Disclaimer: Stargate: SG1 isn't my creation; I'm only playing here and the only things I own are any original characters that came from my own mind.

Title: "…the Best is Yet to Be."

Summary: "Grow old along with me. The best is yet to be." – Robert Browning.

These will be a series of vignettes creating 30 years of life together.

Spoilers: Everything that has aired up to this point is fair game. Any references to the DVDs will be noted in the Author's Notes.

Pairings: Daniel/Vala, obviously, Sam/Jack at some point and Cam/someone implied.

Rating: Now "M". Will stay "M" for the duration of this story.

Genre: Drama/Angst/Humour/Romance…the only genre that won't apply here would be 'slash'.

A/N: About a month after the previous chapter...she has moved in.

There is mention of Daniel's b-day... so his age changes to 43.

For those questionning whether Daniel would go this fast...his history suggests that once he knows the woman is interested he really doesn't hesitate...and in Vala's case, he's been wanting this relationship with her for so long I came to the conclusion that he'd be jumping in with both feet.

Oh and for anyone who didn't get what was going on with him during their first dinner date...there's an explanation in this chapter.

Also I've been visiting the profiles of the lovely people wanting to read this story and while I recognize most of the names(other authors that I've been enjoying) there are two or three that have me intrigued...the person either has no real affiliation with Stargate OR the person is not a usual reader of DV pieces...if you fall into either of these categories I love to hear from you...privately is fine...'cuz I'd really like to know why you've decided you want to keep reading this.

#

Mid July/08

In the silence after whispered words of love and ragged groans of completion, they laid replete and sated by the other's passion. A single bedside lamp cast a pool of light over them; Vala, sprawled on her stomach, exactly as she had lifted herself off him, one arm draped across his belly, her hand tracing random patterns up and down his side; Daniel, on his back, an arm slung across the pillow by her head, his fingers gently combing through her hair, his other hand resting on her shoulder. Reluctantly Vala opened her eyes, tilting her head to glance at the clock on the dresser.

"Take me back?" she murmured.

First she felt him shake his head, then he answered, his voice thick and lazy, "Nope, don't have the energy. I'm old, you've worn me out."

She gave his chest a gentle swat, "Funny Daniel," she paused, "please."

Shifting away from her onto his side, he leaned up on his elbow to look at her intently.

"You know, there's never been any reason for you to keep going back every 3 or 4 days. I want to have you here when I wake up every day, not just some days."

She looked at him for a moment, then moved off the bed to dress.

"Vala," he prompted, "as long as you're honest with me you know you can say anything you need to."

She shrugged as she picked up her jeans, "I've always had a problem with confinement, you know that."

"And you find being here with me confining?" he couldn't keep the trace of hurt out of his voice.

"I need to be on my own sometimes. This is your place, so there's no space here for me to do that."

"Ah…so we need to find a new place for both of us…a house maybe?"

His words stopped her as she did up the buttons on her shirt. A house. A brief, faint memory of the quiet safety of her mother's house flashed through her mind, followed by the memory of the bewildering sudden switch to the fearful chaos of her stepmother's. Furiously blinking back the tears that had suddenly welled up in her eyes she finished doing up her shirt. Unable to say anything around the odd mixture of longing and fear clogging her throat, she simply nodded.

A week later

Cam turned away from the coffee machine, sipping at a fresh, full mug of the fragrant liquid. Vala's presence alone at a table in the back corner of the commissary startled him. He sauntered over.

"Hey there," he greeted, taking the chair on the other side of the table.

Vala looked up from the pie she'd been poking at.

"Oh, Cameron! I didn't know you were here. Thought you were involved in getting SG-10 out of that mudslide."

"Was," he gestured at his grime-caked BDUs, "just waitin' for them to finish in the showers."

Vala flicked a glance at the state of his uniform. "Hopefully that's soon."

Cam nodded as he took a mouthful of coffee. "Yeah I know, this stuff's startin' to smell."

"I noticed," she said with a grimace, turning her attention back to the rather large piece of cherry pie in front of her.

Cam sat back in his chair, cradling the warm mug in his cold, dirty hands. After a minute of watching Vala toy with the dessert he leaned forward, carefully resting his mud-streaked arms on the table.

"Ya know I'm kinda surprised to see you here too. Thought you and Jackson woulda gone home hours ago."

Vala suddenly carved off a forkful of pie.
"He did." she popped the pastry and fruit into her mouth.

"But you didn't?" Cam's eyebrows went up in disbelief.

Her mouth full of pie Vala only shook her head.

"Uh, how come?" he asked, watching her push her fork down through another chunk of pie.

