elliejane: storyteller girl (Default)
[personal profile] elliejane
Title: Tread Softly - Five Ways that SG1 break Cameron Mitchell's heart.
Rating: PG
Character: Cameron Mitchell. Plus some team.
Warnings: Well, Cameron gets his heart broken. This isn't fluffy fic, but it isn't "darkfic" either. Character death, but nothing gruesome.
Word Count: 2000 words, give or take .
Author's notes: Written as part of the "Five Things..." meme. The initial idea was request to Thea, who wrote me such wonderful Cam. Subsequently, I got all sorts of images in my mind, which such shouted "write me down, ok?!"  So, I did.
Disclaimer: SG1 and Stargate are not. mine. They belong to others. 





TREAD SOFTLY
Five ways that SG1 break Cameron Mitchell's heart.



1. Only my dreams.

It's not really that long after Cameron Mitchell pulls them all back together that they stop and pause, and decide it's a mistake. He's a mistake. By all accounts, they'd led a delegation to General Landry and if Cameron's reading between the lines correctly, O'Neill was there by speakerphone. He doesn't know if SG1's former leader would have supported him or backed his old team, but whatever happened, the result is the same.

It's all couched in the appropriate language, citing the belief that his abilities would be better suited in an alternative posting and in the end the regrets of General Landry that leading SG1 just hadn't worked out.

Cameron is dazed. Feels empty and angry at the same time. Maybe a little betrayed by the people whom he values so much. Sees his dreams swirling down the drain. They offer him his choice of other postings - apparently O'Neill's offer of whatever he wants still stands. Just not SG1. He numbly agrees to take the rest of the week to sort out his options and walks out of an office he knows he'll never see the inside of again.

He passes Jackson in the corridor on his way to the elevator and Daniel lets his stride stutter and uncomfortably shoves his glasses further up his nose.

"Ah, Mitchell..." For a man well versed in words, he doesn't have a thing to say.

Cameron doesn't even blink and waits until he's riding up to the surface, floor by condemning floor, before the cracks start to show. He scrubs a hand across his face and wonders what he did wrong. Where he didn't measure up.

He'd wanted to save the world - heck, the galaxy - and he'd wanted to do it as part of SG1. Now Daniel Jackson won't look him in the eye, and he figures it'll be too painful to see Sam any time soon. He realises he'll probably never see Teal'c ever again. He wonders if O'Neill (he'd never get to call him Jack over a beer) is disappointed in him.

The dream is over. It's all over.

He's in his jeep and out of the mountain for good before he lets the cracks
reach the inside.



2. I have spread my dreams under your feet.

Sam lets it slip one day, over dessert, over blue jello.

Cameron is striding with a tray towards the canteen table where the three other members of Sg1 sit. They aren't expecting him to join them; he's been off base for a few days and he's back early. He makes his way through the tables, figuring he'll sneak up and surprise them, and feels a rush of affection for the team.

They're talking animatedly (well, Teal'c is more impassive than anything, but Cam swears he sees an eyebrow twitch) with Sam reciting some exploit or other with a blinding bright smile on her face. Jackson is sitting across from her, he's smiling a bit at her, nodding here and there, rebutting an assertion and then turning to Teal'c for back up.

"No, no, Jack said...what was it...uh...he asked me what the translation said, and I said...." Daniel trails off, thinking hard.

Sam breaks into a series of giggles. Wiping her eyes with one hand she sighs.

"Oh, I miss him being on the team, you know. It was never the same once he made General. And now..." she shrugs.

Jackson mirrors the movement. Frowns. "Mitchell's...well..."

Sam wipes at her eyes again and takes up a scoop of jello. Her voice is lower now, but Cameron can still hear, as he nears the table. "I don't know what he was thinking, coming here, trying to do this. It's not going to work. He'll never be..." she bites her lip.

"...Jack," supplies Daniel.

"No." Sam sighs quietly. "No, he'll never be Jack."

Cameron thinks dully, but I never wanted to be Jack.

