DISCLAIMER: No profit is intended in the writing of this story. Stargate – SG1 and its characters are the property of Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
BETA: scorpio, rikkurd
Black Ops
By Olli
"Hurry up, Carter," O'Neill whispered in the darkness.
"I'm doing my best, sir," Sam replied only slightly irritated. She squatted on the floor in the semi-dark room tampering with some wires.
Teal'c was guarding the front door, standing motionless just behind the frame. Daniel was in the second room finishing his task in a hurry. O'Neill paced anxiously while Sam tried to set up the power supply.
Since they had entered the building at sundown the team had prepared everything for the arrival of their targets. Everything was ready except the power supply. Their time frame was narrow and with every minute ticking away O'Neill became more and more agitated.
Once again, O'Neill stopped and peered over his second in command's shoulder. In the darkness he could see almost nothing and he wondered how Carter could work under these circumstances. "Come on, Carter. MacGyver this together; they're almost here."
Sam didn't stop working. "I know, sir; and if you could stop interrupting me I would be much faster," she snapped quietly. Then she stuck her nose back into the power supply.
"Okay, okay." O'Neill lifted his hands apologetically - which Carter couldn't see - and returned to pacing through the room.
Five minutes later, Sam sat back on her heels. "Got it," she whispered.
O'Neill appeared and squatted besides her. "And you sure it will work?"
"Yes, sir. I am." Sam wondered why O'Neill was showing such a lack of trust in her abilities today. On the other hand she knew that they had only this single chance at this special day. If they screwed it up they wouldn't get another one. Sam also knew that O'Neill was especially eager to see the result of their plan - after all it had been his idea. Sam, Daniel and Teal'c had added to it but without O'Neill they wouldn't be here.
"Alright," he turned away, walking to the back of the room were Daniel was still busy.
Sam shook her head in silent amusement and gathered her tools. She could hear only muffled voices from the second room but was sure that O'Neill was irritating Daniel.
"O'Neill," even lowered, Teal'c's voice rumbled through the semi-dark room.
O'Neill shot from the other room, Daniel hot on his heels. "Okay folks. Everyone in position," O'Neill waved his hands giving the silent command to take cover and the team scrambled through the room getting ready. Sam squatted directly besides the power generator, her finger on the button to activate it.
Hiding in the dark, the team listened anxiously to the muffled noises their targets made outside. There was some shuffling and slight jingling of metal on metal. Sam, O'Neill, Daniel and Teal'c saw two shadow-like figures entering. One of them reached out obviously to activate the lights, but due to Sam's genius, they didn't work. The figure tried again but everything remained dark. "What the hell...?" The person cursed.
Sam couldn't see O'Neill, but she knew from years of being on the line with him that now was the moment, and she pushed the button. She was the only one who could hear the slight whine as the generator powered up; suddenly, a small but sharp, bright beam of white light shot from the generator exactly upright to the ceiling.
A startled shriek came from one of the figures at the door, but before they could react, the generator switched into the next mode. The beam started to rotate and blue, red, and yellow beams joined the first one. The lights started swirling, mingling into each other lighting up the room more and more. Suddenly, as if drawn by an unseen hand a picture started to form in midair.
In the swirling lights a form appeared, transparent at first. It was as if the object was slowly appearing from a cloud; here an indefinable spot, there something shadowlike.
Sam peered at the two figures still standing in the door frame gaping at the hologram she had created. She grinned, knowing her creation was having the desired effect.
The hologram became more and more solid, details became visible; trees, a meadow, a blue sky with white clouds, a shining sun, and finally, a street. The hologram lit the entire room now but the focus of the two women in the doorway was still fixed on the beautiful picture.
A dark point appeared in the hologram, just there where the street touched the horizon. The point became bigger and bigger and finally revealed itself as a car.. An Air Force blue Smart car with golden strips on its flanks drove down the holographic street. The view started to rotate around the Smart and changed to an overview shot following the car driving through the beautiful landscape. For two more minutes the Smart cruised along the street until it stopped, the hologram zoomed in on the car until it filled the whole hologram. The golden strips on the car revealed themselves as Goa'uld letters. Everyone in the room recognized them immediately, but only Daniel and Teal'c could read them.
The two women in the door were still staring at the hologram. The taller one, with long blond hair, slowly lifted a hand as if to touch the picture but hesitated. "Mom?" she whispered.
This was the signal for the team. Everyone jumped from their hiding places and yelled in unison: "Surprise!"
Cassandra Fraiser jumped, startled, grabbing for her mother's arm. "God!" She cried while a grinning Janet Fraiser patted her daughter's hand.
Sam, O'Neill, Daniel and Teal'c stepped forward. Daniel switched the lights on. The hologram faded but the living room of the Fraiser residence had been decorated with colorful balloons and garlands. At one wall of the room a long table had been set up, bending under the weight of cakes, sandwiches, salty snacks and iced soft drinks.
General O'Neill took the lead. "Happy birthday, kiddo," he said grinning and hugged the girl.
Grinning as well, Cassie hugged him back. "Thank you, Jack."
Releasing her, O'Neill scowled at Cassie. "So, now you're of age and it's all over with 'Uncle Jack ', huh?" He ruffled her hair and Cassie squealed.
Daniel appeared before her holding a cake with twenty-one candles. "Happy birthday," he said.
Grinning, Cassie blew out the candles. "Thank you," she replied. Because Daniel was still holding the cake the young woman leant forward and gave the archaeologist a peck on the cheek.
