Date: 08/13/04
Pairing: Sam/Janet, first time
Rating: PG13 (Extended version available off-site)
Category: Romance, Fluff, PWP
Summary: Janet is ready to ask Sam for a third date, but finding her on base proves difficult. Meanwhile, Sam has brought a present back for the doctor.
Note: Sequel to "Second Kiss." For Dawnie, who pitched and plotted it, encouraged me, and beta read.
Four weeks had passed since I'd had the audacity to grope Sam Carter in a public parking lot. Since that time, I had hardly seen her. She was either on a mission or in her lab, and crises of medical and parental design kept me occupied as well. There'd been those five hours dealing with a Goa'uld biotoxin, and phone calls at least three times a week, but it wasn't the same.
Base-to-home and base-to-base phone calls were dangerous. I was always afraid of being overheard, or recorded. Our conversations were short and awkward. And what did we have to say to each other after one and a half dates and a few kisses? "I love you" was out of the question. "I miss you" seemed to be the three defining words of our existence.
Today would be different. I would be bold.
I wanted to set up a third date with her. On third dates, certain people expect certain things. I wanted those things. I wanted her to want those things, too. I wanted to make love to Sam Carter, and after four weeks of waiting, I was frustrated enough to ask her outright.
The only problem was that I was unable to find her. Sam's most recent mission, which had ended two hours ago, had been uneventfully successful. I knew that after every mission that didn't require my services in medical or Sam disarming some sort of earth-destroying device, Sam got 24 hours leave.
I reasoned she hadn't left yet, because I had found her car in the parking lot and left a note, so I was standing outside Sam's lab, staring at the closed blast door. I had not been able to find Sam anywhere else on base, and maybe I was just missing her in the hallways, but this was the only locked door I encountered, and it stymied me.
I tried my access card again. I knocked. I pressed my ear to the door. Fucking soundproof secret military labs.
I began to pace. I worked out a routine: six steps down the hall, two on the perpendicular, six steps back. I was on step 47 when Colonel O'Neill appeared.
"Hey, Doc," He slowed his footsteps and looked between the door and me. "Mind if I ask what you're doing?"
Stalking my girlfriend. "Waiting for Sam," I ventured.
He nodded. "She brought back a hot little thing from the planet. Didja hear?" He whistled. "Bet she's in there right now, learning those secrets."
I was rendered speechless. Luckily, he winked and was on his way. As soon as he turned the corner I faced the door again and growled. The door did not respond. I sighed. I pressed my ear against the steel again. I heard muffled buzzing. Machinery? Sam making passionate love to a beautiful alien girl?
I was probably old enough to be that girl's mother. I had wrinkles. I was anal about my work. Sam probably just seduced me so she could notch me on her belt, since I had a higher rank then those wide-eyed lieutenants that treated SG1 like a pro sports team. At least there was that.
I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead against the door. I imagined Sam, her expression shy and wide-eyed as she bent to kiss me. She was loyal. She respected me. I was just crazy. I banged my head against the steel.
"Doctor Fraiser."
I yelped and whirled around to see Teal'c standing in the middle of the corridor.
"Are you in need of assistance?"
"Me?" I asked.
"You seem to be injuring yourself purposely. Are you well?"
"I was just... hoping to see Sam."
He accepted this information noncommittally. I appreciated that. "Do you believe she is inside?" He inquired.
"I believe--I mean, I think so."
He nodded and studied the door. "Can you not get into the room."
"My card access doesn't work." I frowned.
Teal'c pondered. "Would you like me to force the door."
"Force the door?"
He looked steadily at me. I considered. If we busted in, and Sam was engaged in a tryst, how would I feel? Miserable. If we forced the door, and Sam wasn't doing anything, or wasn't inside, how could she ever trust me again? What kind of person would I be? I was ashamed just considering it. "No, Teal'c," I murmured. "Thank you."
He inclined his head, and ambled down the corridor.
I exhaled.
I was on step 95 when Daniel Jackson appeared. "Hey, Janet."
"Hi, Doctor Jackson." I returned. I gave him my best miserable puppy dog look. "Have you seen Sam?"
He nodded. "I saw her on level 24 about a half hour ago. Are you looking for her?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you here at the lab?" He glanced at the door.
"This is where she normally is."
"Ah...yeah." He exhaled. "It's being fumigated, though. That's kind of my fault... See..."
I wasn't listening. "She's not in the lab?"
He looked bewildered. "No."
"Then I should go find her."
I was halfway down the corridor before Daniel stopped me. "Wait!"
I turned around.
"Is it an emergency? Is she okay?"
"Everything's fine!" I was already moving again. "It's just about dinner plans."
"Okay..." He waved as I rounded the corner.
= = =
Night had fallen when I finally found Sam. She was sitting on an outcropping on Cheyenne Mountain. I shivered. The nights were getting colder. "Sam?" I called into the darkness.
Sam's head turned toward me, and the blonde broke into a smile that warmed me.
"Hey!" I called.
"Hey, yourself." Sam responded, still smiling, still watching me. I blushed under her gaze and approached the ledge. She was wearing civvies--jeans and a leather jacket over a flannel shirt. She looked stunning--the unassuming garb directed my attention to her features. Her blond hair was slightly mussed, and her eyes were dark in the reflected searchlights.
"If you want to be alone..." I offered, politeness overcoming my libido briefly.
