Caveman
Chapter 5
After a brief encounter with Janet, Telna had left the temple with Daniel, and Sam was eager to see what kind of crown the Alveonan woman would design for the doctor. She loved her own, and the guys', as she could not help but think that each of them was matching perfectly the person they were intended for. Eolan appeared on the tile to take Teal'c back with him, and Jack took Sam's hands to follow them. As they arrived to the temple on the other side of the planet, they were welcomed by Telna who waited until they had stepped from the central tile before she went and fetch Janet, holding a wonderful crown of nearly white twigs, large amethysts, a few small rubies and many rock crystals for the SGC doctor. When Janet and Telna appeared on the central tile, Janet was glowing under her new head wear.
"Wow Doc!" Jack exclaimed. "You look great!"
"Why... Thank you Sir..." the doctor answered with a faint blush. "You are not bad yourself, this crown is really fitting you. The same goes for you Captain. It's a shame twig crowns are out of fashion on Earth..." she added, following Telna out of the temple. The two women had the same interest in helping and healing, and they had much to discuss.
Eolan had offered to join Jack and Sam in the control room, although he did not see the point in trying to repair the dome. For the Alveonans, fate was a part of life and they never thought they could influence the life path of the Silva. If it was time for it to die, then they would die with it, and there was nothing to worry about. Waiting for Eolan, Jack and Sam stood outside the temple, contemplating the forest and the intricate of huts and bridges up in the trees. Jack could hear Sam's bewilderment in his head, as they both had their crowns on, and he loved the way she took everything in as if she was a little girl on Christmas Eve. He had a soft spot for her, there was no doubt about that. He wanted to see her smile, to protect her, to hug and touch her, but he also liked the soldier in her, though, fit, reliable. And well, the geek side of her too, if he had to be honest, but mostly because he loved to see her happy and excited by her work. He was proud of her, he relied on her to save the day, and well.. she was just Carter and it said it all. He was interrupted in his day-dreaming by a sudden, massive wave of warmth which nearly took his breath away. Searching for the source of it, he stopped dead on his feet as he met Sam's eyes, where he could see the exact same deep love he had just felt in his mind. He took a step back, and still confused, removed his crown to try and break the spell. However he winced as soon as the twigs had left his head, the loud voices invading his mind... Sighing, he put the crown back on and resolutely closed his mind.
Sam had felt the warmth of Jack's thoughts about her while he was dreaming, and she absolutely melted in the tender feeling she received. It was soft and sweet and caring. In reaction, she had felt the powerful love she nourished for him swell in her chest with a force that was almost painful. She did love that man, he was everything she wanted, although she could not have him, and that last part was contributing to keep it at an ideal which could never be deceived. However, she realized he had felt the wave of love that had been growing in her chest, and she was confused to see disbelief and something close to fear in his eyes as he reached for his crown. He winced as the contact broke, and he returned the twigs to his head, but the connection did not come back. His eyes went blank, and he was obviously shutting her out. She didn't know how he could do it, but she knew it was meant against her. He did not wish for her to read his mind, nor to be invaded by hers. She was suddenly embarrassed that her CO would have the knowledge of her feelings. But she couldn't help them, and as long as she was not acting on them, he could not hold a grudge on her, could he?
She was interrupted in her reflections by the arrival of Eolan. Sam was always fascinated to see the Alveonans float over the ground and her mind left Jack to focus on the possible physics laws behind such a power. The Alveonan had a concerned look on his face, his eyes swiping from Jack to Sam and back. He had witnessed the interaction between them from a distance, and was again surprised by Jack's reaction. Why was he shutting her out? Why did he refuse to acknowledge his feelings for her? And why did he fear the love-energy she was ready to offer? Humans were strange creatures, with their articulated sounds and the total mess in their minds! However, O'Neill had made it clear that he did not wish to discuss this with him, and Eolan had no intention to force him to. Mind communication had to be based on respect of the others' mind and wishes, you could not intrude, nor could you force feelings on others. This said, with mind communication you could not lie to others, nor to yourself, which made things a little less complicated.
