Chapter 4

Approximately 10 years in the future

I'm waiting to die.

Water drips nearby, collecting in a muddy pool at the corner of my cell. It rained yesterday, and the runoff is still invading my secure little space. The mold in my personal corner of hell is having a field day. Allergies that I once had under control threaten to suffocate me before my captors can.

I've lost count of how many weeks or months I've been here. It never mattered in the first place. The point is that I will never get my chance to see her again. As soon as I was taken, the opportunity was crushed under the weight of insurmountable odds. No one will come for me. My friends are all gone.

The one friend I have left will never see me again. She'll wake up to a new world, one more dangerous than the one she left behind. She won't realize how far she's traveled until it's too late or never at all. I push away these thoughts. Vala Mal Doran has haunted my mind since the day she left. To forget her is madness. To remember is pain. I prefer insanity over pain. These will probably be the last lucid thoughts before they come for me.

I slip into my usual numbness – the comfort I've harbored for years now. I let my mind wander aimlessly…

War. It came without warning. There was no way to foresee what they would have done to our galaxy. Nothing in the Ancient texts hinted at their existence. They came and conquered. It was that simple. It was less of a war and more of a hostile takeover that we were unprepared to fend off. I use the term "we" to mean anyone native to this galaxy, our beloved Milky Way that now lies in ruins. There was no longer a "we" that meant me and SG-1. That had dissolved long before the war.

I still don't know who they are. I might have learned. The SGC came looking for me, asking for help with a diplomatic mission. Said I would be valuable to the negotiations. But how could they come crawling back on their hands and knees when they had abandoned me long ago? They were the ones who gave up on Vala. They were the ones who pushed efforts to figure out the device aside. The three year mark passed, and passed again. She never materialized. They promised not to leave anyone behind.

They lied. So I refused their request.

I blame the next generation of leaders that had forgotten our contributions or never bothered to acknowledge them in the first place. None of them had met Vala, had known her value to Earth. She was just a name on a page. Her alien origin and shady past reduced her status even further, as if she had never existed. I severed my ties to Earth then. It wasn't until a few years into the bloody conflict that I learned all of my teammates had been killed. In separate incidents. Some dead longer than others.

It might have hurt more… but I was already dead inside. The only reason I remained alive physically was to see her again at the 10-year mark. I traveled. Made friends. Lived in hundreds of villages before the need to move on became too great. I occupied my mind with discoveries of ancient cultures and long-dead peoples. In the tenth year, I set up camp on that blasted planet and waited.

I ignored the war raging around me. Didn't want to know the carnage that had befallen so many of Earth's allies. The part of me that would have risen up to fight was gone. My single purpose in life was to see her again. I would hide her away and keep her safe. Something that I trusted no one else to do.

When they came in their big, bad ships to the planet, my mission was ruined. They found me near the gate and promptly took custody of me. I struggled, kicked, and screamed, but my protests were ignored. I was thrown into this dungeon and only let out to be tortured. I was not the only prisoner here; hundreds of us filled the cells. One by one, people were taken away and never seen again. I don't remember much of it because I escaped to my happy place most of the time. No reality, so no pain. I know my turn is coming – I'm the only one left.

My mind registers the sound of the cell door opening. I don't bother to open my eyes. It's only a fleeting disturbance on the edge of my consciousness. It clangs loudly as the metal bars collide with stone walls. I feel the shock vibrate through the far wall I'm crumpled up against. Indifferent, I assume these will be my last few breaths. I'm too weak to care. I'm ready to die.

The cell door squeals again and clangs shut. Ragged breaths accompany my own now. Perhaps I have an unfortunate new roommate. This is of no consequence to me, so I stay in my little space and remain still. My mind returns to a light sleep, wandering among unsatisfying dreams for some time… until I hear a sound.

"Daniel."

Hands roam over my body. If I thought it was worth it, I'd wake up enough to protest. But as it is, I'm not in any state of mind to care. Whoever this is sits me up and cups my face. "Daniel, wake up." It's Vala's voice.

