Traveling Daughter
Chapter 2
Based upon Stargate SG-1
Rated K+ for mild language
Author's Note: "The Q" refers to base quarters (either Bachelor Enlisted or Officer's Quarters, or the Visiting Officer Quarters). Usually it's pretty much a hotel.
- . - - - . - Time in Reality: 00:00
Cassie looked around. She wasn't sitting in the commissary with Mom and Colonel Mitchell anymore. It didn't take her long to realize she jumped again. She was standing in the locker room. She turned around to be face to face with a man she had actually never met in person. "Charles Kawalsky?"
"Who the hell are you?" he asked, clutching the towel around his waist. "What are you doing in here?"
She smiled nervously. "Funny story really. Why don't I wait outside and tell you when you're wearing pants."
He nodded slowly.
She turned as quickly as she could and closed the door behind her. She waited with her back to the wall right next to the door. Well, that was thoroughly embarrassing.
A few minutes later, Major Kawalsky exited the locker room, fully dressed. "Okay, who are you?"
"My name is Cassandra Carter, and in addition to being from the future, I'm from an alternate reality."
He stared at her as if she was speaking gibberish.
"Is Samantha Carter around? She and I speak the same language."
"Samantha Carter?" Kawalsky shook his head, the name obviously wasn't ringing any bells.
"No Samantha Carter?" Cassie bit her lip, thinking. "Well, she might have a different last name. She's got a doctorate in astrophysics, led the team that created the dialing program . . . "
"You mean Doctor Hansen? Tall, blonde, blue eyes, no one can understand half of what she's saying . . . That sound like her?"
"Hansen?! She married Jonas Hansen? Is she okay?"
Kawalsky frowned. "Yeah, what do you mean?"
"She told me about Jonas Hansen. He was verbally abusive and she left him the first time he hit her."
"He hit her?" Kawalsky's gaze moved away from her and into the distance. "Oh my God, how did I not notice?"
"Uh, Major, what are you saying?"
"I always just thought he was a little over protective, but . . ."
"Are you telling me Hansen hits my mother and you never noticed?!"
"I just figured she was quiet and socially awkward like other geeks!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Cassie closed her eyes and rubbed her hand over her mouth. "Can you take me to her?"
"I still don't know who you are."
"I'm her daughter from an alternate reality. I had a little accident and this," she pointed her the device on her arm "is how I got here. Mom is probably one of the only people who can help me get home."
"Okay. Um . . . Yeah . . . How about I take you to the briefing room and you can try to explain this to everyone?"
Cassie nodded. "Sounds good to me."
They headed down the hall towards the elevator. They paused before they got there and Kawalsky pulled a phone off the wall. "Hey, Master Sergeant. Yeah, it's Major Kawalsky. Can you get the General, Doctors Fraiser and Hansen and the rest of SG-1 in the briefing room? What's it about?" he paused, thinking. "It's complicated. I'll let you all know when I get there. Sounds good, we're on our way up right now. Yeah, the 'we' is what's about."
They continued down the hall. They heard a page for SG-1, Doctors Hansen and Fraiser on their way to the elevator, which they took down to the 28th sublevel. "You recognized me," he said. "So what I am I doing in the future, where you come from?"
Cassie didn't answer immediately. She inhaled slowly through her teeth.
"What?" Kawalsky asked, sensing the obvious: that something was wrong.
"I actually never met you," she said.
"Then how'd you recognize me?"
"There was a couple pictures of you with SG-1 or you and Jack and some of your PJ buddies. . . . They told me stories."
"So, I'm dead."
Cassie nodded.
"Do I want to know how?"
Cassie thought about it for a moment. "Maybe, probably not."
"Was it off world?"
Cassie shook her head.
"Was it because of off world?"
Cassie nodded.
"Just tell me."
"There was a Goa'uld. You were . . . Uh . . . An immature Goa'uld wrapped itself around your spine but wasn't able to take control and it ended up killing you both."
She looked over and saw him staring forward at the door. "That sucks," he said after several seconds of silence.
She nodded. "Yeah, it does."
The doors opened and he walked out, not waiting for another word. She followed him. No one else was there, so Kawalsky just plopped down into a chair.
"But you don't recognize me . . ." Cassie said.
"Should I? I mean, you're not even born. If Hansen isn't your dad, then the Doc never had you . . ."
Cassie shook her head. "No, um, I was adopted. I'm from through the 'gate. What year is it?"
"1998."
