Disclaimer - I don't own Stargate, worse luck! May contain spoilers re: a certain Gou'ald lady from Season 1 and the Unas. Set post Continuum.

- o - o - o - o - o - o -

Chapter 1 An Unpleasant Reminder

A peaceful and amicable silence reigned inside Dr Daniel Jackson's lab at the SGC.

The archaeologist sat at his desk, several large books open in front of him, papers scattered around and the ever present cup of coffee sitting amid the wreckage. He wrote a few lines, referenced it against an article in one of the books, turned a few pages then scrawled something else. He whispered occasionally under his breath, words in strange languages which few other Earth-bound humans even knew of.

Further along the desk, on the other side, sat Vala. She was also busy writing - in a huge, ring-bound notebook with a lurid, Barbie-pink pen that had a purple heart and feather bobbing about on the end. The feather bounced as she wrote translations, in a neat flowing script, of the grubby Gou'ald parchment that was propped up in front of her.

Every few minutes Vala paused to pop a peanut M and M into her mouth, or to fiddle with the glittery hair elastics on the end of her braids. Her ears were full of the soundtrack from 'Legally Blonde' which was playing on her Ipod, she forgot herself occasionally and broke out with the odd tuneful line or two before she became aware that Daniel was watching her, frowning.

"Sorry," Vala whispered, when it happened for about the third time.

Her partner pinched the top of his nose, glasses askew, resigned. "Come on." Daniel pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'll buy you a coffee. We've been at this for long enough."

"Lovely." Vala beamed her megawatt smile and threw her pen carelessly aside. Yanking out the ear buds, she sent the Ipod skittering across the desk.

Daniel sighed again, dropping his head to his chest. "Come on. Before you break something important."

Grinning unrepentantly, Vala skipped out of the office ahead of him. She nearly bumped into a man who stood close by in the hallway.

Apologizing, he moved away quickly towards the elevator.

"Beg your pardon!" Vala called after him.

The man half turned, lifting a hand in acknowledgement, but didn't speak.

"Who was that?" Daniel queried, watching as the stranger walked away.

Vala shrugged. "Not a clue, darling. He was passing as I opened the door. Well – I think he was passing." She frowned.

"You think?"

"He was right outside. I suppose that he was walking. Walking past, I mean. Although, he did seem rather still for someone who was meant to be moving."

The unknown man entered the elevator as the team mates watched. It moved upward towards the surface.

Daniel still stood in the corridor. He was sure that it must be nothing. The guy was just checking his cell phone or something. Or doing up his shoelace. Something menial – that was why he had been hovering outside.

Or perhaps he was just an innocent person walking past. I'm over-reacting, thought the archaeologist. Too many years doing this job.

Vala was already half way along the corridor, any fleeting worries that she'd had banished by the thought of a free coffee and undoubtedly some ice-cream or Jello. She pressed the button to call the elevator.

"Come on, Daniel," she yelled, tossing one of her braids back over her shoulder. "What are you doing still standing there? I need you and your wallet here with me!"

"Hmm?" Eyebrows raised in faint bemusement, Daniel stuck his hands into his pockets and strolled towards her. The mildly suspicious incident was forgotten by both of them.

- o - o - o - o - o - o -

The sight of a certain blonde Colonel sitting at one of the tables in the mess hall made Vala squeak excitedly and shoot off across the room. She wrapped her arms around Sam Carter in a tight hug.

"Hey!" Sam cuddled her back, smiling widely. "How are you?"

"Good thank you," Vala loosened her hold partially on the Colonel but continued to grin up at her. She missed her ex-team mate terribly when she was off on the George Hammond, way across the galaxy somewhere. "How long can you stay for?"

Sam smiled. She had a bombshell to drop which she knew would please her alien friend immensely. "What would you say if I said that I could stay for at least a month?"

"What?" Daniel shoved Vala aside in a very un-gentlemanly manner and gave Sam a huge hug of his own. "A whole month? What's happening with the Hammond – have you broken it already?"

"No, not yet," Sam laughed. "It's scheduled for a regular overhaul and some small repairs to the fuselage, after a close encounter with a small asteroid a month or so back. So you got me here for a while. It'll be just like old times!"

