"Sometimes she likes to take one of her bikes up into the mountains," Daniel suggested. He, Jack and Teal'c had descended on the house in response to Jacob's midnight call.
"They're both in the garage. So is her Volvo."
"Did you call Janet? Maybe she went over there?" Jack suggested.
Jacob nodded, "There's no answer."
"No. There wouldn't be. Janet took Cass to visit her grandparents for the weekend." Daniel shook his head.
"Except, Major Carter is not herself at the moment," Teal'c intoned.
Jack narrowed his eyes at him, "Yeah, right. I still don't think there's any cause for alarm. She probably just went somewhere to be on her own and think."
Daniel nodded as if trying to convince himself, "Yeah. You're probably right. I should try to get hold of Janet�"
"No." Jack shook his head quickly, "There's no need to worry her. Sam will probably turn up tomorrow."
Sgsgsgsg
"She's been gone for four days and you just decided to tell me?" Daniel had been waiting on her doorstep when Janet arrived home.
"Yeah, we thought she'd turn up but�" Daniel shrugged.
"Do you have any idea where she is?" Janet had dropped Cass at a friend's house.
"We know she visited Jimmy J's grave. His mother met her there and called Hammond yesterday to thank him for sending someone to witness the planting of his headstone. Also, Simmons called someone he knows and found out that she used her card to withdraw two thousand dollars from an ATM in Flagstaff."
"Flagstaff? Arizona?"
Daniel nodded. "We've been, strictly unofficially and probably totally illegally, monitoring police and state trooper activity - there's nothing."
"We have to go get her."
"Jack and Teal'c are in Arizona now - I just got back to meet you. She got off a bus in Flagstaff two days ago but we haven't been able to track her down."
"God," Janet covered her face with both hands for a moment then she took a deep breath and nodded, "Okay. I'm all packed. Let's go."
"Actually, Jack thought you should stay here in case Sam calls."
"Daniel. I want to help find her."
"I know. And as soon as we have a lead we'll call you."
Sgsgsgsg
A week passed with interminable slowness. Jack, Daniel and Teal'c criss-crossed the south west showing Sam's picture at every truck stop, train and bus station but to no avail. Since the sighting of her in Flagstaff it had been as if she had vanished off the face of the earth.
Thirteen days after she had removed herself from Colorado, Sam Carter called the Fraiser household and spoke to Cassandra. She was on the line for about three minutes. She told Cass that she was fine and not to worry about her. She asked Cass how she was doing with the extra classes she was taking during the summer to gain extra credit for college. She asked Cass to tell everyone she was sorry for any inconvenience she may be causing and hung up.
Subsequently, unable to further justify the time and expenditure that using his flagship team to search for someone who appeared to be missing through her own choice, Hammond recalled SG1 and set them back to work.
They protested but could not argue with the facts. That Jack actually agreed with Hammond's feeling that Sam would come back when she was ready to, made it doubly difficult to do so. Graham Simmons had called in another favor and had been able to tell the team that Sam had called from a payphone in Casa Grande - between Phoenix and Tucson and in their downtime they headed straight back to where they had last had Sam's trail and tried to catch up with her before having to go back to Cheyenne. Jacob Carter had been recalled by the Tok'ra for a mission that apparently only he and Selmak could carry out - despite his heated protests.
Sgsgsgsg
JoMo's Truck Stop and Grill was a dump. It probably had been a dump since the day it opened sometime in the early seventies. It had not been redecorated since as the hodge-podge of furnishings and fittings that it had accumulated over the years demonstrated. It had been serving the same menu of good old American fare since 1973. The food was actually pretty good which explained why the place had a regular clientele drawn from the run down end of Albuquerque while its cheap gas made passing traffic stop. It was open twenty four seven. There was a pool table in the back which, for the last two hours, had seen the tall, skinny blonde defeat all challengers with a devastating combination of skill and nonchalance. She had been in since lunchtime. She had given up trying to bum a ride the moment she had spotted the green baize, dumping her small duffle bag and bedroll beneath a stool in the corner, shrugging out of her denim cowboy jacket and weighing all the cues till she found one that seemed to satisfy her.
Half a dozen bikers had come in twenty minutes earlier and had taken over a couple of booths. They had ordered and eaten several baskets of chicken wings and fries and had started knocking back tequila shots. The place was filling up as evening advanced. A couple of cowboy hat wearing youths in worn denim and scuffed boots met with a pair of girls dressed in the feminine version of their outfits and ordered steaks and salads. The bar stools filled up with a mixture of business suits, making a pit stop before going home, and truckers. A State Trooper stopped in the get a refill for his thermos and left.
"Five bucks says I can beat you." The younger of the two cowboys, a kid of about nineteen, flashed a Paul Newman grin and placed a five spot on the edge of the table.
Sam fixed him in a glacial stare then stuck the cue ball sending it into the far corner pocket.
"Your loss," She shrugged, "You can break if you like."
"That could be a mistake." Paul beamed. His good humor radiated like warmth from a sun baked shore, "I'm pretty good. And my name is Joey. Joey McCall."
Sam was immune to his charm, clad in an icy overcoat of disdain as she set up the balls.
"I haven't seen you in here before." The kid tried to make conversation as he broke, sending a stripe into the middle pocket.
"No." Sam circled the table, stalking the balls as they settled from the break. She was already four shots ahead of the kid as he missed his second shot.
"Nice." Joey nodded appreciatively as Sam neatly screwed her first shot back into the near corner then set about clearing the table. Five minutes later she sent the black hurtling home and pocketed the five as she straightened up. "Well. That was an education." He sighed, "Can I buy you a drink?"
"Won't your girlfriend mind?" Sam pointed with the cue at where his three companions were laughing it up at his defeat.
"Girlfriend? That's not my girlfriend. She's my sister." The kid laughed like the idea was the funniest thing he had ever heard.
"Yeah, well. I think maybe you should get back to your friends."
"You sure? You seemed pretty lonely over here by yourself." Joey's eyes sparkled.
Sam's jaw clenched. "No. Thanks." She turned to the beer bottle she had been nursing for the last hour.
"Well. Okay." The kid shrugged and backed off.
Sgsgsgsg
Sam gave up the pool table when the bikers, by now truly in their cups, moved into the space around the table. She ordered a bowl of chili and ate it sitting at the other end of the bar. If she was aware of the curious or appraising or admiring looks she was getting from the clientele she gave absolutely no indication, entirely absorbed by her meal. Once she had finished eating she gathered up her scant belongings, laid Joey's five dollar bill on the bar and went outside. There was a bench outside the door with a bus stop sign next to it. With no idea of the schedule, Sam simply sat down, crossed her ankles, folded her arms and closed her eyes to wait.
The opening and closing of the door as patrons came and went did not appear to disturb her over the next hour or so. Cars came, filled up and left. There was no sign of a bus. Sam rose and circled the building and followed the arrow and toilet sign pointing to the shed across a dusty space. She crossed and tried the door with the female sign hanging from one nail. The door was locked. Sam sighed, thought for a moment then returned to the diner.
"I need the key," she said to the burly, black haired woman behind the bar.
"Use the one indoors, honey." The woman moved her cold cigar from one corner of her mouth to the other, "The outdoor plumbing died about ten years ago."
"Thanks." Sam followed the woman's nod toward the back of the building.
"Hey again." Joey McCall grinned and raised his glass of cola to Sam.
