Chapter Text
Camila had been honest about wanting to help the humans, about having been cast out by the others. She didn't see any need to not tell Yasmine the truth about everything. After all, she had nothing to lose. Once she had realized without any doubt that her heart was with the humans, that she couldn't, wouldn't go along with the replicators' need for spreading, for consuming, they had turned against her. Again.
Camila had been barely able to make it here with her damaged ship, having rendered the replicator blocks it was made of inert, knowing they would burn up in Earth's atmosphere without trace. It was still hard for her to kill her brethren in any way but she knew it was necessary if she wanted to help the humans. And it was also necessary to do something her entire being revolted against, taking Yasmine to the ship without warning, against her will.
It had been necessary to take her first to the ship, as Camila wouldn't be able to access the transporting technology anymore after it was destroyed and couldn't just transport Yasmine somewhere on Earth and then herself to that same spot. But she had tried to make the stay on the ship as short as possible, Yasmine's pain and anger cutting Camila deeply.
The pain had been expected, but the anger was something new. To be honest, Camila was glad for it. She had berated herself for being selfish, for not seeing another way to live than taking Yasmine again, had planned on just making herself small and hopefully being able to appeal to the part of Yasmine that had genuinely offered to take her with them, both times they met. It was the only thing Camila could think of that would prevent the others in Yasmine's team from outright ending her the second she stepped foot on Earth.
But also, she still saw that as a distinct possibility and she hadn't lied about wanting to see Yasmine one more time either and neither about being more afraid of hurting her again than of dying. That seemed to have been something that Yasmine hadn't expected, as she stopped talking right after Camila had said it, instead now only sitting on the ground a short distance from Camila. After a moment, she relaxed a little, which made Camila glad.
Some part of her wished the others in Yasmine's team would take their time, that she could have some more time with Yasmine alone, but she knew she shouldn't wish for that, that this was not what Yasmine wanted. Just because she was a little more relaxed now didn't mean she actually wanted to be in Camila's presence. Camila also knew it was a distinct possibility that she would never see Yasmine again after the others had taken her and she had made peace with that.
Or so she had thought, but when the sound of several jeeps suddenly cut through the empty field, she could feel herself tense, could feel the emotions bubble up in her. This was it. The next few moments might be the last moments she had of being alive. She couldn't stop herself from staring at Yasmine, drinking her in, memorizing her, the way she tensed too when she heard the cars quite a while later than Camila. The way she stood up carefully, standing in front of Camila, looking in the direction of the cars and then back at Camila, relief but also worry in her eyes.
"Stay down. Don't move. Let me talk," Yasmine said, her voice tense. Camila nodded, daring to give her a small smile that Yasmine answered with a nod and a sigh, not smiling, but her face still softer than Camila had expected it to be.
When the two jeeps had reached them, they stopped a short distance in front of them. Camila recognized the people jumping out of them, Yasmine's team. She was surprised that Beatrice was among them, she would have thought she'd want to stay far away from Camila. All of them were raising their weapons at Camila the moment they had left the cars, but Camila wasn't afraid of those guns, she knew they couldn't harm her. But then she saw Shannon climb out of one of the cars, carrying that new weapon, the one that could destroy her.
Yasmine clearly saw it too, positioning herself between Shannon and Camila shaking her head. Colonel Masters seemed confused, but nodded to her team, who were surrounding Camila, still pointing their weapons at her, not at Yasmine, who had raised her arms, stepping back now, closer towards Camila. Shannon followed, still frowning.
"Are you alright, Yas? Did she hurt you?" Shannon asked, carefully, gently. She wasn't trying to get past Yasmine, the weapon ready in her arms but so far pointed to the ground.
"No, she didn't. She wants to help," Yasmine said, her voice wavering but steady enough. What she said had an immediate effect on all of her team, everyone gasping in disbelief and tensing even more. Mary took a step towards Camila, looking down at her angrily.
