Chapter Ten

That morning, hours before Nicole stepped through the Stargate . . .

There was always an eerie silence to space that Nicole somehow found oddly comforting. She knew others would probably find it strange how she could sit on the rings of Saturn, devoid of air (not that Qs need air), for hours on end without the slightest inkling of fear and yet the thought of travel through the Stargate chilled her to the bone. She shivered just thinking of it. This was different, she told herself as the felt the bright colors beneath her warm her skin. This was not some machine splitting apart her molecules to reassemble them on the other side. What if the tiny pieces of her got lost along the way and Teeny had to find them all and put her back together? True, as a Q she wouldn't die and wouldn't feel any pain in the process, but she would still prefer to have all of her molecules stay the way they were assembled.

She sighed and watched as a small meteor floated by, leaving in its wake a stream of brilliant white light, but the joy she used to find in the calm was curiously absent. There was a time when she would come out here to be alone or to think and make decisions. It was the very same spot she had made the choice to become human the first time – the time when Daniel had asked her to consider it. But that time was drastically different than this one. At that time she hadn't already been human for nine months before and this spot had soothed her enough to make the hard decision. The effect was obviously not the same this time.

After a few minutes, the Q had made up her mind to leave and was just about to do so when there appeared a bright light next to her. She turned, but instead of the short blonde Nicole had been expecting, a tall woman with long wavy brown hair stood quietly next to the red head, her arms folded as she glared defiantly down at Nicole.

The small red haired woman snorted as she got to her feet and dusted off her jeans, even though it was a useless gesture – dust from Saturn's rings could only be flashed off of clothing. Folding her arms, she raised her eyebrows and greeted the other woman distastefully, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Susie Q?" It was completely obvious by her sarcastic tone that the unexpected arrival of the woman was unwelcome.

Susie Q, so named because her name had been Susanna so many millennia earlier, scoffed at the younger woman's question. After a few moments regarding the red head, the woman replied in a sickeningly sweet fabricated tone, "Is that any way to greet your stepmother, dearie?"

"You're not my stepmother. In order to still be my stepmother, you would have to be married to my stepfather. Last I checked, that hadn't happened."

"Oh do be realistic, Nicole. Just because I left him doesn't mean we've divorced."

"You left him eons ago, Susie Q. How do you think your son has managed without you? Oh, wait, you wouldn't know that because you haven't even been around to visit him!"

Susie Q's eyes flashed as she stepped closer to the shorter woman intimidating. "Don't you dare judge me, you ungrateful little brat. You have no idea what it's like to be the mother of a Q."

Rolling her eyes, Nicole took a step back and changed the subject. "What do you want?"

Shrugging, the older woman answered with a smile finding its way onto her face, "I thought I could help you make your decision. I mean, I'm the only person you could trust to make an unbiased assessment of your situation."

"Unbiased?" Nicole laughed and replied in a cold voice, "You hate me, Susie Q. I hardly think your opinion would be unbiased."

"Hate you? Oh no, I don't hate you."

"But you want me gone, don't you? For me to become human again would be a dream come true for you, wouldn't it?"

"Perhaps, but I think you're already leaning toward leaving anyway. You just don't know how to tell your sister. Am I correct?"

Nicole sighed and nodded, looking back out toward the stars and blinking back a few tears. "I'm all she's got. If I leave her, how is she going to take it?"

"She'll be a better Q than ever, I think."

"What?" Nicole turned back to glare at Susie Q through narrowed eyes.

Susie Q laughed a cruel laugh and gave Nicole a look that exuded disbelief mixed with a little bit of pity. "Dear girl, don't you know your sister exhibits all the qualities your father himself holds so dear?"

"Stepfather," the red head corrected. "And what are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know, qualities like self-awareness and determination. Athena was the best specimen out of the four of you. Corin and Ariana ran away to get married and you . . . well, let's face it, girl, you've always been more human than the rest of them. It just took you longer to realize it."

"Is that meant to offend me? Because you know how much I respect humans for all they have accomplished with their limited abilities."

Susie Q shrugged. "Take it as you will. I only mean to tell you that you don't belong among the Q. My suggestion is that you take this opportunity to get out while you can. Athena will understand."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"How would it benefit me to lie? Come on, Nicole, you know it's not in my nature to lie. The truth is far too much fun."

Nicole nodded glumly and turned once again to the twinkling stars. "That's true. You've always been one to tell the truth – hurtful as the truth may have been." She sighed and turned back to the older woman, but there was no sign of anyone else beside the red head. "You never were one to stick around either," Nicole muttered before she snapped her fingers and left in a flash of white light.

About five minutes after Nicole stepped through the Stargate . . .

Her blue eyes still full of surprise, the blonde Lt. Colonel sank into the chair beside the desk Nicole had been sitting on when Sam had found her. Sam didn't know whether to wait here for the Stargate to flare to life again or trudge upstairs to tell Cameron that his girlfriend had definitely left the building. Sensing that she should give it a little while longer, the woman stayed, feeling it would be premature to leave before she knew for sure Nicole would not be returning the same way she had left.

She didn't have long to wait. The Stargate once again flared to life, the stream emerging from the ring narrowly missing the woman in the room, and Nicole materialized out of the water-like event horizon with a smile that practically covered her entire face.

Her curls flew as she spun around in a circle with her arms spread wide, twirling from sheer delight. "That was amazing!" Stopping her spin, her green eyes finally came to rest on the blonde woman still sitting at the desk. "How could you let me not try that?"