His tray has titled in his unsteady grip and the bowl of jello slides and tips onto the floor. The bowl smashes into pieces at his feet and Cameron gets red jello on his boots.


3. The light and the half-light.

Cameron Mitchell is flying. Through the air. When he hits the ground, he rolls twice and then ends up flat on his back in the grass and mud. He tries to scramble up but his body doesn't like that idea. When he moves any muscle there's a screaming hot pain in his side. A second later he sees Carter's worried face above him and then even though he doesn't remember closing his eyes, the world fades to black.

When he wakes up he thinks he's flying again but there isn’t a sensation of movement, just a lightness of feeling, a lightness of body. A lightness in his head.

His vision is blurry but he can still see Sam. Shouting urgently to Jackson, ripping off her pack and bending her head close to his. Two fingers at his neck to check for a pulse.

"Daniel, I think we're losing him!" Jackson is busy on the radio, calling for back up. At least Cam hopes he is. SG9 had been holding the gate. They were no more than 30 minutes away. Cam wonders if he should be worried that he can't remember who was shooting at them.

Then he wonders if he should be worried that he can see Sam and Jackson from the wrong angle.

He can see Teal'c over at the edge of the trees, staff weapon in full blast, sending bolts of fire into the enemy. Can see Jackson firing bullets into a thicket and can hear the cries that means he's hit target. Can see Vala, crouched over his own body like a determined lioness defending her cubs. He almost has to laugh at that thought.

Cameron can see that his own eyes are closed, his face is deathly pale and there's blood seeping into his BDU's just above his hip.

He's flying again, he thinks with amusement, 'cept this is more like floating. This is...well, he's pretty sure this can't be good.

The world fades away for a while, and then swims back into view. Jackson is at his side, now, hands rhythmically pumping against his chest, one onethousand, two onethousand, three onethousand...keeps going, keeps going then stops and looks at Sam.

Sam is pinching his nose and has her mouth on Cameron's, breathing deep then breathing out, into him. There's mud on her face and a grim look in her eyes. Water in her eyes.

Hey, Sam don't cry...


Jackson looks up and catches Vala's eyes. She tries the radio again, and this time Cameron can hear the disjointed response.

#Cut off from the gate...taking fire...#

Vala looks back up at Daniel and Cameron sees that her face is muddy with blades of grass sticking to her temple. Tracks of tears have streaked her cheeks, rivulets through the mud.

Hey, Vala...

"Sam." Daniel's voice is soft, despite the sporadic gun fire from the trees. "Sam, it's been twenty minutes and he's still not breathing."

Twenty minutes...fuck.

Sam is still breathing for Cameron, still mouth to mouth.

"Dammit, Daniel, I'm not letting him go! He's come too far, he's done too much to get shot down by the local militants in a field."

Vala wipes at her face, looks at Daniel, looks obstinate. "Mitchell told me you'd died countless times. Don't believe Daniel's dead, he said, even if you send flowers to the wake."

"Vala!" Daniel's tone is a warning.

"Well, he did! He said that!"

"Vala, this is different...this is..."

"We can't just let him die!"

Sam is looking pale under the smears of mud and she sits up on her heels, breathing shakily.

"Daniel, trade off with me." Jackson, doesn't move for a moment, then sighs and changes places.

The world is fading before Cameron's eyes again, paling this time, a warm white light suffusing his view.

Hey, hey! Don't leave me like this...don't...! I'm not ready...

Sam is openly crying now, trying to make his heart beat.

And Cameron can't help her. Cameron can't stop this. He can feel himself drifting away, melting into the light. He wonders briefly if he could get ascended, wonders if this whole thing could be the start of something glowy.

But he's no Ancient and he's not that special. Just a flyboy with a hankering for adventure. A flyboy who flew a bit too close to the sun and who died in an alien field, on an alien planet. Leaving a team he loves. Leaving the life of his dreams.

Sorry, for dying on you, Sam. So sorry. Sorry, Daniel. Sorry, Teal'c. Sorry, Vala.

