Title: Curveball
Summary: Life throws a curveball at Vala and Daniel. (Takes place after AoT, but before Sam goes to Atlantis)
Rating: T
Disclaimer: If I owned Stargate I would be rich. I am not rich. Therefore, I do not own Stargate.
A/N: Major Davis will seem a bit OOC, but it's necessary for the fic cause I don't want to make up a person and I needed someone from canon. Sections separated by X's signify a change in POV.
Intro
It's strange really, how when you least expect it, life decides to throw you a curveball. You could have the most mundane existence on this earth (or universe), and then WHAM! Suddenly you are put into a whole new situation and you will never be the same. That's not to say that people with interesting lives can't be thrown a curveball as well. They too can experience what seems to be an insignificant event, only for it to change their lives forever...
Chapter 1: Chain Reaction
It all started in the commissary. It was lunchtime and Daniel and Vala were eating together at one of the smaller tables. Usually, the pair ate earlier to avoid the rush of hungry SGC personnel that all seemed to swarm in at about noon. However, Daniel was in the 'super archeologist' mode, as Vala liked to call it. He had kept her with him in his office a whole hour later than usual to finish cleaning an artifact.
Daniel was no longer afraid to admit that liked Vala. In fact, he liked her a lot. He enjoyed having her around and often missed her on the rare occasions that she was not with him. Yes, she still annoyed him, and yes, they still bickered, but their friendship continued to grow stronger every day. And lately, something a little more...
Daniel watched as Vala finished her food and went up to go get some dessert. He knew even before she sat back down, that she would get blue Jell-O, topped with whipped cream. It was her very favorite thing that the commissary offered up for dessert. Without warning, the image of Vala, with a dollop of whipped cream on her nose, played itself in Daniel's mind.
He was still off in fantasy land, when he heard the crash.
Daniel immediately leaped out of his chair and looked around to see what had happened. What he saw confused him. Vala was on the floor, with her tray and cubes of Jell-O scattered around her. One of the cubes had somehow gotten into her hair, and he would have laughed had he not seen the pained expression on her face and the man kneeling next to her.
Daniel rushed to her side. "Vala! What happened?"
The man turned and Daniel saw that it was Major Paul Davis. He hadn't seen Davis in a while since he had been working with the Jaffa off-world. "I went to get up off of my chair and I didn't realize that she was right beside me. I accidentally knocked her over."
Davis turned back to Vala. "Are you hurt?"
She winced and and looked down at her left wrist, which was turned at an odd angle. "I hurt my wrist."
Daniel instantly inspected her wrist, clearly concerned. "You may have broken it. Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."
He had planned on carrying Vala there himself, not that she needed to be carried, but before he could lift a finger, Davis had swooped in and lifted her up.
"Don't worry about it Dr. Jackson, I'll take her. I mean, it was my fault after all."
Vala whimpered and clung on to the major with her right arm. "Not your fault, it was an accident."
And then, Daniel watched in horror as the man winked at Vala. "Let me play knight in shining honor to my damsel in distress."
He was flirting with her! The nerve of him to try to steal his woman. Well, technically she wasn't his yet, but he was getting around to perhaps asking her on a real date...maybe.
Vala giggled and Daniel felt a sense of dejection as he followed them to the infirmary.
Carolyn took one look at Vala's wrist and immediately took her to get an X-Ray. Daniel tried to be patient, but he did not like waiting with Mr. Hero for her to return.
"So, Dr. Jackson, are you and Vala dating?" He didn't really know Vala since she had arrived after he was already off-world.
Daniel's heart screamed for him to say yes. It pleaded for him to say, 'keep your hands off of her she's mine!' However, all that came out of his mouth was, "No."
The moment that the word left his lips, he regretted it. He had more or less just given the man the go ahead to pursue Vala.
Daniel was just about to correct himself, when he heard the siren and General Landry's voice over the loudspeaker.
"I need SG-1 in the gateroom immediately!"
Davis slapped Daniel on the back. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she's okay."
Yes, that was exactly what he was worried about. Major Davis was a good man, but Daniel didn't like the side of him that seemed to have a thing for Vala.
XXXXXXX
Vala had indeed broken her wrist. After Carolyn was finished setting it, Vala was saddened to see that Daniel wasn't waiting to see her. Instead, the man who had carried her to the infirmary was there.
"Vala! Oh, you poor thing! Is it broken?"
She nodded before speaking to him. "Yes it is. I'm sorry, but have we met before?" He was a handsome enough man, dark hair and eyes, but she wasn't sure how he knew her.
"I'm Major Paul Davis. I have worked at the SGC for a long time."
"Oh, how do you know me?"
The major chuckled. "Everyone knows you, Vala. It's hard not to notice such a beautiful woman."
Vala was taken aback by the major's blatant flirting, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.
Later on, Vala was resting in her quarters when she heard someone knocking at her door.
"Come in."
Daniel peeked his head around the corner and then entered. "Hey, I just wanted to see how you were doing. I would've been there when you got out, but Landry called SG-1 to the gateroom."
"Am I in trouble for not showing up?" Vala knew how General Landry could be.
Daniel just shook his head. "No, I explained what had happened to you. You didn't miss much anyway, it was just a false alarm."
"Oh good, you had me worried for a second. The man that carried me to the infirmary waited to see how I was doing. Major Paul Davis? How well do you know him?"
Vala saw a flicker of emotion darkened Daniel's eyes for a moment before he answered. "I've known him for a long while. He's quite a valuable asset to the SGC."
She wanted to know more about him personally, but something in Daniel's eyes told her not to mention the major any more.
Daniel and Vala talked for a little while before his work called to him once again. He walked over and gave her an awkward hug before exiting her room.
Once Daniel had shut her door, Vala collapsed onto her bed and sighed. She felt as if she would never truly understand him. Sometimes, it seemed as if he really liked her and cared for her and other times he could be almost cold and distant.
The next morning, Vala came out of her quarters and almost tripped over a huge bouquet of pink roses.
"Oh, what are these doing here?" She asked herself as she picked up the flowers and inhaled the sweet scent. The sharp edge of a small card poked her cheek and she opened it up.
Dear Vala,
I'm so sorry for causing you to fall and get hurt. Please accept these flowers as my sincerest apology. Also, I would love to take you out to dinner to make up for it. Let me know what day would work best for you.
Yours,
Paul Davis
Vala just stared at the flowers and the card in awe. She had been hoping that Daniel had sent the flowers to her, but it was, in fact, Major Davis who had given them to her. And he was asking her out! Most of the men at the SGC seemed to steer clear of her, she supposed that her beauty and wit just intimidated them, but apparently it didn't intimidate Major Davis.
That brought her to a whole new set of problems though. Vala still wanted Daniel. He meant so much to her, but she could never be sure what she meant to him. Surely he knew how she felt about him, right? That had to mean that he didn't want to be with her, because if he did, he certainly would have done something about it by now.
Vala remembered something that Mitchell had told her once. He said that sometimes life throws you a curveball (something about baseball, he explained), and you have decide whether or not you want to swing at it or not.
Decision made, Vala went to find Major Davis.
End of Chapter 1. I hope you all enjoy this new story! Hang in there with me on this one! :)