She nodded to him and the two girls he was sitting with and, her duffle, jacket and bed roll in her right hand pushed through the door to the vestibule leading to the washrooms. She took a step towards the ladies and froze as a thump and grunting sound of pain echoed through the door to the gents. There was the sound of a slap and a cry of pain.
Sam rapped on the wood panel of the door to the men's' room, "Are you okay? Do you need help?" she called.
The door opened a fraction and one of the biker's she had seen earlier, with a scrappy mustache, glared at her.
"Fuck off."
"Excuse me?" Sam's eyebrows hit her hairline.
"This is none of your business lady so do yourself a favor and go powder your nose." Mustache stepped out into the narrow hallway and tried to grab Sam's arm to shove her into the ladies. He dropped like a sack of cement when Sam jabbed her fingers in his throat.
Real fights are nothing like the movies. Your opponents do not wait politely to attack you one by one. They crowd you like they are old ladies at a January sale and you are the bargain of the year. When some one gets hit they go down and, more often than not, they stay down, groaning and vomiting and bleeding. When you punch someone it hurts like hell, like you have broken every bone in your hand. There turned out to have been four bikers in the men's' room, beating up on Joey's friend. As Sam went down under three sets of biker leathers he staggered out of the toilet, clutching his ribs and spitting blood and ducked past the melee of flying fists and feet and yanked the door to the diner open and hollered for help. Two minutes later Joey and his friends hauled Sam out from under an unconscious lump of leather clad muscle and dragged her out of the rear exit of the diner. The black haired woman from the bar had opened the fire door for them and helped the girls fold a barely conscious Sam onto the back of the battered blue Ford pick up.
"Thanks, Mo," Joey gasped, starting up the engine as she flung Sam's belongings onto the back of the truck.
"Get out of here before the cops show up." Mo slammed the door shut. "Tell your Daddy he owes me a side of beef for this!" she yelled as the Ford spun its wheels then hit the road.
Sgsgsgsg
Janet answered her home 'phone on the second ring, "Fraiser."
"Ma'am, this is the Cheyenne Mountain switchboard, I have a Joey McCall on the line for you. He asked for your number ma'am but protocol does not allow me to give out that information."
"Thank you. Did he tell you who he is?"
"No, ma'am. Only that he obtained this number from Cedar City hospital. Shall I connect his call to you, ma'am?"
"Yes, please."
Three weeks had passed without sign of hide or hair of Sam. She was no longer listed as a missing person but Hammond was having a hard time keeping the pen pushers at the Pentagon from listing her as AWOL.
"This is Janet Fraiser."
"You don't know me, ma'am, but my names Joey McCall. I live at the Two Forks ranch just outside of Albuquerque." Janet stopped breathing for a moment. "I'm calling about someone I believe you know? Sam Carter?"
"Yes! Where is she? Is she okay?"
"Well, ma'am, I don't know if she's what you'd call okay but she's in one piece. There was a bit of a ruckus and she got a little beat up� but that's not why I'm calling."
"It's not?"
"No, ma'am, my sister, Ellen, she reckons Sam's really hurtin' and that she ought to be with her loved ones."
Janet was silent for a moment, "Does she know you're calling me? Come to think of it how did you get this number?"
"My sister's the smart one. She saw a photo Sam has of herself with another woman. Would that be you? And a little baby. The name of the hospital was on the baby blanket. Elle made a couple of calls and, boom; here I am talking to you."
"Yeah, that probably would be me. So, where is she?"
"Right now she's fixing fences out on the upper twelfth."
"Okay. Don't tell her you called me. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Sgsgsgsg
The guys insisted on going with Janet but were persuaded to let her go to the ranch by her self. Jack only agreed on condition that she called them if it looked like Sam was going to bolt.
The Two Forks ranch house dated from the late nineteenth century and on this baking hot day looked like it had escaped from a western movie set. There were geldings in a paddock out front which danced and shied away from the fence as Janet climbed out of the taxi. She stood, shading her eyes, taking in the house and the barn and the rolling pastures all around, dotted with lonely trees. The cab drove off and Janet shouldered her back pack and stepped out of the dust cloud the car kicked up. Swiping at her jeans she walked to the porch and pulled the ancient bell pull. She heard nothing and after a few minutes it became apparent that no one was coming to answer the door. Ditching her pack, Janet circled the house searching for signs of life. She never expected to find Sam so easily.
The blonde had her back to her and was in the process of pulling her sweat and dust soiled tee shirt off over her head to reveal a white sports bra and a mottling of variegated bruises across her back. She was standing at a horse trough in jeans and cowboy boots and, as Janet came to a halt a few yards away, her heart pounding in her ears, Sam bent and plunged her head and shoulders into the water. She came up with a gasp and threw her head back then shook it vigorously.
"Warm day," Janet drawled.
Sam leapt like a scalded cat, spinning around and clutching her tee shirt to her chest. She stared at Janet; one eye marred by a blackening bruise, as if she were a ghost then thumbed water out of her eyes and rubbed at her scalp with the tee shirt. Janet folded her arms and waited, knowing that Sam was stalling. Then she frowned. Sam's hair was short and stood up in uneven peaks. She looked like an urchin.
"What happened to your hair?"
"I cut it," Sam said tonelessly. "What are you doing here?"
"Visiting. Why?" Janet found her temper rising.
"It was too long. I cut it. How did you find me?" Sam demanded.
"Someone smarter than you figured you needed a friend and managed to track me down." Janet folded her arms.
"Well. I'm okay. You've seen that. You can go now." Sam pulled on the fresh white tee shirt she had waiting on the corner of the trough.
"Uh uh." Janet shook her head, "I already made that mistake once. I'm not making it again."
"What mistake?" There was naked hostility in Sam's stormy eyes.
"Leaving you alone to deal with your grief. You ran away." Accusation burned in Janet's eyes.
"I did not run away. I left." Sam corrected her, her voice rising.
"There's a difference?" Janet spat, "You disappeared with out a word to any one�"
"Yeah, well. I'm surprised you even noticed!" Sam ground out from between clenched teeth.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I called you. You weren't there." Sam's hostility suddenly morphed into need.
"Oh baby�" Janet closed the distance between them and pulled Sam into a fierce hug, "I told you I had to go with Cass. It was my Dad's birthday and she had this whole poetry thing she's been rehearsing. Remember? I told you about it. Asked you if you wanted to come?"
Sam blinked fuzzily, "I� I forgot. I thought you'd just left me."
"You told me you wanted to spend some more time with your dad� Sam, you've scared every one silly."
"What?" Sam lifted her face out of the hollow of Janet's neck; there was confusion in her cobalt gaze.
"The guys have been searching the south west for you."
"I� I'm sorry. It never occurred to me�"
"That there are people who love you and care for you and worry about you?" Janet shook her head, "You know for a genius you sure can be dense sometimes."
Sam shook her head and sagged a little in Janet's arms, sighing as she rested her head on her shoulder.
"Are you ready to come home?" Janet asked softly.
"Doctor Fraiser, I presume?" An older man in work clothes but with his son's eyes and smile held out his hand, "I'm Joe McCall."
Janet, one arm around Sam, grasped his hand firmly, "Yes sir."
"Well. We'll be taking lunch soon. You're welcome to join us. You did a great job finishing that fence, Sam. You sure I can't pay you something for the work?"
"No sir. Uncle Sam pays me enough to be going on with. I'm just grateful you let me sleep in your barn."
"Yeah, well. There's still a perfectly good bed in the bunk house�" Joe McCall walked towards the house, shaking his head.
