Author: Falcon Horus
E-mail:
Category: angst/drama, hurt/comfort
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Daniel/Janet
Spoilers: Legacy
Summary: When all hell breaks loose...
Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.
Author's notes: My take on Meg's August challenge on the Dan/Jan list...these were the criteria: 1 Must fall under the category of angst/drama, at least to some degree.
2 At some point in the fic, Janet is responsible for hurting Daniel in some way. Whether she
messes up during an examination, zats him, shoots him, spills scalding hot coffee on him, or
whatever is up to you, but it has to be something serious and not just stepping on his toes.
3 Let's have some angst and guilt-ridden Janet, people!
4 No character death - I don't want her to hurt him THAT badly.
Has not been beta'ed so all mistakes are mine. Feedback is always welcome. It gives Kate, my muse, a happy tingly feeling.
So ... enjoy and hopefully you'll like it! Greetz ;-)
The voices in her mind were screaming, yelling at her. It was all too loud. She couldn't even make out what they were saying but had a distinct feeling it wasn't meant to be friendly. She couldn't remember the last time she had such a headache. She would just like them to go away but they wouldn't listen. If she could just strain herself and listen closer she would be able to hear what they were saying. It hurt so badly but she had to try.
You...Just have to try harder. ...Killed him!The voices were accusing her of murder but she hadn't killed anyone, had she? No, she was a Doctor and would never do anything to harm her patients. The screaming continued gaining force again and this time she could hear a distinct male voice screaming in agony. YOU killed him!!
"What!" She awoke with a start. Four white walls, no windows and one door. She was in trouble but why couldn't she remember anything from before. How had she ended up in this situation in the first place? She tried to get up and walk around, hoping in that way she could somehow focus her mind. But her vision blurred and she fainted almost immediately, taken down into a whirlwind of memories.
Blood everywhere, on her hands, her clothes, on the floor ... everywhere. Where did all that blood come from? Why was she covered in blood? Another image replaced the previous one, a man laying in a puddle of blood in the middle of a room, a young girl sitting next to him calling for help and a woman calling on the phone, she too covered in blood. His blood. The image of the man is coming back to haunt her. He's looking fairly young with short brown hair and a pair of now broken glasses on his face. She knew him. She had seen him before. She recognized him. It was...
"DANIEL!!" She awoke, shaking violently and covered in sweat. Four red walls, no windows, one door. No, the walls were white, not red. It was blood, dripping down from the ceiling. All she wanted to do was curl up in a little ball and die right there and then. She had killed a man. She, a medical doctor, had killed a man, not some man ... she had killed her own fiancé.
You killed HIM!!The voices were back, louder than ever and more accusing. His voice was among them. He was accusing her of first-degree murder.
"I didn't kill him!" She was looking around frantically, feeling their eyes piercing her soul. They were everywhere and they were watching her. She could feel them watch her. She wasn't alone, they were with her and wouldn't leave her be.
You killed him!
"NO!! I DID NOT!!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs, tears running freely now. "SHUT UP!! I didn't kill him. I didn't." She started sobbing uncontrollably, the voice constantly haunting her. She so longed for silence, no more voices haunting her but pure silence.
A soft murmuring penetrated the silence inside his head. It was a subtle indication he was still among the living and that his best friend was somewhere nearby. He wondered what he had done that had landed him in this particular situation. He was sure he had been careful on their last mission and yet here he was, lying flat on his back in a bed that was very familiar. He couldn't feel any immediate pain so either he was okay, except that he had obviously been unconscious, or he was being overloaded with a large amount of morphine or painkiller alike. His movement had drawn his friend's attention as he heard a soft greeting directed his way. Opening eyes after having been unconscious for a while is never a pleasant experience, at least not when there isn't one particular smiling Doctor in the neighborhood. As he had adjusted to the little light there was on around him, he saw his friend smiling at him, a concerned one that he managed to show like a goofy one. Blinking several times he finally got the man in focus, or at least as focused as he could get without his ever-present glasses who were now actually not present.