Jack was relieved to see Eolan. He needed some time away from Sam just now, and it was a perfect timing. Eolan could go with Sam down to the control room, while he would take a little reckon mission outside the dome. He called Teal'c on the radio and both of them made their way through the lush forest. Noetel, Eolan's youngest sister, promised to join them later on, although the members of SG-1 doubted she would be able to catch up. They had not expected the forest to be so large either, it was almost twice the size of the one on the other side, so they had at least five klicks to go before they could reach the edge. The men appreciated the calm of a place with no mind communication, and they had attached their crowns on their backpacks. However, when Noetel showed up, they had to put them back on.
"How did you find us?" Jack wanted to know.
"The Silva told me where you were" she answered as if it was the most natural thing to say.
"How could a forest communicate with you?" Teal'c questioned.
"The same way you do, Teal'c. By the mind"
"Oh come on! Forests don't have minds!" Jack pointed.
"Don't you hear Silva when she talks to you?" Noetel wondered.
"I do not" the Jaffa answered.
"Anyway, how did you manage to catch up? We left long before you"
"I thought about you, and my mind took me to you. I believe your friend Sam understands this"
"You talked to her?" Jack wondered. To his knowledge, Sam had not left the temple and was studying the control room with Eolan.
"I visited her and she explained the theories your planet uses to explain energy. She called it quantum. She was frustrated however, as she understands the mechanisms ruling it, but can not master its use"
"Yeah.. I can imagine that..." Jack smiled.
"It takes some time, and a clear mind" Noetel explained as they reached the edge of the dome.
"Will your body be able to survive outside of the dome?" Teal'c asked.
"I can follow you for a short while" she answered as they stepped out to a dry and warm landscape with palm trees and wetlands visible at some distance. Jack was immediately reminded of Florida at the sight. The contrast between the temperature inside the dome and outside was not as sharp as it was on the alpha site side, which would explain why the crystals were not as depleted, holding the dome on this side somewhat larger. Noetel was carefully walking on the ground, which was very unnatural for her.
"Silva is not here, I can't interact with this soil the way I do in the dome. Some relatives of my people could interact with this soil, but my life code bounds me to Silva" she explained.
"Listen. Humans are not bound to Silva the way you are, however we noticed that we were healing faster when we had been in contact with the soil of the forest. Would you care to explain that?" Jack wanted to know.
"Of course. Silva is energy, and the dome keeps the energy inside. You are energy. Silva bounds to you, even though you obviously don't notice it. Silva makes your energy more active, therefore you heal faster"
"You mean.. Our bodies are activated by the forest in the dome?"
"In a way O'Neill. The energy bounds and flows between your body and Silva, the natural processes are enhanced"
"This is the same process as the sarcophagus O'Neill, only this is a natural way of doing it. It would not have saved your friend"
Emotions washed over Jack at the direct evocation of Jerry, before he managed to shield them away, and Noetel was hit by the force of the flow, which made her fall to the ground.
"You OK?" Jack worried.
"I am, thank you. My balance is uncertain on this ground, and your emotions are strong O'Neill. They unsettled me for a moment. But Teal'c is right, Silva can not cure a body which has been poisoned, it only helps a body to perform its tasks at a higher rate. Poison requires other means to be cured. You blame yourself for the death of your friend"
"Yeah... I do..." Jack admitted.
"Death is part of the life, you should not fight it. It is not an end, it is only an other state of energy" the young Alveonan posed.
"What you mean, an other state of energy?"
"Again, Sam would understand. Energy is everywhere, it organizes itself in different ways but it is only energy. It can change, reorganize itself. This is what you do when you use the tile in the temple. Your mind sends the energy from your body to an other place, where it reorganizes itself to reform your body"
"Like a wormhole..? Really?"
"Your mind is strong, but it is chaotic, therefore you don't master it completely. You could learn..."
"Yeah, right... I'll send Danny to you" Jack dismissed. They continued to walk in silence, until Teal'c noticed Noetel's faint glow.
"I believe your energy is growing weak. We should return" The Alveonan woman smiled at him and followed them back to the dome. As soon as she was inside, the faint glow surrounding her regained its bright blue color, and she raised from the ground, floating again on the energy pillow Eolan had described.
"That's cool!" Jack commented. After a short while, she had regained her full strength and left them to return to the temple by mind transport while they made their way through the bushes.
