DISCLAIMER: The story, and characters and anything and everything else concerning SG: SG1 belong to MGM, Gekko, Secret Productions etc, while Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount, they are so not mine and no money is being made from this and no copyright infringement is intended, absolutely none what so ever.
AUTHORS NOTES: I need for you dear readers to cross the lines of disbelief. Star Trek for the moment does not exist in our Stargate World. And the SGC is as carefully hidden from Voyager as Section 31. In fact, they have no historical record of the Stargate program.
TIME LINE: this takes place just after Need for Stargate and Infinite Regress for Voyager. (Slight note on continuity: Since this falls into season 2 of SG1 the Replicators, aka pre-Borg Lego-spiders, had not been encountered yet, so Sam & Janet won't freak when they go to the food replicaters and order blue jello : )) Oh there is a scene I borrowed from Upgrades. It was too cool not to use)
AKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thanks a 100 fold to Granger my beta reader for cleaning this up. Robbie and Becca you 2 rock for the challenge you gave.
ARCHIVE: Only with the permission of the author.
Star Crossed Love
By Elizabeth Carter
Part 3
Captain Janeway actually took over the tour to allow Seven of Nine time to scan the sun for solar flares and to map the heavens so that the time-travelers could be sent home. The Captain would, of course, end the tour in sickbay.
"This is incredible!" Janet Fraiser gasped as she looked at the bio-beds for the tenth time, soaking in all of the new technology. She was not unaccustomed to computer monitors showing a patient's vitals, but to have to rely on only one was not only efficient it saved on room and encumbrance.
When she saw the bone-knitters and dermal regenerator she thought perhaps the medical field might become obsolete, but then the presence of the EMH negated that small fear. The young doctor loved being a physician, helping people, curing their ailments and soothing their hurts. She wouldn't know what to do if that was taken from her because technology advanced so far that she was not needed anymore.
Seven of Nine and the purpose of her implants equally fascinated Janet. The abdominal implant was likened to the Jaffa's incubation of the Goa'uld larva. Without it Seven would not have an immune system, just as the Jaffa if they did not have the infant symbiotes. Janet and the rest of the SGC had learned that the hard way. When Teal'c offered to have his infant symbiote taken from his marsupial-like pouch, the goliath sized man had nearly died.
Of course, discovering that the Voyager's EMH had attained sentience was totally amazing to her. The Doctor, in his typical egomaniacal way had completely grated on Janet who was more of the modest variety of medical genius. Janet didn't know what she wanted to do more, surround herself with the advancements of medicine even though it meant listening to the narcissistic prattle of the EMH, or escape sickbay and forget about the whole thing. From what she had heard and seen of the photonic physician Janet quickly deduced that he was egotistical, cold, brusque, and impolite. This was something a triage physician in an ER could possibly get away with but not a doctor responsible for 150 souls. He was the only doctor Voyager had unless they decided to generate more holographic physicians. His very demeanor would alienate himself from the crew, definitely not a good way to create a solid and firm doctor / patient relationship.
Janeway saw the growing irritation in the young woman at her side, but like a diplomat her demeanor was commendable in that she didn't tell the EHM to switch off, which by now any one of the Voyager crewmembers would have done, or at least made an excuse and fled as far as possible from the photonic narcissistic motormouth.
Taking pity on the diminutive doctor, Janeway took the photonic doctor by the arm and started to lead him to his office. "Will you excuse us Dr. Fraiser?"
"Of Course," Janet nodded. Being a captain in the USAF she knew a 'pull the subordinate away to reprimand them, when in the company of others' when she saw it. The young doctor theorized that Janeway would have to remind the photonic man about Sam's 'Grandfather paradox' or, as Seven said, the 'Temporal Prime Directive.'
Relief flooded the younger redhead seeing that she would, at least for the moment, be given a moments peace to soak in the new medical wonders about her without her counterpart going on and on about how he was yet to encounter a disease he couldn't cure or a neurological problem that was too big from him. The way he described the Vinculum he alone had saved Seven of Nine. And of course he was ultimately responsible for her beautiful appearance now.
Doors opened up admitting a slightly whimpering and bleeding Naomi Wildman in the company of a very worried Neelix. The furry Talaxian was protectively holding the girl close to him as if he was the child's father.
"Dr. Janet," Naomi said as soon as the little Katerian saw the tiny woman. Janet responded immediately when she saw the trickle of blood soaking the knees of the girl's pants and the awkward way she was holding her arm, so protectively against her little chest.
"Put her on the bed," Janet ordered as if she was in her own infirmary.
Neelix quickly obeyed. "She fell." He stammered.
"Fell?"
"I was on the planet with Neelix. I wanted to climb a real tree," Naomi said. "And the limb broke."
