I gaze into his bright blue eyes and for a second I wish that I didn't have to leave tonight. But I gaze away and say; "I have to go." I then start walking towards the plane. It's killing both of us that I have to leave, but we promised that we'd see one another every other weekend. I know that it's an empty promise, but I'll try to see him as often as I can. I'm halfway towards the plane when he shouts for me to wait. I turn back towards him and we lock eyes.
"Stay here and marry me." He calls out.
I don't know what to say. "Why now?" I say.
"I don't want you to go. I love you, damn it."
I stand there for a few seconds before I realize that I love him as well. Running back towards him, I embrace him and say, "I love you too, Carson."
He smiles and gives me a deep, sensual kiss. Suddenly a motorcycle roars across the ice rink and penguins start doing the Can-Can.
I open my eyes and groan. Damn, it was just a dream. But a nice one at that. I guess I shouldn't watch Casablanca before falling asleep. And I somehow ended up on the other end of my bed. I really don't want to know how I got there. My alarm's blaring. I grope around for it and slap it quiet. I collapse back onto my pillow, hug Commander Bun-Bun closer, and try to drift back into the oh-so wonderful dream I was having before I was so rudely interrupted. It's a hopeless cause. I throw the covers back, half-stand half-roll out of bed and make a face at the sun streaming through my windows. I'm not a morning person (if you couldn't tell). After showering and dressing for the day I exit my room and head for the cafeteria (or as Lydia and I have come to call it, "the experiment lab"). Ick, it's Friday. Don't get me wrong, I love the weekends; you can sleep in and walk around kind of grungy and people don't care because they're doing the same thing. But today's the start of the boot camp for all the newbie's. Which I am part of. I grab a tray and make my way down the line. I see that they're serving biscuit's and gravy today. Normally I love the stuff; can't get enough of it even though my dad says they can clog your arteries by just looking at it, but now it just looks like some you'd give the dog for breakfast. Don't get me wrong, I know how hard the kitchen staff works to make and serve the meals for us; I worked at a restaurant during college. It's just that I don't know how they can turn something I love into something I don't and I now get all those MASH jokes about army cooking. At least our head chief isn't army; I've actually gotten to know Alex quite well in the few weeks I've been here. She's even given me the dish on most of the gossip in Atlantis. Anyhoo, I skip the biscuit's and gravy and just pick up a glass of milk and a bagel. I snag a window seat, there's something about the ocean view that I just love, and start to eat.
"Hey, how's it going?" Lydia says sliding into the seat across from me. We've taken to eating together whenever we're not busy.
"Not bad." I reply. "Had a really nice dream."
"About Carson?" she asks, digging into her Lucky Charms. I don't know why we keep getting those kinds of cereals; you'd think that who ever stocks us would supply Raisin Bran or healthy stuff like that.
I feel my face heat up and she grins. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Hey in my defense it was quite romantic."
"Uh-huh." From her tone I can tell she's not convinced.
"It's true. I watched Casablanca last night, so it was one of those 40-ish romantic movie type dreams." Hey, wait a minute. Why am I defending myself to the person who did an impromptu rendition of 'Sweet Transvestite' in the middle of a department store? I don't care if she got a standing ovation from the snack bar as security led her out, that's just not something a normal person would do. But who am I to talk about what's normal? I'm the only one in the family who still watches cartoons.
"Yea, fure, whaefer." Lydia says through a mouthful of Charms.
I just roll my eyes and give up trying to convince her that the dream was completely non-sexual.
"Are you going to teach over on the mainland?" Lydia asks with an empty mouth this time.
I shake my head and say, "Nope. I talked about it at length with Dr. Weir but she said that the Athosians still don't really trust us and bringing up the suggestion of someone from the Expedition teaching their kids didn't seem like a good idea. I'd still like to visit the settlement while I'm here; get a feel for their system of teaching." I then glance at my Powerpuff Girls watch and see that is quarter to eleven. Dang, I must have set my alarm later than I originally thought. "Aw, crap." I say, standing.
"Wha'?" Lydia asks, quirking an eyebrow.
"I've got that newbie boot camp in 15." I say.
She just smiles and laughs. Gee, that makes me feel that much more confident about this weekend. "I had to do that when I arrived. Have fun."
