Earth's Old and Weary Cry (Janet Fraiser/Daniel Jackson, Janet & Teal'c friendship)
Title: Earth's Old and Weary Cry
Author: havocthecat
Pairing: Janet Fraiser/Daniel Jackson
Characters: Janet Fraiser, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Offscreen character death.
Summary: In a world where Daniel chose Ascension after the death of Replicarter, there was never a way to rebuild Merlin's weapon. That wasn't good for Earth. Now Teal'c and Janet are leading the resistance against the Ori.
Author's Notes: Written for apocalypse_kree for the prompt:
11, Janet/Ascended!Daniel. Post-Apocalypse. Breaking point.
Thank you to angelqueen04 and triciabyrne1978 for betareading, and medie for lots of plot help. The title is from W.B. Yeats' The Sorrow of Love. Some of the differences of this AU, other than Daniel's second Ascension being permanent, include Cameron taking Daniel's place in Vala's storyline, and Sam moving to Washington to take a job at the Pentagon. (Also to be with Jack. But the fact that it put her on the fast track for promotion to theoretically take over the SGC in about a decade didn't hurt either.)
Unlocked Mobipocket Download - Earth's Old and Weary Cry
ETA: cnidarian wrote a lovely Daniel/Janet prequel to this story called Blessed are the Illusion Dwellers.
***
When the wildfires start, the news is normal. When the flames don't burn out, the reporters start quoting T.S. Eliot. Nothing seems to help. The National Guard is mobilized, and they supplement the firefighters, but they're still overwhelmed. When the firebreaks stop working, the news reporters start quoting Revelations.
Janet has a small television in the infirmary. She sees the news of explosions in Colorado Springs, and her face goes white. There's an echo of Daniel's voice in her head giving the historical context of Revelations - really just an allegory of the corruption of the Roman Empire - but it falls silent when she breathes her daughter's name.
Teal'c appears in the doorway. "We must go."
There's nothing to say. There's no time to do anything but nod once, and reach for the emergency kit she's had prepped since she came to the SGC. Within the past month, the contents have been updated, and it's been packed and repacked until she's gotten it beyond science, and into an art.
By the time they're at an exit hatch, the red alert sirens are blaring, the base is on emergency backup power, and Teal'c is straining with all his might to open the hatch. It's never behaved like that before, and Janet stands at his back, sidearm in her hands. She's a doctor, but now she's got to guard his back.
Teal'c slams into her as the door cracks open and he falls back. They start climbing, the straps on Janet's emergency pack digging into her shoulders. On their way out, Janet curses Eliot, high school literature teachers, news casters, the Ori, Daniel, Kinsey, and Teal'c as she hauls herself, with shaking arms and burning muscles, up all twenty-seven levels.
***
Janet thinks she might be going insane. The wildfires that haven't stopped raging across the planet send up billowing clouds of smoke that block out the sun, and trigger more mucous production than her almost nonexistent supply of tissues can keep up with. The only member of SG-1 she's been able to find has been Teal'c. Neither of them knows if the rest of his team is at the Alpha Site, or if they're dead.
Teal'c's presence is a comfort. For one thing, she's not equipped to survive in a world like this. Janet's a woman of modern technology. With the right equipment, she can work what some people would call miracles, but without it, she feels helpless.
She barters medical treatment for things like soap. He hunts down food, and Janet never asks where he gets it from. She's stopped caring where he gets it from.
They try to survive. They try to keep an ear to the ground for word of resistance, and they move around. If they stay in one place too long, a prior appears. If a prior sees them, then the Orici sends ground troops.
The fact that, between them, Janet and Teal'c are responsible for the deaths of more than a few Ori soldiers has Adria angry. Sometimes Janet thinks that the Hippocratic oath should still mean something to her, but those days are long past. She dreams of arguing about it with Daniel, and the thought makes her laugh.
She doesn't like her laugh any more. It's bitter and angry, and sometimes, when she's at her angriest, she sees a figure out of the corner of her eye. There's never anyone there when she turns her head to look.
