A/N: Special thank you to ShaViva for the wonderful beta work. I love reading through your questions and comments – even if they are in 'angry-English-teacher' red.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG1 or it's wonderful characters.
2 – Off World
In Darsam, SG-3 was escorted through an off world version of a city hall building to the wing that housed the living quarters for the current rulers of Darsam.
"Sir Joran, Lady Adeya," Col. Reynolds greeted as his team was presented to the ruling family.
"Colonel Reynolds, welcome," Joran replied as he clasped Reynolds' hand before turning to Dr. Keller, a look of delight on his face as his eyes landed on her answering smile.
"Dr. Keller, it is an honor," he said taking her hand in his for a moment, before turning toward his wife.
"Yes, thank you so much for returning," Lady Adeya greeted as she approached the healer.
"I've told you both," Dr. Keller gently reprimanded, "that Jennifer is fine. How are the boys, Addy?" Jenn asked as she leaned in and hugged the woman smiling sheepishly in front of her.
"They are doing well. Maton and Raimor are both looking forward to seeing you, but your visit was most likely unnecessary," Addy replied with a twinge of regret. She hated wasting the healer's time, but was also glad to see her again. Jennifer hadn't just healed her son, but in the process had calmed their fears and befriended her family.
Lady Adeya's thoughts were interrupted by the noisy appearance of her sons. "Raimor! Maton! Calm," she ordered the energetic duo as they bounded into the main living space.
Colonel Reynolds wasn't surprised by the contrite looks upon the boy's faces as they apologized to their mother. He had to smile though at how quickly their looks returned to barely contained joy as they turned their attention back to Dr. Keller.
Jenn laughed at the boys as she held out her arms to them. "Matt, Raimy," she greeted as they both gave her hugs and smiles, no shyness evident. "How have you boys been?"
"We've been good, Healer Jenn," Raimy, the eight year old excitedly answered.
"I've told you it's just Jenn," she laughed at the youngest boy while ruffling his dark hair.
"Come see what we've done," he said tugging on her hand.
Jennifer looked with an indulgent smile down at the boy who stood just a bit past her waist before looking over at the eldest son. "And what have you done?"
"Come and see for yourself," Matt responded with a grin. He was only two years older than Raimy, but stood almost to Jennifer's shoulder. He had the same dark, unruly hair as his brother, but his eyes hinted at a much more mature version of his younger brother.
Jennifer gave a quick look at Reynolds and received an almost imperceptible nod in return before she allowed the boys to tug her down a hall toward their quarters. Once inside she looked about amazed. "You two did all this?" Jenn was unable to keep the wonder out of her voice.
"Yes, yes. Are they not beautiful, Jenn?" Raimy exclaimed as he moved about the room looking at the pictures upon the walls.
"Mother helped us a little," Matt admitted sheepishly.
"Even mothers enjoy coloring," Jennifer teased. The boys had colored pictures that now adorned almost all the empty space of two adjoining walls. Now that Jenn was living in the SGC and had access to stores and shopping she'd begun bringing coloring books and crayons with her on missions off world. The children were always amazed and distracted by the many colors and possibilities. This however was the first time she'd really gotten to revisit with children she'd given the supplies to. "This is so colorful and beautiful boys."
Jennifer knew Reynolds and his team would be busy discussing trade and alliance issues with Sir Jaron and Lady Adeya and she settled in to enjoy her time with the boys.
Maton and Raimor showed her which pictures each had colored and asked her an incessant number of questions about the images they'd colored. In an effort to only give out coloring books that'd be the least confusing, Jennifer had discovered that Disney movie themed coloring books worked best. Most dealt with animals and people and didn't have technology that would be hard to explain or uninteresting to the kids. The two that she had left with the boys had been The Lion King and Finding Nemo. Jennifer found herself spending the next hour telling the boys both stories and pointing out the pictures they'd colored that went with a particular point in the story.
