RECIPIENT: Niamh

CREATOR: CrazyLikeaFox
TITLE: A Devilish Relationship as seen by Jack O'Neill
SIZE:
GENRE: Romance/Drama/Humor
RATING: PG 13
PROMPT: Jack/Vala
WARNINGS/SPOILERS: All of season ten is game as is spoilers for AoT and Continuum
SUMMARY: A look at the relationship between Daniel and Vala as seen by Jack O'Neill, from season ten onwards.

I. First Meeting

The first time Jack O'Neill met Vala Mal Doran had been an accident. He arrived in Colorado Springs for a few days and had immediately been taken to Stargate Command. He managed to arrive with little heralding and after checking in with Hank he headed to Daniel's office, a common meeting place, at least when he was on base. It was there that he heard two voices traveling down the corridor, getting louder by the second.

"I honestly don't see how this is a problem at all. From what I understand it is socially acceptable for an attractive single woman such as myself to go out to dinner with another single and quite attractive man," came a slightly husky female voice laced with frustration.

"The point is Vala that you can't go of base by yourself, so unless you plan on bringing him to the base it's not going to happen," came Daniel's familiar (and slightly sarcastic) voice.

"He's not coming on base," Daniel answered a second later, his voice somewhat exasperated.

Jack could only assume that Vala (who he had heard a lot about and was looking forward to meeting), had indicated that that was exactly what she was going to do. He grinned as he could imagine what Daniel's reaction would be, especially if what Teal'c, Carter and Mitchell had been saying about the two was actually true. Jack knew Daniel knew well enough to pick up he could hear the exasperation in his tone as he spoke to Vala.

"Fine then I suppose I'll see what Mitchell is up to," Vala stormed out of the room, nearly crashing into Jack.

"Oh hello and you are?" Vala said with her usual somewhat flirty tone.

"Jack O'Neill and you must be Vala Mal Doran, whom I've heard so much about," Jack grinned.

"That would be correct it's a pleasure," Vala answered as she shook his hand.

Daniel, who had overheard Jack's voice almost shot out of his office with a slightly panicked look on his face. The look intensified when what Jack would assume was his worst fear was confirmed.

"Jack" What the hell do you think you're doing?

"Daniel" You know I plan on enjoying you squirming as much as possible

"Well as much fun as this is it would seem I have a date to cancel," Vala stated flouncing away with disappointment etched on her face.

"I'm sure I can arrange someway for you to make this date," Jack grinned really enjoying how horrified Daniel looked.

"That's very kind of you General," Vala smiled a true smile as she walked away.

"Are you insane Jack? Do you have any idea what kind of damage releasing Vala onto the Earth's population? She absolutely cannot go on this date," Daniel asked as he and Jack walked back into his office.

"Because she's an alien or because she is married?" Jack asked mildly.

"How about both?" Daniel replied though Jack had noticed the slight change of his expression on his face at the mention of Vala's 'marriage.'

"Well why don't we just give her a chance to see what happens?" Jack answered with a knowing look on his face.

Daniel just gave an incoherent grunt as he buried himself in some sort of translation.

Jack shook his head at his friend's supreme emotional repression. Oh well he would just have to have a chat with the other members of SG-1 and see if they could open his friend's eyes. If Daniel happened to squirm throughout the process, well all the better in Jack's opinion.

Jack wisely left Daniel alone and for the rest of his too short break got to know the newest member to Stargate Command, as well as hanging out with the other members of SG-1. He behaved himself quite well he thought, although there may have been the occasional remark about Vala's personal status in Daniel's life.

Carter told him next to nothing about Daniel and Vala though Jack occasionally caught her smirking, much like himself. Clearly she had been spending way too much time with him. Mitchell wasn't much better, bursting into silent fits of laughter as soon as Daniel left the room. Teal'c was his usual stoic self but there was a certain gleam in his eyes whenever Jack happened to glance at him.

Unfortunately all good things must end and so Jack returned to Washington. However he now had three able spies who regularly kept him updated. He heard all about Vala's disappearance and Daniel's freak out - Cameron's words not his - and the denial of their date - that one was courtesy of Hank who found the whole thing quite amusing - and the team's adventure to find the sangraal and the after effects.

