In advance I want to let readers know that I find writing dialog difficult so there will be a lot of straight forward exposition and internal dialogs.
Vala burst out of her room and ran towards Daniel's lab. She was obviously upset and close to tears, though she appeared more angry than anything else. Daniel wasn't in his lab and Vala stood in the hall outside of the room frantically looking around as if she couldn't even begin to think of which direction to go. She shook herself as if to clear her head and started walking down the hall. Vala caught a glimpse of Walter as he headed into Landry's office and followed him. Walter was frightened by the look on Vala's face, he couldn't imagine what had upset her, and he didn't think that he wanted to know.
"Walter, I need to talk to the General." Walter stared at her blankly. "Now!" said Vala. She didn't yell but there was urgency to her voice and a strange look in her eyes.
General Landry called out "What's going on out there Walter?"
"Miss Mal Doran wants to see you, sir."
Landry told Walter to send her in. He was shocked by her appearance. She had a wild look about her, there were dried tears on her face and above all else she looked angry. Jumping to conclusions he asked her if she was having a problem with Dr. Jackson. She looked surprised at his question and shook her head no.
Vala demanded "You are part of the Earth military. I need to know! How do you force soldiers to join your armies? How young are they? What do you do to their families?" As she asked her questions she was looking at Landry as if he was a monster.
He was taken aback by her questions, her obvious distress and her anger. He didn't understand why she was asking those questions but he felt compelled to try and answer her.
"We don't force anyone to join. They have to be at least 18 before they can voluntarily join the military. And we do nothing to anyone's family. Where are these questions coming from? What's happened?"
Vala didn't look convinced by his answers. "Do you mean to tell me that you know nothing about these child soldiers I have read about?"
Landry looked almost ashamed as he had to admit to her "Yes, I know about them."
"And you do nothing? How can you travel through the galaxy saving people from oppression and slavery and allow such situations on your own planet?"
"I know that this may sound foolish to you Ms Mal Doran. But it is complicated."
"I seem to hear that explanation or excuse in response to many of my questions about Earth. Does Daniel know about these children?"
"Vala, I am sure that he has heard stories. I suspect that he, as do many people, tries not to think about things that he can not change. You could destroy yourself if you weren't able to put horrible things out of your mind. And at SGC we are fortunate enough to know that we work to prevent the complete destruction of our planet or the enslavement of everyone on our planet. And with success, at least so far!"
"I think that I may actually understand that, much as I hate to admit it. I know the horror of being a host but I have not dedicated myself to freeing other hosts. I have accepted that I can not save them all and use that as an excuse to save no one."
"Vala, I think you are too hard on yourself"
"No, General. I think that I am most likely not hard enough! I think that I need to apologize for my attack on you. But they are children! It isn't that I am not familiar with cruelty. But this is not done by snakes. The children's own people do this to them."
"Vala, perhaps you would like to talk with someone who might help you understand such human behavior. I know that you don't have much time for psychiatrists, but there is someone on base you may find helpful. If you are willing I would like to arrange for you to speak with Dr. Graham. He is a civilian and not military."
Vala smiled at the General. "I think that might not be a bad idea. Since my "psych" evaluation I have been reading about the subject and must admit I am intrigued." When she spoke she used Cameron's air quotes around the word psych, which made Landry smile. They now all used the terms "Earth hours" and "Earth years" in homage to Mitchell.
Landry excused himself and picked up the phone. Vala heard him speak to someone he called Thomas and make arrangements for Vala to meet with this Thomas.
"Vala, Dr. Graham can see you in an hour. I hope you don't mind, but I have given him access to your file so you won't have to explain yourself to him."
"That's fine General. I'm sure that it will save a lot of time. Where do I meet him?"
"He'll come here to get you. Meanwhile I thought that we could have coffee and perhaps a snack together while we wait. I would really like to talk with you about the children."
Vala's face lit up at the mention of food. "I think that I would like that, General.
Landry walked to the door opened it and sent Walter to the Commissary for their snack. He had Vala sit down, pulled his chair from around his desk and moved it close to her. He took Vala's hands in his and began talking quietly to her.
Most of SG-1 was sitting in the Commissary eating lunch. When Daniel arrived without Vala the others looked at him questioningly.
"I don't know where she is. I left my lab to borrow a book from a friend of mine on SG-12 and then came straight here."
Teal'c said "I am sure that she will arrive soon. Vala Mal Doran has a healthy appetite and doesn't usually miss meals."
Sam & Mitchell nodded and continued to eat. Walter had come in right after Daniel and overheard them.
"Miss Mal Doran is with General Landry. He sent me to pick up some food for them."
