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Title: Part of the Team
Writer:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elfcat255
Requester:raginhoops
Fandom & Pairing: Stargate SG-1—Sam/Janet(offworld, Janet saves Sam, but not by medical means)
Squicks: not a fan of porn
Rating: whatever (it’s PG)
Spoilers: None
Beta:sams_ceara
My poem fragment was---as long as you want
Something tugging at her jacket sleeve slowly roused her from the darkness she’d plunged into. With a soft groan the small woman batted at whatever it was, muttering, “Let me sleep, Sam.”
The answer she received wasn’t from her blonde partner but a loud raucous cawing which caused her eyes to pop open as her body reacted instinctively by scrambling backwards away from the large black bird. When her left hand slipped out from under her Janet stopped the mad scramble as her body tilted. Reacting fast, the small woman rolled away from the ledge she was about to go over and lying on her stomach, took several deep breaths trying to calm her frantically beating heart.
She slowly rose into a sitting position causing the bird, still hopping around a few feet from her, to finally fly away. Raising a dirty hand to her head, the doctor hissed as she hit a tender spot and jerked her hand away to find it covered in blood. She wiped the blood onto her pants leg and realized now that the adrenaline from the scare she’d received was wearing off her body ached in numerous places. Looking around, she saw nowhere to go as she found herself trapped on the side of a cliff, the wide outcropping having stopped her plummet towards the bottom. A moment of panic seized her and on hands and knees she crawled to the edge of the ledge then peered over it.
“Oh, thank God,” she said softly, seeing no sign of a body on the rocky ground some fifty feet below her; at least Sam had not suffered her fate as well. With her shoulders slumped in relief she sat back and placed her head in her hands. It was beginning to throb fiercely and she knew it would probably worsen. Judging from the rest of her symptoms, slightly blurred vision and nausea, she definitely had a concussion.
“How in the world does Sam deal with these so often?” she mumbled.
Speaking about her partner made the doctor snap her head back up, which caused her to wince in pain. “Where are you, Samantha?” she wondered aloud. Rubbing her temples the doctor tried to recall the moments leading to her current predicament. “We were walking along the cliff, I heard someone yell out; I was pushed then falling and blackness,” she said aloud. If the blonde Major wasn’t on the ledge or below on the rocks then what was her fate?
Pondering that thought for a moment, Janet looked around her surroundings again; rocks and small scrub bushes were her only companions. Glancing up at the drop she’d made from above she let out a soft whistle, wondering how she’d survived that fall with only a banged up head, bruises and some scratches. With a low groan she rose to her feet, swaying slightly as the world spun a little. She stumbled towards the cliff then grabbed hold of a shrub growing from the side of the dirt and rock wall, steadying her body as the dizzy spell slowly passed.
Once she was able to let go of the shrub the doctor began checking her pockets for something to use as a bandage on the cut that was trickling blood down the side of her face. Finding a handkerchief in one of her jacket pockets, she held it to the cut, applying pressure to the scalp as she glanced up at the climb she was going to have to make to get out of this predicament. “The one time I wished we hadn’t left our packs back at the village,” she muttered.
A light went off in her head when she said this and she smiled; maybe that’s where Sam was. Maybe she had run back to the nursery they’d toured before walking along the cliffs towards the village, where the rest of the team was, to get some help. Another wave of dizziness threatened and Janet sank down on one knee just in case she decided to pass out. She of all people knew what to face with this sort of injury. Unless she began moving around her body was going to want her to sleep and that wasn’t a smart thing to do. Tugging her jacket off, then the t-shirt she wore, the small doctor ripped the bottom section of the fabric so she could make a bandage to hold the handkerchief to her head. Stopping the bleeding would give her a better chance of staying conscious as she tried to climb up the cliff wall. Pulling her shortened shirt back on and her jacket, Janet then wrapped the material she’d torn off around her head, forming a turban of sorts. Once satisfied it was tight and wouldn’t slip, she took a deep breath and began easing her body up the dirt wall. Luckily, there were plenty of rocks along with the sparse shrubbery growing from the dirt that she could use for handholds.
Only a few feet up from the ledge the doctor thought for just a moment about climbing back down to wait on Sam and the others to reach her but deep down she felt that something had happened to the blonde and her teammates. Sam would have never left her on the ledge, not if she could help it; something had to have forced her partner away. Steeling her nerves, the petite woman gritted her teeth and inched her way up the cliff face. “This will be a piece of cake,” she grunted softly, gripping a small shelf of rock and pulling her body up. “Just think back to basic training, Jan,” she said out loud, cheering herself on some.
**
The sun was beginning to set as a hand gripped the edge of the cliff, followed by another one and then the top of a head wrapped in black material joined them as the doctor pulled herself up onto her side. Janet lay there breathing heavily for what seemed like forever to her and then with a groan rolled onto her hands and knees to push her body off the dusty ground. Walking away from the edge of the cliff she took a few minutes to survey the area where she’d last seen her partner. All of the training exercises she’d been through had taught her a few things, one being how to read signs (thanks to Teal’c). She could tell there had been a struggle because the ground was all torn up. The kicker, though, was finding Sam’s knife not far from a small pool of blood and some drag marks. She knew it belonged to the blonde because like all of her gear, the Major had scratched her initials on it. Janet gripped her lower lip between her teeth and then shook her head. “That had better not be your blood, Samantha. I’m in no mood to patch you up, too,” the small doctor muttered. Hefting the knife in her hand then placing it in the side pocket of her pants, the doctor began walking towards the village, the direction all the signs pointed towards.