"You don't have to come back, Sam. You can stay here for as long as you want. Just� let us know you're okay. Okay?" Janet gripped her hand firmly.
"No�" Sam shook her head slowly, "I think I can come back now. I just had to get my head clear. I miss him you know."
"Yeah, I know. Me too."
"Do you want to see where I've been bunking? It's pretty cool." Sam backed away towards the barn, tugging on both of Janet's hands.
"I should call the guys. Let them know you're okay although you haven't told me how you came by the bruises."
"In a minute�" Sam succeeded in pulling her into the shadow inside the barn door, "I just want to kiss you first."
Sam drove Janet's protests back down her throat with her kiss where they turned into a contented humming. Janet stood on her tip toes to wrap her arms around Sam's still damp head as the kiss turned deadly serious. Sam turned them around and pinned Janet against the wooden wall her head bent to devour the succulence offered freely, her hands under the curve of Janet's backside.
"I missed you." Janet choked as Sam gnawed bloodlessly on her exposed jugular.
"I know. Me too." Sam breathed, peppering kisses down Janet's throat.
"Sam� stop, please." Janet pushed at her shoulders until Sam lifted her head. Her eyes were jet black in the gloom but smoldered.
"What? What is it?"
"I don't think we should. I don't think you're yourself."
"I know what I want, Janet. I thought you wanted this too?"
"I do." Janet rested her forehead against Sam's, "I do. But this isn't the time."
Sam let Janet drop unceremoniously and turned away. "Why?" she demanded coldly, "Because you didn't fix me yet? I'm not some casualty you have to patch up, Janet!"
"I know that. And this little display of temper is doing nothing to convince me I'm wrong," Janet responded reasonably. "I think you need to talk to Gunny some more."
Sam's shoulders slumped as the fight went out of her, "I'm so tired."
Janet embraced her from behind, "I know you are, baby. Let's go home, Huh?"
Sam nodded wordlessly and moved to sit on a hay bale, her back and shoulders bowed, as Janet used the cell 'phone in her pocket to call Jack.
Sgsgsgsg
"We'd tracked you to JoMo's," Jack informed Sam in the rear view mirror. "Another day and we'd have had you any way."
He was driving a rented Cherokee truck with Teal'c and Daniel in the front beside him. Janet was on the back seat with Sam curled up into her under a thick woolen blanket.
Sam nodded.
"We paid for the damage," Daniel added.
"What damage?" Janet frowned.
"I got in a little fight." Sam cleared her throat and shrugged apologetically.
"Not so little. Apparently, there were six of them," Daniel said dryly.
"That's where you picked up the black eye?" Janet realized.
Sam nodded, "They were beating the crap out of Joey's friend,"
"Yeah, Mo and Jo both said to tell you to give them a call if you're looking for work as a bouncer any time. Apparently it's going to be months before a couple of those bikers can walk again."
"I really don't remember anything about it," Sam demurred.
"Uh huh," Jack shook his head and kept driving. "I called Hammond. He's trying to get a message to your dad that you've turned up. And you have a meeting with him tomorrow. If your doctor says you're fit enough."
"I'm sorry, guys." A blush darkened Sam's tanned face, "I didn't mean to cause you any trouble."
"What trouble?" Jack frowned, "Teal'c is always saying he wants to see more of this great nation of ours."
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.
Sgsgsgsg
Cassandra was waiting and led Sam upstairs into a waiting bath while the guys brought in her and Janet's stuff.
"Take care of her, Doc," Jack said quietly as he exited.
"Don't worry. I won't let her get away again." Janet smiled a little tearfully.
Jack engulfed her in a hug, "I know. If you need me, just call." He set Janet back on her feet and left.
Janet sank down on the bottom stair and held her head in her hands. The house was quiet but for the low murmur of voices from the main bathroom. Janet found her face suddenly soaked with tears as relief overwhelmed her. Rather than fight to stem the flow she simply rooted a tissue out of her pocket and let the tears fall.
"Mom?" Sometime had passed, Janet's tears had dried and left her feeling calm and resigned but she had not moved from the bottom stair.
"Hey, Cass, how are you, sweetie?" Janet tugged her daughter down beside her and hugged her tight.
"Were you crying, Mom?"
Janet nodded, "Yes. But I'm done now."
"Why?"
"I guess I'm just so relieved Sam's home. And a little mad at her for doing this to us."
"Do you feel better now?"
"Yeah, where's Sam?"
"I put her to bed."
Janet grinned and planted a kiss on Cass's forehead, "You - Cassandra Fraiser - are an angel. I don't know what I'd do with out you."
Cass squirmed. She was a teenager. She wasn't supposed to bask in the glow of her mother's approval no matter how good it felt.
"Yeah. Okay. I'm� going to go to bed now." Cass freed herself and took the stairs two at a time.
Janet puttered for a while. She moved her unused overnight bag and Sam's knapsack into the living room where they would not get underfoot. Then she made and drank a cup of tea. Then she tidied the already tidy kitchen. Then she patrolled the house, turning off all the lights, checking the recently repaired and upgraded alarm system and the locks. Finally she climbed the stairs. The guest room door was shut. Janet paused and listened outside and debated whether to crack it open to check on Sam. She decided against doing so on the grounds that Sam was a grown up and had she wanted Janet to call in on her way to bed she would have left the door ajar. Janet sighed at her rationalization and moved on. In the doorway to her own room she froze. Sam was under the covers on the left side of her bed, lying on her stomach and breathing softly and slowly. Janet leaned against the door post for a minute trying to engage in cool, rational thought when all she wanted to do was climb under the covers and snuggle up. She was trying to decide if that was the right thing, the best thing to do. For Sam.
"Just go to bed, Mom," Cass poked her head into the hallway and whispered pointedly.
"Cass�" Janet moved quickly to slip into her room, despite Cassandra's eye rolling.
"Mom!"
"Why did you put Sam in my room? Did she ask�?"
"Mom? Are you completely dense or what?" Cass hopped up onto her bed and sat Indian style.
"I guess I must be," Janet replied dryly. "Explain it to me."
"I put Sam where she belongs." Cass shrugged matter of factly.
"What do you mean?" Janet felt as if the floorboards underfoot had turned into quicksand and she was one wrong step from burying both her and Sam's careers.
"Sam loves you. You love Sam. Okay - the military can't get its antediluvian head around that so we just make sure they don't find out. Jack's cool with you guys being together so you don't have to worry about him. I think Uncle George�"
Janet threw her hands up and yelped, "Whoa! Cassandra! Do you have any idea what you're talking about?"
"Uh huh," Cass looked at her like she was eighty and Janet was the fifteen year old. "Its okay, Mom," Cass jumped off the bed and ushered her mother back out into the hallway. "But - do me a favor?" Janet nodded stupidly as Cass propelled her towards her room, "Make sure you close the bedroom door? I might be cool but I don't need to hear you guys�"
"Cassandra!" Janet blushed scarlet.
"Night, Mom." Cass grinned and pushed Janet the last few feet into her room.
"What was that all about?" Sam mumbled into her pillow.
"You're awake?" Janet squeaked.
"Am now." Sam rolled over and propped herself up on her elbows. She was wearing a white vest top, "Do you want me to leave?"
"No." Janet's heart answered before her intellect could get in the way. Then she smiled, "No. Go back to sleep. I'm going to take a shower."
"Kay." Sam nodded sleepily and turned back onto her belly, pummeling her pillow into submission as Janet headed for the bathroom.
