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Chemistry Cubed
by Blaze
blazing@SoftHome.net

"Major Carter, Major Carter."

Sam reached up, batting at the annoying voice buzzing in her ear only to encounter a thick layer of plastic. "Huh?" She blinked, wincing as a half a dozen different bruises and pulled muscles made themselves known and reminded her of the fall she'd taken.

"Major Carter, are you all right?"

Sam slowly pushed up on her hands, dislodging a thick layer of grit and debris as she moved and sending up a thick cloud of dust. "I think so," she mumbled, shaking her head slowly as she struggled to make the world right itself. "How long have I been out?"

"Just a minute or two. We saw you go down, and came running--"

Sam tipped her head back, her movements clumsy inside the decon suit, then suddenly realized she was seeing light where she shouldn't. The suit was ripped along the seam of the face mask. So much for maintaining suit integrity. "I've got a rip in my suit," she warned them, then reached up and peeled off the hood, since it wasn't buying her any protection anymore and she couldn't see a thing through the scratched and filthy faceplate. She tipped her head back again, squinting up at the hole in the ceiling maybe ten or fifteen feet over head. Thankfully, she hadn't actually fallen very far. "But I think I'm okay otherwise." She did a slow pivot then, adjusting her feet as she moved, digging into the ground beneath her feet more firmly. "Oh my god." Sam's eyes went wide as she squinted in the thin light, bringing the rest of the cave into focus. She was standing on top of a mound of dirt several feet high, on top of the apex of some kind of step pyramid that had to be at least a hundred feet high. A broad cavern stretched away from her position, the open space big enough for a football stadium or two before it was broken by a second huge step pyramid. If she'd come through almost anywhere else, she'd have been dead for sure. Sam swallowed hard. "Everybody be careful. There's a huge cavern down here and if you come down in the wrong spot the first step is a real doozy."

"What do you want us to do, Major?"

"Lower a camera and climbing equipment on a rope attached to the M.A.L.P., then get the hell out of here. I'll get pictures, then vacate the area." And hope the ground held long enough to get back to the Stargate. Which seemed likely, since SG-1 had been all over the area as had the current team. Still, no reason to push things. "Once I'm done we're out of here. We've got enough samples and I don't want to risk another cave-in."

"Understood."

Less than an hour later, Sam joined the other team members on the Stargate dais, a little sore from her fall, but relieved to be leaving. ZRX-67R had so far made for nothing but trouble. She'd managed to take some pictures inside the cavern, though she was far from certain how much would be visible, since there was such a limited light source. "Let's get the hell out of here," she said as she punched in the coordinates and waved the small team forward. "And with any luck, we'll never have to come back."

She was a little antsy while the doctors in the Infirmary checked her out for any sign of injury, but they were so used to Carter's tendency to fidget that they paid her scant attention, simply checked her bruises, took blood samples and kept her under loose observation for several hours. When her pacing finally got on his nerves, convinced she was perfectly fine, assistant CMO Warner all but threw her out, though he ordered a young lieutenant to give her a ride home, since the fall had left her stiff and bruised.

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

Having spent a long day poring over lab reports, a tired Janet Fraiser entered her study and crossed to the bookcase in one corner. She was just reaching for a book on the shelf at eye level when she heard the sound of the door opening. "Just a sec, I..." she began as she straightened and turned toward the door. "Oh ... Sam. I just got in ... and didn't realize you were here." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, gesturing loosely in the direction of her garage. "Your car wasn't...." Trailing off, she frowned worriedly, noting Sam's damp hair and robe as well as an unusual brightness in her eyes. "Is anything wrong?"

"Needed a shower," Sam breathed as she stepped forward, hooking a hand around Janet's shoulder. "I heard the front door and knew you were home." Pale eyes searched the smaller woman's face with a kind of desperation, then she tightened her hold, tugging her lover forward as she ducked her head finding soft lips with ragged fervor. "I missed you," she panted through the hungry kiss.

Fine-boned hands rested on Sam's chest, delicate fingers curling into the fabric of her robe. "Is everything all right?" Janet questioned the instant the kiss broke, worried by the sudden fervor. Sam could be a very passionate lover, but she wasn't normally one to make impulsive grabs. Her approach tended to be slower, almost shy sometimes.

"It's fine now." Sam hands everywhere before Janet quite knew what was happening; dusting down over her breasts, stroking the curve of her waist, pulling at her blouse and skirt with eager abandon. The brunette gasped her lover's name with shocked intensity, then found her lips covered and claimed, Sam's tongue thrusting into her mouth possessively as a hand curved to the back of her head. The buttons on her blouse popped off under the strain of a pulling hand, the soft clatter as they hit the floor nearly lost in the ragged timbre of their breathing.

