Last Amen to a Migratory Song

by

Geonn

 

It wasn't a matter of hatred. She didn't hate her job in the least. What she hated was sitting behind the desk, being the bureaucrat, dealing with mission reports and performance evaluations while she watched other teams venture through the Stargate. In a way, it was easier for her than it had been for General O'Neill since she hadn't spent ten years going through the Atlantis gate, and she hadn't explored the Pegasus Galaxy as thoroughly as she had the Milky Way. She didn't know what she was missing.

            She tapped her pencil against the edge of her desk and looked up and saw Olivia Benson in the command center. The report she had read that morning came to mind and she realized there was no time like the present to deal with the ugly situation. She reached up and touched her earpiece, rather than shout across the bridge. When she spoke, she nearly called Olivia 'Detective.' But the IOA made sure that everyone knew that no civilian law enforcement agency would have a presence on Atlantis. Olivia would just be the equivalent of a civilian authority. They were both amused at the irony; they wanted her skill, but not her rank.

            They had come up with a compromise; an unofficial title for her unofficial position as head of security. Sam still had to fight a smile every time she said it. She tapped her earpiece and said, "Constable Benson."

            Olivia lifted her head, smiling a little at the title, and turned to look into the office. Sam lifted her hand and said, "Could you come in here when you have a moment?"

            "Sure," Olivia said. She turned back to the technician she had been speaking with, put a hand on his shoulder and straightened. She left him to his work and crossed the walkway to Sam's office. "What's up?"

            "Close the door," Sam said.

            Olivia hesitated and then brushed her hand over the control. "Is this a good closed-door meeting or a bad one?"

            Sam hesitated. "More of the latter, I'm afraid." She straightened her shoulders and folded her hands together in front of her. "Do you want to tell me what happened with Dr. Kavanagh?"

            Olivia sighed. "He actually made the complaint?"

            "He did," Sam said. "I'd like to hear your version of events."

            Olivia moved to the chair in front of Sam's desk and sat down. She leaned back and said, "How much did he tell you?"

            "The Kavanagh special," Sam said. "You were singling him out, you were picking on him, he'd been pigeon-holed as a trouble-maker by the previous administration and I was carrying out the status quo... You did have a legitimate reason to question him, correct?"

            "Yes, of course. A few supplies had gone missing from one of the labs where he had been scheduled to work. I questioned him along with everyone else who had been scheduled to work in those labs."

            Sam looked down at the report. "This doesn't say what was stolen."

            "A laptop, some periphery software. It was earmarked for a science team, but when they unloaded the supplies from the SGC it was missing."

            "Wait, when was the robbery?"

            "Four years ago, when the expedition first arrived."

            Sam closed her eyes and flipped the cover back onto the report. "Olivia..."

            "Sergeant Bates was in charge of security then, I understand."

            Sam held up a hand. "Liv, please. I understand things are slower than you're used to, but you can't go around trying to solve every little thing. If the laptop hasn't been found in four years, odds are the inventory was simply mistaken. Trust me, it happens a lot." She remembered being off-world, hunkered down behind a stone wall for cover and discovering her flak jacket had no extra cartridges for her gun. Ah, the good old days.

            Olivia leaned forward, elbows on her knees and said, "I'll be honest with you, Sam. I'm going crazy here. Occasionally breaking up a fight in the mess hall, settling disputes between scientists. I don't feel like I belong here."

            Sam stood up and walked around her desk. She sat on the edge, something she would have done to talk to Sheppard or Zelenka, but reached out and took Olivia's hand. The gesture was blocked by Olivia's body, so no one in the command center could see. "I understand it's been a hard transition for you. You just need to give it some time so you can find your niche."

            Olivia sighed and brushed her thumb across Sam's knuckle. "It's been four months, Sam."

            "I know. All I'm asking..."

            "A little more time," Olivia finished. She looked down at Sam's hands and said, "You went through a hell of a lot of red tape to get me here. I'm not ready to admit defeat yet."

            Sam smiled. "Glad to hear it." She and Olivia both stood and Olivia moved toward the door. "Are we still on for dinner tonight?"

            Olivia said, "Of course. Your quarters."

            "They do have a better view," Sam said.

            "Perks of leadership." Olivia opened the door and turned. She casually held out her hand. Sam mimicked the move and they pressed the pads of their index fingers together. It was their equivalent of a good-bye kiss, as much as they could do in a glass-enclosed room like Sam's office.

            Sam let her hand fall and watched as Olivia walked back across the catwalk. She let her eyes drift to Olivia's waist, then below. Since she was a civilian, Olivia wasn't required to wear the standard gray jumpsuit that the scientists and military personnel had to wear. Her slacks and open-necked blouses wouldn't have been out of place in New York, but something about the city around them made the outfits look futuristic. Sam bit her bottom lip and started thinking about their dinner date.

 

#

 

Dinner turned into a casual briefing on random security measures, which turned into drinks and a slow round of love-making by the window. Olivia loved to have sex Sam's quarters; the sound of the waves echoed off the balcony and made her feel like they were on the beach. Olivia had always fantasized about having sex on the beach, but she had lived her whole life in New York. Sex on a New York beach was not worth the diseases she was sure to get afterward.

            They curled up together on Sam's bed, Sam kissing Olivia's shoulder while Olivia traced lines down Sam's arm. "You okay?" Sam asked, her lips against Olivia's cool skin.

            "Mm-hmm."

            "Want to talk some more about the old cases?"

            Olivia shook her head. She scooted further into Sam's arms until she felt Sam's body against hers. "I just want to lie like this a little while longer."

            "Okay," Sam said. She smoothed her hand over Olivia's stomach, dipped her thumb into Olivia's navel.

            "Don't start anything you can't finish."

            Sam moaned and licked the back of Olivia's neck. "Maybe I'll finish it."

            "I have to get back to my quarters."

            "Are you sure?" Sam asked, drifting her hands lower.

            "Yes. But in a few minutes. When I can walk again."

            Sam laughed and reluctantly moved her hands back up. She laced her fingers over her stomach and rested her chin on Olivia's shoulder. After a few moments, Olivia said, "Okay," and patted Sam's hand. Sam released her and rolled onto her back as Olivia began gathering her clothes from where they had been tossed earlier. She held the bundle against her chest and turned around. She put her hand on Sam's cheek, slid it forward into her long, loose hair and drew her close for a kiss. "I had a great time tonight."

            "Me, too," Sam said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

            Olivia nodded. "If not at work, then here."

            Sam smiled. "Sounds good."

            Olivia got out of bed and dressed, then bent to give Sam another good-night kiss. She smiled and brushed her fingers down Sam's cheek. "I can't seem to stop kissing you."

            "Well, I can come to terms with you having one bad habit."

            Olivia grinned, kissed her one more time for good measure and said, "Night, Sam."

            Sam reclined, blankets tucked under her arms, and dropped her head onto the pillow. Olivia stopped at the door and smiled. "If I could take a picture right now..."

            "Like what you see?" Sam asked. She lifted the blanket and bent her knee, turning to reveal her bare hip.

            Olivia chuckled. "It won't work. I'm sleeping in my own bed tonight. People will get suspicious."

            "Let them. We're in another galaxy. The rules are more relaxed here."

            "Yeah," Olivia said. She nodded, but didn't move back to the bed. "Good night, Sam."

            "Good night, Olivia."

            Olivia made sure all her buttons and zippers were in place and waited for Sam to be covered up before she opened the door.

            The corridors of Atlantis were different at night. To conserve power, they dimmed the lights to the lowest setting. The effect created corridors with a spooky haunted-house feel at the interior, but at the outskirts of the city it was heavenly. The dark city, marvelous during the day, handed over the stage to nature once the sun went down. The moons rode the waves, which rolled like velvet and lapped quietly against the piers of the magnificent city.

            Olivia stood and rested her elbows on the railing. This was her adopted city. Atlantis, for Christ's sake, but she would focus on that later. For the moment, her mind was preoccupied by the fact she had literally left the galaxy to be with a woman. She never would have thought she would have feelings that strong for anyone after Alex. But if there was one thing her relationship with Alex taught her, it was not to let go of a good thing. And Samantha Carter was definitely that.

            No matter how intimidating she might be as a lover. A police detective sleeping with an ADA was a nice, balanced relationship. But now she was sleeping with her boss. An Air Force Colonel in charge of an entire city. The leader of an expedition in another galaxy. There was something odd about asking someone with that much power to go down on you.

            "Evening."

            She turned quickly, amused at the thought someone might have read her mind until she realized where she was. Mind-reading wasn't exactly unheard of in this city. The voice was Major Lorne's, and he lifted a hand as he walked past her. He wasn't breaking his stride, but offered her a sincere smile.

            "Hi, Major."

            "I'm off-duty. It's Evan." He stopped a few feet from her and leaned on the railing. "Taking in the sights?"

            Olivia nodded. "I'm still not used to it."

            "Join the club." They smiled at each other and Lorne said, "I'm heading to the commissary for a midnight snack. You want to join me?"

            "No, thanks. I was just heading to bed when I got distracted."

            Lorne nodded. "Okay. Well, I'll be there for a while if you change your mind." He pushed away from the railing and said, "Good night, Constable."

            "Good night, Evan."

            She waited until the sound of his footsteps faded before she went on her way. She stuck her hands into her pockets and let her shoulders relax, her head dropping slightly. There were still people around, various nightshift workers on their way to or from various assignments. She nodded hello to most of them, knew a handful by name, and realized that Atlantis was quickly becoming home to her.

            It was much like New York, but without the fear of muggers or rapists in every shadow. It was a large city by the water immune to the most of the mundane thrills of human life. Of course, it was tempered by the chance of an outer space attack by life-sucking vampires who looked like Nosferatu's ugly stepchildren. So life found a way to balance things out.

            As she passed by other quarters, she could hear a vast range of sounds coming from within. Bach quickly faded to be replaced by an old country-western song. She heard rap, she heard voices raised in argument and in passion. It was like being in a college dorm room; the whole of human existence playing out behind these closed doors.

            She was almost to the lift when a door in front of her opened. She heard soft, feminine voices and paused, hidden by a beam.

            "I'll see you tomorrow."

            "You'd better."

            Olivia leaned forward slightly so that she could confirm her suspicions. Jennifer Keller was standing in the doorway of Laura Cadman's quarters, kissing her good-bye. Cadman was dressed in a long T-shirt, her alabaster legs bare and pressed together. She balled her hand in the cloth of Jennifer's shirt, lifting it slightly so that Olivia could see the small of the doctor's back. Jennifer moaned into the kiss and then gasped when they parted.

            "Okay. Go."

            Jennifer said, "Wham bam?"

            "I said thank you, ma'am," Cadman said. Her hand slid down to Jennifer's ass and swatted it once. Jennifer murmured something and Cadman laughed. "Good night."

            "Night."

            Olivia backed up in the hopes Jennifer would go the other way. But, of course, she soon passed in front of Olivia's hiding space. She spotted Olivia out of the corner of her eye and gasped, jumped back and put a hand to her chest. "God. Detec--I mean, Constable Benson." When the initial fear passed, she looked over her shoulder and said, "Oh. You probably heard..."

            "It's all right, Doctor," Olivia said.

            Jennifer's shoulders slumped a bit, but that was the only sign of relaxing. Her face was still tense, and she gestured with her chin. "It was our... our first time together. Just now."

            She seemed to want to talk about it, so Olivia said, "How was it?"

            "Good," Jennifer said, a bit hesitantly. "I mean... she's a little... she-she's a top. And aggressive about it."

            "Ah." Olivia smiled. "I've been with a few of those."

            "How do you... deal with it?"

            "Lie back, spread your legs and cross your wrists for the handcuffs," Olivia said. She winked and said, "Have a good night, Jennifer."

            They split up, moving in different directions, and Olivia couldn't help but smile. It seemed Jennifer was doing well on the rebound, after discovering the real reasons for Olivia's arrival on Atlantis. Jennifer and Sam had 'been together' briefly between Sam's trips to New York and Olivia's arrival on Atlantis. Olivia didn't mind, since she had also tried to rekindle the flame with Casey Novak, but it was awkward having her lover's former one-night stand so close at hand.