Pure kindness shone in the dark pools of chocolate that were Janet's eyes. "Oh," she uttered understandingly as she touched Naomi's tear stained face. "Well, let me take a look."
Although the EMH didn't have to wear latex gloves for protection of himself and his patients, it was still prudent for his medical aids, such as Tom Paris, to do so. Going over to a tray, Janet cleaned her hands with what she recognized as antibacterial soap and then donned the surgical gloves.
"Okay, Sweety, I need to ask you a few questions."
"Okay," Naomi nodded.
"Are you allergic to any medicines that you know of?"
"No."
Janet looked to the furry guardian and he shook his head.
"Okay. Good." Janet smiled once more. "Now I want to see your arm. Can you wiggle your fingers for me?"
Naomi did and winced but she could wiggle them just fine. "It stings a little."
"I bet," Janet nodded. "You did a number on it." She checked the bruised limb and with a mere tactical examination, the doctor knew the little bone wasn't broken. She'd want an x-ray or whatever passed as one in the 25th century to make sure, but Janet knew it was only a sprain. A bad one, granted, but no broken bones.
Janet could see that the little girl was scared and in pain. "Naomi, I want you to do something from me."
"Sure, Dr. Janet."
"I don't want you to think of pink elephants, green giraffes, or purple bunnies."
Naomi smirked, giggling at the thought.
"You're not thinking of them are you?" Janet asked as she took a pair of scissors to the pant legs so she might examine the skinned up knees.
"It's really hard not to, Dr. Janet." Naomi was still giggling slightly despite the pain and the fear. But for the life of her she couldn't shake the idea of fuzzy green bunnies.
"Well, as long as you're trying," Janet calmly said. As Janet cut the legs of the girl's pants, she saw that her knees, like on any rough and tumble child, were badly skinned up but once more there were no broken bones. When Naomi saw the blood on her knees she started to panic once more.
"Naomi," Janet said in an almost chiding tone. "How badly did you hurt that tree? You must have beat it to a pulp! It certainly tried to beat you up."
Once more the Kataarian's thoughts were redirected. She chuckled. "I didn't beat the tree up."
"Are you sure? I mean that poor tree…." Taking a look at the tray of hypos, Janet noted a common anesthetic, loaded the hypo and showed it to Naomi. "This will make the pain go away for a little while. Of course that poor tree won't have anything to make it feel better." She depressed the contents of the drug into the girl's neck, knowing the drug wouldn't take long before it took effect.
Naomi was laughing harder now. "That is very silly."
Janet winked. Taking the bone knitter that the doctor had shown her Janet programmed it and ran it over the bruised tendons to cure the sprain in the wrist. Then she took up the dermal regenerator to patch up the skinned knees. But before she took the device to the lacerations Janet cleansed the wounds.
Naomi looked down and saw that her knees were no longer bloody, bruised or sore. In fact she felt very little pain at all. She watched as the doctor removed the gloves and set them aside on the tray by the bed. The little girl thought that Janet must have one of the prettiest smiles she had ever seen, even compared to Seven' and her mommy. Janet's smile made you feel good and safe.
"Now, Naomi, I don't want you to use that arm for a few days, okay? Your body took a bad tumble and it needs time to heal even if you feel like you're okay.,"
"Okay." Naomi nodded and smiled. She didn't want to disappoint Dr. Janet at all. Naomi liked the fact that Janet hadn't made her feel stupid or bad like the EMH would have just because she was climbing a tree and fell. Without voicing it, Naomi decided that going to the doctor's wouldn't be so bad if Dr. Janet was in charge.
Janet winked again and cupped the little girl's chin. "I think you're pretty brave. You handled that whole thing a lot better than some pretty tough soldiers I know."
"Really?" Large blue eyes blinked disbelievingly.
"Sure." Janet leaned in and whispered, "Sometimes those guys whimper and whine terribly."
Naomi felt her self grow taller in the knowledge that she was braver than a warrior. "Well, I bet Sam never whines or whimpers."
"No, she doesn't," Janet admitted. "She's very brave. Sometimes she's a little too brave."
Even as Captain Janeway was escorting the young doctor, Janet Fraiser, upon the four-hour tour of Voyager, Sam and B'Elanna headed for engineering and began to conduct a diagnostic on the DHD.
"Well, as far as the diagnostic shows, the DHD is relatively undamaged. The main power crystal core will need to be replaced," Sam explained. "It's been compromised."
B'Elanna scrunched her eyebrows. "Will that cause a problem? Isn't the memory of the place in the main crystal?"
"Yeah, it is, but even if we didn't have the DHD, the gate can be activated with an alternative power source. There are no signatures of bio-matter in the crystal's memory so it's basically irrelevant that the crystal is replaced for that matter. What concerns me is the flare of the sun in proportion to the flare that crosses with the out going wormhole. If Seven can lock on to a flare and the time-index the rest should be pretty easy. Just dial home and bingo, we're off."
