Title: Darkness Hides the Hunter
Author: Flatkatsi
Email: flatkatsi@optusnet.com.au
Status: Complete
Category: Hurt/Comfort, Angst
Pairings: None
Spoilers: None
Season: Early seven
Rating: R
Content Warnings: Language, violence
File Size: 223kb
Archive: Incoming Wormhole, Jackfic
Summary: SG-1 find themselves alone in the dark on a hostile planet.
Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.
Author’s Note: Blame Nutty for this. She said to post it in parts. Thanks to both Dee & Nutty for the beta.
Jack’s hands grabbed frantically at the thing clinging to his face, desperately trying to tug it off. The foul smell coming from it filled his nostrils, making him gag, and choke, completely unable to draw a breath. Instinctively, he opened his mouth to shout for help, only to have it filled with legs, slime, and claws. Two of his nails broke as he clawed at the creature, managing to grasp its thin neck. Leathery wings beat against his head, the hooks on the ends of the spiny limbs scratching deep cuts into his scalp as his assailant fought for its own life. The noise of thousands of similar wings filled the dark and roared in his ears. His last thoughts as his oxygen starved system shut down were of birds and blue sky
He stood in the still silence of the winter night, waiting. He once thought he was able to detect a presence without effort - that his senses, fine honed from years of training and experience, would warn him if he was not alone. But he knew better now. It was with a sudden revelation, one that drained the blood from his face, that he understood there would be no warning, no moment to prepare. So he stood, waiting. Desperately straining for anything, any sign his pursuer was near.
The branches hung limp in the trees where once the evening breeze had lifted and shaken them. It was as if the forest was listening as well, holding its breath along with the tall figure in its midst.
Finally he edged forward, cautiously placing one foot in front of the other, careful to tread only on firm soil that would muffle his steps. The trees closed in tighter until he was forced to move branches aside, seeking a clearer path. In one sense he was glad of this as if he could not move swiftly, neither could his pursuer, but he also felt a deep concern that he was unable to return speedily enough to his companions, was unable to warn them that his quarry had turned the tables, making the hunter into the hunted.
How this had happened was the question he kept asking himself. He was use to having the upper hand, to being the expert at such deadly games as these. Now he found himself pursued by a shadow that disappeared whenever he turned, that skipped from his peripheral vision, leaving only a brief after image of no substance.
Once again he paused, listening. Almost he thought he had imagined it. Almost.
Then, once again, as if teasing, it was gone, and he knew he was being taunted, played with.
His blood pounded in his ears and the unfamiliar sensation of fear wrapped itself around his heart.
**********
Jack woke some time later, still in the dark, still gasping for breath, still sore and bleeding, but alive. The darkness was absolute, and he reached out, trying to get a tactile sense of his surroundings. His hands recoiled from the touch of the body beside him on the floor of the cave, the slime no less repellent now it was dead, its neck broken. Quiet sounds of sharp nails on rock and movement of bodies above him had him sitting up quickly, his head spinning. The feeling of being watched was spine chilling in its intensity, and he reached around, thankful for the familiar weight of his pack still on his back. He didn’t need to see to find what he wanted, his flashlight was soon in his hand, the beam lighting up gloom, reflecting hundreds of small bright eyes, hot and red. Scrabbling scrapings and high pitched squeals echoed in the vast space, followed by beating wings and the rushing of displaced air as hundreds of the creatures fled out past him and into the tunnels that branched out in all directions.
He ducked instinctively, the sheer numbers causing some to brush past him, touching him in the darkness, and he put his arms over his head, tucking it down into his chest and rolling into as tight a ball as possible. It seemed like hours, but he knew it was only minutes before the last creature left the cavern with a short defiant cry, leaving him huddled on the sharp rocks.
After a few moments, he uncoiled, stretching out his legs as he lifted the flashlight once again. He rolled to his knees, wincing when the multitude of scratches on his hands connected with the slippery, guano encrusted rock. Warm blood trickled down his face and into his eyes and mouth from the cuts on his scalp and he brushed it away, blinking to clear his vision.
“Colonel?” The suddenness of the voice in the silence had him reaching for his radio.
“Receiving you, Carter.”
“We’re at the rendezvous point, sir. How long will you be?”
“I’ll be late, Carter. I have a little problem here.” O’Neill shone the flashlight across the walls, confirming his initial suspicions.
“Sir?”
“I’m in a cave about one kilometre due east of your position. There are plenty of exits, just none I can reach. Bring a rope.”
“Bring a rope. Yes, sir.”
There was a pause and the sound of another voice. “Are you alright, Jack?”
“I’m fine, Daniel. Now give the radio back to Carter.” Jack couldn’t help smiling at the anxiety he heard in his teammate’s voice.
