SG1: Forever and a Day (PG-13)
Title: Forever and a Day
Author:
mad_maudlin
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1480
Pairing and/or Characters: Daniel, Sha're, Sam, Frasier
Warning/spoilers: "Forever in a Day"
Synopsis: Teal'c took aim and fired...
Disclaimer: If I owned it, this would've been the canon, and canon would be the elaborate AU on the Internet.
A/N: This was written for
sg_fic_uoa's fic tournament, for the "canon AU" challenge.
Teal'c had raised his staff before he even entered the tent, but he did not fire blindly; such were the errors boys made, and frightened fools, but not true Jaffa. He raised his staff and pushed past folds of silk and fine-spun linen, into the heavy air scented with exotic spices.
He aimed his staff as he took in Daniel Jackson, frozen in agony under the ribbon device. He aimed as he saw Sha're-Amonet--standing over him, oblivious to Teal'c's presence as she delighted in two kinds of torture. He saw the shining ribbon stretched between them, as he had seen many times, the ribbon that destroyed minds and wills and left men nerveless shambles unable to control their own limbs.
Teal'c raised his staff, and aimed.
He fired.
XXX
Daniel awoke by inches, too slowly to even be impatient. He couldn't open his eyes, and all his other senses seemed to be coming from miles off through a muzzy gray curtain. Pain, sure, he felt it-but it was background noise, dull and constant, devoid of context. Nothing had context, and thoughts drifted into his head and right back out again unchanged.
It came back to him in big, sloppy chunks-his memories and his mind and his body. He remembered Sha're-no, Amonet-no, damn it, Sha're standing over him, with Amonet behind her eyes, and the pain of the ribbon device, and something-something about the baby?--and then a wash of fire. They had been so close. He had been so damn close, and he needed to know-to find her--
But when he tried to move, his body was sluggish and weak and disobedient, and hands came out of the darkness to hold him down. By the time the ringing in his ears had quieted enough for him to hear, he had regained the strength to feel around for the nurse call button, but it took so much effort to ask the question that he couldn't concentrate on the answer. He dreamed bad dreams of death and fire, of searching urgently for something just out of reach, and struggled to keep them separate from reality.
And even when all the pieces did snap into place, his eyes were still covered in bandages. "Daniel, don't--" That was Janet herself. "Daniel, can you hear me?"
"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I hear you."
"Do you know what year it is?"
He would've rolled his eyes if they didn't hurt so damn much. "It's 1999. Am I still at the Mountain?"
"Yes, you are. What's the last thing you remember?"
He gripped the rails of his bed hard enough to hurt. "Sha're. Is she--?"
There was an agonizing moment of silence.
"What do you remember, Daniel?" That was Sam's voice, not Janet's. "Think very carefully."
"Is she alive? Did we save her?"
"Just answer the question first, please."
He flopped his head uselessly against the pillow and sighed. "I remember-I followed her into her tent."
"Before that?"
"We were rescuing the Abydonians," he said. "Khasuf called us in, because Amonet had taken-she'd taken them to P8X-873, and she'd taken her son. Sha're's son. I was trying to lead the Abydonians back to the gate when Khasuf pointed out the tent to me and I chased her inside and..."
Everything went soft and gray after that, charred to ash by the fire. "Do you remember what happened inside the tent?" Janet asked.
Daniel shook his head.
"Amonet used a ribbon device on you," Sam said. "By the time Teal'c got to you, she'd had you under it long enough that you were in danger of permanent brain damage. Teal'c tried to destroy the ribbon device without harming you or Sha're in the process."
His mouth felt dry for reasons that had nothing to do with being unconscious. "Is she alive?"
Janet took over the explanation. "The exploding ribbon device burned you both pretty badly, but we've been able to use the healing device you recovered from Cimmeria to overcome the worst of the damage-your new glasses may need a stronger prescription, but there shouldn't be much scarring. We were able to stabilizing Sha're fairly quickly, and thanks to Amonet she won't lose the hand."
She was here. She was alive. Daniel felt painful tears prick up under the bandages. "We saved her. Oh, my god, I did it."
Someone took his hand, the left one. "Daniel, once General Hammond reported that we had a live System Lord in our custody, a lot of people sat up and took notice," Sam said with agonizing gentleness.