She stabbed what she'd cut off. Raising it to her mouth and her eyes to meet his, she smirked.

"Oh well Cameron, you know, a girl needs her beauty sleep." she said airily, finishing with a wink.

Cam shook his head, not sure he wanted to ask the next question.

"Uh Vala, what does that mean?"

Vala's smirk deepened. "I'm just not getting enough uninterrupted sleep is all."

It only took a moment, then he squinted at her. "Are you implyin' what I think you are?"

Her smirk became a cheeky grin and she nodded. "Can't decide whether it's me he can't get enough of or if he's trying to make up for not getting much in the last seven years."

Cam gaped at her. He tried to tune out what she was saying about flat surfaces. The mention of the kitchen table was more than he could take.

He waved his hands in between them to stop her. "Whoa, Vala….just whoa! That qualifies as too much information…matter-a-fact this whole conversation qualifies as way, way too much information."

Shrugging, she pushed the plate of half-eaten pie away from her and stood up.

"Oh well, I'm done here anyway. Good night, Cameron."

She was almost halfway across the room before Cam registered her departure.

"Night, Vala." didn't even make it out of his mouth before she was pushing the door open.

Uneasy, he watched the door swing shut behind her. In the two years she'd been with them, they had all learned her defense mechanisms. Slipping into an innuendo laden conversation was an instantly recognizable ploy. One that she hadn't used in quite awhile. She was more likely to evade and deny there was anything bothering her than hide behind the façade Jackson hated the most.

Cam stared thoughtfully at the doors as he finished his coffee. He had no idea what might be going on in her less than orthodox mind. He just hoped Jackson did.

Several days later

"Afternoon, Jackson."

Daniel shot a glance over the top of his glasses at Cameron Mitchell strolling into his office.

"Mitchell," he returned the greeting while his attention remained focused on the chunk of stone he was trying to clean.

Peripheral vision told him the Colonel had stopped at the end of the worktable and was watching intently as he carefully prodded centuries of dirt out of the intricately-carved rock.

"Ya know, every time I watch you do that I half-expect a hologram of a woman asking Obi-Wan for help to appear."

Daniel snorted a laugh. "Clearly you've watched Star Wars too many times."

Cameron shrugged. "Yeah well, you know how that goes with Teal'c around."

Daniel cast a look of amusement at his friend. "Indeed."

Cam chuckled in response, then subsided into silence while he watched Daniel soak the rock with liquid to soften the dirt.

"Something on your mind?" Daniel asked after a few minutes.

Cameron's shoulders moved in a hesitant shrug. "Ah…sorta…not really…haven't seen much of ya since your birthday so I thought I'd stop by while I'm waitin' for the bunch of SG1 wannabes I had off-world to be done in the infirmary."

Daniel put the rock under the lit magnifier.

"How's that going anyway?" he asked prodding at the dirt again.

"Uh okay. Banks should be a satisfactory replacement for you."

Daniel glanced over at him. "Should hope so. I trained him."

"Yeah, and on top of that he's a decent shot too."

Daniel shook his head with a grimace. "Right, which is such an important skill for an archeologist to have."

"Hey, in this job it is."

Daniel huffed a small laugh, "Good point," he turned his attention back to the rock, "How 'bout Captain Ferguson?"

"She's got Sam's smarts that's for sure, but she doesn't have the same field experience. Can't see making her my second at this point. Probably leave Teal'c with that role…damn glad I don't hafta replace him yet."

Daniel set the rock back onto the small tray to saturate it with liquid again.

"Gonna replace Vala?"

Mitchell emitted a dry laugh. "Could never replace Vala, Jackson, she's one of a kind."

Daniel chuckled. "That she is."

"Speakin' of Vala, uh…"

When Cameron didn't immediately finish his statement, Daniel looked over at him. The uncertainty on his face was worrying.

Daniel put down the bottle of liquid and the small blunt-tipped tool he was using to prod away the dirt.

"What did she do?" he asked warily.

"Well," Mitchell drawled, "she didn't do anything, but we had a very weird conversation a few nights ago and…"

With a sigh Daniel straightened to his full height and folded his arms across his chest.

"And?" he prompted in a tight voice.

Mitchell threw a quick glance at him, then began to fiddle with a small book sitting near his hand on the table.

"I just got wonderin' is all…if you guys are…uh…you know…um…okay?" he paused in his examination of the book cover to shoot a glance at his friend.

Daniel looked back down at his task, idly rubbing at the rock.

"Uh yeah…mostly," he shrugged, "there's a few issues about two adults used to being on their own living in an apartment together, but if we can find a house, then we should uh…be good."

