Inaugural Weekend
By
Denise
"General, it's really not fair to leave him here," Doctor Janet Fraiser said.
"I understand that, doctor. However, he is an alien. And the same rules do not apply to him," Hammond said.
"I know that, sir. But his actions saved SG-1, not to mention the planet. I'd say that gets him a little leeway," she countered. "Sir, I'm not talking about putting him on national TV," she continued. "I'm suggesting that it could do him some good to actually get out of this mountain and get some fresh air."
"Mister Quinn can go to the surface any time he wants, as long as he's accompanied and remains on base property."
"Or, he could go to my house, where he could get a little taste of Earth, while still being accompanied 24/7," she countered.
"Doctor…"
"Sir, Jonas is exhibiting the first symptoms of a cold. By no stretch of the imagination is the chill, dreary interior of a mountain good for him. What he needs, sir, is fresh air. General, I'm sure you're aware that Jonas has been…less than welcome in the last few months," she said, softening her voice. "That kind of emotional strain will eventually take a physical toll."
"Doctor…"
"Sir, you let Teal'c leave the mountain as long as he was accompanied. Jonas will be accompanied. If you want, we'll go straight to my house and have delivery food all weekend. He'll go no further than my back yard," she said.
"Doctor," he said loudly, cutting her off in mid sentence. "You've made your case. Mister Quinn can accompany you to your residence for the weekend. Needless to say, his true origin and the stargate program are still classified information. That needs to be impressed upon him."
"Yes, sir," she agreed, smiling at the man. "Thank you, sir."
Hammond smiled. "Tell Mister Quinn to enjoy his weekend. He's certainly deserved it," the general said.
"I will, general," she said. She smiled her thanks and left his office, her heels clicking on the cement floor.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Janet pulled up to the curb in front of her house hiding a grin. Throughout the whole drive to her house, Jonas had literally sat on the edge of his seat, craning his neck at every intersection.
Not surprisingly, he'd greeted her offer to leave the base with enthusiastic acceptance. She knew if she'd been cooped up inside a mountain for months at a time, she'd go stir crazy. She could understand the need for security, she lived with it every day in the form of Cassandra. But she also acknowledged that the SGC wasn't going to last forever and eventually Jonas would be allowed out into the world. As far as she was concerned, the sooner his education began, the better.
"You live here?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yep. One good thing I got from my ex." She turned off the car and opened the door.
"Ex?"
"Ex-husband. I used to be married," she explained, ushering him up her front walk. She frowned at the sight of leaves piled up on her yard. As always, it looked like Mister Rayland wasn't cleaning up after his trees, instead waiting for the wind to do his work for him.
"What happened?" Jonas asked.
"What? Oh, we got divorced," she said, pulling out her keys to open the front door. Cassie was away for the weekend, so Janet knew the house was empty. She walked in, tossing her keys onto the hall table. "Make yourself at home. The living room and kitchen is that way. I'm going to go change and make up the guest room," she instructed.
Leaving him to his own devices, she made her way upstairs and into her bedroom. Remembering at the last moment to close the door, she quickly pulled out a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt and running shoes. She wondered about the wisdom of what she'd just done as she changed her clothes.
Sure, Jonas had been sniffling a bit, so were Sam and Colonel O'Neill, their respective dips in freezing water having given all of them a bit of congestion. It wasn't anything that shouldn't clear up in a few days given that all of them were relatively healthy.
Jonas seemed content to reside in the mountain, especially after he was given free run of the base library and the cable equipped television. Although a newcomer to the planet, he understood the necessity of security and secrecy, it being a part of the life he'd left behind. But she also knew, that while he was content, he wasn't really happy. More than once she'd caught a glimpse of a quickly hidden hurt look when someone snubbed him or heard the longing in his voice when he'd talk about various outside activities he'd heard other people talking about.
The young alien was desperately lonely, and while there were a lot of things in life she couldn't fix, she could do something about this.
