Author's note: Okay, here we go again…Not so sure how I feel about this, strength/portrayal of characters, yadda yadda yadda. I actually wrote a fair portion of this in that one initial sitting that encompassed the first two chapters of this fic. Is it obvious where I left off and picked up again?

Awakenings

Talk Is Cheap

"Whoa-hoa I don't think so!" He called out after her, chasing her down. Unfortunately for Vala, he was quick. She felt him as much as heard him run up behind her, bracing herself for the impact, hoping that she could squeeze out of the crack in the door she managed to open before he collided with her, probably grinding her into the heavy wooden barrier. But it never came.

Oh, there was an impact, but not of the variety she had expected. His hand hit the door above her head as she pulled it open, putting a swift end to her desperate bid for escape by making her flinch while simultaneously slamming the door closed again. And she indeed felt herself trapped between his body and the bulk of the door, but not smothered or pinned as she had expected, and not even bruised. She knew that Cameron had quick reflexes, but she hadn't pegged him as having the kind of control he had shown in eliminating his momentum and not colliding with her much smaller frame. She had expected to be crushed.

Vala allowed herself a sigh of relief before turning to confront him, with what she hoped was her toughest 'I'm very angry' face. Instead her brow knitted in surprise and confusion when she saw him smiling at her while panting and trying to catch his breath after the brief but intense sprint.

"Has anyone ever told you you're a quick one?" he scolded her in a teasingly light manner, shaking a finger at her.

"Only those out to get me," she replied, still perplexed by his actions. "Is there a reason why you're not letting me leave this room?"

Cam took a few more seconds to return his breathing to normal. He didn't usually get winded this quickly, but he had no clue as to what kind of strain he had placed on his body the previous night, nor how much alcohol his system was trying to process, slowing him down.

"You can't go out there dressed like that," he informed her. "If the others see you…"

"Has anyone ever told you you're paranoid?"

"Only those out to get me."

"Ha. Ha." Vala rolled her eyes. This was becoming annoying. "Who cares anyway? So what if we had sex?! We're two adults. It happens all the time!"

"It's just not-"

"Appropriate," she quoted the most irritating phrase she had ever encountered. She continued to talk over his objections. "Blah, blah, blah! You know what?! I don't believe we had sex."

"Oh, really?" Cam was intrigued to hear this theory. There wasn't much else that could explain why two people ended up in bed naked together, but at the moment he was willing to entertain any notion contrary to the blatantly obvious fact he didn't want to face.

"Yes," Vala asserted confidently. "Because you are way too tense for a man who just spent the night in my bed!"

"Great!" Cam snapped back. "'Cause that logic's not specious at all!"

"Will you lighten up, military boy!" She yelled, then realizing the attention their argument was bound to draw, switched to a heated whisper. "This is only a big deal if we make it into a big deal, like you are right now. If we say nothing, act like everything is perfectly fine…no one is going to care."

"What about Jackson?" Cam hissed, furious with the woman who had refused to listen to him, who had accused him of being uptight. "Won't he care?"

"What are you talking about?" Vala had a good idea where he was taking this, but wanted to give him a chance to rethink before he said something that he would regret, even if it required her help for him to realize his remorse.

"I thought you were his girl." He regretted the words almost as immediately as they came out of his stupid mouth. They would only exacerbate the confrontation, but he had wanted to hurt her. For what reason exactly, Cam wasn't sure. But by the look of things, he was to be the one who got hurt.

"I am no one's girl." The words were uttered with such cold calmness, with an annunciation that cut through the suddenly oppressively silent air like the sharpest of daggers. It pierced his tough skin, causing his insides to form a knot deep in his chest. He found it difficult to meet her eyes, and when he did, impossible to look away.

He had hurt her and she was furious.

She could, had, tolerated many remarks that those in politer circles would consider shameful, and many far more degrading unspoken ones. In the past she had taken most, if not all, of them with nonchalance, even flirtatious acceptance. But coming from him, it hurt. Cameron Mitchell was a man Vala had come to respect a great deal, despite how much she liked to tease and mock him. That made every time she failed to see that respect returned to her all the more painful. And to think she had spent the night in such an intimate manner with a man who thought so poorly of her…

The old Vala wouldn't have cared. But that was entirely the problem. She just didn't know who she was anymore. She was trying to be a better person, but what did that mean anyway? It had meant joining the SGC, trying to fit in, trying to do good, being selfless. But what would a better-person-than-Vala-had-been do in this situation? She didn't even have a clue what façade to put on, so instead she wore none.

She walked away from him, sat on the edge of the bed, the tears beginning to flow down her cheeks. Cam was shocked by her apparent retreat. He had been prepared for the most severe chastising, beating, or assault of feminine rage ever. But this was far worse. He had really hurt her. And in the tradition of his typical reaction to extreme discomfort arising out of interpersonal conflict, Cam made a hasty apology and attempted to change the subject.

