DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, I'm just a fan borrowing the characters.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
The Day of Unfortunate Events
By lysachan
"Shit, shit, shit!" Samantha Carter ground her teeth and tried hard not to pass out. The pain was horrible. Her hand felt like it was on fire - well, as a matter of fact it had been, just moments earlier. She was pouring water on it, cursing under her breath everytime the cool liquid made contact with burned skin. The rest of SG-1 just stared eyes wide at the Air Force major who was now pacing around, shouting insults to everything that came in her way.
"Daniel, dial home" even Jack O'Neill looked paler than usual which was something people didn't get to see too often. Teal'c was his usual calm self. What else could you expect? Daniel obliged and started dialing, stealing uncertain glances at Sam every now and then.
The day hadn't been the best for Sam. Quite far from it actually. The burned hand was just the latest of misfortuned events. It had all started as soon as she'd woken up: an unscheduled off-world mission, a terrible traffic jam on the way to the base, the canteen had run out of blue Jell-O, the hostile behaviour of the natives on the planet... And now the hand. She didn't even know how she'd managed to hurt it. The astrophysicist in her figured it was probably something to do with the petrol-like liquid they'd found in the caves nearby, a few miles from the gate. The information didn't help at all, it only evoked a new burst of anger in Sam.
Daniel finished dialing by selecting the point of origin and the gate came to life. He winced as a large rock flew by his right shoulder, straight through the gate. Sam's curses filled the air. Daniel rubbed his finger in his ear, making sure he hadn't broken an ear drum.
"Just hope they didn't have time to open the iris before that went through" Jack muttered and sighed.
Sam was the first one to go through. She walked down the ramp and didn't even take notice of General Hammond who just stood there, his mouth hanging open as he watched the major storming out of the gate room.
"Major Carter! Stop immediately!" he raised his voice but the blonde had already disappeared around the corner. The rest of the team stepped through the gate and the General turned to them, looking like he expected the explanation to be a damn good one.
"Colonel? Care to explain?" Hammond's face was turning red.
"General. Just a little accident, Major Carter hurt her hand. Apparently she was playing with liquid of some sort. You know how the astrophysicists are, can't keep their hands off of new alien things" Jack's voice was as chipper as ever. Hammond sighed. Once again he was quite certain that accepting the post as a leader of the SGC had been a big mistake. If nothing else, his mental health was in danger especially when SG-1 was in question.
"I see. Dismissed" he spat through his teeth, trying hard not to lose his temper. The three remaining members of SG-1 decided it was best for them to flee as quickly as possible and rapidly moved past the bright red general. Just when Jack was about to step through the metal door he noticed a young soldier laying on the floor, surrounded by a medical team. He saw a round and grey stone next to him.
"D'oh" was all Jack could say.
Sam stood in her base quarters, trying to figure out what to do first. She had to have her hand checked but she was such a mess: her BDUs were covered with mud, rotten leaves, that damn petrol and something she didn't even want to think about. She was sweaty and her hair felt like it had glue in it.
Shower. Yes, she needed a shower before going to the infirmary. Carefully she tried to remove her jacket without making the pain in her hand worse. The blisters seemed to get bigger and sorer by the minute. She gasped as the hard material of her clothing touched the sensitive skin and couldn't fight the tears of fustration welling up in her eyes.
She seriously questioned herself and her motives in life. She loved space travelling but what was the point if she only got herself hurt and found more and more deadly diseases and damn snake heads. She felt useless.
Hammond. Oh Christ. The way she'd just walked by him, if that didn't get her fired nothing would. She'd have to apologize. Shit. Though she was glad for not flipping the bird at him like she had been about to at the time.
Soon she realised not even a refreshing shower made her feel any better. Bitterly she dressed up in clean clothes and headed to the infirmary.
"Janet, hi. Has Sam been here yet?" Daniel stepped into the infirmary and saw Janet flipping through a pile of papers. The brunette looked up, frowning.
"No, haven't seen her. Something wrong?"
Daniel crossed his arms nervously and refused to make eye contact. "Well, she kinda hurt her hand and... It's probably nothing" he'd just finished his sentence when Jack rushed in.