Sam smiled, finding her friend's enthusiasm infectious. "I always thought you'd figure it out eventually and try it yourself. If I pushed you, I knew you wouldn't ever do it."

"True," Nicole agreed before perching herself onto the edge of the desk and looking down at Sam. "So I think I've made my decision," the red head told her friend softly. "But I still want to talk to Cameron before I make it official."

"Well, that's convenient. He's in the backyard last I checked."

Nicole gave her friend a puzzled look. "The backyard?"

Sam nodded, laughing a little at Nicole's expression. "Yeah, we were looking for you."

Bursting out of the back door onto the porch, the excited red head caused the brown haired, blue eyed man in the yard to jump slightly before he turned around. She laughed loudly and hopped into his arms, the force of her jump pushing the man over onto the grass, their laughter reaching the ears of the woman of the house. Unnoticed by the two outside, Sam leaned against the open doorway and watched the as the happy scene unfolded before her.

"Cameron, I went through the Stargate!" Nicole shouted her good news cheerfully, pinning him to the ground with a suffocating hug.

Grinning from ear to ear, the man hugged her back and rolled them both over so that he was smiling down at her. Leaning down, he planted a sweet kiss on her mouth and ran a hand over her unruly hair. "You went through the Stargate?" he whispered in her ear before standing up and reaching a hand out to his disheveled girlfriend.

Nodding furiously, Nicole grasped his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up next to her boyfriend. "Yeah, and it was awesome!"

Cameron laughed and stroked her cheek lovingly. "I knew you would love it."

As they stood face to face and their eyes locked, Nicole suddenly began to think clearly and remembered there was still a decision to be made, one that she thought Cameron knew nothing about. Her smile slowly began to fade, and she took his hand as she led him to the back porch. Sam took this as her cue to shut the door and move her view to the window, shutting out most of the sound.

Cameron followed his girlfriend dutifully, his own smile disappearing into the recesses of his face. Both sitting on the back steps at the same time, they were silent for a moment before Nicole began, "Cameron, there's something I should tell you."

He nodded and squeezed her hand lightly. "Is this the part where you tell me your sister has offered you the chance to return home?"

Taken off guard a little, Nicole regarded her boyfriend in bewilderment, as if she thought he had somehow read her mind. Then realization struck, and she shook her head in amusement, chuckling softly. "Teal'c told you."

"Yeah . . . that's okay, right?"

Nodding, she replied quietly, very much aware that they were being watched from the house, "Yeah, saves me the trouble of telling you."

"In that case, I have a question for you."

She shook her head and laid a hand on his chest, physically telling him to stop talking. "No, don't ask me if I've decided what I want yet . . . I haven't quite made up my mind. But I am close, if that helps."

Rolling his blue eyes in mock disapproval, he smiled and played with a stray curl distractedly. "Not really . . . but that's not the question I wanted to ask you."

"Really?" Nicole asked, arching her eyebrows, very curious as to what her boyfriend was talking about. "Then by all means, ask away."

Without another word, Cameron dropped to the grass, one knee planted firmly in the green growth beneath them. Nicole's eyes grew to the size of saucers as she realized what he was doing and he reached into his pocket to pull out a small velvet box. Just as she began to shake her head in disbelief, he snapped it open, revealing a delicate platinum ring with a small diamond resting atop it.

Having difficulty breathing, Nicole closed her eyes and drew in several deep breaths before opening them again and asking slowly, "You're proposing to me . . ."

Cameron cleared his throat and replied, "Uh, yeah, that's what's happening . . . thought it might go over better than this." He closed the lid and went to put the box back in his pocket.

"Don't put it away!" Nicole said quickly, her hands reaching for the illusive object. "I want it!"

"You do?" Cameron replied, his face lighting up again in a huge smile, his eyes sparkling.

She nodded fervently, a huge smile spreading over her face at a remarkable pace. "It's just that, well, nobody's ever proposed to me before – I was a little, well, shocked."

"Understandably so. But you want the ring?"

Repeating her previous nod, she answered in an eager tone, "You know, in addition to a lot of other reasons," he smiled and nodded, and she went on, "I was seriously considering staying here because I know I won't find this kind of love anywhere else . . . and I decided I would rather live as a mortal for however short a time we have than spend eternity without you."

He leaned over and pulled her to him, kissing her soundly. "So you'll marry me?" He asked, knowing it was just a formality.

"Yes!" Nicole once again leapt into Cameron's arms, the result being the same as before – it sent both of them flying backward into the grass, only this time they didn't have as far to fall. When they landed, their lips were locked in a passionate kiss, from which they only paused long enough for Cameron to slip the ring onto Nicole's finger.

Inside the house, Sam smiled triumphantly at the couple in her yard, feeling a small amount of pride in her little participation in the event. After all, she did help Cameron pick out the ring earlier that day before they came back to the house to look for Nicole. Wrapping her arms around herself, she beamed at the red head when she finally turned to see the blonde watching in the window. The newly engaged woman waved her left hand at Sam, who merely nodded in response.

Just then, a pair of strong, comforting arms wrapped themselves around Sam's midsection, and she leaned into the embrace. Jack leaned down and kissed his girlfriend's neck gently, producing a shiver up and down her spine in response. When he raised his head and followed his girlfriend's line of vision, he noticed the couple outside, running about in the yard. Every now and then, one would catch the other, which would result in a lot of kissing.

"He proposed, didn't he?"

Sam nodded and replied softly, "Yeah."