"I was worried when you didn't email, but I know how driving can be. Things like flat tires or other road hazards can slow you down. Sorry. I spent a lot of time yesterday telling myself these things so I wouldn't worry. Not that I'm trying to make you feel guilty or anything. It's. . . .Well, I don't honestly know if that's natural. I miss you, too. Yours, Deanna."

oOo

"Just a quick email to say hello. How are you? Sorry I worried you. Would stay on longer, but there's a briefing with my name on it. Unfortunately. Missing you, Cam."

He closed his laptop and headed for the briefing room. Landry had a new mission now that Daniel had returned from helping the Tok'ra, and he would be out of touch with Earth for a day or so. He hoped Deanna understood when she didn't hear from him.

An email waited when he finally returned almost forty-eight hours later.

"Cam, it was wonderful getting your email. Made my day. I went shopping with that card you gave me, but it wasn't the same without you. So, I had an idea. I'll go shopping and take pictures of what captures my attention. Then, you can tell me if you would buy it or not. While I know you, I don't know what you would buy. So, give me some ideas at least. Besides that, there's nothing new here. Hope everything is good with you. Counting days until Labor Day. Yours, Deanna."

oOo

Deanna logged into her email account the next morning, hoping to have a response from Cam. Her reactions to his absence surprised her. When Danny came home the night Cam left, he found her on the couch, tissue box next to her as she cried. He glanced at the purse and shoes she'd left haphazardly lying in the doorway and asked what happened. Deanna told him about Cam's departure and that it hadn't been his fault. Danny listened sympathetically and hugged her. She'd needed that touch and, after giving her brother a watery smile, went to her room. She cried herself to sleep that night.

Now, she felt slightly numb. The ache caused by Cam's departure hadn't faded, but the sharpness of the emotions had. Each evening, she stared at his picture and tried to figure out the little things he'd want to hear about life in New Mexico. After all, what would interest a lieutenant colonel? She felt that she knew the real Cam Mitchell, the one under the brash Air Force pilot. But, the Air Force pilot influenced his reactions as well.

She found an email from him and grinned as she opened it.

"I never thought about shopping together long distance. It's a different idea, and I'm willing to give it a try. I was thinking of something like jewelry or a stereo system. I thought about getting you a guitar, but I realized that you probably have more than enough of those in your house. I'm smart enough to know that you and Danny probably have more musical instruments hidden away than I'll ever own. One thing I did notice, however, is that you only have one small CD player for your entire house. So, I had thought about getting a surround sound system that you could set up in the living room. I know Danny would like it as well, but it would be yours. Well, need to go. I'll email soon. Maybe even call. Missing you, Cam."

oOo

So they were shopping together online now. Alyssa sat at Deanna's desk in the greenhouse, the glow of the computer screen the only light in the room. She hated the subterfuge. Hated the fact that Cameron had disappeared and only told this woman. What had Alyssa ever done to him? He acted as if she didn't exist while this piano player held his full attention.

Alyssa rose and left the office, knowing the computer would go into sleep mode eventually. She had not intentionally broken into the greenhouse a week ago. She had simply followed Cameron. When he went inside and didn't come out, she had needed to see him. Something had changed. She could tell by his bearing that he was about to leave. The military man appeared, addicting her even more. Since he'd left, she wandered through her days, bereft. At night, she stared at the pictures she'd managed to take, knowing that they would have to keep her company until she found him. When she did, however, he would forget about this piano player. She would make him depend on her and love her and need her. No amount of money or gifts could sway her from her belief that, while she needed Cameron, he needed her.

oOo

Deanna walked into her office the following morning, amazed that a week had already passed. She drew a deep breath and sat down to work, knowing what her plans for the evening entailed. Cam had mentioned calling her. She hoped he called that evening. She knew his schedule stayed busy, but the emails and suggestions brightened her day and told her how special she was. It only took a few minutes, and the emails came daily.

The greenhouse's screensaver circled on the computer monitor. Deanna frowned. "I thought I turned that off last night," she muttered as her cell phone rang. Without glancing at the caller ID, she answered it. "Hello?"

"Oops, bad time?" Cam asked.

