Domino Motion

By: sorrel_rowan

CATEGORY: Drama, Romance

SEASON/SPOILERS: Season 10, Spoilers through to “Memento Mori”

WARNINGS: None

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:

http://www.fanfiction.net/~sorrelrowan

CHAPTER 1: One Fifth Missing

They were a peaceful people, with a stable agrarian society. Daniel was walking through the ruins, taking in the Ancient landmarks and trying to find references to Morgan, Merlin or anything that could help them against the Ori.

Vala had been trailing about ten feet behind, P90 in hand. When Daniel stopped at another pillar, she sighed. Daniel turned around. "What?"

Letting go of the gun, Vala waved her hands at the pillar. "You're going to be reading this for some time yet, aren't you?" Daniel almost smiled at the long-suffering tone he managed to get out of her before remembering she irritated him. The two stopped, Vala with her hands on her hips and Daniel with a slightly bemused expression. "Well, I'm going to go and play with the village children," Vala said with a slight flounce. "What?" She asked when Daniel continued to look at her. "They were talking about caves they liked to explore, we might find some- ... Oh okay, I'm bored."

Daniel looked at her again. "And why couldn't you just tell me that?"

"Because then you'd feel bad and rush. Or actually, no, you wouldn't, and it wouldn't have made a difference anyway."

There was another pause as she looked at him, and Daniel was amused by the fact that that she seemed to be begging him to let her run and play. Eventually he nodded, and Vala grinned and ran back to the village, pigtails bouncing as she went.

Daniel sighed and turned back to the pillar.

Later, as he entered the village inn they'd been given by the governor as accommodation, he sat at a tavern table with Mitchell, Sam and Teal'c. They looked at him, then each other, then the door.

Mitchell and Sam looked at each other as if playing rock-scissor-paper over who got to ask something as Teal'c linked his hands and found the window interesting.

"Daniel," Sam asked in the end. "Where's Vala?"

Daniel looked at the blank faces and his hand went to his radio.

"Vala, this is Daniel, come in." He waited a few seconds for her reply, but none came.

"Vala, this is Daniel. Please come in," he repeated with a little more insistence.

Daniel looked at Mitchell, who sighed and stood. As they stood, leaving behind warm food and shelter for the cold near dark. Mitchell muttered, "God help her if she lost her radio rolling in mud with toddlers."

"Indeed," Teal'c added.

Six hours later, there was still no sign of Vala. They'd checked her room, scoured the village and the surrounding area with the help of the locals. Daniel had even attempted to reopen whatever strange connection existed between them to somehow sense her location with no luck.

All he could tell was she wasn't dead, which wasn't that much help, despite providing reassurance.

Walking into the village square after another sweep, Daniel had a drink of water and then started to walk out of the village again.

"Daniel!" Mitchell shouted behind him.

Sam jogged to level with him. "It's getting dark. We can't keep looking tonight." She looked out into the dark woods. "Vala's capable and resourceful, for all her kidding. You know that as well as me."

"Colonel Carter is correct," Teal'c weighed in. "Searching in such conditions only serves to use energy better saved for the morning."

"Get some rest," Mitchell added. "And some hot food. We'll bring together what we know and see if we can shed some light on what's going on."

Daniel sighed and nodded, forcing himself to be rational. Going back to the inn, they sat around the same table as earlier as the barmaid brought over pots of stew and cups of water for them.

"So what do we know?" Sam started after five minutes or so of silent eating.

"This morning, you wanted to explore some Ancient ruins about two clicks south of the village," Mitchell said.

"Vala went with you because ..." Sam paused. They all looked at each other.

"I believe simply because she wished to," Teal'c continued after a moment.

Daniel smiled faintly. "We got to the ruins, and I started translating pillars while Vala explored the area. About mid-afternoon, we ran into a group of kids about ten or so, with a teenager watching them. We had lunch with them." He paused to take a drink before continuing. "About three hours after that, Vala lost patience with watching me translate."

Sam ducked her head, and then looked up with surprise. "Vala lasted five or six hours while you read ruins? That’s impressive."

“Indeed,” Teal’c added. “I know of few capable of such endurance.”

Daniel grinned. "And she didn't even start fidgeting until she realised she could go play with the other kids." Remembering why they were talking about it, Daniel grew serious. "She asked if I'd be alright on my own and went to talk to the kids. I assumed she'd be back here when I got here."

Mitchell chipped in, "I talked to Jared. They saw you at lunchtime, and didn't see either of you again until we asked them about Vala."

"Logically," Teal'c continued. "Whatever occurred must have happened between the ruins and the village."

Later, having dissected the day into bits and coming up with nothing, Daniel looked out of his window into the darkness and then reluctantly went to sleep.

Daniel didn't know what time it was when he grabbed his radio from the floor, not knowing if he were imagining Vala’s voice coming through in pieces.

“Vala? Vala?!” He shouted into the radio. “Where are you?”

“I don’t …. Path … Woods…” Her voice was faint and signal breaking up. “I think I’m near … caves…”

Daniel froze, the clicked the radio. “Vala, I’m on my way, hold on.”

The radio crackled again. “Thanks … Soon … They’re here… Requesting… silence…over…”

Daniel dressed hurriedly, pulling on his bullet-proof vest, shoes and grabbing his P90 and ammo. Stumbling into the hall and down the stairs, he found Mitchell, Sam and Teal’c already geared up and talking to a young boy.

“I can help!” The teen, Jared, was shouting.

“You’ve told us enough,” Mitchell said quickly.

“Vala wouldn’t want you in danger,” Daniel interjected. “And we’re grateful for you telling us about the caves.” He put a hand on Jared’s arm. “We have to hurry.”

Running from the village and following the directions Jared had given, Daniel and the others slowed when they heard gunfire up ahead.

“That sounds like-” Sam said to Mitchell.

“P90,” Mitchell finished.

“And staff weapons,” Teal’c added.

Ducking into the cover, SG-1 made their way forward into the fire fight.

“Vala!” Daniel shouted into his radio as Teal’c fired on the jaffa in front. “Why are we being attacked by jaffa?”

