Doctor Frasier: Medicine Woman

By JolinarCarter

This is set in early series 6 and there might be some things that aren't in line with the series.

The quote is George Mallory.

Why Climb Mount Everest?
-Because It's There.

Jack O'Neill awoke to find himself drenched in sweat, quilt on the floor, strangling the pillow. He sat up, and swung his legs over the egde of the bed. He took a couple of deep breaths and then stood up.

He proceeded in to the kitchen and took a beer out of the fridge, throwing himself down on the couch.

He couldn't shake the images from his dream.

"Carter?" O'Neill called, in between shots. When he received no reply, he quickly looked to his side to see that his second in command was gone. She had been lying there, injured but okay, behind him, just a minute ago. "Carter? Where'd you go? CARTER?"

"Oh my god, Jack!" Daniel called – practically screamed – from a few feet away, beside Teal'C. "Oh god!"

Teal'C fired several more blasts from his staff weapon, and knocked out the last remaining Jaffa.

Standing up, and turning around, Jack saw what had made Daniel scream.

Jack hadn't realised the Jaffa weren't just lousy shots, they were aiming to miss him. They were aiming at the ground behind him, to finish her off.

The ground had become unstable. It had gone, and she had fallen. She had tumbled down, off the edge of the cliff.

He stared down at her body, lying on a ledge several metres down.

"I think she's dead," Jackson yelled, in complete shock.

"No, no she isn't! No!" Jack argued, running over to the edge, kneeling down and carefully leaning over. "Carter! Carter! Wake up! Wake up Carter, damn it! Wake up!"

Jack shook himself, "get a grip O'Neill. She's okay now." Shaking his head, he finished his beer and reached for the remote.

Just as he was beginning to settle down, watching a 4am repeat of The Simpsons, his beeper went off.

Trouble.

He riffled through his coat pocket and pulled out the beeper. He looked at it. He didn't bother to call in, he just jogged in to the bedroom, threw his clothes on and headed out to the car.

He wondered if he'd spoken too soon.

When he arrived at the SGC, he found Doctor Kyle waiting for him. "Colonel O'Neill, sir."

"Kyle...what's up?" O'Neill frowned. "Is it Carter?"

"Yes sir, Major Carter was in a...state...sir. She was clear she didn't want us to wake you, but...I debated it. I thought..." Shelby informed him, nervously. She was obviously not sure if she should have woken him.

"It's okay. Couldn't sleep anyway. I'm glad you called," Jack assured her, patting her on the shoulder before heading for the infirmary. She smiled and followed, relieved.

"I'll leave you two alone," She told him, before they reached the door. Jack nodded and entered, finding the infirmary empty, except for Carter. The curtain was closed, and he wondered what was troubling her. She'd seemed so happy recently, better ever since their little trip to the park a few days before.

He made a gap in the curtain, and stepped through it, closing it after him. He sat down on the end of the bed, and smiled. "Hey, Sam."

Carter sniffed and looked up at him. She was a mess, her eyes were dark, puffy and tired, she was bright red, and it was obvious she had been crying. A lot.

"Hey, hey, come 'ere!" He told her, moving closer to her and giving her a gentle hug. She wrapped her better arm around his neck.

"I'm sorry...sir...I told them...not, not to call you..." she sniffed again. "I'm just, feeling...sorry for myself...sir."

"Don't apologise. I'm glad you called. If something is troubling you, I want to be here. We went through this already. If you need something, you get them to call me, any time," he reminded her. "I was kind of hoping it would be more like 6am, but I do mean what I said."

"Thanks, sir," she nodded, smiling slightly. "I think this is kind of above and beyond your job description."

"Comforting a friend? Caring about her? No that's not what I get paid for. I do all that for free, because I want to...So, what's going on?" He asked, letting go, and just resting his hand on her's instead.

"It's just...taking so long. And I can't sleep, and I keep wondering how long it's gonna be before...I feel good again. You know? I just want to get back to normal..." she said, starting to cry again. Jack let go of her hand and took the box of tissues from the bedside.

"I know, sweetheart, I know. It'll get better. We keep saying that, I know. But it will. And look how far you've come recently. You're up, walking around...you left the base. It's great. You're doing so well...we were talking about you just yesterday, Hammond and SG-1, and Janet, Sophie and Shelby. We were all saying how you were so strong, and how you were doing better than any of us expected. Sophie is amazed you're doing so much so quickly," he replied, kicking off his shoes and moving so that he was lying next to her. "Hmm, not much room here in these single beds. Good job you're so skinny, huh?"

"Yeah," Sam laughed, wiping her eyes again, and resting her head on his chest. "You're way too good, sir."

"Aren't I?" He beamed, laughing too.

"Do you mean all that?" She asked him.

"Yep. Do I lie to you?" He asked, faking hurt.

"Not much," Sam said, smiling and calming down a bit. "Thank you." She paused, and they just lay there. After a minute, she added, "I've never heard you call me sweetheart."

"I reserve it for special occasions. Birthdays, Christmas...makes it mean more when I do say it," he laughed. "I hope they didn't leave you alone to cry, before I got here."

"No, no, I had practically the whole night shift in here, trying to cheer me up," She smiled. "I kicked them all out. Well, except for Shelby. She tried her best, bless her. Remind me to buy her and Janet something as a thank you for putting up with me."

"Will do," Jack nodded. "Hey, how about I order us some room service? It's 4:44. In two hours, that nice little diner you like will be open. I can send out an SF, to bring us back some breakfast in bed. Some muffins, and pastries."

