It had been a month and a half since Janet found out she was pregnant, she
was now 11 weeks gone, and she still hadn't said anything to anyone. She
was still avoiding Jack, and thankfully Jack was still avoiding her. It had
become quite awkward in briefings, and they both knew that the others were
picking up on the weird vibe between them. Sam had been trying to talk to
her for weeks, but Janet just kept blowing her off, and she eventually got
the message. Janet could see how hurt Sam was by her actions, but she
couldn't help herself. She had learnt a long time ago that it was her
nature to push others away, it was a part of her defence mechanism. She was
still trying to absorb the fact that she was pregnant herself. She couldn't
worry about other people's reactions, she had to figure out her own first.
A part of her was angry, it was typical of her luck after all, some people
try for years for a baby, and she gets pregnant after a one-night stand.
Another part of her was disappointed in herself, that she shouldn't have
let this, any of this happen, and by that she meant what happened with
Jack. But the majority of her was happy, ecstatic even. She had always
wanted kids. Once Janet realised this fact, she became determined to do
whatever it took to make this situation work. And she had a feeling it
might take drastic measures.
It took another week for Jack to approach her, he came to her office, knowing she would be there he strolled right in,
"It's considered polite to knock." She said irritably, her early lack of sleep over the last few weeks reducing her tolerance considerably.
"Yeah well, I didn't think you'd let me in."
"You might have been on to something." She said, rubbing her forehead to try and force back the headache she could feel forming.
"Janet we can't go on like this." Jack said, his usual sarcasm replaced with seriousness.
"Like what?" She asked, being deliberately evasive.
"This!" He was almost shouting. "You've been avoiding me like the plague. And you know what, I could let that go, understand even, but what you're doing to Carter is out of order. She thinks she's done something. You can't let her suffer for our mistake." Janet mentally cringed at his word choice, he'd just proved what she'd known all along, what happened between them was just a mistake.
"Jack just leave." She was too tired to even put any anger in her voice. Jack just stood for a second, unsure what to do, eventually, sighing, he turned on his heel and left. As soon as she was sure he was gone, Janet put her head in her head in her hands, sighing, she made a decision. She stood up, picking up the form that she had filled out over a week ago and headed to General Hammond's office.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
"Enter." The General answered her knock, "Dr Fraiser, what can I do for you?"
"I wanted to give you this sir." Janet said handing him the envelope.
"What is it?" He asked opening it.
"My resignation." She said, staring at an invisible point on the wall.
"May I ask why?" Hammond's voice was full of concern for his officer, if he had to guess he'd say she hadn't slept for at least a week, and he'd be a fool if he didn't notice the obvious atmosphere between her and a certain Colonel.
"No." Janet said sharply, but she relented immediately, the General had done nothing to be at the receiving end of her currently short temper, and he had done a lot for her over the years. "I'm sorry sir." She apologised, making eye contact with him for just a second, "It's a personal matter."
"I see." He said putting the piece of paper down. "I'm afraid I can't accept this." Janet gave him a questioning look. "It obvious that you've been having some personal issues, I believe your judgement has been clouded." He said, still only concern behind his words.
"With all due respect sir, it hasn't." Janet protested, her determination clearly showing.
"Maybe you should go home and sleep on it." Hammond suggested.
"Sir, I've made my decision, please just accept it." There was an element of desperation in her voice, but the General could see that she wasn't going to change her mind.
"Very well. I'll have a replacement Dr. transferred immediately."
"Thank you sir." Janet said, her eyes filling, she mentally cursed the 'damn hormones'. "For everything." Hammond gave a small smile, nodding his head in an acknowledgement that he understood what she was saying. He stood up,
"It won't be the same without you." She smiled sadly, giving him a brief hug, reminding him of the day of his own brief retirement a few years ago.
"Thank you sir." There was an awkward moment between the two people who had been through so much together but still barely knew each other. "My shift just ended, so I'll.." She trailed off, Hammond nodded.
"Dismissed Doctor." He said sadly. He sat back down once she had left, mulling over the loss of his CMO and racking his brains to think what exactly could have happened to make her resign like that.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
A few days later, Jack was ready for another confrontation with Janet, the only problem was, he couldn't find her anywhere. He had tried looking everywhere on the base, his last option being her office, which, if truth be told, she was barely ever in. He knocked this time,
"Come." An unfamiliar voice called. Jack opened the door and was thrown off to discover somebody who wasn't Janet in her office.
"Oh....sorry, wrong office." He made an excuse, turning on his heel. Jack was worried now, given his history with Janet, he had a sick feeling in his gut about what might have happened, and there was one way to find out.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
"Colonel?" Hammond queried as Jack stuck his head around the door.
