Jack returned to leaning against the wall, trying to shake the fuzz out of his brain. He felt numb inside. He felt sick and repulsed by himself. He should never have allowed what occurred to happen. He should have done something to stop it, to fight against it. Even after its eyes glowed, reinforcing the fact that it was not Sam, he did not stop it. What made him feel so repulsed was the fact that she knew. She was in there somewhere and she had heard him.
She had seen him.
She had felt him.
She had tasted him.
Repulsion and shame consumed him. Every single second had screamed at him that it was not Sam, yet he had allowed himself to react.
Jack ran his hands over his face, knowing that he had to get it together and sort himself out. His team was looking at him to lead, to get them out of here. Teal'c was still sitting on the opposite side of the cell to Jack, watching and taking everything in. Carpenter had been returned a few minutes earlier, after a relatively short torture and Sarah Gardner was curled in the corner. He had to get all three of them out of this situation, find Daniel and then, somehow, get Sam back. Turning to Carpenter he asked, "What happened to you then?"
She looked straight at him. "Not much. It didn't ask me anything. It, uh, used the pain stick a few times. Gave me terrible nightmares with the hand device." Carpenter paused. "It then went the human way."
"Human?" he asked, wondering what the younger lieutenant had suffered at the hands of the Goa'uld.
"It stabbed me, right in the gut." She was no longer looking at Jack, but staring off into the distance. "It watched as I bled. It... probed... the wound. It just watched and I felt the blood flow and then drip until it stopped." Jack winced and allowed her to speak at her own pace. "I was aware of taking my last breath and my heart slowing. I closed my eyes and I opened them in here." She sniffed and wiped at her face with her sleeve. "At least I didn't scar."
The only thing that Jack could think was that Osiris could have channelled Sam’s resentment towards the lieutenant. Jack knew that even if Sam had disliked Carpenter, she would still have hated to watch her be killed. "You okay, ready?" She nodded.
A few minutes later, Teal'c caught Jack's attention; the Jaffa were returning with Daniel. Jack only knew that Daniel was returning because he could hear him protesting about being pushed. Jack was curious as to why Daniel had been absent for so long. No one had seen him since they had arrived at the gate address. As the Jaffa and Daniel came into view, Jack made eye contact with Daniel and the younger man nodded. As the entrance to the cell opened, Teal'c and Jack both rushed forward at the Jaffa. Caught in the middle, Daniel was sent sprawling to the floor, landing near to where Sarah was hiding. Carpenter lunged forward and grabbed a staff weapon from the Jaffa Teal'c was fighting. As soon as there was an opening, Carpenter fired on Teal'c's Jaffa, killing him. The second Jaffa paused allowing Jack to land a punch straight on his jaw. As the Jaffa recoiled, Carpenter fired the staff at him. Jack picked up the second staff weapon and threw it over to Teal'c who immediately moved with Carpenter to keep watch. Jack turned to Daniel who had managed to stand. "Nice of you to join us, Danny."
"What?" Daniel asked. "I haven't been gone that long."
"Yeah, yeah you have." Jack wanted answers, but he knew that now was not the right time. Unfortunately he kept hearing Aldwin's words echoing through his head: There may be a Zatarc on base. You might be taking them with you and walking straight into a trap. Osiris wanted Major Carter for a specific reason. It could be either Daniel or Carpenter, and escaping now could be that specific reason.
"Sorry," Daniel replied sarcastically, "but what do you-" he was cut off by Sarah's quiet voice.
"Danny? Daniel?"
"Who? What?" Daniel questioned as he turned toward the sound. Sarah peered out into the light slightly. "Sarah, oh my God." He rushed and knelt in front of her, gently raising a hand to her cheek.
"I'm not a God anymore, Daniel."
"Daniel, can you bring her?" Jack asked. "We don't have much time."
"Yeah, sure," Daniel replied in shock.
"Okay, let's get moving." He did not need to say whether they were heading directly to the Stargate or to try and find Sam, his team knew. As they started carefully along the corridor, Jack was very aware that only two of his team were armed and that the fourth member was helping a frail injured civilian along. A civilian that Jack was very aware could easily be a spy as well or something far worse.
"Colonel," Carpenter said, "the room I was tortured in was along here." Jack nodded his agreement to start heading in that direction when suddenly a large tremor shook through the ship causing everyone to stumble. Sarah fell to the floor and Daniel helped her back to her feet.
"What was that?" Jack asked. "If that was us taking off..."
"He's here." Sarah whispered. Everyone turned to her. "He's going to punish us all." Jack knew that the only person to whom she could be referring was the Goa'uld Osiris worked for: Anubis.
SG – SG – SG
They all started to move again, even more wary due to the possible threat that Anubis was attacking. Passing an open doorway, Jack paused and gestured for the others to. Peering around the opening to look into a room he had not seen on his journey to the cell, Jack narrowed his eyes at what he saw and swore slightly under his breath. “Daniel,” he whispered and Daniel was instantly at his side.
“What?” Jack motioned for him to look into the adjacent room. Daniel did as he was told and a similar look fell over his face.
“Don’t they look an awful lot like those aliens that tried to invade the SGC?” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daniel nod.
“What are they doing here?” Daniel asked with an incredible amount of curiosity. Both men remembered the day of Daniella’s birth; the day when the SGC had been infiltrated by an alien race who had weapons similar to the Goa’uld and who literally vanished after their invasion. They had never learnt anything further about the alien race. Jack had no idea what they were doing here, on Osiris’ fortified base.
Both men turned to Sarah who whispered, “Anubis has a new army.”