**
On the dusty floor of a building located in the village, a certain blonde Air Force Major slowly came around. She blinked the fuzziness from her eyes and tried to sit up only to discover her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were bound also. She craned her neck around trying to survey her surroundings but there wasn’t much to see from floor level just some chair legs, crates and lots of dust.
A heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she remembered how she’d ended up in this situation made tears spring to her eyes; seeing Janet fall backwards from the cliff and not being able to save her because of the two men who had grabbed her from behind. She had struggled with them trying to break free so she could go after the doctor but even wounding one of them with her knife had failed. Then someone had hit her over the head and she woke up here, tied up on the floor.
“When I get loose someone is going to pay for your death, Janet, I swear,” the blonde growled as she fought against her bindings. She truly believed the doctor had died. There was no way she could have survived that fall. The drop from the cliff to the rocky ground below was well over a hundred feet, if not more.
Trying with all her might, the blonde woman twisted and tugged against the rope holding her limbs together, but to no avail. She couldn’t free herself. Slumping against the ground in defeat she finally let the tears fall as she mourned the loss of her partner. “I’m so sorry, Jan. If I hadn’t asked you to come with us, you’d still be alive,” she said in between sobs and staring up at the wooden ceiling, Sam Carter let the tears run down the sides of her face to mingle with the dirt below her head.
**
The closer she came to the village, the more the doctor began to limp and feel weak. Her right knee must have twisted during the fall and she could feel blood trickling down the back of her neck from the scalp wound. Shuffling her feet along the dirt track leading toward the village, she watched the ground with every footstep. Concentrating on placing one foot in front of the other had kept her awake. The sound of a dog barking snapped her from the zone she was in and she looked up, finding herself near one of the houses sitting on the edge of the small village.
The dog continued its barking until a small child exited the house and yelled at it to be quiet. The young girl saw the cause of the uproar and called for her father, “Pa! There’s a lady out here!”
A tall man came to the door and saw one of the women who had come with the other visitors through the Chappa’ai. The woman was covered in dirt and had blood covering the side of her face; she appeared to be wavering close to collapse. Rushing out the door, he reached her just as she slumped to the ground. “Quickly, Ren; fetch some water from the well!” the man called to his daughter. As he picked the small woman up in his arms, the child ran and did as told and her father carried the stranger into their house.
**
With a low moan the doctor slowly woke. Blinking her eyes, she first noticed she was inside a house and then realized she was laying on a bed. Sitting up, she dislodged the wet towel that was resting on her forehead; reaching a hand up to feel the cut on her head, she discovered it no longer leaked blood. The sound of footsteps came from the hallway and Janet turned her body to face the open door. A tall man followed by a young girl entered the room. He carried a steaming bucket of water along with a few towels and the child had several items of clothing in her arms.
“Ah, you’re awake. I’m not as good a healer as you but I had hoped by letting you rest you would be fine,” the man said as he came to a stop beside the bed.
The doctor wanted to tell him that was the worst thing he could have done but she held her tongue, knowing the man was just trying to help. “Where am I?” Janet asked and then added, “You look familiar.”
The man smiled down at the doctor and replied, “I am Garth and this is Ren, my daughter. You’re in our home. I look familiar because you treated her for a fever on the day you and your friends arrived here.”
Running a hand through her messy hair Janet gave the young girl who was hiding behind her father’s legs a smile. “Ah, how could I forget such a cute face?“ she said to the girl with a wink of her eye. “I take it that the fever is all gone?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, I’m all better now. Do you have anymore of that good medicine?” the girl asked shyly.
Janet chuckled; the old trick of flavoring the antibiotics for the children always left them willing to take more. “No, you don’t need anymore right now, Ren,” she said to the girl and then swung her legs over the side of the bed.
“Garth, do you know where the rest of my friends are?” Janet asked as she slowly stood up.
The tall man’s face grew overcast and he nodded. “I believe they have been taken prisoners by a group of religious zealots,” the man told her. “Many still believe the chappa’ai is meant for use only by the gods and their minions. The appearance of you and your friends challenged this belief and they have taken offense.”
“I take it you don’t share their beliefs?” she asked. Garth shook his head no and Janet continued, “I need to find a way to reach them.” With a determined look on her face she took a step forward only to waver slightly.
Garth grabbed the small woman before she fell again and spoke, “You are in no shape to help them at the moment, Healer.”
Janet’s lips tightened and she controlled the flare of her temper as she pulled away from his grip. “I’m capable of a lot of things, Garth, even in this condition,” she replied in a curt tone.
“So you say, but judging from the material I took from around your head you have lost a lot of blood. Would it not be better to let your body rest? Ren and I can locate your friends while you do this,” the tall man told her.
The little girl patted Janet on the hand and held up the clothing in her arms. “I brought you one of Mother’s old dresses to wear,” she said smiling up at the doctor.
Janet gazed down at the child’s angelic face and with a resigned sigh sat back on the bed. She took the offered clothing from the girl and looked back up at Garth. “Very well, I’ll get cleaned up then rest and you’re right, it would be better for me to be well rested. There’s no telling what we might have to do to rescue them,” she said.
“Good, we shall leave you alone. I will return before we go with some refreshments for you,” the tall man told her and motioning to his daughter they both left the doctor alone in the room.