"Don't worry about Seven, she'll find the flare. She's good," the hybrid Klingon responded.
Sam recognized a lover's pride when she heard it. Self-admittedly she could never say that about Janet out loud, but there wasn't a time when the tall blonde wasn't proud of her dearest friend.
"From what little I spoke with her, she is very brilliant," Sam complimented. "Her understanding of astrophysics and quantum mechanics is incredible."
"It is," B'Elanna chuckled. " Sometimes she can get a little air of superiority, but she knows she's bucking for trouble when she pulls it with me."
Sam contemplated Seven, and thought her counterpart, the former Borg, was a little removed, but she didn't seem to be the egotistical sort, just confident in her abilities. Sam could identify. She could understand the complex equations of math and science but when it came to personal issues, Sam was a poor student. Science was her life. She got along well with science, but people were an enigma to her.
Sam could hole up in her lab for hours, days on end going over a new project or completing experiments and computations, but put her in a crowd of people and she would become the proverbial wallflower seeking the nearest exist. She could give a presentation on subjects that concerned quantum mechanics but she was socially inept. Because of this people tended to think of Samantha Carter as an aloof, emotionally stunted solider and science geek.
Sam chuckled, "Good to know Janet and I have you guys watching our six."
"Any time," B'Elanna answered with one of her rare smiles. "So the replacement core of the DHD, any thoughts?"
"There were Naquaada mines moon side. If we can collect a few samples I can use them to power the core. The thing is, refining it might pose a problem." Sam rubbed the bridge of her nose, thinking on how she would accomplish this feat.
"No it isn't. We can do it on Voyager."
"Really?" Blue eyes sparkled. "That's great." A large Cheshire grin spread across her pale face.
B'Elanna thought that next to Seven, Sam Carter had one of the most magical smiles, and despite her self-control, the Klingon felt her heart flutter with the presence of the young scientist next to her.
"Okay, I need to make some calculations. You have a notebook or a laptop?" Sam asked.
B'Elanna was stymied as to the young blonde captain's request. She rose and went over to her desk and retrieved a data PADD. "Here, try this."
Sam shrugged. "A Palm Pilot might not be enough, but what I enter I can always transfer to a desktop." She looked at the PADD in front of her and began inputting equations that would aid in the refinement requirements of the naquaada crystals.
"You know, I was thinking. What if we could adapt the DHD to accept dilithium?"
"Dilithium?" Sam frowned having never heard of it. "That is the second ore we discovered, isn't it?" Sam smiled when she saw B'Elanna nod. "Good to know it had a place on the periodic table."
"God, it is so hard to think you belong in the late twentieth century Sam, I mean ….you could belong in mine."
Sam chuckled. "Good to know I fit in. Don't worry about the 'Temporal Prime Directive,' I know the implications of breaking the grandfather paradox. The name of dilithium will be added to the periodic table when it's supposed to."
B'Elanna visibly relaxed.
"That is a possibility, but I would like to run some computer simulations to see if the DHD and the dilithium are compatible."
"Computer? Sam, I can do better than that." B'Elanna smiled wickedly.
The tall blonde captain caught herself, thinking of the playful smirks that Janet flashed. Smiles that it seemed only Sam knew about, for no one at the SGC would ever think the 'Napoleonic power monger' had a playful side.
Even as the EMH was describing the use of the dermal regenerator to Janet, B'Elanna escorted Sam to Holodeck one. The young Klingon ordered the computer to program a lab complete with the 'alien artifact', the DHD that had been discovered. She then ordered the computer to simulate a dilithium core using the computations Sam had made on the PADD to power the device.
"Holly Hannah!" The blonde exclaimed. "This is so cool. I mean it looks just like the lab in Engineering. This is holographic technology?"
"Sam…I am sorry, but I really can't tell you how it works." B'Elanna felt bad that she couldn't share with one of her heroes the advanced technology, as much as she wanted to.
"I know, I know… but, God, I would love to figure this out. This is incredible." Sam ran her long fingers over the photonic representations. "Photonic solid matter. I know you can't tell me, but I am thinking that the energy conversion is like the ring transports. It realigns the molecules of photonic mass into solid matter. Actually this is more like your replicaters, isn't it? Or rather a combination of both."
B'Elanna was astonished. No, she was beyond that. Sam had accurately described in a quick download of facts just how the holodecks worked.
"Yeah." B'Elanna smiled thinking more now of this genius than she had in the past. So this must have been what Geordie Laforge and the rest of the Enterprise crew felt when they met Zefram Cochrane in the flesh. Meeting Samantha Carter was an all time thrill.
