I'LL PROTECT FROM THE HOODED CLAW
KEEP THE VAMPIRES FROM YOUR DOOR.
He was supposed to protect her. That was his job. He was supposed to protect everyone under his command. Keep them safe, keep them together, get them all back, unharmed. He took his job seriously. He would do anything to get them all back safe, even give his own life. So why had he just let her walk off like that?
They'd demanded she go with the women. It had happened before, many of the societies they visited were primitive, and had archaic laws relating to women. It annoyed Carter no end, but she was beginning to get used to it. Jack just found it mildy amusing. Not this time though. He'd had a bad feeling. It was nothing he could define, just a faint nagging sensation at the back of his mind. 'Don't let her go. Keep her safe here, with you.'
When they had asked her to come, and she moved forward, he had taken her arm, pulled her back. "No."
"I'm sorry?" the leader of the women had said. She was mild, and had been pretty once. There was nothing threatening about her. Still, Jack couldn't shake the feeling that something was dreadfully wrong here.
"She's not going anywhere with you. We're all staying together."
"Sir..."
"That's an order, Captain."
She looked confused, but she obeyed him.
"Umm, Jack." Daniel said. "We should let her go. I'm sure they mean no harm. Look at them. They're all old women. What could they do?"
"Thats right." the woman said. "We just want to dress her properly, and teach her a few of our laws. The men would get very upset if they saw her like that. We'll bring her back soon."
Sam turned and said to him. "It'll be alright sir." She leaned forward, whispering in his ear. She was so close he could feel her breath on his neck. "I can look after myself sir. I'd thought I'd proved that by now." Jack looked down into her eyes.
He could see that she was mildly upset that he didn't think she could defend herself against some old women. So, because Sam wanted it, he let her go. He nodded grimly, and let go his grip her arm.
"I want her back in an hour. No more."
The women nodded, smiling, and left. Sam followed, chatting eagerly with one of the younger women. Jack stood and watched till she was out of sight.
WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN,
I'LL BE AROUND WITH MY UNDYING,
DEATH DEFYING LOVE FOR YOU.
Dammit. He couldn't get that song out of his head. He didn't even like it that much. He'd heard it on the radio this morning, and now it was spinning round and round his mind, stirring up images and memories he usually left well alone. He glanced at his watch. Five hours. Five hours and she still wasn't back. He'd know if something was wrong, wouldn't he? He shook his head.
"Jack," Daniel said softly. "An hour may be different here."
"I don't care. It's been too long. I'm going to find her." He stood up, glad to be doing something at last. He only wished he'd moved sooner. He glanced up at Daniel and Teal'c.
"You guys go back through the gate, report to General Hammond."
"No." they both said simultaneously.
"That's an order!"
"Jack, I'm not in the military."
"And I am not of your world."
"Strictly speaking, you can't give us orders."
Jack looked at their determined faces. He had seen the same look in their eyes when they had insisted on staying when Sam went down the bunker with Cassie. They could have died then. They could easily die now, but all that mattered to them was that Sam was alright. It was what made them a good team, this closeness. Now, as then, he felt a tiny spark of jealousy that they should be this close to her, but he felt much more thankful that Sam had such good friends, protectors. He nodded.
"Are you sure?" he said. "Can you handle it if Carters..." he couldn't get the words out.
Daniel nodded solemnly, looking very young. "She'll be alright, Jack." he said.
"Captain Carter is a formidable warrior. I also am sure she is alright."
Jack wished he had they confidence. His mind was beginning to fill with images. Sam hurt, Sam dying, Sam dead. He wasn't sure *he* could handle it if she was dead.
They moved out. They were on a desert plain, and the heat was searing. They headed towards the tiny settlement of tents Carter had been led too. Jack was not surprised to find them empty, deserted.
"Colonel O'Neill." Jack turned to Teal'c. He was holding up Sam's gun. Jack's face betrayed little of the turmoil he was beginning to feel. He merely blinked as he reached for the weapon. It hadn't been fired.
