Disclaimer: I still don't own Stargate, all I own is these fanfiction. Someone had recently requested a "Vala saves Daniel" story after my "Daniel saves Vala" The Funeral of Hearts story. So here it is.
I sincerely hope you enjoy.
White Rabbit
Romance and Adventure
Rated M
English
Daniel & Vala
Her breath comes out in a steadily, momentarily forming a while cloud in the air. Vala feels her throat and chest tighten as she fears the worst. Long, still fingers are wrapped around the cold door handle behind her, metal shaped like a capital 'C' with a second door following suit. A vast array of trees and foliage decorate the outer window casting darkness to the floor. The room she entered was dark, dank and the walls appeared a forest green from the partially blocked sunlight from the large bay window to her right, a partially drawn hospital curtain to her left as the window takes up almost all the wall space. It was was barred and the said bars cast a shadow over the opposite wall and over the young man's face whom she looked upon. He's strapped into a dentist's type chair, a few feet in front of her with his wrists binding him to the arm rests on each of his sides, half naked from the waist up. His face is turned from her, he can't see her face just as much as she can't see his. She holds in the next breath as small steps take her to his side.
"Hey." Her voice is soft in the darkness, she cranes her head to make out any odd noise from the depths of the building behind her, though thankfully hears none. Being on the ground floor, there would be more of a chance someone could be alerted to her presence in the room than being in orbit or underground. She wasn't exactly a welcome guest. So she tries again.
"Hey, don't do this to me, not now." Vala Mal Doran hears or rather feels her voice break as she slowly raises a hand to his brow, hoping to feel warmth or if anything was amiss. Turning her hand over, cautious fingers finally touch him. His skin is dewy, tacky to her fingers as she separates his hair from his face, he's sleeping or maybe just unconscious. At least that's what she tells herself. She turns his face to hers by the chin, using only a single finger and gentle pressure. "I've come all this way."
The only sound in the dimly lit room is the rain, having drenched her en-route, the rhythmic patter of raindrops down the singular pane of glass. Looking down at the rest of him, Vala moves to and unfastens the leather straps around his wrists, paying careful attention to her work and if he suddenly awakens. Perhaps it was the machinery? Maybe they were pumping him full of sedative? She takes his arms away from the straps and stops again to hear for any company. Black screens hang over him, watching him like avenging angels. Though, their blank faces tell her nothing how to rouse the man in question. Putting both hands to the switches in an attempt to turn them back on, a noise, a shuffle to her left has her reaching for the zat strapped to her right thigh.
Hand wrapped around the neck of the weapon, Vala recoils from a blur mere millimetres from her face, near her ear. Head turned away from the offending action as one low hanging pigtail smacks her in the face, obscuring her view of the attacker. Unable to see the second swipe to the face, the offender grabs her by the wrist and hair, levering her body into the nearest available surface, glass beakers and surgical implements shower the floor at all angles as her face and upper body slam into the side, cheek warms with drawn blood. The attacker pulls her wrist right around her back, parallel with her spine as the hand in her hair tightens until she feels heat at her scalp. His body heavy on the back of hers. "Who are you? Why did you abduct me?"
The question had her at a disadvantage. Though, there's something in his voice which is familiar, but the tone of which is something she had only heard the once. On the trip she once took to the city of Atlantis. "Dan, it's me, it's Vala." She tries to pull away, just enough to look him in the eye, to give him some proof at least. "I've come to rescue you, or try to at least." Vala winces at the pressure he's putting on her bones in her shoulder, with just enough force he could easily dislocate or break her arm in the current position. Daniel! Her poor gawky librarian had been reduced into attacking his old friend? Silently, her uncurls the fist in her hair, fingertips slowly out reach to her cheek as she feels his grip loosen altogether. Brows knit together as the weight at her back disappears, too as she clenches and unclenches her fist a few times after she senses him not too far away.
Vala turns to him, pads of her fingers over the cut to her cheekbone, blood paints her fingertips as she looks down at him. On one knee as the other foot is flat on the floor, Daniel hold his head in one hand and rubs at his eyes with a thumb and forefinger with the other. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I had no idea-" He shakes his head, voice unsure as he prays for her forgiveness. Daniel looks her over, watery eyes and rain speckled make-up. There's droplets of rain still hanging on for dear life to her leather suit, an upside to her clothes obsession. He's never been more glad to see her. He only wished their reunion was a little less...pained.
"Nonsense." She simply puts. She gets on her knees in front of him, toes tucked under her feet. Vala puts a hand to his arm. "I need to get you out of here. Before this day gets any worse." A few minutes had passed since she'd informed him on what had happened since they both stepped through the gate a few hours earlier in the day. Since then, night had fully cast a dark blanket on the building they currently took shelter in. The rain outside had continued its steady pace as Vala searched for clothing to warm the figure tucking into an energy bar she'd pocketed before embarking on her rescue mission.
"But sir, I'm the only one with a certain...um, skill set required to go and search for Daniel."
"I won't stop bugging you until you let me go find my Daniel."
"If you don't let me I'll only end up going anyway and we both know how well that turned out the first time."
Each attempt had fallen on deaf ears, or sockets as she had peered into the depths of the MALP sent through per her request to prove there was no such Daniel present and he had indeed by captured and dragged off to whatever dark corner of the alien planet she had Daniel had taken up re-con for. Doing so as she knew about a certain Alliance said to have make the planet their home. A certain Lucian Alliance. General Landry, on the opposite side of the MALP transmission had agreed the moment she informed Stargate Command the duo were in trouble. Even though she only had a zat gun.
Vala Mal Doran searched the medical cabinets above her head around the small, medical room. There were only a few though, she only needed one to have some helpful supplies inside. The first only having surgical gauze and more test tubes and beakers, the second next door was completely empty. Daniel told her over his shoulder the ones he was rummaging though didn't turn up anything better. But that was when she eyed up the one with the equivalent of a biohazard symbol attached to the front, etched in a Goauld dialect. She eyes it cautiously before turning to Daniel and asking to pass her the zat gun, now on the floor after being previously knocked from her hand. Vala uses the butt of the weapon to break the lock on the handles and opens the doors. To her surprise she found exactly what she was looking for and more.
"What was lost is now found." She picked up the bundle; a folded up lab coat and a zat – the latter probably taken from him.
"You'd think it was my birthday." He dead panned before taking the items from her. Dressing himself, Daniel found the lab coat a little too small, though he was glad of the extra warmth and an extra weapon always came in handy. Opening the zat in its offensive position, the weapon's whine alerting him he had done so correctly as he took the space behind the right door leading the way Vala had entered. She, taking the left door opposite him with zat gun a few inches over her own heart. With a nod, she puts the free hand on the handle ready to exit. Together.