Jack exchanged looks with Daniel and then with Teal’c before he and Daniel looked at Sarah. Jack nodded and then gestured for everyone to resume following him because there was no point in standing there staring at the black clad alien army. Realisation set in Jack’s mind however and he turned to Carpenter. “Can I grab that staff, lieutenant?” he asked. She said nothing as she handed it to him. “Thanks,” he replied. Jack held the staff in one hand, then passed it to the other hand before suddenly spinning it and himself round to point it at Daniel, Carpenter and the injured Sarah. The three of them stood still; Daniel looked at him quizzically while Carpenter bared her hands to him in an act of defence. Sarah huddled slightly closer to Daniel with fear across her face.
“Jack, what are you doing?” Daniel asked.
“O’Neill,” Teal’c said as he moved to stand next to Jack.
“There’s something too wrong here.” He pointed to where they had just left the alien army. “Two years ago, those aliens try and force their way onto Earth and then disappear without a single trace, then they turn out to be Anubis’ army.” Jack paused. “Way I see it,” Jack continued, “is that Aldwin said there might be a Zatarc amongst us and you two have been in prolonged contact with Osiris. None of that adds up to anything good.”
“Jack, are you serious?” Daniel questioned taking a step towards him.
Jack pointed the staff at him. “Don’t, Daniel. Anubis is probably here with his new army and one of you two might be in league with him.”
“What?”
“Osiris told me that it had more than just Sam’s memory, that it had another source of information. That could be either one of you two,” he eyed Daniel and Carpenter suspiciously. “Right now, I don’t trust either of you and Sarah… Sarah’s not exactly a chipper young lady,” Jack finished diplomatically. “Here’s the plan: Teal’c, you take Carpenter and Sarah back to the Gate. Dial somewhere, anywhere and keep that Gate open for as long as possible. Danny and I will try and get Carter back.”
“Jack, there’s only two weapons and if Anubis is attacking that leaves us pretty unguarded. We had a hard time with these aliens on our own turf and two years have passed since then. Do you really think that splitting up is the way to go?” Daniel asked and Teal’c turned to Jack warily.
“I promise to keep you alive until you betray me, Daniel.”
“O’Neill, you may in fact be the Zatarc.” Teal’c interjected.
“And if I am then you, T, are the only one who definitely can’t be and you’re going straight to the Stargate and getting out of this place. That way if it’s me or Daniel, you’re leaving us here with Osiris. If it is Carpenter, then you can cope with her. Keep the ‘gate open ‘til the last possible moment.” Jack turned his head to Teal’c. “When you get back to Earth, get both girls tested for everything. Everything. Don’t trust any of us. Don’t turn your back on them. Or me.”
“If I am to walk away from you now, O’Neill, is that not me turning my back on you?” Jack gave him an exasperated look and with a small smile Teal’c nodded and motioned for the girls to follow him. Carpenter complied immediately, however Sarah paused until Daniel nodded at her. After the three of them had headed off in one direction, Jack and Daniel faced each other.
“You really think I’m a Zatarc?” Daniel asked.
“Daniel, you were with Osiris the longest.”
“You could be one, too.”
“Daniel,” Jack warned as he motioned for Daniel to follow him in the direction of Osiris’ chambers’. “Carter needs to be rescued and that’s what we’re doing, okay?”
“Yes, Jack.”
“Any problems with that?”
“No, Jack.”
“Good. Now,” Jack paused for a moment to check an open doorway. He waved his hand at Daniel, making him enter the room first. Jack followed behind him, watching their backs and their fronts. He had no idea where Daniel had been kept during his torture, but this was the room Osiris had tortured Jack in. “Any sign?” Jack asked hoping that if Daniel were a Zatarc, his programming was not to disrupt their hunt for Carter.
“Jack!” Daniel said and Jack turned towards him. Lying near the bench on the floor was Carter. Jack nodded at Daniel who then approached her carefully. Whilst maintaining guard, Jack watched Daniel approach Carter. He bent down to check her vitals.
“Daniel?” he asked.
“She has a pulse. It’s weak, but it’s there. Wait, her eyes are opening. Sam?” he questioned and waited silently for an answer. From Jack’s location he could not hear any reply. “Jack,” Daniel said excitedly. “I think it’s Sam.”
“What?” Jack asked, lowering his staff very slightly.
“She said ‘Daniella’ then passed out again. She also has... burn marks on her forehead.” Jack knew what Daniel was thinking – that someone had killed Osiris like the Ashrak had killed Jolinar with a Hara’Kesh. There was no way to be sure in their current situation and it would have to wait until they returned to Earth.
Jack threw wrist restraints toward Daniel and they slid across the floor. “Tie her up and carry her to the Stargate.”
“Tie her up, but Jack-“
“We don’t know that Osiris is dead. Do it.” Once Daniel was finished and he had managed to pick up Sam’s limp body, they both began walking back to the Stargate which was hopefully being guarded by Teal’c. Jack hoped that Teal’c got there before anybody had been able to dial into the planet. He was still on full alert, possibly even more so now that they had Sam, they had what they had come here for. It was all adding up incredibly incorrectly for Jack – Anubis’ mysterious warriors, Sam’s easy capture, the ease of their escape and the possibility of a spy within their ranks. Things were too simple for them, but all Jack could do was prepare for the worst. Sam, with or without Osiris, was subdued and alive, Daniel was too preoccupied and under Jack’s guard whilst the other possible threat was with Teal’c. Jack did not like the idea of walking back to Earth this easily, but there was nothing else that he could do and he had taken all the precautions that he could. Deep down, Jack hoped that it was not easy and that SG-1 was simply lucky. Again.
SG – SG – SG
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