|
Title: No Man's Land Author: Flatkatsi Email: flatkatsi@optusnet.com.au Statu: Complete Category: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Drama, Challenge Response Pairing: None Spoilers:None Rating: PG13 Season/sequel: Six Content Warnings: Some language. Lots of whumping. File Size: 74kb Summary: Jack and Jonas are stranded in a place of horror. 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: In answer to the Jackfic whumping challenge. Thanks for all the help Kelly and Jackie. Dedicated to my Grandfather, who would never talk about it.
"Carter, explain what is going on" "I don't know, sir", came the startled voice of Major Samantha Carter from behind the Colonel, "The MALP didn't show any of this. I expected a field of some sort of wheat crop". "Doesn't look like a wheat crop to me, Major. Looks more like a battlefield." "I can't explain it Colonel", replied Sam with some measure of alacrity in her voice. "I can only repeat that the MALP showed a peaceful field of wheat. I don't know what has gone wrong. Maybe the wormhole sent us to another destination." "OK", the Colonel decided not to pursue the matter. "Let's just dial us up and get the hell out of here. I think that staying could be severely hazardous to our health". The four members of SG1 turned back towards the gate and DHD and Jonas Quinn began to dial up the seven symbols needed to return the team to Earth. The barrage of shells was coming frightening closer as they stood waiting. "Hurry, Jonas", urged the Colonel unnecessarily. He watched as the falling shells formed large craters in the landscape near the gate. Jonas had only managed to enter three symbols before an almighty explosion shook the ground around them sending the team flying in all directions. Teal'c was the first to recover his senses. "MajorCarter, Colonel O'Neill, JonasQuinn", he shouted from the large mound of dirt behind which he found himself. An answering call came from a little to his left. "Teal'c, I'm over here. What happened?" "A shell appears to have exploded near us MajorCarter", replied Teal'c as he made his way to her position. "Are you injured?" "I don't think so Teal'c. I was just knocked unconscious by the blast." "As was I MajorCarter." "What about the Colonel and Jonas?" "I have not been able to locate them", continued Teal'c before once again calling out to the missing members of the team. Silence answered them. "We must look for them, Teal'c They may be lying injured somewhere nearby." "I would suggest that we stay together. The situation in which we have found ourselves is extremely hazardous." Together Sam and Teal'c made their way slowly across the battered landscape, searching into each shell hole and turning over what appeared to be the remains of a retreating armies forgotten belongings. Their search was made all the more grim when they came upon the bodies. Sam was the one to find the first one and for a moment her heart was in her mouth. There was little to identify the remains as human except a forlorn foot sticking from the side of a shell hole. "Over here, Teal'c!" she cried, falling to her knees as she scrabbled to dig around the area. "MajorCarter," urged Teal'c "It is not O'Neill or JonasQuinn". "How do you know Teal'c? We must dig him out. He could be still alive." Teal'c took Sam by the shoulder and brought her to her feet. "MajorCarter, those remains have been here for several days. They cannot be those of O'Neill or JonasQuinn" With a shudder Sam realised that Teal'c was right. Standing and looking around her she saw the pathetic remnants of what was left of a battle that had been over for days. The bodies were all around her once she looked more closely, their brown coloured uniforms merging in with the mud from the broken earth. "Colonel, Jonas!" she called with an overwhelming sense of despair. No reply came from the broken men around her. After searching for what seemed like hours both Teal'c and Sam were exhausted. Finally Teal'c called a halt to the search. "We must return to the SGC and bring back search teams, MajorCarter. This area is under constant bombardment and it is too large to search ourselves. O'Neill and JonasQuinn could have been taken from the area while we lay unconscious" Sam could see the logic in what Teal'c was saying. It was beginning to get dark and it was near the time that they were scheduled to return to Earth. She began the long walk back to the gate, turning and looking around her as she went, each moment hoping to see the two figures of her lost teammates. -------- "Colonel O'Neill!" Jonas tried one more desperate time to wake Jack up. "Colonel, come on! Please", he begged. He had managed to drag Jack's inert body from the crater left by the shell hours ago. His instinct had been to get as far from the shelling as possible and he had. Before he had had a chance to go back for Sam and Teal'c, two more shells had fallen in rapid succession. He knew that the last one had knocked him out for a while, but he didn't know how long for. