Chapter XI: Concrete Sounds
"Well, I've thought about it, and it might be just a simple matter of reversing the process. I'm on it, darling." Vala gave Sam and Daniel a quick, somewhat mad smile before heading back to her data pad.
Daniel couldn't help but furrow his brow at her. "Is that supposed to be reassuring?" He turned to Sam.
Sam shrugged. "I think so."
"Huh…"
As Vala kept working on their problem, Daniel now focused all his attention on the writing on the translucent screen in front of him. Next to him Sam stood and listened as he explained what the glowing orange writing was telling him.
"Okay, this is interesting. It seems to be a log of some kind… Whoever built this was conducting research on some kind of new invention." Daniel stared at the screen, and began clicking on it to read, "It looks like it was something big… they went to great lengths to try and hide it, and the machine was built for the sole purpose of keeping the research a secret. They needed a way to conceal it from…" Daniel trailed of again; part of him couldn't believe what he was reading and was suddenly wishing that Vala was here to see this.
Sam noticed the confused astonishment on Daniel's face. "Daniel, they need a way to conceal it from…"
"Their fellow Ascended beings." At Daniel's words, both he and Sam looked at each other in shock.
"Wait, you mean to say that whoever built this thing was Ascended?"
"Looks like… They must have regained human form to perform this research." Daniel frowned in deep thought, "I remember Oma once telling me that it is possible to come back from Ascension, but it's a risky process, not many choose to do it."
"Then whoever built this must have really believed that what they were doing was worth the risk."
Daniel nodded as he read through more of the log. Sam was right, whatever this person had been building must have been important if they had taken the trouble to build a machine for the sole purpose of keeping it a secret.
"What do you suppose was so important that it would have led someone to give up their Ascension?" Sam asked.
Daniel's eyes read swiftly through the data and just there towards the bottom of the screen was Sam's answer. "A weapon."
"A weapon?"
"A weapon capable of destroying an Ascended being." And even as the words left Daniel's mouth, neither he nor Sam could believe it.
A moment later Sam's brain picked up on the one important subtlety in everything Daniel was saying. "But according to everything we know, Anubis is only half-Ascended."
Daniel turned towards Sam, meeting his friend's blue eyes with the same questioning fear. "I know."
"Then this weapon wasn't built to stop him." Sam spoke and the gravity of her answer covered her and Daniel. Because if it wasn't meant for Anubis then who was it meant for?
"No, I don't think it was." Daniel agreed.
"Then who was it built for?"
Daniel clicked on the screen. "I don't… Wait. Here's something about an enemy, someone that they believed represented a significant threat to the galaxy, including the First Ones – the Ancients – who refused to take any real action to protect the galaxy against them and the weapon was means of doing what they were not willing to do."
"So they Descended to build the weapon?"
"More or less. They Descended and then found a way to hide it from the others, by shifting this research to another dimension."
"So did they ever complete the weapon? Did they beat this enemy?" Sam asked.
Daniel sighed as he read. "See right now this is all technical and way over my head. I wish you understood Tau'rian or that Vala was here, instead of there." Daniel looked over his shoulder to where Vala was blowing her bangs out of her face and looking over some readings. His eyes smiled. "And I don't know…"
"Don't know?" Sam smiled at both her friends, her head turning back to Daniel. "Don't know what?"
"Oh, it doesn't say if they defeated this enemy, but if it took all this to build to the weapon, I'm hoping they did."
"Me too." Both stood silently as Daniel kept reading.
"These notes seem to indicate that he hid the weapon on Tau'ri, but then had to relocate it to…" Daniel clicked the screen to shift to the next page where he and Sam saw seven glyphs that the entire galaxy would have understood. A gate address.
"A gate address to where they hid the weapon."
Sam smiled at the glowing yellow gate address on the screen, particularly at the symbol of origin. "Um, Daniel the gate address originates from Tau'ri."
"Yeah, I noticed, but I'm sure you can figure out how to pinpoint its location in space." Daniel grinned at Sam, to which she rolled her eyes. "And Vala told me that there's a correlation between gate addresses and her language. She can help translate if need be."
"Well that's nice."
§
Cam stood in front of Teal'c in the gym.
"So do you think Vala will get them back?"
Teal'c struck his staff forward for Cam to block. "I have much trust in Vala Mal Duran's abilities."
Cam swiped his staff forward, Teal'c neatly sidestepping the blow. "Do you think that she'll get them back before Jack's neck vein pops?"