Meanwhile in the control room, Sam was studying the panels with the help of Eolan. Although he had no knowledge of how they worked, he was able to give her a feed back on their function without passing out. Noetel had visited them and the discussion had gone on quantum physics. The Alveonans did not understand how it worked, but they could use its effects, while Sam understood every detail of the theory but could not use it herself, even under the instructions of her new friends. Growing frustrated, she had decided to give up for the moment and to return her attention to the study of the panels, while Noetel left them to join Teal'c and O'Neill. At the evocation of her CO, Eolan perceived a wave of sadness in Sam and he asked her why. Surprised that he would be so direct, she didn't know what to answer at first.
"You love him and he shuts you out" Eolan posed quietly. Sam felt panic creep in her. She had never meant to share this secret with anyone!
"No! How...? I mean... Why..? No.." she stammered.
"Your feelings do not lie Sam. He feared the love he felt from you, and I do not understand why"
Sam sighed. There was no point in denying anything, it seemed that the Alveonan knew everything anyway.
"These feelings are not allowed. We can not... share feelings of this nature. He is my CO, my superior, we have to remain professional. In the job we do, we are not supposed to get.. attached that way, you understand?" she tried to explain.
"I can read what you say in your mind, but I do not understand how feelings can be forbidden"
"It's like... you are not allowed to love your sister the way you love your mate, right? This kind of feelings is not allowed, as a pretty universal law I would think. So you see, some feelings are not allowed. In the Air Force, feelings between superiors and subordinates are not either. Colonel O'Neill would not compromise our work by allowing inappropriate feelings between us"
"This is unfortunate Sam. I feel this is a burden for you"
"Well... In a way it is. But I am also glad we have this special relationship, even if that is all I can have" she smiled.
"When he first mentioned you, his mind colored in such a way that I was mistaken to think you were his mate"
"Really?" wondered Sam. "I know he cares about me, but not in the same way as I do. You see, he was married and I think he still has feelings for his wife. She would be the one he sees as his mate"
Eolan looked both surprised and confused at this revelation, and he remained silent while she resumed her work, changing the depleted crystals. At first, Sam was relieved that he would cease questioning her, but after a while she found the silence uncomfortable.
"Do you have a mate Eolan? As I understand, you are six brothers and sisters left here...?"
"We are brothers and sisters as of the same people, not by the blood" he smiled. At this moment, Noetel came back and she informed Sam that she could feel an increase in the energy from the Silva, which Eolan acknowledged too, witnessing the effect from the newly replaced crystals. Noetel told them of their excursion outside the dome, then they all decided it was time for a lunch break, and they left the control room.
The air outside the temple was full of energy, even Sam could feel it and she felt the tiredness from hours of work fade away. They met with Janet and Telna at the common table and were soon joined by Daniel and his new friends Rannel and Vital, who had spent the morning telling him of their culture and history. Gawynn, their last sister, joined them with fresh fruits and bread and she invited everyone to sit and help themselves.
"Silva is strong today" Telna noticed, feeling revitalized by the new energy they could all feel.
"Sam has replaced some of the crystals in the temple, in order to increase the dome's energy" Eolan informed. All around the table smiled approvingly to her, but she was not as satisfied as she thought she would be. Something was not as it should. The energy should have expanded to make the dome larger, but it felt like the energy was accumulating inside the dome instead. She would have to go to the edge and see if the dome was indeed expanding, or not.
Teal'c and Jack had been walking in silence for about twenty minutes, lost in their own thoughts. That was the good thing with Teal'c, that he did not need Jack to keep a conversation going. Jack loved the Alveonans and knew that Janet and Sam especially, could learn many important things from them, but he found it exhausting to spend time in their company, due to the incessant stream of noise in his head. He wondered if his companions were as plagued as he was, or if he was getting more of it due to his now infamous Ancient gene, but fact was, he could not imagine spending several days on this side of the planet with the six of them talking in the background of his mind at all time, and he sure didn't like that his thoughts were suddenly displayed for everyone to see. It took much energy from him to keep his mind closed, and he knew he had hurt Sam when he shut her out in the morning, but what had happened then was not supposed to happen, and it was dangerous for them both. They could NOT afford this kind of feelings between them, and knowing that she actually... what? Loved him? Liked him very much? Wanted him? Oh boy! Whatever it was, it made it harder for him to remain professional toward her. All of a sudden, Teal'c stopped walking and called:
"O'Neill?!"
