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Sam crosses her arms, wondering how long it’ll take Janet to realise that there’s a flesh-and-blood person standing at the door of her office. Not long, she reasons—Janet’s normally very attentive, particularly so when it comes to Sam. At least, Sam thinks she is. Well, no, Janet definitely is when it comes to Sam, because they’re friends.
Sometimes they’re like family. Sam certainly spends much more time with Janet and Cassie than she does with her own brother. And more time with them than she expends on any efforts to form a long term romantic relationship of her own that could lead to a family.
Anyway.
Apparently she underestimates how engrossing Janet finds her reading material. The doctor’s attention remains fixed on the print-outs spread across her desk. Her lips move marginally as she reads to herself.
Sam tilts her head and briefly indulges the view. Beautiful, intelligent, confident. Kind, funny, talented. Really, it’s no surprise that Sam sometimes blinks and realises she’s behaving as though she’s a little enamoured, just like half of Stargate Command. Maybe more than half. It’s just natural. Janet’s great. Anyone would be.
Anyway.
Sam’s perfectly capable of being patient when the need arises. Especially when it comes to Janet—although a small voice in the back of her mind scoffs at that self-assessment, calls it nerves instead. She pushes that aside, because regardless, it’s apparent waiting won’t get her anywhere today.
“Hey,” she says, breaking Janet’s concentration.
Janet looks up. “Hi, Sam,” she replies, giving her a small yet warm smile that crinkles the corners of her eyes. It’s professional, of course, but it’s also far beyond formal.
It’s cute. It’s distracting. “Hey,” Sam repeats, and then kicks herself internally. “Something interesting?” she asks, nodding at the papers.
“Mmm,” Janet confirms, pushing herself back from her desk. “Various results from all the tests we carried out on Colonel O’Neill’s clone, both before and after Loki’s genetic repairs. I think you’d find it interesting as well.”
Sam nods again. “The Colonel’s just left with him, actually.”
“Mmm. I heard he’s going back to high school.” Janet raises her eyebrows at Sam as she stands up.
Sam chuckles. “You don’t like the idea?”
“Well, for him, perhaps it’s for the best. But as far as I’m concerned? Hormones, peer pressure, taking classes I don’t like just because they’re required?” Janet says, rounding her desk to perch on the edge, facing Sam. She clicks her tongue. “I can’t say the idea of repeating all of that appeals to me.”
“You don’t think it could be interesting? The chance to do it all again, knowing everything you do now?”
Janet crosses her legs and Sam finds her eyes drawn to the line of her calf muscle. “Like a second chance?”
“Yeah.” Sam thinks it over herself, and adds, “You could take a different class, or an extracurricular you didn’t have time to do.”
Janet laughs softly. “Is that what you’d do?”
Sam shrugs. “Maybe.”
Janet’s expression grows slightly coy. “I’m not sure that’s what our young Colonel has in mind.”
“I—phew, huh, yeah.” Sam pulls a face quickly, half-agreement, half-surprise. “Well, he is a teenage boy, I suppose. So, what about you?” she asks, keen to get away from that particular topic.
It backfires. “Would I try to date every girl on the cheerleading squad?” Janet asks, and when Sam starts to splutter, Janet laughs brightly.
“I didn’t mean that!” Sam argues, feeling hot under the collar. Trapped, somehow.
Janet’s laughter quietens until she falls silent, and then there’s a moment where Janet just watches Sam, almost smirking. Sam blushes more fiercely.
“Calm down, Sam.” Janet tilts her head back and directs her smile at the ceiling. “I don’t think so,” she says after a few moments, shaking her head slowly. “I think I’ve done pretty well with my first chance. And I don’t think I’d want to leave any of this—” she waves her hand in a motion that encompasses both her office and Sam— “behind, even for the chance to…”
She falls silent, and Sam supplies, “Flirt with every guy on the football team?”
“Is that what you’d do?” Janet asks again, quietly.
Sam’s mouth goes a little dry. “Maybe,” she manages to say, shrugging again. It’s absolutely not true, and in all honesty Janet probably knows that. Sam would definitely just take new classes; wouldn’t spare a glance for the football team or the cheerleading squad. But Sam feels like even such an obvious deflection is a safer option right now; a way to backpedal out of the sudden tension that’s entered their conversation.
Janet looks at a spot over Sam’s shoulder, swallows, and licks her lips. Sam watches her tongue as if it’s a deliberate show. Then she looks away as well, eyes widening at her own behaviour. Thankfully Janet didn’t see.
Anyway.
“I already did that,” Janet admits, and Sam fixes her gaze on the other woman again. Janet’s eyes flick to her. “I can think of several better ways to use a second chance than dating high-school boys.”
Sam frowns a little. Holds her breath. Looks at Janet’s face nervously.
“But maybe I would just take a different extracurricular,” Janet says, smiling wryly before she takes a deep breath. “Anyway, like I said, going back to high school doesn’t appeal to me in the first place.”
Sam clears her throat. “Yeah. Well, it’s all hypothetical anyway. This was a one-off situation.”
Janet stands upright, nodding, which fully breaks the strange atmosphere. Sam can’t deny that she’s relieved. But she also struggles to deny that she’s disappointed not to hear more about what Janet meant. Might have meant.
Anyway.
“So what brought you to my door, anyway?” Janet asks, turning professional, clasping her hands in front of her lab coat. She gives Sam a small smile. But it doesn’t reach her eyes. It’s almost formal.
Sam finds that the sight stings, just a little.
But it’s safer.
Anyway.