Primum Non Nocere, Janet/Elizabeth, G
Title: Primum Non Nocere
Fandoms: SGA/SG-1
Author: calleigh_j
Rating: G
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for everything up to and including 'Conversion'
Pairing: Janet/Elizabeth established
Word Count: 1,214
Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor the title
Summary: First, do no harm
Written For: celievamp
Prompt: Janet/Elizabeth, with Janet refusing to experiment on the Wraith on ethical grounds, and didn't want to see snark, McKay getting away with being McKay, or pining over former (lost) loves
Author's Note: Once I started writing, this one actually just kinda happened; I hope you enjoy it; and massive thanks to pixilove66 for looking over this for me and pointing out that I couldn’t spell; all feedback and concrit is greatly appreciated
Janet stormed out of the infirmary and into the nearest transporter. The doors closed, and then opened again to reveal the west pier. She stepped out and breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself down. The last week had been non-stop and all the scientists working in the labs would be busy trying to find out exactly what effects the retrovirus had had on Ellia, as well as examining all the samples taken from Colonel Sheppard in the various stages of his...mutation. Janet shuddered as she remembered his yellow eyes and blue skin. She'd seen various members of the SGC undergo some dramatic changes during her time there, but this was something extreme: this was someone turning into his worst nightmare.
It was their fault though: hers and Carson's. All the work they'd done on the retrovirus, all the simulations they'd run, and they'd never seen any indication that it might have the sort of effects that it did. Granted, Ellia had injected herself with an unfinished prototype, but still, its effects on both her and Sheppard had been devastating. Sure, they'd managed to cure the Colonel with another version of the retrovirus, but it could just as easily have failed, and they would have lost him forever.
And yet, Carson wanted to keep working on it. He wanted to find a Wraith - like 'Steve' from the first year of the expedition - and experiment with the newer form of the retrovirus. They'd successfully managed to expel all the Wraith DNA from Sheppard, and Carson was convinced that they should be able to do the same with a normal Wraith.
Added to that were the mostly-intentional side-effects of the retrovirus: the full retrograde amnesia. Although she understood the reasons behind it - they couldn't have potentially thousands of former Wraith running wild over the galaxy, stripped of their abilities but stuck with the memories of what they'd done - she didn't see how it could be successful on a long-term basis. Carson had no idea how a Wraith brain functioned, and didn't know how a normal human brain would be affected by transforming into a Wraith and then back into a human.
Medical issues aside, they would be experimenting on other sentient beings. Granted, they were evil, but nonetheless they were sentient, and Janet just couldn't get that out of her mind.
She heard the transporter doors open behind her and stifled a groan. Resolutely, she stared out across the front, determined to make Carson or whoever it was he'd sent from the infirmary to get her work just a little bit.
“I thought I might find you out here.” The voice belonged not to Carson or to any member of his medical team, but to the expedition leader. Still, Janet kept her eyes fixed on the horizon, guessing that Carson had probably convinced Elizabeth of the need for experimentation on the Wraith and sent her out as an emissary.
“I'm not doing it, Elizabeth. I refuse to experiment on the Wraith. I know they're not humans, but they're alive and I won't...”
“It's ok,” Elizabeth interrupted, and Janet was a little surprised to realise that the other woman was now standing beside her, “Carson explained everything to me, and I'm not going to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with.”
“'Not comfortable with'?” Janet repeated, “Elizabeth, what he's talking about amounts to torture. I know that we're talking about the Wraith here, and they're not exactly our closest allies, but they're still alive and I will not be a part of any experimentation that goes on.”
“And you don't think that the benefits we could gain from successfully engineering a retrovirus that turns Wraith into humans would outweigh the less pleasant aspects of the work we'd need to do?”
“No, I don't think so. Do you?”
Elizabeth didn't answer immediately, instead choosing to watch as the sun began to set.
“I don't know,” she replied finally, “I'm under no delusions about the dubious morality of experimenting on living beings, be they Wraith or human or whatever else. However, I can't ignore the fact that, were we to be successful, we could change the face of this galaxy for the better; we could undo some of the damage we caused by re-awakening the Wraith.”
“'First, do no harm',” Janet said softly, “It's one of the first principles I learnt in medical school, and I can't ignore it, not even to save a galaxy. It's what I believe, just like you believe that guns aren't the way to bring about peace. It forms the foundation of my entire profession, and I won't go against it.”
