Rating: G
Warnings: Sad, implied trauma at losing a loved one
Description: Umm, exactly what the title says.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, sadly.
Author's note: I was a bit surprised to find myself writing this, but oh well, there needs to be more of this pairing out there. My humble contribution.
1. Cam stood in the Gateroom looking up at the huge ring of metal that he'd been wandering back and forth through for years. A gate to another world; many other worlds. A gate to whole other Galaxies if you had enough power, a gate to other universes if you were having some problems.
A gate to another time if you didn't have Carter's math running through the system making sure connections avoided solar flares.
Cam unclipped his P-90 absently, handed it off to the SF, then stood there looking at the gate while personnel milled around readying for SG-12 to head out.
He'd only caught the tail end of the conversation as he'd been teasing Daniel about the mission they'd just finished. He hadn't even noticed who it was coming through the gate directly after them. He'd just shuffled his team off to the side when the offworld activation alarm began blaring and continued to laugh his socks off at how silly Daniel had looked in the ‘robes' he'd been wearing.
But then the wormhole had destabilised and there was no mistaking the voice of Rodney McKay fast talking his way through some kind of mathematical theorem as he marched down the ramp. Cam ducked his head in annoyance and groaned, because, well, if you were going to name someone the most annoying man ever to walk the planet, Rodney McKay would be on the shortlist. But then he caught the words ‘Sheppard' and ‘48000 years into the future'. And his stomach fell out through his feet.
He swung around to find Carter and Mckay behind him but he only got a short smile and a nod from Carter before the pair of them were beamed out of the Gateroom in flash of glowing white light.
So Cam stood there staring at the gate, until Teal'c leant forward slightly and said, ‘Colonel Mitchell, perhaps we should retire to the medical bay.'
He didn't quite understand the sympathetic expression Teal'c seemed to be projecting and it took him a moment to actually comprehend what had been said to him, but as soon as he did he made the effort to snap himself out of it.
"The med bay!" He said incredulously. "We didn't even do anything. Except get Daniel fleas, maybe."
Daniel sent him a withering glare and Cam attempted to smile back.
"Oh, flees!" Vala clutched Daniel's elbow and smiled up at him cheekily. "Do you want me to check you over? I promise I'll be thorough."
Daniel wrenched his arm free and led the way out of the Gateroom.
2. Cam was sitting in his office waiting for Teal'c. He'd been waiting for an hour already and after having finished writing up reports and logging various other paper work, he was inclined to just go and find the guy and ask him what exactly his definition of ‘soon' was. He opened up his email instead though, and began scanning the subjects lines. He (hopefully) wouldn't have enough time to read them all right now, but he could at least pick out the interesting ones.
He sent an email back to his mother, and another one to his brother before allowing himself to open the first of two email's he'd received from Sheppard. He would've looked at them first except that hearing from John seemed to impair his ability to concentrate. That and he usually spent quite a lot of time trying to come up with inventive replies. It was hard trying to tell your boyfriend how much you missed him when any mention of the fact was likely to suspend all communication whatsoever.
The first concerned the Wraith attack that had happened over a month ago and the subsequent destruction of the midway station. It was short and quick and incredibly insulting, a clear indication of how worried John had been when he'd heard what had gone down at the SGC.
Cam smiled as he downloaded the email onto his computer, already forming a reply in his head. He'd been contacted regarding the situation but hadn't even made it half way back before the entire thing had been resolved. He probably deserved the ribbing he'd be getting for that one.
He clicked on the second email, thinking he'd reply to both of them in one rather than writing two separate emails.
After having read the first sentence though, he knew replying at all would be pointless.
3. Cam huffed a half-hearted laugh and swallowed. "You've got to be kidding me."
Mckay looked at him for a moment, seemingly calm, before averting his eyes to the floor. "No, Colonel. I'm not." The depth of pain he was feeling was evident in his voice, the straight answer, if nothing else, was enough to make the situation believable.
Cam pushed away from his desk, pacing for a moment, before turning back to McKay confidently. "Right, so we'll get him back. What's the plan? Who do we need? Have you come up with anything so far?"
McKay looked at him pityingly. "Colonel-"
"Don't tell me you haven't at least thought of something." Cam narrowly avoided sounding desperate.
A hint of McKay's derisive confidence surfaced for a moment. "Yes, Colonel, I've thought of a lot of things, each of them as impossible and unlikely as the next."
"See, there you go," Cam said.
McKay glared. "I've already been through all this, several times in fact. I've discussed it with Carter, with Zelenka, with the smartest and most dedicated scientist in two galaxies. It's impossible."
Cam smiled. "When has Dr. Rodney McKay ever let something as silly as universe bending equations stop him?" The reminder didn't have the effect Cam was hoping for. McKay turned away to hide his face.
"I only wish I had as much confidence in myself as you do." He said quietly.
Cam suppressed the urge to say something insulting. "You can't stop trying, McKay," He said instead.
McKay stiffened slightly and turned back to face him once more. "I'll never stop ‘trying', Mitchell, but just so you understand the situation perfectly, you ought to know that you will have been dead for thousands of years before any plan I construct can ever be implemented." He watched Cam sink back into his office chair, knowing he'd finally gotten through to him. "I wish there was a little more hope for the situation, but there's not. All I can say is that I'll be doing my best and that will probably never be good enough."
He turned to leave, then paused, reluctantly turning back to face Cam again, unable to bear leaving him on that note. "If I'm right - and knowing John, it's more than likely - he's never told you how much he loved you." He said carefully. "But he did, a great deal, in fact. More so than I've ever had the privilege of loving someone myself."
Cam closed his eyes and covered his face.
"I think he would've wanted you to know that." McKay said quietly, and left.
4. "I hate sand." John scrunched up his nose and squinted through his sunglasses at Cam, shaking out his towel for the fifth time since they'd sat down. "Why'd we have to come to the beach when it's all windy?" He slumped down onto the ground as close as he could without it looking too suspicious. "It's like..." He waved an arm as he trailed off, obviously not wanting to finish the sentence.
Cam propped himself up on his elbows. "Like Afghanistan?" He prompted.
John looked at him for a second then sighed reluctantly. "No." He stared out at the incoming waves. "Like Atlantis, only 48 000 years into the future."
Cam stared at him. Then sat up properly and stared at him some more. "What?!"
John ducked his head and smirked. "Well," he glanced back up again. "Do you remember the time when Teyla got captured...