Title: Rearranging Fate
Author's LJ/DWJ: redbyrd
Categories: theme: quantum mirror, drama, AU, Daniel, Jack, Sam, Kawalsky, episode related, team
Warnings: some language
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Redbyrd's Stargate Fanfiction
Link to story: Rearranging Fate

Why this should be read: Rearranging Fate begins with AU Charlie Kawalsky's POV in, well, POV, as he discovers exactly how essential Daniel Jackson has been to the success of "our" universe. The story follows Kawalsky through his parts of the episode, then turns its back on the quantum mirror to focus on what happens next, as Kawalsky lobbies to find "their" Daniel Jackson and make him a part of the SGA.

Redbyrd does a really wonderful job of extrapolating the differences between the mirror-POV universe and our own. From the moment we meet Daniel in Cairo to his unceremonious arrival at the SGA in handcuffs to the slow creation of this universe's version of a new SG-1, we're met with different choices and different paths that all seem eminently reasonable. Dr. Carter the civilian would hardly join her husband on SG-1, so Redbyrd gives us the canonical also-ran. The SGC would surely have given the SGA some essential mission reports, so we get to see Tonane's people and their "spirits" approached in the right way - although apparently, nothing can ever go right on Shyla's planet, even if you're forewarned against sarcophagi. In a really fascinating twist, the events of one particular late season 3 episode are paralleled at more or less the same timeframe... but with enough differences to leave the reader not quite sure of what's really happening!

This quantum mirror fic is one of my favorite Redbyrd stories, and I know you'll find it a long, satisfying read.

( snippet of fic... )