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"It's going to be okay. After all, what could go wrong?" Mary asked. Camila was about to say something but Mary put her hands up. "That was a rhetorical question. I know." Mary sighed, rolling her eyes. Shannon nearly snickered but managed to suppress it as Camila glared at Mary. Shannon decided to jump in before either of them said something they might regret. Or rather, Mary, because Camila so far had shown impressive restraint.
"We know things could go wrong, but we've talked about this," Shannon said, trying to keep her voice level, reassuring. "Yasmine wants to meet you. You just talk, clear the air and then you'll go from there, okay?"
Mary nodded. "Really, it'll be fine. You don't even have to do much, or talk at all if you don't feel like it. Like, this is not a government summit or anything, this is just you and Yasmine sitting down and talking about whatever you need to talk about."
Camila didn't seem to feel much better about it when it was put that way. Shannon smiled at her, wanting to comfort her. It was weird, that after just a few weeks in the mountain, Camila had endeared herself to Shannon so much already. It was hard to believe this was the same person as the one she had ordered to leave behind just a couple of years ago. Of course, back then, Shannon had thought Camila was just a replicator, same as all the other replicators. That her only goal was to consume, to destroy.
Yasmine and Beatrice had seen more, had seen that Camila was more human than the others. It wasn't like Shannon couldn't see that there was a difference, but she didn't think it was enough to risk taking Camila with them. So she had made the decision to leave her behind, not even telling the others. Leaving Yasmine in the dark like that and ordering Beatrice to basically betray both Yasmine's and Camila's trust hadn't been something Shannon liked doing, but she had deemed it necessary.
Unfortunately, Camila had come back and blamed Yasmine and Beatrice for being left behind, torturing them. Shannon had felt guilty about it, especially since she hadn't been able to be there at that point. She still felt the same in some ways. Especially when seeing Yasmine so broken after she had been bearing the brunt of Camila's anger. But Camila had let them both go eventually and now she was back, having surrendered to the SGC.
At first, Shannon had been inclined to agree with Mary, who basically said they should put Camila in their darkest cell and throw away the key. But the longer Camila was here, complying with every rule they imposed on her, not ever trying to escape or harm anyone, the more Shannon realized that they would be robbing themselves of an opportunity if they just locked Camila away. After all, Camila was clearly eager to prove herself, to learn what it meant to be a good person.
And after reprogramming the replicators to be harmless, Shannon tentatively believed that Camila was indeed on their side. Of course, both Ava and Lilith advocating for Camila helped with that. For the first few weeks that she had been here, Camila had refused to see Yasmine, afraid she would hurt her again. But now she had agreed to a meeting, just an informal one, Yasmine coming to her room. As Mary had said, this wasn't some kind of state summit. They had barely done any preparations other than the ones that were always done when someone visited Camila in her cell.
"Look, if you don't feel ready, that's alright. You can wait," Shannon said, softly, not wanting to pressure Camila. Just because she had agreed before, didn't mean she wasn't allowed to change her mind. Mary shifted besides her and Shannon gave her a warning look, making Mary roll her eyes. But then she sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, of course you can. But I think you're robbing both you and Yasmine of an opportunity if you keep refusing to talk to her." Mary tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, shrugging. "Not that I care, you know, just keep your distance, fine by me."
Camila looked down, the corners of her mouth going up as if she was suppressing a smile. Shannon was impressed with how well she already read all of them, Mary included. But then again, Camila was a robot and several times faster and smarter than all of them. Shannon stepped forward a little, putting her hand on Camila's shoulder, who looked up at Shannon, insecurity and confusion in her eyes.
"I don't deserve Yasmine's forgiveness," Camila whispered, pain clear in her voice. Shannon's heart went out to her but she shook her head.
"I don't know if you do. But that is not for you to decide, or me. It's Yasmine's choice. And I don't know if this is about her forgiving you. Right now, she wants to get to know you. The person you are now, not the one who hurt her back then. I thought that's what you wanted too." Shannon didn't mean to pressure Camila, far from it. If Camila decided that this meeting wasn't going to happen, that was it. As much as Shannon hated seeing Yasmine sad every time she had to tell her that Camila refused to see her, it was important for Camila to know that her wishes would be respected.
After all, how could she learn to respect the wishes of others if they didn't respect hers? Camila sighed now and nodded.
"I do. I want that. It's just…" Camila trailed off. Shannon squeezed her shoulder a little.
