Title: When The Ice Melts

Author: Chezza

E-mail: cyberchezza@tiscali.co.uk

Status: Complete

Sequel/Series: Lynette’s excellent ‘Fire’ series up to ‘When the Cold Creeps In’.

Summary: Just read it and see

Season: Whichever the above series is set in

Spoilers: None that I can think of, if you spot one, let me know and I’ll put it back wherever it came from.

Category: Drama, bit of angst and h/c, minor whumpage

Characters: Jack O’Neill, Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal’c, Janet Frasier, Cassie.

Rating: PG

Warnings: None. Other than minor Jack whumpage.

File Size:

Archive: Jackfic, Helio, Fanfiction.net, Gateworld…. If anyone else wants it, just lemme know where you’re taking it, so I can come visit.

Disclaimer: Ain’t mine! Surprise…. Stargate and it’s characters etc, belong to all those folks who actually make *money* out of it.

Authors Notes: This is for Lynette who inspired me to write once more and then demanded I post it. Lynette, I’ve been asked by dragonlady to ask if you could stop that please, as apparently I have enough other stories to be working on without any more! LOL. Personally, I say continue!!! Please! I won’t tell if you don’t….

It’s also for Karen’s who wanted a ‘Lilo and Stitch’ fic, which is what set the plot bunnies bouncing around frantically. This is possibly the quickest fic I’ve written that hasn’t been a drabble – I completed it in one evening! Which is incredibly quick for me. It’s also the closest I’ve ever got to whumping Jack, so that’s a bit of a landmark for me. I feel suitably proud.

