Title: Someone Watching Over You

Author: Ailendolin

Rating: PG-13 … just to be sure.

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Universe and do not make any money with this story.

Summary: Spoilers for 2x02 "Aftermath". Sometimes all you need is someone watching over you for everything to be okay. A fix it-story.

Word count: 2046

Characters/Pairing: Riley, TJ, Young, Franklin, Rush, Eli & Brody.

Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for 2x02 "Aftermath"

Author's Notes: Hey guys! First Stargate Fanfiction ever. I'd like you to know that I'm from Germany, so English's not my first language and I encourage you to point out any mistakes I made.
Anyway, "Aftermath" was an amazing episode, maybe even the best of SGU so far along with "Time". I thought Riley's death was handled really well and for me it definitely was the most emotional death of all the deaths in all Stargate shows.
Still, Riley was my favourite character in SGU, so of course I had to write a fix it-fic. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it.
Rest in Peace, Riley. You will be missed.

Someone Watching Over You

Pain. Unbearable pain was all he felt when he opened his eyes. He saw himself lying underneath a pile of rubble and debris, his lower body completely hidden. His legs were crushed and bleeding. He could feel it, the life slowly ebbing out of him.

The others tried to get him out but to no avail. Their faces told him everything their voices could not. He was stuck and he was dying and he knew it. TJ did not deny it and he was glad for that. She was one of his closest friends on Destiny, had been ever since he was recovering from the injuries he had gotten after trying to fix a coolant leak. All those weeks he had spent in the infirmary she had been there, not only tending to his injuries but also keeping him company and telling him about the happenings on the ship. She had always been truthful to him about his injuries and he was relieved that she did not start to lie now.

She sat with him, and talked about her lost daughter, and even though the pain got worse he was grateful for the distraction she provided. They both knew there was nothing else she could do. She could not save him and she could not make his pain go away. Talking was all they had.

By the time Young arrived the pain was almost unbearable. He knew the others had to go back. Destiny would not wait for them. And at the same time he knew that TJ would never leave his side until it was over and he would never forgive himself for stranding her on this planet. Asking Young for help was his only option for getting everyone back on Destiny without feeling guilty about leaving him behind to die alone.

He held his breath when Young closed his hands around his mouth and nose. Of all the ways he had imagined himself dying suffocating had somehow never crossed his mind. He had always thought he would die in combat, some way or another, not lying still on the floor of a crashed shuttle and begging to be killed. Suffocating had always seemed cruel and horrible to him. It was slow death, not quick like a bullet wound. And he was right.

When he ran out of air he automatically tried to take a breath. Panic settled when he could not breathe and he stared at Young with wide, frightened eyes. Young stared back at him and kept his hands on his mouth and nose, not letting the tiniest bit of oxygen in.

He struggled for air, now truly panicking and then everything faded away, Young, the shuttle, the pain …

SGU

Riley woke up with a gasp. Sitting upright in his bed he desperately tried to take in as much air as he possibly could. He still felt Young's hands blocking his attempts to breathe and he frantically grabbed at his throat, eyes closed tightly and trying to breathe.

"If you continue to panic you will have a panic attack," a voice remarked. Riley's eyes opened and he looked at the man standing next to his bed. A man he thought he would never see again.

"Take deep breaths, Riley," Franklin said gently, sitting down on the bed. He laid a hand on Riley's shoulder and Riley felt himself slowly calming down and finally getting air into his lungs

"There, that's it," Franklin continued with a small smile. "You'll be fine."

He patted Riley on the shoulder and after a few moments Riley was almost breathing normally again. He sank back against the covers, utterly exhausted and looked up at Franklin.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, voice raw. He narrowed his eyes. "You can't be here. You're gone."

He shook his head and stared at his ceiling.

"Great," he mumbled, "I'm going crazy. Rush's rubbing off on me."

Franklin chuckled.

"You're not going crazy," he said.

Riley sat up and looked at him. "I see dead people," he countered drily.

"Well, yeah," Franklin conceded, "But that doesn't necessarily make you crazy. Dead is not the same as dead, you know?"

Riley shook his head. "No, I don't. I don't even know why I continue talking to a figment of my imagination."

"Because I'm more than that, Riley," Franklin said, turning serious. "I'm not just here for a little chat with a friend. Tell me about your dream."

"My dream?" Riley asked, confused.

"Yes, your dream," Franklin said patiently, as if talking to a small child. "Or nightmare or premonition or whatever you want to call it. Tell me about it."

Riley frowned at him.

"I remember pain," he said quietly. "There was a shuttle accident or something. My legs were pinned under parts of it and, and it was bad. The others couldn't help me. They tried, but they couldn't. I was dying."

He paused and looked at Franklin, his breathing erratic once more. Realization dawned on him.

"I did, didn't I?" he asked. "God, I died! I suffocated. It felt so real."

Franklin nodded. "That's because it was."

"What?" Riley stared at him in shock.

"Not for you," Franklin reassured. "But in another universe exactly this has happened. You died because Rush send you to a planet for a supply run without thinking it through properly. The engines of your shuttle failed and you crashed. You know the rest."

"Why are you telling me this?" Riley asked, confused. "Because it was you who gave me that dream, right? Why? Why are you doing this?"

