Tittle: The Fifth Member
by Tiffany May Harrsch
Summary: This series is my attempt to get into the head of the oft used but seldom seen fifth member of SG1.
Spoilers: Various episodes up to and including Firing Line.
Set: Season 1 (so far)
Rating: PG1 3
Spoilers: Goa'uld back history. Bloodlines, Bane
Status: Each story is complete. I haven't seen all the episodes, in fact I haven't seen much beyond S3 or 4, so there is a good possibility the series may be a wip.
Credits: Thank you to Ivanova for betaing for me.
Thus far I four part/stories. You'll find them as a separate chapters here on Fanfiction.net.
The Unwilling Symbiote (Date: 27 June 2000), Loneliness (Date: 27 June 2000), Naming (Date: 31 July 2000), Bane (Date: 31 July 2000)
Disclaimer: © 2000 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.
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The Fifth Member:
Naming:
I have been named!
Names bestow power. Being named, knowing names, having a name and giving one; all are power of a sort.
Up until now I did not have a name to give. Being recognized as an individual came only from my siblings. We did not name each other, that honor is reserved for the naming day. I identified them by the sounds of their voices and the feel of their touch.
Had life gone on as normal for me, I would not have been named until I matured into adulthood and successfully took control of a host. I do not believe the adults even consider us people until the naming day. We are merely creatures to them, not quite alive things tended solely for the survival of our species. Why else leave us in the care of the tall one slaves? Once we have thickened, and changed color, and have reached the point where we are strong enough to subsume a host - only then are we considered people. Only then do we reach personhood and are finally treated as children or brethren, loved or hated, coveted or jealous of, considered allies or foes.
The knowing says this was not always so. It is true the children of our species have always had an incredibly high mortality rate. Very few larvae were either viable or survived the first changing. However, between the first changing and the second, where I am now, the children were looked after more. The strongest were even named. They were not separated at so young an age to be kept in isolation from their kind for years in the body of a stranger with an equally high likelihood of death. No one had to live in this poor imitation of the pouch of the original hosts where the young were sheltered and grew in numbers.
How much different things would be if we were cared for the way the tall ones care for their young. If we were raised as family, and protected as children, I would not be where I am now. My siblings and I would not have been left alone as we were. And even if that catastrophe had occurred, my siblings would have been avenged. And there would be someone out there looking for me… But it is difficult to think of an individual without benefit of a name, a face, or a touch. That is another power of names, to know you are known.
Perhaps the most powerful name is the one given by the enemy. It means one has become a very real, specific threat to them. It brings me great pride to know one of my host's companions fears me so much. Though I am puzzled as to why. I am powerless to do anything against them until I have matured, and that will not be for many years yet.
What would the adults think of me now if they knew? I am enough of a threat, before I have reached the second changing, to be a named one. Would it make me more real to the adults? If they found out, would they let me keep the name?
I have gained power of another sort in my time here. I have learned the names of my host and it's companions. This took me much time. The language they speak in this place is amazingly difficult to learn. The knowing has not spoken of this strange tongue.
They use deep, rumbling, drawn out words. It is clear just from the sounds of them I would never be able to speak the language on my own; my anatomy is too different. To communicate with them I would need a proxy. Part of my trouble is how muffled the outside world is. Here there are the heart beat, breathing, digestion, and other such noises of the living machine that is my host. Sound must be very loud out there, or close to the entrance to my abode, for me to hear. Then they need to be something clearer than mumbling. I have not gathered up the nerve to stick my head out just to listen in on the conversations.
I have learned the most from my host. It's voice is the loudest. The sound of it from outside echoes the reverberations through the body. I recognized certain words as names even before I associated them with the appropriate voices. They are odd sounding words like 'O'Neill', 'CaptainCarter', 'DanielJackson', 'GeneralHammond', and 'DoctorFrasier'.
The name of my host was the first word I learned from those outside. It is the least alien sounding. My host is called 'Teal'c'. The second word not spoken by my host I learned from the one called O'Neill - my name. It is the strangest of any I have learned so far. Just what kind of name is 'Junior', anyway?
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