"What people?" Daniel demanded.
"People like Colonel Maybourne," she said, not bothering to hide any disgust. "The general has managed to keep her on base so far, but Maybourne's been trying to interrogate her for over forty-eight hours."
"No," he blurted, and tried to sit up again despite the mushy weakness of his body. "No, he can't-I need to see her."
"Daniel-Daniel, stop!" Two pairs of hands pressed him down into the bed again. "For one thing, you're in no condition to move around yet," Janet said fiercely. "For another, Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond have already tried everything they could think of to stall Maybourne and so far, they've struck out."
"I filed papers," he said, still stuck on the image of Maybourne browbeating Sha're, or worse, dragging her off to Area 51 and out of reach, so close and so goddamn far. "Right after she was taken, I set up a marriage license, power of attorney--"
"Which, to Maybourne, mean exactly squat," Sam said sadly. "Daniel, there's one last thing we can try, but I didn't want to go through with it until I had asked your permission."
"Do it," he said. "Whatever it is, I don't care."
There was a long pause, and then Sam said quietly, "I arranged to get one of Ma'chello's false tablets brought from Area 51 on the same flight as Maybourne."
The tablet that had set a parasite loose in his brain. The tablet that had nearly driven him insane. The tablet designed to destroy Goa'uld and spare the host. But they'd never actually observed it-they had only examples of non-hosts and Jaffa and a few shriveled corpses as proof that it worked at all. He'd rather take her to Thor's Hammer, or to the Tok'ra for surgery--
But those were through the Stargate, and the tables were here. And with Amonet dead, Sha're would no longer be of interest to the Air Force.
Daniel swallowed. "Do it. Save her, Sam."
"All right." She squeezed his hand once more and let go. "We've already arranged to make it look like an accident-a typo in the serial numbers. Since I'm immune, I'll take it to her the next time Maybourne takes a bathroom break. But there's no telling how long before it starts to work."
Daniel nodded, and another thought occurred to him. "Can you do me one other favor, while you're in there?"
"Of course," Sam said, like there was no reason for him to ask.
"Just...talk to her." He swallowed. "Sha're, not Amonet. Tell I love her, and I'll be with her again soon."
"I'll pass that along," Sam said, and then he heard footsteps that told him she was gone.
XXX
When he could sit up for more than thirty seconds without getting dizzy, they wheeled him to the containment room. "It's been about twelve hours," Janet told him with brutal kindness. "We've had to put her in restraints."
His eyes were still bandaged, but Daniel could hear the screaming from a long way off-the pounding bass of a Goa'uld modulating into something more shrill, more human, and then back again. The words, when there were words, were a mishmash of languages, ones he knew and ones he didn't. Bastards, traitors, scum, I will kill you, I will make all of you my slaves, ashka'ar mishkapat, go back to hell demon, l'sharaq nazakhta, Apophis, my lord, my Daniyel--
"How much longer?" he asked.
Janet sighed. "Amonet's putting up one hell of a fight, but she's losing her grip on Sha're's central nervous system. Symbiotes don't seem to survive long without electrochemical stimulation, but I can't put a time estimate on anything."
They bumped over a lintel, into what was probably the observation area; Sha're's bed would be just below them. The hoarse tirade was even louder here. "Put me where she can see me," Daniel asked, and a moment later felt his knees gently bump the windows. "Can she hear me, too?"
"The microphone's about six inches from your left hand," Janet told him.
He fumbled for the smooth plastic stem and dropped it; she pressed it into his hand and helped him find the on switch. "Sha're?"
There didn't seem to be any change in the tirade. Perhaps she was only hearing voices in her own head now.
"Sha're, my love," he said in Abydonian, so only she would know, "hold on. I'm here. Amonet is dying, and then we'll be together again. Just a little while longer until you're free."
The screaming stopped, ever so briefly, but Daniel didn't know if it was because of his words or her own fatigue.
"Sha're, don't give up," he said again, and tried to settle into a more comfortable position in the wheelchair. "I'll be here for you when this is over. I promise. When Amonet is dead, I'll be right here."
Amonet-Sha're-no, it was Amonet, she started screaming again, long cries devoid of consonants. Daniel set the microphone aside and settled in to wait for as long as it took. If he had to, forever and a day.
