[SG-1 + Eureka] [Het] [K] Someone New
The following is a vignette in keeping with the SG-1, v.2.0 Stargate/Eureka crossover universe, but not a full installment in the series. For the rest of the series, click the v2.0 tag above.
Title: Someone New
Length: about 1100 words
Rating: Safe for All
Pairings: clone!Sam/clone!Jack, mention of Sam/Jack.
Credits: beta-read by pixie_on_acid and daisycm83.
Summary: Jack is Jack, but he’s not that Jack.
Timeline: Falls between installments 2 and 3 (Version 2.0 and Buy You a New Life).
A/N: triciabyrne1978, to whom this story is dedicated, requested some angst. So, in the midst of writing the next installment, I pause to give you a bit of the existential angst that a clone would be bound to experience. (However, I am incapable of going fluffless with this series, so there’s a glob of marshmallowy fluff too.)
Someone New
It wasn't the first time Jack O'Neill had experienced the strange sensation of being jealous of himself, but this was different. This wasn't envy over the job, the cabin, the ability to buy beer, or any of the other things that Jack O'Neill had that this one no longer did. This was real, this was serious. This was Carter.
After giving up any hope, after learning to think of her as just one more thing from his old life he could never regain, suddenly he had a Sam Carter of his very own. When they brought him back to the SGC, she told him she needed him and he promised to be there for her. But was it really him she needed? This Carter had the memories of the original, including memories of the last two years spent in a relationship that never happened for him. They were memories of someone else.
That was the heart of what bothered him. He was someone else. Four years of living a new life would do that to a person. He had lived without the weight of the world on his shoulders; for the first time since his (original) childhood, he had lived a life in which he was responsible for no one but himself. He'd lived and worked in peace - it had been four years without running for his life or taking someone else's. Though he'd had to be on his guard not to give away who and what he really was, for the most part, he'd lived openly, with nothing to hide, no secrets to keep, no need to look over his shoulder. With the fresh start and the time for introspection, many of the old wounds had healed over. The changes, he thought, were for the best. But would Sam see it that way?
Of course, things had changed again when he’d been called back to the SGC. He would be taking on responsibility again in Eureka. He would have his team to care for and keep safe. He would have a job that, by all indications, could prove just as strange and wonderful as life at the SGC. With this semblance of his old life back, in every way but appearance he might seem just the same. But he felt different. His hard edges had softened. He'd become something new.
He’d been alone for a long time now, more alone than he ever was when Sam couldn’t be his. Then, at least, he was with her. Then, at least, he was with his team - his family - day in and day out. Despite these lonely years, he didn’t want to give in to something with Sam that was going to turn out badly. Some part of him had always believed that he and Sam were owed a happy ending, but now their story had started over in the middle of the book. He had no idea what the ending would be.
“Jack, you’re staring again,” Sam said, looking up from the list of supplies she was writing. She had requisitioned a laptop, but it hadn’t yet come through and there were no computers in the VIP lounge that connected their temporary quarters.
He turned quickly back to the TV. “Sorry.”
Sam dropped her pen and crossed to the couch. Sitting down next to him, she asked, “What's the matter?"
"Nothing."
"Jack… come on. I know you better than that."
"Really?" He looked at her searchingly. "Do you know me?"
Her gaze didn’t falter. "I do."
Biting back a sigh, Jack turned away. "I'm not him, Sam. I've changed."
Sam snatched the remote from his hand and turned off the TV. "Has your sense of humor changed?"
"What?"
"Has your sense of humor changed?" she repeated slowly.
"No."
“Are you any less loyal?”
“Carter…” His tone was a warning. He could see where she was going and wasn’t going to play along with this. He knew she understood what he meant. But Sam wasn’t one to give up.
“Have you stopped caring about me, or Daniel, or Teal’c?” she asked pointedly.
He couldn’t help protesting. “Of course not!”
“I can see you’re still stubborn as a mule,” she said archly.
“Carter, you don’t get it. Things have changed, I’ve changed. I couldn’t be him, so I’m not him. I’m… I’m someone new.”
Sam nodded. “Of course. You’ve had different experiences. Your perspective has probably
changed a lot. But who you are, the fundamental person, I know that’s still the same Jack. I know it.”
Jack ran a hand over his hair in frustration. “And exactly how do you know that?”
“Because I’m still me.”
Sam reached over and took his hand. He tensed for a moment, staring at their joined hands, then consciously reminded himself that this was allowed, this was okay. “It was hard at first… before… for them,” she explained awkwardly. “All those years of keeping a distance were tough to overcome; it was a big adjustment. They had to get to know each other as people outside of the SGC. No different from us.”
“It feels different.”
“It feels new,” she amended.
Jack smiled wryly. “Brand-spanking. Fresh from Crazy Baal’s Clone Warehouse.”
She smiled back at him, then moved to rest her head on his shoulder, handing him back the remote. “If we really are different people, then we can try something different and just not worry about it, right? We can stop looking for the danger around every corner. We’ll just take it slow and see what happens.”
He clicked the TV back on, pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head. “That will definitely be different.”
