Bring it all Back
Chapter 10
No Boots
The Clava Thessara thing is hitting full speed. Landry's sent word from Washington that if there is the manpower, they need to follow up on the Daniels' leads. He doesn't relate this to the Wonder Twins because he doesn't need both of them getting swollen heads, but it does mean that he has to listen when they come to him about anything. They've finally got their parking spot, but now they're working on a separate office space and it was hard enough to get them separate dorms.
He sits across from her in the cafeteria, her boots nudging his a bit and he feels like he's back in high school. She's trying to convince him to paint his guest bedroom purple. "I just don't think it's a good idea."
"You need a little more boldness in your life." She reaches forward and snatches a tangerine from the upper corner of his tray.
"Yeah, I think I got my full fill of bold." The peels litter straight onto the table and he begins collecting them back onto his empty plate.
"You also need to eat more fruit." She pulls the tangerine, ripping out the white core, and sets half on the table. "You never eat enough fruit."
He sends her a sly smirk while she pops the first slice of fruit into her mouth with a happy grin, her boot traveling higher, nudging at his knee, and he's about to growl something low and suggestive to her, when a Daniel plops down on either side of the them. Daniel Two notices their backs straighten out. "Hope we're not interrupting something."
"Not at all, darlings, I was just suggesting that Cameron get a bit more fruit in his diet." She slips another slice between her lips and grins again.
"Well sorry to interrupt your riveting conversations but—"
"—we have a problem."
They tell him that more often then they say good morning. When he answers an off-world walkie call he knows they're going to tell him they have a problem, if they say it's a little problem it's usually it's worst than he expects. "I'm getting real tired of hearing that."
"I'm sorry, Mitchell."
"Are we making you do your job?"
Glances back to Vala, and she's stolen back his half of the fruit. "Just tell me what you want."
"We have to return a text that the elders on P3X-033 were nice enough to let us borrow."
"With the stipulation that we return it in exactly the same condition we borrowed it in."
"Okay, well that sounds like a fun afternoon for you guys." Grips the sides of his tray, now littered with the remains of a tangerine.
"Oh, it would be." Daniel Two rests his hand on the tray keeping him in place.
"Except Landry wants us in on the conference call with the IOA and Washington to explain the importance of the Clava Thessara Infinitas." Then Daniel one turns beside him to stare at Vala.
"So someone else is going to have to—"
"Oh no." Shakes her head as she wipes her hands clean of any tangerine juice. "Why do I always have to clean up after you two?"
"Because you don't really do anything else around here?" Second Daniel points to First Daniel in agreement.
"Hmmm, well it's not like I have an entire library of Goa'uld to translate." Which she does, 'rescued' artifacts and texts found buried in various tombs and ruins. "I can't go anyway, Teal'c is still aiding the cyclone planet."
"What does that have to do with—"
"This isn't exactly a two-person job."
"Buddy system, darlings." She gulps down the rest of her water bottle leaving her tray in place as she stands. "No off-world excursions unless you have a buddy present."
"Well I'm sure that—"
"—We could fine you some willing private you haven't tortured enough with—"
He slams his tray into her abandoned one catching everyone's attention. "God if you two go away right now, I'll go with her."
The Jacksons weren't wrong about the hike. Once they get through the portal they arrive in the middle of a huge meadow littered with different types of flowers and knee-high grass. The sun is bright and high in the sky, and the wind a little humid.
"This is beautiful." She adjusts her pack, it's not that full because this is supposed to be a short trip, but she insisted on bringing it anyway in case they found anything interesting. "Do they have places like this on Earth?"
"A lot of places on Earth look like this." Pushes through the grass until they find a thin, weaving dirt trail leading into the woods. Apparently, they have to follow it through the mountain for about two hours before it forks and takes them into town.
"Someone's in a sour mood." Hears the crunch of her footsteps as she rushes to catch up with him. Her shoulder steering him off the path.
"Vala, not now."
There's a few more footsteps and the sound of cicada-like insects whistling from the trees. She trudges on beside him and her voice is steady and stern, "we're going to be walking for the better part of five hours there and back, Cameron."
"So?"
"So, we can either talk about what's got you in this snit, or we can not enjoy ourselves at all today."
There's more silence between them, the rustling of a cold wind through the trees and the sun ducks suddenly behind a cloud shading the entire meadow. They're almost at the treeline. "We had plans for today."
"We did."
"We were going to pick out the color for the guest room."
"We were."
"And now we can't because we're running errands for the Grady Girls."
"Who?"
"I'll explain it to you later."
"Explain it to me now, Cameron." Moves forward as he holds the branches of a thistle bush out of her way. "You volunteered us for this expedition."
Follows her and immediately doesn't like that she's first into the woods. Her high ponytail swings over her deflated pack, it's a bit hypnotizing and it almost makes him disclose that he ruined their Friday night plans because of his insecurities.
