Please heed warnings!

Rating: Adult
Warnings: Adult imagery, brief mention of non-con

Author's notes: I couldn't let Sam have all the fun, so now it's Jack's turn to wake Sam up. Thanks to lareinaSelena for the beta. Feedback is very much loved!

Two (Post Out of Mind/Into the Fire)

***

A flash of red hair.

The feel of its skin, cold and scaly as it slid across his chest and then a sharp, blinding pain as it pierced the back of his neck. He felt it curl tight around his spine, then further pain as its tendrils forced their way into soft tissue. Confusion, fear and anger swelled through him as the symbiote delved into his mind, ripping through his memories and leaving them scattered and torn. The symbiote grew more bold as it gained power, strengthening itself while weakening Jack in return. He pushed against it with all the power and energy he had left, and he could sense the symbiote's annoyance.

Do not fight me. I will win. The voice echoed emotionlessly through his mind. It wasn't the harsh, metallic, tones of a Goa'uld but one completely devoid of human sound, it was soulless.

Never.

Images flashed through his mind. His own hand, encased in a ribbon device, Daniel kneeling in agony at his feet. His hands on Carter, punching and kicking her, he drew out a knife as she begged him to stop…

No!

If you do not fight, I will make their deaths quick.

Lying, parasitic snake.

You know our kind well.

Lay one hand on my team and you will regret it.

It will not be my hand … it will be yours.

"No!" Jack shouted himself awake in the empty room. He gasped as he reorientedhimself, taking in the familiar sight of his bedroom. He lay back down again muttering to himself, "Just a dream."

It had been two days since they had returned from being captured by Hathor. The first night he had spent in the infirmary, Janet fussing over him as she ran test after test to work out whether being cryogenically frozen with a symbiote had done any permanent damage. Carter and Daniel had kept him company, Carter was in for the terrible headaches that resulted from being tortured with the ribbon device and Daniel for the injury to his leg. However he suspected the real reason they had all been kept in was just because Janet had missed the whole team and wanted to keep them all in her sight for at least one night. Teal'c had even meditated in the room, not leaving their side for a single moment since they had returned to Earth.

Until of course they had all been cleared to leave the base this afternoon. Jack had high tailed it home, taken a steaming hot shower, ordered pizza and parked himself on the couch and caught up on The Simpsons episodes he had missed thanks to Siler, who had taped them for him even after he had been declared MIA. He owed him for that one. Jack closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind and go back to sleep.

It was cold. So very cold. He couldn't move his limbs, he couldn't even feel his limbs.

You will not win this way

The soulless voice was weaker but still he could feel its defiance.

I don't think so.

He longed for a hot shower, a heated blanket or a warm body to hold. He was so very cold.

Images again assaulted him, of Daniel his eyes blank as he stood at the side of Hathor, her hand stroking his face in a tender caress. His hands around Carter's throat; her panicked gasps echoing loudly as she grew pale, her eyes rolled back in her head and he was left holding her dead limp body.

Not going to happen.

Hathor will have the boy. I will take the woman, she is pleasing to the eye.

Don't even think about touching Carter.

Why not, it has crossed your mind before.

Liar.

You forget I am a part of you now. I have more and more access to your thoughts the longer we are together. I know you wish to touch her skin, see her naked body writhing in pleasure.

Shut up. Just shut up.

Images of Carter, naked, her legs wrapped around him as she responded eagerly to his kiss. The feel of her soft, warm skin and the taste of her lips as he thrust roughly inside her. The almost painful tension in his spine as he neared release and the pleasure threatened to overwhelm him, her moans growing louder, spurring him on….

STOP

Don't you want me to give this to you?

Jack pushed as hard as he could. I won't do it. I won't let you do it.

If you will not agree I will not make it easy on her.

Carter pinned down, terrified eyes locked on his as his own hand struck her across the face and he tore at her clothes. Please sir, don't do it… please stop… you're hurting me…

NO

Jack pushed again with every bit of strength he had left. The cold grew more intense and Jack realized if he was going to win, he was going to have to embrace the freezing cold and let the symbiote succumb to the ice.

I will not let you win.

Again the voice was weaker.

Well I won't let you win.

Jack let the cold overwhelm him, it felt like ice was forming in his veins and for the first time he could feel the hold of the Goa'uld start to waver.

You will not win.

The second you threatened my team… you'd already lost.

Jack awoke with a start, shivering feeling cold and damp. His sheets were soaked with his sweat and his boxers clung uncomfortably to his skin. He got out of bed quickly, stripped his lower sheet and took off his boxers, throwing them on the floor. Then he went straight to the bathroom, turned on his shower and stepped into the water as soon as steam filled the room.

