Stargate Fic: Tell
Ummmm, I totally did not forget for a while I had written this, what, no.
This is a fixit of a fixit, or in other words a sequel to Common Language, a Bechdel Test fixit story I wrote about the kidnapped Air Force sergeant from "Children of the Gods." This will not make a whole lot of sense if you haven't read that.
Sam, Daniel. post-"Children of the Gods" and post-"Secrets". PG. 1,302 words.
"Teal'c, all of this started, from our perspective, when a woman under my command, Sergeant Jessica Hoyt, was kidnapped from this facility. What can you tell us about her current whereabouts?"
Tell
Sam sat in on Teal'c's first debriefing with General Hammond, along with Daniel and Colonel O'Neill. Ostensibly she and Daniel were there to clarify technical or linguistic issues that might arise in the debriefing. The Colonel was apparently there because Teal'c had saved all their butts, and he was goddamned if he was going to wait outside while anybody railroaded the guy just because he had a snake in his gut.
It didn't take long before the General got to a question that Sam, in all the excitement, had nearly forgotten.
"Teal'c, all of this started, from our perspective, when a woman under my command, Sergeant Jessica Hoyt, was kidnapped from this facility. What can you tell us about her current whereabouts?"
Teal'c bowed his head and then said, "She was killed on Chulak. Her body was burned."
Sam's hands clenched into fists, and if she didn't already know that that even tone was just how Teal'c talked, she would have thought he was a monster (still a monster). As it was, she didn't hear anything but a blur of sound--a sharp question from the general, a further even-toned answer from Teal'c.
Sam realized she was about to lose it completely, and said, "Excuse me, General," as she pushed her chair back, stood, and walked out.
In the hallway she stared at the fluorescent lights, blinking against the brightness. She'd started to feel ready to go back in when the door opened again and Daniel stepped out.
"Hey," he said softly. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Sam said quickly. "Of course, I'm fine. It just took me by surprise, hearing him say it like that."
Daniel grimaced. "You missed cause of death."
Sam realized abruptly that whatever had happened to Sergeant Hoyt had come awfully close to happening to Sha're--and what actually had happened to Sha're just might be worse. She had to look away again as she asked, "Are you all right?"
"Not especially," Daniel said, like it was perfectly easy to admit to that. "And honestly General Hammond was turning some fairly unhealthy colors in there, so I wouldn't be surprised if--"
The door opened again, and Sam snapped to attention as the General walked out, saying "--a few hours, gentlemen. Clearly this is going to be an extended process."
"Sir," Sam said, before she'd even thought about what she was going to say. "Was Sergeant Hoyt living in base housing?"
The General stopped short. "I don't believe so, Captain."
"She was single," Sam said, recalling that much from the file she'd seen. "Someone should go and check that there isn't--I don't know, sir, a cat or something."
The General nodded sharply. "Come with me, I'll get you the address from her file while I'm looking up her next of kin."
There would have to be a formal notification of the family, of course, now that they had confirmation of her death. Sam nodded and turned on her heel to follow the General, shutting out the sound of Colonel O'Neill's voice and three sets of footsteps receding in the opposite direction.
***
Sam suffered a momentary impulse to knock at the door of Apartment 211. She settled for rechecking the note she'd written herself, and then put the obviously matching key from Sgt. Hoyt's locker into the lock and turned it.
She froze at the sound of running footsteps inside. Sam yanked her hands away from the door as it was pulled open, and the woman on the opposite side called out, "Jess!" and then fell silent, staring, when she saw Sam.
Sam stared back at her--curly black hair pulled back, dark skin ashy-pale, eyes red, faded t-shirt and sweatpants. It all fell instantly, horribly into place in a flash, a perfect equation Sam didn't want to solve.
"No," the woman whispered, her gaze flicking up and down Sam's dress blues; thank God she'd given into the irrational impulse to dress up for this last duty to Sergeant Hoyt. "No, you're not..."
"I'm sorry," Sam managed. "I didn't realize--"
The woman covered her mouth with one hand and shook her head frantically as tears spilled down her cheeks. Sam's hands clasped each other desperately behind her back as she struggled to keep her own composure. She tried to remember what she'd been told about the visits to family--which this surely goddamned was, no matter who General Hammond had found listed in Sergeant Hoyt's file.
"Ma'am?" Sam managed. "Could I come inside? We should sit down."
The woman's eyes went wide--scared, Sam realized, pressing her lips together to fight back the anger and nausea that accompanied the realization. Scared that Sam might realize what she already had, if she came inside.
Sam reached out a tentative hand, laying her fingertips on the woman's arm when she didn't pull back or slam the door shut. "Ma'am, Sergeant Hoyt--Jessica--served honorably and--" she swallowed, looked down and then back up, "and she died honorably, ma'am. That will not be taken away from her now. It cannot. I promise you that."
