Hours later, after Vala had been checked over by Carolyn, who made sure that Vala wasn't in danger of broken bones or a concussion she sat with Cameron on the deck as they gently began cleaning the sword she had found in the water. As she carefully tried to removed at the residue that had built up on the blade, she and Cameron heard as a plane flew over head.
Not taking her eyes off the sword, Vala asked, "That wouldn't be the engine of a yellow seaplane, now would it?"
Cameron barely glanced over his shoulder, resting his chin on his raised fist. "I'd say it was more of a canary colour."
"Hmm," Vala nodded, frowning.
"Are you going to tell Daniel?" Cameron questioned.
"No need to worry him, Cameron. It's just a plane," she answered, her hand not stopping their actions. Baal was hovering could only mean trouble later on.
—
Smoothing the invisible creases in his crisp button down, Daniel felt rather odd, as he was about to join Hank Landry for dinner and not in the captivity of the yacht's steward, but as a guest. It was a sort of celebration for their first relatively successful day on the search. He could hear the familiar sounds of Carson and Rodney talking in the galley as they were most certainly preparing dinner. Not a surprise at all, as they normally talked and fought while making any meal, but something not normal was the fact that they were talking about Vala. Not that he was all that surprised, as he thought on it, Vala had a way of keeping people talking.
Pausing just at the entrance to the galley, Daniel figured it wouldn't hurt to eavesdrop a little, it's not like they were paying attention to him in their regalement of the events of the day.
"I like her." Carson smiled, chopping the vegetables.
Rodney rolled his eyes, muttering, "You would." Earning points in Daniel's book.
Carson ignored his partner and continued happily chopping. "She's lovely. A breath of fresh air around her and you can see she still loves Daniel."
"You'd have to be blind not to." Rodney agreed, and suddenly Daniel didn't like where this conversation was going.
"So, you see it too."
"Of course, still doesn't mean she's isn't crazy."
"So is love."
"Oh my god, you did not just say that." Rodney blinked, shocked at the sappiness emanating from Carson.
"Shut it, Rodney. Don't think I don't know about that romantic you try to hide." Carson continued happily, "Tell me you don't find them adorable together."
Rodney made a sound of agreement, "Doesn't hurt that she's hot. Daniel was crazy letting that go."
Carson frowned, "Oh, I know. I do hope she manages to win our boy back. He needs some love."
At that Daniel couldn't keep quiet anymore, appalled that they were taking Vala's side. Weren't they supposed to be his friends! "Are you serious!?" He exclaimed, crossing his arms as he faced the two traitors in front of him.
Carson dropped his knife on the counter at Daniel words, turning to the man, a sheepish look on his face. "Oh, um, sorry, lad." He grinned widely at Daniel, "And don't you look dapper!"
Rodney said nothing, snorting to himself.
Daniel narrowed his eyes at them peevishly, "Yeah, thanks. I'll see you later." Trying to keep his pout in check, Daniel started up the stairs to the main deck where dinner was going to be served. Even on his turf, Vala had his friends were turning against him.
The table was set up on the back deck of the main level and Daniel could see that everybody was already there. Cameron was sitting to Carolyn's left at the round table, Vala on his other side, and at Carolyn's right sat Landry, smiling and smoking a cigar, like the king of the table. As Daniel approached he could see that there was only one place left for him to sit and that was in between Vala and Landry, the former of the two being the real problem.
Quietly taking his seat, Daniel nodded to Landry thanking for allowing Daniel to join them tonight.
Dinner proceeded without issue and as Daniel ate, half listening to the many stories that Cameron and Vala regaled Landry and Carolyn through the evening (most that he had heard most before), he couldn't help but mentally compliment Carson and Rodney for the food. The two chefs might be some of the most opinionated (Rodney) and annoyingly optimistic (Carson) people he knew, but they made some great food.
As dinner winded down and Cameron finished a story about his one of his cousins, Daniel let his eyes drift over to Vala, who despite looking like she was paying attention, he could tell was feeling the effects of the day, her normally shining grey eyes soft and hazy. He watched as she sipped her wine carefully, smiling and adding the right anecdotes at the right time. Even at the most tired, she was always the most charming and disarming person in a room.
At least to Daniel.
