Just a Scientist, by Aurora Novarum (PG-13)
Rec Category: Bill Lee
Pairing: none
Categories: Bill Lee, gen, drama, hurt/comfort, episode related, Daniel Jackson
Warnings: canon violence/torture
Author on LJ: aurora_novarum
Author's Website: List of My Stories
Link: Just a Scientist: on LJ or at Stargatefan
Why This Must Be Read: This is my personal classic Bill fic, retelling the two-part episode of Evolution from Bill Lee's POV. It's not just what we see on-screen, either; Aurora deftly fleshes out the story with with extra scenes and insight that brings both Bill and the story into vivid, vibrant life. It's always fun to read a good outsider's POV, and Bill is just enough on the inside - and the outside! - to give us the best of both worlds.
Long, satisfying, and full of character, Just a Scientist is a fic that you're sure to enjoy.
"The language is ancient. I don't know what it says." I tell the truth and lie in the same breath. The language is Ancient, but Rafael would not know what that means. The now hysterical side of my brain toys with that idea. Maybe the rebels would think I was nuts and stop torturing me if I told them about the Goa'uld.
"You go to all this trouble to find it, and you don't know what it says? I find that hard to believe."
"It's not b-n seen f-r th--nds of ye--rs." I can barely get the words out between my choked coughs. Rafael waits impatiently until my breathing steadies to a constant wheeze.
"You must have some idea. You must know what the symbols mean."
I shake my head. "I can't read it. I don't know."
"If you don't know..." Rafael looks past me towards the hut where Daniel's held.
"No." My denial is too quick. Daniel can't go through this again.
"I do not believe you. I think you protect your friend."
"We were just the retrieval team," I bluster.
"I think your friend knows. I think he will tell me. He will help me make it work."
"He won't. He doesn't...We won't help you."
"You tell me things to save him. He tells me things to save you. It's all the same. I will find out."
"I won't help you. You don't know what you're asking." Daniel's warning just before we set off the booby trap is screaming in my mind as Rafael carelessly handles the device.
"I know what I'm asking. I'm asking for information that will help us regain our heritage. You are a smart man. You can figure out the artifact, and you WILL help me."
"No." The shock shatters my nerves again. I feel it even through my tooth fillings. When the current finally subsides, I glare at Rafael. "I won't help you. It's too dangerous."
Rafael seems puzzled and annoyed at my newfound resolve. "Dangerous? According to you it's a box from a long dead god. I do not see a danger," he spits.
I feel like telling him about the aliens again. Then I'm inspired. "It's cursed."
"Cursed?"
"The legends we read said that could steal a person's soul." Okay, I'm extrapolating from the legends, but I'm still well aware of Daniel's warnings of "madness and addiction." Rafael's got to stop fooling with this device. Even if I'm killed, he can't know anything more. It's too dangerous.
The reaction to my words is immediate. Chalo drops the controls to my torture and steps away from Rafael, making the sign of the cross. I see the other rebels move a little further back out of my peripheral vision. Rafael sets the cube back down on the table. "You are a scientist. You do not believe in superstition."
I've seen fireflies burn through a human body in an instant. I've traveled through wormholes to other planets. I've conducted missing person searches by studying alien transporter technology. All things thought fiction and superstition by most modern scientists. "You'd be surprised what I believe."
Pairing: none
Categories: Bill Lee, gen, drama, hurt/comfort, episode related, Daniel Jackson
Warnings: canon violence/torture
Author on LJ: aurora_novarum
Author's Website: List of My Stories
Link: Just a Scientist: on LJ or at Stargatefan
Why This Must Be Read: This is my personal classic Bill fic, retelling the two-part episode of Evolution from Bill Lee's POV. It's not just what we see on-screen, either; Aurora deftly fleshes out the story with with extra scenes and insight that brings both Bill and the story into vivid, vibrant life. It's always fun to read a good outsider's POV, and Bill is just enough on the inside - and the outside! - to give us the best of both worlds.
Long, satisfying, and full of character, Just a Scientist is a fic that you're sure to enjoy.
"The language is ancient. I don't know what it says." I tell the truth and lie in the same breath. The language is Ancient, but Rafael would not know what that means. The now hysterical side of my brain toys with that idea. Maybe the rebels would think I was nuts and stop torturing me if I told them about the Goa'uld.
"You go to all this trouble to find it, and you don't know what it says? I find that hard to believe."
"It's not b-n seen f-r th--nds of ye--rs." I can barely get the words out between my choked coughs. Rafael waits impatiently until my breathing steadies to a constant wheeze.
"You must have some idea. You must know what the symbols mean."
I shake my head. "I can't read it. I don't know."
"If you don't know..." Rafael looks past me towards the hut where Daniel's held.
"No." My denial is too quick. Daniel can't go through this again.
"I do not believe you. I think you protect your friend."
"We were just the retrieval team," I bluster.
"I think your friend knows. I think he will tell me. He will help me make it work."
"He won't. He doesn't...We won't help you."
"You tell me things to save him. He tells me things to save you. It's all the same. I will find out."
"I won't help you. You don't know what you're asking." Daniel's warning just before we set off the booby trap is screaming in my mind as Rafael carelessly handles the device.
"I know what I'm asking. I'm asking for information that will help us regain our heritage. You are a smart man. You can figure out the artifact, and you WILL help me."
"No." The shock shatters my nerves again. I feel it even through my tooth fillings. When the current finally subsides, I glare at Rafael. "I won't help you. It's too dangerous."
Rafael seems puzzled and annoyed at my newfound resolve. "Dangerous? According to you it's a box from a long dead god. I do not see a danger," he spits.
I feel like telling him about the aliens again. Then I'm inspired. "It's cursed."
"Cursed?"
"The legends we read said that could steal a person's soul." Okay, I'm extrapolating from the legends, but I'm still well aware of Daniel's warnings of "madness and addiction." Rafael's got to stop fooling with this device. Even if I'm killed, he can't know anything more. It's too dangerous.
The reaction to my words is immediate. Chalo drops the controls to my torture and steps away from Rafael, making the sign of the cross. I see the other rebels move a little further back out of my peripheral vision. Rafael sets the cube back down on the table. "You are a scientist. You do not believe in superstition."
I've seen fireflies burn through a human body in an instant. I've traveled through wormholes to other planets. I've conducted missing person searches by studying alien transporter technology. All things thought fiction and superstition by most modern scientists. "You'd be surprised what I believe."