Not Just Dumb Luck
This story takes place after Jack is wounded during the battle in the Stargate SG-1 season 7 two part episode "Heroes" which aired on February 13 and 20, 2004.
Some readers might consider this AU.
Rating: K+
Category: Friendship and a little bit of angst
Warnings: No violence. No adult themes, but mention of death and being killed. No profanity. No pairings. Some spoilers for these episodes - "Heroes," "A Matter of Time," "Show and Tell," "Out of Mind," "Fair Game," "Tangent," "1969," "Entity," "Meridian," "Fail Safe," "Frozen" and "Abyss." I think I got them all.
Disclosure: I don't own anything Stargate and am getting nothing in return except reviews, I hope.
"It is done."
The woman's softly spoken words rippled through the chamber touching the ears and hearts of seven council members and the many invited scholars and historians who had crowded inside. It was an Asgard "think tank" with a Nox advisor and while survival of The Fifth Race was not assured, it was once again possible.
Freyr replied, "Your presence was not detected."
Lya dipped her head. It had been a statement more than a question. Of course she hadn't been detected.
Penegal added, "They believe their technology to be successful." And soon many of the others chimed in too, though not talking over each other.
"Should we not correct the flawed conclusion?"
"They will not make adjustments."
"Improvements are needed.
"Flawed design."
"O'Neill's body had more mass."
"He would not have survived."
"Their medical technology is still primitive."
"Impossible for them to save him."
"The heart could not sustain itself."
"Brain damage was imminent."
"Death would have followed quickly."
Clasping her hands together Lya interjected, "They believe the device worked well only because O'Neill did not perish."
"Perhaps we should reconsider sharing more of our technology."
The chamber stayed in stunned silence for only a couple of seconds.
"No."
"No."
"No."
"We must not."
"We cannot interfere."
"We should not interfere."
"We have already interfered."
Lya's calm voice broke through the competing Asgard comments. "O'Neill will argue that it did not work well enough, and then will push for improvement. The device will be redesigned and they will go on." Her insight was usually accurate, even where humans were concerned and none of the Asgard contradicted her assessment. They would leave the technology sharing discussion for another day.
With all those present seeming to agree with her, the council leader told her, "The Asgard thank you."
Her work finished, Lya smiled shyly before disappearing.
Following many moments of contemplative silence, Commander Thor looked specifically at Freyr and Penegal before announcing, "O'Neill must never learn the truth."
An Asgard consensus was difficult in the best of times and now a new debate was born.
"He should be told."
"The human is reckless."
"Should he not know he is essential?"
"The Ancients would deny it."
"The Ancients would see all humans destroyed and still do nothing."
"The Ancients are in error."
"Before O'Neill, The Asgard have not saved individuals."
"We cannot."
"We must not."
"O'Neill is much more."
"It was decided O'Neill would be protected."
"Yes."
"The Nox agree with the Asgard."
"They will watch."
"And continue to search for The Furling."
"O'Neill must live."
"The Furling would agree."
"The human knows not what his death could mean."
"The truth will change him."
"O'Neill must remain constant."
"There is another."
"Unrecognized."
"Untested."
"In time."
"The same."
"We will wait."
"The first is our concern."
"The truth would be an unnecessary burden."
"O'Neill must not be told."
The chamber was silent and Thor visibly relaxed. It had taken a while, but finally the others had come around to his way of thinking, even Freyr. It hadn't been until they nearly lost O'Neill in the explosion to close the wormhole against the black hole that Thor, Penegal and a couple of other Asgard decided to approach the council. Before they could bring up the matter, O'Neill had been seriously injured by the Reetou and almost turned into a Goa'uld host by Hathor. The council hadn't been convinced until the human showed such great promise and potential during the protected planets negotiation and they agreed to contact the Nox for counsel and help.
O'Neill came close to dying in Goa'uld glider before the Council initiated any true measures to safeguard his life and for a few years they and the Nox watched as he was injured or stricken with disease, but he had not needed saving. Perhaps they'd gotten complacent, nobody knew for certain, but when Loki had been able to abduct him and create a clone, all of them had been shocked and admitted to needing a new plan. That's when the Nox started actively looking for the Furling.
