Quarters

[captainpash]

((OOC: Blue wants you in the briefing room....))

[Tracy Jane]

Kate groggily opened her eyes to find she was in bed in her quarters. Damn guard must have zatted her. Blue wasn't joking after all. She propped herself up on her elbows and peered at the flashing icon on her computer screen.

Jim.

That's where she had been going, why she had been zatted. She sank back to the pillow as she remembered the email she had sent him, telling him, confirming it was over. She suddenly wished that the guard had triggered the zat a second time. Perhaps even a third.

She wallowed in self pity for a moment, then realised that no hole was going to open up in her quarters and swallow her, so she pulled herself out of bed, and padded over to the machine, cocking her head to one side as she clicked on the icon.

First up, a message from Richard.


Dear Kate.

Thank you for distracting the guards. I would of done the same for you, unfortunatly I had no idea you were trying to escape and I rather doubt they are stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice. Rowena's next up on the chopping block, so hopefully she'll get off easy now that Blue has had sometime to calm down. Bye. -Richard

Distracting the guards? He thought she was trying to distract them? Yeah, because she obviously have nothing better to do than sit in her quarters nursing the post-zat hangover from hell. She sighed and deleted the email. It was nothing interesting, nothing worth replying to. Given that practically everyone else on the level was offworld, she could quite easily shout a response through the walls.

Then she saw the second message and swore her heart stopped beating for a split second. Jim. He's replied. She hesitated before clicking on it, her stomach suddenly full of ungainly elephants doing somersaults, none of this cliche butterfly business. Not so pretty.

What if he just accepted it without a fight? Could she cope with that? And what if he did put up a fight? She didn't have the willpower to resist him. She couldn't stay with him, not after Blue and Larry and everything. Their so called relationship was ruining SG7, and she wasn't going to do that.

She hit subject line, closed her eyes and muttered a quiet prayed.


Katie,

In reply to your previous E-mail....What brought this about? Because to be honest, I am slightly confused. I thought....I thought we were a couple. That would last for a long time, not just a couple of weeks. For one...You're not an Irish ditzy chick...You're the woman I love...And I thought you loved me.


Kate raised her eyes to the ceiling in a reflex action to fight back the tears. Not this, not again. She had thought it too, that they had a future. But they didn't, and he was mistaken. He didn't love her, he just thought he did. It was just physical attraction mingled with jealousy and the need to be cared for. It had to be.


Katie...I can't act like it never happened. Too much of my happyness happened there, if I were to forget it then, I think I would become the same old crusty and bitter man I used to be.


The old guilt trip, Kate thought sarcastically, before shaking the idea out of her head. Those zat blasts tended to bring out the worst in her, that horrible, mean, snappy, snarky side that rarely saw the light of day. But even so, it was far from fair of Jim to use that on her. A few weeks of rulebreaking can't have changed him that much.


But...If you really want to end it Katie, then so be it. But, please don't let Blue, no, regulations be the cause of it.

I love you too.
Jam, A


Oh great. So he was pretty much begging. Yeah, he had left in the "choice", but it was obvious what he wanted, that he wasn't going to go down without a fight. Not letting regulations be the cause of it? How could she not consider regulations? They were military officers, despite their behaviour.

Kate gritted her teeth. If she did this, it would break him. She had to make him hate her, so it didn't hurt so much. Yes, something inside told her how petty and childish this was going to be, but it was fairer this way. A short, sharp pain, then he would hate her. The other way, it would be drawn out, and it would be Blue that he'd hate.

Jim. You're deluding yourself. Haven't you read my service record? The dead Colonel they found on my bedroom floor? You never wondered why my superior officer was semi naked in my bedroom? That's right. I was sleeping with her too.

What can I say? I can't help it. Generally speaking, you sleep with the CO, get a glowing PR evaluation, a good pay rise, and a few extra perks. Works quite well, for all involved. And hey, I noticed you weren't complaining.

