DISCLAIMER: I only borrowed them for a while. MGM and whoever can
have them back whenever they want.
SERIES: The fifth in a series of vignettes from those close to Sam/Janet.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author
Outside Looking In:
General Hammond
By Celievamp
We are the ones who wait, Janet Fraiser and I. I've lost count of the number of hours she and I have spent waiting for our people to come home. Particularly if it's SG1. Especially if it's Sam Carter.
I feel I know Dr Fraiser better than most. Best damned decision I made when I chose her to serve at this command. I know how much it annoys her when I question or overrule her medical judgment on something because of wider political implications. I know that she's come close to resigning a couple of times because of the political interference in her work. The Apophis incident was one, I remember. When Master Brata'c was performing that rite to bring Teal'c out of the brainwashed state Apophis had left him in was another occasion when we nearly lost her. She sees her duty plain and simple: to tend to the injured that come into her infirmary no matter who they are. First do no harm. Unless of course it is one of her own who is threatened. I will never forget when she held a gun to Nirrti's head. I've never been more proud nor more afraid for her than I was at that moment.
And every time the medical and the military butted against one another it was one person who talked her round.
Sam Carter. My god-daughter. Someone I've known since she was born and yet feel as if I don't know at all some time. I remember her as a young child, those ageless blue eyes looking out at the world. Her mother, Elizabeth, always said that her daughter had an old soul and had been here before. I remember the adventurous toddler, wise beyond her years, bold, curious, a fearless spirit yet so gentle hearted. Then I lost touch with the Carter family as the pressures of military service kept me on the other side of the world. The next time I saw Samantha Carter was at her mother's funeral and my heart went out to the tall slender teenager who looked as if she would break if you breathed on her too hard. The light had gone from her eyes she looked so lost, defeated by life before it had even really started.
I had no influence over her assignment here. She was quite simply the best person for the job. And I was overjoyed to have her. Her father had kept me up to date with her progress over the years as she worked towards fulfilling his dream for her to join NASA. I know that he was bitterly disappointed when she transferred here. Our cover story did not impress him much. But when he saw for himself the vital work that his daughter was doing he came round.
I have watched Sam bloom in her time here, fulfilling her potential and so much more. The Stargate and its mysteries accounts for a lot of that, that strange family that is SG1. And the rest is down to Janet Fraiser and Cassie.
I really don't know if there is anything between them. As General Hammond, I can't know. As `Uncle George' I try to protect my godchild as much as I can. But I couldn't be happier for her if she has found someone to love and to love her in return.
I can count the times the two of them have given me cause for concern on the fingers of one hand. To be honest the alleged relationship between Sam and Jack O'Neill has caused me more problems over the years even though I know there's nothing to that either – at least not from Sam's side. Jack – I'm not sure if he knows exactly what he feels for Sam Carter. I know he'd move heaven and earth for any of his team mates who were in trouble but when its his II1C that's involved he always seems to go that extra mile. But then so do Teal'c and Dr Jackson. There's something about her that inspires that kind of reaction. Not that I mean that she's weak or needs the protection of anyone, nothing like that. Far from it. It's almost as if the situation is something that Sam Carter can't get out by of by herself with all her physical strength, wits and ingenuity then it must be pretty damn bad. And it usually is.
She is a fine officer, one whom I am proud to have in my command. So is Dr Fraiser. My world would be a sadder place without them. Past that I can't comment. I won't comment.
The End