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours. They were lying in a trench hundreds of yards from the main bombardment area. When he had reached what he thought was comparative safety he had covered the Colonel and himself up with a discarded muddy blanket and this was how he had found himself when he had awoken. Now it seemed that he had lain exhausted for hours. Where Sam & Teal'c were he didn't know and to be perfectly honest with himself Jonas found it very hard to care. "I couldn't look for them! I had to get the Colonel to safety. He's hurt. I couldn't do anything else" He listened tensely for the drone of the shells overhead. They had been constant for hours and the sounds seemed to fill his head even when they weren't firing. Another whistle warned him to duck and he huddled even closer to the Colonel as shrapnel embedded itself just inches from his face. The safety of distance seemed to have been for nothing. The bombardment had obviously moved closer to their position once again. Jonas took another look at the Colonel. His injuries seemed to be confined to his face and upper chest. There was a wound in his shoulder and it was obvious that his right eye and cheekbone were badly damaged. Jonas had managed to tie a rough bandage around the shoulder wound, but there was really nothing more that he could do. "If only the Colonel would wake up. He will know what to do." Thoughts spun around in his head, going nowhere. The noise was horrendous. A long time before Jonas had thought that he had heard voices nearby but he couldn't rouse himself from the stupor into which the constant cacophony had sent him. Even now he thought that he could hear voices. He didn't have the energy to look up. "Teal'c? Is there anyone here? Carter, Jonas?" -------- General Hammond stood behind Sergeant Davis in the control room, watching as the stargate was dialled once more. This was the third attempt to dial up the planet on which Colonel O'Neill and Jonas were stranded and so far nothing had worked. Both Major Carter and Teal'c waited anxiously next to him. They had returned to the SGC without incident and had explained the situation. Hammond had called for the search teams to be geared up and ready to go on his order. Unfortunately, it hadn't been as straight forward as they had hoped. The gate seemed to be refusing to lock in the last chevron. "I can't understand it, General," Sam exclaimed. "There is nothing wrong with the gate. It just won't lock in the address." "Perhaps it is the same problem that caused the original misdial, Major" "I'm not sure that it was a misdial, General. We didn't have any trouble returning to the SGC. I think that it is a problem that originates on the planet, not one at this end" Major Carter was frustrated by the delay in returning to find her missing teammates. She knew that they should have continued to search while they had the chance. Although it had been Teal'c who had suggested that they return to Earth, she knew that the ultimate responsibility rested with her as second in command of SG1. The battle that they had found themselves in the middle of had unnerved her in a way that she just couldn't explain. When she and Teal'c got back to the SGC a profound sense of relief had washed over her. The Colonel and Jonas were still out there, but she had felt relief! There was no excuse for leaving them there in that awful place. No excuse. Sam returned to the dialling computers determined to find the answer. ---------------- Jack knew that he was in trouble. He was cold, wet and hurt and so far every attempt that he had made to see what was around him had ended in agony. Obviously not a good day for Jack O'Neill! And there seemed to be a steady rain falling on him Either that or he had managed to fall unconscious under a small waterfall. Given the situations that Jack had found himself in over the last six years, very little could surprise him anymore! Try as he might Jack couldn't remember anything after ordering Jonas to dial up Earth. He had tried calling out as best he could, but his best wasn't very good at the moment. There seemed to be movement near him, but so far, no one had answered his calls. Every now and then a nearby