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stargateficrec2018-06-30 11:52 pm
mific) wrote in stargateficrec2018-06-30 11:52 pm
Jigsaw (by Dira Sudis) (E)
Show: SG1
Rec Category: Novel length
Characters: Sam Carter, Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, other SG1 regulars.
Categories: Het/OT3/OT4 (see the fic headers on AO3)
Warnings: Major character death. And yet, and yet...
Author on DW:dira
Author's Website: See the AO3
Link: Jigsaw on AO3
Why This Must Be Read: At just under 67,000 words, this is in the "smaller novel" range, compared to the others I've recently reccd. It's an excellent read, and well-known, I'm sure. It's a quantum mirror story, and yes, there's grief in it, as the central premise is about various members of SG1 using quantum mirrors to search through the multiverse for team members they've lost in disasters. But it's enormously satisfying and the ending's not sad. Dira seems to write at least one major work in each fandom visited, and this was the SG1 longfic. I love Dira's writing, and this is no exception. It's grueling in places where the grief is fresh, but it's really about team, and the love between them all, in all the realities. One of my favourites.
"Carter," he said, "I've seen your team."
She looked up sharply, frowning slightly, not getting it. Right, she hadn't solved the dark mirror problem when she found him, so she hadn't gone to any other universes like their own. She hadn't seen.
"Your team, the team that's only missing you, after 247," Jack said. "I went through to Area 51 and I found them. I--" Jack choked back I saw you die, because it wouldn't help him remember that he had to let her go. "I met them. I know they're there, Carter, your actual team, not some infinite possibility. They're waiting for you. And if you go back to the cave and go through from there to a dark mirror, you can find exactly the right one. I dropped a chem light in front of the mirror and they left it there. Pointed straight to twelve o'clock. I will bet you--I will bet you--that it's still there."
Carter's eyes were impossibly wide, impossibly blue.
"They're waiting for you," Jack repeated helplessly, because he had to remember that she wasn't really his, that he'd only been a stop on her way back to them. "You can--you can find them. Chem light, twelve o'clock. There are two hundred chem lights in that bag back there, and you've got your new and improved controller. You can find them."
"Are they--you saw them, are they okay? Are they--" Carter looked lost, dazed, and Jack stepped forward and tugged her into a hug. Carter stood stock still in his arms, still talking. "Why didn't you--I can't--are you sure--"
Jack hugged her tighter and closed his eyes. "They're okay, or they will be." They would be, too. They'd been stabilized, expected to recover even without special intervention--and if Jacob dropped the ball, Carter herself could patch them up when she got there. Carter's team would be okay because she could make them okay. "You're going to be fine, all of you," he repeated, stepping back, holding her by the shoulders. "You just have to go find them."
"But you," Carter said, "you--"
"I've got a new and improved controller," Jack said, "I'll--"
He saw a flash of frustration on her face, right before Carter grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him into a kiss, rough and fast and long overdue. Once they started they couldn't stop, not for breath, not for anything. Jack's arms went around her, holding her close instead of keeping her away, and Carter's arms locked around his neck. When they came to a shuddering halt, foreheads pressed together, breath mixing between their mouths, all Jack could say was, "Oh."
Carter got an arm free to punch him on the shoulder, hard enough to actually hurt, which was impressive when they were smashed so close together. The angle was terrible. "Also ow," Jack said, but didn't loosen his grip on her. "Carter, you have to--"
"I don't have to do anything," she said fiercely. "Reality doesn't stop branching. There's a me who chooses you, and there's a me who chooses them."
Rec Category: Novel length
Characters: Sam Carter, Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, other SG1 regulars.
Categories: Het/OT3/OT4 (see the fic headers on AO3)
Warnings: Major character death. And yet, and yet...
Author on DW:
dira Author's Website: See the AO3
Link: Jigsaw on AO3
Why This Must Be Read: At just under 67,000 words, this is in the "smaller novel" range, compared to the others I've recently reccd. It's an excellent read, and well-known, I'm sure. It's a quantum mirror story, and yes, there's grief in it, as the central premise is about various members of SG1 using quantum mirrors to search through the multiverse for team members they've lost in disasters. But it's enormously satisfying and the ending's not sad. Dira seems to write at least one major work in each fandom visited, and this was the SG1 longfic. I love Dira's writing, and this is no exception. It's grueling in places where the grief is fresh, but it's really about team, and the love between them all, in all the realities. One of my favourites.
"Carter," he said, "I've seen your team."
She looked up sharply, frowning slightly, not getting it. Right, she hadn't solved the dark mirror problem when she found him, so she hadn't gone to any other universes like their own. She hadn't seen.
"Your team, the team that's only missing you, after 247," Jack said. "I went through to Area 51 and I found them. I--" Jack choked back I saw you die, because it wouldn't help him remember that he had to let her go. "I met them. I know they're there, Carter, your actual team, not some infinite possibility. They're waiting for you. And if you go back to the cave and go through from there to a dark mirror, you can find exactly the right one. I dropped a chem light in front of the mirror and they left it there. Pointed straight to twelve o'clock. I will bet you--I will bet you--that it's still there."
Carter's eyes were impossibly wide, impossibly blue.
"They're waiting for you," Jack repeated helplessly, because he had to remember that she wasn't really his, that he'd only been a stop on her way back to them. "You can--you can find them. Chem light, twelve o'clock. There are two hundred chem lights in that bag back there, and you've got your new and improved controller. You can find them."
"Are they--you saw them, are they okay? Are they--" Carter looked lost, dazed, and Jack stepped forward and tugged her into a hug. Carter stood stock still in his arms, still talking. "Why didn't you--I can't--are you sure--"
Jack hugged her tighter and closed his eyes. "They're okay, or they will be." They would be, too. They'd been stabilized, expected to recover even without special intervention--and if Jacob dropped the ball, Carter herself could patch them up when she got there. Carter's team would be okay because she could make them okay. "You're going to be fine, all of you," he repeated, stepping back, holding her by the shoulders. "You just have to go find them."
"But you," Carter said, "you--"
"I've got a new and improved controller," Jack said, "I'll--"
He saw a flash of frustration on her face, right before Carter grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him into a kiss, rough and fast and long overdue. Once they started they couldn't stop, not for breath, not for anything. Jack's arms went around her, holding her close instead of keeping her away, and Carter's arms locked around his neck. When they came to a shuddering halt, foreheads pressed together, breath mixing between their mouths, all Jack could say was, "Oh."
Carter got an arm free to punch him on the shoulder, hard enough to actually hurt, which was impressive when they were smashed so close together. The angle was terrible. "Also ow," Jack said, but didn't loosen his grip on her. "Carter, you have to--"
"I don't have to do anything," she said fiercely. "Reality doesn't stop branching. There's a me who chooses you, and there's a me who chooses them."