Dealing With It
by John O'Connor
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.
Rating: R.
PART 1
"IT'S DISGUSTING! YOU'RE SICK! YOU'RE BOTH SICK!"
Cassandra Fraiser stood in front of the living room
sofa screaming at the two women sitting on the couch.
Then she covered her face and began to sob.
Her adoptive mother, Janet Fraiser and the other woman
she had come to look on as a combination big sister
and mother, Samantha Carter sat with stunned looks.
She had loved these two ever since they'd saved her
after the Goa'uld destroyed her people. Now she found
out they were just as sick and twisted as the Goa'uld.
Turning, she raced up the stairs and slammed the door
to her room.
Sam looked at Janet sadly and said, "That could've
gone better."
Janet just stared at Sam, a hopeless expression on her
face.
* * * * * *
It had started out as a quiet Friday afternoon. Cassie
had just ridden her bike up to the garage of her house
and smiled when she saw Sam's motorcycle parked in
front of Janet's Toyota. She practically ran into the
house knowing that Sam had a rare free weekend and all
three could spend it together.
When she walked in she stopped dead in her tracks.
Janet was lying on the couch and Sam was on top of
her. They were in each other's arms kissing! And it
wasn't like a quick hello or goodnight kiss. They were
really kissing!
"Oh! Cassie!" Janet blurted out when she saw her
daughter standing there. "Uh, this..."
Sam tried to speak at the same time, "Cass! What are
you doing ho...Your mom and I..."
Both women struggled into a sitting position and
hastily rearranged their clothes while Cassie stared
at them.
"What were you doing?" the teenager asked in a soft
voice.
"Well, Cassie, you see, Sam and I are...  We have been
in love for..."
"Love? LOVE? You're both women! You can't...it's
wrong!" The softness in her voice was gone, replaced
by a harshness neither woman had heard from Cassie
before.
Sam shook her head, "Cassie, it's not wrong for two
people to love each oth..."
"Yes! Yes, it is!  This is!" Cassie shouted.
Janet walked towards her adopted daughter, saying,
"No, it's not. Sam and I happen to love each other.
It's not that much different than..."
"How can you say that? It's not normal. It's sick!
It's a sin! How can you not see that?" Tears were
running down Cassie's face now and her breath was
getting ragged.
"Now I find out you're both a couple of dykes? And
nothing is different? Goddamnit Janet! This is so
wrong! Can't you see that?" Cassie shuddered, her
cursing a sure sign of how terribly upset she was.
"Cassie, we're not dykes. We're not lesbians. We are
bisexual, I guess," Janet said. "It's just that we
found each other. The fact that Sam is a woman
shouldn't matter.."
Cassie interrupted, "But it does matter! The Bible,
your bible says it's wrong! Your church and society
say it's wrong! How can you say it doesn't matter?"
Janet reached out to put her hand on Cass' shoulder to
have the girl pull away. "Don't touch me!" she hissed.
Then, fear and confusion in her voice, she screamed,
"IT'S DISGUSTING! YOU'RE SICK! YOU'RE BOTH SICK!"
* * * * * *
Sam stood outside the door to Cassie's room, listening
to the young girl sobbing inside. Her heart was being
torn apart. The girl within needed consoling but
wouldn't accept it from either of the two women in the
house.
On top of that, Janet was downstairs on the sofa
crying. Sam had tried to comfort her but she'd pulled
away and wouldn't look at the tall blonde.
Sam was on the verge of tears herself. The big, tough
Air Force major wanted to do nothing more than crawl
away somewhere and bawl like a baby.
Sam paced up and down the hallway, nibbling on her
lower lip. Tears were blurring her vision but she
refused to give in to the despair bubbling away
inside. Not yet. Not ever.
She considered what had happened. She and Janet had
discussed their relationship and how to let Cassie
know about it. But having the girl walk in on them was
such a shock for all three women that Cassie's
vehemence and the lovers' inability to explain
themselves was pretty understandable, Sam had
reasoned.
What she didn't get was Cass' reference to church. She
had shown little interest in organized religion when
first brought to Earth. Neither Sam nor Janet were
much interested in the formalized rituals of any
religion themselves. What prompted Cass' declaration
of the standard Judeo-Christian view of their
relationship?
As she crossed in front of Cassie's door, she heard
silence then a small voice. From the sporadic nature
of the conversation, and the fact that neither of the
women had ever heard her talk to herself at all, Sam
deduced that the teenager was on the phone.
Not wanting to compound the situation with
eavesdropping, Sam returned to the living room. Janet
was sitting up, her eyes red from crying.
Looking up at the taller woman, she said bleekly,
"Sam..."