            Romance in the Pegasus Galaxy, she mused as she stepped into the transport. Turns out it's not much different than in the Milky Way. She sighed and pressed the screen to take her back to her quarters. She had asked Sam to assign her whatever quarters were free, since she didn't want to raise eyebrows by moving in right next door to her. Unfortunately, that meant that she and Sam lived on different tiers. The problem with that was it still raised eyebrows to find Olivia or Sam on the wrong tier at the wrong hour of night. Olivia was planning to ask for a transfer soon; someplace closer to Sam where they wouldn't have to come up with lame reasons to be near each other.

            When she got back to her room, thankfully not running into anyone else on the way, she undressed and stood at the window in her underwear.

            Across the city, Sam was probably asleep by now. Across the galaxy, Stabler and Munch and Casey were still fighting the good fight... stuck in the middle was Olivia, current head of security for the most top-secret outpost in two galaxies. For how long, she wasn't sure. But she was sure that no matter how tedious things got, no matter how much she wanted to quit, she would ride it out. Samantha Carter was worth it.

            The desk under the window caught her eye, and she lifted the stack of envelopes she had left there. Letters from her old coworkers. Stabler: "I don't know where Carter took you, but you might as well be on the moon." She smiled. Think bigger, El. Munch: "Whoever this Carter is, she's buried deep and she's buried well. Be very careful."

            Olivia owed them all mail, but she felt odd writing emails on official laptops and waiting to send them until the Stargate happened to be connected to the SGC. Pen-and-paper letters would have to do, but finding the time to write them was murder. She put the envelopes down and made a mental note to catch up on her correspondence. It wasn't like the base was keeping her busy with security matters.

            She hugged herself against the cold of the night, shut the window and went to bed.

 

#

 

Olivia's office was a long, narrow, poorly-lit closet a few levels below the command center in the tower. The windows could be opened, but at the moment she didn't want to go to the effort. The darkness reminded her of the SVU squad room, which she reluctantly admitted homesickness for. Mainly for her desk and the camaraderie rather than the cases that crossed her desk. She'd had enough of those for a lifetime. She had her feet up on the desk, reclined as she read the report from Sergeant Middleton about a fight in the commissary the night before.

            She was halfway through it, mentally formulating the speech she would give when she visited the culprits in holding, when the doors slid open and Major Lorne stepped in. "Constable. Do you have a minute?"

            "Sure, Major," Olivia said. She put her feet down and sat up, turning to face the desk.

            Lorne stepped forward and stopped between the chairs. "Actually, I guess a more appropriate question would be if you had three days. My team is schedule to leave this afternoon on a diplomatic mission with the Uyude, the local denizens of M43-221. It's a three-day conference and they're... a little skeptical about our position here in Pegasus."

            "How so?"

            He cleared his throat. "Certain members of their high council believe that we, ah, stormed into Atlantis in a hostile takeover and let loose the Wraith to decimate the indigenous population so we could have it all for ourselves."

            Olivia raised an eyebrow. "What, did someone on your team slip them an American History book last time you were there?"

            "The Wraith as smallpox-laced blankets," Lorne said. He shrugged and said, "I'd like to think we're past that.  But more importantly, I'd like to convince the elders that we're past that."

            "Okay," Olivia said. "Assuming Colonel Carter signs off on it, I'd be more than happy to join your team for the mission."

            Lorne smiled. "Colonel Carter's already on board. She just wanted to make sure you were willing."

            "Ah. Well, then, when do we leave?"

 

#

 

Sam made an excuse to be close to the gear-up room when she knew Olivia was getting ready. She hesitated at the doorway and ducked her head in. Olivia was standing at one of the lockers, head bowed as she worked the catches of her flak jacket.

            From nowhere, Sam felt a tightness growing in her chest. The way Olivia stood, her head down with her light brown hair covering her face like a veil, Sam had a memory of the handful of times she had watched Janet gear-up for an off-world mission. The spell was broken when Olivia looked up and Sam saw her face, but the tightness remained. "Hey," Olivia said.

            "Hey," Sam replied. She was surprised by how strained her voice sounded.

            Olivia looked down at her vest. "Janet?"

            "How did you know?"

            "Because sometimes when you rest your head on my stomach..."

            "Alex?"

            Olivia nodded and kept her chin down for a moment longer than necessary. When she looked up again, her eyes were dry. "How do I look?"

            Sam stepped forward and adjusted the way the vest laid on Olivia's shoulders. She tightened a catch, twisted the collar around the right way and flipped Olivia's hair out over it. She looked into Olivia's eyes for a moment before she leaned forward and kissed her lips. When they parted, Sam said, "Perfect."

            Olivia smiled and brushed her hand down Sam's forearm. "Do you give all first-timers this send-off?"

            "Not all of them. Sometimes I just let them feel me up. And I think you got your fill of that last night."

            "Don't make assumptions, Colonel," Olivia chided. She picked up her pack and said, "Come on. Lorne's waiting."

            They walked together to the gate room, where Lorne's team was indeed gathered. Sam craned her neck to look at the control room. "Dial it up, Chuck."

            Lorne laughed and said, "You do that on purpose."

            Sam straightened her spine and rolled her shoulders. "I am an Air Force Colonel, Major. I would not do that."

            "You served under Colonel Jack O'Neill for eight years," Lorne said. "Yeah. You would."

            Sam smiled and turned to watch the Gate spin. She looked at Olivia and said, "You'll be fine. It'll do you good to get out and see a bit of the galaxy you're calling home now."

            "Yeah," Olivia said. "I just hope it's not the 'suckers-in-their-hands' bit."

            Captain Parrish, a member of Lorne's team, said, "No reports of Wraith activity in the area for quite some time. We shouldn't have a problem."

            "As long as the people of the Uyude don't get too angry at us, that is," Lorne said.

            The Stargate activated and the team fell in before it. "You'll be great," Sam mouthed. She reached out and pressed her index finger to Olivia's before walking to the stairs. By the time she made it to the command center, Lorne's team was entirely through the gate. The event horizon snapped out, revealing the ornate glass behind it, the one thing she would consider an improvement over the SGC's set-up. Well, that and the non-jerry-rigged dialing device, of course. And, well, her office. She loved her office.

            Plus the occasional company that found its way to her bed. She smiled and took her seat.

            Yeah, lots of things she liked better about Atlantis over the SGC.

 

#

 

Sam was just preparing for bed, already in her nightshirt, when her headset chirped to life. "Colonel Carter."

            "Yes, Chuck."

            "Major Lorne's team is an hour and a half late for their scheduled check-in."

            A worm of fear planted itself at the back of Sam's mind, but she remained calm. "Can you make contact with the Uyude people?"

            "We've made contact, but they claim not to know anything."

            Sam stood up and began unbuttoning her nightshirt. "Keep me apprised. I'll be there as soon as I can." She pulled her uniform from the hamper and quickly stepped into the trousers. Nothing went wrong. It's just one of those things that happens on missions sometimes. You know how time can get away from you.

            The little voice was no comfort to her at the moment. She tugged on her jacket as she left her quarters, not bothering to put her hair up. She controlled herself enough to walk to the command center, but began giving orders as soon as she was on the stairs. "Dial M43-221 for me. I want to talk to the elders myself."

            Chuck dialed the gate and, a few moments later a man's face flickered to life on the screen in front of her. His shoulders were angled oddly, taking up most of the shot. Sam squared her shoulders and said, "I'm Colonel Samantha Carter, the leader of this expedition."

            "Hello, Colonel. I am Council Faroh. How may I be of assistance to you this day?"

            "We sent a team to speak with you earlier this afternoon. As of now, they're ninety minutes overdue for a scheduled check-in."

            Faroh held his hands out. Behind him, she could see the DHD. There was a man standing next to it, apparently doing something to the controls. He wouldn't be trying to dial out while there was an active wormhole, Sam thought. What is he doing? She focused on what Faroh was saying.

            "--to hear this, Colonel Carter. But I do not know what you wish us to do. Your team never arrived for our meeting. We assumed the... antagonist nature of our last conversation dissuaded them from future talks with us."

            "I hope you won't mind if I sent another team to look for them. As a gesture of good faith."

            Faroh seemed hesitant, but apparently couldn't think of a reason to refuse her. He glanced quickly over his shoulder and then nodded. "Of course not, Colonel. Your people are welcome here."

            "Great to hear it," Sam said. "We'll send them through in two hours." She glanced at Chuck and nodded for him to cut transmission.

            "The other guy was doing something to the DHD," Chuck said.

            "Yeah," Sam nodded. "But we can't just leave our people there. Contact the Apollo and see how soon he can be there to pick us up. Contact Colonel Sheppard's team. Have them ready to go in thirty minutes. And tell him I'm coming along."

            "Ma'am?" Chuck said.

            "I plan to be there to see what the good Council has waiting for us in two hours."

#

 

Sam arrived in the gear-up room to find Laura Cadman with the rest of Sheppard's team. "Lieutenant. Where's Teyla?"

            "She wanted to rest, prep for her meeting with the new IOA bigwigs," Sheppard said. "Cadman was up, agreed to fill in."

            Sam nodded her understanding and went to an open locker. "I look forward to working with you, Lieutenant Cadman."

            "Same here, ma'am."

            As they pulled on their gear, Sam said, "Remember, this isn't officially a rescue mission. We're just going to find the team. There's no reason to think the Uyude had anything to do with their disappearance."

            "Right," Ronon said. "Because I'm so good at giving the benefit of the doubt."

            Sam smiled. "Regardless... keep an open mind."

            Sheppard smiled, "He's not exactly known for that, either."

            McKay hurried in just as Sam was shedding her uniform jacket for the black leather jacket preferred by the off-world teams. "Sorry, sorry, I was caught up with the, ah... the..." His eyes wandered down Sam's bare arms and he slowed to a crawl.

            "Rodney," Sam snapped.

            He blinked and continued to his locker. "Right. Yes. I was, ah, adjusting the life signs detector. Hopefully it will stop alerting us to the presence of, um. The local equivalent of rabbits, goats, various local flora. But it will still pick up Ursus. They were too big to effectively delete from the parameters."

            "Plus he's scared of bears," Sheppard confided to Sam. "Likes to know when they're coming."

            Sam smiled. "All right. Let's move out."

            McKay muttered to Sheppard, "I'm sure you'd love it if a bear just wandered up behind you without you knowing it."

            They stepped through the Stargate and emerged onto a hillside in the middle of a rainstorm. The sky was dark with thick, charcoal colored clouds that sent icicles of rain into their faces. McKay covered his eyes with his hand and shouted over the wind, "The MALP didn't pick up any of this!"

            "It could be like a spring storm on Earth," Sam called back. "They pop up out of nowhere in Oklahoma and Texas during tornado season."

            "Didn't know you were from that area, sir," Cadman said.

            Sam shook her head. "I'm not." Janet was. She remembered the trip to the Fraiser homestead, huddled under the blankets in the storm shelter, making love with their clothes on as the storm raged overhead. She shook her head to clear the memories and guided the team to a waist-high retaining wall. The water was gathering on the up-slope side, so they huddled on the opposite side to protect themselves from the wind and driving rain. Sam clicked her radio button a few times, giving Lorne's team a chance to respond.

            After a moment, she spoke, "Major Lorne, this is Colonel Carter. Come in."

            There was no reply.

            Sam accepted that for the moment and turned to Sheppard and Ronon. "Set up a perimeter. See which way the Uyude are likely to use to 'greet' us."

            They moved out and Sam turned to Cadman. "Lieutenant, set charges along the treeline. If they did do something to our people, I want to have a few tricks up my sleeve."

            Alone with McKay, Sam motioned for him to follow her. He mumbled as he followed her from behind their cover, running in a crouch to the DHD. Sam eyed the console, but couldn't see anything wrong on the surface. She and McKay knelt down together and removed the panel just under the rim of the device. "Oh, no," McKay groaned.