Send me flowers, guys, ok? Send me flowers...




4. The dark cloths of night.

Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell is wearing his dress blues, starched and creased just right. Every button shined. The podium is at the top of the gate ramp and as he makes the long trek up, he wonders if he'll get the words right. There are several speakers at this thing, and Cameron had really, really not thought he'd be one of them. He's not sure he has the right words at all.

Other members of the SGC line the ramp. The gateroom itself is full. General Landry stands at the top on the left, with General O'Neill on the other side. The president's representative stands next to Landry. Master Bra'tac stands next to O'Neill.

Mitchell reaches the top and dares a quick glance at O'Neill. The man's face is impassive, carved from granite. His gaze is fixed on a distant spot, past Cameron's shoulder. Cameron breathes deep and moves slowly behind the podium. He shifts his weight heavily, lets go of the crutch under his left arm and leans it on the lectern. His notes are there, in front of him, but he doesn't know if he can see clearly enough to read them. He looks up, at the sea of faces. Clears his throat.

"When I joined SG1, I was looking for a legend. I had read many mission reports, knew of the dangers they faced every time they stepped through the gate. Knew of amazing things they'd accomplished. But nothing could prepare me for the experience of being in the team. They were the bravest, most resourceful, courageous people I could ever have hoped to serve with. They did extraordinary things under extraordinary circumstances. I am proud to...to have..."

His voice breaks and his heart breaks; Cameron Mitchell will never be the same again. They had been extraordinary. He hadn't deserved them. He hadn't saved them. Teal'c had carried Sam back through the gate before collapsing for good. Cameron had dragged himself through with a mangled leg, shooting desperate return fire. Sam had ended up DOA. Jackson's body had never been found. He doesn't think O'Neill will ever forgive him.

Cameron swallows hard. He ducks his head and tries to pull himself together. His heart beats erratically in his chest and he clutches at the podium, waves of dizziness coming over him. He tries to read the notes again, but his eyes are too wet, the words too blurred.

"I..." he stops. Can't go on.

Then he feels a heavy touch on his shoulder.

"Mitchell." O'Neill looks at him. His eyes are dry, but Cameron shivers that they look so full of grief. "They went out doing what they had always done. What we always did. We knew the risks."

Cameron closes his eyes. O'Neill leans in closer. Whispers. "Not your fault, Mitchell. Not your fault."

Cameron looks back up, focuses on the glass window of the control room and pretends he can see the outlines of Sam and Jackson and Teal'c standing there, waiting for him to step through the gate.

He doesn't stop the tears. "I went looking for a legend. I found it."



5. Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.

He's breathless, like a kid and he knows it. Sam turns, smiling indulgently and knows it too. Each time he goes through the gate is like the first. He stops in front of the event horizon, looks over at her and grins.

She grins back and leans in toward him to whisper. "You wanna know a secret?"

He crooks an eyebrow at her, leans a little as well. "Ok?"

She takes hold of his hand and pulls him recklessly into the wormhole after her.

"It never gets less fun!" she yells.

And Cameron Mitchell thinks his heart might break, it's so full up with happiness.

Fin



Chapter headings taken from
" He wishes for the cloths of heaven"
By William Butler Yeats


Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.

</lj cut>

Date: 2006-09-05 09:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fbf.livejournal.com
see, with all of you writing these, I really don't have to.

One broke my heart.

Two made me angry.

Three choked me up.

Four made me cry.

Five made me smile.

good stuff.

Date: 2006-09-05 09:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
Argh no!! You have to write! I'm so glad you liked them, but pleeease write the fic you were percolating.

I hadn't really meant to write these, but the whole thing was just shouting too loudly in my head. Couldn't ignore it - sighs.

But I want more Cam fic to read, and I was looking forward to your take on this so....::prods:: go write! Pretty please?

Date: 2006-09-05 11:08 pm (UTC)
kernezelda: (SG1 sleeping beauty)
From: [personal profile] kernezelda
Oh, Ellie. Stop breaking my heart, will you?

