A/N: Lots of action in the following chapters. Things start speeding up.
As they started their search the following day, Daniel couldn't help but follow Vala's movements. Her mannerisms were stiff and strained and the bruise on her temple stood out magnificently by her hairline. As he watched her talk with Carolyn while they got their scuba gear ready, he noticed how the doctor's eyes also eyed the bruise. Daniel made a mental note to make sure that Carolyn checked Vala over, if she hadn't already, lest Vala had a concussion or worse. He might still be pissed at her for going to Baal but that didn't mean he wanted her to see her in pain.
He sighed, turning to Mitchell, who had just stepped next to Daniel on the deck.
"Just like the old days, huh, Jackson!" Mitchell exclaimed, slapping him on the back with a wide grin. The movement made Daniel stumble and he would also have fell into the water if it hadn't been for two pairs of hands grasping at his tank and vest.
He felt as Vala's hand's rested against his shoulder, and he turned to face her.
"Still only graceful under the water, aren't you, darling?" she grinned, but he could see the light didn't spark in her eyes.
Snapping his mask over his eyes, Daniel smirked. "The water and one other place." The soft blush that grew on her tanned cheeks served to lighten the weight he had felt since their fight last night.
"Exactly like old times!" Mitchell laughed, snapping his own mask before jumping into the water.
"Sod off, Cameron." Sticking her tongue out at their friend, Vala jumped in after him, Carolyn following her. It only left Landry and Daniel on the deck.
"Is she all right?" Landry asked, fiddling with his air hose.
Daniel gave a side long look at the man, surprised that he noticed or even cared about Vala's demeanour. Looking over to where Vala had disappeared under the water, Daniel slid his own mask on.
"That's what she always says."
Jumping in, he wished he didn't know how much of a lie it was. Landry followed him a minute later.
—
The search continued on much of the way for the next week. They would wake, have breakfast, spend the morning searching before breaking for lunch and then they'd go back into the water to search until the sunset. Most everyone would pack up for the day, save Vala who would spend a few more hours searching by flashlight until Cameron or Daniel would drag her in.
Carolyn would go and camp out in the yacht's living area surrounded by medical files and research notes. Landry would be seated at the table on the upper deck, making his own business calls. Vala noticed the tension between father and daughter, after all, she was a self taught expert in dysfunctional parental relationships, but when she would ask Carolyn, her friend, as Vala felt comfortable calling her now, would evade the subject. Vala let her, after all, it's not like she was answering any of Carolyn's questions about Daniel or her still healing bruise.
In a turn of events that surprised no one, Cameron managed to make friends with Carson, a Scot, who Vala personally thought might be the loveliest person to ever exist, and the captain of the yacht, John Sheppard. So after their days of (failed) searching, he could be found in the galley catching with Carson (and trying Carson's partner, Rodney's, patience as he insisted on helping out. Something Carson thought was utterly charming and Rodney hated very vocally.) or up at the helm, trading stories with John. Both men had served in their day and they never had a shortage of war stories to share.
Daniel was only other person, besides her, that didn't let go of the Odisea when the sun set. He might pack up his gear, but Vala knew that the second he was showered and dressed, after having finished any work Landry had for him to do —which, let's face it, ever since Vala had come on board Daniel had stopped being an employee and more of a guest that just happened to be getting paid— he would open his research notebook and pour over every fact he could, hoping one of them would give them the break they were looking for.
But they didn't and neither did their search. Old soda cans and hub caps have been they only things that they've manage to discover so far, (even Jack's crew, from what Sam had told her during an undercover session of catching up yesterday) and Vala could feel everyone's spirits waning. And Vala was way too aware of Baal's seaplane flying overhead every other day.
As she kicked her legs in the water, looking over the dark horizon that the sea provided for her she took a deep breath. They needed to find something. Anything. And soon.
Letting her thoughts take over, she didn't even notice when Cameron stepped up behind her.
"Hey, princess," he touched her shoulder and Vala looked up her friend. "Dinner's ready and I convinced Carson to let me make my famous cornbread, you don't want to miss out."
She blinked, then smiled, "No, after all, Daniel used to hog it." Taking his hand, she lifted herself up and they turned to the steps.
"So how are you and Sunshine doing anyway?" Cameron asked, using Daniel's old nickname, the origins of which they were no longer allowed to discuss.
Vala gave a brittle laugh, "For two divorcees that can't stand the sight of each other, I'd say we're doing splendidly."
Rolling his eyes, Cameron nudged her, "I have mentioned you two are more stubborn that two mules tied together lately, haven't I?"
