DISCLAIMER: I do not own any Stargate characters, ideas or themes. They all belong to MGM. I'm just playing with them a little.
Summary: "I found her watching me with a sweet smile that somehow also managed to tell me that she knew I had enjoyed her kiss, knew how good she had tasted, knew I wanted to kiss her again, knew…too much."
Rating: T
Spoilers: Probably only for 200.
Warnings: There's some Jack/Sam involved here too.
Title: Some Things You Just Know…
By: Every Me Every You
"Vala! Where are the rings?"
I asked the question before I had even entered the room. Shouted it through the hall as I made my way over to her in the midst of a million different tasks. I straightened out my tux as I rushed, my dress shoes sliding slightly across the polished floors as I burst into the room. I had no way of knowing I would be rendered speechless by the act.
Breathtaking. The strapless wine colored gown Sam had chosen just for her. The curve of her neck and shoulders, the creamy expanse of skin there, the raven curls tumbling around her face, the enthusiastic smile.
She knocked the wind out of me. And I knew my eyes lingered just a little bit longer than they should have. Just long enough to be found out.
Her genuine smile of excitement melted into a knowing smirk. "Well, hello darling."
"Rings," was about all I could squeeze out. I didn't have time to revisit the constant war I waged within over whether or not it was safe for me to look at her in any way that was not clearly and succinctly friendly. There was so much to do.
She turned back to the table she was standing in front of, returning to the task of putting together the bouquets she and Sam would be holding. Light pink carnations were scattered across the table, but she reached over and chose one, clipping it down in size a little before turning to me brandishing the flower and a sharp looking pin.
Things had been so quiet. For almost a year. And we hadn't seen much of each other in that time. She had begun working for security, using her innovative skills of escape and subterfuge and putting them to good use, protecting the SGC and all of it's off-world sites as well. I had been putting a dent in the work that had gone unsupervised for years as I constantly tried to stay on top of one near-catastrophe after another. The wedding had brought us together for two months worth of planning. It also revived the old argument that raged in the back of my mind.
"Come here," she demanded, stepping in a little closer to me to pin the flower to my lapel. Against all sense, I stepped closer. "As for the rings," she said, setting to work while I could do nothing but inhale the melon scent of her hairstyling products. I frowned in discomfort. "I sold them."
"No you didn't," I answered quickly, her proximity and her scent and the way she looked in that dress getting in the way of my better judgment and forcing me to answer with a knee-jerk response. I didn't think anything of it. Of course she didn't sell those rings.
"I surely did," she smiled up at me teasingly, but her eyes held a vague searching quality as they met mine and held, grey to blue. "I gave them over to a contact of mine on my last security mission. Apparently, I just got a sale. A nice sum. Could keep me on a boat for awhile after I leave here."
My mind took a moment to translate "on a boat" to "afloat" before it processed what she was truly trying to say. That was enough to trip up my confidence. "Don't joke about that," I said, the words rushing out with the breath I'd been holding. I managed a slight smile, though my heartbeat had tripped up a few notches at the very idea of her walking through that gate again without the intention of returning. "Sam would kill you if you ruined this wedding."
She laughed outright as she slid the pin she was holding in place, securing the flower to my lapel. She tapped my chest playfully, a gesture meant to send me on my way. "That she would."
I smiled and made to walk away, relieved at the proof that she was joking as much as I was at the chance to stop tempting myself with the smell of her shampoo. The idea of burying my head in her hair and inhaling deeply seemed more and more like a legitimate course of action.
I had just about dismissed it when her fingers tangled with mine suddenly and pulled me back around to face her. "Daniel?"
I looked back down at her as she brought her hand up to my cheek, lightly caressing. My eyes were glued to hers, my heart picking right back up to a speedy thud in my chest as I swallowed against the newfound dryness of my throat.
