Fic: Faces of the Past
May. 6th, 2013 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emeraldsnakesTitle: Faces of the Past
Series: Set in an alternate Quantum Mirror'Verse of camshaft22's SG1 Blackhawks AU and my own contribution(s)
Fandom(s): Stargate SG-1/Hockey RPF
Pairing(s): n/a
Rating: PG-13
Words: 1,698
Summary: “So how pissed were they?” “Pissed, so very pissed.”
Notes: Trope_bingo prompt: Au: Magic
Content Warnings: n/a
Hockey, the premier sport of the Ice Mages. Not that it was only a sport for Ice Mages, there was no Mage affinity requirement, and what magics you could use was strictly limited. Ice Mages had the advantage though, they had the awareness of not just the puck but of the other players and their positions on the ice.
Most days Jon tried to develop his awareness but his concentration sucked. He was lucky he was so damn good at the rest of Hockey and that he could read the plays without having to feel it. He knew it didn’t help that Ice wasn’t his affinity - now or the first time around - and that he wasn’t used to the subtleties of such a solid state, but he’d wanted to leave the burden of his previous training behind and being a Wind Mage wasn’t going far enough. Sharpie tried to help him, to give him exercises before or after a practice. Even Tazer gave him some pointers out of his own bizarre way of looking at his magic, but Jon just wasn’t a proper Ice Mage. He could freeze water, manipulate the moisture in the air, and he could move ice in both practical and battle formations, but he couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t follow the patterns of the freezing in order to cut it right and make pretty little figurines, or tell where other people were on it, or even tell if someone was using Ice Magic if he couldn’t see it.
He did whatever he could to hide how inaccurate his title was. Magic elements could be taught to anyone, with enough practice, but only those with an affinity to that element could advance far enough in their training to earn the title of Mage. His title wasn’t faked, he’d done all the tests to earn it, but he’d only been able to earn it by using his previous mage training, and even then he’d barely made it. It was worth it. He’d been tired of the expectations from before, the pressure and the constant need to refuse the idiots higher up and use all his authority to do it. He was happy to let the old guy continue to deal with it
“Watch the news this morning?” Sharpie asked him at practice almost every morning.
It was one of their things since Sharpie knew damn well that Jon didn’t watch the morning news, especially the Mage gossip rags. Jon preferred to watch the weather, traffic and sports reports and let Sharpie tell him everything else. After practice he’d then pick up a newspaper to read about what his best friend didn’t consider important.
“The Russian Government say’s we’ve got a Storm Mage and they’re planning to not only prove it, but out the guy.”
Jon raised an eyebrow, trying to look skeptical and not like he was freaking out on the inside. “And we believe them because?”
“Because they’ve said they’ve worked with him,” Hossa, in the stall on Jon’s left, told him.
“So? That argument’s been made before yet ended up being a lie.”
The same could be said for every other argument in the book. Storm Mages were the rarest of all Mages, and not for a lack of trying. Every government once had or did have a Storm Mage training program and although it wasn’t too difficult to teach even a Wind Mage the different pressure systems and conditions that went into identifying a storm, it was a completely different matter to create one. Not small wind storms or even thunder storms, Storm Mages could penitentially create high category hurricanes, tornados and other natural weather disasters, except it wasn’t that simple. Storm Mage students continually pushed themselves, overestimated their ability to control and created storms just too damn powerful and too damn close. Jon, as Jack, had never done anything that stupid, even when the brass pushed him to expand his skill. He’d been patient, stubborn, and cautious, and as s a result, he became the only Storm Mage the United States had ever had, and didn’t kill himself trying to do so.
The United States hadn’t had a Storm Program since his success, the official word being that it was becoming too hazardous to warrant so many lives. Most other countries had either bowed out before or after them for varying but similar reasons. America wasn’t the only country to have Storm Mages though, even secret ones. Canada and Japan had four, England two, and France, Israel, China and Australia all had one. Jon knew of at least three others that weren’t globally out: a woman from Iraq, a man from Germany, and a man from Brazil. Doubtless there were more but they were probably better off being unknown.
“There hasn’t been a accusation like this in five years,” Sharpie argued. “Why now, and why us, if its not true?”
