TITLE: Cruel
AUTHOR: Allison West
SPOILERS: Season 7 Heroes.
RATING: PG, Hurt/Comfort, S/J Romance/Friendship, recurring character death.
SUMMARY: Jack comforts Sam in one of their darkest times.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: An episode tag based on spoilers from the currently un-aired Heroes. This fic is purely based on spoilers. If you don't want to be spoiled stop reading now. It's kinda sappy and sad.
DEDICATION: For Suzanne Whitmarsh.
"I'm going to check on Sam," I hear Daniel say, rising from his seat and placing his half drunk beer on the coffee table.
"I'll do it," I say to him quietly, getting to my feet. "Let me." My eyes beseech him. I'm the one who should do it. She's my 2IC, my responsibility, my concern. "Why don't you go upstairs and check on Cass?"
He nods and makes his way to the stairs, his shoulders slouch as he climbs sombrely to the side of a little girl, no a young woman, who has just lost her mother. To the side of a young woman who has been treated so cruelly by this universe.
Again.
I make my way out the side door and onto the porch. I see her blonde hair glisten under the light of the thin moon above our heads. She's sitting on the steps. Alone. More alone than I've ever seen her. I'm worried about her. Really worried. We lose people everyday, but not like this. It rarely hurts as much as this. And I know Sam feels it the most.
They were like sisters. In the early days of the SGC they were two of the only woman. They stuck together through everything. Close friends, confidants. I know what it's like to lose a best friend. But mine came back.
Her's wont.
Because she's gone.
There was no Oma Desala to save Janet. No device that could miraculously heal the baseball size wound in her stomach or stop the red blood from spilling out of her chest. There were no miracles. No quick saves. There was nothing. Nothing for a woman who had saved so many.
No one would save her.
I take a deep breath and shove my hands in my pockets before walking over to where she sits. Her head is down in her hands and seeing her like this, hurting so much, tears me apart in side. I want her to be okay. I want to be able to take the pain away and say everything will be alright.
But it won't.
The funeral was today and this isn't something Sam or any of us are going to forget. Ever. Especially the young woman now sleeping upstairs - her eyes sore from the tears she's shed and her stomach empty from the numerous times she's thrown up tonight.
Sam doesn't move but she knows I'm there. Our senses have always been so in tune to one another. I slip quietly behind her and bend down, ignoring the dull pain it causes in my knee. I place my hands gently on her shoulders.
"Hey," she whispers, raising her head from her hands.
"Hey," I say. I begin to slowly knead her shoulders trying to ease away some of the tension in her muscles because I know I can't ease away the pain. She lets me touch her because she knows I don't know what to say to her. I don't know any other way to comfort her.
"How's Cassie?" she asks softly.
"Sleeping for now. Daniel's checking on her."
"I know I have to be strong for her but...but it's so hard," she says, her voice starting to break.
"No you don't Sam," I tell her earnestly. "We're hear for you both."
"She was just trying to help. She didn't deserve this." Tears start to stream down her face.
"No one does."
The tears begin to flow freely now and her body starts to tremble. I sit down fully, putting my legs on either side of her and pulling her back against my chest. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight.
She snobs quietly and I can feel tears forming in my own eyes. In vain I try to blink them away. A cold wind blows and I shiver, holding her tighter, rocking her gently. whisper words in her ear and she begins to calm. Her hands come to lay on my forearms that are resting against her chest. She sniffles and tries to wipe away the tears from her cheeks. "Why is this our life?" she asks softly.
I don't really know how to answer the question. "Because it is."
"But why?" she presses.
"Because there's no one else," I say. "Because we have to go out there everyday and say you can't have Earth. It's ours. You can't have it. We're not going to let humanity become slaves to a snake.
"I so just want this war to be over. It's been so long. Too long. I want it to stop."
"We all want it to stop."
"No," she says resolutely with bitterness in her voice. "It's gonna stop. I'm gonna make it stop. No one else is going to have to die. I swear if it is the last thing I do this war is going to stop within the next year."
She speaks with conviction and even though I realise it's probably not possible something in her voice makes me believe her. I want so badly to believe her because if anyone can do it she can.
We sit there in silence for several moments and she seems comfortable in my arms. The cold wind blows again and I feel her shiver. "C'mon," I say, standing up and pulling her to her feet with me. "It's getting cold out. We should go inside."
I start to take her hand and turn away to bring her inside but she stops me. She pulls me back to stand in front of her and looks at me. "Promise me," she says, taking my hand and holding it in hers.
"Promise you what?" I ask.
"That this will end soon."
I pause. "Sam you know I can't pro..."
"Promise me." Her eyes bore into mine with a seriousness and a sadness resonating in their depths. I can't say no to her, but I can't promise her either.
"We'll do our best," I say placing my other hand on top of hers. "We'll do it for Janet."
She seems content with that and reaches up slowly, placing her arms around my neck and hugging me. I wrap my arms around her waist and hold her. The simple hug goes a long way in soothing both our hearts and our minds.
Eventually she pulls back from me and, taking my hand in hers once again leads me toward the door. Before I step in behind her I look up at the dark sky and my eye catches on a bright star that I swear wasn't there before.
It twinkles brightly at me.
This will be over soon Janet. This will be over soon.
The End
