Title: Finding Paradise
Pairing: Daniel/Vala
Rating: PG-13 or T
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Author's Note: It started with a line. I swear to god, I just had this line pop into my head, and I knew immediately that it would evolve into what you see here. It's not my fault, and I fully blame my random, creative mind for this. I hate you sometimes, Creative Mind. Grrrr... Anyway, enjoy my insanity. I know I sure do once in awhile. And yes, I do see Vala and Daniel getting this cozy, darn it lol
Summary: Things turn out to be quite interesting when a guy and a girl spend the night together. (SEQUEL to: Beneath My Skin; The Powers that Be Spoilers)

The night was longer than he imagined, and Daniel Jackson grumbled and groaned as he suffered sleeping on ground that was neither soft nor forgiving. Although he did have to spend the night slumbering on terra firma before, during archeological digs and the like, the time he spent wrapped in mattresses or even just a few blankets had babied him, left him yearning for silky fabrics of great bed linens and cloudlike pillows. But here, on this unfamiliar planet with its unfamiliar people, there was nothing he could use for anything remotely like bed sheets and down comforters.

He absently scratched the beard he'd been growing for a few months now, still trying to figure out what he'd do with it. It had been completely accidental: a few days wrapped in preparation for the Daedalus's trip to Atlantis and trying to figure out more about the Ancients had delayed his appointments with his shaver. One thing had always led to another, and before long, a day's growth had turn into two. Then two to four. Then four to a week, two weeks, on and on for a few months.

But the more days that went by, the more it grew on him. At least he looked like the civilian he was supposed to be.

"I kind of like it." Eyes opening, he hadn't even realized that he was facing Vala's cell and, possibly more importantly, her. A long finger pointed towards his face and weaved circles around where he assumed his chin was. "Makes you look all rugged and handsome."

He couldn't help but smile. "Thanks."

"Sort of reminds me of a lover Qetesh had: Chotoh. He had a beard like yours."

"Lover?"

She shrugged, ignoring his slightly pointed stare. "Not my first choice when it came to men. Wasn't my choice EVER, really. I mean, she was a queen, a goddess to these people. She was in someone young, beautiful, seductively attractive with smoldering eyes and--"

He cut her off, not sure whether it was because he was annoyed with her rambling or he was trying to avoid admiring everything she pointed out. "Right. I'm sure you had nothing to do with picking the guy," he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes in almost mock disgust.

"Well I didn't. Although he was quite a specimen of the male species, if you know what I mean." She winked in his direction playfully. "Then again, even if I was as ugly as the Goual'd themselves, who could say no to a goddess?"

"I could... I have... I did!"

Vala smirked. "I'm sure you could."

"No, I mean it, I have. To quite a few Goa'uld with female hosts."

"Really? Tell me."

He sighed, and started to sit up, reaching for his glasses and precariously placing them on the bridge of his nose. Leaning against the cell with his back, he drew in a deep breath. "I'd rather not."

"Oh, come on, Daniel. There's nothing else to do, and now you've gotten my attention even more."

"You don't want... I mean, there's nothing really... there's, there's nothing I can say."

She grinned, and started crawling towards him from the opposite side of her cell. "I knew it. Liar." A pair of arms weaved themselves around his neck, and quick fingers began to spread warmth through every nerve within it as they stretched and smoothed the skin from his clavicle to the bottom of his ears.

He closed his eyes in ecstasy and moaned; sleeping on the ground had tortured him to no end, and the massage was a welcomed treat. "Not lying per say... Ooooh, that feels great... I'm just not... telling you the whole truth... Why do you-- ooooooooh! Yeah, right there... Ahhhhhhhh... Why do you want to know?"

A tremor suggested that she shrugged. "Just curious. Nothing to do, and I'm not going to sleep anytime soon. It gives me something to pass the time."

"Hathor was one," he managed to utter, his eyes rolling back in their sockets from her gentle and soothing caress. "That was one Goa'uld."

