Disclaimer: I have no claim whatsoever to these characters.

Note: This is a sequel to my story 'Chiefly'. It contains spoilers for the Stargate Atlantis season three episode "Sunday."

Sunday at the Camp

by Helen W.

Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007

East of Cascade, WA

I. Mid-evening, Jenna

For a space show, Stargate Atlantis was pretty good. It was almost always exciting, plus Rodney was funny, Teyla was strong and smart, John was goofy, and the big hairy guy was - well, Jenna really wasn't sure what Ronon was, except big and hairy and maybe a little bit scary. And Elizabeth might be the best person on TV. She wasn't as good as any of the rest of them at any one thing, maybe, but she tied everything together. And they all listened to her.

It was pretty neat that Jonathan had been able to bring a copy of a brand new episode of Atlantis back from their big house in Vancouver, one that wouldn't be shown in the United States until it was almost summertime. It was also nice that Dr. Blair had specifically asked her parents to let her watch the show with them tonight. Jonathan hadn't been annoyed at all, so maybe he'd missed her this past week, at least a little. She'd missed him and Mommy a lot.

This episode started pretty scary, with a big explosion that really hurt Teyla, and Jenna crawled into Jonathan's lap up on the sofa (and spilled her brother's friend's popcorn a little bit, but Jason shouldn't have had it where he'd put it) before she even knew what she was doing. After a second or two, though, she felt embarrassed and slipped back down to the floor. After all, this was just TV. Nobody was really hurt, not the actors and not the characters they were playing. She'd just gotten a little anxious because she smelled fear when Teyla got hurt, but that wasn't Teyla making that smell of course, that was the people she was watching the show with. Jason, mostly. He was such a wimp. You'd think that he'd have learned to control how he smelled by now.

Jason was looking at her, she could tell; was he sensing her fear, or her opinion of him? She shot a quick look toward Officer Jim, the only person besides Jason whose nose seemed to be as good as hers, but he'd fallen asleep in the chair Dr. Blair always made them save for him. So he wouldn't yell at her or anything. Quick so that Dr. Blair and her brother wouldn't notice, she turned and stuck her tongue out at Jason, then went back to concentrating on the show.

Atlantis went on in an unusual sort of way. Things kept restarting, telling different stories about all the main characters, which was kind of neat though pretty confusing too. There was creepy man who reminded her of the stupid guy in "Die Hard" who was being pushy with Elizabeth, and even kissed her, and Elizabeth got all flustered, probably because she knew she really should only kiss John or Rodney.

The funniest part of the episode was when the big hairy guy and John hit each other with sticks while hopping on one foot. And - Rodney had a girlfriend! And nobody wanted to go fishing with the doctor, Carson, except for that woman who acted just like Dorrie in Finding Nemo, who might have said yes, but Carson didn't ask her.

And then - NO! The doctor couldn't be dead! He wasn't someone she really paid much attention to, but he was a regular character, and regular characters didn't die! That was the best thing about TV!

And Rodney was so sad... And there was sadness in the room, too, and not just Jason. But - that was Carson, talking to Rodney! Was that really him? Or just a ghost? Or was Rodney imagining him?

Carson was looking something between sad and annoyed and make-do-y about things, while Rodney kept on looking sadder and sadder while he told Carson about meeting Carson's family and about how maybe he and Carson would meet again somewhere.

Then Rodney looked really sad and said, "You were the closest thing to a best friend I ever had. I'm really, really sorry. I should have just..." and Carson cut him off and said, "Hey, this isn't your fault," (which was right, as far as Jenna was concerned) and Rodney said, "You're just telling me what I want to hear," and Carson said, "Well, that's what best friends do sometimes. And in this case it also happens to be true. Take care of yourself, Rodney," and Rodney said, "Goodbye, Carson."

So Carson really was dead. Poor Rodney, and poor Elizabeth and Teyla too, who were also his friends.

It was all very, very sad, but not crying-sad, except that everyone in the cabin was also radiating sorrow, and that was making it hard to keep her chin from shaking. The other best thing about TV was that, when bad things happened, they didn't come close to feeling real, but everyone was breaking this with their smells! Jenna sniffed and wiped the sleeve of her hoodie across her eyes. Everyone was looking at her now, including Officer Jim. No - not at her, at her brother in the chair behind her, who was staring at Jason.