"Sam, what..." Janet groaned as she found her mouth released so Sam could trail soft kisses down her throat. She worked her fingers into thick blond hair, trying to bring the taller woman's head up only to find her hold shaken off as that demanding mouth began an eager path down her chest.

"I need you," Sam gasped, hands finding slender hips and holding on tightly as she spilled to her knees, trailing her lips down Janet's stomach, tasting the heat of her skin with fierce desperation. "Could have died out there without ever making love to you again," she groaned. Agile fingers found and fought with the closure on the skirt, too eager to make the simple task easy.

Everything but the soft words driven from her brain, Janet clung to pale blonde hair. "What happened?" she groaned, coiling protectively forward as if to use her arms and upper body to shield her lover. Sam tended to pull into herself when things got rough. She didn't want to think about what might have happened to make her respond this way.

"Cave in ... you're all I've been able to think about since then." Sam trailed her lips to Janet's hip, so desperate for more contact that she left small nips in her wake.

"Janet, I...." Dana Scully froze just inside the study door, her jaw hanging open, knuckles white where she was gripping the doorknob.

The only sound in the room was the rasp of the zipper on Janet's skirt as Sam finally found the tab and tugged it down. A beat passed while the garment tumbled silently to the floor, pooling in a dark puddle around the brunette's feet.

Her brain still misfiring at all levels, Scully heard her own voice as if from a distance. "I-I-I I'm sorry ... I'll ... uh ... I'll go...." But her knees refused to work, leaving her hanging onto the doorknob for dear life. It was very possibly the only thing keeping her upright.

Janet was amazed to feel the press of Sam's lips directly over her hip bone and then the low rasp of her lover's voice, sounding not at all like herself. "Why leave now, Agent Scully. After all, you do like to watch, right?"

Janet would have pushed Sam back, but her muscles didn't seem to be responding to her brain's commands. Helpless to do anything else, she just stood there, hands hanging on her lover's shoulders, her gaze swinging back and forth between the woman holding her and the one standing in the open doorway.

"N-no ... I-I...."

Sam rose gracefully, the only one who still seemed to have full control over her faculties as she cupped the back of Janet's head in a gentle hand and kissed her hungrily. Breaking the raw kiss, she swung her head around, fixing and diamond hard gaze on Scully. "Or maybe you're hoping to join in," she whispered in a voice somewhere between accusing and hopeful. She slipped her free hand inside Janet's blouse, stroking the outer curve of her breast through the thin fabric of her bra.

"Sam--" Janet's tone held a serious note of warning. Whatever game her lover was playing, she wanted it stopped now. She knew Sam had been feeling a little uncertain, but this wasn't the way to deal with it.

Carter shook her head, ignoring the cautionary note in her lover's voice. "She saw us last night--"

"What?" Janet gasped, eyes swinging toward Scully, her expression questioning. Dana had barely looked at her all day, but she'd attributed it to embarrassment over her drunken binge and cut the woman some slack. Considering the amount of help she'd unknowingly had getting so inebriated, it only seemed fair. Now, as their eyes met, Scully looked away again, but not before Janet saw a flash of guilt in her eyes and the start of a blush crawling over her skin.

Sam's hands were still sliding over Janet's body, tracing well-known curves with easy grace, her fingers light and teasing, touching the woman she loved in all of the ways she knew were guaranteed to light a fire in her blood. "She saw us." She nuzzled Janet's ear, her tenderness belying any darker emotions. "Came running in, gun in hand, ready to defend your honor ... I guess she heard you scream and thought you were in danger." She dragged her teeth over Janet's earlobe, pulling her closer when she was ready to pull away. "You were a little ... distracted ... at the time ...." The sheer suggestiveness of the low comment sent a ripple of awareness through Janet. Then Sam curved agile fingers to her jaw, drawing her head up and around until their eyes met once again. The kiss that followed was raw and hungry, drawing tiny, unwanted whimpers of arousal from the smaller woman and a low moan from the woman standing in the doorway. "You want her," Sam exhaled as their lips parted, the blue of her gaze softer now, even a little sad. She flashed a glance at Scully, taking in the hot flush of arousal sliding over her pale skin before she looked back at her lover. "She wants you." She leaned down, tasting velvety lips with exquisite tenderness. "And I seem to find myself wanting both of you," she groaned as their lips parted, her eyes closed. A moment passed before she sought out Janet's mouth again, fluttering kisses over cupid's bow lips. She continued deepening the caress even as she reached back with her other hand, fingers out, palm up, beckoning Dana forward, only a few inches short of making contact.

