Daniel's away, and it's the first time the team's been broken up, and if that's not bad enough, he's left just as they need his expertise in Ancient.
There's apparently something important carved onto a rock on PSX-324, and maybe it is, maybe it's the key to Daniel's secret weapon, but it's cold and they're coming under fire at the same time as they're trying to copy it down and when the rain starts Mitchell knows it's time to call the entire charade to a halt.
They're in a little clearing in a forest, surrounding by hills which are mighty convenient for the mysterious attackers but overall plenty unpleasant for them. Carter's scribbling away, but then a shot comes too close and grazes her wrist, and he pulls her back and starts handing out orders.
"You two, get to the gate, call in reinforcements," he says tersely. "We'll wait here and keep on with the funny writing."
He's not sure when "you two" ended up meaning "Teal'c and Carter" and "us" started meaning himself and Vala, but it's been within the time Jackson's been away, and it's kind of disconcerting that having Vala right there's beginning to feel normal, and that's he's starting to be constantly aware of her, the exact distance at any time between his space and hers.
Tea'lc nods, pulls Carter along with him, and Vala squats down and takes over as scribe. It's Ancient, but she's seen more of it than he has just by looking over Daniel's shoulder. In ten minutes she's finished with the inscription and he takes it off her, lets her cover him for a bit while he checks it over, makes sure they haven't got it wrong. He doesn't want to come back.
The rain's turned to sleet, which means that not only has the rate of fire dropped down but the temperature has too. Mitchell's glad of his heavy coat, but he's annoyed with Vala because she'd refused to wear hers - "entirely too unattractive, Colonel" – and so when he's certain that they've got the carving correct, and that the attackers are evidently too cold to continue with the weaponry, he opens his coat, pulls her in close, then buttons it up again. He can feel her shivering increase immediately on contact with him, and he thinks uneasily that he let her get too close to hypothermia. She moves under his jacket and then he realises that she's unbuttoning his shirt, unzipping her top. Then they're standing together, skin against skin, her damp head tucked underneath his chin.
Her arms are circling his waist; he slips his out of his sleeves and pulls her in closer, leaving the coat hanging around them like a tent. Her breasts are pressed flush against his chest. He can feel her heart-beat, he can feel her damp skin warming, her shivering decreasing. Occasionally a shudder runs through her, a long tremble, and he holds her tightly through it. It's not just the cold. And he remembers when he first saw their doubles, in their cool black leather, and how it seemed that they were standing together underneath the same dark coat.
There's finally a shout and the sight of the reinforcements coming towards them. Vala lifts her head up for a moment, opens her mouth to say something, closes it, regards him steadily. Then she turns, unbuttons the coat, steps out and fixes her clothing. They make it back to the gate with the writing and then there's a message, that another Supergate was being formed but their doubles managed to destroy it. "Without getting sucked into Orii space," Landry says, looking over at Vala, and she shrugs. "Well, there were two of them, weren't there?" And Mitchell wonders when he's going to stop feeling entirely responsible for what happened to Vala with the baby and all, figures probably never.
Daniel's back on the next mission after that. He'd hummed a little non-committally when Mitchell had asked him whether the the inscription was significant – "um, could be" – and had added it to his pile of information, all the pieces of the puzzle which were going to lead to an end to the entire Orii thing. They're on a tight schedule; they've got to have saved the universe, yesterday.
So the missions are slightly different. It's the team, and he's glad to have the team back, glad to have all the input and more than that, the feeling that goes through them like a circuit, that doesn't work the same when one of them is gone. "We" and "us" and "you" don't mean the same things any more, and he sometimes looks to his left, feeling something missing, to see Daniel and Vala stopped yards back, arguing over something. But the team's back together, and that's good. He hasn't got time for distractions.
There's so many distractions that he distracts himself, making a list of them all. The way she sits, doesn't sit, in her chair. It drives Teal'c into a frenzy, watching her swing it from side to side, curl over, stretch out, spin it right around and then start all over again. She's either touching someone with her foot or leaning out, her arm over someone's shoulders. Half the time Mitchell engineers it so she's sitting beside him, the rest of the time he consciously tries to sit as far away as possible. She's got a tendency to reach over, whisper in someone's ear, saying absolutely nothing with that wide, wide grin, and then look over at Landry with an expression of innocence, assuring him that she was ready to go along with the plan, any plan.
