Title: In Over Her Head
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Nothing really, bit of medical, but hey, it's just first aid
Prompt: Sam and Janet stranded offworld with Janet ill and Sam as primary caretaker. No boys allowed!
Summary: On an ordinary mission, Janet gets in over her head, literally.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Rachel for all her hard work on the ficathon. It literally wouldn't have happened without her.
In Over Her Head
By
Denise
"I'll bet this was the last thing you wanted to do on your day off," Janet said, glancing over at Sam.
Her friend was walking beside her, her weapon held loosely in her hands. "When we're short staffed, people lose their days off," Sam said casually.
Janet shrugged. "True, but coming into the office usually doesn't mean hiking five miles and playing escort."
"Trust me, I'll take a five mile long, testosterone free hike over cleaning the bathroom any day of the week," Sam reassured.
"Still, thank you for coming." Janet held up the satchel she was carrying. "If these drugs work as good as they're rumored to, who knows how many lives they could save."
She and Sam had spent most of the day in a village on P39297. Janet, in her role as CMO, had been sent by General Hammond to evaluate the medicines the people of P39297 wanted to trade for food and various bits of information.
SG-14 had been the first contact team, but unfortunately, or fortunately for Janet, SG-14 had suggested that a qualified person verify the drugs before General Hammond order that the negotiations continued.
"Too bad it's not a cure for the common cold," Sam said.
That was the reason it was just the two of them, a wave of rhinovirus was sweeping its way through the SGC. And, since they didn't want to trigger an interplanetary epidemic, anyone with so much as a sniffle was banned from gate travel.
"By the time we get back, it should be all but over," Janet said.
"Best three days of my life might be a bit of an overstatement," Sam said. "But nowhere near the worst." She crested a small rise, stopped and sighed. "And we have one last obstacle between us and the gate."
Janet stood beside her and looked down upon the river. It twisted across their path, its muddy water a dark contrast to the brilliant dark green of the grassy embankment.
"Second to last obstacle," Janet corrected. "Once we cross that then we walk the last two miles."
"Sooner we're across the sooner we'll be home." They made their way down the embankment, retracing their steps to the shallower area they'd identified as a fording point.
"I wish they had a bridge," Janet complained, eyeing the thigh deep water.
Sam shrugged. "They see it as a natural defense. Bad guys come through the gate, don't want to get their feet wet and turn back. A bridge, on the other hand, says 'hey, look, they know how to build stuff'."
"I guess," Janet said. "Still doesn't mean I like it."
Sam chuckled. "You should hear the colonel complain when he gets his boots wet. You're not the only one." She took a breath. "Just like last time, I'll go first, you follow. We won't mess with tying off since there's no real current."
Sam unbuckled her weapon and held it up over her head as she led the way into the water. Janet followed, doing the same with her side arm. Despite what Sam said, Janet could still feel the tug of the current and she staggered a bit as the force of the water pushed her down stream a foot or so.
The bottom of the stream was muddy and she felt the viscous substance clutch at her boots, making each step a bit of a struggle. "You okay?" Sam asked, glancing over her shoulder.
"Yeah," Janet answered, well aware that her height - or lack there of - was a large part of her difficulty. She took another step and her foot landed on something that felt different.
In a flash she felt something strike her leg, slicing through her flesh. She cried out and tried to move away, the pain and the water pressure causing her to lose her balance and to slip beneath the surface.
Her hands and arms flailed as she fought to both regain her feet and to breathe. Her survival instincts kicked in and she dropped the pistol as she clawed towards the surface. Just as she thought her hand reached into the air, something grabbed her arm and she pulled away, fear guiding her actions.
Something snaked around her throat and she tried to pull away only stopping when a familiar voice penetrated her panic. "Damn it Janet, STOP!" Sam ordered.
Recognizing that her friend was just trying to help her, Janet stopped struggling, her hands coming up to grab Sam's arm to ease the pressure on her throat. "Are you okay now?" Sam asked.
Janet could feel that she was no longer swimming and that Sam had her feet on the bottom. "Can you put your feet down?" Janet tried, stopping when pain tore through her right leg. "Janet?"
"I don't know, I think something bit me." One hand left Sam's arm and clutched at her injured leg.
"Okay. Let's get out of the water. Let me pull you," she instructed. Sam adjusted her hold, moving her arm across Janet's chest and started to drag her towards the shore.
