Chapter 22

2034

These days Grace recalled all too vividly why she hadn't bothered with getting a PHD at first. She liked working in the lab about as much as she liked working in the field, but pouring hours upon hours over formulating sentences that would eventually make up a piece of academic writing was tedious work and as she stared at the screen she couldn't help but admire her brother for going through this exercise with flying colours. This thesis would take years to write and the prospect alone made her feel suffocated.

After about three hours of staring at the holo screen, she switched to another document and started typing up the report she'd have to hand in within the next couple of days. That wouldn't take an hour, but she was glad for the distraction. And then it would be high time for the next pre-mission briefing.

Her team, along with SG-3 were going to help the people of Larsa establish a settlement on Langara. Despite the Jaffa had finally bailing on the Larsans, the latter had decided to give settling the abandoned planet another shot, and people from the SGC would help. They would have to go there in a sort-of undercover mission, but in return, the Larsans would share some of their yield with them. It wasn't an entirely bad plan, but Grace doubted the IOA would let them keep doing this for long. Getting a people settled was one thing. Constantly working in an area that might come under attack any moment and breaking a well-established treaty was another.

But apparently the data which Carter had brought back from the Tok'ra had swayed the IOA's opinion and they were willing to take a minor risk in helping one people set up a mining operation in neutral territory. In thirty years or so they might even start talking to the Furlings again.

Maybe.

But who was she to form plans like that?

With a sigh, she finally turned off her computer and decided to get some coffee. Yes, that probably wasn't the worst of ideas. Some coffee, maybe even a bit of cake. A bit of a sugar rush couldn't be so bad when you were trying to be productive.

Once the elevator doors opened in front of her, she spotted her brother heading for the cafeteria and talking animatedly to Josh. It was still something she hadn't gotten used to: seeing her brother in those green BDUs. Somehow it'd been easier to get comfortable around Josh in these things. Seeing Caleb with a gun on that mission to Larsa, well, that had been even more disconcerting.

"Hey!" she called after them, hurrying to catch up. Upon seeing her, Josh raised one eyebrow.

"You look exhausted," he commented, making her shrug.

"Thank you. You've always been exceptional at giving compliments, Josh."

"Well, I try." He grinned at her and as they lined up at the dessert counter, she couldn't help but remember those days when they'd been at school together, waiting in line and for lunch.

She picked up a piece of apple pie and reached for a mug, Caleb took a while selecting a tea bag and Josh went ahead to grab a table. Sometimes she wondered if things had changed that much since then.

"What were been talking about?" she asked when she'd sat down with them. Somehow, despite the fact that they were all well in their twenties by now, she couldn't help thinking of them as the boys. She'd probably keep thinking that until they were all ancient with a dozen grandchildren each.

Caleb stirred his tea with the bag and shrugged. "Apparently the trip to the dig site in Italy is being postponed," he said. "Antigone did a sensor sweep of the surrounding area and didn't find anything else of interest, so they don't think there'll be anything of value left for us to find."

"And by anything of value they mean another Zero Point Module of course," Josh said with a roll of his eyes. Well, that ought to be frustrating. Had the two of them remained employed by their universities, they might have been allowed to keep working on that dig site.

"And by they," Caleb added, his voice so low only Grace and Josh could hear it, "we mean Dad and the other militaries in charge."

"Caleb…" Grace said warningly, unable to hold the scolding out of her voice. She'd thought this debate was over.

"Just saying…"

"You know he can't be seen favouring you," she muttered, recalling those first miserable weeks under her father's command as she realised it would be years and years until she could even start hoping for a promotion with him in charge. Well, she'd come to terms with that. He wouldn't be in charge forever.

Caleb sighed again, looked up and froze for the fraction of a second. Grace didn't need to turn around to see who had entered the cafeteria. Caleb's face only assumed that particular look of horror and pleasure when Lucas turned up. Those two really needed a good, long talk.

"There you are," Lucas said, sitting down next to Grace and nodding at Josh and Caleb.

"Me?" Josh asked, his mouth full of cake.

Rolling his eyes, Lucas turned to Grace, his elbow on the table. "Miller wants to talk to us. Apparently our team's going along on that mission to commemorate the Asgard."

"We are?" Grace asked incredulously.

He shrugged. "Come on," he said, shoving her plate towards Caleb with the barest smile. "You finish that, okay?"

What the hell was going on here?

"You look like a dork," Josh muttered, once Grace and Lucas had left the cafeteria.

"Would you please stop commenting on how people look, Josh?" Caleb hissed through gritted teeth, barely keeping himself from looking at the cake which Lucas had placed in front of him. That twinkle in Lucas' eyes had left him more unnerved than a punch in the gut might have done. He pulled the tea bag out of his mug and let it fall on Grace's plate.

"Geez, lighten up, please. It's unbearable how he rattles you. Just go up to him and kiss him senseless already."

Caleb nearly choked on his tea, the hot liquid burning in his nostrils as he snatched up a napkin and pressed it to his face.

"Not a big secret, you know? That you like him?" Josh said calmly, leaning back and sipping his coffee.