explosion rocked him and sent dirt and mud falling on to his head and body. There was obviously a wound in his shoulder that seemed to have been bandaged but it was bleeding freely now and he didn't even want to think about his eyesÉ "It's time to try the eyes again, Jack". The Colonel tried to muster the courage necessary to overcome the pain that he knew was to come. "Maybe one at a time, Jack" he thought wincing as he commanded the muscles of his left eye to obey. Slowly, painstakingly, he managed to open his eye to just a slit. As a dull, waterlogged light appeared he allowed himself a small sigh of relief. At least he wasn't blind! He hadn't let himself think about that prospect too much, but it had always been there at the back of his mind. Lurking. Waiting to pounce. "Now the right eye, Jack" It couldn't be that bad. "Christ!" Waves of pain swept over him. He clutched his face with his hands and moaned softly. "Now that had hurt! God, how it had hurt!" Maybe he wouldn't try that again for a while. Maybe he wouldn't ever try that again. At least one eye worked. Jack looked about him as best he could without moving too much. He seemed to be in a hole of some sort. It was muddy and dirty and downright miserable. He moved himself slightly, wincing as he did so. The sounds that he had heard earlier seemed to have come from his right. It was harder for him to see what was in that direction, but he managed to turn just enough. Jonas was huddled against the trench wall not far from the decomposing body of a young soldier. The soldier's eyes seemed to look at him constantly, accusingly. Unforgiving eyes. "Jonas! Are you alright?" Jack was relieved to see his teammate. "Where are Carter and Teal'c? What happened?" Jonas didn't seem to hear him. There was obviously something wrong with the young man. "Jonas", Jack tried again. Jonas sat, twisting his hands together and holding himself in rigidly tight. "Jonas" Nothing seemed to reach him. Jonas seemed to be in a world of his own. "Totally useless," thought Jack grimly. "Here I am wounded and he is just sitting there as if he is at a picnic!" The rain was getting harder. A dull, dirty dusk was creeping up on them and they didn't even have a fire. Jack knew that he was getting weaker by the minute. "God knows what this shoulder wound will be like in the morning", he muttered to himself. "Probably infected Ð as usual. Probably get a fever Ð as usual. Probably end up in the infirmary Ð as usual. Maybe I should start dating Doc Frasier; I seem to spend more time in her company than any other woman! This whole scenario was starting to look too, too predictable!" It was at that moment that a shell shrieked overhead and landed with a blinding explosion within a few hundred feet of their position. The ear-shattering concussion knocked Jack flat to the ground. It had the opposite effect on Jonas. With a screech he leaped up and ran frantically to the other side of the trench. "Make it stop! Colonel, please make it stop!" He held his hands over his ears, his body trembling with fear. "Jonas! I'm here. I can't make it stop, but I am with you" Jack pulled himself off the muddy ground and made his way agonisingly towards Jonas. Every movement made his whole body hurt. Every rock in the soil was like a boulder to be surmounted, but he needed to get to the frantic Jonas. He reached a hand towards the frightened man. His touch made Jonas start with fright and lurch backwards into the trench wall in a blind panic. "Jonas. I'm here" "Colonel? I thought that you were dead. You wouldn't answer me before" Jack could see that Jonas was petrified with fear. What he had taken for indifference was the result of an overriding terror. "What happened, Jonas?" he asked, taking his trembling hand in his own, "Where are the others?" He spoke gently, as one would to a frightened animal. "I don't know! I couldn't look for them. I had to get you to safety. The guns kept firing. The noise was terrible. You see that don't you? I had to save you" Jonas pleaded for Jack's understanding. Jack sat with his back against the wall, thinking rapidly. This was a situation that he knew he should understand. He had read about it in the courses on military history but he never thought that he would experience it at first hand. How best to handle this? Jack hadn't the slightest idea. He wasn't really good at this sort of stuff. "It's alright Jonas. It isn't your fault Just tell me what happened to Sam and Teal'c. Tell me what happened after you started dialling the gate." He wanted to scream at Jonas. Grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he