Beg

by Biltong

POV - Jack O’Neill

<Jack has a painful encounter with a new Gua'old>

At first, all I’m aware of is pain. Exquisite excruciating pain. The sort of agony one finds at the dentist just as the drill digs into the deepest part of that hurting tooth.

What the hell happened?

Slowly the memories come back to me. Shit, the Jaffa.

" Tau’ri. We will continue this until you beg for relief."

He smiled coldly.

" Eventually you will tell us what we want to know, it is just a matter of time, time that I and my Jaffa have, and you do not."

Dear Lord, I can’t take much more of this without dying. Shutting my eyes I thought back to everything that had happened since Danny and I found that stupid ledge.

…………………

It was Danny who found the ascending ledge on one side of the sort of Inca pyramid. He was immediately interested in climbing up it in a typical Daniel fashion.

I had been dragging my feet, all my instincts telling me that there was something really wrong about this planet. Maybe it was the lack of any movement at all, as if the whole planet was waiting for something. Or maybe I was just bored. Deciding that it was probably the latter, I had agreed, much to my friend’s jubilation.

I had followed Daniel halfway up the side of the temple when my screaming instincts finally told me to speak to Major Carter.

I keyed my radio.

" Carter come in."

She came back immediately.

" Yes sir?"

" Where are you?"

Her voice sounded strained. " Almost back at the Stargate sir. Teal’c and I heard it activate about ten minutes ago, but so far we haven’t found out why."

" The Jaffa again?"

" Probably sir."

" Hold the stargate."

" Yes sir," she said resolutely.

I spoke over my shoulder to Daniel, who had heard the exchange.

" Sorry Danny. The Indiana Jones thing will have to wait. It looks like our friends have returned."

He looked upset. " Damn Jaffa. I bet this ledge would have taken us somewhere really interesting."

Nodding sympathetically, I managed to turn round and face him, noticing his disappointed face.

Damn Jaffa indeed.

Their presence was unwelcome but not entirely unexpected. Teal’c had noticed their footprints coming and going at the stargate but had surmised that they were days old. We had hoped against hope that if they were around they would take a long march to elsewhere, leaving us alone to explore in peace, but as usual, we were never that fortunate.

I held Daniel’s shoulder as he slowly began backing down the narrow path when suddenly my keen ears heard the distinctive sound of metal and leather.

" Danny, move!"

Daniel needed no prompting.

How he turned around on that tiny ledge like he did was simply amazing, but turn he did and streaked back towards the ground, with me in hot pursuit.

The idea of being caught out on a tiny ledge by a group of armed Jaffa definitely didn’t appeal.

We almost made it; well to be more accurate, I almost made it.

I was going like a rocket until that staff weapon blast took out my right leg.

A staff weapon blast burns the flesh from your body, and it does it immediately. Danny and I were still a good couple of feet from the ground when one of them fired.

It was a lucky shot, for him. For me it was about as direct a shot as I’ve ever encountered. One minute I’m running, the next I smell charred flesh and I’m slipping off from the ledge, my balance gone.

" Jack!" Daniel’s voice was a horrified shriek.

" Go. Get the others." I looked him in the eye. " Tell them…"

My ‘ to get help’ was swallowed up as the Jaffa blasted away the ledge from underneath me.

The drop towards them seemed endless, and then I landed with a bone-jarring thud.

………………..

" Tau’ri, how nice to see you again!" Obviously he knew me from somewhere, but for the life of me I had no idea who he was.

For the life of me, such as it was. I would have laughed if I weren’t still trying desperately trying to obtain badly needed oxygen into starved lungs. It was one hell of a drop.

" Jaffa. Si ya. Kree."

Suddenly I was dragged upright and pushed to my knees in front of him. He was a tall imposing figure with a pale white skin, like ivory. A silver skullcap was worn above glowing black eyes that regarded me about as dispassionately as he would something nasty cast off at the side of the road.

" Where are the others, Tau’ri?"

