Rescue Me

Title: Rescue Me

Author: Geonn

Fandom: Stargate SG-1

Pairing: Sam/Janet, friendship or pre-relationship

Spoilers: Changeling

Recipient: jangalain's AU request. I've tried three times to answer this request and this is the first one that didn't balloon up to 9,000 words. *g*

Note: I know nothing about firefighters that I didn't learn on TV. *grins* This is, obviously, set at an unspecified date before the "AU/dream" that took place in the episode "The Changeling."

Rating: Older Kids, for graphic images.

"Clear a path!" came the cry from the emergency room doors. She recognized Jack O'Neill from his frequent visits to her ER, knew that he was the chief of a fire house not far from the hospital. She draped the stethoscope around her neck and rushed to his side, her shoes squeaking on the linoleum as she followed him around the nurses' station. "Fraiser," he said, barely looking back.

"What have we got?"

"Three vagrants, homeless squatters in that building down on Third." He turned and Janet noticed for the first time the soot on his face. His uniform was usually brass buttons and crisp white shirts; he never went into the fires. Unless... "One of my people went down," he added, reading the doctor's mind.

Before she could ask which one, there was another shout from the doors. Two paramedics were rolling in a gurney, flanked by Jonas and T. The two men were also in full gear, Jonas even lugging his oxygen tank on his back. Janet turned on her heel and ran over to the bed, looking down at the charred form of Captain Samantha Carter. She was still in her smoke and flame-blackened uniform, her face covered with ash.

Janet guided the gurney towards a free area, already making a list of what she had to do in her mind. "She was on the third floor, trying to get a couple of the squatters out," T said, gasping for breath as he watched the doctors take over. "The damn floor just fell right out from under her... it was just gone... just gone..."

"It's all right, T," she heard Chief O'Neill say. "Let the doctor do her work."

The next few minutes were performed on autopilot, Janet's hands knowing precisely what to do. An oxygen mask was fitted over Carter's mouth and nose and Janet kept an eye on the heart monitor. She called out orders, moving back and forth along Carter's bedside as orderlies and nurses moved into position.

Beyond the curtain, she could see O'Neill, Quinn and T waiting impatiently for word on her condition. They'd gotten her out of her thick jacket and her boots had been pulled off almost immediately. She was left in a pair of unflattering fire-resistant pants, thick suspenders and a black t-shirt that had been white in the recent past.

Blood was pooling on the lower right quadrant of Carter's t-shirt and Janet lifted the material. "We're going to have to cut this shirt," she said, automatically turning and pulling the curtain securely around the bed. One of the orderlies began to cut and Janet looked at the tear in Carter's flesh. "Do we have an OR prepped?"

"OR Four," came a disembodied reply.

"Let's move her to the elevator," Janet said. "Sooner the better." She threw the edge of blanket across Carter's torso, covering her brassiere from prying eyes. They moved the bed towards the elevator, Janet calling out for orderlies to have everything ready for them in the OR when they arrived.

As they waited at the elevator bank, Janet slipped her hand down to feel the strength of Sam's pulse. To her surprise, the blonde twisted her arm around and grabbed her hand. The movement surprised Janet enough that she took a step back, looking up at Sam's face.

Buried in the black and gray of her flesh, brilliant, uncanny blue eyes were looking out at her. She was whispering behind the oxygen mask and Janet leaned down, her ear almost against the plastic of the mask to hear what Carter was trying to say.

"...ake... it...?"

"I can't hear you, Captain."

"Did... they make it?"

"The other firemen?" Janet asked.

"The..." Sam swallowed, her face contorting with pain. "Squatters."

"I don't know, Samantha," Janet said, squeezing Sam's hand. "You did your best, though. Right now we're going to take care of you, okay?"

Sam nodded slowly, her eyes drifting shut again as they loaded her onto the elevator. She looked down at the again-unconscious firefighter and brushed her fingers across the torn and bloody knuckles. The blood smeared on the rubber of her gloves and she winced when she saw burnt skin flaking off as well.

Sam had done what she could to save total strangers. It was about time someone saved her.