Sunset ^beta

Janet Fraiser loved and loathed the blaring call of, "Unscheduled offworld activation," throughout the SGC. She was a doctor, and doctors thrived on pressure, but everytime the alarm rang her heart would stop. Would this be it? Would this be the unscheduled activation that brought home a misery that she wasn't allowed to acknowledge? Would this be when her world stopped turning?

"Medical team to the gate room."

That was her cue. Grabbing gloves as she ran out the door, she went through the mental list of teams on off world missions. SG-6 had accident prone Michaels, SG-15 were due on an ice planet with two suns, SG-1… She swallowed. SG-1 were on a routine reconnaissance mission, which meant either Daniel or Colonel O'Neill could be coming back limping, or Teal'c could be in need of an arm brace, or Sam… Sam could be in one piece or at death's door.

"Why isn't this lift going faster?" she muttered, stalking the tiny cabin. How many times had she shared this very space with Sam? So close but so far away, not even able to touch pinkie fingers for fear of someone saying something.

Springing forth as the doors opened, she dashed into the gate room. Scanning the faces there, her heart rate settled when she recognised SG-13, back early from P7R-622. On the ramp, three of the team were panting harsh breaths, whilst their fourth cradled his wrist against his chest. With her head sorted (heart calmed), Janet got to work.

--

Sam and the others arrived back at the SGC on time, in one piece, with all their ammo. Janet wasn't quite sure what shocked her the most about that, but never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she said nothing, smiling when she saw Sam laugh.

Hours later, with Sam in Janet's large, claw foot bath, Janet finally asked about the mission. It had mostly been to find a new Alpha site, but researching the twin stars the planet circled was an added bonus. They were quiet for a moment as Janet stroked Sam's arm. "So… How was the binary sunrise?"

Sam grinned, eyes bright. "Amazing. It was just… The atmospheric dust reflected the light so it looked like these ribbons of pinks and orange danced in the sky." Stroking Janet's cheek with her almost dry hand, she murmured, "You would've loved it."

Kissing Sam's palm, Janet leant forward, her fingertips brushing the water, close to Sam's arm. "I'm glad you're home."

"Me too," Sam breathed, before kissing her gently.

"Come on, let's get you to bed. Doctor's orders," she added with a wink.

Sam quirked her eyebrow in just that way that made Janet warm all over. "Yes, ma'am."

By the time the sun rose, they were fast asleep, tangled up in each other and the mellow summer sunbeams.