Ripple Effect - With Years to Make Up - Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1, I am only playing in the world
A/N: Here is another side story / companion piece to my series of SG-1 tales. I went a little long on the story of Shaftboy and his Sam
A/N 2: It is advisable to read this only after reading chapter 3 of 'The Times That Weren't'
Ripple Effect - With Years to Make Up - Chapter 1
They've just met and it's their first mission through the gate and it's all been a disaster right from the start, but Sam and Cameron can tell there's just something in those blue eyes that feels right.
Captain Cameron Mitchell and Dr. Samantha Carter have just met as they're about to embark on what they hope is the start of the biggest adventure of their lives. The Stargate Program. It all goes horribly wrong and they end up stranded in an alternate reality, and much to their chagrin they learn that fate and the multiverse move in mysterious ways.
McLean, Virginia, May 26th, 1988 (alternate reality)
He held the large G.I. Joe XP-14F Skystriker model with his thumb and index finger hooked around the drop tank on the underside of the fuselage. He'd swept the wings back with a pull of the slider behind the cockpit and was tilting the plane from side to side in slow motion and making whooshing noises in a poor imitation of the twin Pratt & Whitney TF30s the real Grumman F-14 Tomcat would have. He turned his head when he heard a beeping noise from behind him and saw her holding up her own Skystriker in a similar way.
"Flagg, this is Ghost Rider, I'm being targeted by missiles, request permission to engage." he said in a crackling monotone while twisting his wrist to simulate his Skystriker taking evasive action.
"That's a negative Ghost Rider, do not fire unless fired upon. Repeat, do not fire unless fired upon." she said after making her own staticky crackle. She moved around behind him and twisted her XP-14F and flicked it upwards to move it up higher, then started again with the beeping sounds, getting quicker and quicker until she let out a long beep.
"Flagg, this is Ghost Rider, they have tone! They have tone!" He flipped his XP-14F upside down and sent up up high until she made a pair of loud whooshing sounds and twirled her fingers in his direction. "Missiles incoming, deploying chaff!" He used his left hand to make a little flourish from behind his Skystriker while twisting it to the right and banking wide. "No joy. Still locked-on!" He then made a pair of loud explosion sounds and bucked the back end of his toy up with a flick of his elbow. "I've been hit! I'm going down! Eject, eject!" He used his left hand to flick the plastic canopy up and pulled out Ace and his seat and threw him into the air then took the Skystriker by the wings and corkscrewed it in slow motion until he stuck it into the dirt by the stream upside down. He grinned and turned to see her looking up and followed her gaze to see his Ace figure hanging from a branch by the strings of his plastic parachute. "Aw, man!" She glanced at him and laughed. He did like that laugh.
"You shouldn't have thrown him up so high." she taunted him and he glared at her. "I think Mark can reach it if he uses a broom. Let's go get him." He picked up his toy again and fell into step along side her. "You know that thing you did where you flipped your plane upside down and pushed it up?" He nodded with a glance her way. "That was a negative gee climb." He smiled and she returned it. They walked back into the back garden of his father's friend's house and looked around for the girl's older brother. They'd just met today, apparently their fathers were old friends and had run into each other again after a long time. His Dad was invited to this barbecue and accepted. Cam was a little nervous. This was a General's house.
"Cameron, Sammie, you two having fun?" asked her father as they approached. Cam's first impression of him was sadness. Apparently her Mom had died when she was little and he'd retired from the Air Force to take a consulting job so he could take care of his children. Sam hugged him and that brought a smile to his face as he patted the back of her head. She did that a lot.
"We're good, sir, but we got a pilot MIA." Cam replied and then held up his left hand to his mouth as an aside. "He's stuck up a tree." he whispered and the man laughed at that and nodded. The girl turned her head to him and smiled magnificently at him.
"You need to rescue him then, we never leave a man behind, son." her father said sternly as the rotund figure of their host bustled up behind them with a chicken leg held in a pair of tongs.
"Hello, you two, do you want some chicken? I have some burgers nearly ready as well." Cam watched the drumstick very carefully. "I'll take that as a yes." the man said with a wide smile.
"They've got a man down behind enemy lines, George. Sounds like they need Search and Rescue." said her father seriously and George's own features set as stone.
