Meant to be 17/? (SG-1 Sam/Janet femslash)
Janet hadn't realized how tired she was until she awoke four hours later, Sam's warm arm still wrapped tightly round her waist. She looked over at Sam and noticed that she was awake. Sam reached out with her other hand, and ran it gently through Janet's hair.
"Hey," Janet said softly.
"Hey to you too," Sam replied, and leant over, kissing her tenderly on the lips. "You were tired too, huh?"
Janet grinned ruefully. "Looks like it," she replied. "How are you feeling Sam?" she asked.
"Great," Sam replied. "Being home is wonderful. Having you in bed with me is even better."
Janet look deep into Sam's eyes, seeing the love and tenderness in them. She kissed her, barely brushing her lips with her own to start with, but rapidly becoming more passionate. Sam responded enthusiastically, melting at her lover's touch. It was several minutes before they broke apart. "What time is it?" Sam asked, her breathing a touch ragged.
"Nearly 4pm," Janet replied. "Why?"
Sam smiled. "Plenty of time then," she said.
"For what?" Janet demanded, smiling widely.
"For this," Sam kissed her again, allowing her hand to slide under Janet's tee. "For us," she pushed the shirt upward and gently caressed a taut breast. "God," her breathing quickened. "I've missed this so much."
"Sam," Janet's voice held a warning tone. "I don't think we should. Your lungs are still weak, baby. And what about your leg?"
"We can work round that," Sam's voice was husky. She pressed her lips to Janet's flat stomach. "Oh God, please Jan. I need this. Please. I need to feel you," she pushed Janet's tee up and brought it over her head. She cupped Janet's breasts in her hands, desire rising in her as she delighted in their soft weight and felt her nipples hardening at the touch of her thumbs.
Janet's eyes were shut, her mouth open slightly. "Oh God," she rasped. "Sam. Don't stop," she felt Sam's talented fingers gently kneading her. One of Sam's hands released a breast and pressed against the firm plane of her back. "Okay," she gasped, "but we've gotta be careful."
Sam smiled. "I will, sweetie," she said, as she pushed Janet against the mattress, "I swear."
= = =
"You are so beautiful," Sam said to Janet two hours later.
Janet smiled. "You always make me feel beautiful," she said, in a soft voice. "I don't know how you do it."
"I love you so much, Jan," Sam's tone was serious.
"Right back at ya," Janet smiled.
"We should get up," Sam grimaced comically.
"Yeah," Janet agreed. "We've gotta shower and eat dinner before Cass gets here."
"I can't wait to see her," Sam said. "I haven't seen enough of her these past few weeks. It was so kind of Ella to take her in and take care of her, wasn't it?"
"She's been wonderful," Janet agreed. "Cassie had to go to school, but I couldn't leave you, Sam. Not like that. Not when you were so sick," her voice cracked at the memory of the ordeal they had both been through.
"You were amazing," Sam kissed her softly. "You were always there. Every time I woke up. Whenever I was scared, or in pain. You were right there with me."
"There was nowhere else I'd rather be," Janet cupped her face. "God you're stunning," her voice was awestruck. "I'm the luckiest woman in the world."
"Nuh uh," Sam disagreed. "That's me. Paul Newman was right."
"Huh?" Janet asked.
"Why go out for hamburger when you can have steak at home," Sam grinned.
Janet snorted. "C'mon, then, flygirl," she poked humorously at her lover. "We need to get you into the shower."
= = =
"Sam!" Cassie flung herself down the corridor and raced into the living room, where Sam was seated on the couch. "Oh Sam I've missed you!" she ran toward Sam, and then stopped suddenly. "I don't want to hurt you," she said in a worried tone.
"Then come here and give me a hug!" Sam demanded, her arms outstretched. She took her daughter in her arms and hugged her fiercely, rocking her lovingly. "I've missed you Cass," she whispered.
At that moment, Sam heard barking, and looked up in time to see Angus shooting into the living room, like a furry bullet. He leapt up on to the couch, and started licking Sam's face frenziedly, emitting small squeaks of excitement.
Cassie laughed. "Gus missed you too," she said. "Sam, it's so great to have you home."
"We all still have to be careful, Cass," Janet entered the room. "Sam still has a lot of healing to do."
"She's okay though, huh Mom?" Cassie looked concerned.
Sam grabbed Cassie again, and tickled her, pinning her to the couch. "I'm great Cass," she said.
"But your leg is still bad?" Cassie persisted.
"My leg's gonna take a while," Sam admitted. "Luckily there's a doctor in the house," she grinned at Janet. "I have my own private physical therapist!"
Sam noticed Janet dangling the car keys from her hand. "Goin' somewhere?" she asked.
Janet laughed. "No, just gonna put the car in the garage. We left it out on the driveway, remember?"
"No!" Sam spoke more sharply than she had intended. She looked over at Janet. "Not the garage," she said more quietly, nodding almost imperceptibly at Cassie.
Janet realized Sam wanted to talk to her alone. "Cass, could you take Angus into the utility room and give him his dinner?" she kept her tone light.
"Sure Mom," Cassie replied. "Come on Gus," she dragged the excited dog away from Sam.
