The Long Way Home

Chapter Eighty One: Through the Looking Glass

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

Life House – Hanging On A Moment

Quarantine sucked. Being confined to the isolation room and the en suite bathroom was becoming a truly infuriating experience. Despite the fact the genes were apparently dormant, there was still some concern to whether or not Cass was actually infectious to other people. She had received this strain of the retrovirus when the infected version of her husband had lunged at her and scratched her throat.

Three months had apparently been a sufficient enough period for it to make a comfortable nest inside of her body. She had spent the past few hours going over the past twelve weeks searching for abnormalities in her own behaviour and finding none. She had been happy back on Earth, there had been no abundance of strength or vigour, she had suffered briefly with a cold that had been doing the rounds but that was all in terms of illness.

"You look bored." John stated from his position in the bay overlooking the isolation chamber.

His husky voice was a little tinny from the speakers it vibrated through and Cass found herself tilting her head up towards her husband, pulling a face as she set down her book on her lap. John gave her a finger wave before grabbing hold of a wheelie chair and guiding it towards the huge open plan window so he could look down at his wife curled up in the comfy chair beside the standard issue bed.

John had barely stepped back through the Stargate when Carson had pulled him aside to relay the news to him of Cass's affliction. The apprehension had been tight in his chest as he had followed the other man through the maze of corridors with a million thoughts rampaging through his mind. Carson had been explaining everything to him but he was barely stumbling over the words in his head as he tried to formate them into something that made sense.

"It's different from when your in your own apartment doing these things." she told him gesturing at her laptop and book. "I know it's for the greater good but I don't think anybody likes being told they can't leave somewhere and I guess I'm skipping dinner with you tonight."

Her tone was apologetic, he knew she was disappointed to have missed their date but obviously that could not be helped in the current circumstance.

John thought he was the one that should be apologising for getting her into this mess in the first place. He hadn't been in control of himself at the time but the retrovirus had known exactly what it was doing when it had taken that swipe at her. It had been aiming to rip her throat out but having a mate to procreate with was second best.

When Carson had declared her clear of all virus's the first time around John had been jumping for joy. The retrovirus's back up plan had been unsuccessful and for that he was thankful. As it turned out the retrovirus was a hell of a lot sneakier than any of them had given it credit for. It had contaminated his DNA so that if John did procreate, his children would also have similar genes maybe an even stronger version because it would develop at the same rate as the foetus.

With that in mind both Cass and him had agreed that a vasectomy was in order to prevent any 'accidents' from occurring. That week of recovering from the procedure had been well worth the piece of mind. Now to discover that she too had been infected made him even more glad that he had gotten that aspect of their lives sorted. If she got pregnant now, there was no possibility that their child would come out 'normal'.

"Dinner can wait." John said, waving his hand dismissively. "The real question is how are you holding up?"

Cass shrugged simply.

"I still feel the same." she said finally. "It seems dumb to say I never expected it but after the first set of testing, I thought I was in the clear."

"Yea." John responded sadly. "Me too."

"It doesn't change anything." Cass told him, trying to lighten the mood. "The cells are dormant, I'm still the same as I was before we knew."

"We're the same now." John said gesturing between the two of them. "That's what it wanted if it couldn't kill you."

"I guess that just makes the two of us special then." Cass said arching her eyebrows in mirth.

She was still trying to make light of the situation despite how scared she must be feeling and John treasured that. He placed his chin on his hand as he studied her down there all alone. Their eyes met and he let his soul reach out and nudge hers in that familiar playful manner. Cass's lips twitched at the feeling of unity flushing through her system at the gesture.

"You got your little travel chess board on you?" John asked his wife before he reached into the pocket of his flak jacket and pulled out his own.

Cass reached down into the bag she had asked Carson to retrieve for her before they had decided that she should go into quarantine. She pulled out the little wooden rectangle that paired with John's before opening it and placing it flat upon the table. Zelinka had given each of them a small wooden chess set as a wedding gift as something to do in their downtime whilst off world.

"I have this and battleships." Cass revealed as she set up both sides of the board as if John was sitting across from her as John did the same.

"Let's see if you've gotten any better at chess since we last played." John told her with a knowing smile before the game commenced.