here chapter 2! I hope you all enjoy it and please let me know if you doo, thanks:)

Chapter 2

The next afternoon, Janet gazed over her father's shoulder at the open wormhole and sighed. "Do you have to go off-world this week, daddy?" she questioned pleadingly.

Daniel bent down and hugged her once more. "It's okay, Janet. We'll be back in a few hours, but it'll be late by then so you're staying with Cassie tonight. You'll see us tomorrow after school, okay? Tomorrow's your last day before Christmas break, isn't it?"

"Yes sir, but it's because it's the week before Christmas I was hoping you wouldn't have to go anywhere until after."

"I know, honey, but we won't be gone long, really," Vala promised, taking her husband's place hugging their daughter farewell when he was done. "You'll have fun at Cassie and Skaara's and never notice we were gone. And tomorrow night we'll all go to your program at school."

"Oh that right, it's tomorrow isn't it? I can't wait to see it," Daniel commented.

"You're coming?"

Daniel blinked, taken aback. "Of course I'm coming, Janet; why wouldn't I come?"

Janet gulped. "But you haven't had time to do anything else with me in a while."

Daniel felt like he'd been slapped in the face. As he glanced back and forth between his wife and his daughter he knew she was right, knew it wasn't only true that he'd been somewhat neglecting her but Vala too and…and it hurt. In the past few weeks, he'd been so busy…But that wasn't any excuse. He'd known it for weeks but hadn't wanted to admit it. Suddenly Daniel was glad that the rest of SG-1 was on the other side of the 'gate room.

"I know," he sighed. "I'm sorry. But I'm not going anywhere until after new years once we get back this time, okay? I promise. And I promise I'll be there to watch you tomorrow night, okay?"

The girl's eyes lit up at that, cheering up a bit. "Really? You promise?"

Daniel smiled, picked her up for a moment and kissed her cheek. "I promise," he repeated. Vala grinned, threw her arms around both of them before Daniel could put Janet down and kissed first her daughter's cheek, then her husband's.

Daniel laughed and shrugged away from Vala so he could put Janet down. "Okay, okay, but we really do need to go now."

"He's right," Vala agreed reluctantly. "Have a good time while we're gone, Janet."

"I will," she smiled, in a much better mood now. "You have fun too."

Daniel and Vala glanced at each other in their extremely heavy, standard issue coats and grimaced, not exactly looking forward to the cold, snowy planet the M.A.L.P. had shown them.

"We'll try," Daniel answered sarcastically.

Janet giggled as Mitchell crossed over to them.

"Ready to go, Jacksons?" the colonel asked.

The couple nodded an affirmative, waved goodbye to Janet one last time, and mounted the ramp with their team. However, SG-1 stopped just in front of the event horizon.

"What are we waiting for?" Teal'c asked.

"I really don't feel like going somewhere cold today," Sam mussed.

"Tell me about it," Daniel sighed.

Mitchell crossed his arms. "I have a good idea. Why don't we get going so we can get back ASAP?"

"Sounds good to me," Vala agreed.

"Bye!" Janet waved.

Then SG-1 hastily stepped through the wormhole together.

Daniel shivered as he stepped away from the stargate on P6R-486, his wife and friends beside him shivering right along with him.

"Okay, people, let's survey what we need to survey and get the heck outta here," Cameron ordered needlessly. None of them were planning on staying here any longer than necessary; the falling snow was so thick and the clouds so low and dimly grey that the visibility was minimal.

Everyone agreed quickly, and Sam started unpacking her sampling equipment as the others looked around. Daniel spotted what appeared to be a stone pillar and shuffled to it through the snow, where he found that it was, and with it two or three more. There were possibly even more beyond what he could see, he though as he brushed his gloved hand over the inscriptions on the side of one of the tall stone sculptures. There probably were actually, as the broken down, almost buried ruins at the feet of the few pillars seemed to have been the corner of a building, but he would worry about that later. Right now he had to let the others know what it all was in the first place.