Busy ducking the left hook Teal'c swung, Cam fell victim to the low right blow of the staff. On the floor he looked at the larger man.
Teal'c's brow rose. "I would hope so for Captain O'Neill's sake."
"Did you just make a joke?" Cam pushed himself back up, spinning the staff, with a smile.
Teal'c just looked at the man, striking again. "According to Vala Mal Duran, I am very humorous."
Cam blocked it, still smiling. "You did."
§
Sam and Daniel were still reading the information on the display when they both heard a thump and turned back to were Vala had dropped her head on the desk. "Sam! Why did you have to get stuck out of phase?! You're so much better at this."
Looking over to Vala, Daniel's eyes softened with a fondness that Sam hadn't seen in ages and smiled. She was working so hard trying to make everything better. "You think she'll figure it out?" He asked Sam.
Sam's eyes followed Daniel's to Vala and then moved to rest on Daniel himself. Sometimes she wondered how Daniel could be so oblivious to certain things. "I think so. She's better than she gives herself credit for; she's the one that got me thinking about the EM outputs in the first place. So anything else?"
Daniel turned back to the machine and the display. "Mostly it's all technical stuff that Vala should be able to understand."
"Nothing on Anubis?" Sam stared pensively at the display.
"No. Why?"
"Well, Oma sent us on this mission to stop Anubis, and he's only half Ascended. But this weapon we've been talking about was made to destroy an Ascended being. That would mean that when we finally find the weapon we'd have to reconfigure it for a half-Ascended being like Anubis. I was just wondering if it said anything about that."
"You know, I hate it when you make a point." Daniel looked at the screen and continued reading. "So far nothing, but it could also be that whatever we need to make the weapon work for Anubis, we'll find when we find the weapon."
"I hope so."
On the other side of the room Vala kept working with the algorithms. She had already run a couple tests runs, but all they tests showed was that if she implemented them on the machine they would lose most of the power supply would be lost again, and that was the last thing anybody needed. She sighed. She hated this machine. Why was it so easy for them to cross over from this dimension to the other, but so hard for her to bring them back? Whoever built this thing must have been able to cross back from the other side.
From the other side.
The words slammed into Vala's head and she felt like laughing and crying all at once.
From the other side. You got there from this side, and got back from the other side. So simple. Standing, she made her way over to the machine.
"Sam? Daniel? Can you hear me?"
Sam and Daniel pressed the 'yes' button.
"I think I know how to get you two back. Unfortunately, I can't actually get you two back."
Confused, both friends stared at Vala. "What?" Then realized she couldn't hear them and waited for the solution.
Vala smiled enigmatically, curling her lips to the side at a seemingly empty room. "How do you think the person that built this got back from where you two are without any help?"
Sam laughed and faced Daniel. "You're kidding?"
Daniel still stared at Vala, and felt like smacking himself on the head or hugging her. He went back to the machine and began shifting through the data. And there it was: their way back. He read it and turned to Vala, repeating his earlier words, "Vala, I'll never doubt you again."
"I take it she's right." Sam looked at the screen Daniel was reading in a vain attempt to understand if he had found their way out of out-of-phase-hell, as she was sure Cam would have put it.
"She's right. There's a sequence that deactivates the machine." Meeting Sam's eyes, he began entering the sequence. "Here goes nothing."
Daniel entered the sequence and as he pressed the last button a bright light once again enveloped him and Sam. Vala blinked at the light and then when she focused her sight again, she saw that where there had been nothing before, now stood Sam and Daniel. With a small but excited yelp she leap up from her seat and wrapped her arms around Daniel.
"You're back!" She exclaimed, clinging to Daniel like a child clings to their favorite stuffed toy. Daniel just let himself hold and be held by the excited woman, because he was glad to be back too. He was glad that his hands and his body didn't go through everything and everyone, like a ghost's did. He was glad that he could touch, and holding Vala right now was anything but bad. Behind him, Sam stood with a soft smile, and when Vala opened her eyes, eyes that relished having Daniel back, she met her friend's blue and amused gaze with a smile. She detached from Daniel and hugged Sam with an equal strength.
"I'm so glad that you're both okay. You are okay, right?"
Sam smiled and leaned over to push down on the 'yes' button. Vala laughed and turned to Daniel.
"We need to call Jack." Her voice was steady and decisive; she wanted to get off Jack's black list.
"We are," Daniel agreed moving towards the com, "but then we need to talk about what I read on the machine. There are some things you need to see."
Vala nodded. "Don't forget to tell him how brilliant I am."