He picked up the small tool again, giving his friend a quick glance.

Flicking through the book Cam nodded. "Uh good…glad to hear that."

Putting the book down he looked over at Daniel who was again intent on clearing the softened dirt out of the rock.

"So ya found a place you like yet?

"Uh no. I'm finding the whole process kinda confusing actually."

Cam nodded. "Yeah, all those weird abbreviations."

Daniel looked over at him. "No that's not it. I've bought a house before so I know how to read the ads. It's Vala I'm finding confusing."

Cameron snorted a laugh, "Jackson, she's been confusin' you since day one."

Daniel straightened, his forehead creasing. "Yeah well, I thought I'd learned how to read her, but with this house thing I'm not so sure anymore. I have no idea what she wants. And I can't get her to tell me. We've looked at two or three places. Each one she was thrilled about at first, but when I ask her about them later she just says they don't 'feel right'…whatever the hell that means."

Cam shrugged, "Guess she hasn't seen the one yet that feels like home. Cousin of mine looked at houses with his wife for six months before they found the one she said felt like home"

Expelling a long breath, Daniel looked closely at the rock before placing it in the tray next to a second one that was as dirty as the first one had been.

"Hope that's all is it…Vala being evasive makes me nervous."

"Maybe," Cam paused to dig a folded piece of paper out his jacket pocket, "this one'll feel right."

Daniel swiped the grimy tips of his latex enclosed fingers across his pants before taking the offered paper. He shook open a computer print-out of a house listing. He studied it, shooting a quick glance at Mitchell.

"Nice. Where is it?"

"A few streets from my building. I saw it last week when I was out running. Thought that you'd like that it's got a little more character than the new developments."

"Uh yeah, I do. Thanks." he looked over at his friend, "Can I keep this?"

Cameron nodded. "Sure."

The PA system crackled at that moment, summoning the Colonel to a conference room.

"And that's my cue," he said moving towards the door.

Daniel nodded absently as he studied the house listing, "Yeah, okay. See ya."

"You bet."

It only took a moment after Cameron left for Daniel to peel off his latex gloves. A few moments after that he was clicking through the online MLS listing for a 3 bedroom Craftsmen style home.

Late July/08

Vala slung her arms around Daniel's shoulders, nuzzling at the crook of his neck

"Are you watching this movie with me?"

"Uhh," the rapid tapping of the ankh-shaped letter opener against the desktop stopped, "no. Actually we need to talk."

"Must we?" she breathed against his skin, letting her hands roam downward, her palms brushing lightly over the fine sun-burnished hairs on his arms. "I'm sure we can find something else to do if we're not watching the movie," her hands settled on his belt buckle.

He put down the letter he had been reading to pull her hands away from undoing his belt.

"Stop," he said tightly, "And yes, we must."

"About what?" she murmured planting barely-there kisses up his neck.

"This house thing."

She rested her forehead in the curve of his neck and sighed. "Do we really have to decide which one tonight?"

"Umm yes…I mean no, not which one per se, but we need to decide if we're going to do this now or not."

He picked up the letter he had been reading moments earlier. "This is from the company that owns this building."

Vala lifted her head, resting her chin on his shoulder to view the paper in his fingers. She cast a quick sideways glance at him as he spoke again.

"It's a reminder letter that my lease expires at the end of November, and if I intend to renew I have to let them know by the end of August. So the quicker we decide if we're doing this the better. I mean if we decide we want one of these," he gestured at the three house listing printouts to one side of the desk, "we could conceivably have a closing date and a moving date before the end of August."

Vala stared at the movement of his mouth. She knew she was supposed to be listening to him but it was far more pleasant to think about his soft, sensuous lips against her skin than the knot forming in her stomach. It took her a minute to realize he'd stopped talking and was looking at her out of the corner of his eye, one eyebrow tilted upwards.

"And you haven't heard a word I just said have you?"

She flashed a fake, sweet smile, patting his shoulder as she stood up to leave the room. "Of course I have Daniel, even the more tedious ones."

He followed her to the kitchen.

"Tedious Vala? So…so what? You find the concept of creating a home together tedious?

Vala pivoted to face him, a wineglass clasped in one hand, eyes wide in shock at how quickly this conversation was going bad.

Shaking her head, she grasped for words to soothe him.

"No...no, that's not what I meant."

He folded his arms across his chest. "Then what?"

"I…I just meant the tiny details is all," she shrugged sheepishly, "Look Daniel, I don't know anything about buying houses. Whatever you want to do is fine."

He shook his head, "No, it's not fine Vala. That's not the way this works. This is your life too. Our tastes, not surprisingly, are different. I refuse to make a choice based on my preferences and have to listen to you bitch about it for the next twenty years."

