The Tegan Chronicles

Intuition and Lies 36

"What's going on between you and Tegan?"

Janet turned to look at Cassie. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. I know she's not sleeping here, and she'd not talking to you."

"Her arm's been bothering her at night and she doesn't want to keep me up, so she's been sleeping in the other room."

House, Cassie wanted to correct her but didn't. "With the door shut?"

"Like I said she doesn't want to disturb my sleep."

"She's not there you know." Cassie shoveled a spoonful of Cheerios into her mouth and a drop of milk dribbled onto her chin.

Janet didn't need the teen filling her in, she'd heard the Porsche start up just after midnight and take off down the street. "She'd dealing with a lot and needs some space."

"Yeah." Cassie stood and picked up her bowl before heading to the sink. "I mean it's not like she's found someone else."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it means." Cassie looked at her watch before heading for the door.

When Janet came home from work it was to an empty house. Cassie was at Gillian's studying and she assumed Tegan was next door. The doors between the houses were bolted and she respected the boundaries Tegan was putting between them, even if she didn't understand them. She did however walk around and see the Porsche parked back in the garage.

That night Janet lay in the darkness listening, waiting to hear Tegan moving around on the other side of the door. She wondered what the following day would hold.

"Well," Senator McKenzie smiled. "I guess if Major Kiser isn't going to..."

"I'm sorry." Tegan walked into the briefing room in her battle dress uniform. She looked around the table to see Janet, Sam, Jack, and General Hammond all in their dress blues. "Looks like I'm under dressed, but am I late for the party?"

Sam and Janet exchanged bemused glances before Sam smiled in Tegan's direction.

"I think my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail."

"Actually you're just in time for me to start handing out court martials and to ask that you return your unauthorized prosthetic."

"Unauthorized?" General Hammond's balding head turned crimson.

"That prosthetic can not be used on anyone else." Sam defended.

"Which is just another nail in your coffin Major Carter. You wasted tax payers money so your friend could have an arm that won't even allow her to continue her career."

"Those materials didn't cost us one red cent." Jack kept his snarky retorts to himself.

"Let's see, there was the power to start up the Stargate, man hours for getting the metals, man hours to build the arm, money to fly a brain surgeon in and out." He ticked them off on his fingers.

"To do a life saving procedure." Janet interrupted.

"Regardless it was all for naught."

"Care to let me prove whether 'it was all for naught'?" Tegan challenged.

"Your doctor hasn't given me any indication that you're up for the challenge."

"My doctor also hasn't examined me in over three weeks."

"Tegan I..." Janet refused to shrink under her gaze, but she still gave into it. "She's right, I haven't."

"I did however see Dr. Scully this morning and she doesn't see any reason why I can't do the physical fitness test." Tegan hoped briefly that Dana didn't catch too much flack for her decision.

It was time for Janet to glare, and glare she did. Tegan looked at General Hammond and tried to block her out. "With your permission sir, I'd like a chance to prove I'm fit for duty."

"Permission granted, we'll reassemble in the gym in one hour."

"Tegan," Janet called after her in the corridor.

"I'm busy, I've got something I need to do in my lab."

"Technically you haven't been released for duty." She continued to talk as Tegan hurried down the hall.

"Then I've got something to do in my quarters."

Janet stopped as Jack came up and made a sound of a falling bomb by blowing air through his lips, and then imitated an explosion while using his hands to animate the whole thing.

"What?" She glared at him.

"Crash and burn."

"I didn't see her stopping to chat with you." She accused.

"No." He shrugged.

"Did we even know she was on base?" Daniel asked as he, Teal'c and Sam approached.

"Wait, she lives with you." Jack looked at Janet when everyone confirmed they didn't know Tegan was going to be there.

"I think we've exchanged three sentences in the last three weeks."