Ripple Effect - The Magnitude of Infinity
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1, I am only playing in the world
A/N: This was written in response to several prompts, but also because I felt the need to revisit this couple finally.
Previously: Even the Girls...
Ripple Effect - The Magnitude of Infinity
Finding time to be together on their latest mission has been difficult, so Cameron happily takes advantage when the opportunity presents itself to steal a few moments with Sam on a moonlit beach.
While the unfeeling universe rolls on heedless of the needs of a pair of overworked Colonels, the moon, the stars, the sand and the rolling surf conspire to dole out a few precious seconds of coziness away from the watchful eye of obligation.
P6X-273, September 2006
She held her sandals by their straps as she walked slowly along the shifting sands of the beach. Deep red sand the likes of which she'd only seen before in pictures of deserts. Not the sort of colour she was used to finding by the sea. Something to do with the iron content of the silica had been the explanation given to her. It was presently too dark to actually discern the colour of the sand by sight, the sun had set long ago. She just knew it to be red. Seemingly interminable hours of diplomatic drudgery had already passed since the small beige-tinted moon had risen over the mountains to the west to hang in the sky amid the cloak of stars. Now it floated over the ocean to the east, setting a glow over the waves lapping high up the curving shoals which stretched away to the south.
She never usually had such florid thoughts. The local moonshine must be more potent than she'd given it credit for. She'd been on her best behaviour of course. She'd have been skinned alive had she not been, from multiple fronts. Today had been far too important a day to screw up. Which is why she was slightly upset that they'd all been giving her the pointed looks instead of directing them at Vala. Just what were they thinking anyway? She sniffed indignantly and huffily pushed her bangs away from her blue eyes as she stopped for a moment to look out over the moonlit sea stretching south and east across the bay.
"Cameron?" She spun around at the call and squinted deeper into the darkness towards a stand of tropical trees at the edge of the sand and the grassy verge which sped away towards the forest about a hundred metres beyond that in the gloom-shrouded distance. She blinked several times and finally made out the hazy shape of one of the hammocks strung between the trees. A slightly lighter blur in the murkiness.
"Sam?" she called as she started walking over. She heard a light giggle and couldn't suppress a smile. "What are you doing sitting here in the dark?" she asked as she came to a stop in front of the gently swaying hammock with the outstretched pair of legs pushing slowly against the sand.
"Same thing you were hoping to do, I'd imagine. Getting away from the dignitaries for a while." came the reply with the added bonus of a sparkling grin under eyes shining in the moonlight. Cameron put her hands on her hips and clucked her tongue as she put on a mock glare she knew couldn't be seen in the dark.
"And you didn't ask me to escape with you? Some girlfriend you are." she grumbled and initially refused to take Sam's proffered hand after the blonde just giggled when she held it out. Only when Sam's fingers opened and closed several times did she roll her eyes, again unnoticeable in the dark, and step forward to entwine her fingers with her lover's, she then turned around to slip into the hammock next to her. Sam immediately snuggled against her despite the heat and humidity of the local summer. Cameron smiled gently, it seemed Sam was a little tipsy.
"I wanted to, but you were surrounded by the Chieftain and his sons." Sam murmured as she let her head rest against Cameron's shoulder. She didn't care about how sticky the night air was, she just wanted to feel Cameron's skin against her own. It had been hours and hours since they could get even a few seconds to themselves.
"All the more reason for a rescue!" cried the brunette. Sam just laughed and turned her head to flash her a grin.
"And risk a diplomatic incident?" She reached up and flicked a chiding finger against Cameron's lips. "I don't think so." She let the finger trail down Cameron's chin and throat and past her collarbone to hook against the scooped neckline of the sundress Sam had picked out for Cameron to wear to that evening's function from the selection laid out for them by the local artisans. She lifted the thin fabric of the halter away from the other woman's lightly tanned skin, the heat having left a silky sheen that reflected the light from the stars, which only accentuated the play of muscle under the gentle swell of her breasts. "You were very noble, distracting them all like that." She let the cloth slip off her finger and flashed a coy smile to Cameron's displeased, and adorably pouty, glare until the brunette's eyes narrowed further as she cocked her head to the side slightly.