"Fifth time today," Shaking her head, Vala was grateful that at least someone thought she and Daniel still were a pair. They weren't exactly acting like it anymore.
—
One morning they woke to grey clouds on the horizon and by lunch the skies had opened up. The pouring rain did not seem to stop and so with all of them tired of being bogged down on the yacht and the rain sapping up everyone's spirits, when Cameron suggested they go to the mainland and have some dinner and a drink, they all agreed.
It was nice, Vala had to admit, the change of scenery, even if throughout dinner you could tell that nobody was currently elated with how events were turning out. Even Carolyn's laugh at Cameron's stories of his large and crazy family seemed a little forced.
Throwing back the last of her beer, Vala looked across the table where Daniel was doing his squinty face. It only came out when he had too much to drink, when he was focusing on something and decided the rest of the world was useless, and when he was annoying. After eight years together Vala was sure the eyes weren't because he'd had too much to drink. After all she had meant what she had told him their first morning together, and over the years his tolerance for alcohol, while still not as high as hers, was decent. And since he wasn't looking at any sort of text, Vala could surmise that the eyes only meant one things. Daniel was annoyed.
"You know what else is really bothering me?" Daniel leaned forward, settling his own beer down on the table.
And there it was. A rant was sure to follow.
Vala groaned, dropping her head back dramatically, "No, Daniel, we don't. Please, please tell us, because I honeslty don't think I could live the following moment of my life unless I really know what's really bothering you."
"Oh, this is fun," Landry interjected taking a long drink from his brandy.
Daniel and Vala ignored him.
Sighing, Daniel shook his head, and gave Vala a look. It was the look he got when he just figured something out and Vala raised her eyebrow at him.
"Daniel, what is it?"
He sat back, his eyes getting that far away look they got when he got lost in all the facts that floated around his head, "Just, listen. Imagine if; imagine I'm a Dutch frigate stuck on reef, during a dead calm, in the same cove the Odisea sank three years before, in less than thirty feet, in the clearest water in the world, then why can't I see her?"
His voice trailed off and Vala was there, right there with him, building up the picture he had just given them. The water would have been clear. Even today, with all the dirt now accumulated in the ocean, these waters were still blindingly clear. Back then, if the frigate had been in the same cove and the Odisea had been in the water, they should have been able to see her clear as day, unless…
"Because… She isn't there…" Vala breathed, eyes snapping to Daniel.
"It makes no sense though… Orlin specifically said that's where she sank."
Vala nodded, "He was very clear on that in this story."
At this Landry chuckled, only smiling when everyone at the table, including Cameron and Carolyn gave him a look. "Oh, sometimes I forget how young you all are." Now they were just glaring at him, "Just think about. As you've said, your entire theory is based on the sole reasoning that Orlin lies about everything. Then why on earth would he tell the truth about this? If Orlin said that was exactly where the Odisea sank, then, the simplest conclusion we can make from this, is that it's exactly the wrong place to look."
Landry's words did not sit well with Vala, mostly because they made an annoying kind of sense. Orlin did lie about everything that had to do with his time on the island and the Odisea, why did they believe he hadn't lied about this? Vala, who felt she had a unique talent for understanding when people where lying, felt disappointed in herself for not considering this sooner. Glancing at Daniel, she could see from the increasing broodiness of his brow that he was feeling something similar.
Just then, as she was about to speak, John came in, his hair sticking out every which way, even as the rain tried to tame it. "Sorry to distrub, sir, but we have to move the ship to the north side of the island on account of the storm."
Landry frowned at John's news, wondering, "She won't fit in the marina?"
John shook his head, "Sorry, sir, I'm afraid she can't. You should have a taxi take you to the North end, give us a call and we'll pick you up when you are ready." And with that John nodded his good-bye to them and headed back out into the rain.
Landry nodded, "Better safe than sorry. Wouldn't want to sink."
Grinning, Cameron added, "Or lose those cigars."
"I don't know, it would be ironically poetic, considering how close to shore we are." Carolyn quirked her lips, tilting her head towards Cameron who just smiled back at her and they shared a moment of private laughter. Vala was sure she would have laughed too if it hadn't been for the fact that Carolyn's words sparked something in her.
They were so close to shore… they were too close to shore!
In an instance Vala jumped from her seat and vaulted over to Carolyn, pressing a kiss to the surprised woman's forehead, "Oh my god! That's it! Carolyn, you are a genius." Turning away from the table she rushed out of the cantina, hoping to catch John, not even caring about the rain. He was just opening the door to the taxi when she grabbed his arm, "Hey, JOHN. Why did you pick the north beach?"
