I Wanna Hold Your Paw

Posted on Fri Feb 22nd, 2019 @ 4:22am by Major Jacob Asher & Civillian Shae

Mission: A Brand New Day
Location: Infirmary
Timeline: Current

Jake sat next to the bed the base veterinarian and her vet tech had set Shae up on after he'd brought her to the infirmary and they'd treated her. At first, the vet and the physician argued over where she was going to be treated, the vet's office or the Infirmary, but quickly decided that Shae should be in the Infirmary in case she shifted back. The vet tech stayed after the they were done cleaning out her stomach with activated charcoal and getting her otherwise stabilized. They put Shae on IV fluids and placed her on one of the larger beds. Jake had found a light blanket and put it over her so if she changed back, she'd be covered, and sat in a chair next the fox girl with one hand resting on her shoulder. An airman ran back to his quarters for him and grabbed him his e-reader and later someone brought him something to eat. He only removed his hand from Shae's shoulder when he absolutely had to. And there he sat, eating his breakfast one handed, waiting for Shae to wake up.

After being force fed the watery charcoal, Shae emptied her stomach once more, but thankfully no more since then. Of course, the shaking wasn't helping her feel any better, but eventually even that stopped as well, allowing her to finally rest. She slept like the dead until the sounds of movements in the infirmary caught her attention, and then the smells... The infirmary smelled awful, too many chemicals, but there was one very pleasant smell approaching, something delightfully aromatic that made her mouth water! Was it time for food? Her stomach certainly thought so with the way it was gurgling.

"Well," Jake said. "Somebody's hungry. When you're ready to wake up, I'll share my breakfast with you and we can get some more, too. What do you say, sleepyhead? You ready to wake up?"

There were some things that seemed to be universal, even transcending canine and human barriers, such as the groan of protest that escaped the great white fox, even going so far as to lift a paw to pull the blanket down over her face. But this did not stop the delectable scent of Jake's breakfast from wafting towards her nose, the same nose which seemed to be working overtime to capture more of those mouth-watering aromas. Finally, Shae lifted her head, shamelessly licking her chops as she spied the meal sitting on a side table.

"Hey there," Jake said. "You're awake." Jake took a small piece of sausage and held it in front of Shae's muzzle. "So, first, eat this and see how your stomach feels," he said. "Then, I can either feed you little bits of my breakfast by hand, or if you feel up to changing back, the blanket should cover you and there's a jumpsuit if you want to change. And I'll get another plate of food sent over, too. But eat this first."

Shae wasted no time in gobbling up the morsel, even going so far as to lick the grease off of his fingers until he finally pulled his hand back to get her another bite. The sausage was unlike anything she had tried before, and just a little bit spicy, but not so much that the spice overwhelmed her sensitive palate. after scarfing down another piece of sausage, she finally started to move around so that she was laying upright rather than on her side. It was then that she noticed the thing on her forearm; the IV needle was wrapped in gauze so that it would not be disturbed when she moved, and a tube ran from her arm to a liquid filled bag hanging on a stand. Uncertain what this was for, she began to nip and tug at the gauze to try to remove it.

"Whoa!" Jake said, setting down the plate and inserting his hand between Shae's jaws and the IV taped to her foreleg. He didn't hesitate or worry about being bitten. He stuck his hand in there and covered the IV while petting Shae's head and trying to calm her down. "Shhh..." he said. "It's okay. You were dehydrated from vomiting so much...shhh...it's putting fluid directly into your veins. It's not hurting you, but if you pull it out incorrectly, you're going to start bleeding...a lot. Nurse!" Jake called out and the vet tech, seeing what was happening, came over with what she needed to remove the IV. "Shhh, Shae. This nurse is going to remove the IV safely, but if she's afraid you're going to bite her, she can't do that. Trust me. She isn't going to hurt you. Okay? Can the nurse take that thing out of you?"

