[SG1] Lieutenant Colonel Mom 2 (1/?)
Aug. 17th, 2013 05:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dontwantmebackTitle: Lieutenant Colonel Mom 2 (1/?)
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Length: 1655 words
Nearly a year after leaving the SGC, Cameron sat once again in the briefing room, the gate looming behind him, and he felt no urge to return to it. Rather, he felt awkwardly out of place, overflowing with a nervousness he could admit was primarily for the results he was waiting to hear. He’d waited a week for them already, knew not to rush the test results that could very well take away the most important thing in the world to him, but the not knowing was driving him to insanity. He’d almost wish they’d just go ahead and shatter what was left of his heart if the alternative was to leave the threat lingering over him for another day, another hour.
Nine days earlier, Cameron had been greeted by the adult version of his teammates, who had spent the last year as children. Teammates who Cameron had taken in, cared for, grown quickly to love as his own only to suddenly have them ripped away as quickly as they’d been given. With the notable exception of Vala, still blissfully seven-years old and all Cameron could do was selfishly hope she stayed that way. Sam, grown up and worried for him, had asked him on more than one occasion if they should turn Vala back, if they found a way, and every time Cameron had answered clearly that it wasn’t for him to decide. Because he knew that if it was left to him, he’d choose to keep his child, the rest of the universe be damned.
So he’d been quiet and watched. Watched Sam and Daniel surrender to test after test, struggling to determine what had happened and why and how and if it was possible to force the change back in Vala’s case. No one understood why she hadn’t in the first place. They didn’t understand any better why Sam and Daniel had, or why the three had suddenly become six in the first place. Everyone had their theories, worked diligently to prove them, and there was nothing Cameron could do but watch, hold Vala’s hand when the barrage of tests finally ruffled her, and silently try to prepare himself for the worst.
He’d been told it was fine if he left Vala at home when he made the final trek up the mountain, to the meeting that would decide their fate, and he didn’t dare hope that it meant anything other than they didn’t want to give the news when she still didn’t fully understand what was going on around her. Vala knew there was a chance she had to go away, that her pseudo-siblings already had and wouldn’t come back, but she didn’t understand why, or how, and Cameron hadn’t wanted to explain it to her. So he’d left her with a sitter, had long ago come to trust O’Neill’s clone in ways he wouldn’t trust anyone else he knew, his own family included. There were some things that could be said to someone with the right clearance, after all, that couldn’t be said to someone like Cameron’s mother, as much as he wanted to tell her everything.
That Jon also had the understanding of what it felt like to have a child ripped away from him had made him all that more important to Cameron in recent days.
Doctors and scientists filed into the room quietly, files tucked under their arms and Cameron told himself only once that he was prepared for whatever the result was, even if it wasn’t quite the truth. He smiled when Sam sat beside him, brushed off her questions of concern with the words he’d used to convince himself, and pretended like he was at all interested in the conversation that started around him. He listened, but only for what he wanted to know, because everything else was irrelevant to him, now. They talked about what they had figured out in regards to why the three had become six years old, suddenly, something about some sort of virus picked up off-world that they'd only been able to identify because Cameron's blood samples showed it too. It had been identified back when everything started, ruled out as a cause because Cameron hadn't turned into a child but had come back on the table recently. There was some talk about reacting with some other bacteria the team must have picked up on a planet Cameron had never been to, some miraculous combination that was akin to some sort of fountain of youth or whatever, but all Cameron heard was that Vala must have been to the planet too, and to him that meant she could turn back at an moment.
According to everything the researchers had there was no reason to believe it was possible Vala turn back into her adult self, if she hadn’t already, though. They thought it had something to do with her time as a host, but couldn't be sure without anything to compare to. There was no sign in her blood work of the antibodies they'd found in Sam and Daniel's newest ones, and they could only speculate as to why. What it boiled down to, though, was that as far as they could tell Vala wasn't going anywhere, that Cameron wasn't about to lose her, too.
Cameron’s heart soared. That was good enough for him.
He barely listened to the rest of the conversation, only cared about the parts when what would happen to Vala was discussed. He volunteered to keep her, of course, readily and eagerly. It would be cruel to take her away from the only person she really knew and trusted, and thankfully all the people with a say in that regard agreed with him. She'd stay with Cameron, legally under his care until such a time that she returned to her former self or she reached a natural age of eighteen. And after fearing the worst for so long, Cameron couldn't have been happier when he was finally dismissed.
He took the fastest escape route from the meeting, from the mountain, back to the apartment he and Vala had moved back to when Sam’s house became hers again, and he didn’t need to say a word to Jon when he walked in, kissed Vala’s hair and asked her what she wanted for dinner, under the younger man’s scrutinizing gaze that ended in a smile.