Vala's throat went dry and the knot in her stomach suddenly seemed to expand into her chest.

"Tw…twenty years?" she choked.

Daniel shrugged, "Okay fine, there's nothing to say we couldn't move more than once in those…."

"Twenty years!" Vala stared at him

A smirk tugged at his mouth. "Well I figure as long as we don't kill each other in the first year we should be able to…" he trailed off as her disbelief registered.

His brow furrowing, he stared back at her in deepening horror.

Pressing his mouth into a grim line, he shook his head.

"You never intended a permanent commitment, did you?"

He took a step back, his brow creasing further. "What were you going to give me Vala?" his voice rose in anger, "A year or two. Five maybe and then you'd be off looking for a new conquest?"

He glared at her, his face tight with anger. "God. I don't believe this! You…you are such an actress," his eyes screwed shut and his hands clenched, "and I'm such a desperate fool, I fell for it!"

His eyes opened, pinning her with a cold, blue rage, "Congratulations Vala, you actually managed to con your way into my bed."

Vala watched him stalk out of the room, paralyzed by how quickly all her fears were coming true.

The slam of the apartment door echoed in her ears, in her soul and into the darkness of a night spent alone.

Next day - Lunch

"ValaMalDoran."

Vala looked up at Teal'c's large muscular frame. She beamed at him.

"Hiya Muscles."

He gestured at the table with his food-laden tray. "May I join you?"

She waved open-handed at that other chairs. "Sure help yourself."

The Jaffa deposited his lunch on the table, taking the chair across from her. He eyed the tray before her that held only an empty Oreo cookie wrapper. He met her eyes with his, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"You have not consumed much at this meal. Are you unwell?"

She grinned at him. "Oh I'm just peachy Muscles, but ya know a girl's gotta watch her figure. And how are you?"

Her abrupt change of topic and brilliant smile didn't fool him for a moment.

"Unfortunately, I am unwell."

Her smile faded. "Oh I'm sorry to hear that Muscles. What seems to be the problem?"

He put down the roll he had been buttering and leaned towards her.

"Two of my closest friends are at odds with each other."

Vala's smile vanished. She dropped her gaze to her tray to fidget with the plastic wrapper.

She shrugged. "That's how it goes sometimes Teal'c…things fall apart."

He leaned closer, his deep bass voice seemed to drop even lower.

"I watched these same friends together for almost 50 years and things did not fall apart."

Vala raised startled blue-grey eyes to him. She considered the implications of his words for a moment then shook her head.

"Different time, different place."

"Perhaps, but my friends are not different nor are their feelings for each other."

Blinking rapidly against a sudden welling of hot tears Vala couldn't say anything. She made a quick negative movement with her head.

Teal'c watched her shredding the wrapper into bits. "I do not know how things fell apart, but I do know you must put those things back together."

She looked up at him. "Why Teal'c? So we can both be devastated when it really does fall apart for good, as it is bound to."

Teal'c frowned. "I do not understand ValaMalDoran, DanielJackson is a steadfast and honourable man. He would not just let 'things fall apart'."

Vala poked at the bits of the cookie wrapper scattered over her tray.

"It wouldn't be Daniel, Teal'c. It would be me. My life has a way of reversing itself every few years. Daniel ruining my effort to steal the Prometheus and then screwing up the naquadah deal was pretty much how badly things had been going for me at the time, then everything changed again when I arrived here….and now any day I thoroughly expect things to change again and I'll have to be off, running for my life."

Teal'c, who had all but abandoned his meal, was studying her intently.

"If you truly believe this then why have you allowed yourself to become involved with him?"

Vala sighed shakily, "For a little while I got to be a normal woman in love with a decent man instead of the social outcast I really am. I couldn't say no to what he was offering, but when he seemed to be so casually sure that we'd be still together in twenty years I was terrified for him…my life isn't going to allow that…I can't let myself be so selfish that he ends up being as destroyed by losing me as he was losing Sha're."

She looked up at him. "I can't do that Teal'c…I love him too much." she finished in a tight whisper.

"ValaMalDoran, you must talk to him about this."

Vala barked a harsh laugh. "Talk to him!" she shook her head, "No Teal'c. I'd never be able to say any of this to him…I start saying any of these words and his eyes will go all soft and tender and I'll start bawling, he'll wrap his arms around me and then I won't be able to say another coherent word because it's so much easier to escape into him and pretend that we lead a normal life."

"You know that you have already injured him by allowing him to think that you are committed to him?"

Shamefaced Vala looked back down at the table. "I realize that, but I figure if I let this die now then he won't be hurt any further."