“I won't force you to do anything you're not comfortable with,” Elizabeth said again, more sadly this time.
“But you won't stop Carson from doing his work on the retrovirus, and experimenting on a Wraith, if we can capture one?”
“I can't, Janet. We woke up the Wraith; we're responsible for so much death and destruction, and now we might have a chance to put things right. I can't ignore that, even if the idea of experimenting on another sentient being is completely abhorrent to me. We have to try.”
Janet watched as Elizabeth twisted her fingers together and bit her lip. She reached out and stilled the other woman's hands with her own, sliding her fingers between Elizabeth's and squeezing them.
“No one here will think that you made this decision lightly,” Janet said firmly, “You're the leader, and the choices you make will affect more than just the people of this expedition. If you think we need to do this, then I'll believe you. I won't agree, but I'll stand by you.”
“We need to do this,” Elizabeth said in a quiet voice.
“I believe you.”
There was silence on the pier as the two women watched the sun disappear completely. Then Janet spoke again.
“Are you going to announce it to the city, or will it just be between Carson and Colonel Sheppard's team?”
“I have to announce it; what we're going to do is bad enough. I won't lie to the entire expedition on top of that.”
“When will you tell everyone?”
“I'll discuss the details with senior staff tomorrow morning, and as soon as we know exactly what's going to happen, then I'll make a city-wide announcement.” As Elizabeth finished her sentence, she started to yawn, and brought her free hand up to cover her mouth. “God, I'm so tired,” she mumbled, trying to contain a lengthy series of yawns. Janet smiled.
“You should get some sleep,” she suggested.
“I can't,” Elizabeth replied, “I have reports to read and sign off on; I have updates to...”
“And they'll all be there tomorrow. Now, you need to sleep. Doctor's orders.” Janet said in a no-nonsense tone. Elizabeth smirked.
“Doctor's orders? Well, I guess I should go to bed then.” Elizabeth yawned a final time and then turned to Janet, asking, “You coming?”
Janet took a last look at the now-dark scene in front of her before nodding. She took a few steps backwards away from rails surrounding the pier, tugging on her hand to bring Elizabeth with her. Silently, they walked hand-in-hand back towards the transporter.
Fandoms: SGA/SG-1
Author: calleigh_j
Rating: G
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for everything up to and including 'Conversion'
Pairing: Janet/Elizabeth established
Word Count: 1,214
Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor the title
Summary: First, do no harm
Written For: celievamp
Prompt: Janet/Elizabeth, with Janet refusing to experiment on the Wraith on ethical grounds, and didn't want to see snark, McKay getting away with being McKay, or pining over former (lost) loves
Author's Note: Once I started writing, this one actually just kinda happened; I hope you enjoy it; and massive thanks to pixilove66 for looking over this for me and pointing out that I couldn’t spell; all feedback and concrit is greatly appreciated
Janet stormed out of the infirmary and into the nearest transporter. The doors closed, and then opened again to reveal the west pier. She stepped out and breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself down. The last week had been non-stop and all the scientists working in the labs would be busy trying to find out exactly what effects the retrovirus had had on Ellia, as well as examining all the samples taken from Colonel Sheppard in the various stages of his...mutation. Janet shuddered as she remembered his yellow eyes and blue skin. She'd seen various members of the SGC undergo some dramatic changes during her time there, but this was something extreme: this was someone turning into his worst nightmare.
It was their fault though: hers and Carson's. All the work they'd done on the retrovirus, all the simulations they'd run, and they'd never seen any indication that it might have the sort of effects that it did. Granted, Ellia had injected herself with an unfinished prototype, but still, its effects on both her and Sheppard had been devastating. Sure, they'd managed to cure the Colonel with another version of the retrovirus, but it could just as easily have failed, and they would have lost him forever.
And yet, Carson wanted to keep working on it. He wanted to find a Wraith - like 'Steve' from the first year of the expedition - and experiment with the newer form of the retrovirus. They'd successfully managed to expel all the Wraith DNA from Sheppard, and Carson was convinced that they should be able to do the same with a normal Wraith.
Added to that were the mostly-intentional side-effects of the retrovirus: the full retrograde amnesia. Although she understood the reasons behind it - they couldn't have potentially thousands of former Wraith running wild over the galaxy, stripped of their abilities but stuck with the memories of what they'd done - she didn't see how it could be successful on a long-term basis. Carson had no idea how a Wraith brain functioned, and didn't know how a normal human brain would be affected by transforming into a Wraith and then back into a human.
