Anthology Notes: This series of ficlets was originally written for a Last Author Standing challenge, in which prompts were given and writers had a week to write a 1,000-word-or-less fic on it. Each chapter is a different story (organized by where it would fit in the series), and you don't need to read one to understand the next. The main character(s) featured in each story will be in the boilerplate info, so if you only want to read Daniel stories, for instance, you can easily do that. Everything mentioned in the summary is written, but - depending on when you read this - I may not have gotten them all uploaded.
Title: You Always Hurt the Ones You Love
Character/Relationships: Teal'c
Warnings: None.
Notes: Winner of LAS Challenge 11: The Things We Do for Family
Teal'c watched the children of Earth with great interest. Sometimes, they seemed so unlike the children of Chulak - blessed without the burden of service to the goa'uld, they lived a life freer than they could possibly imagine. But other times, the similarities were striking.
O'Neill had been refueling his vehicle one day when Teal'c saw a small boy running around the small convenience store, ducking behind ice machines and garbage barrels while shooting imaginary enemies with his finger. He did so with the wild and reckless abandon of both human and Jaffa youth - laughing in the face of danger.
Then he tripped, scraping his knee against the rough concrete. He sat in silence for a moment, stunned that the ground beneath him would dare attack his army of one, spill his blood and end his reign as Master and Commander of all the 7-Eleven. As pain and realization set it, the boy began to cry.
It wasn't long before the boy's father picked him up, tended to his wounded knee and kissed the child's head. Teal'c looked away then.
The boy reminded him so much of Ry'ac. He often tried not to think about his family or their fate. Toppling a god - even a false one - took greater effort than anything he had ever attempted and Teal'c could not afford the luxury of worrying over the ones he loved. He couldn't afford to wonder how being the blood of a shol'va affected their lives. But some days - like now - he couldn't help himself.
Who was there to pick up his own son when he fell? Did his mother have the time, or were her days so filled with survival that caring for minor injuries fell by the wayside? Perhaps Master Bra'tac or another Jaffa had taken the boy in, unfazed by the reputation Teal'c had created for them. Or perhaps his greatest fear would be realized, and the hand leading his son through life would be that of Apophis himself. The possibility was not a slim one. The goa'uld could do it in a heartbeat and WOULD do it for no other reason than to spite the one who had betrayed him.
Teal'c quickly pushed the thought aside, choosing instead to focus on a third option. Perhaps the situation would force Ry'ac to pick himself up and guide his own life. Perhaps the self-reliance would make him a far more capable man than Teal'c would ever know.
That thought made Teal'c smile. For all the hurt his actions may bring down on his wife and son, the possibility that *something* good could come of it - even if he was unsuccessful in defeating Apophis and freeing his family and his people - was enough to keep him moving forward. It was enough to make the pain he caused his family matter.