Reversal of Fortune: Part 16
By
Gemsong

By all accounts by those that knew him best, Jonathan "Jack" Jackson was an active, sweet, well-mannered, intelligent child. The child that was sitting hunched in the corner of a cot in a dimly lit cell bore little resemblance that description, although the term intelligent still fit him.

Jack sat with his back to corner, his knees drawn to his chest, one arm draped around them. Two fingers were in his mouth, around which an occasional sob escaped. His face was streaked with tears that had leaked from his red swollen eyes. A purple bruise was blossoming on his right cheek.

From outside the room, two men looked through the one-way mirror at the miserable child.

"That bruise looks fresh," one of the men said consideringly.

"The kid is a fighter," the other replied. "Punching, kicking, biting, scratching, screaming." He sighed. "We had to sedate him just to handle him. If that really used to be Jack O'Neill, he didn't go down without a serious fight."

The other man nodded. "It is O'Neill," he said. "Of that there is no doubt. And with what's in his head... he's doubly valuable."

"How do you plan to get him to cooperate?" the second man said. "He won't let anyone near him. Nor is he talking beyond the usual childish demands."

"Demands?"

"He wants to go home. He wants his daddy. The rest were insults in a variety of languages."

The first man smiled at that. "That definitely sounds like O'Neill," he said. "Don't worry, he'll cooperate. After all, he's not stupid. Definitely not a child, even if he's in the body of one." With that the man moved to the door and unlocked it, stepping inside the room with Jack, while the other man continued to watch through the mirror.

Jack looked up, his brown eyes wary and frightened. He knew if he were still big this wouldn't have happened. The man looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who he was. It was like the nightmares Shau're would make go away. But Shau're wasn't here to make this bad man go away. He barely held back the whimper. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know where Daddy was. He didn't know where Mommy was. What if they couldn't find him? Maybe these bad men took him someplace where nobody would ever find him again.

The man smiled, showing a lot of teeth. "Well, Colonel, it's been a long time," he said. "Although I hadn't expected meeting you quite like this."

Jack just stared at him a moment. "T-turner," he mumbled around his fingers.

"Oh, so you do remember me," Turner replied. "Good. That should make things go a lot smoother, don't you think?"

"Kul khara we moot," Jack replied in Arabic.

Turner stared at him, stunned. He knew the language, but hearing such a curse from what appeared to be only a child was startling. A six-year-old had just told him to eat sh*t and die. Turner laughed heartily. "Now, Colonel, is that the way to talk to someone you're going to be spending a lot of time with?"

"Hottaha fi teezak." Jack replied telling him where to stick it.

Turner was impressed. Jack's memory of gutter Arabic insults was impressive. As much he was rather enjoying this little game, though, there was a lot of work to be done and Jack was going to be cooperative, whether he liked it or not.

"As cute as you are, I think that's enough," Turner said. He moved fast before Jack could react and the child's arms were pinned tightly.

Jack struggled, no match for the adult's strength. "Shem et Duat!!!!" he yelled.

Turner wrapped an arm around the struggling child. "According to reports you've already been to hell, Colonel," he said. "So it can't be all that bad now can it?"

"Screw you!" Jack spat clearly this time in English.

The pressure increased on Jack until he was gasping for breath. Turner spoke against his ear. "Fighting is going to get you nowhere," he said, his voice hard with the threat. "Just because you're the size of a child won't change anything and you know how badly I can hurt you."

Jack stopped struggling. It wasn't going to do him any good. He might have some of his adult skills, but in his current size he simply didn't have the strength to do much damage. This was not like the playground fight he had with Teddy. He knew they would hurt him.

"Better," Turner said. "After all, we just need your mind. It doesn't matter if your legs are broken." He felt the child trembling as he eased his grip, allowing Jack to take deeper breaths. He then turned Jack around, forcing the child to face him, his grip on his upper arms leaving bruises. "It's as simple as this. You don't fight us, I don't hurt you anymore. You cooperate and we won't hurt Daniel Jackson."

Jack's eyes widened, the fear plainly evident. "Don't hurt my daddy," he said in a whisper.

Turner smiled darkly. "Then you know what you have to do." He received a reluctant nod.

He gripped Jack by the wrist and dragged him to his feet. "Then we'll get started," Turner said. He pulled Jack from the room, the grip strong enough on Jack's wrist that there was no way he could pull loose.

Six hours later Jack was beyond mere exhaustion. He was barely conscious. They were forcing him to translate ancient texts, some of which he had seen at the SGC but didn't know how copies had gotten to this place. Fortunately it was nothing of major importance. A historical text on terraforming a planet. The results of the terraforming, not the actual process. His translations had been checked by some other scientist who had some partial knowledge of the language. They wanted to be sure he was translating properly and not holding back.

It would only be a matter of time before that changed and Jack would be ordered to translate something dangerous. Something that shouldn't be in the hands of these people. As yet they haven't tried questioning him about things he did know. They must not know of the drawing he had done at the SGC that was a modified power cell.

Accessing so much knowledge for such a long time had exhausted Jack. His head hurt and he felt sick to his stomach. They had given him water to drink but no food. Even though he was hungry, his upset stomach warned him against asking for something. He was forced to walk back to the cell they were keeping him in.

He collapsed on the cot; the thin blanket over his shoulders not much protection against the chill in the room. He still shivered with cold, though the guard who brought him back noticed that his skin was a little warm. They turned out the lights when they left, leaving him in near darkness. The only light coming from the window in the steel door to his cell.

Tears leaked from his eyes as he curled into a tight ball beneath the blanket. He wanted to go home. He wanted to wake up from the nightmare.

"Daddy," he said in a soft whimper. "Please find me, Daddy." After that, darkness took him into the depths of exhausted sleep.

---

Daniel woke with a start. He had dozed off in the recliner while they tried to figure out what to do. They had sat up all night talking, trying to figure out who had taken Jack and where. The why was obvious. Someone had found out what was in the child's head and wanted the information.

He sat up scrubbing his hands over his face. The sleep hadn't helped him much and with the light from the windows it was clearly well into the late afternoon.

"How are you feeling?" Sam said, entering the room quietly. She looked as tired as he felt.

"Like shit," Daniel said bluntly.

Sam sat down across from him on the edge of the coffee table. "We'll find him, Daniel," she said trying to sound positive.

Daniel sighed. "Sam... I swear I heard him," he said. "His voice. Begging me to come find him. His head was hurting and he was exhausted."

Sam was silent for a long moment, a frown marring her expression. Then she leaned forward and put a hand on his knee. "Daniel.... Maybe you did." She said.

He looked up at her. "What?" he asked.

He noticed that she didn't look comfortable with the line of thought, but she pressed on regardless. She understood the physical. Not the metaphysical. "Maybe you did hear him," she said. "We don't know yet all the things Jack will be able to do. But as close as the two of you are and as close as he is to Shau're, it's feasible that he could reach you."

Daniel's face paled slightly. The pain and exhaustion he thought he heard could really be what his son is suffering. "How does that help me find him?" he asked.

"I'm not sure... this really isn't my area," Sam said. "But maybe next time you hear him... try to answer him. Maybe you can get a sense of location or direction." She tossed her hand up in a gesture of defeat. "I'm just guessing."

"But it would be logical step in Jack's development," Teal'c said entering the room and handing Daniel a cup of coffee.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked as he took a sip of the dark brew.

"Jack is in danger," the jaffa said quietly as he settled on the couch. He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "To survive he would use every resource within his grasp. That would include accessing the knowledge now housed within his mind."

Daniel sipped the coffee. It made sense in an odd sort of way. He could only hope it would be enough to help him find his son before it was too late.