“Sir.” Jack almost see the glare the major was giving Daniel.
“You’ll find a large stand of trees near a cliff face. Careful. There’s only a thin layer of stone, and it crumbles easily, as I found out. You should see my P90 near the hole. I’ll be waiting.”
“Yes, sir. We’ll check in again as we get closer. Carter out.”
Jack switched the radio off, putting it back in his vest pocket. Holding the flashlight carefully in one hand he shrugged the pack from his back and placed it on the ground beside him, taking the first aid kit from it. A quick wipe over with some antiseptic and the cuts were as clean as he could get them. None seemed serious enough for a bandage, although it was difficult to tell with the ones on his scalp.
Then he settled down to wait.
**********
The forest held him close, protecting him, concealing him. His swiftness belied his care, each movement soft, calculated, and planned. His training had prepared him for this, instilling in him a determination to succeed, to prevail, and there was nothing in this situation to hold him back from his objective. He was silence within silence, his blade held so there was no chance of light reflecting off it and betraying him, his eyes well adjusted to the darkness with an almost preternatural ability.
He had a task to do, and he would do it, with no qualms, no thought of wrong. He was sure in the rightness of his action and certain in its conclusion. He stalked his prey as he had done so many times before, knowing exactly when the other stood, when the other froze, stopping as well, then echoing his movements. Twice he allowed his shadow to cross a dull patch of light, moonlight forced through branches to lie upon the ground. Twice his quarry stilled, head up. He was close enough to see the nostrils flare, to see the eyes straining to see in the blackness.
It was a game. A game he knew he would win, because he always had. This opponent was smarter than most, thinking at first that he was the one with the upper hand, but he knew better now. The scent of his sweat was a betrayal, both of his position and of his fear, as were his eyes, constantly shifting.
Watching, he licked his lips, knowing the taste of victory and blood.
As always.
***********
“They don’t look too bad, sir.”
Jack winced just a little as Carter wiped antiseptic across his scalp, parting the hair as she did so in order to get right into the cuts.
“I’m sure you’re right, Carter. It could have been a lot worse. I was lucky not to break my neck falling into that hole.” He shook his head. “Damn stupid thing to do.”
“Come on, Jack. If you hadn’t warned us we’d have been right in there with you. There was no way you could have know the stone was so thin there.”
The Colonel frowned as he stood, tentatively touching his head as he did so. “I should have been more careful, Daniel. One of the first things I learnt was not to assume that just because something looks safe that it is safe. I put myself in danger with my carelessness, and then endangered the rest of you by having to be rescued. That ground was unstable. You could have just have easily fallen when you pulled me out.”
“You’re too hard on yourself, Jack. It all turned out okay, with nothing more to show for it than a couple of scratches.”
“O’Neill is correct, Daniel Jackson. By not taking due care, he jeopardized himself and others.” Teal’c continued, ignoring the younger man’s protests. “He has been trained to be aware of such dangers, as have I.”
“And I suppose you wouldn’t have fallen in that hole if you’d come in this direction?” The bit of sarcasm was not lost on the Jaffa, but he chose to ignore it.
“No, Daniel Jackson, I would not have.”
Jack put up a hand, stopping Daniel’s words. “Come on, guys. There’s no point squabbling over spilt milk. My little escapade has set us back several hours and we need to get moving if we’re going to make it back to the SGC on time.” He shouldered his pack. “We’ll get as far as we can before we make camp for the night. Then an early start in the morning, and we should be back on schedule. Carter, watch our six. Teal’c, you take point, I think that he would agree I should be in the middle of our little conga line after my adventure. Am I right, T?”
“Indeed, O’Neill.”
**********
He dropped, falling in a fluid motion to the ground, then rolled into the protection of the fallen log. All he needed was a chance to regain ground, to put himself back on an equal footing. He slowed his breath instinctively, such control second nature, and let his eyelids close until only slits of white showed, not enough to be seen. All around the night crept in and enveloped him, hiding him.
So he waited.
He would not be defeated in this, too much was at stake. He must protect. He could do nothing else, and to protect he must win.
**********
“I thought you said there were no signs of anyone else on this planet, Carter?”
They had stopped for a quick lunch, and to take a breather. Never one to sit when he could be active Jack had wandered up to the top of the hill behind where they sat, canteen in one hand, energy bar in the other.
“There wasn’t, sir.” Sam raised her voice, making sure he could hear her clearly. “Why?”
“Come see what I’ve found.”
His teammates soon joined him on the rise, and stared down at the tumbled stone remains of a small town.
“Care to explain this, Carter?”
Sam gave him an irritated glance, then looked away in an obvious attempt to cover her lapse. Her voice when she spoke was carefully controlled.
