Cassandra's Gift

by John O'Connor

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asj/john/gift.php
Summary: Cassandra learns her best friend is very sick and wants to do something for her

It was a pleasantly warm day in the Colorado Foothills and Janet Fraiser was enjoying a rare third day in a row off work. There was something almost sinful about laying on a towel in the backyard, soaking up the sun, while other people were working.

'Screw 'em!' she thought without a trace of vindictiveness.

She was laying on her stomach and undid the top to the small two-piece bathing suit she was wearing. She hated tan lines and vowed to look as good as she could when she went up to the mountain resort with Cassandra in a few weeks. Maybe she should ask Sam if she wanted to go?

Her eyes closed and her head laying on her crossed arms, Janet outwardly betrayed none of the wonder and fear that sudden motherhood had brought. The fear was diminishing more and more every day as she came to find that dealing with a young teenager was no worse than a teamful of Marines.

Her reverie was broken by a scream. Before she could react, Cassandra leaped over her, followed by the dog. Both were soaked and drops of cold water hit Janet's bare back.

With a screech, she leaped up. "Cassandra!"

"Hey, it's not her fault, Janet. I, uh, I sprayed them with the hose..."

Janet turned to see her best friend, Samantha Carter standing there staring at her. "You did? Why?" Janet demanded.

"Um, Janet..." Sam made some gesture with her hands but when Janet didn't catch on, she said, "Uh, look, I don't know if you have some deal with the neighbors but you might wanna put your top..."

"Oh God!" Janet yelled as she grabbed the small bra off the blanket then raced into the house.

Once safely inside, she moaned, "Bring on the Marines."

* * * * * *

A few minutes later, Janet went to the front door and saw Sam as she put the finishing touches on Janet's car. The tall Air Force captain had come by to see Cassandra and made some snide comment about Janet's filthy car. Janet told Sam to clean it if it bothered her so much. To the doctor's amazement, Sam smiled and went to work on both of their cars.

Off to the side, Cass sat with the dog laying next to her on the lawn.

The dog. That was how Janet always thought of Cassandra's pet. As if it wasn't enough to have to adapt to life with a half-grown person, she had to open her house to a flea-bitten mutt. If it hadn't been for the look on the girl's face after Jack O'Neill had given the dog to her, Janet would've refused.

Janet had been a cat person. They were great pets. Almost as easy to care for as fish. They cleaned themselves, you didn't have to take them for walks, they didn't howl when they were alone, they didn't slobber all over the place, they didn't jump on people as they came through the door...

She had to admit the dog was kinda cute with his little wolfy face and the brown, black, and white fur. And, for a dog, he wasn't too dirty.

Then she remembered the platter with the roast on it two weeks before. In the beast's opinion apparently, anything that smelled like food was his. That mistaken canine belief had cost Janet dinner and a platter. (Not that the platter was much of a loss, it was part of a wedding gift and dated back to her biggest mistake.)

Seeing the dog eye the hose off to the side, Janet could figure out what had happened a short while ago. The dog, or Cassandra, or, more likely, both had gotten in Sam's way and the tall blonde had sprayed them.

"You almost done out there?" she called from the door. Cass looked up with a smile on her face, as did Sam from where she was chamoising the fender. The dog was wagging it's tail. Like that would make a difference.

"Yeah. Just a few minutes to finish here and then put the hose and bucket up," Sam replied.

Janet nodded then looked at Cassandra. Taking the hint, the girl jumped up and began to gather the hose. The dog, still damp, ran up to the door.

"No, no, no! You are not welcome in this house wet!" Janet told the little dog. "Cassandra! When you finish with that, find an old towel in the garage and clean up your dog."

"Okay, Mom!"

Stepping back inside, Janet smiled. Mom. She liked the sound of that. Cassandra had just started calling her that in the past couple of weeks.

They had a long talk one night. Cass didn't know what to call the woman who was looking after her. Doctor was too formal, Janet was too personal. Especially considering her upbringing on Hanka. When Cassandra asked Janet if she could call her "Mom", Janet almost cried.

