After The Vacation 
by John O'Connor
Disclaimer:  Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the
property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom,
 MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko 
Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes
only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright
 infringement is intended. The original characters,
situations, and story are the property of the author.
Note: This is a single part story that takes place
immediately after "The Vacation" as Sam and Janet
return to duty. Many thanks to Allison in the Sam and
Janet Group for the inspiration.
Rating:  PG-13
"Hey, Carter!" Jack O'Neill yelled down the tunnel.
"Wait up!"
Sam Carter turned and smiled at her commanding officer
while she waited for him to catch up. He was moving
slowly in a walking cast leaning on a cane.
"Good morning, sir. How's the leg?" she asked.
"Damned thing itches like a motherf...ah, it itches
real bad," Jack responded.
They walked slowly in silence for a few moments until
Jack had to ask, "Damn it Carter, how was the
vacation?"
"Great! We had a great time!" she enthused. "I mean,
it's good to be back, sir. Cassie really enjoyed
herself."
"Good. That's good. And you and the doc had a good
time?" Jack continued.
"We had a great time," Sam responded with a small grin
she tried to suppress before Jack noticed.
"Yeah, well, it had to be better than being stuck in
my apartment in town. I was bored stupid!" he
declared.
"Well, sir, maybe if you had some books or something
around your place to keep you occupied when you're
there," Sam ventured. "Outside of sports, it's rather
spartan."
"Hey, you should talk Carter. That loft you got is the
poster child of spartan," O'Neill smiled crookedly as
he said this. "We both spend too much time down here."
"I think I may have to agree with you there, sir," Sam
smiled herself. "That may be changing, though."
Arriving at the medical center, they met Janet Fraiser
just outside. "Colonel, come in. I'd like to take a
look at your leg," she said. "Good morning, Sam. Sleep
well?"
Sam suppressed another smile, thinking of last night,
"Yes, I did indeed."
As O'Neill hobbled into the Med Center, Sam leaned
toward Janet and whispered, "I love what you can do
with your shower wand!"
"You should see me with my water pick," Janet
responded with a sly wink.
"I may just take you up on that," Sam said aloud.
"Gotta go check in with General Hammond. See you for
lunch?"
Janet nodded, "Sure, it looks like it'll be a slow
day." Looking around the poured concrete walls, she
added, "I'd knock on wood if there was any here."
Sam smiled and walked toward the command center with a
wave. Janet turned and entered the med center as she
heard an impatient "C'mon, Doc."
Sam was heading toward the Command Center as Daniel
Jackson fell into step with her. "Hi Sam. How was the
vacation? Nice tan."
"We had a great time! It was beautiful and the weather
was perfect, well most of the time anyway," Sam said
with a big grin.
"So, where were you all last week? I tried to call
several times and got your machine," Daniel asked. "I
was really hoping for a break from being Jack's
fulltime nanny. Do you know what kinds of sandwiches
he likes?" Sam shook her head and Daniel continued,
"Butter and jelly! Not peanut butter, just butter.
And...it has to be butter, not margarine or any
substitute. Or, get this, butter, honey, and a lettuce
leaf!" Daniel shook his head and Sam chuckled at this
revelation.
"Sorry Daniel, I was spending time with Cassie. We
went to a Rockies game and...Hey! The Colonel owes me
money!" Sam slowed as if to return to the Med Center.
"I wouldn't worry about that right now, Sam. Jack's
been in a foul mood ever since he got that cast on his
leg. You know he's good for it," Daniel replied.
"Yeah, I know. Guess I just wanted to rub it in."
Stopping before the door to the lab that Daniel had
appropriated for his research, he said, "Sam, are you
free tonight? We could go get a pizza and some beer."
"Sorry Daniel, I've got plans with Janet and Cass,"
Sam apologized with a big smile.
"Well, that's okay. Just trying to find a legitimate
excuse to give Jack for not coming by his place again
tonight. See you around," Daniel stepped into his
office.
'Sam seems unusually happy. It's like she's just been
fu... Forget it Daniel!' the young archaeologist
thought with a grin. 'I've been spending too much time
with Jack, I'm starting to think like him.'
Sam arrived at the Command Center and went to General
Hammond's door. Straightening her uniform blouse, she
rapped on the door. A muffled "Come in." came through
the door.
Entering the office, she saw the general behind his
desk in what was arguably the most comfortable chair
in the entire Cheyenne Mountain complex. She stepped
up to the desk and came to attention.
"Major Carter reporting in, sir," Sam said holding a
crisp salute.
Sketching an informal salute, the general said, "At
ease, Major. Welcome back. How was the vacation?"
