Four ways Dave Sheppard didn’t find out about the Stargate Program:
i.
Dave hates the bitterness between them. He hates that they never took the chance to heal old wounds, that Dad’s dead and now they’ll never have that chance.
No matter what he said, Dave knows that John isn’t here for money. He wishes he hadn’t made the accusation, because it’s just one more hurt on top of everything else and because of the look in John’s eyes, but the sting of John leaving the wake halfway through was too much. He doesn’t really expect John to come back, and certainly not to look so entirely beat up and destroyed.
“What the hell happened?” Dave asks when John winces, sitting down on the sofa. He remembers how his brother broke his arm when he was seven and never shed a tear, didn’t even tell anyone until three hours later when their mother had asked why he was cradling it.
“Work,” John says succinctly.
It kills Dave, not knowing what John does or even where he’s stationed, not knowing whether John won’t tell him because it’s classified or because he doesn’t think he’d care.
“Work!” Dave yells. “What do you do that requires you to leave your father’s funeral and come back looking like you’re halfway to the grave yourself?”
“I got you security clearance,” John says, looking up at him with bruised eyes. “Do you really want to know?”
Dave nods, and John tells him.
ii.
Ever since John announced that he was joining the Air Force, Dave has been terrified by the image of an officer in crisp dress blues, unsmiling and holding a letter, showing up at his door.
It’s almost twenty years past John’s declaration when it actually happens.
The only real differences from Dave’s early vision are that there are two officers instead of one and that they have a video tape in place of a letter. Not only are they unsmiling and sober, the younger man –a major Dave reads from his insignia– looks totally wrecked.
They introduce themselves as General Jack O’Neill and Major Evan Lorne and they say the words Dave has dreaded for twenty years, “Your brother was killed in action. I’m sorry for your loss.” They say other words about John, how he died heroically, saving other people, the way he would have wanted. They say that he was a good man, that he had many friends. Dave wonders if he was happy.
“Colonel Sheppard left this for you,” Major Lorne says, holding out the video tape. Dave takes it with numb hands and watches the men leave.
When he puts in the tape, he is greeted with John’s smiling face on the television screen, at once familiar and half forgotten. “Hi Dave,” John says laconically, and the smile drops from his face for a moment. “If you’re watching this, then I’m sorry for what that must mean about me, but there are some things I want you to know.” John’s smile comes back full-force and he looks so much like their mother and so much like himself that Dave has to cry. “I want you to know that I was happy here,” John continues. “I want to tell you about something amazing called the Stargate Program.”
Four ways Dave Sheppard didn’t find out about the Stargate Program, and one way he did. [Part 1]
i.
Dave hates the bitterness between them. He hates that they never took the chance to heal old wounds, that Dad’s dead and now they’ll never have that chance.
No matter what he said, Dave knows that John isn’t here for money. He wishes he hadn’t made the accusation, because it’s just one more hurt on top of everything else and because of the look in John’s eyes, but the sting of John leaving the wake halfway through was too much. He doesn’t really expect John to come back, and certainly not to look so entirely beat up and destroyed.
“What the hell happened?” Dave asks when John winces, sitting down on the sofa. He remembers how his brother broke his arm when he was seven and never shed a tear, didn’t even tell anyone until three hours later when their mother had asked why he was cradling it.
“Work,” John says succinctly.
It kills Dave, not knowing what John does or even where he’s stationed, not knowing whether John won’t tell him because it’s classified or because he doesn’t think he’d care.
“Work!” Dave yells. “What do you do that requires you to leave your father’s funeral and come back looking like you’re halfway to the grave yourself?”
“I got you security clearance,” John says, looking up at him with bruised eyes. “Do you really want to know?”
Dave nods, and John tells him.
ii.
Ever since John announced that he was joining the Air Force, Dave has been terrified by the image of an officer in crisp dress blues, unsmiling and holding a letter, showing up at his door.
It’s almost twenty years past John’s declaration when it actually happens.
The only real differences from Dave’s early vision are that there are two officers instead of one and that they have a video tape in place of a letter. Not only are they unsmiling and sober, the younger man –a major Dave reads from his insignia– looks totally wrecked.
They introduce themselves as General Jack O’Neill and Major Evan Lorne and they say the words Dave has dreaded for twenty years, “Your brother was killed in action. I’m sorry for your loss.” They say other words about John, how he died heroically, saving other people, the way he would have wanted. They say that he was a good man, that he had many friends. Dave wonders if he was happy.
“Colonel Sheppard left this for you,” Major Lorne says, holding out the video tape. Dave takes it with numb hands and watches the men leave.
When he puts in the tape, he is greeted with John’s smiling face on the television screen, at once familiar and half forgotten. “Hi Dave,” John says laconically, and the smile drops from his face for a moment. “If you’re watching this, then I’m sorry for what that must mean about me, but there are some things I want you to know.” John’s smile comes back full-force and he looks so much like their mother and so much like himself that Dave has to cry. “I want you to know that I was happy here,” John continues. “I want to tell you about something amazing called the Stargate Program.”