Chapter IX: It Never Rains Here But It Pours

It had been a long time since Daniel had slept, really slept, with someone. A long time since he had to deal with two bodies squished in a small space. He was beginning to realize it wasn't as ideal as he had once thought it was, then again, the couch in his office wasn't exactly made for two or even one.

Feeling his couch partner shift, he groaned as he felt an elbow meet his ribs, and in trying to move into a more comfortable position, he fell off the couch. It was the grunt he made when his body met the floor that woke his partner up.

Vala moaned at the sudden loss of warmth and the body pillow she had been using. She blinked and stretched and then her brain caught up. Immediately, she leaned over the edge of the couch.

"Daniel? Darling?"

"Ugh… Morning." Daniel managed to look up at Vala and smile.

"Hi." Vala smiled back, then scrunched up her nose, making her look ridiculously cute in Daniel's opinion. "I didn't kick you off, did I?"

"No, not exactly. I forgot about the limited amount of space we had."

"Oh."

Still smiling, they took in each other first thing in the morning. It felt nice, normal and familiar, then just as quickly both looked away, as if they had suddenly realized what had transpired. Hastily, Daniel moved to get up, and Vala started to grab her sweater and shoes. Their eyes avoided each other the entire time. Vala waved a small goodbye and headed to the door when Daniel called out. She seemed better, but he wasn't sure how much of that was wishful thinking.

"Did you sleep okay?" His voice carried a tone of affection and worry.

Vala turned back to him and smiled softly. "I did."

They stared at each other for another beat, but Daniel couldn't help but worry – if only a little. "We need to talk to Jack about this, and maybe Caro too. They'll want to help."

"Daniel…"

"Vala, no. This isn't something we're gonna hide. You haven't been sleeping because the ship can't compensate for the loss of your body heat during the night. It isn't good for you and if we can help, we will."

Looking at Daniel, she knew he meant what he had said, that they would try to help her, but she also knew it wouldn't be as easy a fix as he thought it would be. Still, he looked so earnest, his eyes so intense and she felt herself giving into him. "Fine, we'll talk to them later."

"Thank you."

With that Vala left the room and Daniel let himself fall back on his couch. Just when he thought he had begun to understand Vala, she would surprise him with something new. She was cold-blooded but warm, sharp witted but soft, she looked left but went right, she smiled but her eyes frowned. She was a force of nature and slowly taking him with her. And the worst part was that he liked it.

Standing, he went to find Caro and Jack.

§

The seven of them stood in Jack's office.

It was only supposed to be four, but when Daniel had gone to Caro he had found Cam trying to needle the empathic doctor to join him for breakfast while she looked over his bruises. So Cam, clearly curious, joined the meeting, after all he was second-in-command – as he had reminded Daniel. Then Sam had joined too, she had already been having breakfast with Jack and Teal'c, and when she heard about the situation, became worried about Vala. And Teal'c. As soon as he understood this was about Vala, he would not be found anywhere else.

The seven of them stood in Jack's office, six pairs of eyes focused on one.

Vala usually didn't mind being the center of attention. Sometimes it was easier to fit into certain places and procure certain things when people were too focused on you to focus on everything else. But now everybody in the room was looking at her as they would look at a child. This wasn't her ideal situation. She felt like punching Daniel again.

"I cannot believe you would be so irresponsible about your health."

Vala looked at Teal'c as he used eyebrow movement # 6 – I am disappointed. She really hated that eyebrow.

"It's nothing. I'm fine. This has been completely blown out of proportion. It's not like I'm dying."

"The point is that if you keep this up, you could be." Caro stated. All eyes turned from Vala to her in shock. They hadn't been expecting that.