She padded down the hall and retrieved the bedding, making quick work of making up the twin bed in her guestroom. Her mission accomplished, she went back down stairs, not surprised to find her guest looking around the room, studying the various knick knacks intently, but oddly enough, not touching.
She'd noticed that about him, a tendency to almost avoid touching things or to making physical contact. He was different from Daniel, who rivaled O'Neill in his fidgeting abilities. "That was Cassie when she first came to Earth," she said, noting which picture he was looking at. She didn't have many pictures in her house, largely because she didn't have much of a family. Most of her mantle was taken up with snapshots of her adopted daughter.
The picture in question was one taken during Cassie's first week on Earth, right after Janet had agreed to adopt her. That had been one of the easiest, but also one of the hardest things she'd ever done.
Opening her home and her heart to the child was easy, dealing with the crushing disappointment of her friend had been horribly hard. She knew Sam had bonded with her, and had desperately wanted to adopt Cassie. She'd even talked to General Hammond about it, coming as close to openly arguing with the man as Janet had ever heard her friend be. In the end they'd agreed, as much as Sam loved the girl, her career and life style wouldn't be fair to her. Cassie had already lost so much in her life that they all recognized it would crush her if she lost her adoptive mother.
They'd reached a compromise, Cassie lived with Janet and the doctor was her mother, but Sam was definitely her best friend. More than once, Janet wondered if she'd actually gotten the short end of the stick. There was an intimacy between Sam and Cassie that Janet had never understood.
"I remember reading that report. Nirti killed everyone on her planet," he said, turning to face her.
"Yeah."
"You wouldn't know it by looking at her," he said. "I think you've done a wonderful job raising her."
"Thanks." She fiddled with her hands a bit. "Would you like to go do something? We can go for a drive or to the mall," she suggested, trying to think of something to occupy their time other than sitting in front of a television.
"I thought I had to stay here."
She shook her head. "As long as we go together and don't mention where you're really from, it's not a problem," she said. "Colorado Springs has a lot of nice scenery. We could go check it out, grab some dinner and come back," she suggested.
"That sounds great," he said.
"Cool. Let me just grab my purse and we'll go."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Jonas walked beside Janet, his shoes crunching on the pinkish colored gravel of the hiking path. He'd actually had a lot of fun today. They'd left her house and walked through what she'd called Manitou Springs, a section of Colorado Springs. Even though the fall day was warm, the sidewalks hadn't been too busy, it being after what Janet termed 'tourist season'.
They'd spent part of the morning strolling in and out of several small shops, enjoying the offerings of the various artisans. He found the variety of items for sale staggering, finding everything from jewelry to Indian blankets to flavored popcorn. He'd carried various parcels for the doctor, helping her do her Christmas shopping before they'd stopped at a sandwich shop and getting the makings for a picnic.
She'd then driven them to a place called Garden of the Gods where they'd eaten their lunch. He'd had his sandwich, his senses nearly overwhelmed by not only the new tastes, but also the absolute joy of being outside in the fresh air.
He used to do this back on Kelowna, occasionally slipping outside of the facility to relax and rejuvenate himself a bit during his exhaustive research.
After eating, they'd walked around for a couple of hours, exploring some of the walking paths that criss-crossed the park. He found the scenery far different from what he was used to, the barely tamed wilderness oddly invigorating. There was a sense of freedom in the pin oaks, scrub grass and seemingly barren landscape.
At first glance, it looked totally inhospitable, yet as he looked closer, he saw constant examples of the tenacity of life.
As they'd walked, he'd found his eyes drawn to the snow-capped summit of Pikes Peak on the west side of the town. Janet said that there was a road leading up to the top and he found it amazing that the humans had conquered such an impressive natural feature.
The sun was just starting to drop behind the mountain and he found himself edging closer to Janet, the stories of large carnivorous creatures flitting through his mind. He'd read enough to know that bear or mountain lion sightings were rare, however they did happen.
