ficpost: "When I Am Old, I Shall" Teal'c
Title: "When I Am Old, I Shall"
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Featured characters: Teal'c, though everyone else shows up
Pairings: None textual.
Rating: PG
Timeline/Spoilers: Goes AU during or after S8. No S9 spoilers, of course.
Notes: For someone whose name I wasn't given in the Teal'c Ficathon. His/her requests are at the end.
Disclaimer: I love them more than their true owners ever will.
Summary: These could be the signs that they are growing older.
Words: 1204
When I Am Old, I Shall
Teal'c had known this moment was coming for months, perhaps years. He felt his own body age. The limbs that had once been strong were becoming weak and eyes that had once spotted tracks no other Jaffa could see could now no longer spot, even dimly, the footprints a fellow warrior made when she walked swiftly and silently through the woods.
One day they, he and Colonel Carter and Daniel Jackson, raced with Simon and Lisa -- the names his new teammates asked to be called, and the names he used; he will never again meet a Tau'ri who can understand the affection meant by the single word O'Neill -- and lost their way. Daniel Jackson moved too slowly and Colonel Carter could no longer remember where the sun ought to be, and that was one sign. But there were others.
There were the lines on O'Neill's face that were hidden until they stood by Bra'tac's funeral pyre and, illumined by the bright sparks of firelight, O'Neill's face was suddenly revealed to be as weathered as Bra'tac's ever had been. These were signs.
There was a shortness in Daniel Jackson's temper that had never been present before. Teal'c entered his office bearing morning gifts: a bag of ground coffee beans, a mission report, a newspaper, and Daniel Jackson glared at him over the top of glasses that were thicker than the ones Daniel Jackson had worn when he was younger and frightened, when he was newly widowed and longed to die, when he was freshly descended and ready, at last, to live again. Daniel Jackson's glasses had grown thick and his patience thin; he snarled some words at Teal'c that might have been "thank you," but most probably were not.
Colonel Carter knew before the others that it was time to leave; she bought a house on the anticipation of her and Daniel Jackson's pensions, so she would be ready when the order finally came to stand down. When the order did come, when O'Neill leaned against the frame of Teal'c's door and told him, "I've been thinking I could get in a lot more fishing if I stopped coming into work," Teal'c heard that Colonel Carter had purchased a house and wondered what signs she'd seen that he had been blind to.
"We're growing old, Teal'c," she told him, and, because he had known her for many years, he was unsurprised that she was struggling to hold back tears. "Daniel's latest paper was the first one he's written that made even less sense than his crazy aliens-built-the-pyramids theory, and General O'Neill has been ready to retire for years. He was just waiting for us."
"And now you have finished the work you set out to accomplish."
"It's been brilliant," Colonel Carter said, embracing him. "I don't know what I'll do without you."
"Do you not intend to live with Daniel Jackson?"
"I meant without you," she said, and Teal'c realized that while the Tau'ri knew their own weaknesses, they were still unaware of his.
The only original member of SG-1 still active and on base, Teal'c spent hours wrestling with Simon, meditating with Lisa, attempting to find in the sinews of Simon's muscles, the rhythm of Lisa's breath, that which had been so easy with O'Neill and Captain Carter and Daniel Jackson over fifteen years earlier. At last, Teal'c had to concede that it was impossible, and he found General Hammond, once again at his old desk, brooding over paperwork, to tell him that he could no longer serve on SG-1.
General Hammond was older even than O'Neill, and should no longer be here, but until a suitable replacement could be found, he sat at his old desk and accepted resignations and retirements from those younger than he. He accepted Teal'c's with neither surprise nor sorrow, and wished him well in a voice so tender even Teal'c was taken aback.
He accepted O'Neill's open invitation to join him at the lake, and when he tired of fishing -- which was soon -- O'Neill agreed somewhat grumpily to take him to watch Jell-o wrestling, the only Earth custom so strange that it warranted being observed twice.
"This is strange, O'Neill," Teal'c told him. Their seats were high above the ring and they could watch the slippery Jell-o sliding on the bare skin of the wrestlers.
"What?" O'Neill barked.
"This is strange," he repeated, more loudly.
"You're the one who asked to come." O'Neill almost shouted. Teal'c wondered how many years of perfect hearing remained for him. Once there would have been many more, but without his symbiote, everything had changed.
"I did not mean the wrestling," he said, keeping his voice even and loud.
"What? Speak up. The noise in this place is terrible."
