Shayla watched as CJ attempted to gather himself, to this day she still had no idea what exactly had happened on the battlefield that day, CJ refused to talk to her about it. But judging by the wounded they had received back at the SGC, Shayla had a pretty good idea what it had been like out there.
/ After saying her good byes Shayla watched as part of her family stepped through the gate, possibly to their deaths. Shayla always knew there was a chance that one or all of them might not make it back from any mission, but it never made it any easier for her to be left behind, not knowing what was happening to them.
Feeling her mom, Dr. Janet Frasier base CMO, step up beside her Shayla turned to meet her gaze. Exchanging silent words of comfort the two left the gate room headed for the infirmary. The infirmary staff set out as many gurneys and beds as they had available, not wanting to expect the worst, but knowing they needed to be ready. It was the proverbial calm before the storm.
Several tension filled hours passed by. The medical personnel along with the others that had been left behind wandered the base trying to keep their minds occupied and not drive themselves mad with worry.
Suddenly the alarms sounded signaling an in coming wormhole. The terrible pain of waiting for any kind of news would soon hopefully be over. Rushing to the gate room Shayla and other medics waited for the first of what was to be many wounded.
The iris opened and four figures came stumbling out of the event horizon. All four were covered in blood and dirt. One of the men, a rebel Jaffa, had bad burns covering his face and arms, another man was limping, and the other two seemed to be ok aside from some minor bumps and bruises: They were obviously just helping the other two and would be going back as soon as the others were in good hands.
"Get some gurneys in here." Shayla ordered as she sprang up the ramp to help support the Jaffa. Looking at the other man helping to support the Jaffa, she recognized him as Lt. Tim Cooper, a member of CJ's team.
"How we doing out there?" Shayla knew it was a stupid question to ask, but she needed to take her mind off of CJ.
"Hard to tell right now." Cooper replied.
"Have you--?"
"I'm sorry." Cooper interrupted, knowing what Shayla's question. "I haven't him or any of SG-1 for a few hours."
Shayla's heart sank when she heard this and she felt like she was goin to lose it, but just then a nurse appeared with a gurney and Shayla's training took over, pushing all thoughts of her loved ones to the back of her mind.
The steady stream of wounded and unfortunately dead that arrived through the gate kept everyone occupied and gave them no time to dwell on friends or loved ones out in the field.
The infirmary and surrounding rooms had quickly filled up to the point that the gate room itself was now being used as an emergency treatment room. Shayla moved as if in a dream, gurneys surrounded her as she stood and gazed at the Stargate, the noise around her faded into the background. The cries of pain and the smell of blood and death was becoming almost intolerable. The dead and the living were almost impossible to tell apart, both groups covered in mud, burns, and blood.
Shayla had seen her fair share of death before, but never on this scale before. She had always hated being the one left behind when the others went through the gate, but not this time, this time she was glade. She knew it was selfish when hundreds of people were out there dying so that she could live, but she couldn't help the way she felt.
Standing in the middle of all the pain, chaos, and death it hit Shayla like a ton of bricks: they could actually be losing this battle. Everything seemed to separate from Shayla at that moment, it was like she could see it all, but not touch it. To Shayla it was as if this was all a nightmare and she would wake up and CJ would be there and no one would have died, but it wasn't.
After what felt like days, the flow of wounded slowed down and Shayla glanced at the clock to see that twelve hours had passed since the soldiers had stepped through the gate. There was still no word on CJ or SG-1 it was beginning to frighten Shayla. Suddenly the Stargate activated and someone called out that it was SG-16's code. Shayla's heart lept hoping it was CJ and SG-1 finally coming home.
Shayla watched as several soldiers came through the event horizon none of which were CJ or SG-1. Holding her breath Shayla waited to see if any one else would come through the gate. Then there he was, CJ, standing at the top of the ramp as the gate shut down behind him.
Not saying a word Shayla rushed up the ramp and embraced CJ in a bone-crushing hug. CJ, just as silently, returned the hug. Gaining some of her composure back Shayla was about to ask about SG-1, but seeing the look in CJ's eyes gave her, her answer: they hadn't made it.
Feeling CJ tense and stiffen up Shayla glanced over her shoulder and spotted her mom. Still being silent CJ reached an arm out and pulled Janet into the hug. The three stood there like that, silently in their shared pain and cried for those who had been lost. /
The death of SG-1 had been covered globally; dignitaries from all over earth and even some from off world had released statements praising their courage and dedication to the fight against the Goa'uld. Every person who had ever worked at the SGC had showen up at the funeral, it was almost like a family reunion. Crowds of people had gathered outside the church to pay their respects.
It had always secretly angered CJ, Shayla, and Janet that everyone placed so much more emphasis on just SG-1's death instead of on all the lives that had been lost. When the world had wanted to put up a memorial for SG-1 the three stepped in and made sure a memorial for everyone who had died was put up not one for just any one person or team. Thus the SGC memorial was built.
The memorial was a hill that was covered with hundreds and hundreds of little mini Stargate replicas, each replica had the name of some one who had died during the war with the Goa'uld. On the very top of the hill was a life size replica of the Stargate with a giant size version of earth's point of origin sitting in the middle of it.
"Andrea's getting married in a couple of months." CJ spoke again. "The guys name is Xander, I think you would have liked him. He's a good guy and he even actually gets that O'Neill humor of ours, that's got to count for something right?"
"And the boys are growing up so fast." Shayla added in. Every time the two came to the cemetery they always told the four everything that was going on with the family. "Scott's finally hit that girls are good things stage and Matt thinks he's crazy for it."
"Yeah and Juno, I don't care if he's technically not blood related, has definitely got that O'Neill trouble making gene in him. Jaren had a great hockey season this year his college coaches say he's got real talent, heck he's even dating the head cheerleader. And I'll admit she's pretty cool for a cheerleader, of course anyone who can put up with me and Jaren always going at it has to be given some credit."
"That's for sure. Speaking of sports Brock's going to be playing on his high school varsity baseball team, his first game is in two weeks. And Jackson's college coaches are talking about moving him up to the varsity baseball team. Morgan's thinking about going out for the track team and Cale's been doing great in his martial arts tournaments, he keeps saying he's going to be a great warrior just like his uncle Teal'c."
"Of course we can't forget about Rachel and Karie. Those two got in trouble at school a few days ago, because they accidentally blew up their science project. I'm positive those two are gonna be just like you mom."
"And Johnny's gonna be just like you Jack. He's only three years old and already he has a sarcastic streak a mile long."
"Yup and Shawn's gonna be just like you Daniel. I swear every time I see that kid he's digging a hole in the ground somewhere looking for old and lost things as he puts it. And Aria's a spittin' image of Janet, we got her one of those toy doctor kits for Christmas and she hasn't let that thing out of her sight since. She especially likes playing with that little toy syringe thingy."
"Oh and dad you're really going to like this one. Marina has gotten herself her first boy friend, his names Brian."
"But don't worry the guy seems ok. We haven't actually met the guy yet, but Janet says she didn't have any warning bells going off in her head when she met him."
CJ and Shayla spent another hour or two at the cemetery visiting their family's graves and the graves of other SGC officers like General Hammond, who had died of old age a year ago, before finally leaving to go round up their kids and get ready for the ceremony.