Title: Blessed Change
Rating: K+
Summary: Cameron still has doubts that he belongs, but Sam does her best to convince him he's wrong.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own nothing, unless you count a multitude of DVDs, videos, books and an overactive imagination and I made no money from this, which is also unfortunate because I'm very poor at the moment…
NB: This is NOT Cameron/Sam. I prefer Jack/Sam. It's just friendship. Don't read anything into it.
You could kinda see this as a companion piece to my other Stargate fic, Burdens. Or you could not. I'm not entirely sure on the subject myself…
And reviews are much appreciated. Much appreciated. Subtle hint there!
Blessed Change
Cameron Mitchell sniffed hard into the cold air, hunching his shoulders, burying his ears in the collar of his jacket. He stamped his feet, wishing that this 'amazing' asteroid would pass close to a warm planet, preferably one with lots of beaches and scantily clad women. He quickly abandoned that thought, moving it into the 'unattainable fantasy' section of his mind. He slung his P-90 around to rest in the small of his back, and moved slowly over to where Sam Carter was setting up a bulky telescope.
Sam and Cameron were situated at the edge of a small wood, the soil beneath their feet littered with fallen leaves and pine needles. Or at least something that looked like pine needles. It was winter on this planet, and, while there wasn't any snow, it was bitterly cold. The other two members of SG-1, Daniel and Teal'c, were staying in a nearby village to watch the asteroid's passing with the locals, who apparently viewed it as some incredible religious event.
"How much longer?" Cameron asked, trying to refrain from jumping up and down in a vain attempt to get warm.
Sam smiled and didn't look up. "About half an hour until the asteroid passes," she replied, twisting a few wires into place. "It's almost dark now." She glanced up at him, smiling. "You'll enjoy it."
He snorted. "Sure about that?"
She returned her gaze to her equipment, still smiling. "I am."
He wrinkled his nose. "Whatever you say." He sat down heavily on a severed tree trunk, his P-90 slamming down across his knees. There was a second of silence as Sam fiddled with the telescope. Then Cameron sighed, rolling his shoulders to relieve the tension.
Sam glanced up again. "Is something wrong?"
"No," he replied quickly. "I'm… fine."
"Cameron."
"Okay," he said, acquiescing to her unspoken reprimand. "I'm just… thinking. That's all."
"Thinking," Sam stated flatly. "You. Oh no. That's never a good sign."
Cameron rolled his eyes. "Funny."
"I like to think so."
There was another long moment of silence. Sam finally finished with the telescope and moved to one of the silver cases bearing the mark of the SGC. She snapped it open, and Cameron shifted again. "Umm, Sam," he started slowly.
She flipped the laptop open and switched it on, not bothering to remove it from its protective case. "Yeah?"
"Was it ever… hard for you?"
Sam connected a cable to the laptop that led to the telescope. An image flickered on the screen and then settled into focus; a sharp image of the dark sky above them. She glanced up at Cameron. "Was what hard?"
He shifted uncomfortably again. "Integrating yourself into SG-1. Well, integrating yourself with General O'Neill, Daniel and Teal'c."
"I guess," she said, frowning slightly. The frown vanished, to be replaced with a tiny smile as her mind drifted back to the first time she had met the then-Colonel Jack O'Neill.
Sam halted in the doorway to the briefing room, just in time to hear a voice saying, "Where's he transferring from?"
Sam marched into the room briskly. "She is transferring from the Pentagon." She could see the surprise on the Colonel's face. She came to a halt next to the table, opposite the Colonel. "I take it you're Colonel O'Neill." He gave no response, but he didn't have to. She snapped to attention, her hand flying to her forehead in a razor-sharp salute. "Captain Samantha Carter reporting sir."
Major Kawalsky, seated next to the Colonel's seat, drew her attention. "But of course you go by 'Sam'," he commented snidely.
Sam mentally rolled her eyes. Here we go again, she thought. "You don't have to worry Major," she said, immediately retaliating, "I played with dolls when I was a kid."
His face took on a condescending look. "GI Joe?" he asked, his tone patronising.
"Oh, Major Matt Mason," she replied.
"Oh," he said, as if he understood. Then he turned to Feretti, sat next to him. "Who?"
Feretti happily explained to Kawalsky exactly who Major Matt Mason was, but Sam was aware of Colonel O'Neill's gaze on her and the two men under his command, judging her, weighing her up, seeing if she could hold her own.
The conversation was abruptly broken up by General Hammond, and they took their seats. It was going well, until Sam explained to Feretti and Kawalsky exactly why you were frozen stiff when you got to the other side of the 'gate, and the Colonel's demeanour immediately shifted.
"Oh, here we go. Another scientist. General, please."
Sam immediately stiffened. "Theoretical astrophysicist."
"Which means?"
Hammond broke in. "Which means she is smarter than you are Colonel."
That produced a titter from the others seated at the table. Sam then had to explain why she was suited for, and deserving of, this mission.
The General finally told the Colonel that Sam's assignment to the mission wasn't an option for him, and Sam could see the discontent on the Colonel's features.
Sam sighed internally. "I'm an air force officer Colonel, just like you are," she said. "And just because my reproduction organs are on the inside instead of the outside, doesn't mean I can't handle anything you can handle."
