Another in my series of fics pairing up Vala with various SGC characters. I haven't decided how many of these there are going to be, or who or what is going to be in them, but the running order so far is:

Sitting With Nellie (Vala/Daniel)

Personal Development Plan (Vala/Daniel, Vala/Rodney)

Team Building Exercise (Vala/Sam)

Training Day (Vala/Cam)

PG for some mildly sexual content.

Not my characters, no money made, yadda yadda.

Thanks: To Vinegardog for the beta read.

Team Building Exercise

Vala Mal Doran stepped from the shower, wrapped herself in the larger of the towels on her drying rail and used the other, slightly smaller one to wrap her hair in a turban. Stepping into the main area of her quarters she looked around her, trying to decide what to do with the rest of her evening. The various knick-knacks she had acquired to decorate her room with still struggled to hide the fact that her home these days was a boring, windowless, concrete box deep underground. She sighed and flopped her backside down on the edge of the bed. It wasn't even as though they would let her out yet, not without a minder, anyway. And seeing as she had no minder tonight, that meant another boring evening confined to base.

Since when had 'I'm staying in and washing my hair' become the best way of spending her recreation time rather than a means of blowing off unwanted suitors?

An unheralded knock at the door to her quarters caught her off guard, while she was still in the middle of drying out her left ear.

"Who is it? I'm not decent!" Of course, if it was Daniel, Cam or Teal'c then she didn't really mind not being 'decent.' In fact, the combination of one of those males and her current state of undress could make for an interesting, if not thoroughly entertaining, evening. She could even see some mileage in the situation should it be Rodney McKay. But she didn't really want Woolsey or worse, Major General Landry, to see her like this. She shivered slightly at the last two mental images that her train of thought had conjured up, before she brought a smile to her own face by returning to thoughts of her Very, Very Happy Place.

"It's Sam," came the answer, just as Vala reached the door. Samantha Carter, huh, Vala thought to herself. Could be better, could be a lot worse. Vala pulled the door open and grinned in a mix of welcome and amusement at the expression on Sam's face as she undertook a head-to-toe appraisal of Vala's current state of undress.

"Oh." Sam finally smiled as she seemed to get a grip on herself and her facial expressions. "Hoping for one of the guys, huh?"

"You got me," Vala threw her a wink, pouted and stepped aside to allow Colonel Carter entry. "But you'll do." She wiggled her eyebrows, and other parts.

"Umm, err, well, I don't really…"

"Only teasing," Vala snorted and shrugged as she shut the door. Sam let out a visible and audible sigh of relief as she relaxed. "You should have seen your face, though!" Vala added with a laugh. Sam grimaced uneasily in response. "Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We're both stuck on the base and I thought you could do with the company. I know I could. I've got everything we need for a girls' night in." Vala peered at the two bags which Sam had brought and was now setting down on the room's small desk. One bag was insulated, the other apparently a shopping bag. Her curiosity was now well and truly piqued. She peered over Sam's shoulder as Carter began to unpack.

"Girls' night in?" Vala asked, unfamiliar with the concept.

"We talk, we drink, we eat..." Sam explained, pulling apart the top of the shopping bag. "You put some clothes on…" Sam winked at Vala. "Although the guys would probably contest that part."

"What have you got?" Vala snorted her amusement at the remark about the guys' views about her state of dress and peered over Sam's shoulder, trying to see what was in the bag.

"Wine... for a girls' night in, it just has to be cheap chardonnay," Sam winked at Vala as she pulled out a bottle. "A movie... Chocolat, naturally." A DVD box followed. Vala snatched it from Sam and, holding it in both hands, stared intently at the cover. She was still getting the hang of Tauri entertainments, and had not heard of chocolate as anything over than a confectionery or a drink. And why the movie naturally had to be Chocolat was even more of a mystery.

"What's it about?" Vala asked as she turned the box over and over in her hands, frowning. Sam just laughed and, infuriatingly, snatched it back.

"Trust me, you'll love it. Stuff to paint our toenails... huh?" she pulled out a handful of bottles which Vala recognised as coloured nail varnish. "And, of course," Sam continued, turning to the insulated bag... "Food."

"It's not jello is it?" Vala asked with a suspicious frown as Sam unzipped the bag. "That stuff scares the heck out of me!"

"No," Sam laughed, struggling with the zip as it jammed slightly on the last curve of its rectangular run. "Only one thing for the sort of evening we're going to have..." With a flourish Sam pulled out two large tubs, each a couple of litres in size. "Ice cream..! Chocolate..." She flourished one container in her left hand. "And rocky road...!" she repeated the gesture with the carton in her right hand.

"Hmm, I don't suppose you've got a nicely chilled Daniel in there?" Vala chuckled, mock peering into the bag. "Or maybe a Cam? A chilled Cam would do nicely?" Or a hot Cam, topped with cold and melting chocolate ice cream.

"Not a coolbag in the Universe could manage that," Sam replied with a chuckle, picking up the remote to the TV/DVD combo mounted on the far wall of the room and flicking it on.

'~'

"The thing with Daniel is," Sam started to explain about her team mate during a lull in the dialogue coming from the TV. "The thing is, his wife and all of his girlfriends seem to get taken as hosts by the Go'auld." She and Vala lay propped up on their elbows and a whole pile of cushions, side by side on the double bed, passing the carton of chocolate ice cream between them as they half watched the movie.

