Leather and Lace (part one)
'The first thing you do at any new post is to check out the competition, and align yourself with your superiors.' Ancient advice from her dad rose unchecked through Sam's brain. 'Great advice – so what do you do when you're at a post designed to have no true competition, because you only get there for proving yourself peerless?' She thought to herself as she paid for her lunch and wormed her way to an empty table at the back of the commissary. It had been so long … well, most of her life, anyway, since she hadn't had to fight to earn her right to be equal, just because she had the gall to be born a woman. After all the constant battles, Sam found it difficult to make friends. Her work was her life. The men here usually wouldn't look for too long at her unless they were either looking to notch up their belts, or to getting in favourably with her father. Either way, she wasn't interested. The women were few and far between – those who were married she didn't have much in common with, and those who weren't were either looking to get that way or were lifers like herself – and facing the same interpersonal issues, more often than not. It was just easier to count on herself.
A polite cough started her out that train of thought. Sam looked up to take in a petite brunette, wearing a bright smile and huge chocolate brown eyes.
"Hi!" she began, "Do you mind if I join you?" She asked, putting down her tray on the table but making no move towards the chair. Sam smiled back, innately appreciated the manners of this woman with the infectious smile.
"Be my guest," she replied, nodding. The woman quickly sat and extended her hand.
"You must be in my next batch – I have a feeling I'd remember you! I'm Captain Fraiser, by the way," she dropped her voice conspiratorially, "of Janet, to my friends." Sam grasped the out-stretched hand and shook it firmly, recognising and assessing the message of proffered friendship. She accepted it without really knowing why.
"Sam," she replied. Janet grinned more deeply.
"And who are you while you're in uniform?" she asked, still holding Sam's hand.
"Oh!" Sam replied, dropping her hand and blushing, thinking that she had somehow misread the situation. "Captain Carter, at your service, ma'am," she finished seriously, dropping her gaze to her food in light of her apparent gaffe. Janet laughed quietly.
"Well, it's a definite pleasure to finally meet the infamous Sam Carter, the first captain to properly put Colonel O'Neill – with two 'l's – in his place!" Sam looked up sharply.
"Relax," Janet continued, "he said I was even more of a pain in his butt than you. Of course, I was brandishing a rather large needle at the time…" Sam was frantically trying to figure out how this petite captain could possibly be put in a situation where she could talk so flippantly about her CO … Suddenly it dawned on Sam.
"You're the new Doc!" she whispered, realisation showing on her face. Wait, this was the 'Napoleonic' terror Colonel O'Neill had been grumbling about earlier when he reminded the rest of the team about the new policy of pre-mission physicals? Sam smirked as if she had uncovered a new mathematical formula to explain a key element of her CO. This woman was most definitely a peer, if not a superior in her Dad's sense. She made grown military men quake – and she had a killer smile to boot. Sam would have to take tips!
"Yup, signed, sealed, and delivered, as promised," Janet replied, still grinning. "Just arrived yesterday – had no idea what I was getting myself into, but then again, each new post is an adventure, right?"
They chatted easily for the next half hour, a relatively new experience for Sam. There was something about this Janet – a fierce friendliness that just sucked you in. Sam was caught and couldn't have resisted Janet's warm pull even if she had wanted to do so. After lunch Sam accompanied Janet from the commissary to the freshly out-kitted medical bay. She was due up for a mission shortly and figured now was an ideal time to get that pesky physical done. Sam was amazed by the change in demeanour of the airmen as they passed – even officers were slightly deferential to the doctor. They continued to chat through the examination, and agreed to meet up the next morning for a coffee break. Unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be…
Sam had a date with a new off-world civilisation, a mind-altering infection which caused her to jump her perceived Alpha Male (otherwise known as her CO), and a nasty slash to her abdomen, leading to presumably no end of little tanks and big guns jokes. Janet found herself similarly engaged, trying on one hand to keep her co-workers from killing each other and the other patching up those who did try, all the while single-handedly coming up with a cure to a disease the planet had literally never seen before. It was a rough week, all things considered.
Another week passed, full of debriefs, paperwork, and inklings of new scientific phenomena enough for Sam to lose herself. She loved it when her work was actually fun. On Thursday morning, she was hard at work in her new laboratory, trying to figure out how a planet which needed to turn regularly on an axis in order to create enough gravitational pull to sustain life could also have a constant demarcation line of light and its absence, never mind the fact that it sustained vegetation growth in both areas, when suddenly there was a polite cough behind her left shoulder.
