Stargate SG1: What Dreams May Come (15/21)
All disclaimers, notes, warnings and summary are in the Master post: What Dreams May Come
Chapter Fifteen
Janet walked into the isolation room like a woman with a mission-which she was. She had finished working out the logistics involved in taking Daniel's body through the stargate, and it was time to put her plan into action. She was proud that her hesitation upon seeing two members of SG-1 sitting on the floor, leaning against the colonel's bed, and talking to thin air was so slight that she was certain none of them had noticed.
She'd be very glad to have both the colonel and Daniel whole, well, and corporeal again.
"Colonel O'Neill?" she asked the air. "Is it possible for you to return to your own body? Can you wake yourself up?"
Sam nodded, and Teal'c said, "He says that it is possible. He has done it once before."
Janet smiled. "I was thinking he had. He woke up from his previous sedation just a bit too quickly for it to have been anything else. Colonel, we'll be ready to go in fifteen minutes. It would help immensely if you were able to take yourself through the stargate. So if you would, sir?"
Sam and Teal'c stood and stepped away from Jack's bed. Janet took that as a sign that the colonel was preparing to return to his body, and she turned back into the corridor and toward the infirmary, to finish gathering her supplies.
"Let's go see the wizard," Jack said. He rose to his feet smoothly, and was relieved to see a smiling Daniel do the same. He grasped Daniel's arm once more, ignoring how strange the contact felt and struggling with the conflicting thoughts that filled his head. He knew that the only way to return Daniel to the physical plane involved Jack returning to it himself, but he also knew how difficult the separation would be for both of them. Once Jack had entered his body again, such a simple thing as reaching out to touch Daniel's arm, something Jack had taken for granted only twenty-four hours earlier, would be impossible. Daniel nodded back at him, and Jack knew that he understood.
Jack released Daniel's arm reluctantly and walked over to his bed. He settled himself on it and was just beginning to lay down when he heard Daniel calling to him.
"Jack ..."
The voice was suddenly weak-much weaker than it had been only a moment before. Jack turned his head and was shocked to see that Daniel, who had risen to his feet so easily, was only managing to stay on them by leaning heavily against the other bed.
"Daniel?" he asked as he stopped in mid-motion, his concern obvious.
"Jack, I ... I don't ..."
Jack reacted quickly when Daniel faltered, swung his feet back over the side of the bed, and sat up straight again. "You don't what?"
Daniel didn't answer, his face a mask of immeasurable agony. His lips were moving, but no sound escaped them. His eyes, wide and filled with terror, locked onto Jack's, begging him for help.
Jack jumped from the bed and stepped forward, but drew back when he realized that he didn't even know what was happening. "Daniel? What's wrong?"
"Dr. Fraiser!" Sam and Teal'c called out in unison.
Daniel clutched his hands to his chest, grabbing at his heart. He looked down at them, and then back up. "Jack ..." he gasped, reaching out with his right hand and giving voice to the plea Jack had seen in his eyes. "Help me ..."
Jack reached out instinctively. "Daniel?"
Daniel took two staggering steps forward before collapsing to his knees. He pressed his clenched fists more tightly against his chest, and his eyes widened further. Teal'c and Sam both knelt beside him, opposite Jack, but without the ability to touch him, neither knew exactly what to do for him. Jack reached out, grabbed him by the shoulders and kept him from falling to the floor.
"Captain!" Janet demanded, her eyes riveted to the two people on their knees in front of her. "Teal'c, what's going on? What's wrong?"
Sam glanced up from Daniel to answer Janet, but she suddenly pointed toward Daniel's bed and cried out, "Doc!"
Janet spun and was shocked by the sight of Daniel's body-Daniel's lifeless body-jerking spasmodically on the bed. "What the hell ... ?"
The stunned tone of Janet's question and the horrified look on Sam's face made Jack and Teal'c snap their heads around toward Daniel's bed, but just as they did a cry of pure anguish ripped itself from Daniel's throat. Jack felt Daniel fall away from him, an eerie reminder of being released from Belos' beam the day before.
Jack turned back to find Daniel crumpled on the floor, his hands clutched even more tightly to his chest. "What the hell is going on here?" Jack demanded.