"Hi." Oh, he managed to say something and there was actual sound. That was good. "What happened?"
"You don't remember what happened?" He wouldn't have asked if he knew. "You were shot."
"On our last mission?" He couldn't for the love of any god, false or not, recall their last mission but he wouldn't know where else he could have been in the line of fire.
"No..."
"Jack?" Something in the back of his mind told him he wouldn't like the truth much, but he had to know what had happened to him.
"Fraiser shot you." His face must have given him away that he wasn't buying what his friend was saying, even though he knew it was the truth whether he wanted to believe it or not. "She wasn't quite herself when she pulled the trigger and she even..."
"She even what?"
"She tried to kill herself but Carter only just prevented that from happening. She's convinced she killed you."
"What?" This was beyond him. His fiancée had pulled a gun on him and had even pulled the trigger? She would never do such a thing, would she? Something must have been wrong.
"Dr. Mackenzie has her locked up in the white padded room. She was ... well..."
"Well what?" Why did they always have to make things so complicated? Instead of telling someone exactly what they knew they had to tell it in bits and pieces. "Jack?"
"Nuts! When Carter arrived to pick you up, she found the Doc sitting on the floor, the gun to her temple about to ... you know what. You were lying in this big puddle of blood and Cassie was panicking in the tenth degree. Nuts!"
"No..." It was coming back to him now, even if he didn't want it to come back. As he closed his eyes he saw the whole scene play out again. His team was scheduled to go on a two-day mission and Sam was going to pick him up. Janet had come home and he had welcomed her with a kiss, which he always did. This time however she had pulled away from him and a gun had appeared out of nowhere. She had started shouting things at him and he had backed away. He hadn't even felt the shots fired at him.
"I'm sorry, Daniel." He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder. All he did was nod and then settled to get some sleep, which would definitely give him a nightmare or two.
Sam was standing in front of the door of the white padded room. She was waiting for Doctor Mackenzie to give her the go ahead. She had promised her CO she would let him know when there was a change in the Doc's behavior, just as he would let her know how Daniel was doing. She had been in a bit of a shock when she had found him lying in a puddle of blood and her best friend with a gun in her hand, about to shoot herself. She had only just prevented that from happening, and the only thing her friend had done was stare at her. She hadn't struggled or anything, not even when the police had arrested her. It was luck that had kept her from being taken to the station, as Carter had wanted her to be checked over first. Sam had found her behavior odd and her suspicion of something being wrong had been confirmed when Dr. Warner had informed her the CMO of the SGC was drugged, intoxicated. She was as high as a kite and having a really bad trip, which had landed her inside the white padded room. She had been having hallucinations about the most horrible things Sam could only imagine, as she had been yelling and crying most of the time, at least when she wasn't unconscious. They knew she was absolutely convinced she had killed Daniel and was now paying the prize for it. The guilt was eating the poor woman alive.
"Major Carter." Sam jumped as she heard Mackenzie right behind her. She must have been in deep thoughts, not having him heard sneaking up on her. "You may enter now, she has calmed down again."
"Will she be okay?" Sam had to know whether her friend was going to be fine after all this was over.
"Well, it seems this drug in her system has the same effect as LSD. If you're in a good mood you're having a good trip and you'll see dancing trees and pink elephants. If your mood isn't all that good when taking the drug you might just end up in your worst nightmare."
"So, she's having the bad one."
"Yes, but if she starts believing everything she sees during the moments she's hallucinating her mind may come to think that's real ... and that's not good, bad even. What I wonder about is how Dr. Warner didn't detect the drugs in her system during the post-mission? She must have been showing signs already."
"No idea." Mackenzie nodded and the orderly at the door immediately slid his card through the lock. The door clicked, indicating it was unlocked.
"If she becomes agitated or you need help, just call. There's always someone here at the door."
"Thank you!"