"Because I like you." Franklin shrugged. "You're one of the few good guys on this ship. One of the few people who's not crazy or greedy or I don't know what. They need someone who hasn't forgotten what it's like to be human, someone who cares about other people regardless of who they are. Someone like you."

Franklin shook his head, suddenly looking sad.

"You don't deserve to die because of Rush's mistake. Not if I have anything to say about it."

Riley looked at him, intrigued. "So, you're alternating the course of events just for me? Just so I can live?"

"No." Franklin shook his head. "I'm just intervening earlier than I did in other universes. It's for the best, not only for you but also for the crew."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Franklin waved dismissively. He turned serious again.

"Listen, Riley," he said. "Tomorrow, you will drop out of FTL close to a planet. It's stargate is not operational but the planet is within shuttle range. Given your desperation to find more food an expedition will be launched even though the time window until the next FTL jump is narrow."

"And I'm on that mission and we crash and I die," Riley surmised.

Franklin nodded. "You've got to convince the others not to go to that planet," he insisted. "There isn't any food there anyway. And keep an eye on Rush," he advised. "He's up to no good."

"How will I convince them?" Riley asked. "I don't even know what planet you're talking about."

"Just take a good look at the data of the planet when you drop out of FTL," Franklin suggested. "You'll find a reason for Young to cancel that mission."

There was a moment of silence before Riley looked at Franklin, really looked at him, and asked, "What happened to you? I don't understand all this. Are you dead or, or ascended or what are you?"

Franklin smiled at him. "A little bit of both and something else," he said mysteriously and laughed when Riley glared at him. "No, really," he said, holding up his hands, "It's the truth. It's complicated but I'm not a ghost or something, so you really are not going crazy."

"Good to know," Riley muttered.

"Yeah, isn't it?" Franklin grinned. "Goodness knows you've got your hands already full with Rush. No need for you to become his apprentice." He grimaced. "That thought is actually kind of disturbing."

Riley nodded and the room grew silent for a few moments. Franklin was looking out of the window, at the stars zooming past Destiny, at the universe, at something Riley did not see and sighed.

"It's time for me to go."

He turned to Riley who nodded.

"Thank you," he said earnestly and gripped Franklin's hand. "Really," he continued, voice full of gratitude, "Thank you so much, Jeremy. I hope I will live up to the high expectations you have of me."

"You will," Franklin said, shaking his hand. "You're always selling yourself short, Riley. You have no idea how important you are for this crew."

"You're right," Riley chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I don't."

"But you will." Franklin squeezed his hand once more before he let go. "Just remember: You're not alone. I'm here."

And he vanished, leaving Riley to stare at empty space. He turned around, looking at his small room. The window that showed mostly darkness, the bed with the rumpled sheets and finally his eyes landed on the picture on his bedside table. It showed his family and their dog, all of them smiling happily at the camera. He sat down on his bed and picked it up. Knowing he was supposed to die tomorrow made his homesickness only worse and it was hard to hold back the tears when he imagined a stranger telling his mom about his death, not able to give any specific information. It hurt and once again he was glad that Franklin had given him this chance to live, to survive and to make it home. He just wanted to see his family again.

SGU

The next day everything happened exactly as Franklin had predicted. Riley was in the gateroom when they dropped out of FTL. He scanned the data of the planet and waited until Young and Rush decided to send a shuttle to the planet before he spoke up.

"Actually, Sir, I think the risk is too high."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"What makes you say that, Sergeant?"

"Well," Riley said, with an unsure look at Rush whose eyes had narrowed, "I am not sure Dr. Rush has considered all the data we have on that planet, Sir."

"Excuse me?" Rush said indignantly.

Young held up a hand at Rush and nodded at Riley. "Go on."

"The volcanic activity on that planet is quite high," Riley explained. "There's also the atmospheric super rotation Dr. Rush didn't mention."

"What does that mean?" Young asked, frowning.

"That means," Eli said, horrified, "That the shuttle would experience severe turbulences. It could break apart upon entering the atmosphere."

Rush's glare turned from Riley to Eli. "The shuttle is built to withstand such turbulences. It will be fine."

Young shook his head.

"You've withheld important information, Rush," he said. "Information, that could get the crew of that shuttle killed. I am not taking that risk."

"But we're in need of food and water!"

Young turned towards him, his voice dangerously low. "I don't care. We'll find another planet. I'm not sending people on a suicide mission just because you want me to. End of discussion."

He left the gateroom without looking back. Rush followed him after glaring at Riley once more, all the while arguing with Young.

"Wow," Eli said, after a moment of silence. "I can't believe he didn't tell us. What was he thinking?"

Brody shrugged. "Maybe he overlooked it?"

They both turned to Riley.

"Good thing you didn't." Brody smiled at him and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Yeah," Eli added, "I'd rather not eat anything than be a redshirt. I've watched enough Star Trek to know those kind of missions always end in a horrible way."

Brody laughed. "It's always the supposedly easy missions when something bad happens, isn't it?"

Riley smiled but he was not looking at them when he said, "And sometimes all ends well because you have someone watching over you."

Franklin nodded at him briefly, a proud smile on his face. He vanished when Brody and Eli turned around to find out what Riley was staring at.

"What do you mean?" Brody asked, looking back at Riley.

Riley shrugged.

"Nothing," he said and left the gateroom with a smile on his face.

The End