Sam found Janet on the surface. The guard had been dispensed with now and Janet was in theory authorised to come and go as she pleased, but security had still given Sam a call when Janet signed out of the mountain. They knew that she didn't have anywhere to go yet and it was done out of kind concern rather than suspicion or malicious intent. She had taken an unofficial, but worn, path up the mountain a little way above the North Portal into the mountain and Sam found her standing looking East out towards Fort Carson. She walked silently up to her and joined her, enjoying the view as well. She didn't often take the time to appreciate how beautiful Colorado was.
"Landry talked to you?"
Janet nodded, "He did. Then he told me to think about it, so I am."
"Okay. Mind some company while you think?"
Janet smiled, "Course not."
There was a cool breeze running down the mountain side and the air was chilly, despite the warm sunshine. It felt refreshing after so long inside the mountain, but Sam was concerned that Janet was chilly. She stepped closer to her and a little behind, going for a human wind-break effect. She was getting used to the naquadah induced tingle now, it was beginning to be familiar and comfortable.
"I'm not cold," Janet stated simply, fully aware of what Sam was doing.
Sam grinned at being busted, "Who said I was trying to keep you warm? I was just, you know, getting closer to you."
Janet grinned and cautiously leant back a little to rest her head against Sam's shoulder. "I'm not sure I'm ready for active duty," she confessed, "I mean, physically I'm fine, fitter than ever thanks to junior here, but mentally, I don't know."
"Cam was wrong to even suggest it."
"No, he has a point. I know I can make Qetesh's Jaffa listen to me. They probably won't listen to anyone else. It doesn't mean I want to go back there."
"Then don't, we'll find another way."
Janet exhaled slowly and reached behind her to take hold of Sam's wrists and pull them around her. They were high enough up to not be being watched thankfully. Sam willingly slid her hands around Janet's waist and held her close. She could feel the edges of the symbiote pouch through Janet's clothes, but somehow that seemed relatively minor now and she let her hands settle comfortably around Janet's abdomen. She rested her cheek against the top of Janet's head and noted that she seemed to be using the same shampoo as she had before.
"It's weird for me too you know," Janet told her with a squeeze of her hands over Sam's to indicate that she meant the presence of Junior and everything that came with him. "When Qetesh made me a Jaffa I felt such gratitude and relief. It was part of a change in my life that was very much for the better. Now I know how much she took from me."
Sam held tight and closed her eyes to allow herself to rein in the sadness and anger she could feel building up.
"You could always try Tretonin," she suggested quietly.
Janet nodded against her cheek, "It's a possibility that I'm going to keep in mind for the future, but for now I'm gonna stick with Junior."
"Okay," Sam said quietly and smiled. "At least you've had your last common cold."
Janet gave a breathy half laugh. "I'd forgotten how beautiful Colorado was. While I was gone I spend a lot of time missing things; things that I didn't have names for. They were just a quiet nagging insistence in my mind that something wasn't there. Now all those names are coming back and you know what I really, really missed?"
"What?" Sam asked, nuzzling Janet's hair gently.
"Chinese food, like you wouldn't believe it."
Sam laughed and her breath blew strands of Janet's hair astray. "We'll have to see what we can do about that."
Sam's cell rang and she made the minimum movements necessary to remove it from her pocket and answer it, barely looking at it.
"Oh General O'Neill, Sir," she said smartly, standing upright suddenly. She would have knocked Janet over if it hadn't been for the other arm still around her waist.
"You sound guilty Carter. Have I caught you doing something you shouldn't?"
"No, Sir"
"Well, a car just picked me up from the Airport. I have some business about forcing a rebellion to take care of this afternoon, that's my excuse for being in town anyway and then I wanted dinner with the gang, my treat. Is the good Doctor nearby and willing to join us?"
"She's right here, hang on." Sam pressed the phone against her shoulder. "Does dinner with General O'Neill tonight sound okay?" Janet nodded and Sam put the phone back to her ear.
"She's willing and might I suggest Chinese food, Sir."
"Excellent! Why don't you sort that out? And gotta go Carter, big wigs on the other line."
He hung up abruptly and Sam tucked the phone back into her jacket pocket and wrapped her arms back around Janet.
