Disclaimer: I don't own anything Stargate related or belonging to MGM and whoever owns everything Stargate. I'm just using the idea, the premise, and the characters to write. I'll be nice and put things back, but they're not mine.
Now, on with the show!
THREE DAYS LATER
Cam hefted the small bag she'd carried with her from her parent's home, carrying the few possessions she cared about. Both she and Kel'an had believed what the man had said about not letting her go back to her parents, but there was that very small part of her that worried now about being sent to an orphanage.
Jacob was crouched in front of her, his hands open and at his sides like last time and the girl watched him look up at the social security worker. As much as she knew that she could easily fight and run from the worker without much trouble, she was still very much afraid.
"The police and social security workers have been told," Jacob told her quietly. "All you'll have to do at the orphanage is show them the bruises that you showed me and they'll let you stay there until the paperwork is completed."
Cam nodded slowly at that, understanding, even as she regretted accepting his request. If all this had to happen before she could stay with him, then she wasn't sure if she wanted to go through with it.
Jacob chuckled softly, and reached into a pocket, drawing something out. "If you feel like you have to talk to me," he said, "then you can call me on this number."
Cam took the object he offered to her, noticing that it was a piece of paper with a series of numbers written on it, the entirety of it written in threes to make the total. She nodded slowly, already sensing the numbers in her memory.
It does not matter if you lose the paper, Camilla, Kel'an told her quietly, quickly. Because of my presence, it is far easier for you to remember what you see, what you feel and what you know.
Cam nodded slowly again, looking up at Jacob and felt her lip quivering slightly. "Do I have to go?" she asked quietly.
The girl certainly wished she'd been born on another world, just to make Jacob's adoption of her easier – she knew that on Goa'uld worlds, there was nothing complex to it, a person could claim a child willingly and there would be nothing more to it. The people of Earth made things almost unnecessarily complex.
When Jacob reached for her, Cam went willingly into his arms, fighting her own reactions as he held her. "I know you want to stay," he said. "I want you to as well, but you have to go for a little while."
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Jacob watched as Camilla kept looking back at him as the social worker gently led her away. In just a few short days with her staying in the house, the prospect of her leaving like she was hurt him just a little.
That little girl held such trust and faith in him that it amazed him how little her own parents had seemed to care for her. The bruises that he'd seen on her arms had lasted the days with him, only just starting to fade and Jacob wondered how much force her so-called father had used on her.
Sighing, he stood and waved at her as the car drove off, waiting until the car had disappeared before he went back inside the house. It was time, while he waited for everything to settle with the courts, to get Sammy's room ready for Camilla.
The girl was young, little really, needing her own space to grow up, not someone else's room, decorated to their liking. Camilla needed her own space, her own room.
It was time for him to go shopping again. A prospect that he hated but knew was most definitely needed.
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ONE WEEK LATER
Cam ducked under the punch that came at her. She was seriously regretting going along with Jacob's offer; bullies, it seemed, were universal no matter the forms they took. Be it her parents or children in her own age range.
I can always take care of them if you want, Kel'an offered as Cam did her best to avoid the blows that kept coming at her.
Shaking her head as she lifted her forearms to block another poor punch, Cam hoped that the people around her mistook her head shake. I thought we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves, she responded, crying out as someone kicked at her right knee.
The eight year old heard it break as well as felt her leg shift to a slightly odd angle and she found herself remembering how Al'ek had looked. It was enough to make her angry. It was also the same knee that had bothered her all those weeks ago when she had run away.
Before she could do anything, she heard raised voices and someone pulling her back and stepping between her and the bullies. Lowering her arms slowly, Cam looked at her 'saviour' and watched as the group of bullies turned and ran from the tall boy in front of her.
Though, she supposed, they were older than 'boy', more like teenager, or adult from how tall they stood. He turned and looked at her, his blue eyes taking in her appearance as he crouched down in front of her, putting himself so that he was level with her.
Blue eyes met as both evaluated the other, taking stock of the appearance. The teenage boy in front of Cam held pale blue eyes and short, sandy hair and a couple of scars that she could easily see at his elbow and one at his wrist - barely even visible to the eyes.
"You okay?" he asked.
Cam nodded slowly, her body tense, wary of him. "I'm alright," she said before she shifted and hissed, suddenly wishing she hadn't moved her right leg. "They may have bruised my knee."
That's a lie, Kel'an commented. Broken, shattered, would be more applicable. By the time any doctor looks to take care of you, the damage will be a lot less.
Cam squeaked then as the boy literally picked her up, holding her in his arms. "Where's your bed?" he asked as he stood up. "I'll take you there so you can rest for a bit."
The Tok'ra host nodded and pointed to the end of the large room they were in. "The people stuck my stuff in there," she told him quietly, waiting until he'd started walking before she looked at him. "What's your name?"
The boy chuckled in answer. "What's yours?" he asked in return.
Cam smiled at that, knowing a deflection technique when she saw one. "You didn't answer my question," she told him.
The boy chuckled as he used his elbow to open the door, kicking it shut behind him. "Funny name," he said. "You have something more conventional than that?"
