Title graphic by Leyenn

Dissostichus Mawsoni (1/1)

Sneaking a look around one of the few walls in the Antarctic installation that didn't happen to have a man-sized window cut into it, Carter finally let herself relax for a moment and felt a tiny, fond smile creep onto her lips. Settled into the single occupied swivel chair in the cramped lab room, Janet Fraiser sat with one leg folded beneath her, most of her face obscured by the microscope viewer that had occupied her entire attention for at least the past four hours. There was something almost *too* intense about that single-mindedness she saw in Janet at times like this - especially when her own determination to appear professional slipped just a little, and she found herself recalling the number of times she'd felt that absolute focus turned on her own 'tissues'...

She wondered just how twisted a mind hers had to be to get this hot and bothered, just from watching her lover handling a microscope - not least when they were stuck out here in the middle of a glacier at minus forty-something, knowing most of their team were probably in serious danger of the ever-exciting 'death by unknown pathogen'. It had been bad enough in the quarantine lab with Ayiana, having her hands so close to Janet's and having to fight the need to touch - a fight she'd lost on more than a couple of occasions, she reminded herself with a stab of irritation.

A damn *microscope*, for God's sake. What was so alluring about a microscope?

Other than those hands on the controls, and those eyes on the viewer, and the soft light on that face...

*Stop it, Sam!* She swallowed hard on her raging libido and took another step into the room. "Hi there."

It was implicit in just those quiet words that they were alone: Fraiser didn't even have to look up to know that, but she did anyway - briefly at least. "Hey, Sam."

Carter smiled at the warm greeting and came the rest of the way inside, nudging the door lightly with her foot. "Okay, look; I've got five minutes and I need to ask." She leaned back against the cluttered desk that her lover had somehow appropriated and arched her eyebrows playfully in question. "'Antarctic *Cod*'?"

Still bathed in the muted blue light of the scope, Fraiser sharpened the focus with one hand and fought to hide a smile. "Mm-hmm." She touched her sample tray lightly with a finger and squinted slightly into the viewer. "*Dissostichus Mawsoni*, colloquially known as the giant Antarctic Cod. The glycoprotein is called AFGP - it actually binds to the ice crystals in their bloodstream and stops them from attaching to each other, thus literally keeping the blood from freezing."

"And when exactly did you add fish studies to your repertoire?"

A delicate nudge moved the sample tray another millimeter, and the squint deepened for a moment. "It's called Ichthyology, Sam."

Carter grinned at the matter-of-fact tone, mouthing a silent 'oh' as she wheeled a chair across and dropped into it. "You know, you're just too sexy when you start talking like that."

Fraiser laughed. "I didn't realise fish were such a turn-on for you." There was no reply except a soft chuckle from behind her, light fingers trailing through her hair; she smiled tenderly at the sensation, leaning slowly back into the chair and letting her eyes drift closed for one blissful moment of peace. "Sam..." She hummed quietly and arched her back, shifting slightly as a succession of soft, breathy kisses moving down the length of her neck, agile hands reaching around the chair to slide intimately under her tank top. "Oh, God... Sam, stop that!"

The muffled voice against her neck sounded impish. "Can't resist me?"

She glared. "Tease."

"Prude." Sam grinned back at her and grabbed her chair, wheeling it backwards and turning her around to pull them closer together. "Tell me I'm bothering you."

"When was the last time I told you that?"

Carter chuckled. "Hmmm... good point." She shrugged and took one small hand palm upwards in hers, never letting up on her gaze even as she traced soft licks and kisses over sensitive skin. "Then, tell me not to do this..."

Janet spun her chair the rest of the way and smiled, putting on - or at least attempting - her best doctor-patient tone. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Oh." More kisses followed the line of her wrist, gently marking her pulse point as Sam's free hand eased down the warm fleece of her sleeve. "And your medical reasoning for that would be...?"

She let out a soft gasp of breath, leaning forward and reaching out her other hand to slide up Sam's thigh. "Lack of willpower. Could be a symptom..."

Sam laughed and pulled her off the chair, across the shrinking gap between them and into her lap. "How about we let Doctor Carter take a look?"

Janet rolled her eyes. "*Doctor* Carter should stick to astrophysics," she murmured teasingly as she leaned into the warm embrace, trying to keep them both balanced rather precariously in the chair. Sam just grinned, threading one hand gently in her hair before capturing her mouth with a passionate kiss.

"Mmm... but playing with you is so much more fun..."

"More fun than naquadah reactors?" Janet leaned in for another soft, languid kiss and tilted her head in a dreadfully bad imitation of Teal'c's most intense 'Jaffa look'. "I am indeed honored, Doctor Carter."

Sam smiled and cupped one palm tenderly against her cheek. "More than naquadah reactors. More than Stargates." Her eyes lit with amusement, fingers tracing lightly over soft, reddened lips. "More than Antarctic cod, even."

Janet pressed a quick kiss to one exploring fingertip and chuckled under her breath, nestling close under Carter's open jacket. "You are really too far gone on those fish, Sam. I don't think it's healthy."

"But... *cod*, Janet." The look on her face was sceptical. "Don't we eat those?"

Janet gave her an arch look. "Are you asking me to dinner?"

Carter narrowed her eyes and then suddenly laughed. "Oooh, you're good."

"I've heard that said." She eased an exploring hand under another layer of clothing and flashed a wicked smile. "Actually it's usually more of a *moan*..."

Carter sucked in a quiet breath, her eyes sliding shut as those knowing fingers teased over her skin. "God... Janet..." A hand glided lightly over her breast, and she willingly released a soft moan of pleasure. "You should really stop that..."

