Never Ending by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. Vala has a secret and Sam has promised to help her. This story tags Unending and is kind to Vala and all the other characters in general.
Spoilers: All seasons, including 10 to the end.
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

Never Ending

Chapter 2

"Sam, you do realize that you've just admitted that you're in love with me? We can't leave it at that anymore. This is something we need to talk about, that we need to discuss. You said it; we've been friends for too long and we love each other too much –in any way– to let it at that. I'm not sure that you knew yourself what you were about to say before you just let it escape your lips a minute ago. Why don't you relax for a second and think about it. Are you sure that's what you meant?" Sam was about to reply when he stopped her. "Wait. I said, take your time. Let's go back to the beginning. What made you ask in the first place?"

Sam sighed. She knew he was not going to answer her question any time soon. He was taking the whole situation as a diplomatic endeavor. He was going to confirm her feelings before letting anything be known from his side. She also knew why; he had been hurt too much before.

She tried to relax. The revelation had affected her probably as much as it had affected him. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"It was Vala," she finally admitted.

"Vala? What does she have to do with this?"

"She's convinced that you love me. She wanted me to ask you, because she's bent on getting you to be happy. If you said no, she would have found someone else for you. If you said yes, then she probably would have tried to convince me to give it a try."

"Why? Why would she think that and why would she try to find someone for me?"

"Something happened; I haven't been able to figure out why, but she seems to have memories of what happened on board the Odyssey."

"You said that wasn't possible."

"I know, but she has told me things she couldn't have made up. Things that only I would have known."

"And we have no doubt that Teal'c hasn't told her anything."

"I'm sure he hasn't."

"Have you told the General?"

"She refuses to tell anyone else. I wasn't supposed to tell you either. I just can't explain all this without telling you the truth."

"So, she thinks you and I had feelings for each other while we were there? Did we get together?"

"No, we didn't. You should talk with her. She should have asked you herself. Now, I made this big mess-" She suddenly felt very vulnerable. Her eyes filled with tears and she raised her hands to her face to cover them.

Daniel noticed it immediately and approached her in an instant. He kneeled by her side and softly took her hands from her face. "Hey, listen. This isn't a mess. We're best friends, aren't we? We have very strong feelings for each other. Maybe that's what you were talking about."

"What if it wasn't that?" Sam said softly while closing her eyes.

"That would be fine, too. We just need to talk it out. You've been very honest with me and-"

"I wasn't planning to…"

"Would you have lied to me? If you really had feelings for me, would you have hidden them from me? Don't you trust that what we already have between us is strong enough to face something like this?"

"Unilateral feelings usually end up ruining the best friendships."

"You and I aren't like most people, Sam. We've been through experiences that only few others have shared. Nothing is going to be regular or normal for us ever again. Wasn't that what kept you away from Pete? Even if that were what you really want, would you have been happy with a regular life as a wife and a mother and a job at the local community college? You and I will always hunger for something more. One more discovery. One more civilization. We would take our kids through the gate if necessary. The same way my parents took me from dig to dig." He stopped for a few seconds and then added, "Nothing less than that will ever be normal for us."

Sam shook her head softly. "I'm just so confused now. This is overwhelming…"

"I understand. I think we need to talk more, but we have to take it easy. I need to think, too. I have an idea. There's something I want to take care of before we go any further with this, but I don't want you to leave. Can I trust that you will still be here when I come back? I won't take too long and it will give you a chance to relax and examine your feelings. You can go to the guest room upstairs and lie down for a while."

"I think I'd better go home." Sam said as she stood up.

"No, Sam, please," he begged. "Everything will be all right. Just promise me you'll wait for me here." She did not answer, so he smiled and added, "If you leave, I'll go sit in front of your house until you accept to talk to me again."

"You think I'd hide in my house and refuse to discuss this?" she asked.

"Probably," Daniel answered, still smiling.

Sam was surprised that he could read her so well. She had thought only moments ago about running to her house and spending the weekend trying to avoid any contact with Daniel. She felt like a coward. "I promise," she said. "I'll take you on your offer. I'll go upstairs until you're back. Do you want to tell me where you're going?"