"You might not have found me yet. Have you gone to a planet called Hanka? The Goa'uld Nirrti was experimenting on the people there and then she killed everyone. When SG-1 got there and everyone was dead. Everyone but me."
Kawalsky shook his head. "We haven't been there."
She turned towards the window to the 'gateroom and ran her fingers through her hair, which probably looked terrible. "I guess that's just one more thing I'll have to fix while I'm here."
"Listen, about Doctor Hansen."
Cassie turned around and faced him. "What about her?"
"I will take care of that. I promise."
"Thank you."
Daniel was the first one to arrive, with Janet on his heals. He looked as dorky as ever with his big glasses and that shaggy hair. She smiled, glad to see a familiar face. "Who are you?" he asked. She could tell by the look on Janet's face, she had the same question.
"Take a seat, Jackson, Doc, we'll explain when everyone gets here."
A few minutes later she heard an unexpected, yet familiar voice coming up the stairway. "I assure you Colonel O'Neill, I have known Teal'c since he was a child. He will be an invaluable asset to our cause."
Jack came up the stairs first, shaking his head, with Master Bra'tac right behind him. "I don't know Master B, First Prime of Apophis? Kind of high in the ranks to be a traitor, isn't he?"
"I, too, was high in the ranks of the False God Apophis, and yet, I am here."
Jack opened his mouth to respond, but saw Cassie. "Charlie, who's this?"
"Once everyone gets here, we'll tell you."
Jack shrugged and turned back to Master Bra'tac. "Alright, let's get a plan together to reach this guy."
Another minute or so later there were voices in the hall. One seemed a little agitated, but they were hushed. "I know you've got a lot on your plate right now, but you need to be home by 1900."
"Jonas, I'm sorry, I just lost track of time," Mom sounded quiet, meek, defeated.
"Well, you need to keep track of time."
Cassie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Jonas was obviously controlling her mother's life and probably hitting her, too, and no one here noticed. She looked around at the faces of the people there. She was wrong. They did notice.
They all knew. They were pretending they didn't, but they knew.
Charlie looked the most guilty, because his fears had been confirmed.
Janet and Daniel looked at each other, but wearing an expression that said they knew Sam was in trouble, but were - perhaps - too afraid to say something to someone. Sam wondered if her mom every had any bruises and if Janet saw ever them.
Master Bratac just stood, existing in the space. It was difficult to read his expression. Perhaps he knew, perhaps he didn't. Perhaps he didn't think anything was amiss. After all, he didn't know much about human culture, after all, he'd only been on Earth for a few months.
Jack, on the other hand, looked visibly upset. He obviously knew something was wrong, and it looked like it was killing him to not do anything.
"Jonas, I'm gonna be late for this meeting. I can't make the General wait again."
"You're right," Jonas' voice changed, it dropped and softened. "How about we go home together tonight? And we'll have a quiet night together."
"Sounds great, Honey," Mom said, sounding a little better.
Cassie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She looked at Jack, who looked disappointed.
Seconds later, Mom came through the door, and everyone looked around, trying to pretend they hadn't been eavesdropping.
Kawalsky got up and knocked on the General's doorway, poking his head in. "Sir, we're all here."
General Hammond followed Kawalsky back into the briefing room and everyone took their seats.
"This is Cassandra Carter," Kawalsky said. "She appeared right in front of my eyes."
- . - Time in Reality: 4:12
Cassie had been working with her Mom for 3 hours, and Jonas had come to check on them four times. "Mom, what's with him?" Cassie asked after he had left again.
She forced a smile. "He's just overprotective."
"I don't think he's just overprotective, Mom."
"Would you mind not calling me that?" she asked. "It makes me uncomfortable."
"What should I call you?"
"Doctor Hansen would be okay. Or Sam."
Cassie frowned. "Both of those sound a little weird." Mom looked a little nervous, so Cassie compromised, "How about Sam?"
Her mom nodded. "Sounds good."
Cassie smiled. "Yeah."
"This thing is amazing," Mom said in a less-than-subtle attempt to change the subject while looking at the SDC through a large magnifying glass.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. A little bit annoying right now, but . . ."
Mom let loose a small giggle. "That's par for the course around here."
"I just don't know what to do about this," Cassie admitted for the fifth or sixth or seventh or thirtieth time.
"You said the second time you jumped, it was just random?"
"Yeah, we were getting something to eat. We had tried a power surge, but it didn't work. We had an idea about Arthur's Mantle, but I've been thinking about it. There's gotta be some kind of connection between my device and Arthur's Mantle or else I wouldn't have jumped the second time. Which means we should be able to manipulate it."