Deanna dropped into her seat. "Cam! No, not a bad time. I just don't remember leaving my office computer on last night."

"That's a problem?"

"Yeah, I always turn it off." She shrugged as she checked the rest of her desk. Nothing else seemed out of place. "I'm a little OCD when it comes to the business and my desk. Everything has its place."

"Which is why that missing order a few weeks ago bugged you?"

"Exactly." She sat back in her chair. "I will admit that I have been a bit distracted this week. Certain emails are keeping me on my toes."

"Good to hear." Computer keys rattled in the background. "Hope you don't mind if I work while we talk. I have reports to finish, and I'm behind."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Unfortunately not." He sighed. "I wish you were here. I could take you out to dinner and a movie."

Deanna smiled, her eyes watering again. "That sounds wonderful."

"Yeah, too bad I don't get any time off until Labor Day."

"Can I ask you a question about your job?" She waved to Danny and mouthed Cam's name as she pointed to the phone. Her brother nodded and left her alone.

"Sure." He paused. "I don't know how much I'll be able to tell you, though."

"You mentioned Andrew's call sign at the wedding." She grinned. "I want to know yours."

"Shaft," he said immediately. "Cam 'Shaft' Mitchell."

"Isn't that a car part?"

"Yep. It opens and closes the valves." He chuckled. "You're the first civilian woman to get that."

"Twin brother who likes to occasionally tinker with the machines he uses on the job." Deanna shrugged. "I pick up a few things."

"Yeah, life does that." A chair squeaked in the background, and he whispered, "Hang on."

A moment later, an older fatherly voice came over the line. "As you were, Son."

Deanna waited, knowing the call was over.

Cam finally spoke again, "Dee, I'm gonna have to let you go."

"I figured." She smiled. "Don't know who's there, but you should know that I miss you. A lot."

"I miss you, too." His voice had softened slightly in spite of his audience. " 'Bye."

Deanna set the cell phone on the desk, not entirely ready to begin her day. Hearing Cam's voice thrilled her, and she closed her eyes as she replayed their conversation in her mind. It would have to last until the next phone call.

oOo

"Ms. Chandry, I know you don't know me, but I was the photographer at Colonel and Mrs. Baker's wedding. I snapped some pictures that I thought you'd like to have, and Mrs. Baker has given me permission to forward them to you. I've attached them to this email. Feel free to make as many copies that you want. Sincerely, James Frasier."

Deanna clicked on the first attachment of the email and smiled widely. She and Cam danced, their foreheads pressed together as they smiled at each other. The second was one of them laughing at the table, and the third showed her smiling at something while Cam stared lovingly at her face. She quickly saved them to her computer, setting the one of them dancing as her wallpaper. Then, she added photo quality printer paper to her list of groceries for the evening. This was a great surprise! Even Danny would like these. Maybe. She looked at the pictures again and changed her mind. Danny would not want a sappy photo of his sister.

Cam would, though. She opened the email again and clicked forward.

"Cam, these came in the email after we talked. Thought you'd like to see them. Yours, Deanna."

oOo

Cam sat in the mess hall, using his laptop to type reports and trying not to think about Landry's visit to his office that morning. He had not explained his relationship with Deanna to anyone yet, and he did not want to tell his boss that he dated a civilian with no knowledge of the Stargate Program. For some strange reason, he wanted to keep things under the wire for a while longer.

"Oh, nice." Jackson's voice came from behind him, and Cam jumped. He'd been staring at a picture of him and Deanna at the Baker wedding. Fortunately for him, Jackson appeared as he looked at the one with the two of them laughing at some joke. "She the girl you met in New Mexico?"

Cam frowned at his friend. "What?"

"Oh, don't try to be coy." Jackson dropped into the chair across from him. "You've been different since you came home. Sneaking off to email someone and not really telling us anything about the wedding."

"Vala's been bugging you again, hasn't she?"

"Yeah." Daniel nodded. "Although, from the picture I just saw, I think she was right. She's pretty, by the way. "

"Her name's Deanna." Cam sat back, knowing that Daniel wouldn't tell Vala anything too personal. "She and her brother own a greenhouse and landscaping company. I met her at the cookout where the two families met each other for the first time. She was part of the band that played at the wedding as well."