"I will, after I'm back. Trust me; I have to do this, but we'll talk as soon as I come back."

"Okay," was all she said before Daniel grabbed her hand and guided her to the guest bedroom with a hot cup of coffee in his other hand.

A few minutes later, he was on his way to the base. As soon as he entered the military complex, he checked where Vala was. Not surprisingly, he discovered that she was in his office, as usual.

"Hey," he said as soon as he saw her, sitting on top of his desk with a book in her hands. "Are you too busy or you think we could take a short walk on the surface?"

Vala looked at him with curiosity. Then she jumped off the desk and held his arm. "Sure. Why not?" she said as they started walking toward the elevators.

Once on the surface, she sat on a bench and he stood facing her, leaning against a tree.

"So…" he started.

"Yes?"

"Sam came to see me today. We had dinner and some coffee and… then she asked me this fairly odd question."

"I see," Vala said. "And what did you answer?"

"Actually, I haven't answered yet."

"You haven't? Why?"

Daniel put his hands in his pockets and wondered a few steps away from the tree, just enough to turn toward the west and look away from Vala as he talked. "She told me the question came from you."

Vala made a gesture of surprise. "She did? She promised-"

"She got into trouble and had to tell the whole story," Daniel said turning back to face her again.

"Well, there's a completely logical explanation," Vala tried, changing her demeanor.

"There is? Can you explain it to me?"

"It pretty much explains itself."

"No, it doesn't," Daniel said, exasperated.

Vala gestured nervously from the bench. "All right. Apparently, I have these… memories of the Odyssey, and I-" She looked down, "I kind of discovered that you didn't spend that time alone," she finished in a rush.

Daniel turned away again, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. "Do you remember with whom I spent those years?" he asked almost in a whisper.

She hesitated for a moment and then admitted, "Yes, sort of-"

"Are you going to tell me?" He turned back to look at her.

"Well, I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Vala, you can't stop now. You started it. Now I need to know."

"Sam said it wouldn't be good for us to know."

"But you already know."

"Yes, but-"

"Vala, please," he begged.

She made a gesture of defeat and looked down. "Would you believe me if I told you it was me?"

"You?"

The surprise in his tone was too evident and Vala felt hurt. She looked at him with a small smile and asked, "Why not? We were there for a long time. I don't think we had many other options around there; do you?"

He did not answer, but she could see that he was feeling uncomfortable.

She tried again. "Unless you don't like girls or you don't find me attractive." She stood up and walked toward him. She put her hand on his back and got closer to him. "You don't think we could have made a good couple?"

Daniel looked even more uncomfortable and asked, "Do you want an honest answer to that question?"

Suddenly, many memories rushed to Vala's mind. She had heard that before and what had followed had been very painful, even if the final result had not. "No," she answered with a slight break in her voice and walked away from him.

"No, seriously… You started this." He stepped closer to her and Vala shivered. "Do you want an honest answer to the question?"

She could not look at him. She just played with her hands while looking down. "No. Don't worry about it. We should forget all about this." She tried to walk away, but Daniel stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Tell me, Vala. Do you believe I could have any kind of serious feelings for you?"

She was feeling the pain all over again. She wanted it to stop. She wanted him to keep all those unkind words to himself. She did not want him to stay with her only because she had fallen crazily for him.

