Alternate Universe Rambles 7
Religion And Politics, Self And Selflessness...
by Bethany
URL: http://www.stargateslash.com/asb/bethany7/altern07.php
Summary: SGC Chaplain David Rossi thinks about most of the big questions in life that really matter, and about his friends and loved ones who work with him at the SGC....
Info: Couples from many shows and crossover pairings - Characters from all over the place - inc. Foyle's War's Samantha Stewart. I've always wanted to do a FW/SG1/ Torchwood Crossover - This is one step closer!!!
SGC Chaplain, David Rossi, had never been your typical Christian. He was forward thinking, compared to a lot of people in his faith. Not least because he knew he was gay, and he hadn't entered into religion to try and correct himself. He was also forward thinking by the nature of where he worked, in a place that knew all about the existence of aliens, a very futuristic matter! The thing was, the dilemmas the people he ministered to were having, were still pretty much the same as those from the beginning of time..! And, yes, he worked in a field where it was a little easier to literally see the false gods God warned of – For this reason; it was also, at times, even harder for those who had it to begin with, to keep the faith – Not such a knew dilemma, especially in an environment where Believers face Military action of some kind every single day.
David Rossi's partner, Aaron Hotchner, another man who faced the worst of what the world, or the universe, had to offer on quite a regular basis, also struggled with some of the same dilemmas, of course. Aaron was a Criminal Psychologist/ Criminologist – Unfortunately, this already extremely demanding job also required him to sign the Official Secrets Act, and know about the Stargate – On occasion, his and his colleagues expertise was needed during interrogations of a nemesis of some kind. Getting to understand the psyche of an alien hell-bent on killing off your race was, to put in mildly, a damn tough job, but most of these 'aliens' were of Tauri/Earth origin anyway, and so, the best person to stand a chance of understanding them, was the most qualified person/people in the field, on Earth... Hence, Aaron and co. Had been picked, as they were undeniably expert in their work. Occasionally, they were called in to help with an Earth-born criminal too, unfortunately.
There was misfortune in everyone's lives – Many people who worked for the SGC had complicated lives to begin with! Well, everyone did..!
David had just been talking with Jim O'Neill, a man who had very recently become the father of twins, who, by 'alien' lab work ingenuity, were the genetic combination of him and his now partner, Daniel Ballard. They weren't the only SGC couple in a similar situation, and, to be honest, a state of worry... Sometimes, it was easy to see how people could believe that their colleagues who didn't have family, or, through other circumstances, kept them at arms length, had an easier time of it in this respect – All of the adoptive, new parents, who had taken their babies home from those labs, and were, with a lot of debate, allowed to keep them – worried now about putting them in the way of SGC related danger, just by the nature of what tended to happen around here, AND they fretted about whether their Government would ever leave them and their children alone – un-plagued by committees and Medical Evaluations, to determine the alien's purpose for the children's creation – Making sure that it wasn't some kind of intention to take over the world!!
Earlier, David had been talking to Cam Mitchell, whose SG team had been stood down for a couple of days. Cam was taking his girlfriend Vala, and their daughter, also the result of the alien lab work, home to spend some time with his family... Cam had been talking about childhood memories of going to church with his grandma...
Everett Young had also been talking confidentially with David Rossi. The man's life had been put through the ringer, or the Stargate, just lately...
He had faced big conflict with a man named Doctor Nicholas Rush, whom had now been transferred, because the man had believed him not worthy of leading an SG-Team. A big clash after one particular mission had, Everett confessed, left him sorely tempted to leave Doctor Nicholas Rush behind, BUT he knew that if he did that, he would become guilty of all the things Rush accused him of, not least of all, in this situation, when rescuing the man was possible, leaving him behind would have made Everett a murderer. The fact that Everett Young had felt so tested troubled his conscience greatly – David was trying to help him see that he had passed that test – That he did the right thing – That he could not afford to hate himself, neither did he deserve to – He had been under great stress in many areas of his life at the time, and Rush had targeted him very unfairly!