            Sam didn't even know where to begin. The circuits were twisted and wrapped around each other. Crystals were alight with half the power they usually displayed, and cobwebs stretched between the cowling and the machinery. "They've mangled this thing. And not entirely on purpose. I can't even begin to explain how bad this is."

            "They jerry-rigged a half-assed interface and when that started to fail, they just wrapped duct-tape around the whole thing to keep it from collapsing."

            McKay looked at her, surprised, and then said, "Oh. Right. Sometimes I forget who you are."

            Sam smiled, but there was little humor behind it. "God. I think I know how the Ancients would feel if they ever got a look at the SGC's dialing computer. I've seen some screwed-up DHDs in my time, but this is beyond me. What do you think?"

            "Well, yeah. It's even beyond me," McKay said.

            Sam glared at him. "If only we had brought Zelenka."

            McKay straightened and said, "Why, do you need someone to bring you coffee?"

            Sam rolled her eyes and looked back into the guts of the machine. "There's so much thrown together that I'm not even sure if it's sabotage." She had a mental flash of the man working at the dialer while Faroh spoke to her. "I'm not going to risk dialing it. At least not until we know what happened to our people. The Apollo will be here in 36 hours."

            "Right," McKay said. "Well, I hope you brought a rain slicker, because it doesn't look like this is letting up any time soon."

            Sheppard and Ronon returned then. "No surprises in the trees," Sheppard reported. "We've got three dirt trails leading to the Stargate, two of them uphill and the other down. If I had to bet, I'd say they'll come from the downhill path."

            "All right. Get in position. We've got a long wait ahead of us."

            McKay sneezed and wiped his sleeve under his nose. "Ah. Wonderful. Pneumonia. Because this planet wasn't quite horrible enough."

            They moved to take cover at the treeline, crouching amid the bushes. Sam sent Ronon farther down the path so he could alert them when a welcoming party was on the way. Cadman joined them and told Sam, "Easter eggs have been hidden."

            Sam smiled. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

            The rain continued, but the trees provided a bit of cover for them. After a few minutes, Ronon's voice came over the radio. "Sheppard."

            "We got company?"

            "Yeah, but not who we were expecting. Couple of guys in a wagon. Look like farmers. 'Cept the guy in front is wearing one of our team's jackets."

            Sam tensed and looked at Sheppard. He raised an eyebrow. "I don't know about you, Colonel, but that sounds like someone I'd like to meet."

            Sam nodded and said, "Ronon. How far away are they?"

            "They'll reach the clearing in about two minutes."

            "Head back this way and cover them from the rear. Lieutenant, you're with me. John, you and Rodney take the other side of the clearing."

            They spread out and took their positions. Cadman knelt next to Sam and said, "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

            Sam shrugged. "Sure."

            "When I was first accepted to the SGC and the Daedalus, I read up on mission reports to see what I was getting into. The majority of those reports were SG-1 missions, and the majority of those focused on you. I spent the trip from Earth to Pegasus onboard the Daedalus reading about you. I just wanted to say it's an honor to be here."

            Sam glanced at her. "Was Teyla really too tired to come along?"

            Cadman shrugged. "I suggested taking her place when I knew you were coming along. She didn't fight me on it."

            Sam nodded. With Teyla's current condition, Cadman would be better to have at her side if things got rough. Still. "Don't do it again," she said. "If you really want to spend time with me, I'll arrange us to have lunch sometime."

            "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

            "Just no tap-dancing."

            Cadman smiled. "You know about that?"

            "Word gets around the base, lieutenant," Sam said. She looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Especially the embarrassing stuff."

            "I'm not embarrassed by my tap-dancing. I've won championships. I'll show you the trophies sometime."

            Sam smiled and focused on the path again. If Ronon was right, the cart should be reaching the clearing any...

            At that moment, the sound of wheels on cobblestones became audible over the rain. The cart came into view and Sam saw that the driver was indeed wearing a black leather jacket similar to the kind off-world teams wore. His head was covered by a wide-brimmed hat, so she couldn't be certain it wasn't one of Lorne's men. But why would one of the team's members go to the trouble of covering their face and then kept the jacket on?

            When the cart was close enough, Sam gestured for Cadman to move. Across the way, Sheppard also stepped out from cover. "Hold up, there."

            The driver pulled up in the reins which, instead of a horse, led into the body of the cart he was riding. The wheels stopped with an almost hydraulic hiss as the man looked at Sheppard and Cadman's weapons. "I have nothing of value," he said. "Only prisoners."

            "Prisoners," Sheppard said. "You got anyone watching these prisoners back there?"

            "Of course..."

            Sam came out from cover and went to the back of the cart. She stopped at the corner and said, "Open the doors and step out of the cart."

            A man within said, "But it's raining!"

            Sam rolled her eyes. Great. Their warden is McKay's long-lost cousin. "Come out now."

            The doors swung open and a man jumped onto the stone path. He hunched his shoulders and ducked his head against the rain. Sam glanced into the back of the cart and saw everyone else was seated on benches along both walls. Sam looked at the guard in time to see McKay approaching him. "Rodney!" she called

            It was too late. The guard suddenly straightened and swung his right arm out. McKay jumped back with a "Geez!" and narrowly avoided getting sliced open. Sam took one step, stuck her leg out and swept the guard's legs out from underneath him. Why can't Atlantis teams wear zats? she asked as the guard dropped to the ground. I'm definitely going to have to change that. Just zat the damn guards and deal with them later.

            "Tie him up," Sam said to McKay. "And check him for weapons." She looked up and saw Ronon jogging down the path toward them.

            Confident Ronon could handle the tricky guard, Sam turned her attention to the prisoners. Cadman joined her as she climbed into the back of the cart. Sam took the hood off one of the prisoners and sighed. "Major Lorne."

            "Good to see you, Colonel."

            Cadman pulled the hoods off two prisoners on the opposite side. "These aren't our people."

            Lorne said, "No. There were a half-dozen other prisoners in the place they kept us."

            Sam unmasked the other prisoners on Lorne's side. Two more members of his team were present, but Olivia and Captain Michael French were missing. "Where is the rest of your team?"

            "Still back in the prison. The meeting was a set-up. The Council had some kind of scanner set into the doorway of their chambers. As soon as we walked in, they took us into custody and separated us."

            "Based on what?"

            "The ATA gene," Parrish said. "Everyone they put on this cart has the ATA gene. Constable Benson and Captain French don't. I think we got sold to the highest bidder."

            Sheppard, from the door of the cart, said, "The Genii tried to gather up people with the ATA gene about two years ago."

            "It's always nice to be wanted," Lorne muttered as Cadman untied his hands.

            Sam remembered the mission report; Lorne had been taken prisoner that time as well. "We're going to start assigning a bodyguard to your team, Major."

            He chuckled and helped her free the other people. "I'll take it under advisement."

            "I'm going to need the layout of the village. I need to know where they took Olivia and French."

            "I can show you."

            "You're not going," Sam said. "Neither is Colonel Sheppard or Dr. McKay."

            Sheppard said, "Whoa... let's talk about this."

            "They're targeting people with the ATA gene," Sam said. "If Lieutenant Cadman, Ronon or I get captured, the worst thing that happens is we get taken to where Olivia and Captain French are. If you or Dr. McKay get captured, they would separate us. There's no guarantee we would be able to find you if they got you off-world."

            "We could take care of ourselves, if push came to shove."

            "Be that as it may," Sam said. "I'm making the call here. Return to the Gate and give McKay a chance to fix the dialer. Get these people home, then return to the base and wait for us to check-in. Say twenty-four hours. Lieutenant Cadman, Ronon and I will take care of the others. This is non-negotiable, Colonel."

            Sheppard looked like he wanted to argue further, but eventually resigned and nodded. "All right. Come on, Lorne."

            Sam and Cadman jumped down from the cart and helped the prisoners down. The clouds had dispersed slightly to let the sun peek out, but the rain was still pelting them. Lorne had spent the time Sheppard and Sam were debating to draw a rough map of the village. He handed the sketch to Sam. "The circular building in the center, marked with an 'x'. That's where they took Benson and French."

            "Right. Thank you." Sam folded the note and stuck it in a pocket of her vest. "Cadman, Ronon, you're both with me."

            Ronon glanced at Sheppard, as if for confirmation, and then shrugged and moved closer to Sam. She filled him in on their objective, rescuing the last two members of Lorne's team, and then they split up. Sam and Cadman took the lead, with Ronon slightly behind them bringing up the rear.

            When the rain cleared a few minutes later, Sam removed the map and handed it to Cadman. "The house indicated is where they took the prisoners."

            "Ah, middle of town," Cadman said. She handed the map to Ronon. "Guess they couldn't make it easy on us."

            "They don't plan for prison breaks when they're building prisons," Ronon said. He gave the map back to Sam after a cursory glance.

            Sam eyed him. "You okay?"

            "Fine."

            Sam shared a look with Cadman, but didn't say anything. Hopefully they would be in and out before Ronon's attitude became a problem. If not... well, she could burn that bridge when they got to it.

 

#

 

The wind was knocked out of her as she was dumped onto the dirt floor. She sat up and looked around, vaguely amused at the fact she was being held in an honest-to-God dungeon. There were three people chained to the far wall, and Captain French was lying on the ground across from her. She straightened, put her back to the stone wall and watched as the guards disappeared up the narrow stone stairs.

            "You okay, Captain?"

            "A little bruised. Nothing I can't handle."

            Olivia's hands hadn't been bound, and the guard hadn't bothered to empty out her vest. She reached up and snapped open the top-most pocket and began going through it to see what she had to facilitate a jailbreak. "It's no use," one of the natives said. "There's no chance of escape."

            "You don't know us, sir," Captain French said. "We make a habit of this sort of thing."

            Olivia grinned. "So I gathered from the mission reports."

            There was a pause and then the prisoner said, "If... i-if you do manage to escape, would you take us with you?"

            "So much for hopeless," Olivia said. To the prisoner, she said, "What are you in for?"

            "I spoke against our leader. I believe that if we do not overcome our xenophobia, we will stand alone when the Wraith finally come for us. He... respectfully disagreed."

            Olivia looked at the other people in the cell. "You're all political prisoners?"

            "No," the man admitted. He nodded to the man next to him. "He was arrested for stealing bread to feed his family."

            "Jean Valjean lives," Olivia mused. She nodded and continued going through her vest pockets. "All right. If we find something we can use to bust out of here, we'll take you with us."

            Captain French said, "I forgot about these." He held up a few objects and smiled.

            "What are those?" Olivia asked.

            "Little something called 'flash-bang grenades.' You ever see one in action?"

            Olivia shook her head. "Distraction material?"

            "Oh, yeah," French said.

            Olivia returned his smile. Things were looking up.

 

#

 

It felt like they had been walking for hours. The silence was partly strategic - it wouldn't do to sneak up on a village chattering back and forth to each other - but it was starting to press on Sam like a weight. She was about to ask Cadman a question - something about tap dancing, her experiences on Atlantis, anything to break the silence - when Sheppard's voice came over her radio.

            "Colonel, we have a bit of a situation here..."

            "What's up?" Sam asked. "Does McKay need help with the dialer?"

            "No, he's gotten the DHD fixed up enough he's confident we can use it," Sheppard said. Sam's eyes widened; she would never admit it to McKay, but she was highly impressed with how quickly he had figured out that mess. "But I think our welcoming committee just arrived. Lots of people, most of them armed, most of them seem to be pretty good shots."

            "Any injuries?"

            "None yet, but if we try to hold the Gate..."

            Sam didn't hesitate. "Take the other prisoners to the Alpha Site, you can relocate them from there."

            "What about you?"

            Sam checked her watch. "Thirty-five hours until the Apollo arrives. We'll get our people out and keep our heads down until it shows up."

            "You won't have back-up."

            "Won't need it," Sam said. "Get yourselves and those people to safety."

            "Yes, sir," Sheppard said.

            They walked on in silence until Ronon said, "Why 'sir'?"

            Sam glanced over her shoulder at him. "Pardon?"

            "Sheppard. Her, too. They call you 'sir.' But you're a ma'am."