"I wasn't really suggesting that you have… serious feelings for me, Daniel-"

"Why not? Does it sound so unbelievable?" Vala looked at him. That was not what Daniel had said in her dreams of the Odyssey. "I mean," he smiled slightly, "I know it's hard to even imagine what such relationship with you would be like, but…" He hesitated. "I mean, yes, you've proven yourself to be-" he searched for the right word, "trustworthy, on a professional level, and for that I'm very proud of you." He moved closer to her; "but, on a personal level…" He stopped and looked down. Vala sat back down on the bench and tears began running quietly down her cheeks, as she prepared herself for the words she knew were coming. She closed her eyes right as he moved even closer and sat by her side. "Vala, on a personal level, we're both, both of us, at best, emotional, unstable wrecks." He tried to look at her, but she was facing away. "Hey, I'm not saying I'm any better…" He smiled softly. "I'm not saying I'm any better than you. There was a time when I thought I would never get over losing my wife. I mean, the idea of-" He sighed and closed his eyes. "The idea of being hurt that way again… so much…" He had tears in his eyes and Vala had to turn to look at him, because the pain in his voice was almost unbearable. "But I finally got to the place, finally, for the first time in a long time, I've gotten to the place where I actually feel I could get close to somebody again."

Vala knew what was coming. In spite of how this conversation had varied from the one in her dreams, she was certain the next part had no way of changing. "But not in a million years, a million years, would you have ever possibly considered that person being me. Is that what you were going to say, Daniel? I mean, you're so sure that we're so completely opposite and wrong for each other that it's not even funny and the worst part-" She stood up and raised her voice as she walked away from the bench, "the worst part about that is that this whole flirty-sexual thing that I do, that's just my way of having a laugh at your expense." She was almost yelling with indignation at the end.

Daniel was still sitting down and was looking at her with something akin to horror in his eyes. All those ideas had one time or another crossed his mind. He had a different view of Vala now, but all those ideas had definitely come from his mind.

"There, I said it. Now, you don't have to do it yourself and I can go back to being my usual bored self." She started walking toward the path to the entrance to the mountain, but he stopped her one more time. She bit her lip nodding slightly, as he turned her to face him. "No!" She said softly, but with clear determination. He let her go and he moved back a few steps. He then dropped his head down in defeat. Vala wiped her tears away, as she waited for him to say anything else.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," he finally said. "I have no doubt that you remember something, I don't know what, but something. Those words could have only come from me, but," Vala took a deep breath and he approached her again and guided her back to the bench. Then he sat down beside her and reached out a hand to touch her back. "But-" Vala sobbed softly interrupting him yet again. "Hey, look at me, Vala, look at me."

She pulled away and covered her face with her hands. "Just give me a minute," she asked him.

"Look at me, please, Vala, look at me," he repeated. She refused and shook her head. He got up and walked around her to be able to face her. He kneeled in front of her and then pulled her hair away from her face and helped her wipe her tears. "Vala, I don't think of you that way anymore. That woman, the one I could have gotten close to, that woman could have been you… it really could," he said with conviction. "It's just that-"

"It's just that Sam was there before me," Vala suggested, feeling more composed.

"Yes, Sam was there first, I'd say ten years before you."

She smiled a little and waved her head slightly as she said, "I knew it, don't worry. I only hope she feels the same way. I'm pretty much sure that she does, though."

"I'm starting to believe it myself," Daniel added with a smile.

"So, are you going to do anything about it?"

"I think I'll give it a try, see if we're right for each other."

Vala nodded in support. Then she looked at him and asked, "Why did you really come to see me today, Daniel? You could have just figured what to do with Sam on your own."

"I came because I felt there was something there, between you and me, and I needed to clear it before I risked going for Sam."

She smiled and raised a hand to softly caress his cheek. "I wouldn't have fallen for you if you weren't like that."

He softly pulled her hand away from his cheek and lowered his mouth to it. He gently kissed her hand and smiled at her. "You're very special, Vala. You'll find someone else more deserving of your love."

She smiled back. "I've been thinking about Muscles, what do you think? Cameron is too smitten with that Amy, and General Landry seems a little bit old, you know, having a grown-up daughter such as Dr. Lam…"

Daniel conjured images in his head of an annoyed Teal'c trying to escape from Vala and opted for making a different suggestion. "I think you're more the right type for Jack. The next time he's around here I'll get him to take you out for dinner."

"Oh, I like him with all that gray hair; pretty handsome!" Vala joked with a fuller smile

"He's a great guy. You'll like him when you get to know him." He helped her up from the bench and they started walking back.

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