"There's something in the water," Janet said, gasping as pain radiated up her leg. It felt like fire was burning through her veins. "You need to get out."
"I'll have us out in a minute." Sam slogged through the water, fighting the slight current to get them to the place where the bank sloped gently down to the water's edge.
"What if it--"
"Don't," Sam interrupted. "Don't borrow trouble."
Janet let Sam pull her until the water got shallow enough that she had to put her weight down on her good leg. She limped out of the water, Sam both supporting and dragging her a fair distance up the bank. Sam eased her down and left Janet for moment to jog towards the bank, returning with her weapon. Janet could only guess that she'd thrown the weapon onto the bank before coming to her aid.
Janet shifted, putting her weight on her left hip as she tried to examine her right leg. The heavy material of her fatigues was torn and she tried to tear it further, her shaking hands making the task more difficult.
"Let me," Sam said, laying her weapon down. Janet leaned back, supporting her weight on her elbows as Sam pulled on the edges of the torn material, ripping the tear wider.
Through the tear, Janet could see blood trickling out of the wound, the water on her leg causing the thick fluid to paint her flesh in a garish array of reds. "It's not a bite." Sam said, reaching into her vest for the small med kit she carried. "It looks more like a puncture wound."
"It doesn't feel like one," Janet said, closing her eyes as the world started to spin.
"What do you mean?"
"It hurts..." Sam dabbed at the wound with a piece of sterile gauze and Janet moaned, her fingers digging into the grass. "Too much," she finished, breathing hard.
Sam gently probed the injury. "I think there's something in here."
"Other than your hand?" Janet growled.
Sam paused and looked up at her. "Does it really hurt that much?" Janet glared at her. "Look, I'm sorry, but I usually either have Teal'c dismissing it as nothing unless blood is spurting or the colonel spending three days complaining about his ingrown toe nail."
Janet sighed and closed her eyes. "Yes, it hurts," she ground out, hunching over as her body instinctively tried to curl over the injury. Despite herself, she felt tears well up and stream down her cheeks. She controlled her breathing, trying to stem the pain. She felt a stinging in her thigh and her eyes flew open.
"Just half a dose," Sam said, putting the cap back on the morphine injector.
Janet shook her head. "You shouldn't have done that. We don't know--"
"I know that I need to get you to the gate and I can't carry you that far so you're going to have to walk part of it. And I don't think we should start doing that until I dig out whatever's still in your leg and you want drugs before I start with that."
Janet frowned. "You still shouldn't have--"
"I'm the doctor right now," Sam interrupted. She unclipped her pack and swung it around to her side, quickly opening it. She pulled out a larger med kit; one that Janet knew had the necessary tools for minor surgery. Janet laid back. She knew she could spend her energy fighting Sam or she could save it for the trial to come.
"The medicines!" she said, the random thought occurring to her. She struggled to sit up.
"Right here," Sam said, holding up the water logged bag. "Now lay back and let me work."
Janet lay back down, giving into the fuzziness as the narcotic slipped through her veins. She heard Sam rummaging through the kit, her movements defined by the ripping of paper wrappings and the snap of rubber gloves. "Okay, I'm going to start," Sam said and
Janet forced herself to relax. She felt Sam prod at the wound, first gently, and then with the more forceful probing of what Janet hoped was a pair of tweezers. Sam dug a little deeper and Janet could hear the blood rush through her ears. She vaguely heard Sam mumble something then felt a burning, slicing sensation. "Bingo."
Janet swallowed and forced her eyes open, squinting at the slender bloody barb held in the tweezers. "What the hell is that?" she mumbled.
Sam chewed on her lip and turned it over, studying the barb. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear you got stung by a sting ray."
"That's not an ocean," Janet said, laying back.
Sam shrugged. "They play in fresh water too." She looked at Janet. "You said it hurts too much, didn't you?"
"What are you thinking?"
Sam pulled a baggie out of the bag and dropped the barb into it. "I'm thinking venom."
Janet shook her head. "Sting rays are rarely fatal. It'll be fine."
"EARTH sting rays," Sam said. "Who knows how this one evolved?" She leaned back on her heels. "We need a fire."
"What?"
"Sting ray venom is protein based, it breaks down with heat," Sam explained as she got to her feet. "I'm going to get some wood."