"That - that doesn't make any sense," said Jason. "John is Rodney's best friend. Isn't he?"

II. Several hours earlier, Blair

Jim had said that he'd have the kids back by 3:30, 4:00 at the latest. It was now past 4:30; only around 20 minutes until sunset. Was it time to call Bob Burnham down at the Sheriff's office? 'Hey, Bob, the brand-new Cascade chief of police is lost in the woods.'

If it had just been Angie out with the kids, Blair'd've called already. But Jim knew what he was doing in the woods, and Angie was pretty competent too, though not very experienced. The purple trail was well marked, and both would know how to do something to draw attention if they needed help and were out of cell range.

But Jim was never late like this.

A car passed his cabin, its wheels scrunching gravel out of its path. Good; a chunk of the staff had taken advantage of Jim being at the camp this weekend to take some personal time, including both his partners, Mark and Jane, and Yun, who supervised the teen boys' cabin. Maybe this was one of them coming back a little early.

Blair walked to the front door and peered out; nope, it was Marie Coleman and her son, Jonathan, pulling into the parking area. Jenna, Marie's seven-year-old daughter, dashed past, trailed by her father, John. Yeah, that's right, Marie Coleman had run Jonathan up to Vancouver for the week so that he could take midterms and do a couple of presentations at the high school they were maintaining his enrollment in. And hadn't Jonathan had an interview at Cascade Academy scheduled for this weekend as well?

Jenna had somehow managed to get herself tangled in her mother's seatbelt, pinning them both in the Corolla's front seat. Jonathan and John were trying to help get them sorted out, as yet unsuccessfully. For someone who beat Blair at chess regularly, John seemed to be having a heck of a time figuring out which bit of small girl went where.

Blair slipped on his jacket and came out of his cabin and across the winter-brown grass to the parking area. "Need any help?" he called.

"I think we'll be fine," said Marie Coleman, finally emerging with Jenna wrapped around her waist.

John grabbed a couple of suitcases from the trunk and said, "Come on, Jenna, I'll let you pull the big one if you let your mother walk."

Jenna took charge of a bag that she could have fit into without too much scrunching, wheeling it back and forth through the gravel like she wanted to see what it would take to knock off one of its wheels. Why weren't her parents saying something? Child-rearing was still a mystery to Blair, despite enabling a community that included a half-dozen families with young children.

Jonathan, seemingly content to leave the emptying of the car to the rest of his family, came over to Blair. "Jenna get in your hair much while I was gone?" he asked.

"We all managed okay without you," said Blair. "Barely."

Jonathan laughed, but looked a little self-conscious. "Well, you need the practice," he said. "Looks like I'll be going to Cascade Academy next fall."

"Really? Interview went well, I take it?"

"They said they were already almost certain they'd admit him," Marie, who was collecting debris from the rear floor, called. "We've been afraid they'd look at our equity - the house in Vancouver - and Jon'd be ineligible for financial aid. But they said that, given our current income and why we're here, they'd cut us a break there. And my parents have volunteered to pay some. And, we can go into debt a little for something this important..."

"I don't see why Jonathan can't go to high school in town with the other big kids," said Jenna. "Or do school here at the camp, like us little kids and Jason Wagner. Or just keep on going up to Vancouver for tests."

"Because the math curriculum at Bear Mountain High is a joke," said her father. "And he'd benefit from the socialization of a place like Cascade Academy. Hanging out here and doing assignments via email or off the web - that's not what a kid his age should be doing. Plus, you and most of the other kids are here because of your senses. Your brother's just tagging along; it's wrong for us to keep him here if it's not in his best interest. Cascade Academy is close enough for him to come up most weekends, but he'll get a top-notch education."

"Yeah, yeah," said Jenna, finally deciding to start pulling the suitcase in a useful direction.

"Seriously, Jonathan, that's great news," said Blair. "We'll look after Jenna just fine for you."

"Sure, Jenna's doing great here," said Jonathan, who'd started looking around the circle of family cabins and peering down the track toward the dorms and community buildings. "I wish everyone was. Where's the others, anyway?" he asked.

