FIC: "The Sirens and the Thunder," Sam/Janet
Title: The Sirens and the Thunder
Author: geonncannon
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Sam/Janet
Word Count: 9063
Category: Drama, Action, AU
SG-1 Spoilers: Need, Rite of Passage, Abyss, Heroes, Unending
SGA Spoilers: Sunday, First Strike, Reunion
Spoilers Also: Post-series information for SG-1 and SGA, basic universe knowledge from SGU.
Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, or else this would be real.
Rating: NC17
Warnings:
Author's Notes: Title is from Josh Ritter's song "Change of Time." This is a sort-of follow-up to Dreams Are the Starting Point, but it's not necessary to have read that one to understand this. I played a bit with the crew of the USS Hammond, but I figured in for a penny, in for a pound. And I'm sure I like my roster better than anything the show will provide. ~g~
Summary: Sam and Janet are separated when a band of rebels take over the Hammond.
Though her shift officially ended two hours earlier, Sam had only been in their quarters for fifteen minutes when Janet arrived. Sam was in the bathroom, post-shower and dressed for bed in her shorts and tank top. She moved to the door with the toothbrush sticking out of her mouth and watched Janet dump her things on the foot of the bed before she spoke. "Good evening, Dr. Fraiser."
Janet turned to look at Sam, her face immediately relaxing into a smile. "Hey, Colonel Carter. I was hoping you'd be here."
"Hold on," Sam said. She returned to the sink and finished brushing her teeth. When she returned, she put her arms around Janet and gave her a proper welcoming kiss. Janet put her hands in Sam's hair, which was down and still damp from the shower. Sam pulled back and brushed her nose against Janet's cheek. "I missed you today."
"I told you. Shoot one of your helmsmen in the leg on slow days and I'll run up to the bridge to patch it up."
"Mm, tempting." Sam held the embrace, swaying slightly with Janet in her arms. "I could just expose myself to a dangerous virus. I'd have to be quarantined in the infirmary."
"Brilliant," Janet said. She kissed Sam's lips. "Mm, you're minty."
"Thank you."
Janet smiled. "I need to get out of these clothes, shower, brush my teeth... will you still be awake when I get done with all of that?"
"Yeah," Sam said. She kissed the corners of Janet's mouth and reluctantly released her from the embrace. "Hurry, though."
Janet nodded and stepped past Sam and into the bathroom. Sam pulled down the covers of the bed and stretched out on the mattress, settling in while the water began running in the other room. Sometimes she marveled at the path her life had suddenly taken. Fifteen years earlier she'd been a researcher in a lab in Washington, DC, struggling to make sense of an alien artifact found in the Egyptian desert. She was a captain, and she was 'General Carter's Daughter.'
Now she was a full Colonel, one of the most decorated officers in the US Air Force. She'd traveled farther than any other human in history, according to calculations McKay showed her once. She was a mother to an adult daughter who was currently wowing her professors at UCLA. Somewhere in the past decade she had built a real life that she could look at with pride. It wasn't a road she would have expected, but now she wouldn't trade it for anything.
The water shut off and Sam looked expectantly at the bathroom door. Unfortunately, the quiet commotion at the sink revealed Janet still had to perform some end-of-day ablutions before she came to bed. Sam smoothed down the blanket on Janet's side of the bed and reclined against the pillow. She closed her eyes as she waited.
She was also the lover of a woman who amazed her every time she crossed her mind. Colonel Janet Fraiser, former Chief Medical Officer of Stargate Command. A doctor who had been thrown into a situation no one else in the medical community had ever faced; healing aliens and preventing alien life forms from hitching a ride on the soldiers in her care. And somehow Janet made it look like just another job. Janet Fraiser, also mother of an adult woman. Janet Fraiser... former POW.
The last one hurt. Sam was ashamed of it, ashamed that she had allowed herself to be fooled with the rest of the SGC into thinking Janet was really dead. For eighteen months, life moved on until a Tok'ra revealed word that one of Nirrti's acolytes claimed the Goa'uld was alive in a new host. SG-1 investigated and discovered it was true... and there was an even more horrible reality to face.
The ambush on P3X-666 had all been a ruse. The injured soldier that would require a medical team, the Jaffa staff blast, and the sudden increase in combatants that forced a retreat from the battlefield. Nirrti set it all up. Janet was taken to a Goa'uld mothership and revived in a sarcophagus. A cloning device 'borrowed' from Ba'al created the corpse that SG-1 brought back for the funeral, retrieved once the planet was safe for their return.
SG-1 saved Janet from the prison and brought her home, where she belonged. It was a long road back to recovery, assisted by Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson offering their assistance in helping her through the mental recovery necessary after prolonged sarcophagus use. Sam helped with the physical recovery. Two years after Sam thought she'd lost Janet forever, they resumed their relationship. Two months after that they were married in a quiet ceremony on the California coast.
Their road had been long and painful, and sometimes divergent, but now they were here. Janet had followed Sam to Atlantis, taking over for the late Carson Beckett as Sam took over for the MIA Elizabeth Weir. During their year in the Pegasus Galaxy, Sam and Janet lived openly as a married couple. Sam's first rule was that restrictions would be relaxed somewhat given the isolated nature of the base. Archaic rules that governed lifestyle while in the military had no place in a deployment like Atlantis. The IOA wasn't happy about the idea, but Sam found very little made them happy. So why try?
And that had all led to this. Commanding her own ship, hiring her spouse as the medical officer... exploring the galaxy like a science-fiction heroine.
Sam realized she had been dozing only when she felt lips brush her cheek. "O Captain, My Captain," Janet whispered against the shell of Sam's ear. Her breath made Sam's hair move, and the mattress shifted as Janet sat down next to her. Sam turned her head and found Janet's lips without opening her eyes. She put her hand on Janet's lap and guided her backward, sitting Janet on top of her.
"Missed you today," Janet whispered between kisses.
"Make up for it tonight," Sam said. She slipped her hand under Janet's robe and touched her. Janet gasped, her lips moving against Sam's. Sam moved her hand higher, cupping Janet with her fingers as she resumed the kiss. With her hand moving between Janet's legs, held tight by Janet's strong thighs, she brought her other hand up to stroke Janet's cheek, her neck and her hair. She rested her fingers on Janet's shoulder and guided her down to the mattress, covering Janet's body with her own.
Sam eased Janet's legs apart, the bottom half of the robe falling open. Sam settled against Janet, knees on the mattress, and began to rock. Two fingers slipped inside of Janet, and Janet's hands pulled up the bottom of Sam's tank top. She touched Sam's stomach, her eyes closed and lips parted as she moved to meet Sam's thrusts.
"Love you," Sam whispered as she kissed Janet's cheek.
"You, too," Janet said back. She put her hands on Sam's hips to guide her thrusting. After all their years together, Sam knew how fast she needed to go to draw out the passion to an exquisite point. She opened her eyes and looked down at Janet as she moved, using her expressions to make changes to her plan of attack.
"Now," Janet said.
"You sure?"
Janet nodded and Sam touched Janet's clit with her thumb. Janet bit her bottom lip and Sam shushed her as she kissed Janet's cheek.
"Colonel Carter, come in..."
"Damn it," Sam growled. She kept her hand moving between Janet's legs and reached for the nightstand. She hooked the radio over her ear and touched the button. Janet's eyes widened and Sam mimed for her to be quiet. "This is Carter."
"Sorry to disturb you, Colonel," Lieutenant Colonel Gant said, "but we thought this required your attention. We're picking up a distress signal from a nearby system, but it's in Lucian Alliance territory."
Sam kept her eyes locked on Janet's, watching her desperately trying to hold back her climax. "How long until we're in range?"
"Fifteen minutes," Gant said.
"Increase speed and get us there in ten. I'll be on the bridge by then."
"Yes, ma'am."
Sam turned off the radio and dropped it onto the pillow. Janet let out the moan she'd been holding in, arching her back as she finally came against Sam's fingers. Sam kissed her, and Janet dug her fingers into the tight flesh of Sam's flanks as she writhed through the last waves of her climax. Janet curled her tongue against Sam's top lip as they pulled apart, grunted, and let her head drop back onto the pillow.
"Ten minutes isn't long," Janet whispered. "Do you want me to go down on you real quick?"
"No," Sam said, suppressing the shudder that thought invoked. "I should probably head up to the bridge and check things out."
Janet nodded. "If there are injuries I might be needed in the infirmary."
They climbed out of bed, sitting next to each other on the mattress as they dressed. Sam had bent down to pull on her boots when she felt Janet's hands in her hair. She laced the boot as Janet pulled Sam's wild locks back and secured them into a ponytail. Sam squeezed Janet's thigh when she sat up and kissed her. "Thank you."
"I'm giving you a rain check on your turn."
"I can't wait," Sam said. She kissed Janet again before she stood up. She offered Janet a hand, and Janet let herself be lifted. They left their shared quarters together, brushing their palms together in farewell as they headed off in opposite directions. The Captain's quarters were directly beneath the bridge, but the infirmary was five levels down, below the crew lounge and the brig. Sam straightened her hair as she walked onto the bridge, ignoring the itch she'd had to leave unscratched as she put on her professional face.
It was nearly impossible to walk onto the bridge of the Hammond, or any of Earth's ships for that matter, without flashing back to Kirk and Spock and the gang. There was only a skeleton crew present, befitting the late hour. Her First Officer, Erin Gant, stood to relinquish the command chair.
"Sorry to call you back so soon after you left, ma'am."
"It's all right, Erin," Sam said. "Let me hear the distress signal."
Erin returned to her station and typed in a command. The recording came over the communication system speakers mounted on either side of the view screen. There was a burst of interference between every word, but Sam was able to make out the important bits. "...crew of the cargo ship Anthemusa... life support shot... quickly losing hull viability..." Another burst of static and then, "...require immediate assistance..."
Sam nodded for Erin to shut it off. "How long until we're within communication range?"
"We can send an audio message now, if you'd like."
"Do it," Sam said. "This is Colonel Samantha Carter of the Earth ship Hammond. We've received your distress signal and are coming to your aid." She hoped that any Lucian Alliance ships in the area that heard the message would respect the mission of mercy. Still, she glanced toward Major Marks at the weapon console to make sure he was keeping an eye out for enemy ships.
Erin settled into her seat and faced forward. She lowered her voice so that only Sam could hear her and said, "I apologize if my call came at an inopportune time."
Sam smirked and looked at her. "You mean I was sleeping."
"Sure," Erin said. "We can call it that."
Sam laughed and faced the view screen again. "It's fine. I wouldn't choose to be here, but if we're going into Lucian Alliance territory, I need to be here."
It was another ten minutes before they were within range of the disabled cargo ship. It was a battered brown box, listing to starboard. One side of the cargo hold had been blown open, and a scree of flotsam spread away from the ship and hung in the expanse like Christmas tree ornaments. Sam rose from her seat and said, "Open a channel. This is the Earth ship Hammond; is anyone receiving?" She waited for a response and then turned to look at Marks.
"Picking up a handful of life signs, Colonel. They used the shields to make a bunker of sorts on the side of the ship away from the hull breach."