"I was just wondering if you knew where the doc had got to?" Jack asked, remembering to use her nickname. A grave expression crossed Hammond's face as he realised the significance of the events a few days before. "What?" Jack asked, his worry growing.
"Colonel, Dr. Fraiser resigned two days ago."
"She what!" Jack exploded.
"I assumed she was going to inform you herself."
"Yeah well she never." Jack snapped. "As second in command of this base am I not supposed to be informed about stuff like this?" He paused. "Sorry General, I didn't mean any disrespect. It's just..permission to leave the base and go find her?" He asked,
"She seemed pretty set in her decision, I assume you know why."
"I've got a pretty good idea."
"Permission granted."
"Thank you sir." Jack said running out of the door.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Jack immediately went to Janet's house. But upon arrival found it deserted, no sign of her or Cassie, her car was gone, and Jack could see through the back window that some of her stuff was as well. He was too late. Just as the realisation dawned on Jack, his cell rang.
"O'Neill." He answered.
"Sir, it's me." Jack recognised Sam's voice.
"Yeah?" He asked,
"I think you'd better come over to my place. Now." With that she hung up. A tiny glimmer of hope ignited in Jack that maybe Janet was there. He made his way there as quickly as possible.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Parking outside Sam's house, Jack was immediately disappointed to see no sign of Janet's car. But he still held onto the hope that she could have parked her car elsewhere and walked. He knocked on the door, and a mightily pissed off looking Sam answered.
"Finally. I think you've got some explaining to do." She said, turning away from the door and walking back to her living room, Jack followed, closing the door behind him. As he entered he saw Cassie sitting on one of the couches some bags beside her.
"What's going on?" He asked,
"That's what we'd like to know." Sam retorted.
"What?" He addressed his question to Sam, who nodded in Cassie's direction. She looked up, and took the prompt from Sam.
"My mom's left." She said sadly.
"What?" Jack asked, sounding more surprised than he actually was.
"Janet asked me to look after Cassie for a while." Sam began to explain. "Until she gets settled somewhere else." Jack didn't say anything. "Did you know she resigned?" Sam demanded.
"I just found out today."
"Do you know why?"
"No." He lied.
"Cassie tell him what she told you." Sam again prompted the girl.
"She said that she'd screwed up here and that she wanted to get a clean break from everything." Cassie quoted her mother's words earlier that day. Jack turned his attention towards her.
"Cassie listen to me." He said seriously, "This is very important, did she say anything about where she was going?" Cassie shook her head. "Mention any names, any places, any relatives she was going to stay with?"
"No, nothing like that. She just said she'd call me when she got settled so I could come visit, and stay with her if I wanted." Jack sighed, she'd done it again, it was Janet's answer to her problems when things got tough, running.
It took another week for Jack to approach her, he came to her office, knowing she would be there he strolled right in,
"It's considered polite to knock." She said irritably, her early lack of sleep over the last few weeks reducing her tolerance considerably.
"Yeah well, I didn't think you'd let me in."
"You might have been on to something." She said, rubbing her forehead to try and force back the headache she could feel forming.
"Janet we can't go on like this." Jack said, his usual sarcasm replaced with seriousness.
"Like what?" She asked, being deliberately evasive.
"This!" He was almost shouting. "You've been avoiding me like the plague. And you know what, I could let that go, understand even, but what you're doing to Carter is out of order. She thinks she's done something. You can't let her suffer for our mistake." Janet mentally cringed at his word choice, he'd just proved what she'd known all along, what happened between them was just a mistake.
"Jack just leave." She was too tired to even put any anger in her voice. Jack just stood for a second, unsure what to do, eventually, sighing, he turned on his heel and left. As soon as she was sure he was gone, Janet put her head in her head in her hands, sighing, she made a decision. She stood up, picking up the form that she had filled out over a week ago and headed to General Hammond's office.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
"Enter." The General answered her knock, "Dr Fraiser, what can I do for you?"
"I wanted to give you this sir." Janet said handing him the envelope.
"What is it?" He asked opening it.
"My resignation." She said, staring at an invisible point on the wall.
"May I ask why?" Hammond's voice was full of concern for his officer, if he had to guess he'd say she hadn't slept for at least a week, and he'd be a fool if he didn't notice the obvious atmosphere between her and a certain Colonel.
"No." Janet said sharply, but she relented immediately, the General had done nothing to be at the receiving end of her currently short temper, and he had done a lot for her over the years. "I'm sorry sir." She apologised, making eye contact with him for just a second, "It's a personal matter."
