Just a little something....

[elfcat255]

I wrote this novel for NaNo last year and my beta finished with it before I moved. I'm just now posting it in another place beside my journal and I thought here would be a good idea since the last time I tried to send ralst a story for P&P there were issues with the type of files..so Enjoy...I'll post a new section daily.

Title: Coming Home-Part 1
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Sam/Janet (but the guys are in it too)
Warnings or Spoilers: at times this will get rather dark, with big doses of hurt, there will be sex and bad language but no spoilers for the show
Archiving - yes, you have my permission as always ralst
Summary - Sam tells the story of a mission gone wrong to her lover
Rating- right now I give it a hard R, but there will be parts with NC-17(this first part has a small section of that), I shall warn you about content with each post.
AN: thanks to my beta...sams_ceara



They finally sent her home, telling her if there were any news they would notify her. She wandered aimlessly around their house; picking up favored photos or keepsakes, her tears leaving faint trails as they rolled down her cheeks. She even sorted through the forgotten laundry and then ended up on the couch, her petite form swamped by the shirt she now wore. Curling up in a ball with a sleeve pressed to her face, she let exhaustion win and drifted into a fitful sleep.

The sound of a door slamming startled her awake. Half rising from the couch she called out, “Hello?” her voice full of hope.

The answer to her call came in the form of a lanky body jumping over the back of the couch to land next to her, engulfing her in a tight hug.

She began to cry once more, wrapped in the arms of her love. A jumble of scents assaulted her; leather…sweat…dirt…blood…Sam. She pulled back from the hug to reach up, grasping the face between her hands, a face that was gaunt, worn and bruised. She could not help herself as she continued to cry while gazing into her love’s tired eyes.

“When…how?” she managed to ask between sobs.

“Shhh…” was the reply as hands cupped her face, pulling it forward before lips kissed away the tears falling from her eyes.

The kisses continued trailing over her face, until they reached her lips where they captured them with a hunger she had not felt before from her love. Breaking the kiss, the lips continued on, tracing the contours of her neck. They slowly stretched out on the couch, the larger form of her lover lying atop hers. Running her hands under the jacket she pulled the t-shirt up, trailing her hands along the too thin form, feelings ribs and cuts. She became distracted as the weight atop her shifted then a hand covered her breast.

“We can’t…you’re hurt,” she gasped as the hand caressed the breast through the blouse she wore.

“Need this…need you…please…” was the whispered answer to her protests as the hand pulled open her blouse.

Giving into the need she heard in the voice she reached up pulling the face to hers and capturing lips in a kiss filled with all the love and tenderness she possessed. If this was the only way to assure her love that she was safe again then the doctor would pour her entire being into it. All that mattered to her now was that Sam was home.

****

She broke the kiss and lay back down, closing her eyes as Sam’s fingers traced over her face, then the contours of her neck, traveling further down to the dip between her breasts. She felt the body atop hers begin to tremble; opening her eyes she saw Sam’s hands shaking as she tried to undo the clasp on the front of her bra.

Taking a hold of the shaking hands, she stopped Sam and sat up, holding the hands close to her chest. Sam had her head bowed; she removed one of her hands and grasped her lover’s chin, pulling her head up until their eyes met. Warm brown eyes gazed into teary blue as she wiped away an escaping tear with her thumb.

“It’s okay,” she whispered pulling Sam to her, wrapping her in a hug as she began to cry. With her lover cradled in her arms, she rocked back and forth, making hushed comforting sounds. She continued with this until the sobs trailed off, replaced by an occasional hiccup.

“Come on…let’s go upstairs,” she said, her voice low and soothing.

Unwrapping herself from around her lover so she could stand, Sam allowed herself to be pulled up. Still holding that helping hand, she followed behind quietly as they walked upstairs and down the hall to the bedroom.

*****

Upon entering, she led Sam to the bed, pulling the heavy leather jacket from her shoulders she then had her sit and then began removing the boots from her feet. Once that was done, she stood and started to pull the dingy t-shirt from her upper body. Sam made a small groaning noise as the shirt pulled over her head. Throwing the shirt off to the side, she tried not to gasp at the condition of her lover’s torso. A myriad of bruises and cuts covered her chest and arms; the sharp outline of bones was also more visible now.

“Stand up for me, sweetie,” she said quietly.

Sam stood while her belt was undone along with the buttons on her pants; when they slid down her legs to pool around her ankles she stepped out of the dirty clothing. She stood quietly as her lover quickly divested herself of her own clothing. Once the doctor finished she took hold of Sam’s hand, leading her to the bathroom; turning on the shower she pulled Sam close. She held her tight and rubbed her back as she waited for the water to warm.

She pulled back, looking into her lover’s eyes, “Ready?” she asked.

Sam nodded and they stepped into the shower. Standing under the hot water with eyes closed Sam let her lover’s gentle touch begin to wash away the sweat, dirt and dried blood.

She could not help but run a doctor’s eye over the body before her. It was easy to make out the shape of boot prints in most of the bruises covering Sam’s body, a slight bump where a rib had been broken and already fused back together, along with the multitude of cuts and scrapes that would require a closer inspection. However, that would have to wait, she was more concerned with Sam’s mental state; except for the few words uttered downstairs her lover had made no further attempts at speech.

She let the soap covered sponge trail over Sam’s body, washing away what traces she could of her lover’s ordeal. When that was completed she spoke softly, “Lower your head, baby,” Sam complied and she placed a dollop of shampoo in her hands and began massaging it in. She tried to keep her composure when she felt the two large bumps, finishing quickly she used a cup to rinse the shampoo out.

She slicked back the wet hair, causing Sam to stand. “Sam…look at me.” The blue eyes focused on her and she saw no signs of concussion in the gaze. She turned the shower off and they both stepped out. Sam stood still while being dried off, a towel wrapped around her, and she waited as the doctor dried herself off before they walked back into the bedroom.

The doctor pulled back the bedcovers, then turned to Sam and removed the towel from around her along with her own; climbing into the bed Sam settled up against her side, with her head lying on her chest.