I hesitated, trying to formulate a witty reply but he was having none of it.

" Jaffa."

I was caught totally unprepared.

All I heard was a whirr of displaced air before the blunt end of a staff weapon impacted hard against the side of my head, rocking me back on my heels.

" Where are the others, Tau’ri?"

I was beyond caring. Have you ever been hit by a baseball bat at full swing?

Have you ever fractured your skull that way? I hadn’t either up until that point. This was worse than that, I was sure, because the Jaffa were a hell of a lot stronger than a mere human. Suffice it to say, I heard the crushed egg sound of the impact and knew that I was in serious trouble. My hands immediately flew to my temple, and sure enough I felt the sponginess just as a feeling of unreality stole across me. Sighing, I collapsed.

" Damn Tau’ri. So delicate, so fragile." I felt the Jaffa, no Gua’old, crouch down next to me, and inspect me closely.

" Jaffa. Do lou ma."

I felt someone strong grab me by my good ankle and drag me towards what looked like a deep lake, or communal watering hole. Then with a splash I was thrown in.

Oh damn. Talk about being woken up the hard way. The water was freezing, like there was an underground spring feeding it, and I rose to the surface, spluttering.

" Where are the others, Tau’ri?"

" What others?" I said; treading water as best I could with a massive headache sending flashes of lightening through my brain. " I came here alone, I promise."

I tried to sound sincere but I could see that he wasn’t buying it. All I could hope is that Danny had made it back to the gate and they had high tailed back to the SGC for reinforcements. A Gua’old and about a dozen Jaffa were a bit too much for any SG unit to take on single handedly.

The ex-Jaffa’s eyes glowed briefly, sending chills through my already frozen body.

" You insult me, Tau’ri O’Neill." He could see my puzzlement and smiled.

" You defeated the Lord Sokar, my god, the one I had pledged my body and soul to. For that alone you will die, after you have told me all that you know."

" Go to hell," I snarled.

The Gua’old smiled. " But I have been there, as have you. This is worse."

He turned to the Jaffa on his left and removed something gray from the man’s waist belt.

Oh shit.

" Soon you will beg me to listen to your puny secrets," he said with a feral grin and aimed the zat at the water surrounding me.

Oh double shit. I have been zatted in water once before, and it is definitely not recommended.

Water is a great conductor of most things, and an especially good conductor of electricity. I remember the last time it happened to me I swore that I was being boiled alive.

" Where are your friends Tau’ri?"

" In Tau’ri land."

Maybe it was the tone of my voice, or maybe he was going to do it anyway, which was more likely, but I was immediately suffused with the distinctive charge of a zat, magnified by, oh I dunno, about the power of ten.

Remember please, I had already been shot in the leg and hit for a home run before this charming occasion.

I never stood a chance.

Luckily my team wasn’t around to witness my inglorious end.

Back arched helplessly, I opened my mouth in an agonized scream, thankfully muffled by the water that immediately gushed into my lungs as soon as I was finished.

So, this was how it ended. Strangely enough, I was at peace as I stared up at the son of a bitch through the water.

Maybe it was the blow to the head.

Then one of the Jaffa jumped in the water and hit me hard in the stomach.

" Noo."

Water gushed from my mouth as my lungs once more strained for precious air.

" No," I whispered quietly as the grinning Jaffa was pulled out of the water.

He intended zatting me again.

" Beg me an audience." The man stood there in all his Gua’old arrogance and tried to belittle me in the last hours of my life. He wasn’t going to get the satisfaction.

" I’d rather die than beg anything from a sleazy snakehead like you."

The man sighed deeply. " We have the time. You do not." He waved the snub nose of the zat at me in a friendly manner. " If you beg for relief, we will pull you out of there, it is your choice."

"Yeah, some choice."

The Gua’old rocked back on his heels in a distressed manner. " Tau’ri please. Do you know what the price is on your head? I could live in luxury until the end of my days, which as you know can be quite considerable. I would rather not kill you, but I will if I must."

