A Dead Man
by Suz suzvoy@tesco.net

Disclaimer - MGM/Gekko/Double Secret own them.

Spoilers for 'Meridian', ' Redemption, Part 2', 'Frozen', 'Nightwalkers' and general knowledge of the show. A 'Nightwalkers' episode addition. Very short.

*

Colonel O'Neill was going to kill him.

Since leaving Kelowna and interacting with the people of Earth every day, Jonas had become acquainted with many of their expressions and meanings. This one was the latest he'd become familiar with and, ironically enough, it was also the most prescient.

Jonas preferred to think that he was an optimist. He didn't view every situation in its worst case scenario (there was another one), instead focusing on the silver lining (and another).

Earth humans really did have an extraordinary amount of sayings.

But at that precise moment, he couldn't help but think the worst:

Colonel O'Neill was going to kill him.

The reason that Colonel O'Neill was going to kill him in slow torturous ways was standing over Jonas right now, glaring, the sting from her gloved hand still resonating against his cheek. He stared up at her despite that, still drowsy from the after-effects of that zat blast (that had been his first - and hopefully last - experience with a zat gun. Another first. He really didn't feel excited about it).

He'd tried saying her name when he first came to, trying to understand where he was and what was happening, but as each moment passed and he witnessed her further interaction with the townsfolk who he knew were possessed by infant Goa'uld's, he began to realise the terrible truth.

She was a Goa'uld.

It was horrifying news. He'd yet to witness first hand exactly what the Goa'uld could do on a personal level, but he'd read enough files, and been privy to enough experiences from both Teal'c and Major Carter to know that they were well worth being afraid of.

And Major Carter...Sam...he understood she was in a difficult position where he was concerned in regards to her professional relationship with Colonel O'Neill, but he genuinely thought she was doing a good job of balancing general friendliness against the Colonel's active dislike for anyone who wasn't Dr Jackson.

Add to that, he liked her. She was a nice person, a formidable soldier, a brilliant scientist, and had a keen intellect, which often made her engrossing to talk to. They understood each other.

Yet bizarrely, worse than that, worse than *all* of that, was the thought of Colonel O'Neill finding out what had happened to her.

The Colonel hadn't liked him from the very beginning. Well, from the very beginning *after* Dr Jackson's exposure. Jonas knew he was only on the team because O'Neill's hand had been forced, and though he never said it outright, the Colonel did everything he could to remind him of that fact; whether it was a despairing look or a vaguely insulting turn of phrase.

He had little doubt that, somehow, Colonel O'Neill would find a way to make sure it was *his* fault.

He couldn't blame him for his behaviour, especially when he already blamed himself.

So, given the Colonel's reaction to what had happened to Dr Jackson, it was obvious that he cared deeply for the members of SG-1, and Sam seemed to be particularly close to him. The Colonel wasn't a person who wore any feelings other than anger openly, but the fact that she was his second in command meant there were moods and rhythms that only the two of them understood. He'd frequently seen them work together with barely a word spoken.

And then there was Kanan. The Colonel's disgust for what he termed 'snakeheads' hadn't stopped him from agreeing to become a host to save his life, a decision that had thoroughly surprised Jonas.

A small part of him couldn't help but wonder if it was because *she'd* asked him.

So now he was on the Tok'ra base, recuperating after being blended with Kanan, probably incredibly angry at his situation, and now he was going to come back to find...

Sam threatened to slap him again and though Jonas instinctively backed away, he couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope.

Maybe if he were really lucky, she'd kill him before Colonel O'Neill got back.

~FINIS

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