Sam was out cold when Janet slipped into bed.
Sgsgsgsg
"Welcome home, major," Hammond said mildly.
He was sitting behind his desk. Sam was standing stiffly despite having been put at ease. She was white faced, her black eye standing out in stark relief. She looked terrified.
"Sir, I'd like to apologize�"
Hammond waved her apology aside and shook his head. "Please, major. Have a seat."
Sam stared at him for a moment then sat down quickly, spine bolt upright, hands balled in her lap. She tried again, "Sir�"
"When my wife died I drank for five months. I was lucky not to lose my commission," Hammond said quietly. "I had friends who protected me. Friends who would pour black coffee down my throat before I went on duty and who barely let me out of their sight until I came out of it. I was lucky."
"Yes sir."
"Almost as lucky as you are."
"Yes sir."
"Doctor Fraiser tells me that, despite appearances to the contrary, you're physically fit to return to restricted duty. Are you ready to do so?"
Sam touched the bruise on her face self- consciously, "Yes sir."
"Good. As soon as your doctors all agree, you'll return to active duty with SG1. However long that takes, major. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Hailey will continue to keep your spot warm for you."
"Yes sir. Thank you, sir."
"That's all, major."
"Sir." Sam jumped up quickly and headed for the door, pulling up as Hammond said her first name softly.
"Sam, I'm glad you're home. If you feel the need to take another road trip, I hope you won't forget that there are people who need to know you're okay."
"It won't happen again, sir." Sam smiled ruefully.
"See that it doesn't." Hammond smiled at her fondly then waved her out.
Sgsgsgsg
Still under the care of her doctor and counselor, Sam Carter was restricted to duties on the base for the next week.
"Carter!" O'Neill swung into her lab with a grin on his face, "Blue Jell-O! Come on!"
"Right with you, sir."
Sam shut down her laptop and followed, distractedly. Most of her mind was still mulling over the problem she had spent most of the day working on.
The commissary was busy. Jack was three people in front of her and was nursing his blue Jell-O like he was a five year old and it was his first ice hockey trophy. It had not occurred to him to grab one for his 2IC and as a result she found herself reaching for the last one at the same time as Major Hank Griff.
"Oh, hey, Carter, you take it." Griff colored and pushed it into her hands.
"No. You're in front of me, Hank. You should take it."
"Yeah but I can have�" Hank picked up a bowl of beige sludge and stared at it with a vague expression of horror, "Whatever the hell this is."
"Take the Jell-O," Sam insisted, her voice hardened. "If I was Daniel or Jack or, hell, anyone else you wouldn't give your dessert away."
"But�" Griff looked confused.
"No." Sam thrust the blue dessert at him. She slammed it down on the counter when he refused to take it from her.
"Hey, Carter, You okay there?" Jack was suddenly at Griff's shoulder.
"Yes," Sam hissed. "I'm fine. Major Griff won't take his Jell-O."
"Oh� kay." Griff and O'Neill exchanged a confused glance.
"I don't even really want the damn stuff!" Griff exclaimed.
"Yes, you do. Why did you go for it if you didn't want it?" Sam's tall, lean frame was vibrating with fury.
Griff's mouth worked soundlessly. He had a horrible feeling that whatever he said was going to be wrong.
"Take the damn Jell-O, Hank," O'Neill growled.
"But...?" Griff was left blinking as the color suddenly dropped from Sam's face and she turned on her heel and stormed out of the canteen.
"Oh� shit." Jack grimaced and passed his hand over his face.
"What did I do? I don't know what I did?" Griff said plaintively as he found himself the owner of two blue Jell-Os as O'Neill left too.
Sgsgsgsg
"What was that?" O'Neill leaned on the door jamb of Sam's lab. The woman in question was stalking to and fro in front of the work bench, her fists clenching and unclenching as she teetered on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Nothing!" she spat.
"Yuh huh." Jack nodded, "You know, Carter, its okay that you're mad but you need to work on not scaring the shit out of people you're not really mad at."
Sam wheeled on him, vitriol on her lips but instead of venting she swallowed her anger and nodded stiltedly.
"Yes sir. Sorry sir."
O'Neill groaned and came in the office, "Enough with the sir crap already. What's it going to take for you to get rid of this anger?"
"Apophis' head on a plate," she answered reflexively.
"Okay, Salome. You got it." O'Neill nodded and left the lab.
Sam blinked. Her irrational burst of near uncontrollable fury had evaporated and was now replaced by anxiety.
Sgsgsgsg
"I feel exposed. Like everyone I meet in the halls knows every intimate detail of my life."
Sam was folded up in the deeply upholstered armchair in the corner of Gunny Liefursd�ttir's office, later that day. Her knees were up to her chin, her eyes were red raw and she was twisting a handkerchief methodically in both hands.
"Why do you feel that way?"
"It's mostly a matter of record." Sam cleared her throat, "What happened on �that mission. Nathaniel. 'Leaving' afterwards."
"Do you think anyone thinks any less of you?"
"Not anyone who matters." Gunny, a large- boned woman with short black hair shrugged and spread her hands questioningly. "So why does it matter?" Sam voiced her question then sighed and rubbed at her forehead tiredly, "I guess it doesn't."
"This feeling, of being exposed, is not unusual, Sam. If you would come to one of my group sessions, I think you'd believe that."
Sam shook her head, "I don't want to do that."
"That's fine," Gunny said soothingly. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. How are you sleeping?"
Sam considered Gunny for a long moment. Janet had promised she could be trusted.
"I'm sleeping okay. I'm not sure I would if I was sleeping alone."
"Well - we can cross that bridge when we come to it."
"I want to get back to active duty as soon as possible, Gunny. I need to be able to sleep on my own."
"Okay. What do you suggest?"
"I think I should try tonight. I'll move into the guest room for a couple of nights. Then I think I should go home."
"How do you feel about that?"
"I'm a little nervous," Sam frowned suddenly. "And resentful. I don't want to sleep alone."
"But you need to know you can?"
Sam nodded, "Yeah."
Sgsgsgsg
"I couldn't get a hold of him for the rest of the day and then he signed out even though I had left messages all over for him to contact me."
Sam was lying on her back in the bed, Janet on her side next to her, propped up on her elbow. Sam was playing with her right hand, outlining Janet's fingers with her own. They were both dressed for bed in different colored vest tops and shorts.
"He didn't go through the 'gate?"
"No. There was no activity today."
"Then I'm sure he's fine." Janet smiled, "I know the colonel has a reputation for bull headed stupidity to maintain but I'm sure he won't do anything rash."
Sam groaned and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment then let out a deep breath, "I also saw Gunny today."
"I didn't know you had an appointment." Janet said softly, "Is that why you blew up at Major Griff?"
Sam nodded ruefully, "I should know to stay at home before a session."
"Well�." Janet shrugged.
"Hey! Whose side are you on?" Sam demanded with a playful scowl. She tugged Janet over until she was lying draped across her.
"That would be yours," Janet said dryly then she smiled and helped herself to a kiss.
They enjoyed the moment then Sam sighed regretfully, "I'm supposed to start trying to sleep by myself."
"Oh." Janet turned the corners of her mouth down, "But I'll be lonely in here by myself."
"Me too but I really want to get signed off as fit for active duty, Janet. The sooner I can spend the night on my own, the better."
"Are you sure you're ready?" Janet stroked Sam's cheekbone with her thumb.
Sam shrugged, "I think so. I mean, I'll just be down the hall, right?"