"So that's why." Cameron said quietly. Sam gave her a confused look as the brunette turned away to look towards the large moon hanging in the night sky. "That's why you made me wear this dress." she finished with a pointed look directed back to the blonde. Sam blinked in confusion then burst out into laughter. "Admit it! You dressed me up in this... thing... to use me as bait!" she cried, waving a hand over the front of the floral pattern sundress. "I'm just a big ol' lure to keep those grabby-handed pseudo-frat boys distracted." Cameron had started chuckling along to Sam's continued laughter as the blonde shook her head insistently despite her inability to speak. "Don't try to deny it! You know I'd never wear something like this except for you." Sam was grinning and had snaked her hand around the back of Cameron's neck. "It wouldn't have worked if the boys and I hadn't started comparing scars. You know I don't look good-" The kiss finally brought her half-serious rant to a close. The heated skin of Sam's flushed cheeks was pressed tightly against her own after their lips parted several ardent seconds later. Cameron set a trail of kisses back to Sam's lips after breathing in the scent of her skin and her hair, with that obnoxiously garish, but somehow mesmerising, tropical flower ornamenting her blonde locks. Sam's hand came up to brush against her cheek as they kissed.
"I did not have you wear that dress so the Chieftain's sons could ogle you," Sam breathed after she pulled back finally, tugging on Cameron's lower lip with her teeth, "or lose out to that scar down your leg from the crash." she finished with a hint of a smile. She leaned forward, touched her forehead to the brunette's temple and played with the hair at the nape of her neck for a moment before she moved her lips over Cameron's ear. "I think you look beautiful." she whispered, smiling gently when she felt Cameron shaking her head.
"But I don't have the figure for it." Cameron retorted in a slightly whining tone. "I just look like a boy wrapped in a towel from the chest down." She pulled at the fabric of her dress as she looked down at it. "Not like you." She looked up along Sam's legs and torso as she leaned against her. "You have such amazing curves." she breathed huskily before finally meeting the blonde's eyes, only dimly visible in the darkness. The humming purr that emitted from the woman next to her sent a sudden shiver sliding up her spine.
"I think you have curves in all the places that matter." Sam declared in a sultry whisper. Cameron tried to swallow through a suddenly dry throat. She reached up to caress the blonde's cheek with the back of her fingers, feeling the warmth of her skin. Unable to help herself she leaned forward to capture Sam's lips with a gentle kiss, once more tasting on her the fruity sweetness of the wine that had been served at the banquet. It mingled with that intoxicating taste that was just her Sam. "You're not boyish at all, very soft and feminine." Sam said after several more kisses. Cameron let a low rumbling growl build from the back of her throat and Sam just chuckled. The brunette smiled in amusement before sighing and turning to face out to sea again. She closed her eyes when Sam snuggled up against her once more, slipping an arm through hers.
"You know, when we went to that alternate reality I wasn't that surprised to find out I was supposed to be a man." Cameron shifted slightly to silence Sam's incipient protest, making sure to give her a bright smile. "I was surprised to find out Dani was supposed to be a man though." That elicited a delighted laugh from the blonde and Cameron smirked smugly.
"That's awful, sweetie. You shouldn't say such things." Sam's voice held a hint of reproach, but it was tainted by the smile on her lips. She watched Cameron quietly for a moment, then reached up to push the tousled brown fringe away from the other woman's blue eyes before speaking again. "I don't just mean about Danielle. You are who you are meant to be, Cameron. You shouldn't think that you're meant to be different." The brunette regarded her with a slight frown before replying.
"You can't deny what we saw, Sam. All the other Cameron Mitchells were very male." There was no sting in her words, but they still compelled Sam into taking a hold of Cameron's hand and entwining their fingers together.
"It doesn't work like that, Cameron. You can't-" She stopped and sighed when Cameron gave her one of her patented 'really, Sam? please...' looks. "I know exactly how many female Camerons there are out in the multiverse." she said with a smile, taking a different tack. The brunette frowned at her in confusion for a moment before her eyebrows shot up in understanding.
"Oh, no. Don't you even start with all that 'infinity' crap." she warned with a raised finger. "I've been reading up on parallel reality stuff ever since we got back and it got me brushing up on other things. I know that you can get an infinity which is larger than another infinity." Sam chuckled and grinned back at her. "Cardinality!"
"Well, of course. The set of even numbers is infinite, but it is only one half of the set of all integers." Sam offered conciliatorily. "That's not what I mean though. Yes, my answer was going to be 'an infinite number', but that's only a part of it." She raised a hand to brush along the edge of Cameron's jaw as she continued her explanation. "The number of male Camerons we encountered in that alternate reality doesn't mean anything. You can't use it to assume any sort of relative distribution, that would be reading too much into things. A kind of confirmation bias. Not to mention we know nothing about the selection criteria that linked all the realities with that hub universe. There are too many variables for you to try to induce any sort of correlation." Cameron laughed out loud. "What?" Sam asked with a little glare.
"I know you've had more than a few drinks, but you're still able to break out the jargon without a hitch." She smiled at Sam and leaned in to nuzzle her cheek. "Just one reason I love you so much." Her smile became a grin at Sam's pleased purr. She sighed after a few moments. "Still, it's hard to overlook, Sam." she admitted softly. "I can't help trying to compare those infinities." Sam shook her head gently.
