Title: Still Standing
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,310

Pairing and/or Characters: Janet Frasier, Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, Cassie
Warning/spoilers: Heroes
Synopsis: Fix-it fic for Heroes, Pt.2
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em and I don't get paid to play with them.

SG-1 has gone to provide combat support on a planet where SG-13 has been ambushed, as well as to provide cover for Dr. Janet Frasier as she cares for a wounded soldier. While engaged in the fight with the Jaffa, both Jack O'Neill and Janet are hit by staff blasts and are wounded. The teams return to Earth through the stargate to seek medical attention for their wounded. Meanwhile, camera crews are still in the SGC, trying to film a documentary about the stargate program by order of the President of the United States. This fic picks up when we see Sam Carter come through the gate and follow a gurney carrying one of the wounded.

-/-

Sam hurried alongside the gurney; Teal'c was hot on her heels, blocking the cameras as they tried to capture the scene unfolding before them.

"Get the damn cameras out of here!" she snapped, barely aware of the tears that streamed down her cheeks.

She ignored the shouts that followed her down the hall and was only stopped when they reached the infirmary doors.

"Major, I'm going to need you to stay out here. We'll update you periodically." The nurse turned away from Sam and hurried into the infirmary.

Sam slumped against the wall, staring blindly at the doors across from her. She felt more than saw Teal'c move to stand next to her, assuming the stoic posture he typically adopted in situations like these.

She wrapped her arms around her middle and drew a shuddering breath; allowing herself to be comforted by Teal'c's quiet presence.

They stood together in silence and Sam thought back over the last few hours. She replayed the events as they'd happened over and over in her head, trying to find some way that they could have prevented all of this from happening. She considered what, if anything, they could have done to keep two members of their family from being hit by enemy fire.

The sound of footsteps coming up the hall pulled her from her thoughts. She looked up to see Daniel round the corner and join them; his shoulders slumped under the weight of his sadness and worry.

"How's Colonel O'Neill?" Sam asked quietly.

"Oh, he'll be sore and bruised for a while, but there wasn't any permanent damage. The vest did exactly what it was supposed to –" Daniel's voice trailed off as he stared at the doors across the hall. "Any word yet?" he gestured toward the doors with his head.

Sam shook her head and wrapped her arms around her middle. Daniel walked around to flank her other side, standing vigil with Sam and Teal'c.

Daniel couldn't help but be struck by the irony of it all. The one person who could fix this was the very one laying on that operating table right now. All he could do was hope that sending her off-world with them wouldn't come back to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

After what felt like days of unbroken silence, they heard someone come hurrying down the hall. Sam turned to see Cassie rushing up to meet them.

"Cass!" she exclaimed, briefly wondering who had called the girl and relieved that someone had thought to.

"Sam! General Hammond sent someone to school to get me and bring me in. What happened? How's Mom? Can I see her?" Cass asked her blue eyes full of panic and shining with unshed tears.

"We don't know much of anything yet sweetie. She was hit by a staff blast and was rushed back through the gate as quickly as possible. We haven't heard anything since she went into the operating room-" Sam's voice broke and she pulled the young girl into a tight embrace.

As Sam held her, she realized that she was just about Cassie's age when she'd lost her own mother. A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed hard, her eyes prickling with tears. There was no way she was going to let Cassie go through what she'd been through, she vowed. No child should lose their mother so young!

They heard the doors behind them open and she released Cassie, taking the girl's hand in her own and squeezing it tightly. The four of them looked at the nurse expectantly as she began to speak.

"She's out of the woods, but we still have a lot of work to do before she will be stable. It's not great right now but it could be a lot worse." the nurse smiled softly as she watched the members of SG-1 and Dr. Frasier's daughter collectively breathed a slight sigh of relief. "The best thing you all can do for her right now is get some rest. The last thing we need is any of you getting sick. Go, rest, get something to eat and we will let you know when she's out of surgery and in recovery."

"Thank you." Daniel murmured, answering for all of them. He turned and shuffled down the hall toward the mess hall; Teal'c followed him.

Sam took Cassie into her arms again, holding her tightly for a moment. "Let's go get something to eat." She released Cassie and they followed Daniel and Teal'c to the mess hall.

-/-

Sam watched the girl sitting across the table as she sipped her coffee. She could read the worry and fear in Cassie's eyes, despite her insistence that she was okay.

"Sam?" Cassie took a deep breath. "What am I gonna do if Mom doesn't pull through? I don't think I can handle that." Tears welled up in the younger girl's eyes and she cast her glance down to the plate in front her.

Sam swallowed hard past the lump in her throat and tried to collect her thoughts. She was hit by a barrage of memories from her own mother's death; she was almost the same age Cassie was now.

Memories of standing there in the funeral home, greeting friends and family and USAF officers as they came to pay their respect slammed into her and shook her to the core. For a minute she could hear the whispered conversations and condolences, smell the flowers that covered every flat surface in the room, and see her mother laying there, motionless, in eternal slumber.

Sam jumped a little when she felt Cassie's hand squeeze hers. She shook her head to chase the memories away and offered Cass a small, gentle smile.

"Cass, honey, we have to believe that she's going to pull through this. We need to be strong for her. And whatever happens, we'll meet it head on and plow right through it like we always do. You're not alone here. We'll all be there for each other-" her voice trailed off as she noticed Daniel beckoning to her from the door way.

"Looks like we have some news." She said softly, taking Cassie's hand and leading her back to the infirmary.

-/-

"Daniel! Stop fussing! I'm fine!" Janet pushed Daniel's hands away from the side of her blanket and winced as she tried to push her small frame further up onto her pillow. She smiled gratefully as Sam and Cassie helped her shift her weight.

"I'm sorry-" Daniel mumbled. "-I just –" he sighed and gestured weakly with his hands.

"I know." Janet answered quietly. "I'm okay. I'm here. You all did all you could to see to that. It'll be a while before I'm up and around, but I will be up and around and back to work. I can promise you that." She smiled softly at Daniel and took his hand, squeezing it gently. "You did good. You all did." She looked up at her friends – her family – and smiled tiredly at them.

"We should let you get some sleep." Sam gestured toward the door with her head. "We'll be back later to bug you." She smiled cheekily and led her three male counterparts from the room. "I'll be in my lab." She whispered to Cassie, who simply smiled and nodded before settling into a chair next to Janet's bed. Sam smiled back and breathed a contented sigh as she watched the young girl laid her head on her mother's pillow.

She left the room quietly, stealing one last look back at her friend. She was alive and whole; they had won this time. Cassie wouldn't grow up missing her mother, feeling that emptiness that had followed Sam for the better part of her young adult life.

Janet had cheated death. They had won.