"How much longer, Anderson?" Jack asked when he'd called them all to a stop
for what would probably be the last time that day. It was getting close to
sunset, and the trees were filtering the sun in an almost eerie manner.
"We're close, Sir. I'm not sure how much longer, though." It was a lot harder to judge distances when the last time you'd made a trip you were walking much slower.
Jack nodded, and looked at Mitchell to gauge how she was doing, but she noticed immediately and stood a little straighter. He smiled, slightly, to tell her he wasn't fooled.
"Do we stop here? Or go on?"
"I'm ready to stop." She wasn't worn out, but she was a little tired, and her ankle felt a little tender after a long day of walking. She wasn't in any hurry to continue on.
Jack nodded, "Then we'll stop."
Everyone put down their packs, and looked for the best place to set up their camp in the area. For the first day, Mitchell didn't drop immediately upon stopping. Instead, she told Jack she was going to have a quick look around to make sure she knew where they were. O'Neill nodded, and motioned for Carter to join her, just in case, and the two women walked away, leaving the men to set up camp.
"Are you looking for anything in particular, Colonel?" Carter asked her, looking around, but not expecting any danger.
"Yeah." Mitchell was watching the ground, but realized that it wasn't a very fair answer, so she elaborated. "When I was here last, I wanted to make sure I'd know when we were close – since the area around the pyramid looks a lot like everywhere else – so I made a couple markers."
"What are they? I'll help you look."
"Look on the bottom of the tree trunks, Major. I made a couple of slashes with my knife, and you should be able to see them, if we're close to them."
Sam nodded, and her eyes went to the tree trunks.
The two of them didn't say anything as they searched. There was a time for chatter and there was a time to pay attention to what they were doing, and both of them knew the difference. However, Mitchell was aware that this was her first chance to be alone with the woman that Jack O'Neill had fallen for, and she was tempted to chat her up, just to get to know a little more about her. It would wait, though.
"I think I found one, Colonel."
Melony looked over to where Carter was crouched next to a tree, pointing at a mark that almost looked natural, except that it was slightly jagged.
"Yup, that's one of them." She nodded and came over to run her fingers along the mark. "Good eye."
"Now what?"
"We can go back." Mitchell stood up. "I know exactly where we are, now."
"It all looks the same to me."
"That's because you just got here, Major Carter," Mitchell told her, smiling. "If you spend a couple weeks in the woods, you'll start noticing different trees, and some of them have different characteristics. But I won't bore you with them, and I'm not sure I can explain it in technical terms – since I'm not a botanist – but the trees are different here than they were when we came into the forest, and they're starting to change again. The only ones that are the same, really, are those fruit ones."
That made sense, even though she was right; Carter hadn't noticed any difference at all. A tree was a tree.
They headed back for the campsite, which wasn't all that far away, and saw that the fire was already started, and someone had coffee brewing.
"Nice." Mitchell made a beeline for the coffee, followed closely by Sam.
"What did you find?" Jack asked as he handed Carter a mug. Anderson came over as well, and sat down next to Mitchell.
"One of my markers," Melony answered. "We're really close. Probably less than an hour."
"Should we keep going?"
She shook her head. "It'll be there in the morning, and when it gets dark, we're not going to be able to do all that much anyways."
Daniel looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He could wait one more night. Even when that night was a fourteen-hour one.
"Let's get some dinner, then," O'Neill said, gesturing to Anderson, who was sitting closest to the pack that held the real food. They were stopping a little early, so it was going to be something more than MREs tonight for dinner.
Anderson pulled out various packages of dried rations that only needed water and heating to become a real meal of beef stroganoff and mixed vegetables, and handed them over to Mitchell, who tossed them to Teal'c. He was the designated cook, which was fun for the remnants of SG-2 who had never had a Jaffa cook them dinner before.
Besides, Anderson didn't want to eat Mitchell's cooking, since she could burn water.
