Ripples, by ELG (R)
Rec Category: Episode Fix
Pairing: none
Category: episode fix, gen, Jack and Daniel friendship, drama, hurt/comfort
Warning: spoilers for Shades of Grey; torture, violence, language
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Bunnyfic
Link: Ripples; author's notes and wallpaper for fic
Why This Must Be Read: I was astonished to discover that this amazing fic has not yet been recced, neither in Episode Fix nor Jack and Daniel friendship. Ripples is, hands down, one of the best gen Stargate fanfics out there. (YMMV, naturally.) Since I'm reccing both categories this month, I had a hard time deciding which category to choose; I finally settled on Episode Fix, since there's plenty of Sam and even more of Teal'c in the story as well.
Ripples begins in the aftermath of Shades of Grey, as Jack and Daniel struggle to discover if the foundation of their friendship is still solid. When Daniel is snatched by rogue NID elements of Maybourne's, partly as payback for Jack's role in shutting down their offworld operation, the ticking of the clock begins: Jack races desperately to find Daniel, even as Daniel desperately holds on for just another half hour, and a half-hour more, until Jack can rescue him.
The story is long and satisfying. One of my favorite aspects is the treatment of Makepeace. Colonel Makepeace was an intriguing character, and I love ELG's take on the guy. He's not amoral or self-serving, like Maybourne; he's a man who took the wrong path for the right reasons and still believes that he did the proper thing. In this fic, Jack teams up with Makepeace in an effort to find Daniel before it's too late. The O'Neill/Makepeace dynamic, with Teal'c providing the frustrated-Jaffa counterpoint, makes for fascinating reading with a very in-character feel.
It's wonderful to see the SGC rally to help one of their own, even as Hammond is forced to go through channels and Jack itches to take Teal'c and pay Maybourne a more personal, immediate kind of visit. Of special interest is a short, sharp scene between Janet and Jack. I'm not so sure I can see Janet being so manipulative, but her motives are good and the characterization rings clear.
The story alternates between Jack's POV, told in first person, and Daniel's, told in third. This is a nice touch, which adds to the different flavors of the story.
Despite the very real beating Daniel takes in this story, he's hardly a weak victim. In fact, it's his innate stubbornness, that fierce adherence to his principles, that baffles the bad guys and allows Daniel to ultimately triumph. The smackdown that Teal'c, Jack, and Makepeace finally administer makes for wonderful payback. As with all ELG stories, we get a most satisfying and lengthly "epilogue," in which we get to see Daniel's health and his friendship with Jack fully restored to an even keel, with the absolutely perfect tone of the final few paragraphs. Add some delicious Teal'c moral support - the gifts that Teal'c and Jack bestow on Daniel in the end are wonderfully moving - and some solid, albeit lesser Sam comfort to the mix, and you're left with a fic that you'll want to read again and again.
Make sure you've got a good chunk of time, though. The story is 44,000 words, and you won't want to stop once you begin!
I looked Hammond right in the eye and said, "Sir, you have to let me have Makepeace. I don't care what favors you have to ask. I don't care what strings you have to pull. I don't care if you have to hire a tank and drive it straight through the prison wall, but if you won't, I will. I need Makepeace out of jail and I needed him forty-eight hours ago. I know Daniel is being tortured right now and I am this close to killing someone."
"I'm hearing you, Colonel." Hammond's lack of annoyance told me he was also agreeing with me even if he wasn't going to admit it in front of the spook. "And I have phone calls in with everyone I can think of to expedite Colonel Makepeace's temporary transfer to the custody of the SGC. You're just going to have to be patient for a little while longer."
"I've been patient for forty-eight hours."
"Jack, you haven't been patient for forty-eight minutes. You have to trust me on this. I'm doing everything I can to recover Doctor Jackson as quickly as possible." Then Hammond forgot about our visitor from Washington for a minute and said gently, "I want that boy back as much as you do, and if NID or Maybourne's little offshoot is responsible for this, I promise you they are going to pay for it. But right now, we have to do this by the book. We have to be the ones playing by the rules here. The waters got very muddied for a while and I need everyone in Washington to know who the good guys are."
