TITLE: The Sought Ones
SEQUEL TO: The Lost Ones
AUTHOR: Cyn(di)
EMAIL: custardpringle@yahoo.com
RATING: PG-13. Language, thematic issues, sexual references, violence (sort of), angst.
CATEGORY: supernatural, drama, romance, angst
SUMMARY: They were supposed to be gone forever. But "forever" is a very relative thing.
SPOILERS: I'm assuming "Heroes" and "Lost City" never happened, but anything else is fair game.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It occurs to me that Daniel and Sha're didn't appear in the last chapter at all. But this one more than makes up for it. Besides, there *was* a lot more plot development needed with Jack and Charlie.
"An" is Egyptian for "beautiful." Technically, Budge translates it as "to have a fine appearance," but I fudged a little. I think my way sounds much better.
A further item of interest: Word defines angst as "a feeling of dread arising from an awareness of free choice."
--------------------------------------------------
For a man of such wide experience, Jack dreamt astonishingly little—and when he did, they were usually nightmares. It therefore came as a surprise to him that night when he had said goodnight to Charlie, fallen into his own bed, and closed his eyes to find himself in his office with Oma Desala waiting for him.
"Great," he greeted her sourly. "Come with eloquent words of spiritual assurance? I've had for too many of those already today, thank you very much."
"I'm afraid so." Oma bowed her head apologetically. "But I may also have something else more comforting to tell you."
"Really. What?"
"I do not believe that Charlie will die any time soon."
Jack's head snapped up. "What makes you think that?"
"Thor told you that the information now stored in your son's mind was immensely valuable," Oma explained. "But it is not needed yet. The unusual effects of the download—the brief glow in Charlie's eyes, his extended period of unconsciousness—resulted from the information suppressing itself temporarily in his brain. The database will not become active until it is needed, which may not be for some time, and until then it will not be harmful."
"But it will kill him eventually," Jack pointed out dejectedly.
"Possibly not," she continued. "What the boy now has is not the full Repository, like what was downloaded into your own mind. He has received only the portions of it that we have deemed relevant to Avel, and thus useful to those who would fight her."
"I see." Jack ruminated on this for a moment. "That's a little encouraging, at least. But I still don't know what I'm going to tell Sara. Charlie's her son too, after all. I can't keep this from her."
"I've already explained the situation to her," Oma assured him. "Sara understands quite well what has happened.
Jack shook his head—this was just too much. "You . . . what?"
"Sara and I have known each other for a long time. I helped her through her time of grief, and she in turn helped me through mine."
"Through yours?" Jack repeated, utterly bewildered.
Oma gazed at him soberly. "Jack, I too have lost a son to his own good intentions. You know that quite well."
"Yeah." He nodded, understanding now. "Yeah, I do. Thanks—you've helped a lot."
"I am glad to hear that," she replied gratefully. "There is just one more thing I wish to say before I leave you."
"Yes?"
"There are no accidents," Oma reminded him gently. "What has happened to Charlie has, like all other things, a purpose. He has been given a difficult journey—but he has also been given more time in which to follow it. And that is the greatest gift that can be given to anyone."
-----
Five months later, it was spring.
Sha're woke up late one night and found that she was alone in bed. Daniel had gotten out some time ago; the sheets were cold where he had lain. She called his name and, receiving no answer, swung herself gingerly upright.
Inside her, disturbed by the movement, their daughter stirred as well.
Sha're tied the sash of her robe firmly around her waist and went out into the hallway, where a moment's look around showed the back door to be slightly ajar. Walking out onto their small back porch, Sha're found her husband next to her, standing motionlessly and staring up at the stars.
"Go back to bed, Sha're," he said quietly. "You should be resting."
"As should you," she countered. "I am pregnant, Dan'yer, not made of sand. I will not crumble to bits for lack of a few minutes' rest. But you are going offworld tomorrow. You need sleep more than I do."
Daniel turned to look at her, smiling slightly. "You know, I don't think this arrangement is quite fair. I have to go offworld and go to all the effort of finding these things, and you get to sit at my desk and use my notes to try and translate them."
