To Dance Between the Raindrops: A Snowflake's Waltz - Chapter 17
To Dance Between the Raindrops: A Snowflake's Waltz
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this Stargate SG-1/Sanctuary crossover story but my altered headspace. Stargate SG-1 belongs to Gekko Film Corp, MGM, Fox, various individuals and companies and whoever owns them. Sanctuary belongs to Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, The Beedie Group, Tricon Films & Television, Space and whoever else owns bits and pieces of it.
Spoilers: For SG-1, to the end of series; for Sanctuary, up to the episode “Pavor Nocturnus” (Season 2, Episode 5). Everything after that is up for grabs.
Summary: Sam and Cassie go Christmas shopping in New City ...
To Dance Between the Raindrops: A Snowflake's Waltz
Chapter 17
Helen sat at Ashley’s bedside sipping a cup of tea. Henry, thoughtful boy that he was, had gone into her study and brought her favourite armchair down, while Kate and Will had fetched a pot of strong tea for her and coffee for their guests.
Ashley was asleep, her face radiating a peacefulness Helen hadn’t seen in it since her daughter was a young child.
That is what she is right now, her conscience prodded her, a child. A child who no longer recognised Henry, her oldest friend and playmate-the one person who, in some ways, knew her better than her mother ever would.
Helen had seen the devastation in the young man’s eyes when he realised that Ashley didn’t recognise him. And although she feared that the self-reliant, vivacious, sarcastic young woman she’d raised might be lost forever, at least she, Helen-with her immortal, unchanging face-still had some context in Ashley’s child-self’s world … at least she had that to hold on to. She was Mommy. She would always be Mommy.
Henry, as a young man, had no such context. Ashley … Ash would be looking for the boy she’d known when she was five years old, and Helen was at a loss regarding how she would explain it to her if her daughter was stuck like this-a child in a woman’s body.
As if Ashley and Henry’s relationship wasn’t already complicated enough.
Over the years, Helen had watched them grow-first as playmates and best friends getting into all manner of trouble ... with Ashley usually being the instigator. Then Henry had hit puberty, and though there were still undeniable feelings between them, it was more the affection of an older brother for his little sister. He’d tended to be a loner, but through his hobbies and love of technology and music, he’d found his own circle of friends and acquaintances both inside and outside the Sanctuary Network. And as Ashley had passed from girlhood to adolescence, she had done the same.
Though she was categorically not a girly-girl, as she was wont to put it, Ashley still had two or three girlfriends outside the Abnormal community whom she could meet for drinks or go clubbing with on her rare off-times, as well her share of boyfriends, who tended to appeal to her wilder side, much to Helen’s chagrin. But somewhere along the way, working together in the last few years, Ashley and Henry come full circle and become best friends again, with a new, adult understanding between them.
However, before Ashley’s abduction by the Cabal, Helen had got the feeling that Henry and her daughter were just beginning to see each other as something more than just friends and colleagues. And although delighted with this new development, Helen had been careful not to push or even say anything. She’d always respected her daughter’s right to choose her own friends and lovers, and loving them both, she’d been leery of attempting any sort of matchmaking-especially with Henry’s heart already committed to another woman … and a married one at that.
But Helen had to admit, she’d been rather pleased at the thought of Ashley and Henry together.
“Hey, how are you doing?”
Janet Fraiser’s honey-warm voice drew Helen from her thoughts and she found that she’d been sitting frozen, teacup poised halfway between the saucer and her lips as she stared off into space. The younger doctor’s small, slender fingers brushed against hers as she rescued the teacup and kept it from spilling in Helen’s lap.
“Sorry,” she croaked, her throat raspy for some reason. “I just got lost for a moment there.”
Chocolate brown eyes smiled gently at her. “That’s understandable under the circumstances,” Fraiser said, pulling up a folding chair to sit opposite her. She placed a manila folder on the card table next to Helen’s tea service. “It looked like a good memory.”
Helen smiled. “Not so much a memory, as it is all those hopes and dreams a mother has for her child.”
The younger woman’s gaze was automatically drawn to her own daughter, asleep in the bed on the other side of the one Ashley occupied. Her fond smile softened her delicate features even more, but as her gaze flicked just beyond Cassandra’s bed to Samantha Carter’s, the love in her eyes was undeniable.
