Invisible O'Neill

Chapter 1

Five days ago, Bra'tac had come to ask for help from the SGC: he had information that Baal was on his way to Chulak to claim the planet for himself after the death of Apophis and Sokar. In an effort to stop him and give the free Jaffas of Chulak some more time to prepare their defense, SG-1 was now aboard the Ha'tak to sabotage the hyperdrive and assure it would drop from hyperspace as he passed through Cronus' territory. Cronus' known tendency for paranoia would ensure that he would feel threatened by Baal's appearance and attack him, at least delaying his arrival to Chulak and in the best of cases, start a war between the two powerful Goa'ulds.

"The engine room should be this way" Teal'c indicated as SG-1 had made sure the corridor was clear. They advanced carefully in formation, hiding when Jaffas were coming their way, and after a stressing hide and seek, they finally reached their goal. It was the first time they were seeking out Baal's Ha'tak since Jack had been tortured and killed countless times, and everyone was a bit on edge.

"Right. Carter, do your thing with the hyperdrive. Daniel, you're with me. Teal'c, see if you can find that new cloaking device. If Baal can cloak his ship when the hyperdrive is out, the mission is screwed" O'Neill said, making his way back to the door to stand guard with Daniel.

"Yes Sir" Sam answered. She hurried to the long control panel covering half of the wall and began searching for the crystals commanding the hyperdrive.

A few minutes later, Jack came back in to check on their progress.

"Teal'c! Found that cloaking thingy yet?"

"I believe I did O'Neill" Teal'c said pointing toward a high column about the middle of the panel. Jack closed by to have a look at it.

"How do you deactivate that thing?"

"I am unaware O'Neill" said Teal'c before taking Jack's post with Daniel at the door.

"Carter? Can you deactivate that?"

"I believe so, Sir. I just have to finish with the hyperdrive first. Try and see if you can find the crystals powering the cloaking device Sir, then I can tell you which ones to remove as soon as I got the hyperdrive" She resumed her work while Jack was looking for an opening mechanism in the panel under the cloaking device.

"Ah! There! I think I got it" Sam said. The ship came to a rough halt as it dropped from hyperspace and everyone was thrown out of balance. Jack, who had just opened the crystals drawer, crashed on them. On the bridge, Baal was barking orders to his Jaffas.

"Why did we drop from hyperspace?! Engage the cloaking device and you, hurry to the engine room and fix the hyperdrive at once!"

"Yes my Lord"

A couple of Jaffas hurried to the lower levels and the engine room, while the one sitting at the commands on the bridge was pressing buttons to cloak the ship. However, Jack had damaged some of the crystals when he had fallen on them, so the device sparkled and disengaged after a few seconds. Baal was furious! He sent some more Jaffas to the engine room and prepared for battle as Cronus' ships were already surrounding his Ha'tak.

Discovering Teal'c and Daniel at the door, the Jaffas started shooting at them. SG-1 immediately took cover and returned fire. Teal'c and Daniel were taking the closest Jaffas. Sam was crouching back the hyperdrive panel.

"Daniel! Close the door!" she shouted, hoping Daniel would hear her over the battle's chaos. After a few long minutes fidgeting with the door, Daniel finally managed to close it shut.

"Is everyone OK?" Sam asked, coming to her feet again as the room felt silent.

"I'm fine" came from Daniel.

"As am I" the baritone of Teal'c informed. "Where is O'Neill?"

Three pairs of eyes were searching the room.

"He was just there!" Sam said, marching toward the now destroyed socket of the cloaking device. "Sir? Sir! Where are you?" Something hooked her foot and she stumbled, preparing herself to hit the hard floor but instead, falling on something much softer. An awful howl came from nearby as she landed, making her jump away as fast as she could.

"Aaaaaagh! Carter!" a very familiar, very hoarse voice, said.

"Sir?" Sam asked, searching for the Colonel. "Sir, are you alright?"

"Er.. Get your knee away from my... er.. God Carter!" the well known voice whimpered.

"Jack, where are you?" Daniel wanted to know, walking around to look back a panel.

"Aaah!" Jack screamed. "Watch your step! That's my hand!"

"Your hand? What you mean your hand? Where are you?"

"What you mean where am I? You just crushed my fingers under your boot you moron!"

"Sir? Sir we can't see you" Sam asked worried, still sitting on the floor.

"You can't see me? Why? I see all of you just fine. Is this a joke Carter?"

"No Sir, really, I can only see Teal'c and Daniel. Please give us a sign"

"Major Carter is correct O'Neill"

"What the...argh..." Jack complained as he tried to sit up. Sam jumped when she felt a warm hand on her calve. "There. See me now?"

"No Sir, I can feel you but... but... you're not there!"

"It appears you have become invisible O'Neill"

"Are you kidding me? I see myself just fine! I'm not invisible!?"

"Yes you are" Daniel said.

"Are not"

"Are too"

"Are not"

"Are.." Daniel was interrupted by a loud bang at the door.

"The Jaffas are trying to break the door down. We must prepare ourselves for another battle" Teal'c pointed.

"Fine. If I'm invisible, you three hide, I'll take care of them"

"But Sir!"

"Ah! Am I invisible or not?"

