holdouttrout (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
holdouttrout) wrote2013-10-09 09:11 am
holdouttrout) wrote2013-10-09 09:11 am
Fic: Two Things Sam and Janet Don't Have in Common (and One Thing They Do), Stargate SG-1, Gen
Title: Two Things Sam and Janet Don't Have in Common (and One Thing They Do)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
holdouttrout
Word count: 1300
Rating/Warning: General, no warnings
Spoilers: None
Prompt: 92. Sam and Janet. They have a lot in common (besides Cassie).
Notes: Written for the 2013![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sg1friendathon. My thanks to sg_fignewton for the beta.
1. Diet Coke
Sam had been studying the menu since they arrived, which was unusual. Janet hadn't noticed at first, deeply invested in her own menu perusal, but Sam always got the same thing here--a burger with a side salad and a Diet Coke. She was such a creature of habit that she usually chatted to Janet about something while Janet decided between several options.
Not today.
Janet leaned in. "Can't decide?"
Sam jolted, looked up with eyes wide. "What?"
Janet motioned to the menu. "You've been staring at it since we got here."
"Oh." Sam looked down at the menu in her hands. "I was just thinking about something the guys said. Well, didn't say. I mean, it's nothing."
Janet didn't believe that. "Uh huh."
"Really! It's just--when we had on the armbands and went to O'Malley's--" Sam blushed, still obviously embarrassed about the whole thing. "When we were there, I ordered a Diet Coke."
There was some significance to that statement that Janet wasn't getting.
"You know, we each ordered, like, three steaks."
"Because of your heightened metabolism."
"Right!" Sam glanced to the side. "The guys ordered beer… and I ordered a Diet Coke. They looked at me like I was nuts."
Janet said, "But you like Diet Coke."
Sam said, "Exactly!" She sat back, as if vindicated.
Janet thought she might see what Sam was getting at. She was familiar enough with people judging her own food choices--Regular Coke included. "God knows why," she said. "I don't know how you can stand it."
"Regular Coke is too sweet," Sam said. They'd had this argument before, and Janet had been hoping that getting Sam onto familiar ground would help snap her out of her worry.
Janet snorted. "This from the woman who eats Jello every day."
"That's different!"
"And can put away a whole tub of what the Commissary generously labels chocolate mousse."
"But chocolate--"
"And who occasionally sneaks Pop Rocks onto missions."
Sam had the good grace to look guilty at that one, even though she said, "That's just in case we come across kids."
"Mmm," Janet said. She leaned back. "Well, the Diet Coke is clearly an aberration in your normally good taste."
Sam gave her a thoughtful look and then grinned.
"Thanks."
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Janet said. "Now put down your menu so they know we're ready to order."
2. Recreational Activities
"You want to go hiking?"
Sam shrugged. "Well, it's supposed to be a really nice day, and there's a trail by my house…"
She trailed off at Janet's disbelieving look. "What?"
"You went on a mission this week and walked over thirty-two miles. Of which I walked sixteen!"
The boys of SG-1 had gotten a bad bout of food poisoning on their last mission, necessitating a trip by Sam back to the 'gate to fetch a medical team, including Janet. Of course, it had been one of those planets with a town fairly far from the Stargate--Janet wasn't exaggerating about the mileage they'd respectively racked up.
"That's different--" Sam said. Janet's look got more disbelieving. "Well, it is." She ticked off on her fingers. "Heavy packs, questionable weather, worry that your teammates might be in serious danger."
Janet ticked off on her own fingers, "Mosquitoes, mud--since it just rained yesterday--, and oh, yeah, more hiking."
"Okay, okay," Sam said. "So what's your suggestion?"
Janet brightened. "We could go shopping."
Sam groaned.
"What?"
Sam said, "Crowds, noise, and how is walking around a mall less physically active than hiking?"
"Well, for one, you don't end up walking sixteen miles in one day."
"Yeah, you don't end up getting anywhere."
Sam and Janet regarded each other with mutual skepticism.
Finally, Janet sighed. "How about a compromise? A short walk in the morning, and then a movie?"
Sam grinned. "Sounds good. And I suppose we could go to a store or two before the movie and after lunch."
"Deal."
3. Overtime
Sam rubbed her eyes. It was already past midnight, but she really needed to figure out how to fix this 'gate malfunction she'd been seeing lately. So far, it hadn't caused any real trouble, but she knew that these kinds of issues couldn't be ignored. What if the 'gate decided to quit working when they had a team offworld under fire?
No, it was definitely worth a few late nights to make sure she'd done everything she could to ensure each team made it home safely.
Her stomach rumbled, and she decided that a walk to the commissary for some new coffee and a bite to eat wouldn't be a bad idea.
