Determination

[beatrice_otter]

Title: Determination
Author: beatrice_otter 
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Rating: G
Characters: General Hammond, Sha’re
Word Count: 1,296
Betaed by: redbyrd_sgfic 
Thank you to: quarryquest for information on Egyptian naming conventions.
Written for: sg_fignewton 
Summary: A scene from an AU in which Daniel is taken by Apophis and Sha're comes to Earth to fight for her husband and brother.

 

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Jackson, but that is simply out of the question.”  The fat, bald, pale man across from her leaned forward across his desk, hands folded.  “As Doctor Jackson’s wife, you are of course entitled to permanent resident status in the US; you can remain here on Earth as long as you like.  I’d be happy to hire you on as a civilian consultant here on the base, so that we could have your perspective on any situations that might arise, and have you teach Abydonian and Goa’uld to our people.”

“I went with your people through the Chapa’ai to Chulak to try and rescue my Dan’yel and Skaara,” Sha’re said, long practice dealing with her father and the elders of Abydos giving her poise and confidence she sorely needed in this alien place.  She kept her breath even, and slow, and fought the urge to curl her legs up under her as if she were sitting in a cushion in her own home instead of a chair is this gray place.  “I was a great help to them.  They could not have found where my kin and your soldier were held without my help.”

Sha’re would have spoken longer about her value on the mission, but O’Neill and his men (and one woman!) had praised her in their reports, and she did not like to boast.  Besides, after only a year of living with Dan’yel, she did not trust the extent of her English, even with the odd jump in her understanding of that language since going through the Chapa’ai to Chulak and back.  “You did not object to my going with them then.”  (Much.)  “What has changed?”  She held herself still, keeping herself from shivering—Abydos got much colder at night, but they had fires for warmth, and it was much hotter by day.  Dan’yel would have made sure she had warm enough clothes—well, she would have made Dan’yel find them for her—but Dan’yel was not here, and she did not know whom to ask.  She forced her jaw to unclench, laid her palms flat on her thighs to keep them from clenching, kept her expression as neutral as she knew how.  She must be confident and reasonable to have any hope of going on missions with them to search for her husband and brother.

General Hammond sighed, and leaned back, and Sha’re marveled at how rich he must be, to be so fat and pale.  Skaara would bristle at the sight of him, for no one should be paler than the family of the head man.  Sha’re could not afford to.  “That was an emergency,” he said.  “There was no time to train more experienced personnel if we wanted to have any chance of rescuing our people, including your husband.  But we have no immediate leads as to Doctor Jackson’s whereabouts, and so we have a bit of breathing room to get our program up and running and get our people trained while we learn a little bit more about what’s going on in the galaxy.”

“Then there will also be time to train me in fighting,” Sha’re countered, unable to keep her voice even; truly, Skaara was right to mock her temper.  He would do so again.  He would.  And they would rescue him as they would rescue her Dan’yel.  “I fought Ra, on Abydos.  I would—will—teach my tongue, but surely it would be easier to teach me to fight?”

“Mrs. Jackson,” General Hammond said, and sighed, shaking his head.

Dan’yel had been appalled by the position of women on Abydos, that they were not held as equal to the men; he had been willing to accept the differences on cultural terms for everyone except herself, but he had struggled with it.  Sha’re found it ironic that on his home world, she was still defined by her relationship with a man, but she had been Kasuf’s “Little Daughter” all her life and it did not bother her to now be “Mrs. Jackson.”  Particularly not since it was the only reason she was allowed on this planet at all, and Abydos had no resources to spare for a great search through the Stargate, not even for the head man’s son and son-in-law.  If—when—she and Dan’yel were reunited, they would argue about a woman’s place and a woman’s name again.

“I’m sure we can get you whatever physical training you wish,” General Hammond said.  “I’m in favor of women learning to protect themselves, and we may need you to go through the Stargate for some unforeseen reason in the future, or we may be attacked here again.  But as to going through the Stargate on a regular basis … I’m sorry, but I want my own people, people I know share the same long-term training and reflexes.  When you’re in an unknown situation under fire, that makes a hell of a lot of difference.”

“Teal’c of Chulak does not share that training,” Sha’re pointed out, daring him to say that her sex was the reason for her restriction from travel through the Chapa’ai.  Dan’yel had told her his people were sensitive to the appearance of equality between men and women. Perhaps this could be made to work in her favor.  “Yet he will be on Colonel O’Neill’s team.”  She pronounced his name carefully; she had spent hours upon hours practicing the “l” sound with her husband, and wished to give General Hammond no thing to find fault with.  Learning her husband’s language had been her duty as a wife, so that he might hear the words of his homeland whenever he wished; she was glad that in this matter she had been a proper wife, for it allowed her now to work for his rescue.  He loved knowledge so; he would be delighted to know she had used well what he taught her.

“Teal’c’s status has yet to be decided,” Hammond said in the same tone of voice her father used whenever Ska’ara tried to convince him to see what other worlds besides Earth could be reached through the Chapa’ai.  “I highly doubt Colonel O’Neill will be able to convince Washington to allow it, even if he manages to convince me.  Regardless, Teal’c is a warrior with fifty years of experience and a much greater store of knowledge about the state of the galaxy in general than you have; it’s not the same situation at all.”  He shook his head.  “I don’t doubt your courage or your determination, Mrs. Jackson.  And I assure you, we will do everything in your power to rescue your husband and brother.  But there’s not much chance you’ll ever be part of a regular team going through the gate.  You can, on the other hand, be a great help to us here on Earth, and still contribute to the search in that way.”