“Jaffa loyal to Baal!” She replied. “He seems to have a few left! Finish them quickly please, I’m running out of ammo!”

“We copy that and are coming to you,” Sam said over the radio from about twenty feet away.

Ten adrenaline-fuelled minutes later, SG-1 broke through the ranks of the jaffa and shot the last of them. Daniel ran into the cave mouth where Vala had taken refuge and found her unconscious beneath a wall.

He pulled her up into sitting position, leaning her head against his shoulder. For a brief second, the image of the dark cave was overlaid by an image of Vala leaning against him after being burned to death and brought back by the Ori.

Back in the cave, Vala’s eyes flickered open. “One of them got in a lucky zat while I was reaching for his staff weapon,” she muttered. “Does that make you think I’m pathetic?”

“Well, yes.” Daniel bit back a grin. She looked up at him, eyes telling him to explain that at his own risk. “You were only out-numbered twenty to one and pinned down. I’ve gotten used to thinking you’re super-powered.”

"Pinned down is just how you like me," Vala said, with a flash of her usual self before leaning against him. “Can I rest now?”

Vala’s voice blended into Sam’s much harsher, more concerned voice. “Can you please get some rest, Daniel?”

Blinking, Daniel looked around and found himself not in a dark cave with Vala safe and leaning against him but at his desk in his office, being woken by Sam and a tray of hot food. He reached for the tray blindly – or at least without his glasses, which in Daniel’s case was virtually the same thing – to find it pulled just out of reach. With a grumble, he reached again and only realised a moment later that Sam had successfully lured him into sitting position and placed a coffee cup in front of him. She picked up the book he’d fallen asleep on and sighed.

“We’ll find her, Daniel,” Sam said quietly. Daniel started to speak but Sam held up a hand. “It’s been five months. You can stop pretending you didn’t care as much as you did or that it hasn’t affected you as much as it has.”

“Do,” Daniel said, equally quietly. “I do care about her, because she’s still alive. I can’t tell much from that bond we had, but I can tell that.”

“She’ll come back, Daniel,” Sam said again. “But you need to take care of yourself to be here when she does.” She turned to go out the door, then turned back and tossed him a file she’d left on a work surface near the door. “Briefing in an hour, looks like Daniel-Disneyland.”

Daniel smiled faintly and grumbled about her spending too much time with Mitchell.

After showering, Daniel thought back to the dream Sam had woken him from. He was having those more and more lately, as if his guilt was only growing with the greater length of time in which he failed to find her. They always started accurately, but in the end he’d save her. Or she’d be okay. Or on bad days, she’d die in his arms. The reality was in some ways more painful to bear. There had been no late-night radio contact. Daniel had slept until it was light and continued to look for her the next morning. A week later, Landry had called off the search on the planet, saying that with the Ori invasion SG-1 were needed on the front line. He’d made it clear they weren’t giving up on Vala, but were simply needed elsewhere. When she’d vanished to the Ori galaxy, Daniel hadn’t given up, and if he were honest, she’d meant a lot less to him then. Seeing her fight the Ori, various other enemies and her own nature, witnessing her intelligence and resourcefulness… Seeing her nature: infuriating and irrepressible even after all she’d been through, astonishingly perceptive… Daniel admitted she’d come to mean more to him than he’d thought she could.

As for the whole ‘not-a-date’ debacle, Daniel had no idea whether Vala was a friend or more, but he would be damned if he would be denied the chance to find out.

Sam was right. He didn’t do anyone any good or get Vala any closer to home sleeping in his office night after night. He dried himself off, got dressed and went to the briefing.

Author’s Note: Been watching seasons 8, 9 and 10. Have to say that 8 worried me a little, but 9 and 10 are brilliant and it’s got to be said, the chemistry! They steal every scene they’re in together. Hence Daniel and Vala were in my head. This chapter is dedicated to the very talented video editor who put together a D/V video to The Fray’s “Over My Head.” It’s kinda brilliant. Go to youtube and search it. Please.

Oh and two new bands who need your support … La Rocca (LA/Dublin) and Amplifico (Edinburgh).

CHAPTER 2: The Strangest Places on the Way Home

Author’s Note: I was cooped up with flu when this little plot bunny ran around my head, and I’m not one to deny my muse. Especially when she or he has been on the outs with me for quite some time now as far as fanfiction goes. And I was watching many stargate episodes, and just couldn’t get Daniel and Vala out of my head, and so felt compelled to write something about them. I should mention that the title of this fic is inspired by the Imogen Heap song, ‘Glittering Cloud.’

Thanks to the wonderful Briar Elwood, fellow Daniel/Vala shipper and marvellous beta.

* * * *

Briefing Room:

“So where are we going?” Daniel said, not even pretending to have read the prep report.

“It’s undercover,” Mitchell started. “We’ll need to break out the leather again, I’m afraid.”

Daniel sighed with a small smile, pushing aside the reminder of Vala and forcing himself to think about work. “So it’s an auction.”

It was a little more complicated than that, Daniel thought as they walked in the door. It was more of a private warehouse of contraband goods for sale on the intergalactic equivalent of the black market. The warehouse itself was a ship, constantly ready to be moved should the need arise or it be discovered by the Goa’uld, Ori or any other unfriendly and powerful force that they may offend.

Daniel had to hold back a grin, hearing Mitchell playing up to the cowboy character he had assumed – for absolutely no reason.

“You kid,” Daniel muttered in an accusatory tone after he’d introduced himself as ‘Billy, meanest rancher and fencer you’ll ever meet.’

“What?” Mitchell asked all innocence.

“The leather just not enough for you?” Daniel asked. The auctioneer won’t even understand the pun on ‘fencer,’ he thought, amused.

He was saved from answering beyond an amused grin and tip of his hat by Sam and Teal’c’s return.

Taking his life into his hands, Mitchell slapped an arm around Sam’s shoulders and introduced her as ‘ma wench.’

Sam’s smile was rather forced.