Oh and there really is a James Taylor aka Stitch. And no he really doesn’t like Disney any more…. As always flames will be used to light Teal’c’s candles, but feedback and constructive criticism is always gratefully received. I hope you enjoy the story! Any mistakes are my own because I simply haven’t had chance to get it beta’d get.

~~~o0o~~~

Cassie could hear the sounds of voices as she opened the front door and let herself in.

“I don’t know what to do Jan. It’s almost as if – “

The voice broke off at the sound of the door closing behind her. Cassie frowned. It sounded like Sam’s voice. It also sounded like she was upset about something.

“Hey Mom!” She shouted, making herself known. There was no point in trying to eavesdrop. They knew she was in the house and they obviously weren’t going to carry on now that she was there.

“Hi Cass.” She heard her Mom call back.

“We’re in the kitchen.”

Yep, Cassie thought to herself. There was a definite note of forced cheerfulness there. Walking through into the kitchen she found her Mom and Sam sat at the breakfast bar, nursing coffee mugs.

“Hey Sam.” She said. “What are you doing here?”

Sam laughed, but it sounded false. Her eyes were red. Had she been crying?

“I just dropped by to have a chat with your Mom. Aren’t I allowed to do that anymore?”

Cassie shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

She looked at them both, neither would look her in the eye. Something was definitely wrong.

“What’s wrong?”

Janet and Sam exchanged glances.

“Nothing’s wrong, Cass.” Sam said.

Cass opened her mouth to argue with the obvious falsehood, but Janet cut her off.

“So what’s in the bag Cass, that was so important you had to go rushing out today to buy it?”

Cassie blushed. She was so hoping they wouldn’t ask that! She shuffled her feet.

“It’s um…it’s a present for Jamie. It’s his birthday tomorrow.”

Sam looked blank. “Who’s Jamie?”

Janet smirked. “Jamie’s, Cassies’ new *boyfriend*.”

Cassie blushed. “Mom! Don’t say that! I don’t have a boyfriend! James is just a…friend. That’s all.”

“Ah.” Sam said, nodding her head wisely. “So…um, what happened to Dominic?”

Janet winced.

Cassie scowled. “He ran off with Lindsey.”

“Oh.” Sam mouthed. “Lindsey, as in your ‘best friend’ Lindsey?”

Cassie’s scowl deepened. “She’s not my best friend any more.”

“No.” Sam said tactfully. “I imagine not.”

Janet cleared her throat in the awkward silence that followed. “So Cassie, can we have a look at what you bought him?”

Cassie gave them a dubious look. “You promise not to laugh?”

Janet and Sam exchanged glances again.

“Okay, Cass” Sam said.

Closely followed by Janet’s “Sure honey.”

Cassie pulled the present out of the bag. Janet’s lips twitched. Cassie glared at her. They’d promised not to laugh. Sam coughed to avoid bursting into hysterics.

“That’s um…nice Cass. Very nice. But…err, are you sure he’ll like it?” Janet asked gesturing at the small blue fluffy toy.

Cassie rolled her eyes and shook the toy at them. “It’s a *joke*, Mom. He’ll understand it. See, this is Stitch. You know – from the Disney film ‘Lilo and Stitch’?”

“Err, yes?” Janet answered, unable to follow the thinking.

Cassie sighed impatiently, frustrated that they hadn’t got the joke already. It never occurred to her that they didn’t know the boy in question well enough to get the joke. He was currently at the centre of her thinking, so he should be at the centre of their’s as well.

“His full name’s James Taylor, Mom.” She looked at them. Still blank expressions. She sighed again. Jeez, adults could be so slow on the uptake sometimes….

“*James Taylor*? As in ‘tailor’? He doesn’t like his name, so everyone calls him Stitch. You know – tailor, stitch? Geddit?”

“Ah yes…” Janet said slowly. “That’s very clever, Cass. Really.”

Cassie stared at her for a moment, not convinced of her sincerity, then turned to Sam.

Sam coughed. “I’m…sure he’ll appreciate it, Cass. Really.”

Cassie narrowed her eyes. Obviously they didn’t understand. “I’m just gonna go put this in my room.”

Janet nodded. “Okay, honey.”

Cassie gave them one last look, they both maintained straight faces. Cassie sniffed, then turned out and walked out.

She made to walk away to wards her room, deliberately making her footsteps louder than normal. Then she turned round and crept softly back to the side of the door and listened carefully.

“Oh God.” She heard Sam chuckle.

“Don’t say it.” Her Mom pleaded.

“I know, I know. It’s just so…sweet.”

“Oh, to be that age again...”

“Yeah.” Sam said softly.

There was silence for a minute, then she heard her Mom say, “So…what were you about to say before Cassie came home?”

Sam sighed. “It’s just…I really don’t know what to do, Janet. He’s shutting us out and it’s like we can’t *stop* him. We want to help…but he’s not letting us. I know, I know, he’s like that, but…it’s different this time, Janet. We really thought we’d lost him. And…and…

“You need to know he’s still there.” Janet finished quietly.

“Yes. It sounds silly but…we *need* to help him but he won’t - and we can’t make him –“

“Because you feel guilty for leaving him behind. You don’t want to hurt him any more.”

Sam laughed shortly. “Pop psych 101, right?”

“He doesn’t blame any of you, Sam. I’m sure of it. He’d take the three of you being safe, over you risking yourselves because of him any day, you know that.”

“I *know*. But it doesn’t *help*. He’s said he doesn’t blame us and yet…God Janet you should hear him dreaming about it. It hurts just to *listen*. And we left him to deal with that. *Alone*. And you know how he feels about that. I wouldn’t be surprised if he *does* blame us on some unconscious level.”

“You’ll get through this, Sam. I know you will. You’ve all been through bad patches before. I *know* the four of you remember? You’ll get through this one.”

“I hope so,” Sam sighed. There was the sound of a mug being placed back on a tabletop. It was followed by the sound of a chair scraping along the floor as it was pushed backwards.

“I should be get back. Maybe things will be better…thanks for letting me stop by, Janet. I just…needed to get out of there for a while.”

Another chair was pushed back.

“Anytime, Sam. You know that.”

Cassie stepped away from the door. Seconds later Sam and Janet walked through it.

“Cassie!” Janet said in shock.

Cassie flushed slightly and stared at her shoes. “It’s Jack isn’t it?”

She looked up in time to see Sam and Janet exchange a glance. How much did she know? It asked.

Cassie jutted her jaw out stubbornly. “I’m right aren’t I? You were talking about Jack.”

Sam gave a slight nod and Janet sighed. “Yes, Cass. We were talking about Jack.”

“Is he…is he gonna be okay?”

Thoughts of losing her favourite ‘uncle’ popped into Cassie’s head, making her have to blink back the tears that they suddenly caused.

“Yes, sweetheart, he’s going to be fine. He…just needs a little time. That’s all.”

Cassie swallowed and looked down at the furry toy still clutched in her hand. An idea occurred to her. She raised her head.

“I want you to give him this.”

Sam sighed. “Cass I’m sorry, but I don’t think a fluffy toy is going to help.”

Cassie shook her head. “I don’t care. I want you to give it to Jack.”

“But Cass,” Janet intervened, trying to reason with her. “I thought that was for uh, Stitch’s birthday.”

Cassie shrugged. “It was. But I can always get him something else. He won’t mind. Jack needs it more.”

She looked at them both. “Please?”

Sam looked at her for a long moment, then shook her head and held out her hand. “Okay Cass.”

Janet looked at her sharply. “Sam…are you sure it won’t do more harm than good?”

“It’s won’t!” Cassie insisted. “It’ll *help*, I know it will.”

Janet looked at her and raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Cassie did her best to ignore it and concentrated on Sam. She had to make sure Sam got the message right. “He needs to know *why* as well, Sam. So listen carefully. I want you to tell him – “

