Tara Maclay, recent graduate of Yale University, brushed a lock of long blonde hair behind her ear and clutched her folder tightly against her chest. The fact that she wasn't able to move back to Sunnydale like she had planned hadn't fully registered yet. All that mattered was that she had been offered a job, an actual job! True, she was clueless on what exactly the job entailed, but she had been promised by the Air Force representative who had approached her that it was exciting and her intelligence would be put to good use. Plus, she had seen her first paycheck, and it was more than many graduate students, even ones with doctorates, could expect in their first five years. Much less their first month!
"Ummm, h-hi," she said as she walked up to the man waiting at her front door. "You a-already have a-all my things, r-right?" Damn, her stammer was going to give her trouble again.
The man nodded curtly. "Yes, Doctor Maclay. If you'll please come with me, then I will take you to the base. It should only take a couple of hours if we leave now."
Tara nodded again, sighing only a little when she thought of the pretty red-head with sparkling green eyes she was going to be leaving behind. Willow will be fine, she told herself firmly, not for the first time. She's a strong girl, and I'll still be able to visit her. This job can't last forever, right? But, for some reason, when she closed the door of her apartment, she felt like she was shutting the door on the part of her life that had dealt with Willow, Buffy, and the Scoobies.
"Right this way, Doctor Maclay," a young woman in uniform said as Tara exited the elevator. "Captain Carter is expecting you."
Tara nodded, shifting her shoulder strap so that her side bag rested more comfortably. She was already a little overwhelmed by all of this, according to the elevator she was multiple levels underground, and everyone who escorted her was calling her 'Doctor'. Yes, she had her doctorate's degree, but she had only had it for about a week. "E-excuse me," she said politely. "B-but could you t-tell me where e-exactly I am?"
To her surprise, the young woman did not even look surprised at her slight stammer. "Captain Carter will explain everything, it's not my job to do that." To take the bite off of the words, she smiled at Tara. "I'm Second Lieutenant Lisa Warren, and I'm going to give you a word of advice. Don't take the Captain too seriously right now, she's kinda-"
"There you are!" a tall woman with short-cropped blonde hair exclaimed, eyes darker than Tara's flashing as she stepped out of the next room. "I was wondering when you were going to get here, I have a briefing in two hours."
"Sorry Captain Carter," Warren apologized. "I brought Doctor Maclay straight here."
The woman, Tara guessed she must be Captain Samantha Carter, nodded. "Alright Second Lieutenant, you're dismissed. Ms. Maclay, if you'll come with me?"
Tara, who had been openly staring at Samantha, blushed and tore her eyes away before following the other woman into the next room. What am I doing? she thought. I cannot possibly be staring at this woman. I have a girlfriend - but that doesn't mean I can't think she's attractive... no! She's probably straight anyhow, isn't being gay illegal in the military? "H-hello," Tara said when Samantha had closed the door. She extended her free hand, the other still clasping the folder, and smiled. "I'm Tara Maclay."
Samantha eyed her hand for a moment before giving it a very brief shake, not returning Tara's smile. "Yes, Doctor Maclay, isn't it?" The emphasis on 'doctor' made Tara cringe. "I'm Captain Samantha Carter, and I was informed yesterday evening that I'm supposed to show you all the ropes here. Oh, and that..." Samantha stopped, a look on her face that clearly said she was trying not to show how irritated she was. "If the Colonel can accept it, then so can I. You're to help me with my research, and come along on any mission on which we might require your aid." Samantha, who was starting to make Tara feel smaller and smaller, looked at Tara once again. "How old are you? Twenty-two, twenty-three?"
This can't be happening, Tara thought, fighting to keep her head up. Everyone was so polite, and now I get her! "T-t-t-twenty-seven, a-actually. C-captain C-c-carter."
"Speech disorder?"
Tara just shook her head, not wanting to show how much of a stammer she got when she was upset. That morning she had been excited, and now all she wanted to do was curl up in a corner. This woman wasn't just making her feel small, she was making her feel unwanted. And what had she done to her? All she did was shake her hand, smile, and introduce herself. All she wanted was to do her job and do it well. But if this was a sign of how everything was going to be, then she wasn't sure if she wanted to stay after all.
"Sit down," Samantha said shortly, pointing to a chair. "And I'll explain what it is we do here. It's just going to be a quick rundown, because I have a briefing to go to soon, but it will have to do. If it is not enough to satisfy you, then there are files you can go through until I get back. When I get back you will assist me, doctor, and I will explain anything else you need to know. Before I start, do you have any questions or requests?" Her eyes seemed to dare Tara to ask for someone else.
That's what you want, isn't it? she asked silently, still not looking away. All thoughts that Samantha was even remotely attractive had fled from her mind, no one who was this rude to someone they didn't even know could interest her. You want me to say that I want to have someone else explain so that you don't have to deal with me. Well I have news for you, captain, you're not getting rid of me that easily. "N-no, C-captain," she said, sliding into her seat. "N-n-nothing at a-all."
