Title - An alien lives across the hall

Rating - G

Characters - Cameron Mitchell, Vala Mal Doran, Team SG1

Summary - Whenever Cameron gets stuck on base because of an injury, there is always one person present to nurse him through it.

A/N - Inspired by a prompt from dizzydame

'I have a serious craving for Cam whump, with Vala taking care of him... ship is great but even gen. I just love reading my two favorite characters interacting.'

written for the 'Lets blow something up' Challenge at stargateland on Livejournal

So, getting injured whilst off world was becoming part and parcel of the job and for the most part Cameron Mitchell didn't complain about it. He understood that if his mission now was to encounter aliens on planets half way across the universe, odds were he was going to get his ass kicked once in a while, even if you had the finest team backing you up.

But getting stuck in the infirmary was getting to be a drag and though Daniel and Sam had both assured them that compared to Janet Fraser, Carolyn Lam was a pussycat, she was a stickler for making sure he stayed in vicinity 24/7 every time he ended up with a head injury. A bullet riddled shoulder - or yes, when he got speared in the ass with a javelin type stick used by those crazy cavemen residents of P4F 732.

Surprisingly his reprieve from going completely insane with 'cabin fever,' due to being stuck in the SGC on his downtime came in the form of Vala Mal Doran. A person he'd once been rather sceptical about; not that he now trusted her, she still had a long way to go in gaining enough of his trust to think she wasn't somehow going to turn on him, but she was slowly breaking down his barriers the same way she was working on Daniel's and Cameron had to admit, she had a strange but like-able bedside manner.

Turns out his quarters whilst being forced to stay on base by Carolyn Von Stickler, were located opposite Vala's. This had filled him with some kind of dread but he didn't want to say anything, because the General would just look at him in that deadpan, 'son grow a pair' kind of way and ignore his request anyway. Sam would laugh at him; Teal'c would do one of those eyebrow raises, like he was amazed the human race had managed to evolve with such strange nuances as being bothered about where your bed was located. Daniel had at least understood, he hadn't even waited for Cameron to complain, just put a hand on his shoulder when he helped deliver him to his room and gave it a comforting squeeze like he knew exactly where Cameron's head was at.

Vala just smiled - that wide, open, toothy smile which okay, Cameron had to admit was one of the nicest, sweetest smiles he'd ever seen and he didn't care if it showed in his face. Vala had this uncanny knack for brightening up a room with her overwhelming gumption for enjoying life and he needed the cheering up. So when it became more often than not that he was getting an ass whooping off world, he could at least rely on the alien woman across the hall to cheer him up.

Turns out, when you get javelined in the ass - all those jovial laughter sessions after they heard about Rodney McKay getting arrowed in the gluteus maximus aren't as funny as they used to be. Especially when it turns just a little bit infected which postpones the healing process and you really, really can't get comfortable on your stomach to sleep for the millionth time.

But when Vala comes into your room and doesn't make fun, just pets you and coddles and treats you like some sick puppy who just needs some tender care and attention, it doesn't bother you so much anymore. So Cameron ignores the ignominy of having his butt packed with layers of antiseptic bandages and the fact that it makes going to the bathroom a nightmare, sitting a joke and being the laughing stock of the SGC because Vala looking after him takes the edge off.

Even Teal'c comes to his room when he's stuck on base, pretending to be somehow fulfilling the earth tradition of giving ones company and Cameron knows really, it's just because he enjoys being in the presence of Vala as much as Cameron does. Vala seems to enjoy playing 'housewife' - gets him food, fluffs his pillows, mops his brow all the while making conversation with Teal'c that always makes Cameron smile a little wider because two aliens talking about earth customs is really rather hilarious.

There was a particularly bad moment when Cameron is shot in the shoulder, sprains an ankle, gets a concussion and goes through a hazy - ah hell terrifying - few hours of thinking he's slowly going blind. All because Jackson got some translations mixed up and well the guy may be the best linguist in the entire galaxy and lived in cloud cuckoo land - literally - for months of his life, but he isn't going to get it right every time. So he can be forgiven for getting the natives all riled up - that is until he escapes with just a few scratches and everything intact and Cameron wonders if he's ever going to see again, if his arm is going to drop off and really, why are there pink elephants flying about his head?

Carolyn makes him suffer a week in the infirmary and Cameron is pissed just because of that, even though his head doesn't hurt quite so much any more and his sight comes back within a day. The sprain isn't all that bad and his shoulder is tied up in a sling. He doesn't even listen properly to the medical explanation she gives him as to why he was losing his sight - he's just thankful he can see. Then she insists he stay on base because she doesn't trust him to follow her strict instructions at home and he's reluctantly wheeled by a rather smug Sam (how come she never gets stuck on base when she gets hurt off world) to his room.

Only he can't stay that pissed because Vala has attacked the room with some kind of vigor, flowers, pictures and photographs line the walls and varied surfaces. His favourite books are on the desk, a TV complete with DVDs and already tuned into the sports channel. The bed looks ridiculous with all the blankets and throws and cushions, so Cameron just sinks into it with a sigh because 'HELLO comfort'. With a bag of macaroons, a kiss on the forehead and a promise to visit later, Sam leaves him to his fate which is being nursed and petted by Vala.

She makes sure he's comfortable, mops his brow, watches him tenderly, makes sure the right channel is on. Content that he's perfectly fine for the moment she lies out next to him on the bed and gets him to once more explain to her the rules of football and he tries to,only she keeps getting caught up with the cute factor of some of the players, something Cameron just can't get on board with but he lets her letch at the screen anyway because it's the least he can do.

When Teal'c arrives Vala dives off the bed and pulls 'Muscles' in with a flourish, pouring the popcorn and chips he's come armed with into large bowls and suddenly the bed is very full of a somewhat broken, whumped Airforce colonel and two aliens. Cameron ends up falling asleep with his head on Vala's shoulder halfway through the game and when he wakes she's still there, Teal'c having left hours ago to kelnoreem. Vala's hair tickles his cheek but he doesn't mind and she's breathing softly like she's asleep herself, merits of the game and it's players forgotten.

Cameron pries the remote from her fingers, turns off the TV and settles back down into the comfort of lying close to a person he's slowly letting break down his defences. Vala stirs only for a second before turning closer towards him, like the feeling is mutual. She has as many barriers to be broken through and trust issues go both ways. Cameron knows she's vulnerable, hiding behind the persona of being okay with life and the universe and how she's been treated in it. Her taking care of him every time he's gone through a whoopin' is her way of saying 'I am capable of being something other than a monster I once was forced to be', or simply 'this is the real me'.

She seems to mope when any injury that doesn't provoke Carolyn to enforce base seclusion on him, like she was hoping for the company. But Cameron makes up for it by making sure he invites her every time he goes to the commissary for a bite to eat, or wants to shoot some hoops. He even takes her to a few football games on the weekend, along with Teal'c who never seems overly impressed. But it's Cameron's way of saying thanks and 'I accept you' and Vala seems to get it.

She's still a loose cannon and things off world always seems to go a little haywire if they let her get away with too much crap. But Cameron knows she's testing her new found place in the universe and he allows for mistakes because hell they are none of them perfect and he keeps getting shot at by alien threats and she keeps turning up at his bedside to nurse him through it.

It's all part and parcel of who they are and he wouldn't have it any other way.

~fin~