She's always, always, stealing other people's food if they eat together in the mess. Daniel can't bear it; he finds it grotesque, having her fingers inch over and grab something off his plate. And she's always putting together odd combinations of food and justifying the particular flavour. Her eyes light up whenever there's something new on the menu, even if everyone else is groaning because they expected roast beef that day and got macaroni instead. She wants to try everything.
And for some reason, even though she's wearing the same uniform as everyone else, it fits her a little differently. He's sure it must've come off a rack like any other bit of clothing, but it looks like it's been made for her. He hadn't thought those blue trousers could've looked good on anyone but they're snug over her ass in a way that he can't quite understand. He'd say that the trousers, her in them, walking ahead of him down the corridor towards the gate room or the mess or any place, actually, would be the chief distraction of all except that he's had her bare skin on him not so long ago and so the part of her that he keeps thinking about and having to look away from is the pale skin above the V of her jacket.
Right then, she's kneeling on her chair, swinging it idly from side to side with her ass in the air, leaning forward over the table to pick out the green M&Ms from the packet that Daniel's holding in his hand and Mitchell's about to go insane, especially as the black t-shirt's she's wearing is about as snug as her pants and he can see her hanging there above the table. He doesn't think it can get any worse.
"Vala, would you –" he begins, ready to send her out of the room if it'll give him a little space, when she suddenly sits back, crashing on the chair so it spins a complete revolution. "Well!" she says. "I didn't notice that before."
That, is something on the list of planets which Carter inadvertently gave to Baal. She slides a finger down the list and enunciates one of the names clearly. Daniel shrugs, waiting, and Carter raises her eyebrows impatiently.
"Well, you know, Colonel," she says, and Mitchell wonders why he hates, so much, the way she says that. "It's PSX-231. Our planet, you know. Our recent little getaway?"
It takes him a little longer, but as soon as she mentions – "overnight bag?" he jumps, and says, "Oh . .."
She gives him one of her grins, reaches over to him, pats him on the arm. "I'll say no more," she whispers, and then looks back at the others, winks. "Really, we should warn them, if Baal's headed their way. A few of the other planets on this list seem to be in the same vicinity."
"It's the place where we met up with Crichton, Aeryn Sun," Mitchell says finally, for Daniel's benefit mostly. "Yeah – we'd better get word to them."
"If they managed to destroy a Supergate on their own, maybe they could be a help to us," Carter suggests. "If they know the planets, if Merlin's weapon is supposed to be on one of them . . ."
"We've already narrowed down that list," Daniel interrupts, and Teal'c frowns and reminds him that they'd visited the place Daniel had said and got nowhere and worse than nowhere nearly dead. Vala frowns, remembering that she'd been left behind for that visit. And Mitchell frowns because he's already so distracted that he's not sure he can bear another visit with their doubles who keep dangling the thing they haven't got right in front of their faces, even though they've been married for years, for fuck's sake.
Landry calls for Teal'c; Daniel and Carter wander out, still discussing the possibility of Merlin's weapon not being where Morgan le Fay said it was; and Mitchell stands up quickly, not particularly wanting to stay at the table with Vala. He's got an office, and it has a door that shuts.
But she's standing at the doorway before he can make his escape. "Another outing, Colonel?" she suggests, moving from one foot to another as though ready to run to the gate.
"They'll get a message," Mitchell tells her. "That's enough." He begins to push past her, but she has a hand on his chin and then his cheek and then her thumb, somehow, has slipped into his mouth. Her hand is so small but it's like he's choking, it's like he can't breathe at all. He bites down slowly, angry and half-hard, and she takes a sudden inward breath, her eyes widening. He can't tell what that means. Taking hold of her wrist, he pulls her away from him and leaves her in the room alone. He needs his office with the door that shuts.
"What we need," Crichton says, "is Kryptonite."
