Title: More Than Human
Category: Team/family angst/action
Spoilers/Season: Set in an alternate universe end of series 7. Heavy spoilers for end of season 7, beginning of season 8 episodes, namely Lost City and New Order.
Rating: PG13
Content Warnings: Bit of episode linked torture.
Summary: SG-1 are still trying to come to terms with the changes to their team and lives when more obstacles are thrown at them after a change in government and the re-assignment of General Hammond. So soon after the loss of Janet Fraiser, is Hammond's reassignment and Jack's degenerating mental condition going to be the end for SG-1?
Disclaimer: Stargate and SG-1 are the property of Showtime, MGM, Double Secret and Gekko and they do not belong to the author. This piece of fan-fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was exchanged. No copyright infringement was intended and the original characters, situations and plots are property of the author. This piece of fan-fiction must not be archived without the author's consent.
Comments: This fic deals directly with the episodes ending season seven and beginning season eight. Most of it roughly follows that plot, with twists due to the changes made. More Than You ended soon after Janet's death, Cassie's adoption into the O'Neill-Carter home, Daniel's realisation that Sarah was not the only important thing in his life, Nicola turning her pain into a new relationship with Major Evan Lorne and Jack still wondering if Sam was coping with Osiris' torture and the loss of Janet. Oh, and did I ever reveal the Zatarc? Some people aren't quite what they seem to be.
A/N: Due to this following the episodes so closely, some of it is told from Nicola's POV to avoid just writing the dialogue from the episode. This is not to ram an OC down your throat, just some scenes are better from an "outsider's" view.
More Than Human
Jack O'Neill sat down at his breakfast bar, placing the crossword he was still trying to complete down in front of him. He was concentrating on one question at a time and trying to distract his mind from going into work later that morning. He could not believe just how much his life had changed in the past year, and more significantly in the past few months. For over seven years, Jack had been the commanding officer of the SGC's first and most elite team - SG-1. That was until he had embarked on a relationship with his second in command. It had been a troubling few years leading up to them both finally making the decision to risk a lot for their happiness. Their decision had occurred soon after Major Sam Carter had been rescued from the clutches of the Goa'ulds Osiris and Anubis. Jack had been so thankful to have her home with him and their daughter that he had been willing to take any punishment that General Hammond had deemed appropriate. The General had made it clear that the pair of them could no longer be on the same team due to regulations and military rules. Jack had put his job and the world before himself and his family many times before and this was the most important situation in which he should put his family first. So he did, by becoming a part-time member of SG-1 with Sam. It meant that they were never on the team together, but they both kept their feet in the job they loved. Jack was more than happy to spend a lot more of his time with his daughter who seemed to be growing up faster than normal. He could not believe how much of her life he had already missed and every night when he put her to bed, as he stroked her blonde hair Jack vowed he would never miss any part of her life again.
He and Sam had quickly reached the decision that he would do the shorter missions and she would do the longer, unless their specialities deemed otherwise. Whilst he was happy with his role in the family and at work, taking an increased role in the day to day running of the SGC, Jack was concerned over Sam's roles. Prior to her abduction by Osiris, Sam had been happy to be a part-time SG-1 member and able to spend a large portion of her time working regular hours and spending time with her daughter. Ever since her kidnap and start of their relationship, Sam was working harder and longer than Jack could remember. Every time he broached the subject with his partner, she dismissed his concerns. Jack kept trying to convince himself that it was probably her desire to protect the planet from Anubis after Osiris' plan to capture Sam just to take her as a host. Deep down, Jack worried if Sam's obsession with work was more to ignore and bury what she had done as Osiris. She still declared that she could not remember any of her actions as Osiris, but Jack knew there was always a possibility of her remembering. He did not want her denying what had happened to her and hiding from those feelings. Everything was finally going so well between the pair of them as a couple and as a family that Jack did not want anything to make it go wrong. Although he did wish that Sam would be more willing to spend time with Daniella especially since the death of Janet Fraiser and their impending adoption of Cassie.
As Jack tried to focus on the crossword puzzle he had: The Atomic weight of Boron, his attention was drawn to the mug of coffee that was pushed along the table towards him. He picked up the mug and took a sip despite the temperature and smiled as he started to feel as if he were awakening. Jack glanced up at who had passed him the mug. "Thanks, Sasha." Since becoming the part-time member of SG-1, Jack had gotten to know their live in nanny a lot better than he had done. There was also the advantage that his altered work hours had on her; Sasha was able to live a bit more of her own life now. She still had no idea what either Jack or Sam did for a living and she still showed no sign of leaving them. Jack enjoyed the fact that he and Sasha had a morning routine, all five of them, including the girls, had a routine and he loved it. His life was so different to how he had ever lived it before and he would not swap a thing in the world.
"Off to the office today?" She moved towards the coffee pot to pour herself another cup and Jack watched her. Sometimes he thought that Sasha knew his house and his daughter better than he and Sam did.
"Yeah, meeting with the boss. Sam should be there, too."
Sasha nodded. "She's already had her breakfast and been sorting out a lot of papers."
Jack shrugged in nonchalance not ignorance. He tried his hardest to ignore work when he was at home and quite often at work he would not know what was going on around him. Their conversation was terminated by Daniella toddling into the room with her favourite teddy under her arm and a blanket in her hand. He pushed his coffee further away from the edge of the table, ensuring that she could not reach it as he then bent down and picked her up. "Morning, baby-girl."
"Hi, daddy." Daniella made herself comfortable on Jack's lap and then put her teddy - an elephant named Elly - on the table in front of her and started to play with Elly. "Elly hungry."