"Yeah," For a moment neither of them moved, "Are you going tonight?"
Sam nodded, "I think I should."
"Okay." Janet pressed a heartfelt kiss to the space between Sam's eyes, "But don't lie in there and suffer, sweetheart. If you need to, just come back in here."
Sam brushed a strand of umber hair off Janet's face and nodded, "I will."
"Okay." Janet laid a benediction of kisses on the compass points of Sam's face then sighed and rolled over to sit up. She drew her knees up to her chest as Sam rose reluctantly from the bed and tidied the covers. She began plumping the pillows she was leaving behind, "Go." Janet urged softly.
Sam nodded and retreated from the room, leaving the door agape. Janet listened to her move down the hallway, heard her open the door to the guest bedroom then the creak of the spring in the guest bed as Sam climbed in. Janet rubbed at her neck slowly then lay down on her back and pulled the covers up to her chin. She turned her head and gazed at the empty space beside her for a moment before turning onto her side and curling into a tight ball.
Sgsgsgsg
At 4 a.m. Sam crawled in beside her and burrowed into the warmth of her back, slipping her arms around Janet as she woke.
"Are you okay?"
"Am now," Sam mumbled and nosed in the hair lying on the back of Janet's neck, "Go back to sleep."
Sgsgsgsg
"Did you guys have a fight, last night, Mom?" Cass accepted the plate of toast Janet handed to her where she was seated at the kitchen counter.
"No. Why?"
"Sam slept in the guest room. And she left early this morning."
Janet laid down the fork she was using to turn the bacon sizzling on the hot plate, turned down the heat and moved to sit next to Cassandra. The girl put down her slice of toast.
"Uh oh."
"No, it's okay." Janet gripped her hand on the table top, "Sam has an early meeting today, that's why she missed breakfast."
Cass exhaled with relief, "Good. I usually only see that face when there's something wrong."
"Sorry, babe, it's just� well, Sam's counselor� you know how Sam was having those terrible nightmares?" Cass nodded emphatically. "And that they stopped when she came to sleep with me?" Cass nodded again. "Well, she didn't have them when any of the guys shared a bed with her either so, now; she's worried that she won't be able to sleep alone without waking up screaming."
"So she's trying it out?"
"Yeah, she has to be able to tell Gunny she can sleep through with no problems before she'll release her for 'gate duty."
"Okay."
Janet nodded and released Cassandra's hand, returning to the stove.
"Weren't you jealous?"
"Huh?"
"When Sam slept with the guys."
Janet laughed, "Hardly." Then she shook her head, "Anyway, it wasn't like that. Sam sleeping with Jack or the others would be like me sharing a bed with you."
"I'm never sharing a bed with you again!" Cass protested.
"But I'd wear socks so my cold little toesies wouldn't bother you." Janet promised.
"It wouldn't help, Mom." Cass rolled her eyes, "Remember last time, at grandma's? The shock of those icicles stabbing me in the back kept waking me up. I told Gram I'd have to sleep on the floor next time we visit."
"I guess I'll just have to take some one else along to keep me warm." Janet finished ladling bacon onto a plate and came to join Cass, splitting the food between them.
"Mom?" Cass said uncertainly.
"Yes?"
"Do Gram and Pops know? About you and Sam?"
Janet laid down her fork and considered her plate for a moment, "No. I� Cass." She stopped talking and swallowed as a slow blush crept up her face, "I've never� Sam's the first�."
Cassandra beamed and hugged her mother impulsively, "Oh! That's so sweet! First love!"
"Cass." Janet grumbled, "It's hardly that. I was married once, remember?"
"Yes but Sam's�" Cass' face fell, "I mean you do love each other right?"
"Yes."
"Well, then." Cass relaxed, "Gram and Pops will love Sam too."
"Well, they took to you so they must have excellent judgment, right?"
"Exactly."
Sgsgsgsg
Sam clattered up the steel staircase from the control room to the briefing room. She had been working up in the MALP room when she had been paged. Hammond was seated at the head of the table with Jack O'Neill seated on his right. She grinned when she identified the person sitting on the general's left.
"Dad!"
Jacob Carter moved smoothly out of his seat in time to accept her tight hug.
"Glad to see you back at work, kid. How are you doing?" Jacob held her at arms length and studied her open expression.
"I'm doing okay, Dad."
"Good. I'm sorry I haven't been able to get back before now."
"It's okay, I understand." Sam took the seat next to her father as he sat down again, "What's up?"
"We're going after Apophis," Jack said with relish.
Sam held her breath for a second, "Why?"
"Because he's a scum sucking �" Jack began.
"Because he's poised to usurp the System Lords," Selmak interrupted. "And you know how much we don't like the idea of one goa'uld having too much power." Jacob added.
Sam nodded uncertainly as the color steadily drained from her face.
"And because he's a scum sucking sonuvabitch who's overdue payback," Jack pointed out.
"Uh� I don't want any lives risked on my account, sir," Sam said uncomfortably.
"Don't worry, major," Hammond reassured her, "We're not going to be doing this purely to gain revenge on Apophis."
"I am." Jack raised his hand.
"You're not helping, Jack," Jacob said impatiently.
"What's the plan?" Sam asked.
"We don't exactly have that worked out yet. That's why I'm here. Since the Tok'ra were wiped out on Revanna we're kind of short handed."
"They want us to come up with something." Hammond smiled.
Sgsgsgsg
Jacob had decided to stay on Earth for twenty four hours. As Sam was on duty until eighteen hundred hours, he stayed on the base. He had plenty of news which the intelligence boffins were eager to hear. At 18.10 he went in search of his daughter and found her locking up her lab.
"Hey, kiddo, I thought I could get a ride with you. Is that okay?" Jacob had changed into charcoal gray slacks, a light blue open necked shirt and a black leather jacket.
"Sure, Dad, I just need to get changed."
"I'll meet you topside?"
"Okay. I should only be five minutes." Sam kissed her father's cheek and hesitated as he caught hold of her sleeve.
"Are you really okay, Sam?"
She studied her boots for a moment then lifted her head and shrugged, "I'm getting there. I still have to see Doctor Liefursd�ttir so I haven't been signed off to go through the 'gate yet. But� yeah, I'm doing okay."
Jacob scrutinized her for a moment, "Good. Let's go eat."
"I called Janet; she's set an extra place for you."
Jacob blinked, "Huh?"
Sam went very still and a blush colored her cheeks, "Oh. Uh� I� I've been living at Janet's, Dad."
"Well, I guess that's understandable. I suppose you'll go home when you're ready."
"Ah� can we talk about this later?"
Jacob's eyebrows crept up, "Sure."
Sgsgsgsg
"I should have taken him to O'Malley's," Sam moaned.
She and Janet were in Janet's kitchen finishing off the dinner preparations. Cass was entertaining Jacob in the living room.
"I take it he doesn't know?"
"None of it," Sam leaned her elbows on the counter and hid her face in her hands. She moaned again.
"Well. Maybe you should tell him." Janet ripped open a pack of pre-prepared salad.
Sam bolted upright with an expression of horror on her face, "Are you kidding? He's old time military, Janet!"
"Not any more he isn't."
Sam was shaking her head morosely, "No, I can't. He can't know."
"Do you honestly think he would turn us in?"
Sam shrugged expansively, "I have no idea. I can't� we can't take the risk."
"He's your father, Sam, and he loves you." Janet finished tossing the salad and looped her arms around Sam's neck, tugging her down so she could kiss her lightly, "I think you should talk to him."