Janet went into the kitchen and started to make a light lunch for the three of them. She knew Sam and her daughter would be hungry after finishing with the cars.

Soon, the three were sitting on the back deck eating sandwiches (cold cuts and various cheeses) with chips and soda while they chatted about nothing in particular.

Finally, after finishing a third sandwich, which Janet made her share with Sam, Cass stood and took her trash to the can by the garage.

"Mom, can I go to Tara's?"

With a mouthful of her first sandwich, Janet mumbled and nodded. Sam helped out by adding, "Don't be there too long. You know how tired she's been since..."

"Okay. C'mon, Boomer!" Cassie ran around the house, her small dog hard on her heels.

"God, when did we ever have that much energy?" Janet moaned.

"Uh, when we kicked Hathor's butt?" Sam replied.

"Oh yeah. We did pretty good there."

"I hear Airman Jenkins has been mooning all over the SGC since you smacked him on the lips in the cell," Sam chuckled.

"Sam..." Janet said threateningly, clearly tired of what had become an old joke. Especially since kissing, to her was reserved for special people. Changing the subject, she said, "I wish there was something I could do for Tara."

"Janet, it'll be okay. I'm sure her parents are doing everything they can..."

"Yeah. You're right. I spoke to her mother the other night. There is a chance but I'm afraid it'll break Cassandra's heart."

Sam smiled sadly, "All part of growing up."

"Yeah. Here anyway."

Now it was Sam's turn to change the subject, "We have the afternoon to ourselves. Waddya wanna do?"

* * * * * *

Several hours later, Cassie returned. She was unusually quiet and the look on her face concerned both adults. They decided to let Cass talk to them when she was ready.

She was ready sooner than expected. As they finished a very quiet dinner, Cassie looked up, her eyes brimming with tears, and asked, "Mom? Can you do anything for Tara?"

Janet reached over and took Cass' hand, "Honey, I'm sorry. I'm not trained in oncology. She's seeing specialists who can help her. I can't. I really wish I could."

"It's not fair!"

Sam looked at her friend and saw Janet trying to hold back her tears. She blinked back her own tears and said, "No, Honey. It's not fair. Sometimes life just..."

"But she's my best friend! I haven't had any friends since..."

Janet knelt by Cassandra's chair and took her in her arms, "Baby, there are things you can't change. And this is one of them. I'm so so sorry."

All three women were openly crying now as Sam came and added her embrace. Boomer lay quietly, somehow understanding this was something personal between his humans.

Several minutes passed, the only sounds in the house were the gentle sobs and quiet sniffles of the three.

"C'mon," Janet said. She stood and took Cass' hand. "Let's go sit on the couch. We can talk about this all night if you want. Okay?"

Sniffing, Cassie nodded and let herself be led into the living room.

They settled on the couch, Cassandra nestling between the two older women. Several minutes passed before Cass said anything.

"Why does everyone have to go away? Did I do something wrong? Am I so bad that...?"

"No. No...ssh. Don't talk like that," Janet said, cradling her daughter to her.

Sam said, "What happened on Hanka was not your fault. Nurtii did..." Realizing that this was not a time to over-analyze things, Sam finished simply, "That was not your fault. Okay?"

Cassie nodded against Janet's breast, her tears soaking into the woman's sweater.

Janet tilted her head up and said, "And what's happening with Tara is not your fault either. She has to go. There are specialists at the Mayo Clinic that are even better than the ones here in Colorado Springs. If anyone can cure her, they can. And then she can come back."

"But what if she doesn't?"

Janet had no answer to that. Her best friend took that chance almost everyday going through the Stargate. What would she do if Sam was lost forever?

Sam answered, "We go on. We make new friends and live our lives. That's what our friends would want for us."

"I won't forget her! No matter what!" Cassie said in a defiant voice.

"No. You shouldn't. She's your friend. Your best friend. Neither of you should forget that." Sam looked up at Janet and smiled. Janet managed to smile back in gratitude.

A few quiet minutes later, Cassie asked, "So, what will they do at the Hellman's place?"