"Yeah?"
"What is this noise?"
"What noise?"
"Is it wind?"
"There's no wind in the dome"
They both fell silent. It was no wind in the dome, they both knew it, but they could hear leaves rustling with more and more force. The forest was dense and they could not see anything wrong, nor could they decide which direction the sound was coming from. It also felt like the light was fainting, which was strange as they were still in the middle of the afternoon.
"What's happening Teal'c?" whispered Jack, all senses in alert.
"I do not know O'Neill" the Jaffa said, taking the back to back formation with Jack in order to protect each other's six.
"Teal'c? Where is the path?" Jack suddenly wondered. They had cut a path through the forest when they came, and they were following it on their way back. But now, he could not find it anymore, it was like the vegetation never had been cut. It was more lushly than ever. Actually, it looked like it was getting denser too...
"Could we have lost our way? It was just there!"
"It seems that the vegetation is growing back extremely fast O'Neill" the Jaffa posed. Jack studied the green wall around them.
"You are right Teal'c. I can actually see it grow! Look!" he said, pointing at a creeper wriggling its way up along a tree like a snake.
"How is this possible?" Teal'c grumbled. He felt something snake itself around his ankle and lowered his gaze. Big creepers were growing and threading between their feet. He tried to jump back, but his foot was taken in the vegetation, which was beginning to swirl around his leg. He stumbled, trying to keep his balance by grabbing Jack's arm, who fell with him. He had also seen the danger and was reaching for his knife. He tried to chop the creepers holding his ankles and legs, but they were already so thick... Teal'c didn't seem to have more success. As soon as he had managed to cut through one of the branches, it regenerated with two or three smaller but faster and more nimble shoots. Soon, both men were struggling in a heavy mass of vegetation and Jack fought to reach his radio.
"Carter! Daniel! Remove the new crystals! Now! Remove the... argh..." A creeper had swirled itself around his throat and he reached to hold it away from his air ways, but the situation felt desperate. The forest was strong and alive. It had decided to grow and invade every bite of free space, crushing both men in the process. There was no way they could escape...
After their lunch, Sam and Eolan had returned to the control room to try and understand why the energy had increased inside the dome instead of expanding. Daniel had joined Noetel in her walk toward the edge of the forest to check how far the dome went. There was still a possibility that the energy would slowly spread and expand with time, and if it was the case, Daniel would be able to measure how far the dome had expanded already. However, they did not go far before Noetel noticed something was changed in Silva. She could hear its roaring voice, eager to grow more and more, faster and faster, which was unusual. They both saw the rapid growth of the vegetation, and decided to turn back when they heard Jack's cry in the radio. Daniel answered and asked what was happening, but Teal'c and Jack's radios remained silent. Fear was creeping up Daniel's chest and he broke into a run toward the temple, Noetel floating hurriedly at his side. Sam was in the temple and she could not have heard the radio, they had to warn her at once!
As they arrived, they met the other Alveonans and Janet, all of them confused and worried by the notable change in their environment. All of them joined Eolan and Sam in the control room, demanding that she would remove the new crystals at once and expressing their concern for Jack and Teal'c whose hopeless struggle had filtered in the Alveonans' minds. As soon as the crystals were out, all of them returned to the surface to look for the men. Eolan tried to reach their minds, but he could not locate them.
"What does it mean?!" Sam wanted to know.
"It means that their minds are not active anymore" Telna answered.
"You mean they are dead?" Daniel cried.
"Dead, or unconscious" Telna calmly informed. "I sense Silva is calmer now. I will try to communicate with her and find your friends with her help"
The six Alveonans reached the gem on their foreheads and entered a deep state of concentration, witnessed by an intense glowing of both the gems and the light surrounding their bodies. The three humans were looking intently at them, hoping for good news but frustrated to be unable to help. All of a sudden, the six Alveonans disappeared.
"Where did they go?!" Janet wanted to know.
"Let's hope they have located Jack and Teal'c and will soon return with them" Daniel attempted to reassure her.
"Sir? Teal'c?! Do you hear me? Please respond!" Sam tried again on the radio. Silence was deafening and time seemed to pass extremely slowly while they were waiting for news from their friends. At last, Vital returned, holding an antelope in his arms.