"What's happening to him?" Janet asked at the exact same moment.
Teal'c and Sam rose slowly to their feet and moved over to stand beside Janet. None of them could believe what they were seeing, and all three stared down at Daniel's body in astonishment.
Jack looked up from Daniel just long enough to say, "Carter, what is it? What are you guys seeing over there?"
"Sir, I ..." Sam couldn't continue her explanation, both because she couldn't describe it and because she had absolutely no idea what was happening, even though it was happening right before her eyes.
Janet shuddered, forcing herself into action. After paging the trauma team to the isolation room, she ran to Daniel's body to assess the situation. She pulled the blankets away and ripped his gown open to his waist so that she could more clearly visualize what was happening to him.
Daniel moaned deeply and tried to roll away from Jack's touch, but Jack wouldn't let him go. He grasped Daniel's arm more tightly with his right hand and rolled him partway over, until Daniel's back was propped against the front of Jack's legs. He reached down with his other hand and pushed the hair that had fallen across Daniel's face out of the way.
"Hang in there, buddy," Jack whispered urgently. "We're gonna beat this, remember? Doc said we're outta here in fifteen. You can hang on that long; you have to."
Without moving either hand, Jack jerked his head up and looked at Sam angrily. "Damn it, Carter, what the hell is happening over there?"
Sam opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again, and simply shook her head. Teal'c looked from Daniel's bed down to Jack, his expression somber, and answered.
"In the past few moments, several wounds have appeared on Daniel Jackson's body."
"Wounds?" Jack asked in confusion as the trauma team Janet had paged burst into the room, literally running right through him and Daniel. Jack shuddered at the sensation and then looked up at Teal'c again. "What do you mean wounds?"
Sam and Teal'c had moved away from Daniel's bed to give the trauma team room to work. Jack noticed several bewildered looks that passed between the medical personnel. He knew that the situation was odd-not only were wounds spontaneously appearing on one of their patients, but that patient was actually dead. They couldn't possibly understand why Dr. Fraiser had summoned a trauma team to attend to an already dead body.
Sam knelt down across from Jack and reached for Daniel's shoulder, needing to reassure both him and herself that he was still there. But even as she was moving her hand toward him, she pulled it back and shook her head. She was having a hard time remembering that even though she could see Daniel and hear him, she still couldn't touch him. She swallowed hard and glanced up at the trauma team assembled around Daniel once more, and then she turned to Jack.
"They almost look like knife wounds, sir. They're slashes-deep ones."
Jack's eyes widened and he looked down at Daniel in a near-panic. "What's causing them? Have they got the bleeding under control? Is Belos here?"
"The wounds are bloodless," Teal'c said from behind him. Jack looked up to see the Jaffa standing over him, his eyes never wavering from Daniel's bed. "There is no one present, aside from those you see in this room. We would know if Belos were here. We would be reacting to his presence in the same manner we did before, on the planet."
"Jack," Daniel gasped out. He gripped Jack's jacket tightly in his fingers; his blue eyes shone brightly, wide with panic. "Jack, you have to wake up."
"No way, Daniel. I'm not leaving you like this."
"You have to." Daniel winced suddenly, drawing in a harsh breath. "Oh, God ..."
"Daniel!" Jack called out, wrapping his fingers around Daniel's. "I'm here. I'm right here, Daniel. It's okay."
"No," Daniel whispered, opening his eyes slightly and glancing up. "It's not."
"What's happening to you, Daniel?" Sam asked. "Talk to us."
Daniel grimaced in pain. "It's Belos," he barely managed to say.
"Is he here?" Jack demanded.
Daniel shook his head. "No, not here. On the plan ... et!" Daniel's voice hitched in the middle of the word, and his back arched up off the floor with it.
"Daniel!" Jack grabbed Daniel by the arms and tried to restrain him, but by this time, Daniel was shaking so violently that Jack knew he'd not be able to hold him down for long. Jack wrapped his arms around Daniel's chest, holding him through the waves of agony that were coursing through him. All the while he kept hoping that the physical contact was comforting, felt more normal to Daniel than it did to him, and wasn't making the pain worse.
