Title: Caught

Fandom: Stargate SG1/Stargate Atlantis

Pairing: Janet/Carson

Rating: PG

Word Count: 488

Spoilers:None

Notes: Comment fic for dragonsinger. Completely AU.

When he heard the sniffle beside him, Carson didn’t even try to stifle his smirk. One eye on the clock, he performed a little bit of mental arithmetic as he extracted a handkerchief from his pocket and passed it to the woman beside him.

“I’m sorry,” Janet whispered, wiping her eyes carefully, barely looking at him. All her attention was focused on the stage in front of her, at one particular graduation hat perched upon a head of red hair.

“Don’t be, love,” Carson replied, the same smirk still on his face. “You were right on time.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Janet’s head whip around to look at her, her suddenly dry eyes narrow in suspicion. “What’s that supposed…” A pause, a look of clarity, of incredulity. “You didn’t.”

“Oh no, not me. Commander Mitchell started it.”

“You ran a book on how long it would take me to start crying?”

“Commander Mitchell ran the book,” Carson pointed out again, shrugging his shoulders. “When I saw the size of the pot, it seemed a shame not to take part. And since it took you eight minutes from the start of the ceremony, and eight has always been my lucky number…” He broke off his explanation when he realised that Janet was staring at him with a look that promised imminent dismemberment. “Well, Cassie’s going to have a lovely graduation present out of it,” he finished hurriedly.

It was the one thing he could have said – and luckily enough, it was also the truth – that could have turned Janet’s expression from a glare to a smile. “That’s very sweet.”

“Aye, well, I’m a sweet man.”

The glare was back again, and he knew he’d misspoken. “A sweet man who gambled on his own daughter’s graduation… don’t think you’re off the hook for that.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he hastily assured her, turning his attention back to the ceremony, assuming the expression of one who was suitably contrite for his actions, all the while trying to figure out how he was going to warn Cameron about Janet’s ire without Janet finding out about it. Those thoughts kept him going throughout the excruciatingly boring speeches – he’d never realised how much those Harvard types loved to talk – and he began to pay attention when the first group of students were called up to receive their diplomas.

That neatly coincided with another sniffle from the woman beside him, and he grinned to himself, taking his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Cassandra Fraiser.”

A swell of pride rose in his throat as he watched her walk up to the dais, and much to his surprise, he felt tears sting his own eyelids. Surreptitiously, he reached up to wipe them away, and this time, instead of a sniffle, he heard a distinct chuckle.

Looking sharply down, he realised that Janet was smiling through her tears. “Oh, Cassie’s going to have a great graduation present,” she told him. He didn’t understand, narrowed his eyes in silent question, and then his jaw dropped as it came to him. He didn’t need Janet’s explanation, but she gave it anyway, letting him know that he’d been well and truly caught.

“Cameron didn’t just run a book on me.”