He looked down at me painfully treading water.

" All I ask is that you beg to be pulled out of there. Simple really."

His demands were becoming easier, but I still wasn’t biting.

" Sorry."

This time I wasn’t even aware that he had fired. Just blackness. When one of his trusty Jaffa’s pulled me to the surface again, it took everything that I had just to keep afloat.

" Tell me." His lips were white with anger and I knew that I was finished. I would not be able to withstand another blast.

He raised his arm and aimed at me. " Tell me where your friends are."

" Right behind you." The voice was so soft that I thought that I was imagining it, until Major Ferretti’s SG2 and Major Coburn, temporary commander of SG3 in Colonel Makepeace’s absence, opened up with their respective weapons.

It was a short sharp and brutal fight, but it went on too long for me. Sighing, I closed my eyes and let go, allowing myself to slide back into the quietness of the water. I was finished, unable to even breathe anymore, but hopefully someone would notice in time.

They did.

" Jack!" I dimly felt people splash into the lake and I was roughly grabbed and hauled ashore. "

Jack, breathe Goddammit."

My head was yanked back and warm lips were placed over my open mouth, forcing air into my abused lungs.

Fingers were feeling for a pulse in my neck, as yet others tore open my tee shirt.

" Wait, he has a pulse. Faint, but there." Suddenly another breath was forced into my lungs, and I had to cough, desperately.

"It’s okay, Jack." I felt hands roll me onto my side as I coughed and hacked about half of the lake out of my lungs.

Them I was lifted and gently placed onto something soft.

" Good Christ, look at his head!" Warm fingers started probing my skull, and I moaned and opened my eyes.

" Lou?" Eyes as brown as mine looked compassionately at me.

" Colonel. You’re going to be okay." I tried to nod and thought better of it.

" SG1?"I whispered.

" All okay." He moved back as the medics pushed needles into my arm and I was swaddled in blankets and lifted onto a stretcher.

" Get him through the Stargate immediately." Like they needed to be told this.

I shut my eyes, feeling really sick and dizzy as they almost ran to the stargate with me. Unfortunately I was still feeling sick and dizzy the other side, even when they transferred me to an infirmary bed, wet clothes and all.

All this activity was giving me a huge headache and I moaned in agony.

" Colonel? Jack?" I couldn’t answer an anxious Fraiser.

Someone was busy cutting my clothes from my body, exposing me to them, and she muttered angrily.

" Sarah, you concentrate on the ribs, Alison and Steve, you do the staff weapon shot. Doctor Warner and I are definitely going to be concentrating on the head trauma. Paul, get a portable X-ray machine in here stat. We’ll worry about the water in the lungs afterwards, okay people?" It was obviously okay because no one said anything.

" Jaanet?" I tried to open my eyes and managed just a crack. Instantly she was at my side. " Hold on Colonel, we are going to get you sorted out, okay?"

" Huurttss."

She brushed my fringe away from my forehead, like she usually did, and leaned in close.

" I know it hurts. We are going to give you something for the pain right now".

And she did. A warm velvety feeling stole over me and I sighed gratefully.

" Thaankkss."

There was dead silence in the room for a moment before activity resumed.

………………...

I awoke to hear the smooth baritone of Teal’c’s voice reading something aloud. Slowly I opened my eyes, somehow still expecting the worst, but to my relief I saw the same ceiling that I usually did whenever I visited the infirmary, only this time I wasn’t in my usual spot. This time I was almost under the air conditioning unit. Strange. I was still mulling this over when I fell asleep again.

I had a major league headache. Moaning, I tried to raise my hand to my head only to have it arrested by a seeming multitude of wires and tubes.

" Colonel?"

Big brown eyes in a petite face stared at me in concern.

" Colonel?"

I looked at her and smiled. " You look like hell." I mumbled.

She smiled in relief. " So do you." Her smile got bigger. " At least I don’t have a shaven head."

