Title: Remedy

Author: Kiva

Feedback: kiva31@yahoo.com

Season: 5, I think.

Spoilers: Obscure reference to Rites Of Passage.

Warnings: Two women in an established relationship... if this offends you....why the hell did you get this far?

Rating: G

Pairing: Sam/Janet, ER.

Category: Little bit of drama, angst.

Summary: Sam's off world and it's brought home to Janet that the universe is a potentially dangerous place.

Authors Notes: Okay....this is for those who encouraged me to write Sam/Janet....you know who you are! It's not meant as a sequel to my pre-slash, unless you want it to be;)

Disclaimer: The characters of Stargate SG1 are not mine, nor do I lay any claims on them.

Janet Fraiser sighed, leaning her head back as she tried to loosen the muscles tightened by a long shift at the SGC.

She hadn't been able to get much sleep that night, and she added tiredness to her list of complaints.

Cassie was staying with friends, while Sam was off-world on a mission, and the empty feeling of the house - a feeling she'd slowly gotten rid of since she'd adopted Cassie, and she and Sam had gotten together - had prevented her from resting. After a night full of tossing and turning, she'd finally given up, deciding to get up and do something productive. Unfortunately, there was only so much cleaning and arranging one could do in the small hours of the morning, and she had greeted the sound of the alarm clock she had pre-set, with a feeling of relief.

Then it was back to work, arriving only a half hour before SG3 did, as the team of Marines were propelled through the wormhole at great speed, apparently resulting from a direct encounter with some less than friendly Jaffa. She'd helped patch up the injured, then retired to the Med Lab to finish off some experiments she'd had on the go for a while. Once that was done, she'd returned to her office, catching up on some over-due paperwork. After that, it was back to the grind again, as there was an outbreak of rashes from another lab on base. The culprit responsible, turned out an artifact several scientists had been examining. Fortunately, it wasn't serious, and though they would be suffering with itchiness for the next week or so, they would recover.

Which led her to now. Tired and cramped, sitting in her office and trying to make the words of the medical report on her computer screen, stop the strange whirling and blurring dance they seemed to be doing.

It didn't work, so she switched the monitor off, scrubbing her hands over her face. Maybe a nap, she decided. It wasn't busy, and there were currently no patients occupying the infirmary beds.....she could take a break.

Janet stood, decided, moving to her door, only to pause as the emergency klaxon sounded. "Unauthorized Off World Activation!" the announcement blared, and Janet quickly moved into the main infirmary, glad to see her staff had responded so swiftly. Two medics were checking the contents of their med kit, alert for the call that would either stand them down, or have them rushing towards the Gate room. It was standard procedure for the medical staff to gear up in the event of an unauthorized activation, in case it was one of their teams caught under fire, or in some equally dangerous situation. Now all they had to do is wait.

After a tense moment, the 'phone situated on the wall rang, and one of her nurses picked it up. The woman listened intently for a moment, then replaced the receiver with a curt "Yes, sir."

"It's SG1 Dr. Fraiser....they're not due back for another -"

"Two days," Janet answered, well aware of Sam's schedule. She forced her thoughts to pull together. "Alright, we may have injured....Johnson, Davids, with me." The two burly medics nodded, Johnson hefting the med kit as Davids grabbed the stretcher they carried in case of injury. If more was needed, she could always call down for more transportation or help.

But as she hurried from the infirmary, soldiers and civilians alike scattering from her way, Janet still had to calm herself down. Maybe there aren't any injured, she told herself. Maybe they just came back early....it's possible. And it was possible, she conceded. Just not very likely when SG1 were involved.

They made it into the Gate room, scanning their surroundings. There was no sign of SG1, and Janet felt her heart rate speed up.

Finally, four figures burst through the event horizon, each of them falling to the ramp and covering their heads.

