AN: this story was written for the D/V Xmas Exchange - The prompt was "The Hunger Games" so that is where the inspiration for this story comes from! More chapters are on the way!
DISCLAIMER: Not Mine. MGM and the Stargate writers got to play for real, I get to play in my head now that they are finished with them! And Suzanne Collins provided the inspiration for the backdrop/plot into which I will be throwing Daniel and Vala this time!
Strength
Vala tapped her pencil idly against the tabletop. The rhythm and volume of the soft thudding steadily increased until Daniel turned towards her, his eyebrows knit together with disapproval. He not-so-subtly shook his head at her and turned back to Sam's presentation. Vala sighed quietly, resting her elbow on the smooth tabletop and her chin on her palm, and went back to absently doodling on the otherwise empty pad of paper in front of her. Briefings had never been one of her favourite pastimes, but they had become even duller of late – something she hadn't thought possible. But, with the Ori out of the picture, things were now fairly calm on the galactic front.
Accordingly, SG-1's tasks had been reduced to simple recon and first contact. There remained, after all, a lot of galaxy to discover. Yet, while this had filled Cameron with boyish glee - "C'mon, guys, this is great! We're going old school, getting back to our roots...this is classic SG-1!" - Vala was less than thrilled. She certainly didn't mind exploring new places and meeting new people. However, without the threat of imminent death and destruction, pre-mission briefings were tedious at best. They reminded her of just how much she'd hated sitting through school when she was younger. Forced to sit still for a seemingly unending length of time…subjected to glares of reprimand from teachers (or bossy archaeologists)...praying silently that she would not be called upon to share her answers to the previous night's homework (she had yet to crack open the folder of information detailing SG-1's latest assignment)...Yes, this was exactly like school.
She sighed unhappily and squirmed in her seat as Daniel rose to begin recapping the initial communications with P3X-794. Something about a festival or celebration, blah blah blah. As expected, it all sounded rather benign and, equally, boring. Sighing again, Vala gave her mind permission to continue wandering.
She eyed Daniel and wondered if this festival might require them to don ceremonial garb.
Perhaps something shirtless.
SG-1 arrived through the gate of P3X-794 at around 2pm local time. As they moved away from the stone ring they could see that, beyond a fairly standard-looking security checkpoint, the planet's market place was bustling with people hurrying this way and that.
"It's certainly busy," Daniel observed.
Sam nodded, her eyes wide as she tried to take it all in. "Seems like our intel was right – these Games are a pretty big deal."
The security guards checked their packs for contraband items and informed the team that they could only carry one weapon each, asking them to leave any others at the gate to be picked up upon their departure. As Vala glanced around at the shops that lined the square and the people moving about making purchases and gossiping she felt a pang of familiarity that was swiftly followed by an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She chalked it up to long-forgotten memories, the striking similarity of a surprising amount of 'alien' marketplaces in this galaxy and the cafeteria omelet she'd had for lunch. She knew it had looked undercooked.
One of the burly guards stepped in front of her and she amiably prepared to hand over her P-90, choosing to keep the less cumbersome pistol that she had in her holster. She also neglected to mention the knife she had in her boot. And the identical one in her other boot. But then, what a girl kept underneath her clothing was really no one's business, now was it?
After un-strapping her P-90 Vala casually looked up at the security guard as she handed it over. Their eyes met, and she saw his eyes flash with shock, followed swiftly by an expression of recognition. He raised his eyebrows slightly before turning away, head slightly bowed.
Confused, Vala turned to her teammates to see if they had noticed anything out of the ordinary in the interaction. Sam and Daniel were fully engrossed in the process of having their packs searched, and Teal'c, if his pained look was any indication, appeared to be wrestling with the decision of which weapons to part with. Cameron was busy making quips about the relative efficiency of P3X-794's security checkpoints, compared with that of United States' customs procedures. He seemed entertained; the guard to whom he was speaking did not. None of them were paying Vala any mind.
She eyed the man now holding her P-90, struggling to find some hint of familiarity in his features. But, beyond the fact that he was your typical muscular security guard type - tall, wide, no neck - she could not. She was forced to shrug it off. Presumably, he had confused her with someone else. Or, perhaps he was merely dazzled by her brilliant good looks. It was probably the latter – it happened.
