"Things Aren't Always As They Seem"
Set: After Daniel dies. (SORRY Daniel Fans! Call this a Daniel Tribute) I just want to show all of the characters' vulnerability because the show didn't satisfy my expectation of emotion. You're simply left with the idea that they had a hard time, until they come into situations where something happens to force them to come to terms with it.
Spoilers: "Meridian" Season 5
The alarm went off, the sound amplified a hundred times by his hangover. Damn! Jack thought. Even when I'm drunk I set that stupid thing.
As a teenager, he had always been able to turn his alarm off, roll over and go back to sleep- a habit that had irritated his mother and frustrated his father. They had both been very pleased when the Air Force drilled that particular habit out of him.
Reasons 1 and 2 for getting drunk, he thought miserably.
Ten years ago, during his tour in the Gulf, Jack's father, Jack Sr., had died of a heart attack. Then, five years later, a month before Charlie died, his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Shortly after his return from the Abydos mission, she had died on the anniversary of his father's death.
Thought they had separated just previously to his mother's death, Sara had attended the funeral. Their pain for Charlie's loss was still raw, and it was the last time they cried together before the divorce.
Reasons 3 and 4 for getting drunk, he thought bitterly.
He continued to lie in bed, staring at the ceiling. Man, if he was a wreck now after being involved in the Stargate program for a little over five years, what would he have been like if he hadn't been involved in the program?
As hard as he tried to forget, he knew that the Stargate program and that mission to Abydos had saved his life. More accurately, stubborn archaeologist, Dr. Daniel Jackson had saved his life.
Reason 5 for getting drunk, he thought darkly.
Jack rolled over in the Queen-sized bed and hit the pillow next to him. "Dammit, Daniel! Don't you do anything you're told?"
The tears he had been hiding for the past six weeks fell, unbidden from his eyes.
"Dammit! Why me? Why'd you ask me to stop Jacob? You'd still be here if you hadn't asked me to do it!"
Daniel's words haunted his dreams nearly every night. "Jack, let me go. It's my time."
Jack looked at the digital clock. It read 6:45 am. He placed his palms against his temples, hoping to eradicate the pounding in his head, but he knew he would be a fool if he didn't admit, at least to himself, that the pain that plagued and tormented him the most was the loss of his unlikely friend and colleague.
He sat up, kicking the comforter from off of his legs. Almost on autopilot, he stood and walked into the bathroom to get in the shower. According to the base psychologist, normalcy and routine would begin the recovery from the "psychological trauma" brought on by the loss of a friend and comrade in the line of duty.
He hated that phrase. It was an elegant way of saying that he was, in essence, the sacrificial lamb.
Calm down, Jack, he scolded himself. You'll work yourself into excitement, and Doc Fraiser told you to keep an eye on your blood pressure because of Dad's heart attack and Jordan's angioplasty.
Jordan O'Neill was Jack's brother, only eighteen months younger than himself, and similar to Jack in nearly every way, including physical activity and diet. Even so, six months ago, Jordan had felt pain down his right side and found his way to the hospital immediately. If he had ignored the warning signs, he would have had a heart attack within a week or two.
Jack sighed. Maybe he would go to work today, just to make sure that the world was safe . . . for the moment anyway.
TBC
Please comment on it! It's my first real angst story, and who knows, maybe it's awful! I really won't know until you R&R!