"I'd love to take this apart and see how it really works," Sam muttered. "I could use one of these back at the SGC. To safely run real-time simulations would be so wonderful. Janet has got to see this! I mean she could run all sorts of medical applications with this device. She could accurately depict the human body, Goa'uld symbiotes and Jaffa to test medical theories. What a great tool."
B'Elanna chuckled. "Well, it can be more than a tool, Sam."
"What other possible reason would there be to have a holographic generator, other than for lab simulations?" Amber eyebrows shot up into unruly golden bangs.
"Well, recreation, for one thing," B'Elanna pointed out.
"That seems to be a waste of resources," Sam frowned. "It would be like opening the Stargate just to see how far you can hit a golf ball. A bit of a frivolous use for scientific equipment. Your CO would condone it?"
If B'Elanna wasn't in love with Seven of Nine she could go for Sam Carter in a heartbeat. Because this tall, blonde time-traveler was a woman after her own heart and mind.
"You know, Seven says pretty much the same thing. But we are lost in deep space, Sam. The holodeck works wonders for morale."
"Oh," a sheepish expression flickered across the alabaster face. "Yeah, I guess it would, wouldn't it?"
"You know, Janet's a lucky woman," B'Elanna muttered aloud, though more to herself than to her companion.
Sam paled. If the military even suspected she was gay there would be an inquiry and it would hurt her career as well as Janet's. "Janet…um, we are just friends, colleagues…we…well, we are raising a child together, but our …" Sam started. She had no idea how to deny any involvement that wouldn't make her look as if she was guilty of being a lesbian.
"Sam…."B'Elanna cocked her head to one side. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"Oh, well, since you're not asking anything, Lieutenant, I guess I'm not telling anything."
B'Elanna frowned, what was the blonde going on about. The one thing that struck B'Elanna was the near panic that was evident in the large blue doe-eyes. The fact that the time-traveler had used rank meant she was hiding behind military protocol. Some part of the Klingon woman recognized a shield for what it was. Seven was the same way when she was completely uncomfortable. Her tall blonde lover hid behind the Borg-wall.
"I am sorry if I implied that you and Dr. Fraiser were together intimately. I don't know the connections between you two. It's just so clear that you guys care deeply about one another. Being with Seven, I just read some familiar…"
Sam blinked. "You and Seven… in the open?"
"I'm not ashamed of her!" B'Elanna almost roared, she was so accustomed to some of her former Maquis ridiculing her for taking the former drone as a lover, that she immediately assumed that Sam was slamming her for the same thing. But Samantha Carter had no clue as to who the Borg were, so there was no way she would be as judgmental as the Klingon's Maquis friends.
"Sam…" B'Elanna used the first name to reestablish a more personal front. "I know very little about the culture of your time, but what I do know is all in science. But…. I take it being in a same-sex relationship is bad?"
"Depending upon who's viewing it," Sam said. "In the military they will court martial you and … well, once that happens no one wants to touch you career wise for being drummed out of the service. It's like you can't be trusted any more."
"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. And I dated Tom Paris once," B'Elanna said indifferently
Sam didn't get the comparison between being gay, being kicked out of the military, and a former boyfriend. But obviously Tom Paris was B'Elanna's Jonas Hansen; mistake of a lifetime. Dating Jonas had been one of the dumbest things Sam had ever done. Thank Providence Sam's little trip to boys town had been cut short by a hard realty check, and that she moved out quickly back to the normal part of herself, even if the blonde scientist had to keep it a secret.
"Sam, apparently sometime between my century and yours the p'tahk governments decided to get their collective heads out of their arses because being gay isn't an issue anymore. Hell, if it was, Janeway would have to court martial herself." To this the Klingon laughed. She laughed all the harder at the disbelief flooding Sam's face.
They had gone as far into personal space that either woman was willing to go and it was time to back off and go back to work. "You know though," B'Elanna commented stoically, " you two do look great together, and even if there isn't romantic love there, I think there is love there."
Sam smiled faintly, took in a big breath of air and exhaled slowly, and with PADD in hand said, "So…how about those computations?"
For several hours Sam and B'Elanna worked on restoring the DHD. After five hours they had found a way to make the dilithium power the Dial Home Device. Then several more hours went into restoring the DHD to working order using the findings of the simulations to guide them.
After nearly sixteen hours of work, Janet Fraiser sought out her missing companion and found her with B'Elanna in engineering. Fraiser knew just how dedicated Sam could become when she was locked onto a project. Janet also knew that if she didn't insist for health reasons that Sam stop and take a break that the tall blonde wouldn't. Sam would get a fix of caffeine and continue to work until she was finished. That was one of the reasons her friend and favored patient was at times anemic.