Sam groaned and pressed her face into Janet's shoulder, "I can't."
"So I can't touch you while he's here?"
"I'm sorry."
Janet shrugged, "He's your father. It's your decision."
Sgsgsgsg
If Jacob noticed how stilted the conversation was during dinner he gave no indication. Nor did he appear to notice when Sam flinched at a casual touch of Janet's hand or that Cass was frowning as she had noticed.
"Mom?" Cass followed her into the kitchen, "What's going on?"
Janet abandoned the dishes in the sink and turned to lean against it. She folded her arms and crossed her ankles and shrugged moodily.
"Mom? Did you guys have a fight?"
"Not yet," Janet said dolefully.
"Then what's going on?" Cassandra stroked her mother's upper arms.
"Jacob doesn't know and Sam doesn't want him to know."
"Uh� why?"
"It's complicated, sweetie."
"How so?"
"Jacob's still a general in the Air Force."
"Yes, but he's Sam's dad."
"You'll get no argument from me."
Sam came in. Her hands were stuffed in her jeans pockets and she looked sheepish.
"I don't think I can do this," Janet said plaintively.
"I'll just� go do something." Cass beat a diplomatic retreat.
"I'm sorry, Jan. I'm just so scared of losing everything."
"You know I wouldn't leave you no matter what?" Janet asked.
Sam tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth and nodded, "I know. But what if we had to quit the Air Force, Jan? What then?"
"I wouldn't quit. They'd have to discharge me."
"Whichever. I do know I wouldn't be me if I couldn't do the work I have been doing."
Janet went very still, "So you'd give this up? Give us up?"
"No." Sam moved quickly to enfold Janet in a tight embrace, "No, I don't know how to fix this, Janet, but the solution is never going to include giving you up." She pressed a firm kiss to Janet's temple and squeezed her eyes shut, "Never."
Janet exhaled and relaxed, "Then I guess the rest will be okay."
Sam nodded and rested her forehead against Janet's, "I'm sorry if this is too hard. I'll take Dad home now, stay the night there."
"Will you be okay?" Janet stroked her cheek.
"Yes. It's not like I'll be alone. I mean, I won't be climbing in bed with him but my dad will just be down the hall." She smiled, "Maybe this will help me get around to sleeping there myself sooner. Huh?"
"A silver lining," Janet sighed and pushed herself out of Sam's embrace. "Call me if you need me. I can be there in twenty minutes."
"Okay." They exchanged a soft kiss.
When Janet came out of the kitchen, Sam and her father were gone. Cassandra put "Beaches" on the video player and held her mother when she wept.
Sgsgsgsg
Sam drove her father towards their house in her vintage Volvo.
"I didn't want to go off world, Sam, while you were still missing. I'm sorry but I had to."
"Its okay, Dad."
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
Sam took her eyes off the road and looked at her father for a moment. Then she smiled, "Yeah. Although, it really came and found me."
"Jack mentioned something about beating up on some bikers?"
Sam blushed, "Well� Dad� they were riding Japanese machines."
"In that case�." Jacob grinned.
"I haven't been at the house for a while. I hope it's still there."
"Janet's a good friend, letting you stay so long."
Sam said nothing, studying the reflection in the wing mirror.
"Cass is turning into a beautiful young woman," Jacob said after a moment.
"Yes. She's smart as a whip, too."
"It can't hurt having an astrophysicist around to help with the homework."
"I guess."
Jacob was silent for a few minutes, his gaze unfocussed. Then he snorted and laughed shortly.
"Dad?"
"Sorry, Selmak's telling me off."
"What for?"
"Letting you drag me away from Janet's house."
"Huh?"
"You want to stop somewhere for a drink?" Jacob asked suddenly, "I think maybe you're going to need one."
"You're scaring me, Dad."
"Everything's fine, baby, but we need to talk."
"Is something wrong? Are you sick?"
"Everything's fine, Sam," Jacob insisted. "I'm not sick. Selmak's fine."
Sam had turned the color of milk, "Dad�"
"Sweetheart, it's okay. Just find us somewhere to get a drink."
Silence reigned in the Volvo for a few minutes, lasting until Sam had parked in front of a small Irish pub a few miles from her home. Father and daughter climbed out and she followed him inside, dragging her feet.
They found a table near the back. The pub was not busy and a waitress took their order before they had their jackets off. Sam's gaze wandered the d�cor, flicking to glance anxiously at her father who was calmly turning a beer mat over and over in his fingers and not looking at her. Their light beers arrived along with a basket of pretzels. Jacob took a long draught
"Dad --"
"Do you still hear from that girl in DC? What was her name? Susan�?
Sam choked on her beer, "Why?"
"What happened with you two?"
"Dad?"
"I'm not blind, Sam. I'm not stupid either. But you never seemed to want me to know so I never said anything to you. Selmak thinks I'm an idiot." Jacob shrugged and took another sip.
Sam was staring at him in disbelief, "Dad?"
"I might agree with her." Jacob sighed, "Don't you know I only want you to be happy, Sam? Nothing else matters. If Janet makes you happy then I'm happy too."
Sam was still staring at him, her mouth working.
"You'll catch flies that way." Jacob closed her mouth with a gentle finger under her chin.
"Dad� I� I'm speechless."
"There's a first." Jacob munched on a pretzel.
"I� I�."
"She loves you, right?"
Sam nodded dumbly.
"Then I think you should drop me off at home then get yourself back there."
"Dad� what about�."
"The Air Force?"
She nodded.
"Screw the Air Force." Jacob said heatedly, "I don't mean that, of course I don't. Neither of us would be where we are if it weren't for the Air Force. But that doesn't mean the Air Force owns us, Sam."
"But�."
"I know. I know: Career military, head up my own ass. I have no excuse. Fortunately, I have come to know this really smart woman�" he paused and listened to the voice inside him before grinning, "� gender free person� who has taught me a thing or two about human nature, which is kind of ironic, really."
Sam shook herself out of her funk, "You really don't mind?"
"Janet's a good woman, Sam. You should count yourself very lucky to have found her."
"I do, Dad." Sam shook her head, "I'm having a little trouble processing this."
Jacob grinned, "You should go home. I know if I had a little firecracker like Janet waiting for me at home, I wouldn't be sitting in any pub drinking lousy beer with you."
A slow, amazed smile spread over Sam's face, "You really are okay with this, aren't you?"
"I love you, baby. That's all there is too it."
Sam reached over and hugged him, "I love you too, Dad." She released him and sat up, "I'll call Janet from the house."
Jacob's eyebrows shot up, "I don't need a baby sitter, Sam."
"Yeah� but I might."
She told him about not yet being able to sleep on her own and they had another beer.
Sgsgsgsg
The next morning, Jacob insisted that they pick Janet up on the way to the mountain. When Sam stopped the car at the curb outside Janet's house Jacob jumped out,
"I'll just be a minute."
As Sam leaned over to watch anxiously, Jacob met Janet at the front door. He ushered her back inside. Sam clutched at the steering wheel and chewed the inside of her cheek. She released her seat belt and was half way out of the car when the door opened and Jacob and Janet came down the path. Both were grinning.
"Did you sleep okay, sweetheart?" Janet came around the car and slipped her hand in Sam's.
Sam nodded, turning her head to and fro between her two passengers.
"Are we going to the mountain or not?" Jacob asked.
"Jan?" Sam squeezed her fingers, "Everything okay?"