Running fingers through the still damp hair of her lover she sighed then spoke, “Sweetie…you’re beginning to scare me; would you please talk to me?”

Sam’s head rose to look at her, “I don’t want to talk right now,” she whispered, “I want to feel…I need to feel.” She then rose up until level with the doctor and leaned in to capture her lips in a hungry kiss.

Moaning at the intensity of the kiss, she allowed Sam to push her back until they lay flat with her lover half covering her body; she gasped, breaking the kiss as a hand cupped her breast and a thumb brushed over the nipple.

Warm lips taking the nipple into her mouth, rolling it with her tongue, soon replaced the thumb. Sam released the nipple only to switch to the other and gave it the same treatment. Running her hand along the firm plane of the doctor’s stomach down to barely brush fingers over her center causing hips to buck and a moan to come from her throat; she brought the hand back up to toy with the nipple not covered by her mouth.

She grasped Sam’s head and pulled it up, capturing her in an intense exchange of lips and tongues. She rolled her lover over onto her back, breaking the kiss to trail down her neck, nipping and sucking the contours as Sam threw her head back.

Kneeling over her lover’s body she spoke with a throaty voice, “Sam…look at me.” When the now smoky blue eyes met hers she dipped her head, running her tongue over an erect nipple not breaking eye contact with her lover’s eyes, “Did you feel that?”

“Yesss,” the reply came out in a hiss as warm lips claimed the nipple.

The doctor paused; smiling at the response then began lavishing attention to both breasts using hands and tongue. The throaty moans of her lover drove her to begin working her way downwards and she began kissing every bruise, cut or scrape she could reach, continuing to roll a nipple in her fingers, as she grew closer to her destination. She blew warm breath over exposed tissue, causing Sam to squirm and buck her hips. Then she ran her tongue across her lover’s node, which caused her to let out a strangled cry.

Sam looked down at the doctor as she paused to glance up into her eyes, “I’m thinking you felt that too,” she said with a sexy grin and then dipped her tongue into damp folds, causing Sam to throw her back her head, arching her body and grasping the sheets as the skilled doctor continued to explore her center.

“Oh god….” Sam moaned, she felt a hand cover hers and she interlaced her fingers with it as the tight feeling below her waist intensified, building in momentum; she squeezed her lover’s hand as she peaked, crying out, ”Jannnet!”

Breathing heavily she lay there eyes closed, her nerves tingling as Janet slowly kissed her way back up her still quivering body, ending the journey with a kiss placed over each closed eye then a soft kiss to her lips.

Janet wrapped herself around Sam’s body, her head pillowed between her lover’s breasts, listening to the heart beneath her ear slowly regain a normal rhythm; she raised her head enough to place a kiss over the beating organ.

Sam ran her fingers through Janet’s hair as she stared at the ceiling, “I love you so much…it’s what kept me alive,” whispered Sam, her voice choked with emotion.

Janet’s breath hitched and she tightened her grip around Sam’s waist but stayed silent as Sam began to speak.

“It all went to hell as soon as we stepped through the gate….”

****

Sam felt Janet’s grip on her waist tighten as she choked out those words. Taking a deep breath her mind flashed back to that day almost a month ago when things had gone terribly wrong for SG-1, and she began to speak again.

The team stepped through the gate on PX4-346 and found themselves surrounded by a large group of armed men. Before they could react, weapons fire rang out; the last thing Sam remembered was seeing her teammates fall to the ground and she soon followed them.

Slowly she regained consciousness, lying face down on the ground. Trying to move, she discovered her hands and feet were bound tight. Shaking her head to try to clear the fuzziness she rolled onto her side.

“Psst…Carter.”

Squirming around she saw the Colonel in the same predicament she was. Not far from him lay Teal’c and Daniel; the Jaffa was awake but Daniel was still out.

“Sir?” she replied, her voice a bit raspy, “What happened?”

“No clue…I think they hit us with some sort of stun gun,” O’Neill replied keeping his voice low.

Sam’s brain began processing information, “The MALP showed no signs of habitation…neither did the drone,” she told him, keeping her voice lowered as well.

“Well somebody certainly lives here, and they aren’t friendly,” was his reply.

They heard the sounds of loud voices arguing from a wooden structure not far from them. The voices rose in volume then there was the loud rat a tat of a machine gun.

“That was a P-90,” said Sam as she tried to loosen the bindings on her hands.

“Ya think?” was O’Neill’s sarcastic reply.

Before Sam could reply, a group of men came out of the building, many of them carrying the team’s weapons and wearing their vests. A very large, burly looking man walked over to where they lay. He looked down at them, a sneer on his scarred face.

“My name is Jarvis, and you belong to me now,” he remarked.

“Nice to meet you, Jarvis, can you…” before O’Neill could finish another man walked over and kicked him in the stomach.

“You speak when spoken to, slave!” the new man growled.

“Now Kern…be gentle, we want them to be able to work, don’t we?” the man named Jarvis said sweetly.

While O’Neill tried to get his breath back, Kern moved on to Teal’c, “Jaffa…” he growled and spit on Teal’c face; stepping over he kicked Daniel a few times, not as hard as O’Neill but enough to rouse the archeologist.

He knelt down next to the groaning man, feeling his arms and turning him on his stomach to look at his hands, “This one is soft master, best to kill him now.”

Jarvis nodded and Kern drew a knife from his boot; just as he was about to cut Daniel’s throat Sam yelled out, “Stop!”

Jarvis strolled over to her, kneeling down he gripped her by the hair and pulled back her head, “My my…you’re a pretty one. Give me a good reason why I should spare him and you for that outburst.”

Sam thought fast, “He’s a scholar…a storyteller; he can keep you entertained,” she rasped her voice strained by the hold.

Jarvis thought for a moment, then nodded, “And you? Why should I spare you?”

Sam glanced sideways at the colonel, seeing him nod.

“I can show you how those weapons work,” she replied.

“But we know that,” Jarvis said moving closer to her face, he held up a weapon similar to their handguns but not quite, “you just pull the trigger.”

