The Secrets You Hold

Title: The Secrets You Hold

Author: Geonn

Fandom: Stargate SG-1

Pairing: Sam/Janet

Spoilers: Desperate Measures

Rating: All Ages, I suppose.

Jack was having so much fun playing with the Etch-a-Sketch he'd bought "for Sam," that he tucked it under his arm as Janet shooed the team out of the infirmary. "You get better," Jack said needlessly as he was pushed to the door. "We need you back out there. Daniel doesn't know how to dumb things down for me!"

Sam snickered and looked down at her book, the one thing she managed to salvage from the Colonel's gift bag. It was a collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories, which she had once mentioned to him that she loved. She touched the cover lovingly and looked up as Janet approached the bedside. "Winnie-the-Pooh," Janet said, touching the edge of the book.

"Yeah," Sam said. "I loved these as a girl. I wanted to get Cassie into them, too." She handed the book to Janet, who thumbed through it and scanned the pages. After a few moments of silence, Sam said, "Janet?"

"Mm?"

"I wanted to ask you about something... that I overheard at the hospital."

SG-1 had just rescued her from Adrian Conrad, a businessman who was willing to go to any lengths necessary to be cured. Including Goa'uld implantation. The only problem was that he wanted the Goa'uld taken out safely after it had done its work. That's where Sam came in.

"The reason Adrian Conrad needed me... was because Jolinar died and saved my life."

Janet took a seat, holding the book on her lap.

"The answer was in my brain tissue," Sam continued. "He said if they cut open my brain and took a direct look, they would have been able to safely remove the Goa'uld larvae without harming him. Is that true?"

Janet ran her hands over the cover of the book, looking down at the whimsical drawings of Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. "Yes," she said finally. "It would take a lot of research to know exactly what we were looking at, a lot of time to figure out what it meant... but yes, it could contain the answers we've been searching for."

"It could save millions of lives, Janet," Sam said. "We could use the Goa'uld as they've used Jaffa for centuries. Using them and then discarding them."

"It would cost one life. One life I'm very, very fond of. It's too high a price to even consider paying."

Sam smiled at the sentiment. "But Janet..."

"No buts," she said.

"Okay," Sam sighed. "Just... how long have you known?"

Janet looked like she was forming a lie, but eventually settled on the truth. "I discovered it when we ran the preliminary tests after Jolinar died."

"And you never said anything?"

"Not to you, not to General Hammond... no one knows. It's never been in any report because, frankly, I'm increasingly frightened about what Simmons or the NID would do with this information."

Sam reached out, motioning for Janet's hand. The doctor took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Thank you," Sam said.

Janet brushed her thumb along Sam's knuckles and said, "Now... I think it would be best if you go a little sleep."

Sam laid back and pulled the blankets up, settling in. "Would you read me a story?" she asked, smiling playfully.

Janet smirked and opened the book. "Okay. But only until you fall asleep." She thumbed past the opening pages and found where the actual book began. She cleared her throat. "Chapter One," she read, "in which we are introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and some bees, and the stories begin."

She paused, glancing up at the bed. Sam's eyelids were already drifting shut, a content smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Janet turned back to the book. "Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin."

She settled back, crossing her legs and resting the book against her knee as she continued to read.