Young Writers Society

Cameron had been having a long day.

It had started with a debriefing about the mission that SG-1 was supposed to be on - the one, in fact, that the rest of his team was currently doing. Though debriefings were a key part of any mission, he hated them. It was hard to sit down when he could be out doing countless others things on all sorts of other planets, and he often end up secretly growing impatient during some of the more time-consuming ones. This one, of course, fell into that category.

Then Leo had missed his check-in. They had scheduled several different ones to make sure nothing had happened to one of the newest members of his team during his search for his childhood best friend, and Leo had done an incredibly good job checking in with them - sometimes even sending a message through the stargate sooner than necessary.

So that left them with a troubling situation. They had their duties on one planet, but SG-1 had a rule about never leaving anyone behind. It was eventually decided that Daniel, Vala and Teal'c would go to the planet they were originally assigned to, and Cameron would try tracking down Leo.

Which turned out to be more difficult than expected; no one seemed to have seen someone who matched his description. They had seen an unfamiliar teenager, though, one who had gone to an interesting set of ruins. It had been a stretch, but Cameron had gone there as well and somehow ended up here - wherever here was.

And now it turned out Leo wasn't human, and was currently hanging out with a man that gave him more bad vibes than Vala did - and that was saying something, considering that Vala had once tried stealing one of the SGC's ships before his time as the leader of SG-1.

Cameron groaned and laid back down on the cold floor of the cave, desperately wishing this day would end already. This prompted a confused look from Leo, but his shapeshifting teammate didn't question it.

James popped a brussel in his mouth. It was... bland. Simultaneously, he wanted to spit it out, and never stop eating. He felt like he was eating grass, but it was food, and his taste buds had been so deprived of any taste that he almost forgot what taste was like, apart from daydreaming it.

He chewed quickly and grabbed another one. And another one. He knew he should pace himself, but his self-control was slipping as his hunger was finally reignited in his gut. Soon, his whole mouth was stuffed full when he heard Cameron groan, and he looked in time to see Cameron flop to the ground. Maahes looked confused. He too, was confused - but if he had to guess, Cameron was frustrated. Rightfully so, in his situation, since he'd been plopped into another world with strangers. He knew the frustration. It was no longer foreign to him.

But then came the obligatory: "You okay?"

But through the filter of his food-filled mouth, it sounded more like: "Oo ofay?"

"I'm just peachy," Cameron answered from his spot on the floor, raising his head ever so slightly to get a better look at James. It looked like he had stuffed his face with that thing he had been cooking earlier - brussels, right? Why would someone ever want to stuff their faces with that?

"I don't think it's a good idea to eat all of those brussels at once," Leo suddenly said. He scooted a little closer to where James was. There was a surprising amount of worry in the man's eyes. He had always been kind and considerate, but it was strange seeing him with someone he was already close with.

Then again, he probably should have expected that sort of reaction. Leo and James were childhood friends. It made sense that he would be even more endearing than usual-

Wait, childhood friends? That didn't sound right. Leo admittedly hadn't given too much information on his past, but he had explained his childhood on Kartiel to the commanding officers at the SGC. It was how he had gotten permission to search for that Annie girl. But, if he remembered right, Leo's only childhood friend was Annie. He had made that very clear.

So how did James fit into this picture?

Cameron watched James out of the corner of his eye. Yeah, he was definitely getting some bad vibes from him. (Though he wasn't going to act on them just yet, not when James was half-dead and Leo was being so protective of him. He needed to know more, and James needed to be in a better condition before he did any confronting.)

Cameron wasn't peachy. But he wasn't going to pry a real answer out of him. Then Maahes started hovering again, and he looked over to him. He swallowed the mass of chewed vegetable down, and looked down at the floor, keeping his face neutral to hide his minor embarrassment at having to be fussed over by Maahes in front of Cameron, a stranger.

He pulled away a little bit, nodding in quiet agreement as he grabbed a single brussel.

"Sorry," he muttered as he internally cursed himself. He should've used more self-control. Then at least Cameron wouldn't be looking at him like that. A mix of... confusion, suspicion, and pity. A look he knew and had grown to despise, largely due to it being one on the faces of people who'd turned on him later.

"You're hungry," Maahes said. "It's understandable that you'd want to eat them all quickly, even though you said you were going to take things slow earlier."