Jenna called over her shoulder, "Officer Jim and Miss Angie took a lot of the big kids hiking. Dr. Blair was worried about them because they should be back by now but you and Mom coming home distracted him. Now he's worried again, thanks to you, so good going."

"How late are they?" John asked, back to get the remaining luggage out of the car. "Should we do something? Have you called anyone?"

Blair shook his head. "Jim didn't answer his cell, but that's not a surprise, given the coverage up here. They should have been back over an hour ago, but it's barely freezing, and there's not much snow on the ground. They're fine, I'm sure. If they go another half-hour, though, I'll call it in."

"I hope they get back soon," said Jonathan. "I recorded a new episode of Stargate Atlantis up in Vancouver and thought I'd invite the other kids over to our cabin tonight to watch it."

"I'm not sure your mother and I are up to having a bunch of extra kids around tonight," said John.

"How about you watch the show in my cabin," said Blair. "Jenna too. Give your parents a chance to catch up."

Jenna came flying back. "They're coming! They're coming!" she yelled.

A scattering of other camp residents were coming out of their cabins now - the sisters Fae and Fawn Lee and their mother Joy, Blaine Tucker and his parents, and Rosemary and Kylie from down the path. Blair would have been surprised if any of them had been able to hear what he'd been talking about with the Colemans, but even those without enhanced senses had probably heard Jenna.

The group that Jim led out of woods from the head of the purple trail looked tired, but nobody was missing, limping, or obviously bleeding.

With only a nod for Angie and none for the kids, Jim strode away from their charges and into Blair's cabin. "Anything I should..." Blair started to ask Angie, but she shrugged and headed toward the dorms and kids were talking with Jonathan Coleman, so Blair gave up and followed Jim inside.

Jim was in his easy chair with his eyes closed.

"Everything okay?" Blair asked. "What happened?"

"I carried Jason Wagner for about a mile. It was slow going. The kid is heavier than he looks."

"Is he hurt?" Jason had looked fine, but Blair hadn't been focusing on him in particular.

"Deep zone," said Jim. "Angie and I tried every trick in your book to bring him out. Finally we were all getting cold standing around watching him look at a stick and had to get going."

"He zoned on a stick? I wonder why. How long?"

"About 80, 90 minutes," said Jim. "I didn't ask him why. Blair, this is a problem. We've got to work up some better strategies for dealing with him."

"Damn," said Blair. Being here at the camp was supposed to be the answer for the kid. A non-toxic, accepting environment where those with unusually acute senses learned to use them effectively. It was working wonders for Jenna Coleman and Rosemary Garcia and most the others who had had serious issues before coming to the camp, and was clearly beneficial even for those who hadn't had a particularly hard time living in society.

And Jason HAD made progress in the eight months he'd been there. He was no longer disabled by tactile sensations, or loud noises, or strong smells, and it was when he was in the woods that he seemed to make the most progress as far as his tolerances were concerned. He'd also made impressive strides in reading and math, and was using his new skills to begin to learn the stuff 15-year-olds were supposed to know.

But he was far, far from being able to function even in a school setting. And the zones - the symptom that had initially brought him to Blair's attention - had been getting longer and more intense. At his last meeting with the boy's parents, at Blair's practice in Cascade, the Wagners had been vocal about their unhappiness that their son hadn't been cured of his 'episodes', and threatened to move him elsewhere. And if Blair could think of any place that wouldn't kill the kid, he'd drive him there himself.

"Any new ideas?" he asked.

Jim shook his head, his eyes still closed. "Okay if I crash here one more night?"

"No way I'd let you drive back, beat as you look," Blair replied. "But I told Jonathan Coleman that he could bring over an episode of Stargate Atlantis he recorded up in Vancouver, and invite the other kids. You up to that, or should I tell him to come over tomorrow instead? I wanted to give John and Marie a chance to be alone."

"You're an incurable romantic, Sandburg," Jim said. "Sure, have the kids over. I'll just sleep through everything but the Teyla parts anyway."

III. A short while before, Jonathan Coleman

Jonathan ran over to the group of teens as they emerged from the trees onto the patch of trampled brown grass next to the parking area. Everyone looked tired and rather POed, but he figured he'd better get his invitation out first while everyone was together, then ask what had happened.

