True to Form, by Jb (R)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Daniel Jackson

Pairing: none
Category:  Daniel Jackson, gen, team, friendship, hurt/comfort, drama, angst
Warnings: language, violence, extreme Daniel whumping, original character deaths
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Jb at The Tablet
Link to Story: True to Form

Why This Must Be Read: It's S2 Daniel Day, so let's start right at the beginning of the season, shall we?

This story is just... ow. Amazingly written, like all Jb stories. Also, like all Jb stories, it takes Daniel and strips him down to his most basic components before slowly, laboriously building him up again.

While it's not official, I tend to think of True to Form as being a sequel to Jb's episode tag to Within the Serpent's Lair.  That story isn't essential reading, but it does flesh out the general background to this story: SG-1 is very badly shaken by the events that took place on Klorel's ship, particularly the abandonment of Daniel. Both Daniel and the others feel tremendous guilt for not saving each other, and they're not quite sure how to pick up the pieces and start all over again.

In True to Form, Hammond makes the decision to send SG-1 on their first post-saving-the-world mission without Dr. Jackson. Daniel himself accepts that he's not quite ready, but when the DHD on P6V221 turns out to be unusable - the natives of the planet, long gone, have changed the symbols to the extent that no one can figure out Earth's address - Daniel is badly needed to get them back home. Only it's not Jack who summons him to the planet, but someone else with a different agenda and a pathological hatred for Daniel and everything he represents. Things go rapidly downhill from there... and for quite a while, it doesn't seem as if there's a bottom at all.

Daniel and his teammates are forced to cope with illness, injuries, a lack of supplies, a nearly impossible puzzle, and the tremendous strain that is fracturing their relationship along lines that no one wanted to expose. Ugly politics back home seem to equal no support. By the time the fic reaches its climax, Daniel is left feeling utterly betrayed by a lack of faith in his abilities - and, in turn, devastated by what he percieves as his own betrayal of his teammates when he finally "gives up."

The Sam/Daniel friendship dynamic is given broad strokes here, a common theme in many of Jb's stories. For all their brilliance, the two scientists on SG-1 have such different viewpoints that clashes are almost inevitable. Fortunately, reconciliation seems inevitable as well, as Sam and Daniel end the story with a careful renewal of their friendship.

Intense team support of Daniel in a truly desperate situation, on a solid background of canon events and foreshadowing of political meddling in the SGC. This story isn't the easiest read, but you're sure to find yourself coming back to it over and over again.

"I don't like this, Sir," Sam whispered over her shoulder to the Colonel. She watched as, fifteen feet down the path, Teal'c and Rykert flanked Daniel as he limped his way along in a slow and unsteady climb. Teal'c had one hand placed on Daniel's back, both to steady and to propel him upward. "He's feeling sick. I know that's to be expected, but it's more than that. He's just not himself..."

O'Neill didn't answer. His grim expression implied he was well aware not only of Daniel's physical problems, but also his uncharacteristic irritability. Sam knew the previous night had been rough for both men. From her position by the fire she had heard the frequent retching and Daniel's testy rebuffs when the Colonel had tried to help.

She hefted her heavy pack. Although Sam had really dreaded lugging everything up here, she knew it was the only thing to do. She had no illusions. Even if Daniel was able to concentrate enough to work on the symbols, it would be slow going; setting up camp on the mountain rather than at the Stargate was really the only viable option. It was far easier to copy the DHD symbols and take them to the village for comparison, than to try to transcribe the hundreds of symbols they had found there. They couldn't communicate with the SGC anyway, and there was Panter to look out for. They could set up a much more defensible position at the village than they could down in the open valley.

"Okay. Let's take a break here, folks." The lagging trio approached, and at O'Neill's words, slowed to a halt. "It gets pretty steep and narrow just around that bend..." O'Neill must have seen the dark look which flashed across Daniel's face at the same time Sam did, because he quickly added to his statement. "It's only for a short bit, then it evens out and widens up again. We'll be there before you know it."

Daniel didn't seem reassured. Sam didn't think he looked particularly anxious either... he looked more annoyed than anything. Her concern for him mounted. They knew he had suffered a fairly major concussion - that was obvious from the long period of unconsciousness and his subsequent confusion and illness during the night, plus the persistent headache and nausea which continued to plague him throughout the new day. But his steadily increasing distractibility and, especially, his emotional irritability were becoming alarming. As she watched him slowly settle on the ground next to Teal'c, Sam prayed to any unspecified deity that might happen to be listening these problems would pass soon. That Daniel would be okay. Not only was he her friend but also, under these circumstances, they couldn't afford for Daniel to be incapacitated.

But... what if it was more than that? What if this was more than just a concussion, and dragging him up here and putting him to work was to make it worse? What would be the right thing to do? Considering her deplorable part in allowing Daniel to be left alone without back-up in that corridor on Klorel's ship, Sam couldn't afford to allow herself overlook his safety again. If there was any possibility that this was more serious than concussion -

Daniel may well be their only way back to Earth, but if her getting home was to be at his expense, Sam wasn't so sure she would feel at home ever again, even in her own living room.

Comments

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

Ah, great rec! I love this story. It's way over the top, and yet so well written it's totally convincing. And add to the evocative writing very tight control over the pov and a fairly sophisticated structure that really makes the most of the suspense. And there's a bang-up finish, with a nice twist in the tail that has a particularly SG-1ish flavor. *g*

I've said it before, but you really do have excellent taste in fic!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, I personally hate the ugly politics aspect of SG-1 canon, for reasons that I may get around to writing about someday. But it's certainly true to what we know about the SGC universe, isn't it?

And yes, Jb's stories really do pile on the drama, but they do it so well that you just don't care. :)

I've said it before, but you really do have excellent taste in fic!

/blushes Thanks for your kind words! I'm just a gen Daniel/team kinda girl. :)