Mom nodded. "Alright, um . . . Let's start looking at low frequency radiation. We've been looking at high frequency stuff. Let's switch the spectrum and see if we can find anything."
Cassie nodded. "Alright, let's try it."
About an hour later, Jack and Kawalsky strolled in. "Alright, ladies, chow time," Jack said.
Cassie and Mom looked up, unaware of how ridiculous they looked wearing led vests and safety goggles. Kawalsky stifled a laugh.
"Is it really?" Cassie asked.
"Dang, Doc, she is your kid. Too busy to know what time it is and when to eat."
Kawalsky laughed. "Missing all those meals like she did growin' up, it's amazing she was able to grow that tall."
Jack and Kawalsky chuckled.
Cassie and Mom offered an annoyed glare.
"Come, Carter Times 2, let's get some lunch," Jack said, waving to them both.
"We should eat," Cassie agreed, taking off her glasses.
Mom glanced at the clock on the wall, "I should wait for Jonas, he and I were gonna have lunch together."
"Come on, Doc," Jack said, "he'll meet us there."
"He'll be expecting me here," her voice rose about half an octave. Her breath got a little short.
Again, Cassie couldn't believe how all these people claimed to be her friends, and didn't help her.
Kawalsky made a gesture with his head for Cassie to come over to him, so she moved away from Mom and towards the door as Jack moved towards Mom.
"Doc," he said in a soft voice. "It'll be alright." He leaned in towards her, but she wouldn't meet his gaze.
"Ready for lunch, Babe?" Jonas said, pushing past Kawalsky and Cassie as he entered Mom's lab.
Mom jumped back from Jack and took a deep breath, forcing a smile. "Yeah. The Colonel and the Major just came to remind us what time it was."
No one missed the dark look Jonas shot at Jack.
Cassie was just about at the end of her rope with Jonas. She was amazed how these people allowed this to happen this long.
- . - Time In Reality: 7:34
After a break for lunch, Cassie was ordered to the infirmary for a full workup. Janet apologized for having to run a full set of tests, but ran them all with a smile.
"Alright, that's everything," Janet said with a smile.
"Um, Janet, there is one thing I'd like to talk to you about," Cassie was sure to use a tone that indicated she needed some privacy.
Janet nodded. "Let's talk in my office." Cassie got up off the infirmary bed and followed Janet into her office. Janet closed the door behind them and offered Cassie a seat before rounding her desk and taking a seat herself.
"I know you can't talk about this - Doctor/Patient confidentiality and all - but why are you ignoring what Jonas is doing to my mom?"
Janet didn't answer immediately.
"I mean, you have to know what's going on."
Janet closed her eyes for a long second then just stared at her hands clasped in her lap.
"How can you let him hit her?"
"Because sometimes my job sucks," Janet said suddenly.
"What?" That was not the response Cassie was expecting.
"She's my best friend."
"So why don't you do anything?!"
"Because she won't let me!" Janet snapped, meeting her gaze.
"What?" Cassie didn't understand.
"Do you think I like seeing her like this?! Do you think I like watching her leave with him everyday, not knowing whether or not he's gonna beat her?! I've tried, Cassie, I'VE TRIED!" Janet jumped from her seat and paced the small room like a caged tiger. "But she tells me that she loves him and that he loves her. She tells me that she doesn't know what she'll do without him!
"So I have to make a choice! Everyday!" She paused, blinking back tears. "I have to make a choice," her voice had settled down a little, but still shook with anger, "whether to shut up, watch it happen, and be there for her, or report abuse I can't prove and get pushed out of her life and not be there when his verbal abuse and hitting turns into a life threatening beating!"
Janet turned around, covering her mouth with her hands.
Tears were dripping down Cassie's face. "Why can't you help her?"
Janet turned around to face her, tears streaming down her face. "Because sometimes you can't help someone doesn't want help."
Cassie wiped the tears from her eyes. "But she's my Mom."
"And she's my best friend."
- . - Time in Reality: 9 :45
For the past 30 minutes, Mom couldn't stop looking at the clock.
"Can you relax?" Cassie asked, "Once we finish this last test, we can pack up and you can get out of here."
"I just don't want to be late." Mom glanced nervously towards the door.
Cassie slammed her hand on the table. "Why do you put up with this?!"
"What do you mean?"