"Hey, y'all, I brought a new Atlantis episode back from Canada. Martin Gero has the writing credit. It's gotten some pretty good buzz on the web. Wanna watch it tonight? Dr. Blair's letting me see it on the flat screen at his place."

Lenny Ki scowled; well, actually, everyone but Jase was scowling; Jase just looked down and depressed. But it was Lenny who spoke. "Can't," he said. "I've got too friggin' much homework. Thought we'd be back an hour and a half ago and I'd be halfway done by now."

Bea and Tony nodded. "Froze our asses off out there," said Bea. "I just want to have some tea and get the reading done for Mrs. Tamaguchi's class."

"I don't want to see any of the new episodes until I can see them in order," said Clarice. "Thanks, though."

"What about you, Jase?"

Jase just shook his head and started toward the dorms and mess hall. Jonathan started to follow him but Bea caught his arm. "Hey, how was Canada, anyway? Pass all your tests?" she asked.

Jonathan nodded. Attending school a couple of hundred miles away part-time had its challenges, but passing midterms wasn't one of them.

At least he wouldn't be commuting to school across an international border next year. He'd been looking forward to telling everyone about the interview and how eager Cascade Academy seemed to be to admit him. Modestly, of course. But now was not the time to get a good reception for anything.

Anyway, it was increasingly obvious that what had gone down during the hike was more important than him doing a little bragging. "What happened?" he asked Bea.

She gestured toward Jase, who was trudging up the path at half-speed. "Zoned out completely. I think there's something really wrong with him."

"Great," said Jonathan. Did Jase want to be alone now? Well, only one way to find out. He jogged up to the other boy.

"Hold up," he whispered.

Jase stopped and nodded, but barely. Jonathan steered them onto the side path that led back toward the family cabins, to put some space between them and the other kids, and asked softly, "What happened, and how bad?"

"Bad," said the other boy.

Jonathan looked around; there was very little private space at the camp. Jase lived in the boy's dorm, but Tony and Lenny would be there. Jonathan could usually get some space in his family's cabin, but Jenna would be bouncing off the walls with Mom just now home. Officer Jim had stormed into Dr. Blair's place, which meant that anything near that cabin was probably out. And Jase just looked too cold to hang out outside.

Well, maybe Mom hadn't locked the car.

"Come on," he said, and Jase followed and got in the passenger side while he got behind the steering wheel. "Another six months, I'll be able to actually drive this thing and run down to Hailey's for burgers."

"Have fun," said Jase. "I won't be here."

"Why not?"

"I completely screwed up today - zoned out on nothing for, like, over an hour."

"Wow..." but Jase had put his hand up, listening to something Jonathan couldn't hear.

After a moment, he leaned forward and ground the heels of his palms against his eyebrows. "Officer Jim just said they have to do something about me," he said. "Then they changed the subject. They know I can hear them. I hate this place!" - then, in a panic, "No I don't!"

"They won't kick you out."

"They might. If my parents don't pull me first."

"You're almost sixteen; you have some rights, don't you? You can't be here if Dr. Blair doesn't want you, but your parents just can't swoop in and move you, can they?"

"I don't know," said the other boy. "I don't want to make anybody mad by asking questions..."

And he probably didn't think he'd be able to understand the answers if he did. This just sucked.

"I haven't seen you zone in months," said Jonathan. "Maybe if I did, I'd have some clue how to bring you out."

"I zone around you," said Jase. "Well, little zones. They don't last real long, so I guess you just don't notice."

"Yeah, I'm a doofus when it comes to other people," said Jonathan, punching the other boy lightly - VERY lightly. "Okay, so zones are a problem still. But what about everything else? You know, you're just - you're nothing like you were when you came here. So if we can show them you're still making progress, you know, across the board... What got you out of the zone today?"

"I fell asleep, I think. Hyperfocus is exhausting."

"Did you keel over?"

"Officer Jim had me slung over his shoulder."

"Shit."

"He thought I was a loser before this..."

"Nobody thinks..."

"Yeah, right." He sighed and ran a hand through his short-cropped brown hair. "So, how'd the big interview go?"

"Uhm - great. I'm in. Everything's falling into place."

"That's - that's great," said Jase, getting out of the car.

Shit. Jonathan jumped out after him and called, "Hey, I brought back an episode of Atlantis from home. Recorded it off of The Movie Network. We're going to watch it at 7. Be there!"