Rolling her eyes as the boy placed her on the bed, she felt Kel'an quickly masking her pain as he jostled her leg. "Camilla," she told him. "Your name?"
He shrugged a shoulder. "Why were the boys picking on you?" he asked.
Realising that he wasn't going to relent, the girl sighed. "I'm new here," she answered. "I'm not staying long."
He nodded as he looked at her, his blue eyes taking in her appearance again. "Well, they won't do that again," he told her. "Made it clear what'll happen to them if they do."
Cam nodded and watched as the boy stood and made to leave. "Can I have your name?" she asked him. "Please."
He looked at her closely before he reached for a bit of paper and a pen. "If you are leaving soon, you can write to me here," he told her. "My name's on it."
Cam took the paper he held out to her seconds later and frowned at the name. "'G'?" she asked, looking up, only to frown at the boy had disappeared.
Well, mai'tac, he moves quietly!
Cam felt her eyes widening at her symbiote's comment and nodded mutely, not entirely sure if she could trust her voice or her thoughts just yet.
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THREE MONTHS LATER, AUGUST 17TH
After just over three months away from Jacob and his home, Cam was more than a little curious as to what the man could have possibly changed about his house. But, with memories of the house that Peter and Sarah – her father and mother respectively – had kept, it didn't really surprise her that only a few, small things had changed.
The orientation of the living room had shifted slightly, as had the dining room and a small library at the back of the house. She couldn't be sure about the upstairs, but the girl was sure not much had changed there either.
As a testament to the friendship of the boy from the orphanage and her own desire for control, Cam barely flinched when she felt Jacob rest a hand on her right shoulder. The man had driven down to the orphanage himself that morning to get her and the girl had loved spending every extra minute with him, even if he was driving.
Her now adopted dad gently nudged her towards the stairs and she smiled, hefting her newer bag up on her shoulder. "Let's drop your things off upstairs," Jacob told her.
Cam nodded and followed the man up the wooden stairs, moving carefully as she bowed her head slightly. Are you alright Kel'? she asked.
She knew that the way things were working out right now, Cam was getting everything she had ever wanted – a loving parent – but it was only now that she was thinking of her symbiote, her dear friend and her own desires.
The Tok'ra symbiote hummed in answer, a smile drifting across Cam's features before it faded quickly as Jacob turned to look at her. There have been few of my hosts that have had good memories of growing up, Kel'an answered. And while you, too, have not had the best start, I find myself relishing in the opportunity to act as my host, young and carefree, safe from the rest of the world.
Cam smiled again, even as she reached the landing of the upper floor. I've never had a real childhood, Kel', she gently reminded her friend, feeling her shift the bag a little more. It will be different for me to experience it than to 'remember' it as one of your previous hosts.
Before either 'person' could talk, Cam watched as Jacob stopped by the door to the room she had spent those first few, precious, days. When the man didn't open the door, the eight year old tilted her head and frowned slightly at him, curious. Jacob chuckled in response and stepped away from the door, gesturing to it with one hand.
"This is your room, Camilla," he told her. "Go ahead."
Cam stepped tentatively towards the door, resting her right hand on the handle before she turned it and opened the door inwards. Startled at the sudden change in appearance of the room, the Tok'ra host took in her surroundings piece by piece.
The last time she had seen the room, it had had mint green walls, the entrance 'corridor' of the room opening out onto the main bedroom while the walls of the 'corridor' had had a white bookcase on the left and a built in cupboard on the right. The room had had posters and books and toys littering the walls, bookcases and bed, many of them space themed.
Now, however, the walls were painted a creamy colour with a dark brown strip – almost the colour of dark Belgian chocolate – along the top of the walls before they met the sloped ceiling. The NASA and various space posters were gone, as were many of the toys and books and Cam found herself looking around the room in awe.
"You like the room?" she heard Jacob ask as she stepped further into the room and over to the bed that lay beneath a slightly ornate window.
The Tok'ra nodded slowly as she turned around, taking in the sight of everything, even as she looked at him, barely registering the white of the ceiling. "You did all this for me?" she asked quietly.
She noticed that Jacob was leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed, even as she heard him chuckle and saw a small smile creeping across his face. "Despite everything, Camilla," he said, "I've only really just started."
Carefully placing her bag down on the end of the bed, Cam moved to her 'father' and embraced him quickly around the middle. "Thank you," she breathed.
Jacob chuckled again and rested his hands on her shoulders, squeezing gently and the Tok'ra belatedly realised it was a form of a hug, one where he allowed her some form of control and she stepped back to look at him, smiling up at the man that had quickly come to mean more as her father than Peter Alma ever had.
"I spoke with Sam while I was getting everything sorted," he told her. "I remember you said you'd turned eight when I met you."
Cam frowned but nodded. With Kel'an aiding her body, keeping her now in top condition, she could easily remember the conversation.
"I remember," she said quietly.
Jacob nodded. "Well," he said, humming as he paused. "Since I adopted you legally, I thought that you might want to celebrate a different day for your birthday." Cam frowned again, stumped by his implications and Jacob sighed, crouching down in front of her, gently gripping her upper arms, so very loosely that Cam was surprised he was even trying in the first place. "I know your biological parents weren't very good and I was hoping that you might want a clean slate to forget about them."