"You are indeed O'Neill"

"Then go and hide, all of you! That's an order" Without a word, the three members of SG-1 hurried to hide behind a panel on the side of the room, out of line from the entrance. Jack positioned himself on the side of the doors and waited. Eight Jaffas irrupted in the room as soon as the door was down. Finding the place empty, they prepared themselves for an ambush from the big panels that were providing a good cover. They never saw what hit them as Jack took each of them down from the door.

"Let's go!" he said as the last one went down. "Teal'c, lead the way!"

The run back to the rings was much easier now that the ship was under attack and the Jaffas were otherwise busy. However, Jack was bleeding quite badly from a gash in his scalp and he felt dizzy as they arrived to the ring room.

"Hey.. Carter, I'm gonna pass out"

"Sir? Sir! What happened to you? Sir give me your hand so I know where you are! We are soon at the ring room"

"Here..." he muttered. She just had time to grab the hand she felt before she heard a thud as he collapsed.

Teal'c and Daniel had just taken the two guards down and were preparing to ring back to the cloaked Tel'tak where Bra'tac was waiting for them.

"Guys! Come and help me with the Colonel! He's passed out!"

While Daniel was contacting Bra'tac, Teal'c jogged back to her, picked his friend up and they gathered around Daniel to ring down. As soon as they were on board, Bra'tac entered hyperspace, leaving Cronus to take Baal down if he could.

"Has O'Neill fallen in battle?" Bra'tac asked as soon as they were in the security of hyperspace.

"No, but something happened to the Colonel, he is invisible and now he has passed out" Sam said, feeling her way on her CO to try and find a pulse. She suddenly took her hand away, a little embarrassed. She had felt something wet and thought she'd had her fingers in his mouth. Snapping herself out of the awkwardness, she resumed her search until she was reassured that he was alive. But he was covered in something wet and sticky so she searched for a wound. Producing a patch from her vest, she tried to stop the bleeding, which was much more difficult than she had thought on an invisible man.

"That mission was an intergalactic failure Sir" Jack sourly informed when SG-1 walked down the ramp back at the SGC.

"What happened Colonel?" General Hammond worried.

"Ah.. Carter jammed the hyperdrive but we didn't have time to take the cloaking down properly. We had to evacuate. Hopefully Cronus took them down after we left. And... I cracked my head open in the process"

"Report to the infirmary Colonel" the General said, before he seemed to realize something was wrong. "Wait a minute! Where is Colonel O'Neill?"

"I'm right here General. I'm just invisible. Or so they say" said the familiar caustic voice. The rest of SG-1 were making faces, showing they weren't willing to challenge that statement for the time being, leaving a dumbstruck General alone in the gate room.

In the infirmary, Janet was faced with a whole new challenge.

"Well Colonel, I can't patch you up if I can't see you, now can I?"

"I see your point, but I'm going to bleed to death if you let my head like that, the field gauze Carter patched me with in the Tel'tak is soaked already"

"He passed out Janet, it's probably bleeding quite much" the Major informed.

"Perhaps if I feel my way.."

"Awh! Watch it! That's my eye you're poking at!"

"Sorry Sir"

"There, I'll guide your hand. Feel it? There. Ouch! Don't dig in the gash will you?!"

"I'm sorry Colonel but this is a little unusual for me. You'll have to be patient"

"I'm very patient! Awh! Give me the damn thing, I'm gonna do it myself. At least I can see what I'm doing"

"That's fine Colonel. Here" Janet said, giving him the cleaning pad. She could feel him take the pad from her, and the whole thing flew awkwardly in the air for a couple of seconds before it disappeared as it made contact with the Colonel's head. Then, the mattress where Jack had been sitting moved, indicating that he had stood up.

"Damn! I can't see myself in the mirror!" his irritated voice came from the washbasin.

"I guess you will have to feel your way too, then" Janet commented, a satisfied smile on her lips.

"Hmff! Smart pant" he mumbled.

"What was that?" Janet exclaimed.

"Nothing" he grumbled. Sitting on another bed, the rest of SG-1 had been watching the scene, exchanging knowing smiles, cleverly keeping silent as it went.

After much try and fail, Sam had come to the idea that the Colonel could use a portable mirror to patch himself. Holding the mirror inside his cloaking field, he managed to see enough of his temple to position the patch and Janet helped him bandage it into place. The rest of SG-1 then left to the briefing while Jack had to stay and undergo a whole battery of tests. He still had a couple to go and he had reached the limits of irritation and boredom. Janet was in her office studying the results of the IRM and infrared readings. A worried furrow appeared on her forehead. Still looking at the paper, she rose from her chair and walked back to Jack's bed.

"Colonel, this is not looking so good, the IRM hasn't registered a thing, but it should have. The infrared readings are just fine so the IRM should... Colonel? Sir? Are you here?" The doctor looked around but the only response she received was the constant humming of the machines in the infirmary.

In the briefing room, five folders were lying on the table in front of four occupied chairs and an apparently empty one. The only sign that O'Neill was sitting there was the folder in front of him being held open. SG-1 was explaining the mission to General Hammond when a furious Janet walked in.

"Colonel O'Neill! I will not have any of this!"

"Doctor Fraiser! What's this all about? This briefing is confidential!" Hammond protested.

"I'm sorry Sir, but Colonel O'Neill let me down in the middle of his tests! He just left! In the middle of an IRM!" the short doctor exclaimed, indignant.

"Colonel O'Neill, is that true?" the General asked, turning toward Jack's chair. Both the General, the doctor and SG-1 were shocked to see said chair slowly turning back to its former position, clearly empty.

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