Sam looked at me curiously. "Why would I want to be alone? I've been waiting for you."
"Waiting for me?"
"Didn't you get my note?" Sam squinted.
"Your note?"
Sam frowned. "I left it on the chair in your office."
"My office?" I echoed, as I finally reached the ledge, scrambling to Sam's side, wondering why she had chosen such a high ledge. She was used to outdoor adventure, but damnit, I was a doctor, not a goat.
Sam offered a hand to steady me, and I forgave her. We didn't let go once I was safely seated at her side.
"Are you going to keep repeating everything I say?" Sam asked lightly.
"Was I repeating everything you--" I stopped and blushed.
Sam grinned.
"What have you been doing?" I asked, before she could call me a goat. I knew she would, the way I was nervously repositioning my feet in the dirt, and trying not to look down.
"Stargazing," she answered softly.
I looked up into the cold night sky. Stars twinkled above like distant ice crystals. I shivered again. Was the air thinner up here? Were we closer to the vacuum of space?
"Janet." Sam murmured, interrupting me before I could reach out and touch the velvet night. "You must be cold. Why didn't you change clothes?" She let go of my fingers and began shrugging out of her jacket.
I was willing to freeze if she'd hold my hand again. "Because I didn't get your note." I smiled. "Sam, you don't have to--" I said as Sam draped the leather coat over my shoulders.
"Shush," Sam said, tucking the collar gently around my neck.
"But you'll be cold," I chided.
"Then warm me."
That was the invitation I'd been waiting for all day. For four weeks, even. I wrapped my arms around Sam and rested my chin on her shoulder. I could smell her hair, and inhaled deeply.
Sam found my hands encircling her waist and covered them with her own. "Look upward."
I again looked at the stars. Warmed by Sam's body heat, surrounded by her scent and the warm jacket, the stars seemed further away. Their coldness didn't touch me anymore. "Bet you can name them all," I murmured against Sam's ear.
"I can," Sam said quietly. "See the brightest one? At 4 o'clock?"
"The one that's moving?"
"Yeah, the airplane," Sam said, chuckling. I squeezed her. Snuggling is punishment for setting me up. "Two stars above that... That's where we were today."
"All the way out there." I looked at the distant, dim speck. I shivered again.
Sam felt it, and lifted our clasped hands. I felt her lips against my palm. "It was nothing special," Sam reported. "Just the ruins of yet another civilization that died off before we had a chance to meet them. But--" She let go of my hands, then turned toward me, sliding her hands into the jacket I was wearing. She stroked my sides.
I sat still. "Uh, Sam..." I refused to confess how much she was tickling me, as her fingers wriggled determinedly.
Sam grinned and pulled out a brown paper sample bag from one of the jacket's inner pockets. She thrust it at§ me. "A present," she announced. Her smile was wide, but she sat back from me. In case I hated whatever she brought me, she'd have space to run.
"Sam." I opened the paper bag. Inside was a shard of pottery in the shape of a disc, broken in half. The figure of a woman was in the center. The edges of the circle were decorated with symbols--runes--like the Zodiac or the Stargate.
"It's a starchart," Sam said, betraying her eagerness as she touched the stone herself, moving closer to me again and tracing the lines on the stone. "Daniel thinks the woman is their sun, maybe their goddess. He doesn't think the similarity to the Stargate is a coincidence, but the symbols seem to line up with the local star field, not the cartouche."
"You brought me a starchart?" I winced at the incredulousness in my voice, and how Sam blushed at my tone.
"Or maybe a coaster," she explained. "Daniel's not sure. But since you rarely get off-world, I thought...bring some of the wonder to you."
"Sam." I exhaled, turning the disc over in my hand. "It's beautiful."
"Really?"
I tucked the fragment back into its bag and slid it into my jacket again. "You did good," I reassured her. "Really, really good." I cupped Sam's face in my hands and leaned in, kissing her cold lips. "I have something to offer you in return," I said.
"What?"
"Myself."
Sam's eyes widened and I kissed her again. This time I coaxed her lips apart and slipped into her warm, yielding mouth.
Sam welcomed my intrusion by capturing my tongue and suckling. I moaned against her lips, and grasped for her hand, squeezing it tightly.
Sam drew back. "I get you?"
I led Sam's hand inside the jacket, pressing it against my left breast. I knew by the way her eyes widened that she could feel my heart beating. The intimate touch of her hand made me blush. The barest pressure aroused me. "My heart and my body, Sam, if you want them."
Sam cupped my breast and I closed my eyes. She gently squeezed. "Janet."
I opened my eyes and found our mouths millimeters apart.
"What about your mind?" She asked seriously.
I grinned. "Sorry, lost that years ago."
Sam leaned back and laughed. She looked up at the stars and then back at me. After a moment's pause, she bit her lip and stood, offering me the hand that had abandoned my flesh. "Let's go back inside."
I clasped her fingers and allowed myself to be pulled to my feet. "Why?"
"I want to make love to you in my quarters."
I froze. "Your quarters?" That had not been part of my plan. I looked at the Colorado sky. "Why not...at home?"
Sam squeezed my hand. "Base is closer. Besides," She said, drawing me closer. "Haven't you thought about it that way? Fantasized about me in uniform?" Her breath brushed my ear with each word.
"Yes," I admitted. "But you're not in uniform."
Sam grinned. "I'm still wearing my dog tags."
"Well, then," I teased. "Sweep me off my feet, Major."