Helen wondered, not for the first time in the few, short hours she’d known them, about the relationship between her younger look-alike and Janet Fraiser. According to Cassandra, they were both her mothers ... her family, but how deep that connection was beyond unofficially co-parenting a young girl intrigued Helen. The Air Force-indeed the entire United States military-wasn’t exactly known for its enlightened view of same sex relationships, although that seemed to finally be changing.
“As I said, understandable,” Fraiser murmured. Her eyes were more … calculating as she considered Helen once more. Helen didn’t sense anything untoward about the other doctor’s demeanour, only that she seemed to be trying to make up her mind about something. A moment later, there was no doubt in Janet Fraiser’s gaze.
“Dr. Magnus-”
“Helen.”
Fraiser smiled again. “Helen,” she acknowledged. “And you can call me Janet,” she invited and Helen nodded. “Helen, if I asked you to trust me to begin a preliminary treatment of Ashley, without a full discussion of what I was doing, would you be able to?” she asked.
Silence stretched taut between them. Trust. Could she afford to trust this woman? Could she afford not to.
“Jack will have put a priority request through for you to get clearance, but it may take a few days to come through,” Janet explained quietly. “Meanwhile, there is something I can do to prepare Ashley’s immune system to-”
“Yes.”
The word burst from her in an almost involuntary gasp. “What do you need?” she asked breathlessly. “What do you need me to do?”
“First, I need to know everything I can about this Source Blood,” Janet replied, pulling an array of micrographs from the folder. “From my cursory analysis, it seems to be some kind of colonial parasite.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” Helen said nodding in agreement as she looked at a micrograph of a Source Blood cell. “I’ve found it to be closer to a primordial plasmodium-like organism in nature. Where did you get these?” she asked, marvelling at the remarkable clarity of the images.
“It’s classified, but Sam’s blood analyser can do much more than act like a simple dialysis or transfusion machine,” she replied, eyes twinkling. “Those are Source Blood cells from your daughter’s blood sample.” Handing Helen a new set of micrographs, she continued, “These are Source Blood cells from Sam’s blood sample-notice anything?”
Helen’s breath caught as she studied the remarkable photographs. “The membrane channels are blocked by some sort of globular protein. That would effectively disrupt any normal transport functions across the cell membrane, eventually killing the cells themselves-and are those organo-metalloid residues?” she asked, peering closely at the protein structure in confusion. “It doesn’t appear to be related to haemoglobin or any metal-based proteins I’m acquainted with.”
“It wouldn’t be,” Janet said drily. “But those proteins are part of what Sam’s immune system is using to fight off this Source Blood parasite,” she said as Helen stared at her in shock. “Let’s just say that ever since the incident that changed her, Sam’s body doesn’t take kindly to invaders trying to set up shop.”
“And you can replicate this effect in Ashley?” Helen said breathlessly, hope pounding in her chest.
“Not quite, but something close I hope,” Janet replied taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Related to what happened to Sam, we came upon a drug, which in certain … altered physiologies, can act as an immune system co-factor ... an enhancer if you will that acts in a unique way on the human immune system and cellular repair machinery. In recent years, I’ve tailored it to boost a compromised immune system without further compromising it. I have a quantity of the drug available-just in case this was something Sam’s already enhanced system couldn’t fight. But first, I need to examine Ashley’s medical record-get a handle on what way she’s been altered and if it can be helped by using the drug.”
Janet smiled at her again and drew a syringe containing a few millilitres of a white fluid from her pocket. Helen’s heart constricted with painful hope as she stared at the syringe in the younger woman’s hand.
“I have all Ashley’s medical records from babyhood,” she said eagerly as she rose and hurried over to the room’s computer workstation, Janet following close behind. “Thanks to Henry, it’s all kept up to date on our network.” Suddenly she looked up from her frantic typing and asked, “Could you use samples of her unadulterated blood?”
She started to rise again, but Janet stopped her with one gentle hand. “Slow down, Helen,” she said quietly. “Samples of her blood would be a great help in studying the way her living tissue would react with the drug and other elements from Sam’s system, but let’s start with comparing her records from before and after she was taken. Once I see what I’m looking for, perhaps then we can start some preliminary tests-make sure it won’t have an adverse effect on Ashley’s physiology.
