AN: At the end of 2010, a lot of people made a choice. And when someone makes a choice, that means there must be more than one possible outcome. And if there's more than one possible outcome, that means you get an Alternate Universe. So even though SG-1 was successful, the future as they knew it could have continued after their actions. Yeah, it's better if you run across the top of it really quickly.
A while ago I read a story whose title I cannot recall by an author I do not remember. In fact, all I remember about it is that Daniel asked Janet to stay on Chulak. I read it before I saw 2010, and after I saw 2010, I wrote my own. My apologies if this is too familiar.
Spoilers: 2010
Disclaimer: My mother keeps telling me that I should talk to the people at Stargate and get them to hire me. Of course, I live in the real world (unfortunately), and am fully aware that there is no way in a bazillion years such a thing would ever come to pass. Go ahead and prove me wrong though!
Summary: The year is 2010, and Janet Fraiser has unfinished business.
..................
Monday's Plan
It had been a quiet day. Again. There were so many of them now. Doctors, she had long since realized, are all hypocrites. Yes, they claimed to want to find the cures to end all human suffering, but when that end came, she found herself wishing for an intensely viral tropical plague or two. Even if she got one, she thought bitterly, the Aschen would probably have a cure waiting for her. She never thought the day would come when she would curse her decision to go into medicine and mean it.
Tomorrow they would try to change the past. Take the planet without waging a war, just as the Aschen had done in the first place. The plan was orchestrated by an man the Aschen had never really trusted, and it was a good one. They all had small parts to play, each seemingly innocuous but when combined, Janet knew that it stood a fair chance of succeeding. She had the smallest part of all. Tomorrow, she would step through the Gate, go to Chulak, send Teal'c back, and then wait and pray for the end of the world as she knew it.
A knock on the door shattered her contemplative state. This was really a bad night for company, and she was tempted to ignore it, but when the knock came again, it was in a familiar pattern, and she knew she would have to open the door because he would not go away until she did.
Of all the people she expected to find standing on her stoep tonight, Daniel Jackson was one of the last. Daniel had suffered almost as much as she had over the last few years. His trowel and paint brush had been replaced by more efficient, less hands-on tools, and a computer program now did most of his translations and comparison for him. Still, Daniel could go into the field; all Janet had was an echoy office in Washington. It had been a long time since Janet had seen his eyes gleam in the anticipation of a mission to come. It scared her a little to see that they were gleaming now.
"Come in," she said to him, and he stepped across her threshold. He was carrying a small suit case.
"We need to talk," he said as she led him to her sitting room.
"We've needed to talk for a while," she reminded him.
"Yes, I know," he said, and sat in the seat she pointed him at. "I came to apologize for not standing by you when they stripped away your livelihood one piece at a time. I didn't understand until it happened to me. I'm sorry I was so self involved."
"It's done, Daniel. And if we're lucky, after tomorrow it won't matter anymore."
"Tomorrow is the other reason I came." His voice was deadly quiet. She felt a chill run down her spine. "I want you to stay on Chulak."
"But I can come back with Teal'c," she protested, standing up. "It'll give you another gun at the Gate."
"No."
"Are you trying to protect me?" Now she was enraged. "Are you trying to keep me safe?"
"No! No, I swear that's not it," he said quickly, coming to stand in front of her. "I need you to stay on Chulak in case we fail."
"Daniel - "
"Listen to me, Janet." He put his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him and got lost in his eyes. "There is a very real possibility that the automated defense systems will take us out before we get the message through. If that happens, you will be the only person left who knows the truth."
"What do you need me to do?" God, she'd missed this rush.
"Take that case with you." Daniel pointed to his suitcase. "It has addresses in it. Encoded. For the Tolan, a few Asgard protected planets, a few places where a group of humans could hide. There's also a communication sphere you can use to contact Jacob, if he's still out there. Rya'c has a ship on Chulak. He'll take you where ever you need to go."
"Daniel, this is crazy."
"I know." His hands moved from her shoulders to her elbows, and she reacted to his touch unconsciously, moving closer. "You can do this, Janet, I know you can."
"I'm just a doctor. And obso – "
"You were the CMO of an USAF base and you inspired fear in hard bitten officers. You can unite Earth against the Aschen. You've seen the statistics. You can explain the medical aspects. You can do this."
"You'll be dead. You'll all be dead." She started to fall apart in his arms. He tightened his grip.
"Janet!" Daniel spoke a bit more forcefully than he intended, but it had the desired effect. Janet straightened, and Daniel softened his voice. "I'm asking a lot, Janet. I'm asking you to organize a war by yourself. I'm asking you to convince our planet to fight against what they think is the best thing to ever happen to them. You've been through a lot, and I wasn't there for you. And if you do this, it will be because you are alone."
"I'll do it."