answered. Jonas took a large shuddering breath. He had calmed down considerably since he had realised that Jack was really alive. "I had only gotten part way through the sequence. A shell exploded near us and I was knocked out. When I woke up there were explosions going off everywhere. I saw you and dragged you to here. I thought that we would be safe! I didn't see the others anywhere." "There isn't much that I can do about that now," thought Jack. He took a large breath.."JonaÉ" before bursting into a coughing fit Ð ouch, that hurts! "Jonas. Listen to me," he said, wheezing "We need to get back to the gate. But first you need to bandage this wound of mine a little tighter. Then we can get back and see if we can find the others. They may be looking for us. If we stay here they won't be able to see us in the dark" The blind faith with which Jonas looked at the Colonel was almost heart breaking. "I knew that you would know what to do, Colonel. I knew that you would save us" "God help me", thought Jack. His heart went out to the poor kid. What had Jonas gone through before he had woken up? "OK. Let's get this show on the road!" With optimism that he didn't feel Jack began to stand. "Oh shit! Not good" He grabbed at Jonas's arm. "Come on, kid. Let's get this shoulder bandaged and get going" "I don't have anything to bandage it with, Colonel. I used a piece of my shirt before. Now it is too dirty to use", Jonas replied. "I'm sorry" "It's alright, Jonas. You have nothing to apologize for" Jack tried to keep a level tone in his voice. He didn't feel level! In fact he felt decidedly unlevel. All he wanted to do was lie down and sleep. But he couldn't. It was up to him to get them out of here. That was his job and he was going to do it. --------------------- The shells rained ceaselessly down on Jonas and the Colonel as they made their slow, agonising trek across the moras of treacherous, stinking mud. The horizon was lit with a terrifying inferno as the battle raged. Jack knew that they must be in the No Man's Land between opposing forces. He hoped that it stayed that way. The occasional off target shell was better than being in the middle of a full-scale battle. Jonas felt like he was in the middle of a waking nightmare. As the guns lobbed shells over their heads, the flying debris slashed into the ground around them, cutting through anything in its path. The noise blotted out every thing else as they trudged over the vast sea of mud. Body parts were strewn everywhere around them and the smell of decay was indescribable. "How can people do this to each other, Colonel?' Jonas asked, trudging wearily along side his commander. "Why would they?" Jack paused, looked around at the hell on earth. "There's a question! What to say? How could anyone possibly justify terror like this?" he thought. "Each side thinks that they are right, Jonas. Each only sees what they want to Ð their deaths, their horror. They think that the end justifies the means" Jack could barely place one foot in front of the other. His right eye throbbed unbearably with every heartbeat. His shoulder wound bled freely once again and he felt light headed and hot. His feet were lumps of ice as his water logged shoes and socks froze. "Not a happy little soldier, Jack Not happy at all!" he thought to himself. Finally, Jack had had enough and slumped gracelessly to the ground. His wounds ached unmercifully as he sat there gasping for air. He had never felt so much like just giving up before. He had always managed to drag himself out of bad situations, even if sometimes his fingernails got broken off in the process. But this was different somehow. The noise, the blood, the stench, the death. It was too much to handle. It was overwhelming. "Colonel? You have to go on. We are near the gate now. We have to get out of here!" Jonas could barely stay on his feet so he knew how much worse it must be for Jack, but they had to continue. If he sat down they were both doomed. He would never conjure up the energy to go on. He reached down and pulled Jack up to him. Jack responded by uttering a low moan. The pain from his wounds was too much for him and he gave in to the welcoming blackness. "I'm sorry if this hurts, Colonel, but I don't really have any other choice." With a supreme effort, Jonas hoisted Jack up and on to his shoulder. Jack offered up no protest other than groaning as his face hit Jonas's back. ----------- Jack spent the rest of the journey back to the stargate unconscious. It was probably best that he wasn't awake when Jonas dropped him for the first time. Or for the second. And when they