"This is Colonel Samantha Carter of the Hammond. We received your distress signal. If anyone copies, please respond." She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and waited.
"They could be cut off from the radio," Gant said.
Sam nodded. "We're prepared to transport you to our ship. Don't be frightened. Stand by, Marks; transport them directly to the infirmary. Colonel Gant, warn Dr. Fraiser that she has possible incoming casualties. And tell her I'm coming down to meet them myself."
"Yes, ma'am," Gant said.
As Sam left the bridge, she pointed at Marks. "Let me know the second any ships come to investigate."
"Yes, ma'am."
Sam took the lift down to the infirmary level. When she arrived, she found that the survivors of the cargo ship had already been transported in. Janet's nurses were guiding huddled, frightened people in dirty uniforms to the beds that lined either side of the room, assuring them in hushed voices that they were going to help. A few of the refugees had burn marks on their hands and faces, and all of them had blood on their uniforms.
Sam found Janet with one of the refugees, a dazed man with blood running from a wound high on his forehead. He was looking around the infirmary as if half-convinced it was just a hallucination. He winced when Janet applied pressure to his head wound, and he muttered a word in his natural language as he tried to swat her away.
"Easy, easy," Janet said soothingly. "I'm just trying to help you. I'm trying to make the pain go away."
"It's all right," Sam said. "We received your distress call; we just want to make sure you're all right."
The man looked at her, and then looked at Janet before he lowered his hand and let her work on his wound. "This is the USS Hammond. I'm Colonel Samantha Carter, and this is Dr. Janet Fraiser. She's going to take very good care of you."
"Tau'ri?" the man said, pointing at his shoulder where the SGC patch was displayed on Sam's uniform.
"Yes, that's right," Sam said.
The man seemed slightly relieved and said, "Peisinoe."
"I'm sorry?"
"My name is Peisinoe," he said. "That was my cargo vessel you came across. We were ambushed on our way to deliver medical supplies to a nearby colony. They've been raided about a dozen times and the people are running out of food. Things were fine and then, out of nowhere, another ship sideswipes us. Our own fault. Got lazy. Stopped watching our asses and got surprised when someone snuck up on us." He sniffed and hissed as Janet applied antiseptic to his head wound.
Sam said, "I'll have my people see about possibly recovering the supplies that were released from your ship's hold."
"That would be appreciated. Thank you."
"For now you can just rest and recover. Hopefully that colony won't have to wait too long for their supplies."
Peisinoe said, "I hope not. They were in desperate need when we left, and we're already ten hours behind schedule."
Janet said, "Hopefully we can help you make up that time. This ship can really move when it has to."
Sam smiled and touched Janet's arm and drew her away from Peisinoe's bed. "Let me know when the rest of them are stable. I'd like to speak with as many of them as I can."
Janet nodded. "Okay. Sure."
"Looks like our night got cut a little short."
Janet shrugged. "Nature of the job. We'll make up for it." She leaned in and kissed Sam. "Have fun on the bridge."
"I'll try," Sam said. "Keep me updated."
Janet said, "Will do."
Sam left the infirmary and returned to the bridge. She wasn't sure they would be able to salvage the lost cargo, but she would give it the old college try. Worst case scenario, they would provide some of their own supplies to the indigent colony. They needed all the goodwill they could get to keep planets from accepting the Lucian Alliance's dominance.
#
Janet finished patching up Peisinoe and checked to make sure the nurses didn't need any help. The Anthemusa refugees seemed to be suffering from a variety of weapon burns along with cuts and bruises from falls during the explosive decompression. There were mainly men among the crew, with two or three women. Janet checked in with all seven of the refugees and was glad to see their injuries were all relatively minor. Since her nurses were busy with the injured, Janet volunteered to get everyone something to eat from the commissary. One of the less-injured women, Teles, offered to go with Janet to help her carry the food.
Teles was a quiet woman with strong features, her dark hair obscuring her face like a hood as they walked to the lift. While they waited for the car to arrive, Janet said, "I'm glad we were able to help your crew. We normally don't venture this deep into Lucian territory."
"Yes," Teles said. "The people we were going to help did not choose where they lived."
"Right. Of course not," Janet said. "I didn't mean to imply..." The car arrived, and Janet let Teles step inside first. "I'm just happy that we were in the area. That's all."
"We are grateful as well."
Janet nodded and clasped her hands behind her back. Apparently she hadn't chosen the most talkative person for her walk. That was fine; she'd just suffered a trauma and probably saw a lot of people she knew die. She deserved to be cut a little slack.
"I overheard you were Tau'ri," Teles said.
"That's right."
"We've heard stories of the Tau'ri, even here on the outskirts. I'm intrigued to get a chance to see one of their vessels first hand. Tell me, is the infamous Essji-on aboard?"
Janet frowned. "I don't know who you mean."
"For the past decade there have been tales of a Tau'ri warrior named Essji-on, wandering the universe and slaughtering System Lords."
Janet thought the word over and then widened her eyes. "Oh! You mean SG-1. That wasn't a person, it was a team. And no, they're not aboard. The team was disbanded a few years ago after the Ori threat was eliminated."
She still remembered the retirement ceremony. Every member of SG-1, including Jonas, was present to symbolically hand over their shoulder patches. The patches were then framed and hung on the wall of the briefing room. That night the team went out for what O'Neill called 'tears and beers' to think back on the times they'd had and to celebrate the fact that, in the team's twelve-year history, not a single member had ever been lost. At least not permanently.
The car arrived at the commissary, and Janet stepped out with Teles. "You'll have to let me know what kind of food your people will--"
The emergency klaxons drowned out the rest of her words, and Janet's smile faded as she looked toward the ceiling for the explanation.
Erin Gant's voice came through the PA speakers. "All refugees from the cargo ship Anthemusa are to remain in the infirmary under armed guard until further notice. Repeat..."
Janet didn't hear the repeated message. She had already backed up two steps, but Teles lunged at her and closed the distance between them. She grabbed the lapels of Janet's jumpsuit and swung her around, slamming Janet against the wall next to the lift.
"Hand over your weapon," Teles said.
"I don't have a weapon," Janet said.
"You lie. This is a warship."
Janet said, "How many people have you seen walking the halls with weapons?" Janet said. "Get your hands off of me."
Teles hesitated and looked around to make sure they were still alone. Confident they were, she dragged Janet across the room to the silverware tray. She took a wickedly sharp knife from the stack and swung Janet around, pressing the sharp metal against Janet's collarbone with the blade toward her throat. She wrapped her arm around Janet's waist and pressed against her from behind in a gross parody of a position Sam was particularly fond of.
"Just move nice and calmly and I won't have to do anything your people will regret."
"All right. Don't do anything crazy," Janet said. She walked toward the elevator with Teles moving behind her, both of them very aware of the klaxon still sounding.
"How long is that thing going to go off?"
Janet said, "Probably until they find you."
"Well, I'm going to have a little surprise for them when that happens. Now come on."
They stepped back into the lift, and Teles said, "Take us back to the others."
Janet considered subterfuge, sending Teles to the bridge level instead, but the knife blade pressed against her throat. "Don't even think of trying anything stupid."
"Fine," Janet said. "You can't blame me for trying."
The lift doors closed after Janet pressed the button for the infirmary level. She knew that when the doors opened again, there would most likely be a troop of security guards waiting with guns at the ready. All she had to do was suffer yet another zat blast, and the situation would be resolved. She hated being zatted; it always left her with a migraine. Of course that could be resolved with a nice, long bubblebath and what she had dubbed a Samassage. Sam's hands were so talented, and almost magical in their ability to ease her pain.
The doors slid apart and Janet's hopes crashed. Three men were waiting with guns drawn, but they were all refugees from the cargo ship. Peisinoe was standing closest to the doors, and he lowered his weapon when he saw who it was. "There you are, Teles. Welcome back." He focused on Janet and seemed apologetic when he spoke again. "Doctor Fraiser. I do apologize it has to be like this."
"Sure," Janet said. "That's what they all say."
"Step out of the elevator, please."
Teles pushed Janet forward, and Peisinoe took her arm to pull her into the corridor.
"Where are my nurses?" Janet said.
"They're fine," Peisinoe said. "We secured them in a koo-aran-tyn area. Raidne, find a way to lock these down. I don't want any surprise guests." He kept his hand on Janet's elbow, more guiding her than forcing her to move. They reached an intercom panel and Peisinoe said, "Call the ship's captain. I'll tell you what to say."
Janet closed her eyes and thought about begging. She didn't want to do this to Sam, but she didn't have much of a choice. She wet her lips and turned on the intercom. "Infirmary calling the bridge. Come in, please."
"Janet?" Sam said. "What's going on down there?"
"A little bit of a situation here, Colonel Carter," Janet said. "Peisinoe and the other refugees from the Anthemusa have taken over this level."
Peisinoe stepped closer, keeping his voice low so that the speaker wouldn't pick him up. "We're taking this ship."
"They want to take the ship," Janet said.
"That's not going to happen," Sam said. Her voice was firm, unwavering, and Janet loved her for that. She knew Sam was strong and never should have doubted it. "Can they hear me?"
"They can."
Sam said, "Peisinoe and the other refugees from the cargo ship. Rest assured that you will not be taking this ship."
Peisinoe raised his voice. "We're holding your people hostage, Colonel Carter. Unless you want them to come to harm--"
"You will not threaten us again, Mr. Peisinoe. You are on this ship because we saved your lives. Don't make us regret that decision. Should any harm come to the people you're with, you will face grievous consequences. This is not a threat, this is a promise. Have I made myself clear, Mr. Peisinoe?"
Peisinoe's response was to smash his fist into the intercom speaker. He grabbed the shoulder of Janet's jumpsuit and hauled her roughly into the infirmary. Janet had to hurry to keep up with him or risk being dropped on her face. Finally, he threw her toward the wall and she stumbled and sprawled.
"Your leader will be made to see reason, or she will face the consequences. Your blood will be on her hands."
Peisinoe turned and walked away, and Janet rubbed her shoulder where he'd grabbed her. She rested her head against the wall and prayed for a peaceful resolution to the standoff. She knew that, whatever happened in the next few hours, Sam was going to blame herself. Whether the casualties were members of the SGC or the refugees, Sam would consider the blood to be on her hands. Janet pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes; she would do anything to protect Sam from that guilt.
With the Lucian Alliance soldiers preoccupied, and the immediate threat displaced, Janet's mind betrayed her and went back to That Place. The sarcophagus and the tiny cell that had become her home for over a year. Nirrti tried to make her think it was her fault. That Janet brought the torture on herself. But all Janet did was protect her daughter. Any mother would have done the same. Even after her tenth trip through the sarcophagus, even after the thirtieth session with the Goa'uld hand device, Janet didn't regret her decision.
She'd sworn she would never let herself be taken hostage again. She swore she'd never again be a prisoner.
She opened her eyes and looked at Peisinoe. He was speaking with one of his crew members and saw her raise her head. He looked at her, met her gaze, and then turned away.