You thought I loved you? Come on, a girl's gotta get her kicks somehow. Plus a suicidal CO's not exactly the most practical thing ever.

Do you really think I'd fall in love with such a bitter, crusty, self centred idiot like you? Oh, physical attraction, sure. You're not bad looking, after all. I'll give you that. But take a look at yourself. You really think anyone could love that?

Kate swallowed, absolutely disgusted at herself and what she had written. But it was only fair, she needed him to hate her, not Blue, and she deserves for him to be angry.

As for Larry, it wasn't just the once in the infirmary. Oh yeah. He's just that good. He just popped in to see me, actually. Let's just say that "Jaffa Kree" has taken on a whole new meaning, if you get my drift.

She winced at the crassness of the composition, but hopefully it would have the desired effect. Kate hit the send button and sighed dejectedly. It had to be done, it was for the best. But she wished he knew how this was killing her to do it.

[Ascended Times.2]

Jim typed another paragraph into a report he was continuing on.

He had decided he would get some work done while he was waiting for the reply from Kate. If there was going to be one.
However, if she didn't reply then he would just continue his work.

However, as he finished his paragraph a little box appeared down on his toolbar.
'Katie.' Jim thought in his mind, his fingers resting on the keys.

He narrowed his vision to the screen of his laptop and shook his head momentarily.
He clicked on the icon and the e-mail opened up, revealing her reply.

He began to read,


Jim. You're deluding yourself. Haven't you read my service record? The dead Colonel they found on my bedroom floor? You never wondered why my superior officer was semi naked in my bedroom? That's right. I was sleeping with her too.

Jim scowled at this, his fist clenching while his knuckles now rested on the keyboard.
'Deluding myself?...She was sleeping with her CO on Earth as well? Ah...You've read the file. You must have assumed that...Didn't I?'

He continued to read on, knowing he wasn't going to like what was about to come.

What can I say? I can't help it. Generally speaking, you sleep with the CO, get a glowing PR evaluation, a good pay rise, and a few extra perks. Works quite well, for all involved. And hey, I noticed you weren't complaining.

You thought I loved you? Come on, a girl's gotta get her kicks somehow. Plus a suicidal CO's not exactly the most practical thing ever.

Jims brow deepened one more step, his entire face had turned red in anger and he could have sworn there was a vein throbbing on his forehead.

'Just out for a kick eh?! Just sleeping with me for the perks...I...We...No. It's over. Look at this E-mail. It's proof...Read the rest before the judgment.'

Do you really think I'd fall in love with such a bitter, crusty, self centred idiot like you? Oh, physical attraction, sure. You're not bad looking, after all. I'll give you that. But take a look at yourself. You really think anyone could love that?

Jim flinched visibly, like he had just been hit in the face. Repeatedly.
He forced the tears that was about to spring to his eyes back, and began to think.

'So...That's what she really thinks....She's right though. You're a crusty self centered idiot...Hehe. Well. Looks like...I'm right again.'
He sat there, silently cursing where his thoughts had led. How could he be that heartless?
There was silence in Jim?s room all but for the laptop whirring and the sounds of the elevator stopping and starting.

As for Larry, it wasn't just the once in the infirmary. Oh yeah. He's just that good. He just popped in to see me, actually. Let's just say that "Jaffa Kree" has taken on a whole new meaning, if you get my drift.

Jim couldn't stop them. The tears he had been crying before came back up. He didn't know why he was always so emotional in this room...He just always was.

'They are together.' However, instead of the typical responce, Jim simply said. "Fine. Let them be together."

Jims face had lost every single bit of it's redness. He had turned ghost white and he was leaning back on his chair, his hands loosely by his sides.
He had tears running down his arms and he simply stared at the e-mail.

He suddenly leaned forward and closed the page, the words now burned into his brain.
He looked at the door, and then at his laptop again.

'No. I won't reply to that. I would lower myself to...A standard I just don't want to join.'

Jim opened up his report and continued to type, tears silently trickling down his face.

