Summary: Sleeping Beauty SG-1 style. But who will play Beauty, and who Prince Charming? It's not who you might think. No major pairings, but if you want ship you can probably find it, if you don't, you can ignore it.
Category: Action/Adventure/Humor
Season: Takes place after season 5's Desperate Measures, minor episode spoilers.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author.
A/N: Spatial tanks two Nyxro fore heir spiel cheek, prove reader, and grate ideals. :)
This fic is an idea I've been kicking around for awhile. I know it's been done before, but I hope to have given it a different twist. For this story, I'm not following the Disney version of the tale, rather, the older versions, such as the one by Perrault and the one by The Brothers Grimm. Originally, my story was intended to be a short, light, Disney-like version, but when I researched older versions of the tale, there were just too many possibilities in them that made for a nice juicy action/adventure piece. Some of those older tales were downright grim and gory, with the brave, noble, yet stupid princes meeting their deaths in the briar patch, and the princess being raped in her sleep to wake nine months later with the birth of her twins, who later their evil Ogress mother in law tries to eat. I decided to stick with kissing. I've also added as many elements from the fairytale into my story as I could think of, see how many you recognize.
Sleeping Beauty by iamdragonrider
Chapter 1: A Fairytale Setting"Uh Guys?" Major Samantha Carter looked up from her work gathering soil samples, spearing each of her three teammates with a glance before looking pointedly at the large expanse surrounding the clearing they currently occupied. "Big village?" she clarified, when the three men showed no inclination of moving away from the small area surrounding her and her equipment.
Colonel Jack O'Neill, standing just to her right while he observed the surrounding countryside, picked up on the message first. His face spoke volumes. "Hovering again, are we?" he answered lightly, with a mildly sheepish look. Turning from her gaze, he scrubbed his hands along the sides of his head, causing more disarray in the short brown and gray hairs there. A faint wince was the only betrayal that the movement still caused any discomfort to his recently injured arm.
From Sam's other side, where he had been pretending to study the layout of the village in fascination, the team's linguist, archeologist, and anthropologist Doctor Daniel Jackson blinked large blue eyes owlishly and rubbed guiltily at the bridge of his nose. Giving Sam an apologetic half grin, he gestured vaguely toward some writing on a nearby pillar. "I'll, uh, go translate over there."
"I shall check the perimeter," rumbled Teal'c, from where he had been hovering protectively over the female scientist's shoulder. The large Jaffa warrior hid his feelings of chagrin well under a mask of professional calm. He nodded briefly in apology, and made good on his word by heading out of the village square.
Jack thumbed in the big man's direction. "I'll, uh, go with him," he said, before turning on his heel to follow Teal'c.
With a sigh, Sam turned back to her work. She really couldn't blame the guys after all. This was their first mission off world since the Colonel had been deemed fit enough for active duty after taking a bullet during that whole fiasco with Conrad. If she was being honest with herself, she had to admit she'd been all but jumping at shadows the past few weeks, and the guys had understandably picked up on that. That, and they were admittedly awkward over the fact that she'd been missing for two days and they'd only noticed when she'd failed to show up for work.
Squinting from behind her dark sunglasses, Sam let herself relax somewhat in the warm, bright sunlight while she scraped up bits of soil and rock into collection bags. A gentle, warm breeze ruffled her short hair, and birds called from nearby trees, further adding to the idyllic setting the team had found on P4X-325. The stargate had been neatly nestled into a beautiful meadow, surrounded by gentle rolling hills, trees, grass, and a stream visible in the distance. Fragrant wildflowers grew abundantly on the hillsides, and an old, partially overgrown path led from the gate to the nearby village. The buildings clustered around a central square showed obvious signs of abandonment and long neglect. Weeds grew to slowly reclaim what had once been hard packed paths and roads trampled by the passage of a village, and farming implements were visible in nearby fields, rusting and rotting, slowly being repossessed by nature. Several of the nearby buildings were missing all or part of their roofs, or had crumbling walls. One had collapsed completely. Of those buildings left standing more or less intact, doors had been left hanging open and inside were more clues of hasty departure in forgotten pottery or furniture that decayed where it had been abandoned.
The obvious haste with which the previous inhabitants had left could have given the area eerie feelings of emptiness, but time coupled with the beautiful surrounding countryside and the temperate weather had instead given the place a pleasant atmosphere. It was almost as if the place had been plucked right out of a storybook fairytale. Sam was grateful that SG-1 had been given this mission, which so far had allowed them all to finally start to relax around one another, and get back in the groove of things. That is, aside from the constant mother-henning from her three male teammates.