Janet leant back into her, "You know he can't see you on the phone Sam and we should be getting back anyway."
"Five more minutes," Sam whined in her most petulant voice.
They bumped into General O'Neill once they had abandoned the mountainside and retreated to go find the rest of 'the gang. He was hurrying through one of the corridors with a group of busily suited people around him. Sam still wasn't used to seeing him in his dress uniform on the base, he looked out of place. When he saw them he turned towards them, then turned back to shoo the suited swarm further into the base and then finally turned to them again.
"Doc," he said simply to Janet as he wrapped his arms around her and swept her feet clean of the ground in a hug. Sam saw the slight hesitation of surprise in Janet, but then she returned the hug. Once he'd set her feet back on the ground he had put his hand on her cheek and looked at her earnestly.
"It's good to have you back," he'd told her sincerely. "Later okay," he promised, with a glance over his shoulder at the people needing his attention right now. Janet nodded and the General was hurrying off into the base with another impatient wave at the swarm and a brief glance back at them before he disappeared from sight. Sam knew he'd have read their mission reports, the reports from Doctor MacKenzie, the IOA and the Air Force Officers who'd all interviewed Janet since her return. He needed to reconcile those reports with the woman they'd all known before and the woman Janet was now.
"C'mon, let's find the guys," Sam suggested and put a gentle hand onto Janet's elbow.
"He was a pain in the mik'tah," Janet told her as they made their way to the elevator.
"General O'Neill? Oooh yeah, big time."
"He called me a 'Napoleonic Power Monger.'"
"Amongst other things."
"I missed him," Janet said happily with an almost beatific smile.
~~~
"Seriously, we'd make the galaxy a better place by distributing recipes for hot and sour soup and shrimp wontons," Janet propounded between mouthfuls of her cashew chicken and fried rice.
"I dunno, that MSG, I'm not sure we can just hand something that powerful to the Goa'uld. Not that this place has to resort to MSG," Cam said, reaching across the table to top up all their tea cups. Cam had his moments and the time when you needed the best Chinese restaurant in Colorado Springs was one of them, even if he did refuse to allow them to drink anything other than water or black tea. Sam hadn't even known this place was here despite living in the city for over eight years. It looked like a shack from the outside, but he promised that they were the best and thus far Sam was in agreement. It was fairly busy for a Tuesday evening, but still quiet enough that there was nobody occupying the tables around them and they could talk freely.
"And spring rolls, definitely need more spring rolls in the galaxy," Janet added to her list happily. She reached across the table with her chopsticks and stole a piece of pork off Teal'c's plate. He raised his eyebrow and watched the passage of part of his dinner across the table a little mournfully, despite the fact that he had ordered two main dishes and the food in front of him was mountainous in its proportions.
After the food General O'Neill and Janet retreated to a separate table and talked quietly while the rest of them picked at the leftovers and talked about anything except aliens, other planets and impending wars. Sam couldn't help watching them talk and wondering whether Janet would be going with them to P8X-412 the following day. Cam, Daniel and Teal'c were chatting around her, well, bickering mostly, but it was soothing in a way.
"Penny for your thoughts Sam?" Cam asked, aware that she hadn't been paying any attention at all to their important conversation about hockey. She saw Daniel give him a 'that was rude' glance and smiled.
"Just thinking," she told him.
"Well that's stating the obvious," Cam muttered and broke apart a fortune cookie. "A thrilling time is in your future," he read off the slip of paper, "except they've missed a few of the vowels out."
"Remarkably accurate," Daniel commented sarcastically. Cam tossed the paper onto the table top and leant back in his chair. Daniel smiled a little uncertainly at Sam and she returned it. His smile said, "are you okay? It's alright if you're not and I'm here," while hers said, "I know and thank you." He accepted her answer for what it was and moved on.
"So, let's see what other fantastic sound bites of wisdom these cookies give us."
"Hey, I promised good food. I didn't say anything about good advice."
"Home time kids," the General told them, already close to their table. Sam hadn't even seen him and Janet return from the table they'd borrowed for their talk.
Daniel cracked open his cookie anyway, '"He who throws dirt is losing ground."'