"With Jonas? Where I come from you are a strong, intelligent, independent woman who would never let a man hit her."
Mom swallowed hard. "My husband doesn't hit me," she said. It couldn't have sounded more rehearsed.
"I know he does, Mom. That's why you left him in my reality. He hit you once and you walked out on him."
"My husband doesn't hit me," she repeated, as if they were magic words that might make it true.
"DAMN IT, MOM!" Cassie shouted. "It's only gonna get worse! Right now it may only be once in a while, but you're living in fear! And soon, it's gonna become every day. And then one day, he's gonna leave a mark, and it's slippery slope to you lying on a hospital bed and being the poster child for domestic abuse."
"Excuse me?" came an unwelcome voice from the doorway. "Just what the hell are you implying?" Jonas asked.
Cassie didn't need to glance at her mother to tell she was terrified. "I'm not implying anything! I know you hit her!"
"No, Cassie," Mom tried to interrupt. "It's nothing. Everything's fine. It's always fine."
"I don't like your accusations," Jonas growled, taking an aggressive step forward.
"So hit me!" she challenged. "Hit me like you hit your wife!"
"I do not hit my wife!" Jonas shouted.
And then it turned into a real shouting match. Cassie wasn't quite sure what she was saying, or what Jonas was saying, or what Mom was saying, but there was a lot of shouting. There was shouting until Jack appeared at the door with a single question.
"Doc, is it true?" he asked quietly, forcing silence into the room.
Jonas whipped around to face Jack. "Of course it's not true!"
"Shut up!" Jack shouted, taking an aggressive step towards him. "You shut your mouth!" He turned back to Mom. "Sam, is it true?" he asked softly.
Mom closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling. Jack moved closer to her, Jonas and Cassie didn't move. "Sam, has he ever hit you?" She looked up at him wordlessly, and that was all Jack needed to see.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he shouted, turning and launching himself across the lab at Jonas. Mom was sobbing openly as Jack beat the living daylights out of Jonas. Cassie briefly considered trying to stop it, but was very realistic about the fact that Jack was a large and powerful man, she didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.
Lucky, Kawalsky showed up. "Jack!" He tried to pull Jack off Jonas, who may or may not have still been conscious, Cassie couldn't tell from his angle.
A few seconds later, two airmen ran in, having been attracted by the commotion. Between the three of them, they were able to get Jack off Jonas, who was still conscious.
"Airmen," Kawalsky ordered, holding Jack's arms behind his back, "Take Captain Hansen to the Infirmary. Keep him under guard, he's under arrest for spousal abuse."
The Airmen helped Jonas to his feet and slung his arms around their shoulders. Jack relaxed once he was gone and turned, suddenly calm. He rushed to Mom, then was hesitant.
"Sam . . . Sam if I had . . ." he didn't have the words. "I didn't know."
She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. "I was afraid," she whispered.
"Oh, Baby," he muttered, pulling her into his arms. "I'm gonna take care of you." He rocked her as she sobbed. "I should've done this months ago."
Cassie followed Kawalsky into the hall, leaving them some privacy. "How long as he been in love with her?" Cassie asked.
"Day One would probably be an exaggeration, but maybe day two or day three." Kawalsky thought for a second. "I don't know if he was like me and didn't know, or was lying to himself."
"She's gonna be okay now?" she asked.
Kawalsky nodded. "Yeah, Hansen'll be court-martialed. And if I know Jack, Doc's never gonna have to worry about anything ever again."
- . - Time In Reality: 15:22
Hours later, Cassie was exhausted. She had been pretty emotionally charged after the incident with Jonas, and now she was dead tired.
Jonas was in a holding cell. Mom was asleep in her quarters and Jack was just wandering the halls.
Every once in a while he would appear in Sam's lab to check on Cassie, or swing by Sam's room or by the holding cell. He was more than just a little on edge.
She had tried working for a while, but wasn't able to stay focused. A while ago Kawalsky brought her to the commissary. He first tried to get her to go to bed, but she wouldn't go, insisting she had work to do. So he was compromising by making her take a break and distracting her.
He asked her about Hanka.
It was interesting, to say the least, trying to save one's own life. She did realize that if were able to save Hanka, she wouldn't grow up on Earth and her life was different, but she figured it was worth it.
Jack poked his head in again.
"Take a seat, Man, you're driving me nuts," Kawalsky said.
Jack plopped down in a seat, seeming defeated and on edge at the same time.
No one spoke.
"Thank you," he finally said.
His sentiment took Cassie by surprise. "Um . . ."