"Fat chance! We all know that's fucking bullshit," Mary growled and before Camila could brace herself, she had hit her with her rifle over the side of her head. The force was not nearly enough to do anything but possibly break Mary's hand on Camila's unmoving form. In a split second, Camila decided she did not want to risk that, so she moved with the blow, landing heavily on the ground, staying there, lying on her side.
"No!" Yasmine gasped, trying to come closer to Camila, bow down to her but Beatrice stopped her, putting an arm around her and hugging her towards herself while still keeping her weapon trained on Camila. Yasmine melted into Beatrice's hug but kept herself between Camila and Shannon, making sure she wouldn't have a clear shot. "Please, just hear her out."
"Why the fuck would we?" Mary spat out, crouching down, bringing her rifle close to Camila's face, who did not dare move. "Give me one reason to fucking end you, I d-"
"Mary, that's enough!" Shannon cut in, her voice hard, but the underlying emotions clear. She stepped towards Camila, ignoring Yasmine's pleading look and gasp, Beatrice subtly holding her back from fully stepping into Shannon's path. At least she did not point the weapon at Camila, instead holding it by her side and also crouching down. Yasmine tried to step in her way again, but Beatrice held her back. Shannon regarded Camila with a curious look, her brows knitted together. "Why are you here?"
Camila waited for a few seconds, thinking she would say more but when she didn't and the others stayed quiet too, Mary still glaring at her, Camila dared to bow her head down, slowly, not moving anything else.
"I have come to surrender. I want to help," Camila said, as evenly as possible, not wanting to seem confrontational and provoke a drastic reaction. Instead, she just looked back up, very slowly, directly into Shannon's eyes, who still looked confused more than anything. "I have severed contact with the other replicators. If you want to kill me, do so. But I guarantee, if you don't, I will vow to never hurt any of you and I will do my best to serve in whatever way I can."
She wondered if it was too much, too over the top, but it was what she was feeling, the conviction encompassing her entire being. She did not even have to look at Yasmine this time, the memory of her engrained in Camila enough to sustain her. For a long moment, nobody said anything, then Shannon's frown deepened even more and she nodded towards Mary and Beatrice, standing up. Putting a hand on Yasmine's shoulder, Shannon and the others retreated several steps. Mary still glared at Camila while Shannon kept the weapon trained on her. Lilith and Ava were the only ones standing on Camila's other side now, both keeping their weapons on her, not that it would do anything should Camila decide to fight. The others were conversing quietly.
Of course, Camila could hear their whispered conversation very well even with the distance, but she didn't move, didn't show any reaction. When it was clear they reached the conclusion to not immediately kill her, she had to suppress a sigh. Finally she allowed herself to look at Yasmine again, revel in the soft smile she was receiving.
It meant that no matter what would happen now, there was hope.
Mary was already on edge from the idea that there was an unknown ship or bomb hurtling towards Earth, but that was nothing compared to the tension that descended on the control room when the more detailed satellite image revealed what was clearly a replicator ship. For a second, it was completely silent and nobody moved but then, everyone turned to Yasmine and Beatrice.
The shock on both of their faces was not in any way unexpected. Beatrice was the one to move first, taking a step towards Yasmine, wanting to comfort her, but she didn't get there, as before she could even reach Yasmine, an electronic field formed around her and a second later she was gone.
"No!" Beatrice shouted, surging forward, but it was too late. "Yas!"
Suddenly the control room erupted in movement and sound, everyone talking over each other. Mary herself used some colorful swears that would have gotten her a mild scolding from both Beatrice and Shannon if both of them hadn't currently been far too busy trying to track the ship's trajectory and trying to reach Yasmine on her phone respectively to care. Sharing a grim look with Mary, holding up her phone and shaking her head, Shannon put a hand on Beatrice's shoulder.
"Get the trajectory and try to track Yasmine's phone. Get us the info as soon as you have it, okay?" Shannon said, already walking out, nodding at Lilith, Mary and Ava, the latter also having her phone out and trying to contact Yasmine but by her grim look it didn't work. Mary contemplated trying too, but decided it didn't make much sense if it hadn't worked for the others.