"Sam, let's just get back to the SGC." Janet sat up and tried to get to her feet, stopping when Sam pushed her back.
"Look, if you were healthy, it'd still take us half an hour to walk, it'll easily take twice that if I have to help you or try to carry you or even longer to rig a travois. By then, the exertion will push that venom so far through your system that it can't be treated. If we stop, use some heat, see if we can break it down, it'll be harmless or at least greatly diminished."
"Fine," Janet agreed, lacking the strength to fight her friend. She lay back down in the grass and tried to relax. She really didn't want to admit it, but she was grateful for the short of morphine. Her leg still hurt, throbbing with each heartbeat and she really didn't want to know how badly it'd feel without the drugs as a barrier.
She heard Sam return a couple of times but she didn't move, settling for opening her eyes and letting the woman know that she was doing okay. In less than fifteen minutes, Janet could smell the first bite of wood smoke and she opened her eyes again, watching as Sam built up a small fire. As soon as it was burning steadily, Sam left her again, making several trips to the river bank and returning with large rocks which she laid around the fire.
"Now," she said, finishing one task. "We need to get you into some dry clothes."
Janet shook her head. "Everything in my pack is probably soaked."
Sam reached for her pack. She triumphantly pulled out a large zip lock bag. "I have dry spare clothing in here." She opened it, taking out a dry t-shirt and pair of pants, both squished very flat.
"How the hell do you fit those in there?" Janet demanded.
"Ever seen those space bags? Squeeze out the air and things don't take up as much room." She motioned at Janet. "I'll help you get changed."
"Sam, you can't stay wet."
"I'll be fine. Besides, I have the fire."
Recognizing the sense in Sam's words, Janet changed her clothes and Sam laid the wet t-shirt on the rocks beside the fire. "Only pull on one leg of the pants," she said, laying Janet's socks beside the t-shirt.
Janet did as she was told and sat back down, one leg covered, the other exposed. Sam reached for the wet t-shirt, carefully picking it up. "This shouldn't be too hot," she said.
As Janet watched, Sam laid the t-shirt on the wound, covering the angry red puncture. Janet hissed through her teeth. The shirt was hot, but not quite hot enough to burn. "I'm going to wash it out with some hot water, but that'll take a while," Sam explained. "I don't want to use all our drinking water and to use the river water I'll have to boil it first then cool it down." She stripped off her own t-shirt, laying it on the rocks to warm. "We can do this in the mean time."
"Rotate them as they lose heat," Janet said.
"Yep," Sam said, putting her jacket back on and zipping it up. "Keep heat on that, as much as you can stand."
Janet nodded, shifting the shirt around to fold it a bit, trying to concentrate the heat. "What about when it dries out?" She knew the shirt would hold and absorb heat more quickly if it was wet.
"I'll soak it in the river," Sam said as she sat down. She took off her boots and pulled off her socks, wringing the water out of them before she laid them on the rocks to warm. "I'd worry about infection, but, hopefully, we'll be able to get back to the SGC in a few hours and antibiotics will take care of it," she said, pulling a pair of dry socks out of a zip lock bag and putting them on. She looked at Janet. "Trade off, I'm afraid."
"A logical one," Janet agreed, closing her eyes as pain shot up her leg.
"It's too bad those drugs from the villagers haven't been tested," Sam said.
Janet shook her head, not opening her eyes. "If we don't know what they are, they're too dangerous to play with."
"I know. Do you need more morphine?" Sam asked. Janet started to shake her head, then changed her mind and nodded. She heard Sam fumble a bit and then felt the welcome sting of a needle. "Why don't you rest a bit," Sam said, taking the shirt off her leg.
Janet felt herself drift in a narcotic haze and she let it happen. She was vaguely aware of Sam changing the hot pads several times while she dozed. What had to be a few hours later she opened her eyes and looked around. Her leg still hurt, the morphine wasn't masking the pain as much as it enabled her to ignore it.
"Hey." Sam got up from her seat beside the fire. "How are you feeling?"
"Not too bad," Janet said. "I feel a little queasy and chilled, but that's about it."
"Good. You know, this might be working," Sam said, removing the heat pad. "There's some drainage, it kinda looks like clear jelly."
"Jelly?"
"That's what it looks like when it breaks down," Sam said. "This is good."
"How the hell do you know what sting ray venom looks like when it breaks down?" Janet asked.