"Whatever." I mumble. I quickly clear my tray and exit the cafeteria. Ok, now I have 10 minutes to get to the Gate room. Which is about halfway across the city. I'm so gonna be late. The only way I can see getting there in time is to use the Ancient transporter. Which I haven't used yet. There's just something about being dematerialized that sets me on edge. Well that and the fact that I'm slightly claustrophobic (thank you mom for giving that to me). I make my way to a transporter which is just down the hall from the cafeteria doors and I stare at it for another five minutes trying to work up the nerve to get in, and which leaves me with 5 minutes. Oh well, it's now or never. I step forward and the door slides open almost soundlessly. Taking a deep breath I step into the small transporter and study the map of Atlantis. 4 minutes and counting. I want to make sure I know where I'm going. 2 minutes 30 seconds. I don't want to end up in an unused or undiscovered portion of the city. A minute left. Pressing the spot where I want to go I see the door swishing shut and I close my eyes, hoping for the best. The next thing I know I hear the doors opening. I slightly open one eye and see that I've arrived in one piece. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and exit the transporter. 10 seconds to spare. I enter the Gate room and see that I'm not the only one to get there just in time. There are about 60 "newbie's" in the Gate room, milling about waiting for it to begin. I catch a glimpse of Elizabeth in her office talking with a slightly stocky man with short brown hair and I see two kids in the office as well their faces down, so I can't see them. One of them reaches for something and I see that it's crayon so I assume that they're coloring. Before I can learn more John starts speaking so I turn my attention to him.
"-learn over these three days might actually come in use during your stay here on Atlantis." He says. "Today we're gonna head on over to the Alpha Site for target practice and give those who have never gone off world some experience." John then turns to a techie and says, "Dial it up."
Wait a minute, hold the phone; we're going off world? I was barely able to handle the transporter, I don't think I can handle going through something way bigger. As the Gate starts to light up I feel my breath start to catch and realize that I'm on the threshold of a panic attack. Ok, chill Max. It's no big deal, just relax. Think positive thoughts; like how cute Carson is. Think of his accent, those bright blue eyes, his smile, of the dream you had last night. Breathe in deeply and slowly, breathe out slowly; in, out. In, out. In, out. I start to relax and find it easier to breathe. I reach to the back of my jeans and place a hand on my back pocket to reassure myself that I had brought my inhaler with. Wouldn't want to have an attack off world and not have it with. I feel it through the fabric and that puts my mind at ease about that. I'm still not to hot about going through the Stargate.
"Hey you alright?" I hear someone ask me.
I turn to my left and see a guy around my height with crazy brownish-blonde hair, blue eyes and wearing thin wire framed glasses. From the scruffy beard, I guess that he hadn't shaved in a few days, but it works for him. I nod and say, "First time going through the Gate."
"Ah." He says, smiling. God, are all the guys here on Atlantis drop dead gorgeous? "Don't worry, you get used to it. Logan Cale. Cybergenetics."
"Max Wainwright." Cale. Hmm, that name sounds really familiar. Where did I see/hear it? Damn it, my mind's drawing a blank and yet I know that name from somewhere. Aw, frak it, it'll come to me later.
"I had a friend named Max back in Seattle." Logan says. "So, Max, what do you do here? You don't look like a science person and since it's mostly that crowd I'm guessing that you're military."
I laugh. Me military. That's a good one. "Nope, not military." I say once the laughter has subsided. "I'm actually the new kindergarten teacher."
"Oh, sorry." He says, a faint blush starting to appear.
"That's ok; most people don't even know that the SGC is starting a school here." I say as the Gate springs to life with a 'kawoosh'. My eyes go wide as I stare at it. Dude, that is so cool; it looks like a giant shimmering puddle. I wonder if you get wet when you go through it. John and the other instructors go through first and everyone else starts heading towards the puddle. "I guess that we should follow them."
"Ladies first."
"Age before beauty."
"I'm 30, how old are you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know." Sometimes it helps to be born on Leap Year Day. "Besides if you've done this before, why are you with all us newbie's?"
"I used to work for the SGC and went through the Gate there on a regular basis. I just recently transferred to Atlantis." By this time we're just in front of the Gate and I hesitate. Logan must have picked up on my fear, because he said, "Don't worry; it's like a roller coaster."