~*~
That night, SG-2 took their turns at watches. Both were feeling well enough that they didn't need so much rest, and both had told Jack flat out that they were done be coddled. O'Neill understood how they felt, so he caved in and gave them their turn. Besides, he was getting tired, and looked forward to a few more hours of sleep that night. He left Melony to figure out who had which watch, and enjoyed a relaxing evening sitting around the fire doing nothing.
Mitchell teamed Jack with Teal'c – she had no intention of leaving O'Neill alone for four and a half hours with Brad Anderson. Not after the conversation they'd had that morning, and she didn't feel like trying to answer any more of Doctor Jackson's questions, since the Archeologist was getting a bit antsy about being so close, and had spent the entire evening poring over the notes that he'd received from Mitchell and her team. Knowing that Anderson was a bit more patient about that kind of thing than she did, she put him with Daniel on the middle watch, while she and Carter took the first.
She watched as the others settled into their blankets, and then walked out into the growing darkness. Staring at the fire took away what little night vision she had in the dark, and she didn't want to lose any edge, just in case. It was always 'just in case' when you were on an off-world mission on an SG team. She made a walk of the entire perimeter of the camp, looking for anything that might be a danger, but there wasn't anything, and she'd pretty much knew there wouldn't be.
"Colonel?"
She turned and saw Carter coming over in the dark. The Major was carrying a cup of coffee for each of them, and Mitchell took hers gratefully. Coffee was her life's blood.
"Thank you. Is everyone asleep?"
Sam smiled, although Mitchell didn't see much more than a flash of white teeth in the dark. "Daniel's awake, sitting next to the fire trying to read those notes. I think he's going to catch himself on fire if he's not careful."
"He probably can't read my writing."
Carter laughed and leaned against a tree trunk, standing there as the two enjoyed a quiet cup of coffee. Eventually, though, she decided they might as well talk, if Mitchell was willing. So she broached a conversation.
"I had an interesting talk with Major Anderson today."
"He's an interesting guy," Mitchell agreed, wondering if Jack had decided to use Carter to get more information about Brad out of her.
"He seems to be," Sam agreed. "Lots of brothers."
Mitchell smiled. "And they're all gorgeous, Major."
"You've met them?"
"He takes me home on holiday, sometimes, and they all make an effort to get together then. All tall, all smart, and not one ugly one in the bunch."
Sam laughed again, softly.
"How about you?" Carter asked. "Any cute brothers?"
"I had a brother," Mitchell said softly. "He was killed in action during the Gulf war."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Colonel."
"Me, too. He was a good guy."
"He was in the Air Force?"
"He was a pilot." She confirmed.
"We can change the subject," Sam said. She could hear an odd tone in Mitchell's voice, and since she didn't know the Colonel all that well, she wasn't sure what it was. "I didn't mean to bring up old hurts."
"You didn't. You brought up my brother." Sam could hear the pride in her voice. "When I think of him, I just think of the good things. I got over the hurt a long time ago."
"He knew Colonel O'Neill?" She was beginning to put two and two together.
"Yeah. They were stationed together, and Michael used to bring Jack home for holidays – kind of how Brad brings me home, now."
Sam smiled. "Sort of adopted you, huh?"
"Yeah." She smiled. "And when there's six good looking guys all clamoring for you to come see them, it's pretty hard to say no, you know?"
Carter laughed; she could understand that. She didn't ask any more questions about Mitchell's brother, or about her relationship with Jack. Melony might say she was over it, but there was still a loss, and Sam wasn't going to rub salt into the wound, no matter how half-healed. Instead, she focused on Brad Anderson and his family, and found through the conversation – without actually needing to ask directly - that Mitchell was just as... fond... of her Second in Command, as he was of his Commanding Officer.
By the time the two women went off their watch, though, Melony wasn't the only one who'd given out more information than she'd intended. Mitchell was jut as certain that Carter had some serious feelings for Jack O'Neill, and she'd found out enough about the Major to decide – privately, of course – that she approved, despite regulations.