Janet stood again and walked slowly over to the door. Closing it, she made her way to the table were Garth had left the hot water. Using one of the towels she wet it then began cleaning the dried blood from her face and hands. All the while her thoughts in turmoil as to just how she, the tall man and his six year old daughter were going to rescue Sam and the rest of SG-1.
**
After cleaning herself up and doctoring her injuries as best she could without her kit, Janet felt somewhat better. Her head still throbbed but it was something she could ignore. She had tried to eat some of the food Garth had brought before they left, but her stomach was in knots and she didn’t feel like exasperating the pain in her head by adding dry heaves to the problem. The small woman had also changed into the dress left for her by Ren; she did have to roll the sleeves up some and take in the waist a bit with the belt but other than that it fit very well, making her appear as one of the villagers. She heard a door open then close and soon Garth along with his daughter appeared in the doorway of her room.
“I have found your friends. They are being held in two separate buildings,“ he said as they walked in the room. “I also talked to one of the men responsible for this ridiculous action and he believes I am in agreement with their beliefs.”
Janet began to say something but Garth stopped her with an upheld hand. “I have been put in charge of feeding the prisoners seeing that I am the town baker,” he continued. “This will allow us access to them.”
The doctor stared at the man’s smiling face and then her gazed drifted down to his daughter’s. “Why are you doing this? What happens when and if we pull this off? Won’t they come after you when we are gone?” Janet said, peppering the tall man with questions.
“You healed my daughter; she is all I have left since her mother died. For that I would help rescue a hundred people not just four. As for the consequences of my actions, well, I shall handle that when it happens,” Garth told her in a serious tone.
Sighing, the doctor nodded her head. “Very well, let’s come up with a plan then,” she told him. The trio sat down at a low table and began discussing exactly how they were going to rescue the doctor’s teammates.
**
The village square was crowded with people as the three rescuers made their way towards the buildings holding the members of SG-1. The two adults carried large baskets containing foodstuffs while the young girl pulled a small wagon with several wineskins in it. Janet kept her head covered by turning a shawl into a hood of sorts, keeping it pulled close, so as not to be recognized. Coming to a halt before several armed men, the doctor held her breath as they looked through the baskets before allowing the trio to move past them. Letting a low whistle escape as she made her way towards the entrance of one of the buildings, Janet was relieved they only searched the baskets and not her because Sam’s knife was safely tucked beneath the waistband of dress. Ren moved ahead of the doctor and pushed open the wooden door then skipped out of Janet’s way as she carried the large basket into the darkened dwelling.
Standing in the open doorway, the doctor could see a hunched form lying on the ground a few paces from the entrance. When Ren entered the house, the doctor motioned for the girl to close the door and then setting her basket on the ground, Janet moved towards the figure. Pulling back the shawl on her head, the small doctor knelt next to the person on the floor as Ren lit a nearby lantern and brought it over for the woman to see.
As the glow from the lantern shown on the form below her, Janet heard several sniffles coming from it. A cloth sack covered the person’s face but from the size she knew it had to be Sam. Reaching a hand out she loosened the sack, pulling it over the woman’s head and remarked, “What did you do to make them cover your face, Samantha?”
Blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the light, Sam thought just for a second she was dreaming then her eyes focused and widened as she gazed up at a face she thought she’d never see again. “Janet? How? I saw you go over the cliff. What are you doing here?” she gasped out in confusion.
“Well, hello to you, too,” Janet replied with a smile as she slipped the knife from the waistband, then rolling Sam over, cut through the ropes holding the blonde’s hands and those on her feet too.
Sam turned back over once she could move her limbs and sitting up quickly, engulfed her partner in a tight hug. “Thank God, I thought you were dead,” she choked out, trying to control a new round of tears; of happiness this time though.
Returning the hug, Janet laughed and remarked, “I’m one tough cookie, sweetheart. It takes more than a little drop to get rid of me.”
Sam pulled back from the hug and wiped her face with her hands. “Little drop? Janet Fraiser that was well over a hundred feet! Explain how you survived,” she ordered.
“Gladly, my dear, but not at the moment; you’re holding up your rescue,” Janet replied with wink of her eye.
Sam shook her head in agreement. “Of course, I was just excited to see you. Do you know where the guys are?” she asked as they stood up from the floor.
“In the next building, Garth is handling that,” Janet replied and then asked again, “Why was your head covered?”
Sam wanted to ask who Garth was but instead she ducked her head to hide a grin. “I bit one of them the last time they checked on me,” she admitted.
Janet eyed her blonde partner. “Well, let’s make sure we disinfect you before you kiss me when we get home,” she remarked with a grin of her own.
The taller woman laughed at the remark and grabbed the doctor in another tight hug. “I’m so happy you’re okay. I thought I’d lost you, Jan,” she said solemnly.
Before Janet could reply to that statement, she felt a tug on her dress. Looking down, she found Ren smiling up at them. “Are you ready for me to get the guards?” the young girl asked.
“Ah, yes, just one second, Ren,” Janet told her and then looked to Sam. “Okay, get back on the floor, pretend you’re still tied and don’t move,” she told the Major.
With a confused look on her face, Sam pulled away from the doctor’s arms and lowered her body to the floor. “I take it you’re using the old prisoner is hurt trick,” she said with a grin, making little air quotes with her fingers.
“It’s all I could think of, smarty pants. Now get ready,” Janet replied, nudging Sam with her foot. She then moved towards the door and pulled the shawl back around her head.