Sam sat next to Janet and put her arm around the
doctor's shoulders. She could feel the small body
still quivering from the emotional turmoil they were
all experiencing. "Sssh!" Sam whispered. "It'll be
alright. Don't worry." Sam hoped she wasn't lying, but
was very much afraid that she was.
Janet turned towards Sam and asked, "Is it? Is it
really?"
Sam could only look into her tear-filled eyes
wordlessly. So much pain, so much anguish. Sam wanted
to wave a magic wand and make a happy ending.
Soon, they heard footsteps tramping down the stairs.
Janet stood and walked toward the sound. "Cassie?
Honey?"
Cassie came into view with a bulging tote bag slung
over her shoulder. She had a set look on her face.
"Cass?"
The young girl finally looked at Janet and said in a
flat voice, "I can't stay here. Not knowing what you
two are doing."
Sam came up beside Janet and asked, "Where are you
going? Stephanie's?"
"No." Cassie looked at the front door and then back at
the two distressed women. "I'm going to Daniel's. He
always said I could stay there if I needed to."
She lowered her gaze, "Well, I need to."
"Do you want a ride...?"
Cassie's look froze Sam in her tracks. "No! I don't
want anything from you! You turned my moth...Janet
into a degenerate! You..."
Janet's voice cut her off, "That's enough, young
lady!"
Cassie stared at Janet. "Fine! I don't have anything
else to say."
Cassie walked over and pulled the front door open. As
she stepped out onto the small porch, Janet reached
out to her, "Honey, please don't do this. We can talk
about this."
"There's nothing to talk about," Cassie replied as she
walked to her bike and secured the tote behind the
seat. Getting on, she glanced back and said, "I don't
know when I'll be back..."
Sam stood with Janet, her arm around the smaller
woman's waist, as they watched the girl they loved
ride down the street until she was out of sight.
Finally, Sam tugged gently on Janet's arm and said,
"Let's go inside."
PART 2
"Sam! Hey!"
"Oh, Daniel. Hi."
Sam stopped as she headed absent-mindedly towards her
lab when Daniel Jackson hailed her. The events of the
afternoon two days before were still uppermost in her
mind.
"Are you okay?" Daniel asked, adjusting the thin
glasses he wore.
"Uh, yeah, just a little preoccupied, I guess," Sam
shrugged. "How's Cassie?"
Daniel smiled without humor, "As well as can be
expected, I suppose. She hasn't really said anything
since she got to my apartment the other day. What
happened?"
"I really would rather not talk about it, okay?"
"Sure, Sam. It's just that she seems to pissed off at
the world. She's barely eating and just answers in
monosyllables when I ask questions. And..." Daniel
hesitated.
"And? And what?" Sam asked.
"Sam, she's having nightmares again."
Sam felt her heart sink in despair. All those months
Janet had spent sitting up with Cassie so she would be
there when the girl's nightmares became too much. All
that heart-breaking work to show the poor orphaned
girl that she was loved and wanted. All that wiped
away by their carelessness.
"Sam?" Daniel asked. "Sam?"
"Uh, yes, thank you Daniel. I have to see Janet.
Excuse me," Sam turned around and headed for the
Medical Center where she knew she'd find Janet sitting
morosely behind her desk.
"Sure, Sam. See ya 'round," Daniel waved. 'Why did
Jack have to be in Washington now? He could always get
Cassie to open up,' Daniel thought as he headed for
his on-base quarters.
Leaving the Complex several hours later, Daniel strode
across the secure parking lot to his old Ford Taurus.
Ignoring the dust and dirt covering the body, he
pulled out and headed back towards Colorado Springs
and his now-crowded apartment. He was going to get
Cassie to tell him what was going on if it killed him!
One half-hour later, he turned into the parking lot
and the assigned parking space for his apartment and
headed into the building. Cassie's bike was chained to
the pole with the assigned parking notice on it.
'Good,' he thought. 'Maybe we can get this mess
straightened out.'
Opening the door, he saw the TV on to some insipid old
'80s family sitcom. In the space of five seconds, he
could tell the father was an inept bungler trying to
resolve a crisis but the mother, or whatever female
lead, would step in to solve the problem.
"Cass? You here? Where are you?" Daniel yelled as he
grabbed the remote to turn the TV off.
Cassie stepped out of the guest bedroom, tear streaks
on her cheeks. Her red eyes and nose showed him that
she had been crying recently.
'No shit, Sherlock!' Daniel thought to himself in
Jack's voice.
"Hey. Come here and sit down. We have to talk," Daniel
said as he plopped down at one end of his couch.
Cassie quietly walked over and sat across from him,
her feet tucked up under her. Her curly, brown hair
was unbrushed and she looked miserable. Daniel felt an
ache in his chest at the sight.
