A/N: I'm, to say the least, pleased with all the e-mails I've recieved from this past week. Your reviews are solid gold, as well as all the alerts! It's almost overwhelming to see the interest some readers have taken in this story and hopefully I won't disappoint you in the end. I'm however sorry that this update didn't come sooner; I'm extremely busy with my internship during the weekdays so the chapter updates will most likely only occur on the weekends. Also, this chapter appears to be the shortest one yet in the story and I did plan on changing that but these chapters have been carefully planned so I'd rather not mess them up. Hopefully you'll enjoy it all the same anyway...
A/N II: While writing this story I got hooked on Meredith Brooks' "I'm A Bitch" which became like the soundtrack to the story, and it did help keep the inspiration flowing. In the end, I'd listened to the song roughly 680 times and I still listen to it from time to time seeing as how it's a Vala song. Just felt like sharing the fun with you guys.
"Who? Me?" Vala said and pointed to herself, a nervous laughter escaping her. It didn't improve the tense silence and Vala hated the way everyone was looking at her, especially Daniel. The shock and disappointment in his eyes made Vala curse herself for her ignorant stupidity earlier.
"Are you not Vala Mal Doran? We thought you'd never return after what happened," the woman said with a shocked expression.
"Well, it wasn't exactly my intention of returning. In fact, how about we pretend I was never here? Hmm? Certainly wouldn't want to cause any trouble," Vala said nervously while avoiding her teammates' stares.
"A little late for that don't ya think? So, mind telling us what the hell is going on here, Vala?" Cam said sternly.
"Remember when I said I thought I recognized this planet? Turns out I was right. See, I sort of… might have… during some point …stayed here a few years back. I was merely passing through while avoiding a certain stubborn bounty hunter. Needless to say, my sudden departure could've gone better," Vala explained with vivid hand gestures and a nervous smile.
"In others words you stole from them?" Daniel said and Vala hesitantly met his gaze.
"Something along those lines, yes. And before you ask, the reason I didn't tell you about my time here is because I honestly didn't believe it was the same planet!" Vala said and looked at Sam, relieved to see that she believed in what Vala was saying.
"Excuse me, Ms. Mal Doran, but what are you doing here? I don't believe Alias will be pleased to see you again," the man suddenly said and everyone turned their attention back to him and his wife.
"That's a pretty safe bet I'd say," Vala mumbled and Daniel glared at her.
"Nevertheless, we came here for a reason and despite your past history with this Alias that reason hasn't changed. So I say we make the best of the situation and go about our business," Cam said and Vala scoffed at his suggestion almost instantly, causing the others to turn their attention over to her.
"Something on your mind, princess?" Cam muttered and Vala shrugged nonchalantly.
"Just the mere fact that Alias will most likely kill us the first chance he gets. The man is completely wonko!" she said and made an unpleasant face.
"Yeah, we got that. This isn't our first possible hostile situation believe it or not," Daniel said and Vala rolled her eyes at him, walking up alongside Sam instead.
"So…" Cam started, facing the man and woman. "How about you guys show us to the village?"
"That won't be necessary."
Vala felt the blood in her veins freeze up at the sound of the familiar voice. Judging from the man and woman's expressions, she could tell her first instinct had been right. Daniel, Cam, Sam and Teal'c all turned around with their weapons drawned but they were vastly outnumbered by the group of villagers. In the front stood a middle-aged man, dressed from top to bottom in worn out leather. His face bore the scars of past battles and Daniel couldn't help but notice that he only had a total of nine fingers. All in all, this Alias character looked twice as scary as they would've imagined.
Vala still had her back turned to Alias and the villagers, silently praying lightning would strike down on them any moment but no such luck.
"Well, well! If it isn't the lovely Vala Mal Doran! Never thought I'd see you again," Alias called out and Vala could practically feel his eyes wandering up and down her body, sending shivers down her spine.
"Alias!" she said as she reluctantly turned around facing him. "What a coincidence to run into you!"
"So what brings you here, Vala? Reconsidered my offer after all these years?" Alias asked and Vala went pale.
"Oh right, that offer. Well, the thing is I'm actually here on behalf of planet Earth. Guess you could call us the anti-Ori group. We're here to see if your planet has succumbed to the Ori religion and if not, hopefully raising some awareness regarding their so-called religion," Vala explained hastily and Alias gave her a knowing look.
"I've never heard of these Ori before. So, how about a tour of the village? I'm sure you'd want some refreshments and in the meantime perhaps you could 'raise awareness' about the Ori," he said and turned his attention to the other members of SG-1.
"Sounds like a fair trade," Cam said with a shrug and they slowly lowered their weapons.
"Excellent! Follow me!" Alias announced and the crowd turned around on their heels and headed down the same path Daniel and Vala had been on earlier.
Vala was surprised at how familiar everything in the village looked, but she was even more surprised at people's reactions when they saw her walk by.
"Looks like we're hanging with a celebrity," Cam whispered and Vala tried smiling at his little joke but her face remained somewhat unsettled.
"What was that offer Alias mentioned earlier?" Daniel suddenly asked and Vala waved him off.
"It's nothing. So, how'd you like the place? It's quite decent if I do say so myself but then again I guess I'm a little bias," she said, clearly changing the subject but Daniel knew better than to let her get away with it this time.
"Vala. What happened between you and Alias? Or more importantly, will it affect the mission?" she asked with a pointedly stare at Vala.
"Oh I highly doubt it," she said nonchalantly and winked at him.
"But if it does?" Daniel pressed on, not liking the look on Vala's face.
"If it does, which I doubt, I have a plan," she said and patted Daniel on the shoulder.
"And why doesn't that reassure me one bit?" Cam said sarcastically.
"Trust me, everything's gonna be fine. You have nothing to worry about," Vala said with a perky smile, which only made the others feel even more uncertain.
"Please tell me that we've got a plan in case her plan screws everything up," Cam whispered to Daniel once Vala had moved out of earshot. She waved to the villagers and greeted them with the usual grin, making cheerful small talk with people as she passed them by.
"Trust me, we will. From the looks of things, this mission just got a whole lot more complicated," Daniel said and Cam grunted.
"It would seem wise to stay close to Vala Mal Doran in case Alias tries to harm her in any way," Teal'c suggested and Sam nodded along.
"I agree. I don't think any of us should be alone with Alias until the mission is over. I have a feeling he probably hasn't quite forgiven Vala for whatever happened last time," she said and Daniel furrowed his brow, looking over in Vala's direction.
"Anyone here got a theory on what really happened? My money's on a lovers quarrel," Cam said and Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "What? It's Vala we're talking about! Things tend to go wrong when she's involved, especially when it comes to the male species."
All eyes turned to Daniel briefly and he sighed heavily in return.
"I'll take the first shift babysitting our little troublemaker," he muttered and quickly moved over to Vala before the others could say anything else.
"Well I guess that means we'll stick to the tour. Maybe if we're lucky, Alias could prove useful one way or another," Sam suggested and this time it was Cam's turn to sigh.
"Fine. But if he tries anything I'm reserving the right for forcefully defend myself!" he said and Sam could barely hold back a smile.
"I believe that goes for all of us, Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c said with an agreeable nod.
TBC...
