Sam stood in the middle of the gate room in horror. Two of the new recruits were from warring tribes in Africa, and they were now rolling back and forth in the middle of the gate room. She had tried to stop the tousle, but to no avail. Sam was starting to get extremely worried about the ever-growing mishaps that were occurring all over the base. Explosions, fights, lab coats turning pink, the latest shipment of jell-o falling into the ocean, nothing was going right.
Sam sighed and shoved her way back to the middle of the small crowd that had gathered around the fight. She took a deep breath and tried one more time to stop the fight.
"Attention!"
The boys snapped up and saluted, both looking extremely disheveled. Sam paced back and forth in front of them as the crowd dispersed.
"What is going on here?"
One of the Sergeants reluctantly spoke up.
"We were fighting, Ma'am."
His voice was colored with a thick African accent. Sam nodded.
"Yes, you were. I don't want it to happen again. Understood?"
They belted out a sharp, "Yes, Ma'am."
Sam nodded her approval. "Dismissed."
As she watched them go she hoped things would get better before the president arrived.
Teyla sat on the cool pier staring out at the ocean. Kannan was caring for three year old Torren, so she could come out here and relax. Calm her mind. She sighed into the ocean's salty spray. The quiet recesses of her mind weren't as quiet as they used to be. All the time her mind was moving, thinking of how to care for her son, how she could help stop the wraith, so many things simply flowing. She did not have to push the thoughts around, they simply wandered the halls of her mind and refused to be still. Meditation helped when she had time for it. However, when routine missions turned into weeklong stays offworld, and her time was spent with her husband and son, it did not leave her with much extra time. She sighed again, but jumped, stood, and whirled around into a ready position.
Rodney stood before with a very surprised look on his face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were out here. I can go." He pointed towards the city.
Teyla smiled and shook her head slowly and gently. "No, Rodney, you may join me."
He nodded and sat down on the edge of the pier. As Teyla sat down next to him, he glanced at her with curiosity. "So, what are you doing out here?"
Teyla smiled kindly. "I came out here to relax."
There was silence for a moment until Teyla spoke again.
"Why have you come out here, Rodney?"
Rodney looked down at his hands before mumbling under his breath. "It's the anniversary of when I almost died. Well, one of the times. The second childhood. John and I came out here and just talked-and drank some beer. I've come out here every year since."
Teyla smiled. "So this pier hold some very fond memories for you, does it not?"
Rodney nodded, then pointed towards the pier he and Ella had visited. "That one, not so much."
Teyla looked confused but, noticing the tone in Rodney's voice, decided not to press the matter. Instead, she took a deep breath and began to concentrate. She let the noise of the ocean as it swelled and crashed against the pier wash over her and relax her to the core. She barely hear Rodney's breathing over the ocean, but the quiet lull was still there, steadily sounding by her ear.
Rodney glanced over at Teyla. She seemed so relaxed. Why couldn't he relax like that? His life was filled with so much stress, and he tended to take it out other people. Teyla had been through alot, and she had so much to deal with. She probably dealt with at least as much stress as he did. How did she stay so calm, so patient? Rodney sighed and gazed back out at the ocean. Maybe that's what it was. He did feel calmer gazing out at the ocean. It was almost...mesmerizing. Rodney blinked slowly, as if in a trance. The ocean washed up a bit higher against the pier. Rodney continued to stare out at the watery horizon, suddenly feeling very relaxed. The relaxation grew until he was doused by a very large wave. It knocked him on his back and took his breath away. As he sputtered and gasped for breath another wave washed over him, crashing down on the pier. He sputtered again and looked around for Teyla. She had seen the first wave coming and had gotten out of the way in time. All traces of relaxation disappeared as he pushed himself into a standing position and wobbled towards the infirmary.
Rodney hurried down the hallway, leaving a dripping trail behind him. He winced when he heard a young Marine scream as she slipped on his puddle. He groaned and rounded another corner, almost running into John.
"Hey, Rodney, you're wet again. Ella?"
Rodney shook his head, sending droplets flying. "No, the ocean finally turned against me."
John laughed and stepped out of Rodney's way, gesturing for Rodney to continue. Scowling, Rodney stormed of down the hallway again.
Sam stood on her balcony, carefully inspecting the gateroom. It was clean, there weren't any teams in it at the moment, and everything seemed okay. This gave Sam a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach that everything was about to go horribly wrong. She began going over the list of everything that could go wrong. As she thought, she headed to the holding cell. It was the first place her instinct took her. Todd stood in the center of the cell with his hands clasped behind his back. He smiled sinisterly when he saw Sam, sending chills down her spine. She took a deep breath and smiled back. She was sure it was more than likely quite weak, and the wraith could probably smell her fear, but she had to check on him.
Todd watched as Samantha Carter stopped and spoke quietly with one of the Marines. His smile had unnerved her. He smiled again, this time with satisfaction. If bars separated them physically, he would tear at her mentally, eating away at her subconscious. He would torture her until the very thought of him being on the same planet made her sick.
But that would mean losing Ella. Why did he care about the human? She was human, she would never love him. Was that what this was? Love? Was it possible? Could he really feel compassion like the humans? Surely his many years imprisoned by the humans as a collective had driven him mad and made him imagine things. That had to be it. It was simply his mind playing tricks on him. He would not endure hunger and humiliation to see if the human would return a love that was simply his imagination.
He nodded and began mapping his escape route in his mind. He would also need a better plan. No doubt Samantha's nerves would cause her to step up the security measures. Nevertheless, he would have his freedom.
A/N: Sorry, Rodney's just so fun to beat up. I promise I don't hate him. I rather like him actually.
A/N2: Aww, the poor little Toddie. :(