Daniel turned a laugh into a cough at the auctioneer’s gaze as he realised he was actually having fun. We might be killed at any minute, but that’s hardly new and different.

“An’ wha’s this, ma darlin’?” Mitchell asked Sam in his horrific ‘cowboy’ accent.

“Just a trinket, dear,” Sam answered, trying to force her expression to vapid and failing as she held the battered piece of technology. Daniel had no idea what it was, but saw Sam attempting to contain her usual I’ve-stumbled-onto-a-new-toy-and-I’m-glowing look.

He turned and deposited it in Teal’c’s possession. “You hold it for the moment.” He looked to the auctioneer. “My bodyguard.” “I’ll pay for it later,” Mitchell replied, disinterested.

Sam patted his arm with a fake smile, “Oh, yes, darling. You really will.”

“Why have I never heard of you?” The auctioneer asked, puzzled.

“My employer chooses to keep a low profile,” Daniel intervened.

“And which member of the entourage are you?” He demanded, squinting at him.

“Jackson,” Mitchell broke in. “My expert.” He slung an arm around the auctioneer’s shoulders. “Not that you’d try to sell a distinguished man like myself fakes, now would you?”

The auctioneer stammered his apologies as the others traded glances. “Still, you must understand my position. If a private operation like this were to be discovered by the wrong people…”

“Maybe you know one of our past associates,” Daniel added. “Vala Mal Doran?”

Mitchell looked at him, smug smile falling. The others wore similar expressions. The tension was not broken but increased by the raucous laughter of the auctioneer. He looked around Mitchell, Daniel and Teal’c.

“So tell me,” He asked companionably. “Which one of you did she leave penniless and destitute?”

Daniel asked suddenly, “You’ve met her?”

“Only by reputation,” he admitted. “But you’re the second person to ask about her-” He paused at Mitchell’s glare. “Mention her at least in the past few days.”

“In connection with?” Mitchell asked, dropping the drawl.

“What happened to your voice?” The auctioneer asked, under the delusion the conversation was still casual.

“An affection,” Mitchell remarked. “I can get over it.”

“The point?” Daniel asked. “Vala Mal Doran?”

He held up his hands in contrition. “If you’re after her for revenge, I know she has a lot of people chasing her but I really don’t think you want to pursue this…”

Teal’c lifted the little man up and pinned him against the wall. “Explain.”

“The Lucian Alliance is looking for her,” He gasped. “And the Ori.”

“That much we knew,” Sam added. “I assume there’s more?”

He nodded, lips turning blue and legs kicking ineffectually. Mitchell nodded to Teal’c, who sat him down on the ground with a thump. Mitchell put a hand under his chin and jerked his eyes up to meet his. “I’m nice. I didn’t let him choke you. How do you say ‘thank you’?”

He stuttered ‘thank you.’

“Wrong answer,” Mitchell snapped and Teal’c moved as if to lift him again.

Daniel knelt next to the quaking man, offering him a drink of water. “You’re an auctioneer, right?” He nodded, accepting the drink. “If they came to you, you either have information or an item they’re interested in. We’d be interested in either or both of the above.”

“And who asked you about her last,” Sam interjected.

He went pale and shook his head. “I, I … I can’t. They’d kill me.”

“Teal’c-” Daniel said warningly. Teal’c began to move towards the cowering man again, eyes expressionless.

“The Ori!” He practically screeched. “It was the Ori leader!”

Apparently the Ori would kill him, but the little man was smart enough to weigh that against the fact that if he didn’t answer Teal’c both could and would.

“And what was she looking for?” Daniel asked pleasantly.

He bowed his head in defeat. “She was interested in viewing an item.”

“Which item?” Daniel’s voice was dreadfully patient.

The little man started breathing quickly and looking to the ceiling.

“And…” Mitchell broke in, “I’m out of patience. You?”

Sam raised her eyebrows and nodded.

“Me too,” Daniel said.

Teal’c added, “As am I.”

He screeched for all he was worth as Teal’c reached for him then stopped as he was jerked roughly to his feet, not choked to death. Mitchell clapped a hand on his shoulder as he stood, shocked.

“Don’t worry. We’re not going to kill you,” He quipped cheerfully, reverting back to the cowboy accent again.

“Not yet anyway,” Daniel added pleasantly. He looked at Teal’c, who still had a hand firmly on the terrified man’s shoulder. He looked the man in the eye, dropping all pretences of nicety. “Item. Now.”

* * * *

“Oh, my God,” Sam almost breathed, running up to the platform. Daniel, Teal’c and Mitchell exchanged glances.

“What is it, Sam?” Mitchell asked, curious.

“If it’s what-” Sam broke off with a look at Daniel. “I really don’t want to say until I’m sure.”

Daniel walked up to the platform, eyeing the object curiously. It was about six feet in diameter and appeared almost translucent, like a frozen-

Daniel halted the thought and looked at Sam. “It’s not a-”

“No, not a coffin,” she finished with a smile. “Talk about finding when you stop looking,” she quipped to him and then prayed she was right. The sudden hope in his eyes was almost painful.

“You think it’s-” He could barely get the words out. She nodded. He swallowed and smiled shakily. “I’ll bet you a month’s pay Mitchell cracks the first Snow White joke.”

“We’ll see in a minute.” Sam ran her hands over the top panel, the contact revealing a set of controls. She took a deep breath and nodded to him. Pressing a button, the ice effect inside the chamber faded and Daniel looked onto the frozen face of Vala Mal Doran.

* * * *

Sam dropped the meter she’d been holding and ran for the little man but Teal’c got there first, pinning him against the wall by the throat.

“I didn’t know!” He squeaked repetitively. “I swear!”

“Explains why the Ori were so interested,” Mitchell said aside to Sam, who nodded and looked at the auctioneer. “I’m betting Adria knew exactly what this was.”

“Where did you get this and how long ago?” Her voice promised deadly consequences if he didn’t answer.