[Ascended Times.2]

Jim heard a knock on his door. Spinning around in his chair, he faced the door.

He sniffed and wiped the tears away from his face. Making sure he looked semi-presentable.
"Come in." He said, with as strong a voice as he could muster.

The door opened up with a familiar buzz and Jim looked at the SF that was standing there.
"Sir. You've been called to the Briefing room." The SF promptly said.

Jim nodded in the now light up room thanks to his laptop and his door being open.
"Give me a minute. Let me get changed and finish this up. I'll be right there."

The SF nodded and said "Yes sir." Bluntly.
The door then shut and Jim saved his work and shut his laptop down.
He closed the lid and stood up.

Rearranging his chair and his desk in a slightly neat order, he walked over to his cupboard and began to change clothes.
He quickly changed from his slightly tear stained and rather depressed looking BDU's into his backup pair and was looking crisp and fresh.

Jim didn't smile though, just looked unhappily towards the door and walked over to it opening it up.
He looked at the SF and said "Go on. Escort me."
The SF nodded and Jim stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

Stupidly, double checking after he had shut the door for everything he needed was with him, he was reassured when everything that jingled and moved was there.

He started down behind the SF towards the briefing room.

>>>>To Briefing room.

((OOC: I just realised I was needed...my bad. (Thanks TJ. ))

[Ascended Times.2]

((OOC: Hehe...Seems you've all forgotten about poor ol' Gus. He was let off from his shift...What? Three days ago? Time to drag him up from "The Void."))

Gus rolled over to face the rest of his room instead of his wall.
He had been enjoying his sleep, but suddenly his internal clock suddenly went off and he felt the need to get up.

He lazily opened his eyes and thanked darkness that it was all around his rather small room.
Gus had been stuck with on of the spare rooms that had been lying around, and had been endeavoring to make it more homey every time he was let off duty.

He moved his hands up from his slightly curled up position and rubbed his eyes, moving his jaw slightly.
He heard a mild crack from it and shook his head, trying to wake up.

He was in his regular Pajamas this night, instead of sleeping in his doctors outfit for being alert for medical emergencies as he had been forced to so many times after Earths destruction.

He suddenly swung his legs around from under the sheets and brought them to bear.
His bed had been on the right side of the room, making everything after that on the left.

Opposite the bed, was a rather large oak desk, that had most of what Gus needed in it.
His clothes and extra stuff were in a medium sized cupboard next to it.

There was a small part of this room that was bare, as he couldn't figure out what to put in it.
He was considering putting a plant of some kind in it, but he just couldn't work out what.

Gus stood up now, continually rubbing his eyes in the meanwhile.
He walked slowly over to his cupboard and opened it up.
Pulling out a dressing gown that was slung up on a coat hangar, he poked one arm at a time through the sleeves and tightened it up.

He then put his feet in his mockerson slippers that were on the button of his cupboard for his convenience.
He smiled at this, for he felt warm again and then headed over to the light. All of this seemed very routine to him. Routine maybe, but still very good for him instead of having to wake up late every morning of some such.

He flicked it on and braced his eyes for the shining artificial light that suddenly filled the entire room.

He then walked over to his large oak bench that happened to have day old coffee in it.

He happened to be one of the few people who had a coffee machine in their quarters. Mainly because he had been here longer and had managed to convince Henry to let him have one in there.

He poured himself a cup of day old coffee and began to sip tentively.
He sat down on his rather old fashion oak chair and now looked happily at the pictures of his family.

He stared at the picture with his wife Laura, and his two children, his Daughter Sarah, and his son, Paul.
Laura was standing in the middle with her arms wrapped around Sarah and Paul, hugging them closely.

However, unlike what seemed to be most people on the base, Gus had mourned over them, and had forced himself to recognise that they were gone.

He still missed them like nobodies business, but he wasn't going to have any kind of emotional trauma over it.