Um, ok. A roller coaster that can dematerialize you and transport you however many light-years away instantly. He smiles and I almost melt. He steps forward and I watch him become enveloped by the shimmering blue. I take a deep breath and step through. The next thing I know I'm stumbling forward from the unexpected force, lose my footing, and tumble into someone. We go down the platform together, roll past people and come to a stop a few feet from the Gate. I finally get a look at who I stumbled into and see that it was Logan. And he's now on top of me, inches from my face. Oh. My. God. My face must be turning five different shades of red right now. My heart's pounding and we lock eyes for a second before we realize that people are staring at us.
"Sorry." He says and quickly gets off of me. I'm at a loss for words right now, so I just nod my head and struggle to stand. Logan offers a hand, but I'm too mortified right now to take it.
"I'm fine." I manage to say, finally standing. I run a hand through my hair, smoothing it down, and turn away from Logan. Not even off world for a minute and I manage to make a fool out of myself. Well hey, now people have something to talk about when we return back to Atlantis.
"You alright?" John says, coming over to where we're standing.
"Yea, just had a rough landing." I say, my face heating up even more. I didn't know that was even possible. The few people who had seen the entire thing just look away and to hide (unsuccessfully) their smiles.
John just gives me a strange look and walks away. "We'll be dividing you into groups. Some of you will head over to the target range, some'll head over to the compass course; where you'll play military 'Hide and Seek' with a few tweaks, it'll be explained to you once you reach the course, and the rest of you'll head over to the indoor range. Listen for your name. The first group will be going to the outdoor range with Stackhouse." John then rattles off twenty names, including mine. I cast a silent prayer to the author thanking her for not putting Logan in the same group as me. He's in the group that's going to the compass course. After the last name's been called out, we follow Stackhouse for a few miles out to where the range is. But before we start shooting, he has us put on safety glasses. Then the lesson starts. On a table there are two types of guns; one that looks like a 9mm and the other that's bigger and slightly bulkier. Picking the 9mil up, he starts to explain how it works. My uncle had been a cop in Chicago; he was the one who taught me how to handle a 9mm. He then picks up the bigger gun (P90) and does the same. After that we pick up either a P90 or 9mm and start practicing. I got handed a 9mm so I make my way over to a station, load the gun and raise it, getting ready to fire.
"Your stance is wrong." A voice says behind me.
I jump and turn around, lowering the gun as I do. "Do you want to get hurt?" I say, angry. You never do that to someone who has a loaded gun. Then I see that it's Logan and my face instantly heats up again. I thought that he was going to the compass course. "What are you doing here?" I ask.
"John put me in the wrong group." He says. "But enough about me; let's talk about what you're doing wrong." He puts his hand on my shoulders and turns me around. "You're feet are too close together, they need to be apart just a bit more." I just nod and do as he says. He then moves closer to me and my heart starts to pound. "Now lower your shoulders…." He says, putting his hands on top of mine and guides them up. "Relax…put your hand on the trigger…" he releases his hands and steps back. "and fire." I squeeze the trigger and the gun fires. Not bad, I glanced the left shoulder. I fire a few more times before reloading and improve slightly each time; it's almost like riding a bike. Logan takes the space next to me and fires the gun, hitting around the same area almost every time. Huh, so there's more to this guy then meets the eye. We hike back to the Gate for lunch and then after a bit we hike back to finish the target practice. We take whatever gun we weren't using before the break and I find that I like the P90 better, more fire and a scope (however small it is). It starts to get dark and then Stackhouse calls for us to stop firing. We'll come back in the morning and do the compass course. I manage to make it back to Atlantis without tumbling into Logan or anyone else and am so tired that I just fall into bed without turning on the lights or even changing into my nightclothes.
A/N: Since today's the 200th episode of SG I felt like celebrating by posting two chapters. I really do have a PowerPuff Girls watch and still use it, I met my ex-boyfriend by tripping onto him, and my uncle really is an ex-Chicago cop. Casablanca is one of my favorite classic movies and I have to admit that I have a that type of dream about Carson. I can't help it, he's just soooooooo cute. I'm hopeless. According to 'Retribution!' Techie really did do a rendition of 'Sweet Transvestite' in the middle of a department store as well as getting a standing ovation from the snack bar. And after talking with her, I have to assume that that really did happen. Oh, and I do still watch cartoons on Saturday morning. (Fairly OddParents Rock!) Review at your leasure. Lydia belongs to BiteMeTechie and everything else except Max belongs to the people who own SGA.