What was with all the shushing and the petting? Admittedly, the petting did feel really nice, but did he think she couldn't understand him? She understood him just fine, and at least now she knew why she felt like her bladder was about to burst! She watched with fascination as the nurse unwrapped her arm and removed the needle, only to wrap the arm again. Well this was no good, how was she to return to her human-looking shape with her arm wrapped like this? Shae protested the nurse's actions with her other paw, trying to stop the nurse from wrapping anymore gauze.

"You have to keep pressure on it for a while or you'll start bleeding," the nurse tried to explain, aware that this animal as also kind of a person, but this did not stop Shae's insistence, now nudging the nurse's hand away with her muzzle. "Alright, but you'll figure it out once you start bleeding all over the place," the nurse said as she removed the wrappings. Thankfully the pressure she applied while remove the needle was preventing an immediate flow, but it wouldn't take much to get it going, so she didn't intend to go very far once she was done cleaning up.

Now free of the bindings, Shae began to change back. It was a race against her bladder to change fast enough, but true to the nurse's warnings the vein in her arm opened up, staining her fur red.

"See, I told you," said the nurse, clearly unnerved at the sight of a transforming fox, but she was keeping a level head as she reapplied pressure to the IV site. "Finish what you're doing, then I'll clean you up," she added, tugging at the blanket with her free hand to make sure that Shae's modesty was in tact.

"Sorry," Shae said as soon as she was able to speak. She was still stuck somewhere between fox and woman, but a minute later she finished the change and she was once again the same woman they had met on Lethuan, although now her hair was the same white as her fur. "Sorry again, I just really have to, um, relieve myself," Shae admitted sheepishly.

"Then I'll be quick," the nurse replied, and cleaned up Shae's arm enough to get a bandage on her, then quickly draped the naked girl in a medical gown and helped her off the bed to show her to the facilities.

Jake had discretely turned his back when Shae changed and didn't turn around until he caught the nurse and Shae in the corner of his eye heading for the toilet. An Airman brought him the other plate of breakfast he'd asked for and he set it down and waited for Shae to come back.

While Shae was away, an orderly came through to put clean sheets on the bed. A while later, Shae finally returned looking much more at ease, and her arm had been properly cleaned and bandaged.

"Sorry for all the fuss," she said to Jake as she approached the bed. "I'm guessing the other man in charge was not too happy with me, was he?" she ventured, still looking quite embarrassed with all that had happened.

"Nah," Jake said. "You're fine. Nate...General Wolf knows it wasn't your fault. We had our animal doctor and our zoologist, that's a scientist who studies animals, make a pretty extensive list of food that will make canines in general, and foxes, sick. We've all got the list and it's posted in the DFAC, the Dining Facility. The folks who work there have been instructed to either memorize it or at least consult it before serving you any more food. Oh, yeah! I made sure someone brought you your own breakfast if you want it! Here, sit down."

Jake gestured for Shae to sit on the bed and then rolled the table over to her with her tray and utensils on it. There was a water bottle as well and a cup of apple juice.

The dining crew, assuming she would be more carnivore than anything else, had loaded her plate with ham, bacon, and sausage so she could try a little of each one, as well as some scrambled eggs, but since she was also a person, they ventured that she was not solely a meat-eater and gave her some grits and a fruit cup as well.

"I... I don't know what to say," Shae said as she sat down on the bed. Anytime she had ever been shown kindness before, it was always followed by something bad, like being traded back to a Goa'uld in exchange for favorable treatment, or that time she'd met a Tok'ra and he'd used her to further his own goals; he had come back and freed her, but it was still part of a pattern in her life that she didn't much like, and part of her wondered what Jake wanted in return. After a moment of contemplation, Shae finally took a bite of her eggs, forgetting to use the utensils she had been provided. "It's good," she said meekly, then ate a little more.

Jake didn't laugh or scold Shae for not using utensils. He knew she lived rough and he didn't judge her for it, except to be impressed that she managed to survive.