Sarah had been twenty two when Earth had gone, and Paul seventeen. There were both so young to be taken...They had such promising lives ahead of them.
Laura...Ah, how he missed her smile. Her heartwarming voice...The fell of her skin.

Gus shook his head slowly and stood up. He finished off his coffee and knew he had to get dressed and head to the infirmary. It was his shift after all, Juliana deserved a break.

Gus put his cup on his desk, and decided he would deal with it later. He had several cups that he kept in his desk; generally he took it to Henry and washed it off in the commissary.

Gus walked over to the cupboard and pulled out his stuff.
He quickly changed into his standard doctor’s outfit and opened up his door, double checking to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything in the meanwhile.

He then headed for the infirmary at a regular timed pace.

>>>Infirmary.

[Tracy Jane]

Kate wiped her eyes and looked at the neatly stacked files and papers on her desk. She grumbled silently. In her world, neatly stacked files meant one thing: she hadn't got around to reading them yet. She turned back to the machine and looked at it aimlessly. There must be something she could do to procrastinate for a little while.

She looked at the small whiteboard above her desk and saw an appointment scribbled on it. An appointment from last week. She shook her head and realised that she really ought to keep that thing updated a little better. As she wiped the message away, the word "Hermione" triggered something.

Sh*t! She was supposed to have an appointment with Hermione! Well... it wasn't like she could really do much, locked up in here, so Kate sat down and began to tap out yet another email.

Hermione. Sorry. Am locked up in quarters. Blue's not a happy bunny. Is he ever? Will drop by when released. Sorry. Caitriona. PS. Split up with Jim. Might keep Blue happy for a bit.

That would do for the moment. She didn't really want to go into details, she was trying not to think about it just now. Maybe she'd have managed to get things into perspective a little more by the time she got out. She certainly hoped so.

What she really needed was a break. A holiday. A change of scenary. Ok, so she managed to skimp on paperwork, yes, but she seemed permanently tied to the base and she needed to get away. Yupp, a break from Blue, from regulations, from Jim, from Richard and Rowena, from Hermione, from the endless corridors of grey concrete.

Sir, she typed hesitantly, wondering whether this request was the best idea or not. She put the thought out of her mind. The worst he could do was turn her down. I would like to request a few days leave, on personal grounds. Somehow, that didn't seem to cut it. She needed to give more detail, but it seemed so.... unprofessional.

Off the record, Sir, I need to get away for a few days. Take my mind of recent... recent what exactly? events. I threw myself back into work instead of taking things steadily, and I think it's finally catching up with me. catching up? You mean you're going Cuckoo, Reena.

You were right, Sir, I don't deserve my rank or commission, the way I've been behaving lately, but you have read my service record And? What was her point? She had an unblemished record until they found Jo? What did that prove, except for the fact that she usually didn't get caught?

Kate sighed and filed the email under drafts, before moving on to Larry. Talk about mending bridges. Larry. Mixed signals, I know. It's just that I don't see you like that. You're a colleague and a friend, but nothing more. Jim and I have split up, yes, but it was out of necessity, not out of choice. I'm very flattered by the attention, but there's nothing there. In the infirmary, I just wanted to comfort you, make your pain go away, and I obviously made a huge mistake. I acted instinctively. I'm sorry I confused you and gave you mixed signals, and next time we meet, I'll try and make sure I'm fully clothed. Might make things easier, huh? Look, as soon as I'm out of the dog box, how about we grab lunch? I mean... we never seem to get chance to chat, do we? What do you say? Kate xxx

She hit send and sighed, the pile of folders catching her eye. No way, not yet. There must be someone she could rant to about this whole mess. Jen was off world, Jim was involved and the others.... She smiled as she remembered Sandrine, the lovely French woman who worked in the hangar bay. Had studied aeronautics at Toulouse and then worked on the Airbus project down there, as well as doing research at the space centre.

The two women got on well, mainly because Kate was one of the few that Sandrine could actually talk to, given the language barrier. Ask her to explain the workings of an F-302 in English and she was fine, but chit chat about the standard of food in the commissary, and the poor woman had no chance.