Everett Young had been married, but his marriage had split up around the time when Rush was right in the middle of his campaign to bring down Everett. Everett's marriage had split because he had found his wife in bed with a man, another colleague who Everett Young thought he could trust... Young felt hugely trampled on, and disrespected, emasculated, judged as inadequate yet again. He had beaten up the soldier he found in bed with his wife. But eventually, it also meant he had to face not just a court martial and a divorce, but the real reason his marriage had broken up irreparably, and his wife had gone against the vows of her marriage, was the fact that Everett Young was in denial about his sexuality. He, too, was gay – Not that he was openly, outright allowed to admit it – No wonder the man had stuck with denial on this matter elsewhere in his life – Not just in his work environment! He would face Dismissal from the USAF if anyone ever, officially, found out about his sexuality, of course – black-marked, listed as a case of 'Dishonourable Discharge'. He lived in some fear that Nicholas Rush would still, one day, make all that happen – Even though he, too, had been judged in court, and by the court's findings, persuaded to go quietly, to move on...
Mostly through deduction, David had gathered that Everett was in a new relationship – with Matthew Scott, another Airman employed here at the SGC. Matt knew about denying his sexuality, too – Every gay person at the SGC did, to a degree! Matt, however, like Everett, had tried to live the life of a 'straight' man. He had turned to religion for the sake of trying to correct himself; he had also married early, become a father, and suffered a broken marriage leading to a divorce where he hardly ever saw his son and daughter these days, because his ex wife had never been able to forgive him for being gay... She had, in recent years though, come around somewhat, at least allowing Matt to use some of his considerable wage packet, to pay Maintenance on behalf of his son and daughter... Matt missed being a part of his kids' lives, but harking back to David's earlier thoughts, reasoned that it was probably best he didn't risk the children getting caught up anymore than they already were, just by being citizens of Earth, in the war(s) that the SGC fought...
There was quite a large community of gay people at the SGC, David Rossi knew this, even if he could never officially admit to it, for his or their sake...
Yesterday, he had been down to the SGC Army Mechanics and Flight Engineering Departments. He knew that there were some gay couples among those who worked there. Gene Hunt, the Army Mechanic Team's leader, was with someone of his team – Samuel Tyler, and two other men on that team were an item. Ray Carling and Christopher Skelton. The three women on that team; Samantha Stewart, Alex Drake, and Sharon Granger were not however! – Gay, or an item!
In the Flight Engineer Department, where Seamus Harper, Dee Doyle, Tom Paris, Bella Torres, and Takoda Chakotay worked; Rossi knew that Chakotay and Paris were together.
Also yesterday, Rossi had spoken with SG5; General Bailey Malone, Colonel John Grant, Major George Fraley, Major Grace Alvarez, Captain Sally Watters, and Captain Rachel Burke (whose brother Danny worked at Area 51, and was partner to the SGC's Patrick Jane; more privileged information Rossi had correctly surmised)... David Rossi knew that Malone and Fraley, at the very least, had the history of a relationship. Also, Rossi had an inkling that there was chemistry between Grace and Sally, too!
Then, there was Archaeology Expert Blair Sandburg, pal of Doctor Daniel Ballard, who for some time, he had confided in Rossi, had the biggest crush on his team-mate, Jim Ellison, who seemed wholeheartedly unaware of his friend's feelings, and considered them more like brothers to one another – Blair almost left the SGC because he knew he should not be mooning after his comrade – That it could get his team; consisting of himself, James Ellison and Colonel Simon Banks, in deep trouble. But then, Blair met someone else, truly fell in love, and his emotions evened out again... Blair was with SG6's Jarodson Doe. Blair Sandburg and Jaorodson Doe were not on the same SG-Team, but their teams, and SG5, often worked together...
David and Aaron's friends, Leland Stottlemeyer and Charles Kroeger, were another of the SGC's gay couples... Two more of their colleagues at the Academy Hospital, Drs. Ray Barnett and Michael Gallant were also...
Yes. Everyone here at the SGC had a lot going on in their lives, much to consider at every turn, and they were all, undeniably, under a lot of pressure! That was the one thing they could not deny, even though they were actually sometimes asked to deny that, too! Chaplain David Rossi was among them – He always had to decide, for the sake of the planet, which secrets to keep and which not; as well as dealing with his own innermost thoughts, he constantly helped others come to terms with theirs, good or bad... And today, David Rossi just wanted to get home to his lover, Aaron Hotchner. It was miraculous the man was at home, and not away solving a crime... But, thank God, Aaron was home, and David prayed that tonight, they could be together...
The End
