Title: Heroes (5/10)
Author: Karen
Rating: R (for violence and some non-graphic sexual scenes. Whoo hoo!)
Pairing: D/J
Disclaimer: Not mine, not a one.
Category: Angst, Romance, Light Humour.did I mention the angst?
Spoilers: YES! Up to and including 'Heroes' and then we swerve merrily off
into my own little world.
Distribution: Ask and ye shall receive. If you want to.
A/N: This is an episode 'fixer' or 'what if'. I haven't seen the ep or read
a transcript, so it may be a little out of whack when the episode airs. In
my head, everything is hunky-dory and certain events never happen. Period.
Oh, and I'm working on the supposition that Cassie is a senior in high
school.
Dedications: This is completely and totally inspired by the wonderful D/J
vids at www.gypsy-gateway.com, specifically 'Words He Doesn't Say' and
'I'll Be Good To You'. Go check out the final one in the trilogy 'It Is You
(I Have Loved)' that's just been released today! Wonderful, wonderful vids,
thanks for the inspiration and all your kindness to a D/J newbie, Amy.
Part 5.
"Colonel O'Neill, what can I do for you?" Janet watched the 2IC of the SGC warily as he entered her office and dropped into the chair before her desk, aware that her tone was more suspicious than welcoming. From the flicker on Jack's face as he made himself comfortable it appeared he noticed it to.
"Just checkin' in, seeing how you are." Jack folded his hands behind his head and beamed as innocently as he knew how at the doctor. Which unfortunately, as he was Jack O'Neill, wasn't that innocently. "Feels like I haven't seen you in weeks."
"I saw you just yesterday at the briefing, sir." Janet folded her hands before her on the desk and tried to ignore the niggle of unease in her belly at the uncharacteristic display of sociability from Jack. "And at your post-medical from your last mission the day before that."
"Yeah, but who can talk when they've got their pants round their knees and a needle in their butt?" Jack's grin widened. "So. How've you been?"
"Fine, Colonel. You?" Janet tried not to fidget in her chair under his assessing eyes and reminded herself if worst came to worst she could order him into quarantine if she had to. Her chin tilted defiantly. Oh yeah, she had the power here.
"Oh fine, fine." Jack continued to grin widely and then leaned forward suddenly, making Janet jump. "Daniel, on the other hand, not so good."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Janet cleared her throat and reached for her prescription pad. "If it's his allergies I can issue some extra medication, Colonel."
"Come on, Doc, we both know what his problem is." Jack propped his elbows on the desk and fixed the top of Janet's head with a piercing look. "You two need to talk."
Janet could feel a flush creeping up her neck and onto her face and it was with great personal satisfaction that she promised herself some time with Jack's ass and a set of specially blunted needles in the near future. "Sir, if you have concerns over the medical situation of someone under your command then my door is always open." She looked up at Jack's sombre face with blazing eyes. "But if you are here to conduct an investigation into how I run certain aspects of my personal life then you're way out of line because it has damn all to do with you."
"Agreed." Jack nodded his head and tried to ignore the fact he was seriously pissing off the woman who had total control over everything that went into his butt in his immediate future. "Believe me, Janet, this is the last place I want to be but I've got a certain archaeologist down the hall who's driving himself and everyone else nuts because he screwed things up with you. The situation between you and Daniel has started to affect my team and that is not something I can ignore."
"Have I been anything less than professional in my attitude towards Daniel as far as you know, Colonel?" Janet stood so fast her chair went skidding back into the wall behind her and her palms stung where she slapped them on the desk to brace herself. "Have I acted inappropriately or neglected my medial duties towards him?"
Jack sighed. "You know you haven't, Doctor." He held up his hands defensively. "Look, I'm just trying to make this a little easier for us all to get through, ok?"
"If Daniel is finding the situation difficult then I'm sorry, but I will not feel obligated to change a decision that is essential to my personal happiness just because SG1 is finding hard to cope when one of it's members won't take no for an answer!" Janet's face was flushed and her chest was heaving as she spat angrily. "Sir."
"Whoa, Doc, let's take a deep breath shall we?" Jack got to his feet alarmed to see the suspicious sheen of tears in Janet's eyes and patted the air uneasily. "Take a minute, huh?"
"I am sick to death of people telling me what I should and shouldn't do about Daniel." Janet advanced around the desk on the retreating Colonel, bearing a remarkable resemblance to an angry lioness, albeit on a much smaller and less fang-ier scale. "The last I checked, this facility was the most important military and scientific structure on Earth and I would think you would all have more important things to worry about than who is sleeping with who." She backed Jack up into a filing cabinet and jabbed a wickedly sharp finger into his unprotected chest. "I do not want to see Daniel Jackson unless he has contracted a disease or is bleeding and I do not want him in a personal capacity anymore. What I want is to be left alone to do my job and not have to worry about people coming to plead poor, mistreated Daniel's case. Is. That. Clear?"
Janet's last three words were punctuated by a hard jab from her finger and Jack winced and grabbed for her wrist as it felt like she was going to punch right through his breastbone. "Ow! Christ, Doc, cut it out!" He eyed her in astonishment as she stepped back and rubbed his bruised skin. "Ok, for the record, I do actually have more important things to focus on than trying to get you and Daniel laid, but out of the goodness of my heart, I decided to put aside my concerns on the constant threat of alien invasion and focus on the happiness of two people I happen to care a lot about." Jack drew himself up and glared down at Janet as she opened her mouth to reply. "Shut up, Doctor, that's an order. Any idiot can see you two are nuts about each other, and God knows that I get Daniel is a pain in the ass a lot of the time, but he's a good guy and he cares about you a lot and I think he's worth taking another chance on. Whadda you say?"