"Silva sent me to her. She was almost dead, covered by bushes and squeezed by creepers. She needs help" he said, lowering the animal carefully on the soil and patting her.
"What about our friends?" Sam demanded, shocked that Vital would have gone to save the animal instead of the men.
"I do not know of their fate" the Alveonan casually answered while caressing the neck of the antelope. "I asked Silva to tell me where to find any living form needing my help, and she sent me to her"
Sam was about to protest when Rannel showed up, holding an ape-like creature with the same concern Vital had shown to the antelope. He lowered carefully the animal to the ground and provided the best care he could, but he soon gave up.
"The neck is broken. Silva sent me too late" he simply said.
"What about Teal'c and Jack?" Daniel wanted to know, his impatience growing.
"I do not know of their fate. Silva didn't sent me to them. I suppose it was too late for them too" Rannel said with such calm that, again, the humans were shocked. How could he be so little concerned?! Sam felt a wave of anger washing over her and both Alveonan males felt it. They frowned and took a step backward.
"I do not understand your anger" Vital said. "Why do you worry so much?"
"I want our friends back! And you don't seem to care about them! I thought they were your friends too!" she exploded.
"Of course they are. But if they are dead, what can we do?"
"We don't want them to be dead! We must help them!"
"You are afraid of death? Why?" Rannel calmly asked. With a furious growl, Sam turned away from the Alveonan to fight the temptation of hurting him. How could they not know, not understand her concern?! Facing the forest, she noticed four lights floating over the bushes at some distance. Between each pair of them, a body was floating in mid-air along with them. She started to run, followed by Janet and Daniel, the three of them stumbling in the creepers and branches. As they reached the group, Janet checked Jack's vitals while Daniel tried to find a pulse on Teal'c. As they both were satisfied that their friends were alive, they followed the group back to the Alveonans' settlement, where Janet fetched her medicine bag to give both men first help. It was clear that they had been squeezed hard by strong creepers and nearly strangled. Jack had a broken arm and two broken fingers, probably from fighting the creeper strangling him, as witnessed by the numerous scratches on his throat. Teal'c had a dislocated ankle and probably a couple of ribs cracked too. Telna assisted the doctor in her work, and the soil of Silva enhanced the healing process. The wounds were nearly healed when the men came to.
"Sir! How are you feeling?" Janet wanted to know. Jack winced and whimpered, grabbing his head with both hands before he passed out again.
"His crown! Where is the Colonel's crown?" Sam inquired. Eolan and Noetel left again to fetch the men's backpacks. They had had to leave the heavy packs behind as the Alveonans' minds could not lift them in addition to the human bodies. As soon as they returned, Daniel and Sam detached the crowns and placed them on their friends heads. Soon, Teal'c seemed to wake up.
"Hey Teal'c, how are you feeling?" Janet welcomed him.
"I am well Doctor Fraiser. I had to enter a deep state of kelno'reem when I realized I could not fight the creepers. How is Colonel O'Neill?" the Jaffa wanted to know as he noticed Sam trying to wake their unconscious friend.
"I think he is well. He came to but as he didn't have his crown on, he passed out again almost immediately"
"Ah... Gosh... What was that?" the Colonel complained when he woke up again, holding his temples with both hands.
"There" Janet said, handing him an aspirin along with his canteen. "Your headache should go soon, Eolan and Noetel got your crown back"
"What was with the plants? They tried to kill us!" he said, sitting painfully up before he swallowed the aspirin.
"I don't think they intended to, Jack. As you had guessed, if I am to judge from your message on the radio, the extra energy they received from the new crystals made them grow at an incredible rate, and it seems that you were just... on their way..." Daniel explained. Jack rolled his eyes at him before pressing them with the palms of his hands, the simple rolling having fueled his headache.
"Any idea why the crystals did that, Carter?" he sighted.
"No Sir, I didn't have time to make any measurement. When I noticed the energy was increasing inside the dome instead of expanding it, I went back to the control room to check them. By the time, things had gone out of control and you were calling for help so we removed the crystals" Sam informed. As he perceived a hint of guilt in her voice, Jack lifted his head to check for confirmation on her face. Then, he returned his painful eyes to his palms.