"This is serious, Jacob. We can't allow one of our own to be captured by the enemy. What do you need for this rescue mission?" he asked with a look at them both. Sam grinned.
"We were hoping for Mark and a broom, General." she replied. Both men laughed at her idea of S&R. She looked around and frowned slightly.
"He's not here, Sammie, we sent him to the store for some things we ran out of. Will I do as an alternative?" asked Jacob. She nodded. "I'll be right back." He leaned down to kiss the top of her head and turned to go into the house.
"Cameron." He turned his head at hearing his name called. His mother motioned him over and he glanced back to the girl who just smiled. He turned and walked over. "Stacey wanted you to know that she put your bag in the hall if you need anything from it. She's driving Grandma back to the hotel." He frowned worriedly. "She's fine, just a little tired from all the travelling." He nodded and accepted his mother's kiss on his cheek with a little cringe. "How are you and Samantha getting along?" He turned to look at the girl. She turned her head to face him as well and he smiled. She held her Skystriker on the crook of her elbow with the nose pointed at the sky and smiled back.
"We're having fun. She likes all sorts of things." he replied and frowned at the smile his mother was giving him when he turned back. "What?"
"Nothing, I'm just happy, that's all." she said with a pat on his cheek which turned into a rub when she spotted a bit of dirt. "From what I gather she's a very smart girl." Cam nodded.
"Yeah, she knows all kinds of stuff." he replied. His mother smiled that same smile at him again.
"Well run along and go play, General Hammond looks to have some food ready for you as well." she motioned over to indicate their host who was holding a pair of paper plates with chicken pieces and hamburgers as he talked with the girl. "Maybe you two can keep in touch after this, that would be nice." He just grunted and bustled off to get some food.
MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 1995 (alternate reality)
First week of classes are done. They were brutal. Not because the material was hard, but because everyone here just looks at me like I'm a freak. It hurts. I try to make conversation in the labs, but I think no one really knows how they're supposed to talk to a fourteen year old.
At least my professors have been good. They just treat me like any other student which is fine by me. They don't expect more just because I'm a 'prodigy'. They expect me to be where I am because I'm a 'prodigy', but they're pleased with that as long as they think I've found my level. I think I may still have a few surprises in me.
Sam tapped the end of her pen against the page of the leather bound book she was writing in and clicked the button over and over against the paper. It had always been a poor substitute for the memory of the person she really wanted to talk to. She had no choice however, she could never bring herself to reveal this to anyone. Even if it would help her find him again.
I wonder what you're like now. You'll be in high school. I wonder what classes you like. What sports you play, I'm pretty sure you do play at least one. I wish I could at least talk to you. It's been so long, but I'm such a coward. I'm so afraid of how you'd look at me now that there's no way I could. This isn't healthy, I know it.
She sighed and clicked the pen off and slipped it into the little loop it lived in along the edge of the book's pages and closed the clasp on it before she put it back in her bag. She glanced up from her seat in the empty lecture hall and sighed as she stood up. Walking along the row she got to the door only to be startled when it opened almost in her face. She jumped a little, letting out a yelp.
"Joseph and Mary! You scared me, kid." exclaimed the young woman who was patting the space over her heart with her hand. "What are you still doing here? The last lecture finished thirty minutes ago." Sam blinked. That wasn't the reaction she'd been expecting.
"You're not wondering what a 'kid' is doing here?" she asked. The woman's pretty blue eyes crinkled in amusement as her head of soft brown hair canted to the side.
"Why would I? You're a student here, right?" she replied matter-of-factly. "I was just wondering if you'd forgotten something." She held out her hand. "I'm Stacey Kendrick, TA for Professor Jessop. Do you need a hand?" Sam glanced at, then shook, the proffered hand.
"Samantha Carter. No, I was just writing in my notebook and lost track of time." she replied as Stacey smiled and shook her hand.
"You know, History doesn't see a lot of 'prodigies'," she began with a little airquotes gesture while lifting up the books and files she was holding. "You must be in the Science curriculum." She smiled and hooked her head, indicating Sam should follow if she wanted to carry on the conversation. Sam gave a faint smile and walked down the stairs to the podium in front of the boards as she trailed after the post-grad. "Still taking a mandatory credit?" Stacey asked over her shoulder when she saw Sam had tagged along.
