Sticks and Stones - Chapter 12 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
After nearly three quarters of an hour, General Hammond was beginning to be seriously worried about Jack. The Colonel had not moved since the base commander had entered the room although the tremors in the younger mans arms had long since ceased.
The General got up from the couch and made his way to Daniel's coffee machine. He replenished the water and heaped the ground coffee beans into the appropriate compartment. Once he'd done that he quietly made a call to Janet Fraiser in the infirmary and informed her of the situation. He requested that she come to Daniel's office but not to try and enter, only to wait outside.
When the coffee was ready George poured two mugs and walked back over towards Jack. He placed both mugs safely on the low table by the couch and moved to crouch in front of the inert form of his 2IC.
He knew better than to try and touch Jack but as he crouched down he noticed the muscles in Jack's arms twitch. Hoping this was a sign that Jack was now aware of his presence he softly spoke the Colonels name. After getting no reaction, George tried again. This time when he called Jack's name he was rewarded with movement from the younger man.
Jack stirred slightly and brought his arms down from over his head. His hands spontaneously clutched at his hair and he stayed like that for a few moments before allowing his hands to fall limply down by his sides.
"That's it, Jack." The General encouraged gently. "Easy does it, son."
Jack O'Neill seemed to struggle for a moment. Then, with his eyes tightly closed, he slowly raised his face from his knees until the back of his head rested on the concrete wall behind him. Even in the subdued light of the office, George could see the salty tracks of dried tears clearly on the other man's face.
Jack stayed still for a short while, breathing deeply as if to steel himself to who or what he would see when he opened his eyes.
George sensed his reluctance to take the next step and said quietly, "Don't worry, Jack. It's only you and I here."
Jack inhaled a deep, shuddering breath and slowly opened his eyes. George was careful to keep his face neutral but this proved extremely difficult due to the utter devastation that was clearly showing in Jack's eyes.
George put a supportive hand on Jack's arm. "Welcome back, Colonel. You had me worried for a while there."
Jack chuffed out a breath, George presumed this was supposed to be a small noise of acknowledgement but it came out more like a strangled sob.
Jack frowned and cleared his throat before trying again. "Sorry, Sir. Kinda getting a bit worried about myself here too," he admitted in a scratchy voice.
"Do you think you can get up and move over to the couch?" The older man asked, raising himself until he was standing upright. "I don't know about you but this floor is murder on my knees, and you've been down there longer than I have."
"Well, you know my knees, Sir." Jack said, shifting slightly on the floor. "Uh…sorry, Sir. I might need a hand here - to actually get up I mean."
The General reached out a hand for Jack to grasp onto. As Jack started to pull himself up, George realised that the other man was clasping something tightly in the void between his chest and his legs.
The Colonel grabbed the General's proffered hand with his right hand and clutched the hidden item with his left. The two men then moved over to the couch where Jack unceremoniously dropped himself down with a loud groan.
"Here you are, Jack." George said softly as he handed Jack one of the mugs of coffee. He then retook his previous position on the arm of the couch and took the other drink for himself.
As he sat drinking his coffee, George cast an appraising eye over his 2IC. Jack was leaning heavily into the couch, drinking his coffee with his eyes closed. The General noticed that the mystery item was still tightly clasped in Jack's left hand. Now that Jack was off the floor the older man could see that it was a picture frame, although he couldn't see the photograph as it was face down to Jack's stomach. Thinking about the room they were in, and Jack's state of mind at the moment, it didn't take a genius to work out who or what the picture would contain.