A/N: I own nothing. I wish I did, but instead I just play with the pretty people and put them back when I'm done.

He felt bad. He really did. When he made her cry back on the planet, he wanted to apologise, but he knew it wouldn't help. Besides, Vala really needed to get a grip on what she'd gotten in to. She had to learn that she couldn't always throw herself on the altar of self-sacrifice. And now? Well, there was no way but straight to tell her that they weren't going to find Daniel right now. They'd find him, sure, but it wasn't going to be immediate and now amount of her bashing on the keyboard at random was going to help. He was still baffled as to why she was so concerned, anyway. Now and then it almost seemed like there was something going on between them, but for the most part Daniel just insulted her and treated her like crap. If he had the opportunity...but he wasn't going to think about that.
"Cam?" Samantha Carter's voice cut through his musings.
"Yeah, Sam?" he asked her.

"What do you think?" Cam had no idea what he thought.

"Uh..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Sam said. Cam hoped he wasn't being obvious with his thought process. He grinned.

"What do you guys think? Dinner break? Sounds good to me," he said, turning on his heel and heading out of the lab, leaving some rather stunned teammates in his wake.

He didn't head to the mess. He went directly to Level 25 and headed for Vala's quarters. He reached them quickly but stood outside her door awkwardly for a minute, not entirely sure what he'd say if he did knock. He decided he had to try, and lifted his fist, knocking lightly twice. He heard a shuffling sound from within, and the door cracked open, a damp grey-blue eye peering out.

"Colonel Mitchell, I'm not ready to come back up. I think it's dinner time anyway, can we take a break?" Vala's voice was cracking, and Cam's stomach dropped. He had caused that.

"Vala, I'm not here to get you back up. I called a dinner break. Can I come in?" He tried to keep his voice low and non-threatening.

'I don't..."

"Please." The request was simple. "I'm not here as Colonel Mitchell, Vala. I'm Cam, and I'm worried. Please let me in." His voice was pleading. It seemed suddenly important to him that he apologise. He waited for a full minute before Vala pulled the door open enough for him to enter.

"Vala, I'm sorry," Cam said. "I meant what I said, but I should have said it differently. Here and on the planet." They moved to sit on the edge of her bed.

"It was mean, Cam." Vala pouted. Cam couldn't help but smile. She really was adorable.

"Yeah, the way I said it was sort of harsh. But Vala...I'm not wrong. You can't always save the team. Sometimes, there's gonna be risk. And you can't always prevent it."

"But I want to." Vala lifted a hand to wipe away a stray tear that had crept out of the corner of her eye.

"I know. " Cam put his hand over hers when it had returned to her lap. "But you can't." Vala looked down at his hand covering hers. "We will find him, Vala." His voice was strained. "I know you miss him." I don't know why, but I know you do, he thought to himself. Suddenly, Vala launched herself forward, throwing her arms around Cam's neck. His arms wrapped around her instinctively, before he'd fully registered what was happening. He nearly toppled over backwards, but steadied himself by throwing one of his arms back until he was stable before returning it back to her waist.

"Vala...what's wrong?"

"He did save me, you know. I owe him my life. I have to save him."

"Vala, we all save each other. It's part of being on SG-1. You don't...you don't feel indebted to him, do you?" Things were becoming clearer to him.

"Of course I do. Didn't I just say I owe him?" Vala asked, sitting back again.

"Vala...Daniel treats you like crap."

"I'm used to it." Vala shrugged.

"You shouldn't be." Cam said, more firmly than he'd intended. "Nobody should be, least of all you, Vala. If you think you have to let Daniel be a total ass to you-"

"I don't. I mean, I do, but..." Vala cut him off, but found herself unable to finish her own sentence. She looked down at her lap again, and Cam felt a sinking in his stomach at the vulnerability in her face.

"Vala, don't. You can do better." Like me, he thought but kept that to himself.

"Like what, Cam?" Vala's voice was bitter. "Daniel's smart. He's handsome. He can translate foreign documents."

"What about someone who doesn't treat you like something he's scraped off his boot?" Cam asked gently.

"Look, Cam. I'm happy here on Earth. I love being part of SG-1. I just don't want to be alone. If Daniel is interested..." her voice trailed off as Cam shook his head.

"Daniel doesn't deserve you."

"I think it's the other way around." Vala said. "What am I, Cam? I'm a reformed alien space pirate. Well, semi-reformed." She flashed him a smirk. "I mean, sure, I'm stunningly beautiful, but what's that going to get me? A quick fuck now and then? Assuming I can even get off base to find someone willing? It's not like there's people here lining up. Daniel is decent, and he puts up with me."

"You've got more options than you think."

"Oh, like who?" Vala raised a suspicious eyebrow, looking him square in the eyes. It was a clear challenge. Cam never was one to back down from a challenge. He leaned forward and pressed his lips firmly to Vala's, his hand reaching up to press against the back of her head. She was apparently stunned motionless for a minute before reciprocating. Her hands moved to his shoulders and pushed him backwards onto the bed, lifting a long leg over to straddle him as she continued to kiss him. His hands were running up and down her back, tracing patterns on her shoulder blades, and it was quickly becoming very obvious to both of them just how much he was enjoying this. He brought his hands back around to her shoulders and tried to push her back.

"No," he murmured against her mouth.

"Why not? Clearly, you..." she pressed her lips hard to his again. His hands pressed harder on her shoulders.

"No, Vala, I just mean...not now. Not this second." His eyes flashed to the clock on the nightstand. "See, all I called for was a dinner break." Vala grinned.

"I'm sure there's something for you to eat around here," she said suggestively. Cam felt his pants strain as his erection continued to grow.

"God, Vala," he groaned. "I so did not come here for this. I seriously just meant to apologise."

"Best apology ever, if I do say so myself." Vala said calmly. Cam glared at her.

"We're getting back to work. We've got an hour left, tops. Then we're going to finish this conversation." His voice was rough as he fought to control his body.

"Promise?" Vala asked, straightening her clothes and heading for the door. Cam groaned and followed her, still fighting his body and praying he'd have it under control by the time they got off the elevator.