Two Pieces of Drama- Everlast

Janet POV

Janet sat in her office sipping on a glass of whiskey from the bottle she had smuggled into her bottom drawer some time ago. She let it sit in her mouth enjoying it's bite while her mind drifted. Sam was responsive, still not fine and still maybe suicidal; but her eyes tracked Janet when she walked into the room, she said yes ma'am when told no to her laptop, and even weakly smiled at a joke Daniel tried. Okay none of those things were fine. Sam should greet Janet when she comes into the room or at least smile and nod, like when her mind is going a mile a minute but she has time to see the red head. She should whine about being kept from her laptop and try to weasel Col O'Neill into getting it for her. Blue eyes should light up and mirth should spread across her whole face as she shakes her head at Daniel's archaeology joke.

She sighed heavily and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear causing Daniel to look up at her from the couch, but he said nothing. Sam would be fine. She had to believe it. General Carter seemed to after that man, Martouf, used the glowly device on the top of Sam's spine. Which talk about strange, not just General Carter on base, but also the entire situation. "Daniel? That glowy palm bracelet thing isn't that a gould healing device?" "Yes, that's what it seemed to be. I saw Kendra use it on small wounds on Thor's planet. But she could only use it because she had been a host." Janet scoffed, "so what? General Landry is just letting a gould wander around base using gould technology? That's absurd." "Well no, and I highly doubt Jacob Carter would let a gould play mad scientist with his daughter." "So maybe this Martouf guy was a host?" Daniel shook his head dismissing the thought, "he didn't seem anything like Kendra. She had obviously endured trauma plus how would he have gotten rid of it? Another hammer?" Janet added to his musings, "or he is from a culture that figured out how to get around the parasite problem. But then why don't we have them here?" Daniel shrugged, "politics?" Janet hummed in response and didn't let her next thoughts pass her lips, why had they referred to Sam as a host? Could she be… no, she obviously had free run of the base and had saved the world countless times… but maybe she had been. That could be why she was treated as a special case medically.

A knock at the door sounded, not giving her time to hide the spirits before a balding head pushed through the door. "Ah Janet there you are." Grey eyes spotted Daniel and his voice became just a touch frosty, "Daniel." "General," she stood from behind her desk but he waived her back down. "Retired, but folks around here never seem to stay that way." "How can I help you sir?" "The kid mentioned that you were getting remarried; I hadn't even heard about the divorce. But then again being billions of miles from Earth can put you out of the loop." This encounter was feeling bizarre, "yeah we had to put the wedding on hold for a bit but now that everyone is here on Earth we were able to snag a last minute opening at the gardens. No caterers but Col O'Neill volunteered to bartend and one of the nurses's spouses is making the wedding cake." The aged man made a noise, not really agreement but not disagreement.

Silence stretched and he seemed to be having an internal debate. Janet was about to start making excuses when he finally spoke again, "I'm disappointed with you Janet. You've never let anything come between you and Sam before, and you have had your hard times. Hell the world has nearly ended more than once." It felt like a slap to the face. "Sam is just not in good enough shape to come to the wedding, sir. Believe me I'd love to have my best friend be my maid of honor, but it is what it is." His look was inscrutable, "that's not..." he sighed and left the room leaving the two occupants bewildered.

####

Sam POV

Two days later Selmak was waiting for them in Sam's lab and she had the good grace to look chagrined at being caught. "Hey, Sel. What are you doing in here?" Her father's no bullshit look stared back at her, " You cannot hide away in here Samantha. Hiding in the dark from your problems will solve nothing." She tried to play coy, " Who is hiding? I haven't been down here in months; I'm just checking that Hailey hasn't borrowed too much." Jacob's head dipped and rose again with her father in control. "Look kid, you have known when to follow rules in the past and when to break them. I don't want my little girl to be unhappy and alone… Apparently you were almost this depressed before you and Jolinar's injury, so don't give me that look."

"What would you have me do Dad? Janet is marrying one of my best friends and I'm supposed to take it lying down in the infirmary on a goddamn suicide watch!" Sel was back, " Well you are not in the infirmary, so you are contemplating some action..." Sam picked up a doohickey only to set it down, cross the room and play with another. "I don't think I have a place here anymore. Cass is grown, Janet is …, Hailey has the saving the world thing covered, Teal'c has deep seeded hate that he won't act on, Daniel is living my life… Do the Tok'Ra even have a use for me anymore?" Selmak scoffed, " Lies, Samantha. You haven't spoken in great detail on your captivity but these ideas placed in your mind by the replicator are falsehoods. But you know that. You may not feel it now but place your faith in your friends and loved ones and trust the last decade hasn't been one big ploy against you." A small voice reached his ears, "What about you? What about Dad? I forced you together and I've put you in dangerous situations over and again." Was that a tear in Jacob's eye? "No Sammy! You gave me an opportunity, health, a chance for an old man to make a difference again, and my best lifemate." If possible her voice was smaller, "You aren't ashamed I'm gay?" Her father actually grabbed her biceps and forced eye contact. "Never Sammy! You are my child and I love you. When you were younger I said some things I wish you had never heard; but the moment your mother pulled me aside with the suspicion you had a crush on Sandy Greer down the road, I re-evaluated. I could never hate my own child." The blonde sniffled, "Mom knew? About me? About Sandy?" He smiled, "Yes she knew and she told me in no uncertain terms that if I had anything negative to say I was free to pack my bags. And you know what, I never once considered it; your mom, your brother and you meant everything. I may not have been good at showing it, but with Sel to help me talk about those pesky things called feelings I can say it." They hugged fiercely. "Now what are you going to do about your girl? Sit here and sulk?" She gave him a peck on the cheek as she ran out the door to her destiny.

