Title: Forgiven (at a price) Author: Kazza Email: kazzak999@hotmail.com Story Status: Complete Sequel/Series Info: Alternative ending to Shades of Grey Season: Three Spoilers: Shades of Grey Categories: Missing scene/Epilogue, Hurt/Comfort, Angst Pairing: None Rating: PG Content Warning: Very mild swearing and pain for Jack Summary: An alternative ending to Shades of Grey – how the team forgave his actions. Archive Permissions: Jackfic, Incoming Wormhole Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions; all the powers that be, not me; This story is for entertainment purposes only File Size: 41KB Authors Notes: I’m on a roll now!!!
Forgiven (at a price) by Kazza
He was curled up on his side in the bed, facing the wall, as if trying to block out the activity of the infirmary, As bad as his head felt, he wasn’t oblivious to the curious glances that had been thrown in his direction since his arrival. As far as the majority of the SGC personnel were concerned, Colonel Jack O’Neill had retired from the Air Force six weeks ago, so his reappearance was causing major gossip. Janet also sensed what was going on and was desperate to set people straight, but until Hammond gave the go ahead, she had to settle for warning her staff to treat Jack with courtesy. Grabbing Jack’s chart from the nurses station, she made her way over to his bed. “Colonel?” She pulled the curtain around his bed and settled herself in the chair at his bedside. “Jack?” His eyes opened and he tried to focus, grimacing. Janet smiled sympathetically. “Head still hurting?” He closed his eyes briefly and then opened them again. “Had worse hangovers, doc.” Janet shook her head, knowing that Jack would never admit to how bad he felt, and then gently squeezed his hand. “The results are back.” She kept her voice low. “When you took that knock to the head,” she indicated to the bruising on his forehead, “it caused a tiny skull fracture, which unfortunately, caused an small bleed. In itself, it wasn’t serious, the bleeding stopped quickly but the blood is still there and it’s caused an infection. That’s why you have the headache from hell.” She hesitated before continuing. “I’ve started IV antibiotics and we just need to give them a couple of days to work. Trust me.” Jack managed a small smile. “I never trust doctors.” Janet pretended to look hurt. “I’ll remember that, Colonel.” Jack coughed. “Retired, remember.” Janet sighed. “I believe you’ve been recalled. Now sleep…..and don’t refuse the pain medication.” He closed his eyes and mumbled something she couldn’t make out before he drifted back into unconsciousness. * Hammond had a headache of his own. When Jack had arrived back with the eight members of the rogue team, he had felt nothing but relief that the mission had been successful. The relief had then been replaced with concern as Jack had promptly collapsed and rushed to the infirmary, although Janet had since assured him that the colonel would be fine. The Tollans and the Asgard had since contacted him to thank him for the return of their stolen technology and that diplomatic ties would not be withdrawn, which left Hammond was wondering how he was going to repair the damage done to his best team, SG1. In order to convince everyone that Jack had betrayed the SGC, Hammond had made the decision to exclude the remaining members of SG1 from the mission. He had watched as they had struggled to understand Jack’s behaviour, the harsh words that he had been forced to say to them to make them believe his betrayal. Jack, himself, had admitted he felt sick to the stomach about the whole mission and how he didn’t think that his team would ever be able to trust him again. Now he was lying in the infirmary, all alone without the support of this team, which he also considered his closest friends. Hammond leaned back his chair and looked at his watch. SG1 were currently off world and were due back within the hour. In that hour, Hammond had to figure out what the hell he was going to say to them. * Janet had been standing at the end of Jack’s bed, reviewing his chart, when she noticed his eyes flicker open again. She watched as he took in the empty chair at his bedside and couldn’t miss the look of loneliness when he realised that Daniel, Sam and Teal’c were not there as they would normally have been when he’d been injured before. She was about to give him a few reassuring words when suddenly he stiffened. Recognising the sign immediately she dropped the chart on the floor. “Colonel!” She watched in horror as he seized. “Damn it!” Two of her nurses, alerted by her shout, come running across and she started yelling instructions. * “Makepeace is an ass.” Daniel glared at Makepeace’s back as he departed the embarkation room. He stomped down the metal ramp. “God, I didn’t think that there could be anyone worse that Jack O’Neill.” Sam looked across at him. “Daniel, you don’t mean that.” Daniel shot her a look. “No?” Simmonds appeared in front of