Sweat trickling between full breasts. A rough tongue following the uneven path. The rhythmic sound of harsh breathing, driven by desperate passion. Janet Fraiser's back arched, instinct driving her closer to her lover, her free hand digging into thick blond hair, biceps and triceps knotting as she pulled against the manacle latched around her left wrist. A long chain linked the etched gold cuff to an identical gold manacle wrapped around Sam Carter's narrow wrist, while the chain was tossed over a bedpost, the position forcing a game of tug of war that Janet was nowhere near strong enough to win. She tried again to bring her arm down and blue eyes lifted, blazing in the thin light, while graceful hands slid over her skin with possessive intensity.

"I'll never let you go," Sam whispered, but there was frightening lack of familiar humor or gentleness in her voice and expression.

Despite her fear of what was happening to both of them, Janet felt her body respond to every touch and caress, unable to resist the reality of something she'd fantasized about for so long. "Sam, please--"

"Don't," the blond commanded with a note of arrogance totally alien to her normal disposition. She drew her mouth down the length of Janet's throat, teeth working against smooth skin. "Say it," she growled, fingers thrusting deep, the pleasure of the caress tinged with a flicker of pain, though it was a product of raw possessiveness and the need for dominance rather than cruelty. At least Sam's total lack of capacity for that hadn't changed.

"Terreis," Janet gasped in surrender, moaning low in her throat as Sam's mouth covered her own, the answering pleasure thick and terrifying. Her only thought beyond the demands of her own body -- this can't go on....

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ *

Janet Fraiser straightened, smiling at the small child staring up her with wide eyes. Back home, snow dusted the ground and the winds blew cold, but on this alien plain it was humid and warm enough that her uniform stuck to sweaty skin in uncomfortable places, leaving her wishing for the cool confines of the SGC. Despite her discomfort, she reached out to ruffle the child's pale, cornsilk hair, then nodded to her mother. The worried looking young woman swept the toddler into her arms and slipped out with a few heartfelt words of gratitude. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the help, but the locals had been scared since they'd begun accepting help from the SG teams, clearly afraid of punishment from the powers on high. Not that anyone associated with Stargate Command had quite figured out who that might be. Whoever they were, they seemed to be completely uninterested in the local population's health or welfare, though judging by the people's fear, they apparently demanded total fealty in return for their uncaring stance.

Janet sighed softly as she tossed the jet injection gun she'd used to give the child a much needed vaccination back into the open carrying case with a muttered curse.

"Is it really that bad?" Sam Carter questioned, ducking as she stepped inside the abandoned building that had been serving as the doctor's makeshift infirmary since she'd arrived several days before. O'Neill had settled on the location since it was close to the main encampment, but far enough that the locals would actually come for help. The fact that the walls were sturdy stonework and eminently defensible had doubtless also been a consideration, especially since he'd been firm about keeping a guard on the door any time Fraiser was there seeing patients.

Janet looked up and shrugged a little helplessly. "Surprised to see you here," she murmured. "I thought you were still trying to fix the water pumps."

Sam shook her head. "The general needed another strong back, so I relieved your guard to go help. I needed to get away from the problem for a little while anyway," she added by way of explanation at Janet's questioning look. She nodded after the woman and child who'd just left. "How's the girl?"

Retrieving the injector, Janet began breaking it down for storage with automatic skill. "Underweight, malnourished ... she's got a couple of nasty opportunistic infections and a probable calcium deficiency." She looked back at the blond in time to catch her flinch. "It's like everyone else we're seeing ... six months to a year of rest and decent nutrition and they'd be fine, but it's nothing I can fix with a few shots. Everything I'm doing is pure bandaid medicine to try and keep anything worse from happening while they're so weakened."

"How about the vaccine?"

"At least that seems to be working right ... We've had no new reports of infection and no bad reactions to the vaccine itself. With a little luck, that situation is contained." She sighed, fatigue, frustration, and bad sleeping conditions catching up with her all at once. Okay, so the medical team had figured out a way to stop the virus apparently running rampant through these people, a variant on smallpox that had apparently run riot through the local populace before SG-1 had discovered the situation and offered whatever assistance they could. That didn't change the fact that they were still in frighteningly poor health and scared of something though no one would say what.

Sam noted her depression with a worried look. "You okay?"

Another shrug. "I'll live. I just hate that there's so little I can do for them." She ran her bangs back from her forehead, where they were tending to stick in sweaty strands. "Any luck with the generators you found?" There was a city nearby, or more correctly, the remains of a city, the ancient walls crumbling around the few people who still lived there. The odd part was there were signs of considerable technological expertise, but any knowledge of how to make it work had apparently disappeared somewhere over time. Sam, however, had some hope of restoring some function to the section of the ancient system that was apparently designed to pump deep water to nearby fields, long since gone fallow. That might give the local farmers some chance at growing the food they were clearly becoming desperate for. She'd almost gotten it up and running before everything broke down again.