Instead she followed Shannon to the control room door, General Superion nodding at them solemnly.
"Go, get her back," the general said, needlessly, as that was exactly what they were going to do, but of course, they still needed the air of following orders.
All of them acknowledged her and then rushed towards the armory, gearing up. Shannon grabbed the special anti replicator weapon. Mary packed as many P-90's and handguns as possible, handing them out to Ava, Lilith and Shannon. Ava frowned.
"If it is Camila, those weapons won't do anything, will they?" Ava asked, frowning. Mary scoffed, making a show of cocking one of the guns and putting it in her thigh holster.
"Not against that bitch, no, but against the bugs she's sure to bring with her. Gotta be prepared for them too," Mary explained, her voice rough, trying to put on a show of being hard so it didn't show how worried she was about Yasmine. After all, she had a tough image to uphold, even when she had no illusion that the others very much knew her true feelings. They all shared that worry after all.
When Beatrice and Yasmine first had been taken, Mary had blamed herself for not being able to stop it, having been right there. Logically, she knew she couldn't have done anything, they had been transported out, just like Yasmine had right now, but the feeling of guilt persisted either way. Especially when she first thought both of them had died in the destruction of the ship. And then, even when they had found them alive, it was clear how much they had been effected by what Camila had done to them, especially Yasmine.
With how much they had all been through, the years of fighting, dying repeatedly in Ava's case and just generally trying to stay alive in a galaxy that seemed to want them dead at every turn, seeing Yasmine like that had been heartbreaking. Just like the others, Mary had tried to help her as best as she could. Beatrice too, of course, but with her military training it had been easier for her to recover. Still, Mary knew she was seeing a therapist too and that both her and Yasmine had been making slow progress in these last few months.
To have Yasmine be taken again, this time right out of the SGC, under all of their noses, was making Mary both scared and angry beyond anything else. If it was up to her, she would just shoot without asking questions, only caring about getting Yasmine back. She knew Shannon was the one who should wield the anti replicator weapon and she didn't begrudge her that, but she itched to get her pound of flesh and by the understanding and grim way Ava nodded, taking care to pack more ammunition for herself, she was not the only one.
Once they were fully loaded up they left the armory towards the car park, with both Shannon and Ava still trying to reach Yasmine. Just outside the armory, Shannon's phone vibrated with a text and she gasped, making all of them stop in their tracks. Shannon frowned at her phone, typing something hastily, another text coming through a few seconds later. Shannon looked up at the others, her expression more than worried.
"She's with Camila. She says she's safe for now, but we need to hurry. I'll call Beatrice to send me the tracker for Yasmine's pho-"
"No need," Beatrice interrupted her, coming up to them fast, looking between them and something on her tablet. "I will track her. Let's go."
Everyone hesitated for a moment, nobody having expected Beatrice to come with them. Ava walked closer to her, looking at her very worriedly.
"Bea, are you sure you-" Ava started but Beatrice interrupted her too, looking determined.
"Yes. I am sure," Beatrice said, her voice certain. She looked at Shannon. "Please. I need to be there. For Yas. For myself."
Another moment they didn't have passed, Shannon sharing a concerned look with Mary and Ava, Lilith simply standing there, stoic as ever. Then Shannon and Beatrice looked at each other for a second, Beatrice's expression stubborn, hard. Eventually, Shannon nodded.
"Alright. Let's go," Shannon acquiesced and all of them made their way to the ground level as fast as possible. Mary only hoped it was not too late, that they would be able to stop Camila from hurting Yasmine again.
Beatrice was incredibly worried. Sitting in the passenger seat of the jeep, Ava behind her in the backseat, having already given her a handgun and some ammunition, she was ready to protect Yasmine whatever the cost, just like the others. Mary was driving their jeep, while Shannon was in the other one with Lilith. They had thought about only taking one, but they would have to drive back with Yasmine, which would get crowded. None of them wanted to entertain the possibility of Yasmine not coming back with them.
