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A is for Air Force: General Hammond Tribute Alphabet Soup
This is my contribution to
sg_fignewton's brilliant General Hammond Alphabet Soup, in tribute to the character and the man who brought him to life. Fair skies, Don Davis.
A is for Air Force
by lokei
It's far past Kayla's bedtime when she climbs into George's lap with her latest alphabet book, demanding story time. After the week Hammond has had--hell, after the weeks, months, and years of his command of the SGC so far--he has to dig deep to find the smile and hug she needs. She passes over the book imperiously and George opens it to the first brightly colored page.
"A is for alligator," he begins, but Kayla frowns and shakes her head.
"Tell it your way, Grandpa," she insists, which means that she doesn't want that story at all, but one of his own invention, with or without the assistance of the pictures on the glossy pages.
"A is for," Hammond begins again, but trails off as his brain leaps ahead and fills in alien. A is for Asgard and Apophis, as 'other' as they can be, aged clone and ancient symbiote, representing either side of a galactic scale of good and evil.
Ambition, arrogance, avarice, his mind supplies next, the triad which drives the less admirable members of Earth's political and military bodies in their search for more power, more weaponry, more easy riches at the expense of those who are in need of
Aid, alliance--like the Tollans, the Cimmerians, the Enkarans, the hundreds and even thousands of lives touched by one or more of the teams Hammond sends through the Gate, and for whose safety--airmen and ally--he prays daily.
Abduction, ailments, ascension, amnesia. The specters of all the times George has failed to protect his people, made the wrong call, or didn't have the right intel are never at bay for long. He has only so much wall he can throw up around the memories at this time of night, whether it's the sight of an arrow embedded in Jack O'Neill's shoulder after flying through bullet-proof glass or the looks on his premiere team's faces after losing, mourning, regaining their lost archaeologist--another aggravating, affection-laden A.
Abydos, atomic bomb--the reasons Hammond met said articulate archaeologist, who among his other accomplishments, had first managed to aggravate and persuade one of the Air Force's finest officers right back into being human, to hear Jack tell it. And whose opening of the Stargate, first on Earth and then Abydos, started this war of attrition, the likes of which Hammond has never seen in the length of his whole career.
"Air Force," Kayla's voice breaks into George's spinning thoughts. "You're supposed to say 'A is for Air Force,' Grandpa."
George comes back to the moment with a start and a smile. "No, not tonight, sweetheart," he says, looking into the upturned face which embodies all that he and his teams strive to protect every day.
"Let's see if we can come up with a better one. How about this?" He gathers her closer in his aching arms and begins once more. "A is for angel named Kayla so sweet, sunny and funny from her head to her feet."
She giggles and they turn the page together. "B is for baskets of berries she grows..."
sg_fignewton's brilliant General Hammond Alphabet Soup, in tribute to the character and the man who brought him to life. Fair skies, Don Davis.
A is for Air Force
by lokei
It's far past Kayla's bedtime when she climbs into George's lap with her latest alphabet book, demanding story time. After the week Hammond has had--hell, after the weeks, months, and years of his command of the SGC so far--he has to dig deep to find the smile and hug she needs. She passes over the book imperiously and George opens it to the first brightly colored page.
"A is for alligator," he begins, but Kayla frowns and shakes her head.
"Tell it your way, Grandpa," she insists, which means that she doesn't want that story at all, but one of his own invention, with or without the assistance of the pictures on the glossy pages.
"A is for," Hammond begins again, but trails off as his brain leaps ahead and fills in alien. A is for Asgard and Apophis, as 'other' as they can be, aged clone and ancient symbiote, representing either side of a galactic scale of good and evil.
Ambition, arrogance, avarice, his mind supplies next, the triad which drives the less admirable members of Earth's political and military bodies in their search for more power, more weaponry, more easy riches at the expense of those who are in need of
Aid, alliance--like the Tollans, the Cimmerians, the Enkarans, the hundreds and even thousands of lives touched by one or more of the teams Hammond sends through the Gate, and for whose safety--airmen and ally--he prays daily.
Abduction, ailments, ascension, amnesia. The specters of all the times George has failed to protect his people, made the wrong call, or didn't have the right intel are never at bay for long. He has only so much wall he can throw up around the memories at this time of night, whether it's the sight of an arrow embedded in Jack O'Neill's shoulder after flying through bullet-proof glass or the looks on his premiere team's faces after losing, mourning, regaining their lost archaeologist--another aggravating, affection-laden A.
Abydos, atomic bomb--the reasons Hammond met said articulate archaeologist, who among his other accomplishments, had first managed to aggravate and persuade one of the Air Force's finest officers right back into being human, to hear Jack tell it. And whose opening of the Stargate, first on Earth and then Abydos, started this war of attrition, the likes of which Hammond has never seen in the length of his whole career.
"Air Force," Kayla's voice breaks into George's spinning thoughts. "You're supposed to say 'A is for Air Force,' Grandpa."
George comes back to the moment with a start and a smile. "No, not tonight, sweetheart," he says, looking into the upturned face which embodies all that he and his teams strive to protect every day.
"Let's see if we can come up with a better one. How about this?" He gathers her closer in his aching arms and begins once more. "A is for angel named Kayla so sweet, sunny and funny from her head to her feet."
She giggles and they turn the page together. "B is for baskets of berries she grows..."