John gave her a look that said she clearly did understand how this captain thing worked, "I didn't," he said slowly, "It's the only beach on the island that isn't blocked by the reef."
And there it was. The last piece that made the puzzle make sense. "Yes! Thank you, John!" Vala exclaimed, bouncing where she stood.
Behind her she heard Daniel's voice call out to her.
"Vala! What's going on!"
Unable to keep the grin of her face, she turned to Daniel and gestured wildly with her arms, "He ran her to ground! Daniel, don't you see, to save the Queen's Dowry, Orlin ran the ship to ground!"
From the look that immediately graced Daniel's face, she could tell that he now understood exactly what that meant.
—
They headed back to the yacht with John, leaving Cameron, Carolyn and Landry to take the next taxi to the north beach, because they couldn't wait. If they were right. God, if they were right, they might have just saved this entire trek. With even discussing it, the second they got onto the yacht, both Daniel and Vala went straight for the diving gear and began to suit up. They didn't seem to care it was still raining as they stripped down in front of each other and began pulling out the supplies they would need for their nightly swim.
Daniel tossed Vala a wet suit vest, as he pulled on his own. "You think you're right?"
She grinned, whipping her hair into a pony tail, "You think I'm right."
"Not the point, Vala," he said, grabbing a mask, "the odds that we figured this out…"
"Are in our favour, Daniel. I mean, what else do we have to lose?" she tossed her tank into the water and jumped in after it.
Following her lead, Daniel couldn't help think she was right.
Searching for anything in the ocean was a difficult task, and at the moment it was only made more difficult by the darkness of the water. Their underwater flashlights and metal detectors only helped so much, but he followed Vala down and together they searched the ocean floor for anything. Any sign that one day the Odisea had been there, and hopefully that it was there still.
They spent minutes searching side by side, then splitting up, then coming together again, and splitting up again when Daniel's metal detectors began going off. It was getting louder and louder and the little red lights on it were lighting up so continuously that at on point it just became a pulsing red light.
As he closed in on the spot that the metal detector was signalling at, Daniel could feel his heart hammer against his chest. It was an old and familiar feeling. The last time he had felt it, Vala had come home waving a pregnancy test at him. But this time, as his hands swept across the sand, searching for anything, it was different. The outcome would be better, because there under his hand, there was metal.
Rounded metal — a canon! — and inscribed on it, there was a crest. One word floated above the crest.
Odisea .
—
Daniel couldn't believe it, they had found it! They had found the Odisea and he had to tell Vala!
Swimming away, back to the surface, Daniel couldn't wait to see the look on her face.
They had found it!
As he broke the surface, he wasn't surprised to see Vala come up just after him, but it was her smile that had his curiosity piqued. Either way, he'd ask later, because he couldn't keep it inside anymore.
"There's a canon!"
"I found a canon!"
The spoke in unison and then paused, looking at each other.
Vala broke out into a grin first, and giddily asked, "You found one too?"
"There's two!" Daniel couldn't keep the excitement at bay. Together they grinned and splashed in the water, the rain now falling softly around them, and smiled some more. "There's two!"
Laughing into the night, Vala swam over to him and planted a quick kiss on his lips — an all too familiar feeling rushed through him — before dunking him. Sputtering water as he came up, he watched the pure joy on Vala's face.
"We found it! We found the Odisea ."
Daniel could have started at the happy smile on Vala's face for the rest of the night, but a thought just popped into his head.
"Vala, we have to be careful. If anyone outside our crew finds out about this…"
Vala's smile dropped for a second, nodding, before it came back full force. "You're worrying too much, darling, let's enjoy the moment. We found it ."
Daniel looked at her, at her smile, the light that was back in her eyes, and decided that for this one second, he could forget about all their trouble and just enjoy it. So he did.
Splashing at her, he smiled, and chuckled, when she splashed back.
They found it.
—
The next few days pass in blur of sun, sand, loads of sun-block, Cameron's attempts to hit on Carolyn, Landry's quiet encouragement, and Vala's enthusiasm. Daniel was sure that were their lives a film, these days would be placed in classic montage sequence set to the reggae music that Cameron played.
It was amazing how much they found in such a short amount of time. Guns, plates, utensils, a candelabra, some wine goblets, two more canons. All of them suddenly appearing everywhere they looked. And while it might not have been what they had been hoping for, Daniel had to count their finds as an archeological success. They had found where Orlin had laid the Odisea to rest, this had to mean something.