"I just wanted to thank you," Vala said softly, a wistful smile on her face. Her eyes sparkled as she spoke. I found I was enchanted by her, rooted to the spot, unable to move. Riveted by what she would say next. "I guess I'm just all emotional because of the wedding but I just…you led me here. When Jack and Samantha said this wedding was family and closest friends only, I never realized I would be counted in the family section of that statement, but I was. And you are the reason I've found this little family. So I just wanted to thank you for bringing me here." Her hand dropped from my face, and she turned back towards the table, busying herself with trimming some more flowers into future boutonnieres.
"You worked very hard to earn your place here," I answered, my throat tightening around the words, overwhelmed by what she'd just revealed to me. This had been more of what I'd hoped to hear from her back at the restaurant when we'd gone on our non-date, what felt like years ago. But that night hadn't gone as planned, deviating in the most terrifying ways.
I stepped forward, my hands coming to rest on her shoulders as I moved in behind her. "I only nudged you in the right direction. You could have stopped trying to make friends or stopped helping us with the Ori. You could have left a long time ago if you had wanted to. But you didn't."
"And that is another thing to thank you for, now isn't it?" She giggled, turning to face me now. For a moment, I thought she was going to cite me as the reason she stopped running. My heart clenched and that bore a realization I wanted to run from myself. But then, she answered in a completely unexpected and almost equally endearing way. "Thank you for not automatically assuming the worst in me earlier. It was nice that you knew I was joking about selling the rings and hitting the road. A refreshing change." She was fiddling with one of the flowers in her hands, and both of our eyes fell to it, unable to keep looking at each other. This was rapidly getting awkward. "A long time ago, you would have believed that to be true."
"A long time ago, it may have been," I answered, plucking the flower from her fingertips and twirling it between mine. "But not now."
"No," She said, lifting her eyes to meet mine again. What I saw in them chased away that temptation to run I had felt just moments before. "No, now I'm looking to stay."
I made a decision in that moment. A decision I hadn't expected to ever be able to make.
"Thank you," I said, my voice barely a whisper, "for not leaving."
"Thank you for knowing I wouldn't," she murmured in return, a broad smile spreading across her face and blocking out the notion that there was anything else in the room, the galaxy, the universe, but myself and the amazingly strong and beautiful woman standing far too close to me to be anything but romantic.
I slid the stem of the flower gently behind her ear, smoothing her jet-black hair around it so it was nestled safely. Then my fingers slid down her jaw, admiring the structure of her face. I angled her chin upwards, my eyes following the movements of my hand, unable to take in the depth of emotion in her eyes for a moment longer. When I did finally look again, her lids were lowering slowly. My head dipped forward, my eyes slid closed and my lips met hers, tentatively.
The kiss was gentle and chaste and I had barely had any more than a taste of her lips when she ended it, taking a simple step back. My eyes remained closed and my tongue darted across my lips in an unconscious desire to pick up every last remaining vestige of her taste there. Unconscious, that is, until my eyes opened again. I found her watching me with a sweet smile that somehow also managed to tell me that she knew I had enjoyed her kiss, knew how good she had tasted, knew I wanted to kiss her again, knew…too much.
"I…I…should go," I told her, my hand sliding down her arm, where I had found I had rested it, to gently squeeze her hand. "Jack was a little fidgety earlier. It's my job to keep him calm."
Vala raised one perfect eyebrow. "Fidgety? Do you think he'll try to run?" It did not escape me that her tone of voice seemed to hold a double meaning.
"No," I answered with confidence, making sure I met her eyes. "Nobody is going anywhere."
"Mmmm," she grunted, her lips pursing together in a look of disbelief. "I sure hope not. Samantha would kill him. And so would I."
I smiled weakly. "Of course. I'll see you soon."
She grinned wickedly. "See you down the aisle!"
Those words nearly made my knees give out as I hurriedly made my way out of the room, just barely able to make out the screeched cry of "Samantha!" that made its way down the corridor shortly after I did.
At least she'd been able to contain herself that long.
They were late. Every wedding I had ever attended had been delayed to some extent, but we had been summoned to take our places about half an hour ago, and the stricken look on Jack's face showed me he was beginning to worry. Not that she had hit the road. We knew Sam would never do something like that. But that something, as was always inevitably the case, had gone frightfully wrong.