Eventually, SG-1 was cleared to pass though the checkpoint and she was able to forget the strange moment altogether. After smugly informing Teal'c that she had managed to sneak in two knives (the muscle in his jaw clenched quite satisfactorily in what could only have been jealousy), Vala dropped back to walk beside Daniel.
Behind them, the security guards clustered together in quiet conversation. Then the one who had vetted Vala reached for his radio.
As SG-1 moved about the square, they became caught up in the energy vibrating through the crowd – excitement mainly, though every once in a while a face would pass by that seemed much more anxious and apprehensive. As they walked along Vala noticed that she was getting a few more looks from people. Her pulse began to quicken. Had she visited this planet before, as Quetesh? Is that why it looked so familiar? She was really wishing she had paid closer attention to the mission file all of a sudden...
But, no, the looks weren't really those of anger or fear... In fact some of the eyes that followed her through the street observed her with what seemed almost to be...pity?
No one had ever pitied Quetesh.
It was then that Vala noticed the banners hanging in the centre of the square and her heart felt as if it had stopped beating altogether and leapt into her throat. She froze mid-stride, reading the words over and over again in shock, having trouble focusing. She realized why the square had seemed familiar and as her eyes darted around she noticed more and more people looking in her direction, pointing and whispering to each other.
She didn't hear Daniel until he had put his hand on her shoulder. "Vala, what are you doing? Cam and the others are way ahead… I know you're bored, but dawdling won't make this mission go any faster."
She might have laughed, but she knew any attempt would fall to dust in her mouth. She was anything but bored. "It's, um, it's nothing Daniel," she stammered, bending to tie her shoe and taking a moment to pull her hair out of its high ponytail so that it covered a little more of her face.
Daniel, predictably, didn't even notice anything to be amiss . He was too focused on reading the banners that lined the streets, humming softly to himself in satisfaction as he did so. More to himself than to Vala, he said, "The Gabanese Games… hmm, interesting. Our earlier communications didn't reveal their official title…or much detail about the event at all, really. Only that it was happening. And look – it says that this is the 75th year, so it is the 'Victor's Games.' I wonder what that means?"
Vala stood quickly, her body tensing. "Well, I'm sure I have no idea Daniel, perhaps you ought to have done a bit more research before you had us sent off in the middle of them."
Daniel blinked. "Hey, calm down, what are you freaking out about?"
She ignored the question, but tried to keep her voice level as she continued, "I'm sure it's something absolutely barbaric and hardly worth our time," Vala continued. "And you know what? On second thought, we should probably just head back to the SGC, call it a day. I'm sure the town officials will be far too busy to see us, anyway. So really, this is just a waste of our time."
Daniel narrowed his eyes at her. "And if that's the case, we'll either do exactly what you're suggesting, or maybe we can see if we can get permission to attend these Victors' Games and speak with the locals afterwards. Really, Vala, why are you so jittery all of a sudden?"
She opened her mouth to respond, but no sound emerged. How could she possibly begin to explain?
Daniel sighed, and began moving forward once more. "Hurry up, Vala. Sam and Teal'c and Cam have probably reached the town hall already."
Vala stood frozen on the spot for a moment longer before deciding that, while the idea of remaining on this planet was nearly unbearable, the thought of finding her way back to the gate and leaving this planet alonewas that much worse. Mind made up, she was about to follow the path Daniel had taken through the crowd when she felt another hand on her shoulder. A very large hand.
Vala's instincts kicked in and she grabbed her assailant and moved to flip whoever it was to the ground. She succeeded, and saw immediately that it was the security guard from the gate checkpoint. She opened her mouth to demand an explanation when she felt the muzzle of a rifle pressing into the small of her back.
"Miss Mal Doran," a gravelly voice said behind her, "fancy seeing you here, and today of all days." Her pistol was swiftly removed from its holster. The little bit of the bravery she had thus far managed to muster up went with it.
Grasping for some semblance of her customary confidence, she answered coyly, "Just passing through, didn't realize you were putting on such a big show or I might have postponed my visit."
Vala slowly turned to face the man behind her as she spoke. She hoped that she was not trembling visibly as her worst fears were confirmed: it was Tavlek, head of city police. His face was a little bit more weathered, his hair greyer, but his eyes were just as cold. Everything came rushing back - he had been the one to arrest Vala and subsequently turn her into the game authorities all those years ago. "What exactly is going on here? I don't believe walking peacefully down the street is illegal is it? I haven't done anything wrong have I? Is there a reason you've taken my weapon?"