Janet shook her head, pulling free of the drugging weight of her lover's kiss, struggling to shake off a lightheaded buzz. "Sam," she gasped unsteadily, "what the hell do you think you're doing?" Despite the throbbing ache sliding through her veins, she had no intention of allowing this to happen.

Sam flashed a glance back toward Scully who was still standing frozen in the doorway, then pulled her hand back with a wry smile, reaching out to stroke Janet's lower lip with the pad of her thumb. "Are you saying that you don't want her, love?" She leaned down, nuzzling a delicate ear, her voice a coaxing whisper. "That you haven't thought about tasting all that fine skin ... being touched ... kissed ... feeling her inside of you ... being inside of her--"

"Sam," Janet groaned, not understanding what was happening and hating the temptation burning through her blood. She'd never been one to take chances, never lived a wild life or slept around. Hell, her relationship with Sam was the most daring thing she'd ever taken a chance on, well aware of what it could cost her at every juncture, but so in love that it was worth the risk. It had never been about the sex -- though God knew, that would have been enough to make most people sell their souls -- but about a connection they'd had from the first, the way they could talk for hours on end, sparking ideas and thoughts with a natural ease that still left her breathless sometimes. It was the vulnerability that she felt safe sharing with Sam, the gentleness and the tenderness that never left her wondering whether or not to trust. "I love you," she breathed, struggling to put on the brakes in an effort to get the situation back under some kind of control.

"I know," Sam exhaled, reclaiming those soft lips she knew so well. "That's why I know how much you want this." Slipping an arm around her lover's waist and pulling her close, she reached with her other hand, leaning the additional inch or two required to find the soft fabric of Dana Scully's blouse. A gentle tug and they were three, any thought of brakes or control out the window. The taste of her lover still in her mouth, Sam Carter turned her head, her hand rising to slip into silky red hair, lips finding Scully's even as she felt Janet bury her face in her shoulder. The kiss lasted only a moment and then the FBI agent was leaning across her, tucking a finger under Janet's chin and drawing her head up. The kiss that followed had both of them leaning against the taller woman as their mouths met. A beat later, shaking hands reached blindly in search of soft curves, while Sam wrapped her arms around both women.

From there on it was a symphony of touch and sensation, a harmony of give and take between the three women. By the time they reached the darkened bedroom, it became impossible to tell whose hands and lips were touching where. Lips met then parted, hands stroked and caressed, warm curves dovetailed, creating a sweet friction between them, then moved on before coming back again. Sensations impossible with just one lover became the order of the day in a quest to find and give satisfaction that dynamited every inhibition any of them might have ever had....

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

...sweat trickled over Janet Fraiser's skin, but didn't stay there long. A gentle tongue washed it off as it followed an ambling path up her spine, while a powerful arm wrapped around her body, fingers caressing and teasing with knowing skill. She whimpered softly, a feral sound that only increased in intensity as the hands on her body grew rougher in time with her strained breathing. She was sitting in Dana Scully's lap, arms and legs wrapped tightly around the other woman, so incredibly aware of every kiss and caress it was a wonder she hadn't gone slightly insane already. Or maybe she had. She really wasn't certain anymore, because everything happening in her darkened bedroom felt unreal, like some kind of outrageous dream. Except the intensity of sensation and connection was incredibly real. She buried her face in the curve of Dana's neck, fingernails digging into the soft skin and firm muscle of her back. "Please," a desperate gasp torn from her throat, the need coming through in her tone. Sam's lips brushed the sensitive chord where her shoulder curved into her neck, then sharp teeth nibbled her ear.

"You need more, don't you, love?"

Janet tipped her head back, nodding as she felt her lover's arm tighten on her waist. Damp fingers trailed up to find the curve of her waist, their touch supportive.

"Just lean back," Sam breathed.

Still clinging to Dana's shoulders, Janet let herself be pulled back into Sam's arms, trusting her lover's strength to keep her from falling. Strong hands cushioned her as she relaxed into Sam's lap. She could just make out the blonde's features as she leaned over her, a gentle smile curving her lips before their mouths met in a slow kiss. She moaned into her lover's mouth a moment later as another body came down over hers, warm lips starting at her breasts and sliding lower on her body, sensing her need and taking command, not stopping this time until she was pleading for more, then taking control over the tempo, stretching her passion out until her gasping pleas filled the air....