As Sam opened the door she could hear a soft shuffling. Closing the door behind her, she noticed her friend was trying to get herself as far away from her as possible by pushing herself closer to the wall in the little corner she was occupying. Making herself as small as she could possibly get was helping a lot too. Her eyes were wide with mortal fear and she had her hands covering her ears, as if to shut out any and every noise. Sam didn't dare to move much, afraid she might be scaring the woman even more. Tears were slowly filling her eyes and all she wanted to do was sit down and hold her friend for dear life.
"Voices..."
"What?"
"I didn't kill him." Her voice was strained.
"No, you didn't." Sam hoped she could convince her she hadn't killed Daniel and in doing so she might stop having these horrible hallucinations. "You shot Daniel but you didn't kill him."
"I shot ... No, I didn't kill him!" She was shaking her head. "I didn't..." And then she started crying again. Sam couldn't take it any longer and just placed herself next to the distressed woman, taking her in her arms. Janet buried herself inside Sam's arms, seeking safety and comfort. She had her eyes squeezed shut, hoping she could keep the images of blood and death away now.
"It's going to be okay now." Sam started rocking back and forth, hoping it would have a calming effect. "It's alright now ... shush!"
Jack had promised his 2IC he would keep her up to date on Daniel's health status. She'd do the same about Janet but he hadn't heard from her since she had left for the hospital. He had left Teal'c watching Daniel and keeping him some company he knew he would be needing when he woke up again. It wasn't fair. The poor man always had bad luck, but this time that bad luck had come from a very familiar side and that must be hard. He hadn't known the Doc could do something like that. Even though Carter had informed him that she was drugged and wasn't thinking clearly, but still when the Linvris had invaded her mind she had been the one to come up with a solution. She had fought the effect the little buggers had on someone who didn't have a goa'uld. He shook his head lightly, making his way down the hallway almost bumping into Mackenzie as he rounded the corner.
"Oh, sorry! Didn't see you coming." He quickly ducked to the ground to retrieve some of the man's papers.
"It's okay, Colonel. I guess we could blame the situation." He accepted his papers Jack handed to him. "Are you here to see Doctor Fraiser?" Jack nodded in the confirmative way. "Major Carter is still with her. It's down the hall to..."
"I know the way, Doc!" Jack gave him a friendly nod before continuing his way.
He knew the way better than anybody. He had been there all the time, or at least as much as he could, when they had Daniel locked up in the white padded room. He gave the orderly by the door a short nod, a silent order to open the door, which the man did at once. He took a few steps inside, finding his 2IC sitting against the wall with her best friend safely tucked in between her arms.
"Hey Sir." She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.
"How is she?" He bent through his knees, making it easier for his 2IC who didn't have to look up at him that way. He noticed sobs wrecking the Doc's body and once in a while she would shiver violently. She was murmuring softly to herself.
"I don't know. I think we'll have to wait till the drugs have completely left her system."
"I didn't kill him." Jack looked surprised as his Doc looked at him, an innocent but frightened look in her eyes. She looked like a child who had just hurt itself real badly and needed to be comforted by a parent.
"No, you didn't kill him." Sam confirmed again.
"No, I didn't." Janet shook her head and settled back against Sam.
"How is Daniel, by the way?" Sam looked at Jack who smiled, although it disappeared rather fast.
"He's going to be fine ... physically anyway. Mentally however... I don't know." Jack planted himself down on the floor, which was a lot more comfortable then bending through his knees. "After I told him what had happened he seemed to remember some of the events, but wouldn't talk about it. He probably thinks he can cope on his own."
"He knows we're there for him ... for both of them." Sam turned towards her friend who had fallen asleep at last. She shifted the woman's weight while Jack placed his jacket over the Doc's shoulder, preventing her from getting cold.
"I think we should leave her to rest." Jack got up and started to make his way to the door.
"I think I'm going to stick around a little longer." Sam smiled up at him. "Tell Daniel I said hi."
"I will." Jack knocked a few times on the door, as a sign he wanted out. "Goodnight Carter!"
"Night Sir!"
