Disclaimer: Not Witten for Profit. All tags based on episodes of Stargate SG-1, part of the Stargate Franchise.
Episode 1-20 There but for the Grace of God
Episode Summary: On an alien world Daniel touches a mirror before returning to earth. He soon realizes this is not the earth he left behind.
General O'Neill lay on the cold floor. He had been shot in the torso with one of the alien weapons. There was little blood, but he could feel the damage done inside. As he lay there in shock, the Jaffa blew their way through the blast doors and stepped over him on their way through.
He had failed in stopping the attack and saving the base. But maybe he had succeeded in giving that Daniel Jackson guy enough time to get through the gate. He wasn't sure he believed in the whole alternate dimension, parallel universe deal, but the idea comforted him as he lay dying.
As he lay on the floor, listening to weapons fire, he thought of all the steps that had led up to this attack. Had it been his own orders to his people that had caused the Goa'uld to attack them? Could this all be blamed on him?
If they had kept their heads in the sand and buried the gate, the Goa'uld would have never known they still existed. His planet would be whole, not under attack. Cities wouldn't be in ruins; a billion people wouldn't be dead.
His eyes started to close as he registered the fact that the machine gun fire had stopped, and only the alien weapons could be heard now. The self-destruct countdown started and O'Neill pushed aside thoughts of guilt and blame.
He thought of Sam. Beautiful, genius, optimistic Samantha. He had known he loved her the moment he met her. Even as she got under his skin and made him grind his teeth. There was something about her, her smile, her intelligence, her confidence, her empathy, all of it. He had felt like the luckiest guy in the world when she agreed to spend time with him off base. And when she agreed to marry him, he felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. A weight that had been there since his son died. A weight that said you are a failure, you don't deserve love, you don't deserve happiness.
The countdown blared overhead. He had only seconds. He squinted his eyes shut and pictured Sam's smile. Her bright blue eyes twinkling at him. And then it was over.