"Well, I brought more with me," she announced, quickly gaining the boys attention. Jennifer looked upon their excited faces, "Why don't we quickly do Raimy's check-up and then I'll show you what I brought for you guys?"
Raimy eagerly sat down on his bed and waited for Dr. Jenn to begin his exam. Matt began to pace impatiently while both boys tried to convince her to give them hints. She teased them with details that held no meaning for them and laughed at some of their wild guesses.
She was almost done with the checkup when they were suddenly quieted by the sound of gunfire. Jennifer had been on enough missions to immediately recognize it as P-90 fire. She swiftly looked about the room for a place to hide the boys, not seeing any great possibilities.
"Matt! Raimy, quick, under the bed." Jennifer ordered nervously dividing her time between watching the boys scurry under the bed and keeping an eye on the door. It was the only access to the room and unfortunately the only exit from the room as well. There was a row of small glass blocks high along the wall letting in light, but not even Raimy was small enough to fit through any opening she might've been able to create.
"Keller," came a quiet, but urgent voice.
"Damn," Jennifer said under her breath as she caught herself reaching for her ear before remember that she was no longer on Atlantis.
"We're here, Colonel," she replied quietly into her radio attached to her BDU before she turned her attention back to the boys. "Stay quiet and stay hidden," she instructed while trying to look reassuringly at both of them as she squatted down on the floor next to the bed.
"Stay quiet and stay hidden," she heard Reynolds order and rolled her eyes at the boys, hoping the humor would help quell the scared looks on the boys' faces.
"Yes, Sir," Jennifer replied before standing and scanning the room looking for something to defend herself with.
Colonel Mitchell walked to the shady side of the ruins on P4X-721 and sat down, leaning his back against the stone structure. He loved everything about his job, even the planets that were abandoned seemed to spark his imagination. Cam wondered what the planet used to hold. Was it a town or gathering place? Were the Ancients or Asgard here in the past, or did they create this place for another race of people? What caused the planet to be abandoned?
Cameron figured Jackson might be able to answer some of those questions once he'd analyzed the ruins and interpreted the writings. While Daniel was doing that Cam, Teal'c, Vala and Capt. Jacobs had fanned out to search as well as secure the surrounding area. Although no other buildings were found, Cam had walked through several areas that'd been cleared at some point in the past. With vegetation built up there were no clues as to the initial clearing's purpose.
Cameron looked up at Capt. Jacobs' approach and smiled, "The squabbling getting to ya?"
"Are they always like that?" Jacobs asked with a chuckle, settling down near the Colonel. "They remind me of time spent with my sister when I was a kid."
"Daniel and Vala do have a unique way of communicating," Cam acknowledged diplomatically with a grin. "Teal'c?" Cam asked after the Jaffa.
"Went for a walk of the perimeter about five minutes ago."
"Abandoned you did he?" Cam laughed.
"Felt that way, Sir," Jacobs responded with a smirk.
After another fifteen minutes Mitchell decided it was time to rally the troops. With an hour hike back to the gate still ahead of them he was eager to get started. "It's about that time, kids," he announced loudly as he walked back into the ruins so as to be heard above the bickering duo.
"Just a couple more minutes," Daniel protested while he continued to scribble in his notebook.
"Did you take video and photos of everything?" Cam asked aloud while looking at Vala.
She grinned widely at Mitchell, "Of course."
"Then we are gone, Jackson. Pack it in, buddy," Mitchell finished his casual order throwing a thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the gate.
Teal'c, who'd just returned and Capt. Jacobs each grabbed one of Jackson's bags once the doctor had finished grudgingly packing up and they all headed out.
Capt. Jacobs was a peacemaker at heart and never felt comfortable for long with silence or grumpiness, even if he knew it wasn't personal. "So Colonel… how has Doc been doing now that she's away from Atlantis? Has she been able to shake the Keller Curse?"
