Changing Lives 52/55 (Sam/Janet femslash) Stargate SG-1
"Carter!" Sam barked into the 'phone as she snatched it off her desk that Monday afternoon. She was in the middle of drawing up a list of the most urgent upgrades that were required at the SGC, together with projected budgets, and she hated budgets. She was a math genius, but quickly became impatient at compromising quality just to fit in with the arbitrary decisions made by the 'money men' who had no idea how important having the right equipment was. The wrong decision could risk the lives of the people at the mountain, and she would not be a party to such penny pinching. She couldn't wait until the bureaucracy was over and she could get down to some real work. So when the 'phone rang, she was already pissed, and a headache threatened.
"Bad morning?" Janet's disembodied voice asked.
Sam immediately softened. "Hey honey," she said tenderly. "It was, until you called. Everything's better now. Are you okay, Jan? It's not the baby, is it?" she started to get anxious.
Janet laughed quietly. "No, Sam, it's not the baby. I just got lonesome, is all. Wanted to hear your voice. Wondered how your day was going. Wanted to know if you've had any lunch yet."
Sam looked at her watch. "Shit," she said, "I thought it was about 1pm, I had no idea."
"Too busy having fun, huh?" Janet teased gently.
"I wish," Sam replied bitterly. "Paperwork. Budgets. I don't know how some people do this sort of thing, day in, day out. It would drive me crazy."
"Take a break, sweetie," Janet said. "Get some lunch, it's nearly 3pm. Why don't you get out of the mountain, just for ten minutes? Go to the surface, take some deep breaths, walk around for a little. You'll feel better."
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "I think I will. These numbers'll still be here when I get back. Thanks, hon, I'll go in a few minutes. How about you, Jan? How's your day going?"
"It's too quiet here," Janet said. "I don't like it here without you. If I didn't have the dogs to keep me company, I don't know what I'd do."
"You're not walking them?" Sam said anxiously. "You know that can bring on labor."
"No, sweetie," Janet smiled. "I'm not, I swear. Cassie and Annie are coming over at 5pm to give them a good run, as soon as they both get out of school. Annie says some fresh air before she starts marking schoolwork will do her good. Until then, they can just run about in the garden, can't you Albie?" Janet stroked the dog who had climbed into her ever-shrinking lap.
"That's great," Sam said. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to fuss, it's just...."
"Never apologize for caring," Janet admonished. "Now go," she said firmly. "Take a break. I'll see you later, whenever you can get back. Albie says hi," Janet added, and Sam could hear the dog slobbering at the other end.
"Janet!" Sam protested, "you didn't just let him lick the 'phone, did you?"
Janet laughed. "I'll wipe it, I swear. He just wanted to hear your voice, tell you he's missing you."
"Not as much as I'm missing you all," Sam said wistfully. "I'll try not to be late, Jan," she promised. "If I can just get this preliminary report finished, I should be out of here by 6.30pm, home 7pm latest. Assuming nothing goes wrong."
"I'll see you later, baby," Janet said tenderly.
"Not soon enough," Sam couldn't understand why she was feeling so emotional after only a day without Janet. "I love you."
"Right back at ya," Janet replied.
= = =
Cassie and Annie and the two dogs came barrelling back into the house at 6.30pm. "We're baaack!" Cassie called, a laugh in her voice. "And we even managed to keep Toby out of the water this time, didn't we Tobe?" she tousled the top of the excited dog's head.
"Stay for dinner?" Janet suggested.
"That would be great, Janet," Anna said, "but I really have to get back. I'm behind on my lesson planning, and I have a ton of marking to do too. But thank you. You're still coming to us tomorrow though, right?"
Janet smiled. "Oh yeah," she agreed, "Sam's been talking about your pot roast since the last time you made it here."
"We'll see you then, then. Well, Cass'll be here earlier, to give the dogs a run. But then you'll come to us about 7.30pm, assuming there are no intergalactic emergencies, that is?" Anna smiled at her mother-in-law.
"We'll be there," Janet agreed. "Thanks. And for doing the dogs. I know I could walk them myself, but I promised Sam I wouldn't."
"Better safe than sorry," Anna said. "Cass?" she called, "you ready?"
"Just coming," Cassie called, "just feeding 'the boys'. You know how anxious Albie gets if he doesn't get his dinner immediately after his walk." She kissed her wife tenderly on the cheek. "C'mon then," she said, "bye Mom," she gave her mother a gentle hug. "And call us. Any time you need anything. You swear?"
Janet laughed. "I will, I promise."
= = =
Janet looked at her watch. "Ten past seven," she said as Sam came through the door. "I'm impressed. I can't remember the last time you came home this early from work."
"That's because I missed you," she said, pulling Janet to her and kissing her thoroughly. "Whoah!" she said, as Albie shot along the hall like a bullet and cannoned into her. "Well hello to you too!" she laughed, bending down to greet him and Toby who had followed at a more sedate pace.