The silence was overwhelming. It was most pleasant and all she wanted to do was to enjoy it as long as possible. She knew she had to get up and start her day, even though something didn't feel right. Her alarm hadn't beeped yet and she wondered why. She always set it, as she knew she needed it. Her bed was feeling funky too and when turning over she realized her blankets felt strangely like someone's jacket. And instead of feeling her fiancé's warm body cuddled up behind her, she found her best friend sleeping on the floor next to her, slowly breathing in and out.
"Floor?" She awoke with a start. Four white walls, no windows and one door. The room immediately started spinning and she had to lie back down, allowing her head to adjust to the sudden movement. She was in trouble as she, not Sam, was wearing these annoying white hospital clothes. They had her locked up in the white padded room and it made her wonder in what state she had been when she had been locked inside. As soon as the room stopped spinning she got up and immediately walked to the door, waking her best friend in the action. "Sam!" She took the collar of the woman's jacket and pulled her into a sitting position. Janet jumped back, surprised of her own violent behavior.
"Wow ... take it easy!"
"I'm sorry." She slumped back against the wall, staring down at her hands. "What happened? Why am I in here?"
"Don't you remember?" Sam looked at her friend, who merely shrugged her shoulders.
"I remember having a really bad nightmare, which felt awkwardly real."
"What did you dream about then?"
"There was blood and pain. And I had ... I shot Daniel." Janet looked up at Sam, who gave her a strange look that was telling her something, but she wasn't sure what.
"It wasn't a dream, Janet." Sam carefully started explaining it had actually happened.
"Wha-what?" A disbelieving look appeared in her friend's eyes.
"You shot Daniel and tried to kill yourself afterwards. You were lucky I was coming to pick up Daniel or you would have been ... well ... gone now."
"No ... that was a dream!" Janet was shaking her head and didn't want to believe she had actually hurt someone.
"Janet..." Sam moved closer to her friend and forced her to look at her.
"No Sam..." Tears were making their way down.
"Daniel is fine ... physically at least." Sam thought it mattered to tell her he was fine physically and she had to know that mentally he wasn't coping, and with reason; getting shot is one thing, but the culprit being your own fiancée is another.
"I ... would never... How? Why?"
"When I came to your house to pick up Daniel, I found you with your gun in your hands about to shoot yourself. I was just in time to take the gun away from you and all you did was stare at me so I figured you weren't exactly yourself. The police wanted to arrest you but I convinced them you should be taken to a hospital. I asked Dr. Warner to test you for any form of intoxication and he found traces of a drug similar to LSD in your system. About an hour after you had arrived at the Academy Hospital you started having hallucinations, and we can only imagine how horrible those were. Dr. Mackenzie had you locked up in here, making sure you wouldn't be hurting yourself or anyone else. I don't know how the drugs ended up in your system so I guess you must have eaten or drank something on P7C-845."
"I... Can I see him?"
"I don't know. I'll have to ask Dr. Mackenzie and I'm sure Dr. Warner wants to test you again, just to see if the drug is completely gone." Janet gave Sam a most pleading look, one that Carter hadn't seen before. "I'll see what I can do, okay." She nodded, allowing Sam to leave and find out if she was free to go and see Daniel, if he wanted to see her.
About two hours later Sam was driving back to the mountain, with Janet sitting next to her staring out the window of the car. She glanced sideways every once in a while seeing different emotions flicker across the other woman's face. She had been right about the testing Dr. Warner wanted to do and she had been glad to hear that no residual drug was found in Janet's blood work. He had released her after having talked to Dr. Mackenzie who had given his consent, seeing his patient was no longer suffering from any side- or aftereffects. As the assault had happened outside the mountain the police was aware of it and had been waiting to have Janet placed under arrest for attempted murder. Sam had been able to avoid the arrest by having General Hammond pull some strings but it had never the less been very frightened as the officers had already cuffed Janet before they were ordered to release her again. Carter noticed her friend was absentmindedly rubbing her wrists where the cuffs had been. She was without a doubt blaming herself very much and there wasn't much Sam could do to change that thought only for a little bit.