"Isn't that a little strange Walter?" asked Mitchell. "What's going on?"
"I couldn't tell you." They all looked at him intently and he answered their unspoken question. "I can't tell you. I have no idea what's going on. Miss Mal Doran stormed into the office like a crazy person."
"What's so different about that?" asked Daniel.
"No. I mean a real crazy person. She was angry and also crying. She went into the general's office and I could hear her yelling at him. I couldn't catch what she was saying but she was close to being hysterical."
"What happened then?" asked Daniel. Listening to Walter speak about Vala's behavior he felt concern for her. Though he wasn't really sure why. He told himself that it was because sometimes other people thought that he should be responsible for keeping her in line.
"It became very quiet and then he made a phone call. Afterwards he opened the door and sent me to get coffee and food for them. She appeared calmer and no longer angry. But she still seemed upset. Landry was smiling at her as he closed the door."
Walter asked Daniel what Vala might like to eat. Sam and Mitchell laughed as Daniel told him that there really wasn't much that Vala didn't like to eat. Sam suggested that he return with at least one thing that was chocolate. If Vala had been crying chocolate was definitely needed.
Walter left with a tray overflowing with food. He had asked the commissary staff and they had filled the tray with items they knew were Vala's favorites. Vala was a frequent visitor to the Commissary all hours of the day and night and had gotten to know many members of the staff. People who prepare food are always happy to find people who enjoy eating what they make.
Listening to the Commissary the staff discussing Vala's taste in food Sam realized that Vala had made friends all throughout the base. Sam thought about a conversation that she had with Vala just a few days ago. For quite a while Sam had wondered why Vala's uniform fit her so well. She had thought that perhaps Vala was wearing a uniform that was simply too small for her. But when she looked more closely at Vala's clothes Sam could see that they were fitted to her body almost as if they were tailored specifically for her. She finally got up enough nerve to ask her about it when they were sitting alone eating Jell-O.
"Vala, I want to ask you about your uniforms."
"Sure, Sam. What do you want to know?"
"How do you manage to find uniforms that fit you so well?"
"Easy" replied Vala. "Rose."
"Rose?" asked Sam.
"Rose, in the laundry."
"We have a laundry?"
Vala laughed at Sam's face. "Of course we do! Most of the laundry goes out with the rest of the Cheyenne Mountain's, but we need to be careful about clothing that has gone off-world. They are very careful about sterilizing everything that returns to Earth. And when teams go off-world in disguise someone has to design and produce the clothes. Rose is a great seamstress and inspired seamstress; she works on all my clothing."
Sam continued to look surprised and puzzled.
"Would you like me to have Rose go over your uniforms with you Sam? "
"I'm still trying to figure out why I don't know anything about the laundry or the people who work there."
"Sam, did you think that your uniforms magically appeared clean and pressed? I have spent many hours on many planets in the middle of streams or rivers or even puddles doing what you would describe as beating clothes with rocks, so I am very grateful for amenities such as laundries. You may not realize it but you do know them, or at least you have seen them. They usually sit at that table over there in the left corner." Sam looked over where Vala pointed and saw a small group of familiar looking people who smiled and waved at Vala. "I frequently eat with them when I am alone in the Commissary. The rest of you often skip meals. I have actually starved at times in my life and never willingly miss food if I am the slightest bit hungry."
Sam smiled back at the group. Vala told her that they knew a lot about all of the SG teams and had very strong opinions about the members. As expected everyone loved Daniel but she wouldn't answer questions about any of the other members of SG-1. Vala carefully explained to Sam that while she enjoyed gossip she would never betray a confidence.
Sam's attention was brought back to the present when Mitchell started to speculate on what might have happened with Vala. Then he started teasing Daniel, accusing him of torturing Vala forcing her to complain to the General. Daniel reacted as Mitchell had hoped he would, vigorously denying that he could in any way be responsible. All the while he denied it Daniel was frantically trying to think if there was anything that he might have done or said to upset Vala. Imagining Vala in the state described by Walter was making him feel sick. He felt an overwhelming need to find her and see what was going on. SG-1 spent a few more minutes speculating about Vala and what might have actually happened. They all agreed that Walter must have overreacted. Vala's personality was certainly mercurial but an angry, crying Vala yelling at Landry was an image too hard for them to wrap their heads around. Daniel was reassured by the fact they were convinced there was no real problem and he pushed his concerns for Vala to the back of his mind. Sometimes Daniel suspected that it had become too easy for him to repress his feelings but he wasn't sure if that was actually a bad thing. It certainly helped him get through the days. Nights were sometimes more problematic.