Still coughing and fighting for breath, Caleb did his best to ignore the stares from the Marines three tables over and shook his head. "No, I didn't know," he said, realizing this was the first time in a while he admitted he had a thing for Lucas. And who could blame him, really? He'd known him forever, they'd almost kissed once, and Lucas was just about the most handsome man Caleb had ever laid eyes on. But still. "Thanks for telling me," he wheezed, wiping his face with another napkin. "I'd better get back to work."

Josh groaned. "Don't be like that."

"No, seriously. I still have to catalogue…stuff."

"Sure… stuff. I can tell you have a PHD."

Caleb bit his lip, picked up his mug and got up. This whole conversation wasn't exactly helping in picking up his mood. Quite to the contrary: this little talk was surely going to haunt him for the next couple of hours and make it even harder to face Lucas again. They were colleagues. Whatever feelings Caleb may or may not have, giving into them was out of the question. "Please leave it be, Josh," he said. "Please."

Josh bit his lip and nodded after just about three seconds of studying Caleb's face. "Okay," he said. "Sorry."

"I'm surprised your parents are so in love with them. My mom and dad never read these books," Lucas said, turning the last of seven volumes over in his hands. "I've no idea why. He will read anything."

Well, your dad is a bit weird sometimes, Caleb thought, as he sat down next to his friend. But that seemed like a rude thing to say, so instead he said: "My uncle didn't read them either, and he's British."

"British being the perfect excuse to read these?" Lucas grinned, his teeth flashing as he said so. He was a couple of months older than Caleb, but since Caleb had last seen him, he'd started to appear older somehow. Maybe it was the military haircut, or the way the muscles in his arms were more defined than before. Caleb couldn't be sure.

"I don't know. I always thought this was why my mom is into them." Caleb shrugged and picked up the sixth volume. He liked reading these books, he really did, he just had no idea why his parents were still so obsessed with them. It must be one of these inside jokes they often shared between them.

"You're not?" Lucas asked, his tone almost incredulous. "I mean…"

"Come on, we all know the plot, we've all seen the movies. It's nothing special."

Lucas scoffed, put the book back on the bedside table and lay back. He'd only just started attending Air Force Academy and Caleb was home for the Christmas holidays of his first semester in Chicago. They hadn't seen each other in months. Things ought to be the same, but they were weirdly difficult, weren't they? Not that it was harder to talk to each other, or to enjoy each other's company. It was just… this weird tension was unnerving and it was something Caleb wasn't sure he wanted to dive into.

He'd flinched when Lucas came into his room to say hello and found him pouring over the seventh Harry Potter book. Seeing that smile, those bright blue eyes, had made his insides churn with an urge he'd never felt before. An urge to hug Lucas, pull him close against his chest and… and what?

Swallowing hard, Caleb lay down next to Lucas. Downstairs he could hear the television as his parents watched that ridiculous black and white movie for the umpteenth time. Grace was out with Torren… Teyla and John were visiting old friends in Colorado Springs for the holidays, and Grace had jumped on the opportunity to drag their son off to the park. They were alone.

And Caleb hadn't failed to realize that Lucas had closed the door behind him. Just the flicker of a smile in the corner of his mouth, and the door had fallen shut. With a soft click that resonated in the room, but Lucas pretended not to notice.

Or maybe he hadn't.

Sometimes Caleb wasn't quite sure about the things Lucas noticed and didn't notice.

They'd talked briefly about their holidays, about their lives, but somehow they had failed to come up with new things to talk about. And now they were both lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, their arms accidentally touching.

If Caleb had a mind to, he could just stretch out his fingers and touch Lucas's. Did he have a mind to, though?

He cleared his throat, ready to ask what Lucas's plans for New Year's Eve were, when the brush of warm skin against his fingertips sent a jolt through his entire body, basically freezing the words on his lips.

Turning his head, he found Lucas looking directly at him, those light eyes boring right into his. They were such a stark contrast to his dark skin, that they would have stood out, even if they weren't the only thing Caleb wanted to look at right now. He took a breath instinctively and placed his hand on Lucas's cheek. He'd never done this before. Well, maybe when they were kids, but he couldn't remember if he had. All thought seemed to have drained out of him as Lucas shifted to lie on the side and casually put a hand on Caleb's stomach. Were Lucas's fingers trembling? Or was it just his own skin tingling that made him wonder about this?

"Caleb," Lucas said, his voice much deeper than usual and the sound made Caleb shiver. What the hell was going on here? Caleb didn't know, all he did know was that he wanted Lucas to lean in. He wanted to feel those lips on his, feel that hand trail up his body and cup his cheek.

"Lucas, I-" Caleb began, his thumb stroking the soft skin, but he broke off, unsure of what to say. He wanted more. But was that a good idea?

He took a deep breath and started sitting up, desperate to meet those lips, to feel more of this warmth, of this tingling.

And then the door burst open and Lucas flinched away, sitting bolt upright as Grace's voice echoed through the room. "Oops! Sorry! Mom says the scones are ready!" And then Grace ran off again, leaving the door wide open.

A/N: I know this was a short one, but the next chapter will be up tomorrow (I hope). I've been itching to write this flashback and now seemed like the perfect time for it. Hope you liked it!