Okay - I am doing a poll! The question is - Is Sam pregnant or not? I'd like to hear from my readers about what you think and what you'd like to see happen with that. I have an idea where it's going but I'm not 100% sure! Your feedback will be appreciated - and could sway where I'm taking this. Thanks!
D'jindra gave Jack something which did help a bit. It may have been the same concoction that Matria had given him although it seemed to have a little more effect.
Jack's eyes slowly opened. It took him a second to realize he was back in D'jindra's Chamber of Horrors. He groaned softly to himself. Oh well, it was still better than Ba'al.
"O'Neill." A soft voice spoke beside him. He allowed himself to look and saw Teal'c standing at his shoulder.
"Te - "
"Shhh!" His friend glanced to the side, indicating that there were other Jaffa seated by the wall. They were talking to each other but they still had to be careful.
"They have gone to tell Ba'al you are here." Jack closed his eyes and muttered a small 'shit'. "They have also gone to search for the 'woman'."
"Huh?"
"They look for Samantha Carter", he whispered quietly.
"Why?"
"The priest that was here told them about her." As Jack just looked confused Teal'c described the little man.
"Oh yeah – D'jindra. He's Matsya's torturer. He's the one who gave me the - " He stopped, realizing he didn't want to tell anyone about his 'nipple rings'. It was too embarrassing. If he didn't have to he didn't want anyone but the doc to know.
"Yes, he is the one who gave you the Kopra and Roshu."
"What?" Jack looked up at his friend. "Who told you about that?"
"He did. He also explained what they did. That is why they look for the woman."
O'Neill could feel his face turn red, whether from anger or embarrassment even he didn't know. It was probably both.
"So what exactly did he tell you?"
"That you are now 'addicted' to Major Carter and you must 'Mai'thun' in order to survive."
"I see. And did he tell you what that means?"
"Yes. I am sorry O'Neill. Does Major Carter know?"
"No! And you can't say anything to her Teal'c." As his friend just stared at him Jack began to get squirm.
"Teal'c please. You have to promise!"
"But that will mean your death O'Neill. Samantha would not want that."
"No, I know. But I also know she'd do anything to save me and that would destroy any possibility of a true … relationship. To be forced together only because I'd die if we didn't have sex -we'd end up hating each other and that would be worse than dying Teal'c."
"But you would not be together for only that reason. You would also be together because you loved one another."
Even yesterday Jack would have argued with his friend over that, claiming that Carter was in love with Pete. After her whispered words to him he now wasn't sure what to think. He knew she felt something for him. He hoped it was true and she really loved him. He also knew it could simply be the situation. When/if they returned she would probably just return to Shanahan. The regulations were still there. But for now, he wanted to believe she did love him. He wanted to die believing that.
"Please my friend, promise me. Just think of it as the last wish of a dying man."
"No" Jack looked hurt until Teal'c continued, "I will not think of it that way. I refuse to accept that you will die. But I will agree not to say anything if that is your wish, although I believe you are wrong."
"Thanks Teal'c." He lay back and closed his eyes. He felt somewhat better although still weak. More than anything he was scared. The thought of Ba'al sent shivers through him. This time they were shivers of fear rather than of cold. He just thanked God that Teal'c was here.
It was not too long before he could hear the sound of more than one Jaffa approaching. Why in hell didn't they teach them something about stealth? You could always here them coming from a mile away. As they got closer Teal'c moved back, into the shadows of the room.
"Where is my friend O'Neill?" Shit, here comes the slimy toad.
"Ah, there you are Jack. It is so good to see you, although you are not looking too well."
"Hiya Bocce. Long time no see. I'd like to say I'd missed you but that would be a lie. Come to spread your 'snakiness' around?"
"Ah yes, the impudent Colonel O'Neill. I will say that I have missed you. But that will change. Now you can come with me forever and I will no longer have to miss you."
"Great. Can't say as I'm looking forward to it Bocce. Your hospitality leaves something to be desired." Jack coughed and began to look paler than ever. Ba'al looked over sharply at his Prime.
"What is wrong with him? Has he been injured?"
"No my Lord. He has been given some substance that is causing this. The priest here can explain." The Jaffa walked over and grabbed D'jindra who was curled up in the corner, trying to escape attention.
"You again! Tell me, what is wrong with O'Neill?"
So D'jindra explained once more what had happened with O'Neill and the need to find 'the woman'.
"Is this woman tall with fair hair and blue eyes?" asked Ba'al.
"Yes My Lord. Do you know her?" Ba'al nodded to his Prime who proceeded to knock D'jindra to the ground.
"You are insolent. You are not to ask questions, only to answer them. But, to be kind I will tell you. That woman is Samantha Carter. Matsya promised that I would have a child of these two humans. Why did you give these things to O'Neill?"
"He refused to cooperate. He would not impregnate the woman."
"No?" Ba'al turned and looked down at Jack. "Are you a fool O'Neill? Or is it that you do not desire women? I would think any normal human would relish the chance to take an attractive woman like Samantha Carter."
"Bite me!"
