Ancient Rocks and a Giraffe
spacegypsy1
Chapter Two
-o0o-
"You know, Daniel, it's awfully dangerous down there...or don't you remember?" Vala was leaning over peering into the opening that lead into the ruins where they had found the Ark.
"Of course, I do." Taking her by the shoulders Daniel moved her aside. "They're archeologists, field scientists, physicists, all five of them are aware of the dangers...and the treasures." Oh crap, Daniel thought the instant her eyes lit up, wrong word! "Not THAT kind of treasure." He couldn't stop the grin in response to her fake pout.
Vala checked her P-90, then with a sweet smile, she nudged him with her elbow. "One never knows! There could be something of value...to me...down there. We never got the chance to look." Shivering with remembered dread, her smile turned to a frown.
Moving close beside Vala, Daniel waved the group of three men and two women into the the tunnel. Once the last one had ducked into the small opening, he turned to Vala, touching her face briefly. "We'll be fine. It's all going to be easy now. No bad guys to torture us. The engineering crew was here months ago shoring up the ruins." With a flourish of his hand towards the entrance he grinned. "Ladies first."
Laughing, Vala looked behind her, "I think they're all inside, darling."
"Right, then pirates next." With a playful shove, he moved her forward.
-o0o-
"Well, Daniel, it's been two days, what do you have to say now about the 'no bad guys' to torture us?"
His head dropped, chin to chest, and he grumbled to himself.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you...what with the rattling chains and all. And your nice friends not being here...because they obviously ran like a bunch of girls...at least the guys did, the women probably just ran screaming to the cargo ship and..."
"Vala! Please!" Daniel moved the metal cuff on his wrist away from the sorest point.
"...and did anyone bother to train them in contacting..."
"Yes! They all went through training. Dr. McKinney can fly the cargo ship. I'm sure they'll manage to get some help. Please stop ranting, it doesn't help"
"Ha! Have you seen my nails? And my wrists are bleeding. My hair is matted. I'm starving! I haven't had a shower..."
"Stop. Please. I've heard it all before." Daniel put his arm around her pulling her closer.
"My six is freezing." Her sad little complaint made him smile.
"Sit on my lap."
"Isn't your lovely bum cold on this floor?" Vala moved her chain behind his neck and managed to crawl up on his lap. "And who knew this place was even on this planet! It does look a bit familiar though." She tucked her head under his chin. "A lot of good your SGC surveys and scans did."
Buzzing the top of her head with a kiss, Daniel slid his arm down to encircle her waist. "Our SGC, Vala. 'Your ' indicates you're not involved."
"Hmph, well, you know what I mean. I hope they will come soon to rescue us. And where are our bad guys? They haven't fed us in two days. Do you think they're going to feed us every two days? Because if it's every three days, I don't think I'm going to make it. And, Daniel, who are these people? And I use that term loosely, since we have never seen or heard from them."
Pressing his cheek against her hair, Daniel rocked back and forth. "I don't think we're on Ortus Mallum."
"Oh, please tell me we are not...Daniel?" She yawned, mumbling sleepily, "I think I recognize this cell."
Daniel took a quick scan of the cell, it was definitely the dungeon in the City of the Gods. Yep, bad memory, but we got out before, he thought to himself, settling back against the stone wall, too sleepy to care right now. "Go to sleep, Vala." Daniel said softly, but she was already sound asleep.
-o0o0o-
"What the...son of a bitch! You can't send those two anywhere without some catastrophe!" Mitchell was yelling as he came through the Stargate into the SGC.
"I must agree, ColonelMitchell, it does seem so." Teal'c nodded towards the colonel before peering up into the control room. "Perhaps it is more of a catastrophe than initially thought."
Mitchell followed Teal'c's line of sight. "Crap. It's bad if General O'Neill showed. Landry looks a mite concerned. Damn! This is gonna be big trouble."
"Indeed. Though, when we were called back to Stargate Command, I had some idea of the seriousness."
Mitchell grinned and then nodded at Teal'c in agreement. "Damn, but those two are nothin' but a headache. Let's head on up, we might as well get this over with. Hopefully, it's just another normal day in Daniel/Vala land. With those two it can't be that serious – at least I hope not. I swear, one day they're gonna end up killin' each other or gettin' married. Either way, it's gonna be bad."
Teal'c stopped suddenly, "I would prefer them married rather than dead."
