AN- Sorry for the long wait and sorry that this is so short.
"Miss Mal Doran," began a stiff elderly man who was the head of the inquiry board. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Vala took a deep breath. Stay calm, Daniel had told her. Don't get riled up.
"Well?" the head of the board asked again.
"I saw that something needed to be done so I did it," she replied keeping her voice steady and calm. "I am not going to apologize for utilizing my wits, something that has been praised among the teams at the SGC for near a decade now. And might I add that I did save the day--again."
The man who was running her inquiry nodded. "We agree."
IOI
"And that was it?" asked Daniel as he and Vala were walking back to her now temporary quarters, still down the hall from Daniel's on base one. "Really?"
Vala nodded. "The strange man in front,"
"Alexander Ridley," Daniel interrupted. "IOA legal man."
"Yes well he just looked at me and said 'we agree' and that was it. I was allowed to go…I can't believe it."
Daniel smiled. "Yeah well, Dr. Lam realized that Khalek was close to ascending and just moments away form posing serious trouble. You were right."
"Of course I was right Daniel darling," Vala stated with a smile. "I'm always right."
IOI
"Can you put this in layman's terms?" asked Landry later that day.
Sam nodded. "Strictly speaking sir this is based on research that Anubis did on his genetic experiment Khalek. Thanks to Daniel and his translations, plus the readings that Dr. Lam took we believe that we may be close to developing a technology that could inhibit a prior's special abilities."
"Like and anti-prior gun?" asked Cameron.
Sam smiled. "It can be called a gun, but not in the conventional sense."
"Then what do you mean?" asked Vala curiously.
"I mean that it will create an energy field which will dampen their powers," she explained. "Meaning that we could possibly defeat them or even capture them…"
"But what if they adapt?" asked Landry.
Sam shook her head. "There's no reason to believe that they can, but we won't be certain till we get this technology us and running…which should happen in a couple of days."
Landry nodded. "Alright…get too it."
IOI
Things were spiralling out of control, like they always did. An Ori plague had struck earth and was spreading like wildfire. Carolyn Lam was working furiously alongside Cameron to try and get the infected quarantined but it wasn't going so well. At the same time, Sam and Dr. Lee were working as hard as they could to complete the anti-prior technology but something had come up to distract them. "All I can say for sure," continued Orlin. "Is that if this galaxy were to succumb and bow to the Ori, it would be very bad for everyone."
"So that means that we have to do something," stated Vala who had kept quiet through the entire questioning period. "We need to stop this plague from reaching anymore of your citizens and then we have to get back out there and stop the priors. If we don't we'll…." Suddenly Vala trailed off and closed her eyes.
"Vala?" asked Daniel reaching out to her. "You alright?"
Vala shook her head and leaned against Daniel for support. "No," she answered honestly. "No I don't think so…"
"Come on," Daniel began helping Vala to stand up straight. "Let's get you to Dr. Lam…"
IOI
"Sir," began Cameron with a great deal of worry in his voice. "I'm afraid we've lost control of the situation."
Landry sighed. "That's not the only thing,"
"What?" asked Cameron worriedly. "What is it?"
"A member of your team has-"
"-someone's showing symptoms of the plague?" asked Cameron. "Who is it? Jackson? Carter? Vala?"
"It's Vala," Landry answered. "And she's not doing so well."
IOI
"I..I wish I was going with you," Vala stated weakly as she looked up at Daniel who was wearing a hazmat suit. "I've always wanted to meet the Soudan."
Daniel sighed and caressed her matted hair which framed her painfully pale face. "I know. But we don't be gone that long and hopefully when we get back we'll have what we need for a cure."
Vala nodded weakly. "I certainly hope so…I still haven't gotten one of those spiffy SG1 badges yet," she coughed and look up at Daniel with weak eyes. "Doesn't look like I'm going to be able get one now."
Daniel shook his head fiercely as he tried to blink back the tears that were threatening to fall. Somehow, the entire notion of Vala dying scared him immensely. "No," he stated firmly. "Don't say that. You're going to-"
"Daniel," she interrupted with a weak smile. "You don't have to pretend."
"Pretend?" asked Daniel slightly confused.
"We both know that I was never going to get accepted onto SG1," Vala stated weakly. "I'm just not right for the job…that's all."
Daniel shook his head again and took her hand. "Don't say that. Of course you're good enough for SG1. You've done so much already and you can do so much more. You just have to hold on okay?"
Vala sighed. "I'm so tired."
"Don't give in," he continued, panic gripping his voice as tightly as he held her hand. "You have to stay strong Vala. You have too."
Vala shook her own head. "Why? It's not like I have anything to live for."
"You have everything to live for," Daniel assured. "And you're not one who gives up easily. Remember the Prometheus?"
Vala smiled. "How could I forget…"
"And, what about when you came back to me- to uh the SGC to get the location of the treasure left behind by the ancients."
Vala shook her head. "If I hadn't," she stated ignoring the whole 'come back to me' comment that Daniel let slip. "If I hadn't then none of us would be in this situation now. People wouldn't be dying….I wouldn't be dying."
"You're not dying," Daniel argued fiercely. "You can't be."
"Everyone dies eventually Daniel," Vala answered weakly. "But I promise you that I'll hold on as long as I can…hopefully that will be long enough for the rest of SG1 to find the cure." She watched as Daniel nodded and placed a comforting hand on her cheek once more before leaving to go off world.