Sam chuckled and lay back on the floor making sure her arms and feet were together. She listened as the girl ran to the door and said in a loud voice to the guards, “There’s something wrong with the lady on the floor!” Hearing a shuffling of feet, the blonde readied herself for an inspection as she heard Janet’s voice talking to the men. “I tried but she won’t wake up,” the doctor said in a meek voice.
The blonde woman played possum as she was kicked in the back. When she didn’t react the man knelt next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her roughly. Sam opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Hi,” she said and quickly grabbed his shirtfront with one of her hands. Pulling with all her might, she flipped him over her body and rolled over on top of him. A couple of well placed punches to the face soon had him motionless beneath her.
She looked up to see Janet kneeling next to another guard lying on the floor. The doctor stood and dusted her hands off and with a smile at the blonde remarked, “I seem to be using all kinds of skills learned from Teal’c on this mission.”
Sam laughed and replied to the comment as she used what was left of her bonds to tie the man beneath her, “I’ll be sure to let him know how useful his lessons are, Jan. Now, how are we getting out of here?”
The young girl spoke up, “There is a window in the other room facing away from the village. Pa is to meet us there with the others.”
Sam eyed the girl and then looked at Janet. “Quite the accomplice you have here, my dear,” she remarked.
The doctor caught the piece of rope her partner tossed to her and kneeling down hog tied the guard. Standing up she gave Sam a grin as she replied to the comment, “Well, I needed a smart blonde to help me and since you were a little tied up…” she let the rest of the sentence trail off as she shrugged her shoulders.
Before Sam could reply to the remark, the young girl tugged on her hand.
“Come, Pa is waiting with your friends,” she told the women.
The trio made their way to the back room and found Garth waiting at the window along with a grinning Colonel O’Neill. “Hi ya, Doc,” he said as Janet climbed onto the window sill. “Nice dress,” he quipped as she slung her legs over and prepared to drop to the ground.
“Nice shiner,“ the doctor returned as she landed and turned catch Ren, who Sam had set in the window.
Following after the child, Sam landed on the ground and glanced at her CO and the doctor who looked as if they were about to launch into one of their typical remark baiting matches. “Save it for when we get home, you two. I think we need to hurry,” she told them.
O’Neill raised his hands and motioned for the doctor to walk ahead of him. Janet glared at the colonel but stayed silent as she walked over to check on Daniel who was leaning on Teal’c. Jack turned to meet an equally hard glare from Sam and raised an eyebrow. “What? I can’t lighten the moment with a little comedy?” he asked innocently.
“If I were you I wouldn’t start, she’s had a rough day, Sir,” Sam informed him and shaking her head walked past her CO to join the doctor.
He started to reply to her statement but the sound of yelling from the front of the building made him change his mind quickly. “Okay, campers, let’s hightail it to the Gate!” he said moving towards the group.
“We need our gear, the GDO was in my pack,” Sam told him as they moved into the small stand of trees behind the house.
“I have your possessions hidden near the Chappa’ai,” Garth told them.
“Problem solved, Carter. Now move,” O’Neill ordered.
Luckily for them all, the Stargate wasn’t very far from the village. As Sam jogged along beside the doctor she noticed the limp in the smaller woman’s gait. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I twisted my knee slightly during my little fall. I’m fine, though,” Janet replied. “Besides, there’s no way I’m letting you help me because Jack will have a field day with it,” she commented.
Sam nodded in reply. Janet was right, Jack would never to let the doctor forget that she had to be carried back to the gate, even if it she was the one responsible for their rescue. As they neared the gate, Garth and his daughter moved towards a clump of bushes. They motioned for the team to come to them and the tall man held up one of their back packs. Sam took it from his grasp and passed it to the Colonel along with another one until they all had their gear, weapons included.
Flipping open the side pocket on her pack Sam pulled out the GDO and tossed it to Teal’c who helped Daniel over to the DHD, where the archeologist began dialing the address home.
As the gate roared to life and the Jaffa helped Daniel up the steps, Janet looked up at Garth. “Thank you for helping me,” she said. “I hope you don’t get in too much trouble for your actions.”
The tall man shook his head and laughed. “If they get rid of me, then who will bake the bread? Do not worry, Healer, we will be fine. Now hurry back to your home before they come,” he told her.
Janet gave them both a quick hug and then limped towards the gate, followed by Sam and the Colonel. As she waited on Sam before crossing the horizon Jack walked past her and remarked, “Ya know something, Doc? You’re pretty handy to have on a mission. We might have to take you with us more often.”
“Well, I guess as long as you want me, Colonel, it’s fine by me, but…can we try to keep the whole rescuing thing down to a minimum?” the doctor remarked.
“I’ll try to remember that,” he returned and with a crooked smile stepped into the gate’s blue horizon.
Sam came to a stop next to the doctor and glanced down at the smaller auburn haired women. With a wide smile and a twinkle in her blue eyes the blonde remarked, “Oh, I don’t know, I kind of like the idea of you being my knight in shining armor.”
“Well, this knight is feeling a little on the rusty side right now. How about we quit the chatter before the villains show up and get back to Earth? Then once we debrief I can have a long hot soak in the tub at home?” Janet said, raising her eyebrow in question during the last part as she gazed up at her partner.
