(Set in late first season.)
When Daniel introduces Teal'c to the world of Tau'ri literature, what will he come across? (All poems translated from Gou'ald to English as Daniel reads them.)
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Truthful Revisions
Daniel knocked on Teal'c's door lightly and waited for the Jaffa to answer. He'd found the additional poetry books that Teal'c had requested – who knew the big Jaffa would warm to poetry, of all the things in earth's culture?
When Teal'c didn't answer, Daniel frowned. I'll just go in and leave them for him to find, Daniel thought. In and out – like a military operation or something.
So he opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind him softly. The room was well-lit, with both the electric lights and candles burning. However, Teal'c was nowhere to be found.
Daniel walked over to the desk and settled his stack onto it. He was about to turn and leave when he spied a single sheet of lined paper resting to the left of his pile. Curiously, Daniel picked it up, and, pushing his glasses further onto his nose, read it:
Black Soul
The odor of rotting corpses
suffocates –
filling my throat and nostrils.
The screams and pleas of victims –
human and Jaffa –
deafen me.
The sight of tears and fear
blind me to the life and death
that surround me.
They are crippling me,
I, their torturer, and killer.
All for the sake of a false god.
I curse myself and the god
for whom so many were slain.
There is no redemption great enough
to free my captive soul.
When gods are false and life is dead,
there is no one left to take revenge
for the wrongs that I have caused.
Daniel's eyes widened. Oh boy…
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It took a while before he found Teal'c in the gym. (I still can't believe they have room for a gym under a mountain Daniel thought.)
Daniel, glad that they were alone, said, "Teal'c?"
Teal'c ceased his attack on the punching bag. "Daniel Jackson," he greeted lightly, in a way that Daniel had come to recognize as fond and brotherly.
The expression on Teal'c's face turned quizzical when Daniel handed him two large, light brown envelopes.
"These are for you."
Teal'c tilted his head and quirked an eyebrow. "May I inquire as to what is inside?" he asked.
Daniel smiled. "Eh…no. Just read, okay? Read it all until there's nothing left in them to read. Do it tonight, in your quarters, just before you Kel'no'reem."
Teal'c was obviously puzzled by his friend and comrade's request. He seemed to be about to decline Daniel's request when Daniel jumped in hastily, saying, "Please, Teal'c. I'd consider it a personal favor, one you can get me to repay any time."
Although still uncertain, Teal'c agreed.
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Teal'c gently closed the door, the soft, welcoming candlelight luring him in. He'd been waiting for this relaxation all evening. He was about to settle down for deep kel'no'reem when he remembered his promise to Daniel Jackson. He opened the first envelope. His face showed mild surprise that quickly turned bitter when he discovered that it was his poor attempt at the Tau'ri art of poetry.
Casting the sheet aside, he opened the second envelope. Still irritable about the stolen poem he'd written, Teal'c began to read the sheet from the second envelope with distaste that slowly turned to deep pondering.
New Beginning
Forced into slavery for
thousands of years –
the Jaffa.
Jaffa after Jaffa,
slaughtering their brothers.
Willing to die for false gods.
Condemned.
One alone
walked away.
Left his home and family
with no promise of reward;
one fights with strangers
side by side,
day by day,
as brothers do.
Little by little,
strangers become friends.
Trusting.
The lone Jaffa
has no promise of reward
to replace his losses,
but for the promise
of a new beginning.
After a moment, Teal'c reread it once. Twice. And thrice.
And Teal'c smiled in that quiet, undisruptive way of his. Smiled.
And he said aloud to the whispery smoke from the candles, "Daniel Jackson speaks what is true and correct. My black soul is growing lighter with each passing moment that I spend fighting the false gods with SG-1. My…comrades. My friends."
Teal'c hid away "Black Soul", unwilling to destroy his first piece, but unwilling to take notice of it. Instead, he tacked to the wall, "New Beginning", and read it every morning to remind himself that his soul wasn't black.