Ciphers, by Destina (PG)
Rec Category: Daniel Jackson
Pairing: none
Categories: Daniel Jackson, Jack O’Neill, Samantha Carter, Teal’c, drama, hurt/comfort, Jack and Daniel friendship, team, Janet Fraiser, Martouf
Warnings: some language, some whumping
Author on LJ: destina
Author's Website: Worlds Without Boundaries
Link: Ciphers
Why This Must Be Read: How is it possible that this classic Daniel fic hasn't been recced here yet?!
An accident off-world leaves Daniel with a new, crippling perspective on the written and spoken word. At first, it seems as if Daniel can handle the situation; but as the problem deepens into crisis, the struggle begins to keep him not only alert and functioning, but alive.
The entire team shines in this one. Sam is brilliant and dedicated and fierce in her pursuit of a solution; Teal’c lends his strength and his silence and his grace at a time that Daniel so desperately needs it. Jack is a bastion for Daniel, in leadership and friendship, as he inevitably finds the words - and the silences - that Daniel requires to keep going. But most of all, this is Daniel’s story: the drive to comprehend and adapt, the will and the courage to persist in the face of such damage. With an excellent guest star appearance from Martouf, and Janet in usual fine form, Ciphers is a wonderful team fic and Daniel fic that you’ll want to read again and again.
"Huh," he said, and stared at the language he'd laid down on the page, suddenly alive with vibrant color. The words had become rainbows scrawled across the paper. It reminded him of a kid's art project, or one of those crazy pens that changed color as the writer used it, but it was oddly uniform. Each "e" was a sort of grayish blue; each "m", a vivid yellow like summer sunshine, each "s" a cool, misty green, and so on, for every other letter of the alphabet.
He waved the light across the page; the colors stayed constant. Slowly, he clicked the pen open, set the pen to paper, and wrote: "Something is wrong with me." Green, red, yellow, grayish blue...still the same colors for each letter.
A certain sort of fearful fascination took hold of him then, and he turned so he was facing the wall again. The Goa'uld markings still had their colors, each as distinct as the colors in the English alphabet. He touched them; they were cold beneath his extended fingers.
And then he remembered the violet of Jack's name, and the test slid from his lips without any more thought than a simple need to say it: "Jack." Purple stained his vision, but did not obscure it. He blinked hard, but the colors remained behind his closed eyelids for a moment or two more, until they finally faded. "Teal'c." A crisp, rust-colored orange appeared. Daniel chuckled. Not what he would have chosen. "Sam." Dark silver-grey. "Sha're." Deep blue-green, like a restful ocean.
He made a few notes about it in the journal. A large part of him was growing sleepy, but he resisted - sleep was most likely death, in this place, lack of oxygen or head trauma or...he might as well enjoy this, while he could. "Cup." Nothing happened. "Spoon." Still nothing. "Wish." A burst of color, bright red. "Wow," he whispered to himself. "Abstracts."
More notes, scribbled reverently across the page, and he found himself distracted by the colors, lost inside the wonder of seeing language this way. Meticulously, he began writing down his impressions, but the pen moved slowly as he stared at the rainbow emerging from its black-inked tip.
He set the pen down and reached to click off the flashlight, and then he sat in darkness, driving his fears away by whispering words.