both landed in a quagmire of mud and slush that reached up to Jonas's waist. That had been a close run thing. The mud had sucked at Jack's inert body as soon as he hit the surface. Jonas only just managed to grab the Colonel's leg and pull him free before the ground had shaken once more and the hole that they had fallen into deepened even further. Jonas scrambled to the comparative safety of a nearby patch of dirt, breathing rapidly. He was so tired that he could hardly think straight, but he knew one thing. He had to get Jack back home. ------------- Teal'c stood looking out at the gate from the observation window. His frustration was almost a physical thing. Leaving the Colonel and Jonas behind had been hard enough, but to stand and watch as attempt after attempt failed was worse. Each time that the wormhole refused to engage his frustration grew. Never had he felt more like lashing out at someone. So he kept silent and stood watching the gate. Sam was like a perpetual motion machine. She hadn't stopped working on the problem for hours now and she didn't intend to until it was solved. Janet had tried to get her to take a break, but she had refused and when the doctor had appealed to General Hammond, he had just told her to leave Sam to work. There was something about the description that Major Carter and Teal'c had given the General of the planet that had sent shivers up his spine in a way that he hadn't experienced since he was a very young officer. If it meant working non-stop, he would see that Jack and Jonas got home. ___________ The sound of the stargate activating sent General Hammond to the observation window. There weren't any teams due back to the SGC for several days. "It's SG1's ID", called Sergeant Stiler from the control panel. "Open the iris', General Hammond shouted, "Medical team to the gate room!" Sam and Teal'c stood at his side anxiously watching as each chevron engaged. All three of them mentally counted as each lit up and the gate turned. Six. Seven! With Teal'c right behind her Sam hurried down to the gate room floor. From the event horizon stumbled the weary figure of Jonas carrying Colonel O'Neill across his shoulders. He slumped to the floor in an exhausted heap. __________ Teal'c and Sam paced outside the infirmary door. Both the Colonel and Jonas were in there and that was where they wanted to be. Not here in the corridor. Janet had told them to wait while the others were being examined but surely it shouldn't take this long? "Alright, you can come in now". Janet invited. "Jonas is awake, but he is very tired. He won't be able to talk to you for long" "What about the Colonel?" asked Sam anxiously, looking around for him. Jonas seemed to be alone in the infirmary. And where was the General? "I've arranged to have the Colonel airlifted to The Academy Hospital, Sam. The General has gone with him." Janet gave both Sam and Teal'c an understanding look. "I know that you will want to go to him, but I would like you to speak to Jonas first. He is very worried about the two of you and won't settle until he has seen you" Sam's immediate instinct was to turn and run. She wanted to get to the Colonel. He must be badly injured if Janet had sent him to the hospital. Usually she could handle everything at the infirmary. The security risk in having a member of the SGC in a hospital off base was never taken lightly. But Jonas was a member of their team too. He needed them. She walked over to the young man's bed. Jonas looked terrible. His eyes were sunken and surrounded by dark circles. He appeared to have lost so much weight that he looked haggard. "Sam. Teal'c. I'm so glad to see you. Janet told me that you had made it back before us, but I needed to see you with my own eyes." His voice was barely a whisper. "We are OK, Jonas," said Sam, leaning down to him. "What happened to you and the Colonel? We looked everywhere for you" Jonas's eyes shifted from her face. "We got caught in some shell fire and couldn't get to the gate". He seemed reluctant to explain more fully. "I tried to find you" Jonas puzzled Sam. He didn't seem injured, but he obviously wasn't acting normally. It was almost like the exuberant young man had been replaced by a defeated old one. "Do not concern yourself, JonasQuinn. We are quite safe." Teal'c had seen the lost look in the younger man's eyes. "You must rest now." Janet threw Teal'c a look of gratitude. "Yes, Jonas, rest now and you can talk later. I'm giving you something to help you sleep." She deftly infected a sedative into Jonas's IV tube and as he drifted off she gestured to the others to follow her from the