them. “Major Carter, Dr Jackson, Teal’c.” He looked uncomfortable. “General Hammond would like you see you in the briefing room.” Daniel scowled. “I’d like to shower first.” Simmonds shifted on his feet. “I’m sorry, Dr Jackson, but General Hammond said immediately.” * When Hammond had finished his story, the last thing he wanted to do was to look at them but he didn’t have much choice. Teal’c had remained impassive, whilst Sam had shook her head in disbelief before muttering that it all made sense. Daniel, however, looked angry. “So you didn’t trust us? You and Jack just decided to leave us out of the loop.” Hammond shook his head. “That’s not correct, Dr Jackson. Colonel O’Neill was adamant that you all be involved from the beginning…..however, both myself and the Asgard insisted that the mission should only involve him. Believe me when I say that I did not for one minute believe that SG1 were involved in the thefts but I can honestly say that I did not hold the same trust in your acting abilities.” Daniel still didn’t look happy and was glancing around. “So where is Jack now? Shouldn’t he be here to try to crack a few of his jokes and pretend that nothing happened?” Sam, who was sitting next to him, put her hand on his arm. “Daniel….” Daniel shook her hand off. “No……..okay Jack didn’t betray the SGC but he betrayed his team.” Teal’c shook his head. “Colonel O’Neill is a soldier, Daniel Jackson. He has no choice but to obey orders.” Hammond shot a grateful look at Teal’c and then watched as some of the fight left Daniel. Sam looked at Hammond. “Is the Colonel on base, sir?” Hammond nodded. “He is, Major.” There was something in his expression that set the alarm bells ringing in her head. “General, the Colonel is okay, isn’t he?” Daniel frowned. “Sam?” But Sam was looking directly at Hammond. Hammond finally answered. “Colonel O’Neill sustained a head injury during the mission but…….” He didn’t have time to finish, all three of them were already on their feet and heading for the door. * Things were not going well. After the seizure, Jack had begun vomiting and this temperature had spiked. As soon as they thought that he was beginning to settle, he would vomit again and the whole cycle would start over. “Come on, Colonel, be a good patient for once.” Janet stood at his bedside, anxiously keeping an eye on his vital signs. He was again lying on his side, curled up in a foetal position, finally asleep. It had been almost thirty minutes since his last bout of sickness and Janet was hoping that it had passed and that he could now rest. She absently mindedly let her hand drift to his hair and gently stroked it. Then she heard voices and footsteps and smiled, recognising the voices. “Hey Colonel, I think your team is here.” He didn’t stir, which was expected, so Janet moved to head them off at the door to the infirmary. “How is he, Janet?” Sam looked worried, which Daniel’s expression matched. Behind them, Teal’c as always looked impassive. Janet shook her head and sighed. “He took a heavy blow to the side of the head, resulting in a skull fracture. There is now also signs that his brain in swelling. It tends to get worse before it gets better and he’s pretty sick at the moment.” She saw a look of guilt flash across Daniel’s face as she continued. “He’s sleeping at the moment and I would prefer it if he stayed like that, the longer he sleeps the more time to heal. You all know the Colonel, he tends not to allow himself time to heal.” Daniel nodded. “Can we sit with him, if we promise not to make any noise?” Janet hesitated and then remembered the look on Jack’s face when he realised that his team weren’t there. Finally she nodded. “Okay, but if there is any noise I will have not qualms in evicting you all.” She stepped aside to admit them into the infirmary. * It was another ten hours before Jack’s eyes opened again. When he regained consciousness, he lay there with his eyes still closed thinking that his head couldn’t possibly hurt any more that it did already. He could hear voices murmuring but assumed that it was the infirmary staff. Then he heard Daniel’s voice, the surprise of hearing it making him open his eyes. It was a move he instantly regretted. The light hitting his eyes was agonising and he gasped involuntarily in pain. Daniel, who had been talking to Teal’c, immediately spun round when he heard the gasp. “Jack?” But Jack wasn’t listening. Everything was spinning, the lights were tearing his head apart. Daniel glanced across at Janet, who was at the other end of the infirmary. “Janet!” Janet, registering the urgency in Daniel’s voice, dropped everything and ran across to Jack’s bed. “Colonel?” But it was too late, Jack seized again. * Sam reached the infirmary in record time. She had been in her lab, writing her mission report, when an airman had appeared asking her to go the infirmary. When she got there, she found an ashen faced Daniel and Teal’c standing in the corridor. “Daniel, Teal’c, what’s