There are days Janet thinks it would be comforting to lose herself in insanity. Then she braces herself to deal with the world as they know it now, and gets over it. She's never really been one to hide from herself anyway.
***
"I have just received word. A prior is coming," reports Teal'c. He's standing just outside the door. He keeps watch while Janet treats patients, and it's the only thing that's let them make their escape on more than one occasion.
The priors are desperate to catch them.
"Get liquid down her throat at every opportunity, and hope the fever breaks," says Janet, tucking the blanket under the girl's chin. Her light brown hair is plastered to her forehead with sweat, and her resemblance to Cassandra has Janet blinking away tears. "The prior will offer to heal your daughter if your family converts to Origin."
"Then why shouldn't we do it?" asks Kim, the girl's mother. She was the one who'd made the trip to get word to Janet, and that wasn't easy to do these days. "If he can save our daughter, why shouldn't we?"
"In return for conversion to Origin, you will be expected to prostrate yourselves in front of an altar for six hours a day," says Teal'c. His calm gaze tells Janet they have to move fast. "You will be expected to tithe half your income or agricultural harvest so that the priors may continue their work."
"If you ever stray from what they feel is the true path, your daughter's illness will return." Janet stands. She meets Kim's gaze, and she sees something in her as hard and tough as what Janet knows is in her own eyes. "It will get worse, and there won't be anything that can stop it. Then your whole family will fall ill, and anyone who had contact with you that can't prove their faith in the Ori by leaving you to die."
"That's--" begins Kim.
"The Ori burned my daughter alive for refusing to convert," says Janet. She can't forget Cassandra's screams as they echoed in her ears. Teal'c's arms had been steel bands around her, holding her back, or she'd have died with her daughter that day.
"If they judge you enough of a heretic, they'll do the same to you. Your daughter has the flu. If I had any way to treat her in a hospital, she'd be one of thousands of patients in just this area alone. Give her time, and if the fever breaks, she'll be fine. She's young and strong. Convert to Origin, and condemn your family to living under the thumb of the Ori. What would you prefer?" Janet's voice is sharp with anger. She despises the way the Ori abuse the power they have.
"We must leave now, Dr. Fraiser," says Teal'c.
Janet bends down and shoulders her pack. The last time she'd refused to leave when he said it was time, they'd barely made it out, and he'd been injured. They've got a good supply of tretonin, but it's dangerous to get access to a lab so she can synthesize more.
She and Teal'c are considered the most dangerous heretics on the planet. That's how she knows SG-1 must be dead, because there's no way she'd be more of an irritant than General O'Neill.
There's a rush of wind through the small house, and Janet looks around as she makes her way out a side door. The breeze comes from the kitchen, and she knows there are no doors open there. She shrugs, dismissing it as a mistake, and steps outside, following Teal'c into the nearby wheat field.
***
They're crouched on old farmland that's gone fallow, with Teal'c a few feet ahead. He's hiding in dessicated stalks of corn, watching some Ori troops. Janet hangs back, waiting for his gesture. She shifts, feeling the rough texture of her sidearm slip in her palm. There's a rumor that the Ori forces are setting up a command post in the century old farmhouse. Teal'c wants to burn it to the ground before they can use it to expand the local conversion efforts.
He gestures for her to stay put, and Janet nods once as he disappears from view. The second hand of her watch ticks on. She's got five minutes before she's supposed to move. After three minutes pass she feels a warm rush of wind blow through the field. When she turns her head to see where it's coming from, Daniel is crouched next to her.
He's in BDUs, with his glasses high on the bridge of his nose, and he looks as healthy as the day he died. Or Ascended. To her, it's the same thing.
"Son of a bitch!" she hisses, then glares when Daniel frowns at her. If he's worried about her language, she's going to give his glowy ass an earful.
"It's a trap. You have to warn Teal'c." There's leashed urgency in his voice. Before she can even blink, he cups her face in his noncorporeal hands, brushes his mouth across hers in a kiss she can't even feel, and vanishes out of existence again.