No one at the SGC knew for sure what had happened in Nirrti's throne room. Only Janet and Sam were present, and they had promised not to speak of it. But Janet knew what Sam was capable of, and she knew what Sam had done to save her in the past. She hoped for a peaceful resolution not only for her own sake, and not for Peisinoe's sake, but for Sam's. She didn't know if Sam's conscience could take another murder.
#
Sam led the way to the armory, struggling to keep her mind clear and on task. She opened the locker and started handing out vests, while Corporal Vance handed out the weapons. When Sam started to put on one of the vests herself, Vance hesitated. "Ma'am?"
"We're working with a skeleton crew, Corporal," she said. "We can't wait for every one of your men to be contacted, woken up, geared up and apprised of the situation. So unless you have an issue with me joining you when we go talk to these assholes..."
"Not at all, ma'am," Vance said. He handed her a P-90 and a zat. "I'll alert my men to stay out of your way."
"Probably wise," Sam said. She'd been in full response mode since the moment half an hour earlier when they made their first attempt to retrieve the cargo from the wreckage. They used the Asgard transporters to grab it all at once, setting the beam to take everything within certain parameters. When it arrived in the cargo bay, they discovered that three corpses were included in the debris. All three men wore matching uniforms, their wrists bound, and all had gunshot wounds in their foreheads. It was clear they had been executed, and that they were the original crew of the Anthemusa. That begged the question of just who they had just rescued.
Sam led the way to the elevators once the rest of her Marines were armed. She touched the radio in her ear. "Colonel Gant, report."
"We've confirmed that we rescued twelve people from the Anthemusa. We're fairly certain they're Lucian Alliance who got stranded one way or another. No sign of any other ships in the vicinity."
Sam said, "They probably expected to just fly their new ship away." She remembered the shoulder bags she'd seen some of the refugees carrying. "We have to assume they brought weapons on board. Is the brig prepared for incoming prisoners?"
"Yes, ma'am. Sergeant Archer is on duty."
Sam almost told her to alert the infirmary to expect casualties, but that seemed to be their base of operations. "Stand by for further orders." Vance followed at Sam's right shoulder, ready to step into the line of fire if need be. Sam appreciated the loyalty, but she didn't plan on letting Peisinoe get a shot off. She would try negotiation, but he wasn't going to get a second chance. Not with Janet's safety on the line.
"You'll just come after her again. You'll do all of this shit again if I don't end it right now." She saw the Goa'uld's eyes flash, and then she saw pure terror as her grip tightened. She wasn't Samantha Carter at that moment. She was Vengeance. She was Fury and Rage and Hurt. She had the Goa'uld pinned to the floor of the throne room, straddling her stomach, laying all her weight down on her hands as she choked the life from the vile alien.
"Sam..."
"Don't tell me to stop, please." Because she would have to do it if Janet asked, and she didn't want to. God help her, she didn't want to stop until this bitch was dead.
"I was just... y-you have to kill the symbiote, too."
Sam squeezed tighter.
Janet had helped Sam wash the blue blood of the destroyed symbiote off her hands. It was like a baptism; Sam cupping her hands while Janet poured water from an ornate jug. The water slipped through her fingers as Janet wiped away the smeared blood, and then Sam began to cry. They held each other in the throne room and left only when Teal'c reported the Jaffa were closing in on the ship. They had escaped, and Janet was brought back to the SGC and their life together had begun again.
Sam had done what was necessary to save Janet the last time, and she wouldn't hesitate to do it again. She stopped at the lift and turned on the ship-wide communications. "Attention people from the Anthemusa. We know you are not who you claimed to be, and we are aware you're holding prisoners. It's our intention to resolve this peacefully, without any bloodshed. If you'll allow us to meet with you, I'm sure we can achieve that. Please respond."
She waited long enough that she was about to call again with instructions on how to use the intercom when she finally got a response.
"We're on the infirmary level. Arrive unarmed."
Sam stepped back and motioned for the Marines to step into the lift. Once they were aboard, she stepped inside and hit the appropriate button. The doors closed and Sam aimed her gun at where the two doors met in the middle. The ride was awkwardly silent, and Sam could feel the adrenaline stink of the men crowded into the tight space with her. She tensed her fingers on the butt of the gun, stretched her index finger around the trigger guard, and waited.
The doors opened, and they were confronted by a trio of alien weapons. "Drop them," Sam said.
"You were told to come unarmed."
"Well now you know we're not idiots," Sam said. "Weapons down. Now."
The man in charge, Peisinoe, motioned for his men to lower their weapons. Once they were pointed at the floor, Sam nodded for the Marines to do the same. She kept hers centered on Peisinoe. "Where is your hostage?"
"Dr. Fraiser? She's here. Teles."
A woman Jacob Carter would have called 'handsome' came forward with Janet. Janet's hands were bound behind her back, but she looked unharmed.
"Dr. Fraiser," Sam said. "Have they treated you well?"
"Just dandy, Colonel," Janet said. "All told, I'd wish I had just stayed in bed."
Sam said, "That makes two of us, Doctor." She focused on Peisinoe. "So what's the plan here?"
"You may have noticed our last mode of transportation is less than capable of what we need. So we'll be taking your ship."
Sam shook her head. "That's not going to happen, and you know it. So let's cut to the negotiating. We're obviously not going to abandon you on a ship with failing life support, so we'll allow a compromise. You don't harm any of our people, and we'll drop you off at a planet of your choosing. You'll be taking the trip in the brig, but that's just common sense seeing how you've acted."
Peisinoe laughed. "Sorry, Colonel. But you're hardly in a place to offer compromises." He turned his weapon and pressed it against Janet's chest just over her heart. "You'll do exactly as we say or we'll kill your doctor. We will drop you and your soldiers off at the nearest Stargate world, and then we will take your ship."
"This is an expensive ship, Mr. Peisinoe," Sam said, her eyes cold as she stared him down. "Do you know how many of them we've been able to make? Four. Just four. So you tell me, which would be a more acceptable scenario... that I return to those in charge of this mission and reveal I lost my ship, or that I lost a single doctor? A doctor who could be replaced in minutes. Literally minutes. Dr. Fraiser is your bargaining chip. Once you lose her, we'll come in here guns blazing. You and your people will die.
"The negotiation isn't what we'll do for you, Mr. Peisinoe. The negotiation is what you'll take as an alternative to being shot in the head."
Peisinoe met Sam's eyes without flinching. Sam bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from looking at Janet and giving herself away. It was a horrific bluff, and she prayed she was selling it well.
"You won't kill your hostage. You'll take the only option available that assures you and your people all walk away from this in one piece. You have ten minutes to decide." She motioned the Marines back into the lift. The doors closed, and Sam closed her eyes and pressed her lips together.
Vance said, "They'd be stupid not to--"
Sam lifted her hand to silence him, shaking her head as she fought the nausea that was threatening to overwhelm her. The doors opened and Sam stepped out to find Colonel Gant was waiting for them. Sam reached out and grabbed Erin's sleeve, sagging slightly as she lurched out of the lift. Erin put a hand on Sam's back and guided her to the wall. "Colonel? Are you all right?"
Sam nodded and finally found her voice. "I will be." I told him to kill Janet. Good God, what was I thinking? How did I say those words? She closed her eyes and shook the thought away. "I gave them an ultimatum. We'll drop them off wherever they were going. We don't have the capabilities to hold or interrogate them at the moment, and it's most likely they wouldn't know anything useful to us. They're just carrion-pickers. Vultures who prey on those weaker than them." She wiped her hand over her mouth and rested against the wall.
"They'll take the offer," Vance said. "The Lucian Alliance would kill their own mothers for a ship like this, but given the situation... they'll live to fight another day."
Erin said, "Let's hope so, Corporal." She looked at Sam and lowered her voice. "Are you all right? Do you need to sit down for--"
"No. No time," Sam said. She ran a hand over her hair and touched the knot at the back. Her fingers ran across the tightly wrapped hairs and she remembered Janet's expert fingers putting her hair up before she left their bedroom. It was such a simple gesture that it hurt Sam to think about it now, to think about where Janet had ended up after they parted ways. She made a vow that she wouldn't undo the ponytail unless it was Janet's fingers doing the untangeling.
"You'll wait for their response and take whatever action is necessary."
"Where are you going to be?" Vance asked.
Sam pushed away from the wall. "Taking care of the loose ends."
#
Reilie acted as the voice of reason, as she usually did. "As much as we need this ship, we won't be able to take it from them. They are too heavily armed, and we would not succeed without taking heavy casualties. Even if we did somehow emerge victorious, we would be unable to operate the ship. We could cause irreparable damage as we did on the Anthemusa."
"So we merely capitulate?" Raidne said.
"We cede defeat," Reilie said. "There is a difference. They could drag us back to Earth for a tribunal. They could imprison us until we give up our families. They are willing to let us go. We would be fools to not take their offer, Peisinoe."
Peisinoe stood a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the floor. It had been his idea to raid the Anthemusa, his arrogance that had led to the execution of the crew before he was aware of how to operate their vessel. It was his fault their comrades were dead. To be forced to go home like this in utter failure, escorted like a child dragged before his father by a neighbor... it would be a humiliation too great to bear.
He looked at his soldiers and saw they all wanted a peaceful resolution. Too many of them had died. He motioned Teles forward and indicated she should bring Janet Fraiser with her. Teles took Janet by the arm and hauled her roughly forward. "You've come to a decision?"
"I have. When they make contact, you will accept their offer. Instruct them to take us to Capreae. You'll find shelter there until travel back to your homes can be arranged."
"Where will you be?" Teles said.
Peisinoe grabbed Janet's arm and hauled her away from Teles. "I will be making a grand statement to these Tau'ri."
#
Sam blanked her mind and began walking. She kept a vivid picture in her mind of where she wanted to end up; the maintenance walkway that ran behind the infirmary. She'd been able to con Teal'c into telling her bits and pieces about their sixty years aboard the Odyssey. A lifetime together that had never happened. She'd lived longer on that ship than she'd actually been alive, but those years were erased in the wink of an eye. Rewound and reset at the beginning. But Teal'c remembered.
And Sam had caught strange flashes in her memory from time to time. Knowledge of how Cameron liked his coffee in the morning, and that Vala could be a cover hog (that realization had made her feel like an adulteress, cheating on Janet in a world that now never happened). Most surprisingly, she knew how to play the cello. The knowledge was rusty, but she felt as if she'd taken lessons as a child and then simply let the talent fall by the wayside. Sometimes it was like using someone else's hands to guide the bow, but they were hers. She was, evidently, relying on muscle memory acquired in an alternate timeline.
Her mind blank, focusing on cello compositions, she walked. Occasionally she would pause and open a door, or descend a ladder. She didn't think about it. She let her feet carry her forward, down, and through the bowels of the ship. The Odyssey and the Hammond were different ships, naturally, but they had been designed by the same hands. There was a sibling component to the two vessels that Sam hoped would work in her favor.
She thought of the flowers Janet carried at their wedding ceremony. She'd worn gloves, white and satin and slick. Sam remembered the way the ring glimmered on the left ring finger. Janet had looked into Sam's eyes when she said, "I do," and Sam could still remember the way those two words sounded on the breeze.