"Thank you sir, we had a good time. I think I'm ready
to get back to work though, sir."
Hammond smiled and said, "You are definitely Jacob's
daughter. Well, as you know, Colonel O'Neill is still
on the injured reserve list so SG-1 will not be going
out for at least another week. I really don't have
anyone qualified to fill in for the colonel except
Major Hamilton and he'll be offworld for the next two
weeks, at least."
"I understand General," Sam acknowledged, knowing he
wouldn't send out an understrength team unless he had
absolutely no choice. "I'm sure there's plenty to do
around here, sir."
Hammond nodded, "Yes, Major. I've been thinking of
having you work with Doctor Fraiser. She has a lot of
samples to catalog and you're already familiar with
most of them. It would speed up the process and get
Area 51 off our backs."
Sam smiled knowing she'd be spending her days as well
as her nights with Janet. "Very good, sir."
"Very well, Major, you're dismissed," Hammond stood
and smiled. "I will say, off the record, that you look
like you had a good time, Major. I may have to force
some of my other officers to take a vacation."
Sam smiled and replied, "I think you might have some
trouble convincing Colonel O'Neill of that, sir."
"Well, I am a general and Jack does have to follow my
orders..."
"Understood, sir.  You could order him to go fishing?"
she suggested with an unofficial smirk.
Then, saluting smartly, Sam left Hammond's office.
Hammond chuckled to himself thinking, 'They must've
had one hell of a vacation. I haven't seen either Sam
or Doctor Fraiser this happy and relaxed since they
saved Cassandra from that Goa'uld device.'
As Sam walked out of the Command Center, she ran into
Teal'c. "Oh! Excuse me, Teal'c, I didn't see you."
"That is alright, Major Carter. I did not see you
either," the tall Jaffa said. "How was
your...vacation? Was it restful?"
"Yes, Teal'c. It was restful," Sam smiled, thinking of
all the rest she and Janet didn't get. "It was
probably the best damned vacation I ever had!"
Teal'c arched an eyebrow, "Indeed? Doctor Fraiser
seems to feel the same. She was quite happy and
relaxed when she returned to duty last week."
"Yeah, vacations do that to ya. You ought to try it
sometime, Teal'c." Sam grinned at the image of Teal'c
on the beach, trying to fit in. "Just maybe not the
seashore. Look, I gotta report to the Med Center. See
you later."
"Farewell, Major." Teal'c noticed how Sam's smile
seemed to grow when she mentioned the doctor. 'How
strange these humans act. The major acts much like
Airman Samuels did when she became betrothed.' Teal'c
shook his head somewhat amused by these Tauri, 'If the
major and the doctor are a couple as they say on this
world, then I am happy for them. I must also remember
the restrictive attitude of this culture, so I may not
jeopardize them.'
Sam continued down the corridor, greeting various
people as she saw them. It was nice to be back, but
especially now that she had someone to share all this
with. Before any relationship she would try would be
foredoomed because of things she couldn't talk about.
She could barely even acknowledge that she worked in
the Mountain. Now, she had someone who knew all about
their work and could talk about what their day had
been like.
If only the government wasn't so narrow-minded about
any relationship of this sort. She hoped that these
attitudes would change in the near future. She wanted
nothing more than to climb to the top of Cheyenne
Mountain and yell out her love to the world.
Sam neared the Med Center and ran into Jack near the
elevator as he was preparing to head home.
"So, how's the leg, sir?" she asked.
"Well, according to the doc, I can get this off later
this week. God, I can't wait to scratch the hell out
of this leg!" Jack said.
Sam smiled a big toothy grin, "Good. You'll be back
leading us 'gating in no time, sir."
"Damnit, Carter, what's with you lately? You're
all...all bubbly!"
"Bubbly, sir?"
"Yes, bubbly, damn it!" Jack's voice mirrored the
exasperation he was feeling from being a near-invalid
for the past few weeks. "Just...just stop it. Okay?"
"Yessir," Sam gave him a mock salute.
Waving his right hand near his forehead, he said,
"Yeah, yeah. See you later Carter." Then he grinned,
"I get to leave here and go drink beer for the rest of
the afternoon."
"Good for you, sir, but it's only 9:30," she replied.
Then, when Jack scowled at her, she added,"I have to
report to the Med Center." Sam proceeded down the
corridor with a wave.
As he waited impatiently for the elevator, Jack
reflected, "I hate it when someone's bubbly and I'm
miserable. It's the same as with the doc last week
when she reported back. Other people's vacations
suck!' Slamming his thumb against the "Up" button, he
said, "Where's the goddamned elevator?"
Sam walked through the Med Center into Janet's office.