“They will stop working; I can show you how to keep them operating,” she gasped, the pressure on her windpipe becoming more unbearable every second he kept her head pulled back.

He paused to run the barrel of the weapon along her jaw, and then let loose the hold on her hair. Standing up he looked down, “Very well, pretty one, I like your reasons. Kern, spare him.”

Kern muttered loudly but obeyed; instead of his throat, he cut the bonds on Daniel’s feet. Moving to each of them he did the same, “Get up slaves,” he said harshly, kicking each of them until they struggled to their feet.

****

Sam paused in her storytelling, growing silent. Janet rose up on one elbow to watch as Sam frowned at some inner thought.

“Sweetie, if you don’t want to finish it’s alright,” Janet told her calmly.

“No…I need to do this; could you get me some water?” Sam asked, reaching out to cup Janet’s cheek.

Turning her head, Janet kissed the palm of her lover’s hand, “I’ll be right back.”

Janet soon returned with a large glass of water; once Sam drank her fill she set it on the nightstand. Crawling back into bed, she started to resume the position she was in before getting up but Sam stopped her.

“Can you sit up?” she asked.

Janet nodded and propped a pillow against the headboard, once settled and reclining against it, Sam curled up around her; laying her head on the doctor’s stomach.

As Janet ran fingers through the blonde locks resting on her stomach, Sam began to speak once more.

“We were forced to walk for two days…..”

****

For two days and nights, the teammates walked across rugged terrain; sometimes following well-worn paths, other times having to fight their way through scrub brush or thick vegetation. They were given no food and only enough water to keep them moving. So far, everyone was holding up fine, except for Daniel. Sam slowed her pace down just enough to let him catch up with her but not so slow that it attracted the guards’ attention. They learned that lesson the hard way, each bore the bruises from quick fists or heavy sticks.

Walking beside her friend Sam whispered, ”Are you okay?”

Daniel glanced around before answering, “Yeah…I guess. I don’t know what hit us but it’s left me feeling weak and my head is killing me, “ he replied quickly.

“Maybe you were shot more than once,” she whispered back.

“You there! No talking! Walk faster!” a guard yelled out.

Sam gave Daniel a nod and sped up her pace until she trailed behind O’Neill.

She heard him mumble, “How’s Daniel?”

Keeping her head lowered she answered, ”I think he was shot more than once, Sir; he said he’s feeling weak and has a splitting headache.”

She head him grunt in reply, then another mumble, ”How are you doing?”

“Just peachy, Sir…but when we finally stop I may start eating my boots,” she quipped.

“I know what ya mean,” he threw over his shoulder, not missing a step.

They continued onwards, no more words spoken. Soon the call came to stop, it seemed they were finally going to get to rest; they were led to a tree where their legs were bound once more and allowed to drink some water from a grungy water bag. Once that was done, their captors left a guard standing nearby as they set up camp. Sitting side by side, but on opposite sides of the tree, the team mates leaned on one another for support.

“Teal’c…how ya doin’, big guy,” O’Neill asked as he leaned against the Jaffa’s side.

“I am well, O’Neill,” he replied.

“Are you sure? They’ve been treating you pretty rough the past couple of days,” remarked O’Neill.

It was true; their captors seemed to have an unbridled hatred for the Jaffa. Taking every opportunity to trip him, then kick and spit at him as he tried to regain his footing. The stoic warrior showed the results of these occurrences on his face in the form of large cut to one cheek and a busted lip; O’Neill was sure there was bruising as well but it was hard to see through the dirt covering his friend’s face.

“I am positive, O’Neill; my symbiote is healing my injuries,” he assured the colonel.

Sam and Daniel used each other for support; both leaned heavily on the other.

“You okay with me leaning on you?” she asked.

“Yeah it’s fine; just don’t push too hard though, I may fall over,” he replied, grinning at his friend.

Sam heard a loud grumbling noise. “Was that my stomach or yours? I’m so tired I can’t tell.”

“I think it was mine,” Daniel laughed and Sam joined along with him.

“What are you two laughing about? I really see nothing funny in this,” O’Neill said.

They stopped laughing and Daniel spoke up, “Sorry Jack…just a little stress reliever; we we’re laughing at my rumbling stomach.”

“Oh for crying out loud; you had to say stomach, now mine’s going to do that,” moaned O’Neill, “Why haven’t they fed us anyway?”

“It’s common practice among slave taking cultures. You keep the captives weak from hunger but going by giving them just enough water to survive; the strongest live and the weakest die,” Daniel replied, slipping into lecture mode.

“Alright then…can you explain why some of them carry those weird looking guns but others are armed with sticks and daggers? Hmmm?” asked Jack.

Daniel started to speak then paused, shaking his head, “I have no answer for that….”

“Ah ha,” Jack said smirking.

“Yet,” Daniel finished.

“Maybe once we get to wherever they are taking us I can figure it out,” he continued.

“Hopefully Hammond will have sent another team through before then; heck maybe they aren’t far behind us,” was Jack’s reply.

Sam listened as the two men bantered back and forth, shaking her head, she spoke up, “Sir…I may be able to get loose.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so, Carter?” O’Neill said in a shocked voice.

“She just did, Jack,” quipped Daniel.

“Would you two stop it?” Sam blurted out stopping a comment from the colonel.

“I’ve managed to loosen my hands enough to where I think I can get them under my legs,” she told them.

“Well then…we need to wait until it gets dark for you to try that. So just rest until then,” O’Neill told her.

“Yes, Sir,” she replied, leaning against Daniel, “I’m going to take a little nap; try not to fall over, okay?”

“Go ahead, Sam; I’ll wake you when it gets dark,” Daniel replied, bracing himself to give her more support. If she could get loose it might be their only chance and being well rested would be a big factor in that he realized.

“Sam…Sam…wake up,” whispered Daniel, giving her a little shove.

She mumbled, “Five more minutes, Jan.”