"I'm glad you like it," Jake said, sitting down to finish the rest of his breakfast. "I was worried when you got sick that we'd really messed you up. We had an animal doctor look you over yesterday. Don't get offended. It's just that our physicians are used to dealing with beings like us. Learning medicine to treat animals is a separate field of study. So we had our veterinarian look you over yesterday. Since you're back in this form, one of our physicians might want to check you out before you get to leave, or at least a nurse will, just to make sure you're okay. After that, I can show you a room you can have to yourself. I'll bring your weapons by there later. Anyway, you can rest there until it's time to go, if you're willing to come with us, that is. We're going to try an find Shang Ti. You said you knew where he was. It would be very helpful if you would come with us."

And there it was, he did want something from her!

"I can lead you to where his vessel is docked, but I would rather not get too involved; things never end well for me if I get too involved with the Goa'uld," Shae said cautiously. Then she dipped her finger into her grits to see what it was; it looked kind of like porridge but thicker, too thick to drink straight from the bowl like she normally would, so she finally retrieved a spoon to assist her.

Jake nodded. "Deal. You guide us to where we need to go and once we're there, you can head back to the gate. I don't know what your plans are, but you have a place here. A bed, a place to wash, clean clothes, hot food...that we're pretty sure won't kill you now. I'd really like it if you came back here when we part ways tomorrow. Maybe you can operate out of here for a bit. What do you think?"

"You would really let me do that?" Shae said, her curiosity piqued. She had been worried that if she was to join them, that it would be all or nothing, that she would have to submit to their mastery the same as the Tok'ra or Goa'uld, but this man seemed fairly reasonable! "I would be free to come and go as I chose?"

"I'd have to clear it with General Wolf," Jake said. "But I think I could do that. But the deal would have to be that you share whatever information you uncover with us, and don't hold anything back. And I'd like it if you would try out coming with my team on more missions. Just try it out. See how we operate. I think you'll find we're pretty good at our jobs."

So there were conditions, but they were not wholly unreasonable...

"I will think about it," Shae relented. "what kind of information do you want to know?" she then asked.

"Anything and everything you discover about the Goa'uld," Jake said. "We have people here whose job it is to collect and organize all of the information we bring back from missions and see what they can discover when they put the pieces together."

"Well I know much about them already; I've been hiding from them since I was little," Shae informed him. "I wouldn't know where to start, so if you want to know anything, all you have to do is ask," she said in the spirit of cooperation.

"Okay," Jake said. "Since we're heading into Shang Ti's territory, can you tell me what I can expect to find? I've seen pictures of Goa'uld ships. They're massive. I'm not planning on taking out all of his Jaffa, but it would be great if I had some kind of idea how many there are where we're going, really anything about his forces there. Death Gliders, heavy weapons? Or other, more personal information about him. Do you have a contact within his forces perhaps?"

"Oh, well, it's unlikely that he'll leave the safety and comfort of his ship, but he may receive an audience," Shae said around a mouthful of sausage dipped in grits. "I have worked with the governor of the nearby village, he may petition for an audience in our stead so that news of the Tau'ri do not raise any alarms. Lord Yu does have access to a wide assortment of weapons, including the gliders, but mostly likely we'll be looking at routine Jaffa patrols, and they shouldn't be difficult to avoid so long as we're careful. As for how to leave once he knows you're Tau'ri, that's where I cannot advise you, since it's always been my goal to not show myself to them."

"That helps, thanks," Jake said. He hesitated. "Um...now that the...um...business stuff is out of the way...I'd like to know more about you...if you'd like to tell me. Not for any military or intelligence reason. Just because I'm interested in knowing more about you."

"Well that's certainly a new one for me, although I'm not really sure there's much worth knowing," Shae admitted. Having finished eating, she slid her tray away slightly, then sipped on her juice for a bit. "Most have only ever cared what I was or what I could do for them; Jessica and Salara ware the first to ever try to be friends with me, and no one has ever remained by my side to ensure I was okay after being ill."