The intentional humor was just what the doctor would've ordered, if Janet could have.

They ended up talking long into the night.

* * * * * *

Sam stayed over in the spare room that night. It was far too late to go home and then back to the SGC for the morning's pre-mission briefing. She quietly left just as the sun was peaking over the horizon.

Boomer came up to her and whimpered, his tail wagging slowly. Sam reached down, scratching behind his ears, and said, "Watch out for them, Boom-boom. 'Kay?"

As if in response, the small dog nuzzled Sam's hand. Snickering, Sam mimed wiping her hand, saying, "Ugh. Doggie snot." This caused Boomer's tail to wag even faster.

By the time the Fraisers arose, Sam was across the galaxy making first contact with yet another tribe of transplanted humans.

* * * * * *

After almost two weeks, SG-1 finally returned. After the post-mission physical conducted by Doctor Warner and the requisite mission debrief, the team members were off for three days.

Anxious to get caught up at home, Sam begged off joining her teammates for some cocktails and headed home. Her house, as usual, was neat and tidy. She had a maid come in one afternoon every two weeks for just such an eventuality as her extended missions. Sam denied that it had anything to do with her hatred of housework.

The mail was stacked on the dining room table and arranged by junk mail, bills, and the rare personal mail. Sam smiled as she saw Janet's hand in this. The small, brunette doctor was methodical, as always.

Sam removed her cordless from the cradle and hit the speed-dial for the Fraiser house. Janet picked up on the second ring.

"Hi," Sam said simply.

"He-ey! How was the mission?" came the cheery reply.

"Okay, a milk-run compared to most. If you need help sleeping, I'll get you a copy of the mission report. Hey, as usual, thanks for taking care of my mail."

"My pleasure. Are you free for dinner?"

"Sure, I passed on the post-mission beer fest. Need anything?"

"Just you. Cass has a big math test though. You might get drafted to help her study."

Sam smiled, "Not a problem. What time should I come by?"

"Whenever you're ready. I have some news..." Janet's voice broke audibly over the phone.

"Janet?" Sam said worriedly. The sudden change was scary.

"I'm sorry. It's just that... I'll tell you all about it when you get here. Okay?"

Now determined to get there as soon as possible, Sam agreed quickly. Then, a quick change of clothes, and she was on her way.

Cassie answered the door before Sam could even ring the buzzer. "SAM!" she yelled, hugging the taller woman.

"Hey, Kiddo! How's things? God, you've grown some more! Pretty soon you'll be taller than your mom," Sam said.

To deflect what was sure to be Sam's next comment, Janet called from the living room, "Everyone's taller than me!"

Laughing, Sam came in and hugged Janet. It was the standard, off-base greeting they had started, after the Hathor episode, whenever Sam returned from an offworld assignment.

"So, what's the news you couldn't tell me over the phone?" Sam said in an intentionally light-hearted way.

Cassie looked away and Janet glanced towards the living room window. Dread grabbed Sam's heart in ice-cold fingers. "Is it Tara? Did something...?"

Suddenly aware of a missing presence, Sam quickly said, "It's Boomer! What happened?"

Janet gave Sam a small, sad smile. "It's okay. You will be so proud of our little girl..."

"Mo-om!"

Sam looked between the two Fraiser women, puzzled. Janet took Cass' hand.

"Tara left for Minnesota last week."

"Yeah, and...?"

"Cassandra..." Janet swallowed, her smile now accompanied by teary eyes. "She gave Boomer to Tara to keep her company."

"I didn't want her to be lonely up there," Cassie said in a quiet voice.

"Oh, Honey, you are so sweet! That's wonderful!" Sam said as she hugged the girl. "That's the best thing you could've done!"

"Yeah, I guess. I miss him but I know he's helping her," Cassie said. "Keeping her company and all."

Janet smiled ruefully to herself as she realized, 'I miss that damned fleabag myself!'

Sam straightened up and said, "I guess it's time to start looking for Boomer Jr."

Janet could only stare at her friend. Was it possible to love someone and hate them at the same time?

The End.