Not that we ever will, Kel'an muttered quietly. But he is offering you something that is more than I would have thought possible of someone who does not know suffering like you and I have.
Cam looked at him, biting her bottom lip. "And if I do?" she asked. "What if I do want to start clean? When would we celebrate?"
Jacob smiled at her then. "I was thinking today," he told her. "Start you off with new memories, good memories. And my other daughter sent some things over that I think you would have liked to open on your birthday."
Cam rolled her shoulders slightly, jostling Jacob's grip on her arms and she stepped forwards, embracing the man again, wrapping her arms carefully – but quickly – around his neck in another hug. The young host was well aware of the strength that Kel'an had opened in her body, remembering the small plastic bottles that had seen her anger at its fullest before either of them had managed to bring her strength under control.
"I like the idea," she told Jacob as he wrapped his own arms around her and stood, holding her against him. "I really like it."
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Jacob watched as Camilla slowly opened the presents that he had gotten her. Sam had sent a few, small gifts and he had already watched Camilla unwrap a notebook from 'her older sister', smiling reverently at the clean, tidy cover.
Jacob knew he hadn't gotten her much. Living on an Air Force General's pay wasn't always easy – and that had been when it was just him – he had done his best to spoil the newest addition to the Carter family, even if Mark refused to do the same.
Camilla looked up at him, grinning from ear to ear at the diary she held in her hands. While Jacob hadn't been one for writing is feelings down like Sammy had often done, he figured that the little girl would want something to write in, get feelings out that she felt she couldn't talk to him about.
That will certainly change, he thought to himself. She's a kid, she deserves to act like one.
He returned her smile, watching as she opened it, checked the small lock and put it carefully to one side, placing it down beside the pens, notebook and a small collection of sweets Sam had sent through. Jacob watched as Camilla frowned and picked up a fairly sizable package – in comparison to what she'd already received – before looking at him.
Jacob nodded at the gift. "It's your birthday gift," he told her. "You get to open it."
He watched as she nodded and carefully peeled it, moving slower and far more carefully than she had with the previous gifts and Jacob bit the inside of his cheek to try and stifle the smile he knew would begin to grow in a few seconds.
He hadn't been able to find anything and had promptly turned to Sam for help, hoping she'd either find something or point him in the right direction. Instead it had been a gift that they'd secretly collaborated on, much like Camilla's bedroom; the colours of the walls had been suggested by Sam until the eight year could pick out her own choice of colours.
After a few seconds, Jacob saw a tell tale round ear covered in soft fur and watched as Camilla's eyes widened almost comically before she pulled the wrapping off, revealing a cuddly toy teddy bear. The fur was a warm, tan colour and the bear had two brown eyes peering at the girl while its paws seemed to rest near the blue bowtie around its neck.
Seeing her reverently stroking the soft fur, Jacob couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, a mirror of Camilla's earlier grin. It looked like both he and Sam had made the right call as the eight year old clutched the bear close to her, burying her nose in the fur with a sound of contentment that Jacob would have sworn came from a cat.
Still smiling, Jacob moved into the kitchen and to the fridge where he'd hidden a small birthday cake for her, carefully carrying it – and a candle and lighter – through to the dining room table. As he set the cake up for her, Jacob glanced at Camilla and forcefully shoved the urge to punch the nearest wall to one side as he saw the confused look on her face, her head tilting slightly as she still held the bear, resting one cheek on top of its head.
I'll make you forget that your parents ever existed, he promised her silently. You're just a kid, a kid who deserves to be spoiled.
Her previous parents would certainly have a lot to answer for if Jacob ever got his hands on them, but he was willing – for now – to put it to one side and just take care of Camilla.
Please, let me know what you all think, too much shmultz, not enough? I've got The Tok'ra Parts 1 & 2 mostly done, so I'm willing to write in parts that go before or after it. Just let me know. I really want to hear your opinions!
Response to reviews:
As always, this is for the Guests amoung us, so here I go:
Cinnamon snaps: I'm glad you liked the previous chapter and I hope that you'll enjoy the rest of the series – if I ever get around to planning how I'll end it all.
I will unashamedly admit here and now that I am laying partial ground-works for a crossover that's been bouncing around inside my skull since a friend of mine hinted at the idea. I've tried really hard here to just leave it at a barely introduced character from the planned franchise just in case I don't go through with it entirely or drop the plot idea. I've made it so it can just be a plain character or something I can expand on at a later date – which I hope to be able to do.
Mini-competition (sorta): Not really a competition, but if anyone wants to guess which franchise I'm planning on writing a crossover-fic for, then please, have a go, it'll be interesting just how loosely I've written this character in. If no one gets who I've nabbed by the next chapter post, then I will give you all a clue.
I know I've rushed through this, so please, let me know if there's anything you want to see happen. I'll either juggle chapters here, or add one-shots to my story list with your ideas. Do let me know. In the mean time, read and enjoy!