Prompt 116.5

[a_blackpanther]

Five reactions of friends and family of SGC/Atlantis/Destiny personnel when the Stargate Project finally became public.

Participation is open to all. If this is your own prompt, you're free to write to it (please do!). Post your list as a comment to this post, adding additional comments if you exceed the character limit. It's OK to post as Anonymous, then come out later or not as you choose. Responses will be screened until February 14 to see what people come up with independently. You can still respond to the prompt after the February 14 unveiling.

General info and a place to ask questions: the comm 'welcome' post.

Technical-support questions: tech help.

Suggestions: the suggestion box.

To supply a new prompt: the open call for prompts.

Subject-line spoiler warnings for SGU, thanks!


February 14 is the official due date. If you're posting a response after the unveiling announcement on February 14 please copy the link to your comment, click on the 'set 116' tag, and reply to the post 'Set 116 Responses Unscreened' with the link to your new comment-response. That helps people find and read and comment on responses that weren't there when they cruised through right after the reveal. Pimp the link in your journal, too, if you want to let your flist know you've posted something new.

Comments

probaly not what the prompter had in mind, but....

[archersangel (from livejournal.com)]

"cool!"

"can i go through the stargate sometime?"

"ever do it with an alien?"

"i knew the government was covering up the existence of extraterrestrials!"

"how much do you get paid?"

Re: probaly not what the prompter had in mind, but....

[shena8.livejournal.com]

LOL! I could see myself saying all of this myself (except possibly #4).

Very funny!

Re: probaly not what the prompter had in mind, but....

[sid]

LOL!

"ever do it with an alien?" = priceless!

Five reactions of friends and family (part 1)

[shena8.livejournal.com]

Title: Five reactions of friends and family
Author: Shenandoah Risu
Rating: PG-13
Content Flags: character death
Spoilers: none/ post series
Characters: Emily Young, Patricia Armstrong, Matthew Balic, Sharon Walker, Maryann Wallace
Author's Notes: Written for prompt set #116 at sg1_five_things.
Disclaimer: I don't own SGU. I wouldn't know what to do with it. Now, Young... Young I'd know what to do with. ;-)
Thanks for reading! Feedback = Love. ;-)

*

Five reactions of friends and family

Emily Harrison (formerly Young) is navigating the crazy Washington DC rush hour traffic as the music on the classical station ends and the signal for a special announcement sounds.

Her heart seems to skip a few beats as she listens to the President’s announcement, making the Stargate Program public knowledge. She gasps, fumbles for the volume knob; her hands are shaking so hard she has to look down to find it.

She never sees the 18-wheeler cutting across in front of her.

As the rescue workers cut her out of the smoldering wreckage she’s already in a coma with no obvious brain activity.

Everett Young’s heart breaks again when he is called to Earth via the communication stones. They haven’t spoken in half a lifetime but it’s still hard for him to act as a witness as they turn off the machines sustaining her life.

oOo

Patricia Armstrong has been quietly selling off her belongings for years – jewelry, artwork, prized collections, antiques, furniture, and finally the big mansion and surrounding estate. She’s moved into a small apartment in downtown DC – ostensibly to be closer to the arts scene.

She’s a guest of honor at the President’s speech when the Stargate Program goes public. She says a few well thought-out words about her late husband, and her daughter, who by now must be about as old as she was the last time she saw her.

And the next day she gives all of her considerable wealth away to colleges all over the world, endowing scholarships for young visionaries, for students like her daughter who stood up in the face of adversity and made something out of nothing, who survived unimaginable odds.

She spends her days reading essays and testimonies, and she realizes that Chloe was just one of countless extraordinary young people, and they all feel like her children to her now. Choosing the recipients of the scholarships gives her life new meaning, because Chloe’s spirit lives on in every single one of them.

oOo

Matthew Balic wasn’t exactly a popular kid in school, and he wasn’t the center of the party in college, either. But when his work colleagues find out he’s the son of one of those lost on the Destiny at the edge of the universe a long time ago, he’s suddenly the hottest topic at the water cooler.

He’s uncomfortable with his newfound fame, avoiding the press and the celebrity status. He takes care of his mother who has been fighting bouts of alcoholism for as long as he can remember. Now he can afford the best programs and treatments for her, and all he wants is for the attention from the outside world to go away so that she can get better.

His father comes to visit occasionally, but it’s hard for him to connect with the man who looks different every time he shows up.

Truthfully, he just wants to be left alone.

oOo

(continued in part 2)

Five reactions of friends and family (part 2)

[shena8.livejournal.com]

(for full header see part 1)

oOo

Sharon Walker has written a book about her life with Camile Wray when she hears that the program was made public. She stares at the huge text file she has amassed and then sits back down and edits the whole thing, putting all the classified bits and pieces back into her memoir.

Camile hasn’t come to see her in so long she can barely remember. They have slowly drifted apart and after all those years they feel more like former best friends than life partners.

Still, the declassification brings a renewed bout of visits and they rekindle their relationship.

When she hears of Camile’s death so far away she cancels her book signing and goes to see one of her dearest friends whom she would never have met had it not been for the Destiny and all the heartbreak she has caused.

oOo

Maryann Wallace is beyond caring about the Stargate Program, or Presidents’ speeches, or declassifications, nosy reporters or high-priced interview offers. Sharon is the only one who comes to see her at least once a week. She brings her flowers, she sits and talks to her, she laughs and cries with her like any good friend would.

Maryanne Wallace passed away quietly in her son’s arms many years ago.

Sharon brings newspaper clippings with her. She places them in an envelope after she’s read them to her, and then she tucks the package under the thick vines covering her grave.

And in her mind Maryann hugs her, and they cry a little, and they laugh a little.

And life goes on.

oOo

Re: Five reactions of friends and family (part 2)

[sid]

This is a fascinating look into the future. I especially like the one about young Matthew, and the impossibility of bonding with someone who's more 'science fiction' than real to him.

Poor Emily. That was a shocker! I hope she had a good life in between canon and this abrupt ending to it all. :-/

Re: Five reactions of friends and family (part 2)

[shena8.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I really love Emily, so when this happened it surprised me completely. I tried to bend it another way but it just didn't feel right. So Young gets yet another whump... And poor little Matt. Such a cute kid. I wish we could find out for real how his story continues...

Re: Five reactions of friends and family (part 2)

[cantarina]

This is lovely! I was really shocked by Emily's story (I can't believe you did that!) and there was a lovely sweetness to Sharon and Maryann's sections. Matthew's dissociation from it all is a nice little aside too; someone completely normal, completely on the outside of it, but still caught up. And I can't even imagine the incredible strength it must have taken your Patricia Armstrong to sit next to the President while he revealed the existence of Stargates after they'd taken so much from her!

Re: Five reactions of friends and family (part 2)

[shena8.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the thoughtful comments. Yeah, Emily shocked me, too... I Had something very different in mind for her because I love the character, but you know how sometimes a story can take on a life of its own, and Emily just wanted to die - it seemed more in character for her to be so shocked by the news that she would make that fatal mistake... Poor Matt, too... and yes, Ms Armstrong totally surprised me as well. Thanks again for the response.

[anotherdreamer5.livejournal.com]

Yes. I loved this, but especially the bit about Matt's son. Just a painful, honest look at the future. so sad.