Title: To Save
Rating: PG
Summary: Jack realizes what he has to do in order to save the future. But to save himself, he can just walk away.
To Save
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We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves. –Eric Hoffer
His lips twisted bitterly as he studied the gun, fingers caressing the polished weapon. To save the future- to prevent the timeline collapse- he knew what had to be done.
So often, humanity destroyed itself. Time and time again he had seen the horror, the greed, the darkness of man.
What he was about to do was perhaps the blackest deed of all.
To kill one, so that many would survive? To commit this one act, to ensure that the future would be what as it was for him-
And it would be so easy to just walk away. To know that he had saved himself the endless grief, the eternal agony… and condemned the galaxy, the universe, to a fate crueler than his own…
He loaded it with a single bullet, and took off the safety.
Forgive me.
The gun was carefully placed back in the case, and he made sure that a corner was just barely visible- enough to peak a young boy's interest.
Then, feeling as though he himself had pulled the trigger, Jack O'Neill walked back to the Jumper- as the sound of a single shot broke his heart.
For a second time.
And he sat in the pilot's seat for a long time, unashamed of the tears that fell onto the console.
Forgive me, Charlie.
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