Author:
mad_maudlin
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1480
Pairing and/or Characters: Daniel, Sha're, Sam, Frasier
Warning/spoilers: "Forever in a Day"
Synopsis: Teal'c took aim and fired...
Disclaimer: If I owned it, this would've been the canon, and canon would be the elaborate AU on the Internet.
A/N: This was written for
sg_fic_uoa's fic tournament, for the "canon AU" challenge.
Teal'c had raised his staff before he even entered the tent, but he did not fire blindly; such were the errors boys made, and frightened fools, but not true Jaffa. He raised his staff and pushed past folds of silk and fine-spun linen, into the heavy air scented with exotic spices.
He aimed his staff as he took in Daniel Jackson, frozen in agony under the ribbon device. He aimed as he saw Sha're-Amonet--standing over him, oblivious to Teal'c's presence as she delighted in two kinds of torture. He saw the shining ribbon stretched between them, as he had seen many times, the ribbon that destroyed minds and wills and left men nerveless shambles unable to control their own limbs.
Teal'c raised his staff, and aimed.
He fired.
XXX
Daniel awoke by inches, too slowly to even be impatient. He couldn't open his eyes, and all his other senses seemed to be coming from miles off through a muzzy gray curtain. Pain, sure, he felt it-but it was background noise, dull and constant, devoid of context. Nothing had context, and thoughts drifted into his head and right back out again unchanged.
It came back to him in big, sloppy chunks-his memories and his mind and his body. He remembered Sha're-no, Amonet-no, damn it, Sha're standing over him, with Amonet behind her eyes, and the pain of the ribbon device, and something-something about the baby?--and then a wash of fire. They had been so close. He had been so damn close, and he needed to know-to find her--
But when he tried to move, his body was sluggish and weak and disobedient, and hands came out of the darkness to hold him down. By the time the ringing in his ears had quieted enough for him to hear, he had regained the strength to feel around for the nurse call button, but it took so much effort to ask the question that he couldn't concentrate on the answer. He dreamed bad dreams of death and fire, of searching urgently for something just out of reach, and struggled to keep them separate from reality.
And even when all the pieces did snap into place, his eyes were still covered in bandages. "Daniel, don't--" That was Janet herself. "Daniel, can you hear me?"
"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I hear you."
"Do you know what year it is?"
He would've rolled his eyes if they didn't hurt so damn much. "It's 1999. Am I still at the Mountain?"
"Yes, you are. What's the last thing you remember?"
He gripped the rails of his bed hard enough to hurt. "Sha're. Is she--?"
There was an agonizing moment of silence.
"What do you remember, Daniel?" That was Sam's voice, not Janet's. "Think very carefully."
"Is she alive? Did we save her?"
"Just answer the question first, please."
He flopped his head uselessly against the pillow and sighed. "I remember-I followed her into her tent."
"Before that?"
"We were rescuing the Abydonians," he said. "Khasuf called us in, because Amonet had taken-she'd taken them to P8X-873, and she'd taken her son. Sha're's son. I was trying to lead the Abydonians back to the gate when Khasuf pointed out the tent to me and I chased her inside and..."
Everything went soft and gray after that, charred to ash by the fire. "Do you remember what happened inside the tent?" Janet asked.
Daniel shook his head.
"Amonet used a ribbon device on you," Sam said. "By the time Teal'c got to you, she'd had you under it long enough that you were in danger of permanent brain damage. Teal'c tried to destroy the ribbon device without harming you or Sha're in the process."
His mouth felt dry for reasons that had nothing to do with being unconscious. "Is she alive?"
Janet took over the explanation. "The exploding ribbon device burned you both pretty badly, but we've been able to use the healing device you recovered from Cimmeria to overcome the worst of the damage-your new glasses may need a stronger prescription, but there shouldn't be much scarring. We were able to stabilizing Sha're fairly quickly, and thanks to Amonet she won't lose the hand."
She was here. She was alive. Daniel felt painful tears prick up under the bandages. "We saved her. Oh, my god, I did it."
Someone took his hand, the left one. "Daniel, once General Hammond reported that we had a live System Lord in our custody, a lot of people sat up and took notice," Sam said with agonizing gentleness.