"We're close, Sir. I'm not sure how much longer, though." It was a lot harder to judge distances when the last time you'd made a trip you were walking much slower.
Jack nodded, and looked at Mitchell to gauge how she was doing, but she noticed immediately and stood a little straighter. He smiled, slightly, to tell her he wasn't fooled.
"Do we stop here? Or go on?"
"I'm ready to stop." She wasn't worn out, but she was a little tired, and her ankle felt a little tender after a long day of walking. She wasn't in any hurry to continue on.
Jack nodded, "Then we'll stop."
Everyone put down their packs, and looked for the best place to set up their camp in the area. For the first day, Mitchell didn't drop immediately upon stopping. Instead, she told Jack she was going to have a quick look around to make sure she knew where they were. O'Neill nodded, and motioned for Carter to join her, just in case, and the two women walked away, leaving the men to set up camp.
"Are you looking for anything in particular, Colonel?" Carter asked her, looking around, but not expecting any danger.
"Yeah." Mitchell was watching the ground, but realized that it wasn't a very fair answer, so she elaborated. "When I was here last, I wanted to make sure I'd know when we were close – since the area around the pyramid looks a lot like everywhere else – so I made a couple markers."
"What are they? I'll help you look."
"Look on the bottom of the tree trunks, Major. I made a couple of slashes with my knife, and you should be able to see them, if we're close to them."
Sam nodded, and her eyes went to the tree trunks.
The two of them didn't say anything as they searched. There was a time for chatter and there was a time to pay attention to what they were doing, and both of them knew the difference. However, Mitchell was aware that this was her first chance to be alone with the woman that Jack O'Neill had fallen for, and she was tempted to chat her up, just to get to know a little more about her. It would wait, though.
"I think I found one, Colonel."
Melony looked over to where Carter was crouched next to a tree, pointing at a mark that almost looked natural, except that it was slightly jagged.
"Yup, that's one of them." She nodded and came over to run her fingers along the mark. "Good eye."
"Now what?"
"We can go back." Mitchell stood up. "I know exactly where we are, now."
"It all looks the same to me."
"That's because you just got here, Major Carter," Mitchell told her, smiling. "If you spend a couple weeks in the woods, you'll start noticing different trees, and some of them have different characteristics. But I won't bore you with them, and I'm not sure I can explain it in technical terms – since I'm not a botanist – but the trees are different here than they were when we came into the forest, and they're starting to change again. The only ones that are the same, really, are those fruit ones."
That made sense, even though she was right; Carter hadn't noticed any difference at all. A tree was a tree.
They headed back for the campsite, which wasn't all that far away, and saw that the fire was already started, and someone had coffee brewing.
"Nice." Mitchell made a beeline for the coffee, followed closely by Sam.
"What did you find?" Jack asked as he handed Carter a mug. Anderson came over as well, and sat down next to Mitchell.
"One of my markers," Melony answered. "We're really close. Probably less than an hour."
"Should we keep going?"
She shook her head. "It'll be there in the morning, and when it gets dark, we're not going to be able to do all that much anyways."
Daniel looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He could wait one more night. Even when that night was a fourteen-hour one.
"Let's get some dinner, then," O'Neill said, gesturing to Anderson, who was sitting closest to the pack that held the real food. They were stopping a little early, so it was going to be something more than MREs tonight for dinner.
Anderson pulled out various packages of dried rations that only needed water and heating to become a real meal of beef stroganoff and mixed vegetables, and handed them over to Mitchell, who tossed them to Teal'c. He was the designated cook, which was fun for the remnants of SG-2 who had never had a Jaffa cook them dinner before.
Besides, Anderson didn't want to eat Mitchell's cooking, since she could burn water.