"Well, been there, done that... Bought the T shirt. Although I'm not sure T shirts suit me. Tank tops, maybe... So we should be good, surely?" Vala fell silent as she further considered the implications of Sam's revelations. "Do you think that's why he won't…? Why he keeps ignoring me?"

"Maybe," Sam snagged the ice cream out of Vala's hands. The raven haired woman tried, half-heartedly, to hang on to it, but then relinquished possession. They both knew it was all just her way of being playful. There was more ice cream in the coolbag anyway, along with another bottle of wine, the first one having been drained into their glasses about five minutes previously.

"I have wondered if part of his attraction to you is that he has made you feel like you can't have him?" Sam asked. Despite the light tone and the wine-induced fuzzy feeling in her head, Vala knew full well that Sam's question was subtly pointed and probing.

"Maybe," Vala conceded. "Maybe not." She shrugged and reached for her tumbler of cheap white wine. "Not my style to over-think these things." She swigged a mouthful and swirled it round her mouth before swallowing. It was tart, zesty, even, but nevertheless very satisfying. "You know me, I like what I haven't got." She shot Sam what she thought was one of her most winsome grins.

"Just be careful, Vala," Sam fixed her with a serious eye. Vala felt suddenly nervous, flighty even. She wanted to get up and run away from the Colonel, but she steeled herself and held her ground.

"I mean, I'd love it if you two got together," Sam continued, her manner already seeming to grow more friendly, less cautioning, slightly warming the suddenly chilled atmosphere between them. "But he's been my friend for years. I just don't want to see him getting hurt."

Vala nodded slightly, but then she started thinking about the way Daniel had treated her, all the harsh words, brush offs and rejections of her attempts to get him to grow a little closer to her. There had been more than one occasion when he'd been just a little nasty. Indeed, with the exception of one or two instances, like after she had been burnt alive by the Priors, his default attitude towards her seemed to be thinly veiled irritation, bordering on contempt and hostility.

"Me? Hurt him?" Vala replied softly. "Have you seen how he treats me sometimes?" She turned away, not wanting Sam to see the tear in her eye. She felt Sam's hand fall gently on to her shoulder.

"He's just trying to protect himself, I guess. He's been hurt so often, so much. That's why I told you about his wife…"

"So he deals with it by hurting me?"

"I guess… Maybe," Sam replied. She seemed a bit unsure. Well, good, thought Vala. If Sam and Daniel really were such close friends, maybe some of this conversation would get back to him. Maybe he would change his behaviour and attitude towards her a bit? Perhaps he might even start being nice to her without her having to suffer something horrible first?

"Huh. He's hard work. Maybe I should see if I can pull Teal'c instead?" Vala sniffled, snorting back her teary snot. "I could fancy a bit of beefcake…"

"Well, you're not really his sort."

"We get on fine. More than fine."

"As friends, maybe."

"So, what do you mean, not his sort?"

"You're not Jaffa." Sam stated.

"So he doesn't..?"

"No. Although there was one girl, a civilian, off base, but nothing seemed to come of it."

"Oh. How about Cam, then? He's got a great arse and…"

"Cam!" Sam practically exploded with mirth. "Nah!" she shook her head and laughed. "I thought you knew? He only goes for blondes!"

Vala turned to face Sam, fixing her to the spot with a meaning-laden smirk. "Well, I guess you would know?" She arched an eyebrow to drive her point home. Sam frowned for a moment, clearly trying to work out what Vala meant by that remark.

"Oh!" Shocked realisation was suddenly written across her features. "Oh no! No no no!" Sam shook her head adamantly. She looked away, towards the TV, then turned her eyes back on Vala. "No!" she repeated.

"Really?" Vala sniggered. "You're quite sure about that, then?" Sam nodded. "And how would you be so sure?" Sam blushed, held her hand up to her mouth then gently punched Vala's upper arm.

"You little...!" Sam caught herself, leaving Vala to wonder what Sam might have been about to have accused her of being. Vala chuckled. This was more like it: Putting someone else's love life on the spot was far more fun than having her own emotions and motivations pored over. "He only goes for dumb blondes!"

Vala laughed freely and deeply. "And your point?" she teased. The teasing opportunities just kept coming. It was all too good to let go.

"Shut up, you, or I'll take my ice cream and booze and go," Sam retorted with a laugh.

"So, what do you think, then? Should I make a move on Cam?"

"Go for it, if you like. See how far you get."

"Perhaps I will." Vala took another swig of wine. "Put your money where your mouth is – do you want to bet me I can't get anywhere?"

"Vala…!" Sam looked shocked and suddenly serious. "That would be so inappropriate!"

"Oh, nothing serious," Vala lied, reading the situation and adapting her words in response. A moment ago she'd been thinking of wagering Sam she could bed Cam. It would have been a perfectly normal suggestion back in her old life. "How about a pint of ice cream says I can get him to kiss me, a bottle of wine says I can get him to ask me on a date?"

Sam seemed to consider Vala's proposal for a moment. Vala hoped the wine had loosened the Colonel up enough to take the bet. "Done," Sam replied, hurrying the word out as though she were scared to say it. "You've got one month."

Vala grinned, standing to retrieve the next bottle of wine from the coolbag. "Easy…" she laughed. Easy and fun, she thought to herself.

'~'

The End