Daniel shoved her a little harder. Waking with a start, she sat up and almost fell over but caught herself.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you; I’m sure Janet wakes you up much better than that,” he commented softly, smiling at his friend.

Sam was glad it was dark or else he’d be teasing her about the blush spreading across her cheeks, “Umm, yeah.”

“Carter? You up?” the colonel’s whispered voice came from the darkness.

“Yes Sir…wide awake,” she replied quietly.

“Good…the bozo guarding us wandered off to one of the campfires and now that they’ve burned down low it’s time for you to play Houdini,” he told her.

Sam lay on her side, drawing her knees up close to her chest; squirming a bit she managed to slip her hands under her rear and on up under her knees. She stopped for a few moments as the blood rushed back into her strained shoulders.

“How’s it going, Carter?” O’Neill whispered.

“Almost there…give me a minute to let the feeling come back to my shoulders,” she replied in a hushed tone. She rolled back and forth until she could sit up and worked her shoulders up and down trying to loosen them up; at the same time, she twisted and pulled on the leather wrapped around her wrists. Taking a deep breath she stretched her arms forward and brought her legs up as close as possible to her chest, slipping her arms under her feet; just barely. Her shoulders screaming in protest at the action but she did it. Once her hands were in front of her, she began working on the leather tying her ankles together.

“All right, I’m loose,” she whispered.

“Good…now hightail it back to the gate,” O’Neill told her his voice growing serious.

“Just give me a minute and I can get you guys loose, too,” she told him, rising up to crouch.

“No…there’s no telling when the guard will come back; go now…that’s an order, Major,” was the colonels’ firm reply.

Sam wanted to argue, but she couldn’t disobey a direct order; sighing, she replied, “Yes, Sir.”

“Be careful, Sam,” Daniel whispered.

She shook his shoulder and then slunk away into the darkness.

****

“I didn’t make it very far before they caught me,” Sam whispered so low Janet almost missed it.

Janet felt the wetness from tears spreading across her stomach; she rubbed her hand along Sam’s back and felt the faint outlines of scars. Drawing shuddering breaths, Sam’s tears continued, while above her Janet’s trailed down her cheeks.

The doctor continued to run her fingers along her lover’s back as the muffled sobs trailed off. She felt Sam take a deep breath and then begin to speak again, her voice barely above a whisper.

****

Crouching in the darkness beyond the tree and listening for any sound of pursuit or movement around her, she brought her hands up, working at the leather with her teeth; Sam finally managed to free her hands. She stuffed the leather in her pocket and waited, listening, not hearing any signs of movement she took off, running into the darkness.

She could not have been less than a quarter of a mile from the camp when she tripped over something. Loud, furious barking surrounded her and it was getting closer.

She jumped up and began running, “Dogs…where did they have dogs hidden?” she muttered, running faster. The sounds of growling and barking grew nearer; suddenly a large object slammed into the back of her legs and sent her tumbling to the ground. Rolling over she found herself facing a very large dog. The faint moonlight gave her just enough light to see its fangs bared at her, a low growl coming from its throat.

She raised her hands up, “Good dog…nice dog,” she said calmly.

The dog growled louder and then without warning pounced. She threw an arm in front of her face and the animal latched onto it and began shaking its head.

“Shit!” she yelled and began beating at its body and head with her free hand, but to no avail; the animal continued mauling her arm. She felt something grab onto her ankle as another dog joined her attacker, keeping her pinned down. Over the growls of the two animals, she heard sounds of men yelling; while she tried to free herself from the dogs she could make out torches headed her way.

“Dammit! Get off me!” she yelled, trying to get loose.

The more she fought, the harder they bit down so she finally stilled her movements. Both animals kept their grip, low growls coming from their chests.

The torches grew closer and soon a group of their captors ringed her. Two came forward and yelled out commands to the dogs who released her but stayed close. The man she knew as Kern walked over to stand above her, a leer on his face.

“Well, well…the pretty one has spirit; I’m sure that won’t last for long after I get through with you. Master Jarvis takes great displeasure when his new toys try to run away,” he remarked, the leer never leaving his face. “Take her!”

With that command two men came forward, picking her up from the ground they began dragging her back towards camp.

Upon reaching the camp the two men dragged her over to a clear space around the central fire; they let her drop to the ground where she lay in a heap as the rest of the search party soon joined them. Booted feet came to a stop in front of her and she raised her head to stare up at Jarvis.

“Tsk tsk…pretty one,” he said shaking his head, “I had so hoped you would be the calm one but apparently I was wrong.” Removing a knife from his boot, Jarvis pushed her head down and ran the knife under the back of her jacket collar; with a twist, he sliced into the material and slit the jacket down the back.

Sam lay still as he did this, knowing any sudden movements might cause him to slice her instead. Once her jacket was cut he did the same to her t-shirt and bra, pulling the halves over her shoulders until her naked was back exposed to the night air.

“Pick her up,” he order the two who dragged her into camp. As they picked her up under the arms, the cut pieces of her uniform slid off fully revealing the rest of her upper body. Each man took a firm grip on her forearms and stretched them out until she stood arms extended.

Jarvis moved to stand before her, the knife still in his hand. He ran the point along the curve of her neck, down to trail between her breasts. Making a tsking noise he leaned closer speaking into her ear, “It would be a shame to scar such a beautiful body, but I do not tolerate disobeying; especially from slaves.”

Sam glared at him, her head held high and proud, holding back the comment she wanted to make so dearly but knew it would be unwise given her position.

“Kern!” yelled Jarvis; the man appeared quickly at his master’s side, a coiled whip in his hands and an evil smile on his face.

“Teach her a lesson, Kern; ten lashes…save the cutting ones for the last three, though,” Jarvis told the smiling man as he walked away from her to sit next to the fire; leaving her standing between the two men and facing him.

Kern uncoiled the whip; snapping it a few times, he walked around until he stood at her back. He snapped the whip another time and Sam felt the air whistle next to her head; she resisted the urge to flinch, though, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of that sight.

