A Shoulder To Lean On 
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 for language.
Notes: This is for Barb for the great "Stargate" art
in Pink Rabbit. Her "Comfort" sketch gave me the
inspiration for this story.  This takes place about a
week after Thanksgiving.
_______________________________________________________
Lieutenant Richardson stuck her head into Janet
Fraiser's office. "Call for you, Doctor. It's from
outside on line 4."
"Thanks, Hannah," Janet said as she set her pen down
and turned to pick up the phone. "Doctor Fraiser
here."
"Doctor, this is Ms. McFadden at Pike's Peak Junior
High," came the slightly distorted voice over the
phone line.
'Cassie's school! The principal? Why would she be
calling?' Janet thought before responding. "Yes, Ms.
McFadden. Is there something I can do for you?"
"Well, I'm calling to let you know there was an
accident involving the bus Ms. Nordall's English class
was using. I don't have all the details but apparently
the bus ran off the road between here and..."
The line went dead and a recorded message came on,
"All outside communications have been severed. This is
a Wildfire Emergency. Repeat: All outside communi-"
Janet slammed the phone down.
"Goddamnit!"
As if in response to her yell, the emergancy klaxons
began to sound throughout the complex. The sounds
echoed up and down the corridors for sixty seconds
before shutting off. They were replaced by an
announcement over the PA.
"Attention! Attention! This is a Wildfire Emergency!
Repeating: This is a Wildfire Emergency! The
bio-containment unit has been compromised. All
external access ports have been sealed. Repeating: The
bio-containment unit has been compromised. All
external access ports have been sealed. We are in a
Wildfire Stage Yellow. All personnel report to your
duty stations. All personnel report to your duty
stations."
Immediately, Janet's phone began to ring. "Fraiser
here! Yes sir, General. SG-3's test results are still
being reviewed. I will, sir. As soon as I get them
back from the lab. I understand, sir."
As she replaced the receiver, Janet ran a hand through
her long, brown hair. 'But what about Cassie?' she
thought. 'Is she alright? What happened to her bus'
Cassie had gone with her English class to see a play
in Denver. Ms. Nordall, the teacher, was one of
Cassie's favorites. Janet had met her several times
and knew she was a good teacher and cared about her
kids. At least Cassie was with someone Janet trusted.
But the not knowing was going to tear her apart, she
was sure.
Taking several deep breaths to calm her nerves, Janet
picked up the preliminary file she had been going over
before the phone call from the school. It was a basic
report on SG-3's last mission. They apparently had
developed a severe allergic reaction to something on
the planet they were exploring, P2B-168. Captain
Gilchrist, the First Officer, was on a respirator as a
result and the rest of the team were in one of the
bio-containment areas until the danger of
cross-infection had passed.
'Well, apparently the bio-seals aren't up to code,'
Janet thought as she made a note to have all seals and
gaskets checked after the current emergency had
passed. Presuming they lived through this. 'At least
it's Yellow Status. The nuke isn't counting down.'
She was thinking of the thermonuclear device designed
to explode and destroy the complex in the event a
danger to the outside world developed. Stage Yellow
was one below Stage Red. Red gave the base ninety
minutes to correct the problem and shut off the
countdown before detonation. So far, no high security
complex in the United States had gone past the
countdown in Stage Red. Both the SGC and Andromeda had
come close in the past though, down to the final
seconds.
Janet called the lab and asked about the test results.
The technician told her they would be ready shortly
and he would deliver them personally to her.
After hanging up, she fell back into her chair. Her
mind was full of worry about her daughter. Since Sam
Carter and SG-1 had found her on a dead planet, the
teenager had become one of the two main focuses in
Janet's life. Recently Sam had become the other.
Sam! She hadn't told Sam about the call. Picking up
the receiver, she called the Command Center.
"CC, Sergeant Siler."
"Sergeant, is Major Carter there? This is Doctor
Fraiser," Janet said, slightly amazed at how
controlled her voice sounded.
"No, Doctor. I think she said she was going to the lab
and then to your office," Siler replied. "She left
just after the first alarm souned."
"Thank you, Sergeant." Janet hung up and covered her
face with her hands. She wasn't going to give in to
her emotions. But she felt like crying in sheer
frustration at the workings of Fate.
"Knock, knock. Anybody home?"
Janet looked up to see Samantha Carter leaning against
the doorjamb, "Oh God, Sam, am I glad to see you.
There's been an accident..."
"I know. I kinda heard the alarms." Sam smiled
quizzically at her friend and lover. "You know,
they're not easy to ignore."
"No, not the Wildfire alarm." Janet had to swallow but
her mouth was suddenly drier than the Sahara. "It's
Cassie. The bus she's on was in some kind of accident
but before Ms. McFadden could tell me more, the damn
emergency cut off my call!"
"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry." Sam felt traces of fear on
the edges of her mind but fought them back. She closed
the door and crossed the room, coming behind Janet's
desk. As she knelt next to the chair, Sam took Janet's
right hand in hers and looked a the distraught woman.
Janet was looking down, staring into space as she
gripped Sam's hand tightly. Sam slid her arm around
the smaller woman's shoulder and gave her a hug. "Want
to talk about it?"