Date: 2006-09-05 11:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
Oh dear, I'm sure my reaction to that comment shouldn't be glee, but...heck, I occasionally tried to break hearts back in Farscape, as well!

Ben Browder's characters obviously bring out the tormenter in me ;)

So glad that this...um, made you sad? lol

Date: 2006-09-06 12:02 am (UTC)
kazbaby: (Cameron - SG-1 -)
From: [personal profile] kazbaby
*imitates a fish out of water*

you really need to write more often. I reeeeally mean that.

Date: 2006-09-06 09:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
I'm a bit stalled on fic at the moment, which is why, when this thing practically screamed in my head, I had to write it down.

Thank you so much for saying I should write more :) I really do enjoy writing once I get down to it; I sometmes have trouble starting up, mind you!

Date: 2006-09-06 02:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sevathediva.livejournal.com
Jeez! Break my heart into little tiny pieces, why don't you?

Thank God for #5.

seva

Date: 2006-09-06 09:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
Eep! The intention certainly was to induce some heart breaking, but I'm getting a bit worried that maybe I've gone over the top! Thank you for replying despite the trauma!

I had maybe 3 of the 5 scenes planned in my head, almost fully formed. Number five come along after I'd written the rest, and it insisted I go out on a high note. I think it works, as it adds a poignancy to the whole. Oh dear, poor Cam. I did beat him up, didn't I?

Date: 2006-09-07 02:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gigerisgod.livejournal.com
You've taken my PMS high down several notches. I just wanted you to know that.

And you did beat poor Mitchell up, in five very different, but oh so angsty ways. I love these!

Date: 2006-09-08 10:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
Phew! SO glad you ended the comment with "I love these," otherwise I'd be seriously guilt ridden! SO glad you did love them :)

Back when I wrote more often, I always thought it odd that I liked writing angst so much, when I liked nothing better than to curl up and read fluff. But angst, well...there's just something about putting 'em through the wringer....lol.

Date: 2006-09-07 05:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dirty-diana.livejournal.com
That hurt so bad. Or so good. Something. Very nice.

Date: 2006-09-08 10:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
"Hurts so good", could be a good summary, methinks! Thank you for commenting :)

Date: 2006-09-07 06:28 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Ahh, we need more Mitchell fic like this. We need more real Mitchell fic.
Loved this.

I was just getting used to this character... Just starting to like him. :(

andi_b

Date: 2006-09-08 10:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
More *Put Mitchell through the grinder" fic? Poor boy, I hope he doesn't bruise easy ;) Definitely we need more Mitchell fic :)

I know what you mean...I was just beginning to really enjoy him, and adore Vala for that matter... :(

Cheers for replying :)

Date: 2006-09-08 12:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ana-grrl.livejournal.com
Oh, these are so great! I love them all, and I thought 1 and 2 were particularly sad. I was glad for 5!

Date: 2006-09-08 10:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
I'm glad you liked them :) There are different ways to break Cameron's heart and I figured having his dreams ripped out from under his feet would be one (or, you know, two).

And for all that 3rd and 4th involve character death, to my mind they are also positive. Because they are times when Cameron had been happy - happy within the team, and respected and well liked by the team. Even though the outcome was tragic in both cases it was, as Jack basically said, a risk that they did all go into with their eyes open.

Number 5, was just pure gleee!

Date: 2006-09-08 05:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alessandriana.livejournal.com
*tries not to cry*

Date: 2006-09-08 10:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
*proffers tissues?*

*pint of Ben and Jerry's and a spoon?*

*virtual hugs?"

Thank you for commenting ;)

Date: 2006-09-12 11:40 pm (UTC)
paian: blank white (new guy)
From: [personal profile] paian
Oh, these are beautiful, and the last one's such a perfect capper. And Cameron thinks dully, but I never wanted to be Jack -- owwwwccccch! ::heart breaks for him::

Date: 2006-09-27 10:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
Oh, thank you for thinking they're beautiful! Gleee! And yes, I guess I tried to make them as owwuuuchy as possible. Poor Cam.