She heard a whooshing noise and then a fire lit across her back as the whip connected. She took a step forward but the men holding her tightened their grip, keeping her in place as another streak flared, this time the whip touched her shoulders. After two more strokes she was biting her lip hard enough to draw some blood but had not flinched or cried out. The next three strokes had her back screaming in pain but she kept quiet, until the next blow came. Sam heard the whoosh and then agonizing pain seared across her back as the whip bit into her skin this time, skin already inflamed by the last lashes. Blood trailed down her chin from the force of her bite now; the whip whistled again, laying another searing lash across her back. She sagged at the knees but was pulled back up by her holders. Her head hung low as the final lash whipped across her back, the tip of the whip coiling around to lick her ribs.

Sagging between the bodies of the men holding her, she hit the ground in a heap as they let loose her arms. Breathing in labored gasps as she tried to shut out the pain from her back, Sam looked up to stare at Jarvis, who sat before her, a smile on his face. She took a deep breath then spat blood out from her bitten lip, her gaze never breaking from his face.

He nodded then said, “Take her back to the others but chain her this time. There will be no more escaping tonight I think.” With that said, he rose from his seat and walked out of the fire’s light.

She was picked up from the ground and heavy manacles placed on her wrists and then ankles. They pushed her until she began shuffling towards the tree and her teammates. Sam stumbled a few times; each time earned a shove to her already wounded back. When they reached the tree, she saw the shocked looks from the guys and could only imagine what she looked like. One of the men took a heavy spike and nailed it into the tree; he then hooked the end of chain running from her manacles to it and shoved her onto the ground. Where she sat with her head bowed down. Leaving one man close by with a torch the other walked back to camp.

“Carter?” O’Neill called to her.

“Sam?” This came from Daniel.

Sam looked up at the two men, “I think it’s time for plan B, Sir,” she said softly then slumped over to lay unconscious next to Daniel.

****

Sometime during to telling of the tale Sam worked her way up to lay nearly on top of Janet, her head pillowed on the doctor’s shoulder. Janet pulled the blanket up until they were both covered.

Sam mumbled, “So tired.”

Janet turned to kiss her lover on the forehead, “Shhh….sleep now; you can tell me more later, okay?”

Sam sighed, burrowing in closer she placed a kiss on Janet’s neck. “Love you,” she mumbled.

Janet held her close until her breathing evened out into that of sleep, then she looked up at the ceiling as more tears fell from her eyes, “Oh sweetie…I love you too…I wasn’t there for you then but I’m here now.”

She reached over and turned off the lamp then cuddled up close to the body wrapped around hers trying to get some sleep before Sam’s story of her terrible ordeal began again.

*****

The blaring of the alarm clock woke Janet up; reaching over she slammed her hand down on the cut off button; it was barely daylight outside. As the doctor lay along the edge of the bed, smiling she thought, ‘Well, that’s a good sign.’ At least Sam’s sleeping patterns weren’t affected by her ordeal; she always moved away from the doctor in the night and stretched out taking up most of the bed. Janet stretched lazily, reaching an arm behind her only to find empty space. Rolling over she felt the sheets; the space was cold to her touch.

Sitting up she called out, “Sam?” No answer came to her call; getting out of bed, she walked to the bathroom, no Sam. Grabbing her robe from its hook, she began walking towards the bedroom door when she noticed Sam’s clothing from the night before was gone from the floor. Shaking her head in confusion, she continued downstairs; checking the kitchen and the garage, there was still no sign of her lover. As she walked past the sliding glass doors leading to the deck she spotted flames out of the corner of her eye. Stopping in her tracks she stood at the door watching the sight before her, she found Sam.

She opened the door quietly and walked out onto the deck. Sam stood on the patio in a t-shirt and boxers, watching a fire burn in the chimnea. Janet walked down the steps to stand beside her, reaching out she grasped Sam around the waist and pulled her close.

“Hey you…how long have you been up?” she asked, gazing up at Sam.

“For awhile…had a bad dream,” Sam said softly, “I didn’t want to wake you up.”

Janet just nodded. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked tilting her head towards the flames.

“Yeah…my clothes; well, my pants but the shirt was Daniel’s; I don’t think he’d mind though,” commented Sam as she put an arm around Janet’s shoulders.

They stood together watching until the flames died down then Janet said softly, “Come inside now, sweetie; I’ll fix you some breakfast.”

“I’m not really hungry,” said Sam frowning, “I think my stomach became used to not eating alot.”

“Coffee?” asked Janet, a small grin appearing on her face.

That caused the response she was looking for as Sam smiled broadly, looking down at her lover she replied, “Oh, god, yes…please.”

Not separating from Sam’s side, Janet turned and they walked back into the house; sitting Sam at the center island, she began readying the coffee maker. Sam sat quietly watching the doctor move about the kitchen gathering things together for breakfast.

When the aroma of fresh brewed coffee filled the kitchen, Janet fixed a cup for Sam. Adding just the right amount of extras, she turned around to find Sam staring at her with a grin on her face.

“What?” she asked holding the cup.

“Gimme…Gimme,” Sam said holding her hands out, the grin still on her face.

Janet laughed loudly and handed the cup to her. This was her Sam, not the broken women who had held onto her last night. She watched smiling as her lover held the cup up to her nose and inhaled the aroma. Blowing across the top of the cup, she took a small sip, then a larger one.

“Mmmm….heaven,” she groaned.

Janet laughed at her again then turned to finish with the breakfast preparations. Quickly she mixed up the batter for the pancakes and whisked some eggs. While she was pouring the batter onto the griddle she asked, “How many pancakes do you want?” Not receiving an answer, she turned around to find Sam still holding her cup up with a frown on her face.

“What’s wrong?” she asked walking closer to Sam.

Sam shook her head, “Nothing.”

Janet quirked an eyebrow at her, “Really?”

Sam sighed and set down her coffee, “I was just thinking how at one point I thought I’d never see you do that again.”

“Do what?” Janet asked, slightly confused.

“Burn pancakes,” grinned Sam.