"Cassie," Daniel began, carefully picking his words.
"I want to help you. You're upset, very upset. I know
it has to do with Janet. Sam too, since you're here
and not at her place. Can you tell me what's bothering
you?"
Cassie shook her head slowly and then muttered
something under her breath.
Daniel leaned forward, "What? I'm sorry Cass, but I
didn't hear what you said."
"I said I don't want to talk about it!"
"Cassie, you have to. You're not eating. You've been
having nightmares again. I'm worried about you. Janet
and Sam are worried about you. Please talk to me,"
Daniel pleaded.
Muttering again, Cassie stared at the blank screen of
the TV.
"I didn't hear you, Cass. I'm sorry, but you'll have
to speak up."
Almost yelling, she said, "I said they're both sick
degenerates! I don't want to talk about it!"
As she started to rise, Daniel clamped his hand on her
arm and wouldn't let her go. "Who are? What do you
mean degenerates?"
"Janet and Sam!" she yelled as she jerked out of his
grasp. "They're..."
She slumped back on the arm of the couch and closed
her mouth.
"They're what?" Daniel prompted.
"They're sick. They were kissing each other," Cassie
said, hissing the last sentence.
Daniel's eyebrow rose. "Just a friendly kiss between
friends?" he offered, while knowing exactly what she
meant.
Her lip curled up in disgust, Cassie said, "No,
tongues and everything." She paused before continuing,
"And their hands were moving over each others' bodies.
It was sick! Like that disgusting quarterback and his
cheerleader girlfriend in the hall at school!"
"Cass...I don't know what to tell you," Daniel said.
"But, if it..."
"They're women! They're both women! Lesbians! Dykes!
Fucking degenerates!" Cassie shouted.
Daniel sat up straight and firmly grabbed her forearm.
"Cassie, we will discuss this but do not use that kind
of language! It's hateful and wrong! Do you
understand?"
With a trace of fear in her eyes, Cassie swallowed and
nodded.
"Okay. Now then, let's go back. Sam and Janet were
kissing. Like lovers. Is that right?"
Cass nodded meekly, still wary of Daniel's sudden
flare-up.
"Why is that wrong? Can you tell me?" Daniel asked,
hoping he was taking the right tactic with the
teenager.
Cassie shrugged, not daring to say anything yet.
'Scrolls, parchment, dead languages are a snap
compared to a teenager, of any race,' Daniel thought.
"On your homeworld, Hanka," Daniel began, but paused
when a brief flash of sadness shown in Cassie's eyes.
He waited for a moment and decided to continue, "On
Hanka, did your people have any homosexuals? Did they
have any feelings one way or another?"
Cassie shook her head, but to which question Daniel
was unsure.
"No gays? Or no feelings about alternate lifestyles?
Which is it, Cassie?"
"Uh, the first one, I guess," she whispered.
"So, you never even saw gay people until you came to
Earth, is that right?" She nodded. "Why do you hate
them then? I doubt you've been exposed to many here."
Again she shook her head. "So what is it?"
Cassie shrugged and looked miserable. "I don't
know...I just...Kids at school talk about them. They
say that homos just are vicious and evil. They say God
hates them!
"Robby Jenson's dad left them to run away with
his...boyfriend!" Cassie practically spit the last
word out, then her voice turned sad. "And Robby
doesn't have a dad anymore. He's so sad and unhappy
all the time."
"Like you are now." Daniel just had an inspiration and
decided to go with it, "Is it because you think
they'll ignore you? You'll be alone again? Like when
your mother was killed?"
Cassie looked up at Daniel, tears in her eyes, as she
nodded. He felt a rush of anger and hatred for Nurti,
the Goa'uld who killed her people. To subject a little
girl to what Cassie had to go through...
Daniel held out his arms and Cassie fell into them. As
she buried her face against his shoulder, he felt the
warmth of her tears soaking his shirt. Gently holding
the sobbing girl, he murmured gentle shushing sounds
to her.
Finally, Cassie stopped crying and pulled back. Wiping
her nose, she muttered, "Sorry, Daniel."
The archeologist smiled gently and asked, "Do you feel
like talking?" She nodded.
"Okay, so you think that Janet and Sam will ignore you
or whatever since they have each other?" Daniel asked.
Cassie started to nod, then shook her head, then just
shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."
Daniel smiled gently and chuckled, "Cassie, do you
have any idea how much those two love you? When we're
offworld, Jack has threatened to strangle Sam just to
get her to stop talking about you. And whenever I ask
Janet how things are going, she immediately starts
talking about you and how well you're doing in school.
They can't brag enough about you."