"What's there to talk about? My daughter, our daughter
may be seriously hurt or..." She couldn't say what she
feared she might learn. "And we're stuck here in this
damned hole!"
"Ssh, honey. Getting upset won't do anyone any good."
Holding her love tight, Sam altered the direction of
the conversation slightly, "This is the field trip
that Ms. Nordall was taking them on, right? You trust
her, right?"
Janet nodded yes to both questions, still looking into
space. She did like and trust the young woman. And she
had become one of Cassie's favorite teachers.
"Okay. Ms. McFadden is the principal. How did she
sound?"
Janet shook her head. "I don't know. All I heard were
the words Cassie and accident."
"Did she sound really upset? Was she scared or sad or
what?"
"She didn't sound too upset."
Sam smiled, "Well, there you go. Must not be that
bad."
"Shit! What if it is?" Janet said angrily.
"Well, what if it isn't?" Sam whispered gently. "Don't
assume the worst yet."
Janet finally met Sam's eyes. Those lovely blue eyes
she so loved were full of concern and love for the
woman she was trying to comfort. Janet felt tears
begin to well up.
"If you want to cry, go ahead." Sam pulled Janet's
head onto her shoulder as she said this.
Janet felt relief at the simple contact between she
and Sam. She knew Sam was just as worried but the tall
blonde had years of experience dealing with emotional
pain. Janet sometimes wondered if she completely
understood her beautiful girlfriend.
A knock on the door interrupted their quiet moment
together. "Might be the lab results," Janet said as
she reluctantly let go of Sam's hand. "Come in."
A young, frightened-looking lab technician stepped
into the office. "Um, here are the lab results. And
Doctor Samson asked me to tell you that Captain
Gilchrist is off the respirator and is breathing on
his own."
"Okay, thank you, Airman."
Sam nodded at the young man and said, "Don't worry,
Graves. It's a good sign that Gilchrist is breathing
on his own."
The airman smiled weakly in acknowledgment and
retreated from the office.
Sam sighed, "First week here, poor kid."
Janet nodded and turned to the file. She and Sam
scanned the contents. Sam, a genius at astrophysics,
was quickly lost when it came to bacteriology and
virology.
"Janet, are you going to be okay?" Sam asked.
"As long as I have something to keep me occupied,"
Janet replied.
"Okay, I need to see about a few things." Pressing a
quick kiss on the doctor's forehead, she said, "I'll
be back soon."
* * * * * *
After Janet had read through the file, she picked up
the phone and called the Command Center. "Command,
Siler here."
"Sarge, this is Doctor Fraiser. Can you let the
general know I've got the test results for SG-3?" she
said.
"Sure. Can you hang on a second?" Without waiting for
a reply, Siler put her on hold.
Janet drummed her fingers irritably on her desk as she
waited. Finally Siler's voice sounded in her ear
again, "The general asked you to come right down,
Doctor."
"On my way," she said as she grabbed the file and
headed out of the Med Center.
* * * * * *
Reaching the general's office, she knocked & entered.
Colonel Jack O'Neill was sitting in a chair in front
of General Hammond. "Hey Doc. Good news?"
"I believe so, Colonel, General. Captain Gilchrist is
breathing on his own now and the allergic signs in the
rest of SG-3 seem to be abating. I think another
twelve to twenty-four hours and they should be clear,"
Janet said. "I want to keep them, especially
Gilchrist, under observation for at least another
twenty-four hours after they come out of isolation."
"What about the rest of the complex?" Hammond asked.
"Any sign of contamination?"
"No sir. If no one, especially the iso-chamber techs,
shows any symptoms within the next twent-four hours, I
think we can safely disengage Wildfire." Janet was
sure they go do so now, but that was the mother in
her. As a scientist and a healer, she knew they needed
more time to be certain. "Also, General, a full
inspection of all the security seals and gaskets might
be in order."
"Thank you, Doctor." Janet started to leave and
Hammond waved her to a chair, "Sit down, please,
Doctor." He picked up the red phone on his desk, the
hot line to the president. "Hammond here. Yessir. I
appreciate this, sir." Holding his hand over the
mouthpiece, he said to Janet, "The president wants to
speak with you."
She sat there, stunned. The president? Speak to her?
"Doctor?" Hammond said as he held the receiver towards
her.
"Uh, yessir. The president?" Hammond nodded and she
took the phone, "Um, hello?"
"Hello, Doctor Fraiser." A very familiar voice came
over the line, "General Hammond told me that your
little girl, Cassandra?, was in an accident during a
school trip today. Apparently, someone cut them off
while passing the bus and the driver ran onto the
shoulder and got stuck between two pine trees, or so
the Colorado Highway Patrol told my people.
"Well, I just wanted to tell you that I checked with
the principal of the school and your daughter's
teacher and all the kids are just fine. They had
especially nice things to say about Cassandra."
"Th-thank you, sir! That's very good to hear," Janet
replied as she stared blankly at Hammond.
"Doctor, I also wanted to tell you that I, for one
here in Washington, appreciate everything you and the
rest of the SGC is doing for this country and for the
Earth. You people are our Front Line and our eyes and
ears out there. Words and medals aren't enough to
convey how grateful we are."