Looking outside the window was all she could to make sure her mind didn't wander off to that horrible memory of shooting Daniel. She didn't dare looking at Carter, whom she knew would be there for her but she also knew they were blaming her for hurting him. She was pretty sure he would call their engagement off now. He would probably end their relationship and would never want to see her again. She was absolutely sure he would never trust her again or would even be able to look her in the eyes. She couldn't blame him if he did, she'd probably do the same. Maybe it was for the best that she resigned and asked for a transfer and start all over somewhere else. Maybe they were going to take Cassie away from her now too. She was, after all, too dangerous to be a mother. Her throat choked up and a wave of panic washed over her. They couldn't do that; they couldn't take her little girl away from her.
"No..." Sam's attention was drawn to her soft but panicked murmuring. "...They can't do that."
"Can't do what?" Janet looked away from the window shocked Sam had heard her.
"Cassie..."
"She was pretty upset but when we told her you weren't yourself she eased a lot. She'll be fine. She'll be waiting for us at the mountain." Sam smiled at her friend as she took the turn towards the entrance of the mountain. Those that worked in the SGC or at NORAD only used the road, as a result most vehicles they passed were military.
"No!" Janet was alarmed to hear she would have to confront her daughter as well. She wasn't entirely sure she would be able to handle that. Cassie was going to think she was a killer now and would never trust her again. Carter gave her a strange look and decided to park the car along the road and try to calm the panicked woman down a bit before continuing their drive. "They will take her away from me."
"What?" Sam frowned and then realized her friend was panicking over the fact she might loose Cassie over this situation. "Hey, listen to me..." She grabbed Janet's hand and forced her to look at her. "Cassandra has been worried about you. She has been asking us how you were doing and she really wanted to see you but, well, you weren't exactly a pretty sight. They won't take her away from you. Now, stop blaming yourself! You were intoxicated and there was nothing you could have done to stop yourself." Carter let go of Janet's hand and restarted the car to continue their drive. "We'll be there in 5 minutes." Janet's gaze drifted back towards the window and remained there the rest of the way.
Cassie was pacing up and down in front of the elevator. Jack had sent her top level, probably because she was working on his nerves with her pacing in the infirmary. She shuddered as she remembered hearing those shots that had come from her mother's gun. She had been in the kitchen when it had happened. She had just wanted to welcome her mom home when she had heard the frantic screaming and the two shots following that outbreak. She had dropped to the floor instantaneously in an attempt to remain safe from any passing bullets. After a few seconds she had made her way into the living room, finding her father-to-be in a big puddle of blood and her mother gazing at her gun. Cassie hadn't known what to do first, call the paramedics or take the gun away from her mother. Luckily Sam had chosen that moment to enter and prevent Janet from shooting herself. Hadn't it been for her aunt then the whole situation could have been far worse.
Seeing as she was constantly running into people who either entered or exited the elevator, Cassie decided to take a seat against the wall so she could still keep an eye on anyone entering the hallway. In that way she needed something else to keep her busy so she started fiddling with her sleeves until her attention was drawn to two very familiar-looking people entering the hall. She was up in an instant and turned to the duo.
"Hey Cassie!" Sam hugged the girl and beamed her a big smile. "Been here long?"
"Jack kicked me out of the infirmary. I think I was working on his nerves." Cassie gave Sam her most innocent smile before turning her attention to her mother, who was staring to the floor. "Mom?" Cassie shuffled closer, standing only inches away from Janet.
"I'm sorry." It was nothing more than a mere whisper and Cassie immediately took her mother in a fierce hug. Janet reluctantly hugged her daughter back.
"I love you, mom." That was it. Cassie shouldn't have said that as Sam noticed Janet had to squeeze her eyes shut in a fierce attempt not to break down. But it was useless and soon tears started to fall again. "Everything will be fine."
"Yup, Cassie's right. It will be okay. You'll see." Sam called the elevator while Cassie kept comforting her mother. When the doors opened they entered but Cassie made sure she stayed in physical contact with Janet and wasn't on planning of letting her go any time soon.