Before another second passes, Janet's up and moving. Even as she makes her way to Teal'c's position, she's mentally stringing together curses. How did it take the end of the world, his death and Ascension - at least twice - and an Ori trap to make the man kiss her?
Not that she could feel it. What a cheat.
The look on Teal'c's face as she crouches next to him would've frozen most officers in their tracks. "It's a trap," she says.
"That is not possible," says Teal'c. He's holding a zat, and she sees his eyes flicker as he counts the number of guards.
"Daniel told me." Janet's voice is flat. They've often wondered how the Ancients were faring against the Ori. She's still not sure what the answer is, but it's good to know at least one of the Ascended is on their side.
Teal'c slants an incredulous look at her, and Janet wonders how anyone could call him stone-faced. "You are certain?"
Janet nods at the farmhouse. There's a flash of velvet as a guard tugs open the door and steps outside. "If I wasn't before, I am now."
"Adria." Teal'c's voice is as full of hate as it ever was for the Goa'uld. "We must go."
"I know." Janet tries to quiet her thoughts. She's not very good at it, but she knows enough about advanced beings that sometimes telepathy can be fooled. She's in practice enough to fool the occasional prior, but the Orici is another story.
***
It's the middle of the night. They're camping under the stars, with a roaring fire to take the autumn chill out of the air, and Janet's back is cold. "I miss central heating," she mutters.
There's a whisper of breath at her back, and Janet glances over her shoulder. He's spooned up against her, his arm wrapped over her stomach, and he gives her a guileless look when she frowns at the lack of sensation. "Pretend it's another dream," he says.
"Those were you?" she asks. The look on her face as she turns toward him is the same one she used when she caught him lying about his pain level in her infirmary.
"The others can pretend to ignore that," says Daniel. He's got that serious, worried look that always sends adrenaline racing through her system. "They've got worse things on their mind right now. A little interference doesn't rate on their scale any more."
"The Ori are making their move." She and Teal'c have always known it's only a matter of time before the Ancients are forced into battle. "What are you doing?"
"What I've always done." The lines at the corners of his eyes are no deeper, but his voice is so weary that Janet's heart aches. "I'll fight to stop them before both planes are ruined by the Ori's greed."
She smooths her palm across his forehead, and even though she doesn't register any pressure against her hand, Daniel's eyes flutter shut. "Oh, Daniel," says Janet, sighing.
"I'm not alone. There are a few others working with me, and--" Daniel takes her hand, and she lets him press it to his chest. His eyes open and fix on hers, and Janet's breath catches. "I have you. The nights we spend together keep me going, but seeing you and Teal'c leading the resistance on the mortal plane gives us all hope."
"We're going to stop them," says Janet. There's still something in the fierceness of her voice, because Daniel smiles.
"We need to wake Teal'c up," murmurs Daniel. "I've got something to tell both of you."
"There is no need," says Teal'c. Janet hears the rustling as he pushes himself up and shoves the sleeping bag off to the side. "I have not been eavesdropping, but I have been aware of your presence, Daniel Jackson."
"A guy just can't keep a secret, can he?" asks Daniel. He and Janet give each other wry looks, then Janet slips her hand out from under his. She sits crosslegged, then gives Daniel a surprised look when he pulls her gently back to lean against his chest.
"What do you wish?" asks Teal'c. He looks impassive as he inclines his head, but the warmth in his eyes at Daniel's visit is unmistakable. "Is there a tactical advantage you can give us?"
"I know a way to neutralize the Priors." Daniel's voice is fervent with suppressed excitement. "I can help you, guide you in the right direction, but you have to do the hard work."
Teal'c and Janet look at each other. Silence settles between them for a long moment. "We are agreed," he says. "It is worth the risk."
"We'll start in the morning," says Janet.
Daniel nods. "I'll see you then," he says, and fades into a soft, pale gray, then blends into the night.
Janet slides down into her sleeping bag again. The slow, steady breath of the wind against the back of her neck lulls her into slumber. It helps to know she's not alone in her dreams. It helps to know the hope she's been clinging to isn't an illusion.
