Disclaimer: Stargate SG1 isn't mine.
Summary: He didn't know why he'd called her, but when it came down to it, it didn't matter, all that mattered was just hearing her voice. Hearing her voice would be enough.
Pairing: Daniel/Vala
Genre: Angst.
Author's Notes: Kind of inspired by the song 'One Last Time' by 'Dusty Drake' I did a search for 'sad country songs' on google last night and that was one of the ones that came up. It took me a while to think which characters would work best, but figured I'd fall back on the couple I know I can kind of write; Daniel/Vala. It's a little weird, almost definite occ, although I did try, not that I'm ever any good at keeping them in character anyway…
Warning: I think the very word 'warning' is enough of an indicator.
Sam rubbed the back of her neck, trying to ease the tension building there.
She would much rather be soaking in a hot tub round about now but that wasn't going to happen any time soon; this report needed finishing by morning and she'd promised Vala a 'girls only night' after Cameron had invited them all over for beer, pizza and poker and she'd had no choice but decline given that although she hadn't anticipated the report taking this long to complete it was definitely going to be late in the evening and she was sure she wouldn't really feel up to anything to strenuous after that. Vala had said no as 'they were all to easy to beat'.
When the brunette had asked what they could do instead, she, sucker that she was, had told her to find a few good DVDs and they could have a kind of movie night with just to the two of them, hot chocolate and popcorn.
"How's it going?" Vala bounced in to the lab, bright eyes sparkling "almost done?"
Sam gave her a guilty smile "not quite,"
"Oh," she breathed, a little put out "anything I can do to help?"
Sam frowned at the computer screen "uh… no," she said as gently as possible "sorry,"
Vala nodded, silent for a moment.
"Why don't you go on ahead to my house? Get an Airman to drive you. I'll be there as soon as I can." She smiled in what she hoped was an apologetic manner, holding out her house keys as a kind of peace offering.
"Okay," and with that she turned around and left, leaving Sam to take a calming breath and look back at the half-finished report on screen.
---
"Thank you," Vala smiled politely at the airman as she shut the car door.
"Not a problem ma'am," he smiled "you'll be okay here?"
"Yes,"
"I'll be off then,"
Vala turned and headed up the garden path as the airmen pulled away, letting herself into the empty house humming a tune that had been playing in the car ride over. She'd never been over to Sam's house before and she found herself subconsciously assessing the value of the items there. Scolding herself inwardly when she caught herself doing it; her intentions had not been incorrect but it was wrong all the same to be determining what her friend's belongings were worth.
She jumped when the ringing of the cell phone that she had bought herself with one of her first pay checks, broke through the silence. Not many calls were made to the phone, mostly she just called the others in boredom, to the point that it was nearly a ritual for Daniel to leave his phone off the hook on a night because there were only so many calls he claimed he could take.
"Daniel!" she exclaimed happily, putting the DVDs in her hand on the coffee table and her purse on the couch before moving into the kitchen to help herself to a glass of water "are you loosing?"
There was a silence on the other end.
"Oh come on Daniel, there's no need to get-" a hiss on the other end of the line had he cutting herself off "is everything all right?"
"I just…" he broke off in a coughing fit "I…"
"Daniel?"
"I needed to… I need to tell you…" his voice was quiet, almost a whisper but to breathy for it to be intentional and she could hear voices in the background, they weren't saying anything she could make out until a man with a very deep voice broke through the general chatter and said "hang in there sir,"
"Daniel!" she slammed the glass she had managed to fill down so hard that water splashed over the sides.
He swallowed "there was an accident… I uh… wasn't looking…"
She'd heard the phrase 'blood ran cold' and she had never really spent much time contemplating it, now she could feel hers chilling her at the unsaid words in that sentence. "I thought you were at Cameron's,"
He hissed loudly and she winced as the sound echoed down the line "… was… on my way home…"
"What happened?"
It was a stupid question, he'd already told her; there'd been an accident. But it was exactly that she couldn't get her head around. The word just wasn't going in no matter how many times she tried to wrap her head around it.