"I have my own desk," Sha're said defensively. "And I only use your notes because you know far more languages far better than I possibly ever could."
"Could've fooled me, considering the rate you're learning them at." Daniel extended an arm and pulled Sha're closer to him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.
They stood like that in silence for a minute. Then Daniel moved his hand down to rest on her swollen stomach, and the baby shifted again in response to his touch. Sha're laughed. "Dan'yer," she said pensively, "I think I may have thought of a name for her."
"I hope so." It had become an enormously difficult point for them to resolve. "What's your idea?"
"An."
"An," Daniel repeated experimentally, and smiled. "I like it. Besides," he added tenderly, tracing the side of Sha're's face with his finger, "with a you as her mother, how can she not be?"
He kissed her, gently but for a long time, and then they were quiet again for a while.
"We got a message from the Asgard today," Daniel said abruptly. Looking up, Sha're saw that his expression had clouded. "Their ships are starting to disappear. They've just—vanished. Ceased to exist."
She understood immediately. "We can't be sure that it was Avel."
"I can't think of anything else that could do something like that." Daniel laughed hollowly. "The Asgard used to have a ship called the 'O'Neill,' did you know that? What are the chances they'll ever have a ship called 'Jackson,' after the man who brought back the evilest being that's ever existed for the sake of a single child?"
"Our child. An," Sha're reminded him. "And it isn't as if you had any choice."
"But would it have mattered if I had?" he wondered out loud, and then answered himself. "It wouldn't have. Because even if Aurel had given me the choice, had just walked up to me and asked me to choose either you and An or the rest of the universe, I still would have chosen you."
Sha're pressed a little more tightly against him, but said nothing.
Daniel closed his eyes as if in pain. "When I fought Anubis," he said finally, "he showed me things. Things I could've stopped, and didn't. People I loved being hurt, or even killed, and I didn't do anything."
Suddenly she remembered what her father had said: 'The last thing Anubis did before his death . . . he convinced him that your abduction and death were his own fault.' Sensing it would be best not to mention this, however, Sha're merely snorted. "And you believed what Anubis told you?"
"Not necessarily . . . but I'm starting to remember for myself what happened while I was Ascended. And I remember Jack was being tortured, and I was there and didn't even try to stop it from happening. I just left him there, and I don't even remember why. Sha're, sometimes I don't think I'm—" he took a deep breath—"Sometimes I'm not sure I'm me anymore."
"Of course you are."
"How do you know?"
"Because," Sha're told him sharply, "you still insist on blaming everything on yourself."
Daniel laughed at that, even though they both knew it really wasn't funny. "You have a point."
"Thank you," she acknowledged.
Daniel laughed again, this time mocking himself. "I sound really defeated, don't I?"
"You do," Sha're agreed gravely, knowing better than to coddle him.
"Don't be fooled," he told her seriously. "I know perfectly well that if she can be weakened, she can be killed. We've just got to figure out how."
"Don't worry—I'm with you." She nodded briefly, than smiled, remembering why she'd come outside in the first place. "Now would you please come back to bed?"
"You go. I'll be there in a minute," Daniel promised.
"You're sure about that?" Sha're asked suspiciously.
He nodded. "Yeah."
She pulled away from him to go inside, but then hesitated. "Dan'yer—"
"Yes?"
Daniel, there was a choice, but it was not yours to make.
It was mine.
When Aurel placed her hands on my stomach—even as you did only a few minutes ago—she did not simply reach in and yank what she needed from our daughter. First she asked me: Do you truly wish this to happen? Do you want me to regain my full power, so that your child may live?
And I said: yes.
But Sha're found that she couldn't bring herself to say any of it out loud. So, instead, she simply continued, "I love you." A cold breeze wafted briefly by, and she shivered.
"I love you, too," Daniel answered sincerely, although a hint of puzzlement passed through his blue eyes as he said it.
And he must have heard somehow what she had meant to say, for when Sha're at last fell asleep nearly twenty minutes later, Daniel still had not yet come inside.