Aeryn and Vala look over at him hopefully. Mitchell sighs. "We've got a rule about not using cultural references," he begins, and Vala's face falls.
"What, you've been on Earth for however long and he hasn't shown you Superman yet?" Crichton asks, honestly astonished.
Vala makes a noise that's in between a snort and a full-blown laugh, and says, "I've been trying, let me tell you." Mitchell says, "It's been hard, finding time for the movies in between saving the world and all," and feels sulky and ridiculous. He can't believe he's brought Vala back here.
They're in the same tea-house, but they noticed some changes on the trip between the Stargate and the stairs. There were some soldiers guarding the gate, for one thing. More soldiers in the marketplace, too. Crichton called them "peacekeepers" but they look too dangerous to have the term "peace" in their name. He remembers that's what Aeryn was, wonders whether menace is bred into them.
She's looking paler than usual, sitting back in the booth in the dark. The tiny restaurant is empty, and the lights are so low Mitchell's practically squinting. There's the scent of siri tea, and sugar, too, from the plate of tiny syrup-covered cakes sitting in between them. Vala's the only one touching them, licking the syrup from her fingers, her tongue nudging her lips, getting the last few crumbs. He adds her tongue to his list of distractions, then tries, too late, to forget the thought.
"Kryptonite's this substance, the only thing that kills this alien guy who's unstoppable," he offers finally.
"Godlike alien?" Aeryn asks, and Crichton nods, but says, "Just a story, though. The idea being, everyone's got their weakness. His was this glowy green substance called Kryptonite." He pauses. "And Lois Lane, of course."
Vala smirks. Mitchell sighs, leans back. "Well, Daniel thinks this weapon exists, and these other guys think it exists too, and they might come here looking for it."
"Can they be killed?" Aeryn asks, and he nods. He slides over a picture of Baal. "There's a whole lot of them, clones, but I guess they'll be splitting up for the search. Might not be dangerous. Might be."
"Well, the Peacekeepers are here now," Crichton says, and looks unhappy.
"Yes, they are," Aeryn replies sharply. "Enough of them on all the planets from that list you mentioned, so that we'll all know what's going on."
"I thought this wasn't a Peacekeeper planet," Vala says, looking from one to the other. She doesn't flinch when Aeryn glares at her, but Mitchell does.
"Peacekeeper controlled space has been – extended, due to the emergency," Crichton drawls. "Just temporarily, mind you. They'll be sure to give it all back once the Orii threat's done."
"They've lost enough of it already," Aeryn hisses at him, "and we'll all be moved on, further into Tormented Space, if this mythical weapon isn't unearthed shortly. The Peacekeepers are just taking necessary precautions in case of more planetry takeovers."
Crichton slides out of the booth, looks at Mitchell and Vala, smiles faintly. "Give us a minute," he says, and walks over to the other side of the room. Aeryn slams her cup down and follows him, grabbing his retreating shoulder and spinning him around. Mitchell's not sure whether she's going to shoot him or kiss him, and he can see by Vala's interested gaze she's hoping for the latter.
It's a small room, so that space gives only an illusion of privacy. Mitchell turns Vala deliberately back to the cakes; and then listens hard.
"Fuck this!" Crichton explodes. "Necessary precautions? They've invaded and put martial law onto at least six planetry systems – including the Royal planet –"
"Oh yes, the Royal planet," and now Aeryn's wearing a grim smile, "Utopia's well and truly frelled now, isn't it."
"My daughter is there." Crichton's low voice is dangerous, and he steps into her space, close.
"And my son is here!" Aeryn retorts fiercely, shoving him back, "not some potential in a statue, here, right here, and you're suggesting we just let the Orii come and get him whenever they choose?"
"I'm suggesting that letting the Peacekeepers fuck the universe is just as bad. I risked everything to stop that war! And then you just waltz over to High Command, tell them a couple of names, and let them –"
"So that's what it's all about. You've always got to be the one to do it, correct? I've told you before – I am supposed to be protecting you!"
