Magical Cage 11
Rated TEEN
Jack walked into the cell and stepped to the side while two Wraith dragged Teal'c in behind him.
"Been here, done this," Jack said wryly as the Wraith dropped Teal'c and then retreated. Unfortunately, this time they'd done a more thorough search for weapons, so practically anything that wasn't sewn to Jack's clothing was gone.
"This is kinda new for me. I don't usually get taken prisoner, except for the evil mayor… and the whole Internet demon."
"I always knew the Internets had demons, didn't I say that, Daniel?"
"I think what you said was that computers were spawn of hell," Daniel corrected him as he and Sam checked Teal'c. Jack kept watch on the corridor as the Wraith closed the webbing over the door and headed down the hall. There was something really offensive about not even being worthy of a guard.
"Same thing."
"Computers are invaluable," Willow breathed, her voice nearly as shocked as when she'd considered the Wraith might have eaten all the Goa'uld. "I mean, I use them to track deaths and decide which cemeteries to patrol and there are city plans for all sorts of things like sewers, and when we were hiding from Glory, I used the Internet to find the portal spell."
"Wait," Sam interrupted this time, so Jack was saved the trouble of making a sarcastic response. "You found actual magical spells on the Internet."
"Well, yeah, there are lots. Most are just people playing around, you know, chanting under the full moon, but if you know what you're looking for, there are some great resources out there. And actually, I should tell you what Spike said about s-p-e-l-l-s," she spelled out.
Teal'c made a low moan that kept Jack from saying exactly how much he cared about anything Spike had to say. The vampire had whispered something to Willow and had then dragged Xander off by the scruff of his neck, leaving the Wraith to round everyone else up. At least this time Jack wasn't unconscious for the transporter beam.
"Hey, big guy. You doing okay?" Daniel asked softly.
"I shall survive," Teal'c said slowly.
"Is Junior okay?" Jack asked. He hated the thing, but he didn't need it to up and die on them when Teal'c need the slimy little alien larva.
"Indeed, he is," Teal'c reassured them as he touched his stomach over the symbiote pouch.
Jack wasn't paying attention to Willow but suddenly the whole room lit with blinding light and he flinched away as the light faded. Daniel and Sam and Teal'c all looked at her shocked.
"That must be handy when you have to get up at night to go to the bathroom," Jack commented dryly as he crossed his arms and waited for an answer.
"I was making sure no one was watching us," Willow said. "It's really a small spell, but Spike said I should do as many spells as I could, that I should just start spelling everything, and Spike pretty well hates it when I do magic, especially after I accidentally made him fall in love with Buffy which led to much baking of cookies and apologizing."
Jack held up a hand to stop her. He had no idea how long she could babble, but he really didn't want to find out.
"Right now, I'm not really interested in what Spike wants or how much he dislikes your magic or where his traitorous, mercenary ass has gone—"
"Jack—" Daniel interrupted.
"—because he left us to get locked up in here, and who knows what he plans to do with your friend who he seems to think has broken some deal they once had," Jack finished as he ignored Daniel's attempt. Willow started at him with wide eyes that made her look about twelve.
"Maybe it's not all as bad as that," Sam suggested quietly.
"There's an up side I've missed?" Jack asked as he turned to his second in command.
"Who pissed on your cornflakes this morning?" Daniel muttered, and Jack counted to ten. Anger had no place on a mission. But when this was over, he was going to sic Teal'c on Spike.
"I know this all looks bad," Willow started apologetically, and Jack just glared at her. "Okay, really, really, really bad. Huge badness, I know. But Spike said he'd be as faithful to the Wraith as his family." Willow said the words as if they were something good.
"And, but, therefore??" Jack asked.
"Oh yeah, well, Spike turned on his family in order to save the world. So I'm thinking that was code for just follow along because I have a plan."
"A plan?" Daniel asked slowly. "Isn't this the vampire who Xander said shouldn't be allowed to plan because his plans never worked?" Daniel looked at Willow and pushed his glasses up his nose. Willow's face collapsed into something that looked pretty close to guilt.
"Kinda," she admitted. Jack traded looks with Daniel before he turned his back.
"So, we're locked in a cell following the plan of someone who's plans never work, the same someone who considers us a food source," Daniel summarized. Yep, leave it to Danny-boy to find the bright spot in this whole FUBAR mess.
"Carter, see if any of this technology looks familiar. The lock for the door is on the far side of the hall. Last time, Spike threw six or seven knives in it and it popped open."