Sam could tell only the formality of the occasion kept Kawalsky and Feretti from bursting out into guffaws. A smile slid across the Colonel's features. "Oh, this has nothing to do with you being a woman," he informed her, sliding into his seat. He fiddled with the pen in his hands, smiling at her in a decidedly odd manner. "I like women. I just have a little problem with scientists."
"Helloooooo?"
Sam blinked, to see her companion waving a hand in front of her eyes.
"Mitchell to Carter, come in Carter," Cameron was saying. "Sam, can you hear me?"
She pushed his hand out of her face. "Sorry," she replied. "I was—"
"Thinking," he completed. He raised one eyebrow. "Right?"
She nodded.
"About?" he prompted.
"The first time I met General O'Neill," she replied.
"Was it fun?"
She smiled. "It was… interesting. We didn't exactly get off on the right foot."
He raised one eyebrow, a gesture she noticed he'd managed to pick up off the resident Jaffa. "Really?"
"Really," she replied. "He had a problem with me, not because I'm a woman, but because I'm a scientist, and I sorta made a wrong assumption."
"Ah," he said. "Giving rise to the infamous 'reproductive organs' comment."
She shot him a look. "'Reproductive organs' comment?" she asked. "Infamous?"
He smiled. "Didn't you know?" he asked innocently. "It may have been nine-odd years ago, but that line still makes the rounds."
"Really?"
"Really."
She looked up at him, her eyes serious again, bringing them back to their previous topic of conversation. "I know what's bothering you," she said.
"You do?"
She nodded. "You're worrying about acceptance by me, Daniel and Teal'c." It was a statement, not a question.
He paused, but saw no reason to deny it. "Yeah. I am."
"Why?"
He shifted on his rough seat. "You guys have been working together for years," he said slowly. "And suddenly I'm thrown into the mix, and put in charge, when it kinda should have been you. It feels… wrong."
"Cameron," Sam started. "You know I don't mind you being in charge."
"I know, I know." He sighed, looking up at the night sky. "It just still feels sorta off. I love it and all, y'know, risking my neck every day, what could be better, but…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "I feel like you guys are all one perfect machine, working together, and I'm just the fifth wheel." He snorted. "The fifth wheel with a knack for trouble."
Sam lightly touched his knee but didn't say anything.
He sighed. "I guess it'll just be temporary," he said softly. "I'm the 'New Guy'. I gotta cope, right?"
"You'll be fine," Sam stated. "You're the best person for the job."
"No I'm not." He looked over at her. "General O'Neill is."
"You can't think like that," she said forcefully. "Everyone has to move on in life. In the here and now, you are the best person to lead SG-1, not Jack. You can't let yourself think otherwise."
"Yeah." He sighed again. "Sure." There was a tone of resigned acceptance in his voice.
They were interrupted by a sharp beep from Sam's laptop. She jerked away from her CO and surveyed the image on the screen. "The asteroid is heading this way," she informed him. "It'll be in range soon."
Cameron rose to his feet and studied the sky intently. "I don't get why you need the telescope anyway," he commented. "We're supposed to be able to see this thing with our eyes."
Sam smiled. "Well, we see most things with our eyes."
Cameron rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."
"The telescope and the laptop are to record the asteroid's passing," Sam explained. "The guys back on Earth want to take a look at it, and carting the SGC's entire scientific community onto an alien planet is never a good idea. Bad things tend to ensue."
"Mmm," Cameron answered, clearly not listening.
Sam checked the telescope was pointing in the right direction, and then stood up beside Cameron. He was squinting into the sky. "I think I can see it," he said.
Sam nodded. "I'd expect so," she answered. She watched him for a minute, and then said carefully, "The locals believe that this particular asteroid's passing is supposed to signal a 'blessed change'."
"Really?"
"Yeah. According to Daniel."
The tiny pinprick of multicoloured light was growing steadily larger in the sky, as if it was coming directly towards the planet. "Uhh, Sam, this thing doesn't actually hit this planet, does it?" Cameron asked, a note of worry in his voice.
Sam smiled and shook her head. "No. Its path brings it pretty close though."
It took barely five minutes for the asteroid to almost fill the sky. It was brilliantly coloured, all the colours of the rainbow plus a couple more dancing across its surface. Light from this system's sun was apparently reflecting off the ball of rock and dancing down to the planet below, bathing the forest, Cameron and Sam in multihued light.
Sam kept one eye on the asteroid and another on her CO. There was an expression of almost childish delight on his features as he stared into the sky raptly, like a kid meeting his idol, a huge smile curving his lips. He was loving this, she could tell. The stars were blotted out by the reflected sunlight, and there were faint tongues of flame licking at the edges of the chunk of stone as it brushed P4X-701's atmosphere.
She grinned. She could see why this was hailed as a religious event. It was absolutely stunning. The two of them stood in awed silence, just watching the sky intently, each turning over their own thoughts.
It was over all too quickly, and Sam turned back to her equipment, making sure the data was recorded and saved. She heard Cameron turn towards her, and she looked up, stilling her hands as they switched the laptop off to conserve its battery.
He bit his lip. "Blessed change, huh?"
She nodded. "Apparently."
He glanced up at the sky, which was once again a midnight expanse dotted with silver pinpricks, and then back down at Sam. There was a goofy smile on his lips.
"Cameron?" she asked, trying not to smile herself.
He grinned. "I just got a weird feeling."
She smiled back. "What does your 'weird feeling' say?"
"That I'm gonna be okay."
She grinned. "Told you."
end