I told you to leave. You obeyed me for all this time. Why come back now? I say to her in my mind. Cold hands feel at my neck. I shiver outwardly and this must encourage her. I feel her fake fingers caressing my cheek. This elicits a small grunt from me.

"What happened to you?" she says in small voice. I refuse to imagine her in my mind. I shut her out completely, and yet I still feel her torturous fingers on my face. My weak hands grab at her imaginary wrists. The fingers still. "Calm down. It's me."

"Go away," I vocalize out loud. Maybe that will convince her that I'm serious. She is obviously not listening to my inner mind's wants and needs.

"I can't. I'm stuck in this cell just like you. What happened to you? Who are these people? Why did they…"

I strain my face, as if shutting my eyes even harder can block out the sound of her voice. "Go away," I whisper again. My words are laced with desperation and sadness. My happy place is no longer with this figment of my imagination that I got rid of years ago.

"I need you to talk to me. I need your help." She paused. "I'm very confused." Her voice sounds strained and weak.

This is too painful to bear. Never once do I dare open my eyes. I clutch the sides of my head instead, anchoring my fingers in my long hair. The strands are oily to the touch. My palms scrape against the roughness of my beard. As I collapse back down to the soiled floor of my cell, I start singing a song I once heard offworld about a sloth-like creature with no worries. I tuck my knees under my chin and rock back and forth. It's no longer a problem to curl into a small ball like this – I've probably lost half my body weight by now.

I don't know how long I go on. I hear a small thud after a long while. When I open my eyes, she's slumped over in front of me, feigning unconsciousness. I pause. She's never done that before. I poke her with my finger. She doesn't respond. Blood runs down the side of her cheek, probably staining her BDU's. But it's too dark in here to tell. The only light comes from a torch somewhere down the corridor.

I've never seen Vala with blood before, not the imaginary Vala. She was always the picture of health, my mind's way of assuring me that she is safe somewhere. It would have done no good to imagine an injured Vala then, and I can't imagine why I'm looking at one now.

One of my beloved guards paces down the corridor. I hear his footsteps before I see his figure through the bars. My vision is blurry, but I can discern the outline of a burly fellow in some sort of dark cloak. He doesn't say anything I understand. The language of my captors is foreign to me. He simply gestures in the general direction of me, mouthing some sort of report into a communication device. The guard leaves as quickly as he arrives.

I expect that distraction to have rid me of the Vala image. But it doesn't. Her form is still there. I poke at her again. She grunts in response. Tentatively, I touch the blood that's dried onto her cheek. Sticky. I taste it. Bitter. I've forgotten what these foul sensations are like. I've been closed off from all awareness for a long time.

I've never understood why my mind works the way it does. There is no rhyme or reason for my imaginary friend's sudden resurgence. Preparations for the end, maybe? This is a terrible way to prepare then. Maybe it's my fault. I banished her for so long that she's injured within my subconscious and this is how it's manifesting in my mind's eye.

I let out a breath. If this is what my mind will give me before I die, then I guess I should take it. I don't know why I've suddenly changed my attitude toward her. Maybe the fact that she isn't responding helps me focus on the fact that she isn't there. With what little strength I have remaining, I pull her head gingerly onto my lap. Her hair is matted down with blood. I feel the wetness of it through the thin linen of my pants. It mingles with the rest of the dirt there.

I don't recognize my hands as they stroke through the untarnished strands of her locks. They're black with filth and grime. I notice how the skin of her cheek is soft and smooth. My fingers leave behind trails of dirt. My stomach growls, but it always does that. In the absence of food, I just sleep. So as my fingers work on automatic running through her hair, I lose myself to empty dreams.

000

The touch of gentle fingers startles me. From her position in my lap, she's looking up at me. Her forehead is crinkled as if she's in pain. Her eyes are a tad unfocused. I grab her wrist, stilling her fingers just like last time. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," she says calmly. "I feel like crap. How about you?"

My bottom lip quivers. I feel tears forming in my eyes. This is torture. Worse than what those strange people have done to me. It's a torture from within. I can't escape this any more than I can hope to escape death. Please let them take me away now.