He wanted Daniel to know that he wasn't alone.
"Oh, God!" Daniel moaned. "What have I done?"
"We don't understand, Daniel," Sam said softly, after trading expressions of fear and desperation with both Jack and Teal'c. "How is Belos doing this?"
Daniel screwed his eyes shut tightly and clenched his teeth. He gasped in several short, ragged breaths, opened his eyes, and was finally able to force out a few words through the haze in his mind. "I told you ... he's got ... the rest of me ..." Daniel panted heavily, on the verge of hyperventilation, and shook his head in vehement denial. "I shouldn't ... shouldn't feel this ... He's not ... I'm not ... not me ... another... the twelfth ..."
Daniel's words trailed off and his body went limp in Jack's arms. The deeply pained breaths did not stop.
"Daniel?" Jack lay Daniel on the floor gently and leaned down over him, looking for some sort of response. Daniel's eyes were open, but he stared straight ahead, seeing nothing. "Daniel!"
"I think his ... ," Sam began. Jack jerked his face up toward her, the look in his eyes demanding an explanation. "The pain, sir, it must have been too much. I think his mind must have shut down."
"But his eyes are open, Carter," Jack said. "He's still awake."
Sam shook her head sadly. "Yes, sir. He seems to be. And he's still breathing really hard, so his body must still be feeling the pain. His mind's just not letting him know about it any more."
"So, what? He's catatonic now?"
Sam nodded sadly.
"Well, that's just peachy!" Jack growled.
Janet suddenly appeared directly in front of Sam, filling Jack's vision. "Colonel," she said, though from the way she looked around, it was clear to Jack that she had no idea where he was. "Daniel's wounds aren't bleeding, sir, but we've bandaged them to minimize blood loss, in case they should start. Now, sir, I know that you were going to do this yourself, but since you haven't, I'm guessing that you're having some trouble."
Janet held up a syringe that she'd been holding since she had first stepped in front of him. "Colonel, this is a stimulant that will reverse the effects of the sedative Dr. MacKenzie gave you. You should be awake in less than a minute, so if there's anything you need to do to prepare ..."
"No!" Jack said quickly, reaching out one hand in the doctor's direction. "Teal'c, stop her!"
"Dr. Fraiser, O'Neill has asked me to stop you."
"What? Why?"
"I have to stay unconscious, Ja ... damn, she can't hear me. Teal'c, just tell her that I have to stay where I am. I don't want her to wake me up."
"If we are to return Daniel Jackson to the planet, O'Neill, you will require consciousness. It will be far too dangerous for you to venture there in your current state."
"Teal'c's right, sir," Sam said. "It's bad enough that we have to risk taking Daniel back there like this. If you're separated as well, we'll be doubling Belos' chances of succeeding."
"Look at him!" Jack gestured at the limp body on the floor in front of him. "He won't be able to make it alone; he can't even stand up! I'll have to carry him through, and the only way I can do that is by staying where I am."
Janet was watching Teal'c's and Sam's faces anxiously, obviously hoping for any hint at the other side of the conversation she was listening to. Sam had turned away from her, and finding Teal'c's face, as always, unreadable, she asked him, "Teal'c, what did he say?"
"O'Neill says that he must remain in his current state in order to carry Daniel Jackson through the Stargate."
"Carry him? Why?" Janet asked in confusion. "I thought he was ambulatory."
Teal'c's eyes narrowed, but his voice remained steady. "Daniel Jackson's present condition prevents him from walking."
"What is his current condition?" Janet asked, hating the fact that she couldn't see Daniel for herself.
"His consciousness appears to be feeling the injuries that are appearing on his body. He has not spoken in several minutes, and does appear unable to move."
"Is he bleeding?"
"No," Jack answered, forgetting that Janet couldn't hear him. "A consciousness can't bleed."
"He is not," Teal'c repeated.
"Has he passed out?"
"He can't!" Jack responded forcefully. "He's awake, and he's feeling every God damned thing that snake is doing to him!"
"He cannot lose consciousness," Teal'c told Janet softly.
"Oh, my God," Sam gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Janet turned toward her and found her pale and trembling.
"Captain?"