            "Sign of respect to a superior rank," Cadman said. "I'd prefer something feminine or asexual, sure, but change is slow and hard to come by. Especially in a military organization."

            Sam nodded. "Well said, Lieutenant."

            "Thank you, sir."

            Sam chuckled and nodded down the path with her chin. "Hold up. Looks like we're close." They moved to the edge of the path and crouched down out of sight.

            Cadman looked ahead and pulled a pair of binoculars from her pack. She saw smoke rising from a row of houses. The roofs were thatched, dark windows framed by ancient wood. A man in white trousers bent down and yanked a plant from his garden, tossed it aside and continued around the corner of his house. "Looks like business as usual," she said. She handed the binoculars to Sam.

            Sam squinted through the eyepiece, then compared to Lorne's map. "Okay. This row of houses is about three streets over from where our people are being held. Here's the plan. I'm going to visit Council Faroh to make an official request for our people back."

            "You think he'll be civil?" Cadman asked.

            "He'll know I somehow made it to town despite his little sneak attack. He'll either play the innocent so I can be grabbed when I go back to the Stargate, or he'll have me arrested on the spot. Either way, I get to where Constable Benson and Captain French are. You and Ronon get into position and wait for my signal. Hopefully you'll only have to get them out, but if I get taken prisoner..."

            "It'll be one more person on the inside," Ronon said. "Double-pronged attack."

            "Exactly," Sam said. "Wait for my signal before you make a move. Give it a half hour."

            Cadman nodded and Ronon seemed to give his assent without moving much at all. Sam resisted the urge to tell them to synchronize their watches as they rose and split up. Sam went to the other side of the path and waited until Ronon and Cadman disappeared into the trees. She straightened her jacket, looked either way and then started toward the town.

            Before long, the path turned into a street, flanked on both sides by houses and businesses. People stopped what they were doing and watched the stranger walking into town, noted her unusual clothing and the weapon held casually by her side. When she reached a crossroad, she motioned to a nearby gawker and said, "I need to see Council Faroh immediately."

            "His offices are this way." The man looked down at the gun and started down the street. Sam stayed close behind him and watched the other citizens carefully. She thought she saw a glimpse of Ronon's leather coat at one point, but she couldn't be sure and didn't dare draw attention to it. She removed the radio from her shoulder and put it into the pocket of her jacket.

            The citizen led her to a narrow three-story building near where Lorne's map placed the prison. He stopped at the door and said, "I am not allowed within."

            "That's all right. Thank you for your help." She stepped to the door and hesitantly opened it. The door opened onto an empty receiving floor, with twin staircases on either side leading up to a second story. Sam stepped into the doorway and peered up. "Council Faroh. This is Colonel Samantha Carter. I seek an immediate audience."

            Faroh appeared at the head of the stairs and peered down at her. "Colonel Carter. You... are early."

            Sam smiled at his near misstep. She had definitely rattled him. "I had some free time, and I didn't know how long it would take to reach the town. May I come up?"

            "Ah, yes, of course." Faroh stepped to the head of the stairs. He wore what appeared to be a long dressing gown, cinched with a belt. His feet were bare, and he carried a walking stick that didn't touch the floor as she climbed the stairs to meet him. "I apologize, I am not prepared for our meeting."

            "That's all right. I don't plan to stay long." She walked past him into a dark library with several curtained windows. At the far end of the room, a desk was turned to face the only open window. "I am here on behalf of the Atlantis expedition to formally request the return of the people we sent here for diplomatic purposes." Sam suddenly had a flash of General O'Neill saying "Faroh, Faroh, let my people go" and was glad that she had a bit more restraint than he did.

            "I am sorry, Colonel, but I--"

            "I encountered a slave transport on my way here. My officers were being taken to the Stargate, presumably to be sold at auction to the highest bidder. Still want to deny they were here?"

            Faroh ducked his chin and walked past her to his desk. "Ah. I see... am I to presume, then, that you released said prisoners?"

            "Absolutely," Sam said.

            "That is unfortunate." He opened a drawer on his desk and pressed a button. "I am sorry to see that you do not have the same advanced gene as the fellows you released. But there is still a very high price on the open market for comely females such as yourself."

            Sam brought her gun up as security swarmed into the room behind her. "You really do not want to make an enemy of us, Council Faroh."

            "You are interlopers," Faroh said as he took his seat. "Sooner or later, you will be forced from our little corner of the galaxy. The Genii, on the other hand, are here to stay." To the guards, he said, "Put her with the others. The buyers will be here soon."

            One guard took Sam's weapon and the other pressed the barrel of his into her side. "Come with us."

            Sam let the men escort her out of the room and down the stairs. They turned to the left, following Lorne's map, and started toward the prison. Sam pretended to stumble and moved her right hand against her hip. A flick of her wrist activated the radio and she said, "Sorry about that."

            "Walk," the guard growled. He put a hand on her shoulder and shoved her forward.

            "Guess I should be happy you guys haven't heard of handcuffs..."

            "Shut up and walk," the same guard said.

            When they reached the jail, the silent guard undid the latches on the door. She was pushed inside and nearly tumbled down a flight of stone steps. The guard caught her elbow at the last second before she went flying and waited as his companion flipped a switch. Lanterns were set into the wall every third step, but that left the majority of the stairwell in darkness. "Nice," Sam said. "Moody."

            The guard ignored her and urged her forward. She led the way down the steps half crouched to keep her head from brushing the slanted ceiling of the stairwell. The stairs led into a wide room with bare stone floors. Small oblong windows were cut high in the walls to let in light, but it didn't do much. Not that she wanted a clear view of the room. Beds ringed the walls, some of them hidden by curtains that hung from rings in the ceiling.

            In the far corner, three or four people were huddled together in a tight mass. Their heads rose at the sound of new arrivals, but then dropped back down to the safety of their gathered arms. Sam was about to ask why they were all huddled together that way when something exploded and burned her eyes. She and the guards all cried out and Sam bent the crook of her elbow against her eyes against the stinging tears.

            There was a scuffle behind her, a shout and then a body hitting the ground. "Get the..." was silenced by another blow, flesh against flesh, and Sam blinked her eyes in a futile attempt to get her sight back. Someone grabbed her and Sam closed her fist around soft cloth. She spun her attacker into the wall, pinning their body with her own. She was about to attack blindly - something that had once led to her biting her CO's hand - when Olivia's voice said, "Sam?!"

             "Liv," Sam gasped. She blinked, her vision slowly returning so that she could see the vague silhouette of Olivia's head against the darkness. Sam cupped Olivia's face, leaned in and kissed her briefly. "I'm here to rescue you."

            "Little late," Olivia said. "But I appreciate the assist."

            They separated and Sam looked blindly around the room. Blurry shapes moved through the shadows and Olivia said, "Captain French, the keys." Sam heard the jingling as the keys were tossed to the captain. "Is someone protecting the Stargate? I heard Faroh mention a welcoming party for your team."

            "We lost the Gate," Sam said. "But the Apollo is on the way to pick us up. It'll be here in..." She brought her watch up to her face out of habit, realizing only when her hand was up that she couldn't read the face.

            Olivia reached over, took Sam's hand and angled it so she could see the watch. "It's counting down from thirty."

            "Thirty hours, then. Think we can evade these people for that long?"

            "You're the expert," Olivia said.

            Sam smiled and realized details were starting to come in; Olivia's eyes, her lips. It was just like waking up next to her. Sam fought back the shudder running down her spine and said, "All right, let's get out of here before Faroh misses his people."

            Captain French, a thin man with thinning blonde hair, dragged the unconscious guards over to one of the curtained beds. He chained them together using the restraints he'd taken from the other prisoners, then nodded to Olivia. "That's done."

            "Come on," Sam said. She took the radio from her pocket and thumbed the mic as she started up the steps. "Ronon, Lieutenant Cadman. I have the prisoners and we're exiting the prison. We'll rendezvous on the eastern side of town."

            "Acknowledged," Cadman said.

            Sam and French stopped at the doorway and checked to make sure they could slip out unseen. Sam withdrew Lorne's map and passed it around. "Leave here, go to the left. You can use the narrow alleyways to keep from being seen. Keep your heads down and try to be as quiet as possible." She looked outside to make sure the coast was clear and held up three fingers. Three of the prisoners rushed through the door. "Go with them," Sam said to French. He nodded, looked both ways and followed the fleeing prisoners across the courtyard.

            Olivia moved up next to the door and looked at Sam. "You came to save me."

            Sam looked at her. "Of course."

            Olivia smiled. "Just when I think you're a real person, you go and do some superhero thing and I get swept up all over again."

            Sam smiled and wrinkled her nose. A man across the courtyard had stepped outside of his home or business and was adjusting the window shutters. When his back was turned, Sam nodded to Olivia. She left the darkness of the prison door and ran. Sam waited until the man was finished with the shutter and went back inside to go, a few feet behind Olivia.

            They ducked into an alley, followed the path the other prisoners had taken. At the edge of town, Sam saw Lieutenant Cadman crouching next to a tree. Sam and Olivia joined the others in a copse of bushes and Cadman said, "Nice time. Zero to break-out in twenty minutes."

            Sam shrugged. "After ten years, you learn some tricks."

            "Plus she stumbled in on the middle of my break-out," Olivia said. "I decided to bring her along."

            Cadman said, "Mighty thoughtful of you, Constable."

            Ronon stood and said, "We're probably going to have company in a minute. We should find someplace more secure."

            "Right," Sam said. "We should stay in the vicinity of the Stargate so the Apollo will be able to lock onto us easily. We'll stick to the woods. Captain, Constable... did Faroh's guards leave you with rations and supplies?"

            "Yeah," Olivia said. "Even our flash bangs, which you know... came in handy."

            "Don't they know about jail breaks?"

            One of the other prisoners said, "They know. They just don't care. The penalty for escaping is severe, and no one can evade them long enough to reach the Portal."

            "What's the penalty?" Sam asked.

            "Immediate execution." The prisoner shrugged. "It was an effective deterrent."

            Ronon said, "They can only punish us if we get caught."

            Sam nodded. "We have a benefit other prisoners didn't. We have a ship on the way. When it gets here, it will transport us up and take us safely away from here."

            "In thirty hours," Ronon pointed out.

            "It's doable," Sam said. "But only if we put some more distance between us and them. Come on." She reached out as if to steady herself against the tree, but in reality wanted to brush her hand against Olivia's. Their index fingers touched and quickly separated. "Ronon, you take point."

            He agreed without comment, pushing his way through the underbrush. Sam glanced at Cadman and followed him. Olivia came behind Sam, then the other prisoners, with Cadman at the rear. They hadn't made it far before they heard a low, haunting whoop rise from the city they were leaving behind. One of the prisoners straightened and said, "That is the alarm. They know we have escaped."

            "Then the chase is on," Sam said.

 

#

 

Half an hour later, Ronon stopped them at a stream. He looked down the banks of the river and said, "We can wade across."

            "In five," Sam said. "Take a breather."

            "I don't need a breather."

            "The rest of us do," Sam said, staring him down. What she meant was that Captain French was panting, and the prisoners they had helped escape were all about to fall down.

            Ronon didn't want to give in, but even he could see the non-combatants needed a rest. "We're getting lucky. These guys are being loud and obvious... they're not used to tracking in the woods. But we won't stay ahead of them for long, especially if we keep stopping to rest."

            "And we won't get away from them at all if we're exhausted. We're stopping. That's final."

            He clenched his jaw and finally said, "Fine. I'll see if I can find a way across."

            Sam thought about denying the offer, but it would be better than having him stew. It would also be preferable to wading through the water and then spending the next day or so in wet underwear. So she nodded and said, "Check back in five minutes."

            He turned without agreeing, but Sam had spent enough time with him to know he would. When she returned to the group, who had sprawled out immediately when it became apparent they were stopping, one of the prisoners said, "We cannot evade them forever, Colonel Carter."

            "Not forever," Sam said. "Just a few more hours."

            "Be that as it may..."

            Sam held up a hand. "My people and I know a thing or two about evading capture."

            Cadman said, "Believe her. She's been in more alien prisons than the rest of us put together."