§
If Jack was a hugger, he'd be hugging every person in the room. Vala stood next to Sam and Daniel, an in phase Sam and Daniel. Yep, if Jack was a hugger he's be hugging every person in the room. But Jack wasn't a hugger; he was a sarcastic banterer and sometimes an awkward back-patter. So at the threshold of Sam's lab he did what he did best.
"So you're back?" Jack leaned casually staring at his returned Geek Twins.
Daniel smirked. "We're back."
"Good." Jack's brown eyes took in Sam and Daniel. "Don't do that again."
"Ah, sorry, but we can't promise that." Daniel answered back.
"And why not?"
"Well, Vala and I have to go back and finish reading and translating the information on the other side."
"But now we know how to get back and forth, so it will be okay." Sam assuaged the worry she saw in Jack's face.
"You sure?"
"We're sure, Jack." Sam reassured. She stepped closer, and gently patted Jack's arm as she headed over to the workbench. Looking down to where Sam's hand had just been Jack fought the relief that rushed through him. They were okay. Sam and Daniel were okay and now he didn't have to kill Vala. All in all a good day.
"Well, as long as we're sure."
"We are, love." Vala smiled, relief was still obvious on her face, and Jack smiled. He knew he hadn't been the only one worrying.
"Hey you're back!" They heard from the door and turned to see Cam rush into the room and wrap Sam in a bear hug. Sam laughed as Cam lifted her of the ground.
"Yeah…. We're back. Mind putting me down?" She patted Cam's shoulder with a bright smile and laughed.
Dropping Sam back on the floor, Cam blushed. "Sorry, got a little over-excited there."
"It's okay, Cam."
"So what's the plan now?"
"Plan?"
"Yeah, what do we do now with that?" Cam motioned towards the machine, which still lay smugly on Sam's work table– it still held secrets but now they were one step closer to uncovering them.
"Well, I now have to see what has Daniel's panties in a twist, so back out of phase we go." Vala jumped up to sit on the workbench, swinging her legs like a kid.
It took Jack less than a second to shoot down that idea. "I don't think so."
"Jack!" Daniel and Vala exclaimed at the same time and then turned to each other.
"No, no more out of phaseness for today. All day the three of you have been either working with this machine, stuck out of phase because of this machine, or trying to figure how the damn thing actually works. You two," Jack pointed to Sam and Vala, "have been running yourselves ragged because of this thing for weeks. And then today, two of you get stuck out of phase. Uh uh, no more." Daniel, Sam and Vala all made looks of oncoming protest, so Jack clarified things, "No more machine today. For the rest of the day all you three can do is sit, eat and sleep. That's it. Tomorrow you can all go back to this craziness, but not today. Not today." Jack ran his hand through his hair, and wondered how much grayer it got today. He knew they probably didn't think it was fair, but right now he didn't really give a rat's ass. It was selfish, but he just wanted one night of not worrying about his crew, his family, and if that meant locking Sam's lab and Daniel's office, then so be it.
Sam and Daniel shared and look and nodded to each other. They both knew that Jack worried more than he let on, so for him to say this they knew it was time to take a break, at least for the night.
Vala was poised to argue, but then Daniel gripped her shoulder and she met his eyes and looked back at Jack. Nodding, she backed down too. "Okay, but only for tonight."
"That's what I said. Cam, make sure they all leave the lab." Heading back to the bridge, Jack let out a sigh. At least for tonight they'd all be okay.
§
Sam informed everybody she'd be soaking for the next hour in her quarters after she grabbed some roast beef from the mess hall. Daniel shared a look with Vala before he headed to his own quarters, leaving Vala with Cam.
"So what d'you wanna do on your 'night off'?"
Vala quirked her lips. "Do you know where Teal'c is?"
"Last I saw, he was giving a lesson to Rylan and Evans. Why…" Cam did not like the look in her silver eyes.
"I have some energy that I feel the need to burn off." Grabbing Cam's arm, she led them down to the gym level.
"You know, you scare me when you look like that."
"Why?"
"It's frighteningly reminiscent of Teal'c."
"You know he has been teaching me for the past five years." At Vala's words Cam paled, but they continued on their way.
When they reached the gym they watched as Teal'c just finished beating Evans, who now lay on the mat panting. They watched as the larger man extended his hand and helped up the exhausted younger man.
"Hey, Muscles!"
Teal'c turned and nodded to his friend. "I gather that Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter have rejoined us."
