In The Balance

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate, or the characters. They're property of MGM and such.
Spoilers: Season 10's "The Quest pt. 2"

Other than that, I'm not sure if I like the title, so suggestions are welcome.



In The Balance

“The hard part of being part of this team is not risking your own life; it’s watching your friends take chances with theirs. Congratulations, now you really are one of us.”
          And in the moment he spoke the words, he focused in on the tears swelling behind her eyes. She was trying to hold them back, trying and failing to hide them from him.
          He knew she wanted nothing more than to help Daniel, or to take his place. Or simply just to make things right. But at the same time, he knew she had to learn this lesson. This was the hardest thing about being on this team, or in their line of work in general. In the military, in the SGC.
          He didn’t wait for her to react, didn’t wait for her to say anything, but instead walked away- outside, toward Sam and Ba'al. Back to the future he could see as clearly as any of them, the future he wanted no more than the rest of the team.
          Before exiting the cave, he stood in the entrance- not visible to anyone outside. The ‘gate would activate soon, and the scenery would change. The planet would change.
The galaxy will change, he thought belatedly. It will change because of what happens here.
          The realization hit him in the gut like a wrecking ball to a building, not that he hadn’t known that before. He knew that the very fate of the galaxy hung on the outcome of this mission. It just never hit him so hard until now, after talking to her… after making her see the truth he had only recently learned himself.
          Suppressing, though not forgetting, the sudden feeling of urgency, he walked into the light of the outside and over to where his teammate was working on the DHD with the old enemy.
How much more could things change?