Earth hung below them, blue and whole and impossibly fragile.
Luna watched it through the shuttle's forward viewport with her chin resting in her hands, feet swinging idly above the deck as if gravity were merely a suggestion. She liked Earth from the outside. It felt quieter somehow, like looking at a sleeping animal instead of standing in the middle of its dreams.
Something is wrong, Egeria observed, her awareness sharp despite her continued inability to touch Luna's sight. There is a vessel leaving the planet. Small. Armed.
Luna leaned closer to the glass. "Oh," she said softly. "That one's going the wrong way."
A Goa'uld Death Glider though slightly altered from what Egeria could tell streaked past below them, engines flaring unevenly as it clawed for escape velocity—, unstable, but still very dangerous.
Inside it, two life signs.
I recognize one, Egeria said slowly. Jaffa. The other is human perhaps a Goa'uld escaping.
Luna tilted her head. "That seems unfair."
She tapped a control gently.
The Destiny shuttle did not surge or flare or announce itself. It simply… was, adjusting position with impossible smoothness, nudging space itself just enough that the Death Glider's trajectory bent. Not forced. Not hijacked.
Persuaded.
-------------------------
Earth's sky was not supposed to end like this.
Jack O'Neill knew that.
The X-301 had been designed to almost work—human ingenuity stitched together with scavenged Goa'uld technology, optimism layered thick over common sense. It was not meant to leave the atmosphere during its first ever test. It was also definitely never meant to keep going when every system said it should stop.
And yet—
"Still climbing," Jack muttered, hands white-knuckled on the controls. "That's… not good."
Teal'c studied the readings with growing concern. "The craft is no longer responding to manual input."
"No kidding," Jack said dryly. "I'm pressing everything."
The stars were coming into view now. That was worse.
Teal'c turned his head slightly. "O'Neill. I believe this may the work of Apophis."
Jack sighed. "Of course it is."
The X-301 shuddered as the ancient recall system activated and spoke aloud of the death of the Shol'va traitors—an invisible hand reaching out, pulling the hybrid craft toward a destiny it had never consented to.
And then—
The pull changed.
Not stopped.
Redirected.
The acceleration softened, trajectory bending subtly but decisively, as if space itself had decided to intervene.
Jack blinked. "Okay. Either I blacked out, or something just grabbed us."
Teal'c leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "There."
Ahead of them, drifting calmly in vacuum as if it belonged there, was a shuttle.
Not Goa'uld.
Not Earth.
Not anything he nor Teal'c recognized.
And standing inside it—standing, casually, as though gravity were optional—was a teenage girl with pale hair, radish earrings, and an expression of mild concern.
She waved.
Jack stared.
"…Huh," he said.
The shuttle glided closer without thrusters firing, movement smooth and precise in a way that made Jack's skin itch.
A channel opened.
"Oh good," the girl said brightly. "You can see me. Sometimes people can't."
Jack pointed at the screen. "Teal'c. There's a kid in space."
Teal'c inclined his head. "Indeed."
The girl smiled wider. "I'm Luna."
Jack rubbed his face. "Okay, Luna. Hi. I'm Jack. We're sort of… not supposed to be here."
"Yes," Luna agreed. "You've been recalled. That's terribly rude, really."
Teal'c stiffened. "You are aware of Goa'uld command systems."
"Oh yes," Luna said. "They're very shouty. This one's tugging quite hard, actually."
Jack frowned. "You sound like you can feel it."
"I can," Luna said simply. "But it's all right. We'll fix it."
Be careful, Egeria warned gently. This technology is unstable.
"I know," Luna replied aloud, then paused. "Sorry. I talk to myself sometimes."
Jack's eyebrows shot up. "Join the club."
Luna turned her attention back to the X-301. She didn't touch anything—didn't cast, didn't gesture. She simply looked, head tilting as if listening to a distant melody only she could hear.
The recall signal weakened.
Then frayed.
Then snapped.
The X-301 lurched violently—then steadied.
Teal'c checked the readings. "The recall system is no longer active."
Jack exhaled sharply. "You just saved our lives."
"Oh," Luna said, pleased. "Good. I was hoping for that outcome. Much better than the one where where I didn't."
Jack studied her now, really looked—no fear, no ego, no sense that she understood how impossible she was.
"You do this kind of thing often, kid?"
"Only when necessary," she replied. "And I really must go. I'm late."
Teal'c turned to her. "Late… for what?"
"School," Luna said.
Jack barked a laugh. "You skipped class and ended up in orbit?"
"No," Luna corrected gently. "I skipped orbit to get back to class."
Jack leaned back in his seat, shaking his head. "You know, I've met mad scientists, Alien dicks pretending to be gods, and one guy who turned into energy."
He met her eyes.
"You're still the weirdest."
Luna beamed. "Thank you."
Teal'c regarded her with solemn respect.
Jack hesitated. "You gonna be okay getting home? I'm sure alot of people back down there would like to talk to you and check out your ship."
"Yes," Luna said without doubt. "People tend to look out for me. Even when they don't realize they are. But I really am late for school, I have tests to do."
Jack nodded slowly. "Yeah. I can believe that."
The shuttle began to drift backward.
"Oh," Luna added thoughtfully, "when you reenter, tilt slightly left. The heat won't shear your wing that way."
Teal'c adjusted course.
"Hey, Luna," Jack called quickly. "Will we ever run into you again?"
She considered this seriously.
"I hope so," she said. "But if not, that's all right too."
The channel closed.
The shuttle vanished—not cloaked, not hidden, simply gone.
Jack stared at the empty stars.
"…Teal'c," he said, "I'm not putting that in my report."
Teal'c inclined his head. "Nor am I."
Luna was quite pleased with herself for being able to dissolution an entire shuttle like that, Professor Flitwick would be very proud not to mention seeing their faces was an amusing site as she vanished from their view. She then flew down and just landed near her home without incident, dusted starlight from her shoes, and waved cheerfully at her father, who was arguing with a gnome trap.
She flooed to Hogsmeade.
Skipped up the path.
And slipped into her seat at Hogwarts just as exam papers were handed out.
Professor Flitwick peered at her with a look of pure shock . "Miss Lovegood… you're cutting it rather close."
"Yes," Luna said serenely, dipping her quill. "I had to come from very far away."
She began to write.
And for the moment, the universe allowed her to be exactly where she belonged. ✨