28th October 2014

Looking like an extra from a western Bry sat hunched over the bar her fingers tracing circles around her almost dry glass. Music played lightly in the background her booted feet tapping along to the tune subconsciously against the bar. It was late, far too late, most people had already cleared out heading home to their families, cat, dog or significant other. She on the other hand had been still been here her significant other the liquor that almost all drained from her glass, the same one that she had been nursing all night. It was times like this that she had missed her family even more, most of her attentions on the drive here drawn by ghostly gardens and cleverly decorated jack o' lanterns. Her apartment on the other hand hadn't a decoration in sight save for a solitary spider living in the corner of the ceiling at the end of her bed. She hadn't been able to reach him and so the spider had lived there undisturbed for the best part of five months now since she had moved in. She had considered naming him after the first month but had considered that would have only made her existence acutely more pathetic.

Her gaze shifted towards the clock, it was a little before midnight she felt that she ought to be leaving her shift beginning early the following morning. She shifted on the stall sitting upright for the first time in the best part of an hour. The ache in the base of her spine was testament to this uncomfortable position. "Heading out?", the barman who had attended to her questioned. She returned his smile, "Looks like it", he replied simply pulling a couple of notes out of her pocket and laying them on the bar. "Have a good night", she announced twisting on the stall as if to leave pausing only to watch a breaking news story scrolling along the bottom of the TV news mounted on the far corner.

It was late, almost midnight, but Mere was restless. She got like it time to time, and she’d never really worked out a fool proof method to get past it. Most of the time she just kept busy and rode it out, and tonight was a prime example.

She’d come off shift about 8, headed to the mess, swallowed down a reasonable example of fine American cuisine, before heading back to her quarters. Which is where it had struck, the overwhelming urge to do something, so changing into a t shirt and sweats, she run down to the gym and ran circuits for 40 minutes, until her breath came hard and fast, and sweat glistened across her skin, but still the feeling persisted.

Heading back, she’d showered, sat on the edge of the bed, before pacing the length of the room, texting a half dozen of her usual friends to see if they wanted to meet up, or hang out, scrolled through the list of negatives, and then changed into jeans, t shirt and her leather jacket. She’d drive down into town, grab a beer, and then wait for normal service to resume.

Hopefully before she came back on duty then next afternoon.

The drive was uneventful, and pulling into the lot of a favourite haunt, Mere glanced at the few cars left in the lot, factored in the day of the week, and realised it would be quiet, perhaps too quiet. Still, she wanted beer, they served beer, and there were other places to go if this one didn’t pan out. Her assessment proved to be accurate, the bar man was wiping down the counter top, a few barflies were hovering in their usual spots, and only two tables were occupied. Signalling the barman, Mere tossed him a smile as she slipped onto a stool, next to a red head eyeballing the TV. A red head that looked familiar

“Hey – 2nd Lt Wilson isn’t it?”

_________________
"You'll shoot him, I'll save him, they'll question him and everyone goes home happy"

Another story on the Ebola crisis held her attention as the news anchor covered the breaking story before returning to the regular coverage of the various sports. It was at this point she was aware of woman in the corner of her field of vision. Breaking her gaze from the TV she smiled to the other woman recognising her instantly. "Bryony, please", she corrected her. She had never been a fan of referring to people by their ranks least of all when she was off duty. Of course her father would have had something to say about the matter but Bry remained defiant and ignored her rank as much as possible. She considered herself a nurse first and foremost her US Airforce rank would always be secondary to helping people.

She smiled easily at the other woman, "Staff Sergeant Blake", she replied less of question and more of a statement. People had been her business, she'd spent her days in the infirmary after all and whilst not all were as accident prone as others the health of the base and its staff were her responsibility. Five months in she was aware of most base staff even if they hadn't been aware of her.

"Looking for a night cap?", she questioned very much aware of the lateness of the hour but the arrival of the other woman seemingly having stopped her in her tracks. It hadn't taken much to consider another drink. Bry had been a social animal part of the enjoyment of going out was sharing time with others, drinking alone hadn't suited her at all.

The bar tender loitered with intent at the arrival of a fresh face at the bar. Spinning around on the bar stall she smiled sweetly at him, "On second thoughts I will have one more and Staff Sergeant Blake here will have a...", she paused looking towards the other woman for her to fill in the blank.

“You can just call me Blake, everyone else does” Shrugging out of her jacket, Mere folded it and lay it across her lap as she settled onto the cushioned bar stool. “Something like that – and a beer will be fine, thanks”

The barman wandered off down the bar to the under counter fridge, and Mere tested the stickiness of the bar top, happily noticing that it was as clean as you could hope, before resting her elbows and forearms on it.

“So I know why I’m in a bar solo on a Tuesday night, what brings you out of the mountain?”

_________________
"You'll shoot him, I'll save him, they'll question him and everyone goes home happy"

"Okay Blake, a beer it is", she replied looking towards the bar tender as he busiest himself with the latest order it not taking more than a few moments to produce a bottle of beer and an iced glass and another G&T for herself. There went her chances of driving home safely tonight.

She turned to the other woman at her question smiling slightly, "Almost living and working in a mountain isn't all its cracked up to be, the opportunities to just chill with a slice of 'normality' are somewhat limited", she replied with a knowing look. The base was never free of goings on, not always necessarily good. Sometimes she longed for a slightly more normal, less complicated life, one that she could actually share with someone despite the 'top secret' nature of activities on base.