Caro sighed. She could practically feel the oncoming headache. "The longer you go without properly regulated sleep, the longer you go without a stable core body temperature, the slower your body functions will get, because they'll be too exhausted to keep up with you, and the harder it will be for you to function. You could get hypothermia again, you could lose consciousness, and your organs could start shutting down." She looked straight at Vala, "Look, I'm no expert in your physiology, this is all new to me, but that's exactly why we need to be extra careful. Why you need to be extra careful."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"I'm working on something, it occurred to me when you came to the med bay yesterday, but it's still all theoretical. And until I can be sure this might work, we need to find another way for you to be able too sleep normally."

"When were you in the med bay?" Sam asked, clearly worried about Vala's situation. She had grown fond of the woman these last few weeks, and did not want to see her in harm's way again.

Vala had the grace to blush. "Yesterday, after Jack bullied us into taking a break. I went looking for sleeping pills, to help conk me out, but the good doctor here didn't want to take any chances. So instead, she ordered me to one of the heating beds."

Sam nodded, but still looked worried.

"And the heating beds? Can't you just sleep in those?" Cam came forth with what would have been the ideal solution, if not for the energy problem.

Sam shook her head. "No she can't." At the looks she received from the males in the room, she clarified. "The heating beds eat up power like crazy. In fact when they are turned on they use up almost a fourth of the med bay's systems, which, for that reason as well as many others, is why those are on an independent system than all the other levels, the least of which so it can function even when the rest of the ship can't. I could maybe try to reconfigure one of them for Vala's quarters, but that would eat up a good portion of that's level's power. It's…"

"It's a bad idea," Jack finished for Sam. Sam nodded, and looked at Vala apologetically. Vala just smiled at her friend. It was the thought that counted.

"Okay, so that's out. What next?" Cam asked. "What was your idea, Caro?"

Licking her lips, Caro tucked her hair behind her ear. "Like I said, it's all theoretical now, but I after I ran Vala's DNA through the sequencer, I noticed she carries a protein marker and an extra set of chromosomes, different than every other human in the galaxy."

"Yes, those are the results of the gene therapy that my people underwent when trying to safeguard our more advanced technologies, and trying to 'improve' ourselves."

"Right, and they are also the reason you're cold-blooded?"

"Well, yes." Vala looked curiously at Caro, she wondered if the doctor was going where she thought she was.

"Exactly. So if I could cook up a genetic cocktail using and isolating those individual aspects, maybe I could come up with something that you could take to help you compensate for your heat loss when you sleep."

"But that would require deliberately altering DNA. Even now, that's not an easy feat to undertake." Sam pointed out, "You would need to consult with a genetics specialist – one we could trust."

"I know. I know. That's why I said this was all theoretical at the moment. This is not the most time efficient solution. And as for the genetics specialist, I was thinking Beckett. He's the best, and wouldn't be easily swayed by outside influences. " Caro then turned to Jack, "I would also need some more blood from you, captain."

"Me? Why?"

"Vala can sense you, right?" Jack nodded. "After you mentioned that, I double checked your DNA. You have the protein marker, but lack the chromosomes. Which probably explains why you're not cold-blooded. I'd need some more of your blood to study it and compare."

"Great." Jack huffed, but then as his eyes fell to Vala. None of this was helping her, and seeing how he was getting fond of the scrappy space pirate, he didn't want to see her suffer more. Sitting next to Daniel where she was half leaning on his arm, Jack could see how tired she was – and he knew she had gotten some sleep last night. She looked better than she had in these last few days, but still too gaunt – too washed out. He wasn't the only one that noticed.

"As grateful as I am sure Vala Mal Duran is about your fervor to help her situation, none of these ideas have given us a solution to put into effect. As you mentioned, Dr. Lam, if we cannot rectify this, Vala Mal Duran's health could be in serious jeopardy." The protectiveness in Teal'c's voice was obvious. So was the anger and disappointment.

"Teal'c, it's okay. I'm feeling fine. If it was anything really serious I would have told you." Vala sat up and faced her friend, hoping to appease him.

"The fact that Daniel Jackson had to call us to discuss the matter shows that clearly you were not."