He looked between them. “About four months ago, from a contact within the Lucian Alliance…”

As he tailed off, Mitchell sent a glance Daniel’s way to check up on him. He was seated by the chamber, fingertips tracing the vein-like wires across the panel. As Mitchell watched Daniel’s hand settled over Vala’s, lying prone inside the glass. Mitchell looked away, feeling as though he were intruding on some private moment between the two.

“What was the point of it?” Mitchell asked very slowly. “What was the Lucian Alliance going to do with her?”

The auctioneer blinked on ‘her,’ as if realising that they weren’t standard space pirates but realising he was too deep in to backtrack now. “My contact said they planned to trade her to the Ori,” He reported, his voice sounding small and broken. “But a black market sale inside the Lucian Alliance took place first and the crate ended up here. I honestly had no idea it was actually her.”

“Sam!” Daniel’s voice was urgent and distressed. Sam and the others were beside him at the stasis chamber in seconds. Daniel was leaning down, his eyes on level with Vala’s temple. “Is that what I-?”

She nodded and lunged for her scanner. “Memory device.”

Scanning the area, Daniel thought he saw her pale slightly. “It’s active,” she said in a low voice. “And there’s a signal to suggest it could be connected to a viewer at any time.”

“Hold on, I remember reading about this,” Mitchell put it in. “Are you saying she’s awake in there?”

“Not awake, no,” Sam explained, pressing a few controls on the chamber. “She’s essentially in a deep sleep but her dreams will be memories.”

“They were searching her subconscious, as did Athena?” Teal’c asked.

Sam nodded. “That’s what it seems to be.”

Daniel’s eyes had gone wide. “But they’re…”

“It’s torture,” Mitchell finished. “Slow, painful, maddening torture.”

“By making her relive everything in her past as if she really were there,” Sam agreed.

“Stand up slowly and carefully,” the auctioneer’s voice rang out across the room. In their comprehension of Vala’s ordeal they’d forgotten him.

All four turned around slowly, setting down their weapons when they saw he was armed and pointing the gun directly at them. They couldn’t get their weapons up and firing before he shot his already positioned pistol.

Daniel saw Sam deliberately sitting her gun near the edge of the stasis chamber and wondered what she had in mind. Mitchell also spotted the motion and stepped down from the platform, hoping to draw the auctioneer’s attention.

“Let me guess,” He called out flamboyantly. “Hallowed are-”

In answer, the auctioneer fired off a round at Mitchell’s feet. “Unbelievers are not permitted to use those words,” he practically snarled.

Mitchell looked back at the others. “Guess that answers that question, then.”

“The Orici said you would come, Tauri,” he added, face exuberant. “She hoped I would retrieve the location of Merlin’s weapon from the mother before you arrived. Now I have completed both my tasks by retrieving you.”

“So that accent really was for nothing,” Sam remarked to Mitchell, who nodded and conceded the point.

“Do you all have to call her that?” Daniel asked. He had no idea why Sam seemed to want to buy time, but he played along. “Seriously, she has a name.” Either his revelation had stricken the man dumb or something else. However, given that turning to look would get him shot, Daniel stayed focussed ahead.

Until a shot fired and a growing circle of red appeared on the auctioneer’s chest.

Daniel didn’t wait to see him fall, turning and seeing Vala standing in the chamber, holding the gun pointed straight ahead.

He tried to meet her eyes but couldn’t because she was looking around the room wildly. She saw the gun in her hand and dropped it with a look of fear and distaste. In her haste to move away from the chamber she stumbled over its edge. Daniel almost fell in hurrying to help her stand. She flinched at the human contact.

“Is this real?” Her voice was tiny and her eyes still flitting between them.

Daniel nodded and was amazed that he could be so very calm and so very tense at once. He laughed softly. “You know how well our plans turn out. Does this fit?”

She nodded and reached out a hand to touch his face before nodding again. “I can go home?”

Daniel nodded, seemingly incapable of more complex communication at the time.

Sam uncorked a canteen of water and helped Vala drink it, her hands still shaking. Vala took a step but stumbled, her legs unused to moving. Daniel slung one of her arms around his shoulders and Mitchell did the same on her other side. Teal’c picked up Mitchell and Daniel’s packs as they moved to help.

Vala leaned her head towards Daniel, resting at the nape of his neck and murmuring, “I like your planet’s limited gene pool. Interesting and useful.”

* * * *

Mitchell, Teal’c, Sam and Landry waited outside the infirmary doors. Daniel and Dr. Lam exited, Daniel sitting with a sigh.

“Well, physically she’s fine,” Lam reassured the room.

Sam watched her and replied, “But what else?”

“Emotionally she’s a wreck.” Lam said with her characteristic brutality. Daniel looked up and nodded. “She’s having trouble believing she’s really awake and not still dreaming. It seems like shock and we all know she’s tough, so I do expect it’s temporary. But she’s going to need time and possibly therapy.”

Landry looked around at the other members of SG-1. “Beyond Vala is there anything I should know about the mission?”

Mitchell cleared his throat. “We recovered a medium sized ship we can use for parts or carrying cargo with a sizeable number of interesting artefacts that may prove useful, sir.”

Sam nodded in agreement. “I’d recommend sending it straight on to Area 51 entirely and letting their science team pick it apart.”

Landry nodded and dismissed them. Unsurprisingly, Lam was the first to leave, heading back to the infirmary. Landry left in the direction of his office and the briefing room, presumably to get on with other work. As Daniel stood to head back into the infirmary, Sam caught his arm. Daniel looked at the other three members of the team.

“You need anything, even a break…” Sam said softly, “Just tell us.”

“Landry’s agreed not to send us on missions unless it’s either fate of the galaxy or Vala’s stable,” Mitchell added.

“You are not alone in this.” Teal’c’s tone was subdued. Daniel nodded and murmured his thanks before heading back into the infirmary. He sat in a chair next to Vala’s bed before taking her hand. Right now she was asleep but he’d be there when she woke up, he was sure of it.

