"You ok?" asked Daniel softly as she sat close by him
"Yeah I'm good" replied Sam tiredly, chewing slowly on a food bar "How's your arm?"
"Ok if I don't move it too much" replied Daniel with a sigh "Sure your ok?"
Sam shifted and leaned against him, glad of his presence.
"Yeah"
"Sam..."
"Daniel"
"You know you've been running in Colonel mode for hours now" said Daniel softly
"I know," said Sam wearily, briefly resting her head on his shoulder "It's in my job description"
"You gonna take a break?" asked Daniel
"Think I'm doing that" replied Sam
"You know I'm finding the tittle of Colonel tends to bring out the sarcasm in people," said Daniel, resting his cheek on her head.
Sam allowed herself a smile and took another bite from the bar.
"I learned from the best," she mumbled
"So think we've got far to go?" asked Daniel
"Hopefully not, possibly a good half days walk ahead of us. Hopefully the prior will stay out of our way during that time"
"Yeah I wonder what he's doing here? Not like there's any civilisation here"
"Well we know that because we can send in malps and UAVs. The Priors tend to enjoy their solitary exhibitions. You'd think the Ori would send them only to inhabited planets. Would make sense, if they're so in touch to each other that is" mused Sam
"Perhaps there are natives to this planet, beyond our sweeps" replied Daniel
"Perhaps, or perhaps they are up to something completely different. Either way, at the moment, we can't do anything about it"
They sat silently for some time, and Sam found her eyes growing heavy. She sat up slightly and looked over to Cameron, bringing up her knees to stand. Daniel lay a hand gently on her leg.
"Sam you should rest"
She paused and smiled at him as he cast a look of concern to her, dropping her hand over his softly.
"I'm going to check on Cameron, add some more wood to the fire" she watched as he shifted slightly wincing in pain "And get you some more painkillers"
Giving his fingers a reassuring squeeze, she stood and picked up a few pieces of wood propping them up against the fire. Then she crouched down by Cameron, running fingers over his brow. He opened his eyes tiredly at her touch.
"Hey, how you doing?" she asked
"Just peachy" said Cameron "Except..."
Sam looked at him worried as his words trailed off.
"Cam..."
"It's nothing that can't..."
"Mitchell?"
Sam gave him a stern look mixed with concern.
"Nature is calling" replied Cameron under his breath
Rolling her eyes, Sam gave a sigh and tries to suppress a smile.
"God damn, couldn't have stayed unconscious could I" muttered Cameron
"What, and cause me even more concern" replied Sam softly "Give a girl a break here"
"Yeah well, it's not like you haven't been busting a gut already..." said Cameron
"Look I know you're in a lot of pain, but if we can get you standing..." started Sam
Cameron looked sheepish as he pondered the thought, and Sam found herself being highly amused by the whole predicament.
"All I'm gonna to is prop you by a tree Mitchell, I'll safely leave you to your own devices after that, unless of course you need..."
"Yeah that'd be fine" replied Cameron with swift interruption.
"Ok give me a moment," said Sam, pulling one of the packs closer and searching the contents.
Pulling out the med kit, she took two painkillers out and picked up one of the water bottles, turning and manoeuvring herself next to Daniel who sat not far from her position. He sat, eyes closed, but Sam didn't miss the painful frown settled on his brow as he dozed. She lay a hand on his shoulder to rouse him.
"Daniel, here's the meds" she said, handing him the water bottle and pills as he stirred at her touch. "I'll be right back"
"What's going on?" asked Daniel, wondering where she was heading off too
"Mitchell needs a bathroom break"
Daniel raised a brow and was about to say something, before deciding against it. Instead he popped the pills and took a drink from the water bottle, choosing to keep sarcasm and comments to himself as Sam crouched down by Cameron, helping him sit up. Cameron muttered under his breath and Sam was finding he had a stash of expletives he enjoyed muttering under certain circumstances. She ignored his groan of pain as she braced herself and stood, dragging him up beside her. He bent over in pain and she pulled an arm further about her neck.
"Maybe this was a bad idea" groaned Cameron not missing the look Daniel cast over to him
"When you gotta go, you gotta go" said Sam, propelling them forward with some difficulty as Cameron limped weakly beside her.
"Yeah well, you'd think with broken ribs… crap… and, god damn...and sprained ankle," the rest of his sentence was swallowed up with enough swears to make the marines blush before he sucked in a breath against the pain
"You know Mitchell, after all you've been through, I thought you'd be able to cope with this" said Sam with a smile as they made a small walk across the clearing, the torch jerkily showing them the way as she shone it in front of them.
"Thank you for your concern Doc" groaned Cameron
"Your welcome" replied Sam, as they reached a rather large tree trunk, opposite where they'd set up the camp "Ok Colonel, private restroom as per your request"
"You know, I never knew you were…"
"Mitchell, just shut up and go please" said Sam cutting him off with a smile. "I'll be right over there, just holler when you're done"
She moved off to give him some personal space and turned to look over to the small camp they'd set up. The fire cast an eerie light out about it, and she could barely make out Daniel resting by the tree. The fire looked inviting, and she felt suddenly weary as she stood in the darkness. She ran her fingers along the back of her neck and took the solitary moment to consider their predicament such as it was.
Cameron seemed a little better after the meagre meal. She had doubted the painkillers would help any and she assumed they merely took a little of the pain he was in away. Despite her thoughts on the prior, and having fleetingly thought about staying awake for sometime throughout the night as a lookout, she highly doubted any of them could stay awake for any period of time. They needed rest, her body was aching and protesting at the abuse she'd put it through the past hours. What she wouldn't give for a warm bath and her double bed but she pushed the thought aside. For the time being, getting them home within the next day was all she cared about.
(Thanks for all the reviews, you kind people have been leaving for me. The muse seems to be thriving on them, and I'm really enjoying writing this fic. Promise the next installment will cover somemore of the past rather than their present predicament, keep enjoying and thanks again...Sara Lou xx)