Title: Places on Earth
Characters: Teal'c, with minor appearances by the rest of SG-1, and thoughts of Ry'ac
Rating: K+
Summary: Five Places on Earth Teal'c would like to share with Ry'ac
written for the LJ community sg1_five_things. Prompt same as summary above.
Five Places on Earth Teal'c Would Like to Share with Ry'ac
I.
One day while visiting with Jonas Quinn in his office, Teal’c caught sight of Niagara Falls on the television. Once he’d determined it was a real place on Earth, the Jaffa decided he wanted to go there, but he said nothing about this wish to anyone because he knew if he expressed it, someone, be it General Hammond or Colonel O’Neill or Daniel Jackson, would make it happen. Teal’c did not simply wish to go there, but he wished to be able to take his son.
He’d missed most of Ry’ac’s life--first out of duty as First Prime to Apophis, and now because of his allegiance with the Tau’ri against the goa’uld. Ry’ac was fast growing into a strong and capable warrior. The older Ry’ac became, the more of his life Teal’c missed, but he still held out hope that one day, he would be able to share many different experiences with his son. They had far too many without each other. One day, he decided, he would bring Ry’ac to this place and they could see the massive waterfalls in person together.
II.
“I hope to bring Ry’ac here one day so he may see these,” Teal’c commented to his team as they wandered the Egyptian pyramids.
O’Neill scoffed in response and launched into a spiel about the goa’uld and freedom and moving on, delivering many of what Teal’c gathered to be famous Tau’ri sayings. The Jaffa frowned as he listened and soon decided to ignore the team leader, who clearly didn’t understand.
Major Carter shot Teal’c a bewildered expression, saying nothing, and then shook her head and walked on.
Only Daniel seemed to understand, for he nodded with a slight smile. “One day, the Jaffa will be free,” Daniel said assuredly.
“Just as the Tau’ri are now free,” Teal’c returned. “I want Ry’ac to know that it is possible.”
III.
The first time Teal’c tried a Sonic Cherry Limeade, his teammates laughed at the expression on his face.
“This beverage is most bitter.”
“Sour, Teal’c,” O’Neill corrected from the driver’s seat of the car. “The word is ‘sour.’”
Jaffa home worlds did not have “sour” foods, and Teal’c wasn’t sure yet how he felt about them. “I believe Ry’ac would enjoy this beverage,” the Jaffa stated, looking down into the cup’s contents.
Then again, this place was strange--a restaurant where you order your food in the car, and eat it in your car. Then again, the Jaffa realized with a smile, Ry’ac would probably enjoy that, too.
IV.
O’Neill’s method for catching fish seemed slow and inefficient, but Teal’c and O’Neill had fought about this once before, and O’Neill had even seemed slightly offended over the matter. Colonel Carter and Daniel Jackson didn’t seem to mind this particular method, either, and so Teal’c decided it was wise to say nothing. As he observed the others throughout the morning, he noticed how relaxed they all were--something he rarely saw in any of them, and thought maybe that was the point.
Colonel Carter got one bite throughout the day but all was quiet otherwise. Teal’c enjoyed sitting by the lake, even if he felt strange holding a pole with a line going into the water. No one spoke a whole lot--Teal’c felt a true comfortable silence with his friends, and a slight pang because he knew it could not last. He hadn’t spoken of it yet, but he intended to return to his brothers and sisters of the Jaffa. Now that the war with the goa’uld was over, his place was with his people.
Such news could wait. He did not wish to ruin the serenity they all experienced here. He wished he could bring Ry’ac here, to enjoy this kind of peace and camaraderie. He found this desire on his mind for much of the day, though not as a burden, for peace finally lay within the grasp of all Jaffa.
V.
When Colonel Mitchell discovered that Teal’c had never been skiing, he declared this to be wrong, and on the next available weekend, the entire team bundled up and drove west. The Rocky Mountains reminded Teal’c in a lot of ways of Chulak, but Colorado saw a lot more snow than the Jaffa’s home world.
Teal’c insisted on skipping the beginner hills and joined the rest of the team for the more advanced ones. As he followed Colonels Mitchell and Carter down the mountain for the first time, snow powder flying up around him and feeling like he could almost fly, Teal’c knew exactly why Mitchell loved this so much, and added it to the list of things he wanted Ry’ac to experience.