The klaxon sounded and Sergeant Walter Davis moved quickly to take his normal seat in the control room. “Incoming wormhole,” he told General Hammond, who was now standing at his back. “It’s SG-1, sir,” he continued after running his eyes over the information displayed on the screen.
The general nodded once and headed down to the gateroom. “Open the iris.” The parting order was given over his shoulder as he left the room.
Ten minutes later Walter, with a great deal of interest, viewed the crowd now gathered in the gateroom below. The Jaffa Bra’tac was on a gurney, being treated by one of the nurses; General Hammond was at the bottom of the ramp greeting SG-1 along with Rak’nor and Teal’c’s son, Ry’ac. Though Walter couldn’t hear what was being said he knew, without doubt, the mission had been a success.
Walter felt the tension leave his shoulders. His job, while seeming to be routine, was very wearing on the nerves at times. The things that he’d seen and heard while sitting in this chair over the past six or so years – well, he could write a book about them. ‘Then I’d have to kill anyone who read it,’ he thought with a secret smile remembering something Colonel O’Neill had once apparently said.
Though the action sometimes got intense and they actually came under fire from the other side of the wormhole, like they had when Teal’c had been recently injured, Walter loved his job. In fact, he hated coming back on shift and being told he’d missed something, hated hearing about the adventures second hand.
Walter hadn’t been at the SGC when Colonel O’Neill and Daniel Jackson had gone through the gate on the first mission to Abydos, he’d come in when Stargate Command had been officially set up after Apophis had come through a year later. Walter had been serving at NORAD but welcomed the incredible opportunities available with this new program.
SG-1 had quickly become his favorite team and he followed their adventures eagerly. He’d come to admire and know them all - Colonel O’Neill and his dislike and distrust of most of the Tok’ra, Daniel Jackson and his intense interest in anything to do with other cultures, Major Carter and her near obsession with anything technical and Teal’c and his immense honor and pride.
These people were heroes in the true sense of the word. They were a great bunch of people. They saved the world and then just got back on with the job, no fanfare.
Walter liked to watch people, had become quite an expert at reading body language. He found it easy to be quiet and unobtrusive, blend into the background, thus letting people interact freely.
He watched Colonel O’Neill put on his dumb act, he was sure it was an act though his belief was tested when Major Carter tried to explain anything technical. He was amused by Major Carter’s barely disguised annoyance with the colonel when he just didn’t get, or wasn’t interested in, what she was saying.
Walter sighed quietly. He’d seen so many amazing things over the years, so many triumphs and tragedies – though none so tragic as what had happened on Kelowna. Walter had been on shift the day SG-1 had returned from Jonas’ home world. He’d watched the iris open and Dr. Jackson come through with Major Carter hot on his heels. They didn’t stop but continued on and out of the room. That had been the last time Walter had seen Daniel Jackson, a man he had come to like and respect over the five years they had served together. Dr. Jackson had died many hours later, in agony, in the infirmary.
Though Walter was Air Force, he was also a science geek and had always had a good rapport with both Major Carter and Dr. Jackson. Walter and Dr. Jackson had a shared interest in ancient history. In fact, Dr. Jackson had loaned him some rare and out of print books to read, plus shown him some of the artifacts brought back from off world. Walter had come to identify with Dr. Jackson and that was why the doctor’s death and ascension had such an unexpected impact on Walter.
That year Dr. Jackson had been ascended had been . . . unsettling for everyone. Walter had watched replacement after replacement fail with SG-1 and came to privately agree with Colonel O’Neill that SG-1 should be a three-person team. He’d quickly picked up Colonel O’Neill’s distrust of Jonas Quinn and, without being privy to the discussions between General Hammond and Colonel O’Neill, could only speculate as to why the Kelownan had been allowed to join the flagship team.
But life goes on and things within the base continued pretty much as before, though the sense of comradeship was greatly diminished. Then Colonel O’Neill had announced Dr. Jackson had come to him to ask for help on Abydos. That mission was a failure – the only good coming from it was the tablet Dr. Jackson had told them to bring back.
Walter had sat with Major Carter afterwards as she had him try again and again to dial the Abydos gate, watching the anguish in her eyes. She’d told him quietly about what had happened, how Dr. Jackson had been with them and how she’d guessed he’d gone to take on Anubis but had obviously failed.
Finally, much to Walter’s relief, the wormhole had engaged but what SG-1 found on the other side sent them back to Earth beaten in spirit.
Walter had been with the General two months later when Major Pearce had contacted them from off world to advise that Daniel Jackson was back, flesh and blood again. Walter had been unable to keep the big grin off his face. Since that day the base had reverberated again with optimism, so sadly lacking the previous year.
Just a week ago he had sat with Dr. Jackson while the doctor had gone over and over gate records looking for something he couldn’t remember, something he eventually realized he’d seen while he had been ascended. Those memories had now born fruit and the rescue below had been the harvest.
Walter watched the crowd in the gateroom slowly dissipate, the wounded heading for the infirmary and the rest back to their normal posts. As SG-1 went past the control room Daniel Jackson glanced up and gave Walter a little smile.
Walter nodded, things in his world felt right once again.
I wrote a trio of stories dealing with SG-1’s feeling about Daniel’s return. Then I added Hammond and Fraiser. I just wanted to add someone more ‘out of the loop’
SEPTEMBER 23, 2003 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.