"It shows he's a worrywart," Vala shot back.

"It shows," Teal'c intoned, "that I must be thankful that someone was willing to confront you about this. I had my suspicions about your health, but felt that if they were truly valid, you would have come to me."

"And I would have, if I felt I couldn't handle it. But I can. I have been."

"You have not. You have been hiding it. There is a difference between handling a situation and blinding yourself to it." Teal'c's deep voice reverberated through the room and all the occupants winced. It was clear that this low quiet tone the dark man was using was several times worse than if he had been yelling at his slim silver-eyed partner and friend. "Ever since you received that message you have been taking unnecessary risks with your health."

"I have not." It was a retort made in a child's voice.

"You have, and it must stop." Teal'c's tone left no room for argument, and Vala shrunk back a little, properly chagrined.

The rest of the room watched the two partners in silence. Ever since they had arrived on the Prometheus, Vala and Teal'c had been like two peas in a pod. Standing by each other, protecting each other. They were best friends, each other's rocks, so seeing them at odds like this had them all in shock.

Sam looked between the two friends. She had an idea, but didn't know if it was the right time to speak up. Caro, who had been getting a headache as a result of all the emotions clashing around the room, picked up on Sam's apprehension. Unfortunately she was also picking up on Daniel's and Teal'c's worry – the heaviest in the room, and Vala's stubborn shame – the woman knew Teal'c was right, she just wasn't ready to admit it. Yet.

Taking a breath, she waved Sam forward. Those two were done for now.

"I think I might have an idea." Sam's voice cut through the tension in the room.

"Yeah?" Daniel ventured cautiously.

Sam turned to Vala. "You mentioned that this didn't happen on the Seraphim because the ship has a system that compensates for the loss of body heat when your body is at rest, the hours that are regulated for night."

Looking away from Teal'c, Vala barely nodded. "Yes… it's similar to the life signs detector. It reads life signs, as well as the type of life signs."

"It distinguishes between cold-blooded and warm-blooded."

"Yes, that's how it only increases the heat in my room, instead of all the rooms."

"Okay." Sam nodded to herself, thinking over the ship's systems. "I think I can work with that."

"What are you thinking, Sam?" Cam could see Sam's thoughts going a mile a minute.

"Well, if I can copy the program that the Seraphim uses to compensate for Vala's heat loss, and reconfigure it to work on the Prometheus, specifically for Vala's quarters, hopefully you'll be able to sleep full nights."

"Samantha, love, you're a genius." Grinning madly, Vala felt like hugging the blonde woman. She vaguely wondered if it could really be done, the Seraphim's systems were pretty advanced and very different from those on the Prometheus. But then again, she had never met anyone with a more natural aptitude for ships than Sam. "Do you really think it will work?'

Beaming at her friend, Sam laid down the facts. "Yes, but I first need to see the system your ship uses and see how I can incorporate it with the Prometheus. It will probably take a couple of days. I'm sorry I can't do any better."

"It's okay, Sam. It's better than okay."

"And until then, what?" Cam asked.

Still sensing the many tensions in the room, Caro also sensed that much of it was thinning out. She smiled; Sam, always collected, tended to give out that effect. Caro came forward with the answer. "The heating beds. Until then you can use the heating beds if you want. I also have some thermal blankets that might help."

"Now for some good news." Vala perked up and moved to sit on Jack's desk, ignoring his look.

"There's good news?"

"Ha-ha, Captain J- I mean Jack love. Of course there's good news. Silver linings are found in every cloud if you look hard and long enough."

Daniel looked at Vala questioningly, but she just winked at him. "Sam and I have finally managed to power the machine."

This time Daniel's eyes lit up with the curiosity of finding out what secrets the machine held. "Really?"

"Yes, last night actually."

"Wait, but when I went in to check you were both still working with it."

"Ah! That's because while we have powered it, we still don't know how to work it."

"Okay, that I don't get." Cam's brow furrowed.

