Young Writers Society

His face flushed at the comment, and he sheepishly began to rub the back of his neck. "I think I had trouble understanding that not everyone knew what I knew about the world," he said, gaze dropping down to the ground as he tried to ignore his embarrassment.

"Maahes," Odris whispered. "You were only six then."

"It doesn't feel like I was only six," he replied. The memory was just as strong as any of his other memories now, and he couldn't help but feel increasingly more flustered when he suddenly recalled random small comments and actions.

He finally looked back up at Zech and Lunis, knowing that any attempt to push away those memories were useless. Just as he was about to open his mouth again, he suddenly felt a tug on the cuff of his uniform.

"You need to call the SGC," Odris said.

He stared for a moment before understanding dawned on him. "I don't know if calling them is enough," Maahes replied. "If Zech and Lunis are here, then they don't have anywhere to go."

"....It's going to be difficult bringing them to Earth," Odris hesitantly argued, glancing at the two in question. "You convinced General Landry to let me, Arin and Sune stay with you and Vala, but I think he might draw the line when the people you brought through the stargate don't look human."

"They could stay at the SGC," Maahes replied. "Just like Vala and I did when we first joined SG-1. If Sam and I put our heads together, I'm sure we can figure out a way to take care of this quickly."

Zech stepped back towards the hole. The panther rolled his eyes - it wasn't even Zech's fault that Maahes had been six at the time. Sure, Maahes had done a lot of odd and vaguely eerie things, but it was so stupid to see Zech get so worked up over bringing it up. Especially when there were more important things to talk about.

"SGC?" Lunis said. "I'm not going anywhere until I know where that place is. It seems like humans don't like non-humans around here, so I want to be sure Zech and I are going to be safe."

"It's not that humans don't like nonhumans," Maahes hurriedly replied.

"...Actually, it is," Odris corrected, and Maahes reluctantly realized that he was right even before he started to explain why. "The humans of Earth don't even know other planets exist, and would probably see you as a threat. But the SGC - Stargate Command - is different. They're used to things that aren't 'normal', and even employ a few of them."

As he spoke, he cast a glance over at Maahes.

The djinni gave a small, sheepish smile as he recalled what it had been like when the full truth about him had been revealed; even when they found out he was far from human, they still had let him stay. They just had a tendency to ask him to do slightly less human things when the need arose.

"The SGC is on Earth," Maahes said. "This is, uh, probably a little hard to comprehend even though there was the whole thing with Axcel, but we're on a different planet. We can get back to Earth and the SGC through a stargate just outside of this town. It's a highly secure military base, so you don't have to worry about it being dangerous. You could stay there while Sam and I figure out how to get you back to your world."

"Samantha Carter is one of the leading scientists at the SGC," Odris helpfully explained. "It might take some time, but she can easily get you back home."

Zech and Lunis looked at each other. It wasn't great - humans fearing them was a little odd (not surprising, but most of the humans they had met had been fairly tolerant), and a heavily protected military base didn't sound all that inviting. On the other hand, it was all for their safety, they could trust at least Maahes and Odris, and they (ideally) wouldn't be around for too long.

Lunis turned to face the others. "I'm guessing we're going to be staying there a little bit," he said slowly. "So, how nice are the beds? What the rooms like? What all do we have to do when we're there?"

Trying to hide his eyes rolling, Zech nodded. He knew exactly what this was about - Lunis spent all his time at home complaining about how cold it was, how much his back hurt, how thin the blankets were, how he didn't have anything to do. It didn't stop the panther from following Zech into town, helping grow a garden in the muddy place they called a backyard, and generally staying around Zech.

Then again, maybe a vacation (or whatever the equivalent of this was) would be good for the both of them.

"The beds are pretty nice," Maahes said. Not that he had ever truly slept in one of them, but they had been fairly comfortable when he was laying down on them back during his first few months at the SGC.

"Since you would be a guest, you would be in the guest rooms," Odris added on. "They're always kept in top condition in case there's a surprise visit from one of the SGC's allies, so the rooms should also be nice."

"You won't have to do much while you're there," Maahes continued, giving them a slightly larger smile than his earlier one. "At most, you might have to answer some questions, but I'll talk to General Landry and make sure you're not asked too many."

He glanced in the direction of the stargate. Once they finished going through everything Zech and Lunis wanted to know, they would probably have to head on over - it was best to start working on this problem as soon as he could, especially when he was pretty Sam was currently doing things in D.C.

That, sounded a lot better than Zech had been expecting. Clean beds? Good rooms? He wouldn't even mind a lot of questions (unless they were too personal, but he guessed they were more in the "what is it like to travel to another world" sense).

Lunis had definitely made up his mind - the panther walked up to Maahes and Odris, following Maahes's glance. "And I don't think we have anywhere else to go," he said. "So take us there."

Maahes and Odris did as requested. The walk back to the stargate - though only a short distance away - was a silent one. Maahes was too busy trying to think of an explanation he could give to General Landry, and already trying to come up with ways to get Zech and Lunis back home. He wasn't coming up with much. It had bee some time since the SGC had dealt with alternate realities, and he doubted they'd be able to figure it out over the course of a single day. Even a week seemed like too little time.

