MISTLETOE MISSION
"Ugh!" Vala stopped abruptly and unexpectedly at the door to the mess hall.
Sam, directly behind her, carried on walking and bumped hard into her team mate. "Ow." She rubbed her collar bone absently. "What's up?"
"That." Continuing into the room, Vala nodded upwards. A large bunch of mistletoe hung invitingly from the ceiling of the mess hall. "That old hazelnut again." She joined the line for food, listlessly hauling a tray from it's pile and banging it crossly onto the side.
Briefly glancing around to see if there were any hazelnuts in close proximity, Sam chuckled. "Do you mean 'that old chestnut'? As in 'seen it before, already done that' kind of thing?"
Vala shrugged indifferently. "I suppose so. Although that's the whole point. I haven't been there and done that." Pausing, she crinkled her eyes. "Well, actually there was the Prometheus, but that hardly counts. I mean, I didn't know him then – we'd only just met. And it was so long ago I'm sure that it doesn't count." She grabbed a bottle of orange juice and slammed it onto her tray with un-necessary force. "No – it doesn't count. So Samantha, I say again – meh, that old chestnut."
Sam carefully took her own bottle of juice from the counter with one hand, squeezing her friend's elbow with the other. "Are we talking about archaeologists?" she asked, sympathetically.
"We are talking about short-sighted, hard-hearted, self-centred idiots," Vala told her succinctly. "And if one of them happens to be an archaeologist then yes, we are talking about those."
"You two and you're constant fighting." Sam looked back over her shoulder at the innocent bunch of mistletoe that had sparked off Vala's torrent of grumpiness. "It's only a bit of fun anyway, Vala. It doesn't mean anything. Everybody kisses everybody under the mistletoe at Christmas!"
"That's exactly what I mean!" Aggrieved, Vala swung around to face Sam, eyes spitting fire. "If it's not such a big thing, then why does Daniel always make such a fuss about it?" She huffed out a growl, before moving along and snatching a huge cookie from the display. "It's just me. He doesn't want to kiss me."
"That's not true." Sam spoke with complete certainty. "I don't think that Daniel wants to kiss anyone in the middle of the mess hall! It's not just you at all." She paused, pondering over many past altercations between her two team mates. "It's just – just him. He's not good at showing his emotions. To anyone."
"Hmmmphh!" Vala's black gaze didn't falter. "I've never had a mistletoe kiss, do you know that? All I see in your festive Tau'ri films are men and women embracing and kissing beneath that funny little plant. Everyone talks about it at Christmas – Tau'ri songs all sing about and I've never done it. It's not fair."
"How many Christmas's have you been here now?" Sam asked, intrigued.
"Welll…."Screwing up her pretty nose Vala began to count on her fingers. "The first year we were too busy fighting the Ori, the second year I was on the Tok'ra home world without all of you and let me tell you now, the Tok'ra don't even know what Christmas is! Never mind mistletoe. And, I mean, who would want to kiss one of them anyway? Then the third year we were off world and Daniel was yabbering on about ancient ruins – blah de blah de blah – and the little sprig of mistletoe that I had in my pocket ended up getting sat on, so I yelled at him and well, no kissing then. And last year I was playing raspberries with you and Jack up at the cabin -remember? Daniel came back here early to study that ancient pile of junk that turned up from Atlantis." Vala sighed and took an apple from the fruit bowl close by.
Sam chuckled once more. "I think that you mean you were playing gooseberry with me and Jack!" She glanced around sheepishly. "And don't say it too loud around here! Some people still don't take mine and Jack's relationship too well." She laughed louder. "Raspberries."
Vala sniffed dolefully as she rummaged about in her purse for her mess hall card, to pay the cashier.
Sam slipped an arm around the alien woman's shoulders and hugged her gently. "Daniel thinks the world of you," she told Vala. "He really does. Sometimes he says things to Jack or me – he's just – he's just too scared and set in his ways to do anything about it!"
"Hmmph!" Vala grunted again, but with less force. She tilted her head as she watched Sam, huge slate blue eyes glimmering. "Well, what am I supposed to do, Samantha?" There was real angst behind her question. " I started off all wrong and flirty and annoying and now that's all Daniel thinks I am!"
