Title: Disclosure
Author: Venus4
Rating: K+ for now – may go up for future chapters
Authors Note: This was supposed to be a sequel to my last fic 'Under the Weather' it can however be read as a stand alone fic as there are only a few references back to the first fic. The rest of this fic is almost complete however it still needs editing so I will post it as soon as I can finish it off.
This is only my second SG-1 fic so all comments and constructive criticism are welcome … Please R&R.
Summary: Daniel and Vala struggle to cope with their feelings for each other during an off world mission that goes terribly wrong.
Chapter One
At first she thought she was dreaming, she felt light headed and the bright lights made it difficult for her to gain a grasp of her surroundings. She blinked several times causing water to gather in the corners of her eyes. Reaching up she attempted to brush away the tears before they fell but stopped, silently crying out. The movement triggered a surge of pain through the side of her stomach and up across her chest. Dropping her arm back to where it had previously rested she screwed her eyes closed willing the pain to stop.
She lay still for a few moments allowing time for the pain to pass and memories of the past few days to come rushing back in no particular order. Filling her already tender, fuzzy head. Glimpses of gun fire, panic, then pain took over…. She had been sure that she was going to die, yes, that was the last thing she could remember, but she had been more concerned about…..
Daniel!
Forcing herself to fully open her eyes she took in the sight of the stark walls of the infirmary.
Ok, so that confirmed that she wasn't dead. Or maybe she was and this was the ancients chosen punishment for her. Maybe that was a little hard to believe but she wouldn't put it past them… eternity alone in the infirmary… defiantly not the worse form of punishment but not far from it.
A harsh beeping registered in her ears and she glanced across to confirm that the sounds came from the heart monitor to one side of her bed, which was attached to her chest via a number of wires. She paused for a moment, taking in the sound, just watching the steady rise and fall of the lines and numbers on the small screen.
A sudden sound of movement to her other side made her turn her head quickly in its direction. Regretting the movement almost immediately as she unintentionally jolted her stomach muscles in the process. However this time the pain subsided quickly and she was able to take in the source of the noise.
As her eyes absorbed the sight before her Vala relaxed, not realising how anxious she had been until her eyes settled upon Daniel's familiar sleeping face.
She studied him for a few seconds.
He looked in one piece which had been her main concern. He was alive and she could see no sign of serious injury. He looked almost peaceful but there was no way that he could be comfortable, asleep and slumped in the hard plastic chair beside her bed. His glasses had slipped down and were now resting against the end of his noise, barely still clinging on to his face. She wanted desperately to reach out and push them back up into their proper place.
"We've been in this position before." She whispered, her voice slightly raspy, surprising herself by the gently tonne in which she spoke. "Only last time I was then one watching over you."
Watching the slow rise and fall of his chest calmed her, allowing time for her jumbled memories to fall slowly back into their correct order. His voice played back to her, over and over in her mind. At some point over the past few days she could remember that he had promised he wouldn't leave her that he wouldn't let her go and here he was…. He had kept his promise.
But at what cost?
What had happened to the others?
He shifted again in his sleep, then groaned loudly. She watched as he reached up to rub the back of his neck, trying to ease the cramping that was beginning to set in and then moved again in a vain attempt to get comfortable.
"You might want to try this wonderful invention called a bed," She smiled, speaking softly, trying not to move to prevent aggravating her injury. "I hear their all the rage at the moment." Her voice sounded awful, even to her own slightly muffled ears. "Maybe you would like to share mine." That didn't sound as sultry as it should have done… damn her dry throat.
He didn't seem to acknowledge her for a moment, and then his blue eyes flew open.
Searching frantically and finally focusing on hers.
"Vala," He nearly jumped out of his chair, stumbling on unsteady, sleepy legs to stand beside her. "You're awake!"
"Well observed…." She choked. He looked so worried "What's wrong, are you ok?"
"That's supposed to be my line."
She grinned, although Daniel noticed that the humour didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Well I can't help it if you're slow." Her expression, once again turned apprehensive. "Did…, did the others make it?"
"Yes, and in a better condition than you did I might add." He reached up and gently moved a few strands of her long hair out of her face. It was limp and without its usual shine. "You always have to up stage everyone else."
She snorted and smiled again.
"Of course, I can't have anyone else stealing my attention." Her smile faded. "What happened…, after… you know?" She couldn't bring herself to say it.
