Author's Note: This was written as a reaction to the Sandy Hook tragedy. I didn't personally know anyone at the school, but I live within driving distance and it hit me really hard. Heck, it hit everywhere. I just...I still don't know what to think or feel. But this snippet, at the time, was my way of trying to cope and puzzle things out.

My heart and prayers go out to those families...

J is for...Justice

From his mandatory post-mission infirmary visit, Jack headed straight for the showers and ignored all attempts from Janet and Daniel to call him back. He didn't want to talk to the, he didn't want to talk to anyone. And he certainly didn't want to go into debriefing and rehash what had happened on that planet. Showers, at least, were a legitimate excuse for privacy.

He cranked the water on as hard and a shot as it could go, wincing as it pounded against sore muscles and he scrubbed his skin viciously. He had to get rid of the filth from that planet; he reeked of it. The events of the past handful of hours played back through his mind in detailed, vivid technicolor. Jack gritted his teeth.

"Jack, you can't do this."

Jack didn't even bother to turn around to respond to Daniel's objection. "Don't have a choice, Daniel."

"Yes, you do! Look, you know that I am the first person to insist on respecting another culture, but you can't honestly believe that what they're asking you to do is okay?"

"The guy is a murderer," Jack reminded him tightly, sighting at a tree experimentally with his sidearm. "He killed dozens of their people."

Daniel sighed. "I know that; and yes, he deserves to die for it. But that doesn't mean that you particularly have any obligation to be his executioner! That is not what we set out to do with the Stargate program."

"Kids, Jackson! He killed kids."

"I know."

"Then why are you arguing with me?"

"Because you are not an executioner; but once you cross that line you can't come back."

"It's justice," Jack said harshly, jamming the weapon back into its holster. "And it's already decided."

ovo

Jack was slumped on a bench in the locker room, lacing his boots, when he noticed Teal'c in the doorway. He jumped and swore, startled. "How long have you been standing there?" he demanded irritably.

"General Hammond asked me to ensure that you did not 'get lost' on your way to the briefing room," he rumbled. "You are late."

"Hm." Apparently the good General was getting impatient. "Tell him I'll be along in a minute. I haven't eaten in a while, I was gonna grab a slice of pie or something before heading over..." The Jaffa raised an eyebrow, shifting minutely. After a minute, Jack sighed. "What? Why can't everyone here just leave me alone for half a second?"

"You are displeased about the result of the mission," Teal'c stated bluntly.

It wasn't really an answer to his question, but it was rather perceptive. "Who wants to know?"

"You were not wrong, Colonel O'Neill."

Jack blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You are not confident that the decision you made to heed the villager's wishes was correct. You and Daniel Jackson argued about it quite extensively before the man was brought before the council. You were right."

"We've killed people too, though." The words came awkward and halting to his lips. He had been wrestling with this since the request had been put to him back on the planet, and he was no closer to a solution. "He was just one more for me in a long line. I...don't like it. I don't like needing to kill."

"And this is why it is right that you have done what you have done. It is when you kill and feel nothing that you have crossed a line.

"You are not like him, O'Neill. He was a murderer. You are a hand of justice."

"Huh." It was the most that Jack had heard him speak in a long time. It didn't make what he'd had to do any easier, but it was something to think on. "Thanks, T. Good advice."

Teal'c inclined his head gravely. "Indeed."