"No it isn't!" Sam gripped her friend by the shoulders firmly and looked her straight in the eye. "Daniel is a clever enough guy to work out that the 'you' who turned up here all those years ago is NOT the 'you' who he works alongside today. He just needs a – well – a Naquadah generator up his backside!"
The two women moved away to one of the tables, both deep in thought. "I have an idea," Sam said slowly, after a minute or two. "You need to show Daniel that you're not bothered by the emotions and romantic feelings between you. Pull back for a while. Hang out with some other guys – make him a little jealous. You see what I mean?"
"Make him jealous?" Vala chewed thoughtfully on her cookie, mind whirling like a windmill. "Hang out with other men – don't pester Daniel so much." She nodded, considering. "Mmmm."
Sam, for some reason, felt slightly disconcerted. She wasn't sure whether she'd said the right thing, or done the equivalent of priming a possible nuclear explosion! "Uh – Vala, what I mean is…"
"Samantha, I understand you perfectly!" Vala nodded vigourously, face bright with anticipation. "I know exactly what to do! Stay back, make him jealous, hang out with other guys. Thank you so much!" She surged to her feet, grabbed her juice and began to trot away out of the mess hall. "I'll catch up with you later – I have some planning to do!" and then she was gone, off up the hallway.
Sam sat in silence, mouth slightly agape, and watched her leave. What the Holy Hannah have I just started? she thought.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Mitchell rapped loudly on the doorframe of Daniel's office. "Hey Jackson!" He leaned nonchalantly against the edge of the door. Too nonchalantly.
"Hi Mitchell." Busy working, with his nose stuck into a vast historical tome, Daniel barely glanced up at his CO.
"You – uh – you seen the Princess lately?" Mitchell pressed his lips tightly together to try and prevent the bubble of laughter that wanted to escape.
"Vala?" Daniel scratched his nose absently. "I think she was around this morning. She went to lunch with Sam." He glanced up at the clock on the wall. 15.27 hours. "Hmm. I guess she didn't come back from lunch." He was about to look back down at his book when something in Mitchell's face made him pause. "What?"
"Uh – well, I kinda know where Vala is. She's – sorta – she's sorta on a mission." He folded his arms, grinning widely now. "Sam put this idea into her head – you know what the Princess is like when she gets an idea in her head! – and now Vala's decided that her mission is to bring good cheer to all airmen this Christmas. Keep up spirits, that kinda thing."
"Oh gods." Daniel shoved his glasses up onto his forehead and rubbed his eyes hard. "What exactly is she doing?"
"Welll…." Moving out of the room, Mitchell glanced back at his team mate. "I'm not sure whether I should tell ya, Jackson. I mean, it might be classified."
"Mitchell!" Daniel's growl had a distinctly humourless edge to it.
His CO, on the other hand, was having a whale of a time. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you." He winked conspiratorily. "You didn't hear it from me though. Vala's mission – her special mission – well, it's – it's…" Mitchell couldn't help himself and began to chuckle helplessly.
"Cam!" Daniel pushed his work aside and kicked his chair away. "What the heck is she up to?"
"Kissin'!" Mitchell yelled out gleefully. "She's workin' her way through the base personnel, kissin' and huggin' everyone who's feeling kinda lonesome at this time of year. I mean, it's Christmas Eve tomorrow, and people miss their families." He stepped back quickly as Daniel stormed past. "You wanna go join the line?" he called after him.
The only answer was the stairwell door slamming back on it's hinges as the archaeologist stormed off to find Vala.
"Try the mess hall!" his unrepentant CO yelled after him, before trotting off in the direction of the elevator.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Daniel, feeling considerably irked for reasons that he wasn't entirely sure of and didn't want to contemplate, stamped grumpily into the mess hall. He was intent on finding Vala immediately so that he could tell her how foolishly she was acting, before marching her back to his office. Sometimes she behaves so wildly! he thought, harassed. It's like she does it on purpose, to force a reaction. Oh. Blushing faintly, he understood that the alien woman's feelings towards himself were complicated, to say the least. As were his for her. The blush deepened – then he froze. Any further thoughts of removing Vala from the immediate vicinity vanished like smoke as he stood, open-mouthed, and watched the spectacle in front of him.