“As well, Cassie indicated that you were also infected with the Source Blood at some point,” Janet continued quietly, holding Helen’s gaze. “She suggested that you may have been changed in some way, yet you don’t seem to have been affected by it the same way your daughter was.”
“I see,” she replied, making up her mind about the other doctor. “Tell me; how does Samantha’s fundamental physiology hold up to this drug of yours?” she asked as Janet stared at her in confusion at the sudden change of subject.
“Quite well,” the younger woman admitted after a moment.
“Would you say that even before this incident that altered her physiology, she still would have held up quite well?” Helen persisted.
“I don’t have any empirical proof-we discovered the drug after she was changed-but yes, I think so. Sam’s always had a rather naturally robust immune system. Where are you going with this?”
Helen turned back to her computer and began to rapidly compile a number of files. Janet recognized the data that flashed up onto the screen-genetic mapping data.
“This is a partial genetic map for Ashley,” Helen began. “And this one is mine for the same gene loci,” she said bringing up a second map and super-imposing it over the first. “As expected, Ashley and I share fifty percent of our genes.” A third partial map flashed up on the screen. “This is the results of a quick and dirty map I’ve had running for Samantha since she was brought in,” she said holding Janet’s gaze and reaching out to grab her hand as she took an involuntary step backwards. “Let’s just say I couldn’t take it on faith that it is simple coincidence we would look so much alike.
“I have a more detailed one running, but it will take some time to complete. However, according to this map,” Helen continued, manipulating the data so that her personal map overlaid Sam’s, “Samantha and I share approximately eighty percent of our genes-possibly more ... possibly a great deal more.”
Janet gasped, reeling from the shock as she looked from Helen Magnus to the genetic maps to Samantha and then back again. “That means that Samantha Carter is genetically closer to me than my own daughter,” Helen said harshly. “Closer than a sister-had I ever had a sister-would have been, except perhaps if I’d had an identical twin …”
And just as Janet’s mind latched onto that explanation as a viable possibility-sisters, twins even, separated at a very young age would explain it-Helen Magnus dropped her final bombshell and spoke the unspeakable …
“Or a clone.”
“What!”
#
Chapter 18
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this Stargate SG-1/Sanctuary crossover story but my altered headspace. Stargate SG-1 belongs to Gekko Film Corp, MGM, Fox, various individuals and companies and whoever owns them. Sanctuary belongs to Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, The Beedie Group, Tricon Films & Television, Space and whoever else owns bits and pieces of it.
Spoilers: For SG-1, to the end of series; for Sanctuary, up to the episode “Pavor Nocturnus” (Season 2, Episode 5). Everything after that is up for grabs.
Summary: Sam and Cassie go Christmas shopping in New City ...
To Dance Between the Raindrops: A Snowflake's Waltz
Chapter 17
Helen sat at Ashley’s bedside sipping a cup of tea. Henry, thoughtful boy that he was, had gone into her study and brought her favourite armchair down, while Kate and Will had fetched a pot of strong tea for her and coffee for their guests.
Ashley was asleep, her face radiating a peacefulness Helen hadn’t seen in it since her daughter was a young child.
That is what she is right now, her conscience prodded her, a child. A child who no longer recognised Henry, her oldest friend and playmate-the one person who, in some ways, knew her better than her mother ever would.
Helen had seen the devastation in the young man’s eyes when he realised that Ashley didn’t recognise him. And although she feared that the self-reliant, vivacious, sarcastic young woman she’d raised might be lost forever, at least she, Helen-with her immortal, unchanging face-still had some context in Ashley’s child-self’s world … at least she had that to hold on to. She was Mommy. She would always be Mommy.
Henry, as a young man, had no such context. Ashley … Ash would be looking for the boy she’d known when she was five years old, and Helen was at a loss regarding how she would explain it to her if her daughter was stuck like this-a child in a woman’s body.
As if Ashley and Henry’s relationship wasn’t already complicated enough.
Over the years, Helen had watched them grow-first as playmates and best friends getting into all manner of trouble ... with Ashley usually being the instigator. Then Henry had hit puberty, and though there were still undeniable feelings between them, it was more the affection of an older brother for his little sister. He’d tended to be a loner, but through his hobbies and love of technology and music, he’d found his own circle of friends and acquaintances both inside and outside the Sanctuary Network. And as Ashley had passed from girlhood to adolescence, she had done the same.
