The Next Step

Title: The Next Step

Author: Geonn

Fandom: Stargate SG-1

Characters: Sam Carter, Jack O'Neill, Janet Fraiser

Pairing: Sam/Janet, pre-relationship

Rating: Older Kids, due to violence and bloodiness.

All it took was a wrong step, putting her foot in the exact wrong place.

She was walking along a slope, a small stream cutting between the two hills. She walked alongside the trickle of water for a while, making sure the perimeter of the camp was secure. She thumbed her radio, pausing on the shore and scanning the hills that lined the horizon. "Colonel."

"Go ahead, Carter."

"I've taken a look around. The most dangerous thing out here seems to be a couple of mule-like creatures."

"Sounds good. Head back to the ruins we saw on our way in. Danny found something incredible."

Sam smiled. "I can be there in ten, Sir," she said. She released her mic and decided that it would be easier to jump the creek rather than backtrack to the make-shift bridge she'd used to cross earlier. She took a step back to gain momentum and broke into a jog, launching herself from one slope to the other.

As soon as her left boot touched down, she knew she was in trouble. The ground didn't stop her; her boot went straight through the grassy covering. There was a moment of panic, a brief 'this-isn't-really-happening-to-me' thought before the entire trap gave way and she was underground.

The hole was too narrow for a full-grown person and she was knocked back and forth, rocks and roots scratching and tugging at her clothes as she fell. Her left leg, still extended, hit the ground at the bottom of the pit like an arrow and she felt the bone snap, crying out as she crumbled on top of the broken leg.

She rolled onto her back, her entire body aching. A half dozen sharp objects were poking into her flesh, having punctured both her vest and jacket. Blood pooled inside of her jacket and she could barely move her right arm. Taking a deep breath, she felt something rattle deep in her chest and panic gripped her.

Unable to move her right arm, she brought her left up and squeezed her mic, hoping it was undamaged by the fall. She managed a weak, "Col--" before she began coughing. Pain shot from her knee to her hip and she released the mic, dropping her head down to rest. The crack her head made as it landed sounded familiar and it only took her a moment to place it.

Bones. She had landed on bones.

She closed her eyes, categorizing her pains. The worse was her leg, which was without a doubt broken. Her shoulders and back throbbed from the pummeling they'd taken during the fall. She could feel countless stinging marks from what had to be cuts and scrapes. Her right shoulder was almost definitely dislocated, if not broken.

Opening her eyes, she focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. Or, to be more accurate, at the top of the tunnel. Blue skies, with a few clouds passing across it every now and then. A bird flew past. No voices. No hurried footsteps rushing to her rescue.

Hours seemed to pass. The sun was beating down on her face and she tried to look away, tried to squeeze her eyes shut against its barrage. Nothing seemed to help. She grunted and lifted her hips, ignoring the shout of pain from her injured leg as she fished into her pocket.

Her plan was to pull out the cloth of the pocket and use it as a blindfold. Anything was better than dying blind. She frowned when she felt a folded piece of paper in the pocket. She withdrew it, holding the scrap up between her and the sun. It was hard to read, since the sunlight bled words from the other side through. After a moment, she recognized it.

"Free Double Skate! Two Skate for the Price of One!"

She closed her eyes. "Oh, hey, Sam!" Janet Fraiser said.

Sam's eyes snapped open and she turned, watching Janet Fraiser hurry across the infirmary towards her. She was digging her hand into the pocket of her lab jacket, struggling to keep walking a straight line as she searched. Sam paused, leaning against the door frame and smiling at the harried doctor.

"Here," Janet said, reaching out and handing Sam a slip of paper.

"What is this?" Sam asked, reading the big, eye-catching font at the top of the coupon.

"Cassandra cut it out of the newspaper. Thought it might be fun to do it on Saturday in lieu of your biweekly chess game." She shrugged. "She figures if it's free, it'll be harder for you to say no."

Sam winced at that. "It's not a matter of money, Janet..."

"I know," Janet said, repeating quieter, "I know. But I promised to give it to you."