Jake smiled. "It was my pleasure. Getting sick and not having anyone there to advocate for you, to sit with you, to tell you everything is going to be alright, that sucks. I got shot up pretty bad on a mission that went bad. I remember that I was in and out of consciousness, often on pain medications that made it difficult for me to think. I'm not to proud to admit I was scared. I had no control, I didn't know where I was half the time and it frightened me pretty badly to be honest. Obviously I got over it, or I wouldn't be able to do my job, but I haven't forgotten what that fear felt like. So, anyway, yeah, it was my pleasure. I just didn't want you to wake up in a strange place alone."

"It was very scary, I had no idea that something that tasted so good would be so bad for me," Shae replied. "As for what you saw, that is what I am naturally, it's how my kind are born, and we do not take our first steps as people until after we are weaned. We are creatures of instinct, but our intelligence is always there and always in control, so aside from some drugs that can addle our senses, you never have to worry about me acting out improperly."

"I was wondering about that," Jake said. "I kinda figured you were in there somewhere. I hope I wasn't too condescending. You just looked kinda scared and lost, so I was trying to make you feel safe. In retrospect, I was probably being a little insulting. Sorry. So, are those your only two forms? Fox and human...humanoid? I'm not sure what the proper word is. Or do you have a hybrid form? I know that's a crazy question, and I hope it's not to personal for me to ask. I grew up reading my dad's old copies of a comic book...a story told with both pictures and words, called "Werewolf by Night". The hero was a character who could change into a half-man, half-wolf creature at night, and on the full moon the change was forced on him and he changed into a much more powerful version of the half man, half wolf creature. Those creatures are known as "werewolves", and there are stories with other types of were-creatures, including some from Japan. Made me wonder if your people were the inspiration for those stories."

"Oh, I don't know about the inspirations of your lore, but it's nothing like that; the moon has no effect on my transformations," Shae said with a meek smile. But she did make a mental note to ask about the lore from Japan. "But as we grow, we learn to control our transformations, refine them, and we can take on a variation of, uh, hybrid forms. I've learned to manipulate my shifting so that I am mostly human with a few elements of my natural form, I can also revert nearly completely to my natural form and still walk upright but that one was quite tricky to master. Being 'human' is by far the easiest for me because I can hide what I am; well, I have color my hair because many Goa'ulds can recognize me just from that."

"Well," Jake said. "Don't worry about hiding yourself here. I'll get the General to issue orders to the effect of 'the fox lady is on our side, shooting her is forbidden' in case you need to change for some reason. I'd offer to take out side to run around in fox form, but most of the world either doesn't know about our stargate or thinks it's still buried under here from the cave in during the failed Goa'uld invasion twenty-one years ago. If someone got a picture of a fox your size running around, that would cause problems. But I could see about taking you out in this form. We could start with some of the green spaces and work our way up to the city. If you wanted to, that is."

"I understand," Shae replied softly, but she really didn't; why did they hide the existence of the Stargate and all the dangers out there? But she accepted that this was the way things were and he was doing his best to accommodate her within those constraints. "Jessica has told me that a place on Earth is the origin of my language and the lore of Amaterasu and Inari; she also said it is a very long way away, the other side of the world. One day, I would like to see this Japan place." Part of her hoped that it would remind her of home.

"That would take some doing," Jake admitted. "But I will see what I can arrange. In this form, you don't really stand out...actually, to be blunt, you're gorgeous, so you will turn heads, but you don't stand out as anything other than a really attractive human woman. There are United States military bases in Japan, so we could definitely get there easily enough without having to get you through Customs. If we do that, we should probably have some really good forged credentials for you."