"Jack." Daniel said gently, and Jack had the sudden feeling that Daniel knew exactly what he was thinking. "She may have left it voluntarily. This doesn't necessarily mean she was forced to do anything. And she still had her knife."
Jack said nothing. He went out the back, and saw the tracks. They stretched a long way into the distance. Far off, he could see an outcropping of rocks. He turned to Daniel.
"I'm guessing thats where they went." he said.
"It's a long way."
"We'd better start walking then, hadn't we?"
The three of them moved off. The desert looked as white as bleached bones, and the air was unbelivably hot and dry. It wouuld be a long, dangerous journey that would tax them to the limit. Still, they walked off into it without a second thought.
DREAMS ARE LIKE ANGELS
THEY KEEP BAD AT BAY.
LOVE IS THE LIGHT SCARING DARKNESS AWAY.
The best way to ignore the distance they had to travel, and how hot and dizzy he was, was to concentrate hard on something else. The problem was, his mind would only concentrate on one subject... Sam.
'Sam. Sam. Where are you? What's happening! I shouldn't have let you go, but you were so damn stubborn as usual. So damned set on satisfying that curiosity of yours! You know what they say, curiosity killed the... no. No. Don't think that. Don't imagine it. Sam, why didn't call for help? Why didn't you call for me? I'd have come running, you know that!'
Images filled his head, sensations, sounds. Sam in that Shevadai dress, annoyed at being treated as a woman, but so lovely. Sitting by the river, hearing love described as madness, and watching her. So afraid for her when she fought, and so proud when she won.
Watching her and her clone arguing, and wondering if his clone and hers would finally get together after a few thousand years.
Holding her when she broke down after the hypnotism, comforting her, telling her it would be alright and meaning it.
The look on her face when she found him with Kynthia.
The panic in him when he realised she would die with Cassie, his absolute certainty that if she died, he would too, and so staying.
His jealousy of Daniel's affection for Sam. The kiss.
Her smile. Her absolute trust in him. 'Oh God. Oh please save my Sam, I
can't live without her...'
Jack stumbled, and Teal'c and Daniel rushed forward to grab him.
"I'm ok!" he said. "I'm ok. I just... got lost in my own thoughts there for a moment."
Daniel and Teal'c glanced at each other. Jack looked gray and ill and for once, every second of his age.
"Maybe we should rest." Daniel suggested tentatively.
Jack took a deep breath, and stood up straight. "No. We don't stop till we find her." He walked on, and Daniel had to hurry to catch up.
"Jack?" He asked, hesitantly. Jack looked at him. Daniel took a deep breath and continued. "Jack, I'm sorry that I said she would be safe with them. I'm so sorry I insisted she go. I blame myself and I wish desperately..."
"Danny." Jack said quietly. "I'm the commanding officer. It was my decision. It's my fault."
'My fault. My fault. If she's dead, I'll hear those words for the rest of my life.'
"Yes but it was on my recommendation..."
"Daniel, stop it. You can't help her by kicking yourself. It was her recommendation that convinced me. Don't talk any more about it. Save your energy for walking."
Daniel nodded miserably, and walked on. Jack watched him, then realised that Daniel was suffering almost as much as he was. Jack remembered all the times he'd seen them with their heads together discussing something that went way over Jack's head. All the times he had disagreed with Daniel, and Daniel had got upset, it had been Sam that calmed him down. She was like his sister.
He turned to face Teal'c. He also looked miserable, but hell, Teal'c *always* looked miserable. But Jack remembered how Teal'c protected Carter, how she always explained everything to him, how she had always been kind and gentle to him. He knew teal'c cared for her too, as a good friend.
Jack smiled to himself. He wasn't alone. He had friends who would fight as hard as he to get her back. Maybe he could succeed.
THE POWER OF LOVE
A FORCE FROM ABOVE
CLEANING MY SOUL.
