They never did get any dinner. They both woke up just as light was beginning to filter through the window slits. It was a soft and almost silent dawn, with only a few sounds drifting up from the waking city. After getting dressed, Cameron went to check on Josh Brady and found him sitting up, legs over the side of the bed and bare feet on the floor, blinking in the dim light.
"How ya feelin' cowboy?" Cameron asked.
"Better," he said. "Starving, in fact."
"Good." Cameron tossed him a pile of desert robes and trousers in dark tans and russets and brown. "Get dressed. We'll go down and get some breakfast."
Cameron closed the door again. Vala was up, dressed in the traveling tunic and pants she preferred, pulling soft boots onto her feet. Her sword was in its sheath and harness, leaning on the wall.
"Is Joshua up?" she asked. Even though he knew perfectly well she had heard every word, he answered, "Yeah. He's hungry."
"He'll attract attention," Vala said, "He's much too obviously 'Northern'. At least, that's how he'll be perceived."
"How much of a problem is that?" Cam wanted to know.
Vala shrugged, reaching for the sword harness and swinging it around her shoulders. "We can cover for him. In the company of Hawk and Raven he should be safe enough. You can claim he's an apprentice."
"An apprentice," Cam repeated, sounding skeptical, his consonants particularly soft.
"Hawk took them sometimes, taught them the ropes."
"Like you."
"Yes, I suppose. Like me." Her voice had that tone, the one that told him she wasn't going to expand on the subject.
Cameron was silent while he put on his own sword, shifting his shoulders until it settled more comfortably, fussing with straps for a moment.
"Okay, so, fine. He's our 'apprentice'," he said finally. "If I'm this 'Hawk' and you're Raven, what do we call him? Robin?"
He was surprised when she barked out a short laugh. "Very cute, but I think we can just call him by his name."
"You actually got that reference?" Cam asked.
"Teal'c and I had a Batman movie marathon one weekend after I first came back. He introduced me to caramel popcorn that time too. Oh, and Jillian's a comic book geek in what little spare time she has. She likes Batman because he doesn't have superpowers. That goes for Green Arrow, Black Widow, and Hawkeye too."
"Well, listen to you, being all up on your superheroes," Cam drawled, giving her a slow and sexy grin.
"You're no Batman, Mitchell," Vala informed him.
But his grin remained and she finally shook her head and looked away.
They were prevented from saying more when Joshua Brady came out of the other room. He had the tunic, trousers and outer robes on mostly. After Vala fussed over him for a moment, he was fine. She studied him critically – a smidge shorter than Cameron but of similar build, blue eyes lighter than Cameron's though not as light as Daniel's, more blue than grey too. He was probably in his early twenties but he had one of those faces that looked like he was in his mid – to –early teens. His hair was too obviously pale blonde and the desert sun would bleach it to white before long. Vala wondered if it could be dyed.
As a precaution she put his hood up and pulled it as far forward as she could.
"Keep that up, Joshua," she said, then added, "if you would. Please."
"Yes, ma'am," he answered, earning him a stern look from Vala.
"Joshua?"
"If you ever call me 'ma'am' again, I will feed you your other foot. Do you understand?"
"Um, yes, yes m— Yes. I understand."
They went down to the dining room, which was just opening up and largely deserted. Word had certainly spread, though, about their identity. They were given preferential seating at a clean table under a window. They all sat down so that they were watching each other's backs and no one was facing the door. They did it without any prior planning, automatically. Mitchell expected it from Vala. She was just that experienced and trained. Cam had never worked with Brady, but the kid's ability to adapt quickly was something he made note of with satisfaction. Mitchell took the seat under the window. With the light coming through, it would cast his face in shadows. He kept his hood up too.
"Sir?" Brady said, after Vala had ordered food for them from the wide-eyed serving girl who had come to their table.
"Yeah?" Cam said.
"Can I ask just what's going on? I've noticed a lot of people acting like they know who you are, starting with the big guy back in the dungeon in Jumah. Have you been here before?"
"Not me," he answered, "but Vala lived here for a while. It's kind of a long story, but I'll give you the details you need…"
Cameron filled Brady in on all the pertinent information. He skimmed some of it because as far as Cameron was concerned, Brady was under his command now. Apparently Brady understood that because he accepted the story Cam gave him and didn't ask any questions.
"So where first?" Cameron asked Vala. Their food had been delivered in record time – being the local equivalent of rock stars was continuing to have its advantages – and they were all eager to dig in.
"Uric seemed to think he had seen two men matching the description of Kaminski and Bishop in the company of a merchant named Namoud," Vala said, attacking a plate of fruit, none of which Cameron recognized.
"Merchant?" Cam said, skeptically, his voice low and dangerous.
Vala shrugged. "Hardly anyone involved in trade in the South deals with only one item. If I remember Namoud correctly he dealt in whatever came his way. If he saw two large, strong men who would fetch a good price he'd take them."
Cameron tried swallowing the drink he'd been given and found that his throat was too tight and dry. It was some kind of cross between coffee and tea, though Vala told him it was made with a root. It was sweetened with goat's milk and honey. Cam usually liked it, but right now he was fighting that same churning in his stomach that he got every time he considered the fate of Bishop and Kaminski.
Brady had been spreading jam on his flatbread but even he looked up sharply.
"Do you think they're still in the city, ma— Um, excuse me, but what exactly should I call you?" he asked, looking at Vala helplessly.
She took pity on him and patted his arm. "Raven will do. Consider it a title if it helps."
"Okay," Brady answered but he looked uncertain. Gamely he tried again. "Raven, do you think they're still in the city?"
"I have no way of knowing. I suggest we eat well, pack up and go see Namoud as soon as possible. Joshua, is there any chance you know how to use a sword?"
"No," he said, shaking his head and then eating half the flatbread in a single bite. He chewed, swallowed and washed it down with the tea. "But I can use a bow and arrow. I learned in Boy Scouts and then joined an archery club. I'm pretty good with a knife too, or a small axe, anything pointy you can throw."
Cam and Vala exchanged looks and then resumed eating. "Can we get him a bow and arrow somewhere?" Cam asked.
Vala seemed to think about it for a moment. "Yes. There is a place that specializes in weapons of all kinds. Archery isn't a common means of defense but it's not unheard of either. We can go there first if you want. It won't do for any of us to go around unarmed."
Cam's head came up sharply. "Why?"
"It's not an entirely safe world, Mitchell," Vala said, as if she was talking to a child. "We only came here because an entire SGC team went missing."
Point taken, Cameron urged them to hurry and finish breakfast.
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