Looking over to where Vala was walking with metal detector around the small sand bank they were currently working on, Daniel stopped brushing away the years of sand from a musket. It was rather distracting view, which Daniel solely blamed on her decision that she chose to wear her tiny black bikini today.
"You know, there's not much here, Daniel. I'm willing to bet that they burned the ship here and took everything else inland. It's the only plausible explanation," Vala called over as he pushed her sunglasses up her nose. Behind her Cameron had just uncovered another pistol and was currently showing it off to Carolyn. Daniel made a mental note to catalogue it later.
Turning back to Vala, he frowned, because she had a point. For all they had uncovered, it could only have been less than a quarter of what the Odisea had left behind. "Well, what do we know about Top Sail Key?" he pondered out loud as he stood and made his way over to Vala.
"There's the town, church--"
Vala interjected, "Preacher's cave."
"We were up there once, remember? It spoke about the first settlers; religious persecution. That was 1790, and Orlin would have beaten them all by more than half a century."
"All that's left is the church, then. It's the oldest building on the island, and it would hold any and all information from that time period. Journal, sermons, all that fun stuff you love."
Daniel smiled, "Best plan you've had so far."
"You're just happy to be getting to your books."
—
On the mainland behind the sand bank, by the palms and foliage that overran the shore, Kanan set his binoculars down.
That woman, Vala, hadn't let them know they had begun searching elsewhere. Or of the success that she had been having.
He suspected Baal would find this turn of events interesting.
—
That afternoon Daniel and Vala made their way up to the church. They rented a vespa from town and Vala had a laugh when Daniel tried to remember how to get it to work. The last time either of them had been on a vespa had been in Spain during their prolonged honeymoon all those years ago. After they got it work, they made their way up the hill to where the church sat. By the time they got there the sun was beginning to set, painting the sky with a soft orange and pinks. The church was small, would have barely held more than fifty people back in the day, and it was made out of stones that glowed bronze in the setting sun. Its doors were wooden with large iron handles, and a small bell tower. Vala had to hold her breath at the sheer beauty and simplicity of the building with only a few palm trees to bookend it, and the view of the ocean behind it. Unconsciously, she rested her chin on Daniel's shoulder as they came to a stop.
Outside there was an old priest tending to the tall grass that grew in front of the church, his wide-rimmed had blocking the sun from his dark, weathered face. As he saw them pull up he stopped ranking the fallen palm leaves and greeted them with a smile.
"Hello, I'm Father Bratac, how can I help you today?"
Vala grinned, extending her hand, "Hi, I'm Vala and this is Daniel, we were wondering--"
"If we could take a look in your archives room." Daniel stepped up, offering his own hand, and the Father did the same, after shaking Vala's.
"May I ask why?"
"I"m a bit of an amateur archeologist, and was just wondering if I could do some research on the first settlers that founded the church."
Vala had to school her face not to give her away, because it was always amusing when Daniel put on his perpetual student bit. For all the truth in his act, it was always a riot to see and how people just ate it up. As Daniel persuaded Father Bratac to let them into the archives, Vala had to smile. She always knew he had been paying attention when she had to con someone.
An hour later they sat on old wooden stools, reading through the old journals that the church had. Most of them were in Spanish and despite their two years in Spain, Vala wasn't as confident in her Spanish as Daniel was. He always did have an affinity for languages that had eluded her, so as he sped-read through the book, Vala carefully poured through the articles in front of her.
It didn't take her long to feel that itch of boredom. Sighing, she looked up to Daniel with her lips pressed together. She wondered if he remembered the last time they were in an archives section.
"Don't." Daniel spoke in that tone that meant he knew what she was thinking about.
"Don't what?" Vala smiled.
"Don't think about it." He looked up from the journal he was currently reading and gave her the Look. It had been a while. It made her feel rather nostaligic.
Vala rolled her eyes, "But it's weird, isn't it? Us, here, together. Surrounded by books."
The Look went up a couple of notches, before he turned back to the journal, "It's not weird, Vala, it's complicated, and not in a good way."
"You seem to forget, I like any kinda…" she started in that low voice she knew he liked, but he cut her off.
"Stop!"
"No need to be rude, Daniel."
He over at her up at her and blinked, "What? No, not that! Just listen to this, I think I found it. It says, 'we are by no means the first Europeans to visit here is finally proven by the discovery of a Spanish gravestone, that of a woman. I cannot but wonder who she was and how she came to die here, for the headstone reads simply Odisea , 1750."