General O'Neill gave Daniel a blinkingly surprised look. "Big day tomorrow," he told them. and even though it had been a while since he'd been their CO they all indeed stood up, collected their leftovers and jackets and headed out.
"I'm going with you tomorrow," Janet stated simply once they were outside in the car park. Sam looked over her head towards the General, who gave her a knowing smile and a nod before he got into his car. Sam forced down her protests and nodded. Janet gave her a slight smile and climbed into the passenger side of Sam's car. She handed her their doggie bags to hold while she drove and waved over the top of the car to General O'Neill as he drove off.
"Can I come back to yours tonight Sam," Janet asked once Sam had walked around the car and gotten into the drivers seat.
"Of course," Sam said easily.
Janet smiled and tugged the headscarf off her head before she opened up one of the doggie bags to pull out a spare spring roll. Sam made a mental note to work on Janet's forehead disguises; she needed ones that made her look less like a cancer patient.
Sam looked across at her as she bit into the spring roll and shook her head, "You really missed Chinese food."
"Oh yeah," Janet said sinking into the passenger seat with a satisfied sigh.
~~~
"You should get a tattoo," Janet declared behind her as Sam put their leftovers away in the fridge.
"I should?"
"Yes, we're supposed to do these things together," Janet said earnestly.
"Get turned into Jaffa?"
"That might be a little far, but definitely the tattoo thing."
"I'm going to pass."
"We learned to dance country together."
"You almost kidnapped me and dragged me to that dump of a night club. As fun as it was I didn't have a whole lot of choice."
"We got our belly buttons pierced together."
"Which you've taken out since then and allowed to heal over, so that definitely doesn't count." Sam told her as she finished in the kitchen and walked around to the fireplace.
"We got that speeding ticket together," Janet said with a naughty grin.
"No, I hold you completely responsible for that one. I might have been driving the bike, but you were the one clinging on behind me and shouting 'faster faster' through the helmet mike. I'll do anything for a hot woman when she's got her hand up inside my leather jacket," Sam sighed dramatically.
"We got caught in the bathroom of that Karaoke bar together," Janet said, stepping close to Sam, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her close. "In a position close to this too," she added. Sam dropped her hands first onto Janet's shoulders and then slowly down her back. "That's closer," Janet told her as Sam's hands slid onto her ass. "Now if you'd just crouch, give the walls a bad paint job, add some graffiti and a faulty lock to the door and we'd have our compromising position recreated perfectly."
"That you remember exactly, but I bet you still don't remember that fifty dollars you owe me."
Janet grinned, "So where do you want to get this tattoo? I'd advise against the forehead, I don't think you're ready for such a bold move."
"I'm not getting a tattoo."
Janet gave her a knowing smile and tugged Sam's shirt out of her jeans to press her hands against the skin of her back.
"I'm not!" Sam protested. Janet leant forward to kiss Sam's chest where the top couple of buttons were undone on her shirt and nipped at the skin.
"There is definitely something in the Geneva convention about torture," Sam protested.
Janet stiffened for a fraction of a second and lifted her head to look up at Sam.
"Sorry," muttered Sam.
"Me too, I'll be less twitchy eventually."
Sam removed a hand from Janet's ass and used it to push her hair back off her face, "That time thing again."
Janet nodded slightly and stood up on her toes, using her hands to pull Sam closer so she could kiss her. Sam dipped her head and kissed Janet softly as Janet's hand went to the back of Sam's neck, pulling her closer and massaging gently at the same time. Sam parted Janet's lips with her tongue and deepened the kiss. Janet's other hand slid round to Sam's stomach under her shirt and caressed her hand over Sam's breast through her bra.
Sam pulled back from the kiss, "Are you sure because if you keep that up stopping is going to be pretty tough, not to mention cruel."
"I'm sure," whispered Janet and kissed Sam again, once on the lips and then down her neck as her hands began undoing the buttons on Sam's shirt with practiced ease. Sam put a finger to Janet's chin to tilt her head back up and looked at her questioningly.
"I'm sure," Janet repeated more strongly and Sam nodded and released her chin. Janet gave her a slight smile and returned to her ministrations, eliciting a groan as she nipped at Sam's collar bone.
"Why do I always end up naked first?" Sam asked as Janet pushed the shirt off her shoulders.