A warm fuzzy feeling flooded his body and he smiled. He tried to turn on his side but something stopped him and for a second the warm fuzzy feeling was interrupted with a sting of fierce pain. He shouldn't be trying to turn again; his body definitely didn't like that. His eyes shot open and all he saw was the gray ceiling of the oh so familiar infirmary. He cursed himself for ending in there once again. He wouldn't be hearing the end of it when his fiancée would appear at his bedside. He had, after all, promised her he would cut back on the injuries.
"Morning Daniel!" He groaned as he heard Jack's voice coming from his left. Couldn't they just leave him be for just a few more minutes? "How are you feeling?"
"Fi..." He started but he didn't finish saying he was actually feeling fine. There was something not exactly right but he couldn't seem to remember. There was something missing, something that was essential to the Base's infirmary. "Where's Janet?"
"Er ... she's on her way. Sam is bringing her in as we speak." Jack glanced at Daniel and noticed the memories were once again coming back to him. "They just called that they're on their way down."
"I don't..." Daniel started but he changed his mind. He remembered Jack telling him she wasn't quite herself when she shot him but still he didn't feel like meeting her, less talking to her. "I don't feel like seeing her right now. I'd like to get some more sleep first." He was lying and he wasn't sure Jack could see through it but he wasn't up to it. He didn't want to build up the guilt his fiancée must be feeling already. He knew she had been thoroughly convinced she had killed him in that moment of insanity. He needed some time to think about his course of action.
"Okay, I'll let them know." He gave his younger friend a pat on the hand and then left to meet with Carter. He was sure he would find her stepping out of the elevator and headed that way.
She had known something was wrong when the Colonel had been waiting for them at the elevator. He had taken Carter alone for a second, filling her in on Daniel's situation and by the way they were constantly glancing back and forth between her and each other she just knew something was wrong and it had without a doubt to do with her. Her attention was drawn away from their conversation as her daughter yelped in pain. She had been squeezing her hand a little too hard. The yelp had sent a shiver through her system and she immediately loosened her grip, intending to let go but Cassie wouldn't want to let go.
"He doesn't want to see me." Carter had returned, nodding, as there was no sense in denying Daniel couldn't take seeing his fiancée at the moment.
"Daniel wanted to get some more sleep first. Why don't we keep ourselves busy for a while?" Carter didn't wait for an answer but pulled her friend along towards one of the VIP rooms. Colonel O'Neill followed them, knowing he should be leaving Daniel to himself. There wasn't much he could do to help the younger man deal with the situation.
Cassie and Jack had been playing chess until O'Neill was done with loosing and had Carter playing instead of him. He had said goodbye and had run off to do something else. He did want a rematch but claimed he needed a little more practice first. Cassandra had given him the advice to play chess against a computer as she had learned a lot from it.
"Come on Cass!" Sam leaned over the table, poking her young friend, just to see if she was still with her. "Move a piece before I'm old and gray."
"I'm thinking!" Cassie was staring at the board and at her precarious situation. She couldn't move her tower cause that would put her king in a very vulnerable position.
"Think faster!" Carter sat herself back and glanced sideways to the bed, where Janet had fallen asleep.
"Okay, your turn again." Cassie had chosen to move her last knight, meaning it was now direct in line with Sam's queen, but if she caught the knight Cass could catch the white queen with her tower, taking some of the pressure off her king, leaving them both queen-less.
"Clever move." Sam frowned, as she was now the one having to think hard on her next move.
"No ... Daniel..." Both chess players looked up as they heard Janet's murmuring. She was tossing and turning, clearly in the middle of one bad dream. Sam was up and by her side in an instant, closely followed by Cassandra.
"Janet, wake up!" Sam grabbed a hold of one of her hands and tried to wake her friend up, without scaring her.
"Mom, wake up!" Cassie had crawled onto the bed and had grabbed her mother's shoulder, shaking her a little.
"Daniel!" Janet awoke with a start and needed some time to realize where she was and who was holding her hand and shoulder. "Daniel?" She couldn't find him anywhere in the room and when she looked at her two companions it all came back to her. "I shot him."