“Dammit!” exclaimed Janet. Sam was right, the pancake she poured before turning around was burning. She rushed back to the stove and grabbing the spatula, she flipped it over.

“It’s not bad; I’ll eat that one. Now back to the question,” she said, shaking the spatula at Sam.

“Two,” Sam replied.

“That wasn’t the question I was referring to and you know it,” Janet remarked.

Sam took a sip of her cooling coffee and answered, “I thought I’d never see you do the simple things again,” she shrugged, “things I take for granted, like cooking, cleaning or sleeping beside me.”

Janet smiled at her lover as she walked over to run her hand along Sam’s face and leaned in, placing a soft kiss on her lips; the kiss grew longer as Sam stood not breaking contact. It was slow and long, a gentle dueling of tongues and soft nips.

Sam finally broke the exchange, resting her forehead on Janet’s she grinned, “You’re burning another pancake.”

“Who cares…I can make more,” Janet murmured as she reclaimed her lover’s lips.

The only thing that made them stop the heated session was the beeping of the smoke alarm.

“Maybe you should do something about that,” Sam said when she broke the kiss.

“If I must,” was Janet’s wry reply.

Moving away from her lover, Janet walked back to the stove and disposed of the burning pancake, while Sam opened the widow to let the smoke dissipate. The two lovers exchanged grins as Janet worked to finish the food. Working quickly, she soon had breakfast ready and placed a plate full of pancakes and scrambled eggs in front of Sam; a bowl of cut up fruit joined it as Janet sat down with her own plate.

The doctor watched as Sam used her fork to toy with the food, “Eat…you need to put some weight back on,” she ordered, shaking her own fork at her lover.

Sam sighed but finally began eating and not playing with her food. After a few bites, she was digging in hungrily, making little humming noises as she savored the breakfast.

Janet smiled as she watched Sam eat, she knew all her lover needed was a little prodding; while Sam ate she began making small talk in between bites of her own breakfast, telling Sam things that happened while she was away. When she came to the explanation for Cassie not being at home, Sam looked up.

“She went where?” Sam asked a confused look on her face.

“Camping with my brothers and their boys,” Janet said, continuing her story; “They stopped by on the way up to their cabin and Jeffery thought it would be a good idea since I was kind of a wreck worrying about you.”

“Cassie went along with this idea?” Sam asked a bit perplexed.

“Oh, she had every bit of faith you would be back; as did I. She just thought it would be easier for me not to have to worry about her, too,” Janet replied.

Sam nodded at that statement, “Sounds like our kid is growing up pretty fast, but wait…don’t your brothers have a rule about no women on those camping trips?” she asked, picking up a strawberry and popping it in her mouth.

“Oh, the rule was changed as soon as the boys saw that Cass could out run, out throw and out spit them….” Janet voice trailed off as she watched Sam’s face grow pale.

Sam covered her mouth, jumped up from the stool so fast it clattered to the floor, and ran out of the kitchen. Janet heard the downstairs bathroom door slam as she moved to follow the running woman. Standing at the closed door, she heard the sounds of retching, and then the toilet flushed. Opening it, she found Sam sitting on the floor, her knees drawn up, with her forehead resting on them.

The doctor wet a washcloth, squeezing it out she knelt next to the huddled form on the floor, “Sweetie…look at me,” she said softly.

Sam raised her head; her face still pale and tears were trailing from her eyes, “I’m sorry.”

“Shhh…there’s nothing to be sorry for,” Janet replied as she ran the cloth over Sam’s face.

She leaned forward and kissed her forehead, feeling how cold and clammy the skin was; “I would like to know what prompted that, though; if it’s going to happen every time you try to eat I’m going to have to do something about it.”

“No…I’m sure it won’t happen every time; it was just something you said brought back a bad memory,” Sam replied in a low voice.

“Want to tell me about it?” Janet said, gazing at her lover with sad eyes.

“Maybe later…I think I need to lie down right now,” Sam told her.

“Okay…come on, you can camp out on the couch while I clean up,” the doctor told Sam as she helped her up from the floor. Leading her to the living room, Janet placed her on the couch and covered her up with the light blanket that rested over the back. Leaving for a minute she returned with a damp washcloth and placed it on Sam’s forehead.

Running her fingers through Sam’s hair she spoke, “You rest…I’ll just be in the next room; call me if you need anything.”

Sam nodded, burrowing down under the blanket she closed her eyes.

Janet watched as her lover slowly drifted into a light sleep. She walked back into the kitchen thinking, ‘I need to make some phone calls…maybe Daniel can tell me a little more without Sam having to go through it?’ Sighing, she began cleaning up the breakfast remains so she could make that call.

*****

The doctor quickly finished cleaning up the breakfast remains and then walked back into the living room to check on her sleeping lover. Sam lay curled up in a ball on the couch, the blanket pushed to the floor. Janet picked it up and laid it back over the sleeping woman. Sighing, she watched as Sam made a whimpering noise but continued to sleep. Moving quickly Janet went upstairs and dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt; on the way back downstairs she grabbed the cordless phone and walked back into the kitchen.

Pouring a fresh cup of coffee, she dialed the base number, and as she waited for it to connect she leaned against the center island. When the call went through, she asked the switchboard to connect her with General Hammond.

“Hello, Sir……she’s sleeping now…….physically she’s worn out, covered in cuts and bruises and malnourished, Sir……How are the others members of SG-1?…….Well that’s good to hear, Sir, I’m sure Dr. Warner is capable of taking care of them…….Yes, Sir, I’d like to stay here and take care of her if that’s not a problem…….No, sir, I have everything I need here; but it’s not the physical injuries that worry me, Sir……She’s told me some of what happened but it seems to drain her every time. It may take awhile for her to fully recover mentally, Sir…….Thank you, Sir, I’ll tell her that and I’ll keep you updated on her progress……Goodbye, Sir.”

