Halfway into Ocean's Eleven, nearly all of SG-1 had nodded off.
Movie nights were few and far between as the war against the Ori intensified, but each was a precious respite. Sometimes the team stayed up late into the night, swapping stories and laughing together over cold beer and pizza. Other nights, when they were battle-weary and exhausted, their eyes grew heavy quickly.
"Aw man, did I fall asleep again?" Cam grumbled as the credits began to roll. "This recliner's too damn comfortable, Sam."
"I didn't hear any complaining when you made Teal'c play rock, paper, scissors for it," Carter retorted as she leaned forward and stretched.
"And he literally crushed my hand with the 'rock,'" he said with air quotes. "Oh, I remember."
"Well, we're clearly all ready to hit the sack." Sam stood up and collected her empty beer bottle off the coffee table. "I'm turning in. Guest room's made up as usual if you guys don't want to be on the road so late."
"I regret I must depart," said Teal'c with a customary bow. "I am needed on Dakara at first light."
"Then I'm calling the air mattress," Cam cried. "My grandma would've called it comfier than a cloud come down from heaven."
Sam rolled her eyes and gave them each a peck on the cheek. "Night, gentlemen."
She turned back to the living room, but the question on her lips stilled when she beheld the remainder of the team still peacefully fast asleep on the sofa, as oblivious to the buzz of conversation as they had been to the movie. Vala's jet-black head was resting on Daniel's shoulder. She and Teal'c raised an eyebrow in unison.
A clatter startled Daniel awake. His hand reached for his hip instinctively, as if expecting his service weapon to be there, but he relaxed when he spied an orange tail curling outside the windowsill, barely lit by moonlight. It was just Schrödinger hunting in the night.
The tension in his chest melted and he relaxed back into the plush sofa, eyes adjusting to the darkness of Sam's living room. Only then did he notice the pale cheek resting in the crook of his neck, the raven mane of hair fanned across his chest.
He studied Vala, shrouded in her lavender satin pajamas.
The tangle of contradictory emotions normally suppressed below a sheen of sarcasm and moral superiority surfaced unbidden.
Emboldened by the still silence of the night, he raised a hand to brush against her angular jawline. She shifted against him, letting out a sleepy, contented sigh and nuzzling her nose into his neck. Her expression was utterly peaceful, more relaxed than he had ever seen it in the daylight.
Her pale eyes opened unexpectedly when he stroked her cheek again.
"Hey, sleepy," he said, unable to keep a soft smile from tugging at his lips.
For a moment she just looked at him, face placid. "I guess we slept through the movie?"
"I guess so."
Vala laid her cheek back on Daniel's shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist — uncharacteristically snuggly, not seductive, but vulnerable.
"I missed you, Daniel," she murmured into his T-shirt.
"What do you mean?"
"In the Ori galaxy. I missed you." She took a steadying breath. "There was so much going on with the Priors and the resistance and trying to stop them from literally taking over the universe, but the whole time, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I'd be in the middle of planning an attack or at morning prayers or cooking dinner, and I'd get caught up wondering what you were doing. What mission you were on. Whether you'd found yourself some other ravishing alien harlot to trot around Stargate Command, which you of course are notorious for doing. I just…I missed you."
Brows furrowed deeply and eyes blazing, Daniel tugged his arm free to wrap it around her shoulders and pressed his mouth to her hair. "I know. I missed you too."
"No, you didn't. I drive you crazy."
He smiled against her hair. "You do. But I still missed you."
She took a deep, steadying breath into his chest, then pushed herself upright. "Daniel, you're one of the only people who's ever valued me for who I am. You've criticized me before for using crime and sex and power as a mask, and you're right. I absolutely do. But you saw right through me from the start." Her eyes glimmered dangerously in the moonlight.
Daniel raised a hand almost unconsciously to stroke her cheek again. Vala leaned into it, eyes slipping back closed. "Daniel, I don't want a mask anymore."
