The Good Wife, by Julie Fortune (PG-13/R)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Gen

Pairing: none
Categories: gen, Daniel Jackson, team, drama, friendship, character study, hurt/comfort
Warnings: major whumping and violence; some sexual references; possibly disturbing religious allusions
Author on LJ: juliefortune 
Author's Website: Fanfic for the Fearless
Link: The Good Wife

Why This Must Be Read: This tense, gripping story takes place some time at the beginning of S7. SG-1 is in Vorbei Dei, negotiating for naquadah. But when Daniel is imprisoned for two days for the crime of stopping a man from beating a child, and soon gains a jailmate that he can't help but defend, events quickly spiral downward.

More than anything, this is a fascinating character study of Daniel. But Julie also gives us a beautifully rendered picture of the town, with the stark contrasts of color and darkness echoed in the characters and their behavior and outward appearances. And then there's Rebecca, who becomes more of an icon than an individual to Daniel before all is said and done, but whose ultimate fate will wound the reader as much as Daniel's pain.

There's some great insight from Sam, and Jack in superb CO mode, and Teal'c as magnficient bulwark. This fic is disturbingly, frighteningly good, and you'll remember it for a long time to come.
 

"What about Daniel?"

Jack leaned his head back against the wall. "What about him?"

"Well ... don't you think ...?"

"Listen, Daniel's safe. Bored, but safe. He's all alone in – "

"No sir, he's not. A woman spoke to me on the street. They've put someone else in the jail with him. A woman."

Jack slowly lifted his head and focused on her. God, he was tired, but it was a familiar, comforting kind of exhaustion, the kind that was indelibly associated with offworld missions. Carbonated the blood, lifted the hair on the back of his neck into gooseflesh.

"Carter? What are you thinking?"

She kicked at the floor. "It's not so much a thought as a feeling."

"I'll go with that."

"It's just that ... sir, I saw these women up close. They're silent because they're terrified."

"Carter ... we talked about this."

"I know." She shook her head, let go of her elbows and ran her fingers through her short blonde hair. "No, actually, I don't know, that's the problem. I just have this feeling, sir. This place, it's ... "

He waited, but Carter ... clinical, intellectual Carter ... couldn't put it into words.

She didn't really need to. He felt it, too. Prickles on the spine. Chills in the blood. Dammit, Daniel, don't you pick up any strays. Not this time.

He could choose to blow off the treaty and chase down the feeling. General Hammond wouldn't exactly look kindly on it, but he'd understand that it was Jack's call when the rubber met the road.

He closed his eyes again and said, "The treaty has to get signed. We need the naquadah."

She sighed. "Yes, sir, that's what General Hammond said."

"Don't really have a choice, Carter. Daniel would be the first to say we've got to stay focused."

"Yes sir."

No agreement in the words, but she was giving the lip service he needed. Good enough for now.

"I don't suppose he can get into a lot of trouble," she continued.

"Go to sleep, Carter."

Because he really didn't even want to start to think about that.

Comments

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec.
That story was chilling and painful but so good and real and believable.
Sometimes I wish the show would dare to do something this ambitious, but maybe it works better as fic.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Heh. Wouldn't trust the show to pull off an ep like this.

Thank goodness for fanfic! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did.