The huge bunch of mistletoe still hung in the middle of the mess hall, but underneath there was now a large chair – it looked as if it might be the one from General Landry's office – swathed in a bright red material and festooned with large silver bows and twists of tinsel. A stack of gaily wrapped packages were piled to one side along with a large plastic bucket that had 'Donations' written on it.
Sitting in the chair - back straight, legs crossed at the knee and busy re-applying a slash of bright lipstick - was Vala. She was dressed, Daniel supposed, as one of Santa's elves and wore an off the shoulder silver top that flashed a tantalising expanse of midriff, the tiniest red skirt imaginable and a pair of bright green stockings. Thigh high black boots with killer heels and a Santa hat set at a jaunty angle completed the picture.
Several eager-looking young SF's waited in line beside the throne. Vala hadn't seen Daniel yet – as he watched she smiled engagingly at the first young man in the queue, who now grinned rather embarrassedly as he shuffled forward.
"Come along, Jeffrey," she told him. "Don't be shy – it's all for charity. What do you have for me?"
"I – um – I got ten bucks, Vala," the young SF, all puppy-dog eyes, tossed his bill into the bucket.
"Thank you, lovely man." Vala wriggled to one side in her seat and patted the area next to her. "All monetary donations are going to the Christmas homeless shelter in town. All presents to the children's ward at the Air Force hospital!" The young man slid into his place tentatively. Vala patted his cheek reassuringly before leaning forward and giving him the most healthy, rigourous and full on kiss that he'd had in a long time. Moments later she pulled away, grinning. "Next!" she called out commandingly.
The young SF staggered away, completely overcome, to be replaced by one of his colleagues – a gentleman who hastily crunched up the mint that he'd been munching on. "My turn!" he beamed, lolloping forward.
Daniel's insides were flipping about as if they were a pizza being tossed. It was like watching Vala play Qetesh again, except this time was even better. She was todally in control, acting in a benevolent if slightly whacky manner, and thinking of others less fortunate than herself. Kind of. Although she doesn't look as if she fond that kiss too discomfiting, Daniel thought, narked.
"See?" As if by magic Mitchell re-appeared behind him. "You ain't the only guy who wants to kiss the Princess!"
"I don't want to kiss her!" Daniel told him crossly. Although – those kinky boots. "Don't be ridiculous, Mitchell! We're team mates and – and co-workers!"
"Huh. Sure." The Colonel elbowed his friend out of the way. "My turn, Princess!"
"Oh hello Cameron!" Beaming, Vala wriggled excitedly on her chair. "How exciting! What a wonderful day I'm having after all! We've raised almost two hundred dollars for the homeless and there's about a dozen or so gifts there for the hospital, look." She pointed, satisfied, at the pile of parcels.
"How many people have you kissed?!" squeaked Daniel, weakly.
"Why darling, what are you doing here?" Vala smiled brightly, but there was a distinctly stony glint in her eye. "I mean, you can't be here to join the line, surely?"
"No, I'm not!" Daniel reddened. "I'm not a kisser! I mean, I don't want to – need to – even for charity – I'm not that sort of – stop it Vala!"
"I most certainly will not!" Vala retorted angrily. "I am exhibiting the spirit of goodwill, Daniel, by helping my fellow man during the Yuletime season. You on the other hand, are merely being annoying, condescending and rude."
"I'm not!" Daniel argued, realising that he probably was.
"Sure you are." Mitchell weaselled his way onto the seat beside Vala. "It's Yule tide, honey," he told her. Then he turned to Daniel. "Pay up or go away, Jackson," he grinned, before wrapping his arms around Vala and planting a smacker of a kiss right on her mouth. It carried on for several minutes.
"Has he gone yet?" Vala whispered eventually, into Mitchell's neck.
"Yup." The Colonel pinched her chin gently. "don't worry – he'll be back!"
Vala sighed. "I hope so."