"I see." He said putting the piece of paper down. "I'm afraid I can't accept this." Janet gave him a questioning look. "It obvious that you've been having some personal issues, I believe your judgement has been clouded." He said, still only concern behind his words.
"With all due respect sir, it hasn't." Janet protested, her determination clearly showing.
"Maybe you should go home and sleep on it." Hammond suggested.
"Sir, I've made my decision, please just accept it." There was an element of desperation in her voice, but the General could see that she wasn't going to change her mind.
"Very well. I'll have a replacement Dr. transferred immediately."
"Thank you sir." Janet said, her eyes filling, she mentally cursed the 'damn hormones'. "For everything." Hammond gave a small smile, nodding his head in an acknowledgement that he understood what she was saying. He stood up,
"It won't be the same without you." She smiled sadly, giving him a brief hug, reminding him of the day of his own brief retirement a few years ago.
"Thank you sir." There was an awkward moment between the two people who had been through so much together but still barely knew each other. "My shift just ended, so I'll.." She trailed off, Hammond nodded.
"Dismissed Doctor." He said sadly. He sat back down once she had left, mulling over the loss of his CMO and racking his brains to think what exactly could have happened to make her resign like that.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
A few days later, Jack was ready for another confrontation with Janet, the only problem was, he couldn't find her anywhere. He had tried looking everywhere on the base, his last option being her office, which, if truth be told, she was barely ever in. He knocked this time,
"Come." An unfamiliar voice called. Jack opened the door and was thrown off to discover somebody who wasn't Janet in her office.
"Oh....sorry, wrong office." He made an excuse, turning on his heel. Jack was worried now, given his history with Janet, he had a sick feeling in his gut about what might have happened, and there was one way to find out.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
"Colonel?" Hammond queried as Jack stuck his head around the door.
"I was just wondering if you knew where the doc had got to?" Jack asked, remembering to use her nickname. A grave expression crossed Hammond's face as he realised the significance of the events a few days before. "What?" Jack asked, his worry growing.
"Colonel, Dr. Fraiser resigned two days ago."
"She what!" Jack exploded.
"I assumed she was going to inform you herself."
"Yeah well she never." Jack snapped. "As second in command of this base am I not supposed to be informed about stuff like this?" He paused. "Sorry General, I didn't mean any disrespect. It's just..permission to leave the base and go find her?" He asked,
"She seemed pretty set in her decision, I assume you know why."
"I've got a pretty good idea."
"Permission granted."
"Thank you sir." Jack said running out of the door.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Jack immediately went to Janet's house. But upon arrival found it deserted, no sign of her or Cassie, her car was gone, and Jack could see through the back window that some of her stuff was as well. He was too late. Just as the realisation dawned on Jack, his cell rang.
"O'Neill." He answered.
"Sir, it's me." Jack recognised Sam's voice.
"Yeah?" He asked,
"I think you'd better come over to my place. Now." With that she hung up. A tiny glimmer of hope ignited in Jack that maybe Janet was there. He made his way there as quickly as possible.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Parking outside Sam's house, Jack was immediately disappointed to see no sign of Janet's car. But he still held onto the hope that she could have parked her car elsewhere and walked. He knocked on the door, and a mightily pissed off looking Sam answered.
"Finally. I think you've got some explaining to do." She said, turning away from the door and walking back to her living room, Jack followed, closing the door behind him. As he entered he saw Cassie sitting on one of the couches some bags beside her.
"What's going on?" He asked,
"That's what we'd like to know." Sam retorted.
"What?" He addressed his question to Sam, who nodded in Cassie's direction. She looked up, and took the prompt from Sam.
"My mom's left." She said sadly.
"What?" Jack asked, sounding more surprised than he actually was.
"Janet asked me to look after Cassie for a while." Sam began to explain. "Until she gets settled somewhere else." Jack didn't say anything. "Did you know she resigned?" Sam demanded.
"I just found out today."
"Do you know why?"
"No." He lied.
"Cassie tell him what she told you." Sam again prompted the girl.
"She said that she'd screwed up here and that she wanted to get a clean break from everything." Cassie quoted her mother's words earlier that day. Jack turned his attention towards her.
"Cassie listen to me." He said seriously, "This is very important, did she say anything about where she was going?" Cassie shook her head. "Mention any names, any places, any relatives she was going to stay with?"
"No, nothing like that. She just said she'd call me when she got settled so I could come visit, and stay with her if I wanted." Jack sighed, she'd done it again, it was Janet's answer to her problems when things got tough, running.