"They have, safe and sound too, and since our dear captain has enforced upon us a night off, I thought I'd see how lessons with Cameron have been going." Vala's tone only increased Cam's apprehension, which sky-rocketed at Teal'c's raised eyebrow and smirk.
"I see. Commander Mitchell, if you will join us again, Vala Mal Duran will be your opponent this time so I can assess your progress thus far." Next to Teal'c, Vala stood leaning on a staff with a smirk and Cam knew that he'd be visiting the med bay again tomorrow.
§
Hours later as Vala headed to her room feeling the satisfying soreness of hours of sparring, she felt the day catching up with her. Stepping into her quarters she looked around at the still strange room. It was nothing like her room on her ship. It still felt cold and impersonal. She was used to the warmth that the ship gave her, and not just the physical warmth – the Seraphim was her home, it was all that was left of her home and family.
Heading to the shower, she turned it on as high as it could go and stepped in. She didn't know how long she stood under the hot water, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Ever since she had moved onto this ship her showers had grown increasingly longer. Finally she closed the water flow, dried herself off, and headed back to the room. Dressing in the many layers that she had grown to need during the night, she also picked up the thermal blankets that Caro had given her.
On her bed she wrapped herself in the blankets and looked out at space. She had loved the stars as a child and had grown to love them even more in her travels. She used to stay up late and stare at them for no reason save for the fact that she loved them. Now she stayed up and stared at them because sleep now hurt her more than it helped.
Vala stayed awake and stared at the stars outside her quarter's window until her body finally succumbed to the rest it craved.
She's only been asleep for twenty minutes before she was shivering, tossing and turning in her bed. She wrapped the blankets tighter around her until she looked like a caterpillar wrapped in a cocoon, a frozen caterpillar. She tossed and turned for about two hours getting winks of sleep at times, then finally she lifted her body up into a sitting position and dropped her head into the cradle of her arms. If she went back in the morning looking skeletal again, Teal'c would not hesitate in locking her in the med bay every night until Sam's fixed her room. But she couldn't make herself get up and go to the med bay; Caro was probably asleep and she didn't exactly get on well with Rygel.
Dropping back to her bed, she curled to her side and clutched at her pillow. There was only one thought that kept flashing in her mind, but it was a treacherous thought. A thought that burned through her and she was fighting to push it back. A thought that she wanted to embrace but it held too many variables – variables dangerous to her and this whole situation.
Still, it was the best nights sleep I've had since I've gotten here…
Biting her lip, she closed her eyes. She stood up slowly then looked to her door as if it held the answer she needed before stepping towards it.
Vala padded quietly through the ship, like an apparition that one finds in the middle of a forest gliding over a lake. As she reached her destination she knocked on the door and waited.
§
Daniel opened the door, shrugging his shirt back on, to see Vala. She was in thick looking sweatpants, a black sweater, and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. With a smirk she raised an eyebrow.
"You're kidding me, right?"
"Oh come on, darling. Please."
"No way."
"Why not? It's not like we haven't done it before."
"There were extenuating circumstances before."
"And they still apply." She sighed and leaned against the door, pleading. "Please Daniel. Last night was the first time since I've been on this ship that I slept for the full night." She rested her head against his door and he could see how tired she was.
Daniel really hated to admit that she had a point but, Vala, in his room... In no way could that be a good idea.
"I thought Sam was going to help you fix your room, what happened to that?"
"Daniel," Vala sighed, she should have known he would be difficult about this. Didn't he know there was a ship full of men that would definitely not kick her out? "Between the machine, getting you and Sam out of phase today, and Jack banning us from doing any work tonight, we didn't exactly get to it today. She is going to help me, but there are other things, more important things, that need our attention."
"More important than your health?" The words spilled out of him, and he smacked himself inwardly. Damn.
Vala smiled. "See, you do care..." She leaned closer to him, "I promise to be good. Just sleep."
Their eyes met in challenge and, "Just sleep." Daniel acquiesced as he brushed the bangs that had fallen into her eyes and Vala grinned wide, skipping into the room.
"Just sleep." He reminded her.
Inside they walked to the bed. It was wider than the couch in the office, two people could fit fine on it, but Daniel was all too aware that for Vala to maintain an apt body temperature throughout the night meant close proximity. Standing on opposite sides of the bed they looked at each other. Vala raised an eyebrow; Daniel sighed, shrugged off his shirt, pulling the covers back all the while ignoring Vala's teasing "rowr".
