A/N: Sam's comment in "Hathor" about feeling like 'the girl' inspired a wee little plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone until I put it in writing, so here goes nothing! As usual, it hasn't been beta-ed so please bear with me. And most importantly… Enjoy: )
Being 'The Girl'
"Are you telling me that's the girl they sent out with O'Neill's team?"
Gritting her teeth, against the flash of irritation the words sparked, Sam studiously avoided looking in the direction the whispered exclamation had come from. Striding purposely over to an available treadmill, she popped her headphones over her ears and cranked the volume on her discman as loud as it would go. She could care less about permanent hearing damage, just so long as she didn't have to listen to any more gossip about herself tonight.
Setting the treadmill's pace and incline to the most punishing setting her bruised and weary body could handle, Sam proceeded to vent her frustration on the machine's belt. Each slap of her feet on the rubber eased away a little of the tension that had left her prowling Cheyenne Mountain's hallways like a caged animal. She continued to run long after the last of her restless energy had dissipated, hoping to exhaust herself to the point that sleep would steal over her as soon as she laid down in her temporary quarters.
Forty-five minutes later, the thoughts that her workout had managed to chase away crept back to the forefront of her mind as she swept a hand across her forehead to brush her sweat-matted bangs out of her eyes.
She'd known she would have her work cut out for her, convincing the infamous Colonel Jack O'Neill that she deserved a spot on his team. She'd spent the entire flight from Washington preparing herself to prove to yet another chauvinistic officer that she was just as good as any man under his command.
What she hadn't expected was how easily he'd accepted her presence. Oh, he hadn't been happy about it, but Sam truly believed that had more to do with disliking scientists than any hee-man woman-hating on his part.
With two missions under Colonel O'Neill's command under her belt, Sam was surprised to discover that the man didn't mind having her around. What's more, he actually trusted her in the field. That was a first for her; she'd earned her commanders' respect in the lab easily enough in the past, but there'd always been a hesitation to leave her watching someone's back out in the field.
Now, against all her expectations, Sam found that earning Colonel O'Neill's trust and respect was a done deal. It was the rest of the base personnel that were having trouble accepting that the 2IC slot on the program's flagship team had gone to a woman.
Leaving her headphones on, Sam wound her way through the base on her way to the locker room, mulling the last few days over. The stargate program was more than she'd ever thought possible, even in her wildest dreams. Having already traveled to more planets than a NASA astronaut could ever hope to set foot on in a lifetime sent a shiver of excitement down her spine every time she thought about it. She'd had to fight tooth and nail to get posted to a field unit, but it was absolutely worth it.
After knocking and receiving no response, Sam flipped the sign on the locker room door to 'women' and entered. She removed her headphones before peeling off her sweat soaked workout clothes. Relieved to find that she had the room to herself, Sam's thoughts turned to contemplating her teammates.
They were an odd bunch, that much was for sure, she thought with a wry smile as she toed off her running shoes. A once-retired black ops Colonel, a civilian archaeologist and an honest to God alien... Despite their vastly different backgrounds and experiences, Sam had to admit they worked well together. There was still a lot of work to do to mold the foursome into a fully functioning field unit, but all in all, things looked promising.
As she reached into her locker for her shower gear, Sam's musings were interrupted by disgruntled voices just outside the locker room door.
"I bet it's that damn girl from O'Neill's team, taking her sweet time and hogging the showers," the first voice growled, the owner's displeasure evident.
"She won't last," his companion assured confidently. "Even if the powers that be decide she's not too big a liability to leave in the field, she'll request a transfer as soon as she realizes that it's not science fair show-and-tell time out there."
Slamming her locker shut, Sam blinked back tears of frustration. Heading to the back of the room where the shower stalls were located, she resolved that she'd never let anyone on base know how much the harsh words that stalked her through the hallways hurt her.
Some days it really sucked being 'the girl.'