"Of course she is. What would she like to eat?"
"Muffin, please."
"How about Daniella?"
Daniella shook her head. "Daniella not hungry, just Elly." Before Jack could move Daniella and get up to get a muffin for her, Sasha passed one on a plate over to them. "Thanks."
"No problem, little one."
"Morning everyone," Sam greeted as she entered the room from the opposite doorway. "I've put the garbage out." She moved over towards Jack and their daughter and reached for his mug. After taking a sip of his coffee, she smiled at Jack and Daniella. "I have to get to work. Cassie's already left. She was meeting Josh."
Jack nodded at her as he watched Daniella very subtly turn herself and Elly away from Sam. "Don't worry, I've read the report this time, but I do want to meet Josh." Even before Cassie had become their responsibility, Jack had felt protective over her. Now that she lived with him and his family, Jack continued his protectiveness in preparation for Daniella's teenage years. Whether anyone liked it or not and regardless of how it had happened and Cassie being an older teenager, Jack now had two daughters and he would treat them both as he would any child.
"Good and Josh is coming for dinner next weekend." She smiled at him and as per usual Jack found himself smiling back for no real reason. When they had first moved in together for the sake of Daniella, he had not felt this happy, but then back then he and Sam were simply friends. It had never exactly been very simple until now when everything was so easy he did not have to try at all. "By the way," Sam commented as she leaned over his shoulder, "the atomic weight of boron?"
"Yeah?" Jack looked back down at his crossword. He had a weekly bet with her that he could complete it by a certain time and he was getting closer to the deadline.
"Not fat, honey." She kissed him on the cheek and he grabbed her wrist, forcing her to pause close to him. He kissed her on the lips and only released her wrist when he pulled back from the kiss.
"See you at work." Jack watched as Sam leaned down towards Daniella who instantly put Elly in her way so Sam kissed her daughter's elephant goodbye. "Bye, baby-girl."
"Bye." Sam smiled and said goodbye to Sasha before leaving the room and the house. Jack waited until he heard her car start and then resumed watching his daughter play. "Elly like muffin."
"I know she does. Is Daniella going to eat any of it?"
"No."
Jack exchanged looks with Sasha and she smiled sympathetically back at him. She had explained to him that it could be normal for children of Daniella's age to make their toy, or friend, do things or say things and that sometimes it was because the child had something to say which they felt bad or scared about. Jack tried to nurture his daughter and he hoped she would grow out of it rather than have some deep dark problem she could not speak about. There was one thing that did really trouble him, however. "See, she refused to kiss her again." Every morning, Sam was forced to kiss Elly goodbye and every evening Sam was forced to give a goodnight cuddle to Elly. That was when Sam was not off-world at any rate. It upset Jack because Daniella seemed to have no problem with either him, Sasha or Cassie, it was just Sam.
"It's just a phase. It can be completely normal for a toddler, and even older, to prefer one parent over the other. You have to also remember that in her eyes, she was abandoned." Jack nodded solemnly, knowing to what Sasha was referring. Sam had been missing for two weeks when Osiris had captured and then taken her as a host. Daniella had been without her mother and with a highly distracted father for those two weeks. After her recovery, Sam had thrown herself into her work and returned full time pretty much. When she was not on an off-world mission, Sam worked her old long hours on base. Daniella had lost the mother she knew and no matter how much it hurt Jack or how hard he tried to talk to Sam, she refused to speak about it and she continued to deny there was any problem. He was prevented from saying anything else to Sasha as his cell phone rang.
Flipping open the phone, Jack noticed that Daniella had given up trying to feed her elephant the muffin and was now eating it herself. "What?"
"Jack," said a very eager Daniel Jackson, "I think there might a repository of the Ancients on P3X-439."
"Uh-huh." Jack held the phone in-between his cheek and shoulder so that his free hand could hold Elly and make her dance for Daniella. The toddler giggled and sprayed the teddy with muffin crumbs causing Jack to grin in delight.
"I really think it's important that we head there."
"I've read the report. I think we should stay away." Jack spoke in his 'child' voice, the one that made Daniella giggle and made adults question that he was actually paying attention.
"But Jack..." Jack did not hear anything more that his team-mate and friend said as he passed his cell phone to his delighted daughter. He then proceeded to continue making Elly dance on the table and then he shook her closer to Daniella's face. Daniella giggled and turned the cell phone around and around in her little hands pressing buttons as she did so. After a while, she held the phone up to her face and gurgled into the speaker. Once Jack was satisfied that Daniel may have stopped with his arguments concerning the repository, Jack held out his hand for the cell phone. He honestly did not know why Daniel was ringing him to discuss his report. Not only was Jack going to be at the meeting concerning P3X in a few hours, but Jack had also actually read the report. "Therefore, we should go there."
"Let's just wait until the meeting, okay?"
"But Jack-"
"No, Daniel. Oh, wait, though, I need a seven letter word."
"I told Sam I wouldn't help you. Ask Daniella."
"Funny. At least she's more fun than you." Jack did not wait for Daniel to answer as he closed his cell phone and put it down on the side. "Come on then, baby-girl, down you get." She had finally finished her breakfast muffin although the crumbly remains had scattered all across the table and had probably covered her blanket. He figured that her blanket was already filthy enough so did nothing about it as he placed Daniella, still holding Elly and the blanket, on the floor and they all toddled off. Reaching for his now lukewarm mug of coffee, Jack drank it all down before grabbing his crossword and then going to get ready for the meeting.