"What made him attempt such a maneuver?" Teal'c asked as he sat up and considered the panel on the far side before struggling to his feet.
"Spike's answer to pretty much anything it to either break it or stick a knife in it; that's just kinda Spike," Willow explained, and yes, that made Jack feel ever so much better. So, the bloodsucking mercenary didn't have any finesse either.
"Is Xander safe?" Jack asked as Teal'c got on his feet and slowly recovered a more normal skin color.
"Oh. Um, I'm hoping. Spike and Xander have a 'hate-sorta okay with each other' thing going on."
"After the Initiative," Jack finished for her, and Willow's eyes went large.
"Yeah," she finally agreed. "Xander's big with the dusting of vamps, but he's not really okay with the random torturing and I didn't see much when they went in to save Oz since staying-behind girl, but I know Xander has nightmares. We all voted not to go after Spike when the government got him the second time, and seeing what they did. Yeah, guilt. Loads of guilt. Lots and lots of guilt. Huge—"
"Guilt, got it," Jack agreed. She kept on nodding.
"So they aren't exactly best friends, but they're the only guys in the group and that sort makes them friends, and then Spike saved Dawn and got himself broken all up into bits by Glorificus, and you probably don't want to know all this part, huh?"
"I think the colonel is just worried that Spike might hurt Xander if he thinks Xander left him again."
That made Willow stop. She ducked her head uncomfortably. "I don't think so," she said without sounded very convinced. "Spike might threaten Xander but he wouldn't hurt him, but if Xander totally pissed off the aliens, I'm not sure if he'd stick up Xander or not. And when Xander's afraid and totally freaked out, he can get a little…."
"Bitchy enough to get in a man's face when he's trying to pee?" Jack finished for her.
"Um, yeah, except for the part with the peeing since I make sure to always lock the bathroom door."
"Sir, I can't find any control panels," Carter said as she ran her hands over the smooth, curving walls.
"No writing, either," Daniel agreed. So much for plans A and B.
"Teal'c, any chance of hitting that panel? Six of seven knives and it popped right open last time," Jack repeated.
"I am six or seven knives short of that, O'Neill," Teal'c said seriously, and Jack wondered why the universe hated him in particular.
"Oh, Spike, the spells," Willow burst out suddenly.
"Spike, spells, doesn't like, got it," Jack nodded.
"No, I get it. I get why he wants me to use magic," Willow said as she ran her hands over the smooth surface. "It's channeling the magic. This is the other thing that has been draining the magic." Willow eyes the wall with wonder and ran her hands over it like a lover. She turned as smiled at Carter widely.
"The instability in the magical energy field," Carter said without even batting an eye. "The Wraith ship is contributing to it, destabilizing it somehow?"
"No," Willow said softly. "It's holding the magic, channeling it toward something."
"So the instability when you tried to use magic could have come from some sort of interference, both you and the Wraith trying to access the same energy source at the same time. If magic truly is a matter of exciting simple particles into complex ones and affecting the fabric of reality somehow, how would it affect the universe if two people attempted to excite the same particle at the same time?" Carter looked worried. Jack had no clue what she had said, but Carter looking worried was enough to make him worry.
"Not of the good," Willow agreed as she stepped back away from the wall as though expecting it to bite her. "Usually there's so much magic all over that I wouldn't even worry about that—"
"But with such a limited amount of magical energy, you're both trying to access the limited number of particles."
"Oh, so totally not of the good."
"Then, if Spike *is* trying to help us, why would he tell you to use magic?" Carter asked. She looked around at the group as though they would have an answer, but Jack didn't even understand the question.
"You're using magic for the handy night-light effect," Jack said since no one else seemed to be talking. "What are they using it for?"
The horrified expression Carter and Willow exchanged told him they hadn't even considered that part. Geeks. Leave it to them to understand the incomprehensible and miss the obvious.
"Assuming that the Ancient language you saw has some connection to the demonic language Spike identified it with…" Daniel just stopped.
"Yes?" Jack prompted.
Daniel shrugged. "I don't know. I was hoping someone else would have a brilliant thought."
"Fresh out of them," Jack said as he leaned back against the wall. "I just don't want to find out what they're trying to use the magic for, so for now, we're going with the plan. Use up as much magic as you can siphon out of that," Jack said as he waved toward the wall.
"It doesn't actually work like—" Willow said.
"Ah!" Jack interrupted with the half-grunt he so often used to shut up his own geeks. "Less explaining, more doing," Jack said.
