyes, something she hadn't seen in a long time. Maybe it was just her imagination, just what she wanted to see – but she refused to believe that.
"Alright, here goes." Holding her breath she pushed one of the buttons. Instantly the helmet came alive. Jack closed his eyes, sure that he was going to die with this thing on his head. Then slowly, surely he could feel movement – he could feel the tendrils tendrils retract and pull out. It seemed to happen slowly but then suddenly, he was free. Sam pulled it away from him and looked down. She almost cried out at what she saw.
Jack's head was a mess. There was blood everywhere, and she could see more seeping out of the small holes she saw in concentric circles on the crown of his head. Oh God, she felt sick to her stomach. Something had pierced his skull and had burrowed into his brain. She had no idea what damage had been done or whether it was permanenent.
Jack could begin to feel some control return to his body, although he was still in a lot of pain – and felt incredibly weak. Sam hadn't moved since the helmet had lifted off of him. He knew it must be pretty horrible but didn't have time to deal with it at that moment.
As soon as felt feeling begin to return in his hands and arms he carefully reached over and touched her. She lifted her head and looked at him - this time the distress was in her eyes.
"Oh General, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" She stood back and could see that he had started to move a tiny bit. She knew, looking down at him, that he was in no condition to move on his own. How in hell was she going to get him home?
"Saa." He tried to speak.
"Yes, I'm here."
"He …p"
"What do you need?" He tried to lick his lips but his mouth was so dry it didn't help. She looked around but there was no water to be seen. She quickly walked to the consol and saw what looked like a tap. After fumbling around for a few seconds she found the 'on' button. A stream of water shot out. She grabbed a tumbler and took some water to the man barely moving on the table.
Gently reaching under him she lifted him enough to allow him to take a small sip. Even that amount made him cough but he indicated he wanted more. After a few sips he nodded. He felt almost human – although he knew there were some serious things wrong with him. His head felt like mush and he couldn't concentrate. His vision was also off and he didn't even want to think about the feeling in his chest and abdomen. He knew there had been some serious damage done there. He expected he was bleeding internally.
"We've got to get you out of here. Do you think you can walk?" He looked over at her and simply raised an eyebrow (damn, even that hurt!). Walk? He didn't think he could even breathe particularly well but he knew he'd have to try.
With a soft grunt he tried to get his feet over the side. Sam helped him all the way and eventually he was – sort of – sitting up. If it hadn't been for the Colonel he wouled have instantly fallen over in a heap.
He looked at Sam and knew there was only one thing he could do. He grinned. It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't very big, but it showed that he was still in there somewhere. For the first time in the last half hour Sam thought there might be some hope.
Alright, she had to get him out the door. How to do that? She glanced down and it hit her, for the first time really, that he was stark naked. Oh, she'd realized it when she entered but it hadn't really even registered. All she'd been concerned about was his condition. Now, however, she realized that he really needed some clothes. She figured he wouldn't want to wander around naked – besides which it must be cold!
"Jack, do you know where your clothes are?" He looked at her blankly and it hit her again that he wasn't okay. He was in bad shape.
"Okay. We'd better find you some pants." She gently laid him back down, although his feet were still hanging over the edge. "Are you okay for a second?" He looked at her and smiled. She hoped that meant he was answering her question. She was beginning to wonder if they were simply unconscious gestures. Maybe there was serious brain damage.
Refusing to dwell on that she looked around until she saw his clothes in a heap on the floor. Running over to them she picked everything up. She ran back and helped him on with the shirt. He wasn't able to do too much so it was kind of like dressing a small child. She looked at the jeans and knew they were beyond her. At least his boxers would give some small measure of cover. She reached down and was able to pull them up part way but, when she got to the table and his thighs and – uh – butt, she knew she'd need his help.
"Sir, you're gonna have to help me here." She pulled as hard as she could but then she had to lift each of his thighs, trying to pull the shorts up at the same time. He didn't appear to have much coordination so it was extremely difficult. By the time the boxers were on as far as his upper thighs she was sweating.
"Sir, you're going to have to – ah – lift your, I mean lift yourself up a bit so I can pull these up." When she looked at him he didn't appear to have any expression on his face but for some reason she had the sneaking suspicion he was laughing at her.
He reached down with very shaky arms and tried to brace himself on the table and push up at the same time. She immediately yanked the shorts up. Unfortunately they got a bit 'tangled'. She could feel herself blush furiously as she had to 'unhook' them and finish pulling them up. Now she really was sweating!
"General, let's try getting you up. You're going to have to put your arm around me and we're going to get out of here okay?" He nodded slightly, knowing this was going to really hurt. He wished he didn't have the damn cast on still. That would just make it more awkward. She reached over and tried to carefully help him up.
"NO!" a voice screamed. Sam whipped around and there stood Angrboda, a furious expression on her face. Sam couldn't remember ever seeing an Asgard with quite that expression.
"He's mine! You will not take him." She held a weapon up – what it was Sam wasn't quite sure. "Step away from him NOW!" The Asgard was breathing quickly. Sam was convinced she was mad – crazy mad, not angry.
"No, you've done enough. Just let me take him home. Surely you have what you need." Sam begged. She could feel Jack begin to slump beside her.
"Yes, I have enough – enough of his DNA – I've taken what I need. But that is not everything. He is responsible for ruining my life. He took Loki from me and destroyed our life's work. He must pay!" She was screaming by the end. Angrboda lifted her weapon and pointed it at Jack. She moved her thumb to press on the single button on the top. Jack knew this was it – he was going to die.
Sam too saw what was happening. Knowing she couldn't stand to see the man she loved killed in front of her she did the only thing she could do. She threw herself in front of him.
The beam from the weapon struck her directly in the chest, leaving a deep and fatal wound. She slowly fell to the floor; her last sight was of Jack, looking at her with anguish. With a cry, he followed her down and, with his remaining strength, pulled her unresisting body to him. Closing his eyes he rocked her gently.
He heard a soft voice – her last words. "I'm so sorry Jack, so sorry." With a howl of agony he collapsed with her in his arms, knowing that he'd been wrong, so very wrong. He should have known – she would never knowingly betray him – he should have listened to her – she had just proven her faithfulness in the most profound way possible - and with the last action she would ever take.
Holding her ever so gently he spoke softly into her hair. "No Sam, I'm sorry. Don't leave me, please don't leave me." With his strength waning his eyes closed one last time. At least they were together at the end.