Falling

For SG-1 the start of their eleventh year felt no less a milestone than their tenth year. The war with the Ori was over and they could now get back to what they had all signed up for. There were planets to explore, new discoveries to be made, a sense of optimism about what the future would bring...

25th May 2007

SGC, Cheyenne Mountain

Carefully sliding his arms into his sleeves of his dark blue shirt Colonel Cameron Mitchell eased it on, giving a winch as he did so as the muscles and nerves around his cracked ribs ached in protest.

After spending the past three weeks in the infirmary he was relieved to be leaving, glad to be given the all clear by Carolyn even if he wasn't allowed to return to active duty for at least another week. In the meantime he had a week's leave during which he had been ordered to take it easy. Carolyn had been firm in her instructions and Cameron knew better than to argue with her. Though he would never admit it, she was pretty scary at times especially when she was in doctor mode. He was just happy that he was allowed out even if it meant that for the next week he couldn't do much except sleep, eat, watch TV and catch up on mission reports. Thinking about it now it actually didn't sound that bad. Even more appealing was the fact that Amy was coming to stay, something that was definitely worth being out of the infirmary for.

Meeting up with Amy at their high school reunion had stirred up some of the old feelings that he once had for her; that she was interested in him also was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately with the fate of the galaxy once again hanging in the balance there had been little opportunity for them to see each other again since then. They had had just two dates in the five weeks since the reunion.

It was only with Cameron being stuck in the infirmary these past weeks that they had gotten to know to each other a little better. With not much to do he had sent Amy an e-mail which had quickly turned into a regular correspondence, three or four emails, sometimes more, bouncing back and forth between them each day. It had been fun and through them he had learned that she was a member of a quilting club, loved horse back riding, enjoyed gardening, was a fan of the Dixie Chicks and was afraid of spiders, even daddy-long-legs.

He in turn had shared with her his love of cars and cheesy movies and the merits of red jello versus blue jello and though he couldn't talk to her about his work he did tell her some funny stories about his team mates, sticking to the cover story that had been made. Hence Vala was from Romania, Teal'c was a martial arts instructor from Tanzania, Daniel a translator and Sam an astrophysicist. As far as Amy and anyone else were concerned they worked at Cheyenne Mountain and were good friends.

It all sounded a bit far fetch to Cameron but then again the reality was even more far-fetched. After all who would believe that the five of them traveled to other planets, that they had met, made friends and fought against aliens and that Teal'c and Vala themselves were aliens. Yep, the cover might look a bit bogus but it was at least a bit more believable than the truth.

"So, ready to go?"

At the sound of the familiar voice Cameron looked up just as he finished doing up the last few buttons on his shirt to see Daniel coming into the infirmary, pushing a wheelchair.

"Just about, though I think I can manage just fine without the chair," said Cameron, nodding in the general direction of the aforementioned chair as he picked his leather jacket up off the infirmary bed.

Wheelchairs made him just a tiny bit uneasy which was understandable considering he had spent what had felt like a lifetime relearning to walk again after his Antarctica accident. Still without the accident he probably wouldn't be where he was now, leader of SG-1 and surrounded by people who were some of his closest friends.

Daniel shook his head. "Sorry, Doctor's orders."

"Jackson I don't think..."

"You wouldn't be trying to disobey orders, would you Colonel?" said Carolyn, her tone carrying an undercurrent of firmness as she walked into the room, her white coat flapping around her legs, "Because if you are, I might just reconsider letting you go."

Taking in Carolyn's unwavering stare, her brown eyes calm but firm Cameron knew there was little point in arguing with her. With a sigh he went over to the chair, noticing the smug 'I-told-you-so' expression that was now on Daniel's face. "Fine, I'll use the chair."

"Good," she said watching on with amusement as Cameron reluctantly sat down in the wheelchair, her gaze remaining on them as they headed towards the exit. "By the way, Happy Birthday."

"Oh, uh, thanks," Cameron replied in surprise, "You know I'd almost forgotten all about it. At least I don't have to spend it stuck in here, though I'm guessing' dancing on table tops is out of the question."

"I wouldn't advise it," her voice calling out after him as Daniel wheeled him away.

*S***S*

Several feet down the long corridor Cameron spoke again, dropping his voice low just in case Carolyn could still hear them. "Is she still watching?"

Daniel turned his head around to look behind them. "Yep." Turning back he carried on pushing the chair towards in direction of the elevator.. "I think maybe you better just let me wheel you out of here. I wouldn't want to get on her wrong side."

Cameron softly chuckled. "Yeah, you and me both. Even Teal'c's a little afraid of her."

"Well, she does have some pretty scary looking needles in her arsenal. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of any of them anytime soon. Somehow I don't think you want to be either."

"Ain't that the truth."

"Anyway look on the bright side; at least she's letting you get out of here even if it is with an escort and we can celebrate your birthday. There might not be any dancing on tables, which I'm thinking is a good thing, but I'm sure we can still have some fun," said Daniel as they entered the elevator.