"I'm sorry, Vala," he said, kneeling before her in what he hoped was an entirely repentant and non-hostile manner. "I was just worried that we might inadvertently alienate Daniel if he sees you in my shirt, finds out that we..." Lies. He had wanted to hurt her. Well, you got what you were after…happy now, Cam? Sometimes, he was so stupid!

She finally looked at him, wiping the moisture from her face with the palms of her hands. Taking a moment to compose herself, she crammed her emotional turmoil away into a small dark place deep inside. This isn't the time for an identity crisis. There are other issues to deal with.

"I don't know where they are," she said meekly. He could barely make out the statement. When he did, he still didn't understand, giving her a puzzled look. "My clothes. I couldn't find them. That's why I put this on. I figured with your reaction, it was better than the alternative."

"Okay," Cameron finally conceded. This wasn't her fault. He shouldn't be treating her as badly as he had. "We'll just have to look harder. They couldn't have gone too far."

He ducked down from where he was kneeling, to look beneath the large, ornate bed. He had to admit, as far as strange places in which to wake up , the fancy room in the large fancy senator's house that had been lent for the O'Neill's wedding wasn't the worst by far.

"Anything?" Vala inquired, leaning over the edge of the bed, getting a clear view of Cam's firm ass sticking out from under it, blushing at her consideration of it and leaning back.

"Nope." The answer was followed with an exasperated sigh. Then his head popped up momentarily before he was back down lying flat on the floor. "You look high. I'll look low."

It was easier to perform an intense search of the room than peruse his memory for the answer for several reasons. Firstly, with such a hangover, he had lost whatever easy access to memories he usually enjoyed. Secondly, what he could conjure up with great difficult only made him severely uncomfortable, especially with a half-naked Vala still in the same room. Thirdly, it gave them both something to do besides arguing.

He crawled across the floor to get a better view under some vanity-like piece of furniture, but to no avail.

"Ah-ha!"

"Find something?" Cam inquired pushing himself off the floor, finding the direction from which the cry of triumph had come. Vala was standing on the bed, bouncing slightly in her excitement. She leapt off from it and bounded across the room. And with a more-than-slight hop, she reached up and pulled something off the top of the rather tall, rather elaborately carved dresser.

"My panties!" she squealed with joy, before immediately bending over and slipping one leg than the other into them.

Cameron quickly turned away before she finished wriggling into the black lacy things. But the damage was done, as his thoughts flowed from one image of her bare flesh to the next. He remembered ravenously removing the garment that had barred him from her hips, her body, and throwing it carelessly over his shoulder.

Before his memory could carry him further into the events that had transpired the previous night, Cam shook himself out of the recollection and returned his attention to the search for Vala's clothing. Of all the possible insane situations he had ever considered himself getting into, a number of which he had contemplated as a result of attending this particular wedding and reception, this, this had never come up, and was by far the most awkward, bizarre, and potentially painful.

After crawling all over the rather lovely hardwood floor, Cameron finally gave up on the search for the other articles that were MIA. Feeling an ache in his back he moved to sit up, hitting his head on the bedside table he had just been looking under.

He caught the lamp and steadied it before it could plummet from the delicate wooden table. Still got it! He marveled at the astuteness of his reflexes despite the moderate-to-severe status of his hangover, but only for a moment before he noticed something out of place draped over the lampshade.

"Uh, Vala, I believe this is yours," he said picking the delicate article of clothing off the formerly imperiled appliance and holding it out to her.

"My bra!" she exclaimed, taking the lacy garment that matched the one she had just finished putting on a few minutes before. "Yay!"

Things were starting to go her way…Well, at least, maybe, if she pretended they were, then she wouldn't feel so down. And maybe, just maybe, she could get Mitchell to lighten up a little. Knowing he'd freak out if she simply shed his shirt in front of him to put her bra back on, she turned her back to him to adorn her earnestly sought-after and rather sexy (if she said so herself) undergarment.

Cameron continued to survey the part of the room he was facing while she dressed behind him. There was no sign of the most vital piece, her actual dress. He sighed. So much for pretending it never happened, or getting out of there without incident…

"I'm decent," Vala announced. "But I don't see my dress anywhere."

"Neither do I," he confirmed, turning around with a sigh.

"Guess we're just going to have to, how does it go? 'bite the bullet'," she said cheerfully.

"Vala, this is not funny," he growled, fighting the urge to grab her by the arms and shake some sense into her. "But I guess you're right. There's not much else we can do…" Glancing around, he found the wife-beater he had worn under his dress shirt the previous day. "Unless you wanna try to make a discreet exit?" He picked it up and pulled it over his head. "Didn't think so…"

He made his way over to the door with Vala hot on his heals. She was desperate to get out of the room, and frankly away from him. Not that she would've minded waking up in bed with such an attractive man under normal circumstances, but he was horribly trying on her patience and far too uptight for her tastes.

No sooner had Cameron begun to open the door when he hurriedly pulled it almost entirely shut again, and Vala found herself roughly shoved back into the room a few feet.

"Hey! What the hell-" she began to berate the man for the seemingly unprovoked assault. His hand flailed at her, urging her to be silent.