When Beatrice had seen the ship, she had immediately felt the fear and panic return in full force, ready to protect Yasmine just like she had back then. Even with everything else that had happened to her in these last few years, having been tortured like that and then trapped in an illusion had taken a toll on her. And she knew it had been even worse for Yasmine, who was still torn between genuinely liking Camila and wanting to help her and hating her for what she had done.
For Beatrice, that question was not there. Camila could have been an ally at some point, but she had chosen not to and that was the end of it. Except now, she was back. For what purpose? Shannon had shown them Yasmine's text saying that she was with Camila but not in any danger currently. Beatrice truly wanted to believe it, wanted to keep the hope up that the change she had seen in Camila in the last moments of her keeping them captive had been lasting, that she truly wanted to help them now.
But she remembered far too well what Camila had put her and Yasmine through, callously, for no other reason than being angry. Even when Beatrice knew Yasmine still had kept the hope that Camila would end up on their side, that she had learned those human traits of compassion and forgiveness instead of just keeping the destructive ones, hatred and revenge, Beatrice herself wasn't so sure.
For now, it didn't matter, the only thing that mattered was to get Yasmine back safely. When they finally arrived at the coordinates, Beatrice felt herself tensing, unable to breathe when she saw Yasmine standing in front of someone on the ground, sitting down. Camila didn't seem overtly hostile, not moving at all, but Beatrice was still glad that Ava gave her a soft smile and put a hand on her arm after they exited the car.
"You can stay here, you don't have to confront her, you know that, right?" Ava said, the concern in her voice evident. Beatrice knew Ava had been effected by this too, having held her through more than one night in which Beatrice had sobbed into her pillows, being woken up by a nightmare.
Smiling back, Beatrice nodded, but then straightened up, taking a deep breath. She could do this. They fanned out, surrounding Camila, even when they knew their weapons were ineffective against her. Beatrice was glad when Yasmine assured Shannon that she was alright, that Camila was here to help. Even when Beatrice did not believe that for a second, she was startled by how small and unassuming Camila looked, her head bowed down, still not moving, even when Mary hit her with her rifle, causing her to fall down on the ground.
Yasmine moved towards her and finally Beatrice gave in to the urge of hugging her, at least with half of her body, her right arm still holding the gun and keeping it on Camila. The way Yasmine's body relaxed in her arms made Beatrice glad but also broke her heart. She was happy she could give her comfort, but hated that it was necessary, that they were again in this situation. It made her want to agree with Mary, to just eliminate Camila once and for all, stop her from ever being able to hurt them.
But she knew that would be short sighted. If Camila truly was here to help and Beatrice was currently entertaining the possibility that she might be, she would be a valuable asset against the replicators, one that should not be cast aside so easily. No matter what Beatrice's personal feelings about her were. Shannon got up and waved at Mary and Beatrice to join her a little away from Camila.
Ava gave Beatrice an encouraging smile, still keeping her weapon trained on Camila. Beatrice smiled back and then led Yasmine towards Shannon and Mary, still holding her. Shannon pointedly kept the anti replicator weapon on Camila but looked at Yasmine, her brows furrowed in concern.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Shannon asked, quietly, nearly whispering. Beatrice knew Camila would still be able to hear them but found it superfluous to point that out. Yasmine nodded and Shannon seemed to accept it, tilting her head towards Camila. "Do you truly think she came here to help? After everything she has done?"
Mary was about to speak up but Shannon gave her a warning look. Yasmine nodded emphatically.
"Yes. I do think so." Looking at Beatrice, Yasmine's eyes were full of complex emotions now, making Beatrice hold her even tighter. "I talked to her. She… I think she's trying to understand. To reconcile her human nature with her replicator one. And human emotions in general. She has let her anger and need for revenge win before, but I think she truly wants to embrace other feelings, compassion, forgiveness." Yasmine looked at Beatrice poignantly, knowing that she was talking about what Beatrice had been trying to teach Camila.
Beatrice nodded, her mind racing with possibilities, looking towards Camila, who had not moved at all. This time, Mary did speak up.