That, definitely hadn't mellowed over the years. Finishing toasting the Odisea , Daniel watched vaguely amused as Cameron jokingly suggested making the toast more memorable with a little trip to the mainline for some dancing. When both Vala and Carolyn turned him down, promising a raincheck, he pouted until Landry offered a night cap, cigars and brandy included. Cameron jumped on the offer and Landry turned to Daniel asking if he would join them.
Just as Daniel politely refused the offer, Vala was refusing Carolyn's own offer for their own version of a night cap. Not paying attention to each other both Daniel and Vala stood at the same announcing they were going to be retiring to their room.
"Thank you, sir, but I should get to bed."
"Oh, maybe next time, Carolyn, I'm absolutely destroyed."
Glancing at Vala, Daniel winced because he knew exactly what this just ended up looking like. The wide smile Vala was giving not helping the matter any.
From his seat Cameron snickered, "Well now, don't mind us then." Daniel could almost hear the "lovebirds" his traitorous friend left out of the end of that sentence and shot him a glare.
"We're not—this wasn't," Daniel began explaining that what had just occurred had been pure coincidence, but it was obvious that nobody was even pretending to believe him.
Vala giggled, leaning over to press a kiss on his cheek, "Now, darling, all you had to do was ask."
"Vala!" Daniel flushed, watching as she turned and bid them all good night again.
Fighting his blush, Daniel turned to the table and did the same. But, as he headed down to the crew's quarters he couldn't help but rather seriously entertain the thought. The sex had always been good — really good, actually — and the sex they had after discovering something had been…
Daniel let the thought trail off. In no way could finishing it lead to someplace good. They were divorced, for God sakes!
—
Unzipping the dress that Carolyn had graciously let her borrow for the evening, Vala stretched her sore muscles. Her entire back was tense and just at the small of it where it dipped and curved into her ass, she has, as she had predicted, a spectacular bruise forming. Just the width of the part of the gird she had slammed into this afternoon. The rest of her back was no better, aching from where she had connected with Jack's boat. It was all bruised, thankfully, but her muscle definitely protested at being thrown into hard surfaces. Taking a deep breath, she gritted her teeth past the pain she felt and joined her hands together in Mountain Pose, breathing in for a couple of seconds before stretching her arms above and behind her head, keeping her hand together and arching her torso backwards.
It was a low arch, not up to her usual, but she didn't want to strain the muscles in her back too much. Exhaling, she leaned forward, bending at her waist to reach down and bring her hands to frame her feet. The muscles in her back now stretched and pulled the other way, warming under her skin. Straightening her spine and the back of her legs, Vala breathed out as she brought her chest to touch her thighs. Ironically, she could feel her back relaxing, no pressure on her spine. Breathing before she went into the pose, Vala let herself remember the first time Daniel had seen her do yoga. To this day the look he got in her eyes brought a smug smile to her lips.
Inhaling, she moved her left leg back, letting her body drop into a lunge. Brining her right knew knee to a ninety degree angle, she could feel the heat of the muscles under her thighs, aching wonderfully. As she lowered her torso to rest on her right thigh, she breathed as she straightened her back leg, pressing her left heel to the floor. Her body felt like an arrow, taught and ready to be released. Exhaling, she brought her right leg back to rest beside her left and then repeated the movement with the opposite leg. After she was done stretching both legs, Vala rested in Downward Facing Dog, breathing as she stepped her right leg forward to rest between her hands. Stepping out of it, she bent her body in Dolphin Pose, coming to the floor on her hands and knees, her forearms resting on the floor. Curling her toes, she exhaled and lifted her knee of the floor, taking her back into a high arch. Forearms still pressed onto the floor, she firmed her shoulders and widened them away from her spine. She breathed, letting herself and muscles relax, and straightened her legs as she got ready to drop the stance.
Slowly and mindful of her limited space, she walked her feet backwards and dropped her body until it was perpendicular with the floor. Her hand and forearms now pressed together in front of her, making her look like she was doing an odd set of push ups or Mountain Pose but horizontal. Rolling her shoulders, she lengthened and lifted her legs, never letting feet leave the ground. Dropping her head, she closed her eyes for a beat, wondering what Daniel was doing now. He never took to her yoga as way of relaxing, no matter how much he enjoyed watching her. Vala figured he was probably reading over his notes, thoughts far away from where he actually was. Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath as she moved her hand to rest on the floor, her forearms pressed against her sides. She slide her chest forward, letting her legs drop. Lifting her chest, she stretched her shoulders and neck.
