Finally done with her shift, Janet made a stop by her house to get changed into something more appropriate for a bar atmosphere. A quick check in the mirror and she was off to Oscar's. Janet hadn't been completely honest with Sam. She had gone out more frequently than she had let the woman believe, but she was always alone on those nights. Finally, she had company.
Janet slid into the booth in the corner opposite the jukebox so that she'd be able to hear her colleague over the music.
"Can I get you something to drink?" A peppy waitress appeared out of nowhere with a pen and pad ready to go.
"No, thank you. I'm waiting on someone. We'll order together," Janet politely refused. The young lady, Kristy, her nametag said, nodded and turned to go find her next victim. Oscar's was a more low-key atmosphere, as far as bars go. There weren't a lot of college students, save for the staff, apparently. Mostly it was older locals who just wanted a place to chat with their buddies. Janet was watching a couple of old men argue over the baseball game that was currently on. Naturally, they were cheering for the Rockies, but had differing opinions on who should be pitching.
"Is this seat taken?" A voice to her left said. Janet almost said yes, but when she looked and saw that it was, indeed, Sam who was asking, she just grinned and motioned for the woman to have a seat. Sam slid into the booth opposite Janet and leaned in.
"Personally, I think they're a little old for you," Sam joked.
"What?" Janet asked, confusion etched on her features.
"The men over there that you seem so enthralled with." Sam waved the waitress over. Janet sat there, dumbfounded as Kristy picked her way through the tables and chairs to their booth.
"Ah, your friend is here!" Kristy whipped out her pen and pad again. "What'll you lovely ladies have to drink?"
"I'll have the Avalanche Ale, please," Sam smiled at the waitress and then looked over at Janet. "And my friend here will have. . ." she left it open for Janet to answer.
"Um, a gin and tonic," Janet finished.
"Okay, I'll need to see some ID's, please. I'm not sure either of you are old enough to be drinking." Kristy winked at them and waited as they pulled out their respective drivers licenses. She checked their birthdates and headed off to get the drinks.
"Who are you and what have you done with Sam?" Janet finally managed to speak. Sam laughed out loud; the sound was music to Janet's ears. How had she become so completely flustered by this woman? Wasn't Sam supposed to be the one at a loss for words?
"Yeah, about my recent behavior, I'm sorry. I've been bitchy lately, to everyone, you included. I was just in a funk. But, thanks to somebody, and I owe her big time, I've got a little time off to rest and catch up on. . ."
"If you say work, I'm going to haul you to the infirmary and tie you down so you can't work, young lady," Janet threatened. Sam immediately closed her mouth, then let out a little chuckle.
"Okay, catch up on my sleep then. How's that?" Sam smiled at Janet and her eyes twinkled in the dimly lit bar.
"I dunno, I think you might just go work behind my back. I should tie you up
anyways just for thinking about it." Janet looked over and saw Kristy headed back with a tray carrying a glass and a bottle. She missed Sam gulp and take a deep breath. "Here come our drinks."
"Here you go, ladies, enjoy!" Kristy said in her decidedly perky manner. "Would you like a couple of menus?" Janet looked over at Sam who motioned that it was all Janet's decision.
"No, thank you. We'd like two shrimp cocktails, the cheese-stuffed mushrooms, and breadsticks, please." Janet rattled off the order and Kristy took it down just as fast.
"Okay, I'll have that out shortly," Kristy turned and headed back toward the bar.
"So, besides sleep, what are your plans for your downtime?" Janet made an attempt to strike up a conversation.
"Well, I was going to try to look into the physics of how Teal'c staff weapon works, but when threatened with house arrest, infirmary arrest? I don't think I'll be doing that. Now I have no idea what I'm going to do," Sam said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"If it means that much to you, Sam, you can work. I just wanted y'all to stay Earth-side for a while and give yourselves a break, especially since you got sent off on that impromptu mission a couple of day ago. What was that all about anyway?"
"Uh, it was nothing, really, just a little fiasco with another team. They managed to get themselves in trouble and we went to try to fix things. We did, and we're back: case closed." Sam clammed up and sipped her beer a little faster than Janet thought was normal.
"Something happened on that planet, didn't it?" Janet was not going to let Sam bottle up whatever it was she was trying to hide. Janet might not have been a psychiatrist, but she knew that keeping something in like that wasn't good.
"Really, it was nothing," Sam insisted.
"You're doing it again, Sam. You're getting all quiet. There's something you're not telling me and it's bothering you." Janet was determined to figure out what was going on with this woman if it killed her.
"Janet, nothing's bothering me."
"Obviously it is, otherwise you would have told me and you wouldn't be acting all weird again. Actually, this is normal for you as far as I know. Or have you been worrying about something since we met?" Sam's head shot up and Janet knew she'd hit a nerve.