            Sam smiled and glanced at the sky. It was hard to tell with the clouds, but she thought the day had been getting steadily darker. "Any idea how long a day on this planet lasts?"

            "It's been daylight since we arrived," French reported. "I'd say we're due for nightfall any time now."

            "Okay. When Ronon gets back we'll consider setting up camp here for the night."

            She pulled the pack off her vest and dropped it on the ground in front of her. "Lieutenant, your supplies..." Cadman added her pack to Sam's, and French dumped his as well. "We have emergency provisions. Olivia, see that the food gets divvied up evenly. We'll need enough to feed the seven of us for at least two meals."

            "Shouldn't be a problem," Olivia said.

            Sam stood up and said, "I'm going to track down Ronon and fill him in on the plan." Not to mention have a little talk with him about his attitude. "Lieutenant, you're in charge."

            "Yes, sir."

            Sam nodded to her and left them with their MREs. She moved in a slow jog, knowing she would have to go faster than normal to catch up to Ronon. She found him about two hundred yards away, kneeling next to the river with his hand in the water. She slowed and said, "Ronon."

            He glanced up, flicked his fingers and stood to meet her halfway. "We'll never get across this thing without a bridge. The current is too strong."

            "All right," Sam said. "We'll deal with that tomorrow. For tonight, we're camping back at the clearing."

            "Camping?" Ronon said. His voice was near a growl.

            "Including Detective Benson, we have four civilians back there," Sam reminded him.

            "Yeah. And four women."

            Sam closed her eyes. It was time to cross the bridge. Metaphorically, anyway. "Do you believe, in this situation, that Sheppard would press on? We've put distance between us and our pursuers. If we have to run, we'll run. But we'll be better rested tomorrow if we stop now while we can. I'm making the call, same as Sheppard. Being a woman has nothing to do with it."

            Ronon didn't look convinced, but he also didn't look like he was holding back a wall of water anymore, either. He walked past her and she watched him go. She heard a voice in her head, an echo from almost five years ago; "The female?" And then another voice, a familiar voice, said, "Major Carter is a formidable warrior." She took a deep breath and quickly blew it out. "Ah, Teal'c. Why couldn't you come with me to Atlantis? Kick people's asses when I needed you to?"

            She shook her head and started after Ronon. She made a mental note to introduce him to her old friend as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

 

#

 

By the time Sam and Ronon returned to the camp, it had gotten dark enough that they could safely assume night was upon them. Since they couldn't build a fire without their pursuers spotting it, Olivia had set up a hot plate to warm their rations. Sam spotted Olivia at the edge of the campsite under a tree and walked over to her. "Was there enough food?"

            "Should be," Olivia said as she handed Sam her plate. She watched Ronon stalk across the campsite. "Did you have a talk?"

            "We spoke," Sam said. She sat down next to Olivia and stretched her legs out, crossing them at the ankles. Olivia shifted slightly, bringing herself closer to Sam without making it obvious what she was doing. "How are you doing?"

            Olivia shrugged. "Fine. Considering I got kidnapped and held hostage."

            "Can't say I never took you anywhere," Sam said softly.

            Olivia chuckled. "Nope. Definitely can't say that." She looked up and examined their makeshift camp. The rest of the prisoners were huddled together under a tree, taking comfort in their combined numbers. Lieutenant Cadman and Captain French were filling water bottles from the stream and Ronon was... had it been anyone else, Olivia would have called it pouting. But they were all focused on their own problems. Olivia moved her hand down against her thigh, reached over and took Sam's hand.

            "What..."

            "Shh," Olivia said. She threaded her fingers with Sam's, but kept her index finger straight. She pressed the tip of her finger against Sam's, hard, and Sam pressed back. If they had agreed a fleeing touch was like a kiss, this was full-blown making-out. Sam angled her wrist, pressed her palm against Olivia's. Olivia squeezed and brushed her thumb over the back of Sam's hand. Sam slid her hand forward and looked up, found Olivia looking at her.

            Sam exhaled and relaxed her hand. "Why..."

            "Because I'm going to assault you if we don't stop," Sam whispered with a sly grin.

            "What, you've never had sex off-world?"

            Sam blushed. It had been before Janet, during the opening years of the Stargate program. Young, naïve Captain Carter had been shocked at how Daniel Jackson could have accepted a woman as a gift. Then she had been in a cabana, the honored guest of a sultana. She had been bedding down for the night, amused that the men were regulated to sleeping bags outside of the main palace grounds, when the curtains parted and their hostess stepped into the sleeping chamber.

            She had tried to say no, but her mind was filled with 'diplomatic incidents' and worries that feelings would be hurt. By the time she was thinking clearly, her uniform pants were halfway down her legs and the beautiful cinnamon-skinned sultana was spreading her legs. And Sam had laid back and enjoyed the 'gifts.'

            After that, her off-world liaisons had been reduced to romantic getaways with Janet, then random fucks to take the edge off once Vala joined the team, and then... well, technically every relationship she had on Atlantis was 'off-world.' Her trysts with Keller and her encounters with Olivia were all taking place on an alien planet, after all.

            "Yeah," Sam said in response to Olivia's question. "Once or twice."

            Olivia looked toward the common area and saw Cadman walking toward them. She didn't move an inch, but her entire body language shifted in a heartbeat. She focused on the food in her lap as Cadman stopped a few feet in front of Sam. "Colonel. I've drawn up a watch rotation. I'll be taking first watch, then Ronon, then you, and Captain French."

            "Sounds good. Thank you, Lieutenant."

            Cadman nodded and left the women alone again.

            Olivia said, "She, um..."

            Sam lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah?

            "I don't know if I should tell you."

            "Oh, well, now you have to tell me."

            "I saw Dr. Keller leaving her quarters the other night. When I was leaving your quarters."

            Sam lifted her chin. "Ahh. And you think the visits may have had the same motives?"

            Olivia said, "If that good-night kiss I saw was anything to judge by."

            Sam arched an eyebrow. "Nice."

            Olivia cleared her throat and pushed away from the tree. "Is it against regulations if I go take a walk, or do I need a babysitter?"

            "If you don't mind the expedition leader being your babysitter..."

            Olivia smiled and held her hands out. She helped Sam up and Sam brushed off the seat of her pants. She flagged down Cadman and said, "We're going to take a quick walk around the perimeter."

            "Don't go too far," Cadman said.

            Sam sketched a salute and motioned for Olivia to follow her. Olivia ducked under a branch and looked back at the rest of their group. "They won't suspect anything?"

            "Bathroom breaks," Sam said. "Leg stretching... There are a lot of reasons to slip away from camp for five minutes."

            Olivia reached out and took Sam's hand. Sam stopped, looked at their hands and let Olivia pull her back. Sam chuckled as Olivia kissed her. "Five minutes?" Olivia asked.

            "Maybe ten," Sam said. She stepped closer and pressed herself to Olivia. "Fifteen... if we have trouble with... indigenous wildlife..."

            Olivia silenced Sam with another kiss. "We should move farther away," Sam whispered when she came up for air.

            "I'll be quiet..."

            "You can't," Sam said. "Trust me, Liv, you can't..."

            Olivia whimpered and said, "All right. But quickly."

            They moved as quickly and quietly as they could through the foliage. Sam kept looking down at Olivia's ass in her uniform trousers, the way the material bunched and sagged as she moved over the wildly fluctuating landscape. When they reached a treeless plateau, Olivia turned and said, "Here?"

            "Yeah," Sam said. She pressed her body against Olivia's again and kissed her hard. "Clothes stay on," she said.

            "Yes, sir," Olivia gasped. She smiled as Sam moaned, and looked down to undo the catches of Sam's trousers. "Lay me down," she said.

            Sam lowered Olivia to the ground and settled on top of her. They kissed as Olivia pushed Sam's pants open and worked her hand inside Sam's underwear. Sam moved her lips to Olivia's cheek, along her jaw line. Olivia brought her leg up and hooked it on Sam's hip, working her fingers between Sam's legs. "I knew you would come for me," Olivia breathed into Sam's ear.

            "I'm going to come for you again if you're not... careful," Sam panted. She dug her knees into the soft peat below them and thrust against Olivia's hand.

            Olivia moaned and nipped at Sam's earlobe. "I love you."

            "I love you, too," Sam said. "We never... say that outside of..."

            "We don't have to."

            Sam raised her head and looked into Olivia's eyes. "I do, though."

            "I know."

            Sam tried to keep eye contact as she thrust against Olivia's hand. Her eyes betrayed her, though, and drifted shut. She rocked gently against Olivia, and then more insistently. "I'm going to... come, Olivia..."

            Olivia kissed Sam's neck and said, "Come for me, Sam..."

            Sam shuddered and bit down on the shoulder of Olivia's jacket. She worked it with her teeth to stifle the cry that wanted to break free, and finally slumped against Olivia. After a few seconds, she said, "Oh. Right. On the clock... your turn..."

            They rolled until Sam was on bottom and Olivia was sitting in her lap. Olivia arched her back to undo her pants as Sam licked three fingers. Olivia gasped as Sam's hand worked its way into her underwear, and she slumped forward. She unzipped her jacket and pulled it open. "Breast," she said. "My breast..."

            Sam bowed her head and kissed Olivia's breast through her shirt and bra. She used her teeth and tongue to excite the nipple, timing her tongue's movements to her fingers between Olivia's legs. Olivia grinded into Sam's hand and threw her head back. "That's... yeah, Sam, yes..."

            "Shush," Sam hissed.

            Olivia looked down at her again. "Oh, is that what you were..."

            "Yes," Sam said. "Now shh... shh, baby..."

            Olivia smiled and stroked Sam's cheek. She leaned down and kissed Sam's lips, then rested her head on Sam's shoulder. She parted her lips and swept her tongue across Sam's throat. Sam grunted in approval and tilted her head to give Olivia unimpeded access. Her eyelids cracked and she glanced back toward camp.

            Twenty feet away, Laura Cadman froze, half-hidden behind a tree. Her eyes were wide, her face nearly as red as her hair. Her one visible hand was shaking, the other tucked between her thighs. They stared at each other for a long moment before Cadman's eyelids fluttered. Sam closed her eyes and turned her head. Her lips tickled Olivia's earlobe. "Cadman's watching us..."

            Olivia murmured.

            "I think she's touching herself..."

            "Yeah?" Olivia said. She lifted her head and kissed the corner of Sam's mouth. "You want to ask her to join us?"

            Sam smiled, then realized Olivia was serious. She smiled and whispered, "No. Not this time." She kissed Olivia's lips and circled Olivia's clit with her thumb. She lifted her hips and pressed against the heel of her hand. "Ready?"

            Olivia breathed, "Yeah. Fuck me..."

            Sam thrust her lower body against Olivia, and both of them groaned. Olivia went rigid, her breath coming in ragged gasps and hitches as Sam's thumb continued to brush her oversensitive clit. "Stop, stop," Olivia said, and Sam's hand stopped moving. When Sam withdrew her hand, she looked into the forest and saw Cadman had disappeared.

            They kissed lazily and Olivia said, "Do we have to get back?"

            "I think Laura will cover for us. For a little while, at least."

            They sank together against the moss, and Olivia shifted herself until her head was on Sam's shoulder. Sam reached down with one hand, the other wrapped around Olivia's shoulders, and realigned their clothes so they could be up and ready at a moment's notice. She kissed Olivia's temple and then turned her attention to the sky.

            It was violet-blue, deep like velvet with thousands of stars from horizon to horizon. A sheet of white clouds, thin as threads, moved slowly overhead, lit from behind by the half-moon. A black silhouette, monkey-like in shape, swung from one tree to the next. Olivia said, "I love being here. Off-world. Any alien world. I don't really notice it on Atlantis because, as alien as it can be, Atlantis is still just one step removed. But out here... listening to noises I know aren't made by familiar animals... seeing stars that the people I spent my whole life with have never seen..."