“Anything you want, my dear, anything you want,” Sam said and taking Janet’s hand in her own they stepped through the horizon.
dogged_by_muses for the master list of entries...Enjoy!Title: Part of the Team
Writer:
elfcat255Requester:
raginhoopsFandom & Pairing: Stargate SG-1—Sam/Janet(offworld, Janet saves Sam, but not by medical means)
Squicks: not a fan of porn
Rating: whatever (it’s PG)
Spoilers: None
Beta:
sams_cearaMy poem fragment was---as long as you want
Something tugging at her jacket sleeve slowly roused her from the darkness she’d plunged into. With a soft groan the small woman batted at whatever it was, muttering, “Let me sleep, Sam.”
The answer she received wasn’t from her blonde partner but a loud raucous cawing which caused her eyes to pop open as her body reacted instinctively by scrambling backwards away from the large black bird. When her left hand slipped out from under her Janet stopped the mad scramble as her body tilted. Reacting fast, the small woman rolled away from the ledge she was about to go over and lying on her stomach, took several deep breaths trying to calm her frantically beating heart.
She slowly rose into a sitting position causing the bird, still hopping around a few feet from her, to finally fly away. Raising a dirty hand to her head, the doctor hissed as she hit a tender spot and jerked her hand away to find it covered in blood. She wiped the blood onto her pants leg and realized now that the adrenaline from the scare she’d received was wearing off her body ached in numerous places. Looking around, she saw nowhere to go as she found herself trapped on the side of a cliff, the wide outcropping having stopped her plummet towards the bottom. A moment of panic seized her and on hands and knees she crawled to the edge of the ledge then peered over it.
“Oh, thank God,” she said softly, seeing no sign of a body on the rocky ground some fifty feet below her; at least Sam had not suffered her fate as well. With her shoulders slumped in relief she sat back and placed her head in her hands. It was beginning to throb fiercely and she knew it would probably worsen. Judging from the rest of her symptoms, slightly blurred vision and nausea, she definitely had a concussion.
“How in the world does Sam deal with these so often?” she mumbled.
Speaking about her partner made the doctor snap her head back up, which caused her to wince in pain. “Where are you, Samantha?” she wondered aloud. Rubbing her temples the doctor tried to recall the moments leading to her current predicament. “We were walking along the cliff, I heard someone yell out; I was pushed then falling and blackness,” she said aloud. If the blonde Major wasn’t on the ledge or below on the rocks then what was her fate?
Pondering that thought for a moment, Janet looked around her surroundings again; rocks and small scrub bushes were her only companions. Glancing up at the drop she’d made from above she let out a soft whistle, wondering how she’d survived that fall with only a banged up head, bruises and some scratches. With a low groan she rose to her feet, swaying slightly as the world spun a little. She stumbled towards the cliff then grabbed hold of a shrub growing from the side of the dirt and rock wall, steadying her body as the dizzy spell slowly passed.
Once she was able to let go of the shrub the doctor began checking her pockets for something to use as a bandage on the cut that was trickling blood down the side of her face. Finding a handkerchief in one of her jacket pockets, she held it to the cut, applying pressure to the scalp as she glanced up at the climb she was going to have to make to get out of this predicament. “The one time I wished we hadn’t left our packs back at the village,” she muttered.
A light went off in her head when she said this and she smiled; maybe that’s where Sam was. Maybe she had run back to the nursery they’d toured before walking along the cliffs towards the village, where the rest of the team was, to get some help. Another wave of dizziness threatened and Janet sank down on one knee just in case she decided to pass out. She of all people knew what to face with this sort of injury. Unless she began moving around her body was going to want her to sleep and that wasn’t a smart thing to do. Tugging her jacket off, then the t-shirt she wore, the small doctor ripped the bottom section of the fabric so she could make a bandage to hold the handkerchief to her head. Stopping the bleeding would give her a better chance of staying conscious as she tried to climb up the cliff wall. Pulling her shortened shirt back on and her jacket, Janet then wrapped the material she’d torn off around her head, forming a turban of sorts. Once satisfied it was tight and wouldn’t slip, she took a deep breath and began easing her body up the dirt wall. Luckily, there were plenty of rocks along with the sparse shrubbery growing from the dirt that she could use for handholds.
Only a few feet up from the ledge the doctor thought for just a moment about climbing back down to wait on Sam and the others to reach her but deep down she felt that something had happened to the blonde and her teammates. Sam would have never left her on the ledge, not if she could help it; something had to have forced her partner away. Steeling her nerves, the petite woman gritted her teeth and inched her way up the cliff face. “This will be a piece of cake,” she grunted softly, gripping a small shelf of rock and pulling her body up. “Just think back to basic training, Jan,” she said out loud, cheering herself on some.
**
The sun was beginning to set as a hand gripped the edge of the cliff, followed by another one and then the top of a head wrapped in black material joined them as the doctor pulled herself up onto her side. Janet lay there breathing heavily for what seemed like forever to her and then with a groan rolled onto her hands and knees to push her body off the dusty ground. Walking away from the edge of the cliff she took a few minutes to survey the area where she’d last seen her partner. All of the training exercises she’d been through had taught her a few things, one being how to read signs (thanks to Teal’c). She could tell there had been a struggle because the ground was all torn up. The kicker, though, was finding Sam’s knife not far from a small pool of blood and some drag marks. She knew it belonged to the blonde because like all of her gear, the Major had scratched her initials on it. Janet gripped her lower lip between her teeth and then shook her head. “That had better not be your blood, Samantha. I’m in no mood to patch you up, too,” the small doctor muttered. Hefting the knife in her hand then placing it in the side pocket of her pants, the doctor began walking towards the village, the direction all the signs pointed towards.