Do you love, honor, cherish, forever?
Janet did. She would. And Sam promised to repay her in kind.
She was at a hatch she didn't recognize. She stopped and touched the radio in her ear. "Erin, have you spoken with the people from the ship?"
"One of them, a woman named Teles," Erin said. "She agreed to your terms and gave us the coordinates of a planet where they want us to drop them off. I don't know what happened to Peisinoe, but I'm... concerned."
That made two of them. "Wait until I give the word before you go into FTL."
"Yes, ma'am."
She tucked the P-90 against her elbow and used her free hand to pull the door open. She stuck her head through the door, sweeping the space with her gun before she risked stepping out. The corridor was dark, but she could hear voices nearby. She crept quietly as she followed the voice, gun ready as she rounded the corner. She saw Peisinoe at an intersection of two halls, debating which way to go. He had his right hand wrapped tightly around Janet's left elbow.
Sam knew what his intention was; he would let his people take the offer and then he would kill Janet. He'd wait to make sure his people were safe, and just in case Sam asked for proof of life from the hostage, before he did it. He'd kill himself then. He'd been bested and he wouldn't go out on a failure.
Sam stepped around the corner and said, "Peisinoe, stop."
He spun around, swinging Janet and then pinning her against his chest. He raised his small gun, black with gold accents that caught the dim light, and pressed the barrel against Janet's cheek. "Have you ever seen a weapon like this? Do you know what it does? It heats the water inside of bones. In a fraction of a second, it heats to boiling. Her head becomes a live grenade. And if you're thinking the blast would kill me too, well... that's sort of the plan, isn't it?"
"Put the gun down, Peisinoe."
"If I don't?"
Sam met Janet's eyes. She was terrified, but Sam could see the trust behind the fear.
"Then I'll put you down."
"Before I can pull this trigger? Are you really that confident, Colonel Carter?"
Janet closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
"Janet," Sam said.
"Remember what you wanted to do earlier? What you said you could do real quick?" Janet furrowed her brow and then licked her lips.
"Now," Sam said, speaking to both Janet and Erin.
The entirety of the ship seemed to lurch slightly. Peisinoe adjusted his grip on the weapon, lifting it away from Janet's head for a split second. Janet went down, dropping to her knees and leaving Peisinoe exposed. Sam fired as soon as Janet's head was out of the way, and the bullet tore into the dirty material of Peisinoe's jersey. Sam strode forward, dropping the P-90 and pulling the zat from her thigh strap. She grabbed Janet and pulled her away from Peisinoe as she shot him with the zat. His body tensed as the energy surged through him, his fingers curled into talons before he finally collapsed.
Sam knelt next to him, and Janet moved to the other side of his body. Sam started to secure his hands behind his back, but Janet waved her off. "No, Sam, in front. Secure them in front..."
"Why..."
"I need to work on his wound."
"He was going to turn your head into a live grenade," Sam said.
"Boys and their toys," Janet said, already applying pressure to the bullet wound. Sam watched Janet work before she reached out to put her hand on Janet's shoulder. Janet looked up.
"This why I love you."
Janet smiled and went back to work.
"I'm going to make sure the rest of his people go quietly." She tapped her radio as she stood up and said, "Colonel Gant. Take the security officers back down to the infirmary and take Peisinoe's people into custody."
"I take it everything is under control down there?"
Sam looked back and watched as Janet bandaged Peisinoe's wound. "Yeah," she said. "Everything's fine down here."
#
They cautiously approached the coordinates Teles provided them with, scanning for any indication it might be a trap. Once they were confident it was safe, Sam and Erin went down to the brig. Teles had become the de facto leader, with Peisinoe in protective custody in the infirmary. Teles stood and moved to the front of her cell. "I assume we've arrived."
"We have," Sam said. "We'll transport you down once you give us the location on the ground."
"And Peisinoe?"
Sam said, "His wound was clean. Our doctor patched him up. The same doctor he was holding at gunpoint. Something you might want to think about."
Teles nodded. "Thank you for agreeing to this resolution, Colonel Carter."
"The SGC and IOA aren't interested in being the policemen of the universe. You got a pass this time. It didn't have to be this peaceful." Sam looked at the other Lucian members sitting on the bench. "A lot of the credit for that goes to you and your people. But if Peisinoe gave us reason to make you our enemies, we would have responded appropriately."
"He will be taken to task for what he did."
Sam motioned the guards forward before she opened the cells and let the Lucian members out. "Sergeant, escort these people to the transport. Teles, you can give your destination to the operator."
The prisoners left the brig in a single line, flanked by security forces the entire way. Once the cells were empty, Sam exhaled and leaned against the wall.
Erin said, "Long night."
"Yeah. I think I'm on the twentieth hour of my shift."
Erin smiled and nodded toward the door. "Go to bed, Colonel. I can take it from here."
"You sure?"
"I'll even take a double shift to let you sleep in."
Sam raised an eyebrow and said, "You're angling for sainthood, Colonel Gant." She pushed away from the wall before Erin could rescind the offer. "If anything happens that you think is above your pay grade, just give yourself a promotion."
"How high can I go?" Erin asked.
"Brigadier General."
"Good to know, ma'am. Sleep well."
Sam waved over her shoulder as she left the brig. The thought of bed was already making her head feel heavy, but the thought of who was waiting for her gave her the strength to make the long journey without falling asleep against the bulkhead.
#
Janet was sitting up in bed, having exchanged her jumpsuit for a nightgown. Sam closed and locked the door to their quarters behind her, unzipping her own suit and shrugging out of it. "You look comfy," she said. She sat on the edge of the bed and bent down to take off her boots.
"This is a nice bed," Janet said.
Sam reached up and touched her hair. "Will you do me a favor? Let my hair down."
"Why?" Janet said, already moving to the foot of the bed as she spoke.
"Just a promise I made to myself."
Janet knelt behind Sam on the mattress and carefully undid the knots she had tied earlier. She smoothed the strands down and moved closer to put her arms around Sam. Sam touched Janet's wrists and leaned back into her embrace. "Are you okay?" Sam whispered.
"I'm fine." She kissed Sam's neck. "You?"
Sam nodded and stroked Janet's arm. "I don't like seeing you in danger."
"I know," Janet said. She kissed Sam's neck again and scooted closer. Her knees ended up on either side of Sam's hips, the nightgown sliding up and exposing her legs. Sam dropped her right hand to massage Janet's thigh. "I still owe you from earlier. Are you awake enough for it?"
"Always," Sam said. She craned her neck back and met Janet's lips. As they kissed, Janet slid her hands down the front of Sam's T-shirt and into the unzipped front of Sam's jumpsuit. She gathered the material of Sam's shirt with her fingers, lifting it up over her stomach before smoothing her palm against her stomach. Janet broke the kiss, moving her lips against Sam's cheek. She used her tongue against Sam's earlobe, taking it into her ear and sucking as she moved her hand lower.
Sam sucked in a breath and spread her legs apart as Janet's fingers moved over the material of her boxers. Sam reached up and put her hand on the back of Janet's head. "Thank you for saving me again," Janet whispered. "Thank you for loving me."
Sam shuddered and curled her fingers in Janet's hair. Janet pushed the underwear out of her way and touched Sam's mound. She used her middle two fingers to stroke, her index finger and pinkie used to spread Sam open. Sam gasped, and Janet whispered shushing noises against her ear. Janet's other hand cupped Sam's breast through her T-shirt.
"Just relax, sweetheart," Janet whispered.
Janet wasn't slow, but she was methodical. The pleasure grew by increments, building a little at a time. It never plateaued or diminished. Janet's fingers moved inside of her, stroked her labia, and her palm rested against Sam's clit only long enough for the pressure to become an issue before she cupped her hand and the throbbing diminished. Her nipples were hard inside her shirt, under her bra, and Janet rolled the palm of her free hand against them. Sam's breath grew harsher and she rested her head against Janet's shoulder.
"I'm coming," Sam gasped.
Janet moved her hand faster, stopping the tease and moving toward the endgame. She pressed herself against Sam from behind, thrusting her hips against Sam's backside with the same rhythm she was using with her fingers. Sam clutched Janet's arm and arched her back, her toes pointed on the ground as she grunted through her orgasm.
Janet moved her lips down Sam's neck, back up to her jaw and her cheek and the corner of her mouth. Sam was gasping when she turned her head and accepted Janet's kiss, taking Janet's tongue into her mouth as Janet freed her hand from Sam's underwear. When their kiss broke, Sam pressed her cheek against Janet's and gave a shaky breath, pushing her hair out of her face.
"Love you," Janet whispered.
"You, too," Sam said back.
Janet kissed Sam's eyebrow and slipped out of the bed. Sam propped herself up on one arm, lifting it when Janet peeled her T-shirt up and off. She sat like a life-sized doll as Janet carefully undressed her. Lifting her hips to get her jumpsuit and boxer shorts off, hunching her shoulders when Janet reached back to undo her bra. Janet took the discarded clothes and put them in a hamper next to the bathroom door. Then she turned and leaned against the wall, staring at Sam.
Sam, for her part, sat naked and unashamed under Janet's scrutiny. She dipped her chin and gathered her hair into a single veil, pulling it over her left shoulder so that it wouldn't get in the way of Janet's examination. Janet bit her lip, hands behind her back, and she smiled. "You're so gorgeous."
"Take off your nightgown," Sam said.
Janet reached up and hooked her thumbs in the shoulder straps. She lifted them, and the material pooled around her feet. Sam held out her hand, and Janet stepped forward to take it.
Sam pulled Janet into bed with her, covering them both with the blanket. Janet cuddled against Sam and moaned contentedly. "Mm. We haven't done this for a while."
Sam kissed Janet between the eyebrows. They were both on-call at a moment's notice, so sleeping in the nude was a luxury they couldn't really afford. But this one night, this one time, she was willing to take the risk. Janet's naked body against hers was worth the extra thirty seconds it would take to pull on a jumpsuit and run out the door if necessary.
When she first took the assignment on the Hammond, back when it was still called the Phoenix, Sam thought that she'd finally gotten lucky. Providing a taxi service for dignitaries on Earth, exploring worlds with buried or missing Stargates, and the occasional space battle would be cake walks. She figured it would be a place she could finally be sure Janet was safe and out of harms way. Now she knew that, given their jobs, that was a pipe dream. Janet would never be completely out of danger. All Sam could do was be there for her when something bad happened and get her safely to the other side.
"I'll always be here for you," Sam promised.
"I know," Janet said, her voice heavy with sleep.
Across the room, her quarters had two narrow windows that were slanted with the curve of the ship's hull. The stars streaked by in waves of blue and white and purple. Being in hyperspace was like being wrapped in the Northern Lights sometimes, and the effect was soothing enough for Sam's brain to slowly shut off. She put her arm around Janet and pulled her closer, and Janet curled against Sam's side in sleep.
If Sam couldn't put Janet into a box and keep her safe from all the dangers, she could at least make sure she was there to save her when the dangers did rear their ugly heads. As she drifted off she turned her head toward Janet, pressed her lips to Janet's hairline and inhaled the scent of Janet's shampoo as she slipped off to sleep.
