Home
It's funny how familiar this is: birds chirping, insects singing, the sound the wind makes as it rustles the branches. It even looks the same. The leaves are turning changing into a multitude of colors ranging from an almost neon yellow all the way to a flame red. The grass is green, with a few wild flowers in pretty reds and purples defiantly surviving in the forest dimness.
But this isn't home. Home is millions of miles away, in another solar system, on another planet. Home doesn't have two suns. Or those strange pig-sized rodents that attacked Daniel last night. Or people who live like the ancient Celts, language and all, who are there to save us tourists from their local fauna.
Of course, some things are universal: the Colonel saying the wrong thing to the chieftain's son. The chieftain overreacting. The tribe chasing us back towards the gate with murderous intent.
Join the Air Force! See the world! This wasn't covered in the recruiter's office. Dad never talked about this either. To be fair, though, he was never off world, and to be honest, he never talked about work much anyway. Ah, to think I would ever miss the comforts of basic training, when 20 pushups were the worst thing that could happen to me were I to trip up. Like I do now.
The lead hunter is almost upon me. I can see the grease spiking his orange hair. The river of sweat trailing lines through his blue face paint. The crazed intent in his eyes as he raises his sword. The staccato of P-90 fire jerks his body and he falls, giving me the time to rise again. A quick nod in my savior's direction, and with Teal'c's guiding hand on my arm, I take off again.
With my boy's beside me, I feel safe. Loved. And I realize that even though I may live far away, in the company of these men, I am home.