**
On the dusty floor of a building located in the village, a certain blonde Air Force Major slowly came around. She blinked the fuzziness from her eyes and tried to sit up only to discover her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were bound also. She craned her neck around trying to survey her surroundings but there wasn’t much to see from floor level just some chair legs, crates and lots of dust.
A heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she remembered how she’d ended up in this situation made tears spring to her eyes; seeing Janet fall backwards from the cliff and not being able to save her because of the two men who had grabbed her from behind. She had struggled with them trying to break free so she could go after the doctor but even wounding one of them with her knife had failed. Then someone had hit her over the head and she woke up here, tied up on the floor.
“When I get loose someone is going to pay for your death, Janet, I swear,” the blonde growled as she fought against her bindings. She truly believed the doctor had died. There was no way she could have survived that fall. The drop from the cliff to the rocky ground below was well over a hundred feet, if not more.
Trying with all her might, the blonde woman twisted and tugged against the rope holding her limbs together, but to no avail. She couldn’t free herself. Slumping against the ground in defeat she finally let the tears fall as she mourned the loss of her partner. “I’m so sorry, Jan. If I hadn’t asked you to come with us, you’d still be alive,” she said in between sobs and staring up at the wooden ceiling, Sam Carter let the tears run down the sides of her face to mingle with the dirt below her head.
**
The closer she came to the village, the more the doctor began to limp and feel weak. Her right knee must have twisted during the fall and she could feel blood trickling down the back of her neck from the scalp wound. Shuffling her feet along the dirt track leading toward the village, she watched the ground with every footstep. Concentrating on placing one foot in front of the other had kept her awake. The sound of a dog barking snapped her from the zone she was in and she looked up, finding herself near one of the houses sitting on the edge of the small village.
The dog continued its barking until a small child exited the house and yelled at it to be quiet. The young girl saw the cause of the uproar and called for her father, “Pa! There’s a lady out here!”
A tall man came to the door and saw one of the women who had come with the other visitors through the Chappa’ai. The woman was covered in dirt and had blood covering the side of her face; she appeared to be wavering close to collapse. Rushing out the door, he reached her just as she slumped to the ground. “Quickly, Ren; fetch some water from the well!” the man called to his daughter. As he picked the small woman up in his arms, the child ran and did as told and her father carried the stranger into their house.
**
With a low moan the doctor slowly woke. Blinking her eyes, she first noticed she was inside a house and then realized she was laying on a bed. Sitting up, she dislodged the wet towel that was resting on her forehead; reaching a hand up to feel the cut on her head, she discovered it no longer leaked blood. The sound of footsteps came from the hallway and Janet turned her body to face the open door. A tall man followed by a young girl entered the room. He carried a steaming bucket of water along with a few towels and the child had several items of clothing in her arms.
“Ah, you’re awake. I’m not as good a healer as you but I had hoped by letting you rest you would be fine,” the man said as he came to a stop beside the bed.
The doctor wanted to tell him that was the worst thing he could have done but she held her tongue, knowing the man was just trying to help. “Where am I?” Janet asked and then added, “You look familiar.”
The man smiled down at the doctor and replied, “I am Garth and this is Ren, my daughter. You’re in our home. I look familiar because you treated her for a fever on the day you and your friends arrived here.”
Running a hand through her messy hair Janet gave the young girl who was hiding behind her father’s legs a smile. “Ah, how could I forget such a cute face?“ she said to the girl with a wink of her eye. “I take it that the fever is all gone?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, I’m all better now. Do you have anymore of that good medicine?” the girl asked shyly.
Janet chuckled; the old trick of flavoring the antibiotics for the children always left them willing to take more. “No, you don’t need anymore right now, Ren,” she said to the girl and then swung her legs over the side of the bed.
“Garth, do you know where the rest of my friends are?” Janet asked as she slowly stood up.
The tall man’s face grew overcast and he nodded. “I believe they have been taken prisoners by a group of religious zealots,” the man told her. “Many still believe the chappa’ai is meant for use only by the gods and their minions. The appearance of you and your friends challenged this belief and they have taken offense.”
“I take it you don’t share their beliefs?” she asked. Garth shook his head no and Janet continued, “I need to find a way to reach them.” With a determined look on her face she took a step forward only to waver slightly.
Garth grabbed the small woman before she fell again and spoke, “You are in no shape to help them at the moment, Healer.”
Janet’s lips tightened and she controlled the flare of her temper as she pulled away from his grip. “I’m capable of a lot of things, Garth, even in this condition,” she replied in a curt tone.
“So you say, but judging from the material I took from around your head you have lost a lot of blood. Would it not be better to let your body rest? Ren and I can locate your friends while you do this,” the tall man told her.
The little girl patted Janet on the hand and held up the clothing in her arms. “I brought you one of Mother’s old dresses to wear,” she said smiling up at the doctor.
Janet gazed down at the child’s angelic face and with a resigned sigh sat back on the bed. She took the offered clothing from the girl and looked back up at Garth. “Very well, I’ll get cleaned up then rest and you’re right, it would be better for me to be well rested. There’s no telling what we might have to do to rescue them,” she said.
“Good, we shall leave you alone. I will return before we go with some refreshments for you,” the tall man told her and motioning to his daughter they both left the doctor alone in the room.
