The Unofficial Evolution Series, by Karen Greim Mullian (R)

[figs_sg1_rec]

Rec Category: Episode Fix

Pairing: none
Category: episode fix, Daniel Jackson, Jack and Daniel friendship, angst, hurt/comfort, character study
Warning: torture (including non-explicit rape), graphic medical details, psychological breakdown
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Stargate SG-1 Slightly Off-Base
Link: The Unofficial Evolution, part 2 (links to subsequent parts on the page)

Why This Must Be Read: Don't be confused by the fact the first section is labeled "part 2," as the author started writing this immediately after viewing the first part of Evolution from the seventh season. If you thought Daniel had a hard time on the show... hoo, boy.

This fic is a difficult read, because it's so good.

In this story, Daniel spends a lot more time in captivity in Honduras, and the treatment is a lot more vicious than what we saw in the actual episode. By the time Jack gets there, Daniel has nearly been deconstructed entirely. It's up to Daniel, with a lot of support from Jack and his friends at the SGC, to claw his way back. Never one to play the victim, even when that role is forced upon him, Daniel finally manages to make a full recovery. The snippet of fic I chose to include here shows Daniel's characteristic determination to always, always fight back.

One of the reasons why this bleak story reads so well is that it's painfully realistic. A person suffering burns untreated in the jungle, and denied treatment against malaria, is not going to bounce back easily. His phycial recovery is slow, in fits and spurts, and painfully difficult - returning to the States is out of the question at first, and much of Daniel's distress at that point is excaberated by his inability to go home. And, much like Daniel's utter shock at what happened on Bedrosia - when he was tortured not by the Goa'uld, but by human beings - Rafael becomes a much more immediate specter than the suffering Daniel has faced in the past. Daniel's psychological recovery takes much, much longer, as he has to break the blind wall of self-defense to face what really happens before he can accept it and rise above it.

It's only on television that a person can face such trauma and then walk away. In this powerful story, Karen clearly shows the immense struggle demanded by Daniel's horrible experiences. The most moving parts of this fic is the support that Daniel receives from everyone at the SGC, from Janet and Hammond down to wonderfully stoic Sergeant Siler, who plays a suprisingly large role. There are setbacks and crises, but Daniel, with his friends' help, meets them and manages to surmount them.

Daniel's psychological breakdown is frighteningly real. Even when Daniel seems to have fully recuperated physically, there's still obvious signs that all is not well in Jacksonville. I've recommended one of Karen's stories before, and as I noted then, this woman is scarily good at writing creepy hallucinations and dream sequences. The intended emotional nadir for Daniel is, I think, supposed to be when he finally fully remembers what happens and is psychosomatically blinded by the trauma; but when I read this fic, Daniel's bleakest moment was when he went into medical crisis in Cuba on the same night that Jack, emotionally and physically drained, took a single night off of constant Daniel-care to recuperate. I'd be interested to know what other readers thought of this.

My biggest problem with this story  - admittedly, a petty one! - is that Dr. Lee is called "William." I find it somewhat distracting. I suppose that back when season seven was airing, we didn't yet know him as Bill. :) He, too, plays a strong part, and a painful one - the fellow prisoner who struggled along with Daniel, who gave him a reason to keep going, and then saw too much that Daniel didn't want him to witness. From the scenes in the Gitmo hospital, to their interactions at the SGC, to the final scene in Bill's home, Daniel's and Bill's recoveries are intertwined.

This story is hard to read, but well worth it. Still, you might want to consider having something fluffy to read afterwards!

(Earlier in the story, Daniel is told that he must first manage to walk fifty feet before he can safely make the trip back to the SGC. Jack eventually convinces Janet that Daniel needs to return to Colorado to recover.)

In the elevator, Daniel kept his eyes closed, trying to remember what the corridor leading to the infirmary would look like. He'd envisioned it often enough while he was in the jungle. Just as he'd envisioned his office, Sam's lab, the Gate Room, General Hammond's office. During his captivity, he would walk the grey corridors of the SGC in his mind, following the green and yellow or red and green stripes on the floors. He had tried not to wander into the commissary, but the infirmary, clean and well-lighted – not where he'd died, but where he had always gotten well – was somewhere he had visited regularly. In the middle of the night when fear would overwhelm him, he would seek shelter in the one place where he had felt safe and been cared for.

On Level 11, they switched to the elevator that would take them to their destination. The cart with the baggage from Guantanamo was still in the corner. The closer they got to Level 21, the longer it seemed to take. Daniel's heart beat faster and harder, until his chest began to ache. What if he opened his eyes and he and William were still in the shack? What if everything he had lived through during the past three weeks was all a dream? What if Jack hadn't found them?

The doors opened. Someone issued an order to "ten-hut," and Daniel opened his eyes. Lining each side of the corridor a row of airmen, SFs, and marines dressed in green and brown camouflage BDUs stood to attention, weapons at their sides, faces impassive, alert, inscrutable. This hadn't been in any of his dreams. How could he be sure that it was real?

"Jack?" Daniel asked. "Stop a minute."

"What's up?"

"How far do you figure it is to the door?"

"About fifty feet," Jack answered. "Why?"

"Where's the walker?"

"What?"

"The walker. Where is it?"

"Daniel?"

"Fifty feet," Daniel murmured.

"What?" Jack said again.

"The walker. Please, Jack."

Stretching toward the luggage cart, Jack got the walker and opened it in front of the wheelchair. Daniel reached down and moved the leg rests, then placed his hands on either side of the walker and pulled himself up.

"Ready?" asked Jack, standing just behind him.

Determined, Daniel nodded and took his first steps forward out of the elevator and into the hall. Legs trembling, shoulders aching, he lifted the walker up, placed it ahead of him, and started the process all over again. At a painfully slow pace, they made their way. Twice Daniel paused because his legs threatened to give out from under him. A little out of breath, he stopped before General Hammond and offered his hand.

"Welcome home, Doctor Jackson," he said, taking Daniel's hand in an affectionate grip.

The pain in Daniel's eyes was obvious, and the General released his hand quickly with an understanding nod.

"Thank you, Sir," Daniel said with an exhausted smile, his words slow and precise. "It's good to be home."