Sam grimaced. "Orlin wanted to learn about Earth. He…we watched a lot of documentaries."
"Nature shows? You had a gorgeous hunk in your house for a week and you watched nature shows?" Janet teased.
"Janet, he was an alien. If I'd have done anything else I would have deserved the nuts label you guys stuck on me," Sam shot back.
"Sam—" Janet responded to the hurt in the woman's voice.
"You relax," Sam said, folding the warmed shirt and laying it on Janet's leg. "It's getting dark and we should stay here tonight. I'm going to get some more wood before we lose the light totally."
Janet watched her go wishing she was able to go after her. Sam returned several minutes later and Janet pretended to be asleep as Sam built the fire up. "Sam," Janet finally said, unable to ignore the tension between them.
A low droning sound cut through the stillness of the alien planet and Sam looked up for a second before scrambling for her vest. "Carter, you out there?" her radio crackled to life.
Sam yanked the radio out of the pocket. "Carter here," she said, her eyes following the circling UAV.
"I know I've been a little fuzzy with cold meds lately, but weren't you kids due back an hour or so ago?" Colonel O'Neill asked. "Or did I miss a tardy slip?"
"Yes, sir. We ran into a little trouble."
"Define trouble," he requested, all teasing disappearing from his voice.
"I think it was a sting ray. Doctor Frasier was stung. She seems to be fine and the treatment is working, but she's not exactly mobile to get back to the gate."
"We'll send a team through," he said. In the background of the transmission Janet could hear the mumble of other voices and knew from experience, that a search and rescue team would be through the gate within the hour. "Anything else?"
"No, sir. The situation's stable."
"Copy that. Walter says the UAV has a bead on your location. SAR will be through the gate in fifteen…so tell the doc she has half an hour to make herself decent."
Warmth flashed across her face and Janet looked at Sam, then down at herself, including one totally bare leg. Sam shrugged helplessly. "I'll let her know, sir," she said. "Carter out."
Janet glanced up, watching as the UAV circled one more time then flew away towards the gate. She presumed that Sergeant Harriman was maneuvering it for easy retrieval. "That thing has video doesn't it?"
"Yep," Sam nodded, slowly gathering up their scattered possessions. "Infrared too."
"Oh lord," Janet moaned, cradling her head in her hand.
"Don't worry; they couldn't see much." She moved towards Janet. "Let's get you dressed."
Sam helped her put the pair of pants on and Janet sat back down, aware that the rescue team was just minutes away. "I'm sorry," she said, just blurting it out. "We all should have known that you weren't crazy. Especially after what happened with Daniel a couple of years ago."
Sam was silent for a few minutes and Janet feared that she'd pushed too far. "I know why you didn't believe me," Sam finally said. "I don't know if I'd have believed me."
"But?" Janet prodded.
"You sent me to a shrink!" Sam said harshly. "Who treated me like I was on furlough from an asylum." She was angry, Janet could tell. Angry at what had happened and angry at her. "It's in my jacket and it's going to stay in my jacket for the rest of my career."
"Sam?"
"No matter what I did I was screwed." Sam got to her feet and started to pace. "I told you guys about Orlin and you just patted me on the head and wrote me off as nuts. I didn't tell and I got reprimanded for not reporting an alien running around Earth."
Janet shook her head. "General Hammond understood and—"
"General Hammond had to do what his superiors told him to do. And they were pissed about having a repeat of the Tollan situation. They wanted to keep Orlin. They called him a 'valuable resource'." She made quote signs with her hands. "My career is effectively over. If the reprimand doesn't get me, the mental exam will."
Janet just stared at her. It wasn't often that her friend opened up like this and she wasn't going to stop her. "I think the only thing that kept me from getting court-martialed is that as long as I'm on active duty they can control me and what I know. And, for better or worse, the fact that I'm the only one that can make the gate work overrides whoever it is that wants to send me to Leavenworth" She stopped and ran her hand through her hair. "And, the pathetic thing is, I can deal with it. Because I really don't have anywhere else to go."
She turned her back and walked a short distance away, standing there for several minutes. Janet watched her, seeing for the first time the hurt and betrayal that her friend was hiding. Pain she hid by doing her job, following orders to the letter, and not a step further.
Finally Janet heard Sam whistle. "Over here!" she called out, waving her hand.