"I say, get out." Janet reached blindly past Jack and felt for the doorknob, almost falling to her knees with relief when her desperate fingers located it. "And I'll tell you the same thing I told Daniel, unless it's a medical or professional emergency I don't want to see you anywhere near me. Now get out." Visibly shaking, Janet raised her voice as Jack hesitated. "I said GET OUT!"
"Ok, ok." Jack backed up and outside Janet's office. "Janet, look, I'm sorry if I upset you, but." He broke off as the door slammed in his face and he found himself talking to nothing but air. "But apparently I'm a big ass with a serious lack of people skills." He swore under his breath and then found himself glaring at three nurses who were staring open mouthed at his sudden ejection from Janet's office. "As you were, ladies." He marched past them with all the dignity he could scrape together on such short notice and stuck his hands in his pockets as he thoughtfully walked away. "Ok, new plan."
*******************************
How Janet managed to get through the next few days she didn't know. After her talk with Daniel and then with Jack she had become increasingly aware of the speculative looks that the SGC personnel were throwing her way and she also had to contend with Daniel appearing at odd moments, staring longingly at her before turning away with deep sighs and slumped shoulders. News of her argument with Jack had spread like wildfire and had reached Sam's ears less than half an hour after Jack had been ejected from her office and now the blonde Major was resolutely taking Janet's side and was in a serious snit with both Daniel and Jack for putting Janet under more pressure than one woman could reasonably hope to bear. Sam had also confided that both Jack and Daniel had been hauled into General Hammond's office and been soundly bawled out for nearly half an hour over a tape that the base security officer had turned over to him but no one was able to give any specifics except that Colonel O'Neill had definitely been caught using his Black Ops training for something it had never been intended for.
If Sam had her own suspicions about what Jack was in hot water for after hearing Janet's tale of how Daniel had come across her that night she didn't let on to her friend but both Daniel and Jack found themselves stranded at SGC headquarters one night after all the tyres on their respective cars went mysteriously AWOL and for good measure bananas had been stuffed up their tailpipes and shaving cream lovingly spread over each and every window on their vehicles. The most peculiar thing about the entire episode was that the security cameras that had caught Jack had been unable to record any evidence of the vandal that had totalled the men's cars as someone had hacked into the base computer and looped the security camera to show nothing but an empty car park whilst the prankster operated.
Jack had done nothing but narrow his eyes at Sam's bland face the next morning when a routine patrol announced they had found the missing tyres swinging from a bunch of trees on top of the mountain, each adorned with a small stuffed monkey sitting in the centre. Teal'c on the other hand could be heard laughing uproariously behind his bedroom door for a good five minutes when he heard the full details and seriously annoyed both his male team mates by smirking whenever he caught their eyes for two days afterwards.
Janet had begun to seriously consider approaching General Hammond to talk about an extended sabbatical, or perhaps even a transfer, thanks to the constant nervous pounding of her heart every time she stepped on base despite her stern lectures to herself to pull it together, when Daniel suddenly departed to lead an expedition of archaeologists through the jungles of Honduras and Janet felt she could breath properly for the first time in weeks. He had only been gone a few days when Sam and Teal'c were summoned to assist Jacob Carter and Selmak in tracing the origins of a new type of warrior that had possible links to Annubis. O'Neill had been preparing to lead the team when he had been summoned to General Hammond's office and then had come storming out twenty minutes later to find Sam and Teal'c and go into an urgent huddle that had left all three sober faced and Jack behind on Earth when Sam and Teal'c had gated away with Jacob. Janet was alone in her office when Jack rapped smartly on the door in full field regalia and marched in without so much as a by-your-leave. "
"Doc, I need a minute." Jack closed the door behind him and took a deep breath. "I thought you should know that Daniel's in trouble." Although desperately worried himself, Jack was alert enough to notice the sudden whiting of Janet's knuckles where she gripped her pen and the paleness of her face as the blood drained away. He softened his voice and told her what he knew in a matter-of-fact manner, carefully keeping any sign of emotion from his own voice. "He's being held by kidnappers that have taken him and at least one other member of his team hostage in exchange for a ransom from the Government. The president won't authorise payment and General Hammond thinks Daniel's best chance is if I go in and snatch him back."
"Is.Is he alive?" Janet's eyes had lost their habitual coolness that she maintained whenever she was around Jack or Daniel these days and were instead naked with fear and shock. "Do you have confirmation that he's ok?"
"No, only the kidnapper's word." Jack tilted his head to the side and studied the woman for a moment before cracking a big grin as he tried to alleviate the tension. "Come on, Doc, anyone would think you cared. We both know this is just a normal day at the office for Daniel. Hell, I'll get down there and probably find they've let him go in self-defence 'cos they can't shut him up."
Janet tried to laugh and shook her hair back from her face. "Right." She sucked in lungfuls of air and tried to make herself think. "Ok. You're going to need supplies to take with you. Anti-venom, anti-histamines, anti- biotics.." Her voice broke as she suddenly had an image of Daniel lying delirious on a filthy mud floor, bleeding out his life and calling for his team mates to help him. "Oh God."
"Oh yeah, you are SO over him." Jack rolled his eyes and moved hurriedly around Janet's desk, holding her as she folded clutching her stomach and tried not to be sick. "Doc.Janet, he'll be fine. Daniel's tough and I'll have him back here by the end of the week, probably in one piece and needing nothing more than an IV drip of coffee. He's been in worse spots than this."
Janet tried to pull herself together, aware she was revealing too much, but the suddenness of Jack's announcement had left her defenceless against the overwhelming terror for the missing Daniel. "He's always had the rest of you to back him up. He's not a soldier."