Mitchell turned, still running his mouth as he walked backwards. "I don't think you could kill Vala with an axe. And we all know she wouldn't let Jackson die. So basically what we have here is a rescue mission. We just gotta find out where they are and bring them back. Hell, they're probably at each other's throats by now... or worse. I wouldn't be surprised if they were doin' the deed. It's bound to happen. Death or ...well the other one. I don't like it, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!"
-o0o0o-
Vala awoke suddenly, eyes popping open and heart racing. She could feel Daniel's body warmth along her back, butt, thighs and legs. His arm lay across her on the left side. Her right side was cold and uncomfortable where she lay on the stone floor. At first she smiled, pleasantly noting Daniel's evident reaction to her nearness.
She blinked, narrowing her eyes at the objects across the room. Those hadn't been there before. "Daniel?" Vala whispered, poking an elbow, softly, but firmly into his side.
"Ugh! Huh?" He stretched, groaning. "Gah! What!" Daniel moved his hips away from her nice warm bottom.
Vala wiggled her butt back against his groin. "Not that, darling." Pointing across the room, she indicated their two vests. "That. Well, actually, those."
He was up in an instant getting halfway across the expanse before the length of chain stopped him unceremoniously. He blanched, gritting his teeth in pain, and then turned to look astonished at Vala. "That's odd."
Pushing herself up she ran fingers through her tangled hair. Her eyes were locked on the water bottle dangling by a hook on the side of her pack. "I need that water bottle. Then my brush and then a powerbar. Can you reach them?"
She never ceased to amaze him. Shaking his head, he closed his eyes a moment to gain control. Try not to yell, he told himself. "Your brush? That's what you need?"
"Well. Yes. Then food, but water first. Answer the question, Daniel. Can you reach them?"
Astonishment clearly written on his face, Daniel let out a disgruntled sigh. He'd woken up all of a sudden with a certain body part as hard as the stone floor. A sharp elbow in his side. Her scent, which should, after the past few days, have been not so pleasant, actually very inviting. He was so lost in her warmth he'd forgotten for a second where they were. And now this. Her snippy question as to whether or not he could reach the mysteriously appearing utility vests because she was impatient for her brush.
And what did he do? Look up, smile and nod. Mitchell had been right long ago, he may as well marry the chick! He was going to be stuck with her forever anyway.
Lowering himself to sit on the floor, Daniel stretched the chain to it's limit.
"Daniel, if you lay down you can use your foot..."
"I know that! Damnit, Vala! I'm not an idiot!"
"Why are you so grouchy, just a moment ago I would have thought you were..."
"Aht!" He pointed a finger at her, eyes narrowed and threatening. "Don't go there."
She licked her dry lips. "Obviously, it was you who went 'there', not me. I was innocently asleep. Although, I must say, it was quite a delight to..."
"Vala!"
"Okay, fine. Just get the vests."
-o0o0o-
"Wait!" Jack raised his voice with obvious rancor, "Let me see if I have this right. You five left the tunnel ahead of Daniel and Vala on your way to dinner. Daniel, being in a place full of possible undiscovered artifacts, remained behind and of course his shadow stayed, too. Right so far?" Jack glared around the table at the nodding heads.
"Okay. Then, one of you thought, maybe they detected a 'sort of funny' whining sound. Then one other one thinks she spots some kind of aircraft/spaceship possibly landing in a 'misty kinda' bright light, but maybe it was something else. Another sees a someone, a something or a some bunch of somethings rush out of said 'misty kinda' bright light that might have been some kind of aircraft/spaceship/thingamabob, into the underground tunnel." Jack rubbed his eyes, then his forehead, finally running his hands down his cheeks, pulling the skin taut, all the while trying desperately not to go full blown nuts and knock a few heads off of a few shoulders!
"Then en masse, you all hot foot it to the cargo ship, manage to get it airborne and contact the George Hammond." Jack sighed, looked to Mitchell, then Carter, and finally Teal'c. "Do you guys see what I have to deal with!"
He turned once again to the five who'd high tailed it off Ortus Mallum. "Did I miss anything, or is that about it? No details on a ship, that may or may not have been one, a light, stuff like that. No recognition of possible someones? Nothing? Nada? Nill? Zip, Zero? That's all folks?"
"Sir! We had no weapons, we thought if..."
"Aht! 'splain that one to me. You were all issued weapons." Jack looked at Mitchell for confirmation and received a nod.
"Ah, er, sir, we had left them at the site when we went for dinner."
"Oh. Great. Good. That works. I'm done. Leave. Now."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~TBC