Notes: Okay, so... I know it's been more than 3 months! I'm so sorry but... I have no excuse. But I did try, so here it is – Grace and Cam in the Ori galaxy. And also sorry about any mistakes, I wanted to finish it as soon as I could so I could post it for you guys. Enjoy.

Gift of Grace

Chapter 12: City Limits

She felt so groggy. Her eyelids were so heavy she didn't want to open them ever again. Even the small amount of light filtering through to her eyes made her head scream for mercy. She slowly became more aware of herself as the minutes dragged on. She knew she was lying down on something very uncomfortable. Felt like a bed but the sheets were scratchy and the mattress was rock solid. Felt like she was back home with Daniel and Nathifa in Egypt.

Then she felt something touch her head softly. She eyes snapped open and her head felt like it was going to explode with the sudden amount of light around her.

She could see brown but it was all a blur. The person had stopped and was staring at her. She let her eyes focus and they came to see Cameron Mitchell, staring down at her with a very concerned look on his face, wrinkling his forehead.

"Welcome back, Grace," He whispered to her and she was thankful for the soft words. She didn't think her head could take much more. She heard some water dripping and Cam lifted the wet cloth to her forehead once again, dabbing at what seemed to be the source of her pain. She couldn't stop the hiss that came from her lips as he pressed a little too hard. "Sorry."

She attempted to say it was no problem but her throat was so dry, she had a coughing fit instead.

It's then that she noticed the other person in the room. She wasn't sure if they had been there before or not. Bringing forward a cup of water for her, she came to see her for a short but very pretty, mature woman. She took the cup but wouldn't take her eyes from this strange woman as she drank from it, trying to figure her out.

"Grace," Cam called to her, seeing her suspicious gaze. "This is Asellina. She's the resident healer in the village." Grace nodded to show she had heard him, instantly regretted it from the sharp pains but still refused to unlock her gaze from the woman. Asellina was either ignoring her or didn't see it. It was obvious enough that Grace knew it must be the former.

"I... we were worried that the evil spirits had gotten too strong a hold on you, dear Grace, and that you wouldn't wake up." Her voice was musical and had a soothing tone to it. Grace distrusted her. The almost frightened look she sent Cam's way was an indicator to that. Cam tried to hold in a laugh at the sight of Grace's reaction to the healer's words.

"Uh, Asellina?" The woman in question turned to Cam. "Do you think you could... you know?" He asked, hinting towards the door and some privacy for the two.

"Of course," She replied instantly. But she had a knowing smile as she said it that Grace found very disturbing. "You have a lovely partner, dear Grace, he hasn't left your side since you arrived over two weeks ago..." She gave the young girl another knowing smile and she couldn't be sure because of her eyesight but she might have winked as she shut the door behind her.

Grace collapsed back onto her rough pillows. Two weeks? She turned her head slightly to look at Cam. The horrified expression told him everything he needed to know about how she was feeling.

He just returned it with a small, sheepish smile.

"We need to talk."

--

It was a few days later when Grace finally got her head wrapped around the fact that they were now stuck on this planet. In this galaxy. With crazy people. The one person she was talking about in particular, Asellina, was cleaning up around her bed at the time when she decided she had had enough of staying cooped up inside.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position, the throbbing in her head flared up at the movement but faded quickly into the dull ache that had been there for the last few days.

"Dear Grace, are you going to be sick again?" Asellina asked of her, instantly coming to her side. Grace started to shake her head but thought better of it and just answered with a quiet no.

"I'm feeling much better now. I would like to walk around for a little bit, just to stretch my legs," She said, already moving to remove the sheets. She hesitated, looking up to the healer. "If that's alright."

Asellina's face told her that she didn't want Grace to go anywhere, especially as her head was still wrapped up tightly in bandages. But Grace's wilful thinking and charming smile disarmed the woman and with a drawn out sigh, telling Grace how much she was actually against it, she helped the teenager out of the bed.

The door slamming sent shockwaves through her mind and both their eyes snapped up to see a very disgruntled looking Cam at the door.

"What's going on here?" He asked, looking rather pointedly at both of them. "Where do you think you're going?"

Her companion is first to respond and quick to defend her.

"I think the young Grace is well enough to go for a short walk, Cameron. If she stays any longer in that bed, I fear she may forget how to walk altogether." His features softened at the obvious but necessary reprimand. He strode up to her side instead and took hold of Grace's arm, helping her stand up.

"I can take her, I know my way around." The following look made Grace question the relationship between these two. There was something behind their stares at each other that told Grace that the friendship they put on in front of her was just a farce.