"The other part of him ... it's his soul," she whispered. "Belos is torturing his soul."
Chapter Fifteen
Janet walked into the isolation room like a woman with a mission-which she was. She had finished working out the logistics involved in taking Daniel's body through the stargate, and it was time to put her plan into action. She was proud that her hesitation upon seeing two members of SG-1 sitting on the floor, leaning against the colonel's bed, and talking to thin air was so slight that she was certain none of them had noticed.
She'd be very glad to have both the colonel and Daniel whole, well, and corporeal again.
"Colonel O'Neill?" she asked the air. "Is it possible for you to return to your own body? Can you wake yourself up?"
Sam nodded, and Teal'c said, "He says that it is possible. He has done it once before."
Janet smiled. "I was thinking he had. He woke up from his previous sedation just a bit too quickly for it to have been anything else. Colonel, we'll be ready to go in fifteen minutes. It would help immensely if you were able to take yourself through the stargate. So if you would, sir?"
Sam and Teal'c stood and stepped away from Jack's bed. Janet took that as a sign that the colonel was preparing to return to his body, and she turned back into the corridor and toward the infirmary, to finish gathering her supplies.
"Let's go see the wizard," Jack said. He rose to his feet smoothly, and was relieved to see a smiling Daniel do the same. He grasped Daniel's arm once more, ignoring how strange the contact felt and struggling with the conflicting thoughts that filled his head. He knew that the only way to return Daniel to the physical plane involved Jack returning to it himself, but he also knew how difficult the separation would be for both of them. Once Jack had entered his body again, such a simple thing as reaching out to touch Daniel's arm, something Jack had taken for granted only twenty-four hours earlier, would be impossible. Daniel nodded back at him, and Jack knew that he understood.
Jack released Daniel's arm reluctantly and walked over to his bed. He settled himself on it and was just beginning to lay down when he heard Daniel calling to him.
"Jack ..."
The voice was suddenly weak-much weaker than it had been only a moment before. Jack turned his head and was shocked to see that Daniel, who had risen to his feet so easily, was only managing to stay on them by leaning heavily against the other bed.
"Daniel?" he asked as he stopped in mid-motion, his concern obvious.
"Jack, I ... I don't ..."
Jack reacted quickly when Daniel faltered, swung his feet back over the side of the bed, and sat up straight again. "You don't what?"
Daniel didn't answer, his face a mask of immeasurable agony. His lips were moving, but no sound escaped them. His eyes, wide and filled with terror, locked onto Jack's, begging him for help.
Jack jumped from the bed and stepped forward, but drew back when he realized that he didn't even know what was happening. "Daniel? What's wrong?"
"Dr. Fraiser!" Sam and Teal'c called out in unison.
Daniel clutched his hands to his chest, grabbing at his heart. He looked down at them, and then back up. "Jack ..." he gasped, reaching out with his right hand and giving voice to the plea Jack had seen in his eyes. "Help me ..."
Jack reached out instinctively. "Daniel?"
Daniel took two staggering steps forward before collapsing to his knees. He pressed his clenched fists more tightly against his chest, and his eyes widened further. Teal'c and Sam both knelt beside him, opposite Jack, but without the ability to touch him, neither knew exactly what to do for him. Jack reached out, grabbed him by the shoulders and kept him from falling to the floor.
"Captain!" Janet demanded, her eyes riveted to the two people on their knees in front of her. "Teal'c, what's going on? What's wrong?"
Sam glanced up from Daniel to answer Janet, but she suddenly pointed toward Daniel's bed and cried out, "Doc!"
Janet spun and was shocked by the sight of Daniel's body-Daniel's lifeless body-jerking spasmodically on the bed. "What the hell ... ?"
The stunned tone of Janet's question and the horrified look on Sam's face made Jack and Teal'c snap their heads around toward Daniel's bed, but just as they did a cry of pure anguish ripped itself from Daniel's throat. Jack felt Daniel fall away from him, an eerie reminder of being released from Belos' beam the day before.
Jack turned back to find Daniel crumpled on the floor, his hands clutched even more tightly to his chest. "What the hell is going on here?" Jack demanded.
"What's happening to him?" Janet asked at the exact same moment.