"Yay!" Vala skipped on the spot, punching the air.

People around them barely turned a hair – after several years at the SGC most of the staff there were totally at home with the alien's wacky antics.

"We can have lots of girl's nights in! And out!" Vala rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Can I have the rest of the day off Daniel?" She smiled beseechingly up at the archaeologist, hands clasped in front of her chest, slate grey eyes wide.

"No!" he retorted. "You work here, Vala. You're going to have plenty of down time in the next month, to hang out with Sam. You two can go off and do your thing then."

Vala folded her arms and scowled. "That's so unfair…" she began.

Sam cut in. "Hey – he's right! I'm here for a month, okay? We'll have plenty of time to hang out. And I'm going to have to do some work too, you know. Washington aren't going to let me just come and sit in the mess hall for the next four weeks!"

An unwilling little grin pulled the alien's lips up into a smile. "Okay."

"I'll buy you both coffee, if you like," Sam offered, eyebrows lifted.

"You know what, I'll take you up on that," Daniel linked arms with his old team mate. Vala slipped her arm around Sam from the opposite side, and together the three of them headed over to the line of hungry people waiting to get their lunch.

- o - o - o - o - o - o -

Later that afternoon one of the young airmen on base knocked at the door of Daniel's office and delivered a small packet.

Daniel signed for it, moving back to his desk and opening the little box straight away. "Hmmm," he muttered to himself, scratching his face. "Hmmmm."

"Hmmm what?" Vala queried, only half paying attention. She was fiddling with her Ipod which had run out of juice. "Have you seen the charger for this, darling?"

"The what?" Daniel wasn't really listening. He lifted the artifact out of the parcel and placed it on the desk in front of himself.

"The charger. What's tha….oh!" Vala dropped her Ipod without a second thought and snatched up the device which was laying in front of Daniel.

"Hey!" Protesting, he leaned over to take it back, but something in his team mate's expression stopped him.

Vala's face was flushed with emotion – she looked at the thing in her hand with a mixture of awe and revulsion. Her eyes were dark, angry, but there was something else in there too. They were bright with un-shed tears when she looked up at Daniel.

"What are you doing with a thing like this?" Vala's lips trembled as she tossed the central stone from Hathor's Gou'ald bodice back onto the desk. Her hands shook visibly as she wiped her mouth.

"I'm going to do some studies on it," Daniel told her gently, aware that he was treading on very shaky ground. "Sam's going to run some tests on it – try and find out how it works."

"Planning on raising a Jaffa army then are you, darling?" Vala asked, trying to make light of it. She pushed her stool back and headed for the office door. "Bathroom," she managed to stammer out, before beginning to run.

Daniel left it five minutes before he went looking for her. During that time he carefully re-wrapped the device and placed it back in it's box. It was apparent to even the short sighted archaeologist that the sight of Hathor's property had brought some very unpleasant memories to the forefront of Vala's mind.

I should have thought, he chided himself. Stupid, Jackson. Stupid and thoughtless. Should've guessed that she'd have trouble keeping her head with something like that in front of her.

Daniel pushed his chair back and left the office. The bathroom was along the corridor just a short way – he hesitated outside for a moment before entering.

Vala was sat on the floor in the second cubicle, leaning back against the wall, eyes closed. She was as white as a sheet and breathing deeply. Realizing that she was no longer alone, her eyes opened a crack.

The sound of the toilet tank refilling with water was loud in the room.

"Did you throw up?" Daniel sat down next to her, closely, his arm against her's.

Nodding, Vala rubbed her hand tiredly over her face.

"I don't blame you." Moving his hand to lay it gently on her knee, Daniel grinned ruefully. " The memory of Hathor is enough to make anyone lose their lunch!"

Vala gave him a little smile before leaning her head against his shoulder. She didn't trust herself to speak just yet, afraid that there may still be some ammunition left within her churning innards to hurl down the toilet pan at a moment's notice.

Luckily, Daniel didn't seem to expect much response. He was content to just sit beside her, waiting for her rolling stomach to calm itself down and her pulse rate to lower to something more acceptable than a wild gallop.