"Why do I have the sudden feeling that you're up to something? And why am I starting to get worried?" Cameron looked up at Daniel with suspicion, noting the smile on Daniel's face as the elevator doors closed.

*S***S*

Twelve days later

SGC, Cheyenne Mountain

Walking out of the men's locker room dressed and geared up for his first mission back since defeating the Ori, Cameron met up with the rest of his team mates in the corridor.

"Now this is how it should be. The five us. SG-1. The band. Going on missions. Making new discoveries. Having adventures," he happily said a huge grin appearing on his face.

"Glad to be back, uh?" teased Sam, nudging him with her shoulder as she smirked cheekily at him.

"You betcha. It was nice seeing Amy for a couple of days but other than that there is only so much SpongeBob you can watch before you start going around the bend."

"Did you not enjoy watching the Star Wars collection I gave you, Colonel Mitchell?" asked Teal'c as the five of them headed towards the gate room.

"No it was all good. I watched them all in one day that still left ..." Cameron held out his hand counting off the days.

"You watched all three Star Wars movies in one day?" interrupted Daniel glancing between Teal'c and Cameron in surprise.

"No. I watched all six."

"It was The Ultimate Collection," explained Teal'c calmly as he caught the stunned look on Daniel's face.

Cameron and Sam exchanged smiles as the two of them walked ahead of the others.

"Don't tell me you're not glad to be back. Though I understand you had some excitement while working at the midway station." Cameron looked at Sam, knowing she was glad to be back with the team, just like he was.

"I had some help."

"Don't be so modest Samantha, without you Atlantis would still be missing and in all likelihood Colonel Sheppard and his team would have been killed... or worse," said Vala as she followed behind them with Daniel and Teal'c walking along either side of her.

Daniel peered over the rim of his glasses. "There's worse...?"

"Of course there is. I think if I had a choice, death would be preferable than spending two weeks with Doctor Lee for company."

Sam bit softly down on her bottom lip in an effort not to smile at Vala's assessment. Bill was a decent enough man and a good scientist but even she had to admit that he could be hard going at times. He certainly lived up to the stereotype of a fumbling and bumbling awkward scientist. "It wasn't that bad. Anyway I understand you had some excitement of your own. I heard the birthday went well. I'm sorry I missed it."

"Yep, you missed a great party Sam. Teal'c's rendition of I Will Survive was pretty memorable and Walter got everyone up and singing We Are the Champions. It was a lot of fun," said Cameron, as they turned a corner, pausing for a moment before he continued, speaking out a aloud the thought that had been lingering in his mind for the past few days as the reality of their situation had sunken in, "It's kind of weird not having a big bad guy to fight anymore."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah. That's how we felt when we defeated the Goa'uld... and the replicators... the first time."

"Well, Jackson and Vala took care of that."

Vala spoke up, indignation in her voice, "That whole Ori thing was not our fault!"

"Just take the blame. You get used to it," Daniel said patiently.

"We played a big part in fixing the problem."

"That you did," agreed Mitchell.

Entering the gate room Teal'c spoke in his usual quiet manner sticking to the most obvious fact. "There are still many planets in our gate system that remain unexplored."

Standing at the bottom of the ramp the five of them looked ahead at the Stargate, all of them excited about what might await them out there in the unknown.

"Yes, let's see what mysteries P3K-546 will hold," announced Daniel.

"And what treasure," added Vala, hopefully.

With a smile on his face, glad to be back with his friends Cameron kept his gaze on the gate. "I'm sure something will come up. Walter, hit it!"

*S***S*

"Okay Sam, we're all here, so what's up? It's obviously something important."

Cameron perched himself on the end of an armrest of one of Sam's living room chairs, his long legs stretched out, his arms crossed as he waited.

He knew he wasn't the only one that was curious. They had all been wondering what was going on ever since they had completed their mission to P3K-546 the day before and had returned to find General Landry waiting to inform Sam that she was needed urgently in Washington. The request itself, though surprising, wasn't all that unusual; they had all been called away in the past for urgent meetings without little or no notice. No what was different about this was the secrecy behind it. General Landry had revealed nothing about what the meeting was about and Sam had been just as much in the dark as the rest of them were.

It was only now, more than 24 hours later, that they were finally going to find out why she had been summoned away. Privately between them they had tried to surmise what it was about, the most logical conclusion being that Sam had been called in by the IOA to discuss the events that had happened at the midway station and Sam's part in going to the rescue of Atlantis. They hoped that the IOA hadn't tried to make out that she had done something wrong, because if they had all of SG-1 were ready to defend Sam's actions; they knew she had done the right thing.

*S***S*

Standing up, Sam took a couple of deep breaths, trying to collect her thoughts.

The news. Her news. Was pretty amazing. And her mind was still a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, varying from shock to excitement to doubt and uncertainty and back again. Yet despite her inner turmoil she knew in her heart that it was the right decision, one which she would be foolish to turn down.

The reality was she had few ties to her home.

