Janet woke up to the smell of sandalwood and coffee. Blearily she opened her eyes and tried to focus on the shape in front of her. It was Sam, cuddled up in Janet's arms. And she smelt - of sandalwood. Janet breathed deeply and snuggled up closer to the warm softness of Sam's body and tried to go back to sleep. But the smell of fresh coffee was too enticing. Janet gently extracted herself from under Sam and sat up. She noticed the blanket they were sharing and wondered where it had come from.

"I've been waiting for you to wake up." Cassie said
Janet turned around to see Cass sitting on the lounge, a mug of steaming coffee in her hands.
"Shouldn't you be at school?"
"The bus will be here in about 15 minutes. I've been trying to wake you up for a while already - I thought some coffee might work." Cassie grinned cheekily.
"Brat. Now gimme that coffee." Janet grinned back at her. Cassie handed over the mug and made room on the lounge for Janet to sit beside her.Janet carefully sipped her coffee, surreptitiously glancing at Cassie.

"Thank you for the blanket." She said finally
"You're welcome."
Janet took another sip of her coffee.
"Do you have a problem with..." Janet indicated Sam asleep on the floor with a nod of her head.
"Have a problem with Sam sleeping on the floor? No, not at all." Cassie ducked a thwap from Janet. "Seriously Mum - I'm happy if you're happy. I've been hoping that you and Sam would realise your feelings for each other some time soon. I was starting to get impatient with you two."
Janet smiled fondly at the young girl.
"Thanks Cass. I'm glad you approve."
"Mum...Sam and you are the two most important people to me. I want you to be happy. And...I want us to be a family."
"Oh Cass..." Janet wrapped an arm around Cassie's shoulders and gave her a hug.

"Thanks for the coffee and the chat Cass - but you'd better finish getting ready for school."
"Yes Mum."
Cass got off the lounge and headed out of the room. Part way she stopped and turned around.
"Hey Mum - I love you."
"I love you too Cass."
The girl smiled and left the room.

"Coffee." mumbled the blanket pile.
"Sam?" Janet said, trying not to laugh.
"Coffee." came the reply
Janet sat on the floor next to Sam, helped her sit up and gave her the coffee mug.
"Coffee." Sam said again and took a big mouthful of the hot liquid. Janet couldn't help but laugh at Sam's morning addiction.

"Better now Sam?"
"Better." she said and took another big mouthful.
"I guess I should always make sure there's a cup of coffee around when you wake up?"
Sam nodded and finished off the rest of the mug. She looked mournfully into the empty mug, causing Janet to laugh again.
"I'll get you some more." Janet said and went to get them a fresh mug each.

When she got back, Sam had folded the blanket and was sitting on the lunge putting her shoes back on.
"More coffee for you." Janet said, handing Sam one of the mugs and putting hers on the coffee table.
"Thanks"
"You leaving already?"
"Um...yeah."
"Please stay for breakfast. Please..." Janet gave Sam a puppy dog look and pouted at her.
"Don't pout at me." Sam grinned
"Why not?"
"I'll have to kiss you if you do."
Janet pouted at Sam again.
"That's it!" Sam put her mug on the table, grabbed Janet and pulled her onto the lounge for a passionate kiss.

"Get a room you two."
They both jumped guiltily as Cassie's voice cut through the room.
"Cassandra Fraiser!" Janet jumped off the lounge and grabbed Cassie around the waist and started tickling her.
"Help me Sam."
"Nope." Sam grinned and lay back on the lounge to watch Janet and Cass muck around together.
Janet let Cassie go finally and the girl ran over to Sam.
"Traitor." Cass said, before giving Sam a kiss on the cheek. "Morning. I gotta go to school. You two behave yourself while I'm gone."
Cassie shot a cheeky grin at Janet before giving her a kiss on the cheek and rushing out the door.

Janet came back over to Sam and slumped down on the floor in front of the lounge.
"Teenagers..." she muttered to herself
Sam leaned over the top of Janet's head and gave her another kiss. "Where were we again?"
She slid off the lounge and resumed her exploration of Janet's mouth.

"Mmm...forget work." Janet murmured when Sam finally let her up for air
"We have to go Jan, you know that."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes, we do love." Sam laughed
"Mmm..." Janet murmured and nuzzled into Sam's neck.
"Janet..." Sam said, "Jan...stop that." Sam giggled, "That tickles Janet."
"I'm sorry hun, you just smell so good."
"We have to go to work."
"I know - I'd just rather stay at home with you."
"So would I. But we should probably have some breakfast and get ready."
"Breakfast?" Janet looked almost confused
"Yes - please."

Janet seemed to finally understand and left the lounge to go make some breakfast for both of them, along with some more coffee.