“The UAV didn’t fly over here sir. I program it to fly a grid pattern that gives the best chance of picking up anything we may be interested in, but it can’t survey everything.”
“Can we have a quick look, Jack?” asked Daniel. From his tone it was obvious what answer he expected to get.
The Colonel looked at his watch and then smiled back at the archaeologist.
“We’ve made good time, in fact we’re a little ahead of schedule. What say we allow thirty minutes for a quick recon, and if we find anything interesting we ask Hammond to put this planet on the schedule for revisiting?” He was rewarded by a beaming smile.
**********
He watched the log, saw the care the other took to show no movement, not knowing it was much too late for that. Laughter had no place in such a contest, so he crushed it down and allowed it no escape. He had time now to rest, time now to plan exactly what he would do, and how. The other was a true warrior, his experience obvious, but he was still no match. Time and time again in this conflict he had met men who thought they were better than he, time and time again he had proven them wrong.
He was the best at what he did. Tonight was no exception.
When he judged sufficient time had passed, he came forward, moving without conscious thought across the space between, until the other lay just a few short steps away.
He stilled as the head came up.
**********
“Well that was a bust” Jack patted the despondent man beside him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, the next planet we gate to may hold the answer to all the questions of the universe, and I don’t mean forty-two.”
His attempt at humour was met with a small smile as they reached the top of the hill.
“It’s just so frustrating, having so little time to really look at things.” Daniel took a final look at the ruins before turning and following Teal’c and Sam down the slope.
The town had been totally empty of anything of interest, at least what they could see in such a short time. It seemed to have been abandoned to the elements, only a few pieces of paint on the interior walls of some houses giving a tantalizing glimpse of ruined frescoes. There had been no reason to linger, even Daniel admitting that such a quick survey could give no clue as to the whereabouts of the inhabitants.
“Maybe this planet isn’t as deserted as we thought, Jack. I really think we need to come back.” He tried to inject a little enthusiasm into his speech, knowing the chance of SG-1 being sent to do it was very slim.
Jack nodded sympathetically.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
**********
He didn’t know what made him turn, just an instinct that kicked in now it was too late, but turn he did. He had time to reach up, grab an arm and pull, using his weight against the other. They rolled, twigs snapping beneath them, breathing reduced to a panting, but making no other sound. He needed all his energy to win this battle and for a moment it looked as if he had the upper hand, regaining his feet. The other followed him up, shifting and weaving. Lightning fast, a hand lashed out, hard and stabbing and leaving no defence, then a twist and he was spun, straight into the knife, flashing through the air, the moonlight finally revealing the one who wielded it.
And that one momentary glimpse was enough to freeze his motion and leave him open, enough to fix him where he was.
He felt the blade dig deep into his flesh, and knew despair.
His last thoughts as the darkness rushed in were for his companions. They would have no chance against his killer.
No chance at all.
**********
They had walked until the light began to fade, then, finding a suitable clearing in the depths of the thick forest they needed to cross, made camp as far from the trees as possible. An early start in the morning should see them at the gate for their scheduled departure, so they wasted no time eating and making ready for bed.
“Let me check those cuts, sir.” Carter didn’t wait for a reply – already digging into her pack for a medical kit.
The Colonel submitted to the examination gracefully, wondering why it was always the smallest cuts that hurt the most. He flinched a little, the cold air hitting his head as soon as his hat was off.
“They’re no worse than paper cuts, Carter. They’ll probably be almost gone by the morning.”
She smiled back, packing the kit away. “You’re right, sir. You’ll live. They look fine.”
“You were very lucky, O’Neill. Your injuries could have been much worse, given the fall.”
Jack gave Teal’c a rueful look. “You’re right there, T. Guess someone was watching out for me today.” He stood and stretched, yawning. “Okay, kids. Daniel, first watch, Carter next, and Teal’c you get the dubious pleasure of waking me for the last watch. I’ll have coffee ready when you wake up.”
The order was obvious, even if it wasn’t spoken aloud, and within a few minutes the camp was quiet, only Daniel left to finish his coffee, staring into the darkness.
**********
The dull thud as the body fell broke the quiet, and he looked around, checking. Then off once more without a second glance, because he knew there were more to find.
They would be easier. He had heard their whispers, darting back to watch and delight in their vulnerability before returning to the chase.
He felt the thrill of the hunt diminish, but allowed himself only a moment to rest, needing to finish it. He had to finish it. To not do so was unthinkable, especially now. So close to the end.
They called to him out of the night, luring him with their weakness, no longer just a task to complete, but now a prize waiting to be collected. Each victory strengthened him, sent him further towards true mastery.
His blood sang within him.