Janet pushed the off button and tapped the phone against the countertop, thinking for a moment and then placed another call to the base, this time having them connect her with the infirmary. She spoke with Dr. Warner, letting him know she would be away for a while and then asked if Daniel was still there. He informed her Daniel was the least affected by the mission and had already been released. Thanking him, she hung up the phone and sat down, the phone still clutched in her hand. Her mind ran rampant with her thoughts; yes, it would be therapeutic for Sam to tell her the story of the whole ordeal but she thought having another’s take on it would help her understand what Sam went through.

Taking a chance, she dialed Daniel’s home number; the phone rang a few times and then a sleepy voice answered…“Hello.”

****

Daniel sat up when he heard the voice on the other end, “Janet? How’s Sam?”

He listened as the doctor explained what happened since Sam came home. “She refused to be checked out by Warner and took off. We hoped she was headed home to you,” he said when Janet finished speaking.

“No…I’m fine, nothing that some rest and good food won’t cure…Yeah…I can come over; let me get dressed and I’ll be there in about twenty minutes,” he told her and then hung up the phone after she said good-bye.

Rubbing hands over his face he sighed then reached for his glasses and getting out of bed, he began searching for some clean clothes to put on.

****

Exactly twenty minutes later, Daniel found himself standing on the front porch of Janet’s house. Taking some deep breaths, he rang the doorbell; the door soon opened and Janet motioned him in, a finger over her lips let him know to be quiet as he entered. She motioned for him to follow her and they walked softly through the living room where Daniel spotted Sam’s curled up form on the couch. He followed the doctor on into the kitchen where Janet turned to look at her friend.

Before saying anything to him, she ran her doctor’s eye over him; his face was gaunt but not as much as Sam’s, a few healing bruises ran along his jaw line and the sweats he wore hung on his already lanky frame.

“Coffee or breakfast?” she asked.

“Just coffee will be fine; I’m still full from the meal I ate last night,” he told her smiling.

He sat down at the island and watched as she fixed his coffee, “How much has she told you?” He asked softly as she returned to place the cup in his hands and then sit down opposite him.

“Not a lot, but what little she did say drained both her and I,” Janet replied, ”I know it would be better to let her tell me but I just needed to hear about it from someone else, too; mostly to prepare myself for the rest of her story.”

“You know she saved my life…twice,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.

“I know about her stopping the man from cutting your throat but she hasn’t told me anything past her failed attempt to escape,” Janet told him reaching across to grasp his hand, “Can you tell me more?”

Daniel bowed his head, “I can tell you some of what happened, but there are things that only she can talk to you about,” he sighed.

“Just let me know what you can, Daniel; I’d be very grateful for anything you can tell me to help get her through this,” Janet said, her voice calm and soothing.

Taking a deep breath, he began to speak, “I guess the best place to start would be after they brought her back to the tree…”

****

From the faint light of the torch, Daniel could see the blood running from the whip marks on Sam’s back. After she slumped over there had been no signs of movement from her except for the rise and fall of her breathing.

“Damn it, Daniel…is she alive? I can’t tell,” muttered Jack.

“She’s alive, Jack, just passed out. Give me a minute and I’ll see if I can move closer to her,” he replied.

Daniel lay on his side and began squirming and wriggling his way closer to the crumpled form of his friend. He finally managed to make his way to her and sitting up nudged her with his knee until she let out a groan; slowly she came around, the heavy manacles clanking as she drew her arms under and pushed herself up some.

“Hey,” she rasped, “Do I look as bad as I feel?”

“Oh, yeah,” he replied.

“Gee, thanks, Daniel, kick a girl when she’s down why don’t you?“ she muttered but gave him a smile.

“Hey…somebody want to let us in on the conversation?” called out Jack, his voice low enough so only they could hear him.

“I’m okay, Sir; takes more than a whipping to keep me down,” Sam told him, but she sucked in her breath as she tried to sit up a little more.

“Here, Sam…stay on your side and rest your head in my lap; try and not move too much,” Daniel told her.

“Oh, yeah…not moving sounds really good right about now,” she said slowly moving to lay her head down, “Daniel…I’m going to pass back out now…no taking advantage, got it?” she joked.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Sam, even if my hands weren’t tied behind my back; rest now, okay?” he told her, smiling down at her dirt streaked face.

He watched as she closed her eyes and her breathing slowed, an occasional moan came from her lips.

“Daniel? Tell me something,” Jack’s voice said from the other side of the tree.

“She’s sleeping, Jack; from what I can tell her back is a mess, though; lots of raised welts and maybe three really deep cuts, but the bleeding’s slowing down. I’m worried about infection, though,” he told the older man.

“Well, maybe you can work that golden tongue of yours in the morning and get them to give us back one of our med kits. This guy Jarvis seems to have taken a liking to her, I’m sure he‘d want to keep her around. Although that could be a very bad thing for her in the long run,” replied Jack.

Looking down at the head of his sleeping friend, Daniel whispered, “A very bad thing indeed.”

“Try and get some rest, Daniel. I have a feeling we’re going to need it,” Jack told him then grew silent.

Daniel slowly rolled onto his side, trying not to jostle Sam to much; he lay as close as possible to her back with out touching it, hoping that maybe his body heat would provide her with a little warmth. Getting as comfortable as possible, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Whimpering noises roused him from the not so good sleep he fell into; Sam was twitching in her sleep and the noises where coming from her. Daniel wasn’t able to move without causing her head to fall off his legs so he began talking to her in a calm, hushed tone.

“Shhh…Sam, it’s going to be okay…shhh…we’ll get out of this; don’t worry, you’ll be home with Janet and Cass before you know it,” he said softly, and then he began to hum a song Sha’re taught him. The soft melody slowly lulled the restless woman back to sleep. He kept humming until he too drifted off once more.

The next time Daniel woke, it was to the gruff voices of the guards rousing them from their rest; the sun was just beginning to rise. The two men cut the bonds on their legs and hands, allowing them to stretch numb body parts. Daniel sat up now that he could use his hands, he cradled Sam’s head in his lap as he shook her gently, trying to wake her.

She moaned and slowly opened her eyes, “Wasn’t a dream was it?”