Holding that for a few breaths, Vala then bent her back up from Cobra into Downward Facing Dog. Keeping her back in straight line, letting the line continue down her arms to where her hands rested on the floor, head dropped between her arms. She kept the pose for a while, letting her muscles relax into in before she slowly from her right leg, moving herself into a lunge. Supporting herself with her hands, she let her back knee drop onto the floor, extending the calf and foot back. Making sure she was centred, she lifted her hand off the mat and stretched them above her head, leaning forward just enough to keep her centre of gravity straight.
With one last exhale she brought her back left forward and stepped into Standing Half Forward Bend, keeping her legs straight and bent at the hips, keeping her torso parallel to the ground, back flat. Pressing her legs together, she pulled her thighs back, feeling the muscles in them stretch all the way down to her hamstrings up to her lower back. Bending her knees, she slowly lifted her body back into a standing position.
Smiling at the feeling for her stretched but no longer overtly painful muscles, Vala arched her back on last time before walking to the small dresser that her room had. Yoga always did clear her thoughts, and now she knew just how to ensure that Baal didn't mess with them. Opening a drawer, she plucked out a pair of short and tank top and her waterproof bag, heading to her bathroom and snatching her one piece from where she had left it to dry.
Slipping the suit on, she stuffed the clothes into the bag and slipped her water shoes on. As she padded her way up to where they were keeping the diving suits and equipment, she considered stopping and telling Daniel or Cameron of her plan, but didn't. The less they knew the less trouble they'd get themselves into, the two men being some of the most virtuous and sometimes annoying ethical men she knew.
In other words, they'd try to talk her out it.
Reaching the deck, she picked up one of the spare tanks and masks, along with the sword and headed downstairs to the aft of her yacht where she tossed the tank over the low diving platform. Putting her mask on, she made sure that her bag was closed and dived right in after the tank.
"For the Odisea ," she muttered.
It took her fifteen minutes swimming from where the Gateship was at anchor to the shore. There Vala unclipped the diving equipment from her body and took her clothes out of the waterproof bag she had stuck them in. Once she had slipped on a pair of shorts and ratty tanktop over her wet body, not caring in the least about getting them wet. Sword in hand, she made her up the beach towards the town.
She had to make sure Baal left them alone, one way or another.
—
Baal's club on the island, The Snake's Head, was just a front. A very lucrative front, but a front nonetheless. Usually open late on the weekends, Vala was thankfully it was only Wednesday. She didn't need anyone tipping Baal off that they had seen her. Sneaking her way through the back, where the kitchen was, she made her way inside the practically deserted building.
Staying close to the large warehouse fridges near the back, she grinned as she saw Curtis make his way through the kitchen. Perfect.
Slowly, she creeped behind the man who was too busy looking at his bowl of jumbo, and slid her arm around his neck in a choke hold. The edge of the old sword pressed against his neck.
"Do you believe in ghosts, Curtis?" she asked, smile still in place.
Curtis tensed in front of her and sneered, "You made a mistake coming here."
"I think that's for me to decide. Where is Baal?"
Curtis decided not to answer her. Instead Vala stumbled back in pain as he stepped on her bare foot and used the momentum to head-butt her. Groaning, the sword slipped form her hands and she felt herself being slammed against one of the kitchen counters. She gritted her teeth and reached out for the nearest weapon, which just happened to be a sauté pan. Crude, and most definitely not her first choice, Vala swung the iron implement at Curtis' head.
As she felt it connect, she decided that maybe it had been the wrong course of action to come here without aid. Kicking Curtis' body, she scrambled to pick the sword and leave the building when she hear a voice call out to Curtis form the bar area.
Jarran.
Knowing she was about to make quite possibly her second bad decision of the night, Vala rushed at the door just as Jarran started to open it. Swing doors were God's greatest creation, she thought, running through them, catching Jarran right in the head. He fell to the ground much like Curtis had, but unlike Curtis he remained conscious. Lovely.