**********
Teal’c rose, lifting his staff weapon from where it lay across his knees. He just had time for another perimeter sweep before waking O’Neill for his watch.
The breeze that had risen earlier in the evening had died, leaving the forest still and silent. He walked to the far side of the tents, hearing the soft snore of Daniel Jackson as he passed. Here, the trees loomed only a few metres away and he stopped, peering into the foliage, before entering the undergrowth.
Something felt wrong.
The movement was fleeting, but it was enough to turn his head and see the figure swiftly disappearing into the forest. Without thought, he hurried after it, pressing the button on his radio as he did so, calling his CO for backup.
“O’Neill.” He kept his voice to the barest whisper.
No answer.
Dropping his hand to brush aside a bush, he just managed to glimpse the dark shape vanish behind the thick trunk of a tree. He moved on, trying to keep it in sight, but finding it more and more difficult as he got deeper into the blackness under the trees.
He tried the radio again. “O’Neill.”
“Teal’c?” Major Carter’s voice came clearly from the instrument.
He spoke quietly, falling back a little as he did so. “I am following someone in the forest to the south west of our camp.”
“A native?”
“It is hard to tell in the dark. Where is O’Neill?”
“Daniel’s checking.”
“Understood.”
In the pause that followed, Teal’c took the chance to try and gain some ground on the figure. The other person was moving at a rate that spoke of some familiarity with the terrain, and the Jaffa was hard pressed to match it.
The blow came as a complete surprise, the large branch hitting Teal’c on the head, and causing him to drop to the ground with its force. Almost as soon as he felt the soil under his knees he was rolling, pushing the hard wood off himself and twisting to one side. He lay still, listening.
It was the click that warned him, just enough to fling his body to the left. The stone hissed past him to bury itself in the earth less than an inch from his head. He was up and moving just as the next stone hit where he had been.
Ducking into the cover of a clump of bushes, he knew the tables had been turned.
He was no longer the hunter.
He had become the prey.
**********
As he moved away, the sound of his prey’s hissing breath receded into the distance, and once again the forest was silent. He liked it that way.
It meant he was alone.
There had been no need to finish his victim. He would be dead soon enough, and not only would it have wasted time, deep inside he enjoyed hearing the sound of death approaching.
He took a moment to wipe his knife, tucking it back clean into its sheath, before he moved on.
He knew where to find the others.
Then the fun would begin.
**********
“Teal’c?” Only a hiss from her radio greeted Sam’s attempts at communication. “Damn! I can’t reach him.”
“Sam!“ Daniel’s worried voice called out to her, and she hurried over to where he stood. “Jack’s not in his tent. There are signs of a struggle.” He looked up at her, as if suddenly realising that the missing Colonel wasn’t their only problem. “Teal’c?”
“He’s not answering.” She refused to give any credibility to any of the scenarios that were popping up in her head. She brushed past Daniel, and made her own inspection of her commanding officer’s tent. The contents of the Colonel’s pack were strewn across the ripped sleeping bag, everything pointing to a struggle.
Damn.
“Do you think whoever Teal’c’s chasing has Jack?” Daniel’s worried tone echoed her own, and grated on her nerves.
“I’m sure if he had, Teal’c would have said something, Daniel.” Sam frowned as she tucked her radio back in its pocket. “But whoever he’s following may not have been alone.”
“Surely we would have heard something? Jack must have been woken up. Look at his tent.” Daniel waved his hand in the air in frustration. “I’d say he put up a fight. I don’t understand how we didn’t hear anything.“
Sam nodded, already starting back to put out the fire. “Whatever happened must have been very sudden to have taken the Colonel by surprise.” She gave the radio another try, without success, the same static sounding across the airwaves. “Come on, let’s get packed up. We’ll go in the direction Teal’c reported he was heading.” She was calm, controlled. She couldn’t afford to be anything else.
It didn’t take long to mobilise, years of practise making their movements almost instinctive. Daniel took a quick look around as they left the camp, checking they had everything they needed. They had already agreed to leave the tents behind, opting to travel quickly without any extra weight.
“Hopefully Teal’c will have an answer for us when we reach him.” Sam gave her friend a reassuring smile. “Let’s go.”
Together they entered the forest.
**********
They were there, right in front of him, totally oblivious to his presence. It was almost a pity, no thrill of the chase here. Much too simple.
The woman was the more dangerous of the two, holding her weapon ready, and moving relatively quietly. Her eyes flashed back and forth, watching for any movement.
The man was tall and well built, but it was obvious from his actions that he was not a soldier. He did not do as the woman did, check behind them, he kept his eyes fixed ahead as if searching for something.