"Oh hey, Teal'c," Cameron greeted his friend and team mate through the four inch crack between the frame and the door. He had never been more anxious in his life, afraid that the stoic man would find out about Vala, and think poorly of him. "How'd you sleep?"

"Very well, Cameron Mitchell," he replied placidly.

"That's good to hear, bud-" Cameron said, trying to end the conversation and maintain control of the door as Vala desperately pulled at it and him.

Teal'c, however, wasn't finished. He knew precisely what was going on, found it rather amusing, and thought he'd see if he could make the situation just a little more interesting.

"But not at first," he added placidly.

"Oh, really? That's too bad," the younger man replied absently. The door shuddered slightly, the visible muscles and tendons of his arm pulsed, and there was the sound of hushed swearing from behind it.

"Yes," Teal'c continued. "After the screaming ceased, I found it quite easy to acquire the rest I needed."

The hidden struggle seemed to stop and Cameron turned his entire focus upon the large man standing in the hall, reservedly amused, with raised eyebrow.

"Wh-what screaming?" Cameron asked. "I didn't hear anything."

"That is most unusual," Teal'c replied. "It appeared to be emerging from somewhere in this vicinity."

Cameron knew he looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but there was nothing he could do about it. This went beyond 'busted.' There was no way knowing how much Teal'c knew, but he was totally at a loss for how to react.

His distraction gave Vala the opportunity she needed to wrench the door out of his control, which gave her a brief sense of satisfaction over her success which was almost immediately replaced with shock to match Cameron's own.

But really, what had she expected? He had been talking to someone. However, unlike her frozen companion, Vala was skilled in the recovery and saving of face. She put on a cheerful smile and greeted the near-smiling? Jaffa.

"Good morning, Teal'c," she said elbowing and pushing past Cameron to stand half in the doorway and half in the hall.

"Greetings, Vala MalDoran," Teal'c responded, bowing his head slightly.

She anticipated the awkward silence that had been building, heading it off with her specialty, inane chatter.

"How'd you sleep, Teal'c? I slept like a ghoald in a sarcophagus, and woke up just as refreshed. It must be these Earth drinks, they just don't pack the same punch as the stuff I'm used to…"she glanced briefly and meaningfully at Cameron. "…although they do seem to alter your sense of perception quite sufficiently."

When no one responded, she continued. "Anyway, I'm starved! Absolutely famished. Is there anything to eat around this fancy place?"

She looked to the others to see if they had kept up. Cameron was scowling at her, having finally caught on to the insult she had thrown in the middle of her rambling.

Teal'c said, "I believe Samantha Carter is preparing breakfast."

"Sounds great!" she exclaimed, grabbing Mitchell's arm and tugging on it, pulling him down the hall.

"Fine time to freeze up," she hissed into his ear. "I thought you didn't want anyone to find out we spent the night in the same bed."

"If you hadn't been fighting with me over the door, Teal'c wouldn't've known any better."

"Well, I think he knew anyway."

"Only because, apparently, you're a screamer!"

This caused her to take in a sharp breath, followed with. "What do you remember?! Tell me right this instant!"

"Nothing," he countered. "I don't remember a damn thing because someone…" he trailed off as he realized something.

"What?!" Vala continued the argument. "What were you going to accuse me of now?! You know I don't like this anym-"

"Shut up," he ordered her gently before grabbing her arm and pulling her along with him back to where Teal'c was standing patiently in front of the bedroom door from which they had emerged.

"Uh, which way is it?" Cam asked him. This godforsaken mansion was like a maze.

Teal'c indicated that they needed to go in the opposite direction than they had previously and distractedly pursued before. He let them go ahead of him, before placing his hands behind his back and following the bickering pair with an ever-so-slight smile teasing his lips.

A/N: Can you guess where Vala's dress is? I know. HAHAHA…oh wait, that makes sense, considering I am the one that is writing this. My bad.

A/N 2: Please feel free to point out any inconsistencies in character, and please, please explain them to me. I'm still not all that familiar with Cam and Vala, and probably too familiar with the other characters to be able to portray them (if that makes sense). Then again, this whole incident and plotline is probably an inconsistency in character, but I like to play, okay?

A/N 3: My worries about this project (not that it's really a big deal or anything, it's just for fun) 1. Would it be too much for both Vala and Cam, and Elizabeth and John to end up together in the end? (too gushy/cliché) I know it doesn't bother me no matter how many stories I read, but as a writer, it feels a little repetitive. 2. How repetitive is this going to seem, with all of the thinking and talking that I need to/will be writing? 3. Is this my strange sense of humor, or am I just lame and stupid? 4. I am way too wordy.

A/N 4: And finally, if you've made it this far, you get 555 points and a llama. His name is Ted ::pets llama:: If you've just scrolled to the bottom, being fed up with my writing but not just clicking the options you have at the top for some bizarre reason, you receive nothing ::blows raspberry and wishes that she went to bed earlier, because what little sanity remained is now gone::