He tried to keep his tone cordial and warm, but it was hard to after he noticed how little James trusted Cameron and vice versa. Neither one was opening up to the other, and they were treading around conversations like they were walking on eggshells. He understood the reasons why, but it was so frustrating when he knew both of them were trustworthy people. Why weren't his friendships with them enough to convince the two that everyone present were good people?

James froze for a second when he popped another brussel in his mouth and he looked over at Maahes in what was now not-so-hidden embarrassment. His eyes quickly flickered to the ground, though he was facing his friend.

"I know," he muttered. "I just... I keep forgetting how f***ing hungry I am until I eat."

"It's okay," Maahes said. He gave him a small smile, still distracted by the thought of his two current companions not trusting each other. "You just have to be careful from now on."

He looked down at Cameron, who was still lying on the floor with the brim of his hat now tipped slightly over his eyes. It seemed like he was just listening to the conversation right now. Maahes obviously didn't want to intrude on James' privacy, but he would have to say something eventually to sate Cameron's curiosity - especially when he wanted his friends to trust each other.

James nodded, continuing to chew in silence. He ate each brussel one by one, but still relatively quickly, and it didn't take long for him to finish.

Now he just had to wait and see how it sat in his stomach. If he started having pains in about an hour, he'd probably be sitting outside the cave all night. It was something he was really hoping wouldn't happen, but he couldn't bet on it. His digestive system was... well, it hadn't been used in a bit.

He sighed and leaned forward as he inched a little closer to the fire, fond of the warmth. He was growing sleepy, which was made obvious by the cyclical closing of his eyelids, his head nodding forward a little, and his eyes shooting back open.

Maahes watched James carefully after he noticed the warning signs that his friend was about to fall asleep. He didn't want him to fall right into the fire, though he doubted that was going to happen. What he did have to worry about was how they were in the middle of cave with nowhere comfortable to lay.

He eyed the small pack that Cameron had been carrying. There wasn't much in it - it was just a miniature version of the one they carried on long stays on other planets - but it would have a handful of emergency supplies in it. One supply would be an emergency blanket. He carefully got to his feet and made his way over to his teammate.

"Hey, Cameron?" he asked.

Cameron lifted the rim of his hat up so he could see Maahes. "Yeah?"

"Could I borrow your emergency blanket?"

His teammate pushed himself off of the ground and grabbed the small pack form beside him. "Sure," Cameron said. Laying down by the fire after what was likely a long day of work had made even him seem groggy; Maahes was starting to suspect that he'd have two sleeping humans on his hands soon.

Cameron finally was able to pull it out. He wordlessly handed it over to him and promptly laid back down on the ground. His suspicions confirmed, Maahes returned to where James was. He hesitated before holding the blanket out to him. He wasn't sure if James would accept it - he had a tendency to pretend to be stronger than he actually was.

James nodded off again, and when his head shot up his eyes opened to see Maahes holding a blanket out to him. He stared at it for a moment, groggily, before it registered that Maahes was offering it to him. He didn't know where Maahes got a blanket, but... he wasn't going to ask.

He assumed that was Maahes's way of telling him he should go to sleep. Or could go to sleep. And at that point, James was too tired to fight it, and he trusted Maahes enough to wake him up when he needed to be. He gave Maahes a small, little grin as he took the blanket gratefully, and wrapped it around himself. He didn't waste time in curling up on the ground by the fire, holding the blanket tightly around himself.

It didn't take him long at all to fall asleep, mouth hanging slightly open as he breathed softly.

He let out a quiet, relieved sigh as James curled up by the fire. He was grateful that he had accepted the blanket, and even more grateful that James had fallen asleep so quickly. He watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest for several minutes before turning his attention to Cameron. If he hadn't fallen asleep yet, now would be the perfect time to share information on what had happened back at the SGC, and what he knew about Nye-

His train of thought was cut off by a soft snore.

He rested up against some of the rocks and smiled, seeing that Cameron had also managed to fall asleep. He didn't mind it; Cameron certainly needed the rest.

Which just left him.

Well, it wasn't like he hadn't spent nights alone like this before.

James could hear the soft chirping of crickets fill the early morning and he gave his horse, Elliot, a soft pat on his neck from his seat on the saddle. Ahead of them was a long day of traveling, just like every other. He leaned forward toward's Elliot's head. "Ready?"

Elliot flicked his ears and tail and shook his head, and James smirked. But the smirk quickly faded when Elliot's head shot up and his ears turned around. Elliot heard something - something that his own poor hearing couldn't pick up. He turned around and saw a hooded rider approaching quickly on their own horse, and wasted no time spurring Elliot into a gallop.

