The Gift by ELG (R)

[morena-evensong.livejournal.com]

Show: SG-1
Rec Category: Daniel Jackson
Characters: Daniel Jackson, Jack O'Neill, Charles Kawalsky, Samantha Carter, Teal'c, Rodney McKay, OCs
Pairings: Jack/Daniel, OC/Daniel
Categories: Slash, Alternate Universe, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, mystery
Warnings: Violence, Non-con, child abuse, physical and psychological abuse
Author on LJ:Unknown
Author's Website: AO3
Link: The Gift on AO3

Why This Must Be Read:
Author's Summary: In a different universe Jack O'Neill left Special Ops to join the police force and is now a Detective Sergeant in the Chicago PD. Doctor Daniel Jackson is heir to the Ballard millions but a virtual prisoner in his luxurious home, a victim of psychosis and depression. Is he truly as mentally ill as his medical records suggest or a victim of the controlling behavior of his stepbrother, Tony Ballard-Green? Who, if not her husband, killed Sha’re, the beautiful Egyptian maid? Why do Colonel Makepeace and Captain Carter of the very modern Air Force need Daniel Jackson’s help so urgently with transcribing an Ancient Egyptian inscription from a dead Pharaoh’s tomb? And who is the mysterious ‘gardener’, Ray Teal, and why is he really at Gray Gables?

A beautifully-written story! It's an interesting mixture of cannon AU and AU and ELG does an amazing job of getting into the characters' heads and showing how they're different from cannon and yet ultimately the same. Especially Daniel, who's at the centre of everything. He's obviously different due to what he's been through, but still has that core of stubborn resilience we've come to know and love. And the original characters are vivid, including the main antagonist, who is interesting in his own psychotic way. It's not that you ever have reason to feel sorry for him and ELG doesn't at any point try to paint him as anything other than reprehensible, but to call him simply evil isn't quite right either...