Chulak

Title: Chulak
Series: Guide Search
Author: Saydria Wolfe
Pairing: Jack O’Neill/Real’c
Summary: A series of mind games, what-ifs and roads not taken from other projects I am working on. All in the same universe. It’ll be fun!

Jack is a guide.

He had been identified at the end of puberty like so many others. Even then his intuition was fully active, he had a greater-than-average dose of precognition and he could throw around the voice when he absolutely had to but his empathy was shoddy. Hit-and-miss. Unreliable.

Hell, he’d seen his spirit guide before. He saw his lion playing in the sand with Skaara’s on the first Abydos mission. He wasn’t sure if it was frustrating or fitting that his was scrawny, underfed and maneless thing while Skaara’s was big, sleek and a full blown maneater.

Jack is latent.

“What is this?” A strong hand grabs him, touches him. Even through metal gloves and the layers of his battle uniform the touch is intense. Life altering. Jack’s world tilts on its axis.

“It’s a watch. ”

“This is not goa’uld technology. Where are you from?”

Snarking something about Chicago might not be a wise choice but what else can he do? This great, big, hulking arm of the devil is his sentinel. His. The guy’s not online and was found on a planet on the opposite side of the galaxy but oh so very, very Jack O’Neill’s.

Jack should know. He has touched a lot of sentinels in a lot of ways hoping for that world-tipping moment. The moment that ideally would send him online but didn’t. Couldn’t? Did this kinda thing work? for aliens and all?

Tall, dark and tasty draws a line through Danny’s sand sketch and walks away but Jack can feel him in the back of his mind. Confused, Tasty is confused and frustrated but he locks it down and leaves the over-crowded cell without glancing back at Jack.

Jack huffs, frustrated. Get it together, Jackass, get your people out. He starts to wish Skaara -or Kawalsky- was there but stops himself. Kawalsky is holding base camp with the cavalry and Skaara is laid up, gut shot, in the SGC infirmary.

He didn’t bother to hide his smirk. His spirit’s son had done so well. With less than a minute of physical contact as Apophis evaluated and rejected Skaara, the youngster had harvested at least three relevant gate addresses and downloaded a god’s-eye-view of goa’uld culture and history.

So much vital intelligence Skaara’s mind compressed and suppressed it. More came out every time they found the right question. Skaara’s guide status insured questions were only asked. Sentinels in the mountain would not tolerate any abuse.

His ‘kid’ will be safe on Earth, in the mountain, for years.

When Jack sees Tasty again he stands at the top of the stairs surrounded by armored men and slaves in silk. He is so obviously the boss of them. It’s pretty great.

Then Jackson loses his shit over some fairy princeling and all Jack can feel, see and hear is the pity pouring off of his sentinel, the sad shake of his metal covered head.

“Kill the rest.” Chief Snake’s multi-tone voice is cold and hot and strangely happy all at the same time. Like a serial killer.

A spike of pain from the dark form knifes Jack’s chest. Civilians run screaming to the back wall. Tasty moved to join the firing squad.

“I can save these people! ” Tasty stops, bringing his weapon to bear on Jack. “HELP ME!!”

The pain spikes in his chest, twisting just so before it cuts off and flares into a white phosphorus flare of hope.

“Help me.”

“Many have said that,” the thick, chocolate voice is heavy with contempt. Abruptly the sentinel whirls and fires on his own men. “But you are the first I believed could do it.”

The guards fall like well-armored dolls. Shoulder to shoulder Jack and Tasty charge the cell door, scattering reinforcements long enough for Jack to blow a hole in the back wall for their escape.

The thud of falling armor pulls Jack’s attention back into the room. The sentinel is the only one in the room. He looks frighteningly alone. Lost.

“Hey! Come on.”

Black eyes are broken.”I have nowhere to go.”

“For this, you can stay at my place.”