going on?” Daniel shook his head. “Jack……….” Teal’c took over. “Colonel O’Neill awoke in great pain and then suffered a fit.” Sam felt her stomach flip as Teal’c continued. “Dr. Fraiser has asked that we remain out here until she has finished treatment.” * “Damn it, colonel.” She looked at Jack, now heavily sedated and intubated. The latest MRI scan had shown that the pressure was still increasing on his skull, causing the seizure. She had had no choice but to put him into a medicated coma until the pressure began to lift. “Janet?” Daniel appeared at her side, the nurses having finally let them back in. Janet turned to look at them. “He’s doing okay.” They didn’t look convinced. Janet tried to look confident. “We’ve had to knock him out to give himself time to heal. He’ll be asleep for a couple of days until the swelling goes down and then we’ll wake him gently. It just looked more scary that it actually was.” Sam looked shell shocked, as if everything that had happened in the last twelve hours was a dream. Janet put her hand on her arm. “He just needs to hear friendly voices……….at the moment he thinks that he’s the last person that you all want to talk to. He thinks that he’s hurt you all………the guilt……..just talk to him about anything.” She looked at Daniel. “Talk to him about rocks, you know how that always interests him.” Daniel grinned. “Not rocks, they are artifacts, doc.” * Janet’s estimation was out by three days. Jack had remained unconscious for five days until at last the scans showed that the swelling had reduced to a manageable level. Finally she had removed the intubation tube and begun to ease up on the sedation, taking it slowly. It would not do Jack any good to be woken quickly. * Teal’c was at Jack’s bedside when he detected movement. It was just after three in the morning and it was his turn on shift, something that had been implemented so that Jack wouldn’t be left on his own. As he watched, Jack began to wake up and after a couple of minutes, his eyes opened and focused, the confusion evident on his face. Teal’c move slightly to indicate his presence and Jack moved his head to look at him. “Teal’c?” His voice was barely a whisper. Teal’c leaned forward. “It is I, O’Neill.” He watched as Jack’s eyes closed again and he drifted off to sleep again. * When he woke several hours later, his surroundings were considerably noiser. As he lay in the bed, his eyes still closed, he could make out the voices of his team. Daniel and Sam were discussing something technical and Teal’c was interrupting every so often with his usual one worded wisdom. His head hurt like hell but it wasn’t as bad as the last time he remembered. However, he couldn’t remember what the hell had happened……..the last time his team were off world and he’d been on his mission. He reasoned that Hammond must have told them the truth, which probably meant that they were going to be pissed with him. In fact, maybe it would be better if he didn’t let them know that he was conscious. Then he heard approaching footsteps and smelt the familiar scent of perfume that Janet always wore. He knew that she would discover that he was awake so hiding was no longer an option. With a sigh, he opened his eyes. “Welcome back to the land of the living, colonel.” Janet smiled. “We were wondering how much longer you were going to sleep.” She checked his vital sign as the others hovered in the background, waiting anxiously. Satisfied with what she was seeing, she stepped back and looked at the rest of SG1. “Five minutes and then let him sleep.” “Jack?” Daniel sounded hesitant as he moved into Jack’s line of sight. “How do you feel?” “Confused.” His voice was scratchy and he looked around for a source of water, which was provided in the guise of a beaker and a straw. He took a sip and sighed. “Thanks.” Daniel put the beaker down and smiled. “You’re welcome.” Jack closed his eyes again, enjoying the feeling of support from his team around the bed. Then he remembered something. His eyes snapped open. “Makepeace.” “Arrested a few days ago, sir. Thor reported to General Hammond.” Sam rested her hand on his shoulder. “The General told us all about the mission.” Jack raised an eyebrow and winced as he head protested. He guessed that he was going to be stuck with a headache for a while longer. “And……” He waited for their indignation. Daniel was the first to speak. “Well, at first I was extremely pissed with what you did. But then I guess I had the time to think about it. About the annoying way the military expect their people to do as order and damn the consequences.” Sam interjected. “What Daniel is trying to say, sir, is that we understand what happened and we plan to forgive your actions. But it comes at a price.” “Price?” Daniel smiled happily. “Dinner at O’Malleys. The whole works. Of course we’ll wait until you’re feeling better and can join us to pick up the tab.”
The End.
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