"Well, that's the difference between us, General, because I just need Daniel back while he's still in one piece."
I hate it when Hammond doesn't get angry even when I'm jumping all over him. He just gave me one of his mildest looks and said, "Jack…"
I held up my hands. "Okay. I know. We're doing everything we can. Just get me Makepeace, sir, please, because I swear if I don't get a lead to follow soon I'm going to go beat one out of Harry Maybourne."
"Colonel Maybourne is being questioned in the matter of Doctor Jackson's disappearance." The spook said it like I'd hurt his feelings.
I gave him a straight look. "Not by me and Teal'c he's not." I turned to the general. "That's another thing, sir. Teal'c is getting seriously…restless. If we don't find him someone to go and stomp on sometime in the next hour or so, I think it's going to get messy."
"Jack, when you find Doctor Jackson, you and Teal'c can pull the arms and legs off whoever took him for all I care, but for the moment you have to be patient and let me handle this my way. I'm expecting to hear back in the next couple of hours. Just - hang in there."
I nodded and left him to it. Beating your own head against a wall has a certain attraction sometimes but doing it to someone who is clearly trying everything humanly possible to help you just doesn't. But as I went to tell Carter and Teal'c we needed to be patient for a little longer, I found myself whispering, "Daniel, wherever you are, I promise we're going to come and find you real soon, but right now you've got to do like the general says and just - hang in there…"
I said it into the place where Daniel should have been, right by my left shoulder. The place where he was going to be again very soon, or else… No. There was no 'or else' about it. One way or another we were getting Daniel back, and if Plan A didn't pan out, I'd started fine-tuning Plan B. I'd already decided I was giving the general two more hours to cut through the red tape. If he couldn't give me Makepeace, I was flying to Washington to put a bullet in each of Harry Maybourne's kneecaps. Then I was going to ask him where Daniel was. And if he didn't tell me, I was going to hand him over to Teal'c. As back-up plans go, I've had worse.
Pairing: none
Category: episode fix, gen, Jack and Daniel friendship, drama, hurt/comfort
Warning: spoilers for Shades of Grey; torture, violence, language
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Bunnyfic
Link: Ripples; author's notes and wallpaper for fic
Why This Must Be Read: I was astonished to discover that this amazing fic has not yet been recced, neither in Episode Fix nor Jack and Daniel friendship. Ripples is, hands down, one of the best gen Stargate fanfics out there. (YMMV, naturally.) Since I'm reccing both categories this month, I had a hard time deciding which category to choose; I finally settled on Episode Fix, since there's plenty of Sam and even more of Teal'c in the story as well.
Ripples begins in the aftermath of Shades of Grey, as Jack and Daniel struggle to discover if the foundation of their friendship is still solid. When Daniel is snatched by rogue NID elements of Maybourne's, partly as payback for Jack's role in shutting down their offworld operation, the ticking of the clock begins: Jack races desperately to find Daniel, even as Daniel desperately holds on for just another half hour, and a half-hour more, until Jack can rescue him.
The story is long and satisfying. One of my favorite aspects is the treatment of Makepeace. Colonel Makepeace was an intriguing character, and I love ELG's take on the guy. He's not amoral or self-serving, like Maybourne; he's a man who took the wrong path for the right reasons and still believes that he did the proper thing. In this fic, Jack teams up with Makepeace in an effort to find Daniel before it's too late. The O'Neill/Makepeace dynamic, with Teal'c providing the frustrated-Jaffa counterpoint, makes for fascinating reading with a very in-character feel.
It's wonderful to see the SGC rally to help one of their own, even as Hammond is forced to go through channels and Jack itches to take Teal'c and pay Maybourne a more personal, immediate kind of visit. Of special interest is a short, sharp scene between Janet and Jack. I'm not so sure I can see Janet being so manipulative, but her motives are good and the characterization rings clear.
The story alternates between Jack's POV, told in first person, and Daniel's, told in third. This is a nice touch, which adds to the different flavors of the story.
