Second Chances

Author: Geonn

Email: neil_j_miser@yahoo.com

Rating: R

Pairings: Sam/Janet

Category: AU

Website: www.realmoftheshadow.com/geonn.htm

Disclaimer: These folks don't belong to me. I stole them from MGM's toybox without asking their mommies for permission. I promise to return them more or less unscathed.

Spoilers: "The Enemy Within," "Point of View,"

Archive: Yes, just let me know where it'll be.

Summary: Janet takes a chance with an alternate version of Sam.


"Your, uh, Dr. Frasier keeps insisting that I eat something."

"Ah. Well, she's your Doc Frasier now too."

--Samantha and Jack, "Point of View"

Janet carried the tray into the room, sneaking a glance at the woman curled up on the bed. "Hey," Janet offered. "You want to try to eat some of this? It's... not the best food in the world, but it's definitely edible."

"No," the woman said softly, sniffling.

Janet cringed slightly at the familiar voice and turned, eyeing the woman's long blonde hair. She looked so much like Sam it was almost painful. She sighed and walked over to the bed, sitting on the corner. "You can't starve yourself. It won't bring him back." She closed her eyes. The thought of Sam not only being attracted to, but *marrying* Jack O'Neill was... a bit hard to take.

"I don't want anything to eat. And what do you know about it?" She brushed her face, shaking her head. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't be rude to someone I don't even... I'm sorry."

"You know me," Janet said softly. "It feels so weird for you to look at me like a stranger."

Samantha sat up and tucked her long hair behind her ears. "You and I were friends?"

"Best friends," Janet whispered, taking Sam's hand. "So... if you won't eat for yourself, eat for me. Please?"

"Okay," Samantha finally gave in. "I'll eat."

Janet led Samantha to the table, offering her the seat closest to the door. She sat across from her friend and poured them both a glass of water from the carafe. Samantha looked at the burger and fries, adding some ketchup to the burger and closing the bun without adding any lettuce, tomatoes or onions. She picked up the burger and took a bite, licking some excess ketchup from her thumb. "We usually have mayonnaise on our burgers back home... In Canada, they put ketchup on it, though. It's good."

"Mayo on a burger," Janet wrinkled her nose. "I'd heard of that. I just hoped it was an urban legend."

Samantha chuckled and Janet closed her eyes, turning away. "Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing," Janet said, forcing a smile. "It's just... your laugh. You sound just... just like her. And you look like her." She sighed and brushed her cheeks. "It's just disconcerting is all."

"What happened to her... if I may ask?"

Janet sighed. "Um... about a year ago she was joined with a Tok'ra symbiote named Jolinar. An assassin was looking for her and managed to get into the SGC and he... he killed her. With some kind of a hand device." She brushed her face and said, "I was the one who declared her dead."

"God, that must've been hard," Samantha said.

Janet forced a smile. "SG-1 found the ashrack as he was trying to escape the base. I got to perform the autopsy on the bastard, so I got a little closure." Samantha pushed aside a fry and plucked up a lettuce leaf. Janet pointed at the fries and said, "Are you going to eat those?"

"What are they?"

"You've never had a French fry?" Janet said, shocked. "Here, try one."

The brunette picked up a fry and held it out to Samantha. The blonde took it and tentatively took a bite. Her eyes widened and she nodded. "It's good. Very good." She pointed at the burger and said, "They go very well together."

Janet picked up the ketchup bottle and poured a small puddle onto the corner of the plate. "Dip it in that."

Samantha did as she was told and took a bite. "Mm! Mm, that is very, very good. Extremely good." She shook her head. "Damn."

"Take a handful of these fries back to your world and you'd be a millionaire," Janet said, before realizing that Samantha could never return to her world. "Oh. God. I'm sorry..."

"No, it's okay. I understand." She wiped her mouth and leaned back. "It's weird. I feel like I *should* know you."

Janet shifted self-consciously. "Really?"

"You look so familiar." She leaned forward, then snapped her fingers. "The first doctor." She shook her head. "On the first mission to Chulak, Feretti was joined with a larval Goa'uld. It took over his mind and we had no safety measures to catch it. He killed the first doctor assigned to the project and... and I'm almost positive that was you."