Three days later, Tara's biggest problem wasn't that she was now dealing with things from other worlds, or that there was a gate that led to those other worlds nearby, it was Captain Samantha Carter. Every time they worked together, which was every day so far, Samantha did everything possible to make Tara uncomfortable. If it had been just that, then maybe Tara would have been able to shrug it off, but it wasn't. The other three members of SG-1, and several other people on the base, took measures to avoid her, even when she tried to talk to them. She was starting to feel like she was in high school again, with everyone snickering about her behind her back. And it was making her regret that she had decided to take this job.
"Ahhh, so you've finally made it in for a check-up," a red-head with a pretty smile said as Tara walked into what she desperately hoped was the infirmary. "Doctor Tara Maclay, I assume?"
Tara nodded, brushing her hair back in what her friends from Sunnydale would have recognized as a sign that she was extremely uneasy. I can't believe that I miss Sunnydale, and even the monsters that I had to deal with there. At least I knew that they wanted to tear me limb from limb. "P-please just c-c-call me Tara," she stammered, crossing her arms across her chest. "I-I-I-I'm uneasy w-with that t-title still."
"Well, I'm Doctor Janet Fraiser," the red-head said, shaking Tara's hand and guiding her to an examination table. "And you can call me Janet, since I'm sure you'd be more comfortable with that. So, how have your first few days on the base been?"
"N-not good," Tara muttered, biting her lip.
"Uh-huh, I expected as much," Janet said, sighing. "See, Sam didn't want an assistant, especially not someone fresh from a university with no Air Force training. But General Hammond insisted on it, and Sam follows the orders she's given. Mostly."
Sam must be Samantha Carter... come to think of it, I've heard someone call her that. Not that she ever would, it was a nickname, and she definitely wasn't on nickname terms with the Captain. She wasn't even on first-name terms with her. "I-I-I've been t-trying, but i-i-it just doesn't s-seem t-to be good e-enough."
"That's Sam for you," Janet said, listening to Tara's heart. "Just keep at it, no matter how unwanted you feel, and show her that you're worth the effort. Though, if she actually read the file that she got on you, then she should already be impressed. Doctorate in physics, right?"
Tara nodded, pleasantly surprised that someone actually knew what her degree was in. Samantha hadn't seemed to think that she knew one end of a beaker from the other. "With a-a bachelor's in astrophysics a-and another in biology, c-chemistry as a minor."
"Hardly a stammer there," Janet remarked as she prepared to draw a sample of Tara's blood. "Seems to only be really evident when you're nervous or uneasy. Didn't you have a degree in something artistic, too?"
Flushing, Tara nodded, averting her eyes as the needle bit into her arm. She didn't like needles, but she wasn't deathly afraid of them like Willow. That brought a bit of a pang, she missed her, but it was quickly suppressed. "P-painting," she admitted. "Not very sc-scientific, though."
"Quite the talented one, ain't she?" a man with gray hair remarked from his position near the doorway. "Now we just have to teach her how to fight and she might do us some good if we ever need to drag her along on a mission."
"Be nice, Colonel," Janet chided, pressing a cotton ball against the small puncture wound the needle had left. "Daniel wasn't a member of the Air Force, either."
The Colonel, Jack O'Neill if Tara remembered correctly, shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Doesn't matter much to me. Scientists are all the same, no offense meant, ma'm."
"N-n-none taken," Tara said, staring fixedly at the ground near her feet. She knew how to fight, being friends with a vampire Slayer tended to have that effect, but she wasn't about to tell anyone here about that. They might take it as a sign of insanity, despite the fact that they traveled to other worlds and fought things called Goa'uld, and she did not need that.
"I'll get you the full results in an hour or so," Janet said, patting Tara on the shoulder. "But from what I've seen, you're in perfect shape. Do you work out?"
Tara nodded, her face still slightly flushed, and hopped down from the table. When she tried to go out the door, though, she found herself face-to-face with Jack. Or rather, she found herself staring at his combat boots. "C-c-can I g-get t-t-t-through?" she managed, her stammer making her words hardly recognizable. She knew ranks, and Colonel was a very high one. To top it off, this same man had laughed when she had made a small mistake the previous day, and that tended to unnerve her.
"Soon as you say hello like a good little new person I've never met."
"You've met her," an all-too familiar voice remarked from behind the boots, and Tara only just kept back a groan. "She's the new doctor."
Despite what Janet had said, Tara did not want to deal with Samantha Carter right then and her vibes of get-the-hell-away-from-me. So she did just that, slipped around Jack and walked down the hall as fast as she could without breaking into an actual run. Things had to get better, didn't they? Especially if she didn't let Captain Samantha Carter keep her down like she was do very determined to do.