Sensing my distress, she sits up abruptly. Her face seems to go green immediately, and Vala turns her head to vomit in the corner. I simply watch. To see her sick and injured in my mind is unusual. But this whole situation has probably destroyed me for good, so there is little point in speculating about my mental state. When her nausea fails to pass, my hand moves to casually stroke her back as she releases her stomach onto the floor. A new odor rises up to mingle with the stench already present in this cell.

Eventually, she has nothing left to expel and sits up. Wiping her mouth on her sleeve, she apologizes. "Sorry." Vala pushes away from the mess she just made and leans against the wall next to me. "I think I have a concussion. They hit me pretty hard. How long have I been here?"

I have no answer. You were never here to begin with. She stares at me, contemplating me. Her eyes roam all over my tattered clothes and take in the grime I've become accustomed to. It's like she's waiting for something. "Daniel," she says slowly, "how long have you been here?" I shrug. I honestly don't know. Worry lines crease her face. "You look starved. Literally. Who are these people?" She gestures around at the cell.

I ignore her questions. "I miss you," I whisper. Her gaze locks with mine intently.

"You mean you missed me. Emphasis on missed." I don't bother to correct her.

Footsteps provide a distraction from her scrutiny of my face. When she turns to look, another guard is thrusting two bowls through a slot near the bottom of the cell door. They drop to the floor and spill a little bit of liquid as they impact. Vala eyes the guard, and I then see her gaze linger on his jingling keys. It's a look of hope in the middle of all this despair. Hope? Who has hope anymore? Certainly not me.

She crawls toward the bars and tries to peer out. There's nothing for her to see, and after a while she turns back to stare at me. My expression remains blank as I watch her. She picks up both bowls and brings them over to me. Without speaking, she lifts one up to my lips. I instinctively slurp on the tasteless porridge, cringing at the pain of swallowing. My throat has been dry. I finish the first bowl in moments and Vala feeds me the other bowl. The meal is far from satisfying. I'm a little perturbed that she doesn't at least pretend to have a bowl for herself.

When the second bowl is dry, she examines it. It's made of some sort of clay. Not anything special by galactic standards. She seems to think it might be useful, so she slips it behind me in the space between my lower back and the wall. She places the other one near the food slot. All this movement seems to dizzy her, if an imaginary woman can get dizzy. She's never tried to stand once since she's been here, and seems to sway a little when sitting up without any support. I wonder about that. If she has a concussion, does that mean I have a concussion and my mind is trying to tell me so?

Vala falls over. I don't move to get her. She's not really there.

000

I've been drifting in and out for some time now. My stomach has been doing back flips, overjoyed with having something, anything, to process. I wake to screeching metal and see that two of my captors have entered the cell and are standing before me. I look up at them but do nothing more. Their faces are shrouded by their hoods and their bodies are obscured by the long cloaks they wear.

The skin, or rather fur, that is exposed is a sickly pale yellow. I shudder. Hands like those were implements of my torture, at least, the parts that I remember. One of the creatures kneels down to examine Vala. Then it turns to me. It vocalizes in Ancient, the only common language between us. His words resemble grunts but I pick up on the meaning.

"This is the female I believe you were waiting for. We captured her at the ring you use for travel. I have spared you another day with her, knowing you have waited ten cycles for such an event. Perhaps now you will not think me so cruel." The ghostly figure stands up. "I have enjoyed learning from you, scholar. It is a shame that I cannot keep you as a slave. I realize you were once a warrior among your people and strong enough to withstand the labor I require. If your mind is sound enough to understand, then hear me. You have only until morning to live. Savor your last moments with this female. Do not dwell on what happens to her after your death. It will only make your passing more unpleasant."

I sense more guilt than kindness in those words. And I think the guilt has more to do with not being able to enslave me than with killing me. This is not the voice of the ones who tortured me, but the voice of their leader. The two figures leave, their cloaks gliding across the floor as they exit. They move like silent ghosts. I contemplate the deadline he's given me. Until morning.