--

Grace could feel the watchful eyes of her guardian as they wandered around the small village they currently occupied. It was as if his blue eyes could bore a hole right into the back of her head if he stared at her anymore. After the past hour of silence, Grace couldn't put up with it anymore.

"I'm not fragile, Cam," she snapped, turning on him after exiting a tiny shop in one of the dusty streets. She saw his eyes flicker to the cut on her head – she had removed the bandages as soon as they had left the house. She didn't want people staring at her. But obviously, Cameron refused to let her be.

His gaze held concern in it, though and the slight amount of anger that had built up over the day faded.

"Listen, I'm not going to collapse or anything. Not any time soon, anyway. Stop worrying about me." She waited for a response and finally, after a rather pointed look, he sighed deeply and nodded.

"Alright, but only if you tell me when you are getting tired or hungry or anything, okay?" she rolled her eyes rather noticeably but nodded as well and they continued on their way. Despite her outburst, he seemed to unconsciously still watch her every move. The irritation was slowly coming back, but Grace managed to keep it in check.

She considered starting another conversation but nothing felt right after she thought it in her head. And as the silence that stretched on started to become uncomfortable for her, she asked if they could start to head back to the house. Cam jumped on the idea and she had to almost pull him back from running to the healer's home.

Just as they reached the main square that would lead to the house, Grace's gaze was drawn to a man crossing street in front of them. He walked with an obvious limp and had his hood drawn far over his face, as if ashamed to be seen out in public. Images flooded into her vision and stumbling over the curb, Cam caught her, leaving her free to grasp her head in pain.

"I knew this wasn't a good idea. I told you. Let's go." And with that, he half carried her back to the house, with Grace too weak to protest.

All she could think about the whole way down the street was Tomin.

--

The first thing she remembered that morning was the sound of a large commotion outside the window of her makeshift recovery room. There seemed to be a lot of urgent whispers merging together to become an almost buzzing sound, though Grace wasn't sure what exactly they were whispering about.

Despite the headache that had returned from her last episode, Grace pulled the scratchy covers back from her very uncomfortable bed to see out the window. Backs were pressed against the glass and she couldn't see a thing past them. Moving to the door, she hardly had a chance to reach out to open it when it opened for her, and a very agitated looking Cam stepped in.

She could see he wasn't liking the fact she was out of bed and as the seconds went by, and the wheels in his brain turned more, he became even more agitated. He started to try to get Grace back to the bed but failed miserably. Curiosity always won out in the young teenage girl.

She moved past Cam when she heard the faint sound of... screaming? As she reached the door, she realised she should have listened to Cam in the first place and gotten back into bed when he told her to.

Tied up, back to back, in the centre of the town square were two women, screaming and crying but none of the townspeople seemed to hear them, just whispering amongst themselves about whatever it was that was going on.

Even though every pair of eyes was on them, thrashing against their restraints, no one appeared to care that it was human life right there in front of them, begging them for mercy.

"What are they doing?" Grace asked him in panic, and it was then that she comprehended the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. She needn't have asked, though. Her thoughts were answered when the village leader, a tall, lanky man with a large balding spot on his head, tipped the bucket of flaming liquid so it spilled over and down into the pit in which the women were sitting. It quickly surrounded them and their cries became more fervent in their attempts to plead innocence and to become free once more.

Her gaze was fixed on the spectacle in front of her and although she desperately wanted to look away, she could not.

It took nearly half an hour for the women to both burn alive, Grace watching on in shock and helplessness at the door to her house.

The screams had finally dissipated a while back but Grace could still hear them in her mind, echoing until it became a soft background noise she was sure would haunt her for the rest of her life.

The other villagers had trickled away until very few remained. The fire burned low now and soon it would be out.

The last flames were quickly extinguished by the wind and Grace collapsed at the door, sobbing.

--

She lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling later that day. So many emotions were slowly overtaking her, no matter how hard she tried for them not to. She felt pain and more than anything, lost.

Asellina was sitting by her side, anxiously watching her in the quiet room.

"I'm fine," She told the healer and sat up, ignoring the pain in her head for the screaming was still there, and her whole being seemed to be focused on it.

After a while, Asellina left, making excuses for dinner or something of the sort. Grace felt the bed lower on one side and her eyes flickered up to meet Cam's.

The silence consumed them once more. Her gaze moved from object to thing quickly, never resting until Cam put a hand on her shoulder, causing them to move to him again and stay there.

"This is the way things are now. I don't think we'll ever be able to get out of this place and back home again."

Cam sighed, but they both knew it was true.

--