"Hey, everybody, come see this!" he shouted over the wind, but he could only still see a couple of them, so he bounded back toward the gate. Sam was the only one there.

"Where's Vala?" he frowned. He'd though she had followed him.

"She went that way," Sam answered, pointing absently without looking up from her equipment.

Daniel sighed and went the direction she pointed, wishing he could see better. After a moment or so, however, he spotted her, just ahead and looking down at something.

"What'd you find?" he asked, slowing as he came up behind her.

"That," Vala stated nonchalantly, pointing down. Daniel's eyes widened and he realized that she wasn't pointing at anything. A cliff dropped off just in front of her. Daniel glanced around and saw that it curved away from them, seeming to form a circle around the stargate. Apparently on this planet it was on top of a plateau--a plateau that he couldn't see the bottom off because it was swallowed up in the snowy mists. He noticed that the fog-like conditions were starting to clear up, but it didn't help any. He still couldn't see the bottom.

"Uhm…yeah, that's nice, but why don't you get away from the edge…"

"I'm fine, Daniel, I've got a good couple of inches here."

But still Jackson could feel his longsuffering fear of heights starting to weigh in the pit of his stomach. "Uh huh, couple of inches, yeah. I'd really prefer a couple of feet."

Vala just smiled back at him. "Really, Daniel, just because you're afraid of heights doesn't mean I have to be."

"I'm not saying that, Vala, just come back a little, okay? Look, I found what looks like the ruins of an Ancient building over here. Why don't you come over there?" Daniel asked anxiously. Apparently the storms here were fierce, but cleared quickly. Already he could see the others. Teal'c and Mitchell were just realizing how close they themselves had been to the edge of the cliff that ran all the way around the stargate and the ruined building, and Sam was looking up, wide-eyed at the sight of it. But Vala was only focused on what was below her.

"Look at all that ice," she marveled. "This planet must be frozen all the time, or its really, really cold most of the time when it is; some of those ice-sickles must be twenty feet high, and I can't see the rest of them because of the fog…"

Daniel leaned forward to look over from as far away from the edge as he could get and still do it. He had to admit, they were very impressive, but the heights quickly made him pull back again. "Yeah, those are nice, really, now come back will you…" he pleaded, tugging on her arm.

"All right, just a minute…"

"Hey, Vala, get away from there!" Mitchell called from where he was near the gate now, conferring with Sam.

"Thank you," Daniel sighed under his breath.

Vala sighed too, but in frustration. "Okay, all right," she grumbled. She started to turn on her heel and step farther away from the edge, but before she could take a step the ledge under her feet crumbled, and she screamed.

"Vala!" Daniel shouted. He grabbed at her as she fell, falling onto his stomach as he did, but still caught only her sleeve.

"Daniel!" she cried in fear. But he couldn't hold onto the fabric for long.

The others were running their way, but it was anyone's guess whether they would be there in time. Vala clawed upwards even as Daniel reached desperately downwards for her hand, but her other arm ad already slipped too far down in the sleeve he held for her to be able to reach him, or vice-versa.

"Vala hold on!" he called down to her.

"I don't have anything to hold on to!" she shouted back. Either the fabric was slipping in his fingers, or Vala was slipping through the coat, but either way she was slipping. "Don't let go!"

But already her weight was too much for the sleeve to support, and as both watched in horror it started to tear rapidly.

"DANIEL!" Vala screamed.

"Jackson we're coming!" Mitchell was calling, but still too far away.

Frantically Daniel stretched for her hand, but it wouldn't reach. "Swing for it!" he shouted, not knowing what else to try.

"If I move I'll fall!"

Daniel was sweating, just as much from the heavy coat he wore and Vala's weight as from his own terror of her falling. The tope of the plateau had cleared mostly of blinding snow, but he still couldn't see the bottom. He couldn't see very far down at all. If it was as far as it seemed, there was no way anyone could survive the fall. Then again, he could only see about twenty feet down, but still. Please, please don't let her fall…he prayed silently.