“Maybe because its been five years? We have pretty strict regulations and weather monitors to prevent anyone from training to be a Storm Mage,” Jon shed his civilian clothes and begun pulling on his equipment. “Sure, there was a twenty year period between the regulations and the shut down of our Storm Mage Program, but come on, you believe the Russians?”
“Eh,” Sharpie shrugged, “who knows. It’d be quite the story if they’re right.”
It’d be a problem, not a story. Mage reporters kept a pretty close eye on Storm Mage “for the good of the people” and if the Russians outed Jack, there’d be a big fuss about getting access to his background and knowing when and where he’d ever created a storm. There weren’t any laws stopping them from investigating to their heart’s content either. A little bit of highly classified, national security like the Stargate Program wasn’t likely to stop them without a very good reason and Jon couldn’t think of any aside from the obvious.
XxxxxxxxxxX
Jon waited for weeks for Sharpie to update him on the big Storm Mage reveal but everything was quiet. Instead the mage reports were all about some fire dancer he’d never heard of, Justin Bieber’s fight with the Earth Mage testing facility he’d been kicked out of and, courtesy of Kaner, an in depth discussion on why Twilight’s Vampire Mages could all become Storm Mages. He definitely hadn’t needed to know that, not that Kaner had cared, he never cared that the locker room didn’t share his love for sparkling stalker vampires.
The silence was killing him, coupled with the waiting and the not knowing. Paul was being tight lipped on the subject, whether to protect him or because he no longer had active clearance, Jon wasn’t sure. He hadn’t even bothered trying to call Jack knowing he wouldn’t get anything, and he hadn’t seen a point in trying to contact anyone else. He knew that if he seemed too interested someone would take notice, probably the Russians, and they might start investigating him. The last thing he needed was to be outed as a clone and a Storm Mage.
But he needed to be prepared. If the Russians declared Jack the Storm Mage it would only be a matter of time before the Stargate Program was forced into declassification. He knew he wasn’t in any mission reports but his background had Air Force written all over it and if the media didn’t start making connections, his team sure as hell would.
When he finally heard something worth hearing, it didn’t come from Sharpie. He was having dinner at Hossa’s, playing with his daughter after dinner while Jana cleaned up (because she wouldn’t let him do it) half listening to the news running on the TV. He wouldn’t have heard anything at all, in fact, but Marian forced his attention towards the screen.
“We’ve been beginning to wonder when the Russian Government was going to fulfill its promise to reveal our apparent Storm Mage and why they still haven’t, a new law has slipped by everyone and been passed that suggest we do, in fact, have one. Mage Law has always allowed for the complete investigation into a Storm Mage’s life but now that is no longer the case. This new law states that government confidentiality may no longer be breached when reporting on a Storm Mage’s activity and that all instances will be subject to prosecution under treason.”
Jon stared at the TV stunned, ignoring the continued report on the outraged response to the bill. He - Jack - was protected. Not necessarily from being named or having his training record revealed, but all those missions! The Russians probably did know it was Jack, if they government had taken such care to pass this bill not only so quickly but so quietly. He wondered if they would go through with their promise now knowing so much less would come of it.
“That certainly throws a wrench into everything,” Marian stated.
Jon laughed, probably a little hysterically, “It so does.”
“Still think the Russians were lying?”
“No,” Jon chose to pretend he didn’t see the smirk on Marian’s face, “But we just screwed them over.”
XxxxxxxxxxX
“So how pissed were they?”
“Pissed, so very pissed.”
Jon and Jack shared a triumphant smirk and took a drink from their beers.
“Why’d they do it?”
Jack sighed, “They’ve been pushing for declassification, but as you know all involved countries have to be in agreement for the process to start. I guess they thought that they could force it by calling out my Mage status, except we’d been working on passing that bill for months, so we stalled them until it did.”
“You have?”
“Don’t look so surprised,” Jack shifted uncomfortably. “We both knew this day would come sooner or later and we’re damn lucky it was later. I’m just trying to protect our rights while I’m in the position to do it, mostly for when I’m gone and you’re the only Storm Mage left.”
Jon frowned into his beer. Fucking hell, he’d gotten idealistic. Just because he had Ice Mage status didn’t mean the military, and essentially the government, recognized otherwise. He was still a Storm Mage, would always be a Storm Mage, and would never have Jack’s authority to tell the government to fuck off and get away with it.
“Thanks,” he mumbled, feeling his cheeks heat.