Janet raised an eyebrow. "Wow. I'm dead in your reality."

"And I'm dead in yours," Sam said, picking up a French fry. "Talk about your coincidences."

---

Samantha's initial worry was of an entropic cascade failure. Since Kawalsky was alive, his double would have to return to his war-torn reality. He returned with Colonel O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c and Rodney McKay, Sam's replacement on SG-1 and managed to contact the Asgard. Samantha, however, remained behind. With Jack dead, she had nothing to return to. And she almost felt like she belonged where she was. She and Kawalsky bid each other farewell and he stepped through the quantum mirror with the present universe's version of SG-1. While armed guards waited for the team's return, Samantha left the storage room and waited in her quarters for word on how the mission had gone.

There was a soft knock on her door. "Samantha?" Janet asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "Am I going to have to cut my hair like your Sam?"

Janet chuckled. "Not if you don't want to. She found it easier for military regs. How are you dealing with your decision to stay... the fact that this is your life now?"

Samantha exhaled. "I'm getting used to it. Slowly. Going from a world overrun by the Goa'uld to one that's successfully holding them at bay... is disconcerting."

Janet rubbed Samantha's back comfortingly, then felt the other woman tense. "Samantha? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just that... lately, when you touch me or hug me or... whenever you're around basically, I feel..." She sighed. "I feel weird."

Janet pulled her hand back. "Oh."

"It's not bad weird," Samantha said quickly. "It's just... it's..." She sighed and closed her eyes. "Were you entirely honest with me about the nature of your relationship with Sam?"

"No, I wasn't," Janet admitted. "Sam and I were... we were in love."

Samantha's eyes widened. "Oh. Like... like lovers."

"Like you and Colonel O'Neill in your reality."

"Wow. That's... big."

Janet exhaled and shook her head. "I shouldn't have told you. Please, don't say anything." She stood and went to the door. "I'll-I'll let you know when SG-1 gets back through the mirror."

Samantha only nodded.

---

"I must be an idiot," Janet sighed. "How could I tell her that?" She finished off her beer and went to the fridge to retrieve another one. Heineken... Sam's favorite. She was still drinking it after all this time. It made her sad to think that Sam had been dead longer than they had been lovers; nearly broke her heart in two. She still visited Sam's grave every Saturday. She still recorded every one of Sam's favorite shows on TV. It was almost like she'd never left and now... now she was back.

She sighed and popped the top of the Heineken, taking a long drink.

---

Eventually, things began to return to a semblance of normal. Kinsey was furious and demanded to know why a team member declared KIA was suddenly active again. After a brief rough spot when O'Neill wanted McKay off the team and Samantha put on, things once more felt sane.

Samantha even extended the hand of friendship to Janet, even though they'd barely said two words to each other since the doctor's confession. They began eating lunch together and spending time together off-base. Cassandra, wary at first, welcomed her surrogate mother back with open arms. Despite O'Neill's battling, Samantha remained on-base and McKay remained a member of SG-1. Jack growled about having a civilian and a nerd in place of one of the finest soldiers he'd ever served with, but Samantha quickly pointed out that, unlike the Sam he remembered, *she* was a civilian and a nerd.

It seemed like the world was once again whole. Until Samantha started avoiding Janet.

---

Janet pounded on the door and stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest. "Unbelievable," she muttered. The door opened and a very shame-faced Samantha looked back at her. She had started wearing her hair in a ponytail, which Janet loved, and wore a pair of reading glasses most of the time. She adjusted her glasses and smiled sheepishly. "Glad to see you're still alive," Janet said. "I was getting worried after you cancelled seven dates in a row..."

"I'm sorry," Samantha said. "Can I please explain?"

"It better be good," Janet said softly.

Samantha stepped aside and Janet went into the house. The apartment Sam had was small, but cozy. A couch and television were in a 'living room/nook' to the left, the kitchen was to the right and a small hallway in front of them led towards the bed and bathroom. Janet went to the couch and sat down, while Samantha leaned against the bookshelf separating the kitchen from the rest of the apartment. "I cancelled our dates because I'm scared."