Vala knew she was by no means an extremely muscular person, and that if Jarran wanted he could throw her off like a rag. That's why she loved shiny sharp objects that could do a lot of damage. Using her body weight to pin him down, she crouched over the man and pressed the sword against his jugular. "Now, will you be a good henchman and take me to Baal?"
Jarran grunted, calling her a few choice names and letting her know that Baal still believed her to be dead. Vala grinned, pushing the sword closer to his skin. No wonder they didn't want to her to see Baal.
"Now, now, that's a rather rude thing to say," she grunted as Jarran began to struggle against her. His hands wrapped around the blade and mentally Vala froze, because she could almost see what would happen next and it was not going to be pretty. Fighting to regain the upper hand, Vala pushed the sword down against Jarran's neck, but it did nothing. The blade was rusted and old and she knew the second that Jarran understood that while she might have a weapon, it was a rather useless one.
Shit.
He lifted his body and threw her off, stumbling to his feet and pulling out his gun.
Vala did the same, expect that now she was more than well aware that her rusted sword would be useless against Jarran's semi-automatic. Still, that didn't mean all was lost.
"Well this was pointless," she stood back, still pointing the sword at Jarran and hoped that some gods were smiling down on her, "but what's even more pointless is what you're trying to do. People have seen me alive, I'll have you know and you wouldn't want any of them asking about me, now would you?" She paused, as Jarran began to understand just what she was implying. "Just think what Baal will do to you if he finds out. So I propose that I make my way out of that door right over there," Vala pointed to the front door of the bar, "and you can go wake up Curits in the kitchen and keep pretending I'm dead. How does that sound?"
The look in Jarran's eyes was reassuring Vala, and she was almost eighty percent sure he was going to take the deal when the front doors of the bar swung open and a large man stepped through, carrying… wait, was that a cricket bat?
"Doesn't work like that any more," the cricket bat carrying stranger said.
Vala didn't even get to reply as her left temple flared in pain and everything went black. The only thing she was sure of that getting hit in the head with a cricket bat was not how she had planned to leave this mortal coil. Daniel was going to kill her.
Unless she died.
—
Apparently, she wasn't dead.
Vala became aware of this as she began waking up, her head feeling like it had been run over by a tank. Blinking groggily, she remembered, no, not a truck, a cricket bat . Her hand moved to her forehead as she lifted her body up and focused on her surroundings.
There, sitting smugly in a chair by some crates, sat Baal. His blue suit crisp and dark, just like the smile he was giving her.
"Vala, nice to you have you join us."
"Baal," she breathed, trying to ignore the pain blaring up by her temple.
"I see the talk of your death has been greatly exaggerated," he spoke smoothly, but she didn't miss the glare he sent Curtis and Jarran's way.
"You can't blame them, after all, they're only human." Moving to lean back against the crates behind her, she realised they were now in one of Baal's warehouses. A place she was sure that had more than enough materials to make the disposal of her body a fairly quick endeavour. Biting her lips, Vala chose not to focus on that now. There was still time. She was still alive, she just had to keep that streak going. Her eyes fell to the man who had knocked her out.
"And who is he? Because I must tell you, I prefer the other two's way of handling things; my head feels like there's a bloody parade rushing through it."
Baal smirked, standing, brushing the lines of his suit away, "Ah, yes, Kanan. He's, I guess you can call him, my new director of personal relations. His methods may be a bit rough, but as you can see, there's no arguing with the results."
Vala rolled her eyes, and tried to hide the wince the movement caused, "Clearly."
"Yes, it became clear to me that I need to do some restructuring in my business. Kanan is my first step towards that."
"Congratulations," she grimaced.
"And my second step…" Baal trailed off, giving Kanan a look. Vala didn't understand the look at first, but before she could question it, she got her answer. A second later, she had to suppress the urge to scream as Kanan pulled a gun from his back and shot Curtis, who had been standing by the door.
As she watched as Curtis' body fell into a crumpled heap by the door, Jarran yelled, backing into the wall he stood by. It was only then that Vala noticed him. She had not doubt he was mirroring the anxious look that she knew was gracing her face. Sometimes she forgot how ruthless Baal could be, it seemed that so did his henchman.