"Yeah, I'm afraid you did." Sam nodded, feeling incredibly sorry for what her friend was going through.
"Cassie?"
"It's okay, mom, everything will be okay now." Cassandra hugged her mother and felt to her great relieve that Janet accepted the hug and hugged her daughter back. They were interrupted as the phone on the nightstand suddenly started ringing.
"Major Carter." Sam answered it, as she was closest to it. She drew the attention of the two Fraisers, as she sighed deeply. "Okay, we'll be right there."
"Who was that?" Cassie had a pretty good idea but still it couldn't hurt to ask.
"That was Teal'c. Daniel would like to see you." She looked at Janet, who was still trying to get her shaking under some form of control. "You ready for that?"
"No." Janet shook her head lightly.
"Okay then, let's go!" Carter jumped up, waiting for her two companions to catch up with her at the door. "It's going to be fine. I can feel it." Sam indeed felt something but she wasn't sure whether that was her instinct telling her everything would turn out just fine, or that it was her knee she had just hit against the end of the bed.
Daniel was sitting up, reading something now that he had his glasses returned. Teal'c had been standing guard ever since Jack had left him to rest a little more. He knew the older man had seen through his lie but hadn't said a word about it. He had been thinking about the whole situation and had eventually come to some form of conclusion. He knew for a fact that Janet had been intoxicated when she had shot him and that she had been locked up in the white padded room, something he didn't wish his worst enemy. Jack had informed him she had been having hallucinations and that it hadn't been pink elephants but her worst nightmares. He couldn't blame her for something she didn't have any control over. He only wondered what could have set the whole thing off. If the drug worked like LSD, something must have set the bad trip off. He remembered they had had a little argument during the morning but they had made up, or so he thought.
He wasn't prepared for what he was about to see, though, as he saw a very fragile looking Janet walking over the infirmary's threshold. She was slightly slumped over, not her pride and strong self. She froze as she got a glance of him, she too not prepared for what he would look like. He noticed Cassandra and Sam slip past her, managing to get her further into the infirmary and closer towards him.
"Hey!" He beckoned her closer, which she did but still left a good distance between herself and him. He noticed she was on the verge of tears but managed to keep them from falling. "Sit down..." He reached her his hand and waited for her to take a hold of it, albeit reluctantly, pulling her towards him as she did so.
"I'm sorry ... I didn't mean to ... I just couldn't control my actions ... I couldn't stop myself, I wanted to but I couldn't ... I understand if you never want to see me ever again ... I'll resign and leave ...I understand if you're angry and..." Words were flowing out of her mouth, giving him no chance whatsoever to interrupt her cascade. She wasn't looking at him but staring at her fingers intertwined with his. "I'm so sorry I..." He did the only thing that would shut her up and kissed her, preventing her from rambling on. He could feel she was surprised about his sudden action but after a few seconds kissed him right back. The tears she had been holding finally breaking free and flowing rapidly.
"I know it wasn't you." He pulled her onto the bed next to him and protectively held her in his arms, at least as far as his body would cooperate with him. "I love you, Janet. And no matter what happens, I'll always love you."
"I l-love you t-too, D-Daniel." She cuddled up next to him, allowing herself to get lost in his embrace.
"See, I told you everything would turn out fine." Daniel glanced at the door where he saw his friends looking at them, huge smiles covering their faces. Cassandra's smile was the largest and he gestured her to come closer. She immediately complied and took a seat next to him.
"My family..." Daniel glanced from the woman in his arms to her daughter and a happy smile crossed his features. "...United again!"
"So Daniel, chosen your best man yet?" Jack grabbed a chair and placed himself next to his friends, his two other kids following suit.
Cassandra observed the people she could call her family and smiled with content. Sam had been right everything had turned out fine, although she knew there would be many nights to come where both her parents would suffer from a nightmare but she knew they would be there to comfort each other. And once they were settled again they would get married and that day would definitely be the best day in her life on Earth.
The End