At my feet, Vala stirs but does not wake. I doubt that I could have imagined the leader's short explanation. It had too much complex Alteran vocabulary that my mind nearly tossed out in an effort to save itself. I know that my ability to speak back to him in Ancient has already atrophied. So he must be real and telling the truth. If I were ten years younger, I would jump to my feet and hold her, but as it is, I'm too weak to even lift my hands.

I stare at her still form. So she's here.

000

My goal had been to stay conscious long enough to watch over the real Vala. But I'm not very good at achieving goals lately. She's the one rousing me awake this time. When I manage to open my eyes, her blurry face looks worried. She's kneeling over me and holding my head up with her hands. The notion that she's actually here makes me smile.

She looks at me funny but smiles back for a split-second. "Daniel, where are we?"

"In jail," I respond hoarsely.

She frowns. "I can see that. But what happened? I don't remember…" she says, raising a hand to touch the wound at the back of her skull, "how I got this or how long I've been here. There was a bright light and then I woke up here."

Now I frown. She seems even more confused. Vala moves to sit at the wall with me, but finds the bowl she hid there. Picking it up, she examines it in the same manner as before. "Has this always been here?"

"You put it there."

Vala seems surprised. "When?"

"Earlier. After you fed me."

"I fed you?" Memory loss. A sign of a concussion. She wasn't kidding about her self-diagnosis earlier.

I don't answer her question directly. "You should have been the one to eat. They might keep you alive and you'll need your strength." It's been a long time since I've strung so many words together out loud. I choke as I try to cough and clear my throat of its cobwebs.

"You seem to imply that you will not be kept alive."

"No." This visibly alarms her.

"Daniel, we need to get out of here." I shrug. Escape was never on my to-do list. I never had any hope that I could achieve it. She grasps my arms, looking surprised at how frail I must be to her. "You cannot give up. Look, this bowl, it has a crack. Maybe I imagined being able to break it apart and use it as a weapon." She makes an experimental thwack at the wall with the bowl. Looking closely at it again, she nods in satisfaction. She throws the bowl at a wall and it shatters into large fragments.

I don't flinch at the noise. I just look on as she picks out the biggest pieces with jagged edges. "I imagine there will be more bowls of food coming. When the guard gets here, play dead, which shouldn't be very hard for you to do. I'll make a fuss to get him to open the door and come inside. We can both subdue him and be on our way." She seems very smug at this simple plan, and I don't bother to argue with her that it probably won't work. She thrusts a rather menacing piece of former bowl in my hand. I decide to humor her. I have nothing to lose and trying to escape from jail with Vala may be a nice memory before I go.

She sways a little, slamming a heavy hand on the floor to steady herself. It doesn't take an expert to know that her concussion is more than mild. She's probably so out of it that she doesn't realize how bad her injury must be, to think she can pull off this escape. After a few moments, she straightens up.

We sit in silence for a few more hours. Well, I sit in silence. She attempts to ask me all sorts of questions that I don't have the strength to answer. It occurs to me that I should tell her she's in the future. But I'm not even sure they'll let her live long enough for that to be relevant.

I repeat that thought: they might not let her live. They might kill Vala. They will kill Vala. Something inside of me stirs. I almost laugh out loud. I've lived this long only to see her for one day and then die? And then she dies, too? No.

No!

We hear footsteps, and I know it's the guard with my last meal. I fall over, surprising Vala in the process. She nudges me to check if I'm really okay. She even whispers to me that I should give her a sign. I don't. She calls my name again several times, each one with increasing panic. "Daniel! Daniel!"

By the time she's in hysterics, the guard arrives with the food and grumbles. I hear Vala yelling at the guard. He understands enough that he opens the cell door just as we planned. Vala lets out an "oof" as the guard pushes her against the wall and out of his way. I smell him leaning over me more than I can hear his loud breath. Rotten eggs and fire-breathing dragons float in my mind's eye for a fleeting moment.

