Red-Letter Day
By acer-sigma
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters that originated from the show. I just own the idea for this story, and seeing as how there is a writers strike at the moment, if the networks really want this idea, I'm sure we can come to an agreement.
Spoilers:Possibly some for early Season 9 and maybe Momento Mori. Takes place after Season 10.
A/N: Short I know, but it's a prologue and I'm working on it. As for the title, I'll explain later on.
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Vala tossed and turned in her sleep, her dreams plagued her as her subconscious worked overtime to churn out memories and emotions that she had tried to repress and forget. Yet they always seemed to find her in the end.
Shooting up from her bed, Vala wiped the sweat from her brow as she tried to calm her breathing. Glancing at the clock on her night stand, she sighed as she read the early hour. This had been going on for several days now, each day getting worse as the day she both revered and hated approached. She knew she wouldn't be able to get any sleep tonight as the nightmares continued to build in intensity.
In the past, when this day approached, she would have found some way to keep her mind off her memories. Be it finding some scam or con that she could devote all her energy into pulling off, or even loosing herself in a night of unbridled passion; anything as long as it kept those memories away. Unfortunately, she thought, none of her old methods of dealing with the problem would be well appreciated. Any scam or con she could work would no doubt find its way into the disapproving frown of one Dr. Daniel Jackson. Who funny enough, would have been her first and only choice for a night of unbridled passion. Unfortunately, she thought morosely, Daniel wouldn't be particularly inclined to help her in that way. In fact, she mused, he'd probably accuse her of faking her emotional distress just to get him into bed.
Shaking her head to clear that idea out of her mind, she quickly climbed out of bed. For a moment she let her mind drift as she wondered how her other self could have possibly dealt with her demons for the fifty years that she had spent trapped onboard the Odyssey; trapped with little to no distractions to take her mind off her inner demons. Had she confided in Daniel, in her friends, or had she simply disappeared when the time had arrived, disappeared to battle her inner demons alone as she had always done.
Teal'c, she knew, would more than likely have the answers; all she had to do was simply ask. As stoic and resolute as he was in keeping his silence over the events that had occurred on the Odyssey, it was unlikely he would deny her this inquiry.
Yet she couldn't risk it. If her other self, she reasoned, had revealed the truth behind why her nightmares tended to intensify, than surely Teal'c would have already approached her in private to offer his support. The fact that he hadn't, would seem to show that her other self had successfully hidden her distress from the others. Despite herself, she couldn't help but smile at her other self's ability to keep such a secret from her teammates for fifty years.
Vala's smile however, soon turned to a frown. It was a pity, she thought to herself, if her other self had only told the rest of the team the truth, than she'd at least have Teal'c to confide in. She couldn't fault herself though; her friends would never understand what she had had to do to survive all those years ago.
Daniel, she thought with a sigh, would definitely not understand; he had long ago made it clear that he disapproved of the lifestyle she had been forced to live prior to her arrival on Earth. If he ever found out the truth…, she quickly shook off that depressing thought as she took another glance at the time. She needed some sleep if she was going to be of any use to Daniel in the morning. Unfortunately, past experience had taught her that it would be near impossible to get any sleep.
Deciding that there was really only one thing she could do that would hopefully exhaust her and wouldn't get her into trouble; she quickly pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from her dresser. Pulling off her sweat soak night clothes, she quickly dressed in the shorts and t-shirt; she then slipped into a pair of sneakers and prepared to leave her room for the gym. As she reached the door, she cast one look at her closet, and hoped she wouldn't have to resort to her only other measure if she failed to exhaust herself. With that last thought in mind, she quickly exited and jogged down the corridors of the SGC.
