Title: Gavilan
Author's LJ/DWJ: unknown
Categories: Teal'c, character:original, drama
Warnings: none
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Fan Fiction
Link to story: Gavilan

Why this should be read: I recced this one back in early 2007, and it's even better than I remembered!

This intriguing fic, written before Tangent aired, gives us a fascinating original character: a pilot flying the converted death glider from The Serpent's Lair, and his observations of the civilian that the Air Force insists he take along on a test flight – a mysterious, enigmatic, silent man who seems to be codenamed "Teal'c." And when the routine flight takes a sudden serious turn, the pilot finds himself awed not only by Teal'c's undeniable expertise, but also by his character, his courtesy, and his grace.

It's rare to find an author who can create an original character and invest him with personality and depth without allowing that creation to take over the story entirely. Elysium walks the perfect line here; Major Mike Gavilan treats us to his initial reluctance to deal with Teal'c, his growing admiration and awe for his skills, and his confused ignorance of everything that he shouldn't know, and doesn't get to find out.

Some of this is clearly AU for what we know of SG-1 today: Jack never did bother to learn to speak Go'auld, and of course this death glider doesn't have Apophis' recall device. But I enjoyed this story for its intelligence, its narrator, its interesting storyline, and Elysium's wonderful portrayal of Teal'c as seen by an outsider. And when we do get Teal'c's perspective on events, his POV is marvelous - his bemusement and amusement with the Tau'ri, their world, and their youth.

Despite the annoying white-text-on-black-screen setup - if you can, toggle off the page colors for an easier read - Gavilan is a story that any fan of Teal'c is sure to savor.



Colonel O'Neill's voice returned to the comm, "Teal'c, how do you feel about that glider?"

Uh, who is in command here?

"I believe it is worthy."

"Worthy enough to sneak up on that aircraft?"

Sneak up!? Gavilan cut the external com.

"Teal'c," he said, trying to keep the anger out his voice, "I was told the maximum speed on this bird is mach two. So what is it, really?"

"We should have little difficulty overtaking the intruder."

Damn. So when were they going to tell me? But he answered his own question. Probably when we were ready for the next phase of tests.

"Ok, so we're fast--what's our ceiling?"

"This will not be a problem."

"What do you mean 'this will not be a problem'?"

The answer was silence.

What the HELL are we flying!? And why wasn't I told?