"It is now." Janet reached up and kissed her cheek, "Come on we'll be late."
Janet slipped into the back seat.
Jacob was grinning at Sam over the top of the car when she straightened from tipping the driver's seat back.
"What?" Sam blushed.
"Sam and Janet sitting in a tree�."
"You want to walk?"
Jacob laughed and got in the car.
Sgsgsgsg
SG1, still including Lieutenant Hailey as their science specialist, were in the 'gate room, standing patiently at the foot of the ramp. Sam was in the control room at the MALP controls. She had sent the mechanical drone through the event horizon a few minutes earlier and now she and Graham Simmons studied its feedback.
"Atmosphere has a higher than normal percentage of helium, sir. It shouldn't be a problem." Sam informed General Hammond.
"Is there anything else SG1 need to be aware of?"
Sam and Simmons exchanged a look then both shook their heads.
"Very well," Hammond leaned down and adjusted the mike, "SG1 you have a go."
Jack tossed a lazy salute up at them then led his team to P3F298 to start their three day survey.
Sam sighed when the glowing puddle snapped out of existence.
"It doesn't get any easier, major, trust me." Hammond patted her shoulder.
"No sir."
Sgsgsgsg
The look on Jack O'Neill's face was priceless. Daniel was so overcome by hilarity he was sprawled on his back at the bottom of the steps leading down from the Stargate. He was coughing and choking and clutching his midriff, tears streaming down his face.
"This is not funny, Daniel," Jack's voice squeaked, like a cartoon chipmunk's.
Daniel shook his head and just kept laughing. Hailey was grinning from her station by the DHD. Teal'c was tightlipped.
"Helium. H-h-h- helium!" Daniel hiccoughed.
"I am so going to kill Carter for this," Jack tried to growl but the effect was ruined by the affect of the high density of helium in the atmosphere. His baleful glare settled on Hailey whose grin stretched from ear to ear. "You!" he burbled, "You knew!"
"It was in the briefing notes, sir." Hailey peeped.
Jack opened his mouth then snapped it closed and rolled his eyes.
"B-b-b briefing notes!" Daniel dissolved again.
Sgsgsgsg
Sam was sitting in the middle of the couch in Janet's living room. Her hands were neatly folded in her lap and she was staring at them.
She didn't look up when the front door opened and Janet came in.
"Hey." Janet frowned as she placed her briefcase on the bottom stair - Sam had not responded. Janet stripped off her uniform jacket and stepped out of her heels with a grateful sigh, "Sam?"
Sam looked up and blinked slowly. Her eyes were red rimmed but dry.
Janet moved quickly to sit on her left, taking hold of her hands, "What is it?"
"I only have this left, Jan." Sam leaned forward and picked up the Polaroid lying on the coffee table in front of her. It was the picture a nurse had snapped, in Cedar City Hospital, of the two women cradling Nathaniel the day after his birth.
Janet took the picture and smiled at it softly, "God, he was beautiful."
"I� it seems like a dream to me now, his life, Janet. I don't want to forget him."
Janet replaced the photo in Sam's hand then drew her head down and pressed a kiss to the side of her mouth, "Wait here."
Janet went upstairs. When she returned a few minutes later she was carrying a shoe box which she placed on the table in front of Sam before she retook her place next to her.
"I saved some stuff."
Sam gazed at her for a moment, "What?"
Janet lifted the box onto her knee and removed the lid carefully. She lifted out a small cotton cot sheet,
"This was the sheet he slept on." Janet placed it across Sam's unmoving hands, "This was his skull cap." She showed Sam the tiny stocking cap, "This was his id bracelet."
Sam wept as Janet lifted out the rest of the mementos she had saved: A tiny teddy bear one of the nurses had taped to the inside of his incubator, three more Polaroid's, a pair of small, pale blue socks, a set of scratch mittens and finally, a sheet of vellum bearing his name in full, his date of birth and the inky imprints of his minute feet.
"It's not much." Janet sighed.
"It's everything."
Sam fingered each of the small remembrances with shaking fingers. She held the cap to her face and breathed in the echo of her son's scent. She measured the tiny footprints against her thumb and traced each impossibly small toe. She studied the pictures at length. The first showed Daniel holding Nathaniel like he was the most fragile thing he had ever encountered, he was beaming tearfully while Teal'c loomed over his shoulder. The next was of Jack holding Nathaniel. He had not known the picture was being taken and appeared to be in the midst of sharing some sage advice with the child. The last picture was of Nathaniel alone, lying on his back in his incubator, except, someone was reaching in and his fingers were curled around the pinkie of his visitor.
"Who was that?" Sam asked.
Janet took the picture and she scrutinized it for a moment, "I don't know. Maybe, it's one of the nurses?"
Sam nodded acceptance and took the picture back as Janet offered it.
"You knew to do this because no-one did it for you, didn't you?" Sam whispered.
A sob caught in Janet's throat, "I don't have anything to prove Michael ever existed."
"Not even a picture?"
"Not even a memory. I� was pretty sick, after the fall. By the time I came round, Jim had buried him."
"God," Sam laid her head on Janet's shoulder and kissed her neck softly, "I'm sorry." She lifted her hand and cupped Janet's jaw. "Thank you. Thank you for doing this." Sam sighed, she sounded exhausted. "I thought I'd lost him but you kept him safe."
"I always will." Janet turned her head and kissed her softly, "He was our son, Sam. We'll never forget him."
Sam nodded and pulled Janet into her lap where she enfolded her in a hug and they wept together for a long time.
Sgsgsgsg
The next day, on the twenty second floor of the SGC, Sam Carter waited patiently for the elevator to arrive. The corridor was empty but she could hear a drill whining in the distance as a maintenance crew persisted in their never ending quest to keep the fifty year old structure running. The elevator arrived and the doors opened to reveal a male figure leaning against the rear wall. Lieutenant Cambridge bolted upright as Sam, after a fractional hesitation, stepped into the car.
"Ma'am," Cambridge sounded strangulated.
"Lieutenant," Sam folded her hands at arms length after hitting the button for the nineteenth floor.
She could almost hear his vertebra popping as he strained to hold himself at attention.
"At ease, Lieutenant," She sighed. "You'll strain something if you don't relax."
"Ma'am," His posture slackened a little.
They rode the rest of the way in silence.
Sgsgsgsg
Janet looked up from the file she was make annotations too when knuckles rapped on the door frame of her office, Sergeant Siler leaned in the open door,
"Have you got a minute, ma'am?"
"Of course, sergeant, have a seat." Janet closed the file folder.
Siler sat down on the red couch. He leaned his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers together. He frowned,
"Ma'am, I don't want you to think badly of me, I don't want you to think that I pay any attention to the scuttlebutt that goes around this place but there's something I think you should know about."
"What is it?" Janet stood up, closed the door then perched on the edge of her desk, "If it's something medical, sergeant, you need to tell me or get the person concerned to come see me."
"It's not like that ma'am. Pretty much everyone feels you're okay. I mean that you won't go running to the CO if someone has picked up a 'recreational' affliction, if you know what I mean. If it was something like that you'd know."
Janet frowned and spread her hands, "Then what?"
"There's a rumor, ma'am, concerning Major Carter."
Janet flushed, "Oh?" she said coolly. "I'm not sure I want to know."
"Please understand ma'am, the crew who have been here a while know the major and know it's not true. It's some of the new people, including a particular lieutenant that the major has had a run in with."
"What's the story?
