AN: This story was written for the "Dan/Jan Ficathon" for fugaciouslove who wanted Off-World, team + Janet dealing with some custom of the natives of the planet.

She didn't say I which /I team…

Spoilers: This is written for season six, so spoilers up to that, but particularly for Meridian.

Disclaimer: Dude, so not mine.

Rating: Whatever it is we call G these days.

Summary:

The flames of sacred fire show you what you wish to see:
What was, what will, what might come true,
And what can never be.

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What Can Never Be

Janet Frasier did not get off world very often and when she did, it was usually for some type of emergency. In this case, an illness much like small pox had swept across the planet designated P3X-113, called by the locals Lacastra. The humans of Earth were immune, Janet wouldn't let anyone through the 'Gate who hadn't had the chicken pox, and she had been able to come up with a vaccine based on the Earth small-pox vials, the anti-bodies in her team mates, and some dumb luck when she literally tripped over a plant in the forest that immediately cleared up the rash on her legs from an allergic reaction to the planet's grass.

Still, thousands had died in the pandemic, and it would a while before the Lacastrians were able to resume normal every day operations. The SGC had sent through some disaster management teams, but right now, the focus was primarily on getting bodies into the ground. Fortunately, there was no taboo against burning the dead on Lacastra, in fact it was an option often taken, so Janet was not concerned with contamination.

Thus it was that SG-1 found itself at one of the larger memorials being held in a large field, seemingly for this purpose though not usually on this scale, outside the city of Laca. As the sun set, the families of the deceased placed upon the bodies of their loved ones flowers and plants, and the Lacastrian priests walked among the dead strewing incense and chanting prayers for the safe passage of souls.

At some unvoiced signal, everyone retreated from the field and withdrew to a safe distance. Then all at once the field was surrounded by little spots of light. Squinting, Janet could make out dozen of archers, each bearing a flaming arrow. There was a horn blast, which made her jump and Jonas place his hand upon her shoulder as reassurance, and then the arrows were loosed and the field before them burst into flame. More horns sounded, and then drums followed and somehow in time to the music, the fire spread across the ground in front of them.

As she stared at the massive pyre in front of her, Janet found herself slipping into a sort of trance. Somehow, she knew that this was what was supposed to happen, and that it was happening to everyone else who stares at the flames. They cracked and sparked and jumped higher and a part of her brain told her that there should be a terrible smell but there wasn't and it was quickly silenced.

She was aware of shapes, foggy and unclear, in the fire but could not make them out. The harder she tried to focus on any one of them, the less clear it would become. Finally, she gave up and looked beyond the shapes, trying to see the town beyond the burning field.

And then he was in front of her.

He reached out a hand to her and she hesitated briefly before taking it, afraid of what she might find, but when she took it, it was warm from the fire. He pulled her close and she could feel his warmth surround her, though it was more like fire and less like a body, and though she could hear the drums, she couldn't hear his heart beat.

His hands came to her waist, and she found that they were dancing. The other dancers swirled around them in time to the music, though she couldn't really see anyone else. She was vaguely aware that Sam and the others, even Teal'c had been caught up in their own dances, but she couldn't see them or who they partnered. It was all a mass of colour and light and music, but he was solid and whole in front of her, and she was in his arms.

As they danced, she was filled with an awareness of him; how he had chosen to leave the world, and how it was not her fault that he had. He knew that she would move Heaven and Earth to save him, and he was grateful for it, but the pain had been too much. He had chosen to move beyond, and leaving her had been the hardest part of going.

The dance grew faster all around them, but he stilled and held her from moving with the flow of spirits that surrounded them. He was different then the others, she realized, both more and less here, more and less real. She could not figure it out, and she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to. They were separate from the dance now, though it continued to whirl about them, and he pulled her close.

He raised her chin lightly with his fingers and she looked up at him. She had forgotten how much taller than she was he had been. He was smiling and he bent towards her and she found herself smiling too as his lips met hers. There was fire everywhere, inside and out, as he kissed her. The dance was in her blood, he was in her blood, and her heart pounded with a fury she hadn't felt in months.

Since he had died.

And then the spell was broken and the dance fell out of step and out of time and ended, and she saw that the field had burnt to ash before her, and her friends were all around her. Everywhere, it seemed there was a mother, a father, a husband, a wife, a sibling, a child, all with tears on their faces and a light of wonder in their eyes. Janet could see it just as clearly in the faces of her team mates, and knew that it lit upon her as well.

The Lacastrians made their way back into the city in silence, and the teams from Earth went back to the Stargate, also silent in their awe. Jonas dialed the address, and just before she stepped through, Janet heard a voice on the edge of familiar sing.

The flames of sacred fire show you what you wish to see:
What was, what will, what might come true,
And what can never be.

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finis

GravityNotIncluded, October 2006.