"Fine, something did happen there, but I just don't want to talk about it, not yet." Sam was starting to get frustrated and that was the last thing Janet wanted.
"I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to push you. Just know that if you want to talk, I'm here. I know you barely know me, but hey, that's why we're here, right?" Janet perked up her attitude and patted Sam's arm across the table.
"Right," Sam said. She was grateful to the doctor for just dropping it. She wasn't in the mood to discuss past lovers with this woman yet, not when she was having these mixed feelings about her.
"Now, how about a more neutral topic?" Janet suggested.
"What's it like to be the state champion barrel racer?" Sam got a gleam in her eye that told Janet she was not going to let her live that down, ever. It was Janet's turn to go silent. She knew that it had been Sam in the audience, and there was no way that Sam could not realize that Janet had been making eyes at her during her victory lap. Was Sam now testing her?
"I, it's, I dunno." Janet cursed herself for suddenly losing her ability to speak.
"Oh, come on, surely it's something worth talking about? You are going to the nationals, right?" Sam waited for the answer the General had assured her she would get. Hammond had asked SG-1 to try to talk to Janet about the rodeo. He didn't want Janet to think that just because she had a new assignment, she couldn't continue her riding.
"You've been talking to the general, haven't you?" Janet sighed.
"Guilty as charged!" Sam gave a toothy smile and Janet had to laugh.
"Well, I don't think I'll be continuing. . ."
"But you have to! The guys are dying to go watch you compete. You're good, Janet, really good. Don't let all those years of practice go to waste! See this through to the end."
"I don't know, Sam. I'm busy now, more than I was when I was competing before. I just. . ." Janet didn't even know why she wanted to get out of the competition. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and she was just going to let is slip past. The bar suddenly erupted in a round of cheers and cries of victory.
"Do it for me?" Sam whispered, barely audible over the music and cheering as the Rockies won their game with a walk-off grand slam, not that either of the ladies noticed.
"What did you say?" Janet had her full attention on the woman in front of her.
"I said, 'Do it for me.'" This time Sam phrased it as a statement, or even an order, instead of a question. They continued to stare at each other, neither of them moving, or even thinking about talking, just lost in one another's eyes, minds working overtime to process what had just been said.
"Here ya go, ladies!" Kristy sat the plate with steaming hot cheesy mushrooms between them, then placed the shrimp cocktails on either side of that and finally sat the bread on the edge of the table.
"Let me know if there's anything else I can get you." She waited a moment to see if they would ask for anything now.
"No, I think we're fine." Sam had given the girl her full attention the moment the mood had been broken. She was sure that she was blushing and hoped that Janet wouldn't notice. Opposite Sam, Janet watched Kristy as well, hoping Sam wouldn't notice the blush she could feel rising up from her chest.
"Well, the food looks great. This was a good idea you had," Sam said, steering the conversation in a completely different direction than where it was heading before. Janet was grateful for this and jumped right into the new discussion.
"Yeah, the mushrooms are my favorite, but the shrimp is amazing too. I have it on good authority that their cocktail sauce is a secret family recipe." Janet dipped one of her shrimp in the sauce and took a bite. If her mouth was full, she couldn't be expected to talk, right? Sam had much the same idea, opting for a mushroom instead.
...
Once most of the food had been devoured, the conversation became more frequent and Janet had set a neutral topic, discussing how she was so happy to be away from the Academy for a while.
". . .so then I'm standing there with my hands full of Ace bandages and in comes at least a quarter of the football team, most of them nursing cuts, bruises, and sprained appendages. I had never seen anyone as furious as their coach, Colonel Hadley. That is one man I'd never cross!" Janet laughed as Sam stared at her questioningly.
"Hadley is still there? Wow, what had happened?"
"Apparently one of those Navy brats had challenged the tight end to a duel, old fashioned style with the gloves. When our cadet took him up on it and smacked him a good one, the rest of the Navy team jumped in and our boys went to the defense. By the time the refs and coaches pulled them apart, half the players on both teams had injuries." Janet took a sip of her second gin and tonic and Sam started to laugh.
"So what did they do to them?!" Sam asked, dying to know the outcome of the punishments.
"Well, they sent them to me for one. Like I said, I'd had such a rough day and my shift had ended half an hour before. I was trying to restock and suddenly I've got eight huge guys in my infirmary bleeding and whining. Colonel Hadley pulled me aside, apologized profusely for handing them all to me, and told me not to go easy on them." Janet laughed at the memory. "Those boys were shaking at the knees and begging to let me go see the coach about their punishment. I put every single one of them through a complete physical."
"So what'd Hadley to do them?" Sam signaled Kristy that she wanted something.
"I don't know. That was the last I saw of them. I don't' think they got kicked out because I would have heard about that."
"So, ladies, can I get you anything else, maybe dessert?" the waitress was as peppy as ever.