Jack frowned as she began to tremble violently and briefly considered calling for another Doctor before just pulling her up and wrapping her tightly in his arms. "You listen to me, Janet, and listen good. Daniel may not have had the formal training Sam and I have but he's just as much a soldier as any man on this base. If he can get himself out, he will and then he'll head home and be back driving us all to distraction before you know it." He cupped a hand to the back of her skull and pressed her head tightly against his chest as she continued to shake. "Daniel doesn't stay alive because of me and the others, we stay alive because of him. I'm gonna go and get him back, ok?"
Janet nodded and squeezed her eyes tightly shut in an effort to rid herself of images of Daniel being tortured and beaten by faceless thugs. "Ok."
Jack patted her back and released her. "I gotta go, there's a plane waitin'. Got anything you want me to tell Daniel when I see him?" He grinned and raised an eyebrow pointedly at her. "Anything special?"
Janet opened her mouth but the words he wanted to hear just wouldn't come, she shook her head and whispered. "Just tell him I'm glad he's ok." She waited for Jack to give a disappointed nod before seating herself once more and staring blankly at the papers on her desk. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention anything about my reaction to anyone, Colonel. I've been working very hard lately and I'm obviously under more stress than I thought. If you'll just stop by the nurses station on your way out they'll supply you with an SG1 field medical kit."
"Ok, Doc." Jack looked like he was going to say something else but in the end shrugged and turned for the door. "I'll see ya."
Janet didn't look up until she heard him leave the infirmary and then she slowly got up and walked to close her office door. Her head tilted forward until she rested against the cool metal and then Janet Fraiser slid to the floor and went very thoroughly and comprehensively to pieces.
**************************************
It had been a busy week for Daniel. Getting kidnapped and nearly tortured into madness, again, will take it out of even the most resilient of men and it was with great relief that he pulled up outside his house late the following Saturday night and promised himself a soak in his tub before falling into bed and hopefully sleeping the rest of the weekend away. He climbed wearily out of his car, wincing at the slight twinge in his injured leg and started to trudge up the path to his front door, not noticing the shape huddled on his front step. "Daniel?"
Daniel stopped short and blinked in astonishment as the moon helpfully came out from behind a cloud and shone on the nervous face of one Cassandra Fraiser. "Cass?" Daniel resisted the temptation to rub his eyes and instead hurried forwards to pull the teenager to her feet. "What's wrong, what are you doing here?" He looked her over for signs of injury anxiously. "Are you ok?"
Cassie nodded and stuttered. "I.I wanted to make sure you were ok." She tried to smile. "I wanted to be here when you got home."
Absurdly touched, Daniel smiled back as he squeezed her arm and then his face creased in suspicion. "Cassie, does your mom know where you are?" One look at her angry pout had him heading for the door and dragging a very unwilling Cassie behind him. "I don't believe this!" He unlocked the door, pulling her inside before flicking on the lights and pointing to his phone. "Call her, she must be going out of her mind with worry."
"No." Cassie folded her arms defiantly and glared back. "She's asleep, she doesn't know I'm not at home. I'll call her in the morning."
Daniel's eyebrows rose. "You won't be here in the morning, you're going back home as soon as you call your mom." His mouth dropped open as Cass sniffed and turned her back on him and he was forced to pick up the phone himself and start dialling as Cassie pointedly ignored him. "Cass, I'm warning you..Janet? It's me, look I'm sorry for calling so late but I thought you ought to know that Cassie's here with me." Daniel winced as Janet's voice on the other end of the phone went from sleepy confusion to wide-awake fury and he held the handset a little way from his ear. "No, I didn't know she was coming. Jesus, Jan, calm down." Another furious squawk from Janet's end of the phone had Daniel wincing once more and throwing a furious look at Cassie's rigid back. "Janet, look stay there, I'll bring her home. Janet? Janet? Will you stop yelling and just listen to me? It's fine, I'll bring her home. We'll see you in a few minutes." He dropped the phone back in its cradle and walked to Cassie's side. "Let's go."
Cassie's eyes widened at the furious tone in his voice and she cocked her head uncertainly at the unfamiliar sight of softhearted Daniel glaring at her. "Aren't you pleased to see me? I just wanted to make sure you were ok."
"Cass, it's past midnight on Saturday night and you're here without letting anyone know you were coming." Daniel rubbed an exhausted hand over his mouth and then exploded. "For God's sake, what were you thinking? Anything could have happened to you. How the hell did you get over here anyway?"
"I took a cab." Cassie took an uncertain step back as Daniel clenched his fists in frustration at her puzzled tone. "I climbed out of my bedroom window after Mom went to sleep. She told me that Jack had found you this morning and that you were ok, but I wanted to see for myself."
Daniel forced himself to calm down as he heard the slight hitch in her voice and reached out to take her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you." His eyes widened in alarm as Cassie's filled with tears and then his arms were suddenly full of sobbing teenager. "Oh God, Cassie, don't cry. Please." He patted her back awkwardly, wincing as Cassie pushed her face into his chest and began to wail louder. "Honey, calm down. I'm fine."
"I thought you were gonna die!" Daniel's lips twitched in unwilling amusement as Cassie paused and then sobbed accusingly. "Again!" He made wordless noises of comfort as she wrapped her arms around his waist and continued to cry. "And you didn't come to say goodbye before you left and I thought I wouldn't see you anymore and I haven't seen you for weeks and Mom won't let me call you." Daniel grimaced as she wiped her face across his shirtfront and he felt the stickiness of tears and other bodily fluids seep through the thin material to his skin. "All she does is say you're busy and then go and cry in her room when she thinks I'm asleep."
Daniel stopped murmuring comfort and stared blankly over the top of Cassie's head. "Um, what?" He felt his heart begin to pound in his chest. "Your mom's been upset?"
