Fic: Beyond Good and Evil (SG-1)
Apr. 9th, 2005 06:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
butterflyOriginally, I wrote this story from the other point of view. Then, it was lost, and I just couldn't rewrite it. But I could write the other side.
Title: Beyond Good and Evil
Summary: Daniel watches a sunset. Jack interrupts.
Timeline: Set during Moebius (part 2). Well, it's pretty much speculative at this point. Part of the set that I have going on.
Warnings: Angsty. S/J implied.
Author's Note: The title comes from a Nietzsche quote -- "What is done for love takes place beyond good and evil."
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 belongs to (take a deep breath) MGM-UA, Worldwide Television, Showtime, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions, the Sci-Fi Channel and Stargate SG1 Prod. Ltd. Partnership.
Daniel dipped his hand into the sand, warm grains rubbing against his skin, and glanced over at the low position of the sun. In less than half an hour, there would be another glorious sunset, the horizon limned with fiery light. The air here, now, was so clear that the desert stretched before him for what genuinely looked like forever. The heat made the air shimmer, tempting the stupid or the hopeful with visions of water.
He hadn't wanted her to cry.
Daniel took in a sharp breath and then let it out again, tasting the arid heat of the desert air. All he needed to do was turn around and he'd see the encampment in the distance. To Samantha and Jack, it must seem a prison, the small village where he was forcing them all to hide. They wouldn't last a day on their own, though, and as long as they needed him, they wouldn't try to leave.
Well, and the rebels likely wouldn't let them. They'd listened when he'd told them the dangers that those two could cause, if set loose in this time. Urshé was watching them tonight and he'd never liked them. Perhaps that came from never having had a chance to speak to them -- Urshé was one of the few rebels that hadn't wanted to learn the 'secret language' of the outsiders. Regardless, their willingness to listen saved him from the headache of worrying about Samantha and Jack running off somewhere.
Had she found her way back to Jack yet?
Three universes now, for Jack and Sam. And it all hinged on whether or not Sam was in the military, apparently.
But from what Daniel had seen, that was enough to make Sam a completely different person. Samantha had Sam's brains, but none of her strength. She had the beauty, but none of the grace. All of the gifts that genetics had given her remained but she lacked Sam's sheer force of will. How had the loss of the Stargate meant that Sam was reduced to this?
Jack... Jack was simple and easy. He was a bitter old man and he hated himself for killing his son and he'd latched onto the first person to show him tough love.
Is that all his friendship with Jack had been? Had he just been the first, in his reality?
The evidence certainly argued that. And while his memories told a different story, they were growing fainter by the day.
Because here, Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter had formed a tight bond against the world that they didn't understand, the world that Daniel did.
"What gave you the right?" Jack's words rang out and Daniel felt the smallest surge of relief, quickly buried. Jack might only be here to... defend his lady-love, but he was here. He was talking, not yelling. Not as angry as he could be. Not much, but more than nothing.
"Sam did," Daniel said softly. The night before their failed revolution, they'd all talked about what they would do if they succeeded, and had to stay in the past anyway. Sam's one certainty had been that she wanted to preserve the timeline as much as they could. Because of her, Daniel tried to keep in mind that even something as small as a grain of sand could cause the creation of a pearl. "My Sam. The original one."
"And that gives you the right to not even ask?" And Jack was a little louder now, a little angrier. Daniel kept his eyes on the horizon, where the sun was just tipping down under the sand.
"Yes," Daniel said. He couldn't decide just what he wanted Jack to do, here. He wanted Jack to understand, to see what Daniel was trying to do. But he also wanted nothing more than for Jack to turn around and leave, without any more talk.
Daniel stared at the sun, blinking against the light, listening to Jack breathe.
"We're not asking you to treat us like friends," Jack said, and he'd stepped closer to Daniel's position. "We just want you to treat us like human beings."
"I saw you die," Daniel said, pulling his hand out of the sand and touching Jack's tags through his robes. "All of you. I saw you tortured and murdered and the only reason that I... managed to escape was because I knew that I had to make things right."
"No, damn it." Jack crouched on the ground near Daniel. "I'm not going to let you do that this time."
"Do what?" Daniel asked, glancing at Jack out of the corner of his eye. The man looked so comfortable in his robes, these days. It was odd, considering that Samantha had yet to make that transition. Then again, some days, he thought that Samantha still hoped that there was a chance that she and Jack could go back to her time and settle down. With two kids and a dog. A golden retriever... or maybe a dalmatian. A playful, water-loving breed of some sort.
"Throw out some disconcertingly horrible little fact so that I'll go away." Jack settled on the ground. "Not going to work this time."
"It's not?" Daniel asked, stopping himself from looking directly at Jack. He hadn't been doing that. That... wouldn't make sense. Oh, hell, like being trapped in ancient Egypt made sense. None of this made any sense and it all came circling back to the same thing.
"Nope," Jack said. "This time, why don't you just tell me whatever it is that makes you act like an asshole so often?"