"He will never forgive you."

"Until the universe dumps me on my ass again and I have to leave here, I'll just have to live with that."

"And in the meantime?"

Vala shrugged. "We don't work together anymore. I should be able to keep myself out of his way."

"This then is the course of action you are determined to follow?"

She took a deep breath and nodded.

Teal'c pushed his tray aside as he rose from his chair. "Very well then I shall speak to him."

Vala grabbed his arm as he turned to go. "Teal'c! No please!

He looked down at her.

"I am sorry ValaMalDoran, if you will not then I must. You have both lost much to choices you were not allowed to make for yourselves. I cannot allow you to make this choice for him."

Her hand still on his arm, Vala stood. "Fine. I'll talk to him."

She paused briefly, a faint wry smile flickered over her mouth. "I seem to recall Qetesh having a First Prime who was as stubborn as a rock too."

A corresponding smile touched Teal'c's mouth. "Indeed."

A short time later

Vala could find her way from the commissary to Daniel's office with her eyes closed. Which was a good thing because when she arrived at the office door she couldn't remember thinking about anything except how many different ways she could escape this conversation.

She stopped in the doorway, watching him. She was pretty sure he knew she was there. His writing had paused, the pen still poised over the paper and his entire being seemed to be waiting. She took a step into the room.

"Daniel?" a dryness in her throat made her voice catch.

"What?"

She had become so accustomed to his voice begin laced with warmth and affection, the hard edge she hadn't heard in a very long time hurt.

"Are you coming back to the apartment tonight?"

"Why? So we can play another round of the con artist and her mark?"

His belief that she was playing him made her wince.

"No, because I don't want a certain Jaffa to kick my ass."

Daniel's head came up and the crease between his eyes deepened in puzzlement

"Pardon?"

Vala waved her hands to dismiss her last statement.

"Never mind, just thought a little humour might lighten the mood."

He dropped his gaze back to the notepad he been writing on.

"Well it didn't and excuse me if I don't find anything humourous about the current situation Vala."

Plucking nervously at her shirt cuffs, she stepped closer to the workbench.

"I know there isn't. Look," she sighed, "can we just talk?"

He dropped his pen and pushed his fingers under his glasses to rub his eyes. After a moment he sat back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest and regarded her, blue eyes cool and distant.

"David Banks asked for a working dinner tonight to discuss his assignment to SG-1. Convince me, you and I have anything left to say and I'll postpone it."

Daniel watched her eyes dart away from him and her teeth catch at her bottom lip. Still speechless after several moments, she gestured helplessly as she brought her gaze back to meet his.

He considered her. After a long moment he unfolded his arms and leaned forward in his chair expelling a long breath.

"Fine," he said dropping his attention back to his work, "1730 at the elevator."

Over the top of his glasses he saw a shaky smile as "okay" came out of her mouth in breathy relief. He lifted his head again as she disappeared into the hallway. A bare trace of her familiar slightly exotic perfume, the one every cell of his being knew, lingered in the air. He continued to stare at the door for several minutes after she left. He knew the instant he had caught the shimmer of tears in her eyes that he didn't have a hope. He had no defenses against her being uncertain and vulnerable. Turning his attention back to the report he was writing he shook his head. He was such an idiot for her.

1730

"What is that?" Daniel gestured at the bag in Vala's hands as the elevator doors closed.

Vala's gaze dropped from staring at the elevator doors to the item in her hands.

"Dinner." she stated.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

She nodded with a shrug. "I haven't eaten much since last night. I'm starving."

Daniel cast a sharp glance at her. Vala without an appetite was surprising. Her gaze slid over to him, caught his glance and then slid away.

She shrugged again. "And I figured given that your eating habits aren't the best to begin with you'd be hungry too so I persuaded Mary in the commissary to package up some of the lasagna from lunch for me."

She lapsed into silence, her gaze staying trained on the metal doors of the elevator. Standing beside and slightly behind her, he was vividly aware of the tension radiating off her. He was also vividly aware of the spicy tomato aroma that was making his stomach rumble. She was right. He hadn't eaten properly all day and he was hungry. The fact that she knew his habits and cared enough to make sure he got what he needed only deepened the aching sadness in his gut. After everything they had been through together, the struggle to learn to respect and trust each other, finding they could live together without killing each other, he couldn't understand why she still didn't want the life and home with him that he wanted with her. Sighing he closed his eyes against the burn of frustration at the back of them.

