Well, it's been forever since I had an SG-1 fic... Summary sucks though XD but this one was hard to summarize.
A warning for anyone expecting... well... the show... You won't get it. This will mostly be character stuff. I may suddenly decide to actually have some plot now and then- likely involving the Lucian Alliance, since they never really did get rid of them- but for the most part, it's character-driven.
Any Jonas haters;... well, why you clicked on this in the first place, I don't know, but if you DID: Jonas is a major player. In fact, as I will only be alternating between him, Vala, and Daniel- with the exception of the prologue, because it has no pov- about a third of this fic will be from his viewpoint.
Anyone disgusted by the idea of Vala with anyone besides Daniel; turn away now, because there WILL be some major J/V going on, at least for a while (my 'shippy loyalties lie with D/V, so I really couldn't end it on anything else, could I?)
as you read in the summary, 'ships are Jonas/Vala, Daniel/Vala, and Sam/Jack, though the S/J is more in mentions from the others.
Disclaimer: Don't own it. If I did, Daniel and Vala would be married, Jonas would still be a member of the team, and Sam and Jack would have gotten over their issues in season 4, and thus Pete would never have been needed -_-.
Of Archeologists, Aliens, and Space Pirates
Prologue
"But Daniel!"
The two simple words made the occupants of the briefing room sit up a little straighter. 'But Daniel', 'Daniel, darling', and 'Vala, not now' were but a few of the two to three word combinations that usually signaled the start of a briefing- others included 'Go away', 'Play nice, darling', and 'No, you can't'- when Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Vala Mal Doran were involved. Those already in the room all glanced at each other, wondering what the fight was about this time.
Daniel came through the door only moments after Vala's voice had reached the room, the woman in question right on his heels. Daniel looked to be doing his best at ignoring his constant shadow, and Vala had the look of a cat that didn't like being ignored; the look that said the feline was going to climb bare limbs, and use as many claws as possible in doing so. Thankfully, both found their seats before any shredding of flesh could begin.
"Dr. Jackson, I trust that this... disagreement... Can be settled another time," Though phrased as such, General Landry's words weren't a question.
Daniel nodded, with a pointed look at Vala, "Yes, General."
Vala responded to the look with a glare. Daniel merely raised an eyebrow at her in return. Vala sighed almost inaudibly, and relaxed somewhat, though she was still clearly annoyed. Such silent conversations happened more and more frequently, of late. Apparently the two could speak volumes to each other in a few seconds, with just a few looks. Cam theorized that it was some weird form of telepathy that developed from spending too much time together. Sam thought it was cute. Jack was running betting pools on when Daniel would "stop dicking around and make a move". Teal'c just watched any interactions between the two with a small, knowing smile that the others just didn't get.
"Good," Landry continued, "Then we can get down to business... Dr. Jackson, I understand you requested that SG-1 be posted on P8C-495?"
Ignoring Vala's silent, yet obvious questions- likely about treasure- Daniel replied, "Yes, sir... SG-14 is excavating the ruins they found there last month, and I was looking forward to being there when they reached the burial chambers... See, the culture appears very similar to that of the Mayans, just greatly advanced technologically, and-"
"I read the report, Dr. Jackson," Landry interrupted. He looked at Cam, "And you, Colonel Mitchell, requested that SG-1 accompany Colonel Carter, and General O'Neill on the General Hammond''s first flight."
"Now that's a mission," Jack inserted.
There was an annoyed sigh from Vala's direction; everyone knew she hated to be stuck on the ships more than anything. She wasn't the only one. Since the incident with the Odyssey, Teal'c had shown great reluctance when boarding any of the Airforce ships. Though as he was no longer an official member of SG-1, he wouldn't be ordered to go, should Landry side with Cam. General Landry glanced towards the woman, shook his head, and returned his attention to Daniel and Cam, both of whom were watching him very closely, trying to see if they could guess who he was going to side with.