When she arrived, she first grabbed a sandwich and filled her coffee before taking a look around at the tables. There were only two tables with any occupants. One held all four members of SG-6. They looked like they'd just gotten in from a mission--tired and a little bedraggled. Sam nodded to them as she moved past.
The other table just held one slumped figure, facing away from Sam. Sam almost passed it without thinking, but just when she reached it, she realized who it was.
"Janet?" she said.
Janet looked up. "Sam!" She looked at her watch. "Wow. What are you still doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Sam said, sliding into a seat opposite Janet.
Janet sighed. "Waiting for some test results on SG-8."
Sam winced. She knew that SG-8 was under quarantine, but she wasn't sure why, exactly.
"Is it bad?" she asked.
"I hope not," Janet said. "If this test comes back positive, then I can start them on antibiotics and I think they'll be fine."
Sam nodded. She'd been on the other end of these waiting games often enough and she knew that positive test results, while bad, were not as scary as inconclusive test results.
"So why are you still here?" Janet said, giving Sam a significant look.
Sam held up a hand. "I know, I know. But there's a problem with the 'gate diagnostics that is really worrying me--it's started causing some intermittent issues, and I really can't leave it any longer or it might cause a serious problem. And I'm off tomorrow, so I plan to sleep in."
Janet held her gaze for a minute, and then relaxed. "You know, we really need to clone ourselves."
Sam blinked. "What?"
Janet said, "Here we are, eating commissary food at two in the morning, because we don't trust anyone else enough to do what we're doing."
"So… we need to clone ourselves."
"Right," Janet said, taking a sip of coffee. "Then one of us could go home and get some sleep, and the other could deal with everything here. Then, we'd just switch places. There might even be enough extra time to go on a date or two."
Sam giggled, imagining the logistics. "Do you think they'd pay us extra?"
"They might have to, although I suspect they'd try to do time and a half or something," Janet said.
Sam laughed. "What about going on those dates? What if the wrong one of you was busy that night?"
Janet grinned. "I'm sure we'd work something out." Then she sighed. "You know it would never work. Oh, it would be great at first, for about a day, and then, somehow, the work would expand to fill all that extra time."
Sam sighed, too. "Yeah." She returned her attention to her sandwich, finishing it in a few bites. She drained her coffee and got up. "Well, I hope that you get your answer soon."
Janet stood up, too. "You, too." She stretched. "Walk you to the elevator?"
Sam grinned. "Sure. But I need another cup of coffee, first."
"You read my mind." Janet said.
***
Author:
holdouttroutWord count: 1300
Rating/Warning: General, no warnings
Spoilers: None
Prompt: 92. Sam and Janet. They have a lot in common (besides Cassie).
Notes: Written for the 2013
sg1friendathon. My thanks to sg_fignewton for the beta. 1. Diet Coke
Sam had been studying the menu since they arrived, which was unusual. Janet hadn't noticed at first, deeply invested in her own menu perusal, but Sam always got the same thing here--a burger with a side salad and a Diet Coke. She was such a creature of habit that she usually chatted to Janet about something while Janet decided between several options.
Not today.
Janet leaned in. "Can't decide?"
Sam jolted, looked up with eyes wide. "What?"
Janet motioned to the menu. "You've been staring at it since we got here."
"Oh." Sam looked down at the menu in her hands. "I was just thinking about something the guys said. Well, didn't say. I mean, it's nothing."
Janet didn't believe that. "Uh huh."
"Really! It's just--when we had on the armbands and went to O'Malley's--" Sam blushed, still obviously embarrassed about the whole thing. "When we were there, I ordered a Diet Coke."
There was some significance to that statement that Janet wasn't getting.
"You know, we each ordered, like, three steaks."
"Because of your heightened metabolism."
"Right!" Sam glanced to the side. "The guys ordered beer… and I ordered a Diet Coke. They looked at me like I was nuts."
Janet said, "But you like Diet Coke."
Sam said, "Exactly!" She sat back, as if vindicated.
Janet thought she might see what Sam was getting at. She was familiar enough with people judging her own food choices--Regular Coke included. "God knows why," she said. "I don't know how you can stand it."
"Regular Coke is too sweet," Sam said. They'd had this argument before, and Janet had been hoping that getting Sam onto familiar ground would help snap her out of her worry.
Janet snorted. "This from the woman who eats Jello every day."
"That's different!"
"And can put away a whole tub of what the Commissary generously labels chocolate mousse."
"But chocolate--"
"And who occasionally sneaks Pop Rocks onto missions."
Sam had the good grace to look guilty at that one, even though she said, "That's just in case we come across kids."
"Mmm," Janet said. She leaned back. "Well, the Diet Coke is clearly an aberration in your normally good taste."
Sam gave her a thoughtful look and then grinned.
"Thanks."
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Janet said. "Now put down your menu so they know we're ready to order."
2. Recreational Activities
"You want to go hiking?"