Now that was a loaded question. Tell me, sir, have you stopped beating your wife? Daniel shrugged his shoulders, feeling suddenly restless, wondering what Jack would do if Daniel headed out towards the horizon.
"Yeah, I figured you'd say that." Jack sounded tired and Daniel looked over at him. He looked old, but he'd always looked old. It was odd, because Daniel could never remembering thinking that Jack looked old. When this man had shown up, though, Daniel had immediately wondered if someone that worn out could accomplish what they needed to do to fix the future.
Daniel turned his attention back to the sunset, waiting for Jack to leave.
Jack stayed beside him as the sun dipped below the horizon, the last of the light fading. The dense field of stars shone through the clear sky, so many more than he'd have seen in his own time. Countless stars in the sky, an entire universe of possibilities that he would never see.
Finally, he heard Jack rise. Daniel tried to find something to say, but words had never been the biggest part of his relationship with Jack and he could think of nothing. Jack dropped a hand on his shoulder and Daniel swallowed, pushing back the wave of shock that washed over him.
"Get some sleep," Jack said, voice gruff and low, and then he was leaving.
Daniel stayed in place, watching the stars.
Pondering the meaning of possibility.
~fin~
Title: Beyond Good and Evil
Summary: Daniel watches a sunset. Jack interrupts.
Timeline: Set during Moebius (part 2). Well, it's pretty much speculative at this point. Part of the set that I have going on.
Warnings: Angsty. S/J implied.
Author's Note: The title comes from a Nietzsche quote -- "What is done for love takes place beyond good and evil."
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 belongs to (take a deep breath) MGM-UA, Worldwide Television, Showtime, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions, the Sci-Fi Channel and Stargate SG1 Prod. Ltd. Partnership.
Daniel dipped his hand into the sand, warm grains rubbing against his skin, and glanced over at the low position of the sun. In less than half an hour, there would be another glorious sunset, the horizon limned with fiery light. The air here, now, was so clear that the desert stretched before him for what genuinely looked like forever. The heat made the air shimmer, tempting the stupid or the hopeful with visions of water.
He hadn't wanted her to cry.
Daniel took in a sharp breath and then let it out again, tasting the arid heat of the desert air. All he needed to do was turn around and he'd see the encampment in the distance. To Samantha and Jack, it must seem a prison, the small village where he was forcing them all to hide. They wouldn't last a day on their own, though, and as long as they needed him, they wouldn't try to leave.
Well, and the rebels likely wouldn't let them. They'd listened when he'd told them the dangers that those two could cause, if set loose in this time. Urshé was watching them tonight and he'd never liked them. Perhaps that came from never having had a chance to speak to them -- Urshé was one of the few rebels that hadn't wanted to learn the 'secret language' of the outsiders. Regardless, their willingness to listen saved him from the headache of worrying about Samantha and Jack running off somewhere.
Had she found her way back to Jack yet?
Three universes now, for Jack and Sam. And it all hinged on whether or not Sam was in the military, apparently.
But from what Daniel had seen, that was enough to make Sam a completely different person. Samantha had Sam's brains, but none of her strength. She had the beauty, but none of the grace. All of the gifts that genetics had given her remained but she lacked Sam's sheer force of will. How had the loss of the Stargate meant that Sam was reduced to this?
Jack... Jack was simple and easy. He was a bitter old man and he hated himself for killing his son and he'd latched onto the first person to show him tough love.
Is that all his friendship with Jack had been? Had he just been the first, in his reality?
The evidence certainly argued that. And while his memories told a different story, they were growing fainter by the day.
Because here, Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter had formed a tight bond against the world that they didn't understand, the world that Daniel did.
"What gave you the right?" Jack's words rang out and Daniel felt the smallest surge of relief, quickly buried. Jack might only be here to... defend his lady-love, but he was here. He was talking, not yelling. Not as angry as he could be. Not much, but more than nothing.
"Sam did," Daniel said softly. The night before their failed revolution, they'd all talked about what they would do if they succeeded, and had to stay in the past anyway. Sam's one certainty had been that she wanted to preserve the timeline as much as they could. Because of her, Daniel tried to keep in mind that even something as small as a grain of sand could cause the creation of a pearl. "My Sam. The original one."
"And that gives you the right to not even ask?" And Jack was a little louder now, a little angrier. Daniel kept his eyes on the horizon, where the sun was just tipping down under the sand.
"Yes," Daniel said. He couldn't decide just what he wanted Jack to do, here. He wanted Jack to understand, to see what Daniel was trying to do. But he also wanted nothing more than for Jack to turn around and leave, without any more talk.
Daniel stared at the sun, blinking against the light, listening to Jack breathe.
"We're not asking you to treat us like friends," Jack said, and he'd stepped closer to Daniel's position. "We just want you to treat us like human beings."
"I saw you die," Daniel said, pulling his hand out of the sand and touching Jack's tags through his robes. "All of you. I saw you tortured and murdered and the only reason that I... managed to escape was because I knew that I had to make things right."