"Ah, now that we have that settled," Baal continued, moving to face her. "Maybe you can enlighten me on why you're still digging around my island."
In that moment Vala knew she had two options. She could try and kick and fight her way out of this situation, which was rapidly spiralling out of her control with each passing second (something she was most certainly never a fan of). Or she could as Cameron like to say, use her wiles.
Well, desperate times.
"Baal, I think I have a proposition that you might be partial to," she sauntered up to him and rested herself against the chair he had discarded.
He gave her a look, but didn't say anything so Vala took that as a sign to continue.
"With Jack looking for the Odisea , you have a fifty percent chance of getting the treasure, but with my crew, well, your chances have just doubled, haven't they?" she grinned, idly plucking at her tank top, eyes on the door. She could make it with the right distraction, if he didn't go for her plan.
Across of her Baal gave her a slow smile and Vala knew she wouldn't have to throw the chair at Kanan, like she had planned. She wouldn't be dying tonight.
—
On the Gateship , Daniel was restless. He couldn't help but keep picturing Vala as her body slammed into Jack's boat. It wasn't the first time one of them had been in an accident, and he was sure it wouldn't be the last, but it was the first time in eight years he wasn't with her. Once upon a time, he would be right next to her in her bed, kneading and tending to her sore muscles. Distractedly, he wondered if she still did her yoga routine before she went to bed.
Closing his eyes, he didn't want to face the realisation he had come to earlier that day: He needed to talk to Vala. He needed to tell her that he was glad she was okay and that he was proud of her. He needed to make sure that she wasn't stressing her muscles and that she wasn't sleeping on her back. As he stepped out of his small quarters on the yacht, he nodded to himself, pretending to believe his reasoning for creeping around a million dollar yacht in the middle of the night.
When he got to the guest room that Vala was given, he tentatively pushed the door open. "Vala?"
He got no answer. Frowning, Daniel pushed the door open a little further and poked his head in and called out again.
"Vala…"
Now the one thing that Daniel knew hadn't changed in the eight years of knowing his wife, was that she was a light sleeper. Always had been. So if she wasn't answering…. Crap, let him be wrong.
Pushing the door fully open he stepped into the room and flipped on the lights.
Her bed was empty.
Fucking hell, Vala, Daniel thought as he rushed upstairs as quietly as he could. Going to the sword tank, he curse when he saw that like Vala's room it too was empty. Vala and the sword were gone, and sadly, Daniel knew exactly where they were.
Sometime he really hated knowing his wife so well.
Two hours later, he watched as Vala climbed back onto the boat, sword in hand. Inwardly, he was relieved that she was okay and that she manage to keep the sword, but it still didn't lessen the amount of anger he felt towards her and her actions. As she fully lifted herself onto the deck, she raised her head and their eyes met.
Daniel could see how tired she was, but he could also see that she was steeling herself for a fight. Good, because he wasn't going to let this slide.
"You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"
She sighed, pulling of the wet suit top that covered her torso, leaving her in her one piece. "Darling, it's not what you think."
"Oh, and you know what think?" He couldn't believe she was playing Landry (him!) like this.
"Of course I do! I can see it in your squint and I'm asking you to trust me. I did what needed to be done and I know you don't like that I had to go to him to do it, but it was the only way."
"How much do you owe him?" he had to ask, taking the sword she handed to him. "And what happened to your head?"
"A cricket bat, if you believe it." Vala glared at him and batted his hands away, even as he gently fingered the bruise growing on her temple. What the hell did she get herself into! "And I don't see how the rest is any of your business, Daniel. I've dealt with the issue, and he won't be bothering us anymore."
He flinched, but stood his ground. Later though, he would wonder why he argued with the following statement, "I'm your husband!"
Her eyes flashed, and she stepped right up to him and poked him in his chest. "EX-husband, and don't you forget just who wanted it that way."
It was funny how things changed, Daniel thought as Vala stomped way. One-second she was looking at him with wide grey eyes, full of fire and passion and the next they iced over and he could feel the chill they gave off down his spine. Picking up the sword where it had been despoiled on the deck, Daniel carried it back to the water tank they were preserving it in. Fingering the tank he wondered how the thing that had brought them together was now tearing them apart. Again.