"I should go check on the Indian." Sam said, "After being out all night, I don't know if I'll be able to start it."
"Why don't you just come with me? I can drive you to work."
"You sure? I mean..."
"Sam - I'm going there anyway. You may as well get a lift with me."
"Point taken." Sam said, grinning.

They finished breakfast quickly and were soon ready to leave. The two of them chatted all the way to Cheyenne. They went their separate ways outside the elevator - Janet to her office and Sam to her quarters to get changed.
On her way through the halls of the base, Sam ran into an Airman bearing a message for her.

"Major." The Airman saluted her."
"Lieutenant." She replied, returning the salute.
"Message from General Hammond ma'am - he'd like to see you in his office in 30 minutes."
"Thank you Lieutenant."
They exchanged salutes once more and Sam continued on to her quarters.

She knew exactly why Hammond wanted to speak to her, and she was dreading it. She only hoped that the rest of SG-1 wouldn't be present - she didn't know if she could keep her emotions under control if they were there. Especially Jack. She could already visualise the expression he would have - one of pity. There was no way she could sit in Hammond's office talking about Martouf with Jack looking at her like that.

After changing into a clean uniform, Sam made her way up to the command centre and Hammond's office.

Chapter 2
Janet had been finishing off routine paperwork in her office when she received a phone call from General Hammond.

"Dr Fraiser..." his Southern drawl came across the phone.
"Yes Sir?"
"We have a problem up here. Major Carter is - not well. I think you should get up here pronto."
"I'll be there shortly Sir."

Janet rushed out of her office, grabbed an emergency kit and a med tech, and hurried off to General Hammond's office.

There she found Sam in the throws of what appeared to be a seizure. Janet quickly went into Doctor mode, turning Sam onto her right side, checking her airways were clear and trying to stabilise her. The med tech handed her a syringe filled with a sedative and a muscle relaxant which she quickly administered to Sam. She watched closely as her seizure minimised and her breathing slowed to a normal rate. Satisfied that all was okay for the moment, she left the med tech in charge of taking Sam to sick bay and went to talk to General Hammond.

"Are you alright Sir?"
"Yes I'm fine." he said shakily, belying his answer.
"Can I ask what happened Sir?"
"I was debriefing her in private on yesterday's events. It was all going fine up until the point where she worked out that Martouf hadn't been tested and was most likely a za'tarc. At that point she seemed to start developing problems with speaking clearly and she was fidgetting a lot."
"Sounds to me like Post-Traumatic Stress starting to kick in."

"Yes, well. She continued on and seemed mostly okay up until the point where she used the zat on Martouf. She just kept repeating over and over 'I killed him'. Then she started shaking, her eyes rolled back in her head. I called you, then pulled her off the chair onto the floor."
"I'd noticed you'd put a pen between her teeth to stop her biting her tongue - a very good move Sir."
"Thank you Doctor. What I'd like to know now is why this happened and what we're going to do about it."

"Very simply - she's in shock and suffering from PTS. The whole episode with Jolinar has left Sam...Major CArter...with a lot of confusion and emotions she is unsure how to deal with. Jolinar was Martouf's mate, and she left all those feelings for him behind in Major Carter. When she was compelled to use lethal force in order to stop Martouf, she had to overcome Jolinar's feelings for Martouf - as well as any of her own she may have developed. That's a pretty hard ask for anyone General."
"I understand. However, shouldn't this have manifested earlier after the event. Rather than a day later?"

"It's complicated Sir. Especially with something like this - Sam would have been warring with herself over a number of things. Namely: gratefulness that she wasn't a za'tarc, loyalty to her country, loyalty to her training as a soldier, love for Martouf, and anything else that was going on in her head. Plus, Carted was with me all night Sir. The presence of someone supportive would have slowed her spiral into depression and self-loathing. I, also, did not push her into talking to me about anything even vaguely related to the SGC. About the closest we came was Cassandra asking for help with school work."

"I see. So my debriefing made her face what happened and she overloaded?" he replied gruffly.
"Basically - yes."
"Better now than in the field. So, Doctor, what do you suggest we do now?"
"She needs downtime - a lot of it. I'd also advise that she isn't left alone - she needs someone with her all the time to keep her company and talk about what happened if necessary."

"What about counselling?"
"Not yet. It would probably push her further into herself and we might lose her forever. She's very fragile at the moment Sir."
"I understand." he started pacing the floor in front of his desk, "Who can we trust to keep an eye on her?"
"I would not recommend Colonel O'Neill Sir." Janet stated.

Hammond gave her a strange look before nodding in agreement.
"No, that would probably be a bad choice - Teal'c as well. He's an upstanding young man - just not communicative enough."
"Daniel would be good Sir. He's sensitive, communicative and gets on well with Sam."
"Yes, he would be the perfect choice. Except that he's busy. Negotiations are still continuing with the Tok'ra and he's needed there."
"So who does that leave us with?"