"Thank you, Mr. President," Janet managed to say.
"Now, doctor, if I may, I'd like to speak to General
Hammond," the president said.
"Of course, sir! Thank you!" Janet handed the phone to
the general and allowed herself to be led out of
Hammond's office by Jack O'Neill.
"Wow, the prez. You were pretty cool there, Doc."
O'Neill smiled down at her stunned face. "When I met
the president the first time, well...Let's just say,
I've had better moments."
"Colonel, why did the president...?" Slowly,
realization dawned in her eyes, "Sam? She talked to
you and you to the general? And the general called
Washington?"
"Almost batting .500 there Doc. Actually, Carter went
straight to the general and he pulled some strings.
Remember, the general has two granddaughters. The
president volunteered to speak to you himself. You
must be quite the household word around the Oval
Office," O'Neill smirked. Then he added, "I'm glad
Cass is okay."
"Thanks Colonel," Janet said. "Do you know where Sam,
Major Carter, is?"
"I think she's in her lab," O'Neill said. "Kinda wish
I'd voted for him, now." Janet nodded as she headed
down the corridor.
Janet stepped into Sam's lab and walked up to her
love. Wrapping her arms around the taller woman, Janet
hugged her fiercely. "Thank you, Sam."
Stepping back, she mock glared at Sam, "You nut! Going
to the general to call the White House!"
"Hey! Hey! I just mentioned Cassie to Hammond. How was
I to know he'd call Washington?" Sam held her hands up
defensively.
Janet grabbed her hands and pulled the blonde to her
again, and with a glance at the door, kissed her long
and hard, leaving Sam breathless and happily
surprised.
"Thank you, Honey," Janet said.
Sam smiled and said, "For a smooch like that, I'd do
just about anything."
"I'll see you later," Janet winked as she headed out
of Sam's lab, feeling better than she had for several
hours.
Walking into her office, Lieutenant Richardson said,
"Doctor, Sergeant Siler called for you. He said he can
get you an outside line now."
"Great! Thanks," Janet walked into her office and sat
at her desk. Picking up the phone, she called Siler.
"Sergeant, I was told you can get me an outside line?"
Janet asked when Siler answered.
"Yes, Doctor. Just give me a number and I'll connect
you," he said.
Giving Siler the number for the main office at the
school, she waited while the call went through. After
long agonizing moments, she could hear the phone
ringing at the other end.
"Pike's Peak Junior High School. How may I help you?"
"I'd like to speak to Ms. McFadden, please. This is
Janet Fraiser," Janet said.
"Of course, Doctor. I'll put you right through," the
woman said.
"Principal's office, this is Kate McFadden."
"Ms. McFadden, this is Janet Fraiser. I'm sorry we
were cut off earlier," Janet began.
"No apologies necessary, Doctor," the other woman
said. Pike's Peak was the primary junior high school
for children of NORAD and SGC personnel and the staff
were prepared for the various military emergencies
that could arise. "Actually, it was quite an honor to
speak to the president."
"Uh, yes, well...I, is Cassandra available?" Janet
managed to say.
"Yes, she's right here with Ms. Nordall. AJ, it's
Doctor Fraiser." A pause, then the principal said,
"Doctor, Cassie is in the ladies room at the moment.
Ms. Nordall would like to speak to you, though."
"Thank you, I'd be happy to talk to her until Cassie
is back," Janet felt a finger of fear but realized
that they weren't hiding anything. Even human children
from other worlds had to go to the bathroom.
Cassie's English teacher came on and said, "Doctor
Fraiser, I just wanted to tell you that I'm so sorry
for the worry we put you through."
"That's okay. I understand it wasn't the fault of
anyone there. I'm just glad none of the children were
hurt," Janet said.
"Actually, most of them were just shaken up but Cassie
was wonderful. She got them to calm down and even got
them to sing some as we waited for the police and the
towtruck. You should be proud of her. She's been a
great addition to my class. I'll be sorry to see her
go at the end of the year," Ms. Nordall said.
"Thank you. I am very proud of her." Janet was about
to continue when she was interupted by the base PA.
"Incoming traveler. Incoming traveler. SG-5 is
returning. SG-5 is returning."
"Ms. Nordall, I will have to hang up in a moment. Is
Cassie back yet?"
"Yes, here she is," the teacher said.
"Hi Mom! Wow! What a day!" Cassie started before Janet
was able to interrupt her.
"Hey, you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Not even a bruise," Cassie said.
"Hon, I'm going to be stuck here for a few hours at
least. You'll need to stay with the Stevens', okay?"
"Sure! Great! They have Playstation 2!"
Janet rolled her eyes but said, "Okay. I'll call you
there later. I'm proud of you. And I love you."
"I love you too, Mom," Cassie said.
As Janet hung up, she saw Sam again leaning on the
doorjamb. "Hey, thank you for..."
Sam stepped in and said, "No thanks necessary." Then,
in a whisper only Janet could hear, she added, "I'll
always be here for you, my love. You'll always have my
shoulder to lean on."
 (c) John O'Conner
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