Author’s Note: Yes, yes, I know. I couldn’t keep her out of it for long. I’m weak, alright? Oh and for the Atlantis fans out there, I’m writing chapter two at the moment. Also, please please join the ‘Save Elizabeth Weir’ campaign! YOUR PLANET NEEDS YOU :D

CHAPTER 3: There Is A Darkness Deep Within You

Author’s Note: This chapter has some song lyrics scattered through – not enough to be called a song fic, but enough to merit a separate disclaimer. Lyrics are from the songs ‘Running’ by Evermore and The Cary Brothers, ‘Ride.’ Chapter title lyrics are from Snow Patrol.

Thanks again to Briar for the beta.

* * * *

Daniel had assumed everything would be okay when they got her home. That the shocked and battered look on her face as she had dropped the gun was strictly temporary. He knew intellectually that it had only been five days since she had woken up in the SGC infirmary, but it felt like longer.

Knowing his friend was alive and in the complex but that she was consciously avoiding him for reasons unknown was painful.

Luckily, he knew it wasn’t particularly personal. Sam, Teal’c, Mitchell, Landry and even Doctor Lam had received the same treatment. Vala had retreated within her room and refused everything Lam or anyone else had come up with, be it a therapist, sedatives, basketball or a walk on the surface. Sam had even offered to take her shopping, saying that she had five months of pay (including interest), so why not?

In a very selfish way, though, Daniel privately and painfully admitted that he had expected her to treat him differently. For a brief second, a memory played in his mind.

“It’s time to come home,” He pleaded, realising he sounded far surer of himself than his racing heart suggested. She ducked her head and let out a small gasp, trying to shake away another memory. Her grip on the gun didn’t falter and nor did the arm aiming it at his chest. She lifted her head and her eyes snapped open, locked onto his.

“Daniel.”

Her voice had made his name into both a question and an affirmation. She couldn’t bring herself to ask, simply turning the gun away from him and gesturing for him to take it. Her eyes were open and distressed. He moved towards her and took the gun, pulling her into his arms. She had forgotten everything else but remembered him.

Daniel left his office at eleven and headed back to his quarters. Reaching the crossroads between his and Vala’s quarters, he looked over at her door with a sigh. A quiet enquiry to the airman placed in case Vala needed anything confirmed she wasn’t in. A little worried, Daniel decided to put his journal in his room and check a few places he figured she might be.

Turning after closing the door, a shocked voice in his mind registered that finding Vala wouldn’t be necessary. She was in his bed.

Remembering with a cringe what had happened the last time Vala had snuck into his room, Daniel looked at her carefully. This was a very different Vala. Curled up into the furthest corner of the bed in as tiny a ball as her body could make, it was as though she had hoped he wouldn’t notice her. From the leg and arm that had fallen over the edge of the bed, she was wearing more this time as well. Specifically, a set of black tracksuit bottoms, green socks and a red vest top. Quickly turning off his main light and putting on a less harsh lamp, he gently pulled the covers up over her and put her leg and arm under them.

Now what am I supposed to do? He thought, perplexed.

* * * *

“I know how it feels,
All the pain is so real,
You sink and you drown,
'Till your feet hit the ground
Running.”

- Evermore, ‘Running’

Lying on a rug next to the bed with a pillow and a light blanket, Daniel felt something land over his face. He pushed the other pillow off, sleepily looking for its source. He saw Vala struggling against the quilt on his bed, only entangling herself more by her twisting and turning.

Vala jerked awake, fighting a hold she couldn’t break and breathing hard. Her eyes snapped open to meet very familiar and concerned eyes intently focussed on her own.

“You were dreaming,” Daniel said softly. “You were going to hurt yourself.”

Vala nodded and noticed for the first time that the hands grasping her arms weren’t those of her villagers, holding her down to be beaten, but Daniel’s. Vala sat up and took the offered glass of water as Daniel sat on the bed next to her. Vala looked at him in faint amusement.

“What?”

“I’ve just never seen you like this,” Vala answered, feeling shy for the first time since she’d been a teenager. Daniel’s hair was mussed, he wasn’t wearing his glasses and was had on a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms and a white sleeveless t-shirt.

Daniel looked at her, raising his eyebrows and running a hand through his hair. “I can’t exactly say the same, you know,” he replied wryly.

She nodded, smiling and ducking her head. “What time is it?”

He reached over to lift his watch from the bedside table. “Coming up on three.”

Vala winced and looked away with a muttered apology. Daniel didn’t hesitate, putting his fingers beneath her chin and turning her eyes to his. “Don’t be.” She swallowed hard, but didn’t look away. “Most of what I’ve been doing lately involved worrying about you, anyway.”

Vala blinked as if not believing him then yawned, surprising a laugh from both of them and easing the tension in the air. He put a hand on her arm as he slid back to the floor. “Let’s get back to sleep.”

Vala took a deep breath, knowing she was about to cross a line. “Don’t be silly,” her voice said without her permission. She smiled. “There’s more than enough room for you not to wake up with a stiff neck.”

Daniel looked at her, glad at least to see a spark of her old self. Moving before he could second guess himself, Daniel climbed into the opposite side of the bed. He saw the muscles in her neck and shoulders relax as he settled in. Daniel lay staring at the ceiling until he heard Vala’s breaths become even and deep, both finally giving in to sleep.

* * * *

The next morning, Daniel awoke slowly and wondered at the bundle encased in his arms. Then memories of the previous night returned and he smiled softly, mentally debating whether he should attempt to move without waking Vala. Daniel attempted to think logically, reminded painfully that that was often difficult when he was alone with her. Looking at the time over her shoulder and remembering that he largely managed his own hours but for briefings and such, he thought he deserved a long lie. And so he closed his eyes, interlocking his fingers with Vala’s.

* * * *

“Too many words, too many lies,
I can't quite see the truth,
When I look into your eyes,
I feel I could,
And I know I should,
Step away, turn around.
Let my feet hit the ground.”

- Evermore, ‘Running’

Turning slowly, Vala’s eyes widened to find Daniel smiling softly and with his arms wrapped around her. Heart speeding up rapidly, Vala slipped from the bed with the skills of the thief she had been and padded towards the door. As she put her left arm into her dressing gown and her hand on the door, a quiet voice stopped her.