"Yeah. I like History of course, don't get me wrong, but it's... inexact." Sam elucidated to the other woman's laughter.
"You're telling me? They can't decide what to teach from one year to the next." She threw Sam a grin which just begged to be returned in kind. "So what's your major? Have you even decided?" Sam nodded.
"Astrophysics. Theoretical Astrophysics." she replied before looking away for a moment. "I want to be an astronaut." she finished in a soft voice. Stacey's eyebrows shot up and she smiled broadly as she paused in her work of preparing slides for the projector by the podium.
"No kidding! My little brother wants to be an astronaut too. He's planning to join the Air Force like our Dad." She canted her head and looked at Sam for a moment. "You know, I think he's about your age, maybe a little younger." She smiled and carried on with her work when Sam nodded. "Yeah, he can't get there with brains so he'll just have to do it with guts and mad piloting skills." Sam smiled at that.
"My Dad was in the Air Force too, but he retired when my Mom died." Sam added and then smiled ruefully when she saw Stacey look at her sadly. "It's okay, I was too young to even know her."
"That just makes it worse!" Stacey cried. Sam shook her head.
"I'm more worried about my Dad, since she died he's been... sad. Now I'm not there anymore and I'm afraid..." She paused, wondering why she was revealing these things to a total stranger. She looked up and showed the young woman a sad smile. "I always did my best to make him smile and laugh, you know?" She glanced down. "He was very happy at my graduation." Stacey looked at Sam from the corner of her eye with a little wry smile.
"You're pretty mature for being just a kid." she said and Sam pouted at her theatrically. "Hey, I get to call you a kid, how old are you? Fifteen? Sixteen?" Sam looked away and flushed slightly.
"Fourteen." she whispered. Stacey gaped at her.
"You must be hella smart!" she declared which just made Sam blush more. "And it turns out a little younger than Cam." She looked up into the distance and smirked. "Most annoying little brother in the history of annoying little brothers. Still, I miss him." She glanced back at Sam. "I haven't been back home much since I got married. Too busy." She glanced at her watch and blinked. "Oh, Sam-" Stacey met her eyes. "Can I call you Sam?" She nodded and the young woman smiled. "Professor Jessop's class will be starting soon so you should skedaddle. Say, you're not here in Cambridge on your own, are you?" Sam shook her head, of course she had a guardian appointed by the Regents. "Are you eating alright? You look thin. You should come have dinner with me and the hubby some nights. We'll be glad to have you." She ripped off a piece of paper from a notebook and scribbled a name and phone number on it. "I won't take no for an answer either." She looked at Sam pointedly then her eyes widened. "Mary and Joseph, I just kinda threw myself on you there, didn't I?" Sam laughed, but still took the piece of paper.
"I'd love to, Stacey. As long as you don't mind eating with a kid." Sam prompted with a lift of an eyebrow. Stacey scoffed.
"You're already way more mature than Martin ever will be, it'll make a change." She waved Sam away with a smile.
Auburn, Kansas, August 1997 (alternate reality)
Cameron closed the trunk of the black Mustang his parents had bought him as a graduation present and turned to find his mother on the verge of tears behind him, barely able to contain her need to embrace him. He sighed slightly and stepped forward to hug her and she held him tightly.
"You call us every week, do you understand? At least once a week! Or I will get on a bus to Colorado Springs and make you wish you'd never been born." she warned in a broken voice. He smiled ruefully over her shoulder at his father who just shrugged at him as he leant heavily on his crutches.
"Wendy, don't be like that." burbled his grandmother with a little dismissive wave. "We've raised him well, he won't get into any trouble."
"And if he does, Emily?" asked his mother as she pulled back and turned around to give his grandmother a questioning look.
"He'll have to deal with me." she declared with a raised eyebrow. "Won't he, Frank?"
"Mother, let's try not to scare the poor boy too much before he gets on the road." his father said with an exasperated look. "Especially since he's going to be driving and I'll be going too." Cam looked over and glared at his sister, Stacey, and her husband, Martin, who were both on the brink of laughter. She decided to mask it by coming over and giving him a big hug.