"Close it up!" bellowed a voice, and Janet recognized it as Colonel O'Neill. He sounded fine, if a little stressed and breathless. She was forced to wait until the Iris engaged by an SF, his gun still trained on the wormhole, until the Trinium enforced covering shielded the Gate opening. There was the customary noise that followed the wormhole being terminated, then silence.

"Okay, let's move," she told the two men standing next to her, sensing them run up the ramp with her. The first person she encountered was Daniel, and though she desperately wanted to find Sam, her doctor's instincts took over, forcing her to stop and assess the man in front of her. "Daniel? Are you injured?" She tried to check for wounds or broken bones, but the archaeologist waved her off.

"I'm fine," he gasped. "Just a little out of breath."

The figure she'd identified as O'Neill stood, helping Teal'c up as well. "We all are....just a few bumps and bruises from our less than graceful exit from the wormhole, right Teal'c?"

The Jaffa nodded. "Indeed."

O'Neill turned to another figure. "Right Carter? Daniel?"

"Yes, Jack," came from beside Janet, but she didn't notice. Her gaze was firmly fixed on the last member of the foursome, the woman being helped into a standing position by Johnson. "Yes sir," said her voice. It was a little scratchy, but definitely Sam. Janet couldn't help the smile that filled her face, watching as Sam turned around, seeming to notice her.

"Hey," Sam mouthed, and Janet mouthed back, repeating Sam's greeting and not the words that wanted to spill from her mouth. Hey. I missed you. I was worried. I love you. As much as she ached to go and hug Sam, to make certain she was here, it would have to wait until later.

She made the effort to get back on track, forcing her eyes from Sam and onto Daniel. When she turned, she realized that he was watching her intently, his gaze shifting from her, to Sam, and then back again. There was a question in his eyes, and she felt ice run through her veins. He had seen....... he wasn't stupid, he could certainly put two and two together. They had discussed telling Sam's team mates, but didn't want anyone compromised if they should ever be found out. Only Cassie knew, and she was sworn to secrecy....how would Daniel react?

But as she asked herself that question, Daniel smiled, again looking from first her, to Sam, then back.

Janet felt her own lips curve, knowing that if he had guessed - and she was pretty sure he had - their secret was safe. He wouldn't tell. She stood, helping Daniel up and dismissing the medics, following SG1 down the ramp to General Hammond.

"SG1?" Hammond boomed, addressing the four weary looking individuals. "You weren't due back for two days."

"We ran into a spot of trouble, General," Colonel O'Neill answered. He waved to Daniel, asking him without words to carry on as he removed the cap from his head, scrubbing his fingers through his hair.

"When we finally met the population General," Daniel picked up the explanation, "we discovered that there was severe unrest between two local factions. Before long, things had escalated into a all-out tribal war."

"I had no option but to pull out, and get my team to safety, sir," O'Neill finished. "Leaving the natives to fight it out for themselves."

"Do you believe that your arrival had anything to do with the unrest?"

"No sir," Daniel answered again. "I spoke to the chief of one of the tribes....apparently, there's been trouble going back decades.....they would have warred whether we had been there or not."

"Did you find anything worthy of opening up communications for trade?"

"Just a few herbs that may have been of interest....according to the locals we met with, they helped stave off infection. We got samples, but there was nothing other than that, sir," Sam spoke up.

"Do you think there's any chance that they could have found a peaceful conclusion?"

SG1 glanced at each other, before Jack shook his head. "No sir."

"We attempted to prevent any further hostilities between the two tribes, General Hammond," Teal'c rumbled. "But they would not heed our advice."

"We saw....some of the fight," Sam said. "On the way to the Gate....they were using projectiles, spears and arrows. Some of them followed us to the Gate. It was bloody.....and it didn't look like they were going to put down their arms any time soon.....in fact, sir, it looked like they were settling in for the long haul. We were lucky we got out when we did."

"I'm sure you did your best," Hammond assured them. "Briefing will be at 0700 tomorrow. Get some rest, SG1." He gave them a nod, turning and retreating through the door he'd originally came through.