She had no family left, at least not in the traditional sense. Mom and Dad were gone and her relationship with her brother Mark had always been a little uneasy, even at the best of times. Once their Dad had died and she had broken up with Pete the gulf between them had widen further. He blamed her for everything which had hurt - a lot - but the truth was they were just too different in their views and outlooks and Mark, she had finally realised, would never see things her way or forgive her for some of the choices she had made. Now their only contact was through the odd Christmas or birthday card.

And then there was Cassie.

As close as they had once been she was 22 now and leading her own life. She no longer needed Sam the way she once had. With her recent promotion to Second Lieutenant and placement at the Icarcus Base, they were rarely in contact and when they were their conversations, though friendly, were generally brief.

As for Jack...

Well, it was time to put that behind her. Neither her or Jack were ever going to do anything about the feelings they had. She had tried. Okay maybe not hard enough, she'll admit that, but she had at least tried to talk to him about this... whatever it was between them, but something always got in the way. And here they were 10 years later, good friends but nothing more and she was finally at the stage where she was beginning to feel okay about it. To accept it for what it was.

She had gone through the really difficult phase two years ago. Finding out he was seeing someone else, the death of her father, the break-up with Pete and Jack's relocation to Washington, all of that had been hard. It was why she had left, at least for a while; she needed to get things into perspective. She told everyone that Cassie was going through a difficult time but the truth was it was her that had been having the hard time.

That though was all behind now and her life was good; hectic and frantic and often dangerous but still good. She had a a lot to be grateful for.

Still leaving would be hard.

If anyone was her family then SG-1 was it. A weird and at times dysfunctional family but still a family nevertheless. Leaving them behind would be hard, incredibly hard. But she also knew that opportunities like this didn't come along very often. With another deep breath she pushed back her doubts.

"I've been offered..., that is... I've accepted..."

"Sam," said Daniel cutting in, giving her an encouraging smile. "What is it that you're trying to tell us?"

With a rush Sam blurted it out, a huge smile appearing on her face as her excitement took over. "I've been made the new commander of Atlantis."

For a second or so there was complete silence as all four faces looked at her, a variety of expressions flashing across their faces as the news sunk in.

"Okay, now THAT I wasn't expecting."

Cameron's voice was the first to break the silence, followed in quick succession by the others.

"Sam that's wonderful!" Vala went up to Sam, throwing her arms around her as she hugged her tightly.

"Wow." Daniel looked at Sam in complete surprise. "That's… that's great."

"It is indeed a great honor, Colonel Carter, though you will be sorely missed," stated Teal'c, unknowingly voicing what they all felt.

Sam, her face flushing in embarrassment looked at her team in gratitude. "Thanks guys. I still can't quite believe it myself."

Cameron went up to her giving her a hug also, a smile on his face. "You know I worked my butt off to get the band back together and here you are leaving. I'm sure we could rustle up some bad guys to fight if that's what you're missing..."

"Cam..."

"It's okay Sam, really," said Cameron softly; stopping her from saying all the things she didn't need to say, "I'm happy for you, you'll do a great job. Their lucky to have you. They better treat you right. If they don't, you tell them they'll have me, Daniel, and Teal'c... and Vala," he added as Vala prodded him in the back with one of her fingers, "to contend with."

Laughing even as the tears began to well up in her eyes Sam looked at him tenderly, before she turned her gaze on to the two men she had shared so much with over the years; Teal'c a gentle giant of a man, always calm always ready to put his life on the line for the things that were important to him and Daniel, passionate and curious about everything and yet who often kept his deepest thoughts and emotions hidden from everyone, even those closest to him. They, along with Jack, were her dearest, closest friends and she was going to miss them greatly.

Teal'c's expression was stoic as ever and yet behind it she thought for a moment she caught a glimmer of what looked liked sadness before it was gone, leaving behind only a gaze filled with pride and warmth as he gave her a small bow with his head and shoulders, a gentle smile on his face.

She smiled back then turned to face Daniel only to find herself enveloped in another hug.

"I'm going to miss you." Daniel's voice was filled with emotion as he held on tight to her.

"Me too," said Sam, her voice stuffed full of tears and muffled by Daniel's shoulder.

"Hey, cut that out. You'll have me crying next, not to mention Vala," said Cameron, "This is a celebration. I say we go out and do just that. Dinner's on me."

Pulling away from Daniel, Sam ran her hand across her face, wiping at the tears. "That's a great idea," she replied, as Daniel handed her a clean handkerchief from his pants pocket.

Dabbing at the remaining tears they all made a move to leave, grabbing jackets and car keys, their voices mingling together as they discussed where to go for dinner.

Vala spoke first, quickly followed by Daniel, then Cameron, Vala again, then Teal'c, as they walked out the front door heading to Teal'c SUV for the drive into town.

"So where should we go?"

"How about Italian?"

"I was thinking of a big juicy steak, mashed potatoes, plenty of salad."

"You always suggest that."

"May I suggest Burger City. Their sign says they have the best burgers in the city. I am curious to try one."

As the last to leave, Sam shut the front door, a smile on her face as she listened to the familiar voices of her friends.

*S***S*