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 remain "M" for the duration of the story.
Genre: Drama/Angst/Humour/Romance…the only genre that won't apply here would be 'slash'.
A/N: No spoilers here.
Despite a complete lack of information about Vala's b-day I have pegged her as a Scorpio...because speaking for myself as a Cancer(which Daniel is) I always have a physical reaction to Scorpios...plus it amused me to put her b-day on Hallow'en...after all she certainly has bewitched him,lol.
So ages would now be 43 and 38.
#
Late October/08 – Packing
Vala poured fresh water into the coffeemaker and turned it on. She leaned against the counter to watch it brew, feeling a little at loose ends. She hadn't expected to wake up alone. On the first full day she and Daniel had off together in almost week she had been expecting them to spend the morning playing in bed. Not being an early riser when he had a choice, she had been shocked to discover when she opened her eyes that he was already up and gone. Still, his note promising to bring fresh cinnamon rolls back with him almost made up for his absence.
She had just finished doctoring her coffee when she heard his key in the door. She sauntered down the hall, arriving at the door just as he stepped inside.
"Oh hi," he greeted, his eyes flickering over her as he closed the door, "was hoping you'd be awake when I got back."
She was slowly learning to decipher all the different almost unnoticeable ways he had of looking at her. This mornings glance, she read as appreciative of her very short satin robe, but distracted by something else. She smiled, moved directly into his personal space and laid her hand along his cheek. The skin under her hand was cool and unshaven. He smelled like fresh air and the cinnamon coming from the bag in his hand.
"Good morning," she purred, drawing his mouth down to hers.
One of the things she had learned quickly was his instinctual reaction to her catching his bottom lip between hers and lightly sucking against it. She smiled against his mouth as his whole body stilled and then shivered. She pulled back, slowly releasing him.
"Yup," she said, watching his eyes flutter open and his tongue dart out to lick his lips, "awake and thoroughly disappointed that you were already gone."
"Yeah sorry about that, but I looked at the calendar last night and realized that there's only three weeks until we move, so we need to get started today."
He emphasized the last word with a pat on her shoulder while he moved around her in the direction of the kitchen.
She trailed after him. "Start what?"
"Packing."
She stopped in the kitchen doorway, watching him fill a mug with coffee, cream and sugar.
"But I thought a bunch of base personnel were going to do that for us?"
Taking a large swallow from the mug, he nodded.
"Yeah there will be, to do the actual physical labour on the day, but you don't seriously think I'd trust a bunch of ham-handed Marines to pack all my stuff properly, do you?"
He put the mug on the counter and walked towards her.
"So as much as I like your current," his eyes traveled over her, "state of undress, go put some clothes on, there's packing supplies in the car I need help with."
She watched him leave the room and the apartment. So much for enticing him to bring himself, the coffee and the cinnamon rolls back to bed.
Mid Nov/08, moving day
"Vala!"
Daniel's voice came from the door. It echoed slightly in the almost vacant apartment. A moment later he appeared in the bedroom door.
"Are you done yet?" he asked impatiently.
She gritted her teeth. "No Daniel, I'm not, so just cool your planes. You've been rushing me since we got up this morning, and I have no idea why."
"Uh, so we can get the boxes moved this morning and have the afternoon to deal with the furniture."
He moved across the room to the closet, grabbed an armful of clothes and deposited them on the bed beside her.
"What I don't get is why you'd hadn't already finished this."
She turned, her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"Is it my fault I was stuck off-world an extra day because of a flood?"
He glanced at her as he put the last of the clothes from the closet on the bed.
"No, of course not, but I woulda thought you'd have had this finished even before you left."
She paused, a shirt in her hands, staring at him in disbelief.
"And how was I supposed to do that? I spent those two days finishing the rest of the apartment since you," she jabbed a finger at his chest, "hadn't gotten much done beyond making sure all your stuff was safely wrapped and protected."
He pulled her finger away. "Vala, the rest of the apartment was my stuff."
She pulled her finger out his hand with a huff. "You know what I mean."
"Okay, fine, I get it, just let's find a way to expedite this now shall we?"
He disappeared from the room, returning a moment later with a box of garbage bags.
He handed her one of the green bags.
"What!" she glared at him, "you want me to throw my clothes away?"
He pressed his mouth into a tight line and shook his head in disgust.
"Now how much sense does that make? I just meant for you to put everything in the garbage bags as is."