Jack still had his doubts - strong ones - but the story was already playing itself out. He had little choice but to wait and see how it would end. The old Jack might have had a problem with just letting things happen, but he was someone new.
Title: Someone New
Length: about 1100 words
Rating: Safe for All
Pairings: clone!Sam/clone!Jack, mention of Sam/Jack.
Credits: beta-read by pixie_on_acid and daisycm83.
Summary: Jack is Jack, but he’s not that Jack.
Timeline: Falls between installments 2 and 3 (Version 2.0 and Buy You a New Life).
A/N: triciabyrne1978, to whom this story is dedicated, requested some angst. So, in the midst of writing the next installment, I pause to give you a bit of the existential angst that a clone would be bound to experience. (However, I am incapable of going fluffless with this series, so there’s a glob of marshmallowy fluff too.)
Someone New
It wasn't the first time Jack O'Neill had experienced the strange sensation of being jealous of himself, but this was different. This wasn't envy over the job, the cabin, the ability to buy beer, or any of the other things that Jack O'Neill had that this one no longer did. This was real, this was serious. This was Carter.
After giving up any hope, after learning to think of her as just one more thing from his old life he could never regain, suddenly he had a Sam Carter of his very own. When they brought him back to the SGC, she told him she needed him and he promised to be there for her. But was it really him she needed? This Carter had the memories of the original, including memories of the last two years spent in a relationship that never happened for him. They were memories of someone else.
That was the heart of what bothered him. He was someone else. Four years of living a new life would do that to a person. He had lived without the weight of the world on his shoulders; for the first time since his (original) childhood, he had lived a life in which he was responsible for no one but himself. He'd lived and worked in peace - it had been four years without running for his life or taking someone else's. Though he'd had to be on his guard not to give away who and what he really was, for the most part, he'd lived openly, with nothing to hide, no secrets to keep, no need to look over his shoulder. With the fresh start and the time for introspection, many of the old wounds had healed over. The changes, he thought, were for the best. But would Sam see it that way?
Of course, things had changed again when he’d been called back to the SGC. He would be taking on responsibility again in Eureka. He would have his team to care for and keep safe. He would have a job that, by all indications, could prove just as strange and wonderful as life at the SGC. With this semblance of his old life back, in every way but appearance he might seem just the same. But he felt different. His hard edges had softened. He'd become something new.
He’d been alone for a long time now, more alone than he ever was when Sam couldn’t be his. Then, at least, he was with her. Then, at least, he was with his team - his family - day in and day out. Despite these lonely years, he didn’t want to give in to something with Sam that was going to turn out badly. Some part of him had always believed that he and Sam were owed a happy ending, but now their story had started over in the middle of the book. He had no idea what the ending would be.
“Jack, you’re staring again,” Sam said, looking up from the list of supplies she was writing. She had requisitioned a laptop, but it hadn’t yet come through and there were no computers in the VIP lounge that connected their temporary quarters.
He turned quickly back to the TV. “Sorry.”
Sam dropped her pen and crossed to the couch. Sitting down next to him, she asked, “What's the matter?"
"Nothing."
"Jack… come on. I know you better than that."
"Really?" He looked at her searchingly. "Do you know me?"
Her gaze didn’t falter. "I do."
Biting back a sigh, Jack turned away. "I'm not him, Sam. I've changed."
Sam snatched the remote from his hand and turned off the TV. "Has your sense of humor changed?"
"What?"
"Has your sense of humor changed?" she repeated slowly.
"No."
“Are you any less loyal?”
“Carter…” His tone was a warning. He could see where she was going and wasn’t going to play along with this. He knew she understood what he meant. But Sam wasn’t one to give up.
“Have you stopped caring about me, or Daniel, or Teal’c?” she asked pointedly.
He couldn’t help protesting. “Of course not!”
“I can see you’re still stubborn as a mule,” she said archly.
“Carter, you don’t get it. Things have changed, I’ve changed. I couldn’t be him, so I’m not him. I’m… I’m someone new.”
Sam nodded. “Of course. You’ve had different experiences. Your perspective has probably
changed a lot. But who you are, the fundamental person, I know that’s still the same Jack. I know it.”
Jack ran a hand over his hair in frustration. “And exactly how do you know that?”
“Because I’m still me.”
Sam reached over and took his hand. He tensed for a moment, staring at their joined hands, then consciously reminded himself that this was allowed, this was okay. “It was hard at first… before… for them,” she explained awkwardly. “All those years of keeping a distance were tough to overcome; it was a big adjustment. They had to get to know each other as people outside of the SGC. No different from us.”
“It feels different.”
“It feels new,” she amended.
Jack smiled wryly. “Brand-spanking. Fresh from Crazy Baal’s Clone Warehouse.”
She smiled back at him, then moved to rest her head on his shoulder, handing him back the remote. “If we really are different people, then we can try something different and just not worry about it, right? We can stop looking for the danger around every corner. We’ll just take it slow and see what happens.”
He clicked the TV back on, pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head. “That will definitely be different.”
Jack still had his doubts - strong ones - but the story was already playing itself out. He had little choice but to wait and see how it would end. The old Jack might have had a problem with just letting things happen, but he was someone new.