Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination.

Stalking Aliens

Daniel watched as Teal'c and Vala left the SGC and felt his hands ball into a fist. The two aliens had been leaving together every Saturday night for the past two months without letting on as to where they went. Not that he cared, he told himself. He just wondered why the outings were such a secret. They always left at exactly 1800 and never returned until well after midnight. Not that he was paying that much attention to their comings and goings. He wasn't. He simply didn't understand what they could possibly be doing together for so long on a Saturday night.

When he'd questioned Vala about it, she'd given him some lame excuse about taking in the Tau'ri culture. What the hell did that even mean? Even Teal'c was being tight-lipped about the whole thing, merely giving an enigmatic smile when he'd asked.

Daniel had finally grown suspicious enough to follow them. He kept to the shadows and watched as they moved quickly across the parking lot to Teal'c's car. Daniel flinched when he noticed the Jaffa's hand resting possessively on the small of Vala's back. Not that he was jealous. Oh no, he was simply afraid for Teal'c's safety. Vala could get downright dangerous if she thought someone was being overly possessive with her. But she certainly didn't seem to mind it coming from the Jaffa right now.

Silently, Daniel crept to his own car and drove off after the pair, making certain to keep a safe distance between them. As he drove, Daniel thought about Vala being out in public without an "Earth" chaperone and cringed. Not that he didn't trust Teal'c to keep her in line, but sometimes he wondered if the big Jaffa was as sensible as everyone assumed. There were times on missions when he'd see the two aliens seemingly goofing off but he could never actually catch them at it. And Vala's practical jokes had gotten a lot stealthier as of late. Not that her actually believed Teal'c to be anything but responsible...

Daniel broke off his musings when he saw Teal'c pull over to the curb in the commercial district of Colorado Springs. He was surprised to note Vala appeared to be waiting for Teal'c to open her door and help her out of the vehicle. No, he wasn't jealous. He was just...shocked. Yeah, that's right. He was shocked to see Vala allowing this kind of behaviour.

Daniel parked his own car and hunkered down in the seat as the two aliens crossed the street. Glancing up at the businesses over there, his eyes narrowed when he noticed a small but classy hotel. He sighed in relief when they passed by the building and walked a few doors down to a bowling alley instead. His relief had nothing to do with the fact they hadn't gone into the hotel, he was simply happy he'd discovered the reason they went out every Saturday. They must have joined a bowling league and Daniel grinned at the thought of Teal'c attempting to fit into the rental shoes. He laughed as he started his car and drove off. Oh boy, was he going to give them grief over this.

Meanwhile, just inside the bowling alley's lobby, Vala sat at a table with her face pressed up against the glass and watched Daniel's car disappear from view.

"Do you think he bought it, Muscles?" She grinned up at him and watched his mouth twitch a little.

"Indeed, I do." he responded, pulling her up from her seat and planting a soft kiss to her forehead. "Now, I believe we should leave or risk missing our dinner reservation."

Vala snuggled into the Jaffa's embrace, smiling up at him with a particular glint in her grey eyes and whispered seductively. "Or we could just skip it and go to that cute hotel down the street."

"There will be time enough for that, dear heart." Teal'c actually grinned at her as he pulled her back toward the street. "For now, I am hungry and I hear this restaurant has the best chocolate cake in the city."

"Chocolate cake?" Vala gasped, grabbing hold of Teal'c's hand and dragging him in the direction of the restaurant. "Why didn't you say so? Let's go."

Teal'c's laughter could be heard for blocks as he willingly followed behind his fellow alien.

The End