"That Apophis didn't have to force himself on her. That it was all a plan to get a Harsesis for Earth."
Janet's complexion turned puce then white cold with fury, "Cambridge has been saying that?"
Siler nodded, "I don't usually go blabbing to officers when some one gets out of line, ma'am. But I don't think its right, him saying stuff like that. Some of us have tried to put him straight but� the newbies kinda hero worship him and won't listen to sense. Whatever he tells them, they swallow."
"Why do they hero worship him?"
"Well, to hear him tell it, the lieutenant has single-handedly saved the earth from alien invasion at least twice."
"What else is he saying?"
"Stuff about the major and the men on SG1, it's pretty nasty. He's really got it in for her, ma'am."
"This is all because she put him on report that time!"
Siler nodded, "Seems likely."
"Okay, sergeant. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."
"If there's any thing I can do."
"I'll be sure to let you know."
Siler nodded and left the office. Janet stayed on the edge of her desk for a minute, grinding her teeth. Then she snatched up the 'phone and punched in a four digit number. After three rings the line transferred to the exchange who reminded her that Colonel O'Neill was off world until the next day. Janet thanked the operator for the information and dropped the receiver back in place.
"Damn."
Sgsgsgsg
Before Janet had a chance to do anything about the Cambridge situation it got out of hand.
Later that afternoon, half a dozen SFs hauled Cambridge and Luke Faraday into the infirmary. Both were still spoiling for a fight although Janet noticed Luke's guards had to work harder to restrain him than Cambridge's. Luke was bleeding profusely from the nose - that was going to need setting - while Cambridge had a rapidly swelling eye and was nursing his ribs, moaning and whining with each inhalation. Janet's medics were all over the pair the moment they arrived.
"What happened here?" Janet stood between the adjacent beds the SFs were holding the two fighters on.
"That mad man attacked me!" Cambridge howled.
"Sergeant?"
Luke Faraday closed his mouth in a tight, grim line. His eyes were filled with unspent fury.
"I want him charged!" Cambridge demanded as his tee shirt was cut away.
"What happened?" Janet drew Janice Kilbride aside.
"Luke just got back from furlough, ma'am. Cambridge thought he was new."
"And?"
Kilbride looked uncomfortable, "He, uh, he made certain derogatory remarks about Major Carter, ma'am."
"I see."
"Sergeant Faraday thinks very highly of the major, ma'am, most of us do." Kilbride glared at Cambridge with undisguised dislike.
"Off the record, who threw the first punch?" Janet watched her crew do their jobs with the efficiency she expected from them.
"I wish I could say it was Cambridge but he prefers bad mouthing to a clean fight."
"Will Luke have to be charged?"
"He attacked an officer in the middle of the commissary in front of about twenty witnesses; I don't see how it can be avoided. Of course, Luke has been under a lot of pressure, ma'am."
"He recently lost a good friend." Janet nodded.
"That's right," Janice sighed, "I need to go report to Major Castleman, ma'am."
Janet moved in to examine Cambridge's ribs, he squealed as she touched the rapidly emerging bruise on his left side,
"I don't think there are any fractures but we'll send you for an x-ray just in case," she addressed Cambridge with perfect civility.
"I think my lung is punctured."
"I doubt it." Janet stepped back and addressed the nurse who was applying an ice pack to Cambridge's eye, "Jake, would you escort the lieutenant to x-ray?" She then turned her attention to the sergeant lying quietly on the next bed, pinching the bridge of his nose. His temper had evaporated and he was starting to look chastened.
"You've gone and done it now, Luke," Janet chided gently, taking hold of his wrist.
"Yeah," he nodded then winced as fresh blood gushed from his damaged nose. Janet helped him staunch the flow with a handful of paper towels Karen handed over the bed. "Hey, do you have to fix the nose?"
"Why?" Janet frowned.
"Well, I think I'll look kinda dashing with a crooked nose."
"You'll look like a prize fighter, sergeant. What would people say about my infirmary if I let you out of here looking like La Motta?"
Luke laughed softly and then his expression sobered, "I'm in trouble aren't I?"
Janet exchanged a look with Karen then nodded, "Pretty much. Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"I just saw red, ma'am. That ass� I mean the lieutenant used some language I don't care to repeat in front of a lady, ma'am."
Janet cocked an eyebrow.
"He means me, doctor." Karen smiled.
Janet grinned, "Maybe you should go roll some bandages or something while the sergeant and I talk, nurse."
"Oh, don't make me laugh." Luke groaned, "You're making me see stars."
Janet checked the response of his pupils quickly, "You'll live. We'll give you something for the pain and a local and I'll set that nose."
"Can you make me look like George Clooney, ma'am? My girlfriend's crazy for him."
"I'm a doctor, sergeant, not a miracle worker."
Luke laughed again and groaned, clutching his face and shaking his head, "Don't, please."
"What happened, Luke?" Janet softened her voice and laid a cool hand on his forehead.
He sighed, "He insulted Sam's, I mean Major Carter's, virtue, ma'am, if that isn't too much of an old fashioned way to put it. He called her names and implied that she got to where she is on her back." The red hue on Luke's fair, Irish complexion was caused by a combination of embarrassment and a resurgence of his temper. "I told him to take it back and he refused."
"Well, I'm sure Sam will be flattered to hear she has a knight in shining armor, Luke. Though I'm sure she'll be disappointed that you got yourself into trouble over her."
Luke rolled his eyes, "I guess I have made an ass of myself. If I had any brains I would have waited and got the sucker later, somewhere dark with no witnesses."
"I don't want to hear you say that again. In fact, I don't want you to even think it, Luke. Are you still seeing MacKenzie?" Faraday nodded quizzically, "Okay. I can't promise you anything, Luke, but we may be able to use that in your defense."
"No!" Luke sat up quickly causing both Janet and Karen to place a restraining hand on his shoulder and press him back into the pillows, "I won't use Jimmy that way."
"That's not how it is, Luke." Janet said calmly, "Besides, do you think Jimmy would mind?"
Luke stared at her for a moment then bit his lip and shook his head, "No ma'am. I don't suppose he would."
"Okay," Janet patted his shoulder and addressed Karen, "I suspect Sergeant Faraday may be concussed. Once we set his nose he's to be kept under observation for at least twenty four hours. He is not to be released without my express authority."
"Of course, doctor."
"I don't need any special treatment." Luke sighed.
"You're not getting any, sergeant." Janet winked and left him in Karen's capable hands.
Sgsgsgsg
Their shifts were out of synch this week so Sam was home before Janet again.
"Hey," Sam was just coming downstairs when Janet opened the front door.
They exchanged a quick kiss then Sam headed for the kitchen while Janet kicked off her shoes and shucked her jacket.
"Sam!" Janet realized that the sounds emanating from her kitchen sounded awfully like pots and pans being rattled.
"What?" A saucepan in each hand, Sam blinked innocently as Janet skidded into the kitchen, "I'm making dinner."
"You don't cook."
"I can boil pasta." Sam scoffed, "Even I can manage spaghetti."
Janet regarded her for a long moment then she nodded slowly, "Okay� if you're sure."
"Yeah, just don't tell the colonel or he'll make me cook on missions."
"Well, okay." Janet winced as Sam clattered one of her precious pans on the stove.
"Go get changed. Take a bath� whatever." Sam shooed Janet out, "I'll be fine."
"Call me if you get stuck."
"How hard can it be?"
Janet swallowed and backed out of the kitchen nervously.
Sgsgsgsg
Go to part eight.