Jake grinned. "Tell you what. You agree to stick around a while and get to know us better, and I'll do what I can to take you to Japan. Also, and this is in no way a requirement, but if you, you know, wanted to spend some time getting to know each other, you and me, I mean. Well, I'd like that very much. But it's not a requirement. Only if you want to. And either way, I'll also see if I can get permission to escort you on some trips outside of the base. I love the outdoors and I've been meaning to get to the local parks to do some exploring. And I love a kind of music called Jazz and I hear there are some Jazz clubs...and you probably have no idea what I'm talking about...sorry."

His statement that she was gorgeous made her blush, but it also made her sad because it was a reminder of how desirable she was to the Goa'uld as they wanted beautiful hosts.

"I like music, or at least I used to, but I have not played in many years, not since I was a little girl," Shae said. She didn't see any harm in indulging his request; after all, she did want to see more of this world than just these strange stone walls, and Jess had been trying to encourage her to make new friends, so what could it hurt? "Maybe sometime you can explain a few things to me; I know your language well enough, but you say many words and use word combinations to mean something that is unfamiliar to me, and it is very confusing."

Jake nodded. He felt like he might be making her uncomfortable, but he wasn't sure if that was because he was expressing an interest in her and she didn't like it, or because no one had honestly expressed affection for her without some ill intent in a very long time. He knew she'd been on her own for a long time and to survive she would have had to be wary of everyone. Jake figured he'd just keep being nice to her and see what happened. He was enjoying getting to know her and he was in no rush.

"I've been to a lot of places on Earth, and almost every place I've been, someone who lived there complained that English was very confusing. Of course, while I'm not bad with languages, I still find some other people's languages confusing because I'm not used to it. Always feel free to ask me for clarification if something I or anyone else says confuses you. So, where did you learn our language? From Doctor Andrews?"

"Variations of this language have developed on many of the worlds I have been to, so much of my comprehension is simply from my knowledge of other languages," Shae replied. "But Jessica has been teaching me, although I think much of my confusion stems more from... ano..." Shae paused to think of the right words. "Culture? Yes, it's the cultural difference that really confuses me. Even on the worlds out there where the people may live different ways, there is the common thread of the threat from the Goa'uld that binds the worlds together. Also, many of the worlds are in a similar state of development, they do not have technology like Earth does, that also makes things more familiar going from one world to the next."

Jake nodded and filed those pieces of information away for future reference.

"A great number of those cultures came from Earth," Jake said. "As I understand things, anyway. But we still have variations of most of them thriving here on Earth. You probably wouldn't recognize a lot of them. They've evolved over the centuries. I can't even imagine, though, visiting as many worlds as you have. The mere thought of it makes me want to get out there and see what there is to see."

Jake grinned. "So, what's your favorite planet that you've visited?" Then Jake paused. "Hey, I know that you spend most of your time going from place to place, avoiding the Goa'uld, hiding alone, afraid to trust anyone. So if my questions was insensitive, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I haven't minded the questions so far," Shae said with a small smile. "I know that for the Tau'ri, being able to go through the Chappa'ia, the Stargate, must still be a new and amazing experience, but I've been living in the thick of it for so long that I'm not sure I can see the beauty of the worlds I visit, not anymore. But if I had to pick a favorite, it may be Lethuan; yes, it's very cold, but it's quiet and peaceful there, and safe."

"There's a lot to be said for quiet, peaceful, and safe," Jake said. "Sometimes on long missions, deep insertions where we had to pass through mountains on foot, we'd reach a spot where we could see for miles and as far as we could see, there was no sign of humanity. I mean, I'm sure there were villages I didn't see but...it all just looked so perfect. I usually let my team take a minute just to take in our surroundings. Some of them thought I was being weird, but later, when things were...not so nice, they had that memory to hang on to."