room. "What's wrong with him, Janet?' asked Sam anxiously. "He doesn't seem himself" "He's in shock, Sam. All I can tell you is that he is deeply troubled by something that happened on that planet. Perhaps he will be more willing to talk when he has rested. We'll have to wait and see." --------------- General Hammond was not a happy man. He had flown with his Colonel to the Academy Hospital and watched him being taken into surgery, but had heard nothing since. Jack's injuries hadn't seemed to warrant his transfer here from the SGC, but he had deferred to Doctor Frasier. Now he just wanted to know what was going on! Major Carter and Teal'c had arrived a short time ago and were sitting anxiously with him in the waiting room, Teal'c with his usual impassive stare and Major Carter slumped dejectedly on a hard plastic chair. The General hated long waits like this. They usually meant that there was bad news at the end of them. "He is out of surgery." Doctor Frasier had received the news from the Academy's chief surgeon. "But it isn't looking good. The main problem is the Colonel's right eye. It has sustained severe damage from what appears to be shrapnel. His shoulder wound caused him to lose a lot of blood, but the injury itself looked a lot worse than it was". She thought back to Jack's appearance when he had returned from the planet. He had been covered in mud and blood and it had been hard to tell what his injuries were. He had been so deeply unconscious that for one horrifying moment she had thought that they had lost him. It wasn't a moment that she would ever like to repeat. "He is in recovery. You will be able to see him in a short while when he is moved to the ICU". "What is the prognosis, Doctor Frasier? How badly damaged is his eye?" General Hammond was worried. "That is why I asked to have him transferred here, General. He needed the care of a specialist eye surgeon. I'm afraid that it is outside my area of expertise." "You haven't answered my question, Doctor." pursued the General, "How badly injured was the Colonel's eye?" Janet looked up at the three anxious faces surrounding her. She knew that the news that she had to give wasn't what they wanted to hear. "I'm sorry, Sir. Colonel O'Neill may lose his right eye." ------------------ Jack was adrift in a sea of fluffy waves. He felt warm, soft and cuddly. Cuddly! A hardassed Special Ops trained Air Force Colonel didn't feel cuddly! He hadn't felt cuddly since he was two! "Crap!" "Good to hear you awake, Colonel" Dr. Frasier said cheerily. Double crap! Janet! Not again! "Don't try to open your eyes, Colonel. They've been bandaged and they are going to stay that way for at least a few days" Janet knew what the Colonel's first question was going to be so she decided to jump in first. "Your team is all right. Teal'c and Sam are here with you and Jonas is back in the infirmary. He wasn't badly hurt but he needs rest" "Infirmary? So where am I?" He asked, turning his head slowly in the direction that her voice came from. Janet was annoyed with herself. She had known that the Colonel would pick up on her slip of the tongue as soon as she had made it. "You are in the Academy Hospital, Colonel." Jack was silent for a moment. "That wasn't good" he thought, "Not good at all" "Hi, Sir", Sam Carter's voice came from the opposite side of his bed. "How are you feeling?" "Well, Carter, I was feeling surprisingly good until the Doc gave me her news. Now I think that worried is the term that springs to mind!" And Jack was worried. He didn't feel any pain. He had surreptitiously checked that all his limbs seemed to be in working order. That only left one area of concern. "So, Doc, what's wrong with my eyes?" ------------------ Jonas felt fully recovered, physically. It just seemed that his teammates were avoiding him. He probably had let them down terribly. They must be so disgusted with his behaviour that they didn't want to see him. He sunk further into the bed sheets. Janet had returned to Cheyenne Mountain from Colorado Springs. Although she wanted to stay with Jack, she did have a responsibility to her other patients, including Jonas Quinn. "How are you feeling, Jonas?" she asked as she approached her patient's bed. The nurses had reported that he seemed quiet and withdrawn. "I feel alright, Doctor Frasier. How is the Colonel?" Janet realised that no one had explained to Jonas about the Colonel. Maybe that went a long way towards explaining his current despondency. "He is in the Academy Hospital, Jonas. One of his eyes was badly damaged on the planet and he needs care that I can't give him. Sam and Teal'c