Disclaimer Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

"I have your first patient," Doctor Warner said, hanging up the phone.

"Patient? I didn't even know I had privileges yet," Janet replied, looking up from the paperwork she was filling out.

"Consider them granted." He looked her in the eyes and lowered his voice. "One of our off-world teams just returned. In the course of the mission, Captain Carter was separated from the team and held captive for a period of time."

"I'm not understanding."

"HER," he emphasized the word. "CO says that she reported nothing more than some harsh treatment."

"But he's afraid that she was assaulted," Janet said, putting two and two together.

"And I think that she might feel more at ease with a woman." He held out a chart. "Just normal post gate," he instructed. "Unless you determine the need for something more."

Janet left his office and made her way into the infirmary. Her patient was easy to find. Captain Samantha Carter. One of barely a dozen females on the base and, right now, the only one assigned to an off-world team.

Off-world. Never in Janet's life did she think she'd be dealing with people actually leaving this planet. The only real experience she - and her peers - had with unearthly exploration dealt more with the effects of microgravity on the human body and the occasional 'bad' serving of dehydrated food...and the perils of having a cold in orbit.

But these men and women now under her care weren't sitting safely in the control chair of a sterile space ship. They were walking on alien soil, breathing alien air...and maybe being attacked by alien men.

Janet took a breath and walked in, presenting her best bedside manner. "Hi, I'm Doctor Frasier. Janet." She smiled, assessing the woman. She was wearing what Janet assumed to be the standard uniform of olive pants and jacket and a black undershirt. Right now Janet could see no obvious signs of trauma. The woman was alert and conscious and had no visible injuries.

"Captain Carter," she answered.

"Samantha?" Janet asked.

"Sam," she answered, smiling slightly.

"Sam," Janet acknowledged. "If you would take off your jacket please, we'll get the blood draw out of the way."

Janet turned to prepare the phlebotomy supplies, watching Sam out of the corner of her eyes. She saw the woman wince, signifying at least some degree of discomfort or pain. "It sounds like you had quite an adventure," Janet said, keeping the tone light.

"Just a routine mission," Sam dismissed, her gone guarded.

"It must be exciting," Janet said. "I can't imagine what it's like to go to another planet."

"It's really not that different," Sam said, looking away as Janet prepared her arm.

"What do you mean?" Janet asked, hoping some routine conversation would put her at ease.

"They just look a lot like Earth. At least the ones I've been to."

"Really? I wouldn't have expected that." Janet finished with the blood draw and took the woman's blood pressure.

"The theory is that the people might have been taken from Earth millennia ago. And maybe the goa'uld deliberately chose Earth like planets to colonize with their slaves," Sam explained.

"That's probably a logical conclusion," Janet said, writing down her blood pressure. "Everyone seems quite excited about that salve you brought back." Janet took the woman's pulse and wrote it down.

Sam shrugged. "We'll see if it works as good here as it did there."

Janet finished with the mini physical, listening to the woman's heart beat and taking her temperature. "Everything seems normal," Janet said, checking the protocol list. She noted the lack of bruises on the woman's arms and neck. True, sexual assault did not always leave visible bruises, at least on the extremities. But restraining a person often did. And Janet had to presume that any sexual assault would require some sort of restraint.

Janet frowned. She didn't see any bruises, but she did see red patches on the woman's wrists. "What happened there?" Janet asked.

Sam shook her head. "Nothing." She self-consciously wrapped the fingers of her left hand around her right wrist.

"That doesn't look like nothing," Janet pressed, taking Sam's hand to study it closer.

"It's just a little rope burn," Sam dismissed. Janet stared, silently asking for more details. "When Abu..." Sam sighed, rolling her eyes. "Kidnapped me, he tied my hands until we got to Turghan's camp."

"And after you got to the camp?" Janet prodded.

"He untied me," Sam said, pacing her words slowly, as if she was talking to a child...or idiot.

"What else happened?" And anything you tell me is confidential," she reassured.

Sam scoffed. "No, it's not. You'll put it in your report and anyone that's got the right clearance will read it."

"So?" Janet asked.

"So...nothing happened," Sam declared, crossing her arms over her chest.

Janet sighed. "The more you deny it, the more I'm convinced that something DID happen."

"Look, maybe Doctor Warner can finish," Sam suggested.

Janet took a breath, not offended by the woman asking for another doctor, but a bit reassured. Sexual assault victims being uncomfortable around members of the offending sex might be a cliche, but it was a cliche for a reason.

"Maybe," Janet bargained. "Off the record, you can tell me what happened. And, if like you said, it's nothing, then it can stay off the record." Sam frowned at her. "I'm not out to get you, Captain. All I want to do is keep you healthy so you can keep doing your job."

Sam narrowed her eyes and stared at Janet, clearly sizing her up. Janet remained silent. She knew that she could compel the woman to comply. As a doctor on the base she outranked everyone - in medical matters - save her fellow doctors.

But she didn't want to start that way. She didn't want people to distrust her or to see her as the enemy. She needed their respect. And to get that, she needed to give it. She had a feeling that she knew exactly why the woman was so touchy. And it was probably less about what happened but who it happened to. The Air Force was better than other branches of the military, but it was still a boy's club.

And, if Sam's experience was anything like Janet's in medical school, she likely had to be twice as good to get half the credit.

"I have some bruises," Sam said grudgingly.

"Okay," Janet replied evenly. Sam pulled her t-shirt out of her waist band and Janet lifted it, frowning at the sight of livid bruises on the woman's back. They were obviously at least a day old, given their purplish color, "Any difficulty breathing?" Janet asked, exploring the woman's ribs.

"No," Sam answered.

"Okay." Janet lowered her shirt. "Then I'm going to suggest some over the counter pain killers to relieve any discomfort." She stepped around to Sam's front. "I have two questions, and I need the absolute truth."

"Okay," Sam nodded.

"I'm going to presume that one of the aliens did that," Janet said. "Is that a correct presumption?"

"Yes," Sam confessed softly.

"It was not a member of your team?"

"NO!" Sam said forcefully.

"Okay. Did he do anything else? Because if you were assaulted - in any way - I need to examine you and make sure that there's no internal damage."

"He didn't rape me, if that's what you're getting at," Sam said. "That might have been his plans for that evening, but the rest of my team came and I was out of there before it became an issue."

"Okay," Janet said, picking up Sam's chart. She made a few notes. "I think protocol is for you to stay on the base until your blood work comes back. Other than that, you're free to go."

"That's it?" Sam asked.

Janet shrugged. "Like you said, it's just bruises. They don't look bad enough to present a blood clot risk and there's really no way to treat them beyond time and letting nature take her course. If you happen to have a mission in the next three days, we may have to reevaluate your fitness for off-world travel, but given my understanding of your mission rotation that shouldn't be a problem."

Janet held the chart in front of her and looked Sam in the eyes. "I'm not here to 'get you' Captain. And I'm not here to make a tough job tougher. My job is to keep you and your team healthy. That's it. As long as it doesn't interfere with your job performance, I see no need to nitpick things. That said, if you're not honest with me, I will have to dig deeper to do my job. Your choice."

"That sounds fair," Sam said slowly.

"A warm bath should help with any stiffness and I would avoid any aspirin based pain relievers for a few days. The blood thinning aspect might make the bruises worse. Beyond that, if you're still sore in two to three days, come back and we can take some x-rays."

"Thanks," Sam said, hopping off the bed.

The woman left and Janet stared after her for a moment before making sure that she'd noted the bruises in the chart. She may not have made a friend, but she certainly hadn't' made an enemy.

And that was a good place to start.

~Fin~

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