They halted, the woman talking softly into her radio, and he took his chance. The man turned away again, peering into the darkness, and he moved, his arm around the woman’s neck, pulling her back and into the undergrowth. A slight increase in pressure and her body flopped. He let it fall.
It had been the work of seconds, and he was back to the other man before the woman was even missed. He used the handle of his knife as a club, rendering the man unconscious with no effort at all.
It was too quick.
Where was the fun in that?
**********
Daniel groaned his way to consciousness, every muscle screaming in protest. He was tied up, his arms behind his back and his ankles bound tightly. He could feel every stone and twig pressing into the side on which he lay, tiny pin pricks of pain that added up to one giant hurt. He blinked his eyes, trying to clear his vision, then realised his glasses were gone and the fuzzy view he had was as good as it was going to get.
He was in the process of raising his head to look around, when he was jerked violently backward by his arms. He cried out.
“Hey!” He gasped out another breath, scrabbling with his bound feet and trying to stop his progress across the ground. “Wait. What are you doing?”
As suddenly as it had began, his motion stopped, his back slammed against the trunk of a tree. He twisted, trying to see his assailant but got no more than a blurred glimpse of a hand before the pressure on his arms made him shut his eyes in pain. A few swift movements, and Daniel found himself crouching, unable to raise or lower his arms from their excruciatingly painful position, wrists tied together hard up against rough bark. They were held too high to let him kneel, too low to allow him to stand completely, and he hunched, bent at the waist, trying to relieve the pressure on his shoulder blades.
“Can’t we talk about this?” He tried the only thing left to him. “I’m Daniel Jackson. We are peaceful explorers. Please release me so we can talk.”
The soft laugh was unexpected, coming as it did from so close to his left ear. He turned his head, and gasped. The moonlight showed Sam lying on the ground near him, unmoving. He barely had time to take in the sight before his legs were tugged out from under him, another rope looped around his ankles and his body stretched out diagonally towards another tree. As his feet were pulled and the ropes around them tightened, his arms were stretched back until the agony from his shoulders made him scream. It seemed ages before the pressure was released and he found he could stand, albeit uncomfortably. His arms were now extended back like wings, and with his feet held tight by the rope to the other tree, he had no way of moving back to ease them.
He shifted on his feet, peering around, straining to see what was going on. The blurred figure of a man was bending over Sam.
“Hey, leave her alone!” He knew it was a pointless thing to say, but he couldn’t help it. He was completely ignored, and could do nothing but watch as an obviously awakening Sam struggled in the other’s arms. Her efforts didn’t seem to bother the man at all, and she was soon tied to a tree beside him. Her bindings were the same as his, with the addition of a taut rope dangling from a branch above her head and tied noose like around her neck. Even without his glasses, Daniel could see that she would have to remain as still as possible to avoid strangulation.
“Sam?” There had been no sign of their captor for several minutes, and Daniel took a chance. “Are you okay?”
“What…um..” mumbled Sam. “Damn, what’s going on?”
Daniel was glad to hear her voice regaining its strength. “I don’t know what happened to you, but I was knocked out before I had a chance to fight back. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Her voice came much clearer now. “Yes, I’m fine Daniel. What can you tell me about our captors? Who are they? What do they want?” Then he saw her try to turn her head. “And do they have the Colonel?”
“I don’t know, Sam. I’ve only enough of a glimpse to know there only seems to be one man. Other than that I don’t know anything. I tried talking to him, but he didn’t say anything. Maybe he doesn’t understand English. If he said something I might be able to work out his language. This could all be a misunderstanding.”
Sam interrupted his words, an air of irritation in her voice. “What about the Colonel, Daniel? Have you seen him?”
‘Ah, no, Sam. Sorry.”
“Well we can only hope that he’s out there somewhere with Teal’c. They’ll find us.”
Daniel couldn’t help the sigh that escaped him. His shoulders felt like they were dislocating inch by painful inch. “I hope they don’t take too long.”
***********
He listened, standing in the shadow of the trees, as they talked. So much information. So much he now knew about them and their companions. Their tongues were as loose as their brains, giving away secrets they should have known better than to speak.
There were two others. He knew that now.
One he had dealt with.
The other could wait.
He needed to know more, and they were going to tell him everything.
***********
“I should kill you, you begin to bore me.”
He walked around to stand in front of them, arms folded, his stance relaxed. The dawn’s dim glow gave his features a reddish tinge as if he burnt from within. The light didn’t reach his eyes. They were lifeless.
“Perhaps you can think of a way to keep me interested in keeping you alive?” He lifted his knife. “You could try talking to me. Although it may be more pleasurable if you don’t”
“Colonel?”
It was as if he hadn’t heard.
“I know about the other two, so why don’t you tell me how many more I need to deal with, and where they are.”