Coucou, Sandrine. Ca va, ma grande? She wrote, asking the woman how she was doing. Bon. J'suis desolee que je t'ai pas parle, mais bon... 'y a plein choses qui passent Kate excused herself for not getting in touch. Alors, 'y a un mec... Larry... she continued as she began to tell Sandrine about her teammate, how she didn't think she was attracted to him, but felt this inexplicable need every time he was near. In such a hurry, she didn't bother with accents, knowing that the French woman would understand regardless.

Relieved to have got that all out of her system, Kate moved to the top folder, and opened it to reveal pages of what seemed to be a contract in Irish Gaelic, sent through from the Beta site. Did they not have their own diplomats to deal with this stuff? 'A chick has an Irish accent, so she must speak Gaelic, right?' she thought bad temperedly. She knew bits from when she was small. Her grandparents used to sing her songs in the language, but she'd never really learnt it. She flicked through, picking out words like "bron" meaning sorrow. But she only knew that because of her best friend as a child, a girl named Bronnagh.

Kate sighed and opened a notepad on which to scribble draft translations, admitting quietly that she did have an advantage over most.

[Atlantean_Fan]

<<From the Briefing Room>>

Natasha arrived in her quarters and entered, closing the door behind her.

"It's time to unpack this bags and settle down. That's gonna be a great change, but you will be fine." She thought looking at her room with attention for the first time.

"Great quarters!!!! Big and cozy." She said.

She starts unpacking her clothes into the closet and organizing her things over the desk.

[max_omega]

(From Science lab)

Rachael arrived at her quarters and pulled out her card, she walked into her room over to her desk and set down her bag, than changed her cloths and just fell onto the bed.

[KeiranFuller]

Jason woke up with a start. He heard an alarm, and thinking it was a base alert alarm shot right out of bed. He soon realized that it was just his alarm clock. "Da***t," he grumbled. "I was having a good dream."

He got dressed into his fatigues and started to officially unpack. He had just thrown all of his belongings into a corner in his quarters. He put a picture of him and his parents on his nightstand. Wherever he was, if he had that picture, it began to feel like home. He took out the rest of his personal belongings, putting them in places he thought were appropriate.

"I feel freaking useless right now. I wish SG-7 could go on assignment, but with most of the team confined to quarters, we won't be soon," Jason thought outloud.

Maybe the General has something I could do for him, he thought. I'll go see if he has anything i can do.

<To General Blue's Office>

[Atlantean_Fan]

<<From Quarters. Never left.>>

Natasha finishes organizing her stuff in their new rightfull places.

"Ok. Now everything is unpacked. This is final. This is my new home. I kinda like it..." She thinks looking at the result of her last 2 hours of work.

"Now, I'll go check the rest of the base where I haven't been before, just to know where everything is located. What is left? Infirmary, Gym, Armory, Hangar..." She thinks leaving her quarters and closing the door behind her. "Yeah, I'll go to the Gym first! Probably I'll even find someone there. I still have to know the people of this base since I'll be here for most of my time now..."

<<to the Gym>>

[max_omega]

<general's office>

John arrived from the Generals office, he walked through the halls of level 7, looking for his room. He was suddendly stopped by the discovering that his room was just across the Hall from his sisters. He smiled but decided to go get settled before he caught up with her. He thought about the last time they had seen each other, before he left on his last mission.

He pulled out his key card and walked in to the quarters, a look around, "Yep, defiantly a military complex. These rooms all look the same." He put is bag on the bed and added, "I'll just have to fix that."

He opened up his bag and began to pull his cloths and other personnal effects from it. He first pulled out a picture of his family, his wife and son. Then one of his whole family, taken just before he left. A tears started to form in his eyes, but he held them back.

"Ah, there you are." John said pulling out his second most prize position, a poster of 'The Beatles.' He got up on his bed and used tape to stick it up.