Ba'al laughed. "You are weak O'Neill. And your insults are also weak." He turned to where D'jindra lay cowering on the floor. "You know nothing. You did not have to try and make O'Neill cooperate – you simply had to take what you wanted. You could easily have impregnated the woman without his cooperation.
Oh, that sounded peachy, thought Jack. Wonder how they would have accomplished that? No, maybe he didn't really want to know.
"Where is the woman?" the Goa'uld asked.
"We do not know My Lord. The Jaffa who caught O'Neill said he had found him burying some humans. We think she may have been killed."
Ba'al looked down at his enemy for a few minutes. "No, I do not think so. I think she lives." He reached out and put his hand on Jack's face. The Colonel tried to jerk away but Ba'al held on tightly.
"We will find her O'Neill and bring her with us. I will breed many of your children on her and will use them as hosts. One I will raise specially and he will one day be my host. I will watch as you see your children turned into Goa'uld. I may breed other women with you as well. Just think, I could create a whole army of your children to defeat the Tauri. Isn't that a delicious thought? Of course, in between I can have lots of fun with you and simply put you in the sarcophagus again and again. Of course, you will no longer be the same but that does not matter. We do not need your mind to use you for stud."
Jack lay there, trying with all his might, to not let this devil know how frightened he was. He couldn't think of any worse punishment than the one Ba'al described. It wasn't the physical torture that bothered him as much as the thought of what he planned to do with his children. And they were now after Sam. God Carter – get out of there quickly!
"In the meantime, let us take him to the sarcophagus and cure him. We can then spend some time together. I still have some of the acid left O'Neill."
"I'm sorry My Lord." His Jaffa spoke up.
"What?"
"The priest said that the sarcophagus would not work to help him. The substances he was given mean that he must have the woman. Only she can save him."
Ba'al turned to D'jindra. "Is this true!" he spoke sharply.
"Yes My Lord."
"How do you know the sarcophagus will not work? You are not Goa'uld."
"No My Lord. My Lord Matsya tried it and it did not work. He is changed by the Kopra and Roshu and only the woman can help."
"Hey", Jack spoke up. "You and he should get together. The two balls – Bocce and Matzo!" Maybe he could needle Ba'al enough to simply kill him and have done with it.
"Take him to the ship and put him in the sarcophagus. We will see if the priest tells the truth about it not working."
"Yes My Lord. He also had some medicine that seems to help."
"Fine, bring that as well, and the priest." He turned and walked towards the door. Before he left he spoke once more to O'Neill.
"I look forward to our time together O'Neill. Do not worry, I will not let you die – at least not permanently." He turned and walked out, leaving Jack sick with fear and hoping that his friends would be safe.
Sam and Daniel
"Yes!" Daniel heard Sam give a shout. She sounded happy about something.
"Come on Daniel. Let's go."
"Go? Go where?"
"We're going to the compound to get Jack and Teal'c."
"How? We can't fly there."
"Yes we can." Sam turned and grinned at him. "I discovered the shields."
"Oh okay. OKAY! Great job Sam. Come on, let's go."
Laughing, giddy with relief, the two friends sat side by side as Sam started the craft. Hitting a small switch hidden under the console she then took the controls and slowly lifted off the ground. She turned it towards Matsya's village.
Daniel looked out of the small window. "Sam look." He pointed down to where a unit of Jaffa were marching through the forest. They would have arrived at the landing site before long. They had made it out just in time. Maybe their luck was holding.
"So, what are we going to do when we get there?" Sam looked at him with a slightly less confident glance.
"Well, hopefully we'll get there before Jack is taken to Ba'al's ship. We can try to get him and Teal'c out and make it back to this ship and high tail it out of here."
It was a rather flimsy plan, but they'd been successful with worse. "And if he has been taken to Ba'al?"
"Well, then we'll have to figure out a way of making it on to the mothership as well. We'll break him out and then head back to this ship and leave."
"How are we going to accomplish that?"
"Well, I made a few things that should help."
"Don't tell me you figured out a way to make a nuclear warhead using chewing gum and a paperclip."
She grinned again. "Almost, but not quite. I've put together a little something that should disrupt the controls and confuse the Goa'uld. It should give us just enough time to get the Colonel and get out."
"Sam." She turned to look at him, not liking the serious tone in his voice.
"What?"
"What if Jack – what if he didn't make it. He was awfully sick."
"He will make it. He can't not make it Daniel." She spoke confidently although there was an undercurrent of fear. They sat in silence until Sam suddenly began adjusting the controls.
"Here we are. I'm going to land this as close as I can without letting on we're here. I don't want anyone to see the trees moving as we land." She maneuvered the spacecraft carefully and landed in a small clearing a few hundred feet from the camp.
"Okay, let's go."
"Uh Sam. Don't you think we'll be recognized if we just waltz in?"
"I'm not planning to 'waltz in' Daniel. We'll be careful."
They gathered the 'weapons' Sam had made and headed to the door.
"What about the slaves?" Daniel turned to his friend. They had not talked about the people who had been stolen but he knew it had to be in both their minds.
"If we can find them and figure out a way to save them we will. Otherwise we'll have to come back."
"If Ba'al doesn't get them first." He was angry at the thought of innocent people being used by the Goa'uld.