I picked up what was normally Jack's role and attempted to lighten the mood. "You know, if she doesn't show, people are going to think that…you and I are…" I rolled my hand, in a 'you get it' gesture, but my lighthearted attempt was lost on him.
"What?"
I turned away from him and hoped he wouldn't take me seriously. The sound of someone beaming in was welcomed, equal parts for the distraction as for the appearance of the two most beautiful women alive on this Earth.
Sam was radiant, dressed in her white gown, her hair, the color of sunlight, cascading over her shoulders. Smiling sweetly, her dimples flashing, she headed down the aisle towards her future, her staggeringly beautiful friend carrying her train, a dazzling smile on her face.
When Sam made it to the bottom of the aisle, Vala stopped to fan the train out behind her with great care before taking her place beside her.
I looked to the happy couple with a smile before leaning forward a little to catch Vala's eye. I had to stop myself from asking her where the flower I had placed in her hair earlier had gone. I didn't want to sound or feel desperate, so I kept the question to myself. Besides, it was such a silly little detail to be obsessing over.
She leaned forward to meet my glance and we exchanged proud smiles, eyes flicking to the pair we had managed to safely deliver to their wedding. My eyebrows raised and my eyes widened, my little communication to her that I was grateful this was over. Planning this thing, despite it's lack of too many bells and whistles, had been a chore, mostly due to the timing factor involved in trying to get everyone they loved in one place at one time. Vala seemed to agree and shot me a relieved look in return.
But then, the thought came to mind that this wedding had, due to Sam's time on the General Hammond and Jack's busy work schedule, mostly been planned by Vala and I. The use of the term "every waking minute of the last two months" would probably not be a stretch. Not by much. A wistful smile made its way across my face. In that moment I remembered her yawning and falling asleep on my shoulder while attempting to pick out the flowers and the way it ran completely opposite to her excitement at testing the cake. Doing this whole thing with her had made what would normally be a tedious experience more fun. It had been very nice to spend all that time with her. Not nearly as annoying as I had expected it to be. Not at all.
Broken from my reverie as attention was called back to the ceremony, I realized that, while Sam and Jack were completely wrapped up in each other, Vala and I were completely wrapped up in each other. She was watching me with a quizzical expression and I knew she was wondering what I had been thinking to bring that smile to my face. Shyly, knowing once again I'd been caught, I looked down to my shoes and faced forward again.
I spent the rest of the ceremony trying not to look at her. I failed. Numerous times.
Vala was snorting loudly at a joke Mitchell was telling her when I next had the opportunity to look for her. Seated between him and Teal'c, glass of wine in her hand, she was beginning to turn red.
Leaning up against the wall of the entrance, drink in hand, I took her in. I was never good at these things – social events – not unless there was work to be done, something to discover. Right now I had made it my work to observe the fun and the atmosphere, to take in the most important day in the lives of two of my best friends, as though it was an anthropology lesson. I couldn't seem to find my way out of my hiding spot and I couldn't quite find any way to get comfortable in my surroundings.
She looked up just in time to catch me staring. Again. This was getting to be a bad habit.
I was in love with her. No getting around it. I couldn't even be sure when it happened. Every time she had disappeared, or things had looked uncertain regarding her survival, had been more and more difficult to survive through. Even her escape from the Prometheus had left a little bit of a mark on me. Perhaps I'd known deep down she'd become someone important in my life. Perhaps I had no idea what I was talking about and this was just an extreme case of 20/20 hindsight.
I was interrupted from my thoughts by the feeling of her fingertips dancing across my fingers where they rested on the wall. I had been so lost in my thoughts, I hadn't even realized that she had left my line of sight.
"You should dance with me," she playfully suggested. I nodded in agreement, taking her hand in mine without a word. She seemed to look puzzled by my agreement, but she still led me out onto the floor, turning to face me only when we had made our way to the center.
I took a deep breath then, closing my eyes, taking a minute to contemplate exactly what I was about to do. No turning back now. I either did or I didn't.