Daniel strained to see – to be sure of what his ears were telling him. It couldn’t be. Sam must be wrong.
But there was something so familiar about the assured stance of the other man. Then he came closer.
Oh god! His friend’s face stared at him from out of the gloom, his eyes hooded into mere slits.
“Well? I’m waiting. Where are the rest of your troops?”
This couldn’t be happening. It was a joke. It couldn’t be real. It had to be a bad joke.
He couldn't help the indignant tone that crept into his voice. He squinted again. "Jack? What the-? Jack, what are you talking about? What...let us go."
Jack’s eyes narrowed even more, and he stepped forward, stopping only a foot from Daniel. “I’m talking about you giving me information. I thought I’d made that clear.” The knife flicked up, cutting a long scratch into the other’s exposed neck. “As for letting you go – not going to happen.”
Daniel let out a yelp, unable to believe his friend had so cold bloodedly hurt him. It sounded so much like Jack, and yet was so different. His familiar voice had none of the warmth Daniel was use to, none of the humour. It was cold and unemotional.
“Jack – it’s me, Daniel. Sam and I are your friends.” He tried reasoning once again, still unable to believe what was happening.
The knife slashed again, this time ripping his uniform at the shoulder, leaving a shallow gash several inches long.
“Oh shit!” Daniel jerked forward, trying to pull away, only to have the pain in his arms bring him back to reality. “Jack, what the hell are you doing? You don’t want to do this.”
“Oh, but I do. It’s been a while since I had two playmates at once.”
“Look at him, Daniel.” Sam’s voice broke into his words. “It’s no good. He doesn’t know who we are.”
Jack straightened, a smile coming to his lips. Very slowly he turned and moved over to Sam, leaning in to her and whispering.
“You’re wrong. I know as much about you as I need to. You’re the enemy and as such I can do what I want with you.” His smile got broader as his whisper got softer. “And I can think of lots of things I’d like to do to you.”
“Sir, stop! Look at me. You know me. I don’t know what’s wrong, but let us help you.” Sam’s voice was desperate, and for a moment Daniel thought she had gotten through. Jack stepped back.
Then the knife came up once more, and Sam cried out as it sliced a line down the side of her neck identical to the one dripping blood onto Daniel’s collar. Jack took a long step forward, pressing his body against hers.
He put his lips to her ear, and Daniel could just make out the softly spoken words. “Nothing’s wrong, except you aren’t saying anything I want to hear.” Then Sam’s head jerked, held in place by the noose around her neck, as he bent into her neck and stayed there for a long moment.
When Jack straightened, Daniel felt like throwing up. His friend’s lips were smeared with Sam’s blood. He smiled as he licked them.
“Sweet!” He turned, including Daniel in his grin. “See, I knew we could have fun together.”
Daniel pulled his gaze away from the smiling man and caught Sam’s eyes. She turned, facing away as much as the ropes holding her would allow, and he saw a slight shudder run down her frame.
Then she turned back, her gaze filled with determination as she once more looked at Jack. And Daniel shivered at the steel in her eyes.
*********
She could still feel the moisture tingling on her skin, the trail left by his tongue still warm.
Her gaze caught his eyes, and their darkness, bracketed by a cold sneer, told her, that this man, this soldier, was not the Colonel she knew.
And her determination turned to fear.
He watched the woman, saw her legs trembling with fatigue. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost. But she was the enemy and he couldn’t allow himself to feel sympathy – too many lives depended on the information he could gain from them.
She had been careful to hide the look of revulsion by turning away, but he knew his actions had disconcerted her. The man had looked ready to throw up, a few convulsive gulps all that stopped him. All the better – keep them guessing, stay unpredictable. He had already discovered weaknesses he could use.
He raised the mug to his lips, savouring the bitter taste of coffee after so long without.
Their packs had been a treasure-trove, replacing his lost supplies, even the energy bars tasting good.
The man sagged, his knees buckling, and with a cry of pain, he pulled himself upright again, shaking his head as if to clear it. The cut on his neck had begun bleeding again, slowly turning his uniform collar dark with moisture.
“Sir, please, he can’t stay like that. Please, you could keep him tied, just let him put his arms down.” The woman pleaded. “Please, Colonel. It’s Daniel. You don’t really want to hurt him.”
Once, long ago, she might have been right, but now all had changed. He had changed as he did whatever he had to do to get the job done. He had taught himself not to listen, and with each mission, lost more of himself, until now he knew he was so close to the darkness that it almost engulfed him.
He tossed the remains of the coffee into the fire, and took another step away from the light.
He ignored her words, concentrating instead on the man. His eyes were wide and staring, as if straining to see, his breath laboured.
The weakest link.