"I'm so proud of my evil brat of a brother." she murmured happily. "Dream big, Cam. And make sure you learn to fly those planes properly. It's all you've got going for ya." He pushed her away dramatically and she did laugh at that and came back in for another hug. He felt her grow a little tense and frowned slightly before pulling back to look at her. She gave him a rueful smile. "You know I love you, right?" He frowned at her in confusion and nodded. "You know I never meant that stuff I said about you being unwanted, right?" He sighed, understanding she was talking about how her parents had only ever planned for one child and his birth had been an accident. One which he knew his parents were very happy about. That of course never stopped his older sister being an older sister and tormenting him with it whenever she was mad at him, which was often. He just nodded at her and she actually seemed genuinely relieved. He hugged her this time and she leant her head against his. "Ask Dad about James." she whispered in his ear and he pulled back with a confused furrow of his brow. She shook her head slightly and patted his cheek before speaking up in a louder voice. "You gotta study hard too, Cam, they don't let just anyone be astronauts. Take my friend, Sam-" He pinched her lips closed between his fingers and everyone laughed as he glared at her.
"Enough with 'your friend, Sam' already!" he cried before turning to give Martin his own share of a glare. The man held up his hands in surrender and Cam turned to his Dad. "Let's head off, Dad. We've got a long road ahead." His father nodded and started walking towards the passenger side door and Cam had to give his grandmother a hug before he could get in the driver's side. He drove off at last to everyone waving behind him and his father fiddling with his car's radio until he found the one station that actually played some classic rock.
They drove on for many miles making small talk and talking about Cam's plans and his father's recollections of his own time at the Academy. However, Cameron's mind always returned to that little niggling thing his sister said just before he left. He flicked his eyes over at his father as he was just finishing off another story about how he once launched a rocket from the roof of the McDermott Library.
"Dad?" He waited a breath as his father looked over and caught the tone of his voice. "Stace said something to me just before we left. She told me to ask you about James." He was watching his father's eyes as he drove down the long straight road he knew was completely devoid of traffic as far as the eye could see. They turned stormy for a moment before that was washed away completely in a wave of sadness and melancholy he'd never seen in his father before. He frowned slightly and only turned back to the road when his father looked out the window so he couldn't see his eyes anymore.
"I suppose there's no real reason not to tell you." Frank began in a low voice. "You have... had..." he paused for a long moment before sighing and continuing along a different tack. "Stacey wasn't the first child your mother and I conceived." Cam's eyes went wide in alarm. "A year before... she was pregnant... and we lost him late..." he choked up and Cam kept glancing over in worry. Frank cleared his throat and turned to look over at him. "I had a brother you know. James. He was a great kid. He wasn't strong though, he had a weak heart, you see, and he... died when..." He saw a tear roll down his father's cheek. "He was only six." Cam could feel the lump in his own throat and forced himself to look only at the road. "So when we lost the baby we..." They were both silent for several long minutes. "We love you, Cameron. You're our gift. We only ever planned to have one child, but when we found out Wendy was expecting again we never once thought it was a bad thing. Please believe me." Cam shook his head.
"I know, Dad. I know." he said softly.
"We're so proud of you, son. So proud."
McLean, Virginia, December 2001 (alternate reality)
Sam shook hands with the last of the attendees and finally allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment and feel just a sliver of the pain simmering under the surface, in her heart. It nearly choked her and she brought up a hand to cover her mouth as she clutched at her stomach with the other and bent over slightly. She felt a strong arm around her shoulder and turned to bury herself against her brother's chest as he held her tight.
"Shhh, Sammie..." he murmured into her hair as he rubbed her back and kissed her head. "It was his time. He held on as long as he could, and he saw you get your doctorate. You've made him so proud, Sammie. You've made me so proud too." She sobbed against his shoulder as she held her gloved hands over her eyes and mourned her father. Not because he had passed away the week before, but because he had been forced to wait so long to rejoin his beloved wife. Because of her. "I know what you're thinking, Sam, and you better stop it right now! It's not your fault." She shook her head as her shoulders were wracked with shuddering sobs. He pulled away slightly and used his arm to guide her from their father's graveside along a secluded, snow-covered path. They walked together in silence for some time while she continued to cry, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. He turned to her finally and spoke in soft low tones. "Sammie, listen to me. I'm only going to tell you this once. Mom and Dad knew. They knew." She looked up at him in alarm and he frowned slightly.