He smiled benignly, comfortingly, like a parent at a child, and Sha’re smiled back, and nodded, and forced her frustration and fear down.  Dan’yel loved that she could and did challenge the elders when the situation called for it, and on his own did far more than his fair share of it.  But unlike her husband, Sha’re understood the art of the possible, and when to bide one’s time.  It was a lesson all women learned well on Abydos, even head-man’s daughters with strong wills.  “Very well, then.  Thank you for your time, General Hammond.”  She rose to leave, and he rose as well.  “I will teach, and learn.”  And when she had learned, and proved her value—and Sha’re intended to be very valuable to Stargate Command—she would approach General Hammond again.  And then, he would not refuse her.  And she would save her Dan’yel, and her brother.

Part Two: Practicality

Comments

!

[quarryquest.livejournal.com]

Very nice, and you have fitted in almost all of what I told you. I am very impressed!

Re: !

[beatrice_otter]

Thank you!

You don't think it was too talky, do you? There's a lot of information given in a short period of time.

Re: !

[quarryquest.livejournal.com]

Nope, I think it was great. There was a lot of info to be given, and you got over both Sha're's pov and that of George too. Not easy to do in a short thing like that.

[jedibuttercup]

Ah, Sha're. Nice little ficlet, and I appreciate the cultural details.

Someday, I hope someone does a serious, full-length AU where she survives. I do sometimes find the Daniel/Vala dynamic enjoyable, and the Daniel-angst did make a good plot driver as often as not, but in the part of my heart that really cares about the characters, I get angry with the writers for what they did to him. A Daniel with Sha're still around would have been a much happier man in the long run.

[beatrice_otter]

Well, synecdochic (one of the best writers in the SG-1 fandom, imho) has had a WIP about that sitting on her hard drive for a couple of years, now, and when she talks about her WIP list it's always on there so I know she hasn't abandoned it completely. It's exciting because I know she could do justice to Sha're. However, her brain has currently been taken over by Cam Mitchell, both canon and in various AU versions, so it may take a while before she seriously gets back to it.

I'm glad you liked the cultural details; I like them too, and you may want to comment to quarryquest thanking her for the research.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

This is my Sha're, OH YES. A product of her culture, of her world, and making it all WORK.

I love her persepctive of Hammond (has she ever met someone overweight before ever?!), and the way she uses what she's learned from Daniel and couples it with how she's dealt with people all her life and walks that careful tightrope to get herself to where she wants to be - not right now, maybe, but knowing she's going to get there. Perfect.

Thank you so much for this! I'm off to squee on my own LJ now... :)

ETA: and here's the link (http://sg-fignewton.livejournal.com/84984.html) to the squee!

[beatrice_otter]

I'm so glad you liked this! Because I love Sha're, and there is not anything like enough Sha're fic out there. And too much of what Sha're fic is out there was written by people who don't seem to understand that you can be a strong woman without being a modern Western feminist. (BTW, if you want more, go lobby synecdochic--she's got a Sha're WIP she's been sitting on for a year without working on and from what she snippeted a while ago it's going to be awesome if she ever gets it done.) (I'm now having minor plot bunny spawning--there may be more of this in the future.)

Thanks for the squee!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I've caught one or two snippets of her AU, yes - possibly not all of them. Her writing tends to be way over my personal threshold level, but I do hope that her very intriguing AU, when she finishes it, will be something I'm comfortable reading!

And YES - way too little Sha're fic out there (which is why I gleefully request it whenever I can, heh). If you're interested in seeing which Sha're fics I've read and enjoyed, by Sha're rec tag is here. (http://figs-sg1-rec.livejournal.com/tag/character:+sha%27re)

Pretty please write more of this awesome AU? ::bats eyelashes like Daniel in Grace::

[princessofg.livejournal.com]

sg fignewton rec'd this. thank you so much. this is beautiful and heartbreaking and i so want her to go and tackle o'neill next, and sam, and just. yes.

*cries*

thank you for showing us what the story might have looked liked with one very substantial change. this is intriguing and heartbreaking all at once. wow. you've made me wistful for more. i hope perhaps if you're moved to continue, that that might work out for you AND us! though I never beg writers any more; i know better now lol.

thank you again. i love how you've given us her voice here. wow.

[beatrice_otter]

I do admit to having minor plot bunnies attempting to spawn from this, but so far nothing with O'Neill or Carter. So far, I'm thinking of Teal'c. And Cimmeria ...

Thanks for telling me how much you love this, though. Because I love it, but you're never quite sure how much other people are going to love it until they actually see it.

[holdouttrout.livejournal.com]

Wonderful look at Sha're and the difference between being a man and being a woman, and seeing Sha're's understanding of that.

[beatrice_otter]

Thank you!

[paian]

What a lovely Sha're fic -- and how cool that it's a scene between her and Hammond. Enjoyed, thank you!

[beatrice_otter]

A follow-up scene with her and Teal'c is currently at beta.

Thanks for reviewing!

[normaltrouble.livejournal.com]

Excellent.

Thanks and I am on to reading the next one.