Date: 2006-09-13 01:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] evesharmony.livejournal.com
4 made me cry. At work.

I loved these, as heartbreaking as they are. Wonderful work!

Date: 2006-09-27 10:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
Oh my. See, I make people cry, and I'm all "My job here is done!" Glad you enjoyed them, thank you for commenting :)

Date: 2006-09-27 10:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tafkarfanfic.livejournal.com
Thank you for the last one - it made up for all the sad of the first four.

Date: 2006-09-27 11:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
Hey, thanks for commenting :) I don't think I even had the last one planned out. The first four were there as images in my head before I wrote them out, but number five just sorted sneaked in there. PLus the whole thing really did insist I end on an up note.

I know the first four are sad (obviously the intention), but I am slightly consoled by the idea that in number 3 (especially) and to an extent in number 4 Cameron had, by then got, what he wanted. In 3, Sam is fighting with her last breath to save him. She thinks he deserves saving. His team loves him, and accepts him, and that's one of the things he wants so much.

I like to think in number 4 that one reason it hurts so much, is that Cameron had that love and acceptance in this version as well. So, both 3 and 4 are sad fics, with hints of goodness that came before.

So glad you stuck it out to the end, despite the angst :)

Date: 2006-10-07 02:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bilpingal.livejournal.com
Brilliant. I think it's so clever how you've structured these, from bad to terrible to horrifying, and then saving us with that last one. Beautiful.

Date: 2006-11-19 08:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
Thanks so much :) I've just gone back and reread this and the other comments and I have a manic smile on my face. Thanks so much for the 'brilliant' and the 'beautiful'! And thanks for thinking it's 'clever' though that may have been more luck than judgement ;)

Date: 2006-11-19 08:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bilpingal.livejournal.com
Well, I really hope you write more stuff! I read something of yours over at Terrafirma the other day and really liked it.

BTW, I've written another sequel, though I'm letting it "rest" for another day before I post it.

Date: 2006-11-20 05:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_minxy_/
You know, it's a damn good thing you put these in the order that you did, because I started with deep, deep disappointment in the team, for doing that to Cam, but then they did absolutely everything they could not to lose him in the field, and then he lost them in the field, but it evened out so I didn't doubt for a moment that he'd done absolutely everything he could have and then, oh, to bring it back to his fanboy joy in life. And to let Sam share it. Yes, that was so very good it brought me back from the brink and redeemed them all. Yes.

Good girl, Sam. Thanks for pointing this way, Ellie.

Date: 2006-12-15 11:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
Ooh, thanks for responding :)

In a way I was trying to write it by degrees of painfulness, but that pain was definitley focused on being the pain of rejection. The first one was blunt dismissal, the second was a behind his back kind of disappointment. The third (although saaaaaddd) had its underlying core of acceptance. The fourth (although saaaaaadddeeerr) also had acceptance and the attainment of a dream (even though that dream is taken away). The fifth is the acceptance, the dream and the living of the dream.

Of course, all that is overlayed with a different kind of pain, that of grief and guilt and death. It gets more intense, even as the rejection lessens. (In my warped writerly brain I can almost visualise a graph displaying the correlation). I'm glad number five brought you back from the edge!

Date: 2007-01-11 04:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pellucid.livejournal.com
Oh Cameron!!!!

These are all beautiful and heartbreaking, and the last one makes me grin through the tears, and you really do grab what I love so much about Cameron. I think I like the third one the best--because 1, 2, and 4 are Cam's fears, but 3 is everyone else's fear: they don't want to lose him, either. Lovely!

Date: 2007-01-11 10:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elliejane.livejournal.com
Yay! Glad you liked it :) Yes, number three is "Oh, this is sad!" but also knowing that he'd had what he wanted which was the respect and the love of the team. Ah, teamy goodness :)