Janet stood again and walked slowly over to the door. Closing it, she made her way to the table were Garth had left the hot water. Using one of the towels she wet it then began cleaning the dried blood from her face and hands. All the while her thoughts in turmoil as to just how she, the tall man and his six year old daughter were going to rescue Sam and the rest of SG-1.
**
After cleaning herself up and doctoring her injuries as best she could without her kit, Janet felt somewhat better. Her head still throbbed but it was something she could ignore. She had tried to eat some of the food Garth had brought before they left, but her stomach was in knots and she didn’t feel like exasperating the pain in her head by adding dry heaves to the problem. The small woman had also changed into the dress left for her by Ren; she did have to roll the sleeves up some and take in the waist a bit with the belt but other than that it fit very well, making her appear as one of the villagers. She heard a door open then close and soon Garth along with his daughter appeared in the doorway of her room.
“I have found your friends. They are being held in two separate buildings,“ he said as they walked in the room. “I also talked to one of the men responsible for this ridiculous action and he believes I am in agreement with their beliefs.”
Janet began to say something but Garth stopped her with an upheld hand. “I have been put in charge of feeding the prisoners seeing that I am the town baker,” he continued. “This will allow us access to them.”
The doctor stared at the man’s smiling face and then her gazed drifted down to his daughter’s. “Why are you doing this? What happens when and if we pull this off? Won’t they come after you when we are gone?” Janet said, peppering the tall man with questions.
“You healed my daughter; she is all I have left since her mother died. For that I would help rescue a hundred people not just four. As for the consequences of my actions, well, I shall handle that when it happens,” Garth told her in a serious tone.
Sighing, the doctor nodded her head. “Very well, let’s come up with a plan then,” she told him. The trio sat down at a low table and began discussing exactly how they were going to rescue the doctor’s teammates.
**
The village square was crowded with people as the three rescuers made their way towards the buildings holding the members of SG-1. The two adults carried large baskets containing foodstuffs while the young girl pulled a small wagon with several wineskins in it. Janet kept her head covered by turning a shawl into a hood of sorts, keeping it pulled close, so as not to be recognized. Coming to a halt before several armed men, the doctor held her breath as they looked through the baskets before allowing the trio to move past them. Letting a low whistle escape as she made her way towards the entrance of one of the buildings, Janet was relieved they only searched the baskets and not her because Sam’s knife was safely tucked beneath the waistband of dress. Ren moved ahead of the doctor and pushed open the wooden door then skipped out of Janet’s way as she carried the large basket into the darkened dwelling.
Standing in the open doorway, the doctor could see a hunched form lying on the ground a few paces from the entrance. When Ren entered the house, the doctor motioned for the girl to close the door and then setting her basket on the ground, Janet moved towards the figure. Pulling back the shawl on her head, the small doctor knelt next to the person on the floor as Ren lit a nearby lantern and brought it over for the woman to see.
As the glow from the lantern shown on the form below her, Janet heard several sniffles coming from it. A cloth sack covered the person’s face but from the size she knew it had to be Sam. Reaching a hand out she loosened the sack, pulling it over the woman’s head and remarked, “What did you do to make them cover your face, Samantha?”
Blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the light, Sam thought just for a second she was dreaming then her eyes focused and widened as she gazed up at a face she thought she’d never see again. “Janet? How? I saw you go over the cliff. What are you doing here?” she gasped out in confusion.
“Well, hello to you, too,” Janet replied with a smile as she slipped the knife from the waistband, then rolling Sam over, cut through the ropes holding the blonde’s hands and those on her feet too.
Sam turned back over once she could move her limbs and sitting up quickly, engulfed her partner in a tight hug. “Thank God, I thought you were dead,” she choked out, trying to control a new round of tears; of happiness this time though.
Returning the hug, Janet laughed and remarked, “I’m one tough cookie, sweetheart. It takes more than a little drop to get rid of me.”
Sam pulled back from the hug and wiped her face with her hands. “Little drop? Janet Fraiser that was well over a hundred feet! Explain how you survived,” she ordered.
“Gladly, my dear, but not at the moment; you’re holding up your rescue,” Janet replied with wink of her eye.
Sam shook her head in agreement. “Of course, I was just excited to see you. Do you know where the guys are?” she asked as they stood up from the floor.
“In the next building, Garth is handling that,” Janet replied and then asked again, “Why was your head covered?”
Sam wanted to ask who Garth was but instead she ducked her head to hide a grin. “I bit one of them the last time they checked on me,” she admitted.
Janet eyed her blonde partner. “Well, let’s make sure we disinfect you before you kiss me when we get home,” she remarked with a grin of her own.
The taller woman laughed at the remark and grabbed the doctor in another tight hug. “I’m so happy you’re okay. I thought I’d lost you, Jan,” she said solemnly.
Before Janet could reply to that statement, she felt a tug on her dress. Looking down, she found Ren smiling up at them. “Are you ready for me to get the guards?” the young girl asked.
“Ah, yes, just one second, Ren,” Janet told her and then looked to Sam. “Okay, get back on the floor, pretend you’re still tied and don’t move,” she told the Major.
With a confused look on her face, Sam pulled away from the doctor’s arms and lowered her body to the floor. “I take it you’re using the old prisoner is hurt trick,” she said with a grin, making little air quotes with her fingers.
“It’s all I could think of, smarty pants. Now get ready,” Janet replied, nudging Sam with her foot. She then moved towards the door and pulled the shawl back around her head.