"Okay kids," O'Neill announced. "Let's go get prodded and poked....then I, for one, intend to do nothing more strenuous than go home and have a beer."

The others all gave various signs that they'd heard what their team leader said, moving to hand over their weapons and gear to the waiting soldiers, then following the tall man headed for the corridor. Daniel moved up front to talk to Jack, but not before he'd given Janet a secretive smile. Janet returned the gesture, causing Sam to give the pair a strange look. "I'll explain later," Janet promised, pitching her voice so that the others wouldn't overhear.

They couldn't talk properly with witnesses, so Janet arranged it so that she'd be the one to give Sam her examination, rather than leaving it to one of her nurses. She drew the privacy curtain around the bed, gathering Sam into her arms as soon as they were covered from the rest of the infirmary.

"God," Janet whispered. "When I heard that it was SG1 coming home early...." She trailed off, knowing that if she went on, she may lose it completely.

Sam knew what she meant, though, and tightened her grip on the other woman, pulling her to sit down on the bed next to her. "Hey....I'm okay. You heard what the Colonel said.....bumps and bruises."

"But it could have been -"

"But it wasn't," Sam interrupted. "We're all okay....*I'm* okay," she emphasized.

Janet shook her head, leaning in and giving Sam a quick peck on the lips, all she could do in their current environment. "I know.....sorry. I don't know why I'm acting this way. We've been together for months....and you've always been a good friend, I worried even then. It was just -"

"Today brought it all home," Sam finished for her. "It's okay....hell, it's understandable after what happened with with Cassie on her birthday last month.....you've just had too many scares in a short period of time. That's all."

"You're right," Janet said gratefully. She adopted a mischievous expression. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around."

"Beside my charm, wit and stunning good looks?" Sam joked.

"Besides that," Janet played along. She opened her mouth to continue, when raised voices from behind the curtain interrupted. Janet raised an eyebrow, moving to the curtain and pulling it back.

"Colonel O'Neill?" she asked, knowing instinctively that it would be him.

O'Neill turned at her voice, his belligerent expression fading in the face of the 5'2 dynamo standing in front of him, a stern look on her face. One that promised needles.....lots of very sharp needles.

"Uh....hey Doc," he greeted, trying to smile.

"Is there a problem, Colonel?"

"Problem?" O'Neill repeated, backing away slightly. "Nope, no problem....just trying to get little your vamp- ah, *nurse* to understand, that she didn't need to take that much blood, is all."

Janet nodded, an exaggerated 'understanding' expression on her face. "Oh.....well, Nurse James is quite new.....I know! Perhaps you'd like *me* to take the blood samples?"

Jack's eyebrows flew up. "You? No, no....that's fine. Nurse....er....this nurse was doing a *fine* job." He tried another smile, turning suddenly and bolting behind his own privacy curtain.

Janet tried to keep the smug look off her face, but lost the battle when she turned to see Daniel and Sam, both poking their heads out from behind the curtains. Sam just smiled, but she could see Daniel chuckling quietly.

"Shut up, Daniel!" O'Neill suddenly called, startling the archaeologist before the younger man decided he didn't care, and began laughing in earnest. She heard the Colonel mutter something about Waterloo and a certain little dictator, but chose to ignore it on her way back to Sam.

Safely behind the screen, Janet let her own amusement show, falling onto the bed and leaning on Sam as her laughter over took her.

"God," Sam groaned. "He looked so scared.....you made Colonel Jack O'Neill *scared.*"

"Just one of the perks of being a physician," Janet supplied happily, wiping the moisture created by her laughter from her eyes. "I needed that, I think," she told Sam.

"I think so too," her lover agreed.

After another moment of mutual silence, Janet straightened up. "Right," she said. "Time for your physical, Major."

"Ooh, I bet you say that to all the girls," Sam joked.

As the other woman undressed, Janet sighed, slipping back into her role as a doctor. Nope, she thought. Just the one I love.

The End.