I'm sorry this chapter took so long, school work piled up and so I've been working from dawn to dusk leaving me no time for creative outlets.

Feel free to give constructive criticism on my writing, I want to know how I can improve my style. Here's chapter 4. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Seven weeks ago...

It was two days after their mission to Callabrixa, and the entire team -minus Vala, who never turned up anywhere on time unless copious amounts of treasure or her place on SG1 was at stake- had congregated in Sam's lab at the end of the day at Mitchell's request. Cam and Teal'c were dressed in workout clothes, planning to spend their evening sparring together. Sam and Daniel wore civilian clothing. They'd met in order to plan out their weekend, as a team night was long overdue. They were discussing what film to watch: Daniel wanted to see the new release Gods Of Egypt as he figured it would be a good comedy film for the team, whilst Cam and Carter wanted to watch Top Gun, and Teal'c was pouting in the corner, not that anyone would have guessed, because the group immediately shot down his idea of watching Star Wars again, arguing that 'once a month was more than often enough'.

"Well it's majority rules, and since Vala isn't here she doesn't get a say, so Top Gun it is!" Mitchell shouted in victory, throwing his hands up in the air and smiling like a child who'd just managed to convince his parents to have ice cream for dinner.

"So we'll meet up at mine tonight then?" Sam proposed, earning a nod from all of them save Daniel, who held up a finger in objection.

"Actually I kind of have plans tonight, can we make it tomorrow night instead?"

The entire group looked at him in bewilderment; Daniel Jackson having plans outside of work was like seeing snow in August.

"What plans could you possibly have tonight?" Sam said incredulously.

"Hey, I resent that! I do have a life you know!" He exclaimed, making her giggle and apologize.

At that moment Vala blustered into the room dressed in civilian clothing, a simple black tank top and light wash slim jeans paired with some black boots that Sam had bought her for christmas and a leather jacket hung over the crook of her arm, and an excited look on her face.

"Ready for our date?" She asked, smiling widely ass she winked at him.

"It's not a date!" He insists, although even he could see that it was in vain; Cam was rolling eyes, Sam was giggling, and Teal'c's eyebrows raised by 1/8th of an inch.

"Fine, are you ready for our not-a-date-just-two-friends-and-coworkers-out-to-dinner-and-the-film-that-I've-been-dying-to-see-ever-since-I-read-the-reviews-online?" She rocked on the ball of her feet with her hands clasped behind her back in an innocent manner. Daniel rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket off the chair where he'd left it, and folded it over his arm.

"Come on then" he grumbled, although his mouth twitched upwards and his eyes crinkled slightly as he said it. Together the whole group made their way to the elevator, exchanging pleasant conversation. The elevator stopped at floor 17, which was where Teal'c and Cam exited.

"Have fun kids!" Mitchell threw behind him walked off in the direction of the gym. As the doors closed he added "Use protection!"

Vala turned to Daniel with an inquisitive look.

"What do we need to protect? Should we go get the zats?"

Daniel groaned and hit his own forehead with the palm of his hand while Sam bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Damn Mitchell.


"Well Daniel, you certainly went all out this time. This place is fantastic! The service is so fast, and the food is delicious!" Vala enthused, staring wondrously at the food on the table in front of her. Daniel sat opposite her, tucking into his own meal vivaciously.

"It's a fast food place, Vala, it's not exactly haute cuisine. I just figured that since we sort of worked through lunch you'd be hungry so here we can get a lot for our money"

"Well you're absolutely right." She took a big bite of her burger and chewed happily, before her face screwed up.

"ATCHOO!" Pieces of half-chewed burger hit the archeologist square in the face, making him recoil in disgust. He grabbed a napkin from his tray and wiped himself off while Vala grabbed one to blow her nose on.

"Lovely Vala, just lovely!" He grumbled as he finished up cleaning himself, scrunching his napkin up into a ball and throwing it jokingly at Vala's face. She batted it away before it hit her.

"It's not my fault!" She protested, picking up her drink and taking a full sip.

They slipped into a comfortable silence, enjoying each others company while they ate without needing to say anything. However Vala broke this silence multiple times by sneezing or coughing, deep moist coughs that came from her lungs.

"Maybe you've caught a cold or something." Daniel hypothesised as they took the debris from their meals to the nearest trash can. "It was very cold and windy on that planet, and BDUs aren't really the most insulating clothing"

"But I don't don't get sick" She retorted."My immune system is stronger than normal because of Qetesh"

They exited the restaurant and made their way towards Daniel's car. A small gust of wind hit them and made her shiver and lean into Daniel for warmth. He put his arm around her as a reflex.

"It's 80 degrees and it's the middle of June, you can't possibly be cold!" He complained nonetheless. He was sure she was making excuses in order to get close to him.

"Well I am!" She angrily replied.

The pair arrived at the car and Daniel opened the door for Vala. Together they drove to the cinema and settled down with plenty of snacks to watch the film Vala had picked out, a romantic comedy that Daniel had no interest in watching, despite Vala's insistence that he would enjoy it. He had no idea why he let her convince him into doing so many things, especially the things that endangered his life. She had some sort of hold on him that he couldn't control. One look at her big green eyes and suddenly he just couldn't resist anything she had to say.

He glanced over to look at her. She had made herself comfortable in the cinema, taking up the seat next to her with her and Daniel's coats and she leant against the corresponding armrest, her legs swung up over his own. She was enthralled in the movie, one hand dipped into the box of popcorn and the other clasped around her drink. A few tears fell down her face in reaction to the scene playing out on the screen in front her. He thought that she'd never looked so beautiful.


Vala's cold continued throughout the week. It wasn't dire enough to alarm anyone however: with people living and working in such close proximity on a daily basis, bugs swept through the mountain every few months. She coughed during mealtimes, she sniffled throughout mission debriefings, and much to Daniel's annoyance she complained of a persistent headache whilst they were working on translating a tablet found by SG-3 on one of the latest scout missions. Since she was also wrought by sneezes and coughs, she whined every time one of the latter occurred that it hurt her head even more.

"Just go see Carolyn, she'll give you something to help!" He exclaimed after the fifth sneeze followed by an 'ow!' in the space of an hour.

"No! I will not be a slave to medication!" She slammed her fist on the desk in defiance. "I've endured far greater pain than this without resorting to taking drugs and I won't begin now!"

Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, a habit he'd quickly picked up around Vala to stop himself from just blurting out potentially hurtful comments. Recently, he'd been doing it so often he was sure his nose would have a permanent indentation in the shape of his fingers.

"It's not being a slave to them if you take some once just to take away your headache" he approached her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness"

She smiled genuinely at him, before her walls went back up and she rolled her eyes at him dramatically.

"Really darling, when am I ever weak?" She sashayed out of the office, towards the infirmary the man hoped, before reappearing in the doorway and grabbing the pack of tissues she'd left on the desk and leaving again.

Daniel rolled his eyes at the action and shook his head. He didn't think he'd never fully understand the woman, and if he was honest with himself he kind of liked it that way.