My eyes pop open. My hand grips the broken pottery and slams it into his shrouded face. When he screams and falls back, so does his hood, revealing a hairy creature covered in blood. I must have hit its eye. The yellow hairs of his fur stand on end as he screams incessantly.

Vala jumps up and slams a hard elbow down on his neck. He drops to the floor. She gives him another hard punch just to be sure he's really unconscious. She kicks him with her boot and gets no response. Satisfied, she grabs the guard's key ring and hooks it onto her belt. I'm still on the floor, a little surprised that this actually worked.

She turns to me. "Can you stand?" I nod. She helps me up, and we both sway with uncertainty. "I hope you know how to get out of here."

"Left," I say. She gives me a look of question. "To the right are the torture chambers. Left," I say more adamantly.

She doesn't disagree after that piece of information and tugs me forward. My legs feel like noodles. I haven't used them in so long they can barely hold me up. I force myself to cooperate as she uses an arm to keep me upright. Adrenaline seems to course through my veins and I feel a sense of strength as well as sensation return to my legs. We struggle down the corridor for some time.

Pausing at an intersection, I feel Vala's steady grip slipping. Now I have to wrap an arm around her. She seems overcome with dizziness. I hear faint footsteps and urge her forward. With only the fake strength of adrenaline now, I hope that it will last long enough for us to leave. We bob and weave through the narrow corridor, both losing our balance constantly. It's slow-going, but the further away we get from the cell, the more determined I feel. We continue down for more minutes. I glance up at a single window and see that it's a cloudy night. The cool breeze passing through it brushes my cheek gently and acts as a motivating taste of freedom.

The corridor is not the maze I had feared. Given what I remember about offworld castles, I suspect we're in the perimeter hallway of one. As long I hug the outside wall, we should find an exit eventually. After ages of stumbling through the dark, we arrive at a dip in the wall. Leaning on Vala for support, I feel along the indent. It's a door. When I try to open it, it will not budge.

Vala seems aware enough to finger the keys on her belt. She leans forward on the door to support herself and fumbles with different keys in the lock. After a few tries, the door gives way to open land. We both freeze and cringe at the sound of the door's creaking. It isn't a terribly loud noise, but it could be enough to alert someone. We wait and listen but no one comes.

The air is cooler than I expected and hits me in the face like a slap. I think it wakes Vala up more, because she's suddenly leading us toward the tree line for cover. We don't have far to go, but we also don't dare stop at just the edge. By now my strength is fading and I think Vala is succumbing to her concussion again. We have to keep moving. We need to keep moving.

I'm wondering in the back of my mind why we didn't encounter more resistance. There never seemed to be a shortage of men to torture the prisoners, myself included. But now, the area seems devoid of people. I worry that there is a trap waiting for us. We wander aimlessly through the forest for a long while until I finally collapse. I simply don't have the energy to do this. My adrenaline has run out now that I sense we're temporarily out of danger.

Vala falls down next to me, leaving us both on our backs panting. "We shouldn't stay here," one of us says groggily. I can't tell which one of us is talking. But we're both in agreement it seems. Despite this, I think we fall asleep from exhaustion. Maybe it couldn't be helped.

000

A loud blast startles us awake the next morning. What's left of my muscles are sore and aching, causing strong pain to course through me when I instantly sit up. Vala sits up as well, but this sudden movement seems to aggravate her condition and she heaves on the forest floor. With nothing in her stomach to release, it doesn't last long. I look back in the direction of the sound. Dark clouds of smoke are rising up in the distance. I can see the red of fire behind the trees. We seem far enough away that the explosion won't affect us, but I aim to be as far away as possible.

Another blast rocks the ground. Vala looks up. I recognize the sound of weapons fire hurtling down from orbit. It seems that someone is firing on something. Vala looks confused. I grab onto her shoulders and make her look me in the eyes. "We escaped. Do you remember?"

She's dazed and shakes her head. "I…" she hesitates.

"Come on, get up," I order hurriedly. I look at the forest floor around us and can see where we trampled the brush. I follow the path back toward the explosion. "We came from that direction," I exclaim, pointing at our path. "They're blowing up the castle!" No wonder there was no one around. They had no intention of staying open for business.