Cassie pulled back and nodded plaintively. "Uh-huh, and I don't even know why she's upset because she ruined it all. Everything was fine until she said she wouldn't see you anymore and now you don't come over and I haven't seen Jack or Teal'c in weeks and when Sam comes she and mom just sit talking for hours in the den and won't let me in. She's ruined everything!"
Daniel pulled a sticky strand of hair from Cassie's face and shook his head. "Cass, that's not true."
"Yes it is!" Cassie refrained from stamping her foot, but just barely. "She told me what she did to you and now you don't come over anymore and Jack and Teal'c have to take your side because they're guys and Sam has to take Mom's because they're best friends and I'm never gonna see you guys because you're going to all go away and." She stopped as Daniel laid a defensive hand over her mouth and silenced the torrent of pent up emotion.
"Cass, I'm taking you home to your mother, but on the way I think we need to have a talk." He took his hand off Cassie's mouth and took her hand, grabbing a box of Kleenex off a table on his way out the door. "Get your face cleaned up and then I want you to listen to me very, very carefully."
*******************************
Daniel turned off the car and turned to his silent passenger. "Do you understand now, Cass?" He squinted to try and get a glimpse of her face, but she swung her hair forward to hide it from his eyes. "None of this was your mother's fault, I did this."
Cass stared down at her hands, folded neatly on her lap. "You were just using my mom for sex?" She tried to clear her numb throat. "You did that?"
"NO!" Absolutely horrified Daniel shook his head and tried to think of a point in the conversation where he had brought up the physical side of things to Cassie and then thankfully reached the conclusion that he hadn't. "I didn't say that at all. Where did you get that from?"
"You said that you wouldn't commit to her." Cassie tried to blink back tears. "You said that she thought she was just convenient."
"Well, yes." Daniel's shoulders sagged and he reached under his glasses to rub his tired eyes, reflecting that no matter how many languages he spoke there was one he'd never manage to master and that was 'woman'. "But that wasn't what I meant. Cassie, look at me. I said look at me, Cassandra." He waited until she reluctantly turned to face him and then took a deep breath as he forced himself to speak honestly to the young girl. "I love your mom but I've managed to hurt her very badly and I don't know if I can persuade her to trust me again. I don't know if I can fix what went wrong between us but I'm going to try because I love her and I love you and this time I want to get things right." He smiled wryly as Cassie's eyes widened hopefully. "Although if I do manage to get things back on track with your mom the first thing I'm going to do is nail your window shut." His smile widened to a grin as Cassie gave a watery giggle and he reached for her hand. "I'm sorry that this has affected you so badly, Cass, neither of us ever wanted that. I honestly didn't think you'd even miss me around."
Cassie gripped the hand that covered hers and then leaned forward to rest her forehead against Daniel's shoulder. "Daniel, you've been around since I was twelve, how could I not miss you?" She sighed and mumbled. "You already left once without saying goodbye, I didn't want you to do it again."
Daniel's heart pounded painfully at the lost whisper and he reached out instinctively to pull her into his arms. "I'm sorry, Cassie, I'm so sorry. I didn't think." He kissed the top of her head and then saw the front door of Janet's house open and the woman herself appear. "Look, I'll talk to your mom, ok? I promise, I'll do everything I can to fix this." He waited for her to nod her head and then gave one last squeeze. "Come on, let's get you inside."
They walked up the path side-by-side, coming to a halt at the base of the porch steps and stood staring up at Janet. She looked from one to the other silently and then pulled her housecoat tightly around herself. "Inside, Cassie, I'll talk to you in the morning." She frowned as Cassie looked up at Daniel questioningly and he nodded to her before the teenager walked past her and into the house. "Thank you for bringing her home, Daniel. This won't happen again." Janet turned to go back into the house and then found herself staring at her front door as Daniel reached around her and pulled it closed. "What are you doing?"
"I just need a couple of minutes of your time." Daniel slipped in between Janet and the door, cutting off all escape, and smiled warily. "She's a bit upset, don't be too hard on her."
"Thanks for the advice but I think I can handle it." Janet couldn't stop her eyes travelling anxiously over his body and muttered. "Are you ok?"
"Huh?" Daniel frowned in confusion and then realised she was asking about his condition after his latest disaster. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. How about you?" He bent his knees and tried to look in her eyes. "Cassie says you've been a little unsettled."
Janet scowled and mentally made a note to ground her daughter for the next ten years instead of just the five she was planning on. "I'm fine. I've just been really."
"Busy. Yeah, I know." Daniel stuck his hands in his pockets and ignored her theatrical shiver in the cool night air, sighing wearily. "There's a lot of that going around." He stood staring down at her for a moment. "Look, Cassie was really upset that she hasn't seen much of us lately and I was wondering if you'd let me take her out for something to eat tomorrow. Just for an hour or so."
Janet's head flew up, eyes wide with surprise. "What?"
"I said, I'd like to spend some time with Cass tomorrow if that's ok with you." Daniel shifted from foot to foot and kept his eyes fixed calmly on Janet's surprised face. "I've missed her and she's obviously missed me so I thought it might make things a little easier for her if I made an effort to spend some time with her. I might call Jack and Teal'c and get them to come along as well."
Janet flushed as she realised that her own and Sam's names were blatantly omitted from the list of possible invitees. "I see." She stared at him for a long moment before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Daniel, I don't think that's a good idea. If you'll excuse me." She took a step forward, exhaling loudly with relief as he stepped aside and allowed her to open the door and slip inside.
Daniel waited until the door closed in his face before tapping lightly on it. "Janet?" He paused but didn't hear a reply. He closed his eyes and laid his palm flat on the door as though that could help him see the woman that stood silently on the other side. "Janet, I had some time to think about us while I was away and I just wanted you to know that I'm not going to give up on us and I'm not going away. I'm sorry I hurt you and that I ruined what we had, but I want to do everything I can to make that up to you." He waited another few moments and then turned away. "I'll call you tomorrow and check up on Cassie."