"You are here to study the damn thing, Carter. You could not have known the forest would go crazy like that!"
"Yes Sir" she replied automatically.
"Good. Get your stuff all of you, we're heading home" Jack said, swaying a little as he stood up.
"But Jack!" Daniel protested.
"You can come back an other time Daniel. I think we've had enough for today"
"Sir, I would like to make a quick stop at the control room before we leave, just to make sure the readings are back to normal"
"Right. I'm coming with you. Doc, Daniel, you finish packing up and join us. Teal'c, you stay with them" Jack ordered, following Sam to the temple. Truth was, he felt weak and didn't like it. He didn't have the strength to close his mind to the background noise, which kept him dizzy. He wanted out of here, fast...
Once at the temple, he helped Sam down and waited while she was reading her instruments, making some recordings and pictures to study later in her lab. When she had packed everything, they returned to the tile room where their friends were just arriving, Daniel obviously not happy to leave so soon but Jack couldn't care less. He was afraid he would faint if they stayed longer.
With the help of the Alveonans, they returned to the alpha site, all of them removing their crown and stacking them up in their usual corner as they left. Last to leave the temple after Eolan's departure, Jack tiredly lifted his hands to his head to grab the twigs and go home. But his hand stopped in mid-air as he listened intently.
"Jack..." a voice said. "Keep it on Jack"
Tilting his head and narrowing his eyes, Jack tried to locate the source of the voice. It was not Daniel, but none of the others called him Jack...
"Jack... come to me..."
"Jerry?" Jack tried in disbelief.
"Yes Jack. Come to me. To the cavern..."
Jack was now worried. Something must have happened when he was unconscious, perhaps the oxygen deprivation when the creeper strangled him had affected his brain. He hurried out to try and catch up with Fraiser.
"You are not crazy Jack. It's really me. Come to the cavern"
"Jerry?" Jack interrogated again, standing still on the path. "But... You're dead!"
"I know. But now you have the crown on and your mind is opened. Now you can hear me"
Unconsciously, he reached for the crown, searching the forest for his deceased friend.
"The cavern Jack.. the cavern.." said the voice with less force, like it was about to disappear. Jack started to jog along, leaving the path to head toward the cavern.
"Wait for me! I'm coming!" he said, afraid the voice would leave. Then, his military training took over and he reached for his radio.
"Teal'c! Meet me at the cavern!"
"I'm on my way O'Neill" the faithful Jaffa answered immediately. The other members of the SGC stopped on their tracks, not knowing what to do.
"What's happening?" Daniel wondered.
"I don't know..." Sam said, looking at Teal'c running toward the river.
"Well" Janet intervened. "The Colonel didn't say we should come along, what about we go to the camp and have a cup of coffee while we wait?"
"I like practical people" Daniel smiled at her, starting to walk again. Sam was still looking at Teal'c, who had joined Jack at the entrance of the cavern's valley. She wondered what had happened, and why the Colonel only had asked for Teal'c. It couldn't be anything dangerous, or he would have called for the whole team, wouldn't he? She felt that she should have been with them, but they would call if they needed her, so she resigned herself to join Daniel and the doctor to the alpha site.
As he joined Jack, Teal'c noticed that the man still had his crown on, and although he could see approbation on the face of the officer at seeing him, no words were exchanged as they continued to jog along. Once in the valley where Jack had spent six months of his life, they slowed down to a walk. Neither of them had been there since they had retrieved Jerry's plant samples, and it had been nearly four months since then already. The trees had lost their leaves and the wind was blowing cold, giving the valley a sinister look. However, Jack was surprised by the warm feeling he had at the sight. Except for the death of his friend and the following loneliness, he had been happy there. It had been home, safe. He walked up to the familiar boulder.
"Teal'c, you wait here, OK?" he softly asked. The Jaffa bowed his head. This was not an order but a request. They were obviously not on a mission, and what he wanted to know, O'Neill would tell him later on if he wished to. He sat down on the picnic table and took watch while his friend walked hesitatingly up to his former home.
As he entered, he noticed the leaves accumulated on the ground, the dirt blown in by the wind. It felt cold and empty. What had he expected? Jerry was dead. He was a fool. He had been tired and weak from their little experience with the killing plants, it had all been in his head. He was about to turn back when he heard it again, clear and close this time.
