Chapter 3 A Plan for Sleeping Beauty

Four members of SG-1 stood silently around the couch in Daniel's office, looking down at their team mate, who was still fast asleep on the couch.

Mitchell scratched his chin. "Well, what are we gonna do with her?" he whispered.

Nobody answered for a moment.

"Well, it's not like she's in the way or anything," Sam replied, quietly. "Or like we're doing anything special today. I mean, we're busy on base, not due off-world or elsewhere."

"I guess." Mitchell looked sideways at Daniel. "How 'bout you though? Is she gonna get in your way?"

The archaeologist shrugged. "I doubt it. I mean, she's over here, and I'll be at my desk. I just think…." He stopped talking.

"Think what?" Sam looked across at him.

"I think perhaps that she doesn't want us to know that she can't sleep. Maybe we should just all pretend that we didn't come in to work today or something."

Sam rolled her eyes.

Mitchell did his "seriously, Jackson?" face.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps," said the Jaffa, after a few moments, "the reason that ValMalDoran has been walking the halls at night is because she wishes to be found out. She knows as well as any of us that nearly every move in the SGC is picked up on the cameras. Even if it is only on a subconscious level, she may be looking for assistance with her insomnia."

The other three all looked at each other.

"You may have a point there, Teal'c," Sam said, thoughtfully.

Daniel nodded slowly. "Mmm…..I mean, we all know how she puts that damned shield up over her feelings all the time! It's like trying to get blood out of a stone sometimes, getting her to reveal what she's really thinking." He said something else, in one of his ancient languages.

Mitchell suspected it was a string of swear words - as he caught Sam's eye he grinned at her expression.

"So…," the blonde Colonel paused for a moment, "the best course of action is probably trying to bring the subject up subtly. During a normal or regular activity. For example, while studying ancient artefacts, for example."

Daniel was still nodding, until he realised what Sam was up to. "Hey, wait!" he scowled. "Why is it always me? Why do I always have to sort her out?" His voice was louder than he intended.

Vala wriggled on the couch and turned to her other side as the remote control slid onto the floor with a clatter.

The rest of SG-1 froze for a long moment, until it became obvious that she wasn't waking up yet.

"Because, DanielJackson," said Teal'c, in his deep voice, "you know as well as we do that you are the closest thing that ValaMalDoran has to family, here on Earth. She looks up to you as she does to no-one else."

Daniel wasn't sure about the last sentence but he had to agree with the first. Walter had said something similar too, hadn't he? He sighed. He was her only family, or as near as, on this planet. "Okay, okay," he blew out a sigh. "But don't blame me if she freaks out, Mal Doran-style!"

Mitchell slapped him on the shoulder. "You underestimate yourself, Jackson. You can do subtle when subtle's needed. I think." He winked and moved away to the the door. "C'mon, Teal'c – we're already late for the gym."

Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgement and followed the Colonel out of the office.

Sam was grinning.

"Shut up," said Daniel, but without malice.

She hugged him swiftly. "Look after her," she said. "Try not to bring down the SGC between you!"

Then she slipped away too, after the boys, doubtless to fiddle about in her own lab for the rest of the day.

Talk about being abandoned. Daniel sat down wearily and looked at the clock. 9.45am. How could it only be 9.45am?! It felt like he'd been at work all day. He sighed, pulled a translation towards him and waited for Vala to wake up.

- o - o - o - o - o - o -

He didn't have to wait long. Twenty minutes later and Vala's tousled head popped up from the other side of the sofa.

"Hello Daniel," she purred in that voice of her's. The one that she used when she didn't want you to know what was really going on behind her face.

"Morning," he grunted. How to bring it up? Even when she'd been caught actually in the act of her – well – crime for want of a better word, he had no idea how to start talking.

"I expect you're wondering why I was sleeping here, aren't you?" Her eyes were huge and luminous, peeping at him from over the back of the couch. There was the ghost of a smile hovering about her mouth somewhere, but Daniel could sense the tension that she was trying to hide.