“Don’t mention it. Ever. Or the back up plan Davis and Jackson are working on.”
Series: Set in an alternate Quantum Mirror'Verse of camshaft22's SG1 Blackhawks AU and my own contribution(s)
Fandom(s): Stargate SG-1/Hockey RPF
Pairing(s): n/a
Rating: PG-13
Words: 1,698
Summary: “So how pissed were they?” “Pissed, so very pissed.”
Notes: Trope_bingo prompt: Au: Magic
Content Warnings: n/a
Hockey, the premier sport of the Ice Mages. Not that it was only a sport for Ice Mages, there was no Mage affinity requirement, and what magics you could use was strictly limited. Ice Mages had the advantage though, they had the awareness of not just the puck but of the other players and their positions on the ice.
Most days Jon tried to develop his awareness but his concentration sucked. He was lucky he was so damn good at the rest of Hockey and that he could read the plays without having to feel it. He knew it didn’t help that Ice wasn’t his affinity - now or the first time around - and that he wasn’t used to the subtleties of such a solid state, but he’d wanted to leave the burden of his previous training behind and being a Wind Mage wasn’t going far enough. Sharpie tried to help him, to give him exercises before or after a practice. Even Tazer gave him some pointers out of his own bizarre way of looking at his magic, but Jon just wasn’t a proper Ice Mage. He could freeze water, manipulate the moisture in the air, and he could move ice in both practical and battle formations, but he couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t follow the patterns of the freezing in order to cut it right and make pretty little figurines, or tell where other people were on it, or even tell if someone was using Ice Magic if he couldn’t see it.
He did whatever he could to hide how inaccurate his title was. Magic elements could be taught to anyone, with enough practice, but only those with an affinity to that element could advance far enough in their training to earn the title of Mage. His title wasn’t faked, he’d done all the tests to earn it, but he’d only been able to earn it by using his previous mage training, and even then he’d barely made it. It was worth it. He’d been tired of the expectations from before, the pressure and the constant need to refuse the idiots higher up and use all his authority to do it. He was happy to let the old guy continue to deal with it
“Watch the news this morning?” Sharpie asked him at practice almost every morning.
It was one of their things since Sharpie knew damn well that Jon didn’t watch the morning news, especially the Mage gossip rags. Jon preferred to watch the weather, traffic and sports reports and let Sharpie tell him everything else. After practice he’d then pick up a newspaper to read about what his best friend didn’t consider important.
“The Russian Government say’s we’ve got a Storm Mage and they’re planning to not only prove it, but out the guy.”
Jon raised an eyebrow, trying to look skeptical and not like he was freaking out on the inside. “And we believe them because?”
“Because they’ve said they’ve worked with him,” Hossa, in the stall on Jon’s left, told him.
“So? That argument’s been made before yet ended up being a lie.”
The same could be said for every other argument in the book. Storm Mages were the rarest of all Mages, and not for a lack of trying. Every government once had or did have a Storm Mage training program and although it wasn’t too difficult to teach even a Wind Mage the different pressure systems and conditions that went into identifying a storm, it was a completely different matter to create one. Not small wind storms or even thunder storms, Storm Mages could penitentially create high category hurricanes, tornados and other natural weather disasters, except it wasn’t that simple. Storm Mage students continually pushed themselves, overestimated their ability to control and created storms just too damn powerful and too damn close. Jon, as Jack, had never done anything that stupid, even when the brass pushed him to expand his skill. He’d been patient, stubborn, and cautious, and as s a result, he became the only Storm Mage the United States had ever had, and didn’t kill himself trying to do so.
The United States hadn’t had a Storm Program since his success, the official word being that it was becoming too hazardous to warrant so many lives. Most other countries had either bowed out before or after them for varying but similar reasons. America wasn’t the only country to have Storm Mages though, even secret ones. Canada and Japan had four, England two, and France, Israel, China and Australia all had one. Jon knew of at least three others that weren’t globally out: a woman from Iraq, a man from Germany, and a man from Brazil. Doubtless there were more but they were probably better off being unknown.
“There hasn’t been a accusation like this in five years,” Sharpie argued. “Why now, and why us, if its not true?”
“Maybe because its been five years? We have pretty strict regulations and weather monitors to prevent anyone from training to be a Storm Mage,” Jon shed his civilian clothes and begun pulling on his equipment. “Sure, there was a twenty year period between the regulations and the shut down of our Storm Mage Program, but come on, you believe the Russians?”