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

...Samantha Carter gasped as sharp edged teeth closed on her inner thigh, a low moan trailing from her lips as the bite turned to suction, purposely marking her flesh. Her cheek was resting on a warm hip while strong hands combed rhythmically through her hair, encouraging her as she turned toward the sweet temptation, brushing her lips against warm velvet skin, reaching to outline taut abdominal muscles with wandering fingertips.

"Sam." Janet's voice was little more than a thready groan, and her hands became almost frantic in their rhythmic journey through short blond hair. "It's...." She couldn't finish as Sam fluttered her tongue in her navel and slid her hand up to cup the weight of a full breast in her palm.

"I know," Sam groaned, her voice trailing off into a tiny moan as her knee and thigh were bathed in soft kisses and caresses, every touch teasing her with the possibilities that lay ahead. A hand slid up and stroked her stomach lightly, then moved on to paint gently erotic patterns on Janet's upper thigh before curving to her hip.

Soft lips played over Sam's thigh and sharp edged teeth nipped until muscles quivered in response. The hand on Janet's hips tightened fractionally, fingers pressing into soft flesh as she gently tugged the other woman into position.

"Do whatever I do," Scully groaned, amazed by her own temerity.

"Yes," Sam whispered and surrendered all control to Dana, losing herself in her lover's body as she mimicked every touch and caress, feeling Janet's arousal grow in time with her own until she felt the spasms begin to vibrate through both of them as though they were one body....

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

Dark lashes fluttered against a velvet cheek as Dana Scully woke slowly, her body luxuriously sore, surrounded by warmth and softness. It took a moment for the reality of what had happened to sink in, and even then she didn't quite believe it. Things like this didn't happen to her. Alien abduction, attempted werewolf bites, late night visits from vampires, those were the kinds of things that happened to her. Not ... not ... waking up ... how had Mulder jokingly described it when they'd been pretending to be man and wife on a case ... snuggled up like little baby cats? A shiver slid down her spine at the mental image the words painted. Her partner would probably have imploded on the spot if he had any idea how accurate his words were. She was lying with her head pillowed on a warm shoulder, her arm draped around a slim waist, someone's hand tangled loosely in her hair, a second body molded against her back, an arm wrapped around her body and the one beneath her, someone's chin and cheek pillowed against her shoulder, soft breath ruffling her hair and teasing her ear. She frowned, trying to decide who was where, and concluded based on what she could tell by feel that Carter was the one pressed against her back, while it was Janet who was snuggled up in her arms, serving as an impromptu pillow.

She slowly spread her fingers, feeling the shape of the other woman's waist, then smoothing down the curve of her hip, exploring gently in the quiet of the moment. As her thumb brushed over the shape of Janet's hipbone, Dana felt the other woman stir ever so slightly, the fingers in her hair moving, caressing slowly. Janet's breathing changed rhythm, no longer the slow, steady pattern of sleep, but a little quicker now. She felt the faint shift of the pillow, then warm breath on her face as the other woman turned her way.

"Dana...." Just a tiny breath of a word, but it left Scully shaken to the core. She spread her fingers against that smooth hip.

"Janet..." Dana's response was just as soft and dazed sounding. She stretched ever so slightly while the other woman ducked her head. Their lips just barely made contact, nothing more than the tiniest graze and yet Scully felt her pulse pick up almost instantly.

"Getting started without me?" Sam Carter's voice had a lazy grace to it as she whispered in Dana's ear, shifting to reach past the redhead, her hand brushing the one on Janet's hip as she added her own caress to the resurging symphony.

It was Janet who answered, her voice soft with affection as she reached up, running a light caress up her lover's arm to her shoulder. "Never."

Dana couldn't resist the urge to tip her head back as gentle lips dusted tiny kisses along the slope of her shoulder. She moaned softly as another pair of lips found the same shoulder from the front, sharp edged teeth teasing along her shoulderblade. Dragging the hand at Janet's hip upward, she outlined the faint patterning of her ribs, then the thrust of a rounded breast, the slope of her upper chest, the graceful line of neck and shoulder, and finally silky hair that slid easily through her fingers as she curved them to the back of the other woman's head. She couldn't control a sharp gasp as the mouth at her shoulder slid lower on her chest, soft lips and sharp teeth finding the swollen weight of her nipple. Hands slid over her body, stroking and teasing, driving her passion and leaving her so uncertain where one lover ended and another began that she didn't even know whose fingers entered her first, only that they weren't alone for long....

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

The ringing phone penetrated the depths of the covers flipped over Janet Fraiser's head until it was impossible to ignore the sound any longer. Still 90% asleep, she stuck a hand out from under the comforter, fumbling for the handset on the nightstand next to her bed. "Fraiser here," she mumbled as she got the receiver near her ear.

