The Long Way Home

Chapter Twelve: 38 Minutes

Her eyes, that's where hope lies

That's where blue skie

Meet the sunrise

Her eyes, that's where I go

When I go home.

Pat Monahan – Her Eyes

The mission had been a disaster from the very beginning. Over the past week Cass had been supporting Sergeant Bates's team in the field and she had come to appreciate the Sergeant's gruff, serious nature. It had kept her alive more than once in the past month. Bates was serious and hyper vigilant, his attention to detail and procedure matched the permanently stern expression on his features. He was a realist at heart and that showed in his tell it like it is mentality.

More so he was glad to have a medic on his team, over the past few months they had spent on Atlantis their encounters with the Wraith had become increasingly more frequent. Bates liked having options and a medic provided more possibilities for survival offworld.

The minute Cass stamped her foot through the make shift alter in front of the Stargate Cass knew it was going to be a bad day. There was a stone square set in front of the circular structure heaped with a mixture of wild flowers, terracotta pots filled with what she assumed was a mixture of incense. Clearly whoever worshipped the Ancestral Ring had built a mini shrine to it and Cass had just destroyed all of that hard work with one clumsy footstep.

"Doctor?" Bates questioned, his gaze lowering to the clay pot her foot was currently embedded in.

There was saffron yellow paste smeared across the top of her black combat boot, staining it with it's juices as she gingerly lifted it from the mess that she had created. She ignored the sniggers from the soldiers around her as she skipped over the rest of the alter.

"I'm good." she responded, wiping her boot across the plush green grass as the first drops of rain began to splatter on the top of her head.

Cass tilted her head up towards the sky as the water began to pitter patter down upon her porcelain features like tears raining down upon her cheeks. Something was wrong, she could feel it in the atmosphere draining the energy out of every step she took.

The heavens opened abruptly, the heavy dark clouds bursting as the sudden storm of water and hail showered down upon the them. Before they even had time to register it, the rain was pouring down in waves drenching them from head to toe in freezing cold moisture. Already her dark hair was plastered to her head, her uniform sticking to her limbs, weighing her down.

"Let's get this over with." Bates said into the open air, gesturing for his team to move forward, before casting a pointed look at Cass."And watch your step."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the mudslide that eventually called an end to their trip off world. They had been hiking up an unstable path towards a small settlement when the ground had literally slipped from beneath their feet.

Cass been lucky, Bates had lashed out as crumbling layer of soil had broken underfoot and grasped her arm, wrenching her back onto solid ground so hard it would leave bruises for days. One of the other team members Sergeant Myers hadn't fared so well. He had taken a tumble down the embankment and crashed through the dense undergrowth, snagging on shrubbery and branches as he went.

The loud, sickening crack had been audible as both her and Bates progressed down the slope, slipping and sliding their way down towards their fallen comrade. The two of them were covered in mud, it was smeared across their faces and limbs as Myers howled in horrendous pain clutching at his broken left arm.