Colonel Mitchell had been walking at point with Teal'c and Jacobs next followed by Jackson and Vala bringing up their six, when he suddenly came to a stop and turned back to look at Jacobs.
"The what?" Mitchell asked incredulously.
The Captain fidgeted slightly at the Colonel's tone and stance. This was the problem with working under a casual command for too long, you lost the ability to clearly see the insubordination line. Jacobs was sure he'd just stumbled blindly across it.
"I'm sorry, Colonel, that was uncalled for," Jacobs quickly backpedaled. "I was only trying to inquire about the Doc's … um, ability to attract…"
Jacobs was saved from having to find the words to adequately pull himself out of the hole by the laughter behind him. He turned to see Vala almost doubled over and Jackson grinning broadly. When he pivoted back and looked at Teal'c, he found the big guy quite stoic in posture and expression, except for one raised eyebrow and a bit of mischief shinning in his eyes.
Jacobs felt a rough slap on his upper shoulder and turned to find the Colonel smirking at him, then laughing at the worried look upon Jacob's face. "At ease, Captain, just didn't realize that her luck had become infamous enough to be labeled."
"In all fairness," the Captain grinned, now that he knew he wasn't going to be court-martialed, "it's not like her luck is any worse than Sheppard's. It's just the situations she finds herself in seem to be more uniquely… Jennifer in style."
"That'd be one way of putting it," Daniel said on a chuckle.
"The Keller Curse…" Vala said as if she was weighing the title. "Yeah, that about sums up the girl's off-world experiences. And I'd definitely agree that it's not necessarily bad luck either. That last mission was just hilarious and couldn't have happened to anyone else except Keller."
"I believe it may be due to the fact that Dr. Keller is a Tau'ri healer," Teal'c suggested. "The oath to do no harm is taken very seriously, as it should be."
Cameron grinned at Jacobs, "Actually this last mission was just Jennifer being Jennifer." Cam thought back to that mission just a few days ago with a smile and slight shake of his head.
"Colonel Mitchell, report to the control room immediately."
Cameron heard the call over the base wide system. He wasn't sure why he was needed, but Colonel Reynolds' team was late for their scheduled return. Jennifer was with Reynolds' team and Cam had already begun heading in the direction of the control room to see what their delay was. He picked up the pace now, sure this had something to do with their mission.
As Mitchell entered the control room he came to attention, "Sir?"
General Landry turned to Mitchell, the Stargate spinning in the background. "We're checking in with SG-3. They're 15 minutes past their scheduled return. I may need to send SG-1 out for search and rescue."
"Sir," Walter interrupted, "we have a lock."
The gate whooshed to life as Walter spoke and Cameron took a deep breath in and slowly let it out in an attempt to calm his heart rate. There was probably a perfectly good explanation for why SG-3 was late returning. His own team was late often for return times, things happened, meetings ran late, weather and a whole host of other things often interfered.
"SG-3, Colonel Reynolds, this is General Landry, report."
Cam held his breath not wanting to miss a word, his eyes boring into the open wormhole as if he'd be able to see what was happening on the other side.
"General Landry, this is Colonel Reynolds, Sir."
Reynolds was always cool under pressure and Cameron was unable to discern anything from his voice, but the fact that the leader of SG-3 was able to readily respond was something Cameron took as a good sign.
"Sorry for our delay, General, we've encountered a bit of an obstacle between our current location and the gate. We may need to hold here just a bit longer, Sir."
General Landry looked at Mitchell and then back toward the wormhole. Cam almost smiled thinking the General shared his desire to be able to see through the shimmering puddle.
"Walter, pull up video feed from the M.A.L.P.," Landry ordered quietly.
The General then raised his voice for Reynolds, "Colonel, we're waiting on video feed from the M.A.L.P."
"That won't do any good, General," came Reynolds voice, even as Walter shook his head in the negative also. "Sir, the M.A.L.P has been disabled… um… there was a bit of… of an anger issue on this end."