--end--
Author: havocthecat
Pairing: Janet Fraiser/Daniel Jackson
Characters: Janet Fraiser, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Offscreen character death.
Summary: In a world where Daniel chose Ascension after the death of Replicarter, there was never a way to rebuild Merlin's weapon. That wasn't good for Earth. Now Teal'c and Janet are leading the resistance against the Ori.
Author's Notes: Written for apocalypse_kree for the prompt:
11, Janet/Ascended!Daniel. Post-Apocalypse. Breaking point.
Thank you to angelqueen04 and triciabyrne1978 for betareading, and medie for lots of plot help. The title is from W.B. Yeats' The Sorrow of Love. Some of the differences of this AU, other than Daniel's second Ascension being permanent, include Cameron taking Daniel's place in Vala's storyline, and Sam moving to Washington to take a job at the Pentagon. (Also to be with Jack. But the fact that it put her on the fast track for promotion to theoretically take over the SGC in about a decade didn't hurt either.)
Unlocked Mobipocket Download - Earth's Old and Weary Cry
ETA: cnidarian wrote a lovely Daniel/Janet prequel to this story called Blessed are the Illusion Dwellers.
***
When the wildfires start, the news is normal. When the flames don't burn out, the reporters start quoting T.S. Eliot. Nothing seems to help. The National Guard is mobilized, and they supplement the firefighters, but they're still overwhelmed. When the firebreaks stop working, the news reporters start quoting Revelations.
Janet has a small television in the infirmary. She sees the news of explosions in Colorado Springs, and her face goes white. There's an echo of Daniel's voice in her head giving the historical context of Revelations - really just an allegory of the corruption of the Roman Empire - but it falls silent when she breathes her daughter's name.
Teal'c appears in the doorway. "We must go."
There's nothing to say. There's no time to do anything but nod once, and reach for the emergency kit she's had prepped since she came to the SGC. Within the past month, the contents have been updated, and it's been packed and repacked until she's gotten it beyond science, and into an art.
By the time they're at an exit hatch, the red alert sirens are blaring, the base is on emergency backup power, and Teal'c is straining with all his might to open the hatch. It's never behaved like that before, and Janet stands at his back, sidearm in her hands. She's a doctor, but now she's got to guard his back.
Teal'c slams into her as the door cracks open and he falls back. They start climbing, the straps on Janet's emergency pack digging into her shoulders. On their way out, Janet curses Eliot, high school literature teachers, news casters, the Ori, Daniel, Kinsey, and Teal'c as she hauls herself, with shaking arms and burning muscles, up all twenty-seven levels.
***
Janet thinks she might be going insane. The wildfires that haven't stopped raging across the planet send up billowing clouds of smoke that block out the sun, and trigger more mucous production than her almost nonexistent supply of tissues can keep up with. The only member of SG-1 she's been able to find has been Teal'c. Neither of them knows if the rest of his team is at the Alpha Site, or if they're dead.
Teal'c's presence is a comfort. For one thing, she's not equipped to survive in a world like this. Janet's a woman of modern technology. With the right equipment, she can work what some people would call miracles, but without it, she feels helpless.
She barters medical treatment for things like soap. He hunts down food, and Janet never asks where he gets it from. She's stopped caring where he gets it from.
They try to survive. They try to keep an ear to the ground for word of resistance, and they move around. If they stay in one place too long, a prior appears. If a prior sees them, then the Orici sends ground troops.
The fact that, between them, Janet and Teal'c are responsible for the deaths of more than a few Ori soldiers has Adria angry. Sometimes Janet thinks that the Hippocratic oath should still mean something to her, but those days are long past. She dreams of arguing about it with Daniel, and the thought makes her laugh.
She doesn't like her laugh any more. It's bitter and angry, and sometimes, when she's at her angriest, she sees a figure out of the corner of her eye. There's never anyone there when she turns her head to look.