She folded her arms across her chest.
"I am not cramming all my clothes into garbage bags."
"Vala, it's quick, and efficient, clothes don't break and we're not going far enough for them to get wrinkled"
He thrust the bag into her hand. "No. Big. Deal."
He headed out the door before she could find anything to say.
"I'm going on ahead, don't forget to check that all the boxes are gone before you leave too." he called back over his shoulder.
Vala stared after him in silent disbelief. Slowly she registered that Cam had just arrived in the doorway. She opened her mouth to say something.
He took a step back, holding his hands up in mock surrender.
"Hey, leave me outta this, I'm just an innocent bystander."
She blinked at him, closed her mouth with a snap, then with a great show of controlled anger went back to taking clothes off hangers and carefully folding them into a partially filled large suitcase.
Cam snorted a laugh as he moved into the room with an empty dolley.
"Not doin' it his way, huh?"
"No" she stated flatly, "it's partly his fault I'm not getting this done 'til now anyway…arrogant bastard." she finished, adding a few other words under her breath that Cam recognized as Goa'uld but couldn't translate.
Not that the meaning of the words weren't abundantly clear without translation. Smirking, Cam piled the last few boxes in the room onto the cart. He was pretty sure that for the first night in their new house, Jackson wouldn't be sleeping in his own bed.
Cam paused to look around the room. "Have I missed anything?"
Vala glanced at him and the boxes on the cart, did a quick scan of the room, then looked back at him with a shake of her head.
"Nope, don't think so."
" 'K, I'll take these down to the truck," he tipped the dolley onto its wheels and started for the door, "Jackson said he was going on ahead to the house didn't he?"
"Yes I believe that was what he bellowed," she replied sarcastically.
Cam gave her an amused look, "Fine, I'll send the truck on and then come back for you."
Vala flashed a smile. "Thank you, Cameron."
"Yup, no problem," he said over his shoulder on his way out the door, "jus don't go any slower so's you can piss him off more."
Vala's chortle of laughter followed him down the hallway..
"Really Cameron! Me, piss Daniel off on purpose? Never!"
Later that day
The presence of Daniel's Jeep and Cam's black Mustang pinpointed the house even before Teal'c stopped the car in front of it. Sam stepped out onto the curb and pushed the door shut. The damp, cold wind was a shock. It had barely been summer when she'd left Earth, now it was almost winter. She had a hunch it was going to feel like a very long time until summer came again.
Sam studied the house, throwing a quick glance at Teal'c as they walked up the path.
"Definitely Daniel's style. Not sure 'bout Vala's though. Lotta squabbles over it?"
Teal'c shook his head. "There were not. There have been very few disagreements since the incident I recounted to you when I was in Atlantis. I have not seen them this settled together since our time on the Odyssey."
Putting her hand on the doorknob, Sam gave Teal'c a pleased smile.
"Good to hear."
She pushed the door open.
Vala's indignant voice from the second floor greeted them.
"Don't you dare put this on me, Daniel! Cameron and I checked twice before we left. All the boxes were gone."
"Then where the hell is it?" came Daniel's equally annoyed voice
"How should I know? I wasn't here when the stuff started coming off the truck. You were."
Sam grimaced at Teal'c. "So what? Were they saving it up for me so I'd know I was home?"
Teal'c's usually impassive expression had tightened into a faint frown.
"So it would seem."
The sound of movement overheard corresponded to the movement of Vala's voice.
"Since the contents are so precious to you maybe you should put a transponder on it so you can keep track of it's every movement." her voice oozed sarcasm
"Not funny, Vala."
"Oh believe me, Daniel. I wasn't trying to be funny."
The sound of movement ceased but Vala didn't.
"You know I have things that are just as important to me and seeing as how a box of mine was with yours then it's very likely that mine is missing too."
Movement started again and Vala's voice grew closer.
"Now get off my back. You've been hassling me about something since we got up this morning. You've been a real pain in the ass today, Daniel, and I've had enough."
Vala arrived at the top of the stairs, followed closely by Daniel. At the sight of Sam, her scowl was instantly replaced by a beaming smile and she almost flew down the stairs.
"Samantha!"
Sam barely had time to take a breath before she was engulfed by her friends' enthusiastic hug.
"Uh, Vala," came Daniel's faintly sardonic voice after a moment, "you're going to suffocate her."