Though she was categorically not a girly-girl, as she was wont to put it, Ashley still had two or three girlfriends outside the Abnormal community whom she could meet for drinks or go clubbing with on her rare off-times, as well her share of boyfriends, who tended to appeal to her wilder side, much to Helen’s chagrin. But somewhere along the way, working together in the last few years, Ashley and Henry come full circle and become best friends again, with a new, adult understanding between them.
However, before Ashley’s abduction by the Cabal, Helen had got the feeling that Henry and her daughter were just beginning to see each other as something more than just friends and colleagues. And although delighted with this new development, Helen had been careful not to push or even say anything. She’d always respected her daughter’s right to choose her own friends and lovers, and loving them both, she’d been leery of attempting any sort of matchmaking-especially with Henry’s heart already committed to another woman … and a married one at that.
But Helen had to admit, she’d been rather pleased at the thought of Ashley and Henry together.
“Hey, how are you doing?”
Janet Fraiser’s honey-warm voice drew Helen from her thoughts and she found that she’d been sitting frozen, teacup poised halfway between the saucer and her lips as she stared off into space. The younger doctor’s small, slender fingers brushed against hers as she rescued the teacup and kept it from spilling in Helen’s lap.
“Sorry,” she croaked, her throat raspy for some reason. “I just got lost for a moment there.”
Chocolate brown eyes smiled gently at her. “That’s understandable under the circumstances,” Fraiser said, pulling up a folding chair to sit opposite her. She placed a manila folder on the card table next to Helen’s tea service. “It looked like a good memory.”
Helen smiled. “Not so much a memory, as it is all those hopes and dreams a mother has for her child.”
The younger woman’s gaze was automatically drawn to her own daughter, asleep in the bed on the other side of the one Ashley occupied. Her fond smile softened her delicate features even more, but as her gaze flicked just beyond Cassandra’s bed to Samantha Carter’s, the love in her eyes was undeniable.
Helen wondered, not for the first time in the few, short hours she’d known them, about the relationship between her younger look-alike and Janet Fraiser. According to Cassandra, they were both her mothers ... her family, but how deep that connection was beyond unofficially co-parenting a young girl intrigued Helen. The Air Force-indeed the entire United States military-wasn’t exactly known for its enlightened view of same sex relationships, although that seemed to finally be changing.
“As I said, understandable,” Fraiser murmured. Her eyes were more … calculating as she considered Helen once more. Helen didn’t sense anything untoward about the other doctor’s demeanour, only that she seemed to be trying to make up her mind about something. A moment later, there was no doubt in Janet Fraiser’s gaze.
“Dr. Magnus-”
“Helen.”
Fraiser smiled again. “Helen,” she acknowledged. “And you can call me Janet,” she invited and Helen nodded. “Helen, if I asked you to trust me to begin a preliminary treatment of Ashley, without a full discussion of what I was doing, would you be able to?” she asked.
Silence stretched taut between them. Trust. Could she afford to trust this woman? Could she afford not to.
“Jack will have put a priority request through for you to get clearance, but it may take a few days to come through,” Janet explained quietly. “Meanwhile, there is something I can do to prepare Ashley’s immune system to-”
“Yes.”
The word burst from her in an almost involuntary gasp. “What do you need?” she asked breathlessly. “What do you need me to do?”
“First, I need to know everything I can about this Source Blood,” Janet replied, pulling an array of micrographs from the folder. “From my cursory analysis, it seems to be some kind of colonial parasite.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” Helen said nodding in agreement as she looked at a micrograph of a Source Blood cell. “I’ve found it to be closer to a primordial plasmodium-like organism in nature. Where did you get these?” she asked, marvelling at the remarkable clarity of the images.
“It’s classified, but Sam’s blood analyser can do much more than act like a simple dialysis or transfusion machine,” she replied, eyes twinkling. “Those are Source Blood cells from your daughter’s blood sample.” Handing Helen a new set of micrographs, she continued, “These are Source Blood cells from Sam’s blood sample-notice anything?”