They ran through the trees - each dodge slowing them down, but also slowing the advancing rider. James anxiously searched the forest for a getaway point, something that would lead the hunter off course. In a panic of ideas, he stood up in the stirrups of the saddle, locked his eyes onto an oncoming tree branch just above his height, and as soon as the passed under it, jumped up to grab it. Elliot began to slow, but James sternly spoke: "Go! Get away from here!"

Elliot hurried off. James scrambled up into the tree, climbing higher and higher as he could see the rider getting closer. He immersed himself into the thick of the tree and clung to the tree trunk behind the cover. Little branches and leaves scratched him and poked at him as he tilted his head up slightly, trying to quiet his breathing. The rider was starting to slow.

They stopped underneath the tree. James held his breath. The rider hopped off their horse, looking around the forest as if trying to figure out where he would've gone. They followed the horse tracks for a moment and left his range of sight, but they slowly walked back. Then they looked up, and as they did so, their hood flipped back, and his heart stopped when he saw the familiar face of Carter staring back at him.

Carter had a gun. James had never seen him use a gun, but he had one now and raised it up to point into the tree. James froze for a moment, his instincts failing him at the sight of his former best friend. Then he heard the shot-

He woke up with a start, eyes shooting wide open as he breathed quickly. He could feel his shirt sticking to his lower back and his pits with sweat. But what was less expected, was that he found himself tightly clinging to Maahes's waist. He slowly lifted his gaze up to Maahes, face immediately flushing as he slowly pulled away.

Maahes had spent the last hour filling Cameron in on everything he needed to know about Nye and his teammate's past encounters with James. Cameron, likely due to not having been captured by bounty hunters, had spent relatively less time sleeping than James had, and they had needed a topic to talk about. So he told him almost everything - about how time was weird between their two realities, and how he had met the adult James when he was a child. That seems to alleviate some of Cameron's suspicion. Add in every other encounter, and Cameron knew roughly everything he knew about James. Not all of it, but a good portion. He also not-so-accidentally left out the part about his actual age. He really didn't know how to approach something like that - especially when Cameron was bound to bombard him with even more questions, these ones specifically on the Alterans. He had enough to deal with regarding Nye; he didn't need to worry about explaining that on top of it.

At some point, James had rolled onto his lap and started clinging to his waist. Cameron and him had exchanged a look before grinning at each other, but that look was beginning to fade now that James had awoken and seem thoroughly embarrassed as he went to pull away.

"You weren't there for long," Maahes said. He had always been the type of person who didn't mind being near the people he cared about, but he could guess that James wasn't exactly as thrilled by the prospect - especially when Cameron was there to see it.

"Only a few minutes," Cameron helpfully added. He was in the middle of taking stock of the supplies in his small pack. There wasn't much, but at least it was something. He grabbed one of the small breakfast bars closest to his feet and took a bit out of it.

James's face only grew hotter as he inched away from Maahes. Judging from the sunlight peeking into the cave, it was morning, which meant he'd slept a lot longer than he'd anticipated. He wondered how long Cameron and Maahes had been awake but was still too embarrassed to try and ask. He nodded at their words, wrapping himself once again in the blanket, though not because he was cold, or trying to go back to sleep. It was more of an unconscious gesture because he wanted to hide.

The dream still lingered vividly in his mind, though he actively tried to shut it out. But Carter's face rarely did fade from his memory easily.

"Nothing happened while I was asleep?" he asked quietly, voice stoic.

"Nothing happened," he confirmed with a nod of his head. "Cameron and I were just catching up on what happened since we last saw each other, and swapping information on Nye." He left out the part about talking about James; it was the sort of thing that was best left unspoken. He was sure James could figure it out based on the topic of their discussion.

Cameron tried to ask something, but it was impossible to make out because his mouth was stuffed full of breakfast bar. He swallowed. "So this place has magic?" he said. It was hard to tell if he was asking Maahes or James the question. "We're not going to find priors running around, are we?"

Oh. So the question was for him, then.

"It does have magic, but it's nothing like what the priors do," he confirmed. It was a good thing he hadn't mentioned that his ability to change guises (though Cameron was still convinced he was changing forms) came from magic. If he had, there was no telling what he would have thought. "I didn't get to see a lot of it the last time I was here because it's outlawed, and the people I was with weren't exactly from this world, either. But Nye is safe from the priors and the Ori."