Ficlet request: Self-interest (PG)

[fignewton]

Here's the first of the ficlet requests! And speaking of which, you might want to check out kellifer_fic's own ficlets on offer - "Firsts." She did the first mission for Daniel after Sha're's death for me, but there are several other SG-1 ones, including Teal'c's first solo trip outside Cheyenne Mountain and Sam's first flight.

This one is for maevebran, who asked for Daniel and "Not until I'm dead... and sometimes, not even then." Spoilers for Threads, and inspired by some discussion on LJ somewhere or other. Word count: ~550

Self-interest

Daniel folded his arms and glared mutinously at the Others.

 

“Explain why you won’t do anything to stop this.”

 

They blinked at him impassively.

 

“Oma learned her lesson,” he pressed. “And it would have been a little nice of you to actually tell her what lesson you wanted her to learn, instead of twiddling your... tentacles while all those inferior ‘lowers’ got killed by Anubis.”

 

“We do not interefere,” one of them finally said, even as many of the Others started to drift away.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Been there, done that, got the – well, actually, I didn’t get the T-shirt.” Daniel frowned a little at the memory of Oma’s perverse humor. “But Oma dealt with Anubis. All that’s left is what he’s already put into motion. So why won’t you stop it?”

 

Most of the Others had already returned to their newspapers and coffee. The woman who had spoken before regarded him coolly.

 

“Why are you still troubled by events of your past life?” she finally asked.

 

“I care about my friends!”

 

“You are dead,” she pointed out with infuriatingly calm logic.

 

“So what?”

 

“Most of your species no longer concern themselves with the living after death.”

 

Daniel snorted. “Most of ‘my species’ aren’t offered a get-out-of-death-free card, either.”

 

“That offer has been withdrawn,” she observed. “The one who made it is no longer available, and she has told you that there will be no further chances.”

 

“I’m not giving up,” he said stubbornly.

 

“Even though you are dead?” She looked almost amused now.

 

“From what Oma told me,” Daniel said, ignoring the question and the hint of mockery, “I can walk out that door and die. Or I can Ascend completely. So what’s to stop me from Ascending and interfering?”

 

She arched her eyebrows at him. “Us,” she said.

 

“A microsecond is all the time I’ll need,” he threatened.

 

She actually sighed. “Daniel Jackson...”

 

“What?”

 

There was no waving of the hand, no sudden flash of light, no sparkle or glitter or word of warning. Daniel simply vanished. The woman did blink for a moment as she halted the smooth flow of the space-time continuum for just long enough to allow two lowers on an inferior, mortal plane to stop a laughably primitive calculating device from detonating a massive explosive. She also allowed the faintest of smiles to curve her lips upward as she deposited Daniel Jackson in the place and time of her choosing. He would not acquire a “T-shirt” this time, either.

 

She turned to find the Others watching her with suspicion.

 

“You have interfered,” one of them stated, his tone just this shade of accusation.

 

“I have done only what is required for our own plane of existence,” she said calmly.

 

“Explain.”

 

“Did I interfere by returning Daniel Jackson to his mortal plane?”

 

“You did not,” the Other conceded. “Yet you also manipulated time and space for the lowers’ benefit.”

 

“It was for ourselves,” she repeated. “If Daniel Jackson had returned and died immediately thereafter, his residual memories of this experience would have enabled him to properly Ascend without assistance.”

 

There was a long moment of silence.

 

“With him as a full Ascended,” she noted, “our ability to monitor his subsequent actions would have been extremely limited.”

 

There was a second, longer pause as the Others contemplated a fully Ascended Daniel Jackson who could not be easily ignored, manipulated, or dismissed.

 

“Well done,” the Other finally said.

 

And if the woman noticed the slight shudder that he suppressed, she was wise enough to say nothing about it.

Comments

[tejas.livejournal.com]

HA! Love it!

[princessofg.livejournal.com]

ooooo nice one. daniel as avenging angel is something i often wonder about....

and thanks so much for the link to kellifer's fic; i adored those, too.

happy new year!

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Can I make two little grammatical corrections? It should be "With him as a full ascended...our ability to mointor....": without that, "as a full ascended" modifies "our," which doesn't work."
"a fully Ascended Daniel Jackson who could not be easily ignored" or "whom they could not easily ignore"
(I thus justify taking a short break for fanfic from my Serious Work as an English prof--I haven't really stopped being an English prof! :-) Really very minor corrections though.)

My reaction to the story as a whole: wonderful! I loved "Threads," but it had its problems, ]--and you solved the main ones all in a neat, believable short fic! Daniel has always been good at threats, and he certainly succeeds here! The woman Other, however, seems to be covering up a certain sympathy with him with her pragmatic explanation. Very cool; I could never believe the Others all agreed on everything anyway. Where there's an Oma, there might be lesser nonconformists too.

He would not acquire a “T-shirt” this time, either.
Heaven forbid!

[magnavox-23.livejournal.com]

Awesome! :D

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thank you. :)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Heh, yes. Daniel in full-on mode is enough to make even the Ancients back away! :)

And weren't Kellifer's first fics just lovely? Her Sam one is my favorite.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I definitely appreciate the grammar fixes - by their very nature, ficlets are beta-less and dashed off rather quickly.

We learn in S10 that the Ancients aren't exactly a united front, so yes, I quite liked writing this particular Other.

He would not acquire a “T-shirt” this time, either.
Heaven forbid!

Hee! At least Jack got him a flag, eventually. :)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

[lyore.livejournal.com]

It seems the Ancients have learned the same lesson everyone else has over the years - it's a lot easier to help Daniel than get in his way *g*

Nice work.

[maevebran.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I love that the thought of a fully Ascended Daniel would be more trouble than a tiny bit of interference. Thank You. Heehee no Tee-shirt this time either.=)

[dknightshade.livejournal.com]

Oooh, interesting take on his descending. Nicely done.

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

Lovely! And a quite reasonable alternative to the Daniel-does-it-himself hypothesis. :)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Heh. Getting in Daniel's way can be downright dangerous. :)

Glad you liked it!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! Glad you liked the ficlet. And yes, those wacky Ancients and their sense of humor...

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, I adore your take on it, too - that fic of yours is one of my favorites. But this is definitely a fun alternative, and totally in character for Daniel!

Glad you enjoyed it. :)

[pepper-field.livejournal.com]

Heh! Yes, sometimes it's just easier to do what Daniel suggests, rather than argue it out with him.

There was a second, longer pause as the Others contemplated a fully Ascended Daniel Jackson who could not be easily ignored, manipulated, or dismissed.

“Well done,” the Other finally said.

*snort*

And that second T-shirtless descension is Daniel's own fault, for annoying the Ancients - and for opening his big mouth. Heh.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Hee hee!

Really, can you blame then for not wanting to have to deal with a full-steam-ahead Daniel?

Daniel's talent for making friends is only equaled by his talent for ticking people off. :)

sweet!

[randomfreshink.livejournal.com]

Oh, too, cool -- this means the Ascendeds are keeping an eye on him to make sure he 'doesn't' die again. Talk about wanting life insurance taken out!

Re: sweet!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Heh. Technically, they were only really worried about his ability to re-Ascend on the spot, when the experience in the diner would have been so fresh in his mind that he was prepped for Ascension, so to speak. But, yes - I can so see them carefully prodding things on occasion, just to make sure that they don't need to deal with him! :)

Because really, to know Daniel is to love him AND be driven insane by him, all at the same time.