Jake looked at Shae. "You've been on your own a long time, right? I'm sorry for what Inari did to your people, to your mother. Jessica told me. No child should have to experience something like that. No child should be left to fend for themselves like that. You've done an amazing job of taking care of yourself. I really, really impressed, and I'm not the only one. That's why we take what you say seriously. We have to undergo intense training to qualify to do the work we do, and me, Hassan, Tony, we think of you as being every bit as tough as we are. Really."

"I don't appreciate that she told you, nor that she revealed that I was a shifter during the meeting, it wasn't her secret to tell," Shae said, followed by a tense sigh. "But done is done, I'm trying not to dwell on it. As for you and your men, I have nothing to prove to any of you; my survival is not dependent on other people believing in me." And yet somehow, recognition of her strength and ability to survive made her feel something. She wasn't sure what that something was, but she didn't think it was bad, in fact it felt kind of good. "So how much did Jessica tell you about my past?" she asked.

"She was telling us about her contact," Jake said. "The General and I asked about you. Before we could risk a mission off-world, we needed to know what we were getting into and the nature of the person we were getting into it for. She meant no disrespect, just like I meant no disrespect now. In fact, quite the opposite. You may not feel the need to impress me, but, as the saying goes, that ship has sailed. I'm already impressed."

"Ship? What ship?" Shae said, looking around. She did not know about any ship, were the Goa'uld coming?

Jake chuckled. "Sorry. That probably didn't make sense. 'That ship has sailed' is a saying that refers to a ship on the sea...the ocean? Sometimes, when someone says they don't want something to happen, and it already has, whoever they're explaining that to might say, 'too late, that ship has sailed' meaning that it's too late, whatever they didn't want to happen, has already happened. The ship sailed and they missed it. It actually works the other way around, too, usually when someone decides they want something that they were previously offered but turned down at the time. If the offer is no good anymore, someone might say to them 'too late, that ship has sailed', meaning in that case that the person missed their chance. Does that make any sense at all or did I confuse you even more?"

"Oh, Shae said, still somewhat bemused, but by the time he finished, she understood well enough. "I think I get it. I believe I've encountered a number of these types of phrases that have confused me, but now I see that they might have other meanings. I will be mindful of this as I go forward."

"That's the spirit," Jake said. "You know, you're really pretty when you smile."

That had her smile fading fast and she turned away from him. "Sorry, your words do fill me with good feelings, but out there it's never good to be 'pretty'; the Goa'uld are vain and only want the beautiful ones to be their hosts," Shae explained softly.

Jake walked up to Shae and reached out to turn her back towards him. He gently lifted her face so she he could look her in the eye. "I'm not a Goa'uld, and you don't have to be afraid of me. When I say you're pretty or do nice things for you, those are acts of honest affection. The only manipulative part of my words and actions in that regard might be that I'm hoping you'll like me. But I'm not trying to trick you, I'm not going to take advantage of you, and nothing between us will ever happen without your consent. I know trust doesn't come easy for you, so I'm willing to just be here for you and, when we have time to spend together, with you, until you decide you can trust me."

Shae heard him, but she wasn't ready to really listen to him yet. It was still so hard for her to believe that he truly wanted nothing in return other than her company. Pulling away from him, she once again averted her gaze.

"I think I would like to rest now. Thank you for staying with me and bringing me something to eat, I really appreciate it," Shae said, sounding numb and detached from her words.

Jake sighed. Maybe he'd pushed to hard. He was disappointed, but not defeated. "Alright. Have someone find me if you want me to escort you to your quarters here. I'll go fetch your weapons and bring them there in case you'd rather have someone else escort you. I'm glad you're okay, Shae. Oh, and I'll send Corvus to get you checked out of here."

When Shae didn't say anything, Jake nodded. "Okay, see you later."

Hearing him leave, Shae suddenly felt bad about shutting him out. She didn't know why she felt this way, couldn't comprehend that maybe she was tired of being alone and his offer of companionship was something that did actually appeal to her. But it was better if she was alone, no one would get hurt so long as she was alone...