Author's Note: I blame napoleonicpowerqueen for this. She asked for this and my muse, being the amazingly cruel beast that she is, agreed immediately because it's cruel and painful and such a fun prompt. I've got the next chapter done and sent to my amazing beta (yay napoleonicpowerqueen!) and the next installment is nearly done so updates should be relatively quick.

Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable.

She's been staring at her computer screen for two hours now and Janet Fraiser's eyes are starting to cross. The test results she's been trying to make sense of keep swimming as she stares and she sighs heavily as she blinks and sits back. It's been a long day and she knows when it's time to quit for a while, despite what her staff would say. Pushing away from her desk, she stands and stretches, wincing when her back pops loudly. A quick glance at her watch tells her that it's time for lunch so she decides to head up and see if her wife's eaten anything more than the blue jello Janet knows she'll find.

"I'll be back," she tells her charge nurse on her way out of the infirmary. Her mind wanders as she walks to the elevator, flitting between the results she's just left behind and the plans her wife has for their fifth wedding anniversary. Sam's been extremely secretive but Janet's managed to weasel a few tidbits of information from her; Sam's planned a picnic when they get off duty later today and there's a beautifully wrapped present with Janet's name on it in Sam's desk drawer.

"You do know that blue jello isn't actually food, right?" At the sound of Janet's voice, Sam looks up sheepishly from the magnifying glass she's been looking through and offers a smile as she tries to push the half empty cups of blue jello out of the way. Janet rolls her eyes and plops herself down on the stool across from the blonde, shaking her head. "It's too late for that, you doofus. Did you at least eat anything other than jello?"

"Uh, I had a bagel," Sam says, scrunching her nose for a moment as she thinks. "Wait, that was breakfast, wasn't it?"

"Yes, yes it was," Janet rolls her eyes and props her elbows on the work table's surface before resting her chin in her hands. "We can go to the commissary and grab something quick."

"Can't," the blonde replies, motioning to the magnifying glass. "SG-9 brought back a goa'uld device from P4X-526 and General Hammond asked me to study it because no one has any idea what it is or what it does."

"Anything noteworthy yet?"

"The amount of energy it's giving off is increasing in small increments," Sam says. Lifting the small square artifact so Janet can see it, Sam huffs. "I can't figure out where it's even getting the power from. It appears to be a solid piece of stone and the readings show it's not magnetized but I have no idea where the energy's coming from."

"Sounds like quite the puzzle." Janet's brow furrows as she stares at the small item; it's a dark grey, with symbols etched on the surface. "Does Daniel know what it says?"

Sam nods and sets the artifact down. "He said he thinks it says something about destroying the enemy but he's not entirely sure because he's never seen a few of the symbols before." Her focus shifts from the device to her wife and she smiles. "He's doing research now, hoping he'll find something to help decipher the unknown symbols so we can figure out what the artifact does."

Janet sits up straight and returns the smile, her brown eyes sparkling. "Well then, we have time to go eat something. Daniel is incredibly thorough, you know, and he won't be done until he knows exactly what every symbol means."

Sam nods and goes to move the artifact back into its yellow storage case when there's a flash of light and a deafening sound. Janet doesn't even have time to cry out before she's thrown backward off the stool and into the wall behind her. The last thing she hears before she loses consciousness is the sound of the Mountain's alarm going off over the intercom.

The pain that greets her return to awareness is enough to make her groan. Her head is pounding, her body feels leaden, and she's faintly aware that she can't move. She groans again and tries to remember what happened, but nothing comes to her immediately. It takes her a full five minutes to get her eyes open but when she does, the bright fluorescent lighting above her makes her groan and slam her eyes shut again.

"Doctor Fraiser?" The voice makes her head throb and she winces as she tries to speak. Licking her lips, she groans.

"Turn the overhead lights off," another voice says and the bright light is gone. Opening her eyes again, she blinks slowly in confusion. Doctor Warner and General Hammond are standing over her with sad looks that makes Janet unsure about what's going on. Licking her lips again, she finally manages to speak.

"Wha- . . . What . . .?"

"There was an accident, Doctor Fraiser," Warner interrupts her, the sadness on his face making him look twenty years older. "What do you remember?"

She stares up at him and frowns, sifting through the jumbled memories she has. Test results . . . picnics . . . blue jello . . . Sam. Her eyes open wide and she shakes her head as her breathing grows ragged.

"Sam . . . There was . . . there was a device," she croaks, her anxiety increasing when the general nods solemnly.

"Major Carter was studying a goa'uld device brought back by SG-9. There was some sort of failsafe that was triggered and caused a sudden buildup of energy. The two of you were caught in the explosion."

"Sam?"

"I'm so sorry, Doctor Fraiser." The utter devastation on the general's face makes Janet's heart jump into her throat and she whimpers quietly when Hammond reaches out and places a gentle hand on her upper arm. "Doctor Warner did everything he could but Major Carter's injuries were too severe because of her immediate proximity to the device. She didn't make it through surgery."

Janet stares up at the bald man in shock, her mouth agape as she twitches. 'This isn't happening. This can't be happening,' she thinks. 'This is a cruel joke. Sam's fine, she's just okay, and I'm going to kick her ass when I see her again.' Her mind can't accept what she's been told and she closes her eyes to avoid seeing the pity on the general's face. 'He's wrong. Sam's okay.'