The storm's so close, Mitchell can practically smell the ozone. He's not sure whether he's grateful or disappointed that they haven't got the idealised relationship he'd half-imagined before arriving. He looks sideways at Vala – she's turned from the cakes, is staring at the pair of them, fascinated. And then, before he can grab her, she's up, dusting off her tiny skirt (Mitchell reminds himself to find out who told her about that variation on the uniform) and heading towards the pair of them. "Really," she says, "it's so sweet to see this little tiff over protection rights. Reminds me of the wonderful argument we had over contraception, doesn't it, Colonel?" And she looks back at him over her shoulder, winks. "It's rather a waste of time, though, don't you think? Because, you know, whoever wins, loses, because there's no protection."
Suddenly her voice changes and Mitchell feels a shiver come over him, watches as John and Aeryn freeze, stare at her. "No defence. No way of guarding against what they're going to do. If they want to give you a magical child, they will. If they want to burn you alive, they will. If they want to take over a planet, destroy everything on it, they will. I love the men wandering around here with their over-sized guns, I really do, and some of the women are rather lovely as well, but whether they're here or not isn't actually going to make a bit of difference. We're all going to die, or we find this weapon and we don't die, and that's just about all that's going to happen." She waits there with a little smile on her face, then spins around, finds the proprietor leaning curiously out of the kitchen door, and says, "Oh, more of those delicious cakes, please!"
By the time the cakes have arrived, John and Aeryn are back in the booth, and Vala's slipped in beside Mitchell and they're talking quietly about whether the worlds in this galaxy that the Orii have taken over are now being used to instigate more takeovers, with soldiers being trained and vessels being built. Mitchell tries a cake, finds it so sweet that he begins to suspect that the sugar in the thing just fuelled both the argument and Vala's outburst. Then he remembers that only Vala ate them, and it's not exactly out of character for her anyway.
"I don't do hopelessness well," Crichton says finally. "We'll do what we can on this end."
"You've already done a lot. That Supergate," Mitchell says, and Crichton shrugs. "Aeryn's a good pilot." He's got his hand resting on her arm on the table, just on the underside of her elbow, and Mitchell thinks vaguely that maybe it's the fighting over the same things that gives out the sense that they can never be detached one from the other.
When they get back to Stargate Command, Vala's slightly pensive. "I forgot to pop into that stall, tell the man what I found inside the puzzle box," she frowns, as they walk into the meeting room to debrief with Landry.
"Well, we can't go back there now," Mitchell says. "Why taunt them, anyway? It's not like you're going to give it to him." He opens the door, lets her find whichever seat in the room spins the best. He waits there, trying to decide which side of the table he feels like sitting that day.
Vala shrugs, choosing her seat, sitting down. "Maybe if he had something just as good in return," she says, waiting for him.
"Just as good?" Mitchell repeats, grinning. "You mean better."
Landry comes in, listens to their report, laughs at the comment about Kryptonite. "I haven't found yours, yet," he says, reminding Mitchell of his first day. "Can't very well say if that'll be tougher than finding it for the Orii."
"Oh well," Vala says, "so long as you know about Lois Lane," and Landry blinks, stares, and says, "What, you've had time to watch movies in between saving the world?"
He's called out suddenly, and Mitchell leans back, sighing, thinking that the report has to be written up and probably before the weekend. There's been too many distractions for report-writing and he wonders whether that counts as his Kryptonite, his ability to be utterly distracted from the main task by things which really should be inessentials. He feels like adding it all into his report, the sugar and the heat of the walk through the marketplace and the actual spark he saw fly when Aeryn Sun got angry and the way she didn't kill Vala for stepping up and saying out loud that we're all screwed, we're all screwed, we're all screwed.
He looks over at Vala, noticing that the chair isn't spinning. She looks tired, actually, and he wonders whether it takes more than a couple of months for her body to get back to normal after giving birth and then he remembers that her daughter healed her, sort of. But she got shot after that anyway. "You look like you're about to crash," he says, and she gives him an almost-grin. "Probably the sugar," she says, and gets up, heads to the door. That doesn't seem right and he stops her before she gets there and leans his hand on the door so no one can come in and then puts her in between the door and himself so that there's no space between them and says, "Daniel's back?" and she says, "Yes," and pulls him down and kisses him.