It was Carter's turn to shrug. "Had a little luck. I think it's doable. It's just that the system's so old and it looks like somebody's scavenged parts at some point, so I'm having to jerry rig things ... I just get one problem solved and something else goes wrong." She sounded as tired as Janet felt.

The two women shared a long moment of companionable silence, both drawing strength from their long-standing friendship. Their gazes met and held, a familiar sense of awareness arcing between them. More than friendship, if they were honest, though they'd long since agreed not to pursue anything else since that would have meant lying to everyone they cared for and risking their careers. However practical the decision, it had done nothing to change the chemistry that existed between them whether they wanted it or not.

Finally, Sam offered a wry smile, her expression tender as she reached out and tapped the newly silver cluster on Fraiser's collar. "I still owe you that beer, Colonel," she teased gently.

The doctor glanced down at Sam's fingers, a hint of a smile touching her lips. "I keep forgetting about that," she muttered.

Carter's smile broadened a tiny notch. "You've got to stop timing your promotions so they arrive during the busy season."

Janet managed a smile and a small laugh. "Sorry, we don't all have your knack for making sure everyone's schedule is free for a party." Carter's own promotion to lieutenant colonel had come some months before, during a down period for the team, and the celebration had resulted in more than a few hangovers, not the least of which had been Sam's own. The doctor's smile softened as she remembered the image the blond had painted on her couch after everyone else had left. She'd sat sprawled there, pleasantly tanked, singing a merry tune. It was the only time since they'd agreed not to let their relationship go any farther than friendship that she'd allowed that iron control to slip a little, smiling up at Janet -- who hadn't been a whole lot more sober by that time -- then reaching out and pulling her down onto the couch until they were sitting hip to hip.

Sam had leaned back into the cushions, her smile ironic. "So, is the silver pretty enough to be worth it?"

For a moment, Janet was lost in the confusion she'd felt in that moment, both understanding and not understanding her friend's poignant tone. Her drunken inability to quite put it all together had come through in her tone as she whispered Sam's name on a questioning note. "Sam?"

She'd never forget the quiet longing in those familiar blue eyes as Sam turned her way. "Giving up the only other thing I care about as much as my career." She'd reached out, brushing silky hair back from Janet's temple. "Hell, if what we're doing weren't so damn important, I think I'd chuck it all and go civilian." Another slow stroke through Janet's hair had wound up with Sam cupping the back of her head and they'd leaned close, breath mingling in the scant space still remaining between them. "I keep thinking maybe I can stop loving you, but I can't ... nothing's changed." The low, mournful whisper had left Janet's heart hammering in her chest, offering so many sweet temptations.

They'd drawn to within a hand's breadth before some small measure of sanity reasserted itself. "We can't. You know that." Her own voice had sounded shaky and uncertain even to her own ears.

"Just this once ... one little congratulatory kiss--"

"Except I don't think either one of us is going to be able to stop if we cross that line."

A long moment of silence had followed, then Sam's regretful sigh. "No, we couldn't." She'd staggered to her feet then, mumbling an exhausted, "See you in the morning," before stumbling off to sleep -- or not sleep -- in the guest bedroom, leaving Janet to her own lonely bed.

"Janet?" Sam's soft voice brought her back to the present. Dark eyes met Sam's paler gaze and she saw the other woman flinch ever so slightly at what she saw before dropping her hand to her side, straightening her shoulders, and resettling her feet. She swallowed hard, maintaining an iron lock on her emotions. "The guys and I figured we'd take you out for some kind of fancy dinner when we get back," she said softly, putting it all back on safe ground by including their ever-clueless chaperons in the discussion.

Pushing any dangerous emotions back into the safe lock box where they belonged, Janet offered a dry smile. "I'm not sure I can stand an evening of General O'Neill's whining if he has to wear a suit." She put added emphasis on O'Neill's rank before shaking her head, one sculpted brow rising. "And don't officers in other commands usually wind up with a few different duties when they advance in rank?" It had become something of a standing joke between the three of them that they kept receiving promotions right on schedule while doing exactly the same jobs they'd always done at the SGC. Sam couldn't guarantee it, but she was comfortably certain that Jack O'Neill was now the only one star general in the service who was normally in direct command of precisely three people -- only one of whom was even in the Air Force.

Sam grinned. "Not our fault we were perfect from the start."

Janet snorted softly and rolled her eyes. "Speak for yourself."