Sam felt herself released with a sheepish, "oh right, sorry" from Vala and was startled to see a shimmer of moisture in her friend's grey-blue eyes. She couldn't remember ever seeing tears from Vala before.
Sam raised her gaze from Vala to meet Daniel's sky-blue eyes. A slow smile of deep affection spread across his face.
"Welcome home, Sam."
End of moving day
The pillow slipped out of Vala's hands for the third time. Heaving a sigh she flopped back on the half-made bed, flinging an arm across her eyes. It had been a long day. After, not only being a day late getting back from a mission, but also not arriving home until midnight and then having Daniel pull her out of bed at 7am to get their moving day started, she was exhausted. The thread of tension that had been running between her and Daniel all day hadn't helped either. Despite his assurances to the contrary she couldn't quell her fear that this life they were trying to create together was going to end. Sooner rather than later. When things were good between them there was love and laughter, but some days could deteriorate into tension and sarcasm very quickly. Like today.
She felt him sit down beside her, but made no effort to acknowledge him.
"You okay?" he asked quietly after a moment.
"No," she replied, flatly.
"Would it help if I apologized?"
"For which part, Daniel? Being a pain in the ass all day or for thinking that I had something to do with that box disappearing?"
"How 'bout both?"
She lifted her arm away from her face to look at him. He was seated sideways to her, watching her, his eyes soft and contrite, holding a small cardboard box. Startled, she sat up.
"That's my box," she lifted wide eyes to him, "where did you find it?"
"In the closet by the front door when I was putting away coats and stuff."
He handed it to her. "Mine was right beside it."
Her eyebrow went up slightly as she turned sideways to face him.
"Was it now? Guess I had nothing to do with it being misplaced after all."
He shook his head, with sheepish downcast eyes. "Apparently not. I'm sorry for thinking you did."
He moved his shoulders in a small shrug "All I have left of Abydos is in that box. When I couldn't find it I…I panicked. At that moment it seemed entirely plausible that in a pique of jealousy you…you had 'accidentally' left it behind somewhere."
He raised his gaze back to hers. "I'm sorry, that was unfair of me."
Shaking her head, Vala looked down at the box. "Maybe not, I can't claim I don't feel that way sometimes."
"I know. I wish I knew how to prove you have no reason to," he tipped her face up to his with a finger under her chin, "Because you don't."
"Oh but I do, Daniel. She was everything you want and I'm not."
"Vala," he sighed, "if that were true would we be in this house together?"
She shrugged, as she began to pick at the tape on the box. After a moment of silence Daniel stilled her actions, took the box away from her and put it on the bed beside them. He folded her hands into his and regarded her with soft, earnest eyes.
"You know I love you?"
She nodded.
"Then please believe me that you have no reason to be jealous of Sha're."
With a small shrug and a quick nod she picked up the box again, focusing her attention on removing the tape. She could feel his eyes on her, but continuing with that topic of conversation was not something she wanted to deal with at that moment; she had felt close enough to breaking down into tears several times during the day as it was. Balling up the tape as she tugged, she pulled the last of the strip off the box.
"So what's in there?" he asked as she folded the flaps open.
Vala shrugged. "Just some stuff from my childhood that I've managed to hold on to."
"Oh, like your giraffe?"
Vala glanced at him in disbelief. "It's not a giraffe, Daniel."
He raised an eyebrow. "It is, Vala."
Shaking her head, she reached into the box and pulled out the toy.
"Does this look like a giraffe?" she handed it to him.
Daniel studied the rather beat-up long-necked toy covered with beige material that was dotted with irregular tawny-coloured splotches.
He handed it back. "Uh, yeah it does."
She set the box aside to take the toy back. She stroked its' head with gentle fingers. "Well I don't know how that's possible, there was nothing like that on my home planet."
"Then where'd you get it?"
She frowned in thought. "Don't know, I've had it since I was a baby."
He took it again, examining it closely. "Could be someone the Goa'uld took from Earth remembered what a giraffe looked like and used that memory to make a child's toy."
He handed it back to her. "What's his name?"
"Hax," she replied, running a gentle fingertip over the embroidered face.
"What's this, Vala?"
The familiar note of academic curiosity in his voice pulled her from her reverie over the toy. She looked over at him. He was squinting in thought at the other item in the cardboard carton.
"It's a box, Daniel."
He turned narrowed blue eyes at her. "I know that, Vala. May I see it?"
"Umm…sure I guess."