Janet decided Sam had neglected herself for long enough, and as the young 2IC of SG1's physician, Janet would put her foot down and demand Sam take a break. Of course, the brunette thought it wasn't fair to their hosts to subject them to Sam's workaholic, overachieving behavior. Of course the young physician had no idea that the Klingon hybrid chief engineer had the same habits. Work until you drop.
'Sorry, Babe, not on my watch,' Janet commented to herself as she found Seven of Nine going to Engineering with what looked to the twentieth century doctor a handful of palm pilots.
Sam raked her hands through her short cropped, forever unruly blond locks of hair and blinked her tiredness away. She and B'Elanna both were waiting for Seven to arrive with her findings from Astrometrics. The next phase of the workload would be the running of simulations of how the two gates had fed off one another in order to create the quantum paradox. Simulation after simulation would have to be run to find answers to the time riddle, but it would soon reveal itself if diligence was maintained.
"Sam," Janet addressed the blonde captain.
Both B'Elanna and Sam looked up. The physician recognized the signs of fatigue almost instantly. It was time to pull rank. "Sam, B'Elanna you should take a break for the rest of the night and return to this once the both of you had proper rest." Janet knew she had no pull what so ever with the Chief of Engineering, but clumping B'Elanna in with Sam would not isolate the young captain.
"Just let us run a few simulations," Sam pleaded, looking at the PADD in her hand.
"No. Now," Janet affirmed, her dark brown eyes blazing with authority. "You've been working for more than sixteen hours and before that nine hours on the moon before we crossed over the time-stream. Your body and mind need down time, Sam."
Sam melted under the writhing look. Concerning all things medical, Janet Fraiser, the Chief Medical Officer of Stargate Command, could over rule any officer.
"And I thought Janeway had a glare," B'Elanna whispered from the side of her mouth to Seven.
The tall astrophysicist simply raised an ocular implant at the comment, not putting to voice the same thought.
"Janet, - we were working with an unknown deadline," Sam said, already giving in to her doctor and friend.
"I know. That's why I didn't say anything until I met up with Seven." Janet pulled Sam to her and walked a little away in order to speak with Carter privately. "I'm worried Sam. I almost didn't clear you for duty before the jump because of the anemia, but since I was going to be with you I thought I could keep an eye on you."
The blonde smiled. She would never admit that she secretly enjoyed the idea that someone was there to worry over her. Just as she enjoyed the fact she had someone to worry over, even if Sam dare not speak of it. "I'm okay, Janet. But you're right, I am a little tired."
"Well, as your doctor, I am prescribing at least six hours sleep, then something high in protein and carbs. As well as a workday that isn't twenty hours long. Understood?"
"Totally, Doctor." Sam nodded, complying with the tiny woman.
"Doc Fraiser is right, we should knock off for the night," B'Elanna said. "Besides, we have thirty-two hours before the next flare of significant magnitude registers. A clear head in the morning and we can look at this a little more objectively."
"I do not require regeneration at this moment. I will continue the research," Seven said.
"Oh, no, you don't, Borg," The Klingon smiled. "You're knocking off for the night, too." With that B'Elanna grabbed a hold of the front of Seven's bio-suit and pulled the tall blonde down so she could soundly kiss her, leaving Seven a little flushed. "Comply." The voice was soft, teasing and demanding.
"I was in error. Perhaps I do need to retire for the night," Seven said, managing to save face, her large blue eyes dark with want and need.
"I thought you might see things my way."
Sam and Janet were both smiling, astounded by the openness of affection that would have definitely gotten them in a world of trouble had they done the same thing back home.
Shocked at the thought that came into the minds of both time-travelers, Sam and Janet stared at each other, finding that perhaps they had shared the same thought.
"Until tomorrow, ladies," Janet managed with composure.
"Sleep well," B'Elanna tossed over her shoulder as she placed an arm around Seven's thin waist. "I know we will."
"BangwI, you insisted that I should practice discretion with our intimate relations and yet you boldly proclaim our intentions tonight to our guests."
B'Elanna smiled and kissed Seven once more. "Oh, I think they'll keep it under their hats."
"Because they too will be intend to engage in such activites?" Seven suggested.
B'Elanna looked back over her shoulder and saw a clear blush on both Janet's and Sam's faces, and laughed.
In the VIP quarters:
Sam laid back on the bed watching through half lidded eyes as Janet was changing into skivvies. The diminutive physician had won the coin toss to see who got the shower first.
'Perfectly proportioned. So gorgeous.' The blonde mentally complimented her friend. 'To touch her, to run my hands over those muscles …. The softness of skin….to be granted the privilege to hold her, love her….' Sam drifted off into the land of slumber.
The sonic shower was something very new to Janet, who idly thought of the hydro-showers and the possibility of sharing one with Sam. She had seen how B'Elanna was totally enamored with her blonde astrophysicist and the tiny fiery spirited doctor almost grudgingly thought of her own blonde physicist and dreamed of having those willowy arms about her.