“So the verdict was good, then?” he asked, following Cameron to the kitchen, grinning about as widely as Cameron himself.
"Better than good," Cameron answered, puttering around like it was any other day, like his way of life hadn't just been saved by Vala's traumatic past. Probably.
"They tell you what happened?"
And so Cameron explained, as best he could remember; he hadn't actually been listening for a lot of it. He explained how it was probably some miracle combination of germs, the theories about why Vala didn't turn back, about how there was absolutely no evidence to suggest suddenly growing up again would happen to her. Jon just smiled, clapped him on the shoulder and congratulated him, announced he'd give them some time alone and slipped out after a quiet goodbye to his charge.
Vala came barrelling in moments later, carrying her doll by its hair and dragging a chair over so she could climb up and sit on the counter, and even though Cameron would normally scold her for it, he let her. Just that once. She wanted to know what had happened, was looking at him every inch the adult she wasn't and asking for an explanation. One she deserved, so Cameron leaned with his arms on either side of her and told her as much as she could understand. The doctors thought it was a germ, like a cold, and that Sam and Daniel had gotten better. He told her she was special, though, that she got to stay the way she was and to stay with him, and Vala was pleased by that. She'd always been pleased by anything that made her more special than her siblings, who were never really that at all.
She beamed and launched into him for a hug that made him stumble back with the force, said she was never leaving and called him 'Daddy', and it was almost like everything was right with his world. There was still an ache of loss for his other children, who had returned to being his friends, but the unconditional love was almost enough to make it better.
Sam and Daniel came around later, looking hesitant and awkward and maybe even a little sad. Vala didn't recognize them for who they were, saw them only as her father's friends and went obediently to bed when Cameron told her to. The three adults sat quietly around the kitchen table, and it was just as awkward for Cameron as it was for Sam and Daniel. They remembered some of their childhood with him, they said, things like building forts with chairs and blankets in the living room of the same apartment they were sitting in, like fighting over pancakes and trying to sneak ice cream, and all of it distant like it had happened thirty years ago instead of only a few months.
It would have been better, easier on everyone, if they hadn't remembered at all, and Cameron actually felt as bad for them as they did for him. Sam and Daniel had lost a father as much as Cameron had lost his children. Some time, they all agreed a short while later when Sam and Daniel were about to leave, was best for all of them. Time without each other for things to heal. They had one another to help them through the readjustment, and Cameron had Vala. They'd be fine in a couple months, would talk again then, reassess, see if they could still be friends they way they were after everything that had happened.
Part Two
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Length: 1655 words
Nearly a year after leaving the SGC, Cameron sat once again in the briefing room, the gate looming behind him, and he felt no urge to return to it. Rather, he felt awkwardly out of place, overflowing with a nervousness he could admit was primarily for the results he was waiting to hear. He’d waited a week for them already, knew not to rush the test results that could very well take away the most important thing in the world to him, but the not knowing was driving him to insanity. He’d almost wish they’d just go ahead and shatter what was left of his heart if the alternative was to leave the threat lingering over him for another day, another hour.
Nine days earlier, Cameron had been greeted by the adult version of his teammates, who had spent the last year as children. Teammates who Cameron had taken in, cared for, grown quickly to love as his own only to suddenly have them ripped away as quickly as they’d been given. With the notable exception of Vala, still blissfully seven-years old and all Cameron could do was selfishly hope she stayed that way. Sam, grown up and worried for him, had asked him on more than one occasion if they should turn Vala back, if they found a way, and every time Cameron had answered clearly that it wasn’t for him to decide. Because he knew that if it was left to him, he’d choose to keep his child, the rest of the universe be damned.
So he’d been quiet and watched. Watched Sam and Daniel surrender to test after test, struggling to determine what had happened and why and how and if it was possible to force the change back in Vala’s case. No one understood why she hadn’t in the first place. They didn’t understand any better why Sam and Daniel had, or why the three had suddenly become six in the first place. Everyone had their theories, worked diligently to prove them, and there was nothing Cameron could do but watch, hold Vala’s hand when the barrage of tests finally ruffled her, and silently try to prepare himself for the worst.
He’d been told it was fine if he left Vala at home when he made the final trek up the mountain, to the meeting that would decide their fate, and he didn’t dare hope that it meant anything other than they didn’t want to give the news when she still didn’t fully understand what was going on around her. Vala knew there was a chance she had to go away, that her pseudo-siblings already had and wouldn’t come back, but she didn’t understand why, or how, and Cameron hadn’t wanted to explain it to her. So he’d left her with a sitter, had long ago come to trust O’Neill’s clone in ways he wouldn’t trust anyone else he knew, his own family included. There were some things that could be said to someone with the right clearance, after all, that couldn’t be said to someone like Cameron’s mother, as much as he wanted to tell her everything.