"Do you think there are no male versions of me out there in the multiverse?" she asked in a low voice. "We didn't see any on our trip, but what exactly does that mean?" Cameron just returned her look with a blank stare. "We can't know, Cameron. It is literally beyond the scope of our knowledge." She shifted so she could lean back against the brunette in the hammock and Cameron responded by slipping her arm over Sam's head and draping it over her shoulder, letting the blonde rest her head against Cameron's chest and shoulder. "I don't care about the infinite continuum of Sam Carters." She tilted her head back so she could meet Cameron's curious gaze. "I only care about me and you and what we have together."
"The set of us?" Cameron asked with the hint of a smile curling her lips. Sam giggled. "That's as much set theory as I care about I guess."
"Mmm. We can try to measure the magnitude of infinity, or we can live our own lives, as who we are, who we're meant to be." Sam smiled and closed her eyes as the tip of Cameron's finger dipped under the neckline of her dress to run along the swell of her breasts. "It would be like trying to count all the stars in the night sky." she said, waving a hand out to indicate the boundless void beyond the moon, and all the twinkling, burning pinpoints of light bathing them in the myriad hues of their nuclear fury. "Except even more pointless." She chuckled as Cameron giggled. "The only Cameron Mitchell I'm interested in is the one whose soft lips shepherd me to sleep each night and whose gentle touches rouse me to wakefulness each morning. Even if we haven't been managing that very much lately." She looked up at the brunette once more. "You're mine. You're my Cameron Mitchell and I love you." Cameron's eyes were sparkling with emotion as she took Sam's hand in her own and raised it up to her lips, slowly kissing each finger and finally holding the palm against her cheek.
"I love you too, Sam, with every beat of my heart." she whispered. Sam's thumb caressed her cheek slowly, then her hand moved to run into the short hair at the back of her head. They fell into a comfortable silence, just taking the opportunity to relax into each other's touch for the first time since arriving on the diplomatic mission.
Vala jumped when she felt the hand close around her elbow. She spun around to find Danielle giving her a baleful look from behind her glasses as she pursed her lips reproachfully.
"What are you doing, Vala?" asked the archaeologist.
"Nothing, Danielle. Nothing at all. I was just taking a walk," she waved her hand off into the darkness behind her, "getting away from the festivities for a moment." She gave Dani a serious look. "It's very crowded there, isn't it? I think it is. Far too many people for such a function, and everyone penned up in those tents, even if the shimmerstem cloth is practically not there it still felt stuffy-"
"Vala." Danielle interrupted with a forceful look. The former thief blinked and returned the look with a curious one of her own.
"What is it, darling?" she asked.
"You're spying on them, aren't you?"
"What? Danielle! How dare you make such an accusation. How very dare you!" Vala cried in affront. "I'd never stoop to such depths and I'm offended that you'd think so little of me." She crossed her arms over the front of her sundress and stuck her chin out in feigned indignation as she glared at the linguist. Her gaze shifted to look over Danielle's shoulder when she spotted Teal'c approaching out of the darkness. "Are you here to accuse me of snooping on our lovely Colonels too?" The Jaffa lifted an eyebrow as he came to a stop in front of both women, Danielle just rolled her eyes at him.
"Indeed not, Vala Mal Doran. I think it would be unnecessary to state such an obvious fact." he said softly as he raised his gaze to look out beyond the smaller woman, now sputtering in - noticeably guilty - mock-fury, and over towards the line of trees and the silhouetted hammocks where he could hear the soft laughter of Colonels Carter and Mitchell. He smiled gently at the sound, pleased that the two military leaders of SG-1 finally had a moment to themselves after the long days of negotiations and diplomatic manoeuvring.
"Come on, Vala." Danielle took a hold of the raven-haired woman's hand and began pulling her back the way they had come. "Sam and Cameron finally have a bit of peace after over a week, I'm not going to let you steal their moment." Vala growled angrily at the linguist. Dani just smiled at her and gave her hand a squeeze. "I'll let you have a dance with me. That will give all the stuck up emissaries something to look at." Vala's eyes brightened at that and Danielle chuckled at how easy it was to mollify her girlfriend. She lifted her other hand to pat down some strands of her hair which had slipped out of the tie at the back of her head and walked on towards the lighted tents off in the distance.
"You too, Muscles." Vala called over her shoulder at the Jaffa. "I want another dance with you as well." Teal'c nodded with a small bow and a light smile and clasped his hands behind his back as he followed the two women back down the moonlit beach.
A/N 2: I did not mean for it to end in a similar manner as the first story. It just happened that way, I swear. I hope it doesn't become a habit.