"Janet, it's Daniel Jackson. Is Sam there? I already called her place and she wasn't answering, so I was hoping she stayed over."

A bleary smile touched Janet's mouth as she felt the faintest stirring against her back. Oh yeah, Sam was definitely there, but Daniel didn't need to know exactly where. "Mmm, 'sleep in the guest room," she murmured muzzily, wondering if maybe she could just lay the phone aside and go back to sleep when he started babbling about something that made absolutely no sense to her.

"I just finished translating the hieroglyphics that were visible on those pictures she took ... they were on the outside of the other pyramid and I just wanted to make sure she's doing okay because the translation was a little disturbing." He paused just long enough to draw a fresh breath before continuing, while Janet barely listened, instead concentrating on the slow shivers radiating over her skin as a pair of soft lips nuzzled her center back. "Apparently, the temple Sam saw was some kind of ancient marriage clinic ... I think it may have involved hormone therapy of some kind--"

"Tha's nice," Janet mumbled distantly, barely resisting the urge to purr softly as a hand trailed slowly up her back, fingers brailing the landscape of her spine. "Is there a point here?" The question was lazily asked and she was barely conscious of his response, her mind already on turning and making love to the woman at her back, her body pleasantly aroused from a half-remembered dream....

Daniel was still talking, but she wasn't tracking. "Warner couldn't find anything definitive in the samples she brought back, but after I started translating the hieroglyphics ... well, I got worried ... they don't directly translate well, but ... well ... it seems to say that it gives both genders whatever it is that they don't have ... but that the other one wants. I think maybe they were using hormone triggers to cause emotional or physical reactions ... make men more sensitive to their buried feelings and--"

"Dammit, Janet," the Egyptologist sounded like he would have grabbed her and shaken hard if he'd been there in person, "I think it's very possible that whatever the hell affected us may have affected Sam as well. Now, did she show any signs of odd behavior last night?"

A slow grin traced its way across Janet's mouth as the hand on her belly wandered lower. "Mmm ... odd...." A hand found her shoulder and slid down to her breast. "No," she finished, her voice turning into a croak as it suddenly struck her that there was still a hand on her back and another on her stomach ... and a third on her chest....

Janet pushed upright in a blink, a tiny gasp escaping her lips as she twisted to stare at the figure that had been pressed against her back.

Dana Scully blinked sleepily up at her, a bleary smile curving full lips just as Sam pushed up on one hand where she lay spooned up behind the F.B.I. agent, her expression melting from sleepy arousal to dazed confusion. "Ohmygod," Janet said all in one word, Daniel's presence on the phone completely forgotten.

"Pardon?" Sam's teammate questioned, his voice drawing Fraiser's gaze down to the receiver clenched tightly in one hand. "Is something wrong?" He sounded worried now, leaving her to struggle to remember what he'd been saying only moments before.

"No. No, nothing wrong. Everything's just fine ... just great in fact. And how are you?" She winced at the sheer stupidity of her answer, but her brain wasn't functioning well at that point.

"Are you okay?" Now Daniel was sounding really worried, while Sam was staring back and forth between Janet and Scully, clearly struggling to process what she was seeing. She blinked, then reached up and rubbed her eyes as though it was all just the remains of a sleep induced dream that she could erase by wiping the sleep from her lashes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Janet responded none too believably, her gaze meeting her lover's even as a horrified look of returning memory and attendant realization twisted Sam's face. "I just ... um ... thought I saw a bug." She struggled to clear her head, feeling vaguely hung over and more than a little sore ... hardly surprising all things considered. "I don't like bugs," she added, a poor explanation at best, but all she had. "You said Sam might have been exposed to something," she quickly changed the subject, directing it away from her momentary freakout to more important venues. "What?"

"I'm not sure ... something to trigger her hormones."

Well, Sam had definitely been hormonal. They all had. As the memories came flooding back along with the realization that they weren't a mere dream, the gravity of what had happened struck her like actual blows. "You said Warner didn't find anything definitive in the samples?" she said, struggling to pull up the first part of the discussion when she hadn't been listening all that closely, uncertain whether it would be more comforting to think that Sam had been affected by some kind of outside agent, or that she hadn't. Either way, they had some very serious issues to deal with.

"No ... from what he said, there were some oddities, but nothing he could pin down ... but they're still running more tests."

"But you, Teal'c, and Jack are fine now?"

