Title: Fix it

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 & its characters all belong to MGM, Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has been made.

Summary: Jack's plans to go fishing are ruined by Daniel's and Vala's fight. He just wants Daniel to fix it. D/V with a smidgen of J/S.

A/N- This is one of the stories that came out totally different from what was planned! Hope you enjoy it though. Thanks to cilepe for the beta.

The urgent knocking on his front door caused Daniel's heart to skip a beat. Had she come back? Swallowing to help his suddenly dry throat, he approached the door and took a moment to compose himself. The insistent pounding continued.

With a deep breath he swung it open but his greeting died on his lips. There on his doorstep was a mightily annoyed Jack O'Neill, his hand still raised ready to knock again. Daniel blinked; Jack blinked back.

"Daniel."

"Jack?"

"Daniel?"

Daniel blinked again in confusion. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm just a friend dropping by unexpectedly, one might even say 'uninvited', to another friend's place 'cause that's just what friends do. Isn't it?"

The older man was pissed at him but he didn't have a clue why or the energy to find out what had set him off this time. He had other things on his mind and he could do without Jack adding to it.

"What?" Daniel demanded, frustrated.

"Can I come in?" Not waiting for an answer, Jack barged into the house, Daniel having to take a step back to clear a path. Just great.

He frowned, shaking his head as he closed his door and followed the older man into the living room. Standing by the couch he watched as Jack disappeared into his kitchen. He said nothing as he listened to the fridge door being opened then closed, and heard the clink of bottles. Then he watched as the General walked back into the room, a beer in each hand, settled on the couch, and held out a bottle for him.

Huh. He really didn't need this right now.

Taking a deep breath, and knowing from years of experience that there was no point in trying to fight or argue with Jack, he resigned himself to his fate. Reluctantly, he walked over, took the beer, and settled into the seat opposite. Still watching the other man, he raised the drink to his lips, trying not to grimace at the taste. He still didn't really care for beer. But Jack did and Vala did, so there was always a supply in his fridge. Just in case.

"So?" Daniel tried after the silence stretched out.

"So," Jack picked up. "What did you do?"

Daniel blinked owlishly. "What did I do when?"

"Not when. Who."

"Who who?" Daniel frowned.

Jack frowned. "Vala."

"Vala?" He tried to ignore the pain that shot through him at the sound of her name. "What's she got to do with anything?"

"She has to do with everything, Daniel. I had quite the weekend planned, the fishing rods were packed and everything. It was going to be…splendid."

"Splendid?" Daniel cocked an eyebrow.

"Splendid," Jack confirmed. "Everything was all planned out ready to be splendid and bam! In walks an unexpected, uninvited Vala. She was all upset and crying-"

"Crying?"

"- and," Jack continued as if Daniel hadn't interrupted, "Carter goes all soft and girly and started cooing at her. Cooing! And then she kicked *me* out so she could have some girly time, for crying out loud."

Daniel nodded gently, but couldn't get the image of a crying Vala out of his head. He felt so guilty that he'd made her cry.

"So," Jack continued when it was obvious Daniel wasn't going to confess all, "I thought I'd make you fix it, apologize for whatever you did and then *you* can coo over Vala, and me and Carter can get our weekend back on track. It's been three weeks, Daniel."

"My heart bleeds," Daniel muttered sarcastically. "And I can't fix it."

"Aw, come on. Whatever argument you had, just apologize."

"It's not that simple."

"It is that simple. You fight all the time. For once, just apologize, admit you were wrong, just for me. Please? I'll beg if I have to."

"We didn't fight."

"You always fight."

"How would you know? You're barely at the base."

"I have my sources, Daniel. You get cranky, she annoys you. You get crankier, she continues to annoy you. You get all worked up, lash out and call her some name; she storms out. Usually seeks out Carter, Teal'c, or very occasionally Mitchell. You feel guilty, you seek her out. You apologize and make up. Everyone's happy. All I'm asking you to do is speed things along a little. We don't have the luxury of you taking 2 days to figure out you're an idiot."

"I know I'm an idiot," Daniel confessed quietly, his eyes fixed on is bottle. "But I don't think a simple apology is going to fix this."

Jack's eyes narrowed in concern, studying his friend. "What happened?" His voice was softer this time, concern evident.

Daniel sighed, looking down at the floor as he shrugged.

"Daniel?"

"I kissed her."

Jack blinked. "What?"

"I kissed her," Daniel repeated softly, looking up to meet Jack's surprised eyes.

"You said there was nothing going on between you."

"There wasn't…isn't," he corrected.

"You said you didn't like her…you know, that way."

"I didn't think I did."

"Meaning you do now?" Jack raised a curious eyebrow and Daniel simply shrugged. Jack contemplated the other man for a moment. "So what happened?"

"You know she stayed at mine last night after team night? In the spare room," he added quickly.

The older man nodded.

"Well," Daniel continued, remembering, "this morning we decided to hang out a little longer, make the most of being out of the mountain before we drove back. We shared breakfast together, watched TV, just regular stuff, but…"

"But?"

"But it felt different." Daniel shrugged uncomfortably. "It shouldn't have. I mean, it's Vala, but it did. We, uh, decided to make some lunch and we were in the kitchen and she was getting stuff from the fridge. I was going for the cupboard, she turned round and was right there in front of me and I just kissed her. I couldn't help it."

