Title: When the Tide Turns
Author: Flatkatsi
Email: flatkatsi@optusnet.com.au
Status: Complete
Category: Hurt/Comfort, Series
Pairings: None
Spoilers: None
Season: Any
Sequel/Series Info: Sequel to When the Water Rises
Rating: PG
Content Warnings: None
File Size: 25kb
Archive: Incoming Wormhole, Jackfic
Summary: A fight for life.
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: Thanks go to Yllek this time.
He smiled and tried not to die once more.
He wouldn’t do it to them. He had responsibilities.
The water was rising within his body but he wasn’t going to let it overwhelm him. Slowly he beat it back, bailing it with tiny scoops within his mind. The water had saved his life once; he was not about to let it kill him now.
The medical team treated the symptoms of drowning in their bewildering patient, fighting the pneumonia that was fast becoming deadly. This time they made his team leave, they had become a worrying distraction. SG-1 knew that the doctor was right but it had taken an order from the General to send them reluctantly on their way.
To the dismay of the medical staff, the General had then become an even more disconcerting presence in their midst, watching them like a hawk as they worked on the Colonel. It was as if he had been waiting for an excuse to be there.
He wasn’t like the members of SG-1, silent. He asked questions, queried actions, demanded answers. They had never seen him like this before. Then it dawned on the doctor that this was the way that a relative acted when their child or their parent was in danger of dying. She had seen the Colonel’s reaction to the sight of the General when he was first brought home. Now she saw that the relief had been mutual and that the General had been as much in need of reassurance as the Colonel’s teammates.
It was easy to forget that behind that stern military façade there was a man with few friends. Their job did not allow them to have close friendships, friendships where they could talk about their work over a few beers on a Friday night.
One of the General’s closest friends was lying here in front of him and the General was hurting.
Jack continued to bail, keeping the water at bay. It was lapping against the walls that he had built, threatening to break through. He wasn’t aware of the people around him. His whole existence was distilled down into the fight to live. Nothing showed on his face, barely visible behind the equipment helping him to breathe.
He stayed tight inside, putting everything into survival just as he had when this whole adventure began. He had a singularity of purpose. The adrenaline that had kept him alive through the fire was still with him, like an extra pair of hands helping him to stay afloat.
The tide turned when the light was fading up above in the outside world. When the news spread it was as if everyone in the mountain had been holding their collective breaths. The relief was palatable. The mess was filled with the sound of cheerful inconsequential chatter, missing for days.
And at last Jack opened his eyes and kept them open.
They took the tube from his throat and disconnected some of the machines, but not all. He would have to put up with the others for a while longer.
His friends were there, back from their exile. All of them. The General touched him briefly on the shoulder as if grounding himself, and with a satisfied smile, returned to his office where he could have the privacy that he needed. It wouldn’t do to show just how much the survival of one man meant to him. He knew that he shouldn’t have favorites, but he did.
The others just sat, basking in the sight of the Colonel able to stay awake at last.
Teal’c was the first to break the silence.
“It is good to see you well, O’Neill.” He inclined his head and waited patiently while his comrade took a moment to swallow and ease his long unused throat muscles. He looked at Sam and Daniel and received a confirming nod from each. “We were concerned.”
There really was no need for Jack to answer. .
Then he saw the glint of tears in Daniel’s eyes, the smile lighting up Sam’s face and began to truly understand what they had gone through.
They had been right there bailing alongside of him all along.