Teal'c said nothing, but put a hand on O'Neill's shoulder. O'Neill did nothing to make him move it, so he knew his affection was accepted.
Within a week, he was once again standing at General Hammond's desk. "I am leaving this world," he said, without emotion.
"Going back to your son?" the General asked. "I understand the urge. Ten weeks till I'm sitting with a granddaughter on each knee, telling them war stories. Can't wait, to tell you the truth."
"No," Teal'c said. "I am going exploring."
"Haven't had enough of it yet?" General Hammond looked surprised at the request.
"Never," Teal'c told him seriously, and two days later, carrying only a small rucksack full of possessions, he shipped out. O'Neill and Daniel Jackson and Colonel Carter came to see him off, and he embraced each of them carefully before stepping through the open wormhole to the continent on Langarra they called Kelowna.
"Teal'c!" Jonas Quinn looked much the same as Teal'c remembered; he was older but not old. "It's been a long time, huh? Daniel with you?"
"He has retired," Teal'c told him, and for a minute, he watched pain and confusion flicker across Jonas Quinn's face.
He recovered quickly, though, and asked, "And Major Carter? And Colonel O'Neill?"
"Do you have somewhere I could sit?"
"Oh, of course. I'm sorry. Come right in, and tell me all about it. It's been so long since I've seen any of you." As Teal'c told him, as briefly as he could, the journeys they had been on since last meeting, Jonas Quinn seemed to become more and more agitated until finally he interrupted Teal'c to say, "Damn. Damn! I missed -- I missed all that."
Teal'c nodded.
"Why did you come? To rub it in?"
Teal'c shook his head and reached out a hand to steady his companion, who was almost shaking in anger. "I have come to ask you to join me once again. I am growing old, but still have many years left before I must sit as Daniel Jackson and Colonel Carter do, remembering their youth with bitter laughter. You are young, and have more years than I."
"Why me?"
"You are a member of SG-1," Teal'c told him, and Jonas Quinn's smile threatened to spill off his face and engulf his world. This was a wise decision, Teal'c decided, and when they stepped through the Stargate together six hours later, neither man thought to look back.
++++
Requests: Like: Jonas (or Hammond), jell-o wrestling, coffee.
NO: babies, ferrets, or crossbows (yes, I'm very very easy).
Extra note: There might be other stories in this universe, if I should happen to write them.
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Featured characters: Teal'c, though everyone else shows up
Pairings: None textual.
Rating: PG
Timeline/Spoilers: Goes AU during or after S8. No S9 spoilers, of course.
Notes: For someone whose name I wasn't given in the Teal'c Ficathon. His/her requests are at the end.
Disclaimer: I love them more than their true owners ever will.
Summary: These could be the signs that they are growing older.
Words: 1204
When I Am Old, I Shall
Teal'c had known this moment was coming for months, perhaps years. He felt his own body age. The limbs that had once been strong were becoming weak and eyes that had once spotted tracks no other Jaffa could see could now no longer spot, even dimly, the footprints a fellow warrior made when she walked swiftly and silently through the woods.
One day they, he and Colonel Carter and Daniel Jackson, raced with Simon and Lisa -- the names his new teammates asked to be called, and the names he used; he will never again meet a Tau'ri who can understand the affection meant by the single word O'Neill -- and lost their way. Daniel Jackson moved too slowly and Colonel Carter could no longer remember where the sun ought to be, and that was one sign. But there were others.
There were the lines on O'Neill's face that were hidden until they stood by Bra'tac's funeral pyre and, illumined by the bright sparks of firelight, O'Neill's face was suddenly revealed to be as weathered as Bra'tac's ever had been. These were signs.
There was a shortness in Daniel Jackson's temper that had never been present before. Teal'c entered his office bearing morning gifts: a bag of ground coffee beans, a mission report, a newspaper, and Daniel Jackson glared at him over the top of glasses that were thicker than the ones Daniel Jackson had worn when he was younger and frightened, when he was newly widowed and longed to die, when he was freshly descended and ready, at last, to live again. Daniel Jackson's glasses had grown thick and his patience thin; he snarled some words at Teal'c that might have been "thank you," but most probably were not.
Colonel Carter knew before the others that it was time to leave; she bought a house on the anticipation of her and Daniel Jackson's pensions, so she would be ready when the order finally came to stand down. When the order did come, when O'Neill leaned against the frame of Teal'c's door and told him, "I've been thinking I could get in a lot more fishing if I stopped coming into work," Teal'c heard that Colonel Carter had purchased a house and wondered what signs she'd seen that he had been blind to.