Coming out of the bathroom wearing nothing more than a replicated Starfleet issued tee-shirt and boxers, Janet saw that Sam was sound asleep, her long body draped horizontally across the bed.
"Oh, Sam, what am I going to do with you, huh?" Janet shook her head and started to undress the young captain, boots, blouse, trousers, until the blonde was down to her military issued sports bra and boxers.
Sam, on rare occasions, slept hard, usually at home or when in the presence of Janet. (Most of the time when that occurred, Sam was in the infirmary.) Off world she was easily awakened due to training, but once she allowed her guard down, the young blonde could be dead to the world.
Janet turned her companion so she was to rights on the bed and tucked her in. The bed was the only one in the room, but since it was king sized there was plenty of room to share.
For a moment the doctor heard Sam mutter something but she couldn't tell what it was.
"Good night, blondie," the petite doctor said as she closed her own eyes and succumbed to sleep. As many hours as Sam put into the lab, Janet had put into Sickbay.
The EMH was a little put off by yet another brilliant mind outshining him, but he watched fascinated as Janet Fraiser, MD, patched up the regular flood of bumps, bruises, burns and lacerations that came as part of the every day traffic in Sickbay.
She dressed a 3rd degree burn Neelix got from his open grill, a broken leg that came from one of the members on an away team when he had gone water skiing with a buddy and taken a risky jump and landed wrong. She treated a misplaced disk, and a hyper extended hernia from Chakotay because he had lifted wrong when uncovering an artifact from the dig. Joe Carrey had a dislocated arm from his mountain climbing excursion. Even Samantha Wildman had a deep laceration caused by a sliver that was deeply imbedded into her hand.
Each case she treated with calm and kindness, making the patients feel at the very least that they had kept their dignity. In fact, all of her patients either hugged her or shook her hand because she made them feel far more than healed, she made them feel truly cared for.
An EMH was never programmed with a good bedside manner, never mind a great one. The holographic physician saw how much a warm smile calmed a patient, the tone of voice-soothed nerves. He saw that when many of the patients started to argue with her about what they could and could not do during recovery she became extremely dominating and they all complied under her withering glare. For someone who barely stood over five feet, Janet was a giant in her field.
Not once did she berate a patient for their stupid and careless behavior. Not once did Dr. Fraiser admonish them for being reckless. The EMH couldn't understand it. After all, the Doctor thought, someone should tell them how dumb they were so they wouldn't go and do something that idiotic again.
When he asked her why she didn't lecture the injuried on safety and make them understand their stupidity Janet calmly replied, "They have suffered pain, that is enough to tell them they were stupidly reckless, I don't need to tell them that. We are doctors and we took an oath, at least I did. First do no harm. And harming their spirits by belittling them is as bad as willingly hurting their bodies. And a patient will heal faster with a spirit that is intact. It's important that they want to heal. " She said this loud enough so that Harry Kim, the one with the broken leg, could hear. He blushed but he was gratified that Janet Fraiser didn't make him feel small because of his stunt.
By the end of the sixteen hours in sickbay, Janet had more patients asking for her to treat them than the EMH. Perhaps giving time to an outstanding bedside manner was worth reevaluating.
The next day simulation after simulation was run to test theories of the workings of both gates, the sun flare and the dilithium powered DHD. Sam even helped with a few maintenance repairs in Engineering. Her understanding of Warp-engines was surprising until the blonde pointed out the concept of warp-drive was very similar to the hyper-drive on the Goa'uld mother ships. In fact the quantum physics involved was exactly the same. And it was something she had been trying to retro-engineer. B'Elanna would regret losing Sam's company and brilliance.
And Janet put in several more hours in Sickbay. She found it odd to have some repeat customers from yesterday, but of course Captain Janeway put two and two together. The crew wanted to be near the new doctor. They wanted to be close to such a caring soul. Dr. Fraiser gave sickbay a heart and soul in the very short time she was there. Kathryn Janeway could see why as she came in with a very bad burn caused by a scalding of coffee that the replicater had made far too hot. Janet was a remarkable doctor. She had tended the burn with such a gentle manner, more than just running a dermal regenerator over it and giving the older redhead an anesthetic for it. The tiny doctor treated the patient as well as the injury. Janet Fraiser would be sorely missed.
That night Sam and Janet were invited to dinner with Seven and B'Elanna in Holodeck one's program Sandrine's. It was, for the two time-travelers, a bit of an eclectic experience, one which both fully enjoyed.
Of course the evening would not be complete without a game of pool. B'Elanna had challenged her hero, wanting to play against the great Sam Carter. Janet couldn't help but snicker because she knew the Klingon was going to lose. Leaning over she whispered to Sam, "Fix her little red wagon, hon. Show her what twentieth century chic's can do."