**[THE END]**
SEQUEL TO: The Lost Ones
AUTHOR: Cyn(di)
EMAIL: custardpringle@yahoo.com
RATING: PG-13. Language, thematic issues, sexual references, violence (sort of), angst.
CATEGORY: supernatural, drama, romance, angst
SUMMARY: They were supposed to be gone forever. But "forever" is a very relative thing.
SPOILERS: I'm assuming "Heroes" and "Lost City" never happened, but anything else is fair game.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It occurs to me that Daniel and Sha're didn't appear in the last chapter at all. But this one more than makes up for it. Besides, there *was* a lot more plot development needed with Jack and Charlie.
"An" is Egyptian for "beautiful." Technically, Budge translates it as "to have a fine appearance," but I fudged a little. I think my way sounds much better.
A further item of interest: Word defines angst as "a feeling of dread arising from an awareness of free choice."
--------------------------------------------------
For a man of such wide experience, Jack dreamt astonishingly little—and when he did, they were usually nightmares. It therefore came as a surprise to him that night when he had said goodnight to Charlie, fallen into his own bed, and closed his eyes to find himself in his office with Oma Desala waiting for him.
"Great," he greeted her sourly. "Come with eloquent words of spiritual assurance? I've had for too many of those already today, thank you very much."
"I'm afraid so." Oma bowed her head apologetically. "But I may also have something else more comforting to tell you."
"Really. What?"
"I do not believe that Charlie will die any time soon."
Jack's head snapped up. "What makes you think that?"
"Thor told you that the information now stored in your son's mind was immensely valuable," Oma explained. "But it is not needed yet. The unusual effects of the download—the brief glow in Charlie's eyes, his extended period of unconsciousness—resulted from the information suppressing itself temporarily in his brain. The database will not become active until it is needed, which may not be for some time, and until then it will not be harmful."
"But it will kill him eventually," Jack pointed out dejectedly.
"Possibly not," she continued. "What the boy now has is not the full Repository, like what was downloaded into your own mind. He has received only the portions of it that we have deemed relevant to Avel, and thus useful to those who would fight her."
"I see." Jack ruminated on this for a moment. "That's a little encouraging, at least. But I still don't know what I'm going to tell Sara. Charlie's her son too, after all. I can't keep this from her."
"I've already explained the situation to her," Oma assured him. "Sara understands quite well what has happened.
Jack shook his head—this was just too much. "You . . . what?"
"Sara and I have known each other for a long time. I helped her through her time of grief, and she in turn helped me through mine."
"Through yours?" Jack repeated, utterly bewildered.
Oma gazed at him soberly. "Jack, I too have lost a son to his own good intentions. You know that quite well."
"Yeah." He nodded, understanding now. "Yeah, I do. Thanks—you've helped a lot."
"I am glad to hear that," she replied gratefully. "There is just one more thing I wish to say before I leave you."
"Yes?"
"There are no accidents," Oma reminded him gently. "What has happened to Charlie has, like all other things, a purpose. He has been given a difficult journey—but he has also been given more time in which to follow it. And that is the greatest gift that can be given to anyone."
-----
Five months later, it was spring.
Sha're woke up late one night and found that she was alone in bed. Daniel had gotten out some time ago; the sheets were cold where he had lain. She called his name and, receiving no answer, swung herself gingerly upright.
Inside her, disturbed by the movement, their daughter stirred as well.
Sha're tied the sash of her robe firmly around her waist and went out into the hallway, where a moment's look around showed the back door to be slightly ajar. Walking out onto their small back porch, Sha're found her husband next to her, standing motionlessly and staring up at the stars.
"Go back to bed, Sha're," he said quietly. "You should be resting."
"As should you," she countered. "I am pregnant, Dan'yer, not made of sand. I will not crumble to bits for lack of a few minutes' rest. But you are going offworld tomorrow. You need sleep more than I do."
Daniel turned to look at her, smiling slightly. "You know, I don't think this arrangement is quite fair. I have to go offworld and go to all the effort of finding these things, and you get to sit at my desk and use my notes to try and translate them."