Janet stood in her darkened hallway and listened to his footsteps move off into the night and then the sound of his car pulling away. She leaned back against the wall; scowling down at her shaking hands and bit down so hard on her bottom lip she nearly drew blood. "Damn you, Daniel. Goddamn you." She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around her waist. "Just leave me alone."
End Part 5.
Part 5.
"Colonel O'Neill, what can I do for you?" Janet watched the 2IC of the SGC warily as he entered her office and dropped into the chair before her desk, aware that her tone was more suspicious than welcoming. From the flicker on Jack's face as he made himself comfortable it appeared he noticed it to.
"Just checkin' in, seeing how you are." Jack folded his hands behind his head and beamed as innocently as he knew how at the doctor. Which unfortunately, as he was Jack O'Neill, wasn't that innocently. "Feels like I haven't seen you in weeks."
"I saw you just yesterday at the briefing, sir." Janet folded her hands before her on the desk and tried to ignore the niggle of unease in her belly at the uncharacteristic display of sociability from Jack. "And at your post-medical from your last mission the day before that."
"Yeah, but who can talk when they've got their pants round their knees and a needle in their butt?" Jack's grin widened. "So. How've you been?"
"Fine, Colonel. You?" Janet tried not to fidget in her chair under his assessing eyes and reminded herself if worst came to worst she could order him into quarantine if she had to. Her chin tilted defiantly. Oh yeah, she had the power here.
"Oh fine, fine." Jack continued to grin widely and then leaned forward suddenly, making Janet jump. "Daniel, on the other hand, not so good."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Janet cleared her throat and reached for her prescription pad. "If it's his allergies I can issue some extra medication, Colonel."
"Come on, Doc, we both know what his problem is." Jack propped his elbows on the desk and fixed the top of Janet's head with a piercing look. "You two need to talk."
Janet could feel a flush creeping up her neck and onto her face and it was with great personal satisfaction that she promised herself some time with Jack's ass and a set of specially blunted needles in the near future. "Sir, if you have concerns over the medical situation of someone under your command then my door is always open." She looked up at Jack's sombre face with blazing eyes. "But if you are here to conduct an investigation into how I run certain aspects of my personal life then you're way out of line because it has damn all to do with you."
"Agreed." Jack nodded his head and tried to ignore the fact he was seriously pissing off the woman who had total control over everything that went into his butt in his immediate future. "Believe me, Janet, this is the last place I want to be but I've got a certain archaeologist down the hall who's driving himself and everyone else nuts because he screwed things up with you. The situation between you and Daniel has started to affect my team and that is not something I can ignore."
"Have I been anything less than professional in my attitude towards Daniel as far as you know, Colonel?" Janet stood so fast her chair went skidding back into the wall behind her and her palms stung where she slapped them on the desk to brace herself. "Have I acted inappropriately or neglected my medial duties towards him?"
Jack sighed. "You know you haven't, Doctor." He held up his hands defensively. "Look, I'm just trying to make this a little easier for us all to get through, ok?"
"If Daniel is finding the situation difficult then I'm sorry, but I will not feel obligated to change a decision that is essential to my personal happiness just because SG1 is finding hard to cope when one of it's members won't take no for an answer!" Janet's face was flushed and her chest was heaving as she spat angrily. "Sir."
"Whoa, Doc, let's take a deep breath shall we?" Jack got to his feet alarmed to see the suspicious sheen of tears in Janet's eyes and patted the air uneasily. "Take a minute, huh?"
"I am sick to death of people telling me what I should and shouldn't do about Daniel." Janet advanced around the desk on the retreating Colonel, bearing a remarkable resemblance to an angry lioness, albeit on a much smaller and less fang-ier scale. "The last I checked, this facility was the most important military and scientific structure on Earth and I would think you would all have more important things to worry about than who is sleeping with who." She backed Jack up into a filing cabinet and jabbed a wickedly sharp finger into his unprotected chest. "I do not want to see Daniel Jackson unless he has contracted a disease or is bleeding and I do not want him in a personal capacity anymore. What I want is to be left alone to do my job and not have to worry about people coming to plead poor, mistreated Daniel's case. Is. That. Clear?"
Janet's last three words were punctuated by a hard jab from her finger and Jack winced and grabbed for her wrist as it felt like she was going to punch right through his breastbone. "Ow! Christ, Doc, cut it out!" He eyed her in astonishment as she stepped back and rubbed his bruised skin. "Ok, for the record, I do actually have more important things to focus on than trying to get you and Daniel laid, but out of the goodness of my heart, I decided to put aside my concerns on the constant threat of alien invasion and focus on the happiness of two people I happen to care a lot about." Jack drew himself up and glared down at Janet as she opened her mouth to reply. "Shut up, Doctor, that's an order. Any idiot can see you two are nuts about each other, and God knows that I get Daniel is a pain in the ass a lot of the time, but he's a good guy and he cares about you a lot and I think he's worth taking another chance on. Whadda you say?"
"I say, get out." Janet reached blindly past Jack and felt for the doorknob, almost falling to her knees with relief when her desperate fingers located it. "And I'll tell you the same thing I told Daniel, unless it's a medical or professional emergency I don't want to see you anywhere near me. Now get out." Visibly shaking, Janet raised her voice as Jack hesitated. "I said GET OUT!"