####

Janet POV

Janet sat in front of her mirror getting ready for her rehearsal dinner. She heard her door open but was busy fumbling with the clasp of her pearls, so didn't look up even after a moment of stillness behind her. Deft fingers took the clasp from her fingers and secured the necklace, lingering gently on her neck making her shiver.

The red head turned to face her guest who didn't step back. Sam stood in her personal space wearing black slacks, a button-down shirt and a waist coat. "Sam you're supposed to be in the infirmary, what are you doing here?" "Dropping the act. I'm tired of being the good soldier. I'm tired of doing what I'm told. Carter's don't cry. Carter's don't show weakness." The blonde was crowding Janet back against her mirror. "The truth is I have cried. I am weak without you. The brass and the council can fuck off for all I care."

Sam grabbed her hips pulling the smaller body flush against her own, their lips crashing together. Janet froze, brain short-circuiting from the unexpected action and the electricity spreading from her lips. Her body caught up faster than her brain, kissing back and allowing the taller woman's tongue entrance. She reached up and curled fingers in the short blonde hairs as the she found herself pressed hard against the wall.

An exclamation of "the hell?" dragged her back to reality. She saw Jack O'Neill standing in the doorway. Janet tried to extricate herself from the compromising position but was held firmly in strong arms. "What the hell is going on here?" "What I should have done long ago." Janet wrenched herself out of the symbiote's grasp and O'Neill pulled his pistol. "O'Neill, calm yourself." "Get away from her snake head." Jolinar's face showed shock then blustered to anger; she took a step forward and O'Neill put his finger on the trigger stopping her cold.

"O'Neill, put your weapon down. We didn't mean to startle you. I didn't think before I spoke." "Quiet! Doc are you okay?" Her arms were crossed around her middle, hugging herself and standing as far as possible from Sam, she shook her head yes unconvincingly. The door to the room opened again and Cass burst through, "Geez Uncle Jack, how hard is it to come get Janet. I'm starv…" she trailed off as she noticed the tableau before her. "What's going on?" Janet responded, " go downstairs, Cass." "Yeah, I don't think so. What's going on? Jol?" "It'll be alright, sweetheart. I just spooked 'em."

"Eh…Uncle Jack you can put down the gun. It's just Jolinar." He lowered the weapon from her chest to her feet, finger still on the trigger. "Cassandra, she's a Gould." "I AM NOT A GOA'ULD!" "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck…." Jolinar glowered at him, "You know nothing." The young woman shook her head, "talk about your glitch in the matrix. It's like 1998 all over again."

Sam's head dipped just before she rushed O'Neill, taking his pistol and hurriedly moving out of his reach. She dropped the magazine and cleared the chamber before setting down the weapon. "Now, Janet and I were in the middle of a conversation before you interrupted… sir." "Oh, I saw a lot of tongue wagging, but not so many words. I am not about to let a snake head cause trouble between the Doc and Daniel." Janet blushed and felt very unsure of the entire situation. "Finally, Sam!" exclaimed Cass. "We told you General, we are not Goa'uld. We're Tok'Ra. If you don't believe Cass and me, just ask Teal'c or call the base."

O'Neill pulled out his phone and walked into the hall, keeping a suspicious eye through the crack in the door. Janet hesitantly moved closer to her friend, "Sam?" The woman smiled wanly back, "yeah?" "You just kissed me." "I did." She took a step towards the doctor, who took a corresponding step back. "I'm getting married to Daniel." "You aren't in love with him." This time it was the smaller woman with spark in her eye who closed the distance, "how dare you? How dare you, Samantha Carter? If that's who you are." Janet felt her palm impact a hollow cheek, still weak from her time in captivity she fell back against the wall cracking the back of her head. As Janet's brain caught up to her action she gasped and brought a trembling hand to her lips. Surprisingly Sam had a smirk on her face despite the red print blossoming on her face and the throbbing in her head. "Have you ever felt the desire to hit Daniel, Janet?" Have you felt the need to pull him against you and never let him up for air? Have you felt that passion for him? Because if you have maybe I'm wrong. But I know, without a doubt, that you've felt it for me, and I for you. I can drive you absolutely mad, mad with rage, mad with desire, mad with passion Jan. That is our love." Her voice gentled, "but it's not just the passion. It's a glass of wine, a smile and snuggling after a hellish day. It's laughing our assess off when I try to make dinner, but get distracted and burn it. It's shared tears on a happy day and a strong shoulder to cry on, on a bad. It's us, Janet. It's the undeniable chemistry between us."

It was too much, too fast; Janet's mind was a blur as she ran downstairs grabbing the keys from the counter. She hit the fob but her car wouldn't unlock. Daniel was calling out to her. She hit the fob again realizing they weren't her keys. A silver Subaru beeped- Sam's car. 'Fuck it' she thought, getting in and taking off.

She drove too fast around sharp corners as the rain started lightly, perfect.

*Author Note: This story is not meant to condone violence in any relationship, especially as people are sequestered in their homes for the pandemic- stay safe!

* Second Note: Sorry for abandoning the story, but hey I guess COVID-19 is good for something. I've actually had the core reveal written since August 2016 according to my file properties, but had to build to it and when it came time to post I wasn't happy with it. I've come back to it a few times this last year and realized it felt too abrupt. So I've slowly added the Jacob and Selmak bits to push the characters along. Hope someone out there reads it!