"Uh, I'm flattered," Daniel quipped.
Sam hugged the girl fiercely. "Happy birthday, hon."
Cassie hugged her back, whispering in her ear. "Thank you, mama."
Sam hugged the girl tighter before she released her lover's daughter. "Love you;" she mumbled.
Teal'c stepped forward. "Cassandra, be assured that my best wishes for the new year of your..."
O'Neill nudged the Jaffa with his elbow. "What had we talked about, T?"
Teal'c lifted his eyebrow. "Happy birthday, Cassandra."
The birthday girl wrapped her arms around the warrior's neck and Teal'c easily lifted her from the floor while returning the hug; again Cassie squealed.
Finally, back on her feet, she looked at her family: her two moms and her three uncles. "Thank you so much, guys. I don't know what to say." She frowned as she saw all of them grinning from one ear to the other. "What?"
Daniel sat the cake on the table. "Well, at first we thought the holo-projector would be a wonderful gift for your room..."
"...but then we figured that maybe your friends would wonder about this really, really amazing piece of alien-technology," O'Neill continued.
"To keep this secret it would have been necessary to make sure they would not talk about the holo-projector," Teal'c rumbled.
"In the end, we figured that there is one thing a twenty-one year old young woman would want and need the most," Sam finished.
Puzzled, Cassie looked back and fro between them. "Uhm, I don't know what you guys are talking about?"
Daniel switched off the lights and everyone turned at the rotating hologram of the blue Smart still hanging in midair. Cassie starred at the picture frowning. Suddenly, realization hit her. Her eyes grew wide and she covered her mouth with her hands. O'Neill took her by the shoulders and pushed her out of the room down the hallway towards the garage. Teal'c and Daniel followed close behind.
Sam waited for a moment. She watched as Janet put the cane that she had to rely on since P3X-666 away. Sam took her longtime lover by her arm and helped her hobble down the hallway to the garage. Janet was still grinning. "I couldn't talk you guys out of the idea of buying the car but the hologram was a surprise; even to me. It was beautiful."
"Thank you, babe." Sam stopped for a moment to kiss her girlfriend. It was the first kiss since they had parted this morning, and soon passion took over. Suddenly, a loud shriek rolled through the house and both women parted. "It seems our girl has discovered her birthday present," Sam whispered.
"Come on," Janet replied. As they entered the garage they saw Cassie sitting in the driver's seat of the blue Smart Fortwo. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was repeating again and again: "Oh my God, oh my God."
"So, you want some cake?" O'Neill deadpanned.
Cassie looked up and flew from the car. Again, she hugged everyone constantly repeating: "Thank you, thank you, thank you.."
Finally, she stood in the middle of the garage looking around with eyes wide and waving at the Smart. "It is too expensive. You... You can't do this... it's... it's..."
Janet limped to her daughter wrapped her arms around her and pulled the taller woman's head to her shoulder. "Sweety, stop babbling nonsense. It is a gift from all of us because you are special to us all.."
"Can we have the cake now?" O'Neill suddenly demanded. "I guess you want us out of the house before your friends will be here to party?"
Confused, Cassie stepped back from her mother and blinked at the General. "Huh?"
"Do you think all that food is just for us?" Daniel asked smiling and waved his hand in the direction of the living room. "We invited all your friends so you can celebrate the proper way."
"Yup." Sam said sneaking her arm around Janet's waist. "We will hang out at the General's watching DVD's, eating popcorn and gossiping about the newest... Gossip from the mountain."
"We will not be back until tomorrow morning at ten o'clock to clean up the battlefield," Teal'c stated.
Cassie sniffed. "Well, then we should start with the cake," she said.
Epilogue
Sam and Janet were in the guestroom of General O'Neill's house. Teal'c had won the fight for the daybed and Daniel had to sleep on the floor in the living room.
Janet lay on the bed and Sam sat beside her and applied moisturizer to the scars on her lover's chest. "So, I say that the birthday surprise was a raving success."
Janet grinned. "I say that's right."
Sam put the jar on the nightstand and Janet slipped a t-shirt over her head; she snuggled into the blankets and Sam lay down besides her. "Thank God we were able to talk the General out of buying her one of those monster pickups.."
"Yep." Janet accepted Sam's head on her shoulder and wrapped her arm around the blonde. "Would've been a little too expensive - even if we have pooled."
"She called me 'Mama';" Sam whispered. "For almost ten years she called me 'Sam' and today… It was the first time she…"
Janet hugged her. "Mama Sam. Sounds good."
"I love you," Sam said quietly.
"I love you, too, honey." Janet kissed her lover and switched off the lights.
At four o'clock in the morning, Cassie crashed on her bed. The party had been great; her friends had gaped at the new car and wondered about the Goa'uld letters on the Smart. Daniel and Teal'c had explained to her that it was an ancient blessing of the Jaffa for travelers. It was from the time before the Goa'uld had lured the Jaffa into worshiping them.
"Your family is so cool."
Cassie looked at her friend Christy standing in the doorway. "I wanted to tell them but then they…" She smiled apologetically.
"...they overwhelmed you." Christy, too, smiled.
"Mom, Sam and the others will be back at ten. You can stay and we can make breakfast," Cassie replied, propping herself up on her ellbow.
Christy smiled, as she stripped off her clothes and slipped under the sheets.
The End