Author: geonncannon
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Sam/Janet
Word Count: 9063
Category: Drama, Action, AU
SG-1 Spoilers: Need, Rite of Passage, Abyss, Heroes, Unending
SGA Spoilers: Sunday, First Strike, Reunion
Spoilers Also: Post-series information for SG-1 and SGA, basic universe knowledge from SGU.
Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, or else this would be real.
Rating: NC17
Warnings:
Author's Notes: Title is from Josh Ritter's song "Change of Time." This is a sort-of follow-up to Dreams Are the Starting Point, but it's not necessary to have read that one to understand this. I played a bit with the crew of the USS Hammond, but I figured in for a penny, in for a pound. And I'm sure I like my roster better than anything the show will provide. ~g~
Summary: Sam and Janet are separated when a band of rebels take over the Hammond.
Though her shift officially ended two hours earlier, Sam had only been in their quarters for fifteen minutes when Janet arrived. Sam was in the bathroom, post-shower and dressed for bed in her shorts and tank top. She moved to the door with the toothbrush sticking out of her mouth and watched Janet dump her things on the foot of the bed before she spoke. "Good evening, Dr. Fraiser."
Janet turned to look at Sam, her face immediately relaxing into a smile. "Hey, Colonel Carter. I was hoping you'd be here."
"Hold on," Sam said. She returned to the sink and finished brushing her teeth. When she returned, she put her arms around Janet and gave her a proper welcoming kiss. Janet put her hands in Sam's hair, which was down and still damp from the shower. Sam pulled back and brushed her nose against Janet's cheek. "I missed you today."
"I told you. Shoot one of your helmsmen in the leg on slow days and I'll run up to the bridge to patch it up."
"Mm, tempting." Sam held the embrace, swaying slightly with Janet in her arms. "I could just expose myself to a dangerous virus. I'd have to be quarantined in the infirmary."
"Brilliant," Janet said. She kissed Sam's lips. "Mm, you're minty."
"Thank you."
Janet smiled. "I need to get out of these clothes, shower, brush my teeth... will you still be awake when I get done with all of that?"
"Yeah," Sam said. She kissed the corners of Janet's mouth and reluctantly released her from the embrace. "Hurry, though."
Janet nodded and stepped past Sam and into the bathroom. Sam pulled down the covers of the bed and stretched out on the mattress, settling in while the water began running in the other room. Sometimes she marveled at the path her life had suddenly taken. Fifteen years earlier she'd been a researcher in a lab in Washington, DC, struggling to make sense of an alien artifact found in the Egyptian desert. She was a captain, and she was 'General Carter's Daughter.'
Now she was a full Colonel, one of the most decorated officers in the US Air Force. She'd traveled farther than any other human in history, according to calculations McKay showed her once. She was a mother to an adult daughter who was currently wowing her professors at UCLA. Somewhere in the past decade she had built a real life that she could look at with pride. It wasn't a road she would have expected, but now she wouldn't trade it for anything.
The water shut off and Sam looked expectantly at the bathroom door. Unfortunately, the quiet commotion at the sink revealed Janet still had to perform some end-of-day ablutions before she came to bed. Sam smoothed down the blanket on Janet's side of the bed and reclined against the pillow. She closed her eyes as she waited.
She was also the lover of a woman who amazed her every time she crossed her mind. Colonel Janet Fraiser, former Chief Medical Officer of Stargate Command. A doctor who had been thrown into a situation no one else in the medical community had ever faced; healing aliens and preventing alien life forms from hitching a ride on the soldiers in her care. And somehow Janet made it look like just another job. Janet Fraiser, also mother of an adult woman. Janet Fraiser... former POW.
The last one hurt. Sam was ashamed of it, ashamed that she had allowed herself to be fooled with the rest of the SGC into thinking Janet was really dead. For eighteen months, life moved on until a Tok'ra revealed word that one of Nirrti's acolytes claimed the Goa'uld was alive in a new host. SG-1 investigated and discovered it was true... and there was an even more horrible reality to face.
The ambush on P3X-666 had all been a ruse. The injured soldier that would require a medical team, the Jaffa staff blast, and the sudden increase in combatants that forced a retreat from the battlefield. Nirrti set it all up. Janet was taken to a Goa'uld mothership and revived in a sarcophagus. A cloning device 'borrowed' from Ba'al created the corpse that SG-1 brought back for the funeral, retrieved once the planet was safe for their return.
SG-1 saved Janet from the prison and brought her home, where she belonged. It was a long road back to recovery, assisted by Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson offering their assistance in helping her through the mental recovery necessary after prolonged sarcophagus use. Sam helped with the physical recovery. Two years after Sam thought she'd lost Janet forever, they resumed their relationship. Two months after that they were married in a quiet ceremony on the California coast.
Their road had been long and painful, and sometimes divergent, but now they were here. Janet had followed Sam to Atlantis, taking over for the late Carson Beckett as Sam took over for the MIA Elizabeth Weir. During their year in the Pegasus Galaxy, Sam and Janet lived openly as a married couple. Sam's first rule was that restrictions would be relaxed somewhat given the isolated nature of the base. Archaic rules that governed lifestyle while in the military had no place in a deployment like Atlantis. The IOA wasn't happy about the idea, but Sam found very little made them happy. So why try?
And that had all led to this. Commanding her own ship, hiring her spouse as the medical officer... exploring the galaxy like a science-fiction heroine.
Sam realized she had been dozing only when she felt lips brush her cheek. "O Captain, My Captain," Janet whispered against the shell of Sam's ear. Her breath made Sam's hair move, and the mattress shifted as Janet sat down next to her. Sam turned her head and found Janet's lips without opening her eyes. She put her hand on Janet's lap and guided her backward, sitting Janet on top of her.
"Missed you today," Janet whispered between kisses.
"Make up for it tonight," Sam said. She slipped her hand under Janet's robe and touched her. Janet gasped, her lips moving against Sam's. Sam moved her hand higher, cupping Janet with her fingers as she resumed the kiss. With her hand moving between Janet's legs, held tight by Janet's strong thighs, she brought her other hand up to stroke Janet's cheek, her neck and her hair. She rested her fingers on Janet's shoulder and guided her down to the mattress, covering Janet's body with her own.
Sam eased Janet's legs apart, the bottom half of the robe falling open. Sam settled against Janet, knees on the mattress, and began to rock. Two fingers slipped inside of Janet, and Janet's hands pulled up the bottom of Sam's tank top. She touched Sam's stomach, her eyes closed and lips parted as she moved to meet Sam's thrusts.
"Love you," Sam whispered as she kissed Janet's cheek.
"You, too," Janet said back. She put her hands on Sam's hips to guide her thrusting. After all their years together, Sam knew how fast she needed to go to draw out the passion to an exquisite point. She opened her eyes and looked down at Janet as she moved, using her expressions to make changes to her plan of attack.
"Now," Janet said.
"You sure?"
Janet nodded and Sam touched Janet's clit with her thumb. Janet bit her bottom lip and Sam shushed her as she kissed Janet's cheek.
"Colonel Carter, come in..."
"Damn it," Sam growled. She kept her hand moving between Janet's legs and reached for the nightstand. She hooked the radio over her ear and touched the button. Janet's eyes widened and Sam mimed for her to be quiet. "This is Carter."
"Sorry to disturb you, Colonel," Lieutenant Colonel Gant said, "but we thought this required your attention. We're picking up a distress signal from a nearby system, but it's in Lucian Alliance territory."
Sam kept her eyes locked on Janet's, watching her desperately trying to hold back her climax. "How long until we're in range?"
"Fifteen minutes," Gant said.
"Increase speed and get us there in ten. I'll be on the bridge by then."
"Yes, ma'am."
Sam turned off the radio and dropped it onto the pillow. Janet let out the moan she'd been holding in, arching her back as she finally came against Sam's fingers. Sam kissed her, and Janet dug her fingers into the tight flesh of Sam's flanks as she writhed through the last waves of her climax. Janet curled her tongue against Sam's top lip as they pulled apart, grunted, and let her head drop back onto the pillow.
"Ten minutes isn't long," Janet whispered. "Do you want me to go down on you real quick?"
"No," Sam said, suppressing the shudder that thought invoked. "I should probably head up to the bridge and check things out."
Janet nodded. "If there are injuries I might be needed in the infirmary."
They climbed out of bed, sitting next to each other on the mattress as they dressed. Sam had bent down to pull on her boots when she felt Janet's hands in her hair. She laced the boot as Janet pulled Sam's wild locks back and secured them into a ponytail. Sam squeezed Janet's thigh when she sat up and kissed her. "Thank you."
"I'm giving you a rain check on your turn."
"I can't wait," Sam said. She kissed Janet again before she stood up. She offered Janet a hand, and Janet let herself be lifted. They left their shared quarters together, brushing their palms together in farewell as they headed off in opposite directions. The Captain's quarters were directly beneath the bridge, but the infirmary was five levels down, below the crew lounge and the brig. Sam straightened her hair as she walked onto the bridge, ignoring the itch she'd had to leave unscratched as she put on her professional face.
It was nearly impossible to walk onto the bridge of the Hammond, or any of Earth's ships for that matter, without flashing back to Kirk and Spock and the gang. There was only a skeleton crew present, befitting the late hour. Her First Officer, Erin Gant, stood to relinquish the command chair.
"Sorry to call you back so soon after you left, ma'am."
"It's all right, Erin," Sam said. "Let me hear the distress signal."
Erin returned to her station and typed in a command. The recording came over the communication system speakers mounted on either side of the view screen. There was a burst of interference between every word, but Sam was able to make out the important bits. "...crew of the cargo ship Anthemusa... life support shot... quickly losing hull viability..." Another burst of static and then, "...require immediate assistance..."
Sam nodded for Erin to shut it off. "How long until we're within communication range?"
"We can send an audio message now, if you'd like."
"Do it," Sam said. "This is Colonel Samantha Carter of the Earth ship Hammond. We've received your distress signal and are coming to your aid." She hoped that any Lucian Alliance ships in the area that heard the message would respect the mission of mercy. Still, she glanced toward Major Marks at the weapon console to make sure he was keeping an eye out for enemy ships.
Erin settled into her seat and faced forward. She lowered her voice so that only Sam could hear her and said, "I apologize if my call came at an inopportune time."
Sam smirked and looked at her. "You mean I was sleeping."
"Sure," Erin said. "We can call it that."
Sam laughed and faced the view screen again. "It's fine. I wouldn't choose to be here, but if we're going into Lucian Alliance territory, I need to be here."
It was another ten minutes before they were within range of the disabled cargo ship. It was a battered brown box, listing to starboard. One side of the cargo hold had been blown open, and a scree of flotsam spread away from the ship and hung in the expanse like Christmas tree ornaments. Sam rose from her seat and said, "Open a channel. This is the Earth ship Hammond; is anyone receiving?" She waited for a response and then turned to look at Marks.
"Picking up a handful of life signs, Colonel. They used the shields to make a bunker of sorts on the side of the ship away from the hull breach."