Fraiser blinked innocently. "Want to talk about fish some more?"

One hand trapped hers tightly against a pounding heartbeat, the other sliding further down her back to press them closer together. "Unless fish can do *that*, they don't have a chance."

"I said evolution was amazing. I didn't say it could work miracles to order."

Sam smiled and brushed back her hair with gentle fingers. "It did pretty damn incredible with you."

She smiled back, tenderly indulgent. "Sam-"

"We could die down here, Janet."

"And we could get back home just *fine*." She leaned into the strong arms surrounding her, hands moving up to cup her lover's face, brushing a thumb gently across her lips. "Either way there is no one I would rather die with, and no one I would rather have around to help me get out of this than you. Okay?" Feeling Sam hesitate she gently tightened her grasp, concern in her eyes. "Sam?"

"Yeah." Carter smiled, a little tiredly, and kissed her gently in apology. "Sorry. I guess this virus just has me more run down than I thought."

The door swung open then before either of them could move. "Hey, Doctor Fraiser, are you..." Lost in thought, the intruder didn't notice their reasonably unprofessional positions until he was too far inside for escape, his mouth dropping open in surprise when he did finally look up. "Oh. Oh - hey, I'm sorry-"

Fraiser quickly laid a finger on Sam's lips to shush her, carefully schooling her own expression to hide her own alarm before turning to look up at him - and just praying he wasn't going to act dumb and ask too many questions. "Jonas?"

He stared at her, fumbling over his words, obviously more than a little confused. "Um... Doctor Fraiser?"

She smiled politely, making no indication at all that she found her current position unusual. "It's 'Janet', Jonas. Did you need something?"

He continued to stare, and Janet couldn't help but notice that with his mouth moving like that he did a passing impression of a human-sized, Jonas-shaped fish - albeit one silently drowning out of water.

"Jonas?" Carter prodded gently.

His wide eyes fixed on her face as if he'd not even noticed her there. "Sam?"

She lifted an eyebrow. "You came in here for a reason?"

"I, uh... no... I just - wondered-" As that wide-eyed look flicked back and forth, the inevitable stutter started to seep into his voice. "Never mind. You know what? I'll just - I'll come back later. It's not, um - it's not a..." The door rattled loudly as he backed into it at considerable speed. "I'll come back. Later. You'll be finished then, right?" His voice shot up in panic before either of them could even think of answering, suddenly realising what he'd said. "With the sample! The tissue. I-I mean the blood-" The door handle creaked, sounding rather alarmed at the force of his grip. "I'm just gonna... I'm gonna go. Out there." He stumbled backwards out of the room. "I'll just go... talk to Ayiana..."

"Jonas!" Turning oneself around on an office swivel chair while already sitting on someone else was considerably more difficult than it might seem, Fraiser realised as she attempted the feat. Suddenly in severe danger of hitting the floor if Sam let up her hold, she gave up and glared accusingly at her lover. "I thought you were going to tell him?"

Carter winced at her tone and squirmed guiltily. "I was... I just wasn't sure how he'd take it, and well... something just... came up."

Janet looked at her incredulously. "'Came up'?! How long has he been on your team now?"

"Well, okay..." Carter looked down and sighed, finally admitting uncomfortably; "Jack offered."

"Jack? You left it to *Jack* to tell him?" She didn't know whether to be angry or just fall into hysterics. "Oh, the poor man."

"I think he's old enough to have the conversation, Janet."

She swatted at a well-insulated arm and scowled playfully. "I was talking about Jonas." Then she looked at Sam in confusion. "But how on earth did Jack-"

"I was tied up getting us all cleared to come down here. He asked what he could do to help, and I said-"

Her eyes danced with mirth. "'Tell Jonas I'm bringing my lover along'?"

"It went something like that," Carter admitted. "There was more stammering, and maybe a little more fast talking on my part..." the words trailed off under that look of amusement. "Yeah, that was pretty much it." She dropped her head back onto the chair, exasperated. "He said he'd make time."

"I think it's probably safe to say that he hasn't."

Carter grimaced. "Yeah. I guess I should go..." She made a reluctant face and waved one hand toward the door. "'Talk' to him. At least apologise."

Janet nodded tiredly and offered her a bemused smile as she backed up, slipping her feet carefully to the floor. "Tell him we'll take him out to dinner when we get back to Colorado. That little sushi restaurant close to your place."

"Very funny."

Only a grin answered her. "Hey, ask him if he likes cod."

Shaking her head, Carter stood up and laid a gentle hand to Janet's forehead, trying to pretend she didn't know the skin was already too warm under her touch. "Anyone ever tell you you're hilarious when you're ill?"

Janet smiled tenderly up at her. "Part of my highly trained medical charm," she teased back with a quiet laugh in her voice. It went unspoken that she could feel the fever coming on in both of them just as easily, probably even more, and that she knew in even clearer detail what it could mean. "Sam?"

Carter stopped a few steps from the door, turning back at the sound of her name; that smile was still there, but those soft brown eyes she knew so well were quietly serious. "I love you. In case we don't get another chance alone..."

"Yeah." She smiled tenderly and held out one hand; the smile broadened as Janet scooted her chair along and closed smaller, softer fingers around hers to hold on tight. "I love you too. Hey," she squeezed gently on Janet's hand to reassure her, not needing to mention that the warm contact helped calm her own mind as well. "We'll be okay. We always get out of these things, right?"

The look that got her was uncertain, but not for the most immediate reason. "And if Jonas freaks out on us?"

She shrugged and cocked an eyebrow mischievously. "Plenty of cod out in that ocean who'd appreciate a nice meal."

[END 1/1]