There had been other times when O'Neill had been in grave danger, but intervention had not been necessary. Even the naquadah meteor impacting Earth would not have killed him and many other humans would have survived too, both those evacuated before and those relocated in the aftermath. Many other humans close to O'Neill had not been saved over the years, including Daniel Jackson and wife Sha're and now Dr. Fraiser, and it had been decided that he must never know that his continued existence was essential while the lives of his friends and colleagues was not. Daniel Jackson would have been left to perish if he had not ascended after the lethal dose of radiation. If the humans had not been able to restore Samantha Carter's mind after the probe threatened her and Earth, the Asgard and Nox would not have intervened. If his symbiote could not save his life, Teal'c would die because he was Jaffa and not Fifth Race and the Asgard and Nox would not interfere.
As much as it pained him, Thor knew almost all humans would be left to perish with only O'Neill's life saved by the Asgard and Nox. But even they had been conservative in the past and allowed events play out. Like the time O'Neill contracted the mysterious and very lethal Ancient virus before accepting a Tok'ra symbiote to save his life. The desire to intervene then had been relentless, especially after Ba'al killed and then revived O'Neill a number of times, but they had waited. This time when the man had been mortally wounded it had been absolutely necessary to intervene almost immediately and per the Nox/Asgard agreement, Janet Fraiser had not been saved. She would be mourned and for a long time O'Neill would grieve and miss her presence, but he would survive.
There was just one more thing Thor needed to confirm or all could be lost. "Cassandra Fraiser must also be protected."
The council members stiffened, but only for a moment. All were aware of SG-1's time travel experience to the Earth year 1969 and if O'Neill was to return to his proper time then the girl needed to live a long life. She'd lost her family and now she'd lost another Mother and even the Asgard knew about the stresses heaped upen young humans and the inability of some to cope. With everyone on board to keep O'Neill safe, there wouldn't be any convincing needed at all.
Dark Asgard eyes stared and Asgard mouths twitched before the council head proclaimed, "Their fate is intertwined. The human female will be protected."
"The Nox will agree."
"The Fraiser child must live."
"Never have The Asgard intervened… so much."
"We must."
"Without O'Neill all will be lost."
"We are certain."
Jack O'Neill woke to a world of hurt and while the pain pounded in his chest, it was the merciless grief in his heart that was much worse and one that the pain drugs couldn't begin to touch. Pushing down both he kept his eyes closed and thought back to the conversation with his CO, General George Hammond.
"I should be dead too, General. It's just dumb luck that I'm not."
"You don't know that, Colonel," the senior officer reasoned. O'Neill's look resulted in Hammond clenching his hands and then relaxing a little until he forced himself to sit down on the bedside straight back chair. The sting of the doctor's death was still too fresh as well as the kicking he'd taken from Woolsey and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He was grateful O'Neill had survived and he vowed to help his friend get through the survivor's guilt waiting in the wings. Or perhaps it was not waiting at all. The Colonel had lots of experience dealing with loss and had even taught Hammond a thing or two. Before he could say anything else Jack spoke again.
"Sir, the vest inserts don't work." They offered more protection than nothing though so he clarified his statement. "Not as well as they could."
Had it been dumb luck? The insert had saved O'Neill, but not Fraiser. Was it her bad luck? Hammond had spent his career trying not to think about good luck, bad luck or dumb luck because it was superstition that couldn't be proven and couldn't be depended on. Oh, some attributed luck with faith and SG-1's missions record sometimes seemed to support that theory. But Hammond could only think about O'Neill and Fraiser. Her injuries had been just a bit more severe and the doctor admitted Jack could have easily died as well. The Colonel was right - the insert hadn't worked well enough and they should be looking at improvements. Because O'Neill hadn't died, everyone had praised the success of the design. Everyone except 'the Colonel who lived' that is, because he had realized the flaw in not only the design, but in thinking that the device had actually saved his life. He didn't know how or understand why, but Jack was certain it was only because of dumb luck that he was still alive.