The rescue party tromped towards them and Janet let the topic drop, knowing that Sam would never discuss it in front of others. "Colonel Reynolds, sir," Sam greeted once they were close enough to recognize. "I wasn't expecting SG-2."
The man shrugged. "He who sneezed least. I hear one of you ladies need a ride."
"Yes, sir. While we were fording the stream, Doctor Frasier was stung by what we think was a sting ray. We've been treating it, but I don't think she can make the walk back to the gate."
"That's why we brought the stretcher," Reynolds said. He motioned to his team and they efficiently set about getting Janet situated on the stretcher. She surrendered herself to the unfamiliar role of patient and let the men take turns carrying her towards the gate. As she lay there, she had time to think and time to observe. And she watched Sam walk beside the Marines, her outward appearance giving no sign of the hurt she was hiding. The betrayal that burned in her heart.
Sam hadn't meant to do anything wrong, Janet knew that even without asking. She'd just gotten in over her head. And then, when she'd asked for their help, all they did was ignore her and dismiss her. They hadn't believed her and hadn't trusted her. They'd left her behind, left her alone to face the consequences of actions they'd helped set into play.
SSSSSSSSSS
Janet slowly made her way into the locked room, limping slightly even after a week. The wound was healing, but like any puncture wound, it was healing slow. She let the door close behind her and made her way over to the bank of file cabinets.
This was one room of the SGC that very few people had access to. Not even the maintenance crew could come in without escort.
This was the SGC records room. And it held everything from old requisitions to employee files. Normally, official personnel records weren't kept at the facility. A copy would be kept locally but the official file would be kept off site. However, the SGC was different. The extreme classification of the project meant that the only way to keep the secret a secret was to keep the records on site.
Janet scanned the labels on the cabinets, finally finding her goal. She paused for a second, considering her actions before she took a deep breath and punched in her access code.
Her decision made, she flipped through the files, finding the one she wanted. She pulled it out and opened it, finding the one piece of paper that was her goal. She pulled it out, taking a moment to scan it. Sam hadn't exaggerated.
She heard the door open and she spun, her heart pounding. "Doctor?" General Hammond frowned. "I thought someone had simply left a light on." He looked at her and the open file drawer, a Sam's personnel file incriminatingly in her hands. "I don't want to ask what that is, do I?"
"Sir, umm." He stepped closer until she knew he could read whose file she had. He took it from her, his face turned red as he registered exactly what the piece of paper in her hand was. "There are times when I hate following orders," he murmured, folding the reprimand up and handing it to her before he replaced Sam's file back in the cabinet.
"Yes, sir." Janet replied faintly.
"Of course, sometimes paperwork does go missing." He said mildly. He opened another file cabinet and pulled out Janet's own personnel file, handing it to her. "Remind me tomorrow to speak to you about the ethics of officers having access to their own personnel files," he said pointedly. "Because that's what you were doing, correct? Updating your own file with your current medical status?" He stared at her, his eyes narrowing as he silently communicated his intentions to her.
Janet stared at him, tilting her head slightly. "Right," she said slowly. "You're exactly right, sir. It's inappropriate of me to do that. I should not be touching my own file," she said, accepting their impromptu and unspoken collusion and the alibi he'd just given her, should anyone ever find out what they were doing.
She shoved the reprimand into her pocket, before reaching past him to slide her own file back into its place. "In fact, sir. I'll, umm, I'll have Doctor Warner verify the report and resubmit it – through the appropriate channels – in the morning."
"You do that," he said, stepping back. "Now, I think it's late and we both should go home."
Janet stepped out of the room, hearing the general secure the door behind them. She made her way down the hall, the general at her side to a point before he said good night and broke off, leaving her alone. She got into her car and took a moment, pulling the reprimand out of her pocket and staring at the incriminating sheet of paper.
Now it was her career lying in the palm of her hand. She couldn't even think up all the rules she'd broken, not just the SGC, but Federal Laws. If anyone found out what she and Hammond had done, they'd lose their jobs, their clearance, possibly even lose everything.
But it felt right. For the first time in weeks, it felt right. Like the two of them had finally atoned for a long standing wrong.
Smiling, she tore the sheet of paper into little pieces and shoved them back into her pocket. She glanced up at the night sky, pleased with the slight chill in the air. S'Mores. She'd make S'Mores. After all, it was a perfect night for a fire.
~Fin~