"And what about you what is it that brings you here solo on a Tuesday night?", she questioned. Gossip had sort of become of the currency of certain members of the base it had seemed but she had still maintained her policy of being as open and honest with everyone she came across as the next.

She reached for the glass of G&T toying with it idly in her hands the ice cubes knocking carelessly against one another and the glass.

Nodding her thanks at the barman, Mere tilted her bottle towards Bryony, before taking a swig. Enjoying the coolness as she took that first sip, she listened as the other woman talked, nodding along in agreement as she mentioned the lack of normalcy.

“Pretty much the same as you I guess” Taking another swig of her beer, Mere tried to pull up what she knew about her companion, filtering through the passing meetings, professional knowledge and table top banter. She had at least three heads turned on base that Mere knew of, and was a competent CCN by all accounts. Relatively new to the base, this was probably the first time she’d ever shared more than a passing nod with the Lt.

“You settling in alright – Can’t say I’ve run into you much to ask how you’re getting on?"

_________________
"You'll shoot him, I'll save him, they'll question him and everyone goes home happy"

Bry nodded as the other woman confessed she pretty much the same as her. They weren't the only ones afflicted with a desire to find some normality. Of course there were the gun ho few who loved all the craziness who thrived on those moments, they were generally the ones who found themselves rolling into the infirmary. Then there were those just like her who hoped that some kind of normal life was possible alongside the ground breaking work they were doing in that mountain. It was what they had needed to keep them from running for the nearest hill at the mere mention of the guo'ald. People who they could share this crazy ride with.

She paused at the other woman question, stopping in her tracks. How had she been settling in? It had been a few months since anyone had asked her that question and perhaps now had been the best time for her to make a fair assessment. "Well thanks", she replied brightly. There was a pause as the smile slipped slightly, "Missing home I suppose, you know how it is, she added with a small shrug. "I guess I'm lucky I come across my fair share of people in my trade, so that helps".

The brightness had returned to eyes upon talk of her trade and the people who made the SGC tick, they had become a surrogate family of sorts so she was glad to know as many of them as she could. "How long have you been here now? Almost a part of the furniture", she questioned. Blake had the air of a woman who had been well and truly comfortable in her surroundings.

Mere was relieved that Bry was feeling a little more settled, the more Mere thought about it, the more she remembered just how disconcerting this whole set up was when you first got thrown onto base. The mix of civilian and military was common place enough, the mix of military types was a little rarer, but the alien doorway in the basement was whole new type of crazy, and it was something that could be hard to take in stride.

It wasn’t hard to miss the sadness that seemed to flit across the young woman’s face, and Mere empathised. She missed home, sometimes when she’d hear a certain song, sometimes for no real reason, and always when she’d been off world. In fact whenever she came back to Earth, was cleared off duty, and was certain that her own were taken care of, she’d take the time to call the homestead.

“Not quite furnishing yet. Been here, about a year …. I think” Mere scrunched her nose as she tried to think back exactly how long it had been since she’d walked into the mountain that first time, “It’s hard to be exact … some days seem to run a lot longer than others!” Which wasn’t a lie – Her third off world mission and Mere had left on a standard exploration mission as a team medic, and had spent 3 days on a planet, only to return to find that they’d been out nearly 5, which had been a nightmare for payroll.

“It’s great though. The people are fantastic, which helps, especially when you’re a little home sick. You should come out with us some time, or stay in, we’ll loiter anywhere” Grinning, Mere tossed back another swig of her beer, before placing that half empty bottle back down on the counter.

_________________
"You'll shoot him, I'll save him, they'll question him and everyone goes home happy"

A year, a year seemed like a distant marker. Since university she hadn't been anywhere long enough to call it home apart from her real home. She had hopes that this place would be eventually be it or at the very least a version of it. A grin pulled on the corners of her lips as the other woman commented that some days at the SGC seemed longer than others. She nodded knowing, "I know what ya mean sometimes I feel like Dorothy in Oz and that maybe one day I'll wake up and it will all have been some kind of crazy dream", she remarked.

The people here were fantastic of that she was certain, she had never met a more dedicated bunch than the people who worked out the SGC. Watching as the woman took another swig of her beer following her open invite she found herself mirroring her actions with another swig of her own liquor. "Thank you", she replied genuinely touched, "I'd like that. Every girl needs friends I'd love to meet some of yours", she added.

"So what did you do before this?", she questioned by way of conversation the people person side of her just ready to lap up somebody elses story it was the part about getting to know people that she liked best of all.

Smiling as her invitation was accepted, Mere made a mental note to get a group of people together in the not so distant future – It wouldn’t be difficult, they all ended up congregating together frequently, but not always in an off base, socialising in a non-gambling kind of way.

“Before this, I pretty much did the same thing but in a lot of different places. I signed up when I graduated, which made my Dad majorly proud considering he’s a lifer. Took a bullet whilst serving overseas, came back home and got this opportunity, which was too cool to turn down – What about you? How’d you end up here?”

Mere could feel the itchy feet and restlessness slowly leaking free from the back of her neck with each sip of beer, and minute of conversation. This had been a good shout getting out in the world a spell, and running into Bry had presented a perfect opportunity to make a new friend.

_________________
"You'll shoot him, I'll save him, they'll question him and everyone goes home happy"