"We should probably head back," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's starting to get cool. He took off his jacket and offered it to her. "That's ok," she protested.
He shook his head. "I don't get cold that easily," he said. "I think Major Carter called me hot blooded."
She laughed, accepting the jacket and slipping it over her shoulders. "Sam calls everyone hot blooded. She's the only person I know that runs a space heater in her lab twelve months a year. Thank you."
They turned and started making their way back to the car. They didn't talk much, and oddly enough the lack of conversation didn't bother him. He'd never been much of a talker, and the last few months had only served to reinforce that habit. He knew, despite winning the acceptance of General Hammond and SG-1, he was still more than a little unwelcome and barely tolerated by some. That was likely something that would never change. Which is why Doctor Fraiser's invitation had surprised him. Even though his new team members accepted him, they didn't socialize with him.
"What would you like to do for dinner?" she asked, breaking the silence. "I'm not much of a cook, but I can manage the basics. How about steak?"
"I've never had a steak, although I hear people talking about it," he said.
"Well, then it's about time you had one," she said. "We'll hit a grocery store on the way home." She turned and led the way back to where she'd parked her car.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Janet dried her hands on the dish towel and hung it up on the hook. They'd had a nice, relaxed dinner of steak and baked potatoes with her getting to introduce Jonas to the wonders broccoli and cheese topped potatoes.
It had been a fun end to a very relaxing day. Jonas was different from the men she'd spent time with before, including her ex-husband. And he was different from the testosterone rich men she dealt with every day. There was no way her husband would have followed her up and down the streets of Manitou Springs, or had the patience for a picnic lunch.
She walked out into the living room, stopping short when her eyes focussed on what her guest was watching. "Umm…Jonas…"
He turned. "Oh, Janet. This is interesting. We don't get this channel on the base," he said, seemingly nonplused by the images on the screen.
"There's a reason for that." She stepped forward and turned off the TV.
"I didn't know you broadcast erotica. All we have on Kelowna is books and photos."
"Really? That's interesting," she said, fighting the urge to giggle at the bizarre nature of their situation.
"You're uncomfortable," he said.
"Well, it's just…men and women don't usually watch porn together unless they're…together," she said.
"Oh. You mean they use it as a prequel to…"
"Right," she interrupted, feeling herself blush in a way a thirty something doctor shouldn't be able to blush.
"That's really very interesting," he said, clearly not uncomfortable at all with the topic. "We do use erotica the same way, at least some do. Others view it as a perfectly acceptable art form." He got up from the couch. "It makes you uncomfortable."
"Yeah," she admitted with a sigh.
"I can leave and you can watch it alone," he offered.
"What? No. No. Jonas, that's ok. Look, why don't we watch something else," she suggested, reaching out to pull the remote from his hands. She turned the TV back on, quickly changing the channel, her thumb pushing the buttons furiously. She stopped, then went back, recognizing a scene. "Here we go, the Disney channel. This is…good." She sat down on the couch.
"This is animation?" he asked, sitting down beside her.
"Yeah," she confirmed. "Drawings brought to life, although I think this one is done on a computer."
"I remember reading about it. Did you know…" He rambled on and she relaxed, grateful to have the conversation on safer ground.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So, how'd your weekend go?" Sam asked Janet, sitting beside her friend in the commissary.
"Hey. It was fun," Janet said, sipping her coffee. "We went shopping and did some sight seeing."
"We?" Sam asked, her eyebrows going up. "I thought Cassie was gone this weekend?"
"Not Cassie, Jonas."
"You spent the weekend with Jonas?" She asked, raising her voice a bit.
Janet rolled her eyes. "Not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter. All we did was hang out at my house and enjoy some time off," Janet said.
"Why would you invite Jonas over to your house?"
"Sam, he's been here three months. And it's very apparent that he's probably never going to go home. He can't keep living on the base like some sort of hermit."
"He's an alien. His very presence is classified."