"Hathor? The queen? You're lucky to be alive after that. I've heard of her exploits even in my part of the galaxy. It was said that she could entice any man into becoming her personal Jaffa."

Daniel nodded. "Yup. That happened."

Vala stopped rubbing, softly placing her face against the bars and kissing his head. "So how close did I come from losing my Daniel before we ever met?"

"...Close. She and I were... close. Then again, she chose me, so every bit of it was her."

He left it hanging, and he could tell that she got the picture. Changing the subject, the woman started her kneading again. "Anyone else I need to know about?"

"Osiris. He ended up in the body of someone I was once involved with."

"Must have been hard to see someone you know turn into a slave with no control."

"Yeah."

"Is there any more? Besides those two?"

Silence, as it always was when he remembered one special woman in his life. Could he tell Vala this? Could he trust her? She was a thief for crying out loud! Every neuron in his body was sending out warning signs, bottling up whatever feelings he had for this alien woman, and yet he still choked out, "Amonet."

"The lifemateof Apophis?"

"Yeah. She did more damage than Hathor or Osiris could do together."

She started moving downward along his spine, firm and delicate at the same time. "Your wife?"

He nodded, and closed his eyes. "Sha're was her name. She was taken from me, and I wasn't there to protect her. I should've been."

"Daniel..."

"No, if I had been there, none of that would've happened. Amonet would've had another host, I wouldn't have to watch her die in front of me--"

"And you would have never been who you are now." Her words were spoken from the heart, and he felt his heart skip a beat. "From what I know of you, you most likely would have done everything you could to get her back. To face the Goa'uld as you did takes great courage, and great strength. When you searched for her, you gained it, and it gave you a purpose. In a way, I'm glad that she died... because she saved you in the process, and brought you, eventually, to me."

For a moment, he didn't know what to say, but then a chuckle rose from his throat. "How is it that I've known you for weeks now, and yet you never fail to surprise me?"

Vala laughed softly, and quietly slipped her arms around his shoulders. "I'm full of surprises, Daniel. I'm just not used to letting people see past them."

"Meaning?"

Now it was her turn to sigh, her warm breath wafting across his neck. "I'm complicated."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

"No, you don't understand, Daniel. You don't know me at all, and yet you seem to cut right through me. I've never met anyone who could do that."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I don't know. I'm not used to be treated as someone other than a thief and a vixen. I mean, after awhile, people start to make you out to be someone you're not, and it's all confusing... Sometimes I can barely figure out who I am, and then people come along and expect me to be a certain way."

He sighed, and turned around, crouching down on his knees and reaching out his hand to touch her face. "Hey, it's ok. I kind of understand. I mean, I'm still figuring out who I am too."

"Yeah... but you're better at it."

"I mean it. I mean, after Sha're died, I didn't know where else to go. I had found my wife; she was dead, end of story. But then I realized that that wasn't the end: it was just the beginning. I still had a few things to learn about myself. I'm still learning."

"How did you keep going? Change?"

He thought for a moment, then smiled. "Friends. Jack, Sam and Teal'c helped me."

She pouted. "I don't have any friends."

"What do you call me?"

"Entertainment."

"Vala..."

"What?"

"We were kind of having a sentimental moment."

She smiled. "I think you just wanted to kiss me again."

What could he say to that? Grinning, he touched his head to hers through the bars. "Promise me something."

"What?"

"That after I get you out of here, we work on that trusting thing, ok? I'm your friend, Vala, but I can only do so much on my own. If you let me, I can do a whole lot more."

"Daniel?"

"Yeah?"

Vala smiled warmly. "Are you going to kiss me now? Or am I going to have to do it for-"

Without another notion, he kissed her hungrily and passionately, while its explosive charge rattled his brain into numbness. Warm lips were touching his, and her tongue searched his mouth, delighted to find a partner for at least a few moments.

It took only a few moments, and when they finally parted, the only thing he could think about was this: ascension was nothing in comparison.

For once in his life, Daniel Jackson was where he thought he would never have the chance to go again: paradise.