"What people?" Daniel demanded.
"People like Colonel Maybourne," she said, not bothering to hide any disgust. "The general has managed to keep her on base so far, but Maybourne's been trying to interrogate her for over forty-eight hours."
"No," he blurted, and tried to sit up again despite the mushy weakness of his body. "No, he can't-I need to see her."
"Daniel-Daniel, stop!" Two pairs of hands pressed him down into the bed again. "For one thing, you're in no condition to move around yet," Janet said fiercely. "For another, Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond have already tried everything they could think of to stall Maybourne and so far, they've struck out."
"I filed papers," he said, still stuck on the image of Maybourne browbeating Sha're, or worse, dragging her off to Area 51 and out of reach, so close and so goddamn far. "Right after she was taken, I set up a marriage license, power of attorney--"
"Which, to Maybourne, mean exactly squat," Sam said sadly. "Daniel, there's one last thing we can try, but I didn't want to go through with it until I had asked your permission."
"Do it," he said. "Whatever it is, I don't care."
There was a long pause, and then Sam said quietly, "I arranged to get one of Ma'chello's false tablets brought from Area 51 on the same flight as Maybourne."
The tablet that had set a parasite loose in his brain. The tablet that had nearly driven him insane. The tablet designed to destroy Goa'uld and spare the host. But they'd never actually observed it-they had only examples of non-hosts and Jaffa and a few shriveled corpses as proof that it worked at all. He'd rather take her to Thor's Hammer, or to the Tok'ra for surgery--
But those were through the Stargate, and the tables were here. And with Amonet dead, Sha're would no longer be of interest to the Air Force.
Daniel swallowed. "Do it. Save her, Sam."
"All right." She squeezed his hand once more and let go. "We've already arranged to make it look like an accident-a typo in the serial numbers. Since I'm immune, I'll take it to her the next time Maybourne takes a bathroom break. But there's no telling how long before it starts to work."
Daniel nodded, and another thought occurred to him. "Can you do me one other favor, while you're in there?"
"Of course," Sam said, like there was no reason for him to ask.
"Just...talk to her." He swallowed. "Sha're, not Amonet. Tell I love her, and I'll be with her again soon."
"I'll pass that along," Sam said, and then he heard footsteps that told him she was gone.
XXX
When he could sit up for more than thirty seconds without getting dizzy, they wheeled him to the containment room. "It's been about twelve hours," Janet told him with brutal kindness. "We've had to put her in restraints."
His eyes were still bandaged, but Daniel could hear the screaming from a long way off-the pounding bass of a Goa'uld modulating into something more shrill, more human, and then back again. The words, when there were words, were a mishmash of languages, ones he knew and ones he didn't. Bastards, traitors, scum, I will kill you, I will make all of you my slaves, ashka'ar mishkapat, go back to hell demon, l'sharaq nazakhta, Apophis, my lord, my Daniyel--
"How much longer?" he asked.
Janet sighed. "Amonet's putting up one hell of a fight, but she's losing her grip on Sha're's central nervous system. Symbiotes don't seem to survive long without electrochemical stimulation, but I can't put a time estimate on anything."
They bumped over a lintel, into what was probably the observation area; Sha're's bed would be just below them. The hoarse tirade was even louder here. "Put me where she can see me," Daniel asked, and a moment later felt his knees gently bump the windows. "Can she hear me, too?"
"The microphone's about six inches from your left hand," Janet told him.
He fumbled for the smooth plastic stem and dropped it; she pressed it into his hand and helped him find the on switch. "Sha're?"
There didn't seem to be any change in the tirade. Perhaps she was only hearing voices in her own head now.
"Sha're, my love," he said in Abydonian, so only she would know, "hold on. I'm here. Amonet is dying, and then we'll be together again. Just a little while longer until you're free."
The screaming stopped, ever so briefly, but Daniel didn't know if it was because of his words or her own fatigue.
"Sha're, don't give up," he said again, and tried to settle into a more comfortable position in the wheelchair. "I'll be here for you when this is over. I promise. When Amonet is dead, I'll be right here."
Amonet-Sha're-no, it was Amonet, she started screaming again, long cries devoid of consonants. Daniel set the microphone aside and settled in to wait for as long as it took. If he had to, forever and a day.