The fabric ripped further.

Daniel strained harder to reach Vala's hand, but it was still no use, and he could barely keep hold of what of the sleeve he still had in his hand anymore. The look of horror on his wife's face told him everything he needed to know.

"No!" he shouted stubbornly, tears blurring his vision.

"They're coming, Daniel, just hold on!" Vala pleaded. But if he couldn't reach her, they wouldn't be able to either.

Tears fells from Daniel's eyes and dropped down toward his dangling spouse. "I am holding on!" he called.

Daniel felt Cameron thump down beside him, saw him reach down. None of them had had time to stop to dig out rope--if they had even remembered to pack any.

"Come on, Vala!" he encouraged, straining as far as he could. But by now it was all denying the inevitable. Daniel watched more tears fall in slow motion. They dropped onto Vala's face, mingling with her own that had slipped from her eyes, just as her sleeve tore through and slipped through his grabbing fingers.

"NOO!!" Daniel screamed. "VALA NO! VALAAA!"

Vaguely he was aware of exclamations from the others, but couldn't understand what they were saying as he collapsed on the edge of the cliff where he was, sobbing. Some part of his mind registered that her screams didn't echo as long as he thought they would, but cut off much sooner, but it didn't matter because the outcome was the same. The promises to Janet…the plans to have fun and be together the rest of the week and stop being too busy for each other…all for nothing. It wouldn't happen. This would be Charlie's first Christmas, but he would have it without his mother.

Distantly Daniel felt someone gently pull him up off his stomach and onto his knees, and tilt him back against someone else who held him while he cried. It wasn't until the tears had begun to subside that he realized it was Sam, and that Mitchell and Teal'c were still gathered around, kneeling next to them, hands on his back or shoulders to offer what wordless comfort they could. Because no words could help now.

No one said anything when Daniel sat up, away from Sam, and tried to dry his tears. Sam only kept a hand on his arm, and he felt a hand from both Cameron and Teal'c still on his back. Sorrow showed on their faces, but he was sure he looked worse. His heart felt as if it would tear in two, like Vala's sleeve before she'd fallen…

No. He couldn't think about it or he'd fall apart. But it was all he could see, that tearing sleeve above her horror-stricken face; all he could hear was her screams. horror-stricken face; all he could hear was her screams.

Daniel released another sob and more tears trickled down his cheeks. Sam leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him wordless still. It was his fault. He should have just pulled her back sooner, or been more adamant that she move, or thought harder months ago so he could have found a way to save Janet but still say ascended so he could have saved Vala now….

He buried his face in Sam's shoulder to block out the thoughts. It didn't matter now. It was over. Second-guessing himself wouldn't change anything.

"No…" he choked, sitting up again. "No."

"Daniel…?" Sam asked.

He swallowed hard and dragged a sleeve across his face to dry it, scrambling to his feet. "I have to find her," he announced suddenly, voice cracking. The others slowly stood with him, the biting chill wind cutting into all of them. Daniel stood too rigid to shiver.

Mitchell spoke next. "We'll go, Daniel. I'm not sure how we'll get down there, but we'll find her. You don't have to go. I don't you want to…to…" The colonel trailed off.

Daniel grimaced and turned away. "No. I have to go," he insisted. "There has to be a way down there." He didn't know what it was, but something told him to find a way. So he ran.

"Daniel, wait!" Sam called, but he didn't listen. He started running, around the edge of the high cliff the stargate, and thus, they, were trapped on. He looked, eyes straining through his contacts, for any sign of a quick way down. Finally, on the other side of the ruins that sat near the 'gate, he spotted what appeared to be a half crumbled stairway carved into the side of the rock that led down and around. It wasn't fully intact, but it was enough.