"What do you mean, Mark?" she asked, demanded even. He ran a gloved hand over his chin as he stared out over the stone markers and metal plaques shrouded by ice and snow. He let out a breath which drifted away white on the breeze.
"Dad told me," he began, "when I was sixteen, that Mom had been pregnant once before I was born. There were complications and she lost the baby and... it left damage... in her uterus." Sam gasped. "Just having me was a risk for her and for the longest time that was it, but Mom..." He turned to look at Sam with gentle fondness. "Mom always wanted a little girl." Sam clutched at her mouth as her eyes began to well up again. "They knew it was a risk, a huge risk, but it was a risk they were willing to take." She shook her head. "Mom would have been so proud of you, Sam." The tears began flowing again, and she couldn't stop them. "I never saw her look as happy as when she held you in her arms after you were born." He gulped down hard and scratched at his cheek for a moment before clearing his throat. "That's why I was a bit of bastard to you when you were young. Because... to my stupid eight your old mind... you'd made her happier in that half hour than I ever had in my whole life." She rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him and he shook his head against her blond locks. "It wasn't your fault, Sam. It wasn't anyone's fault." he declared as the snow began to fall again around them.
She wept silently against his shoulder and didn't look up until the tears stopped falling. When she did she noticed a man standing and watching them from a discrete distance. He wore a thick dark greatcoat over what must have been a set of Air Force service dress blues, if the hat he wore on his head was anything to go by. She frowned slightly as she watched him standing still with his gloved hands clasped together in front of him. Mark must have sensed her tension because he looked over his shoulder and turned to frown at the man also. No longer having the option of waiting the man walked forward slowly, doffed his hat and nodded to each of them slowly before speaking.
"Mr. Carter, Dr. Carter, I am Major Paul Davis." He took the time to shake both their hands. "First, please allow me to offer you both my condolences, Colonel Carter was a very highly regarded officer in his day, as I'm sure the presence of Generals Hammond and Vidrine earlier can attest." He paused a moment as a slight discomfort seemed to pass over his features. "I apologise for how inappropriate this must seem to you, but I have an urgent matter to discuss with you, Dr. Carter." She frowned and Mark tensed slightly until she put a hand on his arm. "With regards to your doctoral thesis, ma'am." Sam's eyebrows shot up. What did the Air Force care about high energy stress-tensor dynamics in subspace boundary fields?
Area 51, Nevada, November 2005
Cameron glanced down at the control board of his X-302 and made some tiny adjustments with his RCS thrusters. The yoke was starting to really buck and shake in his hand, but he held it steady. A little fine footwork helped keep everything trim.
"Five meters." He called into the radio before dialling back on the throttle infinitesimally. He felt a shimmy starting from behind his seat and gritted his teeth as he added some more fine corrections with the thrusters. Another glance down had him smirking. "Two meters."
"You don't stand a chance, Mitchell." taunted Lt. Colonel Bryce Ferguson over the radio. "You'll never keep her up for thirty even if you do make it down there." He then heard cursing and nearly laughed.
"My gauges have zeroed out, Colonel, what do your telemetry readouts show?" he taunted back while trying to keep the intensity of his fierce concentration out of his breezy tone. His feet were doing the tiniest dance imaginable while he was playing that thruster control like a piccolo.
"Eighty centimeters." Ferguson groused. "Start the clock." he called in a slightly muffled tone. A small display counting up the seconds appeared on his HUD and Cam ignored it for all he was worth. Instead he closed his eyes and listened to the 302's groaning and shuddering and keening as the thruster assemblies kicked out several thousand pounds of thrust into the now molten patch of desert scrub while he kept the test bed for the Terran space superiority fighter end up and hovering, less than a meter off the ground. "Twenty." He ignored that too. Counterbalancing every little shift of the airframe with the twist of a foot or the flick of a thumb. "Thirty. Damn you, Mitchell." He grinned, but still kept on going. "Forty-five. Quit showing off and get my ship back in the sky!" growled his boss and Cam slowly kicked up the throttle and carefully guided the 302 higher off the ground on a plume of fire. Once he was high enough and had enough speed he kicked the throttle to full all at once and added the afterburners for good measure as he did barrel rolls for fun and whooped and hollered into the radio, knowing he'd just broken the Colonel's own record. He could hear the cheering from the control staff over the radio and even Colonel Ferguson's wry laughter. "Congratulations, Mitchell. Now bring 'er home, Ghost Rider."
