The Search for One's Self- Chapter Three
Taylor Kane
Disclaimer: I do not own, etc.
Thanks to both my wonderful betas: Sara and Lori. Cheers.
Warning: This is AU and is a SeaQuest/Stargate crossover. It takes place in the SeaQuest timeframe (Season Two). I've just jumped Stargate (Season Five) a few years into the future. It suits my purposes.
Chapter Three
It had been a long day, actually a long week, a long month. In fact, you could even go as far to say that it had been a very long year. It seemed as if life bounced from one disaster to another, never stopping for a breath.
The year had started going pear shaped when Teal'c had been captured by Apophis. Oh, eventually they had recovered Teal'c, only to discover he had been brainwashed. It had taken an ancient Jaffa ritual to return Teal'c to himself. It had not been a good start to the year.
It had only gotten worse with the catastrophe on K'Tau.
It had been his understanding, when he had joined the SGC, that their mission was to help others and explore the galaxy. As Jack would say, to go where no man had gone before, or in this case, where no Tauri had been recently. Daniel did not remember hearing about the destruction that their presence on these planets could cause.
Not even Sam had predicted the possibility of doing damage with a wormhole. But still... destruction was destruction. They had been very lucky that the Asgard had intervened and saved the planets ecosystem.
And if it had happened on K'Tau, who's to say it hadn't happened before? There could have been a delayed reaction.
For that matter, any action they had taken on any planet could have caused adverse reaction.... You could say that K'Tau had started Daniel thinking.
They had only returned from K'Tau when Cassie had been admitted to the infirmary. Thank God they had been able to save her. There was no way he could have coped with losing another loved one. Especially not Cassie. Cassie was a cross between a sister and a daughter. A sister when they were joking around and having fun. A daughter when it came to advice and her dates.
No, he couldn't have coped with losing Cassie.
If it had been a fair world, the Lares, the gods of family happiness and health would have realized that the SGC, Daniel's family, had had their designated tragedy and left them alone, at least for the remainder of the year. Unfortunately for them, the world, even the galaxy was not a fair place. And the disasters had keep on rolling in.
Chaka had been a long time friend, of sorts. Daniel had been devastated to witness his kidnapping and had demanded a rescue mission be organized. SG-1 had been sent. To discover other unas had been amazing. To discover a planet at war had been devastating. Unas' V Humans. Daniel had done what he had thought best.
Every species deserves the right to defend themselves. By giving Chaka his weapon, he had merely provided the unas with a means of defense... well, that's what Daniel had told himself.
At one time in his childhood, Daniel had lived with a strict Catholic foster family. During his five months with the family, he had regularly attended Sunday services. He had also been expected to participate in the nightly bible study with the family. One passage had caught Daniel's attention:
'Trials bring perseverance, perseverance brings character, character brings hope and hope never disappoints. '
Romans 5:1-5
Well, trials he had. Perseverance only took you so far. Character? Well. What did it matter? And hope? Well... he had had hope. Hope for Sha're. Hope for Sarah. Hope for the Unas'. Hope for family. Hope for humanity. Not any more.
What had happened to him?
He had joined the SGC to find Sha're, but he had found great pleasure in exploring the universe and discovering forgotten languages. So when had he lost this pleasure? When had the exploring become a chore? When had he become this cynical? When had he lost his faith in humanity? In himself?
It wasn't just Daniel though. He had noticed that SG-1 had lost their faith in him. His opinion was no longer respected. His presence on missions was limited. Office bound, he spent most of his time on translations, only to have his findings ignored or over looked.
His breaking point was coming... something had to change... What? He wasn't sure... but something had to be done.
Daniel had approached General Hammond earlier in the day and had requested leave... indefinitely. When questioned, he had admitted that he needed time to think. General Hammond had initially argued, but faced with the threat of Daniel's permanent departure, he agreed.
Present:
The only question now was what should he do? His question was promptly answered by his stomach.
'Well, that solves that question,' thought Daniel.
After searching the kitchen, Daniel finally decided on a TV dinner, Roast Beef and veggies... yum!
He was just settling down to eat his dinner when he heard the knock on the door.
Deciding on a quick taste test before answering it, Daniel quickly swallowed a mouthful of veggies as he headed for the door.
'Who could it be?' wondered Daniel, 'SG-1 is off world and Janet is at a medical convention in Utah and Cassie tagged along for the trip.'
Opening the door, Daniel saw a teenaged boy on the doorstep. Approx 5"10' in height, the boy had blonde hair and blue eyes, the boy moved nervously from foot to foot.
"Hello! Can I help you?" inquired Daniel from behind the open door.
The boy stared at Daniel, examining him from head to toe. When he appeared satisfied with what he saw, he spoke.
"Daniel Jackson?" questioned the teen.
"Who wants to know?" warily replied Daniel.
"Um... I'm Lucas Wolenczak... well, I used to be," answered the teen.
"Used to be?"
"Yeah... can we talk?"
....to be continued