They were there. Surprisingly they met with no resistance. Instead, guards stood aside for them as if they were expected. Daniel began to get a good feeling about this. Jack didn't. He was worried sick, and that wouldn't pass till he could see Sam, touch Sam, hold Sam. They came to large doors. They swung open to reveal a large light airy room. Inside was a throne, a large man on the throne, and a body lying on the floor. Sam's body.
Jack stared. His worst nightmare was coming true. All the times she'd survived, why couldn't she survive this one more time? 'Move Sam please, move, I'm begging of you, move!'
It was as if Sam heard him, because she suddenly groaned, and moved onto her back. Her eyes were still closed though, and Jack could see her clothes were torn, and her face covered in bruises. One arm hung at a very awkward angle and she had obviously put up one hell of a fight, but she was alive. Jack took a deep breath. As long as she was alive, he could do anything, and that included killing the bastard in front of him!
"I want her back. NOW!" he growled. He looked more dangerous than Daniel had ever seen him, and he stepped back a little. Jack's rage was a palpable thing, stirring the air around him.
The fat man didn't seem bothered though. "Or what?" he asked coolly.
"Or I'll raze this place to the ground, and everybody in it."
The man stared at Jack. He seemed more amused than anything else by Jack's anger. He actually smiled as he said, "But's she's so pretty, so delicate. I like her, and I want to keep her."
Jack said nothing, just made a grab for the man's throat. Daniel and Teal'c reached him just before he reached the man. They held him back, but Daniel doubted he could have done it without Teal'c superior strength. Daniel had always known Jack cared for Sam, and he had watched his two friends slowly falling in love without either of them realising it. He hadn't realised just how much Jack had cared for Sam though.
"You don't understand." Daniel said. "She's very important to us, and we want her back. We'll pay any price for her."
The man considered for a second, then said, "Really, if your concubine is so very precious to you, you should have taken better care of her."
Teal'c had to hold on very tight to Jack to stop him killing him there and then. The man walked round Sam, looking, staring. She stirred, but didn't wake up.
Finally he said. "I'm rich enough. I don't need money. What can money buy out here? But I am bored. I need amusing." He span round and faced Jack. Daniel couldn't suddenly see a glint of evil in the man's eyes. He might seem fat and lazy, but there was a cunning mind under it all, and Daniel was suddenly feeling very very worried indeed. The man looked deep into Jack's eyes and said, "I'll fight you for her."
"Damn right you will, you ugly bastard!"
"Not like this!" the man shouted. Guards suddenly appeared all around the room, as if they had melted out of the walls. The man smiled slowly, cruelly. "We'll do this by the rules." he said. "MY rules."
LOVE IS LIKE AN ENERGY
RUSHING AND RUSHING INSIDE OF ME
Half an hour later, and they were getting ready. Jack had stripped down to his t-shirts and trousers. He had no weapon. The man had allowed Daniel to take care of Sam, and he sat against the wall, with Sam sprawled across his lap. She still hadn't woken up, but she had stirred and moved, and muttered something. Jack thought she had said his name, but he wasn't sure if that was just wishful thinking. He looked down at her, her head in Daniel's lap. The man had forbidden Jack to touch her, so all he could do was watch her. She looked so vulnerable like this, so pale and fragile. He knew she wasn't, but he had never seen before how her small body was swamped by the uniform, how childlike her face was. Daniel said his name softly, and Jack looked up. Daniel nodded to behind Jack, and he turned around. The man was ready. Jack could see that most of the bulk of the man was muscle, not fat.
He had an evil glint in his eye, and Jack suddenly wasn't so sure this would be as easy as he thought it would be. He turned to Daniel.
"Danny, if I don't survive this..."
"Jack!"
"If i don't survive this, get her out of here. Whatever happens, I want her alive and safe. Is that clear?" he said, his voice rough.
Daniel nodded.
"You may depend on us." Teal'c said, standing protectively next to Sam and Daniel. Jack nodded, then knelt down next to Sam.
"I'll be back soon." he whispered softly. "Just hold on, my love."
Then he walked into the arena.