"No, damn it." Jack crouched on the ground near Daniel. "I'm not going to let you do that this time."
"Do what?" Daniel asked, glancing at Jack out of the corner of his eye. The man looked so comfortable in his robes, these days. It was odd, considering that Samantha had yet to make that transition. Then again, some days, he thought that Samantha still hoped that there was a chance that she and Jack could go back to her time and settle down. With two kids and a dog. A golden retriever... or maybe a dalmatian. A playful, water-loving breed of some sort.
"Throw out some disconcertingly horrible little fact so that I'll go away." Jack settled on the ground. "Not going to work this time."
"It's not?" Daniel asked, stopping himself from looking directly at Jack. He hadn't been doing that. That... wouldn't make sense. Oh, hell, like being trapped in ancient Egypt made sense. None of this made any sense and it all came circling back to the same thing.
"Nope," Jack said. "This time, why don't you just tell me whatever it is that makes you act like an asshole so often?"
Now that was a loaded question. Tell me, sir, have you stopped beating your wife? Daniel shrugged his shoulders, feeling suddenly restless, wondering what Jack would do if Daniel headed out towards the horizon.
"Yeah, I figured you'd say that." Jack sounded tired and Daniel looked over at him. He looked old, but he'd always looked old. It was odd, because Daniel could never remembering thinking that Jack looked old. When this man had shown up, though, Daniel had immediately wondered if someone that worn out could accomplish what they needed to do to fix the future.
Daniel turned his attention back to the sunset, waiting for Jack to leave.
Jack stayed beside him as the sun dipped below the horizon, the last of the light fading. The dense field of stars shone through the clear sky, so many more than he'd have seen in his own time. Countless stars in the sky, an entire universe of possibilities that he would never see.
Finally, he heard Jack rise. Daniel tried to find something to say, but words had never been the biggest part of his relationship with Jack and he could think of nothing. Jack dropped a hand on his shoulder and Daniel swallowed, pushing back the wave of shock that washed over him.
"Get some sleep," Jack said, voice gruff and low, and then he was leaving.
Daniel stayed in place, watching the stars.
Pondering the meaning of possibility.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-10 03:28 am (UTC)And the fact that Jack has finally caught on to Daniel's game - the game Daniel doesn't even realize he's playing - where he says something horrible just to get them to go away - that's fabulous.
This story gives me SOME hope that they might build a connection. Somehow.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-12 07:10 pm (UTC)And yeah, Daniel was definitely using his pain against them. And it worked for quite a while.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-10 03:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-12 07:11 pm (UTC)Thank you.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-10 03:42 am (UTC)I'm sorry you lost the other story. It would be great to see it from Jack's pov.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-12 07:15 pm (UTC)I'm probably going to go back and write Jack's turning point, after I write a few other scenes that are on my mind.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-10 04:23 am (UTC)And this: Jack stayed beside him as the sun dipped below the horizon, the last of the light fading. The dense field of stars shone through the clear sky, so many more than he'd have seen in his own time. Countless stars in the sky, an entire universe of possibilities that he would never see.
The stars are such a perfect link to Daniel's state of mind.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-12 07:14 pm (UTC)The stars are such a perfect link to Daniel's state of mind.
This is the nice thing about fiction. Because when I go out and look at the sky, it's just the sky. When a fictional character looks at the sky, it's saying something. In fiction, everything means something, which I love.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-10 05:36 am (UTC)seva
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-12 07:16 pm (UTC)And I miss Teal'c, too. And I've been wanting to go back and write more about him, but that's even more painful because I know that he's going to die. And so does he.
Me,too
Date: 2005-04-10 04:52 pm (UTC)Re: Me,too
Date: 2005-04-12 07:17 pm (UTC)And possibility is always there, waiting. I'm just happy that my Jack-muse actually was willing to reach out.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-10 08:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-12 07:18 pm (UTC)I still have this feeling of dislike for Samantha.
In my lost Jack-pov of this fic, one of the things that makes him reach out to Daniel is realizing that neither he nor Samantha gave a moment of thought to the 'birth-control' issue. That gave him something to think about.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-17 08:41 pm (UTC)Because here, Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter had formed a tight bond against the world that they didn't understand, the world that Daniel did. --Yes. And the way Daniel keeps them at arm's length from himself, and how Jack busts him on it.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-18 03:45 am (UTC)Thank you.
Moebius really was such a rich canvas (that I wish the actual writers had done more with).
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-21 06:47 am (UTC)I wish I could hope that this Jack could bind with Daniel. But ... I dunno. I think he might have missed his window. Daniel got to Jack before the scars had healed over; but this Jack never got that, and instead spent what, 8 years? broken and grieving, building a shell about him. Not even this thing with Sam is going to break through that, I think.
Despite that, I love this series, and I think it's marvelous. Thank you for giving us what the show couldn't. (And don't think I'm not just a little bitter about that...)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-22 07:19 am (UTC)And yeah, this is probably as good as it's going to get for this Jack and this Daniel. Better than what they had before, but not enough for Daniel to feel like he has Jack back.