"Ack!" Sam jumped.
"Eep!" Janet replied, jumping in turn. "OW!" she exclaimed as steaming hot coffee spilt on her hand. She put down the cup and immediately jammed her reddening hand into her mouth.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Sam exclaimed.
"Ooo – Feeimfeyefoofoomervifagen!" Janet mumbled. Sam looked at her with a puzzled expression on her face.
"I'm sorry?" she asked.
"I said," replied Janet, having removed her hand from her mouth, "See if I do room service again!" She pouted. Sam tried desperately to keep a straight face, but Janet looked so ridiculously cute that Sam just had to giggle. Janet's pout turned into a slow smile as she shook her hand.
'Painful, but mission accomplished,' she though as she started to giggle at the sight of Sam giggling. Once Janet started giggling too, Sam couldn't hold it in anymore, and began outright laughing. They were still laughing at (and with) each other when a cough at the laboratory door brought them up short. Their attention immediately snapped to the figure in the open doorway – a stern-looking Colonel O'Neill. Sobering quickly, Sam responded first.
"Yes, Sir?" she asked. "Is there something I can do for you?"
Jack looked at her, then at Janet (who was now rubbing her sore hand quietly), then back to her.
"Yes," he began. "Well, I was going to order you to get some fresh air because you have been holed up in here for too long. Now I see I'm not only too late to keep you from going batty, but you're taking our dear Doc with you!" He squinted at the two captains, straining to keep straight faces. "Hmmm …" Sam chanced a glance over at Janet, who had on a very innocent face. "Okay," he continued after a moment, "fine. Just don't start plotting against me!" he finished with a flash, put his hands behind his back, and left Sam's laboratory. Sam turned to face Janet again, and they both dissolved into giggles once again.
"Caught in the act of plotting!" Janet intoned in a serious voice.
"But plotting what?" Sam asked innocently.
"While nothing less than the damage of spilled coffee to both the dermis and the psyche, of course!" Janet continued, accusatorily.
"Gasp!" Sam gasped, putting her hand to her mouth. "Not the spillage of coffee! Whatever shall we do with this affront to a national resource?" They both dissolved into another fit of giggles. Once the long pent-up giggles were out of their systems, Sam turned to Janet. "Thank you for the coffee run, Janet," she began, "but I have to ask – why?"
"Wait," Janet narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "are you accusing me of having an ulterior motive?"
"No! No … I … uh …" Sam trailed off, choosing inarticulate silence instead of vocalising something that might dig the hole in which she found herself a little bit deeper. Janet watched her squirm for a minute before letting her off the hook.
"Actually, I did," she admitted. Sam let out a breath she hadn't realised that she had been holding. "I just got a new barbecue," Janet continued, "and I was hoping you'd like to join me for its virgin firing on Saturday night."
Sam smiled as her mouth began to water on its own accord. "Oh … a barbecue … mmm … steak…" she mumbled to herself, lost in a world of lush cuts of beef baked potatoes and corn on the cob. Janet smirked, and Sam blinked. "I, uh, love barbecues!" She began, intending to explain her spaced-out behaviour to an obviously bemused Janet, but was cut off.
"Excellent! See you at 5!" Janet actually started bouncing as she headed for the door.
"Um, Janet?" Sam called after her. Janet stopped short.
"Yes?" she asked slowly, turning back around to face Sam.
"Just two quick questions," Sam began. "Should I bring anything?" Janet smiled mischievously.
"Well I heard of this thing called a steak – that might be good… no, I'm kidding!" She quickly amended, seeing the look of mock horror blossom on Sam's face. "Seriously, I think I've got everything. We're all good! …and question number two?" Sam quirked her head slightly to one side.
"Oh, just a minor detail, I promise," Sam scoffed. "But … where do you live?" Janet looked oddly at Sam, and then laughed.
"Yeah, I suppose that might help!" She jotted down an address on a scrap from one of Sam's notepads and handed it to her. "So, 17h00, armed with an appetite!" Janet turned on her heel with another smile and left. Sam smiled at the open doorway – Janet was definitely a character! She thanked her lucky stars to have found a new friend who could make her laugh so easily – not the easiest feat in the world. Pushing the promise of upcoming steak from her mind, Sam turned back to the problems (and ensuing paperwork) at hand.