She beamed and said, "Hi Janet. I've been assigned to
you for the duration."
"He-ey!" Janet returned, standing. "Everything okay?"
Sam glanced around, closed Janet's door, and took the
shorter woman into her arms, saying, "Everything's
just perfect!"
Janet gave her a quick peck on the lips and pulled out
of the embrace. "Sam, you know better than that. We
discussed this. We have to be careful!"
"I know. It's just that when I see you, I just want to
grab you and make mad, passionate love to you!" Sam
leered.
Janet blushed and said, "I, uh, I feel the same. But
not here and not now." She paused and looked
lingeringly into Sam's blue eyes, the love she saw
there mirrored in her own eyes.
Finally, tearing her gaze away, she said, "By the way,
do you know how much like a Harlequin romance cliche
you just sounded like? All that was missing was a
cheesy French accent."
"Oh-ho-ho-ho!" Sam laughed in a throaty way. "You do
not feel zee zame way, my dear? Oui, I theenk zat you
do.
"How's that for cheesy?" Sam smiled as Janet started
to laugh. "Now, since we can't fool around, let's get
to work."
They worked for the rest of the morning in the lab
cataloging different samples of biota from offworld.
Janet was labelling and digitally scanning them into
the computer while Sam made data entries on each
different piece.
They completely lost track of time when Daniel stuck
his head in the lab saying, "Anyone hungry?"
"Daniel! You startled me!" Sam exclaimed.
Janet agreed adding, "I didn't realize it was almost
1. Come on, Igor. Let's get something to eat."
"No, it's Eye-gor!" Sam protested as she stood up,
stretching her back. She sensed Janet's eyes on her
and smiled.
"What's with the 'Young Frankenstein' bit?" Daniel
asked.
"Well, first it's Fronkenstein," Janet replied. "And
second, what else would you call the assistant to a
mad scientist?"
Shaking his head bemusedly, Daniel led the way down to
the cafeteria. He shook his head again when he saw the
specials.
"God, creamed chipped beef on toast. Chicken-fried
steak. And Manhattan clam chowder. Manhattan! Haven't
these people ever heard of New England?" Daniel shook
his head and selected a ham and cheese sandwich and a
bag of chips.
"Sounds like someone spent a little too much time with
a certain injured colonel," Sam joked.
After loading up at the salad bar, Sam and Janet
joined Daniel at a table near the rear of the large
room.
"So, tell me all about your trip," Daniel said.
Sam and Janet looked at each other and started to
laugh. Seeing the puzzled look on Daniel's face, Sam
told a half-lie, "It's an inside joke."
The two women then proceeded to tell Daniel about most
of their vacation, leaving out certain personal
events. He was the first in the complex to learn
details about the incident at the miniature golf
course and he, of course, asked many questions.
Finally, he asked, "So how's Cassie since that?"
"Oh, you know, she's only slightly impressed by it
all. I guess it's hard to be impressed about some
white trash when you had once been a Goa'uld
booby-trap," Sam said.
They sat there for a while catching up on all that had
happened while the women were in Florida. Finally,
Daniel stood up and said, "I've got some work in my
lab I need to get back to. See you ladies later."
"Bye Daniel."
"See you later, Daniel."
As he walked out, he saw the women lean toward each
other and whisper something before laughing quietly.
'Fortunately, I'm not the insecure type,' he mused.
'They really bonded while they were away.'
As they returned to Janet's lab to pick up where they
left off, Janet said "I'm glad you can talk about
those young punks now."
"Well, I never minded that.  It was the blind
hero-worship stuff," Sam said.  Janet nodded, Cassie
was still looking at her friends in the SGC as heroes.
 'Guess she got used to me.  Going to have to accept
just being a mom,' Janet mused.
All to soon, the afternoon had passed and Janet said,
"I need to get out of here. My eyes are killing me.
Lets knock off and resume tomorrow."
Sam nodded gratefully, stretching. "Sounds good."
Janet ogled her lover and said, "You really shouldn't
do that around me. I may have to ignore my better
judgment and grab you right here in the complex!"
Sam smiled and said, "You can grab me anywhere!" She
wiggled her eyebrows in an exaggerated attempt at
looking seductive.
"Okay, Mae West, let's get out of here." Janet hung up
her lab coat and led Sam to the main room of the med
center and out into the corridor. "Are you coming over
tonight?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I am. I want to see what
you can do with a water pick," Sam said as the
elevator doors closed.
Janet hugged her quickly and, before she could pull
back, Sam gave her a passion-filled kiss that promised
the evening would be as exciting and wonderful as the
last few weeks had been.
 (c) John O'Conner
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