"Okay," Sam said. "I'll definitely try to be free." She smiled at the brunette and turned, walking out of the infirmary and tucking the coupon into the pocket of her fatigues. It would be hard to get out of this one, but if the right missions popped up and she was able to rework a few lab schedules...

The elevator doors opened, revealing a burning white light. She squinted as something dark swung back and forth across the spotlight-like beam. Pain filled her again, all of her aches and pains shouting back to her. She winced and managed a weak wail of agony as something landed next to her.

She felt a hand on her cheek; gloved and strong. She turned towards it and heard Colonel O'Neill's voice at the end of a long tunnel. "Carter? Carter?"

She tightened her fingers around the coupon. How close had she come to never going anywhere ever again? Never seeing Cassandra again? Never... never seeing Janet. O'Neill touched her throat, feeling for a pulse. "Okay, Carter," he said, his voice sounding closer. "We have a harness set up. We're going to pull you up soon, but we want to make sure we don't hurt you any more. Can you hear me?"

She swallowed and managed to say, "Yes."

"We're just waiting for Fraiser to get here, okay? She's going to make sure we get you out of this thing safe and sound."

Sam could only nod.

"Hey," O'Neill snapped. "We're not going to lose you, are we?"

"No," Sam promised. "I have... to go roller skating this Saturday."

O'Neill glanced down at her lower body and said, "Yeah... we'll have to see about that, okay?"

---

Sam angled the crutches across the cement walkway and turned, easing herself down onto the bench with a sigh of relief. Her right arm was in a sling, her left leg encased in a plaster cast. Her baseball cap hid the bandage that wrapped around the top of her head, hiding most of her hair. She looked and felt like a refugee from a horror movie; Frankenstein's Bride meets the Mummy.

As soon as she had sat down, Janet Fraiser rolled past and pulled an elaborate U-turn, bringing herself back around to sit next to the injured Major. "Show-off," Sam scoffed. "Just because you can walk..."

Janet laughed and handed Sam a frozen coffee from the stand at the end of the brick walkway. "You're sure this is all right?" Janet asked, eyeing Sam for any signs of fatigue or pain.

"It's fine," Sam promised. She leaned in and smirked, "I have a note from my doctor."

Janet rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. But... I mean, this. Us. You and me together with Cassandra elsewhere."

Sam looked down at her coffee and smiled. "You noticed."

"Kind of hard not to notice. We went from best friends to acquaintances, Sam. If not for Cassie, would you have even spoken to me in the past six months?"

Sam shrugged.

"Do you want me to leave you alone? I mean--"

"That's the last thing I want," Sam said. "I just... was scared of you."

Janet arched her eyebrows behind her sunglasses.

"How you made me feel," Sam clarified.

"Oh," Janet nodded.

They sat in silence for a while, nursing their drinks as they watched teenagers roller skate all around them. Every now and then, Cassandra would roll by and wave broadly at the two women. They would shout encouragement until she was out of earshot, then lapse back into uncomfortable silence.

"What's different?" Janet finally asked. "Why can you be with me now?"

Sam lifted her sling, indicating the arm. "I'm here. I can be with you. If things had gone just slightly, slightly different... if my radio had been busted or if Colonel O'Neill had been farther away..." She looked across the park and exhaled sharply. "I was fine deciding not to be around you... until I almost had the option of being near you taken away." She looked at Janet. "Does that make sense?"

Janet nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

Sam reached across her lap with her good arm, taking Janet's hand and squeezing it reassuringly. Janet returned the squeeze, smiling and rearranging herself on the park bench so she could give her daughter her full attention. Sam watched her profile for a while, then turned to watch Cassandra as well.

They both watched as Cassandra jumped and performed a mid-air flip. Janet clapped in appreciation of her daughter's skill, then turned back to Sam. "So. What's the next step?"

Sam honestly didn't know and told Janet as much. The major last step she'd planned had almost killed her. It wouldn't hurt to just sit back and let fate guide them both for a little while. Who knew where it might lead? Who cared? They'd find there way without the map.