"You're being taken to the training centre Miss Mal Doran. No outside weapons allowed, you know that. I'll be needing the knives from you boots as well." Tavlek loosened the grip he had on her upper arm and trained her own pistol on her as she grudgingly bent down to retrieve the small knives from the insides of her tall black boots. "And lucky for you I don't need a reason to escort you to game headquarters this time - all previous victors are required to participate in the games this year, in celebration of their 75th anniversary. So you've done all that's necessary Miss Mal Doran. You showed up." A terrible grin spread across his scarred face. Then, he grabbed Vala's arm again in a vice-like grip and began pulling her through the crowd as she fought him every step. "The people will be so pleased to see an unexpected contestant in the arena. Especially one who was such a...crowd favourite."
Vala was still trying to pull herself from Tavlek's grasp when she heard Daniel behind her "Hey! What's going on here?" he demanded, coming up beside the pair. "I'm sure there's been some kind of misunderstanding. Who are you exactly?"
"I'm Tavlek, head of the city security force. And there is no misunderstanding sir, simply following game protocol. It's victors' year and this victor is thereby required to participate in the 75th Gabanese games."
"I'm sorry what does that mean exactly? A Victor? Vala, what is he talking about?" Daniel looked back and forth from Tavlek to Vala.
"Daniel, I –" Vala faltered.
Tavlek cut her off, speaking with gusto. "Oh she hasn't told you what she's capable of then, has she? What she's done? It was quite an impressive game really – 10 years ago was it? Shocking you might say, in fact it still comes up in discussion every year – a real crowd-pleaser. Tragic really though, in the end."
"Vala, seriously, what is going on here? You've been here before?" Daniel stared at her imploringly, willing her to explain, but Vala was too overwhelmed. Her struggles against Tavlek were slowly weakening as he continued pulling her away, and her eyes were distant – lost. Daniel turned a glare back upon Tavlek "Where are you taking her?"
"I'm afraid the location of the training centre is classified," Tavlek answered stiffly.
"Listen I don't know what's going on here but just...just let her go and I will go with you instead, alright? Vala, you go get Cam and bring the team to this training centre, wherever that is, and we'll figure this all out, ok?"
Tavlek shook his head and replied curtly, "Vala Mal Doran mustparticipate. Game rules this year. But…" He paused for a moment and looked maliciously at Vala as if remembering something, "You could come too lover-boy, if you like...all you have to do is volunteer."
This seemed to snap Vala out of whatever memories she had been sucked into. "Daniel, don't you dare," she ordered, the fire coming back into her eyes.
"Vala, I have to do something! He won't even tell me where he's taking you. This way when we get there I can talk to whoever is in charge and sort this all out."
"Daniel," she grabbed his arm with her free hand. "No. I mean it. Just stay out of this. Once you volunteer, once you are in, there is no way out. I don't want you..." she paused as the memories continued to come flooding back, accompanied by some rather strong emotions. "...I don't want you getting involved. Just...just get out of here. Go find the others."
"Seriously Vala? I mean you expect me to just let him haul you off to some unknown location when I have no idea what they are even going to do to you?"
"You'll see soon enough," came her cryptic reply. "Just go find the others. Walk away, Daniel." Please, she thought. Just back down, for once in your life.
Daniel looked at her for a long second, and then he squared his shoulders. "I volunteer." He reached for his radio, and added, "I'll just tell Cam that we're making a detour and tell him where to meet us when we get there."
"Oh no," Tavlek said grabbing Daniel's radio from his hand and throwing Vala's into his bag as well for good measure. "There's no back-up, and no funny business, son. When you volunteer, you volunteer alone." He motioned for Daniel to begin walking ahead of him.
"Dammit, Daniel," Vala muttered as her shoulders slumped, all resistance now gone.
Daniel suddenly realized how many people were watching, whispering and talking to each other. He could feel Tavlek's gun trained on him as he walked ahead of the pair. He could hear Talvlek`s quiet grunts as he pulled a still-struggling Vala along beside him. She was putting on quite the show for the crowd who continued to watch them with interest. Daniel had absolutely no idea what they had got themselves into - where they were headed or what waited for them when they arrived.
But, when he looked back and caught a glimpse of Vala`s eyes he knew one thing for sure: Daniel had never seen Vala look so scared.