IV. Several hours before, Jason Wagner

Jason awoke upside down, a little sick, and cold. And, an instant later, deeply embarrassed.

Officer Jim swung him down into some leaves. "You back with us, kid?"

Jason nodded.

"Drink something," Officer Jim told him, so, with fingers that felt like they were each three inches thick, he reached for his knapsack.

It was gone! But before he could panic, Ms. Angie asked, "This what you're looking for?" and handed him the leather bag Dr. Blair had given him for Christmas.

It took forever for him to get the clasp open and the water bottle out, then another chunk of forever for him to get the bottle uncapped, the whole while not daring to look up. Should he thank Officer Jim? Try to explain that he had no idea what had happened - that he'd just been looking at the crevices in this stick and seeing how far down he could see structure, then tried to rebuild the picture in his mind... just for a minute or two, just like Dr. Mark had taught him... but from how his body felt, and how low the sun was, it had to have been much longer.

He could feel the heat of Ms. Angie, hovering over him, smell her shampoo... she thought he was hopeless. He couldn't read anything off of Officer Jim at all, a few feet further away, and that was worse.

And the other kids... He looked up and saw Clarice staring at him. She smiled, quick and full of pity. Bea was shivering and Lenny had slipped an arm around her; Bea wasn't really that cold, but she and Lenny had something going on, and plus Bea did drama well.

Neither Bea or Lenny nor anyone else would look at him. 'They're all okay people,' Jonathan Coleman had said more than once. 'A little low on social skills, the lot of them, but they'll cut you a break.' And, yeah, he saw them cutting each other breaks, but they were all getting better and better at controlling their senses, and learning to use them and not battle them. But not him.

The walk back was awful. Officer Jim radiated pain and exhaustion and Jason knew that that was his fault. He tuned his hearing all the way down - practically to off (something Dr. Mark had spent all fall teaching him) - and couldn't hear what the other kids were whispering, but Ms. Angie kept on telling them, more and more crossly, to "Be nice" and the like, so he figured they were talking about him, not even caring that he was there. Finally Officer Jim told them to shut up and they did, and that was worst of all.

After hearing Jonathan's "good news," the only thing he felt like doing was sleeping, so he slipped into the boys' dorm cabin through the back door and into his bunk, yanked the curtain closed and set the white noise generator to 'hi.' Sleep came pretty quickly - like he'd told Jon, hyperfocus was exhausting.

At around 6, he woke up enough to hear Dr. Mark whispering, "Jason? Would you like to go for a walk?" Like hell.

A few minutes later, he became aware of Jonathan in the cabin, talking softly with Lenny. Oh, okay, just math homework, Jonathan calmly explaining things to the other guy, even though he was a year behind Lenny in school. It all sounded like gibberish to him. They were laughing and sometimes their voices would drop really low and they'd whisper something about Bea, but with the white noise generator Jason couldn't make out what they were saying, and turning it off would tip off Lenny, at least, that he was awake.

After listening to Jonathan, Lenny, and now Chuck laugh about something for about three minutes straight, though, he couldn't take it any more and switched the generator off. "Hey, Jase's awake now," said Lenny, and a moment later Jonathan was pulling the curtain of his bunk back. Jason started to protest but Jonathan was handing him a can of Coke.

"Canadian. Real sugar," said Jon. "Good, AND good for you. Or not as bad. Ready for Atlantis?"

It wasn't until they walked right past the Colemans' and all the way to Dr. Blair's cabin that Jason realized he'd be spending the evening with Dr. Blair and Officer Jim.

V. Jim

For a sci fi show, Stargate Atlantis was pretty boring. He'd lived through disco, so the main villains did nothing for him, and most of the plots were driven by the stupidity or arrogance of the characters, which Jim found hard to take. Blair said it could be seen as an allegory for U.S. foreign policy; but trying to make the correlations made Jim's head hurt. Plus it inspired Angie Lonergan and Marie Coleman to write and swap gay porn back and forth about Ronon Dex and Dr. Beckett. Some day he was going to have to explain this to Blair, he just knew it, and that was just about going to kill him.

But Teyla was hot.