Scully was looking back and forth between she and Sam now, expression questioning, clearly uncertain what to say or do, still dealing with what had happened the night before and also smart enough to realize the phone discussion somehow related to her.

"Yeah, we're okay. Warner did another round of bloodwork late last night, and everything was at near normal levels. He's going to check again in a couple of hours."

Janet bit back on the urge to heave a sigh of relief. It was okay. Whatever the hell it was, it was fine, and she was about to do something completely unforgivable. She could run the tests needed on her own to track their condition, and if she reported any odd behavior on Sam's part, far too many very uncomfortable questions would be asked. "That's ... that's really great. Glad to hear it. I know Sam was worried about you guys ... but she was ... ahm ... she was perfectly normal." As claims went, the stumbling, hesitant, babbling denial wasn't her most believable moment.

Sam's brows lifted doubtfully while Janet shrugged helplessly.

Daniel was silent for a long moment. "Janet," he said cautiously, "are you..." he trailed off suddenly, then interrupted himself. "Just a sec'." He must have put a hand over the receiver because she could hear his voice, but it was distant and too muffled to understand.

Sam mouthed her name, her expression questioning, while Scully just looked back and forth between the two women, trying to make sense of the one sided conversation and strange undercurrents.

Janet only shook her head and waited the excruciating moments until Daniel came back online, sounding both relieved and stressed at the same time. "That was Warner. He finally got the last of Sam's lab results back ... apparently her hormone levels were slightly elevated, but not out of the range of normal ... guess maybe I panicked." He sounded embarrassed. "I just got this weird idea in my head when I read that inscription that they had some way of making men access their emotions and women...." He paused, sounding flustered in a sort of audible blush that might have been funny if Janet hadn't been completely absorbed in her own problems. "Well, I just ... that inscription, well, I figured women want men to be more open about the emotions they normally hide ... and men mostly want women to be really ... well ... sexual ... ly ... er ... oriented." He released a nervous laugh that bordered on a giggle. "I was kinda worried she'd wind up at a single's bar or something."

Janet reached up, massaging her suddenly throbbing temple. All things considered, the Egyptologist's explanation actually made a fair amount of sense, though, thankfully, Sam didn't need to hit a bar to get... Well, to get. She risked a look at the other two women. "That's interesting, Daniel. But everything's fine. Gotta go," she said quickly, the sentences running together.

Daniel was still speaking when she hung up.

Sam couldn't think, certainly couldn't speak, could barely even breathe as she stared at her lover. "Jan?" she whispered at last, the single syllable coming out as a strangled rasp. Her memories were a strange combination of foggy and lucid that made no sense whatsoever, but Dana Scully's presence made it obvious that it had all happened, no matter how much it seemed like a particularly vivid dream.

Janet's right hand lifted, nervously gesturing as she stumbled over her own words. "That was Daniel ... we ... ah ... you and I that is," she added, then flashed an apologetic look at Scully who hunkered down in the blankets. She appeared to be doing her best impression of wallpaper, not knowing what to say or do, and unable to gracefully escape the situation. "We need to talk."

Sam nodded unsteadily, her eyes dark with guilt, things still coming back to her in a flood of erotic images. "Yeah." She shook her head dazedly, completely confused about what had happened. Somehow her fantasies had gotten out of control and they'd all wound up....

She couldn't finish the thought, sheer terror making her mind go blank as it occurred to her that she might have irretrievably lost her lover after the impulsive, out of control night of lovemaking.

Janet looked at Dana, offering a weak smile. It wasn't like she had any experience with this sort of thing, so she just tried to keep from panicking. She grabbed for the robe she always kept thrown across the foot of the bed and found it wadded on the floor instead. "We ... uh ... that is, Sam and I ... really need to talk." She slid out of bed, yanking the robe on as she moved. Considering everything they'd shared the night before, there was a dark irony to her sudden discomfort with her own nudity.

"Yeah," Sam croaked, grabbing a loose sheet and wrapping it around her body as she slipped out of the bed. She looked at Janet, blue eyes wide and a little desperate, all of it still crashing in on her. "Talk," she repeated, barely getting the word out, wondering if she'd doomed the only romantic relationship she'd ever had that meant anything to her.

"Yeah," Janet exhaled, grabbing Sam's arm to haul her out of the room, not slowing until they were through the kitchen door at the other end of the house.

Her hands clutching the sheet tightly around her body, Sam leaned unsteadily against the wall, her expression shell-shocked. Wide, blue eyes stared at Janet with dazed intensity. "Janet?" she whispered and shook her head uncertainly, as though she couldn't quite reconcile reality with their normal routine. "What happened?"