Willow nodded.
Jack eventually sank to the ground and watched Willow chant steadily. So far she had managed to change Carter's hair color, turn the door into flowers, which were still just as tough as the original webbing, and make the whole room smell of old potatoes. Willow's spells reminded Jack uncomfortably of a high school girl's doodles in the margins of her paper: big white daisies with drooping petals and Disney-pink hair for Carter. Unfortunately, every decent spell Jack suggested seem to require supplies: candles or warts or bane or something.
"So, are you staying with the new color?" Daniel teased Carter.
"How bad is it?"
"I'm really sorry," Willow said… again. "Most of the easier spells are illusion spells. And I would try to heal Jack's hand, but I'm feeling really tired and me and tired don't always lead to me and the best magic."
"No! My hand is fine," Jack insisted as he held the injury to his chest protectively. "If you want to fix something, fix Carter's hair because that color is not by the regs."
"No, that's fine. I needed a change anyway," Sam insisted as she held up a hand toward Willow and glared at Jack. He smirked back.
"Perhaps you can create the illusion that the cell door is open," Teal'c suggested. He then quickly backed away from the door in question, which now dripped with daisies.
Willow looked at it. "There's more magic now than before, so maybe," she said as she closed her eyes and started chanting. Teal'c backed off several more steps. The sound of footsteps coming down the hall interrupted her chanting just a half-second after the wall of flowers shimmered and vanished.
Sagging to the floor, Willow didn't even look up as the others crowed to the wall beside the door. Sam got her arm under Willow's drooping shoulders and pulled her to her feet. The footsteps stopped at the door. Jack smiled at the sound of someone hitting the webbing and a heavy thud and grunt. Someone hadn't expected an invisible door. Now if they just opened the door, he and Teal'c would have the element of surprise.
The door opened invisibly, the sound the only clue that anything had changed. Jack waited breathlessly for the confused soldiers to wander in. Instead, the one who came through the door had his weapon already pointed at Teal'c stomach.
"Well, it was worth a try," Jack shrugged as he wandered toward the middle of the room.
"I don't suppose you'd buy the 'take me to your leader' line, would you?" he asked. The Wraith cocked his head to the side, giving Jack fantasies of scissors and a barber's chair. He hadn't seen this much male hair since the eighties.
"Out," the Wraith ordered as he back out of the room and used his weapon to point down the hall.
"Or maybe you would," Jack said as he started through the door. The others started to follow, and the sound of the invisible door closing warned Teal'c in time to stop. He held out a hand and Jack could see it curl around the invisible barrier.
"I'll be home for dinner, have something waiting for me," Jack joked humorlessly as the gun prodded him in the back. He hated leaving his team, but he didn't exactly have much choice. He followed one Wraith's back while the other one prodded him down the hallway toward… whatever.
When the guard prodded Jack toward the same dining hall as before, Jack really started wondering if the Wraith had any other rooms in the damn ship. It's not like he'd seen the outside of the ship, so maybe this was a seriously small mothership with a huge hanger full of planes. Maybe the Wraith weren't that big of a deal. Yeah, and maybe he was grasping at straws. Walking into the big room, he spotted Spike right away.
"Long time no see, mate," Spike said as he sprawled in a chair, one leg draped over the arm.
"Not long enough," Jack commented as he strolled in considered the food on the table. He picked up one apple and slipped another into a pocket. The Wraith had taken their supplies, so food and water had become a priority.
Footsteps came from the far side of the room, and Xander appeared with a large jug in hand. He froze when he saw Jack, and then blushed and dropped his eyes to the ground.
"Move it, pet. Get with the worshipping," Spike ordered, and Xander came forward again.
"Yes, your Annoyingness."
Spike picked up a glass, and Xander filled it with something that was either blood or the best looking fake blood Jack had ever seen. Considering the relish with which Spike drank it, Jack guessed blood. He drained one cup and held it out for a refill, drinking the second more slowly while Jack pilfered more food from the table.
"Lucky I don't have you lot hog tied and tossed out the airlock. Ya deserved to get bound up like Thanksgiving turkey," Spike offered. "Thinking you can come in and take my worshipper." Spike reached out and put his hand on Xander's arm, pulling him closer to the chair. Xander's back went stiff, but he didn't complain as he shuffled nearer.
"You're bound and determined to embarrass me here, aren't you?" Xander finally hissed as Spike pulled down on him. Xander stayed on his feet but Spike's increasingly firm grip pulled him off balance so that he had to grab the arm of the chair to keep from going down.
