Rec Category: Daniel Jackson
Pairing: none
Category: Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, gen, drama, angst, episode-related, time travel
Warnings: canon character death
Author on LJ: dsudis
Author's Website: Fiction by Dira Sudis
Link to Story: With the Dying
Why This Must Be Read: One last rec in the Daniel Jackson category, because I've actually reached the maximum limit and you'll all be glad to be rid of me. :)
Time to choose a single S8 fic, and since my absolute favorite Moebius-fix has already been recced in this category (and in other categories, too!), I chose this not-very-happy-ending story instead. Beautiful in its bleakness, With the Dying is a glimpse at Daniel in ancient Egypt, facing loneliness all over again.
Dira plunges right into the successful rebellion against Ra, when Ra flees the planet and leaves the Stargate behind. Victory, yes - but the implications for Teal'c, whose life is now measured by the lifespan of his current symbiote, quickly come into the forefront. Daniel has already done this once with "his" Teal'c, and now he's going to have to do it again.
It's a common theme in Moebius fics (at least, the ones I've read) that our Daniel finds it easy to "connect" with alt-Teal'c; after all, the Teal'cs' backgrounds and personalities are nearly identical, with the added fillip that this Teal'c hasn't abducted and subsequently killed his wife. Here, too, we see Daniel and alt-Teal'c forging an unspoken bond - only this bond includes the understanding that Teal'c is going to have to die.
This short, powerful fic is about both Teal'c and Daniel, facing the emptiness of the future and accepting the price of freedom. Only it's Daniel that's left behind - again - because even if alt-Sam and alt-Jack are still around, they're involved with their own budding relationship, and they won't understand Daniel's grief. Victory or not, Daniel's time in Egypt simply can't have a completely happy ending, and this story is wincingly good.