Despite the very real beating Daniel takes in this story, he's hardly a weak victim. In fact, it's his innate stubbornness, that fierce adherence to his principles, that baffles the bad guys and allows Daniel to ultimately triumph. The smackdown that Teal'c, Jack, and Makepeace finally administer makes for wonderful payback. As with all ELG stories, we get a most satisfying and lengthly "epilogue," in which we get to see Daniel's health and his friendship with Jack fully restored to an even keel, with the absolutely perfect tone of the final few paragraphs. Add some delicious Teal'c moral support - the gifts that Teal'c and Jack bestow on Daniel in the end are wonderfully moving - and some solid, albeit lesser Sam comfort to the mix, and you're left with a fic that you'll want to read again and again.
Make sure you've got a good chunk of time, though. The story is 44,000 words, and you won't want to stop once you begin!
I looked Hammond right in the eye and said, "Sir, you have to let me have Makepeace. I don't care what favors you have to ask. I don't care what strings you have to pull. I don't care if you have to hire a tank and drive it straight through the prison wall, but if you won't, I will. I need Makepeace out of jail and I needed him forty-eight hours ago. I know Daniel is being tortured right now and I am this close to killing someone."
"I'm hearing you, Colonel." Hammond's lack of annoyance told me he was also agreeing with me even if he wasn't going to admit it in front of the spook. "And I have phone calls in with everyone I can think of to expedite Colonel Makepeace's temporary transfer to the custody of the SGC. You're just going to have to be patient for a little while longer."
"I've been patient for forty-eight hours."
"Jack, you haven't been patient for forty-eight minutes. You have to trust me on this. I'm doing everything I can to recover Doctor Jackson as quickly as possible." Then Hammond forgot about our visitor from Washington for a minute and said gently, "I want that boy back as much as you do, and if NID or Maybourne's little offshoot is responsible for this, I promise you they are going to pay for it. But right now, we have to do this by the book. We have to be the ones playing by the rules here. The waters got very muddied for a while and I need everyone in Washington to know who the good guys are."
"Well, that's the difference between us, General, because I just need Daniel back while he's still in one piece."
I hate it when Hammond doesn't get angry even when I'm jumping all over him. He just gave me one of his mildest looks and said, "Jack…"
I held up my hands. "Okay. I know. We're doing everything we can. Just get me Makepeace, sir, please, because I swear if I don't get a lead to follow soon I'm going to go beat one out of Harry Maybourne."
"Colonel Maybourne is being questioned in the matter of Doctor Jackson's disappearance." The spook said it like I'd hurt his feelings.
I gave him a straight look. "Not by me and Teal'c he's not." I turned to the general. "That's another thing, sir. Teal'c is getting seriously…restless. If we don't find him someone to go and stomp on sometime in the next hour or so, I think it's going to get messy."
"Jack, when you find Doctor Jackson, you and Teal'c can pull the arms and legs off whoever took him for all I care, but for the moment you have to be patient and let me handle this my way. I'm expecting to hear back in the next couple of hours. Just - hang in there."
I nodded and left him to it. Beating your own head against a wall has a certain attraction sometimes but doing it to someone who is clearly trying everything humanly possible to help you just doesn't. But as I went to tell Carter and Teal'c we needed to be patient for a little longer, I found myself whispering, "Daniel, wherever you are, I promise we're going to come and find you real soon, but right now you've got to do like the general says and just - hang in there…"
I said it into the place where Daniel should have been, right by my left shoulder. The place where he was going to be again very soon, or else… No. There was no 'or else' about it. One way or another we were getting Daniel back, and if Plan A didn't pan out, I'd started fine-tuning Plan B. I'd already decided I was giving the general two more hours to cut through the red tape. If he couldn't give me Makepeace, I was flying to Washington to put a bullet in each of Harry Maybourne's kneecaps. Then I was going to ask him where Daniel was. And if he didn't tell me, I was going to hand him over to Teal'c. As back-up plans go, I've had worse.