"Who?" Vala asks.

I grab Vala's hand. "Nevermind. Just trust me and run. I'll fill you in on the way." We head further into the thick of the trees. As we zigzag through the forest in an unplanned path, I wonder if the ship in orbit can detect our bio signs. That wouldn't be a good thing. Vala seems to be thinking the same, now that she's somewhat caught up, but won't allow me to dwell on it. She squeezes my hand. Won't do us any good. Just keep moving.

We move for what feels like hours until I spy a clearing up ahead. It catches my attention because something metallic reflects the sunlight into my eyes. As we approach cautiously, I realize what it is. A gate! Vala and I break off into a run, severing our grip on each others' hands to aid in the movement. We stop just short of the clearing and peer about wearily. Vala motions with her hands that she's going to circle about and that I should do the same. We can meet on the other side of the clearing if all is well.

I carefully hug the trees as I check the perimeter. I call upon old tricks of stealth I've picked up for the purpose of surviving one more day. A sound rustles nearby and I turn in alarm. A small rodent scurries out from under some brush. I dare not sigh in relief and keep moving, hoping the sound doesn't alert anyone else who might be around. After about ten minutes, I meet up with Vala on the other side. She nods the all-clear, and I concur.

We rush the DHD. I dial the first address I can think of, hoping that it's the right decision. Vala seems to recognize it and questions me. "Are you sure, Daniel?"

"No," I say as I punch the last button. The gate's mechanisms sound and the blast of a wormhole shoots forward. I grab her hand. But maybe they won't think we're stupid enough to go back there.

And maybe they will, she thinks back. I can't argue with her. She doesn't realize where she is in time or what the condition of the galaxy is right now. None of our "safe" planets can be trusted anymore. Besides, my instinct is to get off this one and do it yesterday. I pull on her arm and drag her through the gate with me.

We exit the wormhole into sudden night. The light of the shimmering pool gives me enough of a look to know which way to go. The gate shuts itself off, leaving us in total darkness. I pray to whatever God is listening that there aren't any ground troops. I've worked my way through this forsaken forest enough that I've left markers for myself if I have to detour around them, but I'd rather not have to. With only the pale moonlight to light our way I find my first marker, a stack of three thin logs. I stop to scan the area with my ears. Nothing but indigenous animals. I turn left and keep moving.

Vala follows me blindly. I can sense her puzzlement but I don't speak aloud to acknowledge it. At the second marker, a set of branches hanging in an X-fashion from a tree limb, I listen again. Snoring. Someone is here, but not very aware. Vala points in the direction of the sound. It's directly in our path. I motion to her that we're going to come around. She nods and keeps a hold of my hand. I wind us around to another marker, this one further away from the snoring person but also closer to our destination.

With little else to deter us, we arrive at the clearing. I can see my abandoned supplies across the way. Vala's foot brushes on something and she looks down. A canteen. My canteen. So they left everything as it was. I can only hope they felt the same way about the inside of the structure we're at. I don't know how much I revealed during my torture. The leader seemed particularly interested in why I had made a home all by myself on the planet.

Vala studies the ominous stone building. I know what she's thinking because I've thought the same. It's a lot more brooding at night. During the day, it stands as a harmless looking ruin. Little did we know. She grasps my hand and I can feel the question coursing through it.

This is important, I try to tell her without saying anything. She still looks hesitant, and I can tell she doesn't understand. I lead her into the structure and down the winding corridors into the underground chamber where everything went all to hell. It's nothing but dark here. The lights that the SGC set up have since gone out. I whisper for Vala to stay when I figure out we've made it. I reach in and feel around for my pack. Thank god. I find it and dig in. There is a slight crackle as a glowstick illuminates my face. Vala seems mildly surprised then reaches into the pack to pull out another one. As we disperse more sticks around the room, it seems that this place has been untouched. I hold on to the hope that the leader never learned about this from anyone, especially me.