“Eh,” Sharpie shrugged, “who knows. It’d be quite the story if they’re right.”
It’d be a problem, not a story. Mage reporters kept a pretty close eye on Storm Mage “for the good of the people” and if the Russians outed Jack, there’d be a big fuss about getting access to his background and knowing when and where he’d ever created a storm. There weren’t any laws stopping them from investigating to their heart’s content either. A little bit of highly classified, national security like the Stargate Program wasn’t likely to stop them without a very good reason and Jon couldn’t think of any aside from the obvious.
XxxxxxxxxxX
Jon waited for weeks for Sharpie to update him on the big Storm Mage reveal but everything was quiet. Instead the mage reports were all about some fire dancer he’d never heard of, Justin Bieber’s fight with the Earth Mage testing facility he’d been kicked out of and, courtesy of Kaner, an in depth discussion on why Twilight’s Vampire Mages could all become Storm Mages. He definitely hadn’t needed to know that, not that Kaner had cared, he never cared that the locker room didn’t share his love for sparkling stalker vampires.
The silence was killing him, coupled with the waiting and the not knowing. Paul was being tight lipped on the subject, whether to protect him or because he no longer had active clearance, Jon wasn’t sure. He hadn’t even bothered trying to call Jack knowing he wouldn’t get anything, and he hadn’t seen a point in trying to contact anyone else. He knew that if he seemed too interested someone would take notice, probably the Russians, and they might start investigating him. The last thing he needed was to be outed as a clone and a Storm Mage.
But he needed to be prepared. If the Russians declared Jack the Storm Mage it would only be a matter of time before the Stargate Program was forced into declassification. He knew he wasn’t in any mission reports but his background had Air Force written all over it and if the media didn’t start making connections, his team sure as hell would.
When he finally heard something worth hearing, it didn’t come from Sharpie. He was having dinner at Hossa’s, playing with his daughter after dinner while Jana cleaned up (because she wouldn’t let him do it) half listening to the news running on the TV. He wouldn’t have heard anything at all, in fact, but Marian forced his attention towards the screen.
“We’ve been beginning to wonder when the Russian Government was going to fulfill its promise to reveal our apparent Storm Mage and why they still haven’t, a new law has slipped by everyone and been passed that suggest we do, in fact, have one. Mage Law has always allowed for the complete investigation into a Storm Mage’s life but now that is no longer the case. This new law states that government confidentiality may no longer be breached when reporting on a Storm Mage’s activity and that all instances will be subject to prosecution under treason.”
Jon stared at the TV stunned, ignoring the continued report on the outraged response to the bill. He - Jack - was protected. Not necessarily from being named or having his training record revealed, but all those missions! The Russians probably did know it was Jack, if they government had taken such care to pass this bill not only so quickly but so quietly. He wondered if they would go through with their promise now knowing so much less would come of it.
“That certainly throws a wrench into everything,” Marian stated.
Jon laughed, probably a little hysterically, “It so does.”
“Still think the Russians were lying?”
“No,” Jon chose to pretend he didn’t see the smirk on Marian’s face, “But we just screwed them over.”
XxxxxxxxxxX
“So how pissed were they?”
“Pissed, so very pissed.”
Jon and Jack shared a triumphant smirk and took a drink from their beers.
“Why’d they do it?”
Jack sighed, “They’ve been pushing for declassification, but as you know all involved countries have to be in agreement for the process to start. I guess they thought that they could force it by calling out my Mage status, except we’d been working on passing that bill for months, so we stalled them until it did.”
“You have?”
“Don’t look so surprised,” Jack shifted uncomfortably. “We both knew this day would come sooner or later and we’re damn lucky it was later. I’m just trying to protect our rights while I’m in the position to do it, mostly for when I’m gone and you’re the only Storm Mage left.”
Jon frowned into his beer. Fucking hell, he’d gotten idealistic. Just because he had Ice Mage status didn’t mean the military, and essentially the government, recognized otherwise. He was still a Storm Mage, would always be a Storm Mage, and would never have Jack’s authority to tell the government to fuck off and get away with it.
“Thanks,” he mumbled, feeling his cheeks heat.
“Don’t mention it. Ever. Or the back up plan Davis and Jackson are working on.”