Mentally whispering something like a prayer, he leaned forward, caught himself, and finally pressed a kiss to her forehead.
The middle of the night after a grueling week off-world was no time to be making declarations. Morning light would come soon enough. Just being, together, would have to do for now.
"C'mere," he said, and gently pulled her down to lay on her side, pressing his chest against her back and curling his top arm over her waist, muscles tense in these new waters. As her breath slowed and gave into slumber, he relaxed and laid his cheek down on her sweet-smelling hair. And he let sleep take him again.
Sunlight streamed through the blinds, birds chirping bucolically, as Sam rose from bed and stretched her arms into the air. She hadn't felt quite so rested in weeks — not to mention woken up somewhere with natural light and no concrete walls.
Tossing a robe over her pajamas, she padded downstairs to turn on the coffee pot. She smirked at the deafening snores echoing down the hall.
She stopped in her tracks on the way to the front door to grab the newspaper. There were Daniel and Vala on her couch, sound asleep in their pajamas and intertwined, her hand resting on top of his and his nose tucked into her neck. They looked peaceful.
Sam just grinned retreated into the kitchen to start breakfast. She made sure to bang the pan on the stove a few times, hoping to allow them the dignity of not being awoken while publicly spooning if they wanted it.
Vala stirred, feeling movement behind her and a tickling breath on her neck. "Daniel?"
They both sat up, hands rubbing groggy faces and stretching out kinks.
Daniel perched his glasses on his nose and looked at her with clear eyes. "Hi."
"Did we just…cuddle?"
"I suppose you could say that."
"Really. Because that's very unlike me, you know. I usually skip straight past the cuddling to the good stu—"
Suddenly Daniel buried a hand in the hair at the nape of her neck and claimed her lips firmly with his own.
It was reckless, romantic, very unlike him, but the surge in his chest and the feel of her hands on his chest told him that maybe a little more recklessness was just what he needed.
As Sam was noisily scrambling a pan full of eggs, she heard a chipper "Good morning" behind her. Daniel and Vala had just walked in, hair slightly rumpled from sleep. Sam clearly noticed but didn't comment on the teammates' hands loosely interlaced.
"Morning," she replied. "Coffee's made and breakfast is almost ready if you're hungry."
"Yes, please," Daniel said, pouring himself a mug as Vala thanked Sam cheerily and excused herself to freshen up.
Sam bit her lip to restrain the smirk but couldn't resist. "So, what happened last night?" she asked nonchalantly after letting him silently sip his coffee for a moment, chancing a knowing glance. "I saw those hands."
"Nothing," Daniel said, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "We just talked."
"About?"
Daniel shot her a withering glare. "Sam."
"Ok, ok, none of my business," she said, busying herself with the eggs. "Just wondering when I get to tell Cam that I won."
"Won?"
"The bet." She grinned cheekily. "That you two would finally realize you're smitten."
"Who's smitten?" Vala asked in her usual cheery tone as she waltzed back into the room. "I love gossip. Is it General Landry? I always thought he might have a thing for—"
"Nobody," Daniel said sternly but after a moment of thought, in a surge of well-rested congeniality, he reached for Vala's hand, tugged her into him, and planted a long, searing kiss on her lips.
"Whoa-ho-ho!" Cam's voice shattered the silence. "Damn, Carter, I guess I owe you 50 bucks." He sauntered into the kitchen, crossed his arms, and surveyed the couple amusedly.
"I thought it was 75."
Vala's eyes were wide when the kiss ended and a true smile spread across Daniel's face. "I'm so confused," she breathed. "Who's getting money for what?"
"Don't worry about it," Daniel said, eyes trained on her lips, and kissed her again.
A few dollar bills changed hands.
"Ok, ok, knock it off, lovebirds," Cam cried. "Can we eat our breakfast in peace?"
"Yes," Vala said with a cheeky grin. "Yes we certainly can."