AN: I wrote this after reading a shitty SG1 book, 'The Morpheus Factor'; the only thing I gained from reading that book was a new found curiosity of the Jack and Janet pairing! So here is me dabbling in that~
Please R&R! I only have cookies and love to give!
He wasn't really sure why he was here.
It was, and should have been, slightly alarming that he had zoned out on the drive home and had ended up at a place that wasn't his but given that he had just spent a few days off world having his brain manipulated with some damn incense and having to live out some horrific nightmares that were way too real for his liking, he could be forgiven, right?
The people of P4V-837, the Kayeechi, had seemed nice enough at first, even despite the terrifying and ever-changing illusion that was the landscape of their world. What had started as a fragrant meadow on a cloudless day had turned into a battle to the death between some giant bird things and zebra-striped trees.
Jack should have known something was wrong then. He should have hauled his team out of there as soon as the birds and the trees vanished into thin air and transformed into a too-good-to-be-true beach.
Doc Fraiser said later that it was probably the food that had lowered their inhibitions and the incense that put them into their whacky dream states.
Turned out, the Kayeechi had the power to 'shape' dreams and bring what would have once been purely imagination, into the real world. They were using SG1's dreams and memories to access weapons that they could use in their war against their enemies. The problem with this, of course, was that, not only did they not ask, but the dreams had been too graphic, too traumatic, and too real. Not to mention that without knowing what it was, the Kayeechi had planned to build a nuclear bomb and would have wiped themselves out if it weren't for SG1.
That hadn't even been the worst of it.
Poor Daniel was still dealing with the nightmare he had been trapped in, in which everyone (including himself) had been killed in the SGC, by none other than Teal'c, who had apparently rejoined Apophis and his cronies. From what little Daniel had said about it, the smell of the decay and the death would haunt him for some time.
Thank god Janet had been there in the end, to shoot the alien keeping Jack in a dream state. The little furry creature's death had stopped the dream/hallucination/abomination and all was well and dandy now that they were back on earth.
The team had been given a week off and Hammond had ordered them all to give a visit to Doctor MacKenzie before he could put them back in the field.
While Jack hated having nothing to do, the downtime was well deserved and just what he needed. All he wanted to do was sleep his way into next week.
Except, that's exactly what he didn't want to do, even if he could will himself to doze off.
None of that really explained why he was outside Janet Fraiser's house at 9 pm on a Saturday night.
Perhaps it was because he couldn't stop thinking about the way she had dragged those big brown eyes from his head to his toes slowly when he had been stark naked during the physical the day before.
"I have no secrets from you, do I, Doc?"
She hadn't even tried to hide her gaze and he was glad he was facing away from her when she had given him that impish grin.
"Not even one, Colonel, and I intend to keep it that way."
It was almost blatantly unprofessional of her and if they hadn't been such good friends, he might have thought to bring her up on insubordination charges.
He blamed his exhaustion for it but he had also found himself calling her 'Janet' more often than not during the mission. She hadn't ever corrected him, nor had she berated him when he'd asked her 'where she wanted him' when they were setting up the Lucid dreaming experiment on the planet. He couldn't help but tease her and it wasn't made any easier by her smart-ass retorts right back at him.
Jack dropped his head to the steering wheel, exhaustion finally kicking in; he'd slept way too much in the last three days and yet his body felt as if he hadn't slept in a week. He'd never understand those people who had Lucid Dreams on purpose; he'd be happy if he never dreamt again at this rate.
He was still questioning the reality of everything around him.
Knowing that this was a stupid mistake to be here – the woman deserved some down time with her daughter without someone from work hassling her – Jack was fully ready to drive home, sleepiness or no.
It was too late.
Cassie had apparently heard the truck pull into their driveway and she was outside before he could realise his mistake.
"Jack!" The young girl grinned, yanking open the door open and Jack felt himself smile down at her despite himself.
"Hey, kiddo!" He unbuckled and climbed out of the cab, pulling the girl into a bear hug. She giggled as he picked her up, just for a few seconds and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure appear in the doorway.