Cameron could almost hear the cringe in Reynolds words and it was the only thing keeping Cam from worrying anew. He knew Colonel Reynolds would've called for backup or for Medical immediately if there was any emergency.
"Colonel?" Landry spoke sternly, clearly just as frustrated as Cameron with the lack of information they were receiving.
"Sir, there is a large, angry, bear-like creature between our position and the gate."
"Is it a threat, Colonel?" Landry asked, his voice softening a bit.
"Not at the moment, Sir. However it will prevent us from making it to the gate."
"If it becomes a threat, Colonel, you might need to shoot it," Landry stated, giving Mitchell a confused look when urgent hushed words and whispers were heard.
Mitchell heard Reynolds clear his throat, "In the creature's defense, Sir, we did kind of startle it when we arrived at the gate. We were quiet and didn't give it much warning of our approach, probably scared it as much as ourselves."
Cameron looked quickly at the ground, lifting his hand to his mouth to hide his smirk and hopefully hold in his chuckle.
His movements did not go unnoticed by the General. "Colonel Mitchell, is there something you would like to share with us?"
It wasn't really a question. "She won't let them shoot it," he stated. At the still confused look on Landry's face, Cam clarified, "Dr. Keller."
Although Landry's expression said nothing, Cameron could see a twinkle in his eye and was glad the General had a sense of humor, even if he was keeping it to himself.
"Colonel," Landry started again to Reynolds, "I'll send through SG-12 with a couple of tranquilizer guns. Give us about fifteen minutes."
"That would be good, Sir, please tell the team to head straight for the trees on the left. We'll distract the critter as long as possible on the right."
There was a bit of a pause before Reynolds continued, "The team will need to get themselves off the ground. The animal can move quite quickly and is about the size of my SUV. I'm unsure how long the tranquilizers will take to incapacitate it."
Cameron couldn't ignore the mental image of what Reynolds' words implied and found himself smirking and again hoped the hand at his mouth would help hold in any laughter. God he loved that woman. Cameron knew that if the large creature posed a threat Reynolds and his team would take it out swiftly, but Jenn's influence over the Colonel and his men was priceless.
When his eyes met the General's he was met with raised eyebrows. He quickly tried to sober, "Sorry, Sir. The… um, thought of SG-3 hanging out in the trees reminds me of a scene from the Sound of Music."
Mitchell heard a cough behind him and turned to see Dr. Jackson standing with the rest of his team trying not to laugh. They'd obviously been standing there for a bit.
Landry rolled his eyes and looked back toward the wormhole, "SG-12 will be so advised, Landry out." The General motioned for Walter to shut down the gate. "Walter, please call SG-12 to the briefing room."
Landry turned back toward Mitchell and his team, "You all are dismissed."
'Yes, Sirs' were quickly murmured as they all made their way out of the control room.
As Jackson walked by Mitchell he slapped his back making Cameron cringe at what was coming next.
"You and the Fraulein should join us in the mess hall once Reynolds team is back," Daniel said with a laugh before he turned and escorted a slightly confused Teal'c and Vala down the hall.
Cameron had to laugh along with his team and Captain Jacobs as their own gate came into site. At least Daniel had stopped with the Sound of Music jokes after a few intense glares from Reynolds team later that night in the mess hall. Cameron did have to sit through the Sound of Music at the next team movie night at Vala's insistence that she and Teal'c needed the intel.
Cameron put up a good show of being annoyed by Daniel's ribbing, but Cam knew Daniel meant no harm by it. Besides, Cameron still teased the scientist endlessly about Vala and knew a little payback between friends was in order.
Surprisingly, other than being embarrassed, Jennifer took the teasing in stride. He suspected she saw the humor in the situation, even if it was at her own expense. The fact that he and Daniel had ended up having to sit through a long-ass chick flick hadn't gone unnoticed by either of them.