"Sounds wonderful, sir," She agreed. "Send Oliver. He really made me mad the other day. Said a few words about our Lil Cass that I didn't find so amusing."

"Done. Feeling better now?" He asked, looking down at her.

"I think I do," she smiled, closing her eyes. He was warm, and she felt so safe lying there beside him. She wished this could happen more often.

"Good."

-/-

After their breakfast, Sam drifted off to sleep and Jack took this opportunity to go and find Hammond. It was after 8:00am, he'd probably be in now. He wondered if Shelby had thought about telling Teal'C as well. She'd probably forgotten he lived there, on base. He stopped by to visit him first and then saw the boss.

"Knock knock," He called, poking his head around the half open door. Hammond was sat at his desk, engrossed in a report. "Sir?" He said, a little louder. Hammond looked up and smiled.

"Jack, come on in," He told him, closing the file. "What can I do for you?"

"Uhh, I don't know, sir," Jack shrugged. The older man motioned for him to take a seat, so he did.

"What's on your mind?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

"I was called in at 4am this morning," he began, with a sigh.

"Oh? I didn't know anything about that, son," Hammond frowned.

"No, it was Shelby Kyle. Carter had been rather upset. Asked Kyle not to call me, but she did anyway. I'm glad she did...I talked to Carter, sat with her. She's asleep now. She looked like hell, though, sir. And she is so depressed again, all of a sudden. I wish I knew how to help her."

"Trust me, son. You're helping her a lot, by being there. You've been there, all through this rough patch. And as for the depression, I think most of us have been there. Doctor Frasier visited me after our meeting last night. She was talking about getting Samantha out, off base," George told him, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Really? I don't know...she doesn't seem well at all..." Jack thought.

"Doctor Frasier was clear that she wasn't to go back to her own house. She's not well enough to take complete care of herself, and she'll need to come back in daily for appointments with Miss...uh...Sophie?"

"Yeah. Well I guess that makes sense, it would certainly cheer her up, give her a boost being out of here. I guess she could come stay in my spare room for a few weeks, til she's back on her feet?"

"Thank you Jack, but I'm afraid I can't agree to that. I need you and SG-1 back in the field," Hammond told him, with some sadness in his tone. He obviously felt bad for Sam as well.

"I see...then who?" Jack wondered.

"Doctor Frasier? She did offer."

"Offer? Sir? It's not a chore!" Jack snapped, and then looked down at the floor, wishing he hadn't.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," Hammond sighed, scratching his head as he sometimes did when he was thinking. "Cassandra has some time off, I believe, so she would be able to help out when the Doctor was at work. But the Doctor's shifts would be in the day, when Sam would be on the base."

"Sounds good, sir. And I'm sorry," Jack agreed, although sad that he couldn't look after her himself.

"It's fine, Jack. I'll talk to the Doctor, see if this morning's events change her mind. I think she'll say the depression will get better if she leaves the base, therefore, she'll still want Sam to go home," Hammond decided. "I want SG-1 in here tomorrow at 08:00 to discuss your mission."

"A mission tomorrow?"

"Yes, unless there is a problem...I'm told you're all fit...I'll assign Hailey to cover," He told him.

"No...that's fine. I'll tell Daniel and Teal'C," Jack agreed. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go and talk to Janet, I'll find out myself if Carter can go. Then I'll go check on her," Jack saluted casually, although Hammond never insisted on it, and headed off to find Janet, who should have just arrived for her 9 til 9 shift.

In fact, she was just sitting down at her desk when Jack knocked on the door. "Hey!"

"Hey!" She smiled.

"I trust the lovely Doctor Kyle filled you in on this morning?" He asked, closing the door and taking a seat.

"Yes, she did," Janet nodded, cheerfully. "It's expected. I've just seen Sam, she's okay now. Was telling me how good you'd been. A little down, but not bad."

"Hammond told me you want her to come stay with you for a couple of weeks."

"Yes," She nodded. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a good idea, I guess. If she's well enough. It seems a little fast...even though she's been in here for weeks..." he thought. "But getting out cheered her up last time. And she'll have her own personal doctor and of course Nurse Cassy."

"Exactly. Wanna break the news?" She asked.

"Sure." And with that, he left and went in to the infirmary. He found Sam propped up, reading The Lord of the Rings. She was almost finished. Wow she could read fast. "Yo."

"Yo," She grinned, putting the book down. "I'm much better now, sir, you can go do some work if you want."

"No, I'm here for a while. I want to hang out," He told her, sitting down once again. "So, how would you feel about leaving the infirmary?"

"Day trip?" She asked.

"Nope."

"What? Going home? I don't know..." She paused.

"With Janet. Go live with them for a couple of weeks. It could be fun, time with Cass, and you could do all that girl stuff. Plus, you wouldn't be in the infirmary."

"Uhh, I guess..." She said, stopping and thinking about it.

"Hammond is sending us Off World else I'd ask you to stay with me," He sighed. "But you'll have more fun at Janet's. What do you say?"

"Yeah, anything to get out of this mountain," Sam decided.

"Never thought I'd hear that," he laughed.

"Me neither," she admitted.

"See, I told you you were doing well. You'll be out of here tonight," He grinned, patting her hand. "You're doing so well." -/-

Fin

-/-

Well, that's the end of "Because It's There." Be sure to tune in to "Falling Up."