The woman crumpled forward over the threshold, into Sam's arms, and Sam hugged her only a little stiffly as she sobbed. She kept her eyes on a fixed point through the open door--front hallway, two coats hung up side-by-side. She blinked quickly, and kept her back straight, appropriate to the uniform.
"I'm sorry," Sam whispered. "God, I'm so, so sorry."
***
One Abydonian year later, walking out of the gateroom after an all-too-close brush with Apophis and Amaunet (Sha're) (Amaunet), Sam felt a tug on her shoulder and turned to find Daniel looking at her with a strange intensity.
Well, not that strange; he'd just lost his wife all over again. "Sam. I need to talk to you."
Sam nodded and turned to face him properly. Daniel looked around quickly before he said in a low voice--not a whisper, because nothing grabbed everyone's attention like a whisper--"I had a chance to speak to Sha're, Sam. Sha're herself."
Sam felt her mouth drop open as her heart sank. "Oh, God, Daniel--"
He shook his head quickly. "I'm not--I can't--look, what matters right at this second is, she gave me a message. Apparently Sha're met Sergeant Jessica Hoyt after she was taken, before she was made host to Amaunet--at least, she met a blonde, English-speaking woman named Jessie, but Apophis can't have kidnapped many of those. Jessie asked Sha're to remember something for her, to tell us if we found her after Jessie died, but I don't know if I can--I didn't want to ask Jack, but--"
Sam squeezed her eyes shut against the memory, following the woman who'd eventually introduced herself as Stephanie Wilson into her home. Sam had made the requisite lame explanation about an accident, and even forced out the words burned beyond recognition without choking on them. She'd rather face down a hundred Goa'uld than think about doing it again, but she already knew that it had happened plenty of times over since that day. Sergeant Hoyt had been the SGC's first casualty, but far from its last.
"Stephanie Wilson?" Sam said, and Daniel's lips parted in surprise.
"Yes--you--I remembered you went to check her apartment, so I thought maybe you--Sha're was... insistent, and I told her I'd make sure. I promised her." Daniel's voice shook a little at the end, but he didn't let it break, and Sam wondered when Daniel had started trying to look as tough as the rest of them, and for God's sake why.
"It's all right, Daniel," Sam said softly, reaching out to cover one of his hands with hers, though there wasn't a single thing about this that was all right. "She knows."
This is a fixit of a fixit, or in other words a sequel to Common Language, a Bechdel Test fixit story I wrote about the kidnapped Air Force sergeant from "Children of the Gods." This will not make a whole lot of sense if you haven't read that.
Sam, Daniel. post-"Children of the Gods" and post-"Secrets". PG. 1,302 words.
"Teal'c, all of this started, from our perspective, when a woman under my command, Sergeant Jessica Hoyt, was kidnapped from this facility. What can you tell us about her current whereabouts?"
Tell
Sam sat in on Teal'c's first debriefing with General Hammond, along with Daniel and Colonel O'Neill. Ostensibly she and Daniel were there to clarify technical or linguistic issues that might arise in the debriefing. The Colonel was apparently there because Teal'c had saved all their butts, and he was goddamned if he was going to wait outside while anybody railroaded the guy just because he had a snake in his gut.
It didn't take long before the General got to a question that Sam, in all the excitement, had nearly forgotten.
"Teal'c, all of this started, from our perspective, when a woman under my command, Sergeant Jessica Hoyt, was kidnapped from this facility. What can you tell us about her current whereabouts?"
Teal'c bowed his head and then said, "She was killed on Chulak. Her body was burned."
Sam's hands clenched into fists, and if she didn't already know that that even tone was just how Teal'c talked, she would have thought he was a monster (still a monster). As it was, she didn't hear anything but a blur of sound--a sharp question from the general, a further even-toned answer from Teal'c.
Sam realized she was about to lose it completely, and said, "Excuse me, General," as she pushed her chair back, stood, and walked out.
In the hallway she stared at the fluorescent lights, blinking against the brightness. She'd started to feel ready to go back in when the door opened again and Daniel stepped out.
"Hey," he said softly. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Sam said quickly. "Of course, I'm fine. It just took me by surprise, hearing him say it like that."
Daniel grimaced. "You missed cause of death."
Sam realized abruptly that whatever had happened to Sergeant Hoyt had come awfully close to happening to Sha're--and what actually had happened to Sha're just might be worse. She had to look away again as she asked, "Are you all right?"
"Not especially," Daniel said, like it was perfectly easy to admit to that. "And honestly General Hammond was turning some fairly unhealthy colors in there, so I wouldn't be surprised if--"
The door opened again, and Sam snapped to attention as the General walked out, saying "--a few hours, gentlemen. Clearly this is going to be an extended process."
