Stars 7—Wedding Plans

Author: Badgergater

E-mail: [email protected]

Category: Gen Drama

Season: 8

Episode: Sacrifices

Spoilers: Major for Sacrifices

Sequel/Series: A standalone fic but part of the Season 8 Stars series

Rating: PG

Warnings: None

Pairing: None

Summary: Jack and Teal'c, ping-pong and talk

Disclaimer: Big, important, wealthy people own Stargate and I know it. I'm not infringing on their property, just enhancing it by telling the rest of the story that wasn't included in the episode; I make no money from this, but that doesn't mean you can post this fic without my permission.

Author's Pledge: All Badgergater fics are clearly and honestly labeled; read or not at your pleasure, but be assured this and all other Badger fics are accurately labeled as to content and category; I do not need to suck in the unwary reader by trying to disguise the content, rating or category of this or any other fic.

Author's note: Okay, that ping-pong scene was a classic Jack and T moment, one of the best ever; Thanks to Sis for the Beta, Margo for always being there, and all who feedback, because it feeds that finicky and oft fickle muse…

---------------------------------

How do you tell your best friend he’s wrong?

Especially when you’re me, and your opinion on family matters is not only unwelcome, it’s suspect. Even in your own head.

Oiy.

/----------\

Family.

He’s my brother, more so than any flesh and blood brother could be.

We rarely need words, or at least, not direct, words.

We understand the ugly truths of who we are, and what we’ve done. We know why we do what it is we do. We know how far we’ll go to achieve our goals. We know, with certainty, that good does not always prevail over evil and that evil doesn’t play by the rules. We know that someone has to do the dirty work, and all too often, that someone is us.

We know the way of the warrior, and that it’s a dark and wearisome road.

We know. Not because someone told us, but because we’ve lived it, and lived with the consequences. We know without talking about it, because you can’t really talk about it with someone who hasn’t been there, and it’s pointless to talk about it with someone who has because it can’t be talked about.

It just is.

That long ago day in that glider, I was honored when he called me brother.

Touched.

Teal’c is an incredible man, and his faith in me, his trust in me, his acceptance of my leadership, has always meant a lot, much more than I have the words to say.

I don’t want to damage that.

But I don’t want to see him make a mistake he will only regret.

And believe me, I have intimate knowledge of regret.

/----------\

Let me give you a piece of really, really good advice.

Never play ping-pong with a pissed off Jaffa.

Never.

It was supposed to be one of my subtle let’s talk like friends moments, distracting the Jaffa while we discussed something so important that we couldn’t actually discuss it; if you know me, you know what I mean.

But it didn’t work.

And I have the bruises to show for it.

Sure, ping-pong diplomacy worked for Nixon, but that was a long time ago.

The ping-pong heart-to-heart having been an abject failure, in the end, after he returned from the planet and was checked out in the infirmary, I resorted to asking Teal’c to come see me in my office. I was hoping that moving the conversation to a different setting would help. Relying on the use of my office, and thus, reminding him of my new rank was a dirty trick, I know, because as a general, I have no right to tell Teal’c what to do about a private matter.

Even as his friend, I had no right to tell him what to do.

But I had to try.

Isn’t that what friends are for?

The Jaffa answered my summons, and now, here he stood, at parade rest, in front of my desk.

"What is it you would like to discuss, O’Neill?" he asked.

I waved toward a chair. "Why don’t you sit down, get comfortable…"

"I am comfortable here," he stated.

Oiy.

The man has to be so difficult.

Though I’d been rehearsing for hours, I still didn’t know how to say what I had to say.

"Teal’c, if I was in your shoes, which, by the way, wouldn’t fit at all, I…" I sighed and took a deep breath and dug deep down into that place I rarely go, beyond the surface jocularity and deep into the well of guilt and bitterness at my core. "Okay, honestly, I’d probably be thinking exactly what you’re thinking. That my son was too young to be making such an important decision. That he needed to grow up himself first. That he should do all kinds of things rather than this. That he’s not ready, and he doesn’t really know what love is…" I looked across the room to the picture of me and Charlie, to my ten-year old son, who would grow no older, and never would know about the joys of love and the heartaches of grown up decisions. For one long moment, my heart nearly stopped, and I had to fight to keep the tremor out of my voice. I turned back to Teal’c, and for the sake of my friend, for one moment, I revealed the sort of thing I admit to only under the gravest duress. "But hindsight being 20/20, right now, I’d give anything to be in your shoes. Anything at all. Anything."

And then, even though we were in my office, I got up and left him standing there.

I brushed past Daniel who stood waiting out in the briefing room, waved Walter away with a dismissive, "Not now," and climbed into the elevator, brusquely ordering out an SF and a couple of technicians.

I needed to get outside. I had to find some fresh air so I could breathe.

More importantly, I had to have a place to hide where no one would see me lose it, because I damn well might.

I know, guys don’t usually get emotional about weddings, and if my son was getting married, and god above, he would by now be old enough to get married, I’d be leaving all the worrying and jitters and stuff to Sara. Believe me, she’d be doing enough for both of us. But I would be worried about some of the very same things Teal’c was worried about, about protecting my son if I thought what he was doing was a mistake. And I quite probably, almost certainly, would be thinking just that.

I remember what I was like at 18, and I for damn sure wasn’t ready for the responsibilities that marriage entails.

But that would never happen. My son and I would neither exchange bitter words over his choices nor dispute the facts of adulthood. I’d never be where Teal’c was today because my kid was ten years old forever, frozen in time, nothing left of all the potential his life had held, no opportunities for joy or for heartache. All that was left of him was fading memories, broken dreams and unfulfilled hopes.

Outside at last, I drew in a deep, calming breath and let it out very slowly. I blinked the moisture out of the corner of my eyes and fought to turn my thoughts back to the real problems of the day.

"O’Neill."

I hadn’t even heard him come up behind me. Then again, I never did, when he tried. "T," I acknowledged.

He cut right to the chase, no beating around the bush, no hemming and hawing, but just baldly spitting it out. "I had not thought how the issues between my son and I would bring you troubling memories."

I brushed my hand quickly across my eyes, just to make sure there was no telltale moisture there. "It’s okay, Teal’c."

"It is not. You hide your sadness well, but, as your friend, I should not forget that it is there, inside you."

"Yeah, well, we all carry our own burdens."

"Indeed. Though some are more onerous than others."

I still hadn’t turned to face him. I was staring out, across the vastness of the mountains, willing their beauty to bring me peace. It never worked, but I never stopped trying. I’m a stubborn guy, I guess. "I have no right to interfere," I conceded softly.

"You are my friend, O’Neill, you have every right. Your advice is most welcome."

Charlie and I had argued the week before he died, and I would forever blame myself for that. "Don’t open up rifts you may never get the chance to heal, Teal’c."

"I will not, neither with my son, nor with my brother."

I took a deep breath, then, and pasted a smile on my face and turned to Teal’c, and slapped him on the shoulder. "So, T-man, if the wedding is on, we’re going to have cake, right? This is Earth, and you know you can’t have a wedding without cake…"

======== Finish ========