“No, Sam, afraid not; can you sit up?” he asked.

Slowly, with his help, she sat upright, her arms clutched against her bare chest, she began shivering. He pulled off his jacket and carefully placed it around her shoulders. She let out a hiss as the material touched her hurt back; but nodded her thanks to him.

“I’m going to try and get one of the med kits back from them; your back really needs treating before infection sets in,” he explained.

“Yes, Dr. Fraiser,” she joked giving him a grin that turned into grimace as she tried to move.

Jack and Teal’c walked around to crouch next to them, “How ya doing this morning, Carter?”

“Peachy, Sir…just plain peachy,” she grumbled smiling at him.

He clapped a hand on her knee, “Well, at least your sense of humor is all right; what happened last night? We heard dogs then they all started yelling and took off into the darkness,” he asked.

“They had a perimeter set up about a quarter of a mile away, Sir, dogs staked out attached to trip lines; I tripped and got tackled by a very big one. They dragged me back to camp, and Jarvis had Kern punish me for trying to escape, as you can see,” she told him.

Two more guards appearing with water skins interrupted the conversation. Daniel chose this time to make his plea for a med kit.

“May I speak with Master Jarvis? It’s about the welfare of our friend; I’m sure he wouldn’t want her to grow ill,” Daniel said to them.

They conversed among themselves for a few minutes then one of them ran back towards the main camp. Soon he could be seen coming back, followed by Jarvis.

When he grew closer, Daniel stood to meet him and then went down to his knees, keeping his head bowed. Jarvis stopped in front of the kneeling man.

“What do you wish to say to me, slave?” He asked Daniel.

“Master…May I have one of the packs from our equipment you now posses? It contains medicines I can use to treat the lashes on the woman, surely you do not wish her to become ill, Master,” explained Daniel, keeping his head bowed, not meeting Jarvis’ eyes.

Jarvis looked over at Sam’s huddled form, she continued to shiver and was beginning to sweat, “So…you are a healer as well as a scholar? Perhaps it was a wise decision to spare you,” he told the kneeling man.

Calling one of the guards over, he told him to fetch one of their packs. Running back to camp, the man soon returned with one of the backpacks and tossed it on the ground in front of Daniel along with one of the water skins he carried. Daniel opened the pack and searched through the contents, pulling out the small bag with the Red Cross on it. Opening it, he showed Jarvis it truly contained only medical supplies.

Jarvis grunted, “Very well, scholar, you may keep it to tend to the pretty one; make sure she is ready to travel soon though and that she can keep up.”

With that said, he turned and walked away from the teammates; the guard picked up the backpack and followed him.

Daniel looked to one of the men guarding them, ”Can you remove her chains; just from her hands? The master did tell me to see to her wounds I can’t do that with her hands chained,” he added when the man looked as if he would refuse.

The guard walked over and, removing a key from his belt, he unlocked the manacles from around Sam’s wrists. He moved away to watch over the group once more, keeping a close eye on them.

“Way to go, Danny boy!” said Jack, clapping him on the shoulder as he walked over to Sam.

Kneeling beside his friend, Daniel carefully removed the jacket from her shoulders. As it came away, she gasped as material that had stuck pulled away from the lash marks.

“Sorry…I’ll try and be gentle; lean forward some so I can wash your back off,” he told her.

Sam pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them, she leaned forward so Daniel could get started; he heard her mumble, “You better do a good job or else Janet will get you.”

He laughed at the mumbled remark and then looked through the bag for something to use to wash the wounds; not finding anything except the gauze he would need to cover them, he glanced up, “Give me your t-shirt, Jack.”

“Why?” Jack asked, giving him a confused look.

“Because…I have only enough gauze to cover the wounds, but I need something to wash her back off with. And I plan to give her my shirt to wear when I’m finished,” he told the man giving him a hard glare.

“Ok, gotcha,” replied Jack as he removed his jacket then his t-shirt, handing it to Daniel. “Well, Carter, looks like we miss out on seeing you go topless again.”

Sam’s head shot up and she glared at him, “You better not be keeping count of how many times that’s happened, Sir. You wouldn’t want Janet to find out about that,” she said, giving him an evil smile then gasped as Daniel poured water on her back.

Daniel then wet the t-shirt and began carefully wiping away the sweat, blood and dirt that had accumulated in the marks. When he finished with that, he patted her back dry with a gauze pad. He then told her to get ready for a sting because not knowing how fresh the water was; he needed to apply some antiseptic.

“Just hurry up and get it over with, Daniel,” she said through gritted teeth.

Daniel nodded, pouring the antiseptic over her back. She threw her head back, “Shit! Stings, my ass…that burns, Daniel!”

“Sorry …sorry,” he told her and then quickly applied the antibiotic cream to the marks, spreading it out to cover some of the worst welt marks as well. When finished with that, he placed gauze pads along the cuts in her back. “Sam…I don’t want to put tape on these to hold them, so I’m going to need your help wrapping your back.”

“Just pass the roll to me, and I’ll do the front,” she told him sitting up straight now.

He started the wrap, passing it to her she would adjust it then pass it back around to him; soon they finished and then he took off his own t-shirt and helped her to put it on. He helped her to stand up and she flexed her shoulders making sure the bandage was not too tight.

“Good job, Daniel,” she said giving him a smile, “now, are there some pain meds in that bag?”

He looked through the bag, coming up with some Tylenol and Advil packets, “Just take two for now; you may need the others later.”

She took the water skin Jack handed her and swallowed the pills with a long drink.

They finished with the first aid just in time, it seemed; they heard the sounds of chains clanking as two men approached them, carrying more sets of manacles. Jack and Daniel put their jackets back on and Daniel gathered up the leftover medical supplies and slung the bag over his head and shoulder. The guards walked up and began placing the chains on their wrists and ankles. They then made them start walking towards the camp. Jack took the lead, followed by Daniel and then Sam; Teal’c followed along last, citing that if Major Carter grew weak, he could support her best. They reached the camp where soon they followed along after the slow moving caravan. To where, they still didn’t know.