"Really?" Daniel leaned forward as Cam closed the laptop. "So, things are serious?"

"You could say that." Cam glanced around and lowered his voice. "I'm not ready to buy a ring or tell her about the SGC yet, but I see where that could be in the future."

"Do you think she can handle it?"

"I don't know. She's got some stuff in her past that she hasn't told me about, and I intend to know all about that before things get really serious." Cam grinned, deciding to turn the tables. "So, when are you going to ask Vala out on a real date?"

"What? Who told you that?"

Cam continued grinning as Jackson sputtered and tried to explain that he and Vala were only friends. The dirty tactic changed the conversation topic and let Cam think about what to say to Deanna when he talked to her next.

"Got the pictures. I'd forgotten how breathtaking you were at the wedding. Now that I have them, I can tell the guys here about you. Don't worry. They'll know immediately that you're off limits. Remember when I said I knew some good men? These guys are the best. And ladies, too. Though, if it were up to me, I'd shove Jackson and Vala in a room and lock them inside. Hopefully they'd work out their issues. Well, gotta go. Another briefing, another day. Missing you, Cam."

oOo

Alyssa glared at the computer screen. Deanna had obviously received this email earlier today and responded with a similarly upbeat and sappy email. It grated on Alyssa's nerves. How could someone like Cameron stoop to such depths?

Angry and needing something to do, Alyssa left the greenhouse office and went to the back door of the house. She knew how to pick locks, and she decided to figure out what this woman had on Cameron. She obviously knew something, or he wouldn't cower to her in such a disgusting manner. Men like Cameron didn't deserve to cower. They should be free to do what they wanted.

Alyssa slipped through the house, careful to leave things in the kitchen and living room undisturbed. Deanna's bedroom, however, surprised her. She moved around the bed, staring in amazement at all the military men this woman had clearly seduced. It was like a wall of shame! Cameron's picture sat next to the bedside, while another stocky military officer stared from the dresser. A third man, this one older, stood in front of an American flag, all dignified and proper. Alyssa picked up each picture in turn, wondering who they were and what had happened to them. She knew this Deanna was up to no good.

Alyssa couldn't let Cameron succumb to this woman's wiles. He was too good of a man to be seduced by her. Somehow, she would find a way to free him. Then, maybe, he'd see her for what she truly was: his liberator and only soul mate.

oOo

Deanna laughed as she opened the front door of her house. After receiving Cam's email that day, she was grateful he'd called that evening. While he didn't tell her anything about the job, he did tell her about this Jackson and Vala. It seemed the two had some sort of unrequited and occasionally embarrassing bond between them that irritated everyone around them. At least, that's the way Cam described it.

In her bedroom, she stopped.

Cam recognized her sharp breath. "What? What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure." Deanna scanned the room, trying to figure out why she suddenly wanted to run. "Something's not right."

"Tell me about it."

"I'm in my bedroom. Everything is in the right place, but it's not." She shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe I'm imagining it."

"Walk carefully around the room. Tell me if anything is out of place."

Deanna followed his instructions and noticed how the dust had been disturbed on her pictures. "I found it. I think. It's like my pictures of you and Dad have been moved." She sighed. "Maybe I bumped the dresser."

"Maybe." Cam didn't sound happy. "Just be careful. Let me know if you suddenly sense anything like this again."

"I will." She smiled and dropped onto her bed. His concern warmed her heart, and she stared at the ceiling. It was time to email someone else. After she ended the call with Cam, she went to her office.

"Evan, I know you don't hear from me as often as you would like. Life just gets busy. But there's something you need to know. I met someone. His name is Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, USAF. Yeah, go figure. The military runs in the family. Anyway, he was down in New Mexico for a friend's wedding, and we met then. Since that time, we've been seeing each other as much as possible. He's stationed at Peterson air base in Colorado, and it's killing me to have him so far away. I'm in love with him, Ev. I know it, and I just need to find a way to tell him. Given the fact that you're also in the Air Force, I wanted you to be aware of what was happening. Hope everything is going well over there. I know Aunt Paige misses you. I miss you. Looking forward to seeing you on leave in a couple weeks. Deanna."

~TBC