"No, I think we're good. Can I get the check please?" Sam asked.
"Oh, Sam, I've got it. I made you come out here and all." Janet reached for her purse. Sam was too fast though and already had her wallet out.
"It's fine, Janet. I owe you for getting me out of that mountain." She grabbed the booklet before Janet and whipped out some bills from her wallet. Janet thought about arguing, but Sam didn't seem like she was going to take 'no' for an answer. Janet dropped a ten on the table.
"I've got the tip then," she said matter of factly. On this she was non-negotiable. Sam sighed and acquiesced. Janet slid out of the booth and shouldered her purse before heading to the exit. Sam followed and once they got out of the bar she took the initiative to set up another get-together.
"So, you wanna hang out again sometime?"
"That would be great!" Janet seemed genuinely interested in seeing her again. Sam felt herself beaming inside. She couldn't wait to see the doctor again and they hadn't even said goodnight.
"Um, how about day-after-tomorrow evening? There's a place I go to relax and have fun sometimes. You might like it too."
"Okay. What is it?" Janet was intrigued. Just what did the captain have in mind?
"Well, it's a surprise. You'll have to wait and see. Plan on a long night though. And I need you to meet me at my place so's not to give it away." Sam was now grinning fully and Janet became a little nervous.
"Okay," she said slowly.
"Great!" Sam was smiling ear-to-ear now and she headed off toward her car with her hands in her pockets.
"How many beers did you have to drink?"
"What?" Sam stopped and looked back.
"How many beers, Sam?"
"Um, three. If you're wondering if I'm okay to drive, I am. I've had more than this before, Janet."
"Are you sure, Sam?"
"Yeah, don't get too doctory on me, okay? We don't know each other well enough. When we do, then you can get doctory." Sam smiled a lopsided smile and watched Janet mull that one over as she headed back to stand by the doctor.
"Okay, if you can think straight enough to say that, then I guess I can't argue. Just be careful." Janet turned to walk to her car, mumbling under her breath, "I'd hate for my favorite patient to get. . ."
"Excuse me?" Sam reached out and put her hand out on the smaller woman's shoulder to stop her from walking away.
"Huh?"
"What did you just say?"
"I said 'be careful,'" Janet repeated. She didn't realize that she had been thinking out loud.
"No, after that." Sam waited, thinking that maybe she had heard it all in her head. Janet's eyes went round and she started babbling when she realized that she had spoken that out loud.
"Oh, I, uh, just that I've finally got a friend on base and I'd hate for her to get hurt or something driving home and that -" Sam put a hand over Janet's mouth to quiet her.
"Hey, it's okay. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you either. I should have asked if you were okay to drive too." Sam brought her hand back down to rest at her side.
"I just don't think my infirmary would be the same without you," she began softly. "Not to mention, you're the only one who is on my side where Colonel O'Neill is concerned. How do you put up with that man anyway?" Janet tried to bring the conversation back to a different subject, but Sam would have none of it. She was tired of maneuvering around the big pink elephant that seemed content to sit right between them. Not that they hadn't made headway tonight, but Sam needed to do this while she had the alch. . . courage in her system.
Sam leaned down and kissed Janet's cheek. When she looked Janet in the eyes, she expected to see anger, hatred, and disgust. Instead, she saw what looked like a glimmer of hope and it floored her.
"What. . . what was that for?" Janet asked, hoping that Sam wouldn't try to just play it off.
"I, uh," Sam stammered, no longer knowing why she had done it. She looked longingly at her car across the parking lot.
"Sam?" Janet brought the blonde's attention back to her.
"I'm sorry, just, you were being sweet and trying to look out for me, and. . ." It was Sam's turn to stammer. She found a pebble of asphalt that was slightly lighter than the surrounding area and gave it her full attention. Janet gave her a little smile, understanding what thoughts and feelings Sam might be having. She herself was feeling them too. Deciding to let Sam off the hook, she rose up on her tip-toes and returned the kiss. Sam's head shot up and she brought a hand to her cheek. Janet was still smiling at her.
"Goodnight, Sam. I'll see you in a couple of days," Janet said as she turned to walk away. As an afterthought, ahs turned back. "Oh, and I've still been doing some riding on the weekends, and I haven't dropped out of the championship yet, so we'll see about that, okay?"
"Okay." Sam stood motionless and watched Janet walk to her car, get in, and drive away. 'No way,' she thought to herself. 'There is no way in hell Janet Fraiser just kissed me.' 'You kissed her first,' the little voice in her head pointed out. 'And she kissed me back,' Sam thought. A huge smile crept across her face and she giggled. 'She kissed me back and she still wants to go out!' Sam headed off to her car with a slight bounce in her step. She was going to sleep well tonight, and sleep in tomorrow. Hopefully her dreams would be filled with Janet Fraiser's beautiful face.