4 – Jack's Cabin
Friday Afternoon
Cameron gave Jennifer's hand a squeeze, "Almost there," he announced. Jennifer had been holding his hand since they'd gotten in the car. In fact since he'd arrived at her dad's house she'd not strayed far from his side. He hadn't minded, he missed her, but he was starting to worry more.
"Really," Jenn asked, "It doesn't seem like we've been driving long."
"It's only a three hour drive," Cam responded. "Do we need to stop in Silver Creek and get any supplies?"
"No, General O'Neill was adamant that everything was taken care of," Jennifer assured Cam. Jack had been uncharacteristically charitable in his offer of his cabin for their honeymoon as a wedding gift. Jennifer had tried to discreetly ask Sam about the gift, but all Carter would tell her was that Jack had omitted a few things when Mitchell had first taken over leadership of SG1. He might still feel a little guilt over that, she'd laughingly told her.
A few moments later they pulled up in front of the cabin and Jenn smiled. It was everything she'd pictured in her head and she smiled thinking of how peaceful it was. Which is exactly what I need, she thought to herself.
The couple made their way around the property and the cabin. Jack had been right, the cabin had everything they could possibly need. The kitchen was completely stocked, they just needed to decide what to eat. Cameron suggested burgers and fries, he knew Jennifer had to be exhausted and a simple fare would be better.
Jenn prepared everything they needed and set the table while Cam started the grill and brought their luggage in. While they ate Cam filled Jennifer in on the more interesting parts of his missions during the three days they'd been apart.
Mitchell kept a close eye on Jennifer as he talked. Her father had warned him that Jenn hadn't slept much in the last two days because of her dreams. As inconspicuously as possible, Cam took in her appearance. There was a darkness beneath her eyes, and her smiles and laughter were weighted down. He'd even noticed several yawns that she'd tried to hide. He was worried about her as was her father. Cam had promised Greg that if the dreams didn't let up soon he'd get Jennifer in front of a doctor or therapist, whatever was appropriate.
Once dinner was over and cleaned up, Cameron made a quick decision. "Jenn, why don't we call this a short night? We should both catch up on our sleep."
"You've been talking to my dad, haven't you?" Jennifer asked in exasperation.
"He's just worried about you and it sounds like he should be. He said you had several dreams last night and you both decided not to sleep after the last one."
"True, but it's our honeymoon, Cam," she said sounding defeated.
"I know, and we both need rest." He watched her open her mouth to protest so he quickly continued. "Why don't we get ready for bed and then come back out here to the living room. I'll let you pick the movie and we'll snuggle up on the couch."
"Thank you," she replied hoping to keep the exhaustion out of her voice. She really didn't want to fall asleep yet. Jenn was glad she wouldn't be alone when they finally did sleep, but she was also glad that there'd be a delay.
Cameron watched Jennifer turn to head toward the bedroom to get ready and he took a deep breath. He knew she was avoiding going to sleep, but was pretty sure she wouldn't last long, even with a movie of her choosing. He wasn't complaining though, he'd missed her and would welcome holding her close. He started a fire in the fireplace, grabbed pillows off the bed and ushered Jennifer back to the couch a few moments later.
Late Friday Night
Sure enough, Jennifer fell asleep within twenty minutes of laying her head down. Cameron held her for about half the movie and then settled her on the couch for the remaining time, hoping she'd sleep more soundly if comfortable. Now that the movie had ended Cam moved about the cabin shutting it down for the night. After assuring himself that the doors were locked he checked windows and then went back to the bedroom to finish getting ready for bed.
On his way back out to the living room he turned the covers down on the bed in case he had to carry Jennifer. As he walked down the hall he got an uneasy feeling in his gut that something wasn't right. He immediately slid to the wall and moved forward slow and steadily to the end of the hall. Glancing around the corner he first checked the couch and felt his stomach plummet when he saw the empty spot where Jenn had been sleeping not five minutes before.
He'd give anything to have a gun at this point, but there hadn't seemed to be a reason to bring it. Jack had a gun case in the house with hunting rifles, but the key was hidden back in the main bedroom. No time to go back there, he didn't want to risk someone getting Jennifer outside the cabin, the woods weren't real familiar, especially in the dark. A picture of the big, angry beasts affected by the Sodan cloaking devices that he and General Landry had to contend with the last time he was here flitted through his mind. At least they'd encountered them with the advantage of daylight and eventually his and Colonel Reynolds' teams.
Cam lowered himself toward the floor and held his breath, listening for any noise. He didn't think he'd been out of the room long enough for Jennifer to have been smuggled out. Staying low to the ground Cameron moved toward the front door to check the lock. After finding it secured he moved toward the back door, checking nooks and crannies as he went for any sign of Jennifer or an intruder.
About halfway to the backdoor Cameron heard a shriek that took his breath away and then he watched Jennifer stumble from the coat closet by the back door, not ten feet in front of him. The closet had no door, but Jennifer had been hidden back amongst the jackets. Mitchell looked about quickly to see if anyone else was going to come out from the closet or any other secluded spot, but after a second of nothing he rushed to her side.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Cam quickly asked, still taking inventory of the room.
"How did I get in there?" she asked him, the fear in her voice pulling his gaze to her.
"I don't know. You don't remember how you got there?" Cameron asked as calmly as possible given how hard his heart seemed to be pounding.
"I was lying on the couch with you, then the dream…"
Cam watched the tears begin to pool in her eyes and pulled her into his arms. He held her close, "You scared me," he whispered as he moved his hand along her back, trying to calm the shaking of her body.
"I'm scared, Cameron," she whispered back and it tore at his heart. He checked the back door for good measure before lifting her into his arms and carrying her back to the main bedroom. Without hesitation he followed her into the bed and pulled her tightly to his side, her head resting on his chest.
"We'll call Dr. Lam in the morning. We'll figure this out, darlin', I promise," he said against her hair.
"This one seemed to last longer. I was lying on the ground again, I saw the figures of two others sleeping also," Jenn took a shuddering breath. "I got up to go see who they were. I thought if I did then the dream might not be as unnerving or something. One was a woman and the other a child, both strangers… then I woke up in the closet."
"I'm sorry, Jenn. I was only gone for a couple minutes. If I'd been there I could've woken you, helped it end sooner." He knew there was no way of knowing when her dreams would occur, but he still wanted to kick himself for leaving her alone.
"I don't want to go back to sleep," Jenn admitted, her hold on Cameron tightening.
"I'll hold you close all night, but you need to get some rest. Lack of sleep could be making them worse." Mitchell wasn't sure if that was true, but then… he didn't know what was causing them.
It wasn't long before Cameron felt her body slacken against his. He pulled her in a little closer and closed his eyes. With a deep breath he took in the vanilla scent that was so familiar it was comforting and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
Friday Night/Saturday Morning
Cameron went from asleep to awake so quickly he almost doubted he'd ever fallen asleep to begin with. It only took a second to figure out what caused it as he felt Jennifer's rigid body within his arms and her breathing catch. His eye caught the bedside clock just before he turned his head toward her lying on his chest. It was only two in the morning, they'd gotten just over two hour's worth of sleep before this newest dream.
"Jennifer," he quietly called her name, hoping to wake her without startling her.
He was getting ready to call her name again when he felt her begin to fight his hold. She was pushing and kicking against his body, struggling to get away from him.
"Jennifer," he called louder, hoping to dislodge the dream's hold on her, but the struggling just became fiercer.