"He's a human being who will, more than likely, be allowed to leave the base some day. He needs to learn a bit about his new home. More than he's going to pick up from watching TV or surfing the web all day," Janet said. "Frankly, I'm surprised you guys haven't taken him out more. I seem to remember you guys taking Teal'c out when he first started living here."
"That was different," Sam protested.
"How?" Janet asked. Sam opened her mouth to speak, then frowned and looked down, concentrating her interest solely on her coffee cup. "Sam, he's a member of your team."
"I know."
"Then why…"
"Janet. This is different."
"Why is it different?"
"It just is."
"That's a cop-out."
Sam shook her head, pushing her chair back from the table. "You don't understand."
"Then make me," she insisted, reaching out to take Sam's hand and keep her from leaving.
Sam sat back down, mindful of their very public location. She looked down at the table for a moment then sighed softly. "When you work with someone, like we did, you get to know them. And I don't just mean that the colonel likes the Simpson's or that Teal'c has a hat fetish. I mean that I can tell from the tone of his voice if the colonel's spooked. Or I can look at Teal'c and read in his body language if he hears something. There are times, when we're off world, that we can go hours without talking, but we know exactly what the other person is thinking. We can set up camp and there's no discussion about who does what or who has which watch. It's a pattern that we all know." She raised her eyes and looked at Janet. "I can tell if the colonel's going to have a nightmare, or if Teal'c ate too much for lunch. And I could read every movement that Daniel made and know what he was thinking. It was almost like we were four parts of one body."
"And then you lost a part."
She nodded. "I don't know if I can go through that again. I don't know if I can stand to lose that again," she admitted softly.
"You know," Janet said after a few seconds. "Colonel O'Neill won't be here forever, and you and I both know that when Junior matures, if we can't find Teal'c another symbiote…" She trailed off. "I guess what I'm saying is, there's not a single person in this mountain that isn't living on borrowed time. If you cut yourself off from every person just so that you're not hurt if something happens to them, you're going to find out just how lonely, lonely is," she said.
Sam took a sip of her now cool coffee, letting the doctor's words sink in. A movement caught her eyes and she watched Jonas walk into the room. He grabbed a tray of food and she watched him scan the room, his eyes meeting hers for a second before skittering away. He started to make his way to a table in the corner that she'd seen him occupy several times in the past few months. "Jonas," she called out. "There's room over here."
He frowned a bit, then smiled and crossed to their table. "Morning," he said, sitting down.
"Morning," Sam answered. "Umm…Janet was just telling me about your weekend," she said, trying to kick start the conversation. "Did you have fun?"
"It was great," he said, digging into his breakfast. "Garden of the Gods is fantastic, and the Royal Gorge Bridge is amazing," he said around a mouthful of scrambled eggs. Sam smiled, sharing a look with Janet. "Did you know that they air erotica on television?"
Sam choked while Janet flushed. "Excuse me?"
"Well, we were watching TV and we saw some erotica…"
"I get Showtime," Janet explained. "Red Shoe Diaries."
Sam nodded knowingly, struggling not to laugh out loud. She looked to Janet who jerked her head slightly, silently urging Sam. "Umm, I can't promise Showtime but, did you guys make it to Pikes Peak?" Sam asked, mentally throwing caution to the wind.
Jonas shook his head. "No. We were going to, but the weather moved in Sunday afternoon."
"Well, assuming the weather holds, how do you feel about checking out the Peak this weekend?" she asked, rolling her eyes at Janet's look.
"Really?" Sam nodded. "That sounds great. I'd love to go."
"Ok. I'll clear it with General Hammond." Sam got up, picking up her now empty coffee mug. "You better make sure you grab a jacket," she advised.
"A jacket? The long range forecast says it should be seventy and sunny," he said.
"True," Sam agreed. "But it's colder at 14,000 feet. And even colder when you're on the back of a bike," she tossed over her shoulder, taking more than a little pleasure in the startled look that crossed his face.
"Bike?" she heard him ask. "Janet, what did she mean by bike?"
Fin