The Virus

Chapter 5

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Once the Colonel had finished setting up his tent he headed back down to see the General. Sam used the time while Cassie was gone to tidy up their tent a little. There was a fair amount of space between their bed and the others but it was getting cluttered already.

Their roommates Tara and Sophie were lovely. One had worked in the infirmary at Cheyenne Mountain and the other was a member of SG-4. Cassie had really hit it off with the other ladies and Sam hoped now that she was less distracted she would get to know them a little better.

"Saaaaaaam!" She had just finished piling Cassie's clothes neatly into their corner when she heard the girl's voice outside.

"Yeeeeesssss!" She called back, mimicking the girl's voice.

"Oh, there you are." Cassie poked her head into the tent her eyes roving over the now tidy interior appreciatively. "Sweet, you cleaned up!"

"Your turn next." Sam told her firmly.

"Of course." Cassie agreed. "Tara and Sophie want to head over to the village for a bit. Do you want to come with us?"

"I think I should go wash." She looked down at her military garb. "-and change." Cassie scrunched up her nose.

"Yeah your outfit isn't very flattering." Sam rolled her eyes. "I'll catch you at dinner then."

Sam chose a pair of jeans and a V necked t-shirt and tugged her sneakers out from the bottom of the bag. She had taken to wearing her military issue boots but they were a pain to get on and off. She found her towel and placed that in her bag along with the clothes. She looked down at her single bar of soap… it might have to last her a long time and she had hesitated in using it thus far. She shrugged and tossed that into the bag too. She tried to tell herself it wasn't because the Colonel was back. But on the walk over to the stream she had to admit she wanted to smell nice and feel human again because of him.

In the first few days on the planet General Hammond had set in place some rules to make things easier on everyone. The stream wound through the forest and they had one section for the women to bathe in and the other for the men. She slipped and slid her way down the little bank to the women's section of the stream and smiled at the sight. The water was cold but clear and clean, and best of all she had it to herself. She and Cassie had bathed here numerous times and had discovered a deep enough spot that they could actually swim a little. She began stripping off her clothes until she was standing at the edge of the water in only her sports bra and panties. She took a deep breath preparing herself for the cold and stepped in. Immediately goose bumps raised on her arms and she shivered the hand holding her bar of soap tightened and the bar almost got squeezed right out into the water.

"Fuck!" She uttered the swear word and then nearly leapt in fright at the voice behind her.

"Swearing now Major?" Her arms immediately crossed protectively in front of her chest and she turned back slightly so that he couldn't see her front.

"Colonel! This is the women's area for bathing." She felt a flush creep up her neck and to her cheeks.

"Nothing I haven't seen before." He responded. "I can leave if you like." She frowned and looked back at the water. She didn't particularly want him standing there watching her bathe, this could get incredibly awkward.

"Uh… Sir… I'd rather…" She trailed off and looked back at him.

"What if I face away while I talk?" She let out a sigh. She could tell him to leave but really she wasn't that bothered by him being there.

"Fine." She waited until he had come down the bank and settled himself on the shore his back to her - facing the tree line. She wondered why he had so brazenly come down while she was half-naked and not even batted an eyelash. "Is everything okay?" She kept walking into the water trying to control the shivers that kept running through her. She was going to have to get used to this cold water.

"I've been talking to the General." She gasped as the water reached her stomach and covered her mouth quickly. Damn him she wished she was doing this alone. She was glad he couldn't see her front as her nipples were reacting to the cold in the only way expected.

"And?" She prompted. "Actually, hold on." She took another deep breath and this time dove under the water into the pool she and Cassie had found. When she rose to the surface she turned to face him and was pleased to see his eyes still remained on the tree line and not on her. "Ok, continue." She began rubbing the soap on the parts of her body submerged and was pleased to find her body was beginning to get accustomed to the temperature of the water and she had finally stopped shivering.

"I asked if he was going to organize a team to begin looking for possible planets for us to use as a new Alpha site… But he said that people needed time to recover." The Colonel sounded frustrated. "So he said not for another few weeks… and going back to Earth was not on the table at all."

"I figured as much." She told him seriously. How could he expect everyone to just jump into motion and carry on with life straight away?

"You did?" She glanced up when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. He turned to face her a surprised look on his face.

"Don't you want to get out there and do something?" He asked her.

"Not yet, no." She frowned. "Turn around!" He rolled his eyes, but did as she told him. "We have all been through so much Sir, I think the General is right. People need a chance to grieve and come around to the idea that in all likelihood we can never go back to Earth." The Colonel was silent so she took the time to tilt her head back and rub soap into her hair and quickly rinse it out.

"I just don't want to sit around on my hands, you know?"

"Just…" She rubbed soap on her face and then dunked her head under again to rinse it. "-treat it like a holiday I guess." He let out a small bark of laughter at this.

"You don't even know how to take a break!" He told her. She smirked. This was true. How many times over the past seven years had he told her to get a life?

"I'm not saying it will be easy." She began making her way back to the shore. "I do think it's necessary though." She sighed. "Well, since you're here… do you think you could hand me my towel?" She stood in the shallow water up to her ankles and held a hand out ready to take her towel. He picked it up and turned to face her. She kept her arms across her chest and her eyes on his. He seemed incapable of keeping his eyes on her face though and she blushed as they lowered.

"Uh… Sir…" She waved the hand she had outstretched to get his attention.

"Sorry," he mumbled and took the few steps to reach her and handed her the towel. She quickly wrapped it around herself and stepped out of the water, tossing the bar of soap in the general direction of her bag.

"You came all the way down here to tell me this?" She raised an eyebrow. His eyes were still not on her face and it was starting to irritate her. "It couldn't wait until dinner?" She tried again. He finally looked up at her. She noted the dilated pupils and a rush of desire ran through her. No, not allowed. Don't. Not good.

"I guess I just…" He sighed and rubbed a hand tiredly over his face. "I don't like letting you out of my sight just yet." She was shocked at his honesty. Very rarely had he admitted anything like this to her. She ducked her head, suddenly unsure how to respond.

"I feel the same." She whispered. "It's strange…" She trailed off. How much she had missed him? How he was her CO and he was standing there in front of her while she stood half naked wrapped in a towel? The whole scenario was bizarre.

"I'll let you get dressed. Sorry for interrupting you." He spun on his heel and headed away.

She shivered from the cold and headed up to her pack. As she dried herself off she tried to figure out what had just happened. She didn't want to make assumptions… Just because he missed her, because he was worried about losing her again and because he had checked her out – didn't mean anything between them was changing. Hell over the years all three things had happened at some point. She supposed the difference was they had both voiced a lot of feelings today. She was mostly worried about the abrupt way he left, she half wished she had stopped him. She wasn't sure she was ready for any serious talks with him though… so the half that didn't want to stop him had won out - as usual. Talking about whatever was between them had been a no-go zone for such a long time that she wasn't sure either of them would ever be able to broach the subject…

TBC.