"Jack"
"Jerry?" he jumped.
"It's good to see you Jack. I was not sure you would come. Sometimes, you can be so... military" the smiling voice said.
"Where are you? Can you see me?"
"I'm over here, on my bed platform"
Jack was staring, wide eyed, trying to see his friend and only seeing the bare stone. He sat down on his own bed and tried to relax. He was still doubting his sanity.
"It's really me Jack. With the crown, you can hear my mind. I am stronger in the cavern, where I died. Death is only a new state of energy, it's not the end" Jerry said, repeating Noetel's words. The emotion Jack received was warm and soft. Little by little, he perceived a faint glow on Jerry's bed, wanting so much for this to be true, although he did not believe his own eyes.
"Yes, now you see me, don't you? Keep opening your mind Jack. Yes. Good man" Jerry encouraged, using the same words as when he had taught Jack to prepare plants and ointments. And suddenly he was there, his frame glowing in a warm, soft light, smiling with this smile Jack had nearly forgotten.
"Jerry!" he acknowledged. "It's good to see you. How have you been?"
"I'm good Jack. It's... different here. But good" the young doctor said. "I met someone who wants to talk to you"
"Alice?" Jack asked. He remembered Jerry's last words about joining his girlfriend on the other side.
"Yes, Alice is here too, but she is not the one" Jerry said, extending his hand to someone Jack couldn't see. A little hand took it and a new frame started to glow at his side. Reaching for his mouth with both hands, Jack repressed a sob.
"Oh god!" was all he could say.
"Dad..." the little frame said.
"Charlie..."
"I'm glad to see you Dad. It's been a while..." the boy smiled.
"A very long while" Jack whispered, his throat feeling tight and sore.
"I was looking after you Dad, I was not gone. I'm looking after Mom too"
"You are?"
"Yes. And you make me sad. You are blaming yourself for my death" Charlie accused.
"I..." Jack tried to deny.
"I know you do Dad. You think you had left your gun out of its drawer, but it's not true. You had locked the drawer and hidden the key back the picture frame, like you were supposed to. I just found it one day I knocked the picture down when my ball bounced into your room. I knew your gun was there, and I knew I was not allowed to touch it. It called for me Dad. It was my time"
"Why Charlie? Why?" Tears were running freely on the hurting father's cheeks.
"I had done what I had come to do in this life. I was not supposed to grow up. In my next life Dad, I'm gonna be very old! But I will not be born again before many years still, so I'll stay with you until then" Charlie smiled.
"You will?"
"Yes Dad. I'll continue to look after you and Mom. But you have to stop blaming yourself. And more than that, you have to stop punishing yourself"
"Why?"
"You have to live Dad. It is me who died. You still have much to live. My life is over this time, it's not helping anyone that you waste yours over me"
Jack's face hardened. He wanted to punish himself. That was filling his life now. He couldn't be happy when his son was dead, when he could never share those things with him. Why should Jack be happy and experience life's delights when Charlie never could? By his fault...
"You're wrong Dad. I have experienced these, in some former lives, and I will again, in the next ones. We were not supposed to live these things together, but I could feel them through you if you stopped denying that to yourself..."
"Really?" Jack asked, a faint hope in his voice.
"Your life is not over Dad. You have much left to live. Many exciting things, much fun and love still. Don't worry for me, I'm fine here. Jerry's with me, and GrandPa, and GrandMa"
"Really? They're with you?"
"We are, Son" two faint voices said.
"I have to go now Dad. Will you listen to what I said?"
"I will Son. Thanks" Jack smiled.
"Bye Dad. I love you" Charlie said, his voice and frame already fainting.
"Bye Charlie. I love you too"
"Bye Jack. I will not see you again, but I'm glad you listened to me and came here. Thanks for my parents too. It meant a lot to them that you told them about my last months with you. Have a nice life now. I'll see you around some day" Jerry said.
"Bye Jerry. Thank you for... you know..." Jack waved toward the place Charlie had been standing. Jerry's frame sent an acknowledging smile before it fainted completely. Jack remained seated for some more long minutes, feeling at peace at last, and happy.
~ THE END ~