Sam took over for Vala. "It is powered, which technically means that it's on or that we can now turn it on, but we haven't figured out how it works. How to know if it's even on, or how to use it. We're sure the device is interactive, we just don't know how to get its information."

"There are some readings that keep catching my attention – I left you some notes on it last night, Sam. But until we come up with a way to get the information that it's storing, we're pretty much where we were before. Except that it's powered."

"So one step forward, two steps back, huh?" Cam went and poured himself some more coffee from the pot on Jack's counter.

"Something like that." Sam granted.

Everybody in the room looked at one another and sensing that this meeting was over began filtering out. Vala's eyes trailed Teal'c, and began moving to talk to her friend when Caro called out to her.

"Vala, I'm gonna need you and the captain to come with me to the med bay for a few minutes."

Taking her eyes from Teal'c, Vala nodded. As she followed Jack and Caro, she felt somebody lay a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she met Daniel's eyes.

"I'm sorry if I…"

"It's not your fault. If it's anyone's fault it's mine. He's right." Vala responded, subdued.

"It'll be okay." Daniel's hand stayed on her shoulder, his heat, support, and care seeping from it and covering her like the blankets children use long after they leave the crib.

Both knew they didn't only mean Teal'c. With every passing day they were becoming more and more aware of the pressures of this quest they had been set one.

Vala sighed deeply, tilting her head towards him. "You know, darling, when you say it, I almost believe you." With a soft kiss to his cheek, Vala headed to the med bay.

§

"It sucks, doesn't it?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at Cam as the young man sat across from him in the mess hall.

Cam, still not as knowledgeable as Vala in the language of Teal'c's eyebrows, figured the eyebrow wasn't a menacing one, and continued. "To not be able to help." At Teal'c look, Cam cleared his throat and clarified, "Not that you don't help, what I meant was, help with all the, I guess we can call it the 'technical stuff'. You and me, we're good when the bad guys need a good ass kicking, and we're good at that, but when it's running the engine room, brokering treaties, finding a way to power a crazy machine, or coming up with a solution to cold-bloodedness at night, we're…" Cam broke off and took a bite of his breakfast, waving his fork.

"We are of little use."

Cam glanced up at Teal'c, a curious look on his face, and ducked his head. He then stared at his plate for a few seconds, his fork making random motions in his food. The man was right, if not a little blunt, but Cam could appreciate the frankness. He had long ago understood that he might not have Daniel's or Sam's brains, or have the commanding presence of his brother-in-law, but he knew where his strengths lay, even if they were the more physical strengths.

"I was going to go with superfluous, but that works too." Cam quirked his lips.

Teal'c half smiled and bowed his head, beginning on his own breakfast. "We might not be the ones that lead the path, Commander Mitchell, but we make sure our friends get there safely."

Cam stared at Teal'c, "You know, I like the sound of that."

§

Instead of going straight to her lab, like she had been doing lately, Sam headed down to where the Seraphim was docked.

To Sam, Vala's ship was a true masterpiece. From the moment she had seen it, it was love at first sight. She had wanted to spend days upon days figuring out its secrets, now she just wanted it to give her a way to help her friend. She hadn't shown it in the meeting but she too, was disappointed and angered that Vala had kept this very important piece of information from them.

It wasn't that Sam didn't understand keeping something secret so people wouldn't worry or treat you differently, but keeping something secret that was vital to your health she just couldn't fathom.

But the situation had revealed something to her. To them all.

Vala was willing to risk it all for what the destination of this journey held.

Sam sighed. Hopefully, that wouldn't be the case. For Vala's sake, and for the rest of them, especially Daniel.

Inside the Seraphim, Sam made her way to the cockpit. When they had first begun working on the machine, Vala had to come in and detached the ZPM from the ship; she had then also given Sam a quick tour. Reaching her target area, Sam sat down at the pilot's chair, started up the secondary systems that would allow her access to the ship's database, and focused.