The elevator doors slid open. In silence they took the second elevator to the surface. The 20 minute drive to the apartment was also silent. By the time he followed her into the apartment he'd had enough. He was tired from not sleeping the night before because she hadn't been beside him. He was hungry having not eaten all day because his gut was so tied up in knots over her that the idea of food had been repulsive. Mostly though he was fed up. Fed up with the roller coaster ride of emotions she'd had him on for the previous two years and really fed up with the little voice in the back of his head scoffing over the notion that he could ever find any lasting happiness, even with an ex-thief.

Wearily, he dropped his keys and wallet on the top of the piano. Turning, he leaned back against the instrument, took off his glasses and scrubbed his hands over his face. He was done. He'd let her have her say, let her eat something, then would take her and whatever belongings she had in the apartment back to the base. He contemplated stopping on the way home to get a bottle of JD. Passing out drunk had gotten him through the first few nights alone after Abydos, maybe it would do the same this time. He wondered how quickly he could get a transfer to Atlantis; pick up where he'd been headed when she'd sashayed down the 'gate ramp.

Daniel slid his glasses back on, not at all surprised to find that she had emerged from the kitchen and was standing on the other side of the coffee table from him. He didn't need to see or hear her walk into a room, he could literally feel her presence. He studied her for a moment. The prospect of losing what they'd had for the last month hurt so much. It took everything he had to not surrender and just take whatever she wanted to give him for as long as she wanted. In the end though it would hurt more when she finally did leave than if he just let it finish now. He took a deep breath to brace himself for what was coming, folded his arms around his torso and waited. He watched an uncertain smile pass over her mouth and her hands twist together.

"Not going to say anything?," she asked, obviously trying to put the onus of the conversation on him.

He looked down at the floor and shook his head.

"No," he raised his head to look directly at her, "you asked for this conversation. I didn't. There's nothing else I need to say. You know what I want."

Her face settling into lines of uncertainty, she turned away to roam around the room. He watched her for several minutes, moving around the space, fidgeting with things. Then words began to come out of her mouth. Words about it not being a good idea to get any deeper involved so it wouldn't hurt so much when she had to leave to fend for herself against her past. Which made no sense to him. He'd never left her to cope alone with her past. It took him several minutes of listening to her to realize what was going on. At no point since she had started talking had she looked him directly in the eye. Anger mounting that even at the end she was still lying to him, he exploded.

"Vala! Enough! Cut the crap!"

Pushing himself away from the piano, he crossed the room, his hands clenched at his sides, to where she stood before the large window overlooking the city.

"For once, would you just tell me the truth?"

He looked down at her, realizing that his outburst had frozen her in place and she seemed to be trembling. With a flash of the intuition that had garnered his reputation as a gifted translator of ancient languages, he suddenly understood what he was seeing. Her lies hadn't been about manipulating him for a long time. These lies of evasion and distraction were to protect herself. She was scared. That revelation took his breath away and his anger. He closed the few inches between them.

"Vala, " he said softly, laying his hands on her shoulders.

He felt her flinch away from him. He tightened his grip, turning her to face him.

"Nope," he said quietly, "you're not going anywhere. You're going to stand here, look at me and tell me what's really going on because I finding it hard to believe that you don't want this with me."

Daniel lifted her face up to his with a finger under her chin. "Vala, we've actually been happy together this past month. Why do you want to end it?"

Her eyes opened. The uncertainty and fear in them almost broke his heart.

"Because it will anyway," she said roughly, "sometime soon I'll let you down and you'll realize that," her voice wavered for a moment and then strengthened, "that we've always been wrong for each other. That," again her voice trembled, "that I've never been who you wanted or deserved. And I'll," she stopped, swallowed hard and closed her eyes against sudden tears.

Daniel put his hand to her cheek, brushing the moisture on her face away with his thumb.

"You'll what?" he prompted gently.

She opened blue-grey eyes shimmering with tears.

"I'll be without you." came out in a broken whisper.

He was speechless for several moments. This was what had her scared? Losing him?

"You're not going to lose me Val."

She shook her head vehemently

"I will, just like," her face crumpled and tears started down her cheeks again, "just like I've lost everyone else."

From the moment they'd met, his instinct had been to protect and care for her. He acted on that instinct, wrapping his arms around her while she wept.

"Trusting me, right?' he asked after a few minutes when the worse of the emotional storm seemed to have past.

There was a momentary pause and then he felt her nod against his chest.

"Then trust me when I say as long as I breathe and can make the choice, I will not leave you."

He moved her away from him to see her face properly, brushing tears off her cheeks and her hair away from her face.

"Nothing you do, short of becoming a homicidal manic, which I'm pretty sure isn't going to happen."

He paused a tiny teasing smirk flickered over his mouth. "Granted you can be a bit of manic sometimes but I don't think you're going to suddenly start killing people in cold blood."