"Copy that, Dreamland Control, Rocketeer RTB." he said into the radio only to be met with even wilder cheers for his use of his newly-earned flight designation.
When he climbed down the gantry he was getting cheers and applause from all the ground staff and back-slaps and high-fives from the other pilots who'd come to the hangar to greet him. He grinned from ear to ear and cheered along with everyone as he still felt the buzz of adrenaline coursing through his veins. He caught sight of Ferguson walking up and came to attention though he couldn't keep the grin off his lips.
"Captain Cameron Mitchell." He reached up with a little silver medallion on a ribbon which he began to pin to the chest of Cam's flightsuit. "For services to Gross Stupidity and the furtherance of human endeavours in the field of Applied Insanity, I confer upon you the title of 'Rocketeer' and all the duties and responsibilities vested thereon." He stepped back and saluted sharply, which Cam returned as everyone cheered. They had a mini-procession in the hangar as everyone walked by the rear of the X-302 and reverently touched the thruster nozzles for several moments, and all involved retired to the mess for a celebration.
Around two hours later as everything was breaking up, Cam found himself sitting at a table with Colonel Ferguson as they shared a big bowl of nachos and a jar of salsa. He was still grinning from ear to ear and his jaw was starting to ache.
"That's a hell of a thing you did, Cam." Bryce conceded with a smile. "I'm gonna hate losin' ya." Cam whipped his head around as the smile dropped right off his face instantly. Ferguson smirked ruefully and reached into his pocket to fish out an envelope which he handed over to the younger man. "A Major Davis came by earlier while you were doing your big show. Watched the whole thing too." Cam looked at the envelope, there was nothing on the outside which would indicate what it was. He frowned and looked up at Bryce. "Come on. We both know what it is. Open it." Cam did, ripping open the fold with a finger and pulling out a piece of paper with some very official looking letterhead. He handed the sheet to Ferguson after a quick scan. His friend read it and smiled wryly. "Yep. Transfer orders. Stargate Command." He looked up and grinned. "You made it to the Show, kid. Don't blow it."
Stargate Command, January 2006 (alternate reality)
"Why are we doing this, Jack?" asked Daniel as he walked down the corridor alongside his friend, with Teal'c right behind them. He pulled at a thread he found stuck under the SG-1 patch on his right arm and held it up to scrutinise it before flicking his fingers and letting it drop away.
"Daniel, how many technical dweebs have we had on the team?" Jack asked while nodding at Master Sergeant Siler as he walked past. Daniel furrowed his brow at the non-sequitur.
"Um, since you tend to drive them off in less than three months and we've been doing this for four years..." He scrunched up his eyes and flicked his head from side to side as if counting silently. "A lot." He finally shook his head as he frowned in confusion.
"Right. 'Cause they're all annoying. And talky. And use big words I can't pronounce." Jack added.
"O'Neill, you have also called Daniel Jackson annoying, and he does talk a great deal, and he knows many large words you are incapable of correctly verbalising." Teal'c pointed out from behind the pair as he clasped his hands behind his back. Both men turned to look at him with little glares, at which he merely lifted a condescending eyebrow.
"Yes, well, whatever. That still doesn't answer my question, Jack." Daniel continued as they turned the corner in the direction of the briefing room.
"I've been told I need to find a permanent technical dweeb." Jack replied simply and Daniel carried on frowning.
"Right, and good luck with that, but that still doesn't answer my question." Daniel intoned with barely contained frustration as they stepped into the briefing room to find an Air Force Captain in dress blues arguing rather vociferously with a ponytailed blonde civilian dressed in slacks and a button-down blouse which peeked out from under a sleeveless v-neck jumper. She had her arms crossed under her breasts while he was gesticulating at the Stargate through the briefing room window.
"Because these two are the 'future' of the Stargate Program, Daniel. And they need the guiding hand of our wisdom." Jack replied while Daniel lifted both eyebrows and stared at the man and woman in their mid-twenties as she raised a hand to point at the Captain's chest. "You sure you don't want to come along, T?" The Jaffa lifted his head on his neck slightly and looked askance at Jack for a moment before turning around.
"I am needed on Chulak, O'Neill." he replied and walked away.
"Chicken!"
On to Chapter 2