"They're just pleased to see you, honey," Janet smiled. "They're not used to me being home without you. Neither am I," she pulled Sam back into the embrace. "How was your day, Sam? Did you get the report finished?"
Sam pulled a face. "Yeah," she said. "The preliminary report, at least. Then it has to be submitted for approvals, then I have to do a more detailed report before each part of the project, get each damned nut and bolt approved. Then, finally I might be allowed to get some of the work done!"
"You look tired, Sam," Janet noted.
"Tired of paperwork," Sam grinned ruefully. "Give me a forest full of jaffa and a P90 any day!"
"Keep me company in the kitchen?" Janet asked, "dinner's nearly ready. I'll get you a drink."
"I'll help myself, sweetie," Sam said, "you don't have to do everything for me. Club soda for you?" she asked.
"Yeah," Janet said. "I'm counting the days until I can have a big glass of wine again."
"It won't be long," Sam said, placing her hand on Janet's bump. She grinned. "He's awake!" she said.
"Not kidding," Janet said, "she's been jumping around all day."
Sam smiled, as she reached behind Janet to get glasses from the shelf behind Janet. "You know we could have found out the sex by now, if we'd really wanted to."
Janet grinned back. "I know anyway," she said. "I can just tell."
"Well, one of us is wrong," Sam laughed, as she poured their drinks. "Seriously, honey, how would you feel if it was a boy?"
"Truly?" Janet asked her. "I couldn't give a rat's ass!"
"Me neither," Sam smiled. "All I care about is that he, or she, has your eyes. You have the most beautiful eyes."
"Look who's talking!" Janet kissed her. "I think I fell for you the second I saw your baby blues. Sit," she pushed Sam gently into a chair, taking care not to spill her whisky. "Tell me all about your plans for the upgrades at the mountain."
"Ugh," Sam said, "I don't wanna talk about that, it's all paperwork at this stage. Except tomorrow," she smiled. "We have to replace some of the electrical system tomorrow. Some jerk from the IOA's 'assessment team' spilt a cup of coffee on the one of the sockets in the MALP room, blew a whole section out. No-one was hurt, thank God, but one of the main power lines to the 'gate has had it. I rigged up a temporary replacement, but we have to put in a whole new section of wiring tomorrow, bypassing the MALP room so nobody can make that sort of mistake again."
"Can't Siler do that?" Janet asked. "Don't you have more important things to do?"
"Siler's gonna help me," Sam said. "But we need somebody who understands the whole circuitry in there. And none of the tech team really knows it as well as I do, so I'm gonna have to oversee it. I don't mind though," she said, "I'm happy to get away from bureaucracy for a day."
= = =
"Shouldn't you be taking your tool belt?" Janet grinned as Sam stood up from breakfast to head toward the mountain. It was still only 6.30am, but Janet had insisted on cooking her breakfast. "I can always go back to bed afterward," she had reminded Sam. "And I want to make the most of you being here."
"Tool belt?" Sam asked.
"Since you're being an electrician for the day," Janet laughed. "You know how I get around blue-collar workers."
Sam smiled. "I'll wear it for you tonight when we get home, after dinner with the girls" she promised, kissing Janet passionately. "How does that sound?"
"Sounds great," Janet's breath caught, "as long as it's the only thing you'll be wearing."
Sam grinned.
= = =
"I know, Carter!" O'Neill held his hands up in surrender. "It'll just make your work harder, and slow you down. And you don't need some IOA dipshit spying on you. I know all that. I told the IOA all that. Slightly more tactfully," he grinned. "And they're not budging. It's just for this week, I swear. If they're not satisfied by Friday, I'll throw them all out of the mountain myself, with my bare hands if I have to."
Sam grimaced. "I'm sorry, Sir, I know none of this is your idea. It just seems crazy to me. But if we have to do it, we have to do it. When does he arrive?"
"They Carter, they," he grumbled. "Three of 'em. Here already, waiting in the commissary. Your dweeb wanted to meet you in your lab, I told him to keep the hell away and to wait in the commissary. As long as you don't let him bring his coffee with him, that's all I ask."
"He's the one that spilt and caused all the problems?" Sam was astounded. "And they still think he's fit to supervise me?"
"I know, it's crazy," he said. "I'm so sorry Carter."
Sam smiled at him. "I've dealt with worse," she reassured him. "It'll be fine. Janet wanted me to ask you and the rest of the guys over for dinner some time. How about you all come this weekend, to celebrate the IOA leaving?"
"That's a date!" O'Neill said. "I'll bring beer."
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," Sam smiled.
"And Carter?" O'Neill added.
"Sir?"