"Can do, Babe," Sam shot back without realizing she had used an endearment, nor did she understand the wonderful wide grin on Janet's face at hearing it. Instead, the physicist thought it was due to the fact that she was going to win.
The table was hot and cold for both B'Elanna and Sam. Tonight Sam's mind wasn't entirely focused on the game. She kept watching Janet move feline like around the table. Tight leather jeans and a dark red blouse that accented the redness of her auburn hair, made the tiny physician an image to behold.
Consequently B'Elanna was a head of the game. And she was taking advantage of the fact that Sam had been teased, tempted and tormented by the scorchingly seductive Janet for the past three hours. The engineer had all but cleared the table. All she had to do was to drop the blue-striped and then the eight ball and she and Seven would win.
The tall blonde time-traveler mentally mapped out her shots like a geometry puzzle. She had to put in four balls to win. She leaned over and sighted her first shot down the barrel of the pool stick. She only had to put the yellow, blue, red and black balls in. With the right force and trajectory she could do it.
Seven was impressed by the geometric enigma that faced Sam. She would be even more impressed if her counter part actually was able to sink all four balls.
"Never going to happen," B'Elanna whispered to her lover. "I've got this game in the bag."
Seven's silver ocular implant went up. "Of that, I must admit, I am skeptical that you will win this game. Captain Carter is exceptional at mathematics."
B'Elanna's hand trailed up the tall ex-drones back. "You doubt me, lover?"
"No, of course not." Seven kissed the caramel cheek. "But I do not doubt her skill either." A long willowy arm went about the trim body of her beloved.
A tick sounded and B'Elanna watched as the red ball followed by the yellow went into the left side pocket, then the blue to the far end and the eight ball into the corner pocket. The cue ball rolled to the lip of the corner pocket and came to a rest.
Sam put the cue stick on the table and smiled brightly.
Janet whooped and threw her arms around Sam's neck and hugged her tightly. Sam was only too happy to return the embrace.
"How the hell did you do that!" B'Elanna uttered amazed.
"I am impressed." Seven nodded her head.
"So am I, but how the hell did you manage it?" B'Elanna repeated.
Sam shrugged nonchalantly. "Geometry." She flashed a huge grin "So what do you say I buy the next round of beers?"
The young Klingon playful hit Sam in the arm. "Sorry, but it will be on us. Credits have replaced paper currency and, well, on this ship it's rations. No big deal since Seven has a stock pile of them."
"Indeed, I require very little nutritional supplements, consequently, as Belle would say, I have a cache of replicater rations. The treat is one me." She turned, kissed B'Elanna, and then went to the barkeep to order a pitcher of beer as well as one ginger ale, for Seven of Nine had no stomach for sythehol.
Janet watched the two new friends together, then she turned her dark doe eyes to Sam. 'To love like that….To be loved like that. God, I can only imagine… oh, god, Sam… why can't I tell you? Why the hell am I such a coward? I want to kiss you, hold you, give you touches the same way B'Elanna does with Seven. Do you want the same? Could you want the same?'
The evening progressed and all Sam could think of was the exuberant hug Janet had given her. Her mind wouldn't let go of it, nor would her heart stop hammering as she continued to think of the closeness of Janet. The effect was so intoxicating that it threatened to over come her sensibilities. She had to get some space, some distance. She had to think clearly.
So when it was decided to retire for the evening, Sam made the excuse that she wanted to wander for a moment to clear her head, giving the defense of too much beer.
Janet too needed time to think. It felt too good to have Sam's arms around her, to smell the scent of roses and sandalwood in the blonde's cologne.
Sam's wanderings took her into the mess hall, not to find food, but to find solace and peace of mind. At this late hour the hall was quiet and dark, a perfect place to gather ones thoughts.
'You've never known love, have you?' The words continued to burn in Sam's mind. She leaned forword, her hands flat against the bulkhead supporting her weight, her blue eyes staring out at the darkness of space. In the porthole she could make out the shadowy reflection of herself. "You have never known love, have you?" she accuses her reflection.
"I can assume the question was not addressed to me," Seven of Nine said as she stepped up behind the young air force captain.
"Ah…no…Sorry, I didn't hear you come in." The pale cheeks blushed a little, having been caught talking to herself. Sam looked back to the window.
"I, too, come to this area to 'stargaze.' I find I can gather my thoughts easier."
Sam grinned. "Stargazing has always helped put things into perspective. You're looking at something bigger and more vast than you are, and it helps you go to the inner space and sort out things in the smallest of places."
"The question you asked yourself, they are not your words," Seven said bluntly
"No." Sam shook her head. "They were said to me by a friend."