"If you hadn't said anything, I don't know what would've happened."
Cassie shook her head. "I don't know what to say."
Jack shrugged. "Usually, neither do I."
The door opened and Jack jumped to his feet, it was Mom. She looked a little sleepy, but well rested. He met her halfway between the door and their table. "How ya doin'?" He shoved his hands in his pockets, clearly anxious.
She smiled at him. "Good."
"D'you'd sleep good?" he asked.
Mom nodded. "Yeah."
"Wanna sit and have some . . . Food?"
She nodded. "A little Jell-O would be nice."
"I'll get some, take a seat."
Mom sat down as Jack went through the line and got a cup of blue Jell-O for Mom. Cassie was amazed how he doted on her. He was clearly head-over-heels. He sat down across from her, pushing the Jell-O toward her. There was silence as she took a few bites.
"Cassie, did you make any progress?" Mom asked.
She shook her head. "Not really. I got a lot of interesting readings and analyzed some of the signals it's producing, but nothing looks promising."
"Do you think you'll want to work more tonight?" Mom asked, ducking her head.
Cassie shook her head. "No, I've been at it long enough that I'm kind of worthless now." She didn't miss Kawalsky's smirk as he realized he had convinced her.
"I was wondering . . ." Mom started, but took a deep breath, "Well, I mean. If you want to get off base for the night, you could come home with me."
Cassie smiled. "Yeah, definitely."
"Do you want to head out now? I mean-" she started to stumble over her words "I don't want to rush you out."
"Oh no," Cassie shook her head. "We can definitely go now."
"Let me just take care of this," Mom referred to the bowl of Jell-O in her hand. She stood up and headed towards the dish-return. Jack got up and followed her.
Cassie couldn't help but eavesdrop, but she knew Kawalsky was doing the same.
"I thought I'd go home with you tonight, so you wouldn't be alone. Or, you could come to my place."
Mom took a shuddering inhale. "Jack, um . . . We need to talk . . . About where we're going from here." She paused for a second, then quickly continued - probably in response to Jack's expression. "The fact is that I'm still married. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say."
"I understand," Jack said quietly. "You're right."
"Okay, that makes me feel better. I'm - um - not good at relationships."
Cassie could almost hear Jack smile. "Just let me know if you need anything."
"I will." Mom reentered Cassie's field of vision near the door. "Ready to go?"
Cassie stood. "Yeah, let's go."
They were relatively quiet on the way out of the mountain, and the drive home.
They'd been relatively quiet on the drive home. When they did arrive, Mom didn't get out of the car. Cassie watched her stare at the house.
"I think I'm gonna move," Mom said after a minute or so. "I don't want to live in his house."
"I can understand that." Cassie nodded a few times. "It'd be good to get your own place for a little while while you and Jack are figuring this thing out. I mean, you'll probably move again in a few months or a year, but you don't want to live in the Mountain or in the Q."
"Move again in a year?" Mom took a deep breath. "Move in with Jack?" She swallowed hard.
"What? Don't you want to be with Jack? He's crazy about you."
"Cassie," Mom said in a flat voice, "I don't know if you noticed, but I don't have such a good track record with men."
"Mom, look how good you're doing. This morning you were in an abusive relationship. Tonight you're an independent woman thinking about moving into your own house and moving forward in a relationship with an attractive, successful man who would do anything for you."
"You think so?"
Cassie nodded. "I know so. You're brave and tough - that's who Samantha Carter is."
"Tell me about her."
"About my mom?"
Mom nodded.
"Let's go inside and sit on the couch with a glass of wine, and I'll tell you about the woman who raised me."
It was hours later, Cassie and Mom were curled up on the couch with a half empty bottle of wine on the coffee table. It had been such a long time since she and Mom had had the opportunity to just sit and talk. And yeah, this Sam Carter wasn't quite her mother, but she was close. Cassie was able to see her as a woman who was not her mother, but a close friend who she'd known for most of her life.
"We've talked about me the whole time - er - me and your mom. What about you? Are there any attractive successful men waiting for you."
Cassie frowned. "Not right now. I had been going out with this guy for a while, but it fizzled out. He wasn't big on the whole me being gone for days at a time and being on call all the time, you know . . ."
"Oh, that sucks."
"Yeah, it does." Cassie shrugged. "But we'll see."
Mom opened her mouth to respond, but Cassie didn't hear her. There was a blinding flash of light.
- . - - - . - Time in Reality: 18:00