Mitchell handed her a fifty dollar bill. "Here – put that in the bucket. Worth every penny!" Then he sauntered off, whistling cheerfully.
Vala tossed the money in with the rest of the donations, straightened her hat and smiled widely at the next young man in line. "Hello Tim, dear! Donation or gift?"
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Daniel sat glumly in his office, arms wrapped around his body, hands tucked under his arms. He felt cross, discomfited, awkward and upset.
And he knew why. Vala.
He'd always felt a whole range of strange and complicated emotions connected with the alien woman. Their early antagonism had quickly turned to a deep sense of care towards each other – even if they both had difficulty showing it. Vala's flirting annoyed Daniel initially, but after a while he just accepted that it as part of her psyche. And later on he realised that it was a way she used to cope with her own emotions and feelings. For a long time they had been close friends – sometimes he had felt other, older, feelings stirring but had always squashed them down again. After all – if you cared for someone, loved them, and then lost them – well, it was too much heartbreak.
I've done it once, Daniel used to say to himself. Until Vala had vanished from the restaurant that evening, taken by Athena. It had proved all his coping strategies wrong – he'd figured that if he didn't tell Vala how he felt then she'd be safe. But it hadn't worked – he'd felt just as awful as when Sha're had been missing.
I should have told her how I felt as soon as she came back, he thought, but he hadn't, and they'd all moved on and now it was too late.
Wasn't it?
Daniel thought of the mistletoe, and the elf outfit, and the donations to good causes. He thought of previous Christmases when he'd either ignored Vala or not been with her. He remembered the expression on her face when he'd left her with Sam and Jack because SG18 had found something so exciting that he just had to return to the SGC, even though it was Christmas Eve. He thought about how she always looked so delighted when she opened her gift from him every year – without fail, a hamper of bath goodies from a well-known store.
I should get her something special, Daniel realized suddenly. I should do something special for her. It might be too late next year.
His heart squeezed painfully in his chest and he drew a shuddering breath. He thought of the long line of enamoured airmen, all waiting under the mistletoe. It might already be too late!
Daniel crossed his office quickly and yanking open a closet door, began to rummage about energetically, searching for something. There it was!
He had an idea.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
The clock on the wall of the mess hall said 21.53 hours. Vala looked with some degree of pride at the pile of wrapped gifts for the local hospital, and the bucket that was two thirds full of dollar bills of various denominations, plus a mountain of small change.
All for a good cause, she beamed, satisfied. She lifted the bucket and moved to a table close by, tipping out the contents to begin counting. Some time later she finished her adding up and wrote the final amount with a flourish. "Five hundred and forty three dollars, seventy two cents!" she said out loud, proudly.
"How much?!" Daniel stood just inside the door, looking astounded. He wore the article that he had found in his closet - a green and red striped elf hat, left over from a previous year.
Vala's grin widened further. "All for a good cause!" she repeated, nodding. Tilting her head to one side, she regarded her friend inquisitively. "Are you here to donate, darling? Because I was just about to pack up."
"No." Daniel shook his head.
Vala's shoulder's drooped almost imperceptibly. "Oh."
"I'm doing my own kissing – uh – thing," he continued, feeling a wave of heat begin to crawl over himself.
"Oh?" Vala repeated, but with a query in her voice. "Who with? Nearly everybody's gone home!"
Daniel cleared his throat embarrassedly. "I – uh – I don't need everybody." He glanced around at the few people left in the mess hall. "I – uh – I just need you."
"Me?" Vala stepped closer, biting her lip. Her eyes crinkled half in humor, half in puzzlement. "Why do you need me?"
"For this…" Daniel whooshed out, in a fog of sudden self-consciousness before taking Vala firmly in his arms and kissing her as if they only had minutes left to live. He was aware of several people in the room whooping and beginning to clap but he no longer cared. Kissing Vala felt wonderful, even better than it had on the Prometheus all those years ago.
The lady herself swiftly wrapped herself tightly around Daniel – holding on to him as if he was a rock and she a drowning woman, she barely drew breath as she kissed him back furiously and passionately. By the time they broke apart she could barely breathe but just stood, hanging onto Daniel, panting and grinning.
