What If's, Maybe So's, and Could've Been's
The following story is under the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Unauthorized copying and/or use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: SG-1 and Star Gate no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
She could feel his resolve the minute she opened up, as she climbed the stairs, and she knew he'd made a decision. And she knew, without asking or peeking, what that decision was.
She hurried to her room to find one more thing she'd brought with her. One last memory to give away. One thing she'd held closely in the bottom of her heart.
She stood outside his door, but he wasn't in there. She moved out with her mind, and found him in the back yard. He was sitting on the picnic table, a beer in his hands, face up to the sun.
Dad? Jack looked over, a strange mix of joy, relief and trepedation stirring around inside him. But Cass knew from years of experience, no one ever felt completely one way about anything even when they thought they did.
"Hey" her father replied and the joy surged to the top of the mix.
"I have something for you" Cass told him, joining him on the table. The day was perfectly still, and the sky bright blue, and the sun wonderfully warm. Cass held the box out, her fingers already missing it's presence. Her father took it, and opened it. A diamond ring sat upright in velvet stuffing. The sun glinted off of it, casting rainbows over his shirt and making him squint slightly in the glare. It had the lightest tint of blue, deep in the middle of the diamond, and three small saphires on either side really brought it out. They were all set in white gold, which was braided at the top around the gems.
"Cass, it's beautiful" Jack said, closing the lid on the box. Cass could feel the confusion in him.
"I....want to show you" He nodded, so she closed her eyes, and pulled him into her memories......................................
..............................................Memories are always tinted, with emotion, reflection, sometimes even music. Cass's memories were rich with the emotions and thoughts of the people she had shared the experience with, as well as her own. Jack could immediately feel that Cassi had warm feelings about this day. They were obviously on another planet, in a grassy courtyard of a castle like building. Roses were blooming to their right, and they were seated together on a stone bench.
It was my thirteenth birthday Cass whispered to him. He couldn't see her, at least not the her real self, just her memory self. He was right behind her, watching from a skewed version of her point of view.
"I should have proposed to her a million times" Jack heard himself say. It was odd, hearing himself talk, feeling his emotions. It reminded him of his cybernetic double, still alive on a planet somewhere in what seemed like the distant past now.
"Why didn't you?" his daughter's memory self asked. Jack wasn't sure how this conversation had originated, or what it's purpose was, but he could feel they had plans to do something special, and apparently it involved Sam somehow. The other Jack just shook his head. Then another man, one Cass recognized as Peter, entered the courtyard. He was a medium sized man, dressed in a purple tunic and leather jerkin.
"The Metal Worker is ready for you Master O'Neill, Mistress" he announced regally. The two stood and followed the man. Jack was pulled along with them, through an arch in the wall to what appeared to be a market place, of medeval porportions. They continued down the lane to the end, where a building with what was probably a royal crest above the doorway stopped it. A big man, probably the metal worker, stood behind a velvet covered table. Jack had to peer over the shoulders of the memory people to see the exquisit gems layed out.
"We'll pick the perfect diamond" the other Jack said. Cass, a thirteen year old Cass, smiled up at him.
"For Mom" Then Jack understood. He had told Cassi that he wished he had married her mother, and they were picking out an engagment ring for her, one that she would never wear. And when the time came, Cass would wear it as her wedding ring.
Then the memory faded away and they were back in the backyard. He looked at his young daughter, and realized what it must have taken for her to give up such a treasure.
"Thanks" he said simply. She just shrugged.
"It's a cheap price to pay to get my Mom back" she said and took off for the house. She suddenly felt very light and happy, as if the weight of the past year had just fallen from her shoulders. Jack caught the feeling, if Cass knew it or not, and it was like that diamond glinting in the warm sun.
She was completely happy for the first time since she'd come to them, and he knew he'd made the right decision.
The following story is under the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Unauthorized copying and/or use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: SG-1 and Star Gate no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
She could feel his resolve the minute she opened up, as she climbed the stairs, and she knew he'd made a decision. And she knew, without asking or peeking, what that decision was.
She hurried to her room to find one more thing she'd brought with her. One last memory to give away. One thing she'd held closely in the bottom of her heart.
She stood outside his door, but he wasn't in there. She moved out with her mind, and found him in the back yard. He was sitting on the picnic table, a beer in his hands, face up to the sun.
Dad? Jack looked over, a strange mix of joy, relief and trepedation stirring around inside him. But Cass knew from years of experience, no one ever felt completely one way about anything even when they thought they did.
"Hey" her father replied and the joy surged to the top of the mix.
"I have something for you" Cass told him, joining him on the table. The day was perfectly still, and the sky bright blue, and the sun wonderfully warm. Cass held the box out, her fingers already missing it's presence. Her father took it, and opened it. A diamond ring sat upright in velvet stuffing. The sun glinted off of it, casting rainbows over his shirt and making him squint slightly in the glare. It had the lightest tint of blue, deep in the middle of the diamond, and three small saphires on either side really brought it out. They were all set in white gold, which was braided at the top around the gems.
"Cass, it's beautiful" Jack said, closing the lid on the box. Cass could feel the confusion in him.
"I....want to show you" He nodded, so she closed her eyes, and pulled him into her memories......................................
..............................................Memories are always tinted, with emotion, reflection, sometimes even music. Cass's memories were rich with the emotions and thoughts of the people she had shared the experience with, as well as her own. Jack could immediately feel that Cassi had warm feelings about this day. They were obviously on another planet, in a grassy courtyard of a castle like building. Roses were blooming to their right, and they were seated together on a stone bench.
It was my thirteenth birthday Cass whispered to him. He couldn't see her, at least not the her real self, just her memory self. He was right behind her, watching from a skewed version of her point of view.
"I should have proposed to her a million times" Jack heard himself say. It was odd, hearing himself talk, feeling his emotions. It reminded him of his cybernetic double, still alive on a planet somewhere in what seemed like the distant past now.
"Why didn't you?" his daughter's memory self asked. Jack wasn't sure how this conversation had originated, or what it's purpose was, but he could feel they had plans to do something special, and apparently it involved Sam somehow. The other Jack just shook his head. Then another man, one Cass recognized as Peter, entered the courtyard. He was a medium sized man, dressed in a purple tunic and leather jerkin.
"The Metal Worker is ready for you Master O'Neill, Mistress" he announced regally. The two stood and followed the man. Jack was pulled along with them, through an arch in the wall to what appeared to be a market place, of medeval porportions. They continued down the lane to the end, where a building with what was probably a royal crest above the doorway stopped it. A big man, probably the metal worker, stood behind a velvet covered table. Jack had to peer over the shoulders of the memory people to see the exquisit gems layed out.
"We'll pick the perfect diamond" the other Jack said. Cass, a thirteen year old Cass, smiled up at him.
"For Mom" Then Jack understood. He had told Cassi that he wished he had married her mother, and they were picking out an engagment ring for her, one that she would never wear. And when the time came, Cass would wear it as her wedding ring.
Then the memory faded away and they were back in the backyard. He looked at his young daughter, and realized what it must have taken for her to give up such a treasure.
"Thanks" he said simply. She just shrugged.
"It's a cheap price to pay to get my Mom back" she said and took off for the house. She suddenly felt very light and happy, as if the weight of the past year had just fallen from her shoulders. Jack caught the feeling, if Cass knew it or not, and it was like that diamond glinting in the warm sun.
She was completely happy for the first time since she'd come to them, and he knew he'd made the right decision.