There are days Janet thinks it would be comforting to lose herself in insanity. Then she braces herself to deal with the world as they know it now, and gets over it. She's never really been one to hide from herself anyway.
***
"I have just received word. A prior is coming," reports Teal'c. He's standing just outside the door. He keeps watch while Janet treats patients, and it's the only thing that's let them make their escape on more than one occasion.
The priors are desperate to catch them.
"Get liquid down her throat at every opportunity, and hope the fever breaks," says Janet, tucking the blanket under the girl's chin. Her light brown hair is plastered to her forehead with sweat, and her resemblance to Cassandra has Janet blinking away tears. "The prior will offer to heal your daughter if your family converts to Origin."
"Then why shouldn't we do it?" asks Kim, the girl's mother. She was the one who'd made the trip to get word to Janet, and that wasn't easy to do these days. "If he can save our daughter, why shouldn't we?"
"In return for conversion to Origin, you will be expected to prostrate yourselves in front of an altar for six hours a day," says Teal'c. His calm gaze tells Janet they have to move fast. "You will be expected to tithe half your income or agricultural harvest so that the priors may continue their work."
"If you ever stray from what they feel is the true path, your daughter's illness will return." Janet stands. She meets Kim's gaze, and she sees something in her as hard and tough as what Janet knows is in her own eyes. "It will get worse, and there won't be anything that can stop it. Then your whole family will fall ill, and anyone who had contact with you that can't prove their faith in the Ori by leaving you to die."
"That's--" begins Kim.
"The Ori burned my daughter alive for refusing to convert," says Janet. She can't forget Cassandra's screams as they echoed in her ears. Teal'c's arms had been steel bands around her, holding her back, or she'd have died with her daughter that day.
"If they judge you enough of a heretic, they'll do the same to you. Your daughter has the flu. If I had any way to treat her in a hospital, she'd be one of thousands of patients in just this area alone. Give her time, and if the fever breaks, she'll be fine. She's young and strong. Convert to Origin, and condemn your family to living under the thumb of the Ori. What would you prefer?" Janet's voice is sharp with anger. She despises the way the Ori abuse the power they have.
"We must leave now, Dr. Fraiser," says Teal'c.
Janet bends down and shoulders her pack. The last time she'd refused to leave when he said it was time, they'd barely made it out, and he'd been injured. They've got a good supply of tretonin, but it's dangerous to get access to a lab so she can synthesize more.
She and Teal'c are considered the most dangerous heretics on the planet. That's how she knows SG-1 must be dead, because there's no way she'd be more of an irritant than General O'Neill.
There's a rush of wind through the small house, and Janet looks around as she makes her way out a side door. The breeze comes from the kitchen, and she knows there are no doors open there. She shrugs, dismissing it as a mistake, and steps outside, following Teal'c into the nearby wheat field.
***
They're crouched on old farmland that's gone fallow, with Teal'c a few feet ahead. He's hiding in dessicated stalks of corn, watching some Ori troops. Janet hangs back, waiting for his gesture. She shifts, feeling the rough texture of her sidearm slip in her palm. There's a rumor that the Ori forces are setting up a command post in the century old farmhouse. Teal'c wants to burn it to the ground before they can use it to expand the local conversion efforts.
He gestures for her to stay put, and Janet nods once as he disappears from view. The second hand of her watch ticks on. She's got five minutes before she's supposed to move. After three minutes pass she feels a warm rush of wind blow through the field. When she turns her head to see where it's coming from, Daniel is crouched next to her.
He's in BDUs, with his glasses high on the bridge of his nose, and he looks as healthy as the day he died. Or Ascended. To her, it's the same thing.
"Son of a bitch!" she hisses, then glares when Daniel frowns at her. If he's worried about her language, she's going to give his glowy ass an earful.
"It's a trap. You have to warn Teal'c." There's leashed urgency in his voice. Before she can even blink, he cups her face in his noncorporeal hands, brushes his mouth across hers in a kiss she can't even feel, and vanishes out of existence again.