His expression suddenly sobered. "Or you having an affair," he gave her a pointed look over the top of his glasses, "which I'm trusting you won't do, is going to make me leave you."

She started to say something. He stopped her with a finger on her lips before she could say anything except 'but'.

He shook his head. "No 'buts' or 'ifs' anymore. We're right together. We both know it."

A shaky smile spread across her face. She put a gentle hand on his cheek.

"I love you so much Daniel."

All the uncertainty and anxiety that had been gnawing at him for the previous 24 hours vanished. He smiled in real joy. For the first time she had said all the words, out loud,

"I love you too Vala," he said softly, leaning down to kiss her.

He drew back a moment later, raising questioning eyebrows at her. "Okay, are we good now? Anymore emotional landmines that could blow us up?"

A warm and tender smile lit her face. "We're good," the smile became her trademark teasing smirk, "for now."

His eyebrows rose further up his forehead. "Great," he breathed, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement, "so this means that at some point in the future you're going to expect this poor, stupid man to find his way through another emotional minefield?"

Her smirk deepened. "Probably."

The faint smile hovering over his mouth faded and he looked at her earnestly.

"Here's a better idea. Just tell me."

Her smirk was replaced by the warm, loving smile again.

"I can do that," she murmured, sliding her around his waist and leaning up to kiss him.

"Thank you." he replied, against her lips.

Soft, tender nuzzling became serious caresses with intent before either one said anything.

"I'm hungry," Vala announced suddenly, tilting her head as Daniel pressed his mouth to the spot behind her ear, "Are you?"

"I am," he murmured against her skin, "but we should probably eat something first."

"Why Dr. Jackson," she laughed, a shiver running along her spine as his tongue slid down her neck, "was that innuendo?"

"Absolutely not. I was being quite blunt." he straightened, to regard her, the glimmer of desire in the back of his blue eyes, "I intend on spending the rest of the evening making love to you, but I gotta eat first," he stepped to one side and gestured her towards the kitchen, "so after you."

She flashed a bright smile as she scooted past him. He strolled after her. In the kitchen he poured her the last of the wine from the previous night and a small glass of milk for himself. He leaned back against the counter, watching as she put two bowls of lasagna into the microwave and turned it on. She sauntered over to him, took the glass he offered and leaned against him.

"So, you'd have a nice time?" she smirked, lifting the glass to her mouth

His brow creased slightly. "Uh when?"

Her smirk deepened. "Just now. When I was walking in here ahead of you. Didja have a nice time watching my ass?"

He tilted an eyebrow at her, the corners of his mouth twitched and the dimple in his cheek fluttered.

"Yup." he replied, raising his glass to his lips.

Laughing softly, she pressed against him.

"Wonder if anyone at work would believe what you're actually like at home?"

He set his glass on the counter, looped his arms around her waist, his hands sliding down to cup her rear. He pulled her closer.

"Probably not, but it's not really anybody else's business, is it.?

"S'pose not." she murmured relaxing against him further.

The microwave beeped. She moved away to retrieve the bowls and cutlery. After several minutes Vala broke the silence that had settled between them while they ate.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Daniel glanced at her from the corner of his eye and sighed.

"You're gonna ask it whether I say yes or not Vala, so just out with it."

She poked at the contents of her bowl.

"Still wondering about that first actual dinner date we had."

His fork hovered over his own bowl for a second, then he speared a piece of food and took it to his mouth.

"What about it?"

"What had you so tense?"

"Does it really matter now?"

"Probably not, but I'm curious," she glanced at him with a small smile, "and you've always encouraged my curiosity."

"Remind me to stop doing that." he said dryly as he crossed the room to refill his bowl.

Vala chuckled, watching him slide the bowl into the microwave and touch the control panel to start it.

He shrugged. "I was just over thinking stuff."

"What stuff?"

He cast quick glance at her over his shoulder. "You mostly. I intended on you staying here that night," he let out a self-derisive laugh, "first time in my entire life I'd ever planned the whole romantic evening thing and then every time I looked at you I became more and more fixated on what I wanted and how many different ways I could mess it up."

The microwave beeped. He pulled out his bowl and began to cut into the steaming contents.

"By the time we sat down to dinner I could barely think straight."

Incredulous at what he was implying Vala crossed the room, leaned back against the counter beside him and eyed him in wonder.

"So the whole time I was worrying that you were about to break it off with me, you were actually withdrawing because you were so…umm…what's that delightful Earth term… 'horny'?…you were afraid you wouldn't be able to control the situation?"