Teal'c and Sam rose slowly to their feet and moved over to stand beside Janet. None of them could believe what they were seeing, and all three stared down at Daniel's body in astonishment.
Jack looked up from Daniel just long enough to say, "Carter, what is it? What are you guys seeing over there?"
"Sir, I ..." Sam couldn't continue her explanation, both because she couldn't describe it and because she had absolutely no idea what was happening, even though it was happening right before her eyes.
Janet shuddered, forcing herself into action. After paging the trauma team to the isolation room, she ran to Daniel's body to assess the situation. She pulled the blankets away and ripped his gown open to his waist so that she could more clearly visualize what was happening to him.
Daniel moaned deeply and tried to roll away from Jack's touch, but Jack wouldn't let him go. He grasped Daniel's arm more tightly with his right hand and rolled him partway over, until Daniel's back was propped against the front of Jack's legs. He reached down with his other hand and pushed the hair that had fallen across Daniel's face out of the way.
"Hang in there, buddy," Jack whispered urgently. "We're gonna beat this, remember? Doc said we're outta here in fifteen. You can hang on that long; you have to."
Without moving either hand, Jack jerked his head up and looked at Sam angrily. "Damn it, Carter, what the hell is happening over there?"
Sam opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again, and simply shook her head. Teal'c looked from Daniel's bed down to Jack, his expression somber, and answered.
"In the past few moments, several wounds have appeared on Daniel Jackson's body."
"Wounds?" Jack asked in confusion as the trauma team Janet had paged burst into the room, literally running right through him and Daniel. Jack shuddered at the sensation and then looked up at Teal'c again. "What do you mean wounds?"
Sam and Teal'c had moved away from Daniel's bed to give the trauma team room to work. Jack noticed several bewildered looks that passed between the medical personnel. He knew that the situation was odd-not only were wounds spontaneously appearing on one of their patients, but that patient was actually dead. They couldn't possibly understand why Dr. Fraiser had summoned a trauma team to attend to an already dead body.
Sam knelt down across from Jack and reached for Daniel's shoulder, needing to reassure both him and herself that he was still there. But even as she was moving her hand toward him, she pulled it back and shook her head. She was having a hard time remembering that even though she could see Daniel and hear him, she still couldn't touch him. She swallowed hard and glanced up at the trauma team assembled around Daniel once more, and then she turned to Jack.
"They almost look like knife wounds, sir. They're slashes-deep ones."
Jack's eyes widened and he looked down at Daniel in a near-panic. "What's causing them? Have they got the bleeding under control? Is Belos here?"
"The wounds are bloodless," Teal'c said from behind him. Jack looked up to see the Jaffa standing over him, his eyes never wavering from Daniel's bed. "There is no one present, aside from those you see in this room. We would know if Belos were here. We would be reacting to his presence in the same manner we did before, on the planet."
"Jack," Daniel gasped out. He gripped Jack's jacket tightly in his fingers; his blue eyes shone brightly, wide with panic. "Jack, you have to wake up."
"No way, Daniel. I'm not leaving you like this."
"You have to." Daniel winced suddenly, drawing in a harsh breath. "Oh, God ..."
"Daniel!" Jack called out, wrapping his fingers around Daniel's. "I'm here. I'm right here, Daniel. It's okay."
"No," Daniel whispered, opening his eyes slightly and glancing up. "It's not."
"What's happening to you, Daniel?" Sam asked. "Talk to us."
Daniel grimaced in pain. "It's Belos," he barely managed to say.
"Is he here?" Jack demanded.
Daniel shook his head. "No, not here. On the plan ... et!" Daniel's voice hitched in the middle of the word, and his back arched up off the floor with it.
"Daniel!" Jack grabbed Daniel by the arms and tried to restrain him, but by this time, Daniel was shaking so violently that Jack knew he'd not be able to hold him down for long. Jack wrapped his arms around Daniel's chest, holding him through the waves of agony that were coursing through him. All the while he kept hoping that the physical contact was comforting, felt more normal to Daniel than it did to him, and wasn't making the pain worse.
He wanted Daniel to know that he wasn't alone.