"I know Daniel. It bothers me too. We'll do what we can."
"See anything", Daniel whispered as they crouched down outside the perimeter fence looking through the spaces between the posts. Sam had led them to the place where she and Jack had escaped such a short time before.
"It looks quiet. Wait, look." Sam pointed to a small house over to the side of the compound. The door had opened and a number of Jaffa exited. Two of them were dragging someone between them.
"It's Jack." Daniel couldn't tell if he was alive or not. He might simply be unconscious.
As they watched, the Jaffa took him to the middle of the camp and stood there until rings appeared. In a second the Jaffa and Jack had disappeared into Ba'al's mothership.
"Damn! I was hoping we wouldn't have to go get him." Things were not looking up!
"Sam look. There's Teal'c." They watched as Teal'c exited the house and headed to another one. He stopped and spoke to an elaborately dressed man who was standing outside.
"That must be Teal'c's Goa'uld."
"I don't think Teal'c would like that description very much but yeah, I think you're right. He's dressed badly enough. You'd think they'd get tired of all that gaudy clothing. Totally overdressed for the occasion."
Sam turned and smiled at Daniel. She knew what he was trying to do. He was doing a 'Jack' and trying to distract her using humor. It didn't work but she appreciated the effort.
"Daniel, I have an idea!" She proceeded to explain to him what she planned. After shaking his head and saying a violent 'no' repeatedly, he finally gave in. As much as he didn't like the plan, he couldn't think of another one.
"Okay, Teal'c's camp is over there", he pointed. Once it gets dark I'll go over and get his attention and have him meet you. I hope to God this works."
"Just make sure you're in place Daniel. We'll be counting on you."
"Don't worry Sam. I may not have the same level of experience as you or Jack but I think I can handle this one. Just look after yourself!"
It was difficult waiting for hours for darkness to come. They watched the various Jaffa come and go. They heard screaming for quite a few hours until finally it stopped abruptly. They could only hope that the priests had finally died. As bad as they had been, thought Sam, no one deserved that.
Of course, the sound of the torture only brought Jack to mind. She didn't even want to contemplate what was happening to him. Maybe his illness was keeping Ba'al from torturing him. She could only hope.
Finally it grew dark enough for them to make their way towards Teal'c's camp. Fortunately it was close to the fence so all Daniel had to do was make it over and not let anyone notice him.
Once things were quiet he gave a thumbs up sign to Sam and began to climb.
"Teal'c", he whispered as he approached his friend. Teal'c seemed to be deep in Kel'noreem.
"What are you doing Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c spoke quietly, not moving.
"We need your help. Sam is here and needs to get on Ba'al's ship." At that Teal'c opened his eyes.
"Come into the tent." He gestured for Daniel to follow him. Neither of them noticed the eyes that were watching them.
"Tell me what is happening Daniel Jackson." Teal'c sat and gestured for Daniel to follow suit.
After Daniel had finished explaining things to Teal'c the big man sat quietly for a moment.
"It is very dangerous. Do you believe it will work?"
"Hey, you know Sam. She hasn't failed us in the past and she's determined to save Jack."
"Yes, she has learned well. She too will not leave someone behind."
"Especially not Jack!"
Teal'c looked at the younger man, his eyebrow raised in inquiry.
"Oh come on Teal'c. Surely you know how they feel about each other."
"I do. Does Samantha recognize this as well? O'Neill is unsure of her feelings for him."
"I know. They're both idiots. I told Sam that and I think she's finally got it. She admitted she loved him and I think she finally believes he loves her. We have to help get them together."
"Yes, we must!" Daniel looked at Teal'c quizzically. There was something more to his voice that a simple desire to see his friends happy.
"Wh –?"
"Not now, Daniel Jackson. Let us save O'Neill and we can discuss this more at another time. I will go and meet Major Carter. Will you be safe returning to the ship."
"Yeah, don't worry about me."
"He may not worry, but I would." The two friends looked up as the deep tones of a Goa'uld spoke to them. They could just see a dark shape in the door of their tent. Damn, they'd been so close!
Ba'al's Ship
Jack didn't remember too much about the journey. The Jaffa hadn't been particularly gentle when they'd grabbed him. In fact, that was putting it mildly! They had thought it great fun to make him suffer even more! All their manhandling (or should he say 'Jaffa-handling) did was to make him pretty much pass out until he'd arrived in the mothership.
God, he hated the inside of these things. As they dragged him down the corridor all he could do was feel nauseous at the overdone décor. He really hated gold!
"Hey, you guys should really check out HGTV. You'll have a heck of a time selling this place. Maybe you should consider buying a few stainless steel appliances, maybe a little granite. It'd do wonders for the place - really update it, if you know what I mean."
"Silence! Put him in the sarcophagus." Okay that must be Ba'al's First Prime talking. As they lifted him up into the coffin-like box he felt a moment of utter panic. He hated these things! It was starting all over again. God, he couldn't do this.
As the doors closed he could feel tears forming in his eyes. Unable to stop himself, he began to weep silently, with pain, fear and the sense that he would never see his friends – or his love – again.