"General, I think there's a mistake on the mission schedule."
General Landry looked up from his paperwork at the interruption. "Colonel Mitchell, vigilant as always." He waved Cameron into the office. "What's the problem?"
Cameron held up the printed sheet. "It says here that Colonel Sheppard is standing in for Carter for our mission to PY7-592 at 1300 hours tomorrow."
Landry leaned on his elbows on the table. "And?"
Cameron paused. "Colonel Sheppard. Of the Atlantis mission."
"I am aware of who Colonel Sheppard is, Mitchell." Landry said as he raised his eyebrows.
Cameron glanced sideways. "So, shouldn't he be in another galaxy, sir?"
Landry leaned back in his chair. "He's on a temporary reassignment." He explained. "He requested time on the home-world and he was granted it. Is there a problem, Colonel?"
"No, no problem." Cameron shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "But, shouldn't there have been a memo or something?"
"Minor reassignments don't get memos." Landry replied simply then added: "In my experience, by the time people have read them, the personnel have already moved on."
"Right..." Cameron hesitated, partly because he knew how true that was. "So, is he on base?" He tried to ask casually.
Landry frowned in thought. "I saw him in the mess hall a while ago, he could still be there." Cameron turned to leave. "I didn't know you knew Colonel Sheppard." He added, stopping Cameron.
"Uh, yes, sir." Cameron coughed to mask a small flush. "We had a posting together before I joined the 302 program. We kept in touch."
Landry nodded, satisfied, and waved Cameron out of the office before returning to his paperwork.
...
"You could have told me you were coming back to Earth." Cameron sat heavily in the chair opposite John Sheppard at a table in the mess hall. John looked up from his meal (mashed potatoes and mystery meat, again) and gave him a lopsided smirk.
"I could have. But then it wouldn't have been a surprise,"
"A surprise? Hell yeah it's a surprise." Cameron's heart was beating a little faster than usual and, not for the first time, wondered how John could look so laid back and in control. "A little warning would have been nice. An email or something."
John narrowed his eyes. "Do you know the definition of 'surprise'?"
"Yes, and you didn't do a very good job of it if I had to come and find you."
"But you were surprised." He pointed out, leaning forward a fraction.
Cameron paused. "Well, yes."
"Then it worked." John leant back into his chair with a smug look on his face.
Cameron shook his head slowly. "I hate you sometimes."
John laughed. "But you love me the rest of the time."
"I wouldn't go that far." Cameron countered with a smile, making John pout in mock hurt. He glanced at his watch. "I'm off at 1800. Wanna get out of here?"
"Sure." John replied with a small shrug and a smile.
...
"Where are we going?" John asked when he noticed they weren't heading towards
Cameron's apartment. "You haven't moved have you?"
"Jeez, John. You haven't been around for years and you still know where I live?" He laughed. "Nah, I'm still at the same place but I'm sharing with Sam. After she came back from Area 51 she didn't get her own place. Then she went to Atlantis and she never got around to finding one when she came home."
"Makes sense I guess." John agreed. "How is she, by the way?"
"She's fine, yeah." Cameron replied. "Still working too hard, though. Some nights I have to literally pry her away from her lab."
John smiled. "Yup, sounds like the same old Sam." He said fondly. "So where are we going?"
"There's a drive-in showing 'Men in Black' at the park." Cameron replied. "I wasn't going to go because I didn't have a date..."
"Bullshit, Cam!" John laughed. "You love that film. I'm sure Sam would have gone with you."
Cameron shook his head. "Sam puts up with a lot of my crap without having to sit through a movie she hates."
John dropped his jaw comically. "What? How can she not like 'Men in Black'?"
Cameron shrugged. "She says it's because she knows what's really going on out there."
"It's just a film." John said and raised an eyebrow.
"That's what I said. Personally, I think it's just to get out of listening to me quoting the whole thing."
"Then why am I being subjected to the punishment?"