"I just… I had to call… had… have… hafta say…" his voice was thick and slurred and if she was not mistaken she could hear him spitting something out, that she sincerely hoped wasn't, but knew without having to ask, was blood.
"No… you had an accident but… but… you were at Cameron's!"
Poker night. He'd gone to play poker at Cameron's. How… this couldn't be real. She moved the phone away from her ear and checked the screen, staring at it for a few seconds as the words 'Daniel Calling' flashed there.
"I wanted to call you… wanted to say…" there was a sound distinctly like metal being banged together followed by something that she refused to accept as a sob "I don't think… I don't… they can't get me out Vala,"
Was he… was he crying? No. Daniel wouldn't be crying, this wasn't Daniel. This wasn't real. She was watching DVDs with Sam and had fallen asleep, she'd wake up any minute… right?
"What? Who can't get you out? Daniel, what happened?"
"A truck hit me," he said quietly, in a voice so weak it didn't even sound like his own.
"Where are you?" maybe this would easier if she was with him, maybe he was drunk, she found herself smiling pathetically at that, the one time she had seen the man drunk had been amusing beyond what she thought was possible.
She'd seen nearly every drunk she thought possible; when she was drunk she was more forthcoming than usual, and highly emotional, or so she'd been told. Sam just laughed, or more giggled. A lot. Cam sang, loudly and badly and Daniel was just… well the word Sam had supplied amidst fits of giggles had been 'cute'. He tended to get almost hyperactive, and became very involved in rants that made even less sense than they usually did, smiling like a madman the whole time. He didn't really sound like that now.
He swallowed thickly "doesn't matter,"
"What? Of course it matters! Daniel where are you?"
"Uh-uh." She could practically hear him trying to shake his head. "Truck hit the side of the car… they can't get me out,"
"Yes they can," she assured him earnestly, whoever 'they' were.
"You're not going… are… are you?"
Hearing the plea in his voice she noted that her hands were shaking so badly it was a wonder she hadn't already dropped the phone "no," she said, her voice just as heavy.
"Good," he seemed to sigh then "that's… that's good,"
"I'm at Sam's." she said it as if it mattered.
"Is Sam there?"
"No… she's still at the SGC. She'll be hear soon."
"Be gone then," was all he said, and she wasn't sure whether he was talking about himself, her or the words bore no significance, she didn't ask, she wasn't sure she could deal with the answer.
"You talking to your missus there buddy?" the deep voiced man asked.
"No," she heard Daniel reply, it was said as if he was going to continue but he didn't, she could imagine the face of his un-described rescuer fixing on him for a second, waiting for the rest of the sentence before continuing to try and get him out.
"Why me?" she heard herself asking.
He seemed to jump at that point "wanted to tell you… talk to you…"
"What?" she whispered, determined to keep him talking.
"Had to… had to say goodbye…"
The words hit her like a punch in the gut and she clutched at the work top with a grip that she could feel burning her fingers "this isn't happening," she croaked without even realising she'd spoken out loud.
It was like some really bad movie, only it wasn't because even if the movie made you cry it didn't make it ache, didn't make it feel like you were loosing complete control, "don't make me do this Daniel," the tears blurred her eyes and her breath caught in her chest "don't make me do this,"
"I had to call," he whispered "I had to… I had to tell you… I-"
"No!" she cried "don't say that, don't say that! You're fine! You're fine! I am not going to listen to you… listen to you… I can't do that Daniel, please," it wasn't clear what she was pleading for, even she had no idea, it could have been a thousand and one things, but not the option she was being given, that option was unacceptable, "just tell me where you are,"
"No," he said firmly, or as firmly as a man in his condition could.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tipped her head back for a second before reopening them, running a hand through her hair "how badly hurt are you?"
"I don't… my battery's going to-"
"How badly hurt are you?" she screamed down the phone.