Luckily, he doesn't have to because a deep boom of thunder effetely ends their conversation. She stops short and his front slams into her pack. She's staring upwards at the now dark gray through the canopy. "That didn't sound to welcoming."
"Yeah, it didn't." Pushes her forward with a flat palm on the small of her back and before they move from the spot, the first fat drop of rain hits the back of his neck.
They manage to walk for about another half and hour before the downpour starts, but once it starts it hits hard. Mud starts rolling down the mountain side and they're soaked through before they make it three steps. The wind picks up whipping leaves and branches. They both start stumble and finding shelter becomes a priority before they slip and fall off the rocky ledge.
The mud is fast, faster than the rain and it sneaks up on them from a groove in the mountainside they've been using to hold themselves up. The rain is like being stuck under a showerhead, it's burning his eyes when he chances opening them, still seeing her dark figure scaling the side. It drowns him, water in every breath, and when his hand slips against the side of the rock, she somehow inherently knows because there's no way she can see behind her, and no way she can hear his fumble.
Through the rain she grabs a strap on his pack and slings him back against the rocks, they stand huffing, dryland drowning, but grinning like wet idiots from what he can see. There's a flash of lightning overhead and she squeezes tight against the boulders, he follows with a hand on her pack.
But then the thunder cracks after the lightning strike, right above them and the ground shakes. She doesn't slip but isn't quick enough and the mud covers her boots in a heavy current. He slams into her back again. Watches as she struggles to move her feet but the mud is rising and it's rising fast.
"Cameron." She has to shout to be heard, and the panic is clear even through the din of the rain. Her legs flail and wobble but the suction is too great.
"It's okay." Crouches on the balls of his feet trying to figure out a way to get her boot free, maybe if he diverts the flow, but when he searches for a branch or something to act as a dam he fines the rain has washed everything into the treetops below. The same way she's starting to lean.
She snaps off her bag and holds it out to him. "Here."
"I don't think this is strong enough to divert—"
"No Cameron." Shoves the pack against his chest and teeters to keep upright, she's siding towards the edge. "The book is in my bag, you have to get it out of the rain."
"And leave you?" Water runs over his eyes, his cheeks, into his mouth, the wind is cold.
The ends of her hair drip, her eyelashes clump and cry. "I'll be right behind—"
Slings the bag around his back and pushes her in towards the rocks. "Like that's going to happen."
"You are so hard to please." She bends at the waist, rain pouring over her back, hair dipping into the mud, and to him it looks like she's trying to touch her toes, but through the sheet of rain he can see her fingers working at clasps, at the laces on her boots.
Another crack comes from above them, from the top of the mountain, and there's another burst of mud flowing their way, taking down trees and shrubs in its path. "Vala."
She yanks at the tongue of her boot and tugs on her leg, wobbling to the edge. "Honey," says it with more panic just as she wiggles her feet free. He plucks her up from her buried boots like he's rooting a tree and falls back holding her.
The mudslide covers her boots as they cough against the water and one final crack leads to the ledge they're on collapsing toppling them over the mountainside.
They manage to survive without too many injuries. In a quick thought he yanked her on top of him, hugging her head to his chest, and then tried to ride their packs like a sled to the bottom. He took a hard rock to his thigh, his bad, already aching thigh and they have a few cuts and bruises but nothing requiring immediate medical attention.
Coincidentally, there's a large gap in the rocks where they slide to a stop, he taps her hip and she bounces up, tugging him by the arm and into the cave. The rain bursts like a solid white sheet once they're inside. His thigh seizes up, the muscle knotted, and he drops the packs, his hand clasping along his scar.
"Cameron?" She pads beside him, her clothes and hair dripping water and leaving a trail of her movements and helps him sit down against the rock wall. "Are you okay?"
"Just my thigh." Tries to be reassuring, but she's not buying it. Her foot kicks over his pack and slides it underneath his leg which dissolves a bit of the pressure. "Thanks."
She hooks her barefoot through one of the loop straps of her own pack and drags it inwards. "Do you want any of the pain relievers?"
About to tell her to save them, but she's already handing him two, with a bottle of water. This is one of those questions she asks when she doesn't care about the answer, like what color he's going to paint the guest room. She pushes them into his hands until he sighs, loudly, and then takes them. She pulls out the text wrapped in plastic and examines the damage. "How is it?"
"Not as waterlogged as it should be. A few damp pages though." She carefully folds the plastic back around it and situates it in the bottom of the pack. "Do you think the storm will let up soon."
"It should, I mean on Earth it doesn't rain that hard for that long."
She doesn't answer. Instead they both stare at the white wall of water.
He falls asleep, the fearless leader, concerned boyfriend that he is, and when he wakes up it's still raining just as hard. The sound reminds him of thunderstorm season when he was younger on the farm, how they would blow in through the day and roar all night long.
The sleeping bag, the one from his pack, because she didn't pack one, is zipped open and thrown around him, but he feels her shift beside him. Reaches for her and finds her skin ice cold, her body in tremors. "Jesus, you're freezing."
