Sins of the Flesh by Philote (PG-13)

[mahoni.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Het
Pairing: John Sheppard/Chaya
Category: SGA, Het, Non-con (sort of), Episode related, Angst, H/C
Warning: assault; spoilers for the season 1 episode Sanctuary
Author on LJ: philote_auctor
Summary: The Ancients are not gods. ‘Higher’ does not necessarily refer to morality.
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/sga_flashfic/321509.html

Why This Must Be Read:

The short reason: It's so well-written, well-paced, and engaging straight through. The characters are solidly drawn - Sheppard, Chaya, McKay & Beckett in particular. I read this story a while back, and haven't been able to entirely get it out of my mind since.

The long reason: This story plays out in a way that’s both fascinating and disturbing. Chaya's character is a study of need, isolation, and power. There is a familiarity to her motives that also gives her a discernible humanity, and makes her uncomfortably comprehensible.

Sheppard has such a visceral reaction to the events in the story that he can't ignore them. But he’s hamstrung by his reluctant memory and his lack of a pre-existing frame of reference for what happened to him. The juxtaposition of dealing with his present reality while slowly reliving events is eerie, and kind of forbidding. At the same time, his home and his friends anchor him. They're real and tangible and inevitably there when he finally needs them.