            "It's daunting," Sam said. "And humbling. I've really, really missed being a part of an off-world team. And as odd as it may sound, I'm grateful for this opportunity to get back out there, get my hands dirty again. Even under these circumstances. After my former CO took over command of the SGC, we brought him along on a mission. At one point, villagers were holding crossbows on us, had us completely surrounded, and his reaction was how much he missed being off-world. I understand now. It's an amazing thing, to sleep under an alien sky."

            "Yeah," Olivia said. She looked at Sam and cupped her face, forcing Sam to look down at her. "Thank you," she said, "for giving me this. I can... I can never..."

            "You're welcome," Sam said. She squeezed Olivia's hand and said, "But you're not staying. Are you?"

            "I don't know," Olivia said softly.

            Sam kissed her lips. "Don't stay for me."

            "I won't. I just need time to think it out. I have to... I have to figure out where I belong. And you've given me the best opportunity to look at it from all angles. I don't have to be a cop, or a detective. I just need to find what makes me happy."

            "I hope you find what you're looking for," Sam said. "Even if it's not me."

            Olivia closed her eyes and rested her head on Sam's chest.

            After a few moments, there was a burst of static. Laura Cadman's voice came from Sam's vest. "Colonel Carter, come in."

            "Go ahead, Lieutenant," Sam said. She and Olivia sat up as one, and straightened their clothes. Sam reached up and plucked a twig from Olivia's hair.

            "Ronon and I were on patrol and he spotted a group of searchers about half a klick from our position. He suggested we move, and I agree."

            "As do I," Sam said. "Constable Benson and I will be back in a moment."

            She disconnected and Olivia nodded at the radio. "Was she really watching us?"

            "Of course. Why would I have said it otherwise?"

            "To get me hot."

            Sam stood up and held out a hand for Olivia. "So you're open to a threesome?"

            "I've done it in the past," Olivia said, visions of a blonde and a redhead sharing a kiss over her stomach, remembering two fine-boned hands sliding up her thighs to... she shuddered and focused on Sam. "Yeah. I'd be open."

            "I'll keep that in mind," Sam said. She made sure Olivia's backside was clear, and then Olivia returned the favor. They made sure to stay a professional distance apart as they returned to the camp.

 

#

 

They moved as quietly as possible along the stream, pausing when Ronon indicated the search party was growing near. Olivia was near the back of the line, helping Cadman to keep the prisoners quiet. Several times during their trek, however, she found herself staring at Sam. The Colonel was in charge now, staying right behind Ronon and whispering orders to him. Every now and then she made a hand motion and Ronon would nod his understanding.

            My lover is giving orders to an alien soldier so other alien soldiers won't capture us. Amazing. She shook her head and focused on the task at hand. The shushing of the water in the stream was loud enough to mask any inadvertent sounds their convoy made through the forest. Unfortunately, it also helped mask the sounds of their pursuers. Fortunately Ronon had ears like a bat. When he stopped, Sam held up a hand to hold up the convoy. When he changed course, Sam followed without question.

            They climbed a rise and Ronon turned at the top to help everyone else up. He gripped Olivia's wrist and practically hauled her up onto the plateau. "You okay?"

            "Fine," she said. Sam joined Ronon at the edge and peered down at the forest they had just left. Olivia asked, "Do you think they're still coming?"

            "I know they are," Ronon said. He looked around and walked to a fallen log. He looked behind it, tested the weight and said, "Back up."

            Sam took Olivia's elbow and guided her back. "Give him room," Sam said to Cadman, French and the prisoners. Ronon braced one foot against a stone, wrapped both arms around the log and leaned backward. He used his entire body like a lever, grunting quietly as he moved the log. Leaves that had long since turned to mulch and piles of dirt gathered by bugs and various forest creatures dripped from the back side of the log, thousands of small black object scurried out into the night and disappeared into the trees. Sam jerked to one side and kicked her foot out to divert a few bugs that had been aiming for her foot.

            "You don't like bugs?" Olivia asked.

            "Alien bugs," Sam said. "I had a bad experience."

            As Ronon moved the log, the entire side of the mountain seemed to shift. Sam followed the hill as far as she could in the darkness and said, "Ah... Ronon?"

            He grunted a reply and stepped to the side when he had the log far enough out. He did a half-step jig to the left, then bounded to the right just as the rocks which had been held back for years, decades, centuries found themselves free to continue a long-delayed rockslide. Sam and Olivia covered their faces as the cascade picked up speed until it was rolling like the stream below.

            When the earthquake-like roar ceased, the incline they had just ascended was covered with a loose layer of ancient stones. "Nice work," Sam said.

            Ronon nodded and looked around. He pointed westward. "That way."

            "How long until the ship gets here?" Olivia asked.

            Sam checked her watch. "Twenty hours."

            Olivia resisted the urge to sigh. It was going to be a long day.

 

#

 

Something soft brushed her cheek and Olivia jerked slightly. "Hey," Sam whispered. "It's all right. It's just me. You fell asleep."

            Olivia sat up and looked around. She vaguely remembered Sam convincing Ronon to stop for the night and sitting down with her back to a tree. It had been almost midnight, Earth time, and she hadn't slept for almost thirty-two hours. She wiped her eyes and rearranged herself on the soft ground. It was still dark, but that could mean anything. "How long was I out?"

            "Only about twenty minutes," Sam whispered. "Ronon is scouting ahead."

            Olivia looked around the camp. Cadman and French were both dozing, but could obviously be up and alert at a moment's notice. The prisoners were all out like lights. "Did you sleep?" Olivia asked.

            "I'm fine."

            "Rest," Olivia said. "I'll keep watch."

            Sam looked at Olivia, focused on her dark eyes and her lips. Finally she nodded and said, "Wake me when Ronon comes back."

            "Okay."

            Sam put her head on Olivia's shoulder and her breathing evened out almost immediately. Olivia rested her cheek against the top of Sam's head and looked around the clearing again. The trees were just like back home, not that she had spent a lot of time in the country. There had been a handful of times with Alex, at a rented cabin, but her focus on those weekends had not been nature. But she knew Earth creatures well enough to know that none of them made sounds like what she was hearing. She was surrounded by an entirely alien ecosystem, no matter how familiar it looked.

            The reason she had finally turned in her letter of resignation to Cragen and told Sam she would come to Atlantis full-time is because her eyes had finally been opened. She knew aliens existed, she knew that the combined forces of several countries had successfully repelled several attempted invasions... how could she go back to chasing rapists and child molesters after that? How could she possibly live with the knowledge and be cut off from it?

            More importantly, there was Sam. Sam was on Atlantis, so that's where Olivia wanted... no, needed to be. She loved Sam deeper than she had loved anything in a long time. And Sam had rescued her like an angel during a dark and dreary time. Olivia no longer took any joy from her job. The thrill of taking a rapist off the street paled against the anguish of seeing yet another victimized child who would never be the same again. Olivia had been wondering how much longer she could live with herself before she either went crazy or started taking matters into her own hands. Sam had descended like an angel, offering her an alternative.

            Constable Olivia Benson, chief of security for the city of Atlantis. It still felt weird to say out loud. It brought to mind legendary visions of kings and princesses and slaying dragons. Not mountains of paperwork and breaking up minor scuffles in the mess hall. There wasn't much beer on the base, let alone a bar, so she didn't even have to deal with drunk and disorderly arrests. It was like she had been demoted to being a beat cop in Bunghole, Idaho.

            But Sam was there. That was worth all the boredom in the world. For the moment, at least. The problem was that if Olivia stayed too long, she might not acclimate well to returning to Earth. There would be a chance that she wouldn't fit in at either place, and she would be adrift once more. She had to make her decision soon, but neither option seemed right.

            Olivia looked down at Sam's face, relaxed in sleep, and brushed her thumb across Sam's bottom lip. Sam's eyelids fluttered and then opened. "Oh," Olivia said. "I'm sorry."

            "It's okay," Sam said.

            "I love you." Sam blinked and sat up. Olivia smiled. "I thought I would go ahead and say it while we weren't..."

            "I love you, too," Sam said. She lifted her head and kissed the corner of Olivia's mouth, not trusting herself for anything more. She pulled back and looked around the camp. "Ronon?"

            "You were only asleep for about five minutes."

            Sam shrugged. "I've functioned on less."

            She stood up and stretched. A moment later, Ronon came through the trees. Olivia was impressed; she hadn't heard any indication he was coming. "We've got a problem," he said without preamble.

            "What is it?" Sam asked. Cadman and French awoke at the sound of voices and stood up to join the group.

            "They're using lamps to search while it's dark. I saw two search parties closing in from the east, two more from the west. They're trying to squeeze us toward the river."

            "Can we slip between them?"

            Ronon shook his head. "They're spread out too well. We can't slip between them without being seen."

            Sam sighed and said, "They want to pin us against the river... and you're sure we can't cross it?"

            "It would sweep us away."

            Olivia was looking up at the trees. "Has anyone seen any monkeys?"

            Ronon, Sam and Cadman all looked at her like she was insane. "What?" Sam asked.

            Olivia stepped away from the group and scanned the trees. "I saw a monkey earlier. It jumped from one tree to the next. But I haven't seen a single monkey otherwise. Ronon?"

            He stepped forward and scanned the trees carefully. Finally, he pointed. "There."

            "Where?" Sam said.

            He lowered his shoulder so she could follow the line of his arm. "Through the leaves. About fifteen feet up."

            Sam and Olivia spotted the monkey at the same time. Its face was black, ringed with red fur. It turned its head sideways when it realized they were watching it, turned and leapt for another branch. It disappeared from sight almost immediately. "How did it do that?" Sam asked.

            "These branches form a lattice," Ronon said. "It creates camouflage for anything in the trees. Or anyone." He walked to the base of one tree, grabbed a low branch and pulled himself up. Seconds later, he was out of sight amid the patchwork of green and brown. Olivia thought she could still see the sky, but it must have been an optical illusion since the Satedan was completely invisible.

            When he spoke again, his voice seemed to come from thin air. "Actually, nature had a hand."

            "How so?" Sam said.

            Ronon dropped from the trees. "There are platforms up there. They're made out of reflective surfaces."

            "Do you think the monkeys made them?" French asked, drawing an irritated look from Ronon. "Hey, it's a good question. These monkeys might not be like Earth's."

            "They're remnants. From a war or..."

            "Duck blinds," Sam said. "On Earth, hunters sometimes set up platforms in the trees so they won't frighten away the animals they're hunting. This could be something similar." She walked to the tree and looked at the prisoners. She lowered her voice and asked Cadman, "Can they climb?"

            "To save their lives? Definitely."

            Sam turned to Ronon. "Will we all fit up there?"

            "There're several blinds. We can spread people out."

            "Excellent. Let's get the prisoners up first. Captain French, you stay with them."

            French nodded and climbed the tree. He was only slightly less dexterous as Ronon, but disappeared just as quickly. "Okay," he called down. "Send them up."

            Sam and Cadman helped the prisoners climb the tree, catching each of them when they inevitably slipped. "It's all right. Just go slowly. Captain French will lend you a hand when you get up there."

            Ronon moved to the next tree and climbed up. He dropped back down and said, "Another one here."

            They made sure French and the prisoners were secure before moving to the next tree. Ronon led the way up, followed by Cadman. Sam motioned for Olivia to go up and followed quickly behind.

            The platform was a shallow dish, connected to the trunk of the tree by metal brackets. There was a gap between the dish and the tree just wide enough for them to crawl through, and Ronon helped Sam onto the raised area. Long metal arms designed to blend into the surrounding trees stretched out underneath them, and the bowl of the platform was filled with fallen leaves and forest silt. Sam ignored what must be in the leaves and twigs, given the fact that monkeys had led them up here, and crossed to the clear area where Olivia and Cadman were crouching.

            Ronon climbed back down and, a moment later, Sam said, "What do you see?"

            "I see you and Cadman," he said. "But I'm looking for you."

            Sam reached up and grabbed a handful of thick branches. She tugged, jerked and twisted until they broke off. She laid them out around them, forming a cushion for them to sit on. "Good," Ronon said from below. She heard him move to the other tree and give French instructions to block himself and the prisoners as well.

            Cadman cleared her throat and said, "Colonel, now that we have a moment, I wanted to apologize for..."

