One Of The Girls

"So, what are you doing tonight?"

Captain Sam Carter looked up at the figure standing in the doorway, backlit by the corridor light. "Doing tonight?" She echoed, uncertain of what the woman was asking.

Dr. Janet Fraiser moved her small frame into the lab and leaned back on the bench that ran along that wall. "Yes. After work." The woman's dark eyes looked pointedly at the pile of reports through which Sam was steadily working. "I assume you are going home?"

"When the paperwork is done."

The responding snort was decidedly indelicate. "Captain, you should know by now, the paperwork is never done."

Sam grinned. She hadn't spent a lot of time interacting with the Chief Medical Officer of the SGC up until now - nothing more than an exchanged greeting in the hallway or some light conversation while going through post-gate - but she'd usually enjoyed the little interaction they'd had. The woman had a no-nonsense approach to her career, a sharp wit and a wry sense of humour - all of which Sam appreciated.

"My estimate is that you've been on this base for over seventy-two hours without so much as seeing the sun. Admittedly, you had your mind on trying to get rid of Little Miss Snaky Redhead," Dr. Fraiser grimaced at her reference to recent events on the base. "In the wake of her defeat, it is my professional opinion that you are in serious need of time off this base." Although the words sounded pompous, the tone in which they were delivered was mischievous.

Sam sat back in her swivel chair. "And do you have an opinion of what that 'time off' should involve?"

"Oh, at least one margarita, a plate of nachos and company," there was a faint twinkle in the dark eyes. "To celebrate a commendation for knocking out the base commander in the line of duty."

Blushing at the memory, Sam considered the invitation. The proposition of dinner and company was certainly a lot more inviting than the prospect of going back to an empty apartment for a dinner of soup. And it had been a long time since Sam had gotten off base. "Sounds good."

"Great. Have you been to El Tesoro before?"

Sam had to think a moment before she could pin down the restaurant. "That's the one on North Sierra Madre Street, right?"

"Right."

"Nope, haven't tried it yet." Mostly because she hadn't had anyone to try it with.

"Care to try something new?"

The smile came easily to her lips. "I'm game. Would seven-thirty be okay? I'd like to get through as many of these as possible…" She indicated the reports of their last few missions.

"No problem. I have some tests to do on the remnants of the Goa'uld larvae anyway. I'll meet you there." And with a friendly nod, the MD was gone.

Sam set to work with a will.

* 

A couple of hours later, she ducked into El Tesoro, letting the warmth of the restaurant permeate her chilled body and the sound of the light-hearted guitar music put her work at the SGC completely out of her mind.

Over by the wood-topped bar, she spotted her auburn-haired dinner partner ordering what looked like a frozen strawberry margarita.

"Doctor."

The petite Doctor turned, raising her eyebrows. "Okay, first things first. Tonight, at least, I'm Janet and you're Samantha. Unless you really like being called 'Captain' all the time."

Sam raised her eyebrows - no wonder this woman had become a surgeon. No pussyfooting around, straight to the heart of the matter. "I prefer Sam, actually."

Janet grinned. "I heard about that first day in the briefing room. Played with dolls, huh?"

Damn, had everyone heard about that? Ferretti wasn't about to let her forget it anytime soon - his nickname for her was 'Matt' - after the astronaut doll they'd discovered they'd both played with as kids. "I swear, the gossip in the mountain is worse than a quilting circle."

"Oh, come on, Capt…Sam…" Janet corrected herself and took a slug of margarita. "With an SF at every junction, standing there as if he were a part of the wall? No secrets in that place. Get yourself a drink - you look like you could do with one - and let's find somewhere to sit and something to eat."

Sam ordered a Corona and followed the Doctor - Janet - over to a stall by the window. "Have you been here before?"

"Nope, but my girlfriend recommended it - you can order anything on the menu, she said and it's a good deal." Janet took a seat and raised her glass, indicating a toast. "To women who haven't got their eye on world domination and who can kick butt when cornered."

Laughter came easily - and, if she was honest, slightly hysterically. After the last couple of days, she was tense as a strung wire. "Hear, hear!"

They drank and a waitress stopped by to take their orders. Janet ordered the beef enchiladas with extra salsa, Sam ordered a chicken fajitas and extra jalapenos.

A brief silence fell. They didn't know each other quite so well as to be able to talk about really personal stuff, so Sam settled for asking about work.

"So did you find anything in the…DNA tests?"

"Nothing. Not even Dr. Jackson's DNA."

"How's he dealing with it?"

"I think he's in a bit of shock. Given what had happened to him, I had to give him a full body check…he was not impressed." A sly smile and a wink indicated that the doctor had found the situation amusing, even if Daniel had not. "At least Madam Redhead wasn't carrying anything…questionable. Dr. Jackson should be very grateful."