It was a good five minutes or so later before Vala tilted her head to look up at him.

"Thank you, Daniel," she whispered, voice slightly hoarse. "I don't know what came over me. Must have been the shepherd's pie at lunch time."

"Don't even start with that," he warned her. "Just for once, admit that you felt a little bit overcome back there. I can take it, you know. Let someone share all that crap with you, just for once."

Silence. Then Vala peeped up at him again. Her beautiful grey-blue eyes were dark, afraid.

"I won't run," Daniel told her. He ran his finger along her jawline. "You know that I won't. If I was going to run screaming for the hills don't you think that I'd have done it by now? I've known you for over five years, after all! Plenty of time to abandon ship before this!"

Another tiny smile tugged at Vala's lips. She wiped her nose on her hand.

"I just – I don't know, it was just – seeing it there, suddenly. With no warning." Her voice strengthened as she spoke. "It made me think – remember things -." She swallowed and dipped her head again.

"It made you remember things that you didn't want to?" Daniel spoke very gently. "Things that you hate – that frighten you?"

Vala nodded. She closed her eyes. There was a small pause.

"You going to throw up again?" Daniel watched her, concerned.

"No."

They sat in silence for another few minutes.

"You feel able to get up off of the toilet floor yet?" Daniel could feel his backside getting stiffer and more uncomfortable with every minute that passed.

Vala gave him a grateful, genuine smile. "Yes. Sorry. Is your poor six getting sore?" She gave his backside a crafty pat as he stood.

"Just a little bit." Daniel put his hand out and hauled her to her feet. He placed a hand on each of her arms. "You sure that you're okay now?"

Biting her lip, Vala nodded. She had a bit more color back in her cheeks, and her eyes were clearer. "You won't tell anyone else about this, will you Daniel?"

"Of course not." Shaking his head, he dropped his arms but took her hand and led her quietly back to the office.

The rest of the day passed un-remarkably. Neither of them mentioned the device again and it remained in it's box, at one end of Daniel's desk.

Vala sat on the couch for the rest of the afternoon, curled up with her laptop and Ipod. She didn't say much but seemed to have recovered from her earlier, brief meltdown.

It was close on 1800 hours before Daniel suddenly blurted out, "Hey, Vala?"

"Mmmm?"

A pause. "Did you know Hathor?"

Vala looked over the top of the couch at him. She pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes then seemed to make up her mind. "Of course I knew Hathor. I mean, I didn't, obviously. Qetesh did. A long time ago. I remember her memories though." Vala paused. "She was a proper cake, Hathor. You know? She put it out there. Totally."

"She was – she was a what now?" Daniel was genuinely confused.

"A cake. She was a cake. She flaunted her attributes, darling. A cake."

"You mean she was a tart?" Daniel couldn't help laughing.

Vala flapped her hand dismissively. "Same thing darling. Cake – tart. All delicious and edible Tau'ri puddings." She paused. "I'm not actually sure why you call someone after a pudding if they act like that. Why is it exactly?"

"I have no idea," smiled Daniel. "And I think you mean that she 'put out'."

"Put out what?" Vala, feeling much more like herself again, had lost interest in the conversation.

Her team mate shook his head. "Don't worry. I've met her. In person. I know all about her putting out!"

"Well, lucky you darling. Did she 'put out' better than I do?" Vala raised her eyebrows, openly flirting with him now.

"Stop it." Trying with not much success to look cross, Daniel stood up, shutting the lid on his laptop at the same time. "Come on, I'll buy you dinner."

"A date?" Vala looked hopeful.

"Sure – as long as you like mess hall food." Daniel opened the door.

"Well, we really are pushing the ship out today aren't we? Two dates in one day." Vala nudged him with her shoulder as she went past, tightening up the elastics on her braids.

Daniel thought about correcting the whole boat/ship malpropism, took one look at the alien who was rapidly heading towards the elevators with his wallet in her hand and decided against it. He pulled his office door shut then followed quickly after her, grateful that his credit card was in his jacket pocket. He felt for it, half a second before he saw her waving it at him.

"Vala!" he growled, following the sound of her chuckle into the elevator.

TBC...