Scrambling to his side, she leaned over his shoulder to get a better look at what he had just read, "You better not be joking, Daniel."
He narrowed his eyes at her and continued reading, point with his finger to where he had left off. "Forsake her, I could not and so it was here on this beautiful hill top that I resolved to bury our dead and begin building a church."
As the words came together in Vala's head, she looked at Daniel, an understanding coming over her. "He didn't move the head stone."
"And he built a church around it," Daniel whispered, meeting her gaze.
"It's in the cemetery," they both spoke in unison, the space between them having been reduced as the spoke to each other.
This was the closest they had been in weeks, and Vala could see in his eyes that he had remember all too well just what happened the last time they had been together in an archive section. There was really one thing that Vala wanted to do in this moment, and so she did it, because for all their differences they still had one thing in common and it was that they loved the thrill of discovery almost as much as each other. So Vala kissed him.
—
There wasn't a moment of epiphany when she kissed him. It wasn't a new feeling that overcame her when he pulled her forward and began kissing her back. It was old, it was familiar, and it was still as wonderful as before.
Vala pushed herself off the stool she was perched on and straddled Daniel, feeling his hands settle automatically around her hips to steady her and pulled her closer to him. His hands drifted under her top and skimmed up her back, tugging at the strings of her bikini top. Vala smiled and not to be undone, she ran her nails down his abdomen, nipping at Daniel's lips when he hissed and went about pulling it off.
The movement was sharp, and while Daniel lifted his hands to help her along, they moved too fast and the next thing Vala knew she was screaming and then laughing as they tumbled backward to the floor. Daniel landed under her with an oof but he was smiling too. He looked up at her and for a second Vala wondered if he would stop this.
Not for the first time in their life together, Daniel surprised her, sliding a hand through her hair and pulling her lips back down to his again.
Vala grinned into the kiss and began trailing her lips down his jaw as their hand moved over their clothes, pushing and pulling the offending garments away. Her hands trailed down his hips, pushing his shorts down. His groan of pleasure as she wrapped her hands around him made her smirk and she bit lightly into his shoulder.
"Miss me, darling?" she whispered into his ear.
"Fuck, Vala," he answered and she took that as a yes.
As she worked her hand over him, Daniel gripped her neck in a tight hold, covering her lips with his own in a deep kiss. His tongue dragged against her bottom lip and Vala didn't even think twice as she allowed him entrance. She loved him like this. When he stopped worrying and just let himself feel. She pushed her hips against his as her hand kept pumping him and then groaned when she felt one hand move under her short and press her against her. The other settling against her breast.
"Daniel," she breathed, wiggling her hips trying to get his fingers where she wanted him.
Immediately they separated, and Vala kneeled up on the floor, as both of their hands went straight to divulging her of the denim that was already slipping down her hips. Together they pushed them down her thighs, and Vala hissed out when she felt Daniel's lips press just under her belly button. Her hands curled around his shoulders, probably making half moon marks on his skin.
Damn, if she ever thought she wouldn't miss him and this, this moment would have just proven her wrong.
"No foreplay, not tonight," she said, leaning down and kissing him again.
He nodded under her hands and grasping her hips, pulled her down onto him.
It was a little painful, she wasn't as ready as she should have been, but bugger-it-all, it just felt so good. They had missed each other for long that it didn't matter how imperfect the moment was, it was right for them.
Vala felt Daniel's hands pushing her hair back from her face and opened her eyes. He was looking at her with that look that always made her feel too much and so she did the only thing she could at that moment: she smiled and rolled her hips.
Daniel moaned and pushed back against her, and everything blurred. Her bikini top was loose under her shirt, her shorts and bikini bottom were dangling by one foot and the floor was killing her knees, but Daniel was warm and moving under her, his lips were sucking a love bite to her chest and his hand were keeping her tight against his chest.
It was overwhelming, it was a little uncomfortable and she loved every minute of her it.
And then Daniel's hand moved between their bodies, his thumb pressing against her clit in exactly the right way and Vala could feel the edges of her orgasm as it began building up. Lifting herself up on Daniel, she clenched her muscles as she pushed back down and let her head fall forward against his as she came. His hands were gripping her hips as he kept thrusting up into her and she knew he had come when his lips attached themselves to her neck and she felt her name kissed against her skin.
Coming down from her high, Vala chuckled against Daniel's cheek.
Clearly, they just shouldn't hang out in any archives anymore.