Daniel sighed before turning and pulling the chair he had been sitting in closer to the bed. "What's the last thing you remember?"
She fell silent for a moment, searching her memories for the last coherent thought before she'd woken up in the infirmary. "I remember telling you to leave but you wouldn't." He reached out and gently stroked the back of her hand as she spoke. "I remember shouting at you and you shouting at me…. But that's it." He voice rose in pitch as she got increasingly anxious.
"Hay calm down, let me get Dr Lam to check you over, make sure everything's alright and I'll tell you everything." He squeezed her hand gently. "Ok?"
She nodded.
"Ok."
(36 Hours Earlier)
He slumped to his knees, and watched his weapon fell to the dry ground beside him, disturbing the dust as it landed. He sank down behind the shelter of a small clump of rocks which appeared to have protected them, and allowed the both of them to survive almost unscathed from the unpredicted fire fight. Well make that currently unscathed as he was pretty sure that within about 10 seconds the woman sitting no more than a few feet away would suffer an immense amount of pain by his own hands.
He turned to glare at her.
He should have predicted a situation like this would arise, missions had been relatively uneventful for a while now. She hadn't attempted to search out trouble and it hadn't found her in months. Unfortunately that had lulled them all into a false sense of security. To be fair on her she hadn't gone looking for it, but it had caught up with her none-the-less and this time had affected them all.
Their assailants had appeared more curious than anything else when they had first stumbled across them before they had shown themselves. Sam and Mitchell had almost, unknowingly, walked into them. They had asked questions about their culture and home lands … until they recognised Vala.
She now sat with her back to him, peering out to the side, scanning the surrounding area, her weapon still in her hand ready in case it was needed again. The fading sunlight glinted off her long hair, making the silky strands appear lighter in colour. He watched as she then shifted round to face him, confirming that their assailants had indeed returned from where they had come… along with their other two team members.
"Well what do we do now?" She looked up at him expectantly. Her eyes quickly glancing over his body, scrutinizing him for any sign of injury. Her gaze stopped when she caught sight of a small amount of blood streaked across the top of his arm. Learning forward she gently pulled away the singed cloth of his green jacket from the wound, looking up as he hissed in pain.
"It's just a graze." He assured her through clenched teeth, his expression softening for a moment at seeing her concern before it hardened once again. "What we do now, is to try and sort your mess out before anyone gets seriously hurt!"
"My mess, why is it my mess." She made sure the flow of blood had stopped completely before releasing his arm, and leaning back again the cool uneven surface of the rocks.
"You honestly have to ask?" He reached into his backpack and drew out a new magazine for his hand gun, then reloaded his weapon, inserting it firmly with a satisfying click. "Vala they took Mitchell and Sam as an incentive for you to return the money that you owe them, I'm just glad Teal'c's now with us!" He closed his backpack and slung it back over his uninjured shoulder. "What part of this is not your fault?" He placed his hand gun back into the holster strapped to his upper thigh before reloading his P-90.
She frowned. "I hardly think that pointing fingers is an effective use of our time," Vala followed Daniels example and reloaded her own weapons. "However I might just point out that it was because of your curiosity that we decided to come to this planet in the first place."
"Well funny enough I didn't calculate the risk of most of our team being abducted in an attempt to repay your debts!" He sighed heavily. "Look, we know where they are being taken and …"
"We will be less likely to be noticed if we go after them alone." She finished for him, smiling. Although her expression appeared soft, there was a glint in her eyes, telling him she was looking forward to the hunt ahead of them.
He shook his head from one side to the other.
"Not what I was going to suggest!"
"If we go back through the gate it will take to long, and the Odyssey should be back in communication range in a few hours…."
He pulled up the sleeve of his jacket and glanced at his watched.
"6.5 hours."
"There you go support is on its way," She reasoned. "We just need to get them out and lay low till they come pick us up." Vala gingerly glanced about before posing off the rock and standing, reaching down to brush the dirt and dust from the bottom of her green BDU's. "We are too far from the nearest gate and…"
"On one condition."
"What?" She held out her hand to help him to stand.
That we stick together, none of you heroics, running off and trying to fight the bad guys single handed!" He took her hand and stood but didn't bother to try and remove the dirt on his own legs. It would probably help later with camouflage.
"As if I would…"
"No more games Vala," He reached over and grasped her shoulder with one hand, pulling her closer and forcing her to meet his eyes. "I'm serious this time!"