That Jon also had the understanding of what it felt like to have a child ripped away from him had made him all that more important to Cameron in recent days.
Doctors and scientists filed into the room quietly, files tucked under their arms and Cameron told himself only once that he was prepared for whatever the result was, even if it wasn’t quite the truth. He smiled when Sam sat beside him, brushed off her questions of concern with the words he’d used to convince himself, and pretended like he was at all interested in the conversation that started around him. He listened, but only for what he wanted to know, because everything else was irrelevant to him, now. They talked about what they had figured out in regards to why the three had become six years old, suddenly, something about some sort of virus picked up off-world that they'd only been able to identify because Cameron's blood samples showed it too. It had been identified back when everything started, ruled out as a cause because Cameron hadn't turned into a child but had come back on the table recently. There was some talk about reacting with some other bacteria the team must have picked up on a planet Cameron had never been to, some miraculous combination that was akin to some sort of fountain of youth or whatever, but all Cameron heard was that Vala must have been to the planet too, and to him that meant she could turn back at an moment.
According to everything the researchers had there was no reason to believe it was possible Vala turn back into her adult self, if she hadn’t already, though. They thought it had something to do with her time as a host, but couldn't be sure without anything to compare to. There was no sign in her blood work of the antibodies they'd found in Sam and Daniel's newest ones, and they could only speculate as to why. What it boiled down to, though, was that as far as they could tell Vala wasn't going anywhere, that Cameron wasn't about to lose her, too.
Cameron’s heart soared. That was good enough for him.
He barely listened to the rest of the conversation, only cared about the parts when what would happen to Vala was discussed. He volunteered to keep her, of course, readily and eagerly. It would be cruel to take her away from the only person she really knew and trusted, and thankfully all the people with a say in that regard agreed with him. She'd stay with Cameron, legally under his care until such a time that she returned to her former self or she reached a natural age of eighteen. And after fearing the worst for so long, Cameron couldn't have been happier when he was finally dismissed.
He took the fastest escape route from the meeting, from the mountain, back to the apartment he and Vala had moved back to when Sam’s house became hers again, and he didn’t need to say a word to Jon when he walked in, kissed Vala’s hair and asked her what she wanted for dinner, under the younger man’s scrutinizing gaze that ended in a smile.
“So the verdict was good, then?” he asked, following Cameron to the kitchen, grinning about as widely as Cameron himself.
"Better than good," Cameron answered, puttering around like it was any other day, like his way of life hadn't just been saved by Vala's traumatic past. Probably.
"They tell you what happened?"
And so Cameron explained, as best he could remember; he hadn't actually been listening for a lot of it. He explained how it was probably some miracle combination of germs, the theories about why Vala didn't turn back, about how there was absolutely no evidence to suggest suddenly growing up again would happen to her. Jon just smiled, clapped him on the shoulder and congratulated him, announced he'd give them some time alone and slipped out after a quiet goodbye to his charge.
Vala came barrelling in moments later, carrying her doll by its hair and dragging a chair over so she could climb up and sit on the counter, and even though Cameron would normally scold her for it, he let her. Just that once. She wanted to know what had happened, was looking at him every inch the adult she wasn't and asking for an explanation. One she deserved, so Cameron leaned with his arms on either side of her and told her as much as she could understand. The doctors thought it was a germ, like a cold, and that Sam and Daniel had gotten better. He told her she was special, though, that she got to stay the way she was and to stay with him, and Vala was pleased by that. She'd always been pleased by anything that made her more special than her siblings, who were never really that at all.
She beamed and launched into him for a hug that made him stumble back with the force, said she was never leaving and called him 'Daddy', and it was almost like everything was right with his world. There was still an ache of loss for his other children, who had returned to being his friends, but the unconditional love was almost enough to make it better.
Sam and Daniel came around later, looking hesitant and awkward and maybe even a little sad. Vala didn't recognize them for who they were, saw them only as her father's friends and went obediently to bed when Cameron told her to. The three adults sat quietly around the kitchen table, and it was just as awkward for Cameron as it was for Sam and Daniel. They remembered some of their childhood with him, they said, things like building forts with chairs and blankets in the living room of the same apartment they were sitting in, like fighting over pancakes and trying to sneak ice cream, and all of it distant like it had happened thirty years ago instead of only a few months.
It would have been better, easier on everyone, if they hadn't remembered at all, and Cameron actually felt as bad for them as they did for him. Sam and Daniel had lost a father as much as Cameron had lost his children. Some time, they all agreed a short while later when Sam and Daniel were about to leave, was best for all of them. Time without each other for things to heal. They had one another to help them through the readjustment, and Cameron had Vala. They'd be fine in a couple months, would talk again then, reassess, see if they could still be friends they way they were after everything that had happened.
Part Two