"Ok," Jack nodded slowly. "Then what happened?"

"My brain caught up with me and I stopped kissing her. I apologized profusely, I know she doesn't feel that way about me, but the damage was done. She just left…left very quickly."

Jack studied him a moment longer before shaking his head. "You're an idiot."

"I know."

"No, you don't."

"What?" Daniel scrunched his face up in confusion.

"You think you're an idiot, which is right, but you're wrong about why you're an idiot."

"What?" Daniel asked again, frustrated.

Jack sighed, leaning back. "You're not an idiot for kissing her. You're an idiot for apologizing." Confident that he'd figured it out, he took a sip of his drink, watching Daniel get flustered.

"What are you talking about?"

"You really don't get it, do you? You're totally wrong when you said she doesn't like you. The gal is crazy about you. Head over heels in fact- you're just too dumb to see it."

"I…really?"

"Yep, trust me, she talks to Carter and Carter talks to me. I know all sorts of girly gossip which I could really do with not knowing."

"I didn't think Sam was the gossiping type?"

"She wasn't before Vala."

"Ah. So she actually likes me?"

"Yes, Daniel, she does. And when you kissed her you probably made her think all her birthdays had come at once and then bam – you apologized."

Daniel thought over what Jack was saying. Could he be right? Had it been the apology that had upset her so much? The apology that he hadn't really meant but thought that she'd want. Thought it was the only way to fix what he'd done.

"Crap," was all he could come up with.

"Yep," Jack agreed. "So, fancy coming over to Carter's and fixing it so we can get our weekend back on track?"

Daniel looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, sure, you betcha," he quipped, jumping up from the couch.

"Hey, that's my line," Jack protested weakly but Daniel was already grabbing his coat.

Vala was sat at Samantha's kitchen table, her hands wrapped around a warm mug of coffee.

"I'm sorry I ruined your plans with Jack," she said softly. "I really can go."

"Don't be silly," Sam admonished. "Jack will get over it."

Vala raised a doubtful eyebrow which made Sam chuckle. "After lots of sulking," Sam admitted.

The alien smiled back, fully cried out now. She'd been so heart-broken earlier that she hadn't wanted to return to the mountain. So, she'd sought out her best friend and she was so glad she had.

"Say, why don't-" Vala was cut off in mid-sentence as she heard the front door open.

Frowning, she glanced at her friend who shrugged slightly, before standing up intent on seeing who it was. She didn't get very far before Jack entered the room. With a sparkle in his eye he made a beeline for Sam.

It was then Vala noticed a sheepish-looking Daniel following in behind him.

"I don't want to be near you right now," Vala stated firmly.

She stood up, intent on leaving, but Daniel blocked her way. They stood there a moment in each other's personal space. Sam glanced at Jack, wishing she could give her friends privacy but they were blocking the only doorway.

"Please get out of my way."

"No," he said softly. "Hey," he said desperate for her to meet his eyes. "Look at me."

She shook her head violently, worried that the tears that she'd just gotten a handle on would break free again.

"Vala," he repeated softly, his hand going under her chin to tilt it upwards and finally she met his eyes.

"Daniel, please." To her horror, her voice cracked. "I just can't talk about this right now."

"Good," Daniel smiled softly, searching her eyes. "I don't think we can fix this with words."

She looked puzzled for a moment before Daniel swooped in and pressed his lips against hers. Unsure, it took Vala a moment to respond. Once confident that he wasn't going to pull away like before, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body closer to his, desperate to feel as much of him as she could.

Across the kitchen, Jack and Sam smiled at each other and Jack pumped the air. "Yes!"

Daniel and Vala finally broke apart and Daniel pressed his forehead to hers, struggling to catch his breath. Vala ran her fingers down his jaw and he couldn't help but smile intently at her.

"I not going to apologize this time," he promised.

Vala's face split into a blinding smile as she squealed and pulled him back in for another deep kiss.

Looking away from the display, Jack leaned down, intent to make a small display himself. After a quick kiss and wiggle of an eyebrow, Jack leaned down and whispered in Sam's ear, "Fishing?"

"Right," Sam agreed, remembering the trip which had been somewhat delayed.

A glance at the doorway showed that Daniel and Vala were still very much wrapped up in each other. With a shrug, Jack and Sam managed to squeeze past the couple without them even noticing. They dashed around the house grabbing the last few bits and loaded up the truck.

Standing by the front door, ready to leave and really start their weekend they contemplated the pair still in the kitchen doorway. They exchanged a glance.

"Do we just leave them here?" Sam whispered.

"I guess so," Jack shrugged. "I'm not going to interrupt that."

"Maybe we should leave a note?" Sam suggested, gesturing to the note-pad she kept by the phone.

Taking a hint Jack headed over and grabbed a pen, then paused. "What do I write? Supplies are in the bathroom cabinet?"

"Jack!" Sam admonished. "Don't you dare!"

"Alright, alright," he chuckled, before finally jotting a message down. Grabbing Sam's hand, they rushed out the front door.

It was quite some time later that Daniel and Vala discovered they were alone in the house. It was even later that they discovered Jack's simple scribbled note. "Finally gone fishing."