Ah, to hell with it. "Not really," he looked up at her. " Walter showed me a load of CCTV recordings this morning, that show you wandering all over the base in the middle of the night. So I expect that you were pretty tired, seeing as you've obviously been attempting to become nocturnal."

Vala's mouth dropped open, before she recovered enough to jump up from the couch, hands clasped in front of her chest, a beseeching look on her face.

"Please, Daniel, I didn't steal anything, really I didn't, I have given up all that sort of thing, well - mostly all that sort of thing. Well here on base anyway. Well apart from your key-card obviously, which doesn't really count, because I'm here most of the time too, aren't I? And I need to get in don't I? In case you're not here and I need to work sensibly on my own. Because I can be sensible on my own, sometimes. Mostly. And I really wasn't doing anything that I shouldn't have been doing, Daniel, really I wasn't, please don't tell Landry."

She was right up next to him by the time she'd finished, wide blue/grey eyes looking up worriedly.

She thinks I'm angry, Daniel realised. Well, he had been earlier, but not now. And he wouldn't be, if he could just get her to admit that she needed help. "I'm not angry, Vala," he said, gently.

A flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes.

"But I am concerned." Continuing to talk, a faint frown creased his brows as he watched her carefully. "You've been having trouble sleeping, haven't you? How long has it been going on?"

Vala took a step back.

Daniel could see those shutters about to slam down and shut him out. "Don't!" he barked, making her jump. "Don't pretend that it's all okay, Vala, because it's not. We have evidence. Nobody's angry with you, but you have to let us help you. We care about you here, you're in the SGC family now – you know that. Don't shut us out, Vala. Don't shut me out. Tell me, please," he touched her arm, "and I will look after you."

She was lost, Daniel could see it. Even now, she still had trouble with those stupid barriers that she'd put up around her heart.

"C'mon," he whispered.

Vala swallowed then before she could change her mind, clutched at the front of Daniel's shirt, pulling him towards her. She leaned her head against his chest.

Surprised, Daniel placed his hands against the tops of her arms and rubbed them softly.

"Nightmares," Vala whispered, suddenly. " Horrible nightmares. Since the Odyssey. And the Ori. Terrible, horrible nightmares. Every night." She let go of his shirt and wrapped her arms around his waist, turning her head to the side, so that she could still lean against him.

Daniel was amazed – either he was getting old or the SGC's wacky little alien really was learning to trust at last. He held her close but gently, afraid that she might break if he squeezed too tightly.

Vala's eyes were closed but there were identical tear tracks on each cheek. Daniel thought that he'd better not mention that – one step at a time. Inexplicably, he felt a lump in his own throat and had to pause for a minute or so until he could speak.

"I'll look after you," he repeated. "We all will. We'll make sure that it all ends up okay. I'll stay on the SGC at night if you like, you can come and wake me up if you get another nightmare. We'll get Carolyn to give you some sleeping tablets or something. It'll be okay." He realised that he was babbling, but was so surprised that she'd told him how she really felt he wasn't sure that he could string coherent phrases together at the moment.

"What about Landry?" Vala whispered, peeping up at him. Her lashes were still wet with tears, and she had huge dark circles under her eyes.

How on earth did none of us see those? Daniel thought, ruefully. "What about him?"

"Suppose he fires me?"

"Why? Because you can't sleep?" Daniel laughed, took one look at Vala's troubled face and stopped. "I don't think he can do that. And if he does, he'll have to fire me too!"

"Really?" She pushed away from his chest, eyes brightening and lips tweaking into a small smile. "You'd get fired for me?"

"Sure. But it won't come to that. Anyone who hangs around the Stargate for long enough must end up with at least occasional insomnia, the kind of stuff we get involved in."

Vala danced away from him, brighter already. "Let's get something to eat!" she declared. "I feel better already, let's go to the cafeteria! Come on Daniel!"

He looked at the translation which he needed to work on, then at his alien friend. Whatever. He slammed down the lid of his laptop, picked up his wallet and followed her out of the door. Partway down the corridor he paused, retraced his steps, and locked his office door.

"Come on!" Vala called, from where she was waiting by the elevator. "I don't know why you're bothering, I've got the other key here!"

TBC...