Authors Note: I went skiing for my first time! Woo hoo! It was wicked. I think I might have to write a fic that involves skiing now. ;)
I haven't done a helluva lot of writing as I was catching up on Orphan Black (if you haven't seen it… go watch it… NOW)! & I also finished Stargate Atlantis & moved onto Stargate Universe. Exciting stuffffff!
Thanks again for all the reviews & favourites. It makes my day to hear from all you lovely readers! I know I'm not the best writer – but I'm pleased that my writing is still somewhat enjoyable. ;)
..xx..
Sam, Cassie and Cadet Hannah Wiley stepped into the upper commissary laden with large bags of clothes, shoes and toys for the children. Lucy had somehow managed to wrangle all the children together into one room – even little Dana had been allowed out of bed for the occasion.
Sam's eyes darted around the room until they fell on their tiniest new charge – Tinkerbell. Over the past few days she had been up to visit all the children with Cassie but there was just something about Tinkerbell that drew her in. She had discussed it with Jack in bed the night before and come to the conclusion it was because she was the youngest… but on seeing the little girl again Sam wasn't so sure, she felt there was something more – a connection similar to the one she had with Cassie. She dropped her bags and called the girl over. Tinkerbell flew across the room and into Sam's open arms with a girly squeal.
"Sammie!" Her voice was muffled against Sam's hair and shoulder. "Presents!" Tinkerbell squirmed in her arms until she could see the other two woman who had begun opening up the bags and laying clothes and shoes on the tables.
"Okay, everyone needs to line up down there." Cassie pointed to the end of the row of tables. "Lucy can you help them get in line?"
"Everyone can pick one outfit and one pair of shoes and I'll take you into the next room where you can try them on." Cadet Wiley was an angel sent from heaven in Sam's eyes. The young woman had a way with children and had managed to win over even the shyest children of them all.
"I picked some clothes out for you honey," Sam lowered Tinkerbell to the ground. "Do you want to try them on?" The little girl frowned, her lips poking out into a little pout.
"No," she looked down at the ratty fairy costume and fiddled with the skirt. "No fank yous." Sam sighed. She had known it wasn't going to be easy…
"I know you like green so I got you a green dress, just like one Tinkerbell would wear." She took out the green dress she had found with an encouraging smile. "Come on, at least see if you like it?" Tinkerbell eyed the dress and then stepped forward to peer inside the plastic bag. "I got you some new knickers too, let's at least put those on then…" The poor girl was toilet trained but with all the stress she had – had a couple of accidents.
"Okay," Tinkerbell conceded and huffed out an adorable little sigh. Sam bit back her laugh and picked the girl up and the plastic bag filled with little-girl clothes. She hadn't really played favourites – Tinkerbell would need more changes of clothes if she continued to have accidents.
After only one tantrum Sam managed to get Tinkerbell out of her costume and into a fresh pair of knickers and the green dress over white stockings and little knee-high black boots. Tinkerbell had a ball stomping her feet and racing around the tiled floor making clack-clack sounds with her new shoes.
"Hey Tinkerbell, did your daddy ever call you anything else?" Sam packed the old clothes into the plastic bag and folded the extra underwear and clothes neatly, placing them underneath Tinkerbell's bed.
"Yeah, Mia!" Tinkerbell shook her head as if to say 'duh!'
"Can I call you Mia?" Tinkerbell-Mia began spinning around in dizzying circles making her dress swirl and didn't answer right away.
"Okay Sammie," she told her as she stopped spinning. "Can Mia play with toys now?"
"Of course, let's go find Cassie and Hannah." Sam took the little girls outstretched hand and felt her heart flutter. Finding out Tinkerbell's real name felt like a huge accomplishment.
..xx..
SG-1 managed to narrow down their search for the facility the children were held at with the help of Simon and Lucy. According to Lucy it had taken the two teenagers plus - their rag-tag group of children (some injured) almost three days to make it to the grocery store they were holed up in when SG-1 found them. They enlisted Walter's help and he found two modern jail's within that distance from the grocery store. Jack hoped it would only take them one day, two at worst to make it out to the first one.
"Everyone packed and ready for their camping trip?" Jack was last out, as usual. She, Teal'c and Daniel exchanged smiles at his words, they had been sitting on their packs just soaking up the warmth from the sun while they waited for him to arrive.
Sam hefted her larger-than-usual pack onto her back and clipped it at the front over her vest. They were forgoing the hazmat suits and instead would wear masks and gloves when handling anything from "outside" and if they came into contact with any humans they would do the same. It was a risk but one all of SG-1 had agreed on. It was just not going to be feasible to wear the hazmat suits and carry all their gear. They would only be able to drive a certain distance before having to hike as they weren't about to waste precious time moving all the vehicles off the road. The one thing she held onto was that the majority of the survivors would not have contracted the virus at all therefore wouldn't be contagious… and she hoped it had been long enough that they would no longer be carrying it either.
They managed to drive for a good thirty minutes before the road became impassable. By this time Sam had managed to regale her story from that morning – watching the kid's happy faces as they played with their new toys in their equally new clothes. When she told them of her progress with Tinkerbell-Mia Jack reached across and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
"This way," Jack gestured off the road. "It should be quicker if we head off the main road."
"Are you sure?" Daniel frowned and pulled a piece of paper out of his vest pocket. "I'm sure we should be heading that way." He pointed to the opposite side of the road and Sam held in a sigh. Oh boy, here we go.
"Nope, definitely this way Danny boy." Jack left no room for argument and strode on ahead. Danny stuffed the paper back in his pocket mumbling expletives under his breath and Sam let out a snort of laughter. She was sure Jack was right, he had the best sense of direction out of them all when it came to Earth.
They fell into a rhythm and Sam kept herself on alert but let her mind wander a little. She watched Jack's butt through his pants and smirked because she could actually do this now without having to hide it. When she had first realized she was attracted to him all those years ago – she had always pretended not to look at him… even when he, Teal'c and Daniel were on planets with a hot climate and took their shirts off. She had kept her eyes on his face, or over his shoulder. She could now stare at him to her hearts content! She nearly missed Jack lifting his fist in the air to tell them to stop.
"What's – oomph." She elbowed Daniel in the ribs to shut him up. Obviously Jack had heard something. He stood stock-still for a moment before turning and waving them on.
"I could have sworn I heard a –" the next thing she knew she was being pushed to the ground and when she looked up she saw three horses galloping full-speed down the track they had just been on.
"Shit!" She almost laughed at the absurdity of nearly being trampled to death in Colorado Springs.
"Well… that's not something you see every day." Jack raised an eyebrow at her and raised himself into a sitting position.
"No it is not." Teal'c was staring in the direction the horses had gone and Daniel was already on his feet dusting off his rear. "I suspect we will see many domesticated animals are now loose."
After their near-accident with the horses the four of them fell silent once more. It wasn't until the light began to fade that Jack decided they should stop and set up camp. They were in a park surrounded by trees so it was probably as safe as they were going to get.
"Do you think we could risk a fire?" She asked. It was one thing she really loved when they camped off-world. She thought the novelty of it may have worn thin when they were living on Palla, but after moving back to Cheyenne Mountain she realized she missed it. There was something so soothing about watching the flames and of course sitting with three of her very favourite people… Jack thought it would be fine to have a fire so she and Daniel collected wood while he and Teal'c set up tents. Despite how serious the situation was, she was looking forward to spending a night outdoors in the fresh air!
TBC.