She twisted slightly towards the box, lifting out a small wood chest about the size of standard jewellery case, the top was an inlay of needlework, the sides heavily carved. She handed it to him and found him regarding her intently.
"What?" she asked, giving him a bright smile.
"Just wondering what it is about this box that's making you uneasy."
She flashed the same smile. "Absolutely nothing, Daniel. Why would you think that?"
He pursed his lips. "Vala, I can hear the hesitation in your voice."
He eyed her over the tops of his glasses. "It is yours isn't it?"
She frowned at him. "Yes, of course it is. I've had it since I was a little girl."
" 'K, just checking," he said with a slight nod as he focused his attention on the box.
"Fascinating," he murmured almost to himself, tracing his fingertip over the inlay on the top, "definite Moorish influence," the same finger slid down the slides, "but very Oriental too."
Vala watched his slim fingers glide over the box. She shivered. He touched her the same way. She supposed, given that he automatically explored with his hands, she shouldn't have been surprised to find him a tactile lover, but she had been. She had never been with anyone before who would willingly spend long moments exploring and memorizing her shape and texture with his fingers. She still got impatient with him sometimes but that was more because having him stroke her with such care and reverence was unbearably arousing.
The sound of her name refocused her attention. She looked at him
"What?"
He smiled softly. "I said it's a beautiful box. Where did you get it?"
She lifted a shoulder in a faint shrug.
"Just a man in my hometown who made things."
Daniel nodded, stroking his fingers over the inlay again.
"Well he was very good at it, this work is exquisite."
He cast a glance at her. "May I open it?"
For a split-second she paused, the inside of her bottom lip faintly caught in her teeth. She knew instantly by the way his eyebrow twitched up that he had seen her almost sub-conscious gesture of uncertainty.
She shrugged with a bright smile. "Guess so. Nothing interesting in it, just a bunch of cheap costume jewelry I've collected over the years."
Giving her another measured look, he flicked the metal clasp open and lifted the lid.
The inside was lined with a black felt-like material. The bottom compartment held bracelets, pins and a few rings. The top half had small hooks from which hung several pairs of earrings and a collection of necklaces. He picked up one of the bracelets.
"For costume jewelry Vala, these are nice," he put down the bracelet and touched the earrings she had worn the night of the concert, "but other than these I don't think I've ever seen you wear any of this."
"Well dangly earrings and bracelets don't exactly suit our work, do they?"
He glanced quickly at her with a wry smile. "Good point."
"Although," he picked up a gold chain with a small pendant on it, "I have seen this," he shot a quick look at her, "this looks like it comes from Earth, Vala. Where did you get it?"
She frowned at him. "Well I didn't steal it, if that's what you mean."
He looked directly at her with faint irritation. "No, that's not what I meant and you know it."
She shrugged. "It was a gift."
His brow creased. "Yes, I figured that, but from whom?"
Her mouth twisted into a familiar smirk. "Jealous?"
He shook his head in growing irritation. "No, just curious because I didn't give it to you."
Vala tilted her head. "Actually you've never given me anything like this. Why is that?"
"Vala!," he said impatiently, "that's not the point here. Stop evading and just answer the question."
She took the pendant and returned it to the box.
"Jacek gave it to me when he was here."
She got up from the bed to take the box to her dresser. She fidgeted with arranging the box and the other objects already on the dresser. There were several moments of silence before she heard him pad across the room to her. The familiar warmth of his hands on her shoulders started to ease the days' tension.
"Everything in that box is from Jacek isn't it?" he said softly.
She shrugged.
Daniel continued in the same gentle tone. "Is that why you were hesitant about showing me the box? You didn't want to admit that your relationship with him is important to you?"
She shrugged again, fiddling with the Chinese box that held all her hair clips.
Sighing, he pressed a soft kiss on her hair. "You know you don't always have to do this."
She cast a quick glance at him in the mirror. "Do what?"
"Pretend you don't care about something when you obviously do," his fingers moved lightly on her skin, "it's okay that you've kept these things…that it matters to you that he may care."
She snorted a hard, short laugh. "Oh don't kid yourself, Daniel. Bestowing all these cheap little pieces of jewelry on me had nothing to do with Jacek caring and everything to do with him trying to curry the favour of a child that he really had no idea how else to deal with."
Daniel reached around her to reopen the box.
