Stargate SG1: Only the Good (Die Young)
Disclaimer: Stargate and all of its characters, locations, etc. belong to their respective owners; I'm just borrowing. No copyright infringement intended!
Author's Note: With apologies to Tel nok shock, who keeps asking me for happy fic (it'll happen one day...maybe...). Posting this particular one today as a sort of tribute to a lovely, wonderful woman from my church who died suddenly this week. She was a beautiful and joyful woman, and she will be missed. "Only the good die young" is all too true today...
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Only the good die young.
That was a lie, Vala thought irritably, if ever she had heard one. She glanced down the length of her body at the dark stain that was soaking across the midsection of her "mother of the Orici" dress. She felt the breath stick in her throat as the numbness of the wound gave way to an explosion of agony. It was completely irrational for her to remember burning alive when she was bleeding to death, but right now she felt like she was on fire, and shouldn't her blood be putting that out?
Oh, hell, it hurts!
Definitely a lie. Whatever famed Tau'ri had thought up the phrase should have been executed on the spot, for coming up with such a deceptive proverb. Or, if they had based the words on any actual evidence, they would surely have had to alter the phrase after today. Vala prided herself on many things, but she had never even in passing considered herself to be good. If the proverb really was a truth as it had been made out to be, she should have lived forever. She was a self-centered whore, queen of the damned; and in accordance with the Tau'ri's apparent thinking, that meant that she should be running away laughing because she'd once again cheated what was probably justice.
Mother?
Vala?
The universe had a funny way of mocking her. Adria's hands were on her, and Tomin filled her field of vision. Her abomination child and the husband she betrayed. Quite a little family they made, and wasn't it a fine time for them to start giving a damn about her? Only the good... She'd always thought that Tomin's continued existence was further evidence that the entire Tau'ri understanding of the proverb was flawed, but maybe it was really just proof that he wasn't as good as he had appeared.
If that was the case, maybe her sacrifice fit the proverb, after all. Maybe it had been a subconscious defense mechanism, her gravity towards the darker side of life, and her attempt to be good and save Daniel's life was reaping its just rewards. Maybe the universe had just been waiting for that one good deed to sweep in and end her life and be done with her. Wouldn't that be something? Vala Mal Doran, the liar, the thief, the murderer, dying a good woman? There was definitely something wrong with this universe.
Leave me, grab her.
Yeah, like that's gonna happen.
Adria's attempts to heal her were cut short by Daniel, and Vala hung on to the pain. Maybe there was something to this whole "dying good" gig, and Adria was more important than she was anyways. She'd been the vessel, but she could cause no more damage. Let her die, be a hero; let it mean something. But Daniel, brilliant, stupid Daniel Jackson had to go and be good (now he was a contradiction to the proverb, if ever there was one), and when it came down to it he chose her.
The rescue was not as welcome as Vala led them to believe. She let them be relieved for her safety, but she felt jilted.
In her mind the universe had spoken, and her continued breathing suggested that one good action was not nearly enough to invalidate a lifetime of evil.
Only the good die young.
Fin.
Note: For the record, Vala IS good. This is very much her perception, not mine.