“So now I won’t see you for days on end again,” Daniel remarked sleepily, tone numb.

Vala’s head fell, teeth clenching as she fought the unreasoning panic that rose in her throat. She hadn’t realised he was awake.

Daniel stood and walked to the end of the bed, trying not to crowd her. She turned to leave again.

“Let me ask you one thing,” Daniel blurted out with no idea if he were saying the right thing or not. “Why did you come here last night?”

Vala looked at him and swallowed. She met his eyes and seemed to struggle to hold his gaze. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped and walked out. Daniel sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. She can’t explain why,Daniel thought hopefully, but at least she did.

* * * *

Daniel needed to stop thinking for a little while. Naturally, this led him to the basketball court and Mitchell. Where Jack and Teal’c seemed to treat him as the strange and baffling younger brother without the sense to stay out of trouble, Mitchell had become more of a friend.

Mitchell got yet another basket in ahead of him. Daniel sighed and had a drink of water.

“What’s going on with you today, Sparky?” Mitchell teased. “Seriously, I don’t usually pummel you this badly.”

“Not beaten me yet,” Daniel shot back, stealing the ball and sending it to the basket.

“Ah,” Mitchell said with a smirk. “Vala.”

Daniel glared and sent the ball quickly in Mitchell’s direction with a muttered oath.

Looking at the spot the ball had impacted the wall with a noise almost like a whip crack, he lifted the ball and looked at Daniel. “You missed,” He deadpanned. “The hoop’s in that direction.”

Daniel looked at him with a glare. “I wasn’t aiming for the hoop, even if your mouth is wide enough to be one.”

“Ah,” Mitchell replied. “Funny man. Funny cranky man.”

* * * *

“I don't know, I really don't know,
If this castle in the sand,
Is strong enough to stand,
Clouds come down.”

- Evermore, ‘Running’

Vala didn’t know where to go. She wandered the base aimlessly, trying not to let the sensation remind her of the year before when she had felt homeless even on base. She didn’t have an office or a lab. She had no idea why she had no appetite, why she was avoiding her friends … avoiding the very people who had fretted over her absence for months and put their lives at risk to bring her back. And most of all she had no idea why she had run from Daniel that morning simply because he’d managed to make her lower her guard temporarily. What she had was rather a lot of pent up rage and anger at everything she could name in her thoughts, but mainly at herself and the stupidity of the humans who had inflicted this on her.

“Ma’am?” A baffled guard asked as she banged into him.

Vala stuttered an apology while registering that the man was in gym sweats.

Perfect.

Vala closed her eyes, rooted to the spot as something in her that had been on the edge of breaking snapped.

* * * *

Sam was at her desk working on a lab report when Daniel walked in with two cups of coffee and a thunderstorm playing on his features. She watched calmly as he sat down, sitting the beverages out slowly and silently but was unsurprised when he stood and began to pace. Turning back to her lab report, she took a sip of her coffee. Sam knew he would talk when he wanted to. Right now he was content to wear out her floor.

* * * *

“You don't need a broken heart,
To know a heart can be broken.
You just need to open your eyes.
We don't need to be deceived,
To know a lie can be spoken.
We don't have to learn everything twice.”

- Evermore, ‘Running’

Relief.

That’s what it was.

After days of moping around, hoping that something would magically just fix her, it was a relief and release to be fighting something. Even if it was just a stuffed bag, it was still a relief to feel her fists impacting on something solid that she could imagine at least was one of her tormentors. Preferably many if not all of them, standing in line to feel a blow she inflicted.

Relieved to find one of the smaller gyms in the complex deserted, Vala had stood in front of the punch bag for a long time. This gym was designed for learning hand-to-hand combat. It had tougher punch bags and a full-wall mirror to correct posture and form. She had turned her head to see her reflection, something she had done often before all this but not since. Vala felt like she’d lost most of her vanity along with almost half a year of her life.

She didn’t like what she saw.

So much so she had turned to face the mirror straight on and analysed herself. Thanks to the stasis, there wasn’t much of a physical difference. Tensing her arms and legs in warm-up stretches, she could feel her muscles as taut and toned as ever. The difference was in the posture, in the expression. Her shoulders and head sat lower, feet closer together. Less humour, less spark, less defiance. More whipped kitten. Not something she wanted to see.

“I don’t care if it makes you look like a man,” Her father had shouted, teaching her basic defence skills after a young man of the village had thought her easy pickings. “Legs should be just over the width of your shoulders, otherwise someone will do this!” He had knocked her off-balance and into the dirt to prove his point. It wouldn’t be the last time she landed on her ass to learn a lesson.

Vala had done something slowly and consciously that she’d done automatically for the years since she’d been a host and the years before that. She took a fighter’s position, legs apart for balance, stomach muscles held taut and brought her fists up.

“Flat,” he had said roughly, grabbing her fist and hitting her uneven fingers with his palm until they were as even as they could be. Her father had been a tavern brawler and fought with his fists. He had taught her to throw her first punch. He twisted her arm until her closed fist was before her eyes. He pointed to the thumb held beneath her fingers. “You see this? You throw a punch with that hiding behind your other fingers, you break half the bones in your hand.”

When satisfied, she stepped towards the punch bag.

“Fix those feet!” She had jumped at the brisk tone. She’d been caught pointing her toes out again. “Point in one direction – the one you’re punching!”

Vala took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then she punched, her father’s voice ringing in her ears.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” He had shouted irritably, taking the blows she gave on his forearms. He grabbed her forearm hard enough to bruise as she punched again, looking her in the eye. “Punch from here,” he’d snapped, eyes crackling and placing a surprisingly gentle hand on her shoulder. “Never your elbow. Quick way to use up all your energy and strain muscles.”

Vala felt the flat of her fist impact the bag with a fierce thump. Unlike the punch before, this one didn’t make the muscles in her arm shudder under the force she put behind it. Punching faster and faster, images and memories blurred through her mind and before she knew it Vala was beginning to change position and kick the bag as well, practicing all the things Qetesh had taught her body.