"This is Colonel Samantha Carter of the Hammond. We received your distress signal. If anyone copies, please respond." She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and waited.
"They could be cut off from the radio," Gant said.
Sam nodded. "We're prepared to transport you to our ship. Don't be frightened. Stand by, Marks; transport them directly to the infirmary. Colonel Gant, warn Dr. Fraiser that she has possible incoming casualties. And tell her I'm coming down to meet them myself."
"Yes, ma'am," Gant said.
As Sam left the bridge, she pointed at Marks. "Let me know the second any ships come to investigate."
"Yes, ma'am."
Sam took the lift down to the infirmary level. When she arrived, she found that the survivors of the cargo ship had already been transported in. Janet's nurses were guiding huddled, frightened people in dirty uniforms to the beds that lined either side of the room, assuring them in hushed voices that they were going to help. A few of the refugees had burn marks on their hands and faces, and all of them had blood on their uniforms.
Sam found Janet with one of the refugees, a dazed man with blood running from a wound high on his forehead. He was looking around the infirmary as if half-convinced it was just a hallucination. He winced when Janet applied pressure to his head wound, and he muttered a word in his natural language as he tried to swat her away.
"Easy, easy," Janet said soothingly. "I'm just trying to help you. I'm trying to make the pain go away."
"It's all right," Sam said. "We received your distress call; we just want to make sure you're all right."
The man looked at her, and then looked at Janet before he lowered his hand and let her work on his wound. "This is the USS Hammond. I'm Colonel Samantha Carter, and this is Dr. Janet Fraiser. She's going to take very good care of you."
"Tau'ri?" the man said, pointing at his shoulder where the SGC patch was displayed on Sam's uniform.
"Yes, that's right," Sam said.
The man seemed slightly relieved and said, "Peisinoe."
"I'm sorry?"
"My name is Peisinoe," he said. "That was my cargo vessel you came across. We were ambushed on our way to deliver medical supplies to a nearby colony. They've been raided about a dozen times and the people are running out of food. Things were fine and then, out of nowhere, another ship sideswipes us. Our own fault. Got lazy. Stopped watching our asses and got surprised when someone snuck up on us." He sniffed and hissed as Janet applied antiseptic to his head wound.
Sam said, "I'll have my people see about possibly recovering the supplies that were released from your ship's hold."
"That would be appreciated. Thank you."
"For now you can just rest and recover. Hopefully that colony won't have to wait too long for their supplies."
Peisinoe said, "I hope not. They were in desperate need when we left, and we're already ten hours behind schedule."
Janet said, "Hopefully we can help you make up that time. This ship can really move when it has to."
Sam smiled and touched Janet's arm and drew her away from Peisinoe's bed. "Let me know when the rest of them are stable. I'd like to speak with as many of them as I can."
Janet nodded. "Okay. Sure."
"Looks like our night got cut a little short."
Janet shrugged. "Nature of the job. We'll make up for it." She leaned in and kissed Sam. "Have fun on the bridge."
"I'll try," Sam said. "Keep me updated."
Janet said, "Will do."
Sam left the infirmary and returned to the bridge. She wasn't sure they would be able to salvage the lost cargo, but she would give it the old college try. Worst case scenario, they would provide some of their own supplies to the indigent colony. They needed all the goodwill they could get to keep planets from accepting the Lucian Alliance's dominance.
#
Janet finished patching up Peisinoe and checked to make sure the nurses didn't need any help. The Anthemusa refugees seemed to be suffering from a variety of weapon burns along with cuts and bruises from falls during the explosive decompression. There were mainly men among the crew, with two or three women. Janet checked in with all seven of the refugees and was glad to see their injuries were all relatively minor. Since her nurses were busy with the injured, Janet volunteered to get everyone something to eat from the commissary. One of the less-injured women, Teles, offered to go with Janet to help her carry the food.
Teles was a quiet woman with strong features, her dark hair obscuring her face like a hood as they walked to the lift. While they waited for the car to arrive, Janet said, "I'm glad we were able to help your crew. We normally don't venture this deep into Lucian territory."
"Yes," Teles said. "The people we were going to help did not choose where they lived."
"Right. Of course not," Janet said. "I didn't mean to imply..." The car arrived, and Janet let Teles step inside first. "I'm just happy that we were in the area. That's all."
"We are grateful as well."
Janet nodded and clasped her hands behind her back. Apparently she hadn't chosen the most talkative person for her walk. That was fine; she'd just suffered a trauma and probably saw a lot of people she knew die. She deserved to be cut a little slack.
"I overheard you were Tau'ri," Teles said.
"That's right."
"We've heard stories of the Tau'ri, even here on the outskirts. I'm intrigued to get a chance to see one of their vessels first hand. Tell me, is the infamous Essji-on aboard?"
Janet frowned. "I don't know who you mean."
"For the past decade there have been tales of a Tau'ri warrior named Essji-on, wandering the universe and slaughtering System Lords."
Janet thought the word over and then widened her eyes. "Oh! You mean SG-1. That wasn't a person, it was a team. And no, they're not aboard. The team was disbanded a few years ago after the Ori threat was eliminated."
She still remembered the retirement ceremony. Every member of SG-1, including Jonas, was present to symbolically hand over their shoulder patches. The patches were then framed and hung on the wall of the briefing room. That night the team went out for what O'Neill called 'tears and beers' to think back on the times they'd had and to celebrate the fact that, in the team's twelve-year history, not a single member had ever been lost. At least not permanently.
The car arrived at the commissary, and Janet stepped out with Teles. "You'll have to let me know what kind of food your people will--"
The emergency klaxons drowned out the rest of her words, and Janet's smile faded as she looked toward the ceiling for the explanation.
Erin Gant's voice came through the PA speakers. "All refugees from the cargo ship Anthemusa are to remain in the infirmary under armed guard until further notice. Repeat..."
Janet didn't hear the repeated message. She had already backed up two steps, but Teles lunged at her and closed the distance between them. She grabbed the lapels of Janet's jumpsuit and swung her around, slamming Janet against the wall next to the lift.
"Hand over your weapon," Teles said.
"I don't have a weapon," Janet said.
"You lie. This is a warship."
Janet said, "How many people have you seen walking the halls with weapons?" Janet said. "Get your hands off of me."
Teles hesitated and looked around to make sure they were still alone. Confident they were, she dragged Janet across the room to the silverware tray. She took a wickedly sharp knife from the stack and swung Janet around, pressing the sharp metal against Janet's collarbone with the blade toward her throat. She wrapped her arm around Janet's waist and pressed against her from behind in a gross parody of a position Sam was particularly fond of.
"Just move nice and calmly and I won't have to do anything your people will regret."
"All right. Don't do anything crazy," Janet said. She walked toward the elevator with Teles moving behind her, both of them very aware of the klaxon still sounding.
"How long is that thing going to go off?"
Janet said, "Probably until they find you."
"Well, I'm going to have a little surprise for them when that happens. Now come on."
They stepped back into the lift, and Teles said, "Take us back to the others."
Janet considered subterfuge, sending Teles to the bridge level instead, but the knife blade pressed against her throat. "Don't even think of trying anything stupid."
"Fine," Janet said. "You can't blame me for trying."
The lift doors closed after Janet pressed the button for the infirmary level. She knew that when the doors opened again, there would most likely be a troop of security guards waiting with guns at the ready. All she had to do was suffer yet another zat blast, and the situation would be resolved. She hated being zatted; it always left her with a migraine. Of course that could be resolved with a nice, long bubblebath and what she had dubbed a Samassage. Sam's hands were so talented, and almost magical in their ability to ease her pain.
The doors slid apart and Janet's hopes crashed. Three men were waiting with guns drawn, but they were all refugees from the cargo ship. Peisinoe was standing closest to the doors, and he lowered his weapon when he saw who it was. "There you are, Teles. Welcome back." He focused on Janet and seemed apologetic when he spoke again. "Doctor Fraiser. I do apologize it has to be like this."
"Sure," Janet said. "That's what they all say."
"Step out of the elevator, please."
Teles pushed Janet forward, and Peisinoe took her arm to pull her into the corridor.
"Where are my nurses?" Janet said.
"They're fine," Peisinoe said. "We secured them in a koo-aran-tyn area. Raidne, find a way to lock these down. I don't want any surprise guests." He kept his hand on Janet's elbow, more guiding her than forcing her to move. They reached an intercom panel and Peisinoe said, "Call the ship's captain. I'll tell you what to say."
Janet closed her eyes and thought about begging. She didn't want to do this to Sam, but she didn't have much of a choice. She wet her lips and turned on the intercom. "Infirmary calling the bridge. Come in, please."
"Janet?" Sam said. "What's going on down there?"
"A little bit of a situation here, Colonel Carter," Janet said. "Peisinoe and the other refugees from the Anthemusa have taken over this level."
Peisinoe stepped closer, keeping his voice low so that the speaker wouldn't pick him up. "We're taking this ship."
"They want to take the ship," Janet said.
"That's not going to happen," Sam said. Her voice was firm, unwavering, and Janet loved her for that. She knew Sam was strong and never should have doubted it. "Can they hear me?"
"They can."
Sam said, "Peisinoe and the other refugees from the cargo ship. Rest assured that you will not be taking this ship."
Peisinoe raised his voice. "We're holding your people hostage, Colonel Carter. Unless you want them to come to harm--"
"You will not threaten us again, Mr. Peisinoe. You are on this ship because we saved your lives. Don't make us regret that decision. Should any harm come to the people you're with, you will face grievous consequences. This is not a threat, this is a promise. Have I made myself clear, Mr. Peisinoe?"
Peisinoe's response was to smash his fist into the intercom speaker. He grabbed the shoulder of Janet's jumpsuit and hauled her roughly into the infirmary. Janet had to hurry to keep up with him or risk being dropped on her face. Finally, he threw her toward the wall and she stumbled and sprawled.
"Your leader will be made to see reason, or she will face the consequences. Your blood will be on her hands."
Peisinoe turned and walked away, and Janet rubbed her shoulder where he'd grabbed her. She rested her head against the wall and prayed for a peaceful resolution to the standoff. She knew that, whatever happened in the next few hours, Sam was going to blame herself. Whether the casualties were members of the SGC or the refugees, Sam would consider the blood to be on her hands. Janet pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes; she would do anything to protect Sam from that guilt.
With the Lucian Alliance soldiers preoccupied, and the immediate threat displaced, Janet's mind betrayed her and went back to That Place. The sarcophagus and the tiny cell that had become her home for over a year. Nirrti tried to make her think it was her fault. That Janet brought the torture on herself. But all Janet did was protect her daughter. Any mother would have done the same. Even after her tenth trip through the sarcophagus, even after the thirtieth session with the Goa'uld hand device, Janet didn't regret her decision.
She'd sworn she would never let herself be taken hostage again. She swore she'd never again be a prisoner.
She opened her eyes and looked at Peisinoe. He was speaking with one of his crew members and saw her raise her head. He looked at her, met her gaze, and then turned away.