A faint flush spread over his face, "Umm...yeah…pretty much," he shrugged as he flicked a glance at her, "somehow ironic though isn't it that even when I tried to pull it off on the spur-of-the-moment without giving myself a chance to stress out about it I still messed up."

Shaking her head, Vala smacked his arm.

"Ow," he glared at her in annoyance, "what was that for?"

"For thinking you messed anything up."

He shrugged again, moving to scrape the remains in his bowl into the garbage. "Wasn't exactly one of my shining moments."

"Oh I don't know. I found it pretty memorable," she said in amusement.

He shot a sour look at her over his shoulder.

Shaking her head she walked over to him, laying a hand on his arm.

"I did. I got to see you as I suspect very few others have. For a few minutes you were focused solely on your own selfish satisfaction. Do you have any idea how honoured I felt to see that, not to mention how much it turned me on to discover that for all your pushing me away, claiming that you didn't want this with me, that we were just friends, that I actually affect you enough to make all that famous self-control shatter."

She pulled gently on his arm to turn him towards her.

"Look," she said softly, "I know you're all about noble sacrifice and subjugating your own needs and wants for the good of others. And I respect and admire that. I really do."

She shrugged with a wry smile. "Even if I don't actually get why you do it, but I know it's part of who you are," she moved closer, looking up into his eyes, "but you're also human Daniel and you do have your own needs and wants."

She put her hand along his cheek to focus his gaze on her.

"Whatever those are, I can do," she said gently, "nothing will surprise me or offend me. There's nothing you can throw at me that I can't deal with," she paused, grimacing a little, "'cept maybe rear-end action, I'm not particularly fond of that."

She stifled a giggle at the way he suddenly gaped at her and his face went pink.

His mouth closed with a snap and he blinked. "Uh, that's…okay, I don't…don't think it'll be an issue."

She smirked. "Somehow I didn't think it would be."

Her smirk dropped away and she looked at him with soft, serious eyes.

"Showing me that you're willing to completely let yourself go with me will mean more to me about how much you trust me than anything you could say."

Vala moved her fingers gently along his cheek to curl around the nape of his neck.

"I love you Daniel…all of you…and no matter how much you think you mess up no one will ever be able to entice me away from you." she finished in a gentle whisper.

She tugged his head down to press her mouth to his in a soft, tender kiss. She drew away after a moment, rewarded with the sight of him licking his lips as they parted. She slouched against him, resting her elbow against his shoulder, her hand moving away from the back of his neck to graze lightly over his ear and down the curve of his throat.

"Now what were you suggesting we do for the rest of the evening?"

"Well, actually," he removed her hand from his throat and planted a small kiss in the middle of her palm, "given everything you've just said, I'm sure you'll understand that what I really need to do is go back to the base to finish the report I didn't this afternoon because I was too pre-occupied with you."

He leaned down to press a soft kiss on her lips. "Don't feel you have to wait up."

Vala gaped at him as he turned to leave. After resolving the turmoil of the past day he was going back to work? Suddenly she squinted in equal disbelief at his retreating form. Was he playing with her? She lunged across the kitchen to grab the back of his belt before he left the room.

"You're sure there isn't something else you'd find more appealing?" she asked in a silky voice.

Daniel turned back to her, pursed his lips in thought, dropped his gaze to the floor for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"Nope, can't think of anything," he raised his head a little, slanting a glance at her from under his eyelashes, "can you?"

A pang of sweet warmth blossomed in her belly. He was definitely playing with her. She tried to stop a smirk from twitching at her mouth.

"My black lace teddy?"

His eyes wide in surprise, he pressed his lips together and shook his head.

"Mmm, nope, don't think so…doubt it'd fit me."

Vala tilted her head to one side to regard him, watching the beginning of a smirk make the dimples in his cheeks flash. She stepped directly into his personal space, wound her arms around his waist and pressed herself against him.

"I meant with me wearing it, silly."

His eyebrows went up. "Oh right. Yes, that would make much more sense."

His hands began to drift up and down her sides, fingers tracing the outside curve of her breasts.

"Funny though, you know, I don't seem to recall that garment. Perhaps if you put it on I might remember it."

"You might, "she agreed huskily, "you might also remember how quickly you usually take it off me too."

The smirk that had been hovering over his mouth became a grin.

"I might at that."

She leaned back against his arms now looped around her waist, and looked up at him.

"I take it then, you've decided to not go back to the base?"

"Mmmhmm, seems there is something that I want a lot more than finishing that report."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh and what's that?"

Daniel's hands slid down over her hips to curve around her bottom. He pulled her to him, looking down at her, blue eyes intent and heated.

"You."