At the thought of where the kicks and turns she was using had come from images ripped through Vala’s mind and she landed a solid blow for each one, losing herself in the rhythm and the memories.

That boy – the one who had bruised her cheek and made her father teach her to fight.

She punched.

Her stepmother looking down at her because she dared be her father’s daughter.

She punched.

The day Qetesh had come to the market and decided she would make a good host, only more convinced when she broke some of the bones in her hand punching a Jaffa’s metallic helmet.

She kicked.

Atrocities, too many to number. Some to those she had known, some to those she hadn’t but all agony.

She kicked.

Those faces she had felt agony for twisted in anger and hate, turning the blows back on her.

She turned, punched.

The Ori. Adria.

She kicked again, ferociously.

Sealed in a box and locked in her own past, feeling all her pain anew.

A volley of punches and the distant, unheeded knowledge her hands were unprotected from this kind of punishment.

“Again!” Her father’s voice was in her ears, demanding that she fight off the tiredness and the pain. “The only way to build up enough resistance on your knuckles is to bruise them!” Vala couldn’t ignore that voice.

Being pulled from the box by friends with concerned expressions. A hand steadying her as she swayed and fell from exhaustion.

Vala’s final punch landed and her fist remained against the bag, sweat pouring down her temples. She brought her other fist up to join it and leaned her forehead against them, breathing hard.

This wasn’t going to fix her, either, she realised. But it felt damn better than thinking and brought her back to a shadow of herself. For right now, that was enough.

A hand touched her shoulder. Teal’c held out a canteen of water and a towel, inclining his head at her gasped thanks. When she had caught her breath, he held out a training staff. Vala smiled and nodded. She took the staff, stretching out her clenched hands and moved into position. Soon the small gym echoed with the sound of staff meeting staff.

* * * *

“You are everything I wanted,

The scars of all I’ll ever know,

You saw all my pieces broken,

This darkness I could never show.

If I told you that you were right,

Would you take my hand tonight?”

- The Cary Brothers, ‘Ride’

Hair damp from her shower, Vala walked into her quarters. She almost leapt when she saw Daniel sitting in her armchair sound asleep, but stopped herself in time.

Smiling and sitting on the edge of the bed in front of him, she tilted her head as she took off his glasses. As she sat them on her bookcase, admittedly mostly filled with DVDs, he stirred.

Ten minutes later, as he came to wakefulness, he saw Vala sitting opposite a small table she’d pulled over from the other side of the room. Between them sat plates of hot food and cups of coffee.

“Wha-?” Daniel asked, head still foggy. As he asked inarticulate questions, Vala reached over and placed his glasses in his hand. He looked at them for a moment as if forgetting what to do with them then placed them on his face. Next he found a hot cup of coffee in his hand and took a sip. “Now it’s better,” he said with a slow smile. He looked at the dinner and then at Vala, wondering what was going on and how she’d managed to get her hands on blue jello at this hour.

She held up a hand, food precariously balanced on the fork that had been halfway to her mouth when he’d started speaking. “Before you think that I’m reading too much into everything, I brought this because I was hungry and you were here.” She paused to grab a quick breath. “Two friends and co-workers, etc.”

Daniel smiled and ducked his head, picking up his fork and nodding. “I can do that.” After a minute he looked at her curiously. “Speaking of better …”

Daniel winced when she waggled her fingers, noticing her bandaged knuckles. “I hit things. It helped.” She shrugged and grinned. “So what gossip have I missed?”

Daniel grinned in return and tucked into his food. “Well, Siler’s still chasing Nurse Adamson, but Harriman told me she’s just playing hard to get…”

Author’s Note: Well??? Review and tell me how bad the fluff rating is. Oh and when Mitchell calls Daniel ‘Sparky,’ it’s a clue to my other current obsession … Weir/Sheppard from Atlantis :D

CHAPTER 4: Event Horizon

Vala jostled her shoulder against Teal’c’s in the gate room. He simply looked at her unmoved and raised an eyebrow at her wide smile as she moved from foot to foot.

“Princess,” Mitchell said with a roll of his eyes and an amused smile, “You can’t go through the gate if you’re bouncing.”

“Why?” Vala pouted. “I’ve read the mission files. And half the time we get thrown back-”

“Because Landry will have you put in day care like the child you are,” He shot back with a grin.

Vala glared at him before turning to Sam and Daniel with mute appeal in her eyes. “He wouldn’t … He wouldn’t do that, would he?”

Sam grinned and shook her head, “I don’t think so.”

Vala turned back to Mitchell with an arch smile. “Ha.” She then paused and looked at Daniel, “Are you going to let him speak to me like that? It’s very rude.”

Daniel and Mitchell shared a look and Daniel was saved from answering by Landry’s amused voice from the control room. “SG-1, you have a go.”

“Oh, thank God,” Mitchell muttered, earning him a swat on the arm from Sam as he lazily saluted the control room. There was a silent but welcome return to normal in Vala’s presence back on the team hidden under the usual layers of sarcasm.

“Make it spin!” Vala said dramatically with a toss of her hair. Harriman stared and then looked to Landry, who nodded. “Oops,” Vala added, “I forgot that was your line.”

Daniel patted her shoulder with a rueful smile that he couldn’t stop turning into a grin when she smiled at him.

“Guessing you missed this, then?” He asked with a gesture to the now-spinning gate.

She nodded with a softer smile, “Especially the last few weeks, when you and the others started going back out there. I didn’t mean for you to take that much time away because of me.”

Daniel brushed it off as the last chevron locked. A small part of his mind was amazed that it didn’t seem to matter what she went through, there was still a childlike excitement that couldn’t be dampened.

Two weeks previous:

“She’s been quieter,” Daniel answered Sam’s query after a moment. “Which, a year ago, I would’ve said would be my ideal Christmas present…”

“She’ll get it back,” Sam replied, “I’ve seen her looking at things with that look again.”

“Should we put locks on drawers?” Daniel asked, amused.

Sam shook her head, “Not that look – the one that reminds me of you ten years ago.”