~*~
That night, SG-2 took their turns at watches. Both were feeling well enough that they didn't need so much rest, and both had told Jack flat out that they were done be coddled. O'Neill understood how they felt, so he caved in and gave them their turn. Besides, he was getting tired, and looked forward to a few more hours of sleep that night. He left Melony to figure out who had which watch, and enjoyed a relaxing evening sitting around the fire doing nothing.
Mitchell teamed Jack with Teal'c – she had no intention of leaving O'Neill alone for four and a half hours with Brad Anderson. Not after the conversation they'd had that morning, and she didn't feel like trying to answer any more of Doctor Jackson's questions, since the Archeologist was getting a bit antsy about being so close, and had spent the entire evening poring over the notes that he'd received from Mitchell and her team. Knowing that Anderson was a bit more patient about that kind of thing than she did, she put him with Daniel on the middle watch, while she and Carter took the first.
She watched as the others settled into their blankets, and then walked out into the growing darkness. Staring at the fire took away what little night vision she had in the dark, and she didn't want to lose any edge, just in case. It was always 'just in case' when you were on an off-world mission on an SG team. She made a walk of the entire perimeter of the camp, looking for anything that might be a danger, but there wasn't anything, and she'd pretty much knew there wouldn't be.
"Colonel?"
She turned and saw Carter coming over in the dark. The Major was carrying a cup of coffee for each of them, and Mitchell took hers gratefully. Coffee was her life's blood.
"Thank you. Is everyone asleep?"
Sam smiled, although Mitchell didn't see much more than a flash of white teeth in the dark. "Daniel's awake, sitting next to the fire trying to read those notes. I think he's going to catch himself on fire if he's not careful."
"He probably can't read my writing."
Carter laughed and leaned against a tree trunk, standing there as the two enjoyed a quiet cup of coffee. Eventually, though, she decided they might as well talk, if Mitchell was willing. So she broached a conversation.
"I had an interesting talk with Major Anderson today."
"He's an interesting guy," Mitchell agreed, wondering if Jack had decided to use Carter to get more information about Brad out of her.
"He seems to be," Sam agreed. "Lots of brothers."
Mitchell smiled. "And they're all gorgeous, Major."
"You've met them?"
"He takes me home on holiday, sometimes, and they all make an effort to get together then. All tall, all smart, and not one ugly one in the bunch."
Sam laughed again, softly.
"How about you?" Carter asked. "Any cute brothers?"
"I had a brother," Mitchell said softly. "He was killed in action during the Gulf war."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Colonel."
"Me, too. He was a good guy."
"He was in the Air Force?"
"He was a pilot." She confirmed.
"We can change the subject," Sam said. She could hear an odd tone in Mitchell's voice, and since she didn't know the Colonel all that well, she wasn't sure what it was. "I didn't mean to bring up old hurts."
"You didn't. You brought up my brother." Sam could hear the pride in her voice. "When I think of him, I just think of the good things. I got over the hurt a long time ago."
"He knew Colonel O'Neill?" She was beginning to put two and two together.
"Yeah. They were stationed together, and Michael used to bring Jack home for holidays – kind of how Brad brings me home, now."
Sam smiled. "Sort of adopted you, huh?"
"Yeah." She smiled. "And when there's six good looking guys all clamoring for you to come see them, it's pretty hard to say no, you know?"
Carter laughed; she could understand that. She didn't ask any more questions about Mitchell's brother, or about her relationship with Jack. Melony might say she was over it, but there was still a loss, and Sam wasn't going to rub salt into the wound, no matter how half-healed. Instead, she focused on Brad Anderson and his family, and found through the conversation – without actually needing to ask directly - that Mitchell was just as... fond... of her Second in Command, as he was of his Commanding Officer.
By the time the two women went off their watch, though, Melony wasn't the only one who'd given out more information than she'd intended. Mitchell was jut as certain that Carter had some serious feelings for Jack O'Neill, and she'd found out enough about the Major to decide – privately, of course – that she approved, despite regulations.