"Is Carter here yet?" the colonel eyed the empty beds on the other side of the room. "Damn" he muttered.
"Okay, what's going on? What's wrong with Sam?" Janet looked impatient.
"She's not here?" Jack asked and pursed his lips. "Weird. Though I doubt you'd miss her if she was. Haven't heard that kind of cursing in a while" he looked at Daniel with meaning and raised his eyebrows.
"Sam? Cursing?" Janet tried to suppress a smile. "Oh ple-" her objection was cut short as a loud bang came from the corridor, followed by a colourful litany of swearwords. Janet could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks and when she glanced over at Daniel and Jack she noticed it wasn't just her problem.
"I think I'm scarred for life now" Daniel buried his face in his hands. Jack found the nearest chair and sat down, covering his ears with his hands and trying to think anything but the constant flow or insults coming from the hallway. Soon a very irritated blonde stepped in and stopped in her tracks. Suspiciously she glared at her team mates and then turned to Janet.
"My hand kinda burned. I suppose someone has to take a look at it" she rolled her eyes. Janet blinked a few times, still trying to survive the shock. She wanted to say something but her mouth just hung open and no words came out.
"What?!" Sam asked impatiently and then realised they'd all heard her little 'fit' just moments earlier. "That rack thingy was in the middle of the damn corridor!" she protested.
"So you had to kill it?" Jack smiled sarcastically. Sam narrowed her eyes and was about to say something as witty back to Jack when Janet got back her ability to speak.
"Quiet! Both of you!" she stepped between the two and looked sharply at both of them. "Daniel, Jack. Please get out of my infirmary" Sam watched as the two men quickly obliged, her smile a bit smug. "And what exactly are you smiling about?!" Janet's voice was cold and cut like a knife.
"Eh, I just-" Sam forgot her own anger the minute she saw the brunette's flaming eyes.
"You'd better wipe that self-satisfied smile off your face. And I don't ever, ever wanna hear that kind of language from you again! Is that clear?" Janet was talking like Sam would've been a five-year-old. The blonde blushed and lowered her head.
"You finished?" she asked quietly and swallowed.
"Yeah, I guess I am" Janet crossed her arms, exhaling slowly.
"Okay. And I'm sorry. It's just been a bad day" Sam said unenthusiastically, her eyes still casted down on her hands.
"Figures. C'mon, sit down on that bed and let me take a look at your hand" Janet's voice was calmer. She took Sam's injured hand and carefully examined the damage. "It looks a lot worse than it is. You were lucky" she said after a few minutes.
"Well, I don't feel that lucky" Sam pouted, wincing as the sharp pain shot through her hand again.
"Still doesn't give you the right to shout at people" the doctor glanced up, meeting two incredibly blue eyes. "And frankly it disturbs the hell out of me to think where you've learned all those cusswords" she raised her eyebrow disapprovingly but there was a twinkle of humour in her eyes.
"Don't ask" the blonde mumbled. "I'm sorry" she added after a while, her voice full of regret. They were both silent while Janet finished treating Sam's hand and wrapped a bandage round it. She removed her rubber gloves and threw them into a litter basket. Then she stepped back to face Sam, taking her uninjured hand in hers.
"You have to learn how to talk to people Sam. It's a lot more effective than shouting you know. And you know I'm here if you ever need to talk. I'd hate to think you couldn't confide in me if you're hurting or upset" Janet smiled reassuringly. Sam looked at Janet for a moment and then shook her head.
"How do you do it?" she murmured and lowered her head to rest on Janet's shoulder. "I don't understand, how can you make me feel better just by being there?" Janet raised her hand to tenderly stroke Sam's hair and chuckled.
"I'm a pro" that earned a small snort from the blonde. Sam wrapped her hands around the brunette's waist, pulling her closer and let out a confident sigh. Janet made soothing circles with her hand on Sam's back. They stayed like that for a long time and it was Sam who finally broke the silence.
"Thank you" her voice was a little raspy.
"Anytime sweetie" Janet said and kissed the top of her lover's head.
Samantha Carter smiled.
The End