Medical issues aside, they would be experimenting on other sentient beings. Granted, they were evil, but nonetheless they were sentient, and Janet just couldn't get that out of her mind.
She heard the transporter doors open behind her and stifled a groan. Resolutely, she stared out across the front, determined to make Carson or whoever it was he'd sent from the infirmary to get her work just a little bit.
“I thought I might find you out here.” The voice belonged not to Carson or to any member of his medical team, but to the expedition leader. Still, Janet kept her eyes fixed on the horizon, guessing that Carson had probably convinced Elizabeth of the need for experimentation on the Wraith and sent her out as an emissary.
“I'm not doing it, Elizabeth. I refuse to experiment on the Wraith. I know they're not humans, but they're alive and I won't...”
“It's ok,” Elizabeth interrupted, and Janet was a little surprised to realise that the other woman was now standing beside her, “Carson explained everything to me, and I'm not going to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with.”
“'Not comfortable with'?” Janet repeated, “Elizabeth, what he's talking about amounts to torture. I know that we're talking about the Wraith here, and they're not exactly our closest allies, but they're still alive and I will not be a part of any experimentation that goes on.”
“And you don't think that the benefits we could gain from successfully engineering a retrovirus that turns Wraith into humans would outweigh the less pleasant aspects of the work we'd need to do?”
“No, I don't think so. Do you?”
Elizabeth didn't answer immediately, instead choosing to watch as the sun began to set.
“I don't know,” she replied finally, “I'm under no delusions about the dubious morality of experimenting on living beings, be they Wraith or human or whatever else. However, I can't ignore the fact that, were we to be successful, we could change the face of this galaxy for the better; we could undo some of the damage we caused by re-awakening the Wraith.”
“'First, do no harm',” Janet said softly, “It's one of the first principles I learnt in medical school, and I can't ignore it, not even to save a galaxy. It's what I believe, just like you believe that guns aren't the way to bring about peace. It forms the foundation of my entire profession, and I won't go against it.”
“I won't force you to do anything you're not comfortable with,” Elizabeth said again, more sadly this time.
“But you won't stop Carson from doing his work on the retrovirus, and experimenting on a Wraith, if we can capture one?”
“I can't, Janet. We woke up the Wraith; we're responsible for so much death and destruction, and now we might have a chance to put things right. I can't ignore that, even if the idea of experimenting on another sentient being is completely abhorrent to me. We have to try.”
Janet watched as Elizabeth twisted her fingers together and bit her lip. She reached out and stilled the other woman's hands with her own, sliding her fingers between Elizabeth's and squeezing them.
“No one here will think that you made this decision lightly,” Janet said firmly, “You're the leader, and the choices you make will affect more than just the people of this expedition. If you think we need to do this, then I'll believe you. I won't agree, but I'll stand by you.”
“We need to do this,” Elizabeth said in a quiet voice.
“I believe you.”
There was silence on the pier as the two women watched the sun disappear completely. Then Janet spoke again.
“Are you going to announce it to the city, or will it just be between Carson and Colonel Sheppard's team?”
“I have to announce it; what we're going to do is bad enough. I won't lie to the entire expedition on top of that.”
“When will you tell everyone?”
“I'll discuss the details with senior staff tomorrow morning, and as soon as we know exactly what's going to happen, then I'll make a city-wide announcement.” As Elizabeth finished her sentence, she started to yawn, and brought her free hand up to cover her mouth. “God, I'm so tired,” she mumbled, trying to contain a lengthy series of yawns. Janet smiled.
“You should get some sleep,” she suggested.
“I can't,” Elizabeth replied, “I have reports to read and sign off on; I have updates to...”
“And they'll all be there tomorrow. Now, you need to sleep. Doctor's orders.” Janet said in a no-nonsense tone. Elizabeth smirked.
“Doctor's orders? Well, I guess I should go to bed then.” Elizabeth yawned a final time and then turned to Janet, asking, “You coming?”
Janet took a last look at the now-dark scene in front of her before nodding. She took a few steps backwards away from rails surrounding the pier, tugging on her hand to bring Elizabeth with her. Silently, they walked hand-in-hand back towards the transporter.