"Now, now," Carter chastised, her tone intentionally light. "Just because some of us were a little more perfect than others--"

Another annoyed snort interrupted the teasing. "Right ... perfect." Janet checked the serum vials to make certain they were properly tucked into their padded home in the hard sided case for the vaccine gun, then snapped the case shut, "Like when you oh, so perfectly got yourself turned into Wilma Flintstone and tried to molest General -- then Colonel -- O'Neill--"

Sam winced. "Okay, so that was a less than perfect moment," she allowed, playing along with the joke.

"Or how about that wonderful little device you helped bring back that oh-so-perfectly impaled self-same former colonel, and tried to take over the entire base--"

"Well, okay, less than perfect, but that wasn't my fault--"

"And then there was that perfect transference with the entity from outer space that left you in the computer system--"

"You shouldn't complain. I reorganized your files while I was in there," Sam riposted, eyes glinting teasingly. It was a game they'd played before

"I remember," Janet drawled. " I couldn't find the personnel reports for a week."

"Everybody's a critic," Sam mock-complained, then offered a gentle smile, glad to see Janet's mood improved for the light repartee. Fraiser ducked her head in silent acknowledgment of the efforts to cheer her up, while Sam glanced at her watch, noting the time. Time to go back into professional soldier mode. Nightfall was roughly an hour away, and O'Neill had been very clear about keeping their people together once darkness fell. The terrain was rough and unfamiliar, and there were any number of pitfalls of long discarded civilization -- tumbled down buildings, old tunnels that were falling in, steep shafts that went down to old underground dwellings of some kind, and a dozen other things that could make wandering in the dark dangerous. "However, if you're finished here, I can give you a hand carrying any equipment back to camp."

"Now that, I could use," Janet said, sounding relieved at the notion of having help. As uncomfortable as her bedroll back at camp was, the notion of crashing for a few hours was very tempting indeed.. "Let me just--"

"Doctor Fraiser, Doctor Fraiser!"

Both women swung around as a local man came skidding into the room.

"Doctor Fraiser, " he said again, clearly breathless from running.

"Tecal, right?" the doctor questioned.

The newcomer nodded. "My son," he said quickly, clearly panicked. "He fell in the old quarry. He's not moving. Please, you've got to help."

Janet remembered the boy, maybe twelve and as full of energy as anyone she'd seen so far on the planet. She could easily see him climbing too high and falling. "Let me just grab my kit and we'll go," she said as she moved to put together what she thought she might need.

Sam frowned uncertainly. "Janet, it's going to be dark soon," she reminded her friend. Crawling over unfamiliar ground in the moonless night could get very dangerous if they weren't careful.

"I know, Sam, but if it's bad, we can't just stand here."

"Please," Tecal begged. "You have to hurry."

"Okay," Sam agreed. "But I'm coming with you," she added as she adjusted the shoulder strap on her MP5, so that the weapon was more easily accessible. Janet didn't argue, just continued packing equipment into a backpack with a noticeable red cross on the back. Sam toggled the radio on her shoulder. "General O'Neill, Carter here."

"What's up, Carter?" her superior's voice came back to her almost instantly.

"Local kid's had some kind of an accident. Fraiser's going to check it out, and I'm going with her."

Janet had finished gathering what she needed and was snapping a field case shut, while the boy's father fidgeted uneasily. "Please," he urged, "you must hurry."

The doctor nodded and glanced at Sam, who waved them on, taking up the rear as they exited the small building, her attention split between the trail and her conversation with her superior.

"It's gonna be dark soon, Carter. You want me to send somebody to lend a hand?" O'Neill sounded uneasy.

Sam glanced at the worried father. He was moving fast, clearly anxious to get back to his injured child. With luck, it wasn't too far, and they could reach the boy and assess the situation quickly . She knew O'Neill needed every available hand to splice a section of huge water pipe, and it would cost them twice as much time if they had to disrupt the process. "Not right now. I'll let you know if it looks like there's a problem."

"I'm sure, sir." The most dangerous thing they'd seen so far were the tumbled in buildings and tunnels that made the landscape hazardous, and she wasn't too worried about those as long as it was still light. "I'll check in when I know what the situation is. In the meantime, we're headed twenty-two degrees West of true North."

"Understood," O'Neill said quickly. "Be careful."

"Yes, sir," Sam signed off as they reached the edge of a scrub forest. She'd helped recon the area when they first arrived. The small, scruffy trees were spaced just far enough apart to make it impossible to see more than a few yards and ran right up to the edge of a deep, sheer sided quarry. The cut cliffs of the quarry revealed inky black, onyx-like rock that began only a few feet below the sandy topsoil. With a muttered curse, Sam picked up her stride, moving more quickly. When she was worried about a patient, Janet was amazingly capable of outpacing Sam despite the difference in height and stride. Already, the doctor was far enough ahead that she flashed in and out of Sam's view as she wended between the squat, broad leafed trees, following Tecal at a dog trot.