"We're growing old, Teal'c," she told him, and, because he had known her for many years, he was unsurprised that she was struggling to hold back tears. "Daniel's latest paper was the first one he's written that made even less sense than his crazy aliens-built-the-pyramids theory, and General O'Neill has been ready to retire for years. He was just waiting for us."
"And now you have finished the work you set out to accomplish."
"It's been brilliant," Colonel Carter said, embracing him. "I don't know what I'll do without you."
"Do you not intend to live with Daniel Jackson?"
"I meant without you," she said, and Teal'c realized that while the Tau'ri knew their own weaknesses, they were still unaware of his.
The only original member of SG-1 still active and on base, Teal'c spent hours wrestling with Simon, meditating with Lisa, attempting to find in the sinews of Simon's muscles, the rhythm of Lisa's breath, that which had been so easy with O'Neill and Captain Carter and Daniel Jackson over fifteen years earlier. At last, Teal'c had to concede that it was impossible, and he found General Hammond, once again at his old desk, brooding over paperwork, to tell him that he could no longer serve on SG-1.
General Hammond was older even than O'Neill, and should no longer be here, but until a suitable replacement could be found, he sat at his old desk and accepted resignations and retirements from those younger than he. He accepted Teal'c's with neither surprise nor sorrow, and wished him well in a voice so tender even Teal'c was taken aback.
He accepted O'Neill's open invitation to join him at the lake, and when he tired of fishing -- which was soon -- O'Neill agreed somewhat grumpily to take him to watch Jell-o wrestling, the only Earth custom so strange that it warranted being observed twice.
"This is strange, O'Neill," Teal'c told him. Their seats were high above the ring and they could watch the slippery Jell-o sliding on the bare skin of the wrestlers.
"What?" O'Neill barked.
"This is strange," he repeated, more loudly.
"You're the one who asked to come." O'Neill almost shouted. Teal'c wondered how many years of perfect hearing remained for him. Once there would have been many more, but without his symbiote, everything had changed.
"I did not mean the wrestling," he said, keeping his voice even and loud.
"What? Speak up. The noise in this place is terrible."
Teal'c said nothing, but put a hand on O'Neill's shoulder. O'Neill did nothing to make him move it, so he knew his affection was accepted.
Within a week, he was once again standing at General Hammond's desk. "I am leaving this world," he said, without emotion.
"Going back to your son?" the General asked. "I understand the urge. Ten weeks till I'm sitting with a granddaughter on each knee, telling them war stories. Can't wait, to tell you the truth."
"No," Teal'c said. "I am going exploring."
"Haven't had enough of it yet?" General Hammond looked surprised at the request.
"Never," Teal'c told him seriously, and two days later, carrying only a small rucksack full of possessions, he shipped out. O'Neill and Daniel Jackson and Colonel Carter came to see him off, and he embraced each of them carefully before stepping through the open wormhole to the continent on Langarra they called Kelowna.
"Teal'c!" Jonas Quinn looked much the same as Teal'c remembered; he was older but not old. "It's been a long time, huh? Daniel with you?"
"He has retired," Teal'c told him, and for a minute, he watched pain and confusion flicker across Jonas Quinn's face.
He recovered quickly, though, and asked, "And Major Carter? And Colonel O'Neill?"
"Do you have somewhere I could sit?"
"Oh, of course. I'm sorry. Come right in, and tell me all about it. It's been so long since I've seen any of you." As Teal'c told him, as briefly as he could, the journeys they had been on since last meeting, Jonas Quinn seemed to become more and more agitated until finally he interrupted Teal'c to say, "Damn. Damn! I missed -- I missed all that."
Teal'c nodded.
"Why did you come? To rub it in?"
Teal'c shook his head and reached out a hand to steady his companion, who was almost shaking in anger. "I have come to ask you to join me once again. I am growing old, but still have many years left before I must sit as Daniel Jackson and Colonel Carter do, remembering their youth with bitter laughter. You are young, and have more years than I."
"Why me?"
"You are a member of SG-1," Teal'c told him, and Jonas Quinn's smile threatened to spill off his face and engulf his world. This was a wise decision, Teal'c decided, and when they stepped through the Stargate together six hours later, neither man thought to look back.
++++
Requests: Like: Jonas (or Hammond), jell-o wrestling, coffee.
NO: babies, ferrets, or crossbows (yes, I'm very very easy).
Extra note: There might be other stories in this universe, if I should happen to write them.