Cameron laughed. "One; because I haven't seen you in so long it's embarrassing, and two; you know all the lines too."
"Fair point." He said, nodding. John looked sideways at Cameron. "So, what's Sam doing tonight then?" He asked thoughtfully.
"Uh, she mentioned something about working on something back at base. Again." He rolled his eyes.
"So... the flat's gonna be empty?" John asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Cameron grinned and shook his head slowly.
...
"A neuraliser would be so much less paperwork than non-disclosure agreements," Cameron said on the way back to the house after the film. The lack of alcohol had forced them to drink sugar-filled soda drinks and they'd both eaten their bodyweight in sweets during the movie. The conversation on the drive home so far had most definitely been fuelled by their sugar highs.
John laughed. "Weird shit happens in Pegasus all the time. No paperwork at all."
"Yeah, I might just have to get transferred to Atlantis." Cameron laughed.
"Now that would be interesting." John agreed. "Wonder what Caldwell would think of that."
"Guy's got a whole goddamn spaceship to himself. I wouldn't complain."
John frowned. "I thought you preferred the fighters."
"Yeah." Cameron agreed. "But it's a spaceship! I've wanted to fly a spaceship since I was a kid! It's the ultimate of cool."
They laughed and Cameron pulled up outside the house.
"Here we are."
"You haven't changed it at all." John said as they got out the car.
Cameron shrugged. "There's not really much time for home improvements. And we're not exactly here all that much."
"I guess not." John followed Cameron into the house. They passed through the narrow hallway and into the lounge.
"Got beer?" John asked as he slumped onto the old grey sofa.
"You really have to ask?" Cameron replied with a smile, passing a bottle over before joining John on the sofa.
John laughed. "We did call you 'Bartender' for a reason." He took a long drink from the bottle. "I don't think any of us woulda got through that tour without your stash. You definitely earned that call-sign."
"Yeah." Cameron smiled in memory. "Can't believe the Colonel never picked up on that one."
"You kidding?" John raised his eyebrows and laughed. "They all thought the sun shone out your ass. You coulda got away with anything."
"Yeah, a regular Golden Boy." Cameron sighed. "But we both got away with a lot." He took a drink and hooked an arm over the back of the sofa, looking down at the corner of the rug he was toying with with his toe. He tried not to think about what could have happened to both of them if anyone had ever found out about his and John's late night rendezvous.
John gave him a long look. "We did."
Cameron glanced over. John was watching him, waiting patiently at the other end of the old sofa. John had never been good at talking, and Cameron had never been good at reading his silent communications. He'd never mentioned to John that 'Don't ask, don't tell' didn't mean they weren't supposed to talk to each other about it either. Cameron doubted it would have changed anything.
Cameron cleared his throat. "Still in the business?" He asked, trying a different tactic.
John's face softened a little, working out what game Cameron was playing. "Sales took a nosedive in McMurdo. Small market."
Cameron smiled. "Tell me about it. What about Atlantis?"
John's clenched his jaw. "Conflict of interest."
"Right." Cameron looked away. John was Military Leader on Atlantis with a marked background; of course he was keeping his nose clean in that respect. Cameron opened his mouth to speak when he felt John's hand on top of his on the back of the sofa.
"Willing to come out of retirement, though." John said and gave Cameron a cocky smile.
"You like what I'm selling?" Cameron asked smugly.
John took this as a signal and shifted closer to Cameron. "Limited market." He explained with a smile.
Cameron put a hand on his chest and stuck his bottom lip out. "Ouch. That hurt."
John shook his head with a smile and leaned in. His lips covered Cameron's softly and Cameron made a pleased sound in the back of his throat. Taking this as encouragement, John deepened the kiss and reached a hand up to Cameron's bristly hair.
"Well." Cameron said, smirking when they came up for air. "Someone's missed me."
"Like you wouldn't believe." John breathed back and nipped along Cameron's jaw line, making him hiss out when John reached the sensitive spot on his neck.