After several minutes at that hard pace, they broke through the trees where they abruptly ended at the edge of the quarry. Catching up with her friend, Sam scanned the area and saw the pathetically small figure lying at the base of the sharply cut cliffs, his body a limp sprawl in tattered rags. SG-1 had checked the area out on first arriving, so Sam knew where Tecal was leading them as he skirted along the cliff's edge. Stairs had been cut into the black rock, probably for the long dead workmen who'd once mined the place, and there were the remains of occasional posts along the cliff-side that had probably once stabilized some kind of handrail. The quarry wasn't especially large, perhaps half again as long as a football field, twice as wide and a little over a hundred feet deep, but there was something eerie about the inky black rock and the way it seemed to absorb any light that got near it. It didn't help that there were deep cuts and shallow caves all over the place where someone could easily hide completely unnoticed. Sam had hated the place on sight. "You sure this is a good idea," she murmured sotto voce to Janet.

The doctor's gaze slid over to Sam, her own unease easily visible to anyone who knew her, though no one else would have guessed, and shrugged. "Not a lot of choice." Like Sam, she had duties and responsibilities that she couldn't ignore.

"This way," Tecal said quickly and led them onto the stairs. As skinny and underfed as he was, he moved quickly and hurried them along.

The stairs were steep and high enough that it took some concentration not to slip, especially since there were precious few handholds a climber could use to stabilize themselves. Sam kept an eye on Janet as they moved, ready to offer assistance, since the other woman was small enough to have some difficulty on some of the higher steps, especially with the added burden of the medkit. Fraiser handled the climb with ease, finally dropping the last couple of feet to make a graceful landing at the base. She paused and glanced back at Sam, then took off after Tecal at a jog. Sam frowned, her pace a little slower, unease crawling down her spine as she took a moment to check out their surroundings. She knew it was just her own paranoia, but the place really did give her the creeps. It looked like something out of an old sci fi horror movie, just waiting for the monster to leap out and eat everyone in sight. "Oh yeah, Carter," she chastised herself under her breath, "thinking like that should really help the situation."

Sam was about fifteen yards behind Janet when the doctor reached the boy's crumpled body. He was lying at the base of an artificial cliff, only a few feet from one of the sharp cuts that took off into a tributary like canyon, though Sam had to squint to make it out against the black on black layers of rock. Tracking the doctor carefully as she dropped down beside the tiny figure and slung open the medkit, Sam skirted along the rough floor of the quarry only a few feet from the base of the canyon wall. Even from the distance, she could see her friend's automatic gentleness and the worried frown creasing her brow, and just barely hear her soft voice as she spoke. "Jelan?" Then something caught the officer's attention, a sound somewhere just off her right shoulder. She started to turn only to pivot back as she heard Janet cry out. The doctor was gripping what looked to be the boy's arm, holding it well above the ground, the child's position impossibly limp unless his bones had been completely crushed. It took Carter a moment to process that the "child's" body appeared to be nothing more than a bundle of rags, though she was already reaching for her MP5 with one hand and the two way radio at her shoulder when she saw a figure lunge out of a hiding place in the rocks behind Janet. She was just shouting a warning when she saw her friend's head come up, her expression torqued by surprised and fear.

"Janet!"

"Sam!"

And then she was grabbed from behind, something foul pinned across her nose and mouth. Her vision was already starting to spiral inward when she caught a glimpse of Janet struggling with an attacker, a rag held over her face, the crackle of her radio a strange background music to the scene as she felt someone grab for her gun. She managed to tighten her finger, satisfied by the sound of automatic gunfire as the MP5 sprayed a random array of bullets skyward.

"Carter, that sounded like gunfire...Carter! Carter!"

Dizzy and fading, Sam sank to her knees. She wanted to fight, but it was as though her muscles had turned to liquid. She lost her grip on her weapon as she began to sink into the spiraling vortex. She saw Janet limp in her attacker's arms, and wanted to make one last valiant surge, some part of her desperate to save her friend, but she had nothing left to fight with. O'Neill was still calling her name, his voice desperate, but she didn't have it in her to care anymore.

She caught a glimpse of a lean, pinch faced figure stepping into view and vaguely heard Tecal's voice, scared and breathy. "The outlanders as I promised you, m'lord. Now, please ... release my son."

The answer was disinterested and directed elsewhere. "See to the peasants. I want no witnesses."

Then the ground came up and the world went black.