"Thanks," Sam said sounding relieved. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Cassie. I don't want her to be afraid. But please, Jan," her face was full of tension. "Please don't use the garage. Not until I can make it secure. It was stupid of me not to secure it before. It's my own fault I was attacked there, I know I should have..." she started to cough.
"Hey," Janet sat on the couch next to her. "It's okay honey." She put a comforting hand on Sam's back as she continued coughing.
"I just want you to be safe," Sam gasped, her weak chest convulsing at the effort.
"Shh," Janet said. "Try and calm yourself, baby. It's okay. I won't go in the garage, I swear. Now try and relax if you can, that'll help. Want some water?"
Sam nodded gratefully, as she tried to stop the coughing.
Janet was back at her side in seconds, holding the glass to Sam's lips. She reached up and brushed the hair from her face. "It's okay, Sam," she whispered. "It's all over. He's gone. He's never coming back. You're safe now. We're all safe. But we won't use the garage. It's okay."
Eventually Sam's breathing returned to normal. "Sorry," she said in a weak voice, furious to find herself so exhausted.
Janet reached up and wiped away tears from Sam's face that Sam hadn't even noticed falling. "Oh honey," her voice was tender and loving. "You don't have to be sorry. It's perfectly natural. You had a terrible ordeal in that garage. We don't have to use it again, ever, not if you don't want us to. Hey," she kissed her softly. "We don't even have to stay here. We can move house. We can go anywhere you want. Whatever you need, we'll do it."
Sam took her hand and interlaced their fingers, bringing it up to her lips to kiss it. "No," she said quietly but firmly. "We're staying here. You love this house. I do too. And Cassie. And Ella's just across the road. The house is perfect. And we will use the garage again, once I've put some more locks on it. I need that garage," she tried to lighten her tone. "Where else am I gonna fix my motorbikes?"
Janet's heart skipped a beat. She was so touched by Sam's bravery. She was also pleased to hear her talking about using her bikes again. It would be months, if ever, before her leg was fully recovered, so Janet was pleased to hear her talking so optimistically.
"Whatever you want, Sam," she said.
Cassie re-entered the room. "Are you okay Sam?" she asked, sounding concerned. "I heard coughing."
"I'm fine, Cass," Sam said, forcing her voice to sound stronger. "My chest is still a bit weak, but I'm fine. Truly."
"I think it's about time for bed, for all of us," Janet looked at the clock which showed 8.45pm. "You have school tomorrow, young lady," she saw a scowl starting to appear on Cassie's face. "And Sam needs to sleep so's she can heal properly."
"Ten minutes?" Sam pleaded. "I want a proper hug from our daughter."
Janet smiled. She could never refuse Sam anything. "Ten minutes," she said. She put a large cushion behind Sam, and watched as their daughter climbed into Sam's arms and snuggled into her. She noticed approvingly that Cassie was very careful not to jar Sam's leg.
= = =
"You'll be okay for a half hour while I drive Cass to school?" Janet asked Sam anxiously.
Sam smiled. "I'm fine Jan, I swear. You have a good day at school, huh squirt?" she grinned at their daughter.
Cassie hugged her tightly. "I'll see you later, Sam," she said.
The car had just backed out of the driveway when the phone rang. "Carter," Sam answered in her usual fashion. "Oh hi Sir," she smiled as she recognized her CO's tones.
"Hey Carter," O'Neill said. "How're you doin'?"
"Great, Sir, thank you," Sam replied. "It's wonderful to be home."
"I'm glad, Sam," O'Neill said sincerely. "Carter, I need to see you and doc. There are some things I need to go through. When would be a good time?"
"She's just giving Cassie a ride to school," Sam told him. "Back in half an hour."
"I'll be right there," O'Neill replied.
= = =
"So let me get this straight," Janet spoke carefully, her voice almost unnaturally calm. Sam knew she was trying to hold it together. "The authorities are offering to cover this whole thing up? Say it was an accident?"
"Only if that's what you want," O'Neill was gentle. "The way I see it is, we say it was an accident, get all the paperwork done, then you and Carter don't have to be involved. No inquests. Court cases. No investigation into what he did to you Carter," he gestured to her leg. "This way we can all draw a line under it. It's not like he can be punished for what he did, is it? But it's your choice, doc. Yours and Carter's. If you prefer, we can just let things run their course."
"But this way it's over?" Janet's voice shook a little, and she reached out for Sam's hand.
"That's right," O'Neill's voice was kind and understanding.
"Then let's do it," Janet said. "More than anything, I just want this to be over. Is that okay with you Sam?" she asked her lover.
Sam nodded. "Absolutely," she said. "And now we can move on. Thank you, Sir," she turned to her CO.
= = =
Janet showed O'Neill to the door, and returned to the living room. "C'mere," Sam said, patting the space on the couch next to her. Janet sat down wordlessly. Sam pulled Janet gently into her arms, and dragged the comforter over both of them. "It's over, sweetie," Sam whispered, running her hand through Janet's hair. "It's all over."
Within a few minutes, the two women were asleep, tangled in each other's arms. They both still had a long way to go to recover from their ordeal, but at least they no longer had to worry about dragging up their memories of the assault and all Janet's history with David Richmond. He was dead and their friends had pulled strings to cut out all the red tape. Janet shifted in Sam's arms, unconsciously snuggling closer to the woman she loved more than air.