"What about long-term emotional damage? When I found him…afterwards. He was sitting on the bed looking a bit stunned. He seemed okay when he came to in the control room and later when we were cleaning up in the locker room…but…"

"But these things often come up in the subconscious," Janet finished for her. "I've put him in for a couple of sessions of counselling with Dr. Mackenzie, and he's off active-duty for a couple of days at the very least. So is the Colonel." A grimace crossed the pretty features. "And I'm putting him in for counseling with Mackenzie, too!"

Evidently Colonel O'Neill hadn't given Dr. Fraiser an easy time about either the physical check-up or the matter of counseling.

"The Colonel isn't suffering any physical after-effects…?"

"Nope. Completely healed. If anything, he's even better than he was…" Janet took another gulp of her drink and grinned, "And that's pretty good!"

Okay, she couldn't help it. She was just the slightest bit curious. "So, do you and Colonel O'Neill have…history?" Ordinarily, she wouldn't have stooped to gossip, but she had to admit that a part of her did wonder - just a little.

"No. Why?"

"You guys just seem…really comfortable with each other."

Janet snorted. "Yeah, he complains about my needles, I jam one in his butt. Really comfortable relationship. No, Colonel O'Neill and I have no 'history' at all. Unfortunately."

Sam grinned, let the comment pass and asked a different question: "How'd you get transferred to this command, anyway?"

"Straight out of a divorce and back into work, I wanted somewhere that was a challenge - take my mind off all the nasty details. They assigned me to Cheyenne. I arrive, unpack my stuff and promptly discover I've got a virus on my hands that's causing Neanderthalism. The fun hasn't stopped since then." She grinned. "Okay, I have a question for you, Captain…"

"Sam."

"Whoops…Sam. It's kind of personal so you can tell me to shut up if you like…"

"I'll keep that in mind…"

"What was the deal with you and Captain Hanson of SG-9? I wasn't game to ask then or after what happened to SG-9, but…" Janet trailed off as she met Sam's gaze. "Okay, you don't have to answer that one - I'll just blame it on drinking the margarita on an empty stomach…"

"It's okay. I'm just…surprised. I thought most people on the base knew…"

Janet's eyes widened, startled. "Captain Hanson and you were…"

Suddenly, Sam realised that Janet had the wrong end of the stick. Sort of. "We were engaged several years ago, I broke it off, and we parted amicably. I got reassigned here and a few weeks later he turns up…"

"Ah. I just…well, I heard on the grapevine…but you know how things get thrown out of all proportion around here…"

Sam grinned briefly, remembering the look on the Colonel's face when he'd heard the rumour that had him and Daniel as lovers. "Yeah. I do. No, by the time Jonas was assigned here, everything was finished."

"How long were you engaged?"

She had to think about this one. "For about three months."

"Did you finish it or did he?"

Janet was skirting precariously close to being a busybody, but Sam didn't really mind. Actually, it was something of a relief to talk about it to another woman - instead of her father or Mark. "I did once I realised I didn't want him to worship the ground I walked on."

The Doc - Janet - choked on her margarita. "Let me get this straight… You dumped a guy because he liked you too much?"

Put that way, it sounded silly. All Sam knew was that she hadn't been ready to give the kind of intimacy Jonas Hanson had craved. She was her own woman first, and then maybe she'd be someone else's. Maybe.

So far, she'd found her work at the SGC challenging and delightful. Perhaps in time, she'd feel the need for someone in her life or she'd find someone who'd make himself a fixture in her life - but she wasn't actively looking right now.

"Well, what split you and your ex-husband?" As soon as the words were out she regretted them. Beer on an empty stomach - never a good idea.

But Janet answered, "Huh, from my point of view, it was the blonde with big hair that I caught him necking with on the front porch one night." Sam could have quite happily fallen through the floor at that moment, but the Doc just grimaced and kept talking. "He reckoned it was my going off to try to 'be a man in the army'."

"'This man's army'?" Sam questioned.

"That'd be it." Janet shrugged. "I moved out that night, got a divorce six months later and asked for an assignment anywhere which was a challenge." She glanced down at her plate, then up again. "This is the first time I've spoken - I mean, really spoken to someone - about David since we split."

"You don't have family?"

"A half-brother and half-sister in Michigan somewhere," Janet waved a hand airily. "Parents both dead, ex-husband I don't want to see ever again… Perfect candidate to be assigned to a command where the fun never stops. And if this is going to turn into 'twenty questions', what about your family? I mean, I know your Mom's deceased, but you've got other family.

"A brother in San Diego, Dad in Seattle." She didn't talk to them much, didn't keep up with them much. They were 'casual' family, not intimate family. Which was probably why she'd gotten on so well with her team - they had few strong ties to the world outside the mountain, so they'd formed strong bonds at work.

It helped, both in the field and out of it.

They talked a little more about family before they moved into the gossip of the base. Janet knew a lot for someone who was supposed to spend most of her time in the infirmary. "It's the nurses," the other woman excused herself neatly. "They gossip like a quilting circle."

