BDUs. Jess was standing wrapped in a towel sorting through her bag. She'd taken a shower after Cam left and was looking for something to wear for the day. Since she hadn't been home yet, she was limited to the standard issue this and that that the SGC supply officer had distributed to all surviving crew members when they reached the base. In other words, black and green BDUs.
Jess suited up in what she had and looked at the clock. It wasn't even 0900 yet. Cam wouldn't be back for at least another 8 or 9 hours.
"I'm going to go nuts," she said to herself.
She packed her things back up, before returning to the living room. Jess surveyed her entertainment options. There was TV, a fairly extensive collection of DVDs, and a Playstation 2 complete with the requisite sports and Doom-style games.
Jess opted for a refill on her coffee. While in the kitchen, she peeked in the fridge and found about what she was expecting; left over take out in various stages of decay, a surprisingly diverse assortment of condiments, a half empty gallon of expired milk, and beer. This was definitely the pad of a confirmed bachelor who wasn't home very much.
Coffee in hand, Jess returned to the living room and planted herself on the couch. TV it would be.
Cam checked his watch again. He had been hoping to leave a little early, but Daniel's briefing on the International Oversight Authority was running long. The information was relevant to the overall operation, but had little to do with SG1. Cam did his best to focus, but his impatience hadn't gone unnoticed.
Daniel stopped his lecture, "I'm sorry, am I boring you?"
"No," Cam sat forward and flipped through the file in front of him. His teammates continued to stare him down.
"What?" he asked.
"Perhaps it would be best to continue this discussion at another time," Teal'c recommended. Truthfully, he'd heard more than enough for one day too. He was just better at hiding it.
Sam agreed. Overruled by the rest of his team, Daniel closed out of the presentation on his laptop and started to pack up his things.
"Good, well I'll see you all tomorrow then," Cam re-checked the time. It was almost 1700. If he called in the order he could be home, food in hand, within the hour.
Sam followed Cam out of the meeting room and down the hall, "So how's Jess?"
"O'Connor?" Cam choked on his answer, caught off guard by the question.
Sam gave him a puzzled look, "Daniel said you gave her a ride home last night."
"Oh, yeah, I did. She's fine," Cam tried to play it easy, but Sam wasn't buying it.
He stopped at his office to drop of his files, and Sam followed him in.
"Want some advice?" she offered.
Cam was going to play dumb, but one look at Sam told him that would be useless. She had him pegged.
"Yeah, I could use some of that," Cam admitted. Sam was the one friend who might actually understand his situation.
"It's not easy is it," Sam smiled softly. She had plenty of experience trying to balance her role on SG1 with personal relationships.
"No, no its not," Cam agreed. "When you were dating Pete…"
"That was different," Sam cut him off. "Jess is part of this operation, she has a perspective that Pete never did."
"That other perspective is what has me worried," Cam confessed. "You know she's been earmarked for the Odyssey?"
"I heard," Sam confirmed the rumor. At her level, she was well plugged into the gossip network. Jess' assignment meant she'd be deployed for months at a time, just like on Prometheus. That kind of assignment wasn't exactly relationship friendly. "You'll work it out if you want to."
"Wanting to ain't the issue," Cam shook his head. "At least not on my end."
"You don't think she wants too?" Sam was confused.
"Let's just say she plays her cards close to the vest," Cam acknowledged his inability to read Jess. Even after last night he wasn't sure if they were on the same page.
"Just be honest with her," Sam advised. "And be patient."
Cam nodded his agreement to Sam's sound advice. When it came to Jess, patience was definitely key.
Jess heard the door open and paused the video game she was playing. She got up and went to help Cam with the food.
"Save the world today?" she asked, taking the bag full of dinner from Cam and heading for the kitchen. She was starving.
Cam looked at the TV and saw which game Jess had been playing, "Nope, you?"
"Twice," Jess smiled, quickly picking up on his reference to the game. "And your refrigerator too."
"My fridge?" Cam hurried into the kitchen and opened the appliance's door.
"Sorry, I had to. Things were growing legs in there," Jess laughed at the distraught look on Cam's face as he surveyed his now leftover free fridge.
"Some of that stuff was still good," he pouted.
"For what, one of Sam's experiments?" Jess teased.
Cam grabbed two beers, thankful that at least those had survived the apparent cleaning spree. He opened them both and handed one to Jess.
"See if I leave you alone at my place again," he said sarcastically as he took a drink from his bottle.
"If you think that's bad, wait till you see what I did to your sock drawer," Jess quickly sipped her own beer to cover the smile she couldn't hold back.
Cam stared open mouthed at her, "You're kidding right?"
Jess just winked at him, and turned to unpack the food before she lost it. She would never have been so invasive as to go through his drawers, but it was fun watching him squirm.
Cam came up and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Funny, very funny," he said, taking the opportunity to kiss her neck.
Jess twisted around in his arms. Her eyes were full of laughter as she gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"Plates?" She half asked, half commanded.
Cam took the hint. He pulled out plates and silverware while she finished unpacking the white cartons of rice and spicy beef with vegetables.
"I've got news for you," Cam said as they both dished up there shares of take out.
"What's that?" Jess asked.
"A rumor about your reassignment," Cam watched her for reaction as they sat down at the table to eat.
"The Odyssey. My whole squadron is to report tomorrow morning at 0800," Jess took a bite of her food.
"How'd…" Cam found himself stunned for the second time since getting home. His source had known what but not when.