"I have my own desk," Sha're said defensively. "And I only use your notes because you know far more languages far better than I possibly ever could."
"Could've fooled me, considering the rate you're learning them at." Daniel extended an arm and pulled Sha're closer to him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.
They stood like that in silence for a minute. Then Daniel moved his hand down to rest on her swollen stomach, and the baby shifted again in response to his touch. Sha're laughed. "Dan'yer," she said pensively, "I think I may have thought of a name for her."
"I hope so." It had become an enormously difficult point for them to resolve. "What's your idea?"
"An."
"An," Daniel repeated experimentally, and smiled. "I like it. Besides," he added tenderly, tracing the side of Sha're's face with his finger, "with a you as her mother, how can she not be?"
He kissed her, gently but for a long time, and then they were quiet again for a while.
"We got a message from the Asgard today," Daniel said abruptly. Looking up, Sha're saw that his expression had clouded. "Their ships are starting to disappear. They've just—vanished. Ceased to exist."
She understood immediately. "We can't be sure that it was Avel."
"I can't think of anything else that could do something like that." Daniel laughed hollowly. "The Asgard used to have a ship called the 'O'Neill,' did you know that? What are the chances they'll ever have a ship called 'Jackson,' after the man who brought back the evilest being that's ever existed for the sake of a single child?"
"Our child. An," Sha're reminded him. "And it isn't as if you had any choice."
"But would it have mattered if I had?" he wondered out loud, and then answered himself. "It wouldn't have. Because even if Aurel had given me the choice, had just walked up to me and asked me to choose either you and An or the rest of the universe, I still would have chosen you."
Sha're pressed a little more tightly against him, but said nothing.
Daniel closed his eyes as if in pain. "When I fought Anubis," he said finally, "he showed me things. Things I could've stopped, and didn't. People I loved being hurt, or even killed, and I didn't do anything."
Suddenly she remembered what her father had said: 'The last thing Anubis did before his death . . . he convinced him that your abduction and death were his own fault.' Sensing it would be best not to mention this, however, Sha're merely snorted. "And you believed what Anubis told you?"
"Not necessarily . . . but I'm starting to remember for myself what happened while I was Ascended. And I remember Jack was being tortured, and I was there and didn't even try to stop it from happening. I just left him there, and I don't even remember why. Sha're, sometimes I don't think I'm—" he took a deep breath—"Sometimes I'm not sure I'm me anymore."
"Of course you are."
"How do you know?"
"Because," Sha're told him sharply, "you still insist on blaming everything on yourself."
Daniel laughed at that, even though they both knew it really wasn't funny. "You have a point."
"Thank you," she acknowledged.
Daniel laughed again, this time mocking himself. "I sound really defeated, don't I?"
"You do," Sha're agreed gravely, knowing better than to coddle him.
"Don't be fooled," he told her seriously. "I know perfectly well that if she can be weakened, she can be killed. We've just got to figure out how."
"Don't worry—I'm with you." She nodded briefly, than smiled, remembering why she'd come outside in the first place. "Now would you please come back to bed?"
"You go. I'll be there in a minute," Daniel promised.
"You're sure about that?" Sha're asked suspiciously.
He nodded. "Yeah."
She pulled away from him to go inside, but then hesitated. "Dan'yer—"
"Yes?"
Daniel, there was a choice, but it was not yours to make.
It was mine.
When Aurel placed her hands on my stomach—even as you did only a few minutes ago—she did not simply reach in and yank what she needed from our daughter. First she asked me: Do you truly wish this to happen? Do you want me to regain my full power, so that your child may live?
And I said: yes.
But Sha're found that she couldn't bring herself to say any of it out loud. So, instead, she simply continued, "I love you." A cold breeze wafted briefly by, and she shivered.
"I love you, too," Daniel answered sincerely, although a hint of puzzlement passed through his blue eyes as he said it.
And he must have heard somehow what she had meant to say, for when Sha're at last fell asleep nearly twenty minutes later, Daniel still had not yet come inside.
**[THE END]**