Chapter VII – Not So Pleasant Dreams
Although Vala fell asleep like a baby guarded by Daniel's arms, once she was asleep, matters were not so pleasant. Night terrors were common enough for her, what with being a former host to a Goa'uld such as Qetesh and then being the vessel of the Orici, but more often than not, she was the victim of the drama that played out in her dreamscape, but on this occasion, that was not the case and it scared her all the more for being so different from what she usually experienced while asleep.
"Adria! Adria, please, please stop it! You're killing him! Adria!" Vala screamed.
Daniel was in the centre of the room, pooled in a circle of blood, which dripped from his nose and head. His legs were bent at crude and nauseating angles, obviously broken or worse – shattered – at multiple sites. He was encased by a yellow force field, preventing Vala from reaching him. The rest of SG-1's bodies were strewn about the floor, all dead, so only Vala remained to witness Daniel's demise at the hand of her daughter.
"Mother, you have the power to stop me. If you had killed me when you had the opportunity, your precious Dr. Jackson would not be suffering for your mistakes." Adria said with an evil smile.
"Adria, I will do whatever you want, just please stop what you're doing and leave him be!" Vala sobbed desperately.
The Orici's smile widened with glee, "Now, that's better, mother. You will embrace Origin?"
Vala nodded briskly.
"Very well, then," With a flick of her hand, Adria removed the force field from around Daniel, "he is free to die!"
Adria's eyes squinted as Daniel's entire body convulsed in pain as Adria's will tore his muscles and ligaments apart. Vala thought it would have been more merciful just to end his misery and suffering but Daniel's inhumanly high pain threshold made his trials all the more unbearable for both himself and Vala.
With a final shriek, Daniel's heart stopped beating and his body ceased its fitting and at long last, his agony was over.
"DANIEL!" Vala screeched.
"Vala! Vala, love," Daniel said worryingly, "sweetheart, wake up!"
Vala sat bolt upright and her eyes pricked open like a cornered animal running from a predator. She was vaguely aware of Daniel serenely brushing her matted hair away from her face, drenched in cold sweat from the fright of the incredibly potent nightmare and the shock of how much pain she had observed Daniel endure.
"Daniel?" she said in a petrified voice.
Daniel pulled her into his arms, "Yes, yes, it's all right, now, I'm here. You're safe."
He was stunned by how she was shivering and how she was probably so frightened by the nightmare that she couldn't even cry. He knew she had experienced extreme nightmares but this was something else, the fear in her was debilitating and that scared him, the fact that she could be so overwhelmed by what she saw in her sleep that it rendered her so weak.
"Tell me about it, darling, tell me what you saw. Then, I can help." Daniel said soothingly.
"It, it was Adria. She had killed everyone: Sam, Teal'c, Mitchell, but she had you in some kind of force field and you were pretty beat up," Vala rubbed Daniel's sides, reassuring herself that he was healthy and safe, "I begged her to stop hurting you, but she wouldn't listen and you," Vala sobbed, "you were in so much pain, Daniel. She made me agree to accept Origin and then she, she killed you and I couldn't save you. I'm sorry, Daniel."
Vala was now in full floods of tears, making Daniel's shirt damp with her salty tears, but he would rather she ruin his shirt than him not be there at all to offer her his shoulder to cry on when she needed him.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm all right; I'm safe with you, here at the SGC. Adria is not here to hurt anybody." Daniel said wiping the tears from her lovely face.
It took Vala a good while to stem her tears and compose herself enough to speak coherently with the man in her bed doing all he could to comfort and relieve her. Usually, Vala visited the commissary to get food to soothe her and help her recover from her night terrors but with Daniel beside her, strengthening her with only his presence, she felt no need to go for one of her standard walkabouts around Stargate Command to take her mind off the thoughts that plagued her sleep.
"I'm glad you're here, Daniel. It makes me feel better and I don't even feel the urge to eat." Vala said, almost sprightly.
Daniel faked a reaction of astonishment, "No! You? Vala Mal Doran not having the urge to eat? Wait here," he moved to get up, "I'm going to have to fetch Dr. Lam!"
Vala laughed, making Daniel go weak at the knees and fall back into her bed. Vala's laugh got louder as she grabbed Daniel by the arms and turned him round to face her, "What is the matter with you?"
Daniel reached up to push a stray hair from Vala's face, "Your laugh is one of the most beautiful sounds in two galaxies and it makes me love you so much more when I hear it."
Vala could do nothing but stare back into Daniel's loving face as she understood how sincerely he had complimented her musical laugh. She then pressed her body down on his and kissed him passionately. Her lips pulled at his and his gave into hers without hesitation or question. There was nothing more he wanted than Vala and him to be fully together but as her arms and his moved of their own accord, pulling the other closer toward them. It was apparent where this was heading, but before he knew what he was doing, Daniel pushed Vala off him and turned on his side so he could still look her in the face.
"Daniel?" Vala asked unsurely, "What's the matter?"
Daniel clung to her soft hands, "Vala, nothing is the matter. I just don't want to rush this. I want to do us properly, so we had to stop."
"Sex makes me feel better after nightmares, Daniel. I want to feel better…with you."
Daniel kissed her tenderly, "I want that too, but I do not want our first time to be a reaction to you having a nightmare and trying your hardest to forget about that instead of just focusing on us and how we're meant to be together."
Vala smiled, "I love how romantic you are," Vala's smile disappeared, "but what if the nightmares come back?"
Daniel pulled her against him, "I'll fight your demons for you Vala, just try and go back to sleep, we've got a long day tomorrow. After the recon mission, I think we'll go out for dinner."
"Now that's something I can dream about!"