"I get that you're afraid. But Mary and I will be here, okay? For both of you. You're not in this alone," Shannon said, gently but with conviction. Camila smiled up at her and then sighed.
"Okay. I'm ready."
"Good," Shannon said, smiling too. She waved towards Mary, who walked to the door after giving Camila a proud smile, opening it.
"Okay, come in, we're ready for you," Mary said to Yasmine, holding the door open for her.
Camila sat down on the chair at her table, fidgeting nervously with her hands. Shannon stepped back a little, smiling at her encouragingly. Camila's eyes lit up when Yasmine entered the room, even when there was still doubt and guilt in them. Yasmine hesitated a little, smiling at Camila nervously, sitting down at the table too. Mary closed the door and took her position on Camila's other side. For a long moment, no one said anything, both Camila and Yasmine looking down at their hands, the tension in the room rising. Shannon was already about to run interference, when Yasmine lifted her head and smiled at Camila warmly.
"Thank you for seeing me. I… I just wanted to tell you that I forgive you. For what you did. Because I do." Yasmine trailed off, a little weak at the end. Shannon still gave her an encouraging look, but then Camila looked up, her eyes on fire and Shannon tensed. She just so stopped herself from instinctively putting her hand on her weapon. But she did stop, because she truly did not believe that Camila would attack or hurt Yasmine in any way.
"Why?" Camila said, not moving at all, proving Shannon right. Shannon shared a tense look with Mary, both of them saying a lot with just their eyes. Neither of them was ready to interfere at the moment, but they knew they would if and when it became necessary. But right now it didn't seem to be. Yasmine frowned, but didn't recoil or show any signs of fear or distress. Camila shook her head. "You shouldn't forgive me. I hurt you. I don't deserve forgiveness."
"Yes, you do!" Yasmine said, with a strength and determination in her voice Shannon hadn't expected. But maybe she should have, with how adamant Yasmine was about Camila, about believing her. "You changed. You came here to help us. Because you didn't want to hurt anyone anymore. Wasn't that what you said? When you let us go, when you surrendered to me? That you'd rather die than hurt me? I believe you. And that means I forgive you. Because I don't see the person who hurt me anymore. I just see you. And I want to get to know you."
After all of that, there was a very long moment of silence. Just Yasmine and Camila staring at each other. It wasn't so much tense like it had been before but more stunned. Even Mary seemed completely shocked by Yasmine's declaration, just looking between Camila and Yasmine wide eyed before turning to Shannon with a questioning frown. Shannon wasn't sure what was happening either. But she decided it was best to let it play out, so she infinitesimally shook her head and shrugged, knowing Mary would understand.
Eventually, Camila nodded, tilting her head and slumping her shoulders, looking down at her hands. Shannon was pretty sure she could see tears in her eyes, but there was also a very small smile now appearing on her lips.
"Okay." It was all Camila said. At first it confused Yasmine who frowned but then nodded, her expression still determined.
"Okay," Yasmine said. After that she relaxed, the tension leaving her shoulders. Camila was still looking down at her hands. Yasmine looked around the room. She knew it, had seen it in camera feeds but had never been here herself. Now she took it in for the first time. Shannon could tell that she was impressed how much Camila's personality was shining through in this room, how much she had made it her own. A potted plant that was on the table took her attention and she smiled, pointing at it. "That's laurel, right? I know you've been growing some things here despite there not being any sunlight."
Camila's face lit up, her entire posture changing from deflated to excited. She nodded, her eyes shining. Shannon remembered how much time she had spent preparing the room exactly the right way for Yasmine. How long it had taken Camila to find the setting she deemed perfect.
"Yes, that is Laur," Camila said, smiling fondly at the plant, clearly happy she had chosen right. When Yasmine frowned in confusion, Camila tilted her head and explained. "It's the plant's name, Laur. Ava said humans name their plants. I named it after its genus name, laurus nobilis." Camila scrunched her brows. "I know that's not very inventive-"
"No," Yasmine interrupted, her voice gentle, a soft smile on her face now. "I think it fits very well. Tell me about Laur."
And with that, Camila launched into explaining about the laurel plant and all the other plants in her room. Yasmine listened intently and asked interested questions. Both Shannon and Mary finally relaxed fully, sharing a relieved look. They knew there was still a lot of work to do for Camila to truly undo all the hurt she caused, this was just the first step. But for now, it was enough.