Hammond accepted O'Neill's gut feeling and took a few moments to think through the events of the last couple of weeks. Rehashing the technology briefs and debriefs in his mind, and the more recent mission debriefing, Hammond realized his own mistake. The insert hadn't worked well or Fraiser wouldn't have died. Research needed to continue to make improvements and the General nodded in agreement saying, "I'll order the team to get started on a redesign."
Hammond was tired and under a lot of stress. Looked to for leadership and strength, he'd been unable to reveal most of his emotions. The loss of Janet Fraiser had knocked him down and while he had gotten back up, he wasn't 100%. The base personnel were disconnected and looking to him. They would normally look to Jack also, but with him in the infirmary they needed Hammond. Bad enough that it had happened, it was especially bad that the film crew was still there. The infirmary was like a morgue, the commissary unusually quiet and the only sounds in the corridors were footfalls. Even the labs and offices were silent. Missing was any of the friendly banter needed to distract and soothe the SGC's wounded warriors. Everyone was afraid a nosy man with a mouthful of questions and a video crew would be around the next corner ready to pounce. Feeling his age and the burden of command, Hammond had looked to O'Neill, 'Mr. Positive,' the man who had endured and survived so much and could still see the glass as half full instead of half empty. Through his own pain Jack had already thought it all through.
O'Neill's eyes speared into Hammond's before he dropped his own knowing gaze to the floor. Recognizing the signs of command stress, he quietly offered, "The medical professionals should be consulted too, Sir, so the team can work on more lateral torso coverage and additional thickness to better protect vital organs."
Hammond smiled gratefully and Jack knew he had nudged him back onto the path. Janet Fraiser's death had impacted all of them, some more than others, and together, as a military family, they would deal with that loss and go on. They still had a job to do, but Janet Fraiser would not be forgotten. The two officers had then spent the next ten minutes discussing what to do and how to do it before moving on to talk about the memorial service to honor their friend and fellow warrior.
Groaning as he turned from his back to his side, Jack clutched the pillow to his chest and waited for the pain to lessen before opening his eyes. When he did he was shocked to see Thor standing there, looking at him. Jack closed his eyes and waited as he wondered if the vision could be a pain induced hallucination or maybe grief, but wouldn't that make him see Doc? Resigned to finding out what his mind was doing, he opened his eyes again to find Thor even closer to the bed and it kind of weirded him out.
"Thor?" He asked with tired curiosity.
The little guy took a small step forward and now he was right next to the bed. "Yes, O'Neill."
Somewhat hesitantly Jack asked, "Something going on I should know about?"
"I came to offer the condolences of the Asgard."
Surprised, O'Neill stared at the little alien. How did Thor know about Janet Fraiser. What did he know about what had happened? His friend's eyes seemed darker than normal and his expression sadder… somehow. Had Thor already been to see General Hammond?
"You did?" Thor's head tipped forward slightly. "Thanks."
"Doctor Fraiser was my friend," Thor told him ruefully before placing his boney hand on O'Neill's forearm. "I shall miss her."
'My friend. I shall miss her.' Jack could have choked on the lump in his throat and quickly swallowed hard. He didn't reply to Thor's confession, just nodded solemnly before closing his eyes against the approaching salty tears. His closed lids would hide any wetness so to take his mind off the pain and loss, he busied himself with wondering if Asgard ever cried. Did they even have tear ducts?
With the crystal in the palm of his hand, Thor directed a beam to O'Neill's creased forehead. His action would increase endorphins and balance the levels of serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, epinephrine and melatonin which would help with both the physical and emotional pain and help O'Neill to feel better, faster. Satisfied, he watched his favorite human drift into a relaxed, healing sleep.
The End
Note: I don't know how many prototype vest inserts were produced or who wore them during the battle on P3X-666. For this story both Fraiser and O'Neill had them.
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