No one at the SGC knew for sure what had happened in Nirrti's throne room. Only Janet and Sam were present, and they had promised not to speak of it. But Janet knew what Sam was capable of, and she knew what Sam had done to save her in the past. She hoped for a peaceful resolution not only for her own sake, and not for Peisinoe's sake, but for Sam's. She didn't know if Sam's conscience could take another murder.
#
Sam led the way to the armory, struggling to keep her mind clear and on task. She opened the locker and started handing out vests, while Corporal Vance handed out the weapons. When Sam started to put on one of the vests herself, Vance hesitated. "Ma'am?"
"We're working with a skeleton crew, Corporal," she said. "We can't wait for every one of your men to be contacted, woken up, geared up and apprised of the situation. So unless you have an issue with me joining you when we go talk to these assholes..."
"Not at all, ma'am," Vance said. He handed her a P-90 and a zat. "I'll alert my men to stay out of your way."
"Probably wise," Sam said. She'd been in full response mode since the moment half an hour earlier when they made their first attempt to retrieve the cargo from the wreckage. They used the Asgard transporters to grab it all at once, setting the beam to take everything within certain parameters. When it arrived in the cargo bay, they discovered that three corpses were included in the debris. All three men wore matching uniforms, their wrists bound, and all had gunshot wounds in their foreheads. It was clear they had been executed, and that they were the original crew of the Anthemusa. That begged the question of just who they had just rescued.
Sam led the way to the elevators once the rest of her Marines were armed. She touched the radio in her ear. "Colonel Gant, report."
"We've confirmed that we rescued twelve people from the Anthemusa. We're fairly certain they're Lucian Alliance who got stranded one way or another. No sign of any other ships in the vicinity."
Sam said, "They probably expected to just fly their new ship away." She remembered the shoulder bags she'd seen some of the refugees carrying. "We have to assume they brought weapons on board. Is the brig prepared for incoming prisoners?"
"Yes, ma'am. Sergeant Archer is on duty."
Sam almost told her to alert the infirmary to expect casualties, but that seemed to be their base of operations. "Stand by for further orders." Vance followed at Sam's right shoulder, ready to step into the line of fire if need be. Sam appreciated the loyalty, but she didn't plan on letting Peisinoe get a shot off. She would try negotiation, but he wasn't going to get a second chance. Not with Janet's safety on the line.
"You'll just come after her again. You'll do all of this shit again if I don't end it right now." She saw the Goa'uld's eyes flash, and then she saw pure terror as her grip tightened. She wasn't Samantha Carter at that moment. She was Vengeance. She was Fury and Rage and Hurt. She had the Goa'uld pinned to the floor of the throne room, straddling her stomach, laying all her weight down on her hands as she choked the life from the vile alien.
"Sam..."
"Don't tell me to stop, please." Because she would have to do it if Janet asked, and she didn't want to. God help her, she didn't want to stop until this bitch was dead.
"I was just... y-you have to kill the symbiote, too."
Sam squeezed tighter.
Janet had helped Sam wash the blue blood of the destroyed symbiote off her hands. It was like a baptism; Sam cupping her hands while Janet poured water from an ornate jug. The water slipped through her fingers as Janet wiped away the smeared blood, and then Sam began to cry. They held each other in the throne room and left only when Teal'c reported the Jaffa were closing in on the ship. They had escaped, and Janet was brought back to the SGC and their life together had begun again.
Sam had done what was necessary to save Janet the last time, and she wouldn't hesitate to do it again. She stopped at the lift and turned on the ship-wide communications. "Attention people from the Anthemusa. We know you are not who you claimed to be, and we are aware you're holding prisoners. It's our intention to resolve this peacefully, without any bloodshed. If you'll allow us to meet with you, I'm sure we can achieve that. Please respond."
She waited long enough that she was about to call again with instructions on how to use the intercom when she finally got a response.
"We're on the infirmary level. Arrive unarmed."
Sam stepped back and motioned for the Marines to step into the lift. Once they were aboard, she stepped inside and hit the appropriate button. The doors closed and Sam aimed her gun at where the two doors met in the middle. The ride was awkwardly silent, and Sam could feel the adrenaline stink of the men crowded into the tight space with her. She tensed her fingers on the butt of the gun, stretched her index finger around the trigger guard, and waited.
The doors opened, and they were confronted by a trio of alien weapons. "Drop them," Sam said.
"You were told to come unarmed."
"Well now you know we're not idiots," Sam said. "Weapons down. Now."
The man in charge, Peisinoe, motioned for his men to lower their weapons. Once they were pointed at the floor, Sam nodded for the Marines to do the same. She kept hers centered on Peisinoe. "Where is your hostage?"
"Dr. Fraiser? She's here. Teles."
A woman Jacob Carter would have called 'handsome' came forward with Janet. Janet's hands were bound behind her back, but she looked unharmed.
"Dr. Fraiser," Sam said. "Have they treated you well?"
"Just dandy, Colonel," Janet said. "All told, I'd wish I had just stayed in bed."
Sam said, "That makes two of us, Doctor." She focused on Peisinoe. "So what's the plan here?"
"You may have noticed our last mode of transportation is less than capable of what we need. So we'll be taking your ship."
Sam shook her head. "That's not going to happen, and you know it. So let's cut to the negotiating. We're obviously not going to abandon you on a ship with failing life support, so we'll allow a compromise. You don't harm any of our people, and we'll drop you off at a planet of your choosing. You'll be taking the trip in the brig, but that's just common sense seeing how you've acted."
Peisinoe laughed. "Sorry, Colonel. But you're hardly in a place to offer compromises." He turned his weapon and pressed it against Janet's chest just over her heart. "You'll do exactly as we say or we'll kill your doctor. We will drop you and your soldiers off at the nearest Stargate world, and then we will take your ship."
"This is an expensive ship, Mr. Peisinoe," Sam said, her eyes cold as she stared him down. "Do you know how many of them we've been able to make? Four. Just four. So you tell me, which would be a more acceptable scenario... that I return to those in charge of this mission and reveal I lost my ship, or that I lost a single doctor? A doctor who could be replaced in minutes. Literally minutes. Dr. Fraiser is your bargaining chip. Once you lose her, we'll come in here guns blazing. You and your people will die.
"The negotiation isn't what we'll do for you, Mr. Peisinoe. The negotiation is what you'll take as an alternative to being shot in the head."
Peisinoe met Sam's eyes without flinching. Sam bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from looking at Janet and giving herself away. It was a horrific bluff, and she prayed she was selling it well.
"You won't kill your hostage. You'll take the only option available that assures you and your people all walk away from this in one piece. You have ten minutes to decide." She motioned the Marines back into the lift. The doors closed, and Sam closed her eyes and pressed her lips together.
Vance said, "They'd be stupid not to--"
Sam lifted her hand to silence him, shaking her head as she fought the nausea that was threatening to overwhelm her. The doors opened and Sam stepped out to find Colonel Gant was waiting for them. Sam reached out and grabbed Erin's sleeve, sagging slightly as she lurched out of the lift. Erin put a hand on Sam's back and guided her to the wall. "Colonel? Are you all right?"
Sam nodded and finally found her voice. "I will be." I told him to kill Janet. Good God, what was I thinking? How did I say those words? She closed her eyes and shook the thought away. "I gave them an ultimatum. We'll drop them off wherever they were going. We don't have the capabilities to hold or interrogate them at the moment, and it's most likely they wouldn't know anything useful to us. They're just carrion-pickers. Vultures who prey on those weaker than them." She wiped her hand over her mouth and rested against the wall.
"They'll take the offer," Vance said. "The Lucian Alliance would kill their own mothers for a ship like this, but given the situation... they'll live to fight another day."
Erin said, "Let's hope so, Corporal." She looked at Sam and lowered her voice. "Are you all right? Do you need to sit down for--"
"No. No time," Sam said. She ran a hand over her hair and touched the knot at the back. Her fingers ran across the tightly wrapped hairs and she remembered Janet's expert fingers putting her hair up before she left their bedroom. It was such a simple gesture that it hurt Sam to think about it now, to think about where Janet had ended up after they parted ways. She made a vow that she wouldn't undo the ponytail unless it was Janet's fingers doing the untangeling.
"You'll wait for their response and take whatever action is necessary."
"Where are you going to be?" Vance asked.
Sam pushed away from the wall. "Taking care of the loose ends."
#
Reilie acted as the voice of reason, as she usually did. "As much as we need this ship, we won't be able to take it from them. They are too heavily armed, and we would not succeed without taking heavy casualties. Even if we did somehow emerge victorious, we would be unable to operate the ship. We could cause irreparable damage as we did on the Anthemusa."
"So we merely capitulate?" Raidne said.
"We cede defeat," Reilie said. "There is a difference. They could drag us back to Earth for a tribunal. They could imprison us until we give up our families. They are willing to let us go. We would be fools to not take their offer, Peisinoe."
Peisinoe stood a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the floor. It had been his idea to raid the Anthemusa, his arrogance that had led to the execution of the crew before he was aware of how to operate their vessel. It was his fault their comrades were dead. To be forced to go home like this in utter failure, escorted like a child dragged before his father by a neighbor... it would be a humiliation too great to bear.
He looked at his soldiers and saw they all wanted a peaceful resolution. Too many of them had died. He motioned Teles forward and indicated she should bring Janet Fraiser with her. Teles took Janet by the arm and hauled her roughly forward. "You've come to a decision?"
"I have. When they make contact, you will accept their offer. Instruct them to take us to Capreae. You'll find shelter there until travel back to your homes can be arranged."
"Where will you be?" Teles said.
Peisinoe grabbed Janet's arm and hauled her away from Teles. "I will be making a grand statement to these Tau'ri."
#
Sam blanked her mind and began walking. She kept a vivid picture in her mind of where she wanted to end up; the maintenance walkway that ran behind the infirmary. She'd been able to con Teal'c into telling her bits and pieces about their sixty years aboard the Odyssey. A lifetime together that had never happened. She'd lived longer on that ship than she'd actually been alive, but those years were erased in the wink of an eye. Rewound and reset at the beginning. But Teal'c remembered.
And Sam had caught strange flashes in her memory from time to time. Knowledge of how Cameron liked his coffee in the morning, and that Vala could be a cover hog (that realization had made her feel like an adulteress, cheating on Janet in a world that now never happened). Most surprisingly, she knew how to play the cello. The knowledge was rusty, but she felt as if she'd taken lessons as a child and then simply let the talent fall by the wayside. Sometimes it was like using someone else's hands to guide the bow, but they were hers. She was, evidently, relying on muscle memory acquired in an alternate timeline.
Her mind blank, focusing on cello compositions, she walked. Occasionally she would pause and open a door, or descend a ladder. She didn't think about it. She let her feet carry her forward, down, and through the bowels of the ship. The Odyssey and the Hammond were different ships, naturally, but they had been designed by the same hands. There was a sibling component to the two vessels that Sam hoped would work in her favor.
She thought of the flowers Janet carried at their wedding ceremony. She'd worn gloves, white and satin and slick. Sam remembered the way the ring glimmered on the left ring finger. Janet had looked into Sam's eyes when she said, "I do," and Sam could still remember the way those two words sounded on the breeze.
Do you love, honor, cherish, forever?