Hammond thought for a moment.
"I think I have the perfect candidate for the job." he said finally. At her confused look he explained.
"You Doctor. Major Carter trusts you more than anyone else. She went to you yesterday for comfort, she'll go to you again if you are readily available."
"What about my duties here?"
"You'll be on call of course, but I'm sure that we can manage without you."
"Well, Sir, if you think it's best..."
"I do. Go and make any arrangements necessary. You're dismissed."
"Yes Sir." Janet turned and walked towards the door.

"And Doctor..." Janet turned to look back at Hammond, "You bring her back to us. Major Carter is...a very important member of this facility."

Janet nodded and left the room. Hammond sank into his chair and put his head in his hands - what a way to start the day.

Chapter 3
Janet left Stargate Command and went straight to sick bay to check on Sam. Her respiration and heart rate were normal and she appeared to be sleeping peacefully. The med tech had done a good job of helping Janet during the emergency in Hammond's office, as well as assuring that Sam made it safely to sick bay without any further incidence. She briefly congratulated him and then went to prepare for an extended leave.

Janet had no idea how long it would take for Sam to recover from the trauma of killing Martouf. It could be a week, a month, longer. That was the problem with PTS - you never knew how it was going to affect someone. Add to that the unknown complications of once being host to a Goa'uld that had loved the man - who knows what would happen. She had no idea what she would need to bring Sam out of this, or even if it was possible. Taking the events of General Hammond's office into account, Janet packed a medical bag with some sedatives and other medications she may need.

That done, she tried to clear up some paperwork that would be needed in the next few weeks and checked if she needed to requisition anything more for the med crew. While she was doing this a nurse came to her door."

"Yes?" She asked
"Major Carter is awake ma'am - she's asking for you."
"I'll be right there."

Janet signed her name at the bottom of a release form and went out to see Sam.

Sam was sitting up in bed, looking very pale and not really sure of herself.
"How you doin' soldier?" Janet asked, smiling fondly at Sam
"I don't know - I feel funny. Kind of - not really - all here. How did I get here Janet?"
"You had a seizure in General Hammond's office. But you're okay now."
"What kind of seizure?"
"Shock. It was to be expected. You earned yourself some time off."
"How long?" Sam looked disappointed that she had time off.
"Well that all depends..."
"On what?"
"Me."

"Oh. So I have to stay here?"
"Nope, not at all. In fact - I ban you from coming back to base for anything." Janet smiled.
"Anything?" Sam looked almost sad
"It all depends on how well you can suck up to your medical officer to get her to come in here to pick up things for you."
"Will you be with me the whole time?" Sam looked scared at the thought that she might be alone
Janet took Sam's hand and gently stroked it.
"I'll be with you the whole time Sam. I won't leave you alone - not unless you want me to."
Tears welled up in Sam's eyes.
"Don't leave me alone Jan..."
Janet pulled Sam into a tight hug and tried to comfort her. After a while Sam pulled back and wiped tears from her face.

"You ready to go home with me?"
"Is that where I'll be staying?"
"It is if that's okay by you."
Sam nodded, "I'd like that."
"Well let's get you out of that bed and to your quarters to pack a bag."

Janet got a nurse to help Sam out of bed while she went to her office to grab the few things she needed from there. Quickly Janet explained the situation to the head nurse and left her in charge before taking Sam to her quarters. There they packed a bag with the few things that Sam felt she'd need and headed up to the surface.

Sam was silent for most of the trip. When they were almost to Janet's place she finally spoke.
"Is this the end of my career Janet?"
"Not at all. There has been no official record made and you are under my care for assessment. Everything else is up to you. I won't let you go back to work until I think you are healed, and General Hammond won't put anything done in a report until I speak to him. Currently you are on trauma leave, as will the rest of SG-1 when they are finished their current tasks."
"So I can go back - eventually."
"If I'm satisfied that you're not a danger to yourself or others - yes. But just remember this Sam - I know you well and you can't fool me, so don't pull any of your tricks on me." Janet joked lightly provoking a small smile from Sam.
"I promise." Sam replied seriously.
"Good girl. Well we're home now. Grab your bag and come in. Cassie should be home in a few hours, so make the most of the peace and quiet."
"Which room am I in?"

Janet thought for a brief moment. She would have loved to have Sam in her room - both to keep an eye on her, and to have her close. However, she felt that the emotional turmoil that would cause would be more detrimental than beneficial.
"You're in the spare room - nice and close to Cass so I don't have to listen to your snoring."
"I do not snore." Sam protested.
"You ever been awake to hear it?"
"No..." Sam muttered.

Janet grinned at the sulky look on Sam's face before herding her off to the spare room. Once Sam was gone, the grin faded from Janet's face. She was worried about Sam - very worried. She didn't think that Sam was going to manage to pull out of this one. It was looking bad for all concerned.

Home

SG 1 Archives

Taleitha Brynn