Cassie looked at Daniel with a spark of life in her
eyes that he was afraid she'd lost. "Really?"
"Cassie, what do you think Janet or Sam have talked
about the last few days? When they've talked at all?
You! Wanting to know how you are, worried about you
and how you feel. Sam has been like a zombie the last
couple of days and Janet has hardly even left her
office."
Daniel paused and looked Cassie right in the eye,
"They love you. They always have. They always will."
"But now they have each other..." Cassie said looking
down again.
"Cass, let me tell you something. Janet and Sam have
been lovers for several months. Have you noticed any
difference in how they treat you lately? Have you felt
ignored or unwanted?"
She shook her head, "For several months? Does everyone
know?"
It was Daniel's turn to shake his head, "No. I just
caught little signs here and there and added up the
clues."
He smiled and added, "And Teal'c told me."
Cassie looked puzzled, "Teal'c?"
"Yeah, I guess a First Prime has to be able to
interpret subtle changes in people around him. Teal'c
may not be First anymore but he still is pretty damned
smart!"
"Daniel, you're okay with this?" He nodded. "But so
many people here say it's wrong!"
"Many people still say that Blacks, Asians, Hispanics,
Poles, and anyone not like them are inferior. Are
they?" Cassie shook her head. "And even more think
women aren't good for anything more than cooking,
cleaning, and having children. Is that right?" Again,
she shook her head. "Well, many people still think
gays are evil. But many more are learning that it
doesn't matter, they're people, same as everybody
else. Do you understand?"
Cassie nodded and said, "I guess so. But what about
the Bible? It says in there that it's evil and a sin,
doesn't it?"
"The Bible can be a great book. But even the Bible has
passages that condone slavery and servitude. It's just
a matter of accepting the important things, the good
things in it. Many clergy happily embrace gays into
their congregations. They accept that gays are people
too, people that matter.
"But just like anywhere else, there are those
small-minded religious people who can't see past their
own egos. The kind who want to hurt people and
cultures and lifestyles they can't accept. No matter
how good the person they persecute really is.
"Your two moms have done more for this planet than any
of those narrow-minded people, who would condemn them
just because they are happy together, could even dream
of. They have saved us from the Goa'uld and several
other threats. How about that?"
Cassie sat quietly in thought for several long
minutes. Finally she stood up, "Can I call them?"
"You okay with them being together?"
"Not yet, but I think I will be," she said with a
wisdom that belied her youth.
"Go ahead!" Daniel sat back. "And don't you dare say a
word about my knowing, okay?"
Cassie nodded as she headed for the phone in the small
kitchen. Daniel smiled, 'Maybe teenagers aren't that
hard to deal with after all.'
Then he added, 'As long as they aren't mine.'
EPILOGUE
Janet felt like the weight of the world had been
lifted from her shoulders when she answered the phone
and Cassie asked if she could come home. She
immediately called Sam in the SGC with the good news
before leaving for Daniel's to get her daughter.
After thanking him for letting her stay and promises
to get her bike the next day, Cassie was quiet as she
followed Janet to the car.
The silence lasted for several blocks until Janet
finally asked, "So how was your visit with Daniel?"
"Okay," Cassie said noncommitally.
Janet nodded and said, "Sam was happy to hear you're
coming home."
"Is she coming over?" Cassie asked, her voice still
neutral.
"That depends," Janet hedged. "Do you want her to come
over?"
Cassie turned in her seat to look at Janet. "If I said
I'd come home only if you'd never see Sam again, that
way, would you?"
Feeling her breath catch, Janet drove for several
moments without answering her. It was something she
and Sam had tearfully discussed at length the night
before. They finally agreed that, as much as Sam and
Janet wanted each other in their lives, Cassie's
health and well-being were more important.
Taking a deep breath, Janet finally simply said,
"Yes."
After a tense stretch of silence, Janet finally asked,
"Is that what you want?"
Cassie shook her head. "No, I guess not. It's just
weird, you know?"
Reaching over, Janet ran her hand over Cassie's hair
gently, "It was weird for us too. It still is."
"But you would give up Sam for me?" Cassie asked.
"I'd give up anything for you, Sweetie," Janet said.
"I love you. More than you can know."
"I love you too. And Sam too." Cassie paused and
asked, "I guess this is another secret I have to keep,
huh?"
Janet smiled, feeling happier than she had in a long
time, and said, "Yes, I'm afraid so. But I hope not
forever. Okay?"
"Okay, I guess. Guess I'll have to get used to having
two moms now."
"You know that you can talk to us about this, right?"
Janet asked. "Anytime."
Cassie simply nodded. "This is going to be weird," she
said. "But so was Earth when I first came here, I
guess."
 (c) John O'Conner
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