"Ok, ok." Jack backed up and outside Janet's office. "Janet, look, I'm sorry if I upset you, but." He broke off as the door slammed in his face and he found himself talking to nothing but air. "But apparently I'm a big ass with a serious lack of people skills." He swore under his breath and then found himself glaring at three nurses who were staring open mouthed at his sudden ejection from Janet's office. "As you were, ladies." He marched past them with all the dignity he could scrape together on such short notice and stuck his hands in his pockets as he thoughtfully walked away. "Ok, new plan."
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How Janet managed to get through the next few days she didn't know. After her talk with Daniel and then with Jack she had become increasingly aware of the speculative looks that the SGC personnel were throwing her way and she also had to contend with Daniel appearing at odd moments, staring longingly at her before turning away with deep sighs and slumped shoulders. News of her argument with Jack had spread like wildfire and had reached Sam's ears less than half an hour after Jack had been ejected from her office and now the blonde Major was resolutely taking Janet's side and was in a serious snit with both Daniel and Jack for putting Janet under more pressure than one woman could reasonably hope to bear. Sam had also confided that both Jack and Daniel had been hauled into General Hammond's office and been soundly bawled out for nearly half an hour over a tape that the base security officer had turned over to him but no one was able to give any specifics except that Colonel O'Neill had definitely been caught using his Black Ops training for something it had never been intended for.
If Sam had her own suspicions about what Jack was in hot water for after hearing Janet's tale of how Daniel had come across her that night she didn't let on to her friend but both Daniel and Jack found themselves stranded at SGC headquarters one night after all the tyres on their respective cars went mysteriously AWOL and for good measure bananas had been stuffed up their tailpipes and shaving cream lovingly spread over each and every window on their vehicles. The most peculiar thing about the entire episode was that the security cameras that had caught Jack had been unable to record any evidence of the vandal that had totalled the men's cars as someone had hacked into the base computer and looped the security camera to show nothing but an empty car park whilst the prankster operated.
Jack had done nothing but narrow his eyes at Sam's bland face the next morning when a routine patrol announced they had found the missing tyres swinging from a bunch of trees on top of the mountain, each adorned with a small stuffed monkey sitting in the centre. Teal'c on the other hand could be heard laughing uproariously behind his bedroom door for a good five minutes when he heard the full details and seriously annoyed both his male team mates by smirking whenever he caught their eyes for two days afterwards.
Janet had begun to seriously consider approaching General Hammond to talk about an extended sabbatical, or perhaps even a transfer, thanks to the constant nervous pounding of her heart every time she stepped on base despite her stern lectures to herself to pull it together, when Daniel suddenly departed to lead an expedition of archaeologists through the jungles of Honduras and Janet felt she could breath properly for the first time in weeks. He had only been gone a few days when Sam and Teal'c were summoned to assist Jacob Carter and Selmak in tracing the origins of a new type of warrior that had possible links to Annubis. O'Neill had been preparing to lead the team when he had been summoned to General Hammond's office and then had come storming out twenty minutes later to find Sam and Teal'c and go into an urgent huddle that had left all three sober faced and Jack behind on Earth when Sam and Teal'c had gated away with Jacob. Janet was alone in her office when Jack rapped smartly on the door in full field regalia and marched in without so much as a by-your-leave. "
"Doc, I need a minute." Jack closed the door behind him and took a deep breath. "I thought you should know that Daniel's in trouble." Although desperately worried himself, Jack was alert enough to notice the sudden whiting of Janet's knuckles where she gripped her pen and the paleness of her face as the blood drained away. He softened his voice and told her what he knew in a matter-of-fact manner, carefully keeping any sign of emotion from his own voice. "He's being held by kidnappers that have taken him and at least one other member of his team hostage in exchange for a ransom from the Government. The president won't authorise payment and General Hammond thinks Daniel's best chance is if I go in and snatch him back."
"Is.Is he alive?" Janet's eyes had lost their habitual coolness that she maintained whenever she was around Jack or Daniel these days and were instead naked with fear and shock. "Do you have confirmation that he's ok?"
"No, only the kidnapper's word." Jack tilted his head to the side and studied the woman for a moment before cracking a big grin as he tried to alleviate the tension. "Come on, Doc, anyone would think you cared. We both know this is just a normal day at the office for Daniel. Hell, I'll get down there and probably find they've let him go in self-defence 'cos they can't shut him up."
Janet tried to laugh and shook her hair back from her face. "Right." She sucked in lungfuls of air and tried to make herself think. "Ok. You're going to need supplies to take with you. Anti-venom, anti-histamines, anti- biotics.." Her voice broke as she suddenly had an image of Daniel lying delirious on a filthy mud floor, bleeding out his life and calling for his team mates to help him. "Oh God."
"Oh yeah, you are SO over him." Jack rolled his eyes and moved hurriedly around Janet's desk, holding her as she folded clutching her stomach and tried not to be sick. "Doc.Janet, he'll be fine. Daniel's tough and I'll have him back here by the end of the week, probably in one piece and needing nothing more than an IV drip of coffee. He's been in worse spots than this."
Janet tried to pull herself together, aware she was revealing too much, but the suddenness of Jack's announcement had left her defenceless against the overwhelming terror for the missing Daniel. "He's always had the rest of you to back him up. He's not a soldier."
Jack frowned as she began to tremble violently and briefly considered calling for another Doctor before just pulling her up and wrapping her tightly in his arms. "You listen to me, Janet, and listen good. Daniel may not have had the formal training Sam and I have but he's just as much a soldier as any man on this base. If he can get himself out, he will and then he'll head home and be back driving us all to distraction before you know it." He cupped a hand to the back of her skull and pressed her head tightly against his chest as she continued to shake. "Daniel doesn't stay alive because of me and the others, we stay alive because of him. I'm gonna go and get him back, ok?"
Janet nodded and squeezed her eyes tightly shut in an effort to rid herself of images of Daniel being tortured and beaten by faceless thugs. "Ok."