Sam chuckled and lay back on the floor making sure her arms and feet were together. She listened as the girl ran to the door and said in a loud voice to the guards, “There’s something wrong with the lady on the floor!” Hearing a shuffling of feet, the blonde readied herself for an inspection as she heard Janet’s voice talking to the men. “I tried but she won’t wake up,” the doctor said in a meek voice.
The blonde woman played possum as she was kicked in the back. When she didn’t react the man knelt next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her roughly. Sam opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Hi,” she said and quickly grabbed his shirtfront with one of her hands. Pulling with all her might, she flipped him over her body and rolled over on top of him. A couple of well placed punches to the face soon had him motionless beneath her.
She looked up to see Janet kneeling next to another guard lying on the floor. The doctor stood and dusted her hands off and with a smile at the blonde remarked, “I seem to be using all kinds of skills learned from Teal’c on this mission.”
Sam laughed and replied to the comment as she used what was left of her bonds to tie the man beneath her, “I’ll be sure to let him know how useful his lessons are, Jan. Now, how are we getting out of here?”
The young girl spoke up, “There is a window in the other room facing away from the village. Pa is to meet us there with the others.”
Sam eyed the girl and then looked at Janet. “Quite the accomplice you have here, my dear,” she remarked.
The doctor caught the piece of rope her partner tossed to her and kneeling down hog tied the guard. Standing up she gave Sam a grin as she replied to the comment, “Well, I needed a smart blonde to help me and since you were a little tied up…” she let the rest of the sentence trail off as she shrugged her shoulders.
Before Sam could reply to the remark, the young girl tugged on her hand.
“Come, Pa is waiting with your friends,” she told the women.
The trio made their way to the back room and found Garth waiting at the window along with a grinning Colonel O’Neill. “Hi ya, Doc,” he said as Janet climbed onto the window sill. “Nice dress,” he quipped as she slung her legs over and prepared to drop to the ground.
“Nice shiner,“ the doctor returned as she landed and turned catch Ren, who Sam had set in the window.
Following after the child, Sam landed on the ground and glanced at her CO and the doctor who looked as if they were about to launch into one of their typical remark baiting matches. “Save it for when we get home, you two. I think we need to hurry,” she told them.
O’Neill raised his hands and motioned for the doctor to walk ahead of him. Janet glared at the colonel but stayed silent as she walked over to check on Daniel who was leaning on Teal’c. Jack turned to meet an equally hard glare from Sam and raised an eyebrow. “What? I can’t lighten the moment with a little comedy?” he asked innocently.
“If I were you I wouldn’t start, she’s had a rough day, Sir,” Sam informed him and shaking her head walked past her CO to join the doctor.
He started to reply to her statement but the sound of yelling from the front of the building made him change his mind quickly. “Okay, campers, let’s hightail it to the Gate!” he said moving towards the group.
“We need our gear, the GDO was in my pack,” Sam told him as they moved into the small stand of trees behind the house.
“I have your possessions hidden near the Chappa’ai,” Garth told them.
“Problem solved, Carter. Now move,” O’Neill ordered.
Luckily for them all, the Stargate wasn’t very far from the village. As Sam jogged along beside the doctor she noticed the limp in the smaller woman’s gait. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I twisted my knee slightly during my little fall. I’m fine, though,” Janet replied. “Besides, there’s no way I’m letting you help me because Jack will have a field day with it,” she commented.
Sam nodded in reply. Janet was right, Jack would never to let the doctor forget that she had to be carried back to the gate, even if it she was the one responsible for their rescue. As they neared the gate, Garth and his daughter moved towards a clump of bushes. They motioned for the team to come to them and the tall man held up one of their back packs. Sam took it from his grasp and passed it to the Colonel along with another one until they all had their gear, weapons included.
Flipping open the side pocket on her pack Sam pulled out the GDO and tossed it to Teal’c who helped Daniel over to the DHD, where the archeologist began dialing the address home.
As the gate roared to life and the Jaffa helped Daniel up the steps, Janet looked up at Garth. “Thank you for helping me,” she said. “I hope you don’t get in too much trouble for your actions.”
The tall man shook his head and laughed. “If they get rid of me, then who will bake the bread? Do not worry, Healer, we will be fine. Now hurry back to your home before they come,” he told her.
Janet gave them both a quick hug and then limped towards the gate, followed by Sam and the Colonel. As she waited on Sam before crossing the horizon Jack walked past her and remarked, “Ya know something, Doc? You’re pretty handy to have on a mission. We might have to take you with us more often.”
“Well, I guess as long as you want me, Colonel, it’s fine by me, but…can we try to keep the whole rescuing thing down to a minimum?” the doctor remarked.
“I’ll try to remember that,” he returned and with a crooked smile stepped into the gate’s blue horizon.
Sam came to a stop next to the doctor and glanced down at the smaller auburn haired women. With a wide smile and a twinkle in her blue eyes the blonde remarked, “Oh, I don’t know, I kind of like the idea of you being my knight in shining armor.”
“Well, this knight is feeling a little on the rusty side right now. How about we quit the chatter before the villains show up and get back to Earth? Then once we debrief I can have a long hot soak in the tub at home?” Janet said, raising her eyebrow in question during the last part as she gazed up at her partner.
“Anything you want, my dear, anything you want,” Sam said and taking Janet’s hand in her own they stepped through the horizon.
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