"Tell him every single detail of what you're doing. My guess is that he'll out outta there in less than an hour," O'Neill advised, a grin on his face.
"Are you suggesting my explanations are boring, Sir?" Sam asked, trying to look hurt but unable to suppress a smile.
"Never!" he protested. "Just sometimes they can be very... detailed. Yes, that's it. Detailed. Very, very detailed."
"I'll do what I can Sir," Sam said, and winked as she left his office.
= = =
"Pull the breaker," Sam reminded Siler as they began dismantling the complicated wiring system. "We don't want any accidents, do we?" she grinned at the accident-prone sergeant, who smiled back as he pulled the lever that cut off the electrical supply to the section they were working on.
"Now just why did you do that?" asked Colin Tapley, the pompous IOA official asked.
Sam couldn't believe her ears. Was the guy retarded?
"We're cutting off the electricity supply," she explained patiently. "So that there's no risk of electrocution while we work on this section. It's the only safe way," she said firmly and slightly less patiently as she saw the dubious look on his face. "This way," she said, "we can touch the wires, use tools, make adjustments, all without getting hurt. Sergeant Siler here is just itching to get his wrench round that joint!" she pointed at the relevant part and smiled, trying to inject a little bit of humor into the situation.
Tapley nodded wisely, though Sam doubted he'd even understood, despite her very clear explanation.
Two hours later, they had stripped away the whole damaged section, and had begun replacing it, when O'Neill stuck his head round the corner. "Hey Carter," he said, "Siler. How're you getting along?"
"Just fine, Sir," Sam told him. "Sergeant Siler's just putting in a new junction," she motioned to where Siler was crouching, his ubiquitous wrench in hand.
"Tapley!" O'Neill barked, "I need you in my office. The other dw... I mean, your colleagues, want to see you. Something about a report."
Tapley nodded pompously, and arose from the desk where he had apparently been concentrating closely on paperwork. Sam knew better, she had sneaked a surreptitious look, and saw him struggling with a crossword. Most of the clues remained unanswered, too.
"Okay," he said, and stepped toward the door. He had failed to notice his shoelace had become untied and suddenly stumbled. He reached out to steady himself, and Sam couldn't believe her eyes as she saw him reach out to the wall where he inadvertently grasped the lever of the breaker that they had so carefully pulled before starting work.
"No!" she screamed, but it was too late to stop him. "Sergeant!" she yelled, but knew there was no time. She launched herself at the hapless sergeant who was still holding his wrench, and tackled him to the ground, getting him away from the metal tool just a nanosecond before the electricity coursed through the wiring and arced viciously from the wrench. Siler landed awkwardly against the wall, bruised but otherwise unhurt.
Sam was not so lucky. O'Neill watched in horror as the current visibly arced from the wrench and surged across the room, catching Sam directly on the arm and then deflecting off her face and head. The smell of singed hair was overwhelming. "Carter!" O'Neill yelled, as he leapt across the room, first slamming the breaker off again, and then rushing to the side of his prone 2IC, who was slammed up against the wall at an awkward angle. "Get a medical team!" he shouted at Tapley. "NOW! Before I tear you a new one." Tapley left the room at a run.
"Carter?" O'Neill asked, as he gently pulled Sam into his arms, so that her neck was at a less vicious angle.
"M'okay," Sam mumbled in a weak voice, without opening her eyes. "Flesh wound," she croaked. "Siler?"
"Right here, ma'am," Siler replied. "Thanks to you."
O'Neill could feel Sam starting to shake, as the shock took over. "You'll be fine, Carter. A med team is on its way, they'll fix you right up."
"Don't feel so good," Sam slurred, struggling to open her eyes. She spotted a large clump of her hair on the floor next to her.
"Yeah," O'Neill said gently, "looks like you got an impromptu haircut. Where does it hurt, Sam?" his voice was tender.
"Arm," Sam's voice was almost inaudible. "Head."
O'Neill carefully felt round the back of her head. As well as the badly singed hair, he felt a huge egg on the back of her skull. "You'll be fine," he said again. He noticed her eyelids closing, and squeezed her unhurt hand gently. "Stay with me Sam," he implored. "No sleeping," but Sam's head lolled back as unconsciousness claimed her. "Where's that damned med team?" his voice was urgent.
At that moment, Dr Lam came running in, with two nurses and a gurney. In minutes, she had checked Sam and motioned to her team to load her onto the gurney. She turned to O'Neill. "It's a real bad burn," she said, keeping her voice calm, "and one hell of a concussion. But I don't think it's any worse than that. How did this happen?"
O'Neill's face was like thunder. "It happened," he spat, "because the damned IOA sent an incompetent, dangerous asshole to 'oversee' the best damned officer I've ever worked with and he nearly killed both Carter and Siler. Electrocution," he gestured at the singed wiring.
