The Virus

Chapter 14

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Authors Note: Just a little chapter this time. It's sort of a lead up to the next chapter which is rather long!

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Two weeks had gone by since she had set foot on Earth. The time had flown by, General Hammond kept them busy with one mission after another and it wasn't until Jack finally put his foot down that Hammond gave them a couple of days break. He had also told Hammond to do the same. The poor man was looking thinner, paler and just altogether older these days.

"Hey Sam," she looked up from the coffee she held in her hands to find Cassie striding between the tents. The girl had lost a little weight since they had arrived here on Palla, but built up muscle. She wore military pants and a black t-shirt with her long hair pulled up into a messy bun. Sam smiled at the sight and waved the girl towards the log beside her.

"What's up Cassie?"

"Amanda was telling me we might be able to move back to Earth permanently. Is that true?" Cassie dropped herself onto the log and stretched her long legs out in front of her, crossing her legs at the ankles Sam noted the girl also wore military issue boots. She was looking every-bit like a young cadet these days.

"It's a possibility." She answered with a shrug. She wasn't allowed to tell Cassie of General Hammond's plans yet. They were planning on moving half of Earth's refugees into the Cheyenne Mountain Complex when it was ready. She knew this could be any day now and excitement at the thought of going home bubbled beneath the surface.

"So that's a yes?" Cassie asked. Sam jerked her head up in surprise. Damn that girl was too smart for her own good sometimes.

"It's classified." She smirked. "But yes, I think we will be. Let's just keep it between us though, okay?" Cassie agreed with a nod and looked off into the distance, clearly lost in her own thoughts.

"Hey ladies," she looked up to find Jack standing over them. "I have some news for you." Sam felt her heart beat speed up. This was it. She was about to find out if they could go home or not, she just knew it.

"What is it?" Sam asked, her voice a little higher than normal. She cringed and Jack quirked an eyebrow at her, his eyes searching hers for a moment to ensure she was okay. Calm yourself Sam.

"Looks like we are going home tomorrow." He ran a hand along Sam's shoulders before sitting down beside her.

"Tomorrow!" She and Cassie both spoke at the same time.

"Jinx," the girl told her with a wink.

"Yes, we have today to pack our things." Jack told them nonchalantly, he would have already dealt with his shock at the speed things were moving.

"How will it work?" Sam asked, suddenly concerned. Things would be chaos… civilians and military personnel all mixed together and living in one place? She knew there was plenty of space in the complex but there would need to be rules set in place, particularly for those who had no military training.

"Ugh," Jack made a noise of disgust. "A whole bunch of rules and shit."

"That's not particularly helpful, Jack." She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. We will be split into three groups. Red, Blue and Green. The three groups will have set times to use the commissary, locker rooms, gym… blah, blah, blah." He grinned over at her, knowing his description would annoy her. She bit back a sharp retort. It was best to ignore him when he was like this.

"I guess we will have to work out the kinks in the plan once we are all over there." Sam mused aloud.

"Will I get my own room?" Cassie asked, her eyes hopeful.

"Uh," Jack scrunched up his nose. "Not exactly."

"They have put up dividers in the VIP rooms, they will be used for families." Sam explained what little she knew of the set up. "Since you are under the age of 25 you will be sharing a bunk room."

"Greaaaaat," Cassie drawled sarcastically. She reminded her so much of Jack at that moment.

"We have our own room." Jack nudged Sam with his arm.

"We sure do." Sam gloated, knowing it would annoy the girl beside them.

"Lucky for some." Cassie answered bitterly.

"It's okay, if you need some space you can always use our room." Sam reassured her, suddenly feeling guilty.

"At least we will have real beds and bathrooms… and food!" Jack told Cassie, he obviously felt a little bad too.

"Yes," Cassie agreed bouncing to her feet. "I am going to start packing right now."

"Oh, I got something for you." Jack fished around in his jacket pocket and pulled out an ipod, the white earphones were wrapped around it. "I have no idea what kind of music is on it." He warned as he handed it to the girl.

"Oh Jack!" She took the ipod and bent down giving Jack a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. "You are awesome. I don't care what the music is, any music is better than none." She disappeared into her tent and Sam placed a hand on Jack's knee giving it a squeeze.

"You are so good to her, Jack." She told him softly and leant against him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "I love her so much, but she is more like you than she is me. You always know how to make her happy."

"You make her happy, Sam." He told her seriously. "She's loved you since day one." Sam thought back to the little girl she had tucked up against her chest in the bottom of a nuclear testing station all those years ago.

"And I've loved her just as long." Sam replied. "I can't believe we are going home, it feels…" she trailed off. It feels what? She didn't know what she felt.

She wanted to go back to Earth… back to the relative comfort of the base. There was part of her that knew it was going to be almost as hard as adjusting to life on Palla, maybe even harder. Life on Palla was new, there were no expectations. They simply used what they had to make their lives as comfortable as possible, knowing that they would not be there forever. Going back to Earth she would have memories of how it used to be, but nothing would ever be the same.

"Strange?" Jack suggested.

"Hard." She sighed.

"I'm not right now." She pulled away slightly and punched him in the arm.

"I'm being serious Jack!" He smirked and looked over at their tent.

"I suppose we should start packing." She took the hint and let the topic drop. She knew he didn't want to delve into thoughts of going home right now. She didn't blame him, it was making her head hurt and her heart ache.

"Yes we should." She agreed and stood up, reaching a hand down to help him to his feet.

TBC.