Dark brows shot up, but Janet tamped down on an automatic, sarcastic answer. Her normal way of dealing with stress wouldn't help at all, not when they were both so fragile and confused. "You probably got zapped with something akin to what hit the guys when you took your tumble. It just must have taken longer to kick in." There was no doubt in her mind that an outside influence had done something to her lover. She knew Sam well enough to be certain she wouldn't have done what she'd done if something hadn't been seriously affecting her. "And had slightly...different...symptoms."

"So I...." Sam couldn't finish and trailed off into silence. "I was affected?" she pleaded, desperately praying some outside force had overwhelmed her and caused the strange need to explore that edgy fantasy of having two women she wanted so much in bed with her.

Janet heaved a tired sigh, irritated to suddenly realize she was sore in places and ways that she hadn't experienced since the first few, very physical weeks with Sam. "Oh yeah," she said sharply, then regretted her harsh tone when she saw her lover flinch. Sick guilt filled blue eyes, and Janet felt a band tighten around her chest. "We all were," she added to soften the words that had come out more accusing that she'd intended. She reached out, brushing tousled bangs back from Sam's brow, seeing the awful, gut-wrenching fear in her eyes. "We'll get through this," she whispered as much to reassure herself as her lover. This wasn't minor. They'd stepped over some serious lines, and there was a lot to deal with -- guilt, desire, temptation, and jealousy -- but she had faith they could do it. She had to. They'd already survived so many things.

Sam reached out, fingers curving along Janet's jawline. "I love you. You know that, don't you?" she husked, harsh emotion thickening her voice. She shook her head desperately, needing her lover to understand that nothing had been planned. She would never have willingly risked their relationship if she'd been in control. "I didn't ... what happened last night ... it wasn't ... I'm sorry...."

Dark eyes slid closed while Janet continued gently stroking pale blond hair, needing the comfort their connection offered. It helped drive back some of the awful confusion. Sam might have been drugged, but what if she hadn't been? And the pleasure? How the hell could she had enjoyed something so forbidden so much. "It happened," she sighed in a practical effort to banish some of the guilt, knowing it would only make things harder. She leaned into Sam's arms as she felt a hand slip around her waist to tug her closer. "I love you. That's all that matters." The hand at her cheek slipped back into her hair, drawing her head up as Sam's mouth sought her own. The comfort of the familiar caress slid through both women as they lost themselves in each other in the quest for reassurance.

The thwocketa-thwocketa sound of the kitchen door swinging knocked them apart like a sledge hammer as Dana Scully staggered in, still pulling her clothes into place. She tensed as she noted the tender scene followed by the way they shot apart. Fine features solidified into a hard look, a sneer curling full lips. "I'm not sure what sick little game you two are up to," she growled, "but count me out." She couldn't believe she'd been so foolish as to fall for such an obvious con game. They'd drawn her in from the first, playing her between them, and using her own over-eager hormones against her, and now they stood wrapped in each other, clearly excited by the aftermath of their success. She wondered if they did it often, or if it was a game set aside for special occasions. Shaking her head disgustedly, an angry hiss escaping her pursed lips, she spun, hurrying back through the door.

"Damn," Janet hissed under her breath, something in her tone making Sam flinch with fear. She knew her lover well enough to recognize the genuine emotion in her tone. "We've got to get her back here."

Sam's look of fear melted into one of hurt. "Janet, maybe it's best if--"

The doctor shook her head. "Sam, with what happened last night, there's every reason to believe she and I may have also been affected by whatever hit you." She didn't wait for that bit of news to sink in before stepping around her lover and hurrying after the F.B.I. agent, calling out as she moved. "Dana, wait!"

Scully had reached the front door and was pulling on her coat with one hand and yanking the door open with the other when Janet caught up with her. Fraiser grabbed the other woman's upper arm, stopping her, and Scully swung her head back around, yanking her arm free. Blue eyes spat fire as she glared at Janet. "Whatever it is," she growled furiously, "spare me." She couldn't believe she'd been so damn stupid, but she certainly had no intention of repeating the mistake.

"I can't," Janet said sharply, her expression deadly serious. She shook her head uncertainly. "What happened last night--"

"Is it a game you play often, or do you reserve it for special occasions?" Dana demanded, her eyes shifting to the figure that entered behind Janet, her body language far more hesitant. "Add a little spice to your sex life to keep things interesting?"

"No. It's no game," Janet insisted. "That's why you can't leave." She ran a nervous hand over her hair, scraping tousled bangs back from her forehead. "Sam was exposed to something yesterday ... which very likely caused some very ... unusual," she exhaled, struggling with the words, "side effects."