Janet did. She would. And Sam promised to repay her in kind.
She was at a hatch she didn't recognize. She stopped and touched the radio in her ear. "Erin, have you spoken with the people from the ship?"
"One of them, a woman named Teles," Erin said. "She agreed to your terms and gave us the coordinates of a planet where they want us to drop them off. I don't know what happened to Peisinoe, but I'm... concerned."
That made two of them. "Wait until I give the word before you go into FTL."
"Yes, ma'am."
She tucked the P-90 against her elbow and used her free hand to pull the door open. She stuck her head through the door, sweeping the space with her gun before she risked stepping out. The corridor was dark, but she could hear voices nearby. She crept quietly as she followed the voice, gun ready as she rounded the corner. She saw Peisinoe at an intersection of two halls, debating which way to go. He had his right hand wrapped tightly around Janet's left elbow.
Sam knew what his intention was; he would let his people take the offer and then he would kill Janet. He'd wait to make sure his people were safe, and just in case Sam asked for proof of life from the hostage, before he did it. He'd kill himself then. He'd been bested and he wouldn't go out on a failure.
Sam stepped around the corner and said, "Peisinoe, stop."
He spun around, swinging Janet and then pinning her against his chest. He raised his small gun, black with gold accents that caught the dim light, and pressed the barrel against Janet's cheek. "Have you ever seen a weapon like this? Do you know what it does? It heats the water inside of bones. In a fraction of a second, it heats to boiling. Her head becomes a live grenade. And if you're thinking the blast would kill me too, well... that's sort of the plan, isn't it?"
"Put the gun down, Peisinoe."
"If I don't?"
Sam met Janet's eyes. She was terrified, but Sam could see the trust behind the fear.
"Then I'll put you down."
"Before I can pull this trigger? Are you really that confident, Colonel Carter?"
Janet closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
"Janet," Sam said.
"Remember what you wanted to do earlier? What you said you could do real quick?" Janet furrowed her brow and then licked her lips.
"Now," Sam said, speaking to both Janet and Erin.
The entirety of the ship seemed to lurch slightly. Peisinoe adjusted his grip on the weapon, lifting it away from Janet's head for a split second. Janet went down, dropping to her knees and leaving Peisinoe exposed. Sam fired as soon as Janet's head was out of the way, and the bullet tore into the dirty material of Peisinoe's jersey. Sam strode forward, dropping the P-90 and pulling the zat from her thigh strap. She grabbed Janet and pulled her away from Peisinoe as she shot him with the zat. His body tensed as the energy surged through him, his fingers curled into talons before he finally collapsed.
Sam knelt next to him, and Janet moved to the other side of his body. Sam started to secure his hands behind his back, but Janet waved her off. "No, Sam, in front. Secure them in front..."
"Why..."
"I need to work on his wound."
"He was going to turn your head into a live grenade," Sam said.
"Boys and their toys," Janet said, already applying pressure to the bullet wound. Sam watched Janet work before she reached out to put her hand on Janet's shoulder. Janet looked up.
"This why I love you."
Janet smiled and went back to work.
"I'm going to make sure the rest of his people go quietly." She tapped her radio as she stood up and said, "Colonel Gant. Take the security officers back down to the infirmary and take Peisinoe's people into custody."
"I take it everything is under control down there?"
Sam looked back and watched as Janet bandaged Peisinoe's wound. "Yeah," she said. "Everything's fine down here."
#
They cautiously approached the coordinates Teles provided them with, scanning for any indication it might be a trap. Once they were confident it was safe, Sam and Erin went down to the brig. Teles had become the de facto leader, with Peisinoe in protective custody in the infirmary. Teles stood and moved to the front of her cell. "I assume we've arrived."
"We have," Sam said. "We'll transport you down once you give us the location on the ground."
"And Peisinoe?"
Sam said, "His wound was clean. Our doctor patched him up. The same doctor he was holding at gunpoint. Something you might want to think about."
Teles nodded. "Thank you for agreeing to this resolution, Colonel Carter."
"The SGC and IOA aren't interested in being the policemen of the universe. You got a pass this time. It didn't have to be this peaceful." Sam looked at the other Lucian members sitting on the bench. "A lot of the credit for that goes to you and your people. But if Peisinoe gave us reason to make you our enemies, we would have responded appropriately."
"He will be taken to task for what he did."
Sam motioned the guards forward before she opened the cells and let the Lucian members out. "Sergeant, escort these people to the transport. Teles, you can give your destination to the operator."
The prisoners left the brig in a single line, flanked by security forces the entire way. Once the cells were empty, Sam exhaled and leaned against the wall.
Erin said, "Long night."
"Yeah. I think I'm on the twentieth hour of my shift."
Erin smiled and nodded toward the door. "Go to bed, Colonel. I can take it from here."
"You sure?"
"I'll even take a double shift to let you sleep in."
Sam raised an eyebrow and said, "You're angling for sainthood, Colonel Gant." She pushed away from the wall before Erin could rescind the offer. "If anything happens that you think is above your pay grade, just give yourself a promotion."
"How high can I go?" Erin asked.
"Brigadier General."
"Good to know, ma'am. Sleep well."
Sam waved over her shoulder as she left the brig. The thought of bed was already making her head feel heavy, but the thought of who was waiting for her gave her the strength to make the long journey without falling asleep against the bulkhead.
#
Janet was sitting up in bed, having exchanged her jumpsuit for a nightgown. Sam closed and locked the door to their quarters behind her, unzipping her own suit and shrugging out of it. "You look comfy," she said. She sat on the edge of the bed and bent down to take off her boots.
"This is a nice bed," Janet said.
Sam reached up and touched her hair. "Will you do me a favor? Let my hair down."
"Why?" Janet said, already moving to the foot of the bed as she spoke.
"Just a promise I made to myself."
Janet knelt behind Sam on the mattress and carefully undid the knots she had tied earlier. She smoothed the strands down and moved closer to put her arms around Sam. Sam touched Janet's wrists and leaned back into her embrace. "Are you okay?" Sam whispered.
"I'm fine." She kissed Sam's neck. "You?"
Sam nodded and stroked Janet's arm. "I don't like seeing you in danger."
"I know," Janet said. She kissed Sam's neck again and scooted closer. Her knees ended up on either side of Sam's hips, the nightgown sliding up and exposing her legs. Sam dropped her right hand to massage Janet's thigh. "I still owe you from earlier. Are you awake enough for it?"
"Always," Sam said. She craned her neck back and met Janet's lips. As they kissed, Janet slid her hands down the front of Sam's T-shirt and into the unzipped front of Sam's jumpsuit. She gathered the material of Sam's shirt with her fingers, lifting it up over her stomach before smoothing her palm against her stomach. Janet broke the kiss, moving her lips against Sam's cheek. She used her tongue against Sam's earlobe, taking it into her ear and sucking as she moved her hand lower.
Sam sucked in a breath and spread her legs apart as Janet's fingers moved over the material of her boxers. Sam reached up and put her hand on the back of Janet's head. "Thank you for saving me again," Janet whispered. "Thank you for loving me."
Sam shuddered and curled her fingers in Janet's hair. Janet pushed the underwear out of her way and touched Sam's mound. She used her middle two fingers to stroke, her index finger and pinkie used to spread Sam open. Sam gasped, and Janet whispered shushing noises against her ear. Janet's other hand cupped Sam's breast through her T-shirt.
"Just relax, sweetheart," Janet whispered.
Janet wasn't slow, but she was methodical. The pleasure grew by increments, building a little at a time. It never plateaued or diminished. Janet's fingers moved inside of her, stroked her labia, and her palm rested against Sam's clit only long enough for the pressure to become an issue before she cupped her hand and the throbbing diminished. Her nipples were hard inside her shirt, under her bra, and Janet rolled the palm of her free hand against them. Sam's breath grew harsher and she rested her head against Janet's shoulder.
"I'm coming," Sam gasped.
Janet moved her hand faster, stopping the tease and moving toward the endgame. She pressed herself against Sam from behind, thrusting her hips against Sam's backside with the same rhythm she was using with her fingers. Sam clutched Janet's arm and arched her back, her toes pointed on the ground as she grunted through her orgasm.
Janet moved her lips down Sam's neck, back up to her jaw and her cheek and the corner of her mouth. Sam was gasping when she turned her head and accepted Janet's kiss, taking Janet's tongue into her mouth as Janet freed her hand from Sam's underwear. When their kiss broke, Sam pressed her cheek against Janet's and gave a shaky breath, pushing her hair out of her face.
"Love you," Janet whispered.
"You, too," Sam said back.
Janet kissed Sam's eyebrow and slipped out of the bed. Sam propped herself up on one arm, lifting it when Janet peeled her T-shirt up and off. She sat like a life-sized doll as Janet carefully undressed her. Lifting her hips to get her jumpsuit and boxer shorts off, hunching her shoulders when Janet reached back to undo her bra. Janet took the discarded clothes and put them in a hamper next to the bathroom door. Then she turned and leaned against the wall, staring at Sam.
Sam, for her part, sat naked and unashamed under Janet's scrutiny. She dipped her chin and gathered her hair into a single veil, pulling it over her left shoulder so that it wouldn't get in the way of Janet's examination. Janet bit her lip, hands behind her back, and she smiled. "You're so gorgeous."
"Take off your nightgown," Sam said.
Janet reached up and hooked her thumbs in the shoulder straps. She lifted them, and the material pooled around her feet. Sam held out her hand, and Janet stepped forward to take it.
Sam pulled Janet into bed with her, covering them both with the blanket. Janet cuddled against Sam and moaned contentedly. "Mm. We haven't done this for a while."
Sam kissed Janet between the eyebrows. They were both on-call at a moment's notice, so sleeping in the nude was a luxury they couldn't really afford. But this one night, this one time, she was willing to take the risk. Janet's naked body against hers was worth the extra thirty seconds it would take to pull on a jumpsuit and run out the door if necessary.
When she first took the assignment on the Hammond, back when it was still called the Phoenix, Sam thought that she'd finally gotten lucky. Providing a taxi service for dignitaries on Earth, exploring worlds with buried or missing Stargates, and the occasional space battle would be cake walks. She figured it would be a place she could finally be sure Janet was safe and out of harms way. Now she knew that, given their jobs, that was a pipe dream. Janet would never be completely out of danger. All Sam could do was be there for her when something bad happened and get her safely to the other side.
"I'll always be here for you," Sam promised.
"I know," Janet said, her voice heavy with sleep.
Across the room, her quarters had two narrow windows that were slanted with the curve of the ship's hull. The stars streaked by in waves of blue and white and purple. Being in hyperspace was like being wrapped in the Northern Lights sometimes, and the effect was soothing enough for Sam's brain to slowly shut off. She put her arm around Janet and pulled her closer, and Janet curled against Sam's side in sleep.
If Sam couldn't put Janet into a box and keep her safe from all the dangers, she could at least make sure she was there to save her when the dangers did rear their ugly heads. As she drifted off she turned her head toward Janet, pressed her lips to Janet's hairline and inhaled the scent of Janet's shampoo as she slipped off to sleep.