Broken and Bleeding

DISCLAIMER: SG-1 isn't mine. sighs If it was Janet wouldn't have died.

SUMMARY: After the events in 'Heroes' things go a little differently for everyone involved, especially for Janet, who finds that her journey has only just begun.

SETTINGS: Set after Heroes 2. Keeping in mind I haven't seen this episode in ages, and it was actually about the tenth episode I've ever seen. Caught up since then, but haven't been able to rewatch Heroes yet.

PAIRING: There are gonna be some serious Sam/Janet undertones, but nothing overt I don't think.

ONWARDS:

CHAPTER ONE: RETURN TO P3X-666

It had been three days. Three horrible and silent days in which the whole of Stargate Command had tried to gather the shreds of their souls and continue on, but everyone's minds were still firmly on the events that had taken place halfway across the galaxy.

P3X-666.

They should have known that nothing good could have come from a designation so…well, the name spoke for itself.

It had been a trap, and SG-13 had been caught off guard by dozens of Anubis' jaffa warriors. Reinforcements had been sent in the form of SG teams 1 and 6, and a contingent of med-techs and the Chief Medical Officer of the SGC. It was possibly the worst mistake they could ever have made.

Senior Airman Simon Wells had been saved thanks to the quick and skilled hands of the SGC CMO, Doctor Janet Fraiser, but his was the last life that she would save. A single staff blast to the chest had thrown her to the ground, stopped her heart, and left her for dead. In the chaos of the retreat back to the gate, Doctor Fraiser had been left behind, the hardest decision ever made by any of the SGC personnel. But Janet Fraiser had died to save the life of Simon Wells, and the med-techs and Daniel Jackson had chosen to honour that sacrifice by doing everything possible to get Wells to the gate. Even if it meant leaving Janet's body behind.

Major Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and Tea l'c stepped through the gate to P3X-666 and stood, staring at the battlefield that had taken the life of not only the best doctor any of them had ever met, but one of their closest friends as well. Their commanding officer was noticeably absent, still recovering in the infirmary from a staff weapon blast that had thankfully been deflected by the new armour that a group of hidhly sought after scientists had been designing.

Daniel swallowed hard. He and the rest of SG-1 had volunteered for this mission, and he would see it through to the end no matter how painful it was. They were here to collect the body of the woman who had given her life to save another, and to bring home her remains for burial. The memorial service in front of the gate had been beautiful, but for those in Janet's life who hadn't been part of the SGC, they needed the finality of burying the body of their friend.

"Over-" Daniel's throat clogged up, and he had to cough softly before he could speak again. "Over here."

Teal'c and Carter silently followed him over to the small incline where Daniel had watched Janet Fraiser die. Daniel subtly swiped a hand over his eyes, trying to clear the image of Janet being thrown backwards, her cry of surprise, her chest blasted open, blood and pus oozing from the wound, her eyes staring blindly at the clouded sky.

Sam noticed the subtle movement and swallowed to keep her own tears back. She'd never had a closer friend than Janet, and she was feeling the loss more than anyone else. She and Janet had always been on the same wavelength about almost anything, and they'd made an incredible team whenever they worked together. They had always had a cohesive energy between them that made for a great working relationship and a deep personal friendship.

That had only been compounded by Janet adopting Cassandra when Sam herself had been unable to fulfil the role of mother that she'd so desperately wanted to be for the young alien child from Hanka. Now that Janet was gone, it would fall to Sam to play that role, though Cassandra was nearly eighteen and in college.

Sam shook her head, trying to focus on the mission at hand. She was unsuccessful until she heard Daniel murmur a quiet 'oh my god'.

Sam looked down to see what had Daniel so startled. Instead of finding the slowly decaying body of her best friend, all she found was her friends flattened clothing and a medical pack sitting beside them.

"What-" Sam started…

…only to be interrupted by Daniel's "she ascended."

"How is that possible?" Teal'c asked sombrely.

Even the stoic Jaffa had been affected by Janet's passing. He'd always respected the woman's knowledge and the fact that her mere presence could coerce even the fiercest Marine and Air Force Officers into complying to her wishes. Teal'c knew that he owed his life to the petite woman several times over, and he knew of no other whom he would trust so wholeheartedly with the health of his teammates now that Janet was gone.

"Well, we – we know that Oma and her disciples often watch over us," Daniel explained, crouching beside the carefully laid clothes.

Sam followed Daniel's example, digging Janet's dogtags from out of the collar of the black shirt. She studied them, noting the bloodstains, tears pricking her eyes as she read over the engraved details on the metal. She closed her hand around them, squeezing tightly before placing the tags in the breast pocket of her tac-vest.

"So…she's like you were," Sam said quietly. "Ascended."

"It certainly looks that way," Daniel replied.

Sam nodded quietly and closed her eyes, trying to deal with that new piece of information. Having her best friend be a member of the Ascended was far better than trying to deal with her death. In fact, it made her hopeful, knowing that Daniel had been returned to them. Perhaps Janet could be as well.

"DoctorFraiser truly was worthy of such a gift," Teal'c said quietly, his heart rejoicing at the fact that such a bright spirit had not merely been extinguished, but was rather starting a new journey.

"We should get back to the SGC," Sam said, carefully folding the bloodied clothing. "General Hammond will need to be informed."

Daniel nodded and picked up the abandoned medical kit and the trio made the walk back to the Stargate, dialling back to earth and entering the correct IDC. Each of them paused on the platform in front of the open wormhole, staring back at the planet that had ended the life of their friend and colleague, and had begun that same woman on a journey that would be filled with life-changing opportunities.

Teal'c and Daniel turned back to the Stargate and stepped through, leaving Sam standing alone on the planet that had changed so many lives by taking only one.

"Be safe Janet," she whispered softly. "Wherever you are."

Be nice, this is one of my first pure SG-1 fics. Enjoy and review please?

Toodles.

DKG.