[Stargate: Drabble] "Blood Brothers and Sister" [SG-22, PG]
Title: Blood Brothers and Sister
Prompt: writerverse challenge #5 ‘weekly quick fic #2’ (‘brother/sister’ & ‘better in red’)
Word Count: 749
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Stargate SG-1 ( SG-22, original characters)
Pairings: none
Summary: For once, SG-22 hadn’t been thrown into a naquadah mine.
Note(s): originally posted to the writerverse wv_bookclub
Blood Brothers and Sisters
For once, SG-22 hadn’t been thrown into a naquadah mine. This time, they’d been thrown into a dark, dingy prison cell, but not before the Goa’uld- one Vicks had ever heard of, a minor threat to Earth in the long run but a serious immediate problem for SG-22- had gotten his goons to work Gryffydd over pretty good. Vicks hadn’t been able to see what was going on and the captain, damn her, never made a sound. But the moment their cell door had slammed shut, she’d slid down the wall, head and arms over her bent knees.
Tobias and Levi knelt beside her, and Gryffydd raised her head enough to look at them. One of her eyes was already beginning to swell, and blood trickled steadily from her decidedly-crooked nose. From the way she was sitting, Vicks could tell she’d bruised a couple of ribs, if not cracked them, even if he wasn’t their medic. Tobias, who was, dug through the captain’s pockets for one of the handkerchiefs she always seemed to have and pressed it gently to her nose.
“Hey,” she said, blinking a couple of times in a way that meant she probably had a concussion, too. “You guys okay?”
Vicks had taken a jab from a guard’s staff weapon, and Tobias and Levi had been smart enough to struggle. But Gryffydd had put herself, metaphorically if not literally, in the line of fire. Just like she always did.
“Dammit, sir, do you have a death wish?” Vicks snapped.
They all stared at him- he wasn’t exactly taciturn, but outbursts weren’t usually his style.
“Seriously,” he continued. “I am getting pretty sick of this, aren’t you?”
Tobias frowned. “You’re getting pretty close to insubordination, gunny.”
“I don’t care!” said Vicks. “I’d rather be insubordinate than let my commanding officer get killed.”
Gryffydd pulled the handkerchief away from her face, mouth open to speak, but the sight of her bruised and bloody face just made him angrier.
“Don’t you think we could handle it, sir?” Vicks demanded. “The lieutenant and I had the same combat training as you. Better, in fact, even you would admit to that. And you have to know that you don’t have to prove yourself to us. We’ve never cared that you’re a girl, we know you’re tough.”
“Jason,” Gryffydd said, too loudly and winced, then repeated more softly, “Jason…”
“Is it that you don’t trust us?” he asked. “That you can’t be sure we won’t break?”
The captain’s eyes widened, brightly blue above blood red. “I can’t be sure I won’t,” she blurted.
Vicks, who had begun pacing, stopped short. “What?”
“It’s not about trust,” said Gryffydd, talking fast now that she’d started, her voice slightly flat because of her broken nose. “It’s not about proving anything. Jason, I can’t- It has to be me, don’t you understand? Because if I had to watch- if it happened to you, I don’t think I could take it.”
Levi reached for her hand. “Gryff,” he breathed. “If… if something did happen to us, it wouldn’t be your fault.”
“Of course it wouldn’t,” added Tobias, from her other side.
Vicks knelt on the stone floor in front of her. “Sir, you can’t keep doing this. Not every time. One of these days…”
Gryffydd managed a smile. “You don’t get it, Jace. You guys are all only children. But I’ve been a big sister since I was two, and some habits are too hard to break.”
“You… you think of us as brothers?” Vicks asked. Because he loved his team, more than he’d loved just about anybody, but he’d never had a sister before.
“Yeah,” she said with a watery smile, like it was obvious. “You guys are the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Don’t cry, Gryff,” said Levi, who sounded like he might cry at any moment. “You can’t cry with a broken nose.”
“Thanks, Lee,” she said, flinging an arm over his shoulders. She reached her other hand out to Vicks. “We’re okay?”
He took it, squeezing gently. “We’re better than okay, Gryff,” he said. “We’re family.”
His rare use of her nickname brought a fully-fledged smile to her lips. She took a sniffling breath and winced. “Okay,” she said, all business again. “Now that we’ve used up our monthly allotment of emotional expression, who’s got a plan for busting out of here?”
“You do, Gryff,” said Tobias. “You always have a plan.”
She grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
THE END
Current Mood:
clean
Prompt: writerverse challenge #5 ‘weekly quick fic #2’ (‘brother/sister’ & ‘better in red’)
Word Count: 749
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Stargate SG-1 ( SG-22, original characters)
Pairings: none
Summary: For once, SG-22 hadn’t been thrown into a naquadah mine.
Note(s): originally posted to the writerverse wv_bookclub
Blood Brothers and Sisters
For once, SG-22 hadn’t been thrown into a naquadah mine. This time, they’d been thrown into a dark, dingy prison cell, but not before the Goa’uld- one Vicks had ever heard of, a minor threat to Earth in the long run but a serious immediate problem for SG-22- had gotten his goons to work Gryffydd over pretty good. Vicks hadn’t been able to see what was going on and the captain, damn her, never made a sound. But the moment their cell door had slammed shut, she’d slid down the wall, head and arms over her bent knees.
Tobias and Levi knelt beside her, and Gryffydd raised her head enough to look at them. One of her eyes was already beginning to swell, and blood trickled steadily from her decidedly-crooked nose. From the way she was sitting, Vicks could tell she’d bruised a couple of ribs, if not cracked them, even if he wasn’t their medic. Tobias, who was, dug through the captain’s pockets for one of the handkerchiefs she always seemed to have and pressed it gently to her nose.
“Hey,” she said, blinking a couple of times in a way that meant she probably had a concussion, too. “You guys okay?”
Vicks had taken a jab from a guard’s staff weapon, and Tobias and Levi had been smart enough to struggle. But Gryffydd had put herself, metaphorically if not literally, in the line of fire. Just like she always did.
“Dammit, sir, do you have a death wish?” Vicks snapped.
They all stared at him- he wasn’t exactly taciturn, but outbursts weren’t usually his style.
“Seriously,” he continued. “I am getting pretty sick of this, aren’t you?”
Tobias frowned. “You’re getting pretty close to insubordination, gunny.”
“I don’t care!” said Vicks. “I’d rather be insubordinate than let my commanding officer get killed.”
Gryffydd pulled the handkerchief away from her face, mouth open to speak, but the sight of her bruised and bloody face just made him angrier.
“Don’t you think we could handle it, sir?” Vicks demanded. “The lieutenant and I had the same combat training as you. Better, in fact, even you would admit to that. And you have to know that you don’t have to prove yourself to us. We’ve never cared that you’re a girl, we know you’re tough.”
“Jason,” Gryffydd said, too loudly and winced, then repeated more softly, “Jason…”
“Is it that you don’t trust us?” he asked. “That you can’t be sure we won’t break?”
The captain’s eyes widened, brightly blue above blood red. “I can’t be sure I won’t,” she blurted.
Vicks, who had begun pacing, stopped short. “What?”
“It’s not about trust,” said Gryffydd, talking fast now that she’d started, her voice slightly flat because of her broken nose. “It’s not about proving anything. Jason, I can’t- It has to be me, don’t you understand? Because if I had to watch- if it happened to you, I don’t think I could take it.”
Levi reached for her hand. “Gryff,” he breathed. “If… if something did happen to us, it wouldn’t be your fault.”
“Of course it wouldn’t,” added Tobias, from her other side.
Vicks knelt on the stone floor in front of her. “Sir, you can’t keep doing this. Not every time. One of these days…”
Gryffydd managed a smile. “You don’t get it, Jace. You guys are all only children. But I’ve been a big sister since I was two, and some habits are too hard to break.”
“You… you think of us as brothers?” Vicks asked. Because he loved his team, more than he’d loved just about anybody, but he’d never had a sister before.
“Yeah,” she said with a watery smile, like it was obvious. “You guys are the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Don’t cry, Gryff,” said Levi, who sounded like he might cry at any moment. “You can’t cry with a broken nose.”
“Thanks, Lee,” she said, flinging an arm over his shoulders. She reached her other hand out to Vicks. “We’re okay?”
He took it, squeezing gently. “We’re better than okay, Gryff,” he said. “We’re family.”
His rare use of her nickname brought a fully-fledged smile to her lips. She took a sniffling breath and winced. “Okay,” she said, all business again. “Now that we’ve used up our monthly allotment of emotional expression, who’s got a plan for busting out of here?”
“You do, Gryff,” said Tobias. “You always have a plan.”
She grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
THE END
Current Mood:
clean