The archaeologist wasn't in much better condition as he stood, mesmerised by the beautiful woman before him. His face felt all fuzzy and goofy and his glasses seemed to have disappeared. Daniel patted vaguely around his eyes with one hand, looking adorably bewildered.
"I think they're on the floor," Vala whispered, as she attempted to straighten his decidedly crooked elf hat.
"Here ya go!" Mitchell, appearing from nowhere, grinned widely and handed the lost spectacles back to their owner. "You two keepin' busy?"
"Yes thank you, Cameron dear," Vala began to say, but was smothered by Daniel as he began another kissing assault on her.
The archaeologist, with one hand still hanging on to his beloved fruitcake, managed to shove his CO away with the other while continuing to passionately kiss. The glasses clattered to the floor again.
"Okay," rubbing his hands Mitchell sidled away in the direction of the control room, to try and find Walter and collect about five years-worth of bets on the outcome of the relationship between two certain members of SG1.
Eventually Daniel and Vala managed to extricate themselves from each other for long enough to make it up to the counter and purchase two large coffees. Sitting as close as two people could possible get, Vala sighed contentedly.
"Are you sure, Daniel? You're absoulutely sure? You want you and I to be for real?"
"I do." He stroked along her jawline gently, before catching her generous lip with his thumb, and rubbing softly. "For real. For always. I was afraid before – I don't know, too many problems, stupid ideas, I don't know.."
Vala leaned in and kissed him again. "I do know. Me too." Her face was soft, gentle. She swallowed loudly. "I'll try not to act too much like a fruitcake in future!"
"What, are you kidding?" Daniel sipped his coffee, sliding one arm across Vala's shoulders. "I love fruitcake! It's my favorite. And I – I love you." He blushed crimson.
Vala's eyes flooded with tears and she covered her face briefly. "Me too," she whispered, nodding. "Yes, me too."
They sat in a sweet silence for several long minutes, before Daniel tilted his head to look down at her. "How much did you say that you raised again today?"
"Oh!" Vala beamed, delighted. "Five hundred and forty three dollars, seventy two cents. Would you like to donate, darling?"
"Are you kidding?" Daniel tugged something from his BDU pocket. "But this is a gift just for you. You deserve it."
"For me?" Vala took it gingerly. "Is it a voucher for another set of delightful bath accessories, like in previous years?"
"Nope," Daniel shook his head. He was almost as excited as her.
Vala tore open the envelope, read the writing on the piece of paper within, then squealed so loudly that the other diners looked over in her direction. " 'This letter is to tell you that you are owed at least five years of decent Christmas gifts from Dr Daniel Jackson. This letter is to inform you that from the 1st to the 10th January next year you will be whisked away to the Caribbean on a cruise, with the aforementioned Dr Daniel Jackson, to sunbathe and swim and drink as many cocktails as is humanly possible. And to attend at least three dates a day with Dr Daniel Jackson, for breakfast, lunch and dinner – the kind of dates that are romantic in nature, not merely friends and co-workers.' Oh Daniel!" Vala threw her arms around him and dissolved into a muddle of tears and laughter. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she hiccupped out, eventually.
"You're welcome." Holding her tight with one hand, and mopping her damp cheeks with the other, Daniel knew that he'd never been happier. "Merry Christmas, Vala. Thank you for waiting for me."
The tears on the ends of her lashes sparkled like crystals. Vala's smile was huge, and beautiful and electric. "Merry Christmas." She snuggled in tightly, the precious note tight in her grasp. "Merry Christmas, my darling Daniel."
Sam, hiding by the entrance to the mess hall, grinned mistily and sniffed.
"Hey – don't you start all that!" Jack, sauntering up behind her, slipped an arm around her waist before kissing her soundly on one pink cheek.
"Sir!" she admonished him, blushing. "The cameras!"
"Pah." Jack looked up at the closest CCTV with disdain. "Retired!" he mouthed at it.
"Come on." Sam began to tug him down the hall way. "Home."
"I thought you'd never ask," he winked.
She shook her head, smiling resignedly. "Merry Christmas, Jack."
"Merry Christmas, Carter. Merry Christmas."
THE END