"You're not naked yet," Janet told her with a grin and kissed her way down Sam's chest while Sam shrugged her hands out of the shirt and let it drop to the floor.
Sam gasped as Janet pushed down her bra and she felt her hot mouth claim her nipple. "Oh, but I will be, I always am," she said a little shakily. Janet laughed quietly and her breath was hot and electric across Sam's wet nipple. She reached up behind her own back to un-snap her bra and threw the damned thing out of the way. Janet lifted her mouth from Sam's nipple and stood up fully to press against her and kiss her on the lips again.
"Mmm, you're hot," she commented as she slid a hand between Sam's thighs and pressed it against Sam's crotch through her jeans. Sam's breath caught and her knees nearly crumpled underneath her at the touch. Janet's weight shifted and her feet moved and Sam found herself being guided gently but insistently back into one of her easy chairs. Janet pushed her shoulders back into the chair and climbed onto the chair to straddle Sam's thighs. She started kissing her again while Sam peeled Janet's sweater and shirt off her in one, interrupting the kiss to pull them over her head.
"Cheater," whispered Janet between kisses as Sam began to unbutton Janet's jeans and responded by dropping her head to nip Sam's earlobe gently.
"Like you play fair," Sam muttered, running her hands around the waistband of Janet's jeans to push them down a little. She slid her hands up Janet's torso, skirting around the 'X' on her belly and up over her breasts, eliciting a groan from Janet against the crook of Sam's neck before moving around to remove Janet's bra as well.
"I am a model of good sportsmanship," Janet protested quietly, lifting her head up and pushing her chest forward so that Sam could scatter kisses across her breasts. Sam ran her thumbs across Janet's nipples and circled them both. She took Janet's left nipple into her mouth and flicked her tongue across the tip, letting her right hand slide down to Janet's hip and kneading gently at the soft flesh. She heard Janet gasp and felt a wave of goose bumps flash down Janet's side and underneath her hand. She slid her right hand around across Janet's lower abdomen and eased her fingers under the elastic of Janet's underwear. Janet inhaled sharply as Sam's fingers reached between her legs and rested her head forward onto Sam's shoulder. Sam shifted her left hand from Janet's other breast to around her lower back, holding and steadying as she began to stroke gently across Janet's clit.
"Sam," Janet whispered shakily into her ear and Sam turned her head to kiss her as she slid her hand further back and slid her fingers into Janet. Janet pushed back onto first one and then two of Sam's fingers and clung tightly to Sam's shoulders as she thrust her hips in a gradually increasing rhythm. Sam kept her other hand on Janet's lower back, steadying her and kneading gently with her fingertips. Their rhythm increased. Sam's hand and Janet's hips moved faster and Janet dug her fingertips into Sam's shoulders with a quiet cry when she came. She went stiff and shook, gasping loudly and then relaxing into Sam. Sam removed her hand from inside Janet and wrapped her arms around her, holding her close as Janet relaxed and her breathing slowly returned to normal.
"I definitely missed that," Janet muttered against Sam's neck.
"Me too," Sam agreed, reaching up and brushing some of the sweat soaked hair back off Janet's face. They both had a thin sheen of sweat over their naked skin and Sam's jeans felt soaked.
Janet peppered her neck with little kisses, which then became little nips and she shifted on Sam's lap to sit up and kiss Sam on the lips again. She broke the kiss and then began to kiss her way gradually down Sam's body. She paused at her breasts and gave each one some attention and then moved lower. Sam felt a blush creep up the skin of her chest, her neck and her face as Janet kissed a trail down her stomach and undid her jeans. Sam lifted her hips to allow Janet to tug them and her underwear down and then settled back onto the cushions when Janet pushed her knees apart. She ducked her head to Sam's knee and began planting soft kisses on her thigh. Sam watched her for another moment and then relaxed back into the chair as Janet sent shivers up into her. She kissed her way up her thigh with soft lips and caressed Sam's stomach with the fingertips of her left hand. Sam gasped when Janet touched her clit with her fingertips and then her tongue. She gently slid two fingers into Sam and pressed her tongue against her. Sam reached down and took hold of the hand that was still lying on her stomach. She wrapped her hand around Janet's and held on tight as she thrust her hips against Janet's mouth and fingers. They both increased their pace gradually until Sam arched her back and caught her breath as she climaxed. When she came back down she relaxed into the chair, feeling like a puddle of warm jello. Janet gently closed Sam's legs and climbed back into her lap, settling against her and resting her head on Sam's shoulder.