"Hey, Sam, would you look at this for a minute?" spoke Daniel, drawing her out of her reverie. All earlier traces of embarrassment were now gone, replaced with curiosity. Intrigued, Sam left her scans and crossed to where the young man crouched at the base of some sort of pillar in the middle of the square. She couldn't help but grin at her teammate with his soft brown hair ruffled in the breeze and the intense look on his face as he studied the writings.
"What is it Daniel?" she asked, squatting next to her companion. Daniel glanced sideways at her, returning her grin before he eagerly pointed to a line near the bottom.
"According to this, there is some sort of castle or fortress not far from here, but it, and this village, were both abandoned after some sort of 'sleeping sickness' overcame the people here. Even though they all recovered quickly, the inhabitants seemed to feel that the place held some sort of curse or weapon. No one wanted to stick around in case it could happen again." Daniel waved to indicate the pillar. "They left this column here to serve as a warning to future visitors."
With impeccable timing, Jack and Teal'c returned in time to hear the last of Daniel's statement, immediately picking up on the "w" word. "What's this about a weapon?" he asked, anticipation gleaming in his eyes. While it was obvious to Sam that Jack had also enjoyed the pleasant mission thus far, it had been equally clear to all of them that he was a little bored. The discovery of something useful made an otherwise unremarkable mission that much more appealing, and undisguised interest gleamed in their team leader's eyes.
Daniel and Carter could hardly agree more, as the two exchanged excited glances, and even Teal'c looked curious.
Hastily, Daniel recapped what he'd just explained to Sam. While Daniel talked over his findings with Jack, Sam took the opportunity to unlimber one of her scanners. Turning in a slow circle, Sam blinked as the machine picked up on a faint energy reading. "Sir, I've got something that might be a power source," she said, trying unsuccessfully to keep excitement from her voice. Thus far, they'd seen nothing to indicate the society that had lived here possessed anything that could generate any kind power, which opened the door for possibility of something alien, and advanced, left behind by an older race.
"Jack, we should really check this out," said Daniel, jumping at the chance to do some more exploring, and no doubt knowing his friend would be interested in finding anything that might help in their fight with the Goa'uld.
Frowning, Jack hesitated. "What about this sleeping thing? It could be still hanging around."
Exchanging another look, the two scientists seemed to be communicating silently. "It has been a long time, Jack," Daniel suggested. "We really should check on that energy signature Sir, it might be significant," added Carter.
Looking from one eager face to another, Jack poised uncertainly on his decision, until Teal'c, silent up to now, added his own opinion. "O'Neill, I believe the risks are outweighed by the potential discovery of a weapon we can use in our battle against the False Gods. I believe we should seek out the source of this anomalous energy reading."
Sam could see the minute Jack made his decision and shared a brief triumphant grin with Daniel. Jack, noticing the exchange, pretended to scowl, before clapping his hands together. "Ok kids, pack up, lets move out. I'd like to get there while there's still plenty of daylight for you two to play. We make camp at nightfall, and I don't want to hear any excuses to the contrary!"
With the Colonel's ultimatum made clear, Carter hastily collected her equipment and samples, and saw Daniel move equally quickly to gather up his notes and camera. Teal'c and Jack shared a subtle amused look with each other. The two scientists were ready in record time, a speed only broken by the race they made when pursued by a pack of Jaffa.
"So," asked Jack, with a wave to indicate the surrounding hills, "which way?"
Glancing down at her scanner to double check her readings, Sam turned, and inclined her head towards two buildings. While overgrown by years of vegetation, an old rutted lane was visible as it meandered from the village, through the meadow, and around the base of the somewhat distant hills.
"Follow the yellow-brick road?" quipped O'Neill, all concerns locked away by a cheerful exterior.
The good cheer infectious, Sam grinned tolerantly back at her commanding officer. "Yes sir," she replied.
"Hmm… Oz," murmured Daniel contemplatively, so only Sam could hear. "The Emerald City?" His face looked so serious for a moment that Sam blinked, and then realized he was joking. Sam barely managed to turn her snort into a hasty cough as she walked past, leading the way with her scanner and Daniel fell in step behind her.
"You heard the man Teal'c," Jack grinned and gestured dramatically towards the retreating figures. "To Oz!" He'd heard them after all.
Teal'c gave a small nod. "Indeed," he murmured, and then made to follow the two youngest team members, Jack easily taking up the last position where he could keep an eye on the rest of his team. To Oz indeed!