Helen’s breath caught as she studied the remarkable photographs. “The membrane channels are blocked by some sort of globular protein. That would effectively disrupt any normal transport functions across the cell membrane, eventually killing the cells themselves-and are those organo-metalloid residues?” she asked, peering closely at the protein structure in confusion. “It doesn’t appear to be related to haemoglobin or any metal-based proteins I’m acquainted with.”
“It wouldn’t be,” Janet said drily. “But those proteins are part of what Sam’s immune system is using to fight off this Source Blood parasite,” she said as Helen stared at her in shock. “Let’s just say that ever since the incident that changed her, Sam’s body doesn’t take kindly to invaders trying to set up shop.”
“And you can replicate this effect in Ashley?” Helen said breathlessly, hope pounding in her chest.
“Not quite, but something close I hope,” Janet replied taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Related to what happened to Sam, we came upon a drug, which in certain … altered physiologies, can act as an immune system co-factor ... an enhancer if you will that acts in a unique way on the human immune system and cellular repair machinery. In recent years, I’ve tailored it to boost a compromised immune system without further compromising it. I have a quantity of the drug available-just in case this was something Sam’s already enhanced system couldn’t fight. But first, I need to examine Ashley’s medical record-get a handle on what way she’s been altered and if it can be helped by using the drug.”
Janet smiled at her again and drew a syringe containing a few millilitres of a white fluid from her pocket. Helen’s heart constricted with painful hope as she stared at the syringe in the younger woman’s hand.
“I have all Ashley’s medical records from babyhood,” she said eagerly as she rose and hurried over to the room’s computer workstation, Janet following close behind. “Thanks to Henry, it’s all kept up to date on our network.” Suddenly she looked up from her frantic typing and asked, “Could you use samples of her unadulterated blood?”
She started to rise again, but Janet stopped her with one gentle hand. “Slow down, Helen,” she said quietly. “Samples of her blood would be a great help in studying the way her living tissue would react with the drug and other elements from Sam’s system, but let’s start with comparing her records from before and after she was taken. Once I see what I’m looking for, perhaps then we can start some preliminary tests-make sure it won’t have an adverse effect on Ashley’s physiology.
“As well, Cassie indicated that you were also infected with the Source Blood at some point,” Janet continued quietly, holding Helen’s gaze. “She suggested that you may have been changed in some way, yet you don’t seem to have been affected by it the same way your daughter was.”
“I see,” she replied, making up her mind about the other doctor. “Tell me; how does Samantha’s fundamental physiology hold up to this drug of yours?” she asked as Janet stared at her in confusion at the sudden change of subject.
“Quite well,” the younger woman admitted after a moment.
“Would you say that even before this incident that altered her physiology, she still would have held up quite well?” Helen persisted.
“I don’t have any empirical proof-we discovered the drug after she was changed-but yes, I think so. Sam’s always had a rather naturally robust immune system. Where are you going with this?”
Helen turned back to her computer and began to rapidly compile a number of files. Janet recognized the data that flashed up onto the screen-genetic mapping data.
“This is a partial genetic map for Ashley,” Helen began. “And this one is mine for the same gene loci,” she said bringing up a second map and super-imposing it over the first. “As expected, Ashley and I share fifty percent of our genes.” A third partial map flashed up on the screen. “This is the results of a quick and dirty map I’ve had running for Samantha since she was brought in,” she said holding Janet’s gaze and reaching out to grab her hand as she took an involuntary step backwards. “Let’s just say I couldn’t take it on faith that it is simple coincidence we would look so much alike.
“I have a more detailed one running, but it will take some time to complete. However, according to this map,” Helen continued, manipulating the data so that her personal map overlaid Sam’s, “Samantha and I share approximately eighty percent of our genes-possibly more ... possibly a great deal more.”
Janet gasped, reeling from the shock as she looked from Helen Magnus to the genetic maps to Samantha and then back again. “That means that Samantha Carter is genetically closer to me than my own daughter,” Helen said harshly. “Closer than a sister-had I ever had a sister-would have been, except perhaps if I’d had an identical twin …”
And just as Janet’s mind latched onto that explanation as a viable possibility-sisters, twins even, separated at a very young age would explain it-Helen Magnus dropped her final bombshell and spoke the unspeakable …
“Or a clone.”
“What!”
#
Chapter 18