Sam, Cameron, and Teal'c skidded to a halt beside him. Sam tried to tell him it was too dangerous, that it could collapse. Mitchell tried to order him back through the 'gate, telling him he was in shock and he needed to get home, get warm…but Daniel listened to none of it. All he could hear was the pounding of his wounded heart in his ears, and all he could do was go down as fast as he could, slipping and sliding and gripping the edge of the cliff for support as he hurried as quickly as he could toward…toward what? He didn't even know what he would find. He almost didn't want to know what he would find, but he knew he had to find it. He couldn't leave Vala here on this frozen, god-forsaken planet to freeze--even if it was only her lifeless body left.

After a few moments the stone stairway leveled out into a wide shelf in the rock, a haven from the sheer drop. The snow was deep here, too, as it was on top, and he pushed it angrily aside with his legs, madly moving forward as fast as he could. The others caught up with him, winded. Daniel was exhausted already, too, from struggling not to fall on the way down, but he didn't care.

Finally, ahead of him, about where he thought it should be, an unnatural mound of snow rose from the blanket, and from beneath it a single, unmoving hand, bared of its glove, protruded from the snow.

"Vala!" Daniel shouted. He ran forward again, dropping to his knees beside it and digging, pushing the snow away frantically. When his gloved finger couldn't work as fast as he wanted, he pulled them off and dug faster. By the time the others caught up to him again, he had pushed the snow away.

"Vala…" he gulped quietly. The tears crowded his eyes again. Her skin was cold, and her face pale. Her eyes were closed so he couldn't immediately tell if she was alive or not, and he was thankful for that small fact, but there were also no other signs of life. Trembling, he lifted her upper body from the snow and held her against him, checking for a pulse. He held on tighter when he couldn't find one.

"No," he whispered. "Please, no…"

Sam crouched beside him again. "Come on…let's go home," she prodded gently.

Daniel shook his head. "No, no…" And she listened. She didn't push him, didn't say anything else, and Mitchell and Teal'c didn't either…and he was grateful. For minutes on end they waited with him silently, and all he could do was hold her numbly. It wasn't until she shivered in his arms that he realized she was starting to feel a bit warmer.

"Is it just me, or does this all seem a bit cliché?" pointed out a weak voice from against his neck.

"Vala!" Daniel cried, pulling back to stare at her. "You're-you're…"

"Alive? Yes. Warm? No," she smiled up at him tiredly.

He pulled her close again as Sam, Cameron, and Teal'c grinned and crowded in for a group hug. "Thank goodness, thank goodness. I though I'd lost you," he gulped.

"I thought I was a goner too," she sighed. "But I'm okay, Daniel, really…A little bruised up and very, very cold, but okay…"

Daniel hugged her tightly, and she returned it. "I love you."

Mitchell grinned. "Okay, I vote we scrap this mission. Vala needs medical attention, and we can always come back later."

"Right," Vala nodded, still holding onto Daniel. "I really just want to get out of here right now."

"Thought so," Cameron smiled.

Daniel stood and help Vala up, keeping an arm around her waist even when she insisted she could walk fine. He wasn't taking any chances, not after coming so close to losing his wife again.

SG-1 made their way back up the stone stairway as carefully, but as quickly as possible, and once they reached the top Sam went immediately to the DHD. She dialed the seven symbols, but when she pressed the red activation dome in the center nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" Mitchell asked.

"Nothing happened," Teal'c observed.

"Yeah, why?"

Sam sighed and tried again, but got the same results. "I'll check the control crystals…" she mumbled, bending down. But she wasn't down there for long. "Uh oh."

"That didn't sound good," Daniel commented.

"It wasn't," Sam gulped, straightening again. "Something knocked the panel covering the control crystals out of whack and the inside of the DHD has been exposed to the harsh conditions."

"Meaning…?" Vala prodded.

"Meaning, the control crystals are frozen. We can't go anywhere."