" I bet I look sexy with a shaven head, where as you just look like hell. Cute, but still looking like hell," I replied quietly, lest I annoy the mad drummer in my skull.

She straightened with a snort. " It’s one particular patient that does it to me."

" Sorry," I said, trying to be contrite and failing miserably. " Can I get up now?"

" No, you can’t even sit up. Not yet."

I was silent for a moment, trying to remember things. " What happened?"

" She frowned in response. " I’m not entirely sure. Daniel told me about being zatted in the leg and you ordering him to get help, but when SG2 and 3 found you, your symptoms were those of a drowning victim that had been struck by lightening." I felt her check on my IV. " That’s besides the crushed skull."

" They threw me into the water and zatted the water." I looked up at her as a feeling of unreality slowly took over, aware that she must have injected something into my IV line, hopefully something that would help the headache. " They also played baseball with my head…" I slurred sleepily.

Then darkness crept in.

They were coming to get me. It had taken some considerable mental power to convince my body that I really would like to stay awake, but eventually I had done it. And now the world was my oyster or some such crap like that. Well, at least the infirmary was. Carefully I disconnected myself from every needle and tube I could see, freeing myself from my medical prison. Freedom at last. They weren’t gonna get me again without a fight. Swinging my legs to the side of the bed I silently shifted to my feet, and hit the floor with a thud. Oh damn. Triple damn. I had completely forgotten about the leg. I lay hunched up below the bed for a while, trying very hard to breathe and get the nausea under control. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all, but hell, I really needed to get away. Taking a deep rattling breath I slowly levered myself to my feet, praying like hell that the room would quit spinning. A century later I felt well enough to take a small step away from my bed.

" What the hell are you doing?" In a previous life she was a terrier. Small feisty and taking no shit from anybody. Carefully I turned to face her. Damn, I had to escape, but I wasn’t going to beg.

" I won’t beg." I tried to draw myself up to my full height, but felt too dizzy for that.

" Colonel?" She didn’t seem to understand. I was distressed to see Daniel, Carter and Teal’c crowd in behind her.

" No," I said quietly, wanting them to leave. Leave me alone let me go.

" Let me go. Please."

" Dr Fraiser sounded concerned. " It’s alright Colonel, you’re in the infirmary."

Was I? Oh yes. I frowned at her, trying very hard to make out her features in the wildly spinning room.

Oh shit. Something just definitely wasn’t right.

" Doc? Doc I…" I started to crumple, shutting my eyes against the whirling room when I felt strong arms catch me.

" It is alright O’Neill. I will stand guard by your side until you are well again."

Damn. They were coming, but I was powerless to resist as they hooked me back into bed. When I felt the prick of a needle I moaned, trying hard to grab her wrist.

" Please…No. I beg of you. Don’t…please…please." I was aware of tears streaming down my face as she slipped something into my mouth with orders not to bite, then a deep impenetrable fog smothered me, and I knew that I was doomed.

I was hot. I heard myself babbling things to the angels who were rubbing something cool onto me. Then someone was easing my shivers with a warm blanket and shushing me before crooning something soft in a strange tongue. Burning and freezing, my life had narrowed down to these sensations alone. Then, mercifully, there was nothingness, a place with no sensations at all, where no one could get me.

…………………

" And how are we feeling on this bright and sunny winters morn?" I cracked open a baleful eye to see Dr Fraiser whip open the curtain around my bed with a practiced whirr.

" Frwargh."

That was meant to be something intelligent, but if she wanted more, she would have to give me some water to rinse all the muck out of my mouth.

No sooner had I thought that than a straw was carefully pushed in between my gummed up lips.

" Sip very slowly."

I tried to lever myself upright, only to find myself unable to move a muscle, so, meekly closing my eyes, I slowly did as I was told, until all the water was drained.

When she took the straw away, I tried to speak again.

" Wha… ‘appened."

She looked guilty. " A fever culminating in pneumonia. We were so worried about your skull that we neglected your body. A particularly nasty type of viral infection started it off, and once it had you in it’s grip, it wasn’t going to let go without a fight."