"A friend?" Seven narrowed her eyes. "They sound antagonistic. This 'friend' meant to hurt you, did he not?"
"He was going through a rough patch at the moment. It wasn't his fault really, he got hooked on… um it doesn't matter. People say things they don't mean when they're going through a withdrawal."
"He used a narcotic?"
"Of sorts." Sam shrugged. Her feet shifted uncomfortably. "What he said…might have been…hurtful…but it was no less true."
Seven looked at the blonde captain. "You are both in error then," the ex-Borg said in her typical straightforwardness. "It seems that you know love but you will not allow yourself to experience it, or do you even recognize it?"
"What?" Sam narrowed her blue eyes and pinned her gaze upon the azure eyes of the woman across from her.
"As B'Elanna would say, 'how can someone so smart overlook the obvious?'" Lifting her chin Seven indicated the large port window. "I shall leave you to your stargazing, Captain Carter."
Sam watched silently as the blonde ex-Borg vacated the mess hall, the look of stymied astonishment fixed on her ever-expressive face. Turning back to the window, Sam saw blue eyes staring back at her in a reflection backlit by the stars. The vastness of space allowed her to see clearly the inner self with more clarity.
"I might never have known love since my mother died, but that doesn't mean it will stay that way. Come on, Carter, you're not a chicken-shit. You thrive on adrenalin rushes and challenges. Telling Janet how you feel is going to be one hell of an adrenalin rush. She won't take Cassandra away from you and she won't tell you she never wants to be your friend because you told her the truth.
"Janet appreciates honesty, right? She hates deceit. And keeping quiet about the fact that you're in love with her, pretending the feelings you have is love out of friendship only is lying to her." Sam pinned her reflection with azure ice. "You know love, but you will not allow yourself to experience it, or do you even recognize it?" Sam glared at the starfield. "And if she returns your love? How long has it been there that I didn't see it? Maybe she is as terrified as I am … but Janet isn't afraid of her emotions, not like me…."
The stars zipped by as if to say, ' but she might be afraid of what your reaction would be. Because you never let anyone in since mom died.'
Sam stared at the stars a bit more, before abandoning them for something far grander than the vastness of space.
Janet wandered into Engineering. It was a place Sam had found wonderful and almost like home. Fraiser would never admit this to anyone, but whenever Sam was off world the physician would pass by blonde's lab at the SGC, lingering for a moments to fill herself with the presence of her secret love. There was so much of Sam in the lab that it almost radiated Sam's energy.
Away from the SGC, from everything familiar, Janet still craved to feel the blonde around her. For the past two days, Sam had walled herself up in the lab with the DHD. Here Janet thought she might find the answers she was looking for.
"You really should tell her," B'Elanna said coming around the corner. The young Klingon could never knock off for the night without checking on her baby, the warpcore.
Janet spun around. "Excuse me?"
"Tell her you love her.
"I…."
"Janet, I am a klingon, I can sense your …attraction to Sam. Love is first smelled and you have her scent all over you. It's there even if you haven't touched her. You should tell her that you're in love with her."
"B'Elanna, this isn't the time," Janet said meekly.
"I think it's the perfect time, because, well, you're out of time." The Klingon said leaning against the circular DHD.
At the confused look on the small redhead's face, B'Elanna went on to say, " You're not in your century, doc. Take the window of opportunity and proclaim your feelings for her. If it goes wrong, Tuvok can work his mental mojo and erase the memory of the proclamation, and going back to your time, this all won't have happened yet. Don't you just love a paradox?"
Janet swallowed. "I chance to lose everything in telling her. I care too deeply to lose her."
"There is a saying amongst my people. One does not run away from her battles; if you can't fail, you can't succeed." B'Elanna nodded to the doors that would take the young doctor out of Engineering. "Conquer what you desire Janet. Show her your heart."
When she saw the reluctance in the dark eyes she tried to smile. "Look, I know a few things about fearing to tell the one you're in love with that you're in love with her. I see a lot of similarities between Sam and Seven and I am not talking the interest in astrophysics, quantum mechanics and being a 5'9" blonde bombshell."
Janet snickered. Without the three inch heels, Seven was indeed the exact same height as Sam. She had seen that tonight as they were playing pool.
"Seven is a woman who is straightforward and blunt to the point of rudeness. Sam, I imagine, isn't as blunt but she is definitely a woman who likes things straightforward. So do it. The worst that will happen is that she will tell you her love for you isn't sexual. But I know she loves you, it's in those big blue eyes of hers. I know because I have a pair of blue eyes that look at me with the same expression."
The same thought entered two minds.
'Tell her and I can lose everything. If I don't tell her I stand to gain nothing and lose so much more. I have to tell her. I have to tell her that I am in love with her.'