II. The Shroud

The second time they met was during Daniel's transformation into a Prior. Although they had both been in the briefing room this was the first time during Jack's trip that he had seen the dark haired alien one on one. He was in the briefing room that Vala had just entered after her trip up to the Odyssey to see the new Daniel. He had seen the footage of her encounters with him and was able to tell how much it had actually affected her. It was strange but he and Vala were similar in some ways. They both used humor to cover up what they were actually feeling. That was obvious from the two times Vala had been in the holding room with Daniel. She had used humor to detach herself from Daniel's situation, not to mention when the conversation turned to Vala's Ori induced daughter.

"Well what do you think?" Jack asked as he turned to face her fully.

Vala's eyes still shone with unshed tears. Jack knew Vala well enough now to hazard a guess at what those tears were due to. It must have been hard for her to see the man she clearly felt for turned into the very thing that she had been so adamantly fighting, the thing that had originally turned her husband against her. If Vala was truly honest with herself she and Tomin never would have lasted. He took care of her and protected her and for that she would always love him, but Vala knew now that she wasn't in love with him, not anymore.

"I want to believe him but I honestly don't know. He seems exactly like Daniel but there is this nagging voice inside my head telling me that I shouldn't trust him so easily. I know better than anyone how enticing Adria can be, after all she is my daughter," Vala answered with a shaky laugh.

Jack nodded thoughtfully, "Teal'c believes him and I think Carter somewhat does. Mitchell I'm not sure about."

"What about yourself?" Vala asked as she slid effortlessly into the seat next to him.

"I want to believe him but….." Jack let his sentence drop.

"Exactly, as a matter of fact that is what I told him," Vala mentioned.

"Yeah I was watching the feed, come up with the plan yet?" Jack asked.

Vala smiled but shook her head, "We cannot let this Woolsey character kill him."

"He can just try to get past us," Jack smirked.

"Thank you General," Vala smiled as she got up to leave.

"What for?"

"For being here."

III. Post Unending

After this little adventure it was awhile before Jack was able to see any of the team. He heard all about the bounty placed on SG-1's heads as well as Vala's adventure in Kansas, something Carter particularly relished in retelling again and again in front of Mitchell. Next the museum visit and the frosty attitude between the two, something Mitchell put down to a fight the two had before they left, something about Vala's latest boy toy – a man who happened to live in Daniel's building, actually where Vala met him.

Vala's father visiting didn't help matters at all and Jack felt a bit responsible for that as he's the one who approved Jacek's stay on Earth. Then there was the plan to lure Adria into the trap. Vala's plan was brilliant but it had Daniel worried, something that he called Jack up to talk about. In the end Daniel didn't object, though the mix of Ba'al and Adria's ascension made it seem almost pointless.

Their trip on the Odyssey and the death of the Asgard, along with the 50 years Teal'c remembered intrigued Jack. As soon as he was able to grab some time off Jack headed back to Colorado Springs, mostly to corner Teal'c. It seems he wasn't giving away any details at all of this alternate timeline though Jack caught him giving occasional glances towards Daniel and Vala.

"Vala," Jack greeted as he walked into the cafeteria and sat own with his fruit loops – a cereal he hadn't been able to eat for years without shuddering in remembrance.

"General," Vala smiled as she started to dig in to her jello.

"How did you get jello?" Jack asked.

"Well I spend so much time on base that I have made connections," Vala grinned with a wicked glint.

"So how goes it with this guy from Daniel's building?" Jack said.

"Well actually that's over, it seems he wasn't that interested," Vala's smile dimmed slightly.

"Ah right," Jack replied, guessing that Daniel had probably had a word to him.

"Doesn't matter after all I suppose I'm technically still married," Vala answered with a frown.

"Right," Jack drawled as he finished up his cereal.

"I suppose that may be why he's never asked me," Vala muttered to herself.

"Who?" Jack asked pretending to be oblivious.

"No-one," Vala smiled sadly.

Jack nodded, adopting a face of ignorance, and ate his cereal.