I find another pack and recognize it as my emergency rations. The last time I encountered SGC personnel was a year ago. They were all dead and left to rot. There was nothing I could do for them but hope to pass on word that their bodies were there. No one else would know what their power bars or MREs were, so I took them. I dig into the pack now and pull out two power bars. Vala takes one, and we both greedily chow down.

When we're done, I stare at the walls. The ceiling has since cracked to the point where I would have little hope of translating the writing up there now. Even if I could understand the technical jargon it held. Vala props herself up against the wall. "So what now?" she asks.

Honestly, I don't know. Something drew me back here. I'm not sure what or why, but I felt an urge to take Vala here. "This is a time machine."

"What."

"It's a time machine."

"How do you know?"

"Vala, what's the last thing you remember before waking up and running for your life?"

She furrows her brow in concentration, or it is pain from her concussion? "I think… I was… here?"

"And?"

"There was a bright light…" she hesitates. "I couldn't see. I think I got knocked down, and then… I woke up in the forest with you, scared out of my mind."

"You were hit in the head pretty hard. You've been in and out for the past day or so. You really can't remember being in the dungeon?"

"No," she answers, nodding emphatically. She regrets this and blinks in dizziness.

I kneel down and cup her face with my hands. "I know that this is very confusing. I'll try to keep it simple. You've been transported ten years into the future." Vala looks as baffled as ever. "This place," I gesture around the room, "is one big Ancient mistake of a time machine. It doesn't work properly."

"This is the future?" she says in a meek voice. I can sense her fear and uncertainty radiating through our touch and up my arms. But I can also sense a bit of understanding as this explains my sudden change in appearance.

"I'd do anything to change it. I don't think this is the way things should be. Everyone we know is dead. The fact that I left the SGC is a stroke of luck. I would have been killed sooner working for them."

Vala seems incredulous. "You left the SGC? What do you mean everyone is dead?"

I stop for a moment. Do I really want to tell the story? She's losing her memory as it is, and I sure as hell would love to lose my own memories. God knows I've lost everything else. It's a miracle that I've managed to stay coherent this long since her arrival. Maybe her presence is grounding me somehow.

"Daniel?"

"Vala. There's so much. It's been ten years. It could take just as long to explain all the things that have happened."

She's straining to be patient. But her eyes are demanding that I tell her. "Then give me the highlights."

I give her a look. What a Vala thing to say. It quirks up the side of my mouth. "Bottom line, the galaxy's gone all to hell and I love you."

Her eyes widen for a moment, then her surprise disappears just as suddenly. "What's new?" she says sarcastically. She quirks a smile of her own before her eyes glaze over and she passes out again. I catch her just in time to see the wound on her head as she falls forward. It's such a long gash that I'm amazed she's even able to function. The sight of it worries me. I have no access to medical supplies, let alone a doctor. I shouldn't have brought her here.

Now that Vala's out and I've said what I needed to say, I feel my own exhaustion creeping up on me. Months of starving and other not-so-fun-to-mention things have weakened me. I probably won't last much longer. I can feel it. I use the last bit of strength I have left to drag Vala and me into the center of the chamber. I fall on my back next to her, no longer able to move.

I don't know why I do this or why I place her here. If I were in my right mind, I would have done things differently. But then again, I'm pretty sure I'm crazy now.

"Rest, my Darling. It's time to rest," I hear Vala's voice. When I turn my head, she hasn't moved. I look inward and find my imaginary friend speaking to me instead. Her image floats with mine in a weightless sea of nothing. "There is no more for you to do than rest."

Peace washes over me before I feel my mind shutting down for the very last time.

A/N: He held on till the very last minute. Hope you like. The story is not yet concluded, as I'm sure you noticed. Hang on for another chapter soon! I finally fixed my ending! Trust me, I had this 'done' ages ago, but when I thought about it, something more needed to be done. It felt hollow. Took a good few weeks and a couple other rejected attempts before this chapter was added in to open up a new world of possibilities later. Thanks for reading. Feel free to review, my friends.