Chapter Nine

Vala paced back in forth in the briefing room, waiting on him to get there. He had kept her waiting for half an hour, and she couldn't be more furious. Well, she was furious as it was but that was sort of the point. He kept going on and on about how he wanted her to open up, well she was about to open up to him so much that he'd be begging to take the words back. He was definitely in for it.

The door opened and he entered as if nothing were wrong, a file under one arm as he used one hand to push his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

"It's about time!" Vala practically shouted. "Sit down!"

His eyes widened, but he obeyed.

"You want me to talk, so here it is! Me talking!" She made an exaggerated sweeping motion with both arms, as if to say 'ta da'. "I want to know why it is that people find it so hard to believe that other people can change," she demanded, then quickly continued before he could respond. "I mean, you would think that after all these years someone would notice that I'm not off trying to steal ships or sleep with any man in sight! But noooo I lose my head just a teensy bit when confronted with a very traumatic piece of my past and I get locked away for it! I'm treated as if I cannot be trusted! After all this time and after everything I've been through, I should have earned their trust and then some! And I try to take comfort in the one person that can actually give that sort of comfort to me and what happens? I get shot down. I might as well be back on my own fending for myself with the way they're treating me!"

She took a seat, her chest heaving after her little tirade. He waited patiently for her to continue, but instead she folded her hands on the table and flopped her head down on top of them.

"So you regret your decision to join Stargate Command then?" He finally inquired when he was certain she was done.

Her head snapped up, eyes narrowing at the little man in front of her. "Don't you try to psychoanalyze me! I didn't come here for your usual services. I came here because I wanted to yell at someone and Daniel was too far away at that point."

Dr. Hutchison nodded slowly. "So you are really angry with Dr. Jackson then?"

"Yes," she answered with a huff.

"Would you like to talk about your relationship with him?"

Vala groaned as she laid her head back down on the table. "This was a bad idea."

He closed the folder and leaned forward. "You asked for this meeting. And you brought up Dr. Jackson. Clearly there's something concerning him that you would like to discuss."

She looked back up at the psychiatrist with defeat. "What does it matter? I'm sure he'll be leaving soon too."

Dr. Hutchison's curiosity piqued at this. "Too? Are you referring to Adria?"

Vala seemed dumbfounded by this question. "What? No! I was talking about Samantha. And you might want to reread your file because Adria didn't so much leave as die and then ascend....and now either cease to exist or is off somewhere on some higher plane still fighting with Morgan Le Fey." She tilted her head in contemplation. "No one really knows, actually. Least, not from what Daniel has said."

"Yes, back to Daniel," he encouraged. "What makes you think he's leaving? Because Colonel Carter did?"

She gave a weak shrug. "Atlantis is here. He's spent every free moment he has over there. He's always talked about being transferred there but something," she paused, biting her lip innocently and wondering just how much of her life was in that file, "no idea what, kept getting in the way. What's to stop him now when it's just a hop, skip, and a leap away?"

"So you feel like you are being left behind?"

"No, I didn't say that," she tried to force a smile. "I'm happy for Samantha, really. And I'll be happy for Daniel when he finally takes up permanent residence in Atlantis. Just like I'll be happy for Teal'c when he is eventually elected new leader of the Free Jaffa, or at least part of their council. But.."

"Where will that leave you?"

She was staring down at the table, trying to muster up the strength to shrug or something. "I don't know, really. I guess that's sort of the question," she answered in an honest whisper.