"Git, not embarrassin' to serve your master, you bein' a bound slave and all." Spike put down his cup and snagged the jug from Xander before the boy finally lost the fight and sat heavily at Spike feet, glaring murder up at the vampire. With a worshipper like that, Jack wouldn't recommend sleeping near anything sharp and wooden. Xander looked ready to commit vampiricide. But right now, Jack had more important concerns, like getting his people out of this disaster.
"Try the green lacy stuff, and the oranges. Willow likes 'em," Spike suggested as he waved at the table. Jack eyed the unfamiliar greens and tucked them into a pocket. "Bound to get you in good with her to bring back a prezzie," Spike smirked. "But right now, I'm wondering what to do with you."
"I'd suggest a nice farewell party and an escort to the gate," Jack shrugged.
"Oi, and then what? This isn't your universe any more than it's ours. Bound to get yourself in trouble if you go wandering around out there, especially since the Wraith have got some big plans. They're goin' to own not just this galaxy, but this whole dimension. And when they've feasted on this dimension and built up their numbers, they're goin' to rip through the curtain between dimensions and take over all the dimensions—yours, mine, even the one without the bloody shrimp," Spike finished. The shrimp part went right over Jack's head, but the threat to his own dimension didn't.
"They aren't going to find all the dimensions quite so quick to fold. We've faced worse," Jack said, and he meant it. He had no idea how they'd deal with an enemy that used magic, but Carter would find a way; she always did.
"Not bloody likely, mate. You're bound to get run over just like the rest of these sods."
Jack narrowed eyes and looked at Spike suspiciously. Wait a second.
"About soddin' time you caught on," Spike said before pausing and shifting over to his vampire face. "You won't beat the Wraith because they're going to roll across the universe now that they're out of their cage," Spike said in a tone of voice straight out of a 1930's horror movie, all drama and no substance. He shook his head, and the human features returned. "Can't believe it takes some people so long to catch on," Spike repeated as he popped Xander on the top of his head.
"Hey! I'm not the one with the plan, so if you're bound to hit someone, hit yourself," he complained as he rubbed the spot and retaliated with an elbow to Spike's leg.
That comment didn't even make sense, but it did tell Jack he wasn't hallucinating the pair's attempt to slip him secret message, not that they were particularly secret or that the message made any sense at all. 'Bound.' What the hell did that mean?
"Play nice unless you want the trollop to get the wrong idea about us, pet," Spike said with another pop on Xander's head.
"Yes, master," Xander growled in the least subservient voice Jack had heard since he'd tried giving Daniel a direct order.
"So, you brought me here to gloat?" Jack asked.
"Traditional, innit?" Spike asked as he sat up in the chair. "The big bad brings in the helpless hero and tells him exactly how he's going to die a slow and painful death. You've gotta go with the classics."
"Right," Jack said slowly. From the cryptic remarks, obviously someone was listening, but not even Jack could miss that reference. Now he just needed his team to pull out the classical last minute save. Well, they'd done it before. "So, now that you've told me how helpless the situation is, where do we go from here?" Jack asked.
"You go back to the cell. Told the trollop I wanted you to live until the Wraith broke into your universe, or at least something close enough for you to recognize it as home. I don't think it would bother you that much to see Ra's earth fall, but you'll see your cities turned to dust. And when we reach my dimension, vampires will finally take their place beside the demons who spawned them in the first place."
"Vampires?" Jack prompted. At this point, information was the only currency he had, but Spike just smirked.
"Time for the good little Happy Meal to go back to its cell," Spike said as he stood up. Xander scrambled up from the floor, but Spike ignored him as he strode forward aggressively. Jack couldn't keep himself from backing away a step before ordering his feet to hold their ground as Spike stopped an inch from him and reached up to grab the back of Jack's neck in a supernatural grip.
"You humans never know when you've bloody lost," Spike said as he pressed his free hand into Jack's stomach. Jack grimaced as Spike's hand help him helpless, so it took him a second to realize that something hard pressed into his gut. Reaching down, he closed his fingers over a candle. He slipped it under his shirt as Spike smirked, backing off a step.
"You just never know to bloody stop," Spike repeated.
Jack didn't answer as the Wraith guard stepped up. He turned and headed back down the corridor, praying that this plan had a chance because Jack sure didn't have any back-up plans, not unless he could come up with something brilliant between here and the cell.