" Is that why I’m as weak as a kitten?" I whispered.

She nodded.

" Oh yes. You put up one hell of a fight, but it took it out of you." She leaned forwards, brushing back my hair like she always did. " But we won, eventually." Something out of my vision made her stand upright and smile.

" Ready for your team?"

" Always," I said smiling faintly.

They trooped in silently, making me raise an eyebrow in inquiry. " Anybody die?"

Daniel answered for them. " You, almost. Twice."

I tried to shake my head impatiently, found it impossible and snorted. " The Jaffa were never gonna get that lucky…"

" We weren’t talking about the Jaffa," Carter said quietly.

I looked up at their serious faces for a moment as it sunk in. They meant here.

" Oh, sorry."

Teal’c sat down gingerly in a small chair.

" That is an acceptable apology O’Neill as long as you do not do it again."

Was that a joke? I shut my eyes briefly to think about it.

" Colonel?"

" Oh, sorry Carter," I said opening my eyes again. " Just tired, ya know?"

Nodding, Daniel sat down on the edge of my bed, next to my feet, Carter taking the

other side.

" What happened sir?"

I frowned vaguely. " You mean after I fell off of the ledge?"

" We’d all like to know son," a familiar voice said.

General Hammond snagged a chair from somewhere and sat down on the opposite side of the bed from Teal’c.

" Well sir, we have a new Gua’old…"

Slowly, haltingly, I told them what happened, ending when SG2 and 3 pulled me out of the lake, trying vainly to keep lucid and conscious as I did so. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Dr Frasier looking at me intently.

" The Gua’old wanted me to beg. If I begged for my life, he would have let me live. It seems that some of Sokar’s friends have some plans for me. It seems I have a price on my head…"

They all looked horrified.

" But you know me, I would rather die than be reduced to begging."

My voice trailed off and I inadvertently shut my eyes. Only briefly, but it was enough for Dr Fraiser.

" People. He’s had enough for one day."

Damn. Sometimes begging is justified.

" No I haven’t. I’m fine. Leave me alone for a little while longer, please?"

She wasn’t having any of it. Raising herself to her full height she glared at me.

" Colonel. You have been unconscious for almost a week. You have a fractured skull and are recovering from a nasty bout of pneumonia that was so severe that we almost transferred you to intensive care at Academy General Hospital in Colorado Springs. Hell, if it weren’t for your leg having an unexplainable staff weapon blast, we would have. As it is, someone has been at your side, just in case of complications, for every second since you started to run a fever. Now we have had enough. You are not fine; in fact the minute everyone leaves, I am going to sedate you again, because I am still not happy with your results. And that is that."

Her finger began to tap one of the mysterious machines making me cringe.

" So, if everyone would go. Now please."

I sighed regretfully as they all obeyed, even the General, apart from Daniel.

" You know Jack?" I felt my IV line jerk as Janet did something out of my line of sight, like inject something potent into it.

" Danny, you better make this fast." I felt the velvetiness course through my blood.

" Oh yeah, really fast."

"It’s strange. You’re adamant that you will never beg for anything from a Gua’old, even for your life, yet you beg Dr Fraiser all the time."

Ah hah, I knew the answer to that one.

" She never listens, so it’s safe…safe to beg."

I saw my sandy haired friend smile in understanding as I took a deep breath and allowed sleep to overtake me.

* Einde *

Beta tested by CIGIK

*****Reader's RAVES*****

Dear 'Biltong'
Just wanted to drop you a quick line to say how much I enjoyed the above
story. I'm a real Jack-a-holic and nothing makes a better night time story
than a good old piece of Jack whumping and you've got it in spades, girl!
Wonderful stories, full of character, all those problems for the poor old
Colonel and right up my street. Thanks very much for the entertainment, I'm
off to read them again!
Best Wishes
Elizabeth
Wiltshire, England

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