R is for Regrets (Stargate SG-1, Gen, PG-13)
Written for Allies Alphabet Soup.
R is for Regrets
Haikon is the last of his people. The Tau'ri confirm it for him after they destroy the thing that used to be Volnek, but he'd already known.
The Tau'ri take him back to their world. He doesn't expect to survive, but their surgeons prove as skilled as Volnek reported, and he wakes from surgery to voices telling him that he'll be fine.
He spends his recovery reviewing his regrets. It's not a luxury he would have allowed himself in the days when he was Lord Haikon, leader of the Sodan. But now he's just Haikon, with too many hours and no purpose to guide his use of them, and his regrets have grown past counting. (If only he had been a better warrior. Fought harder. Brought Volnek down.)
The Tau'ri tell him there is nothing he could have done. His people were doomed the moment the Prior first made contact. (If only he had hidden them more effectively. Guarded them from the eyes of the Ori.)
"If you'd stopped Volnek, they would have tried something else," Mitchell says. "One way or another, they would have brought you down. They don't believe in taking 'no' for an answer."
"And yet here you stand, your world untouched," Haikon counters. (If only he'd moved his people to this world. Perhaps whatever blessings protect the Tau'ri might have protected them also.)
"So far," Mitchell says grimly. "And only if you don't count that bout of Prior Plague we went through."
"Even so."
Mitchell shakes his head. "Can't run on luck forever."
The Tau'ri invite him to stay when he's healed. Tell him they can find a place for him on this world. He refuses their offer. The Tau'ri seem to have few plans for a direct attack right now, and Haikon lacks the patience to wait. Besides, if he's to face down an implacable enemy, he'd rather do it with Jaffa at his side. Even Jaffa who have only recently thrown aside the yoke of false gods. (If only he hadn't survived the attack. If only had hadn't lived long enough to know the terrible loneliness of being the last.)
Teal'c gives him the addresses of several Jaffa worlds where he will be welcome. Haikon picks one at random and asks the Tau'ri to dial it for him.
The world he walks into is as strange as that of the Tau'ri. The clothing is odd, the smells unfamiliar, and the symbols of the false gods are everywhere, though many have been vandalized or torn down. Haikon resolutely ignores all of it and goes in search of the warriors.
It doesn't matter anyway. He doesn't expect he'll be here long.
This entry was originally posted at http://skieswideopen.dreamwidth.org/112194.html, where it has
comments. Comments are equally welcome on either entry.
R is for Regrets
Haikon is the last of his people. The Tau'ri confirm it for him after they destroy the thing that used to be Volnek, but he'd already known.
The Tau'ri take him back to their world. He doesn't expect to survive, but their surgeons prove as skilled as Volnek reported, and he wakes from surgery to voices telling him that he'll be fine.
He spends his recovery reviewing his regrets. It's not a luxury he would have allowed himself in the days when he was Lord Haikon, leader of the Sodan. But now he's just Haikon, with too many hours and no purpose to guide his use of them, and his regrets have grown past counting. (If only he had been a better warrior. Fought harder. Brought Volnek down.)
The Tau'ri tell him there is nothing he could have done. His people were doomed the moment the Prior first made contact. (If only he had hidden them more effectively. Guarded them from the eyes of the Ori.)
"If you'd stopped Volnek, they would have tried something else," Mitchell says. "One way or another, they would have brought you down. They don't believe in taking 'no' for an answer."
"And yet here you stand, your world untouched," Haikon counters. (If only he'd moved his people to this world. Perhaps whatever blessings protect the Tau'ri might have protected them also.)
"So far," Mitchell says grimly. "And only if you don't count that bout of Prior Plague we went through."
"Even so."
Mitchell shakes his head. "Can't run on luck forever."
The Tau'ri invite him to stay when he's healed. Tell him they can find a place for him on this world. He refuses their offer. The Tau'ri seem to have few plans for a direct attack right now, and Haikon lacks the patience to wait. Besides, if he's to face down an implacable enemy, he'd rather do it with Jaffa at his side. Even Jaffa who have only recently thrown aside the yoke of false gods. (If only he hadn't survived the attack. If only had hadn't lived long enough to know the terrible loneliness of being the last.)
Teal'c gives him the addresses of several Jaffa worlds where he will be welcome. Haikon picks one at random and asks the Tau'ri to dial it for him.
The world he walks into is as strange as that of the Tau'ri. The clothing is odd, the smells unfamiliar, and the symbols of the false gods are everywhere, though many have been vandalized or torn down. Haikon resolutely ignores all of it and goes in search of the warriors.
It doesn't matter anyway. He doesn't expect he'll be here long.
This entry was originally posted at http://skieswideopen.dreamwidth.org/112194.html, where it has
comments. Comments are equally welcome on either entry.