This particular episode was way too involved for Jim, given the day he'd had. Things kept exploding, or was that the same explosion over and over? And was that guy who was after Elizabeth the same one as in Die Hard - the coke addict? Nah, that actor had to be 50 by now. But the mannerisms were the same. Elizabeth should get Ronon to break his neck, or feed him to the Wraith or something.

The kids - somehow, they'd ended up with just the Colemans and Jason Wagner - and Blair seemed into the show, though, so Jim left them to it and dozed...

He was almost out of his chair before he realized he was awake. The room stank of danger. Well, of fear... oh, shit, it was the kids and that blasted show. Rodney was standing out on what looked to be a cross between an aircraft hanger and an old White Cloud commercial, talking to Dr. Beckett. Who, Jim gathered, had managed to get himself killed during the prior twenty minutes or so. Which meant that Angie and Marie were going to be crushed... Not to mention their version of Ronon Dex...

Jim mentally chided himself; criticizing other adults' porn was just about as rude as criticizing their breakfast choices, and besides it seemed they had a crying seven-year-old girl to contend with here. But... no, Jenna was sad, but it was Jason Wagner who was reeking. Had he been that into the doctor?

"That - that doesn't make any sense," said the boy. "John is Rodney's best friend. Isn't he?"

What the... oh, yeah, Rodney had just told 'Carson' that he was the closest thing to a best friend he'd ever had, or something like that. Way to get Dex jealous, Jim supposed. Man, Angie was going to hate this episode (if she hadn't somehow managed to see it already).

"Well, maybe he and Sheppard aren't really that close. We see them together a lot, but maybe that's because they're both command staff, and they're on the same gate team," said Blair.

That was the wrong answer, Jim could tell.

Jonathan's eyes were fixed on the other boy. "Carson and Rodney go back a long way. Long for Rodney, at least. Remember, they were friends in Antarctica before John even showed up."

"But..."

"Not all friendships are the same," said Jonathan. "I think what we see here is that Carson matches Rodney's personal definition of a 'best friend.' That doesn't mean he's not also friends with John. Probably even closer. But, really, I don't think it's a competition."

Blair said, "Jenna, who do you think I'd say was my best friend?"

"Officer Jim!" she said.

"Bright girl!" said Blair. "But who do I play chess with more?"

"My daddy."

"Right. I'm friends with your parents, and with Dr. Mark and even you."

"Do you wish Officer Jim lived up here?"

"Yes, sometimes," Blair answered.

"But he lives in Cascade. That's where my brother is going to live next year."

"You're going to miss your brother," said Blair.

Jenna nodded. "But maybe I'll get well enough to go live in Cascade too."

"Doofus, then we'll all move back to Vancouver," said her brother.

Jason's odor had started to brighten, but was souring again. "So, really, this is it," he said. "Next September, you're gone and it will never..."

Huh?

"I don't zone when he's around!" he almost shouted at Blair. "Not my big, long zones. And if he's not around here, how will I ever learn what it is about him, what it is that lets me focus without losing it?"

"So that's it," said Jonathan, one corner of his mouth smirking up. "And here I thought you liked me because I keep you caffeinated."

"Well, that too," said Jason.

"This is..." Blair stopped and thought for a moment. "Jason - both of you - why didn't you say anything about this before?"

Jonathan shrugged and Jason said, "I didn't know he was leaving."

"Will this be enough to keep him here?" asked Jonathan. "Enough for his parents?"

Blair nodded. "It's an avenue we can explore, at least."

"I can talk to them, if that would help," said Jonathan, then he laughed a little. "Maybe me and Officer Jim together."

"I don't think it will come to that," said Blair.

And Jason Wagner sank back a little into the couch.

Well done kids, Jim thought.

* * * THE END * * *

Note: Much of what the characters think above about the SGA episode they watch, "Sunday," was stolen from LJ discussions. In particular, the similarity of Elizabeth's date to Harry Ellis in 'Die Hard' was noticed by - someone - as well as the similarity of Dr. Biro to Dorrie in 'Finding Nemo,' and I got the idea that Rodney's final conversation with Carson says more about how Rodney defines 'best friend' than about his relationships with Carson (or anyone else) from Friendshipper.

Thanks go to Starwatcher307 and Snycock for catching some language and grammatical errors.

All feedback welcomed, here or at helenw at murphnet dot org.