The two men circled each other warily, neither making the first move. The guards had surrounded the circle, and had started chanting, to put off Jack, Daniel guessed. As the chanting got louder, Sam stirred more.
"Jack?" she whispered.
"Ssh." Daniel soothed her. "He'll be back soon."
Jack suddenly made the first move. He went for the man's legs, relying on his own bulk to knock him down. It worked, but the man was agile. He got up quickly, and kicked Jack in the head. Now it was Jack on the floor.
Daniel strained to see, but the guards had completely surrounded the circle, and he couldn't see round them.
Sam stirred again. "Where's Jack?" she whispered.
Daniel looked down to see her eyes were open. 'Thank God' he thought.
"He'll be back soon, Sam." he said. "Just lie there, and you'll see him soon."
'I hope.' He looked towards the fight. The two protagonists seemed equally matched, but the man was not above fighting dirty. Jack had discovered this soon though, and he knew a few dirty tricks of his own.
Both the men were tired, dirty and bleeding. Daniel was concentrating hard on trying to see round the guards, as was Teal'c, and so neither of them saw the guard behind the man pull a large, wicked-looking knife and hold it out for the man to grab. Sam, however had a different view, and she saw it perfectly.
"Jack!" she screamed.
Jack, who had been about to rush the man, stopped, and looked round at the sound of Sam's scream. She was alive! He turned, only to find that the man had a knife. Sam's scream had stopped him rushing right into it. The man rushed at Jack, but Jack neatly stepped aside, grabbed the man's arm as he went by, and twisted the knife out of his hand. The man lost his balance and fell, and Jack was astride him, holding the knife to his throat before
he could draw breath.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now, you ugly bastard." Jack growled.
"The girl is yours!" the man shouted.
Jack smiled. "She always was. I want transport back to the gate. I don't want us to be bothered. If I don't get what I want, I'll fight you again, and this time it'll be by MY rules. Is that clear?"
The man nodded very very carefully.
Jack got up. "There's a good boy." he said. Then he turned, and practically ran over to Sam. He knelt down by her side. "You ok?" he asked gently.
"I think my arm is broken, and I feel sore all over. Other than that I'm fine. What just happened?"
"Nothing, just a little discussion. Our friend very kindly offered us a lift back to the gate. Can you walk?"
Sam nodded, and tried to stand. She fell, and Daniel reached for her, but Jack got her first.
"Its ok Danny, I'll take her now." he said, and he swung Sam up into his arms.
"Sir, I can walk!" she protested.
"Be quiet Captain." he said.
She didn't argue. Instead she looked up into his dark eyes. They were so deep. 'I could drown in those eyes' she thought. She smiled as she remembered. 'He came for me. He didn't let me down, he came for me, and he called my 'my love.' She smiled happily up at him as he lifted her onto the wagon. He held her, as she sat there, and he realised he had almost lost that smile forever.
"Sam." he said, suddenly aware that everything was about to change.
"Yes sir?"
"You'll never be left alone again, do you understand that? I don't care what rules we break, whatever happens, I'm never leaving you alone again."
She smiled, and Jack was struck by the sudden certainty that she loved him every bit as much as he loved her. He leaned forward and kissed her, ever so gently, ever so sweetly. She did nothing for a second, then she reached up and pulled him down to her, and deepened the kiss.
He finally pulled away to say, "You never leave my side again. That's an order."
"Yes sir."
"And for crying out loud Sam, call me Jack!"
LOVERS ENTWINED DIVINE DIVINE
LOVE IS DANGER, LOVE IS PLEASURE
LOVE IS PURE, THE ONLY TREASURE.
I'M SO IN LOVE WITH YOU, IT BURNS THE SOUL.
The End.
Story Notes: SPOILERS: SINGULARITY
REQ. READING: sequal to REFLECTIONS
This story was was inspired by the song the power of love by frankie goes to hollywood.
REQ. READING: sequal to REFLECTIONS
This story was was inspired by the song the power of love by frankie goes to hollywood.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]