~~~o0o~~~

Jack flew awake with a start, the feeling of searing, oppressive heat bearing down on him, making him flinch and gasp for the breath, through the tightness in his chest. Disorientated, he could hear the roar of fire underscored by the low crackle and occasional pop as it consumed everything in it’s path. He could smell the bitter, acrid smoke. It was everywhere, in his hair, his clothes, stinging in his eyes. He could taste it down the back of his throat.

Struggling with the vision, he propped him himself up on his arms and looked desperately around him. The view showed that he was laying on his couch. There was no smoke, no fire, just three pairs of eyes looking worriedly at him. He closed his own eyes briefly in frustration. They were still here. When were they going to take the hint? He didn’t need – or want – them there. He couldn’t give them what they wanted. He couldn’t accept their help in dealing this. Not right now. He was afraid of what might happen if he did.

Taking a deep breath he tried to calm himself down, trying to force his racing heart to slow down. It was just a flashback, nothing he hadn’t dealt with before. By himself. It backfired as his abused lungs protested the strain and he found himself coughing. Deep, hacking coughs that had him burying his face in the couch cushions to try and stop them, despite his body’s incessant cries for more air.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he shook it off angrily. Dammit, he didn’t need their help with this! He wasn’t a baby! He kept his face buried in the cushions for a long moment as he calmed down, letting them soak up the tears had that leaked out as he fought to get his body under control. His head was pounding and his stomach was threatening to reject that god awful beef bouillon they’d made him drink earlier. Suddenly he felt desperately tired again.

Unable to support himself on his shaking elbows any longer, he twisted over onto his side, his back resting against the back of the couch.  And found himself face to face with a hideous blue stuffed toy sat on his coffee table. What the hell?

He raised his gaze and found his team staring at him. Daniel was the closest. It was obviously his hand Jack had shaken off in anger. He looked hurt. Teal’c looked…well to be honest, Jack thought, he looked like Teal’c. Maybe slightly – concerned, if the tightness round his eyes was anything to go by. His gaze moved on to fall on Carter. She stared back for a moment, she looked…nervous? Jack narrowed his eyes and let his gaze drop to the fluffy toy. Then he looked back up at her. She flushed and looked away. Yep, there was the culprit alright.

“Carter?” he demanded, wishing his voice didn’t sound so weak and hoarse.

She met his eyes and flushed some more. “It’s from Cassie, sir.”

Jack blinked. “*Cassie*?”

“Yes sir.”

Okay….

“What the hell is it?”

“It’s Stitch, sir. From the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch.”

That didn’t help.

“And she thought I might like it because…why?”

Her gaze bore into him, pinning him to the couch. He couldn’t have looked away if he tried.

“She said it was to remind you that you were family, sir. And family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.”

Oh god. Jack closed his eyes. And felt the ice begin to crack.