He smiled, that wistful smile she used to see so often, and kissed her on the forehead. She was so overwhelmed by everything that he was halfway to her door before she noticed he was leaving, and had one shoe on before she realized she didn't want him to.
"Stay with me." She didn't want to be alone anymore. There had been too many quiet days and empty nights.
Daniel took off his shoe slowly, and without breaking eye contact.
"Janet?"
"Tomorrow this either stops existing, or I start a war because you're all dead and there's no one else left to do it. Please, stay with me tonight."
Daniel crossed the room to where she stood, and took her in his arms again. She'd missed him more than she thought. She took his face between her hands, and pulled him down to kiss her properly. His hands had been guarded, gentlemanly. Hers were completely unrestrained, and they were his undoing. Once he had committed to the kiss, her hands left his face and made their way down his chest, pulling at his shirt. When they parted to breathe, Janet looked up at him, heart and soul in her eyes. He bent to kiss her again, and she pulled him towards her bedroom.
..................
It had been, he reflected sometime later, a most unexpected evening. When he had knocked on her door, he had expected to ask her, get his answer and leave. Statistically, two out of three wasn't bad. He looked down at the woman in his arms, and absently brushed her hair behind her ear. She moved against him in her sleep, and he was surprised to find feelings he thought he had lost the capacity to feel stir in him again. Unexpected, yes, but not unwelcome.
"Is there anyone on Earth I should enlist?" she murmured. Not asleep then.
"It's in the package as well," he replied without missing a beat. "Griff is in Amarillo, and he should know where to find some of the old guard. At least his own team to begin with. There's a few other people you could contact too. Oh, and Walter Davis is still at the SGC. He's expecting us on Thursday. You'll be able to access the armoury through him."
"That doesn't give me much time on Chulak," Janet pointed out. Her hands began to move again. "I hope Jacob's in the neighbourhood and at home when I call."
"A lot of this will be luck. At the beginning anyway," Daniel admitted. "Rya'c's a good soldier, solid as his father, and his ship is stealth capable. You'll know by tomorrow night what needs to be done."
"Daniel?"
"Yes?"
"I don't think I can do this."
He kissed her again, and ten years of misery disappeared. She was not obsolete. Her friends were not alienated from one another. Earth had a future, and the SGC was going to protect it.
"You can. You can because it must be done."
It was true. And she didn't want to talk any more.
..................
AN: You know, I'm not even a Daniel/Janet 'shipper. Seriously. Still, my heart did do a bit of a flip at the look that passed between them just before Janet stepped through the Gate, although that might have been because of Daniel's suit. I'm a lost cause. You may as well leave me behind.
A while ago I read a story whose title I cannot recall by an author I do not remember. In fact, all I remember about it is that Daniel asked Janet to stay on Chulak. I read it before I saw 2010, and after I saw 2010, I wrote my own. My apologies if this is too familiar.
Spoilers: 2010
Disclaimer: My mother keeps telling me that I should talk to the people at Stargate and get them to hire me. Of course, I live in the real world (unfortunately), and am fully aware that there is no way in a bazillion years such a thing would ever come to pass. Go ahead and prove me wrong though!
Summary: The year is 2010, and Janet Fraiser has unfinished business.
..................
Monday's Plan
It had been a quiet day. Again. There were so many of them now. Doctors, she had long since realized, are all hypocrites. Yes, they claimed to want to find the cures to end all human suffering, but when that end came, she found herself wishing for an intensely viral tropical plague or two. Even if she got one, she thought bitterly, the Aschen would probably have a cure waiting for her. She never thought the day would come when she would curse her decision to go into medicine and mean it.
Tomorrow they would try to change the past. Take the planet without waging a war, just as the Aschen had done in the first place. The plan was orchestrated by an man the Aschen had never really trusted, and it was a good one. They all had small parts to play, each seemingly innocuous but when combined, Janet knew that it stood a fair chance of succeeding. She had the smallest part of all. Tomorrow, she would step through the Gate, go to Chulak, send Teal'c back, and then wait and pray for the end of the world as she knew it.
A knock on the door shattered her contemplative state. This was really a bad night for company, and she was tempted to ignore it, but when the knock came again, it was in a familiar pattern, and she knew she would have to open the door because he would not go away until she did.
Of all the people she expected to find standing on her stoep tonight, Daniel Jackson was one of the last. Daniel had suffered almost as much as she had over the last few years. His trowel and paint brush had been replaced by more efficient, less hands-on tools, and a computer program now did most of his translations and comparison for him. Still, Daniel could go into the field; all Janet had was an echoy office in Washington. It had been a long time since Janet had seen his eyes gleam in the anticipation of a mission to come. It scared her a little to see that they were gleaming now.
"Come in," she said to him, and he stepped across her threshold. He was carrying a small suit case.
"We need to talk," he said as she led him to her sitting room.
"We've needed to talk for a while," she reminded him.