"It's just my feet, darling." The words come out clipped from her clacking teeth. Turns her sideways a bit so her feet aim towards him and he tucks them underneath his legs to warm up.
"Has it let up at all?"
She shakes her head, her pale skin still holding a few of the cold raindrops.
It stops an hour before sunset. She fell asleep this time, sitting between his legs with the sleeping bag blanketing them both, her hair just starting to dry and her skin just starting to accept his warmth. He wakes her, and when she stretches in his arms, he runs a hand along her spine, rubbing away any lingering stiffness.
"You still want to make the trek to the town?"
"If we don't, it may ruin any ties the Daniels have made." She slides her bag back on, but hangs her BDU jacket, still damp, off one of the clips.
When he stands, his thigh isn't the worse, but it's not not hurting. They make a slow pace down the dizzying path towards the fork in the road and start toward the village with the sun gone.
The book is returned without a hitch, although the elders aren't so happy about a few of the waterlogged pages, he and Vala don't really give a crap because they didn't almost drown in the deluge, which is apparently common for this time of year on the planet and they 'should've know better'. The elders don't offer a meal, or a room, or her any shoes, so they set back off into the woods armed with a lantern and their scattered directional abilities in the dark.
"You know, I was mad at the Jacksons for not asking me to do this." He's on his second round of pain relievers and it's getting harder to trudge in the dark when he doesn't know if where his feet fall is even and hard or soft and bumpy.
"You wanted them to ask you?" She's taken to holding the lamp back a little so the light falls between them instead of solely in front of her, so he can catch better bearings. It's going to start to cramp her arm soon, and her feet must be killing by now.
Thinks about offering his boots but they're about four sizes too big for her, and the added room might cause her to fall more. "Everyone thinks I'm too old."
She gasps and whips around and he catches himself before he runs into her this time. "You are not to old, darling, you're too important." Her hand, still cold, touches the side of his face and bugs start to circle around their lantern. "You set us all up and keep us from tumbling, you keep us in our proper places."
"It sounds like I'm awful." He takes the lamp from her moving in front and stretching his hand back for her to hold. If the rest of the team were here he might make them make a Kindergarten chain.
"Not at all." Grasps his hand in both of hers and follows his footsteps serpentining around bigger rocks and branches. "It takes a strong man to put his team first, to lead with the patience and humor you have."
"I'm not humorous."
"You're plenty humorous."
"You want a joke?" He juts the lantern forward lighting up the area around a familiar cave. "That's where we were earlier, only two hours and change to the gate."
But it doesn't affect her, she doesn't complain or request a break or talk about how much her feet ache. She just shrugs and holds his hand tighter. "I hope you're not considering this our excursion for the month."
Every month he tells her to think of something she wants to do on Earth, and if it's within their realm of possibilities, then he'll take her. They've gone to a carnival, gone to a paint night at a restaurant—she was much better than him, and gone camping for the night in his backyard, even with a bonfire before the neighbors called the cops. "What'd you have in mind, princess?"
"I'd like to go to the zoo."
"Why the zoo?"
"I'd like to see the little well-dressed birds."
"Penguins?"
"Whatever. They're dapper little fellows."
They forget to look for her government issued boots in the mudslide. Don't remember until they're halfway through the meadow and can see the gate glimmer in the moonlight. She's itching wildly at a mosquito bite on her arm.
"If you don't stop scratching it'll leave a scar."
"I can't help it." She stumbles over a dip in the dirt path and takes a few steps to right herself. "It's so itchy Cameron, help."
Her hand fists the material at the bottom of his still damp jacket. The summer night was humid, but the winds are starting to pick up again probably signalling another storm. She holds her arm out, and he marks an 'X' over top of the bite with his fingernail. His dad always told him it was a way to drain the poison, but he thinks the whole thing rides on the placebo effect. "Better?"
"Better." She starts walking on the balls of her feet, heels without the actual shoes, and he doesn't know if they're going to fight the Jacksons or fall asleep first.
After they make it through the gate, they head straight to medical, the usual blood tests and health checks after an off-world mission followed by some sort of hot mixture they both have to drink to kill anything fungal or bacterial in the rainwater.
Lam tests out his thigh and the pain tolerance, while Rix helps Vala with her feet. They're both sent with minor pain killers, and a mandatory grounding for the next three days.
They climb into her bed, because her bedroom is closer and tend to each other's injuries. She sits between his legs, but facing him, one leg tucked beneath her and the other in his palm. He massages the bottom of her feet, fingers sliding over the blisters she formed on the hike. One of her fingers traces the scar and then works the muscle, prodding deeply over the skin.
She laughs at the as the Cat-in-the-Hat looms behind a child with a baseball bat and he still mulls over what a purple guest room would look like. "Hey, when did you start being able to pick colors for the guestroom."
Picks up that mischievous grin for him and rolls over so her head is resting on his only slightly aching thigh. She presses her lips to his skin, and his muscle stiffens again, but for a different reason. "When you started letting me."