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It worked. Jack was able to stop the nightmare before it got too bad,. He woke up from it with only a trace of the well known panic and managed to get back to sleep without the dream returning. Sam didn't even notice anything. For the first time she slept through the night, and in the morning both of them felt rested. Sam left for the SGC and Jack went to see Dr. Shen. He was in a good mood, relaxed thanks to the relatively quiet night and surprised that it had been that easy. For the first time in weeks he felt like he was about to get a grip on his life.

Without having to ask the doc knew it had gone well. She smiled at him and was struck by the change in the man's appearance. All of a sudden she understood why people followed his lead. She was glad that he had made that crucial step, but she knew it wasn't over yet.

He told her how it had gone and was obviously eager to take the next step.

"What do I have to do, doc?"

"Close your eyes, colonel. Think of someone you trust, maybe a member of your team. Imagine what he or she could have done to help you had they been there. You don't have to say it out loud, just picture it in your mind. Play it like a movie, repeat it."

Carter. Of course it had to be her. He saw himself, bruised and beaten in his cell in that Iraqi prison. The door opened, but it wasn't one of the guards coming to cause him more pain – it was Sam. She was more beautiful than ever, and there was a breath of fresh air, and warm sunlight framed her. She knelt beside him and touched his face, just like she had in the infirmary after he had finally given her permission. Though she didn't make any move to free him from his cell he was incredibly relieved to see her – and even more grateful to feel the touch of her fingers on his face. She smiled at him, and there was so much tenderness on her lovely face that he felt like crying.

He opened his eyes and looked at the doc. Again she didn't have to ask to know it had worked. His features were relaxed, and it occurred to her that he was a very attractive man.

"Want to tell me what you saw?"

The smile he gave her was more genuine than any she had seen from him before.

"What do you think?"

"Well I assume Sam Carter had something to do with it?"

"Yeah."

He nodded, still smiling.

"OK, colonel. I want you to repeat that scene as soon as you get home, and again before you go to sleep tonight. When the nightmare begins, stop it like you did last night and try to recall the new scene. Do you think you can do that?"

~o0o~

That night Carter did appear in his dream, but not they way he had anticipated.

He just couldn't bring himself to believe what he saw. There was the man who had tortured and humiliated him for days, that cruel grin on his face that Jack knew just too well by now. Side by side with the Iraqi soldier stood someone he would have recognized anywhere. Next to him, tall and smiling as well, was Major Samantha Carter.

It still wasn't over. Again and again the rod hit his already sore flesh, old scars, fresh wounds, and he was only half conscious now. And there was Sam's voice, just a purr right beside his ear, sweet and cruel: "This could all be over, Jack."

He closed his eyes. It was too much – the pain, the disbelief, the desperate longing for her to help him, to end his ordeal. And then there was rage. Only vague in the beginning, but then it turned into fury. How could she let it happen? Was she really that cold? He had trusted her. More than once his life had been in her hands. And now she had switched sides! Had he ever really known her at all? Had she always had that in her – that coldness, that sadistic thrill, hidden away below her military discipline? It couldn't be true. Once more the rod came down, and his mind went blank.

He didn't wake from the dream but slept, restlessly, until early morning.

When he woke up he didn't recall the content of the dream, but he knew Dr. Shen's plan hadn't worked. He was frustrated. After taking a shower he tried to tell himself that probably it would have been too easy and he would have to keep fighting. When he entered his kitchen Sam was seated at the table with a cup of coffee and smiled at him.

"Good morning, sir! Another quiet night?"

The hope on her face didn't sit well with him for some reason he couldn't quite grasp.

"Already getting tired of sleeping on my couch, are we?"

It could have been playful – but it wasn't. Sam's mood dropped.

"Sir? I'm completely fine with sleeping on your couch as long as you need me. I just thought since I didn't hear anything you might have had the second good night in row. Which would be great."

He sat down heavily on the chair across the table from her.

"No, Carter, I didn't. I don't remember, but it was bad, and it had something to do with you."

"Something happened to me, sir?"

"No."

It started to come back to him now.

"No, actually you did something to me."

"Sir? Is there anything we need to talk about? Something you hold against me?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know – breaching your trust to find out what had happened? Or maybe not being there in time to rescue you?"

"I'm sure you did your best, Carter. And you did come to get me eventually."

~o0o~

TBC