He swung his open hand, the slap loud in the dawn quiet. The man’s head jerked sideways with the impact and a thin trickle of blood ran from his bottom lip where his teeth had cut into it. He didn’t give the man time to recover, following the slap with a punch to the stomach. The man gasped, his breath forced out of his lungs. He took two deep, shuddering gulps of air.
“Jack…” His eyes were squeezed shut.
“What is your objective here?”
“God, Jack, please. I don’t know what you want me to say.” The voice was weak and strained.
“Wrong answer.” He stepped back. “I’ll have to ask your friend here instead.”
The reaction was all he could have hoped for. The head came up. “No…don’t. I’ll tell you everything you want to know, just leave Sam alone.”
So predictable. So easy.
“What are your objectives here?”
“We were exploring. Remember…General Hammond sent us here…from the SGC…..through the stargate.”
A flash of anger raced through him at the other’s obstinacy, but he quickly dismissed it from his mind. He couldn’t afford anger, it could cause mistakes.
“Very well.” He didn’t raise his voice, just walked away, to stand facing away from them.
“Think about it, Colonel. How did you get here? Try and remember. You came here with us…from Earth…the SGC.” The woman’s anxious voice intruded into his thoughts, but she wasn’t saying anything worth listening to.
Nothing worth listening to at all.
It was the work of a moment to turn, takes the few steps necessary to reach her side, and sweep her feet out from under her with a swift kick.
He turned away again, the gurgling sounds of slow strangulation a discordant counterpoint to the tune he was humming.
**********
When the Colonel turned towards her, Sam had steeled herself for a blow. Nothing in his expression warned her just how much she had underestimated his ruthlessness. She was down, the rope tight around her neck, before she even felt the kick against her legs.
She gulped convulsively for air, desperately struggling to find solid ground beneath her bound feet. Dimly she heard Daniel’s voice shouting, but the pounding in her ears overwhelmed any other sound until all she knew was the need for oxygen as she began to fade out, her eyes staring into nothingness.
She had no idea how long it was before she was able to push a breath past the hard obstruction in her throat, the noose gone from her neck. She managed one breath, then another, pulling oxygen into her lungs, the effort agonisingly painful, as she swayed on her feet.
Finally she opened her eyes, to confront what she knew she would find.
He was standing in front of her, his hands still half raised from loosening the rope, the half smile on his lips not reaching his dead, cold eyes.
The Colonel. Her Colonel.
The man she would trust with her life.
The man who had almost killed her.
“You upset me.” His voice was emotionless, despite his words. “You should try not to do that again.”
He stepped in, reaching out to cup her face with his hand, and she couldn’t help the flinch as he traced along her jaw line with his thumb.
\
“Sam! Leave her alone, Jack.” Sam could hear the desperation in Daniel’s voice.
A long finger ran down the still bleeding cut on her neck and she turned her head to the side.
“Damn it, Jack, leave her alone!” Daniel’s angry voice broke the silence once more, and the hand dropped.
Even in the dim light, Sam could see the moment when the Colonel changed, the last spark of life dying from his eyes, leaving only darkness. As he turned way from her, his knife out once more, Sam knew she had only seconds in which to act, only seconds to prevent the death of her friend.
“Wait…I’ll tell you everything…anything you want…stop.” She screamed the words into the sudden silence.
He paused.
“What is your mission?” He was back, standing beside her.
She struggled to think of something, anything to distract him, to keep him busy and give Teal’c time to rescue them.
“We were sent ahead to scout…check for any signs of the enemy…we hadn’t found anything.” She tried not to babble, to keep it as convincing as possible, and hurried on. “We were just heading back when you caught us. “
“How many of you are there?”
“Just the two of us. We are several miles ahead of the main force.”
The Colonel smiled, a smug, satisfied smile.
“Excellent.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. It was working.
He stepped forward, until she could feel his breath on her face. “You deserve a reward for that.” The knife was out and the ropes holding her hands to the tree were cut in one swift move. Sam’s arms fell to her sides, the sudden return of circulation causing pain to shoot through her limbs. “Yes, you certainly deserve a reward” The knife flashed upwards, slicing through her shirt, and biting into her T-shirt, parting them and leaving her clothes hanging loose. “A reward for such fine acting.”
Sam’s arms barely twitched as she attempted to bring her hands up to shield herself. The Colonel hadn’t stopped smiling, his voice was calm and controlled, but every instinct she had screamed to her of danger. She took a deep breath and matched his calmness, keeping her tone as matter-a-fact as possible.
“Daniel and I were alone, sir.”
What she saw then shocked her almost as much as anything that had happened in the last few hours. The Colonel’s left eye twitched. It was a tiny involuntary motion, but it was so unlike him that for a moment she was stunned into speechlessness.