When they finally arrived at the stargate, Maahes dialed in Earth's coordinates. The stargate did what it always did - the rings spun around until the correct coordinates light up, and finally concluded with a blue burst of what could almost be water popping out of the Alteran technology.

Maahes call the SGC on the other side.

He gave the briefest explanation he could; they could explain more once they got off of the planet. Thankfully, General Landry seemed to understand that the circumstances were unusual - he just hoped that the SGC would be too thrown off by what Lunis and Zech looked like. "They look a little different than what you're used to," could only do so much to prepare someone for the sight of two bipedal cats.

Then the four entered the stargate.

When they exited, Maahes was greeted with a familiar sight - a handful of soldiers lingering in the room, just in case of an enemy intrusion, and people rushing about in the control room a short distance away. Well, they had been rushing - now they just froze and gaped at Zech and Lunis through the glass.

Lunis was starting to have some regrets. The door - or whatever it had been that had spun around, had had glowing rings, and had made something that looked like a pool of water - had been one straw. He'd still gone through anyway, but only because he'd had no other choice. Another straw was the strange looks from all the humans looking out from the glass window that separated their rooms. What was their problem? Hadn't they seen a panther before?

"You told me this place would be safe," Lunis hissed into Maahes' ear. "I don't like the way they're looking at me and Zech." The tiger had been hiding behind the panther, peeking over the panther's shoulder to stare back at the humans.

"It is safe," Maahes reassured him. "I'm really sorry for how they're looking at you. It's just that..."

"Earth isn't used to anything that doesn't look human," Odris finished.

He glanced at the row of windows set high in the wall across from the stargate; the people on the other side stopped gawking when they noticed him. He had that effect. Everyone here seemed to think of him as Maahes's kid brother, even though had been the older one right up until being put in the pod. But even if they were slightly off, his presence always had a calming effect - it was hard to feel uptight and confused when something so normal was there.

He looked back at Zech and Lunis. "Many people from other worlds have visited this base before, but most of them look human. All the aliens - people from different worlds - that work here look human, and the one that doesn't always uses a human form to fit in."

Said alien approached one of the soldiers and had a brief conversation with her; Odris overheard snippets of it. When Maahes returned back, he said, "General Landry's in a meeting right now, so we won't be able to see him until later. But my team's leader is free right now, so he should be here any minute."

Lunis had a little more respect for Odris now. Not that he didn't - Odris had always been kind of the voice of reason around the kid that had been Maahes. But getting the humans to look away? That was nice.

Still, he crossed his arms as he heard the explanations. "We can look like humans if we want to," the panther said when Maahes came back. "But we don't. So hopefully this human isn't going to gawk at us."

Maahes and Odris exchanged a look. Cam was...well, he was Cam. It was hard to judge what his reaction would be. He was laid back and was used to people from other worlds; three out of the six members of his team were made up by them. But Cam's experience with other life had been mostly human; even the priors looked somewhat human.

"He shouldn't gawk at you for too long if he does," Odris reassured them.

There were an awkward pause.

Maahes rubbed the back of his neck. "...I overheard part of your conversation earlier," he admitted, glancing between Odris and the two visitors. "You don't have to look human while you're here. It's just easier for me to. My true form doesn't fit well through the doorways, and I don't think everyone needs to be scared first thing in the morning..."

Zech poked his head over Lunis's shoulder. "We're not saying it's bad," Zech said, staring at Maahes. "I don't know what your true body looks like, but it's fine if you're worried you might scare people. We just, don't like our human bodies all that much." He turned to Lunis. "And the leader should be just fine."

Maahes opened his mouth to continue the conversation, but it was at that moment that Cam suddenly appeared in the doorway. He didn't seem to notice Zech and Lunis until he had reached Maahes's side - his vision had likely been blocked by the spirit and his summoner.

As predicted, he gawked at Lunis and Zech.

But Cam thankfully had tact - and had gotten a little more used to strange things since he became the leader of SG-1 - so he quickly shut his mouth when Odris gave him a gentle nudge with his elbow.

Then he gave the two a friendly smile, and Maahes knew that everything was going to turn out perfectly fine.

"Hi," he said, holding a hand out. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell - you're Zech and Lunis, right? I heard you're friends with Maahes and Odris."

Lunis scowled. The colonel had stared at him a bit more than he'd liked (even though Odris had put a stop to that pretty quickly). If it wasn't for Zech reaching over Lunis's shoulder to shake Cameron's hand, Lunis would've turned around and walked away. At least he could count on Zech to show him how to deal with people.

"Nice to meet you," Zech said with a smile. "And that's us! I'm Zech, and this here is Lunis."

When the tiger let go of Cameron's hand, Lunis extended his own paw and shook it. "Hi," Lunis said, still frowning. "Can we go somewhere more private? I don't like it here."

"Of course," Cameron agreed with a smile. He withdrew his hand and started to head towards the door. "We need to stop by the infirmary to just make sure no one's brought back something contagious, but we can head to the guest rooms right after that."

Maahes looked over at Zech and Lunis, already knowing that neither one of them - especially Lunis - was going to like the idea of being poked and prodded. "It's a standard procedure here," he reassured them, his voice quiet. "Since we're going to other worlds, there's always the possibility that we picked up something there. According to the mission reports I've read, it's happened a couple times in the past - I think the SGC is just trying to stay on top of the game."

"We'll also be tested," Odris added.