"Well the important things are done, now off to find Rachael." He walked out of his room and went across the hall. He knocked on the door and stood there for a few minutes.

Rachael was in a deep sleep but was suddenly knocked out of it when she heard some one at the door, "This had better be important." She than got up and grabbed her robe and tied it around her, "Just a second." She walked slowly over to the door still trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She opened the door just slightly.

"I didn't wake you."

"Well yes," she began angirly, than looked at the man standing in front of her and said, "Bullet, you're alive." She opened the door fully and grabbed her brother giving him a big hug.

"Yes, I am here." John said, just hugging her back.

"I would invite you in, but the security chief would probably freak, than the General would freak."

"Well if you are up for it we can go the mess hall and talk."

Rachael thougth about it for a minute than said, "The lounge would be better."

"Alright the lounge it is."

"Just give me a minute to change."

"Alright, I am not going any where."

Rachael closed the door, and went and got some fresh jeans and t-shirt on, she than walked over to her night stand and grabbed a letter. She walked back to the door opened it and said, "Alright let's go."

<To lounge>

[SilverRider]

Claire walked into her room and almost fell on the for a suggle, but she changed out of her BDU's and freshened up, before heading to and falling fast asleep.

[Tracy Jane]

Kate looked at what she had scribbled on the notepad. It looked, from the pattern of the triangles over the letters and the lack of the letter "h" - it had always astounded her as a child, the amount of "h"s in Irish gaelic - that it was a form of ancient, or at least dated, Irish. She knew that "h" wasn't a letter in Irish, just a sign of aspiration, and that it used to be denoted by dots over the letters. Obviously here it was shown by a triangle.

Kate was being forced to work through the documents phonetically, as most of her Gaelic had been orally learnt. Although she would have continued learning at school, the fact that she had moved to England at ten meant that she lacked the skills that most Irish girls would have.

A split second's panic descended when she saw the accents over the vowels, like "á", then she nearly kicked herself. Accents represented long vowel sounds, like in her own name.

She was a little confused at finding an "ai" combination in the text, which was technically impossible, from what she knew, unless the "a" was accented. Then again, it happened in her own name, though that was to try and balance out the "Caol le caol, leathan le leathan" rule.

She looked again at the text. That had to be it. There was a slender vowel after the consonant. That's why there was an "ai" combination. Broad with broad, slender with slender.

Kate sighed and checked over the shaky translation. There were lots of passages that seemed forced, she had taken much from folklore she remembered, names with meanings, a couple of Bible passa-

She stopped and got up, heading to her wardrobe. When she had left England, her mum had given her a small Biobla Naomhtha. If she could get hold of a copy in English, to compare translations, she would have a much better chance of working out that translation. A shaky version just wasn't good enough. Not on a legally binding contract.

She headed to the door and swung it open, only to be faced by an angry SF. Closing the door again, she began to pace the room like a caged animal, trying to ignore the rumbling in her stomach.

((OOC: I was going to type Caitriona's name properly with an accent over the second "i", but it seems that the foreign character set doesn't include Irish. ))

[Gen Blue]

(( Order the SF to find you a bible and get you a meal. He can have someone do that without leaving the door. ))

[Tracy Jane]

((Ok. Sorry about the lack of sleep thing. My fault for keeping you up, huh? I'm off to class again in a few minutes, so can't play for long))

Kate took a deep breath and steeled herself before opening the door for a second time, meeting the angry gaze of the SF.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," she told him. "I just need a Bible. English preferable, but I'm sure that Dr Accos has one in French that will do me. And food would go down a treat. I can't remember the last time I ate. Come on, I know Blue can be a miserable b****** when he's angry, but I'm sure he wouldn't starve us. Get the young man next door something while your at it, why don't you?"

She nodded and walked back inside, closing the door and deciding that it was about time she pulled on a pair of joggers to cover her bare legs.

((right. Time to go to class. Then a several hour meeting. Might be able to get on in between the two))