Another headshake. He almost would have welcomed a world crisis right then, so he wouldn't have to choose sides. That was what his job had boiled down to, lately, with regards to SG-1. Those that remained of it, anyway. Colonel Carter had her own command, General O'Neill was technically retired, Teal'c had rejoined the Jaffa High Council. Only Mitchell, Jackson, and Vala were still members of SG-1.
It was only because of the launching of the General Hammond that they were all gathered around the same table again.
"I'm going to have to approve Dr. Jackson's request, for the time being," Landry finally said.
Cam did his best not to groan, "Sir, the excavation site isn't going any-"
"Colonel Mitchell, the ship isn't going anywhere," the general cut in. All heads turned towards him in curiosity.
Teal'c was the next to speak, "Was the General Hammond not scheduled to launch at the end of this week, GeneralLandry?"
"It was postponed for another two weeks. Maybe more."
"Why wasn't I told about this, sir?" Sam didn't sound at all pleased.
"I was just informed of it myself, Colonel, before we got started. Apparently there's been a mishap with the new hyperdrives, and it will be a while before the damage can be repaired."
"Your ship's not even off the ground and it's already broken, Carter," Jack quipped, "Maybe it's a sign."
Sam gave him a look that she wouldn't have dared use while he was still her CO, "Nice try, sir."
It was no secret that Jack had been hinting at there being a position open at Homeworld Security, or at the need for geeks on Atlantis now that the city was floating near San Francisco, in the hopes of keeping Sam on earth. When this tactic had failed, he had volunteered to join her on the new ship. As had Cam, simply for the fact that he loved flying. Vala had balked at the possibility of being stuck on the "metal can of boredom", and Daniel had thought the prospect interesting, until he got word of P8C-495.
"So, to 495 it is," Cam muttered, looking like someone had just shot his dog.
Vala was grinning; for now, she had escaped the ship. "So, Darling, back to the matter of the credit cards-" The rest of her sentence was cut off by the blaring siren, and Walter's voice over the intercom.
"Unscheduled off-world activation!"
Almost as one everyone around the briefing room table got to their feet and made for the stairs that led to the control room. They arrived just as the gate actually established the wormhole, with the usual 'whoosh'.
"Receiving an IDC, sir," Walter informed Landry, "It's an older one, sir; the Kelownans."
"Open it up, Chief," Landry replied, turning to tell SG-1- former and current members- to go and greet their guests, only to find that the team was already heading for the gateroom. They were standing at the base of the ramp in front of the gate before the iris was even fully open.
Of the six SG-1 members, Vala was the only one who had no idea who exactly they were expecting. As Cam had read every SG-1 mission report, he knew who his teammates were hoping was going to come through the gate. They hadn't heard anything from the Kelownans about the state of Langara after the defeat of the priors, and Cam knew from talking with Sam that the lack of contact worried them all, in regards to the fate of their former teammate, Jonas.
"This is the first contact from Langara in what? Two, three years?" the question wasn't directed at anyone particular, but Daniel replied.
"almost two and a half," he said, "After they fell to the Ori, we never heard anything... We thought they might try to contact us, once the priors were taken care of. We tried to contact them, and got no response."
Any further conversation was cut short by a handful of people materializing in front of the 'gate. However, the group wasn't the calm collection of ambassadors that had been expected. These people were panicked, and stumbling over each other. Barely a second after the group, a final lone figure stepped through.
Without so much as a hello, or even a glance spared for his friends, Jonas Quinn looked up towards the control room, and shouted, "Close the Iris! Now!"
Just as the iris closed, there was a suspiciously loud impact; whatever had come through was much too large to have been a person. From past experience, anyone who witnessed it would have agreed that it could only have been one thing; a bomb.
Shoulders sagging in relief, Jonas looked at his friends, and barely managed a small smile.
While everyone else remained speechless, Jack stepped forward, "What the hell was that?"
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Chapter one coming up in just a few moments.