Suddenly she understood. She hurried to speak, her tongue almost tripping over itself as she realised her mistake.
“There were three of us, but our companion went on ahead to report.”
She caught movement out of the corner of her eye, as Daniel straightened, but she ignored him.
The Colonel knew. She saw it in his eyes. He knew she hadn’t been alone with Daniel. Her mind spun with the possibilities. Did he have some memory of their camp? She swallowed, remembering the Colonel’s ruined pack.
Oh god! There had been no native. There had only ever been the members of SG-1 here on the planet.
That meant …
Sam looked into the smiling face just a few inches from her own and saw the answer waiting for her. As she watched, he nodded and turned, seating himself again, holding his knife loosely in his right hand. He casually flipped it in the air, end over end, catching it again, and repeating the move as he spoke.
“Shall we try it again?”
Sam shut her eyes, and asked, not knowing if she really wanted to hear the answer.
“Sir, what have you done?”
“Sam?” She heard Daniel’s puzzled voice, but spoke over the beginning of his question.
“Daniel – he knows. He knows we weren’t alone. Think about it.” She kept her eyes shut, her heart suddenly cold. “Sir. You are Colonel Jack O’Neill. You are the leader of SG-1. There are three other members of your team – myself, Major Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson – tied to the tree next to me, and Teal’c.” On the last word she opened her eyes and stared straight at the man, the so familiar figure of the man she no longer knew. “Sir – what have you done with Teal’c?”
**********
Teal’c? Daniel pushed himself upright once more. What did Sam mean? Why was she telling Jack about Teal’c?
Then, with a flash, he understood.
Jack knew about Teal’c. He looked at his friend, sitting so calmly watching them, his head half cocked to one side, his eye twitching. Perhaps this was some other Jack? Some alternate Colonel O’Neill who had walked through the mirror and ended up, through a bizarre coincidence, on the same planet as them? Maybe their Jack was just waiting for a chance to rescue them?
The alternative was too horrifying to contemplate. Jack couldn’t have turned into this cruel, hard person, willing to hurt his friends for the sake of some meaningless information about an imaginary enemy. Willing to kill to get it.
But that was the flaw in his argument, and Daniel knew it, because he understood, deep down, that Colonel Jack O’Neill was perfectly capable of doing all those things, and more. And he looked over at Sam, and saw her eyes open, saw the despair in them as they caught his gaze.
If he was able, Teal’c would have stopped Jack by now.
“God, Jack, what have you done?” He strained forward, trying to get the other man’s attention. “You’re sick….please…let us go. We’ll find Teal’c and get you back to the SGC…find out what’s wrong. It’ll be okay once we get home.” There was no reaction, but he kept talking. “Listen to Sam…she’s telling the truth.”
But as Daniel searched for a way to reach his friend, to make him understand, he hoped that what he was thinking was wrong, because, if Jack had done something to their teammate…if he had done the unthinkable…when all this was over, Daniel knew without a shadow of a doubt, that Jack would never forgive himself.
**********
Their words were less than useless.
He didn’t want questions. He wanted answers.
He had accounted for three of them – that left one more. One that could be anywhere, could be already warning the enemy of his presence. Jeopardising his mission.
He tossed his knife one last time, seeing the sun gleaming off the blade. It was time to be moving on. It didn’t do to stay in one place for too long. He had to keep on the move, keep hidden.
The fourth member of their team – they had said so little about him, but behind their worried eyes, and frightened stares, there had still been hope. At least until a few minutes ago.
What had changed?
He had seen the moment the woman had realised that the man they called Teal’c would not be coming to save them, but there was still another to be accounted for. Why were they dismissing him as a rescuer? Had he already gone back to report? Had the enemy been warned of his presence?
He stood, his decision made.
He needed to be gone from here, before he was found. But before he left, he had to be sure there would be no one to give away any information about him to the enemy.
He concealed a shudder. This was the part of his job that he hated. It was one thing to kill in the heat of battle, but to do it in cold blood was something he could never get use to.
Still, it had to be done.
Their words washed over him, beating against him, their tone becoming more and more urgent. One part of him wanted to listen, another knew that to do so would be a fatal error.
The woman was shouting now, the man pulling against his ropes, the veins standing out on his forehead as his struggled.
He lifted his knife, already at the woman’s side. Always eliminate the most dangerous threat first.
It was then that it happened.
Just for a second it was as if he had split in two. One part of him only concerned with the need to complete his mission, the other screaming for attention as he looked into the terrified gaze of his second in command.
For that split second, he paused, his knife raised.
And something hit him between the shoulder blades, the explosion of pain throwing him to the ground and sending him straight back into the so familiar darkness.