Jack patted her back and released her. "I gotta go, there's a plane waitin'. Got anything you want me to tell Daniel when I see him?" He grinned and raised an eyebrow pointedly at her. "Anything special?"
Janet opened her mouth but the words he wanted to hear just wouldn't come, she shook her head and whispered. "Just tell him I'm glad he's ok." She waited for Jack to give a disappointed nod before seating herself once more and staring blankly at the papers on her desk. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention anything about my reaction to anyone, Colonel. I've been working very hard lately and I'm obviously under more stress than I thought. If you'll just stop by the nurses station on your way out they'll supply you with an SG1 field medical kit."
"Ok, Doc." Jack looked like he was going to say something else but in the end shrugged and turned for the door. "I'll see ya."
Janet didn't look up until she heard him leave the infirmary and then she slowly got up and walked to close her office door. Her head tilted forward until she rested against the cool metal and then Janet Fraiser slid to the floor and went very thoroughly and comprehensively to pieces.
**************************************
It had been a busy week for Daniel. Getting kidnapped and nearly tortured into madness, again, will take it out of even the most resilient of men and it was with great relief that he pulled up outside his house late the following Saturday night and promised himself a soak in his tub before falling into bed and hopefully sleeping the rest of the weekend away. He climbed wearily out of his car, wincing at the slight twinge in his injured leg and started to trudge up the path to his front door, not noticing the shape huddled on his front step. "Daniel?"
Daniel stopped short and blinked in astonishment as the moon helpfully came out from behind a cloud and shone on the nervous face of one Cassandra Fraiser. "Cass?" Daniel resisted the temptation to rub his eyes and instead hurried forwards to pull the teenager to her feet. "What's wrong, what are you doing here?" He looked her over for signs of injury anxiously. "Are you ok?"
Cassie nodded and stuttered. "I.I wanted to make sure you were ok." She tried to smile. "I wanted to be here when you got home."
Absurdly touched, Daniel smiled back as he squeezed her arm and then his face creased in suspicion. "Cassie, does your mom know where you are?" One look at her angry pout had him heading for the door and dragging a very unwilling Cassie behind him. "I don't believe this!" He unlocked the door, pulling her inside before flicking on the lights and pointing to his phone. "Call her, she must be going out of her mind with worry."
"No." Cassie folded her arms defiantly and glared back. "She's asleep, she doesn't know I'm not at home. I'll call her in the morning."
Daniel's eyebrows rose. "You won't be here in the morning, you're going back home as soon as you call your mom." His mouth dropped open as Cass sniffed and turned her back on him and he was forced to pick up the phone himself and start dialling as Cassie pointedly ignored him. "Cass, I'm warning you..Janet? It's me, look I'm sorry for calling so late but I thought you ought to know that Cassie's here with me." Daniel winced as Janet's voice on the other end of the phone went from sleepy confusion to wide-awake fury and he held the handset a little way from his ear. "No, I didn't know she was coming. Jesus, Jan, calm down." Another furious squawk from Janet's end of the phone had Daniel wincing once more and throwing a furious look at Cassie's rigid back. "Janet, look stay there, I'll bring her home. Janet? Janet? Will you stop yelling and just listen to me? It's fine, I'll bring her home. We'll see you in a few minutes." He dropped the phone back in its cradle and walked to Cassie's side. "Let's go."
Cassie's eyes widened at the furious tone in his voice and she cocked her head uncertainly at the unfamiliar sight of softhearted Daniel glaring at her. "Aren't you pleased to see me? I just wanted to make sure you were ok."
"Cass, it's past midnight on Saturday night and you're here without letting anyone know you were coming." Daniel rubbed an exhausted hand over his mouth and then exploded. "For God's sake, what were you thinking? Anything could have happened to you. How the hell did you get over here anyway?"
"I took a cab." Cassie took an uncertain step back as Daniel clenched his fists in frustration at her puzzled tone. "I climbed out of my bedroom window after Mom went to sleep. She told me that Jack had found you this morning and that you were ok, but I wanted to see for myself."
Daniel forced himself to calm down as he heard the slight hitch in her voice and reached out to take her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you." His eyes widened in alarm as Cassie's filled with tears and then his arms were suddenly full of sobbing teenager. "Oh God, Cassie, don't cry. Please." He patted her back awkwardly, wincing as Cassie pushed her face into his chest and began to wail louder. "Honey, calm down. I'm fine."
"I thought you were gonna die!" Daniel's lips twitched in unwilling amusement as Cassie paused and then sobbed accusingly. "Again!" He made wordless noises of comfort as she wrapped her arms around his waist and continued to cry. "And you didn't come to say goodbye before you left and I thought I wouldn't see you anymore and I haven't seen you for weeks and Mom won't let me call you." Daniel grimaced as she wiped her face across his shirtfront and he felt the stickiness of tears and other bodily fluids seep through the thin material to his skin. "All she does is say you're busy and then go and cry in her room when she thinks I'm asleep."
Daniel stopped murmuring comfort and stared blankly over the top of Cassie's head. "Um, what?" He felt his heart begin to pound in his chest. "Your mom's been upset?"
Cassie pulled back and nodded plaintively. "Uh-huh, and I don't even know why she's upset because she ruined it all. Everything was fine until she said she wouldn't see you anymore and now you don't come over and I haven't seen Jack or Teal'c in weeks and when Sam comes she and mom just sit talking for hours in the den and won't let me in. She's ruined everything!"
Daniel pulled a sticky strand of hair from Cassie's face and shook his head. "Cass, that's not true."