It slipped again, his voice catching in his throat "I can't feel my legs," he admitted "and I can't… can't move… I don't… there's a lot of… Vala don't, I can't tell you," he begged.
The image in her head worsening with every word and yet she couldn't get it out of her head. Blood. He'd meant blood, he hadn't said it but that's what there was a lot of. A lot of blood. Too much blood, it was everywhere, she closed her eyes and snapped them open again when she saw red painted there as well.
"I'm sorry Daniel," she choked out "I'm so sorry,"
Ignoring the beep of warning for his phone battery he forced the words from his mouth "what for?"
She wasn't even sure what she was apologising for, anything, everything, what ever she could possibly be found guilty for "I cheated, when we played poker that time, I cheated, and it was me who… who dented your car door… and… and I'm sorry that I… I annoyed you and… and… and…"
"My battery's going to go Vala… it's okay… it doesn't, doesn't…" she could hear him struggling for breath and it was enough for her own breath to catch even harder in her chest "promise me… promise me you'll stay… promise… promise me you won't run away once… once I've…"
"They won't understand," she cut him off, refusing to hear him say the words she still couldn't, and most likely, never would accept. "Sam and Cameron…Teal'c… Teal'c will get really mad, you don't want to make him mad,"
He laughed wetly and it ended harshly as it caused him more pain "tell them… tell them I'm okay…" it beeped again, indicating his battery was almost completely depleted.
"No, no, I won't let you…"
"I have to… have to… g-go…"
She shook her head but didn't say anything.
"Vala… I… Vala?"
"Yeah?" she said so quietly she wasn't sure she'd said it all.
"Tell me it's going… t-to be oh… okay?"
He wasn't even completely with it anymore, she could hear both in his voice and his words, they weren't the words of a man fighting for his life, they were of… of…
"Vala?"
"It's okay," she said quickly, trying to make them sound as sincere as possible "you're okay, they're going to get you out, just… hang on okay?"
"I have to go now," he was back again, his voice stronger but not strong enough and he didn't seem aware of the fear that had laced his voice before.
He'd died before, Vala knew that but that didn't mean… he was alone. He was on his own he wasn't with his friends, his family. He wasn't with her. And it wasn't for a greater cause, for Earth, or it's people, or the galaxy. It was just… an accident. A big accident. A cosmic joke, it had to be, why else would a man as good as Daniel be dying a death so mundane? Why else would he be lying alone, trapped in a vehicle so simple, with no one helping him, because let's face it, if 'deep voice' was helping him then he'd be out already wouldn't he?
"Don't you dare hang up," she snapped at him "don't you dare, you stay, you stay right here and you-" the rumble of the machinery and men trying to free Daniel was no longer audible and his breathing was no longer a ragged accomplice to his voice. "Daniel!" she yelled, even though she knew the line was dead.
The kitchen floor was suddenly a lot closer and the phone hit the floor with a clatter just about the same time as she slid down there in shock.
She heard the front door open not two minutes later and Sam was calling her name. She didn't answer, she wasn't sure she could, the only words she was capable of saying were the chant she only just realised she'd started "he's gone, he's gone, he's gone,"
"Vala?" she swept into the kitchen "Vala! What's wrong? What happened?" she crouched next to her.
Her chant ceased and she looked the concerned blonde straight in the eye "he's gone," she posed the statement like a question and Sam reached forward hesitantly to tuck her hair behind her ear.
"What? Who's gone?"
Vala's eyes sought out the phone, the screen still blank, but the call log would still say 'Daniel called, 21.45' it would still say his name, his number, it would still be the last time she had ever heard his voice. "He's gone," she breathed, an almost dreamy quality to her voice "he's gone,"
Author's Notes: A little different from Vala being the one to die in my fictions, it's not great but… review, don't flame. XD Time of start: 00.15, time of completion 02.10 – so not long but still late, mainly because my mom decided to kick me of the internet earlier ::sigh:: still don't know what I've done to upset her. If there's any mistakes I'll edit them out later on :D