"Scared?"

"Let me finish, please," Samantha said, taking off her glasses. "I was scared that our little get-togethers were turning into real-life dates. And... the thing that scared me the most was that I was starting to see what my counterpart saw in you. I was starting to fall for you, Janet. And that scared the living daylights out of me."

Janet stood. "You have feelings for me?"

"Yeah. Big feelings. I thought leaving it alone for a while would make things easier, but I miss you too much." She sniffed and brushed her nose. "I miss you like hell. I think about you every damn minute. I-I don't want you out of my life, but I don't want to feel like this for you."

Janet walked to Sam and cupped her face. "Hey," she said softly. "Why don't you want to feel like this?"

"You wouldn't love me. You'd be in love with... her. The woman I look like. Your Sam."

"Samantha," Janet whispered. "Sam died over a year ago. Yes, it hurt. And yes, when you first arrived, I thought it was my second chance at loving her. But you're a completely different entity." She kissed Samantha's cheek and said, "I started to fall for you, too."

"But how do you know if you love *me* or if you love the elements of Sam that I have?"

Janet closed her eyes and embraced Samantha. "We'll work it out, sweetheart. We have all the time in the world."

---

It took a few more dates and a couple of weeks, but Samantha finally felt it was ready to take the next step.

Janet's bedroom was dark, lit only by a few candles that stood on the dresser. Samantha closed her eyes and arched her back. "Yes, Janet," she whispered. She was stretched over the prone form of her new lover, their bodies wrapped in the sheet of Janet's bed. The brunette lifted her head from the pillows and licked the sweat between Samantha's breasts, resting her forehead against the flushed valley. Samantha released the headboard with one hand, holding Janet's head in place and rocking against the brunette's hips.

"Yes, Janet... God, that feels so good," Samantha continued to chant as Janet's fingers worked their magic between their bodies. Biting her lip, Samantha quickened the pace and began to whisper, "God, Janet, I'm so close.... Janet, so close..."

Janet kissed her way up Samantha's throat and found her mouth, slipping her tongue over the blonde's lips before allowing it inside. They rocked against each other, their pace furious and their bodies slick with sweat as Janet pushed Samantha closer and closer to the precipice. Janet forced Samantha back, laying her flat on the mattress and positioning herself over the other woman's body. She trailed her free hand slowly from Samantha's chest, down her flank, along her leg and to the inside of her knee, a hot spot that the other Sam hadn't possessed. As she tickled the sensitive flesh, she felt her lover's foot twitching and Samantha laughed.

Kissing each coral-tipped breast in turn, Janet slid down Samantha's body and spread the blonde's legs, taking her place between them. Samantha rolled her head back, looking at the room from an upside-down vantage point. She bit her lip, her eyes involuntarily closing as Janet's tongue dipped and rolled inside of her. Her hands clutched the blankets, eventually migrating to hold Janet's head. "God, yes... Janet, I'm cumming."

Samantha lifted her hips from the mattress, putting all of her weight on her shoulders. Janet rose with the change and held tightly to her lover's hips. Samantha began to purr loudly, the sign that she was about to come (another thing that the other Sam didn't do). Janet opened her eyes, looking down the scientist's lean body and into her beautiful blue eyes. Janet kissed Samantha's glistening lips and said, "I love you, Samantha."

With that, the blonde came. She closed her eyes, lifting her hips with the crest of each wave. Janet held on, taking everything she could take. When the climax finally ceased, both women fell back to the bed and pulled the blankets around their naked bodies. Samantha kissed Janet, tasting herself in the doctor's mouth, and smiled. "You don't have to back that up."

"What?" Janet asked, kissing Samantha's shoulder.

"What you said... right before I... I won't hold you to it."

Janet looked up, frown lines marking her forehead. "Samantha... I do love you. With all of my heart." She kissed the blonde again and said, "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. Sam included," she smiled.

"I love you, too," Samantha said softly, tears in her eyes. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"Tonight," Janet promised. "And every night." She cuddled closer to Samantha and closed her eyes. For the first time in a long time, both women finally felt whole again.

End


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