Before another second passes, Janet's up and moving. Even as she makes her way to Teal'c's position, she's mentally stringing together curses. How did it take the end of the world, his death and Ascension - at least twice - and an Ori trap to make the man kiss her?
Not that she could feel it. What a cheat.
The look on Teal'c's face as she crouches next to him would've frozen most officers in their tracks. "It's a trap," she says.
"That is not possible," says Teal'c. He's holding a zat, and she sees his eyes flicker as he counts the number of guards.
"Daniel told me." Janet's voice is flat. They've often wondered how the Ancients were faring against the Ori. She's still not sure what the answer is, but it's good to know at least one of the Ascended is on their side.
Teal'c slants an incredulous look at her, and Janet wonders how anyone could call him stone-faced. "You are certain?"
Janet nods at the farmhouse. There's a flash of velvet as a guard tugs open the door and steps outside. "If I wasn't before, I am now."
"Adria." Teal'c's voice is as full of hate as it ever was for the Goa'uld. "We must go."
"I know." Janet tries to quiet her thoughts. She's not very good at it, but she knows enough about advanced beings that sometimes telepathy can be fooled. She's in practice enough to fool the occasional prior, but the Orici is another story.
***
It's the middle of the night. They're camping under the stars, with a roaring fire to take the autumn chill out of the air, and Janet's back is cold. "I miss central heating," she mutters.
There's a whisper of breath at her back, and Janet glances over her shoulder. He's spooned up against her, his arm wrapped over her stomach, and he gives her a guileless look when she frowns at the lack of sensation. "Pretend it's another dream," he says.
"Those were you?" she asks. The look on her face as she turns toward him is the same one she used when she caught him lying about his pain level in her infirmary.
"The others can pretend to ignore that," says Daniel. He's got that serious, worried look that always sends adrenaline racing through her system. "They've got worse things on their mind right now. A little interference doesn't rate on their scale any more."
"The Ori are making their move." She and Teal'c have always known it's only a matter of time before the Ancients are forced into battle. "What are you doing?"
"What I've always done." The lines at the corners of his eyes are no deeper, but his voice is so weary that Janet's heart aches. "I'll fight to stop them before both planes are ruined by the Ori's greed."
She smooths her palm across his forehead, and even though she doesn't register any pressure against her hand, Daniel's eyes flutter shut. "Oh, Daniel," says Janet, sighing.
"I'm not alone. There are a few others working with me, and--" Daniel takes her hand, and she lets him press it to his chest. His eyes open and fix on hers, and Janet's breath catches. "I have you. The nights we spend together keep me going, but seeing you and Teal'c leading the resistance on the mortal plane gives us all hope."
"We're going to stop them," says Janet. There's still something in the fierceness of her voice, because Daniel smiles.
"We need to wake Teal'c up," murmurs Daniel. "I've got something to tell both of you."
"There is no need," says Teal'c. Janet hears the rustling as he pushes himself up and shoves the sleeping bag off to the side. "I have not been eavesdropping, but I have been aware of your presence, Daniel Jackson."
"A guy just can't keep a secret, can he?" asks Daniel. He and Janet give each other wry looks, then Janet slips her hand out from under his. She sits crosslegged, then gives Daniel a surprised look when he pulls her gently back to lean against his chest.
"What do you wish?" asks Teal'c. He looks impassive as he inclines his head, but the warmth in his eyes at Daniel's visit is unmistakable. "Is there a tactical advantage you can give us?"
"I know a way to neutralize the Priors." Daniel's voice is fervent with suppressed excitement. "I can help you, guide you in the right direction, but you have to do the hard work."
Teal'c and Janet look at each other. Silence settles between them for a long moment. "We are agreed," he says. "It is worth the risk."
"We'll start in the morning," says Janet.
Daniel nods. "I'll see you then," he says, and fades into a soft, pale gray, then blends into the night.
Janet slides down into her sleeping bag again. The slow, steady breath of the wind against the back of her neck lulls her into slumber. It helps to know she's not alone in her dreams. It helps to know the hope she's been clinging to isn't an illusion.
--end--