            "Don't worry about it, Lieutenant," Sam said.

            Cadman glanced at Olivia and said, "I didn't want things to be awkward."

            "It's all right. No harm, no foul. I assume I can count on you for discretion..."

            "Of course."

            Sam shrugged. "So there's no problem."

            Cadman sighed, obviously relieved, and sagged against the tree. Olivia, between Sam and the lieutenant, said, "Besides, now we're even."

            "Oh?"

            "I saw you and Dr. Keller the other night on the base."

            "Oh," Cadman said. She grinned and said, "Yeah."

            Ronon returned and grabbed a handful of branches to make his own cushion. He sat down cross-legged, hands resting on his knees, and stared straight ahead. Sam watched him for a moment and said, "Are you all right?"

            "Yeah, fine."

            "I know you would rather fight than..."

            "Quiet."

            "Ronon..."

            "Quiet," Ronon hissed. Sam realized he had heard something and went still. She looked down through the web of branches. After a few moments, she heard movement through the brush. A man stepped around the tree trunk with a gun resting against his forearm. Sam saw Ronon tense, but he stayed where he was. The man moved slowly, but not carefully. He stepped on a twig, caught his sleeve on a clump of bark and he pulled it free with a muttered curse.

            He didn't look terribly interested in finding who he was looking for. Sam only hoped the rest of the search party was as apathetic as this man.

            Once the man was gone, Sam waited ten minutes before she looked at Ronon. She mouthed, "Clear?"

            Ronon climbed off his perch, scuttled down the trunk and did a quick, quiet reconnaissance. He returned to the tree. "We're clear."

            "Okay," Sam said. "Let's get moving."

            They descended from the tree and waited for French to get the prisoners down. "Which way now?" French asked.

            Sam said, "They'll reach the stream soon enough and realize we didn't go that way. We should put as much distance between us and them." She nodded the direction they had come. "We head back toward town."

            One of the prisoners said, "That's suicide!"

            "It's our only option now. And keep your voice down. We don't want them turning back any sooner than necessary. Ronon?"

            He led the way without question. Sam, Olivia and the others followed him and, reluctantly, the people Sam had helped free from the prison fell into step.

            As they walked, the distance between each person slowly grew. Soon, Sam found herself walking with Olivia through a clearing with grass that reached their waist. Cadman was a few yards behind, Ronon almost out of sight ahead. Sam lowered her voice and said, "That was a pretty impressive idea you had. With the monkeys."

            Olivia shrugged. "It just came to me."

            "And, uh... when did you spot the monkey?"

            Olivia smiled and didn't answer.

            "Aha. I thought so." She chuckled and said, "Looks like what we did was of strategic mission importance after all."

            "Just don't make it a requisite for off-world travel."

            Sam arched an eyebrow. "I don't know. Some of the rumors I've heard about off-world teams..."

            "Rumors," Olivia scoffed. "You were on one of those off-world teams for ten years. I'll bet you have a few stories of 'strategic mission importance.'"

            A vision of Vala with her uniform trousers around her thighs flashed in Sam's mind. She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Nah. No, nothing I can..." Her radio crackled. Sam stopped in her tracks and whistled. Ahead, Ronon stopped, turned and started back. Sam squeezed the mic of her radio and said, "This is Colonel Carter."

            "Colonel, good to hear your voice."

            Sam grinned. "Colonel Ellis. You're early."

            "Sheppard and his team managed to contact us, let us know what your situation was. We pushed the engines a little."

            "Glad to hear it," Sam said. "We have three refugees to transport, along with myself, Lieutenant Cadman, Captain French and Ronon. Lock onto our transmitter beacons and the three closest life-signs."

            "Stand by, Colonel."

            Sam turned to look toward the tree line.

            "What?" Olivia asked.

            Sam shook her head. "It just seems wrong. I feel like the search party should find and rush at us right before we get beamed up."

            Cadman smirked. "Do you want to tell Ellis to wait five minutes?"

            Sam chuckled. "No. I'm just fine with--" The forest shimmered and was replaced by a plain gray wall. She turned and saw Colonel Ellis smiling at her from the command chair. "Nice to see you all in one piece."

            "Thank you," Sam said. She stepped onto the command platform and said, "Open a channel to Council Faroh."

            The captain seated to Ellis' right made an adjustment. "Channel is open, Colonel."

            Sam turned to face the view screen, despite a lack of visual contact. "Council Faroh, this is Colonel Samantha Carter. We have attempted to enter civil relations with your people and have been met with hostility at every turn. Our most recent attempt led to our people being imprisoned with the threat of being sold to the highest bidder.

            "Suffice to say, we are now ceasing diplomatic entreaties with your people. What this means is we will no longer attempt to create a relationship between our peoples. We will not establish trade, we will not offer assistance should the Wraith or Replicators arrive on your doorstep. We understand that this means we will not be able to rely on you for food or refuge, but... I'm sure that we're getting the better terms of this deal. I wish you luck."

            She turned to the captain and nodded for him to kill the signal.

            "Nice," Olivia said when Sam rejoined her.

            "Really?" Sam said. "I thought it stank a little of 'you won't have Atlantis to kick around anymore.'"

            "Well, that too," Olivia said. She chuckled and nudged Sam's elbow.

            To Ellis, Sam said, "Set a course back to Atlantis. And see that our visitors have a place to sleep."

            "Course has been set," the navigator replied.

            "Colonel," the communications officer said. "Council Faroh is requesting a conversation."

            Sam stopped at the door, turned around and said, "Hang up on him. Or the equivalent."

            The captain smiled. "Yes, ma'am."

            "Colonel Ellis?" Sam said. "There's no need to push the engines on the return to Atlantis. Just a nice casual pace is fine."

            "You've got it, Colonel."

 

#

 

There was a chime, and she was determined to ignore it as long as possible. The bathtubs on the Apollo were small, not aesthetically pleasing, and had sharp edges that a bather needed to keep her eyes on, but once the tiny oval cavity had been filled with warm bubble bath scented with strawberries, it didn't matter what it looked like. Sam had her feet up on the far end of the tub, her heels protected by a folded towel. The bubbles reached mid-chest, and just below her knees, the rest of her blissfully...

            The chime sounded again. Sam sighed and lifted her head from the rolled-up robe serving as her pillow. "Yes?"

            "Sam?"

            "Olivia. Come in."

            She heard the door open and said, "I'm in here. Lock the door."

            There was a pause, and then Olivia appeared in the doorway. She smiled, leaned against the wall and looked down at the bubble bath. "Well. It's good to be king."

            Sam smiled and sank back against her pillow. "I don't know what you're talking about. Rub my feet."

            Olivia sat on the edge of the tub and moved Sam's feet to her lap. "Colonel Ellis says we'll reach Atlantis in five hours, give or take."

            "Nice," Sam said. She watched Olivia's fingers work against the arches of her feet. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Give and take. That was how our relationship started."

            "Yeah," Olivia said. "It was, wasn't it? I was so... resentful that you were swooping in and taking over my case."

            "And now?"

            Olivia pressed her knuckle into the arch of Sam's foot. "You can swoop me any time."

            Sam smiled. Olivia lifted one foot and pressed her lips to the big toe. Sam chuckled, turned her head and pressed her chin against her shoulder. Olivia smiled as she watched the skin from Sam's chest to her throat quickly turn red. "She can still blush," Olivia said quietly.

            "Shut up," Sam said. She laughed and pulled her foot from Olivia's hand. She rearranged herself in the tub and said, "Do my back."

            Olivia stood up and unfastened her trousers.

            "What are you doing?"

            "This is how I do someone's back," Olivia said. She kicked off her shoes and pushed her pants down. Sam leaned forward and hugged her knees to her chest, watching Olivia undress. She waited until Olivia had her shirt off and was bent over, folding it on the closed toilet seat, to say, "You know, you probably won't fit in here with me." She tilted her head to admire the curve of Olivia's ass, wondering where on Atlantis she lay out so she wouldn't have tan lines.

            "I've been in bathtubs of New York City apartments with women. I can make this work," Olivia promised her. She walked to the tub and Sam scooted forward. Olivia sat behind her, spread her legs apart and crouched. She eased Sam forward and hissed as her calves were pinched between Sam's side and the side of the tub.

            "See?" Sam said.

            Olivia wrapped an arm around Sam's waist and pulled her the rest of the way. Sam felt Olivia's breasts against her back and wrapped her arm around Olivia's bent right leg. She turned her head, smiled and said, "Hi."

            Olivia chuckled. "Hi."

            Sam kissed Olivia's lips and said, "We should try this at my house on Earth..."

            "You keep a house on Earth?"

            "Mm-hmm," Sam said. Her eyes were closed again, her lips moving against Olivia's cheek as she spoke. "Teal'c is house-sitting for me."

            "Teal'c?"

            "Yeah. It makes him feel close to me. Apparently we were married."

            Olivia frowned, but was finding it hard to focus. The bathwater was making her sleepy. "When was this?"

            "Last year," Sam said. "Don't be jealous. We hadn't renewed our relationship at that point. And it had been twenty years since I saw you when Teal'c and I first slept together."

            "Twenty years?"

            Sam grinned. "Long story. I'll tell you the parts I know someday."

            "Mm," Olivia murmured. She dipped her hand into the water, brought it up and trailed it over Sam's breast. Sam's nipple rose to meet Olivia's passing fingers and she gave it a gentle twist.

            Sam gasped and squirmed against Olivia. "That's not fair..."

            "Sue me," Olivia said. She moved her lips to Sam's ear and whispered, "I know a lawyer who could give you a real spanking..."

            Sam whimpered.

            Olivia kissed the shell of Sam's ear and kept sliding her hand lower. She cupped Sam's mound, spread her labia with two fingers and dipped the middle finger back. Sam took a deep breath and released it in waves. "Do you like that?"

            "Yeah," Sam said.

            Olivia curled her fingers and brushed the heel of her hand against Sam's clit. She remembered her thoughts of the last time she had been with Sam, the head-trip of her lover being so powerful. Now she knew the real aphrodisiac; when Sam gave up her power. When Sam let herself be naked and vulnerable to Olivia's touch. She kissed Sam's temple, the long curled hair tickling her nose and eyelashes.

            "Do you want me to stroke your clit?" Olivia asked, her voice a rough whisper, "or do you want me inside?"

            "Clit," Sam said, and then swallowed hard.

            Olivia folded her fingers into a point, using her thumb to urge Sam's clitoris forward. She rolled her fingers, wet with the bathwater, across the sensitive bud and Sam sucked in a harsh breath through clenched teeth.

            "Yeah?"

            "Uh-huh," Sam managed.

            Olivia bent her head and kissed Sam's neck. She slowly rolled her fingers, picking up a gentle rhythm, and then stopped. Sam whimpered and said, "Please..."

            "Okay, baby," Olivia whispered. She stroked harder and Sam began to rock against her. Olivia moved her lips back to Sam's ears. "I wish this was my tongue... rolling over your clit... sucking it... I wish I had my tongue in you, Sam. To taste you... my hero..."

            Sam grunted, arched her back and squeezed her thighs around Olivia's hand. Sam exhaled sharply, trembled and then collapsed against Olivia's body. The water washed back and forth around them, threatening to splash over the edges onto the floor. Sam turned her head and found Olivia's lips, kissed her hard and rolled until she was on her stomach. "What are you doing?" Olivia asked against Sam's mouth, Sam's tongue forcing its way forward.

            "I'm going to fuck you..."

            "Yeah?" Olivia lifted her legs and rested her right foot on the edge of the tub. Sam sank between her thighs and settled against Olivia's body. She reached up and gripped the edge of the tub on either side of Olivia's head. Olivia shivered. This was also a power-aphrodisiac... being taken, without hesitation or question. Sam lifted one hand and brushed Olivia's hair out of her face, shifted her weight and lowered herself onto Olivia's thigh. Olivia reached up and around Sam's head, undoing the loose bun Sam had her hair in. The blonde waves collapsed onto her shoulders and Olivia whispered, "Beautiful..."