"I checked my messages. They want us up and running before any more teams go through the gate," Jess explained.
"Makes sense," Cam couldn't hide his disappointment. He'd been hoping they'd have more time together before she was re-deployed.
Jess just shrugged. She'd been hoping to be reassigned quickly. Too much down time after a tragedy like Prometheus wasn't good for moral. The faster her team could get back at it, the better.
"In that case, why don't you just stay here again tonight," Cam cautiously suggested.
Jess adamantly shook her head no.
"I've got to go home," she explained. "There are things I need to pick up, and I'd really like to see Maggie and Joe before being re-deployed."
"We could take a drive after dinner so you can do what you need to do?" Cam was undeterred. "You'll need a ride into the base tomorrow anyway."
"I called in a few favors and got permission to keep a car on base," Jess blocked his second attempt. "Besides, I don't think it's a good idea for us to make a habit of coming and going from the base together."
He couldn't argue with her on that point. They weren't breaking any rules, but it was still a delicate situation. The gossip mill was already saying enough just based on them leaving together last night. No need to fan the flames.
Jess glanced up to try and gage what Cam was thinking. All day long she'd been mulling over what to do. If she let herself, she knew she could easily fall in love with him. She was already half way there. What she wasn't sure of is how he felt about her.
"Tell you what, why don't I drive back here after I'm done at home?" Jess spoke more to her plate than to Cam. "That way we'll have our own cars in the morning."
"If that's what you want to do," Cam tried to be nonchalant about his response, his expression betraying what he was really feeling.
Jess smiled to herself. Some risks were worth taking.
Once home, Jess spent some time catching up with Maggie and Joe, and set about getting the things she needed. She hadn't brought many personal items with her on Prometheus. There was no need to. The Air Force supplied all the necessities, the crew was always in uniform, and cell phones, credit cards or cash were useless. After all, it wasn't like crew members could run out to Target for shampoo or catch a movie at the cinema while off duty.
She just needed to grab a few personal items. Basically, there were just some things that Victoria's Secret did better than the U.S. Air Force. She'd lost most of her collection on Prometheus, but she packed up what she had left and vowed to splurge on new things the next time she was on leave.
She also took the time to change into something other than BDUs. This would be the last chance she would have for a while to wear jeans and a comfortable sweater.
Things in order, Jess headed back to Cam's place as planned.
Cam answered her knock on his door.
"That was quick," he said taking her bag from her. He dropped it next to the couch.
"Not much to it," Jess remarked as she closed the door behind them and wandered into the living room.
"Jeans?" Cam observed her change of clothes, not that he was complaining.
"Got to take advantage while I can," Jess shrugged. Her answer put a wily smile on his face.
"Exactly," he agreed. Cam used the belt loops on Jess' jeans to pull her to him.
"Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell, just what exactly do you think you're doing?" Jess playfully questioned.
"Taking advantage while I can," Cam smirked, turned on by the way she used his rank and full name. He leaned in to kiss her, but Jess resisted.
"Is this the only reason you wanted me here tonight?" She pretended to protest.
"Mmm," Cam bit his lower lip. "Will I be in trouble if I say yes?"
Jess' eyes twinkled with amusement.
"Definitely," she said in a way that let him know 'in trouble' was exactly where he wanted to be.
For the second morning in a row Jess woke up wrapped in Cam's arms and not much else. She checked the clock and saw that it would be another hour before the alarm went off. Just as she'd done the day before, she carefully slid out of bed. This time she pulled on her own clothes before going to the kitchen to start the coffee. With rule number one adhered to, she snuck into the bathroom to take a shower.
Jess was finished getting ready by the time the alarm clock finally sounded. She went to the kitchen and poured Cam a cup of coffee and returned to the bedroom. Cam sat up as she walked into the room. He gratefully accepted the offering, blowing on it before taking a sip.
"Do you ever sleep?" he asked, perplexed by how she'd managed to beat the alarm once again.
"Sure. I get a solid 4-5 hours almost every night," Jess laughed. She sat on the edge of the bed next to him, with one leg tucked up under her.
"You look like you're ready to go," he observed.
"I just thought I'd get to the base a little early and make sure everything is set," Jess started picking at the comforter. She hated good-byes.
"And here I was hoping I'd get to wash your hair," Cam flirted with her.
"Next time, I promise," Jess blushed at his suggestion.
"Any idea when that'll be?" Cam asked taking another drink from his mug.
Jess shook her head no and picked at the comforter again. "It sounded like we'll be gone for a while. The Odyssey's going to need a good run to get the kinks worked out."
"Hey," Cam gave a little tug on the cuff of Jess' BDUs with his free hand. "This can work."
Jess measured him up.
"I'd like it to," she admitted.
"Good, me too," Cam reassured her but didn't push it any further. 'Patience,' he silently reminded himself of Sam's advice.
"Besides, we'll probably be calling you guys for a ride before the week is out anyway," Cam joked about his team's regular need to be bailed out of trouble.
"Intergalactic taxi service for SG1 is our primary mission," Jess kidded.
Cam chuckled before turning serious again.
"C'mere," Cam gave her a crooked grin that did more to communicate what he was thinking than his words.
Jess leaned in and kissed him.
"Be careful," he advised.
"You too," Jess responded.
The two kissed one more time before Jess got up and left the room. Bogey and Bacall they were not, but it was enough for them.
Cam waited until he heard the door shut before getting out of bed and starting his usual morning routine. There was no doubt in his mind; he was going to miss her like crazy.