The scalding water felt like needles against his icy cold skin and Jack shuddered as warmth finally penetrated into his body. He leaned his arms against the shower wall, standing under the hot spray trying to forget the image of Carter's terrified eyes as he tore her clothes and taunted her.

Not real. Didn't happen. Wasn't you. Didn't happen. She's fine. You didn't hurt her. Home. Safe.

Thoughts tumbled through his mind at an ever increasing speed. He stayed under the shower until the hot water turned lukewarm. Then he dried off, and dressed in the heaviest sweats he owned, he pulled his favorite beanie onto his head and slumped back onto his bed, still without a lower sheet, and pulled his heavy blankets over his body.

"Son of a bitch," Jack muttered, "If that damn snake wasn't already dead…"

The second he thought of the snake, the images of Carter, terrified and begging entered his mind again. He tried to forget them, to think of something else but the memory of her horror was too strong for him to ignore.

Not a memory. A god damned fake. It didn't happen.

Still the images tumbled through his mind. Frustrated Jack ground the heels of his palms into his eyes, he would do anything for them to stop. Anything. He just didn't know how to make them. Somebody might know though, the only other person who had been snaked and survived… Carter would know.

He'd picked up the phone and dialed her number before he realized that at 0300 hours, she was probably asleep. She picked up however, and her sleepgraveled voice immediately eased some of the tension in his gut, "Hello?"

"Carter?" it took a moment for him to get her name out of his suddenly dry mouth.

"Colonel? What's going on? Is it the SGC?" he could practically hear Carter as her brain ticked over and she panicked over the early morning phone call. She was suddenly alert and he could hear rustling as she got out of bed.

"No nothing's wrong… at the SGC." He tried to keep his voice even, but suspected she could hear the uncertainty in his tone.

"Okay," her voice softened and he could hear the rustling again as she got back into bed. He tried not to think about what she would look like all sleep tussled and in her nightclothes, he wondered briefly what she wore to bed, "What did you need sir?"

Jack paused at her words, what did he need? He wasn't sure anymore. He'd wanted the images to stop, but the second he had heard her voice they had gone away.

"I…"

She seemed to understand, she knew him too well. Sometimes it scared Jack how well she knew him, until he remembered that it went both ways and for the most part he could read her like a book.

"Is this about the symbiote?"

Jack didn't answer her; she waited for awhile before continuing.

"It's hard, I know. But it's gone, it never had the chance to fully blend. There is no trace of naquada, no protein marker. You're you."

Jack sighed, "I know."

"The memories though… they are harder to forget." she sounded hesitant, "It helps to talk, to sort through what you see rather than shut it away."

"Talking's not really my style Carter," he said, a little stronger this time, "I just want to forget them."

He heard her sigh, "I'm not sure I can help with that sir."

He closed his eyes and thought for a moment, "I think you already are helping."

"Really?"

"Talk to me Carter, about anything, your latestdoohickey, what really happened when you got trapped in the elevator with Simmons and Walter, what Cassie's been up to. Anything, just … let me hear your voice." he tried to keep his voice calm but he knew he sounded slightly desperate.

"Okay… I uh played chess with Cassie this evening actually… She's getting really good I think she might…."

Jack let her voice fill his mind, listening not so much to her words but the warmth of her voice as she spoke about her adopted 'niece' and he pictured the smile on her face as she was speaking, the lightness of her eyes and the cute little wrinkle she got between her eyebrows when she laughed. He wasn't sure how long he let her speak for but suddenly he felt tired, the horrifying images seemed far away, all he could remember was the sound of her voice.

"Carter?" he interrupted her mid babble about the latest piece of alien technology that was stumping her in the lab.

"Yes sir?"

"I think you can stop now," He was sure she could stop, he felt calm and at peace, no longer haunted by the dead symbiote.

"Are you sure?" she sounded like she was completely willing to talk for the rest of the night if that's what he needed. He could never tell her how much he appreciated what she did for him, he didn't have the words.

"Yeah, goodnight Carter," he felt relaxed for the first time since they had been back, "Thank you."

"Anytime Colonel," Sam's voice was earnest, "I mean that, just call."

"Goodnight."

Jack shut off the phone and closed his eyes.

Blonde hair and blue eyes. A smile on her face and curiosity which burned from her eyes. He was in her lab, fiddling with a device on her desk. She took it from his hands and smiled at him indulgently.

"What do you want to talk about sir?"

"Anything, Carter… surprise me."

***

End Part Two