“What’s that meant to mean?” Daniel has asked, not sure if this was a compliment or a backhanded one.

“Remember when every little shard sticking out of the dirt could change history as we know it?”

“Oh.”

“Daaaaniel…. Daniel!” He shook his head as he felt an insistent little prod on his arm.

Mitchell gave him that amused look again as Vala rolled her eyes and indicated impatiently towards the now active gate.

“SG-1, move out,” Landry’s voice said from the control room.

“You heard the man,” Mitchell said, beginning the walk up the ramp.

Vala stepped up to his level and grinned, pointing at the even horizon. “Make it so, captain!”

He looked at her, deeply amused, “That’s lieutenant colonel and who gave you Star Trek?”

“Teal’c,” Vala explained, smiling at the jaffa, “But he was right – it wasn’t as good as Star Wars.” Sam groaned and Daniel sighed with a smile and a shake of his head. Vala stopped just short of the event horizon. “What?”

“That’s a whole sci-fi fan argument you really don’t want to get into around those two,” Daniel said, indicating Teal’c and Mitchell as they went through the gate and putting a hand on the small of her back to gently push her through the event horizon.

* * * *

Three months later:

“Receiving SG-1’s IDC, sir,” Harriman said.

“Open the iris,” Landry confirmed, pressing the intercom as SG-1 stepped through. “Colonel Mitchell, how are the negotiations progressing?”

Mitchell nodded and grinned.

“Debrief in one hour, then,” Landry concluded.

* * * *

Daniel stood suddenly, catching everyone in the room by surprise. He walked to the front of the briefing room, head ducked slightly and expression thoughtful.

“Daniel?" Sam asked, watching as the archaeologist approached the board showing the schematics of the Renasri shielding technology.

"We have to protect this planet," Daniel said quietly. "This is it - this is where we beat them."

"I'm not sure I-" Landry began as Daniel raised a hand.

"Daniel," Vala said quietly, "You told me once that if you study enough religions, you realise that killing the missionaries won't defeat the religion."

Daniel nodded and met her eyes.

Mitchell turned to Landry. "General, this could be important." He paused, then continued. "You're talking about an ideological victory. If one planet can refuse the Ori and survive, then it's a major blow."

Vala began to speak, but Teal'c said, "The level of technology possessed by the Renasri is almost unique in this galaxy. Less advanced civilisations would not be able to repeat their success. Many would die."

Daniel nodded with a faint smile. "You aren't going to believe this. Tolerance."

The silence in the briefing room was absolute.

"You're right," Mitchell quipped. "I don't believe it."

Daniel smiled and pointed to the Renasri shields. "The Ori have an armada, with thousands of followers, most of whom are farmers, villagers and people with no more choice than the biological dependence imposed on the jaffa by the Goa'uld. We can't beat them on military grounds, that much we know. So we adapt instead."

Landry was frowning and Mitchell looked at him and paused. Vala quietly defended Daniel. "Nothing else we've tried has had much of an effect. I say we hear this out." Daniel looked at her in thanks as she shrugged. "Don't read into it, if it's stupid I have ammunition against you."

Daniel smiled and ducked her head before looking at the others. "The Ori have been here for all of two years. Defeating the goa'uld took nearly a decade of virtually all out war. And although they are a more immediate problem, we can't expect to defeat them in the space of months."

Mitchell couldn't contain himself. "Yes, but in that time, they could have defeated and wiped out us."

Daniel shook his head. "Not if the Renasri shields are in place on all planets allied to us. And on any planet that wants to refuse the Ori."

“We could do that?” Mitchell asked Sam, who shrugged and appeared thoughtful.

“Our technology is different and uses a different power source … we don’t use mental initialisation,” Sam responded, “I may be able to make it work remotely, removing the human element to the shield technology.”

Vala sat forward, then stood up and talked directly to Daniel. "If we could pull it off … They'd never see it coming. They're expecting us to fight with ships and guns, not force it onto ideological grounds."

Nodding, Daniel replied, "It would be committing to this fight as a long-term battle, but we knew that was coming."

"We’d have time to prepare a counter-attack," Vala added, stepping to within a foot of Daniel.

"We buy time to get hearts and minds," he confirmed. "It's where it all started against the goa'uld. Before you kill the monster, you have to take off the mask."

"Hey!" Mitchell interrupted. Daniel and Vala turned to the rest of the briefing room, both seemingly just remembering where they were. "Sounds great, but what is it and how does it stop us all dying honourably?"

Daniel and Vala exchanged grins. She nodded to him. "It was your plan."

"We protect the Renasri," Daniel said, face slightly flushed and eyes bright. "We replicate their shield technology."

"We offer it to our allies," Vala continued. "Anyone who wants to refuse the Ori can."

"So," Mitchell said slowly, smiling slightly, "When the Priors turn up with their ultimatum, the people have an actual choice."

"Before long," Sam chipped in. "Worlds that gave in for fear of plague and death start to take the other road."

"It provides an opportunity to inform the inhabitants of planets approached by priors that the Ori do not truly offer ascension," Teal'c added.

"And the means to prove that technology does not equal divine right," Landry added.

“Either the Ori adapt their teachings to become more desirable, curbing their worst atrocities in the meantime,” Vala continued, “Or become very lonely all of a sudden in the Milky Way.”

"That's not all," Daniel smiled. "We've been looking for a way to the head of the monster instead of the priors and the followers. We know that the Ori draw on the energy of their followers. This actually hurts them, not the people they use."

"And it just might be enough," Mitchell added, "to bring the Ori themselves out to play."

Daniel nodded. "Which would force the Ancients to intervene."

Vala looked around the room. "Exactly." She walked up to the edge of the table and took a deep breath, looking at the inactive stargate and bracing herself.

"There's only one flaw in it, but it's a big one." Vala walked to the window to the stargate, fighting her hands to stillness and breathing deeply. She felt Daniel's eyes follow her.

There was a beat of silence. "It only takes one person to render a shield inactive," Teal'c said bluntly. "And the Orici can pass through the Renasri shield t