"Yes, I know," he said, and sat in the seat she pointed him at. "I came to apologize for not standing by you when they stripped away your livelihood one piece at a time. I didn't understand until it happened to me. I'm sorry I was so self involved."
"It's done, Daniel. And if we're lucky, after tomorrow it won't matter anymore."
"Tomorrow is the other reason I came." His voice was deadly quiet. She felt a chill run down her spine. "I want you to stay on Chulak."
"But I can come back with Teal'c," she protested, standing up. "It'll give you another gun at the Gate."
"No."
"Are you trying to protect me?" Now she was enraged. "Are you trying to keep me safe?"
"No! No, I swear that's not it," he said quickly, coming to stand in front of her. "I need you to stay on Chulak in case we fail."
"Daniel - "
"Listen to me, Janet." He put his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him and got lost in his eyes. "There is a very real possibility that the automated defense systems will take us out before we get the message through. If that happens, you will be the only person left who knows the truth."
"What do you need me to do?" God, she'd missed this rush.
"Take that case with you." Daniel pointed to his suitcase. "It has addresses in it. Encoded. For the Tolan, a few Asgard protected planets, a few places where a group of humans could hide. There's also a communication sphere you can use to contact Jacob, if he's still out there. Rya'c has a ship on Chulak. He'll take you where ever you need to go."
"Daniel, this is crazy."
"I know." His hands moved from her shoulders to her elbows, and she reacted to his touch unconsciously, moving closer. "You can do this, Janet, I know you can."
"I'm just a doctor. And obso – "
"You were the CMO of an USAF base and you inspired fear in hard bitten officers. You can unite Earth against the Aschen. You've seen the statistics. You can explain the medical aspects. You can do this."
"You'll be dead. You'll all be dead." She started to fall apart in his arms. He tightened his grip.
"Janet!" Daniel spoke a bit more forcefully than he intended, but it had the desired effect. Janet straightened, and Daniel softened his voice. "I'm asking a lot, Janet. I'm asking you to organize a war by yourself. I'm asking you to convince our planet to fight against what they think is the best thing to ever happen to them. You've been through a lot, and I wasn't there for you. And if you do this, it will be because you are alone."
"I'll do it."
He smiled, that wistful smile she used to see so often, and kissed her on the forehead. She was so overwhelmed by everything that he was halfway to her door before she noticed he was leaving, and had one shoe on before she realized she didn't want him to.
"Stay with me." She didn't want to be alone anymore. There had been too many quiet days and empty nights.
Daniel took off his shoe slowly, and without breaking eye contact.
"Janet?"
"Tomorrow this either stops existing, or I start a war because you're all dead and there's no one else left to do it. Please, stay with me tonight."
Daniel crossed the room to where she stood, and took her in his arms again. She'd missed him more than she thought. She took his face between her hands, and pulled him down to kiss her properly. His hands had been guarded, gentlemanly. Hers were completely unrestrained, and they were his undoing. Once he had committed to the kiss, her hands left his face and made their way down his chest, pulling at his shirt. When they parted to breathe, Janet looked up at him, heart and soul in her eyes. He bent to kiss her again, and she pulled him towards her bedroom.
..................
It had been, he reflected sometime later, a most unexpected evening. When he had knocked on her door, he had expected to ask her, get his answer and leave. Statistically, two out of three wasn't bad. He looked down at the woman in his arms, and absently brushed her hair behind her ear. She moved against him in her sleep, and he was surprised to find feelings he thought he had lost the capacity to feel stir in him again. Unexpected, yes, but not unwelcome.
"Is there anyone on Earth I should enlist?" she murmured. Not asleep then.
"It's in the package as well," he replied without missing a beat. "Griff is in Amarillo, and he should know where to find some of the old guard. At least his own team to begin with. There's a few other people you could contact too. Oh, and Walter Davis is still at the SGC. He's expecting us on Thursday. You'll be able to access the armoury through him."
"That doesn't give me much time on Chulak," Janet pointed out. Her hands began to move again. "I hope Jacob's in the neighbourhood and at home when I call."
"A lot of this will be luck. At the beginning anyway," Daniel admitted. "Rya'c's a good soldier, solid as his father, and his ship is stealth capable. You'll know by tomorrow night what needs to be done."
"Daniel?"
"Yes?"
"I don't think I can do this."
He kissed her again, and ten years of misery disappeared. She was not obsolete. Her friends were not alienated from one another. Earth had a future, and the SGC was going to protect it.
"You can. You can because it must be done."
It was true. And she didn't want to talk any more.
..................
AN: You know, I'm not even a Daniel/Janet 'shipper. Seriously. Still, my heart did do a bit of a flip at the look that passed between them just before Janet stepped through the Gate, although that might have been because of Daniel's suit. I'm a lost cause. You may as well leave me behind.