With my right hand still in hers, I placed my left against the small of her back and moved her against me, swaying her softly to the music. "Where's your flower?" I asked, once I'd overcome the effect being so close to her again was having on my senses. Still, my voice came out a little huskier than I had intended.
"Samantha vetoed its appearance," She smiled, sweetly. "I avenged you by telling her niece it was magic and giving it to her instead. She'll be answering questions about that one for awhile."
"Bad girl," I teased, grinning at her.
"That's why you like me so much," She said, with a wicked wink.
"Love," I corrected. She stopped cold in her tracks. No more gentle rocking in my arms, no more dancing, just her, staring straight up at me, with a look on her face I was positive she didn't want me trying to decipher. She was trying very hard to hide inside of herself, trying to become completely unreadable. But there was a glimmer of…something…there.
"What?" She laughed, but it came out painfully choked, like she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry or bolt. And if I had doubted what I had seen earlier, I may have changed my mind. But I was drawn to this moment. This was something that was necessary. I could see that now. If I walked away from this opportunity, I would never forgive myself for the oversight.
"That's why I love you so much." I stressed the correction.
Her entire body stiffened in my arms. "Yes, we are quite good friends and…"
"And that's not what I mean," I cut her off, my voice stern. "And you know it. You are not under any obligation to return the sentiment, but don't try to railroad me either."
She simply stared at me, her eyes a tumult of emotions, the rest of her expression completely unreadable. As though she was trying to settle them before she would even react. "You're serious?"
"Vala, I know that we are complete opposites. And I know that we could be very wrong for each other. I know that this is insane. But these last couple of months with you…I can't go backwards. I can't go back to pretending to want to avoid you and I can't go back to spending every evening alone. Planning Jack and Sam's wedding provided me with something unexpected. It gave me clarity. I know now that I love you." At some point in my little declaration, I had halted even the illusion of dancing with her and had grasped both of her hands in mine as our eyes were locked together.
She looked up at me in wonder. "You've figured out quite a lot, haven't you?"
"Except for how you feel," I admitted. "I think I know. And then I'm never sure. To be fair, you aren't always the most…"
"Honest? Forthcoming?" Vala sighed. "No, I guess I'm not. How's this for forthcoming?" She asked before hooking an arm around my neck and pulling me down just far enough so her lips could take mine. Our mouths fused together, her tongue begging entrance I was unable to deny. I pulled her closer to me as her mouth explored mine and made it my mission to explore hers in a battle for dominance. To say I was overpowered by her would be a fitting statement. To say I was addicted might be a bit more accurate. And to say I had forgotten I was in the middle of a crowd of people - that would be…embarrassing.
When she did pull back, she gazed up at me and whispered sweetly, " 'I love you' is not even remotely enough to explain how I feel." She pulled further back, until she was an arms-length from me. The spring was instantly back in her step. "Does this mean we're a couple?"
I could swear my heart stopped. I was floored by the genuine emotion in her voice, the tears in her eyes and the sweetness of the question. I was lost in the grey depths of her eyes, a small grin inching its way across my face. How had I never known? I had gone years trying to figure this out and –
"Well?" Jack asked, impatiently. I looked towards the sound to find that, while Vala and I hadn't drawn the attention of the entire room, we had certainly drawn the attention of our team. Jack was watching me, arms crossed over his chest, but a teasing smile on his face. Sam was watching me expectantly, her lips pursed, her whole stance telling me I better not screw this up. Mitchell was smiling slightly and shaking his head. And Teal'c…Teal'c had a full-blown grin on his face.
"What?" Vala and I asked him in unison.
"I have not spoken a word," he said, returning to his normally stoic expression, his hands clasped behind his back and his head bowed slightly.
Vala cleared her throat and I turned back to face her. "You never answered my question?"
This time, I smiled brightly, unable to control how giddy I was beginning to feel. "Yes. Yes, we're a couple. You and me. Daniel and Vala." I grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to me again, caught up in the happiness of the moment we were sharing. "And since we're answering questions with kisses today, how's this for a yes?"
This time, when we kissed, we earned the attention of the whole room.