"Sir," Sam said, before she'd even thought about what she was going to say. "Was Sergeant Hoyt living in base housing?"
The General stopped short. "I don't believe so, Captain."
"She was single," Sam said, recalling that much from the file she'd seen. "Someone should go and check that there isn't--I don't know, sir, a cat or something."
The General nodded sharply. "Come with me, I'll get you the address from her file while I'm looking up her next of kin."
There would have to be a formal notification of the family, of course, now that they had confirmation of her death. Sam nodded and turned on her heel to follow the General, shutting out the sound of Colonel O'Neill's voice and three sets of footsteps receding in the opposite direction.
***
Sam suffered a momentary impulse to knock at the door of Apartment 211. She settled for rechecking the note she'd written herself, and then put the obviously matching key from Sgt. Hoyt's locker into the lock and turned it.
She froze at the sound of running footsteps inside. Sam yanked her hands away from the door as it was pulled open, and the woman on the opposite side called out, "Jess!" and then fell silent, staring, when she saw Sam.
Sam stared back at her--curly black hair pulled back, dark skin ashy-pale, eyes red, faded t-shirt and sweatpants. It all fell instantly, horribly into place in a flash, a perfect equation Sam didn't want to solve.
"No," the woman whispered, her gaze flicking up and down Sam's dress blues; thank God she'd given into the irrational impulse to dress up for this last duty to Sergeant Hoyt. "No, you're not..."
"I'm sorry," Sam managed. "I didn't realize--"
The woman covered her mouth with one hand and shook her head frantically as tears spilled down her cheeks. Sam's hands clasped each other desperately behind her back as she struggled to keep her own composure. She tried to remember what she'd been told about the visits to family--which this surely goddamned was, no matter who General Hammond had found listed in Sergeant Hoyt's file.
"Ma'am?" Sam managed. "Could I come inside? We should sit down."
The woman's eyes went wide--scared, Sam realized, pressing her lips together to fight back the anger and nausea that accompanied the realization. Scared that Sam might realize what she already had, if she came inside.
Sam reached out a tentative hand, laying her fingertips on the woman's arm when she didn't pull back or slam the door shut. "Ma'am, Sergeant Hoyt--Jessica--served honorably and--" she swallowed, looked down and then back up, "and she died honorably, ma'am. That will not be taken away from her now. It cannot. I promise you that."
The woman crumpled forward over the threshold, into Sam's arms, and Sam hugged her only a little stiffly as she sobbed. She kept her eyes on a fixed point through the open door--front hallway, two coats hung up side-by-side. She blinked quickly, and kept her back straight, appropriate to the uniform.
"I'm sorry," Sam whispered. "God, I'm so, so sorry."
***
One Abydonian year later, walking out of the gateroom after an all-too-close brush with Apophis and Amaunet (Sha're) (Amaunet), Sam felt a tug on her shoulder and turned to find Daniel looking at her with a strange intensity.
Well, not that strange; he'd just lost his wife all over again. "Sam. I need to talk to you."
Sam nodded and turned to face him properly. Daniel looked around quickly before he said in a low voice--not a whisper, because nothing grabbed everyone's attention like a whisper--"I had a chance to speak to Sha're, Sam. Sha're herself."
Sam felt her mouth drop open as her heart sank. "Oh, God, Daniel--"
He shook his head quickly. "I'm not--I can't--look, what matters right at this second is, she gave me a message. Apparently Sha're met Sergeant Jessica Hoyt after she was taken, before she was made host to Amaunet--at least, she met a blonde, English-speaking woman named Jessie, but Apophis can't have kidnapped many of those. Jessie asked Sha're to remember something for her, to tell us if we found her after Jessie died, but I don't know if I can--I didn't want to ask Jack, but--"
Sam squeezed her eyes shut against the memory, following the woman who'd eventually introduced herself as Stephanie Wilson into her home. Sam had made the requisite lame explanation about an accident, and even forced out the words burned beyond recognition without choking on them. She'd rather face down a hundred Goa'uld than think about doing it again, but she already knew that it had happened plenty of times over since that day. Sergeant Hoyt had been the SGC's first casualty, but far from its last.
"Stephanie Wilson?" Sam said, and Daniel's lips parted in surprise.
"Yes--you--I remembered you went to check her apartment, so I thought maybe you--Sha're was... insistent, and I told her I'd make sure. I promised her." Daniel's voice shook a little at the end, but he didn't let it break, and Sam wondered when Daniel had started trying to look as tough as the rest of them, and for God's sake why.
"It's all right, Daniel," Sam said softly, reaching out to cover one of his hands with hers, though there wasn't a single thing about this that was all right. "She knows."