Sam grinned at the sudden image of some hapless soldier lying wounded on the bed as the nurses sat around and stitched him back together again. "And you don't contribute at all?"

Janet regarded her sternly. "I don't need to. They're hardly circumspect about their speculations!"

Enchiladas and fajitas arrived and the women set into them with great gusto, continuing their conversation between mouthfuls. Janet ordered lemonade and Sam ordered a diet Coke.

They discussed odds and ends as dinner finished. Movies, books, actors, and television shows. Sam discovered Janet's fondness for 'Arnohld' movies and Janet uncovered Sam's fondness for MacGyver.

Somehow the topic of conversation jumped to Sam's team-mates and, with the recent situation concerning Teal'c's wife and son, their families or lack of - and the apparent need for secrecy by both Teal'c and the Colonel.

They got into a competition to see who could be most descriptive of the Colonel's reticence about his personal life.

"Not one to spill his secrets."

"More closed doors than Bluebeard."

"A past more hidden than…" Sam tried to find an appropriate metaphor and failed. "Well, I certainly had no idea he even had a family until we encountered the crystal energy-being."

"I think Dr. Jackson knew."

"He shared a house with the Colonel for…what…nearly a month?"

Janet giggled, "Oh to be a spider in a corner of that house for a month. Can you imagine the arguments?"

Sam made a face, "I don't need to imagine them! I hear them all the time when we're off-world."

"Have you heard the gossip columnists who reckon there's something going between them?"

"Yes." Sam grinned. "You should have seen the Colonel's face when he found out. A true Kodak moment!"

Janet sniggered. "If it was true, it'd be a terrible waste of perfectly good men. But you're right. They're batting way out of left field. Warner says he's never seen a man so twitchy at being examined by another man."

"It could just be the post-mission physicals you put us through."

"Could be," the Doctor grinned. "And the Colonel certainly has a nice butt for jamming needles into - don't you think?"

The arch question caught Sam by surprise and she choked on her drink. It was a minute before she could breathe without gasping again and the twinkle in the Doc's eye had not abated one bit. "I plead the fifth! Just remember that I have to work with him!"

"Working with a man is an entirely separate thing to noting whether or not he's got nice tight glutes, Sam. Open your eyes! In an unofficial poll taken amongst the infirmary staff, your trio…"

"They're not mine…"

"Whatever. Your trio came first in the poll of 'which SG teams they'd prefer to return from a mission with a mild injury'. Do you know how many of my nurses go into a head spin at the mere thought of a bare-chested Dr. Jackson?"

"No."

Janet snorted. "Too many."

Sam tried to envision Daniel as a sex god. Her team-mate was certainly good-looking, unfailingly polite and earnest and with a slightly puppy-ish bounce to him. She just wasn't attracted to him like that. "He's married."

"Ever heard of the saying 'just because you're on a diet doesn't mean you can't ogle the menu'?"

Sam had a sudden vision of her teammate with only a menu to cover his modesty and choked again. "Janet, that's wicked!"

"I try," Janet responded as she flagged the waiter to get the bill.

Out in the street, they pulled their jackets closer around them and their breath puffed out in the cold night. "Wanna go for a walk?" Sam asked, reluctant to have the night end. It was nice to be in the company of another woman and to just talk about anything and nothing.

"Ah…bit too cold for me," Janet told her. "Tell you what. We'll go past the video shop two blocks down, pick up a girly movie, some popcorn and chocolate and you can come back to my place."

"Sounds good."

The bill was paid, the restaurant was behind them, the air was cool and crisp around them and the stars twinkled in the sky above them as they made their way towards the bright neon lights of the local Blockbuster video store.

There were a small collection of restaurants and bars in the area and as they meandered down the street, Sam paused by a somewhat battered Ford utility truck and glanced up and down the street, surprised. "That's the Colonel's truck."

Janet's eyebrow's raised. "I thought he was going home for the night."

Sam pursed her lips and looked speculatively from one bar to the other. "I thought I heard him, Daniel and Teal'c outside my door an hour before I left. They didn't come in, so I thought maybe it was someone else…"

"Aw…" Janet teased. "Left out of the boys' night out?"

Sam rolled her eyes with good-humour. "After yesterday and today, I'm more than happy to be 'left out' of whatever Colonel O'Neill had planned for tonight." Mentally tagged onto the end was the consideration that if Hathor had left the guys in a 'libidinous' state, then going out might have been a way for both the Colonel and Daniel to get rid of that 'edge'. Maybe.

Banishing such thoughts from her head, they walked on to the video store discussing the various movies available to rent. Janet wanted 'While You Were Sleeping' and was arguing fervently in favour of Bill Pullman. Sam wasn't so sure. She'd see what was available when they got into the store.

The easy chatter was comforting.

After eight months with SG-1, Sam had gotten used to being 'one of the boys'.

It was a nice feeling to know she was also still one of the girls.

*