Sam wrapped an arm around her sleepily and kissed her cheek softly.
"Mmm, I love you," muttered Sam.
"I love you too," whispered Janet and pulled Sam's arm tighter around her.
"We can't sleep here hon," Sam said, waking up a little. Janet hardly moved against her, apparently Jaffa still got sleepy after sex, despite everything else they were immune to. "C'mon," Sam said, wriggling out from underneath a sleepy Janet and scooping her up in her arms. She carried her into the bedroom, leaving all of her own clothes and most of Janet's scattered over the floor. Janet clung tightly to her as Sam walked through the house holding her and even smiled as Sam settled her onto the bed. Sam went into the bathroom to pee and brush her teeth and then grabbed a baggy t shirt from her dresser to sleep in. Janet was breathing evenly, curled neatly up on the top of the comforter. Sam got a blanket out of the drawer under the bed and then sat on the bed to try and remove Janet's jeans, knowing she'd be uncomfortable if she slept in them. She took hold of the waist band and was just trying to wriggle them over her hips when Janet sat bolt upright and scooted away from her in a sudden movement. Her eyes were unfocussed and unseeing as she scrambled off the bed and then stood looking around wildly. Sam had jumped back at Janet's sudden movement and stood up on the other side of the bed, wondering what had just happened. Janet rubbed a hand across her face and looked properly at Sam.
"God Sam, I," she started shakily and her breath was ragged. Sam scooped the blanket up off the top of the bed and walked cautiously around the bed to wrap it around Janet's trembling shoulders.
"You were sleepy. I was taking your jeans off to make you more comfortable."
"I thought I was with Qetesh," Janet whispered. "It felt so real."
"It wasn't. You're safe," Sam reassured her.
Janet nodded and rubbed her face again. "Not real," she told herself quietly. She pushed her own jeans down, stepped out of them and got under the comforter, still looking rather shell shocked. Sam watched her and then walked around the bed to climb in on the other side. She was careful to keep definitely on her side of the bed, though she watched Janet, who had curled up again under both blanket and comforter even though it wasn't cold. Janet rolled over in the shadows and looked at Sam.
"Hold me Sam?" she asked quietly.
Sam didn't even answer. She simply scooted across the bed and wrapped her arms around Janet, pressing close against her. Janet pressed her forehead against Sam's shoulder and curled in on herself.
"I'm sorry," she whispered and brought one of Sam's hands up to her mouth to kiss the knuckles.
"You don't need to be, it's okay," Sam told her.
Janet turned her face further into the mattress and cried quietly for several minutes. Sam pulled herself up onto her elbows and looked over Janet as she cried, trying to find the right words, but mostly she ended up making quiet reassuring noises and holding her a little apprehensively. Eventually Janet calmed down and wiped the tears off her face.
"I wish I could stay here," she told Sam.
"Why don't you?"
"Because I need to kelno'reem and you need to sleep," Janet told her matter of factly. She reluctantly unwrapped herself from the blanket and wriggled out of the bed.
"I don't think I have enough candles," Sam told her, getting back out of bed too and going into the hall to get the one box of candles she knew she did have. "There's probably a few more around the house, I always get a few scented candles at Christmas and I never use them," she said as she returned to the bedroom and handed the box to Janet.
"I don't really need candles Sam," Janet told her, taking the box from her hand and putting it down on the dresser so that she could wrap her arms around her. Sam squeezed Janet in return.
"Just, stay with me, okay?"
Sam nodded and Janet released the embrace and after grabbing Sam's robe she walked across the room to settle herself down in the corner on the floor on the far side of Sam's bed. Sam sat on her bed to watch her as she tucked her legs in and wriggled her shoulders to get comfortable.
"Night Sam," Janet told her as she closed her eyes and began to meditate. Sam watched again until Janet was deeply in Kelno'reem and then got back under the comforter herself. Despite the mission the next day it was a long time until Sam fell asleep despite being able to listen to Janet's breathing.