Lam reached over and touched his hand. "She'll be fine," she told him, "in a few weeks. I've got to get her to the infirmary," she said.
"I'm coming," O'Neill said firmly, and Lam nodded; she was already manoeuvring the gurney out of the room and along the corridor.
In the elevator, Lam turned to O'Neill. "I think this is going to need a skin graft," she said, examining Sam's arm as they traveled the eight floors to the infirmary. "But we can't operate until the concussion wears off. I recommend we stabilize her and get her moved to the Academy hospital. The plastic surgeon there is one of the best there is."
O'Neill nodded. "How long?" he asked.
"Assuming there's no brain damage, and I'll give her an MRI now, it should be safe to give her an anesthetic after eight hours. She's gonna feel pretty rough. We should probably call Janet, she'd want to be here."
"Of course," O'Neill realized. "I'll call Cassie first, she can tell her in person. Carter would wring my neck if I gave her such a shock when she's alone."
= = =
"Cassie!" Janet exclaimed as she looked up to see her daughter coming through the door. "What a nice surprise!" She then saw the serious look on Cassie's face. "Oh God," her blood ran cold. "No. Please. No."
Cassie rushed up to her mother, and embraced her tightly. "No," she said firmly. "She's okay. I swear. Well, she will be. She's banged up, but she's not in any danger. Truly, Mom," she pulled back and looked into Janet's eyes. "She's gonna be just fine."
Janet started to cry. "Oh God," she said again. "I thought... I thought. I thought you were coming..."
"No Mom," Cassie said. "It's nothing like that. But we should go, be with her. Annie's gonna meet us there. Are you okay?" she looked at her mother's pale face.
"Yeah," Janet sniffed. "As long as Sam's gonna be alright. What happened?"
Cassie related the sequence of events to her.
"We should go," Janet said. "Now."
"Just wait a moment while I pack a bag for you Mom," Cassie said gently. "I'll be down in less than two minutes," she was already heading for the stairs. "You sit. You might be there for a couple days, I don't know how long it'll be. I'll pack some pajamas for Sam too, I know how she hates those hospital gowns."
= = =
As Cassie drew into the parking lot at the Academy hospital, she spotted Anna waiting there for her.
"I got a cab," Anna explained, as Cassie opened the door, "I got here ten minutes ago. How are you Janet?" she looked over at her mother-in-law, who appeared unfeasibly tense.
Janet just nodded, her mind clearly with Sam. Anna went to the other side of the car, and opened the door, helping Janet out. She took her hand as they headed toward the side entrance to the hospital. Janet squeezed it, and looked up pitifully at Anna. "She's fine," Anna reassured. "I asked one of the nurses. She's conscious and asking for you apparently."
As they made their way down the corridor, Carolyn Lam approached them. "No brain damage," she immediately said to Janet. "Concussion, and she's gonna need a skin graft."
"Wharton?" Janet asked, referring to the hospital's plastic surgeon.
"Already called him," Lam replied in a gentle tone. "He'll be here any minute. As soon as the eight hours is up, he'll be ready to operate. She's awake," she gestured to the door. "She'll be so happy to see you."
"You go," Cassie said to her mother. "We'll be right outside. Tell Sam we love her."
Janet opened the door quietly, noticing that the lights in the room were dimmed. She approached Sam's bed, and tried not to gasp when she saw the livid burn on her lover's arm. Sam's eyes fluttered open, but she almost immediately shut them, even the dim lights causing her pain. "Jan," Sam croaked. "You're here."
"Of course I'm here, baby," Janet's voice was quiet and tender. She took up Sam's hand from the uninjured arm. "Feeling rough, huh?"
"Yeah," Sam replied in a shaky voice, attempting to turn and look at Janet, but wincing once more at the light.
"Keep them shut, honey," Janet said softly. "And don't try to talk. Just let me know if you need anything. I'm gonna be right here. They'll fix that burn soon," she said. "And you'll get some pain relief too. I know it's awful right now, baby, but they can't give you anything yet because of the concussion."
"I know," Sam whispered. "Feel awful. Nauseous."
"You need to throw up?" Janet asked.
"Don't think so," Sam said weakly. "Tired."
"Try and sleep, Sam," Janet said. "We'll have to wake you every half hour, just to check things. You know the drill."
"Stay?" Sam asked.
"I'll be here the whole time," Janet reassured her, "and the girls are outside too, they send their love."
"So sorry," Sam said, already half asleep.
Janet kissed her softly on the lips. "Not your fault, baby," she said tenderly. "Sleep now," she sat in the chair next to the bed, keeping a tight hold of Sam's hand. She caressed it gently as Sam's breathing evened out.
One fat tear escaped and rolled down Janet's face unchecked. "Thank God you're gonna be okay," she whispered to her sleeping lover. "I don't think I could live without you. I pray I never have to."