IV. The beginning

The defeat of the Ori and their armies clearly shook up Stargate Command. Vala was officially divorced from Tomin and her daughter was gone for good. Afterwards, he was roped into going on a mission with a part of the team. Seeing Vala as Qetesh – and as Ba'al's queen - really did a number on Daniel and although everything had been returned to normal Jack was able to see how Daniel acted differently around her.

It was subtle at first, according to Carter they were spending more time together than they had been. He was taking her off base frequently, knowing how crazy she got being on the base by herself. Vala was also different, as flamboyant as ever but there was a calmness to her, which he was sure had partly to do with Daniel's influence.

It was a couple of months after their adventure against Ba'al that Jack visited the base. He had just gotten back from Atlantis, where he had an in-depth conversation with Carter about her new command and the loss of Elizabeth Weir. He visited Teal'c who along with Mitchell wanted to know how Samantha was doing.

"So where's Danny and the Princess?" Jack asked after he gave them both a thorough explanation on the situation in Pegasus.

Mitchell rolled his eyes as Teal'c tried not to smirk.

"I believe they are in DanielJackson's office O'Neill," Teal'c pointed out.

"Cool," Jack said as he headed down the well worn path, Mitchell and Teal'c following behind.

The door to Daniel's office was slightly ajar, Jack about to burst in when something caused him to stop. It was Vala's voice.

All she said was "Daniel," but the way she said it, sighed it, made Jack freeze in his tracks.

What made his eyes widen even more was hearing Daniel's answering reply of "Vala."

It was a voice that Jack had rarely heard, so soft and tender. Jack quietly backed away Teal'c and Mitchell having already stopped at the beginning of the corridor.

"So when did this happen boys and what happened to my spy network?" Jack asked.

"A couple of weeks after our little time adventure Sir," Mitchell answered with a grin on his face.

"I wasn't informed why?" Jack asked bemusedly.

"DanielJackson requested that you not be told," Teal'c answered.

"Of course he did," Jack sighed, "Is he happy?"

"Oh yes Sir they both are," Mitchell smiled.

V. The End

That trip to the base, and the discovery of the new relationship between Daniel and Vala turned out to be Jack's last official trip. Soon after he retired – for real this time – and moved to Colorado Springs, where he was a consultant on the Stargate program. Carter had returned to Earth following her stint as leader of Atlantis and with the entire past and present of SG-1 reunited there were a lot more off-base gatherings, much to Vala's delight.

The relationship between her and Daniel was so subtle at first that by the time it really heated up everyone was so use to them as a couple that it really wasn't surprising at all. Daniel loosened up and Vala was more restrained – well as restrained as she would ever be. By now everyone had come across them locked in a passionate embrace so now it was second nature for them to knock before entering any room where there was a remote chance that the two of them were in, by themselves.

Vala had moved into Daniel's apartment a few weeks ago, a marathon event that she roped himself, Teal'c, Mitchell and Daniel into helping with, while she and Sam helped by coordinating the men. She and Sam also made hot drinks as of course it was raining for the majority of the day, something that Cameron and Jack were quietly cursing about. Vala was absolutely delighting in 'fixing' Daniel's rarely used apartment, something that Daniel was living in constant fear of, though Jack thought that he secretly enjoyed it.

Fortunately today was a lovely sunny day with not a dark cloud in the sky. Jack was standing with Daniel in front of the minister, more nervous than he thought he would be.

"She's late," Jack commented as he subtly glanced around at the small gathering of members of both Stargate Command and the Atlantis expedition.

"She'll be here," Daniel whispered to Jack just as the wedding march began.

Sam's blonde hair shone in the sun as she approached the make shift altar, Vala following behind her, dark hair shining. Once they reached the women took their places, each turning to the front.

The vows were unusual to say the least both bride and groom opting to forego tradition. All too soon came the exchange of rings and kissing the bride which was done with hooting from the crowd.

Jack grinned as he held Sam's hand. He was so glad that Daniel had found happiness with Vala, and couldn't wait to be godfather to their first born, something he thought would be happening sooner rather than later, given the hints he was receiving from Sam and the barely noticeable swell of Vala's abdomen beneath her wedding dress.

He looked out into the crowd and noticed the looks being exchanged between Mitchell and Dr Lam. Jack grinned as he nudged Sam, there was their next project.