"Oh, God!" Daniel moaned. "What have I done?"
"We don't understand, Daniel," Sam said softly, after trading expressions of fear and desperation with both Jack and Teal'c. "How is Belos doing this?"
Daniel screwed his eyes shut tightly and clenched his teeth. He gasped in several short, ragged breaths, opened his eyes, and was finally able to force out a few words through the haze in his mind. "I told you ... he's got ... the rest of me ..." Daniel panted heavily, on the verge of hyperventilation, and shook his head in vehement denial. "I shouldn't ... shouldn't feel this ... He's not ... I'm not ... not me ... another... the twelfth ..."
Daniel's words trailed off and his body went limp in Jack's arms. The deeply pained breaths did not stop.
"Daniel?" Jack lay Daniel on the floor gently and leaned down over him, looking for some sort of response. Daniel's eyes were open, but he stared straight ahead, seeing nothing. "Daniel!"
"I think his ... ," Sam began. Jack jerked his face up toward her, the look in his eyes demanding an explanation. "The pain, sir, it must have been too much. I think his mind must have shut down."
"But his eyes are open, Carter," Jack said. "He's still awake."
Sam shook her head sadly. "Yes, sir. He seems to be. And he's still breathing really hard, so his body must still be feeling the pain. His mind's just not letting him know about it any more."
"So, what? He's catatonic now?"
Sam nodded sadly.
"Well, that's just peachy!" Jack growled.
Janet suddenly appeared directly in front of Sam, filling Jack's vision. "Colonel," she said, though from the way she looked around, it was clear to Jack that she had no idea where he was. "Daniel's wounds aren't bleeding, sir, but we've bandaged them to minimize blood loss, in case they should start. Now, sir, I know that you were going to do this yourself, but since you haven't, I'm guessing that you're having some trouble."
Janet held up a syringe that she'd been holding since she had first stepped in front of him. "Colonel, this is a stimulant that will reverse the effects of the sedative Dr. MacKenzie gave you. You should be awake in less than a minute, so if there's anything you need to do to prepare ..."
"No!" Jack said quickly, reaching out one hand in the doctor's direction. "Teal'c, stop her!"
"Dr. Fraiser, O'Neill has asked me to stop you."
"What? Why?"
"I have to stay unconscious, Ja ... damn, she can't hear me. Teal'c, just tell her that I have to stay where I am. I don't want her to wake me up."
"If we are to return Daniel Jackson to the planet, O'Neill, you will require consciousness. It will be far too dangerous for you to venture there in your current state."
"Teal'c's right, sir," Sam said. "It's bad enough that we have to risk taking Daniel back there like this. If you're separated as well, we'll be doubling Belos' chances of succeeding."
"Look at him!" Jack gestured at the limp body on the floor in front of him. "He won't be able to make it alone; he can't even stand up! I'll have to carry him through, and the only way I can do that is by staying where I am."
Janet was watching Teal'c's and Sam's faces anxiously, obviously hoping for any hint at the other side of the conversation she was listening to. Sam had turned away from her, and finding Teal'c's face, as always, unreadable, she asked him, "Teal'c, what did he say?"
"O'Neill says that he must remain in his current state in order to carry Daniel Jackson through the Stargate."
"Carry him? Why?" Janet asked in confusion. "I thought he was ambulatory."
Teal'c's eyes narrowed, but his voice remained steady. "Daniel Jackson's present condition prevents him from walking."
"What is his current condition?" Janet asked, hating the fact that she couldn't see Daniel for herself.
"His consciousness appears to be feeling the injuries that are appearing on his body. He has not spoken in several minutes, and does appear unable to move."
"Is he bleeding?"
"No," Jack answered, forgetting that Janet couldn't hear him. "A consciousness can't bleed."
"He is not," Teal'c repeated.
"Has he passed out?"
"He can't!" Jack responded forcefully. "He's awake, and he's feeling every God damned thing that snake is doing to him!"
"He cannot lose consciousness," Teal'c told Janet softly.
"Oh, my God," Sam gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Janet turned toward her and found her pale and trembling.
"Captain?"
"The other part of him ... it's his soul," she whispered. "Belos is torturing his soul."