"I still think that's bullshit. She's a bug, just like the others. She's just here to study us, find our weaknesses."
"To what end?" Beatrice said before any of the others could speak, Yasmine looking at her gratefully. Beatrice smiled at her a little, hoping that she was doing the right thing by supporting Camila. "The replicators could invade us at any point they want. There is nothing we can do about them. They already studied us, they know as much about us as they ever will. And we have the weapon. We can end her anytime we want."
"Maybe that's it," Shannon said, looking down at the weapon with a frown. "Maybe she wants to get close to the weapon, study it, find a way to make herself immune."
Yasmine shook her head.
"I don't think so. She said there were plans in motion to render it useless already and we all know the replicators will eventually find a way to do that, whether we help them or not. They always adapt. But with Camila's help, we could find a way to stop them, once and for all. Shouldn't we at least try? She was on our side once, I truly believe she could be again."
After having said all that, Yasmine seemed to deflate a little, leaning heavily on Beatrice and looking around at the others, determined even when she was clearly shaken. Mary shook her head, while Shannon looked thoughtful.
"I still say she can't be trusted. If we want to do this, we gotta lock her up. Keep her under constant guard. Make sure she never goes anywhere near anything important. And that she actually helps," Mary said, looking at Camila with a frown, anger and hatred still clear in her expression, but some curiosity too. Beatrice knew she was intrigued by the idea of having Camila as an ally, as was Shannon, even when the safety of their team would always be the highest priority for them.
Shannon nodded and Yasmine exhaled deeply, slumping even more against Beatrice, some of the tension leaving her now. She smiled at Mary and Shannon.
"Thank you. I'm sure she won't disappoint you," Yasmine said, her voice not all that sure, but not wavering as much now, gratitude in it. Beatrice smiled at her, hoping they were doing the right thing, hoping this wouldn't end with Yasmine getting hurt again. With herself getting hurt. She dared looking over towards Camila, who still hadn't moved.
She looked so harmless like this, so small, but Beatrice knew what she was capable of and that they needed to not underestimate her. Mary stomped over to Camila, followed by Shannon. Beatrice and Yasmine stayed put, Beatrice squeezing Yasmine's shoulder. Yasmine looked relieved but also worried. Beatrice knew she was affected by all of this more than any of them, even her herself, because of Yasmine's connection with Camila.
Beatrice's bond with her had never been that deep, but she knew Yasmine was still feeling affection for Camila, despite everything she had done. And it wasn't like Beatrice didn't feel anything. She had become fond of Camila when they had first met too, and a part of her hoped that now they could go back to that, truly have a fresh start. But another part knew that she couldn't just forget what Camila had done, how casually she had treated Yasmine and her as mere playthings, had doled out punishment and rewards without care for their feelings.
She truly hoped Camila had learned from it and was earnest about wanting to help them. Mary had now reached Camila, towering over her and taking out handcuffs, with Shannon standing next to her, looking down at Camila too, still pointing the weapon at her.
"Get up," Mary commanded, Camila complying, standing up slowly, putting her hands behind her back. Mary roughly dragged her by the shoulder and put the handcuffs on her, binding her hands behind her back. They all knew it wouldn't do anything, that Camila could free herself easily, but if it helped Mary feel a little safer, Beatrice wouldn't say anything. "If you try anything, you're dead, understood?"
Camila nodded solemnly, not moving otherwise.
"I understand," Camila said, quietly. Mary nodded towards Lilith and together with Shannon, they escorted Camila to the car, careful to not pass too closely by Yasmine and Beatrice. Once Shannon, Camila and Lilith had entered the back of the car, Mary went to the driver's side, nodding at Beatrice and the others, signalling that they were going to leave. Beatrice now finally had the opportunity to hug Yasmine fully, with Ava joining them after a moment.
Yasmine's shoulders shook without her making a sound. Beatrice whispered soothing words into her ear, hoping she was right in saying that everything would be alright. Hoping that Camila would turn out to truly be an ally.