Cassie dragged him toward the house, chattering excitedly, telling him just how big the puppy (aptly named 'Homer') had grown and wait until she showed him what she had drawn at school!
"Good evening, Colonel. To what do we owe this pleasure?" The Doctor stood at the front door, arms folded across her chest. It wasn't entirely strange to see the woman out of uniform – the gang had all hung out outside of work before – but to see her in her pyjamas was altogether a weird experience. That wasn't to say she didn't look good – her Montana school jersey was too big for her and she had some lounge pants underneath that were very snug in all the right ways. She looked like the epitome of comfort, the complete opposite of how she dressed at work, all prim and proper, the good air force doctor with pressed skirts and ironed collars.
Jack felt himself smile sheepishly at the woman as he stopped on the bottom step, the girl dashing inside somewhere.
"Sorry. Couldn't sleep… I went for a drive to clear my head and… well, here I am."
Something crossed her face and she laughed softly.
"Waiting for me to wish you sweet dreams, huh?"
Jack found himself grinning even wider at the joke; he'd made the same one back on P4V-837 just as she was getting ready to send him off to visit the Sandman.
"Not gonna wish me sweet dreams, doc?"
She had smiled at him, warm fingers brushing his face as she attached another node to his forehead.
"Not this time, Colonel."
Joke aside, Jack could see the worry etched into her features. She was his doctor before anything else and if he was on her doorstep late at night, especially after a traumatic mission, she had every right to worry.
"Something like that…" He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck just as he yawned and the woman stepped aside then, dropping her arms.
"Come on in, then. I'll see if I can't find you something to help."
The house was warm and smelled of popcorn and the TV was paused on the credits of some movie that the two must have been watching. Janet disappeared into the kitchen and Jack took the opportunity to scan the VCR cover.
Labyrinth.
God, he hadn't thought of that movie in years. When he and Charlie had first watched it together, it had taken them weeks to get the boy to stop reciting the songs. Not that they really minded but there are only so many times you can ask 'what babe?' before it gets tiring.
Still, Jack missed the little things like that now.
He thought of Charlie every day but the past few had brought that pain and grief up all over again. No doubt that was part of why he was so reluctant to sleep; with Charlie on his mind so much, the boy would be in his dreams again and the dreams of his son never ended well.
Cassie was back by his side a moment later, holding a squirming, much-too-large-to-be-held-dog in her arms, her smile wide.
"Cassandra," Janet's voice was full of amusement as she emerged with two cups of hot chocolate, but she was obviously trying to stick to her guns and stand by her word as a mother. "You promised; once you'd brushed your teeth, it was bedtime."
"But moooom~" Cassie whined, rolling her eyes. Jack decided to stay out of the domestics, instead taking the dog from the girl. Homer was happy to see the colonel and began giving him wet kisses across his jaw and cheeks.
"Cassie. Now, please."
The alien girl sighed loudly and looked up, eyes meeting Jack's, "Sorry we didn't get to hang out, Jack…" The girl looked dejected and Jack set the dog free on the floor to pull Cassie into a one-armed hug, knuckles rubbing her scalp playfully.
"Not to worry, kid. How about tomorrow I take you out to play catch, hey?"
Both dog and child seemed happy with that and it was only a few more minutes before Cassie was racing upstairs to bed, leaving the adults to their hot drinks on the couch. He wasn't sure this was what he had in mind when she had said she'd give him something to help him sleep but he wasn't complaining. The drink was warm and sweet on his tongue and if he wasn't already tired, the hot chocolate was lulling him even further into exhaustion.
He looked up from his mug to find her watching him. She looked tired herself, even if she hadn't been subjected to the hellish dreams. She'd been awake and researching for their return mission to the planet without much of a break, save only for when General Hammond gave her no choice. Even then, she hadn't been able to go home to her daughter (there was simply too much to do) and her sleep had been restless.
Then she had killed a man…alien… thing.
Of course, she was a Major in the Air Force and she'd seen people die, especially given her profession as a doctor. Nonetheless, as a doctor, it was her job to save lives, not take them.
"Are you alright, Janet?"