Sam shrugged. "Well, it's supposed to be a really nice day, and there's a trail by my house…"
She trailed off at Janet's disbelieving look. "What?"
"You went on a mission this week and walked over thirty-two miles. Of which I walked sixteen!"
The boys of SG-1 had gotten a bad bout of food poisoning on their last mission, necessitating a trip by Sam back to the 'gate to fetch a medical team, including Janet. Of course, it had been one of those planets with a town fairly far from the Stargate--Janet wasn't exaggerating about the mileage they'd respectively racked up.
"That's different--" Sam said. Janet's look got more disbelieving. "Well, it is." She ticked off on her fingers. "Heavy packs, questionable weather, worry that your teammates might be in serious danger."
Janet ticked off on her own fingers, "Mosquitoes, mud--since it just rained yesterday--, and oh, yeah, more hiking."
"Okay, okay," Sam said. "So what's your suggestion?"
Janet brightened. "We could go shopping."
Sam groaned.
"What?"
Sam said, "Crowds, noise, and how is walking around a mall less physically active than hiking?"
"Well, for one, you don't end up walking sixteen miles in one day."
"Yeah, you don't end up getting anywhere."
Sam and Janet regarded each other with mutual skepticism.
Finally, Janet sighed. "How about a compromise? A short walk in the morning, and then a movie?"
Sam grinned. "Sounds good. And I suppose we could go to a store or two before the movie and after lunch."
"Deal."
3. Overtime
Sam rubbed her eyes. It was already past midnight, but she really needed to figure out how to fix this 'gate malfunction she'd been seeing lately. So far, it hadn't caused any real trouble, but she knew that these kinds of issues couldn't be ignored. What if the 'gate decided to quit working when they had a team offworld under fire?
No, it was definitely worth a few late nights to make sure she'd done everything she could to ensure each team made it home safely.
Her stomach rumbled, and she decided that a walk to the commissary for some new coffee and a bite to eat wouldn't be a bad idea.
When she arrived, she first grabbed a sandwich and filled her coffee before taking a look around at the tables. There were only two tables with any occupants. One held all four members of SG-6. They looked like they'd just gotten in from a mission--tired and a little bedraggled. Sam nodded to them as she moved past.
The other table just held one slumped figure, facing away from Sam. Sam almost passed it without thinking, but just when she reached it, she realized who it was.
"Janet?" she said.
Janet looked up. "Sam!" She looked at her watch. "Wow. What are you still doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Sam said, sliding into a seat opposite Janet.
Janet sighed. "Waiting for some test results on SG-8."
Sam winced. She knew that SG-8 was under quarantine, but she wasn't sure why, exactly.
"Is it bad?" she asked.
"I hope not," Janet said. "If this test comes back positive, then I can start them on antibiotics and I think they'll be fine."
Sam nodded. She'd been on the other end of these waiting games often enough and she knew that positive test results, while bad, were not as scary as inconclusive test results.
"So why are you still here?" Janet said, giving Sam a significant look.
Sam held up a hand. "I know, I know. But there's a problem with the 'gate diagnostics that is really worrying me--it's started causing some intermittent issues, and I really can't leave it any longer or it might cause a serious problem. And I'm off tomorrow, so I plan to sleep in."
Janet held her gaze for a minute, and then relaxed. "You know, we really need to clone ourselves."
Sam blinked. "What?"
Janet said, "Here we are, eating commissary food at two in the morning, because we don't trust anyone else enough to do what we're doing."
"So… we need to clone ourselves."
"Right," Janet said, taking a sip of coffee. "Then one of us could go home and get some sleep, and the other could deal with everything here. Then, we'd just switch places. There might even be enough extra time to go on a date or two."
Sam giggled, imagining the logistics. "Do you think they'd pay us extra?"
"They might have to, although I suspect they'd try to do time and a half or something," Janet said.
Sam laughed. "What about going on those dates? What if the wrong one of you was busy that night?"
Janet grinned. "I'm sure we'd work something out." Then she sighed. "You know it would never work. Oh, it would be great at first, for about a day, and then, somehow, the work would expand to fill all that extra time."
Sam sighed, too. "Yeah." She returned her attention to her sandwich, finishing it in a few bites. She drained her coffee and got up. "Well, I hope that you get your answer soon."
Janet stood up, too. "You, too." She stretched. "Walk you to the elevator?"
Sam grinned. "Sure. But I need another cup of coffee, first."
"You read my mind." Janet said.
***
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What I love most about this fic is that you can hear and see the scenes happening so completely. You've nailed both of these women's voices, and have managed to paint us a picture with just a little description. So well done!! Loved it!
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Thanks for your comment.
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Of course you order diet Coke with everything... even an ice cream sundae!
Nicely done!
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Love it.
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Nicely done. This was a fun read.
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