Just like that, the console in front of her lit up and the translucent screen came up. Grabbing her data pad, she plugged it in and began working.

Finding the life signs detector was easy enough, after that she began searching for the life support systems, and then the finally the systems that regulated the room temperatures. Looking over the systems, she sighed. She could eventually rig a similar system on the Prometheus, but it would take some time. Maybe too much time. Hopefully Vala could help her out with this; after all, she knew her ship's systems the best. As she did one more systems check, she remembered the cloaking capabilities. She and Vala had started on them before the machine had taken over their lives, but they still had needed some more data. Sam downloaded the data she needed, made some quick notes and headed back out.

Running a hand through her almost shoulder length hair – maybe it was time to cut it again, Sam walked back to her lab. With everything they were doing, and as important as it was, she couldn't blame Vala for her actions. They had both been pushing each other these last couple of weeks, both forgetting they were not machines themselves, but no more.

Entering her lab she saw the note Vala had mentioned. Sam had to smile; the woman did not do anything small. The note was a giant piece of paper pasted on the machine.

Sam: Electromagnetic waves? Output?

She put down her data pad and grabbed the note. Electromagnetic output? She looked down at the machine and then at the readings it was giving out. Going over to it she began looking over said EM outputs. Clicking away, she found what Vala had meant. The electromagnetic outputs of the machine were fluctuating between high and low frequencies.

Sam scratched her chin and looked between the machine and these new readings. It couldn't be? Could it? That simple?

Shrugging, she leaned over and clicked on the data pad attached to the machine to start a program to stabilize the fluctuating frequencies. But before she finished, she went over and called Daniel through the intercom, as Vala was still with Caro.

"Daniel?"

"Sam?"

"Come to my lab, I think I figured how to get the machine to show us it's information."

She could practically hear Daniel sputter out his coffee. "I'll be right there."

"I'll be here."

Turning back to the machine she initialized the stabilizing code.

Suddenly a bright light engulfed Sam. She blinked at the brightness and then noticed the machine, where there had been nothing before there now was a translucent screen, similar to the ones on the Seraphim, full of orange writing coming out from it. Tau'ri. She was glad that she called Daniel down.

Smiling, she went over to the door of her lab to wait for Daniel. Finally, they had gotten a break. Seeing Daniel walk towards her, she called out.

"Daniel! It worked. We can now read the information on the machine."

Daniel looked giddy. Sam was about to reach out to her best friend and show him, when he passed right through her.

Sam could not describe the shock and fear her entire being experienced at that moment. And if anyone had been able to see her, they would have been astounded how fast she had paled.

She turned almost mechanically towards Daniel, who now stood inside her lab.

"Sam? Sam? Where are you?"

"Daniel! Daniel! I'm here." Sam yelled out, but he didn't seem to her hear her. She tried to grab a cup, but her hand passed straight through it. Her brain went into overdrive, landing on the only conclusion she could. "Holy Hannah! I'm out of phase." Sam stared at the machine. It had taken her out of phase – how in the hell had it done that?

"Sam?" This time Daniel sounded slightly worried.

"Daniel!" Sam tried again, but nothing. She was getting worried too.

She watched as Daniel walked around her lab, his worry increasing, for a few seconds before he pressed the intercom.

"Walter?"

"Yes, Dr. Jackson."

"Can you check if Sam just left her lab?"

"Sure thing." There was a pause as Walter checked the footage from the hallway, "Um, no Dr. Jackson. Dr. Carter just entered her lab fifteen minutes ago and hasn't left."

"Uh, thanks, Walter." Daniel paled, and Sam rolled her eyes. Of course she hadn't left, she had told him she'd be waiting for him.

Again Sam watched as Daniel pressed the com.

"Jack? Vala? I think you guys need to come to Sam's lab, like now."

"Why?" Sam could hear Jack's voice coming in clear from the med bay.

"I think something happened."

"No shit." Sam exclaimed, not that anybody could hear her.