It seemed so foreign to call her by her first name but 'Doc' just wouldn't cut it at a moment like this.
The woman, just for a moment, let her shoulders sag as if she had been waiting for someone to ask that question and she looked down into her mug, letting out a soft sigh.
"I can't help but feel a little sorry for Kayeechi. I don't excuse what they did to you and your team but they were desperate. Vair was just trying to save his people…"
"And you were just saving me, Doc. No one blames you for what you did."
"I do." She looked up at him, honey brown eyes meeting his and he held her gaze as he reached across to touch her hand. "I've seen plenty of people die, Jack. But I've never been responsible for it."
Slowly, he pried the cup from her hands and set it next to his own on the coffee table before he turned back to her and pulled her in for a hug. It was what he'd been wanting to do earlier, on base, when she was packing to accompany them back to P4V-837. She had looked so stressed and worried and he had stepped in closer to her before he knew what he was doing, so close to her that he could smell the shampoo she used.
She was always there for the team, picking up after them, patching them up and listening to their complaints. Was there anyone to do that for her?
There was a small part of him that worried she would shove him away, remind him of why this was inappropriate and wrong but the small woman simply sagged into his embrace, arms winding under his, circling his back. They held on for dear life as if just for the moment she hadn't shot anyone and he hadn't almost blown up an entire planet again.
Eventually, they drifted apart and Janet picked her drink back up, their knees resting against each other as they began to talk. He didn't know how long they sat there talking for; it could have been hours for all he knew. And somehow, work didn't come up once. Instead they spoke about Cassie and her school, how she had tried out for the softball team and how Janet had barely stopped her from writing a story for class, about a young girl being rescued from her planet by a team of interstellar travellers. They spoke about Janet's ex-husband, Davey, and they spoke about Sarah; divorces are a weird thing to bond over, they concluded, well into their third cups of hot cocoa.
Jack had just finished telling a story about the time Charlie had tried to make his father a cake that turned out more like a flat disk of burnt dough when he yawned again. He saw the corners of Janet's lips twitch and she pat his knee where her hand had been resting for quite some time. The loss of warmth was startling but he watched her as she stood, collecting the mugs and he certainly watched her in that oversized sweatshirt and form-fitting lounge pants as she strode into the kitchen.
Feeling his sleep addled brain going to dangerous places, thinking about things that a Colonel's brain should not be thinking about his CMO, Jack stood up and stretched, a strange, twisted groan leaving him as his back protested.
"I should head home now," He called after her, resisting the temptation to lay back down on the couch and fall asleep. God, at this rate, he might end up sleeping in the truck.
"No you don't, sir." She emerged again, this time holding a glass of water and a little bottle of pills. He eyed her suspiciously but she ignored his scepticism. "It's far too late to drive home and I've got a perfectly good fold out sofa that you can sleep on. Besides, you promised to play catch with Cassie tomorrow, remember?"
"This isn't just your way of getting into my pants, is it doc?" Jack smirked, taking the offered glass and he took great pride in the fact that he watched a blush blossom across the apples of her cheeks as she pursed her lips.
"Not this time, Colonel. No secrets, remember?" Jack snorted a laugh and took the pills from her too, her big grin warm and disarming. "These are just a sleeping pill. They'll knock you out and should skip right past the REM stage, so no nasty dreams to worry about."
He looked at the given sedative sceptically but he trusted the doc and a nice, deep, uninterrupted sleep sounded great. While he downed the meds, Janet pulled out the sofa and made the bed.
His current attire wasn't the best of sleeping clothes but he'd slept in worse and for just a moment, the pair stood in awkward silence, neither knowing just how to say goodnight. Then Janet pursed her lips again and stepped forward, warm hand on his bicep, standing on her tippy toes to kiss his cheek. It was so quick and delicate that Jack almost thought he had imagined it except that there was suddenly a bonfire in his stomach and his heart was beating like machine gun fire.
"Goodnight Colonel."
"G'night, doc."
She stepped away and he let his eyes follow her to the Hall where she dimmed the lights for him.
Janet hesitated once more as she glanced back at him, that impish smile back.
"Sweet dreams, Jack."