            They looked into each other's eyes as Sam slid forward. "Oh," Sam gasped. She took Olivia's hand, guided it to her breast and Olivia cupped it reverently. She pinched the nipple lightly and squeezed, sighing when Sam arched her back. Sam licked her lips, pressed her thigh against Olivia and said, "Ready?"

            All Olivia could do was nod.

            Sam braced her hands against the wall and rocked her hips forward. Olivia put her free hand on Sam's hip, guiding her movements. This time, the water did wash over the side. Sam didn't notice or care. She was too focused on Olivia's expression, on the way their bodies came together and sent shockwaves through her. Olivia kept her eyes open as much as possible, watching Sam tower over her, taking her own pleasure. This was what Olivia wanted, more than anything, maybe. She said, "Kiss me..."

            Sam bowed her head and kissed Olivia hard. Olivia squeezed her eyes shut, dropped her right foot and wrapped her legs tight around Sam's. "Samantha..."

            "Are you going to come?"

            "Yes..."

            Sam moved her hands from the wall down Olivia's chest, cupped her breast and thumbed the nipples. "Oh, fuck me, Sam, fuck..."

            Sam raised her hands and cupped Olivia's face, brushed her thumb over Olivia's lip and moaned when it slipped into her mouth. Olivia sucked, and opened her eyes to see Sam's reaction. Her hair was in her eyes, the tips wet from brief contact with the water. "Olivia..."

            Olivia bit down on Sam's thumb, arched her back and cried out as she came. Sam gasped, straightened, and held on until Olivia relaxed. When Olivia opened her mouth, Sam withdrew her thumb and examined it to make sure it was still intact. "Sorry," Olivia said. "Are you okay?"

            "Just some teeth marks," Sam assured her. She smiled, bent down and kissed the corner's of Olivia's mouth. "Completely my fault."

            "At least you admit it," Olivia said. She grinned and brushed Sam's cheek, then turned and kissed her thumb. "Sorry."

            "It's okay. It's been a long time since I had a love bite."

            Olivia nodded and looked at the tub. "I didn't really think we would both fit in here..."

            Sam laughed. "Well, now we know. For future reference."

            "Yeah," Olivia said. She tried to avoid Sam's gaze, but was spared when Sam lowered her head to rest her cheek against Olivia's shoulder. Olivia dipped her hand into the water, which was only just now starting to calm down, and trailed it over Sam's back.

            "Mm. That's nice."

            "Do you want me to wash your back?" Olivia asked.

            "Mm-hmm," Sam said.

            "Will you do mine?"

            "Yeah," Sam said. Her voice was low, slurred with impending sleep. "Later..."

            Olivia turned her head and kissed Sam's cheek. "Fair enough," she said. She reached for the washcloth and ran it over Sam's shoulder blades. The hard conversation she had come to Sam's quarters to have could wait until they were back in Atlantis.

 

#

 

"They told me I would find you here."

            Olivia turned and smiled at Sam. "Who is 'they'?"

            "Security," Sam said. She left the doorway and walked forward. "May I?"

            Olivia gestured at the other side of the bench. "Hey, it's your city."

            "I'm just caretaking," Sam said as she sat down.

            "Like your husband is house-sitting for you back on Earth."

            Sam laughed. "Right." She looked out at the water and let the silence linger for a bit. The spot was gorgeous, which gave her hope that the Lanteans, Ancients, whatever you wanted to call them, weren't entirely emotionless drones. This particular getaway had been flooded when Atlantis touched down on its new home, but a few hours by the maintenance crews and it was good as new. "You come here often?"

            Olivia smirked. "Is that a come on?"

            Sam smiled. "I finished typing up the briefing. I'll send it to Earth during the next scheduled window. It's in forty-five minutes in case there was something you wanted to send or..."

            "I'm fine. But thank you." She moved her hand across the bench and covered Sam's.

            "Are you sure?" Sam asked. "You've been kind of distant since we get back."

            "Have I? I'm sorry..."

            "No, it's fine," Sam said. "I'm not mad. I was just wondering if there was anything you wanted to talk about."

            Olivia opened her mouth to deny it, but then shrugged and said, "I don't know."

            Sam turned her hand over and said, "You can tell me."

            "I don't know if I would call it a problem. It might just be homesickness. I've been through so many changes lately, and I wasn't in the best mental health to begin with."

            Sam nodded and looked out at the water. She knew something traumatic had happened to Olivia during her last case with the SVU, something to do with a serial killer and an FBI agent's suicide, but she never pressed for details. Olivia would tell her when she was ready.

            "I thought coming here would make things better," Olivia said. "But now I wake up, I go to my office and I shuffle paperwork all day. But when I think about going back to the SVU and facing those... I know that's not what I want either. I know I don't want to leave you. I love you."

            "I love you, too," Sam said. "And that's why I want you to be happy. Even if we have to live on different planets and exchange really sexually explicit emails."

            Olivia laughed. "Somehow, I don't think that would be the same. All I'm sure about right now is that I don't feel... situated. That if this isn't where I'm supposed to be, then neither is New York, and I don't have any other options. I just need some time to think about it."

            "Take all the time you need," Sam said. "Whatever you decide, I'll support you however I can. If I have to let you go, then so be it. I'll even smooth things over with the IOA if you do decide to leave."

            "Oh, God," Olivia groaned. "I hadn't even thought about the strings you pulled to get me assigned here..."

            "Don't," Sam said. "Don't worry about me. Just do what makes you happy."

            Olivia looked at Sam and said, "I really love you. That's one thing I'm absolutely certain of."

            "Then we're in agreement of one thing." She leaned in and kissed Olivia. When they parted, Sam said, "I'll leave you alone to think things over."

            "You don't have to. We can just... sit."

            "I won't be in the way?"

            "No," Olivia said. "Never."

            Sam crossed her legs and pulled Olivia's hand into her lap. After a few minutes, Olivia looked down at their hands and said, "Sam, thank you."

            "For what?"

            "For making the decision easy."

            Sam looked at her. "So... you've made a decision?" Olivia nodded. Sam promised herself she would be happy no matter what Olivia decided, but knew she was hoping for one answer more than the other. With her heart pounding, her hand suddenly clammy, Sam said, "So? What's it going to be? Earth or Atlantis?"

 

#

 

Sam handed the tablet computer to the technician and said, "That should be fine. Check with Zelenka on that energy output, though. I think it could be twenty percent lower."

            "Yes, ma'am."

            The technician left the office and Sam leaned back in her chair. She had been at her desk for nearly fifteen hours, save for the times she had to go out into the command center to talk with off-world teams. Ever since Olivia had left for New York six weeks ago, Sam had thrown herself into work. She hadn't realized how much she planned her days around Olivia. Dinner, walks on the outskirts of the city, waking up with her... the city seemed utterly desolate without her.

            On top of that, there seemed to be a new illness spreading through the Pegasus galaxy. She had a meeting scheduled with Dr. Keller in the infirmary for 1900, but at last count there were three worlds affected that they knew about. She exhaled, looked over her desk for something else to fill up her hours, and finally settled on the solitaire game loaded onto her computer. If it was good enough for Elizabeth... she thought as she started a new game.

            She was halfway through the game when Chuck came to the door. "Colonel Carter?"

            "Yes, Chuck."

            "You wanted me to inform you when the Daedalus arrived. They've been cleared for docking on the west pier."

            Sam was out of her seat before Chuck was finished speaking. "West pier?" Sam confirmed.

            "Yes, ma'am."

            "Thank you, Chuck." She hurried across the catwalk, through the command center to the nearest transport. She flashed back to far too many years ago, a little girl in overalls jumping up from her building blocks to greet her Daddy at the front door. She didn't care how ridiculous she looked; she wanted to be there as soon as the Daedalus touched down.

            She calmed herself in the elevator, straightening her jacket as she stepped outside. The wind on the pier was weak, but it still picked up her ponytail and trailed it out behind her like the tail of a kite. She watched as the massive ship angled around and eased itself into position. She smiled and took a deep breath as she waited for the passengers to arrive.

            "Welcome back," she said to the first group. Airmen, soldiers, and scientists who had been trapped on Earth when Midway was destroyed looked relieved to finally be home. We barely had that station operational, and we were already used to it. Now we have to get used to Caldwell's International Space Taxi again.

            She was so caught up in her thoughts that she missed Olivia leaving the ship. She spotted the familiar wave of brown hair caught by the wind and widened her smile. She stepped forward, resisting the urge to run, and met Olivia halfway. "Hi. Welcome back to Atlantis, Constable Benson."

            "Thank you, Colonel Carter." Olivia took the strap of her duffel bag off her shoulder and held it out. "Would you like to help me carry some of this?"

            "Sure," Sam said. She looped the strap over her head and rested the bag against her side. She bent down and picked up two of the suitcases by Olivia's feet and grunted. "God. What do you have in here?"

            "The remnants of my life on Earth," Olivia said. She had decided that Atlantis was where she belonged, and her homesickness was due to trying to keep one foot in both worlds. So she had returned to Earth to tie up her remaining loose ends and free herself to live fully in her new life. Sam had arranged clearance for Stabler, Cragen and the rest of the SVU team so Olivia could reveal just exactly where she was and what she was doing. She had been preparing to come home when the Wraith attack had forced Midway's destruction and she was stuck returning on the Daedalus.

            Sam, who had been planning for Olivia to come back in four weeks, found the extra two weeks unbearable. But now Olivia was here. Olivia was home.

            "Did everything go all right?"

            "Munch was a little difficult to convince. And Elliot wanted to admit me for psychological tests."

            "'I'm working on Atlantis fighting aliens,'" Sam said. "What's crazy about that?"

            Olivia grinned. "In the end, the Air Force documents you declassified for them managed to seal the deal. I have their blessing."

            "Good," Sam said. "Do, um... you need... any help unpacking?"

            "No," Olivia said.

            "Oh."

            Olivia fought to contain her smile and then said, "That doesn't mean you can't blow off work and help me anyway."

            Sam smiled and followed Olivia back inside the city.

 

#

 

Sam rolled off of Olivia with a satisfied sigh. Olivia exhaled, pushed the hair out of her eyes and said, "Wow. So. Six weeks of pent-up frustration..."

            "Six weeks and three days," Sam said, swallowing hard and trying to catch her breath. "We missed our planned good-bye party because of the... well, the actual good-bye party."

            Olivia chuckled and rolled onto her side. She kissed the swell of Sam's breast and then lifted her head to kiss Sam's lips. "Thank you for helping me unpack."

            "Thank you for letting me try that thing in the shower."

            "Yeah, well," Olivia said. She rested her head on Sam's shoulder. "Do you have anywhere you need to be?"

            Sam checked the clock on the nightstand. "1900 meeting with Keller."

            "How long do we have?"

            Sam nudged her. "Lift your head and look, lazy."

            "Don't want to," Olivia said.

            Sam sighed. "We have time."

            "Good." She kissed Sam's chest and scooted closer. "Do you want to try round five? Or should we nap?"

            "Nap," Sam said. "Then round five, then I have to be responsible and go to work."

            "Sounds like a plan," Olivia said, already feeling her eyelids drooping. "Move onto your side, please?" Sam did as she asked and Olivia spooned her from behind. She looped her arms around Sam's waist and kissed the back of her neck. "I'll wake you at 1730."

            "Okay," Sam whispered. She was already dropping off as well.

            Olivia rested her cheek against Sam's shoulder and closed her eyes. All the planning, all the mental debates with herself, and the simple fact had been Sam. Sam was here, this was where Olivia needed to be. If she had to work to make it feel like home, then so be it. Very little in life was easy, and nothing worth having came without some kind of fight. She held Sam, aware that Sam was already fast asleep in her arms, and looked out the window. It was still daylight, early afternoon, and the sun was reflecting off the waves.

            For better or for worse, this was her home. She kissed Sam's shoulder again and Sam murmured, "Sleeping..."

            "Sorry, hon," Olivia said. She raised her hand and brushed Sam's hair away from her shoulder. She closed her eyes and settled against Sam's back.

            For now, this was close enough to home to set her mind at ease.

 

 

the end