Seeing Red
Disclaimer - I still don't own SG-1. The movie would be made and with Vala in it if I did.
Rating - T
Pairing - Daniel/Vala
Time frame - After Revolution
Summary - I've heard four total spoilers for the movie that never was. One of which being that the SGC went public. This takes place then. Some shippiness.
Vala never really understood the saying "seeing red" until recently. It had been happening more often since Stargate Command went public.
Daniel had taken on special university seminars. As he only had time in his busy schedule for three or four a year, tickets for seating sold out in hours. People who once scoffed at his theories were clamoring to hear one lecture by him.
He was even on the morning talk shows.
And in every one, when he took a minute to talk one-on-one, there was some starry-eyed female staring into his crystal blue eyes and reaching out to touch his arm.
And clueless Daniel answered their questions and sent them on their way. It should have made Vala feel better about it all, but it didn't. Because the next lecture, the next talk show, would bring along the next star struck woman.
What did they know about him? Nothing. What did they care about his hurts? Nothing. They only saw a peek of his brilliance and beauty.
Most recently, the university and Daniel organized a dig offworld. SG-1 cleared the site - not that there was any threat aside from the Lucian Alliance anymore. And why would they bother with this almost dead planet anyway? Two dozen scientists were happily piecing together a village wiped out by the goa'uld centuries - eons maybe - earlier.
Vala hadn't been a part of any of the preparations. She'd been working her contacts for more possibilities of trinium supplies. Somehow, she didn't think that Daniel even noticed she wasn't underfoot.
That he didn't seem to notice she'd been gone was only part of what currently pissed her off. Vala'd come into camp and rolled out her bedroll near Daniel's - as usual. He was near the fire with some blonde woman trying to cozy up to him after supper.
After Vala had everything arranged to her satisfaction, she looked up in time to see the blonde maneuvering Daniel to the shadows. No doubt to get to know him better, she thought bitterly.
Vala vowed she wouldn't let it bother her. Daniel was his own person. She had no claim on him.
She wouldn't let it bother her. She had no claim on him.
The mental mantra worked for maybe five minutes and then righteous indignation began to set in. Whether he knew it or not, he was her Daniel. And she was his.
That realization had her hyperventilating. She hadn't belonged to anyone since before Qetesh. And he - Daniel! - was off with that blonde.
In that moment, Vala truly saw red. She rather carefully sat down her mug of hot chocolate and went off in search of the philanderer.
A small scuffing sound altered her course. Vala ran into the now red faced blonde going back to camp. "Daniel out this way?"
She nodded and hurried back to camp.
Vala stood for a moment absorbing the implications of the other woman leaving so soon and without Daniel. She walked through the darkness with her heart full of new possibilities. Light from the moons spilled into a clearing just ahead.
"Is the SGC the only thing for me, Vala?" She hadn't come out of the shadows yet, so he must have known somehow, some way, that she'd be there. "Chris brought me out here. She kissed me. And I tried kissing her back. I just felt colder and lonelier than I have in a long time. Is my job all that's left of me?"
Vala tried not to flinch at his confession of kissing the other woman and failed. "You are so much more than that." Vala came fiercely to his defense.
"Everything has been taken away from me. Everything that matters at any rate. Mom and Dad. Sha're and Abydos. Everyone in SG-1 has moved on except for you and you'll leave me too."
Vala opted to point out some obvious facts. "Where have I been for the last week, Darling? Earth? No. I have a life and duties that take me away from Earth as it is." Daniel tried to interrupt but Vala rushed ahead with her point. "More importantly, where have I been since we beat the Ori? Living on Earth. The people in my life matter to me. The occasional girls night out. Visiting Cameron's parents. Doing my work in acquisitions for the SGC. Driving you batty in your office." Daniel blinked at that. "At any time in the last three years, I could have left and created an empire for myself - legal or otherwise - in the power void that was created in the galaxy." Vala took a deep breath and plunged on. "I rather like belonging. On Earth, at the SGC, and with you."
Daniel took a moment to process all she had said. "I always thought you'd get tired of the SGC and go off for excitement."
"No, Darling. The excitement I've had tended to be more horrific than not. The SGC suits me just right. And it has ever since you found me after Athena abducted me. As I said, I rather like belonging."
Daniel's head snapped up and he locked his gaze to hers. Something obviously clicked in that beautiful brain of his. "What was that list of belonging?"
Vala let her smile grow wide and she sauntered over to him. "I belong with you. I have for a very long time. What's more, you belong to me."
Daniel let his fingers trail up one side of her neck causing shivers of delight. He slid them into her hair so he could pull her closer. He leaned in still closer, laying claim to her body space, testing her assertion that they belonged together. He mentally cheered when she leaned up and laid her own claim on him and claimed his lips.
This kiss was nothing like the ones they shared on Prometheus. That had been about dominance, distraction and lust. This kiss was filled with love and wonder and possibilities. All things that Daniel forgot even existed. Somehow, in the last years, Vala had breathed new life into him. Life that had been war, and duty, and loss was now filled with laughter, and surprises, and zest.
When they finally broke apart, Vala's eyes were unfocused. Daniel suspected that his were too. Every sensory imput was filled with Vala: her soft sighs, her scent, the softness of her hair and skin, the intoxicating taste of her, her luminous eyes. How could he have denied this the last two years? He must have been totally insane.
"Glad you see things my way, Darling," Vala grinned up to him with her brightest smile.
A/N - Hoped you liked it! Remember to review. It's like pistachio ice cream on a hot day!