"Yeah, right," Dana scoffed bitterly, wondering why the hell she hadn't left already. Except there was something about the looks thrown her way that wouldn't let her move. She wanted to hurl more angry invective and storm out in a wave of righteous indignation, but her feet refused to move. Apparently someone had snuck in while she wasn't looking, and glued them to the goddamned floor. Now, she was stuck with only a furious glare to protect her from the desire to melt back into Janet's arms. It was nothing but a game, she told herself bitterly, struggling to harden her heart against the limpid brown gaze directed her way. Just some sick, twisted bit of sexual gamesmanship on the part of two people who apparently weren't at all what they seemed....

Except.... Except she couldn't forget the gentle lovemaking of the night before. For a moment when she'd woken ensconced safely in their arms she'd thought....

She didn't know what she'd thought. Or maybe she did. But it was obviously nothing but a very foolish fantasy. The kind of people she'd thought Janet Fraiser and Samantha Carter to be wouldn't play with her emotions the way the evidence said they had, but they also wouldn't have simply pulled her into their bed. That they'd done so meant she'd read the situation all wrong. The problem was that at some level, she couldn't believe that. Both women seemed far too real for such cruelty.

Which was probably why she actually felt guilty for the wave of hurt that flared in Janet's eyes in response to her angry words.

"You have to believe me," the Air Force doctor continued, her voice ragged, "what happened last night was no game." Her eyes fell away, and she shook her head, struggling to explain the inexplicable. "I'm not sure what it was, but it wasn't a game." She swallowed hard and glanced over her shoulder, seeming to draw strength from the brief look she shared with Sam Carter. When she looked back, she was more in control. She straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath before continuing. "But right now, I need to run some tests since you and I may have also been exposed to what I believe affected Sam."

Dana frowned, forced to listen by the utter seriousness of the other woman's tone. "All right, what kind of exposure are you talking about?" she demanded, not buying the story, but willing to allow the other moment a chance at explaining.

"I'm sorry, but it's classified," the doctor said hesitantly, fully expecting the disdainful look at twisted Scully's face.

"That's convenient," the F.B.I. agent drawled accusingly.

Sam tensed, angry on behalf of her lover. "No, it's not," she snapped. "It's damn scary." Her eyes raked over Scully, reminding her of everything that had happened and demanding something in return, though Dana wasn't entirely certain what. Maybe simply respect for the woman caught in the space -- both emotional and physical -- between them. "And she's not lying." Carter's voice rasped painfully. She shook her head as if she could reject all of it that easily. "Believe me, I wish to god she was and this was all just a game." If it was a game she wouldn't have to be terrified of losing the woman she loved.

"Sam?" Janet exhaled as she pivoted to stare at her lover, the hurt and fear in the other woman's voice shaking her to the core.

Carter folded her arms across her chest, pain flickering in her eyes as she drew into herself in a way she hadn't since the earliest days of their relationship. Looking away, she refused to meet her lover's worried look. "What do we need to do to have the tests done?"

"Sam?" Janet repeated, but the blonde shook her head stiffly.

"Not now, Janet. Let's just get this done, okay?" She couldn't let herself feel too much or she was going to go crazy.

The doctor looked back over her shoulder at Scully, startled to see an oddly sympathetic expression on her face. "We can everything necessary at the academy hospital," she said at last. She and Dana had been coming and going at all hours there, so no one was likely to pay any attention. It didn't hurt that there weren't likely to be many people on duty early Sunday morning.

"Are you sure you shouldn't notify someone?" Dana asked after a beat, the emotional turmoil she saw nearly convincing her they were telling the truth, leaving her heart and mind to war over the logic of believing anything either woman had to say.

Janet shook her head, sighing softly. "I can't exactly explain the symptoms ... and from what we've seen, this burns out quickly." She ran her fingers through her hair again. "I don't think there's any danger, but I need to be certain about some things." If she'd thought they were in serious trouble, she'd have notified the SGC, embarrassment and probable dismissal from the Air Force be damned.

"All right," Scully said at last, wondering if she'd lost all common sense even as she agreed to the tests. Common sense told her she was being played, but when she looked at the two women in front of her, she just couldn't believe it. Mulder's love of conspiracy theories and paranoia aside, there was nothing about these two women that struck her as being capable of the level of duplicity required for this to be nothing but a con.

"In which case we'd better just get dressed and get moving," Janet rasped and hurried toward her bedroom.

Her arms still crossed, shoulders slumped, her eyes focused anywhere but on either of the two women, Sam followed after her.