"So am I." She reached across and stroked her thumb along his cheek bone. "I won't leave you alone." She drew in close, just millimetres separating their lips. "Remember I've seen you fight and you defiantly wouldn't survive for long without me."
"Vala.."
"I know we don't have time, we never have time!" She stepped away from him and clipped her P-90 to the front of her protective vest. "You are becoming far too predictable Daniel." She laughed before glancing around the surrounding area. "But we have to talk about this at some point." She mumbled under her breath. She turned and moved out of their hiding place and started to walk away in the direction that the others had left in.
He watched her for a few seconds his eyes following her every movement without moving to follow her.
"I know." He whispered back, taking one last glance of her before breaking into a run to catch up. "But it will have to wait."
It was starting to get dark but the terrain was relatively easy to walk across.. well there was nothing horrendously difficult to cope with, only dusty, parched soil, rocks and the occasional patch of greenery. The main difficulty was Daniel's instance that they move in silence. He didn't want them to be noticed until they knew what they were up against. That was his excuse anyway, she suspected his request for silence had more to do with his habit of internalising his anxieties.
He was worried about the rest of the team.
They both were, and although they had been assured that the others would not be harmed unless Vala didn't keep of her deadline, she knew from experience that these weren't the most trust worthy of men and the longer it took to reach them, the more anxious both herself and Daniel would become.
The silence between them wasn't particularly uncomfortable but she lived for the constant banter between them, Daniels sharp wit and bouts of sarcasm consistently presented her with new challenges, but this silence between them seemed un-natural, she'd even go so far as to say un-nerving.
She knew he didn't blame her for this situation.
Their earlier argument had just been a way for them to let off steam but she just had to break the silence.
"I didn't mean it." She spoke softly, but clear enough for him to hear her.
"Huh?"
"Earlier, when I blamed you, cause it was your decision to come here."
A look of confusion crossed his eyes, and he frowned at her.
"I know." Unsure as to why she would think that, they argued all the time and it rarely meant anything other than a way for them both to release some frustration. He looked over at her, studying her expression, trying to access what she was up to. Vala watched as the confusion changed into a subtle grin. "As I told you earlier this is completely your fault."
"Hay!" She growled and stopped walking, her eyes searching the surrounding area. Vala's gaze quickly registered on a suitable item. Reaching down she picked up what she supposed was this planets version of a pine cone, aimed and laughed as it bounced off the top of Daniels head, before falling back down to the dusty ground by his feet.
His shoulders dropped and his head fell forward but he didn't turn to face her.
"Feel better now?" He sighed loudly his tonne however was light and with a slight hint of humour.
Giggling she speed up her pace to walk beside him.
"Much." They both fell quiet again, but this time it was an affable silence. Vala relaxed into their steady walking pace, trying to keep one eye on the path ahead and the other on the man at her side.
Their relationship had changed so much since that first meeting abourd the Prometheus, well maybe not that much, they still conversed in the same manner. However their unconventional friendship had developed and continued to do so. She also wasn't blind she was well aware that most of their friends and colleagues back at the SGC were taking bets on how long it would be before her relationship with Daniel to reach the next level.
But they would have to wait.
She wasn't willing to rush this thing growing between them, no matter how she acted to the contrary, and she had a feeling that Daniel knew and felt the same.
Caught up in her own thoughts she stumbled over a few loose pebbles in her path. Steadying her footing she looked up to catch his eyes… the most gorgeous azure eyes… staring at her. He raised his eyebrows in an un-spoken question 'are you alright?' she nodded quickly before moving her eyes back to the path ahead of them and walked past him. This way she was a few steps in front of him and had no excuses for not keeping both eyes on the terrain ahead, no distractions.
She was slightly surprised when he jogged quickly to her side and fell into step with her.
He touched her arm, gently running his fingers down from her elbow to her wrist.
"How much further?" He whispered.
"Not far, an hour maybe, at most." She answered, suppressing a shiver that travelled through her at his gentle touch.
A sudden noise made them both look up.
A rustling in the undergrowth towards their left caused them both instinctively too freeze.
Both glanced at each other before automatically drawing their weapons… there was no where to hide, no cover except in the direction the noise had come from… they were sitting targets.
Both prepared to run, P-90's held tight to their chests. Another sound reached their ears only this time from behind them. Daniel immediately spun round trusting Vala to defend his back.
With nowhere to run their only option was to fight.
TBC … shortly
Please R and R xxx
