Story Title: Tricks of the Trade
Character/Relationships: Vala
Prompt: Breaking In
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Vala began learning the art of thievery when she was very young. She started with shoplifting and pickpocketing and soon was able to find an easy mark and spot an unguarded shelf with ease. But the net gain was never great. Perhaps enough for a few good meals or a night at an inn if she were lucky.
That was when she began studying locks. It was quite the education.
Men, she later discovered, were a lot like locks. Once picked, the information they gave up could be more valuable than everything in their homes. Of course, that didn't preclude the taking of their homes, money and sometimes even the clothes off their back, but it was the *knowledge* - blueprints, security codes, schedules and dirt - that made for the most lucrative of jobs.
And there were just as many types of man as there were locked doors - each requiring a different method to break.
Some were far too confident for what they actually offered, and a swift kick was all it took. Others required a bit more finesse. A light hand. Gentle nudging. Careful caresses. And some were too stubborn for any of the above, and the only solution was tear off the cover, rip out the wires and do a little rerouting until she had bullied her lock into submission.
And then there was Daniel Jackson. She'd kicked him. She'd charmed him. She'd spirited his consciousness off to another world, bound him to her, and even taken over his body, to no avail.
What she wanted - what she'd never really wanted before - he wasn't giving, and Vala had exhausted nearly all of her tricks. There was only one left, but it was one that had been in motion since the moment she met him - like a program running in the background.
Patience and a hacksaw.