"I dunno,Vala, these are all definitely your taste. They strike me as being from a man thinking about his daughter and trying to ease his guilty conscience for leaving her all the time."
She swiped a hand across her eyes. "Oh yes, he was trying to ease his guilty conscience alright, but it was so he wouldn't feel bad, not to make me feel that he might care."
Daniel wrapped his arms around her. "Still, if he didn't care, he wouldn't have had a guilty conscience. If he didn't have a guilty conscience he wouldn't have given you anything, he would have ignored you. I think he does care, so don't write him off. Just like I never completely wrote you off, you need to keep allowing him chances to redeem himself."
He turned her to face him. "That was my whole point when he was here."
She shifted away from him slightly, put her hands on her hips and fixed him with a mild glare.
"That entire episode still rankles you know."
He nodded sheepishly. "Yes I know and I have to admit part of that was my fault."
Her blue-grey eyes widened in surprise.
He gave her a small smile. "We never doubted your assessment of him but we…"
"Didn't trust where my loyalties would lie." she jumped in.
He frowned and shook his head. "No, that wasn't it exactly, it was more that sometimes you let things slip inadvertently and we didn't want anything tipping him off," he directed a pointed look at her, " and I wanted you to see us giving him as many chances to change his ways as we gave you so you wouldn't give up on him completely."
"Well that was a very nice sentiment Daniel, but I could have told you that Jacek wouldn't be likely to change his lifestyle like I did."
His brow creased. "Why?"
Her hands moved off her hips to settle on his and her expression softened.
"I had an incentive to change my ways that I doubt would have appealed to Jacek."
His eyebrows rose in puzzlement. "Oh? Something besides a living a safe and relatively normal life?"
She nodded with a blossoming smile. "Mmmhmm."
"What?"
Vala shifted completely back into his personal space, looking at him like he was a particularly dense child. "You, silly."
He gazed at her for a long moment, then slowly shook his head.
"Why didn't I know that before Vala?"
"Well I don't understand how you couldn't have, I thought I made it obvious that I was interested in you."
He shook his head again. "What you made obvious was that you wanted sex with me, not that you were interested in anything else beyond that."
Her expression of looking at him like he was dense child deepened.
"Daniel, I'm not an unattractive woman, I don't have to struggle to find lovers. Do you really think I would've have worked so hard to stay here if all I wanted from you was sex?"
He looked at her for a long moment, then suddenly chuckled.
"Now I know why people call me clueless."
He exhaled a weary sigh. "C'mon, it's been a long day, let's go to bed."
"A lovely notion my darling, but," she paused throwing a glance around him to the bed.
He followed the direction of her gaze to the unmade bed and the pillow still on the floor.
"Oh, okay," without hesitation he walked back to the bed, picked up the pillow, caught the short edge under his chin and pulled the pillowcase on.
Staring at him, she joined him at the bed. "How'd you do that?"
"Hmm? Do what?" he reached across the bed for the other pillow.
She picked up the first pillow.
"Pull this thing on so easily. Damn pillow kept slipping outta my hands."
Daniel eyed her over the top of his glasses, a light smirk twitching at his mouth as he repeated the action with the second pillow.
"Must be an Earth-born talent, not something you'd know if you were from another planet," he dropped the pillow to the bed.
She smacked his shoulder with the pillow still in her hands. He shot a calculating glance at her. His eyes glittering with mischief, he swung at her with the second pillow. She grabbed it in mid-motion. Her smirk of satisfaction that she had caught it before it hit her vanished when she suddenly found herself flat on her back on the bed.
"Not fair," she laughed, "you're stronger than me."
"Oh that's rich coming from you. Don't recall my greater strength being too much of an obstacle on the Prometheus."
He leaned down, a hand on each side of her and smirked. "Face it Mal Doran, you've gotten slow."
Giving him a wicked grin, she put her hands on his waist, pulled at him and then twisted.
A moment later she was grinning down at him in triumph that she had reversed their positions.
"Oh now this feels familiar," she purred, fisting her hands in his shirt and pulling him up to a sitting position.
She moved one hand to touch his cheek. "Isn't this where we're supposed to kiss?"
"I believe it is, but I can do without the head butt this time thanks."
She smirked. "I'm not making any promises."
He grinned at her and shook his head. "You're still a fruitcake."
He shifted slightly to sit up fully, his face becoming tender and serious as he laid a soft hand along her cheek
"My fruitcake though." he whispered.