"Yes it is!" Cassie refrained from stamping her foot, but just barely. "She told me what she did to you and now you don't come over anymore and Jack and Teal'c have to take your side because they're guys and Sam has to take Mom's because they're best friends and I'm never gonna see you guys because you're going to all go away and." She stopped as Daniel laid a defensive hand over her mouth and silenced the torrent of pent up emotion.
"Cass, I'm taking you home to your mother, but on the way I think we need to have a talk." He took his hand off Cassie's mouth and took her hand, grabbing a box of Kleenex off a table on his way out the door. "Get your face cleaned up and then I want you to listen to me very, very carefully."
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Daniel turned off the car and turned to his silent passenger. "Do you understand now, Cass?" He squinted to try and get a glimpse of her face, but she swung her hair forward to hide it from his eyes. "None of this was your mother's fault, I did this."
Cass stared down at her hands, folded neatly on her lap. "You were just using my mom for sex?" She tried to clear her numb throat. "You did that?"
"NO!" Absolutely horrified Daniel shook his head and tried to think of a point in the conversation where he had brought up the physical side of things to Cassie and then thankfully reached the conclusion that he hadn't. "I didn't say that at all. Where did you get that from?"
"You said that you wouldn't commit to her." Cassie tried to blink back tears. "You said that she thought she was just convenient."
"Well, yes." Daniel's shoulders sagged and he reached under his glasses to rub his tired eyes, reflecting that no matter how many languages he spoke there was one he'd never manage to master and that was 'woman'. "But that wasn't what I meant. Cassie, look at me. I said look at me, Cassandra." He waited until she reluctantly turned to face him and then took a deep breath as he forced himself to speak honestly to the young girl. "I love your mom but I've managed to hurt her very badly and I don't know if I can persuade her to trust me again. I don't know if I can fix what went wrong between us but I'm going to try because I love her and I love you and this time I want to get things right." He smiled wryly as Cassie's eyes widened hopefully. "Although if I do manage to get things back on track with your mom the first thing I'm going to do is nail your window shut." His smile widened to a grin as Cassie gave a watery giggle and he reached for her hand. "I'm sorry that this has affected you so badly, Cass, neither of us ever wanted that. I honestly didn't think you'd even miss me around."
Cassie gripped the hand that covered hers and then leaned forward to rest her forehead against Daniel's shoulder. "Daniel, you've been around since I was twelve, how could I not miss you?" She sighed and mumbled. "You already left once without saying goodbye, I didn't want you to do it again."
Daniel's heart pounded painfully at the lost whisper and he reached out instinctively to pull her into his arms. "I'm sorry, Cassie, I'm so sorry. I didn't think." He kissed the top of her head and then saw the front door of Janet's house open and the woman herself appear. "Look, I'll talk to your mom, ok? I promise, I'll do everything I can to fix this." He waited for her to nod her head and then gave one last squeeze. "Come on, let's get you inside."
They walked up the path side-by-side, coming to a halt at the base of the porch steps and stood staring up at Janet. She looked from one to the other silently and then pulled her housecoat tightly around herself. "Inside, Cassie, I'll talk to you in the morning." She frowned as Cassie looked up at Daniel questioningly and he nodded to her before the teenager walked past her and into the house. "Thank you for bringing her home, Daniel. This won't happen again." Janet turned to go back into the house and then found herself staring at her front door as Daniel reached around her and pulled it closed. "What are you doing?"
"I just need a couple of minutes of your time." Daniel slipped in between Janet and the door, cutting off all escape, and smiled warily. "She's a bit upset, don't be too hard on her."
"Thanks for the advice but I think I can handle it." Janet couldn't stop her eyes travelling anxiously over his body and muttered. "Are you ok?"
"Huh?" Daniel frowned in confusion and then realised she was asking about his condition after his latest disaster. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. How about you?" He bent his knees and tried to look in her eyes. "Cassie says you've been a little unsettled."
Janet scowled and mentally made a note to ground her daughter for the next ten years instead of just the five she was planning on. "I'm fine. I've just been really."
"Busy. Yeah, I know." Daniel stuck his hands in his pockets and ignored her theatrical shiver in the cool night air, sighing wearily. "There's a lot of that going around." He stood staring down at her for a moment. "Look, Cassie was really upset that she hasn't seen much of us lately and I was wondering if you'd let me take her out for something to eat tomorrow. Just for an hour or so."
Janet's head flew up, eyes wide with surprise. "What?"
"I said, I'd like to spend some time with Cass tomorrow if that's ok with you." Daniel shifted from foot to foot and kept his eyes fixed calmly on Janet's surprised face. "I've missed her and she's obviously missed me so I thought it might make things a little easier for her if I made an effort to spend some time with her. I might call Jack and Teal'c and get them to come along as well."
Janet flushed as she realised that her own and Sam's names were blatantly omitted from the list of possible invitees. "I see." She stared at him for a long moment before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Daniel, I don't think that's a good idea. If you'll excuse me." She took a step forward, exhaling loudly with relief as he stepped aside and allowed her to open the door and slip inside.
Daniel waited until the door closed in his face before tapping lightly on it. "Janet?" He paused but didn't hear a reply. He closed his eyes and laid his palm flat on the door as though that could help him see the woman that stood silently on the other side. "Janet, I had some time to think about us while I was away and I just wanted you to know that I'm not going to give up on us and I'm not going away. I'm sorry I hurt you and that I ruined what we had, but I want to do everything I can to make that up to you." He waited another few moments and then turned away. "I'll call you tomorrow and check up on Cassie."
Janet stood in her darkened hallway and listened to his footsteps move off into the night and then the sound of his car pulling away. She leaned back against the wall; scowling down at her shaking hands and bit down so hard on her bottom lip she nearly drew blood. "Damn you, Daniel. Goddamn you." She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around her waist. "Just leave me alone."
End Part 5.