have spent the last few days at his bedside." Jonas lay back in his bed and thought for a moment. A look of resolve crossed his face. "Can I visit him, Doctor?" Jonas looked up at her pleadingly. "I should be there with my team" Janet thought for a moment. "I don't see why not. Your injuries were mainly cuts and bruises and a slight concussion." ------------------ "Colonel" Janet spoke softly as she approached his bed. "Do you feel up to another visitor?" "Of course, Doc. Anything to stop Teal'c from reading me "A Christmas Carol". I feel too much like Scrooge at the moment," Jack whined. Teal'c raised one eyebrow and gave the Colonel a disapproving look. "I would have thought that a tale with such a positive, uplifting message would have been of comfort to you, O'Neill. I do not understand your complaint" A mutter of "Bah! Humbug!" was the only reply that he got. "It is good to see that you are feeling well, Colonel O'Neill", mumbled Jonas from near the door. "Jonas! I've been wondering where you've been hiding yourself. Did the Doc keep you confined to bed?" Jack sat up and faced the direction that the voice was coming from. "I was getting tired of Sam and Teal'c." "I'm sorry that I couldn't visit you earlier, Colonel," Jonas replied, not coming any closer. Jack could tell that there was something wrong. Jonas never mumbled. He always spoke in an annoyingly cheerful voice which usually irritated Jack immensely. "Teal'c, Doc, could I speak to Jonas alone?" he asked, "I promise not to get out of bed" "I'll hold you to that, Sir" replied Janet as she and Teal'c left the two men alone. "Come over here, kid, I don't bite. At least not often" Jack could hear Jonas take a few tentative steps in his direction before stopping once more. "Oh for cryin' out loud, Jonas! Come over here and sit down and stop making me strain my voice." Finally Jonas slumped into Teal'c's vacated chair. He didn't know what to say except for the one thing that he couldn't say often enough. "I'm sorry, Colonel" "What for, for Christ's sake?" Now Jack was angry! "For saving my life? Are you apologising for saving my life?" "No! I'm sorry that I didn't look for Sam and Teal'c. I'm sorry that I didn't look after you when you were hurt. I'm sorry that I hid. I'm sorry that I panicked. I'm sorry that the whole mess was my fault!" Jack was stunned. He had known that Jonas had panicked, but he also knew that he had saved him. Where were these feelings coming from? His memories of the events on the planet were hazy at best. He knew that Jonas had got him back to the gate and that was enough for him. "I don't remember most of what happened, Jonas, but I do remember giving up and someone picking me up and carrying me. Was that you, Jonas?" "Yes" Jonas wanted to crawl under the bed and hide. "I remember noise and explosions and I remember mud and death. Do you remember those Jonas?" "Yes" "Were you scared?" "Yes! Yes, I was!" "So was I, Kid. So would anyone be in those circumstances." "But you didn't panic, Jack! You didn't forget everything that you hold dear! You didn't huddle in a hole for hours wishing that you were dead!" There! It was finally out. The misery. The terror. It was out. It was said. "No Jonas, I didn't. I lay unconscious and you looked after me. I fell and you picked me up. I gave up and you saved me. I don't think that that is something to be sorry for." Jack wished that he could see the young man's face. Was he angry? Frightened? Still sorry? It was so frustrating not being able to see. Jonas was silent. Maybe his actions hadn't been as bad as he remembered them. Maybe he did have something to be grateful for. A weight seemed to lift from him as he sat looking at the bandaged face of the man in the bed. Maybe there was something else that he could do. "Do you need my help, Jack?" It was a very short question, but probably the most important one that he had ever asked. Jack sat completely still. That had come out of left field and he only knew one answer that he could give. "Yes, Jonas. I do" He hesitated and then continued. "I'm scared too Jonas. I'm scared that I will lose the sight in my eye. I'm scared that I won't be able to travel through the stargate again, and I'm scared that I will sit uselessly in an office somewhere with only memories for company." "You would never have only memories for company, Jack. You taught me that SG1 is a team and as a team we will get through this" Jonas was positive now. Back to his annoyingly cheerful self. But Jack didn't mind. Things were out in the open now. Things that had needed to be said. Now they really were a team. The End?
|