Smiling, Vala shed her own top leaving her in a tight black t-shirt that already had Daniel trying to be a gentleman and look away, but then she pulled her sweats off. She only had on a pair of very short and very tight black shorts underneath.
"Hey there! What do you think you're doing?"
Flinging her sweats to the chair, she turned to back to him, "Getting ready to sleep."
"In that?"
"Of course in this. Body heat, Daniel. And I have to admit, ever since I've been on this ship I've hated to sleep in all these layers, they're quite the bothersome I'll have you know. Make me feel all confined."
Trying not to focus on the expanse of leg, pale and smooth, that was now available for his eyes to feast on, Daniel focused on her face. This idea was getting worse by the second.
"Fine, but no funny stuff." He gave her a pointed look.
Vala bounced onto the bed. "None whatsoever. I don't even think 'funny stuff' would be appreciated here."
Rolling his eyes, he settled onto the bed, "Vala…"
She made a motion like she was zipping her lips and winked at him. He smiled. Minx. Lying down on the bed he extended his right arm and turned to look at her. Legs bent, hair falling into her face, arms propping her up and biting her lip she looked surprisingly shy and young. Not for the first time Daniel saw there was more to the vixen space pirate she played. He smiled softly.
"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now – no pun intended." He teased, knowing she wouldn't back down from the challenge. She didn't disappoint. Moving closer to him much like she had done the other night she settled on his shoulder, and an arm was flung around his waist. He pulled the covers over them, and again she surprised him by reaching up to brush her lips near his mouth. There was shyness in her actions that had him tightening the arm he held her with, and she tucked herself into him closing her eyes.
"How come you don't want to use the heating beds?" Daniel asked quietly.
"I like you better." Vala mumbled into his skin.
Less than five minutes later she was asleep. As he moved his left arm to rest under his head he felt her shift closer into him, a leg getting thrown over his thighs. Daniel looked down at her, shook his head and smiled. Vala.
§
Jack ran into Caro by the guest quarters. "Hey doc, what's up?"
Caro looked at Jack and turned back to the door. "Vala didn't show up in the med bay tonight. I know she's too stubborn to admit she needs help, so I thought I'd come,"
"And bully her…" Jack finished for the young woman, smirking.
"Convince her," Caro corrected with a small smile, "to come in."
"Right… You were taught well by your predecessor."
"Top marks." Caro said dryly, still staring at the door.
"So unless you suddenly can see through walls, why are you just standing there?"
Caro tilted her head. "I can't feel her."
Jack's worry spiked, and he tensed. "What?! Is she…"
Reading Jack, Caro was quick to correct. "No, no. She's not… I just can't sense her; I don't think she's in there, or she knows how to completely block me out – which is pretty much impossible."
The second Caro had said that she didn't think Vala was in her room Jack relaxed; he was pretty sure he knew where she was.
Sensing the amusement from Jack, Caro turned to him. "Captain? Jack? Do you know where she is?"
"I have a sneaking suspicion." Jack just smiled, and slowly, at the smug amusement and awareness she was sensing, Caro understood.
"Oh…" Caro's smile grew to match Jack's. "Sooner than I anticipated, but I'm not entirely surprised."
"Come on, I'll walk you to your quarters." Jack offered his arm. "And maybe we'll pass by the main quarters and you can check on your patient."
Giggling, Caro shook her head following. "You're a bad influence, captain."
"I know."
§
The next morning Vala woke up feeling the most rested she had in days. Snuggling closer into the warmth, she asked the Seraphim to turn on its low lights. When it didn't, she lay confused for a second before she remembered. She wasn't on her ship. Then she remembered the events of the night before, and smiled. Opening her eyes she noticed that she and Daniel must have shifted in their sleep, because she was now resting on her side and he was wrapped around her.
Vala smiled. Daniel Jackson, her own personal blanket. She liked the sound of that.
Shifting her body, she became conscious of just how closely Daniel was wrapped around her. His naked chest was to her back, her legs were held tightly between his, and his left arm was slung around her waist keeping her secure against him, while the hand attached to said arm had snuck under her top. It laid flat against her stomach and ribs, its thumb resting sinfully close to her breast. Vala took a deep breath and tried to get out from the tight grip that held her. Unfortunately, her plan backfired and only served in having Daniel groan sleepily and tighten his grip, his thumb moving closer to her breast. Vala shivered and could practically feel her body temperature rising. If she could bottle this, she'd never be cold again. She let out an involuntary sigh and tried to move again. Nothing. Biting her lip, she turned her face towards Daniel, "Daniel… Daniel, I need to get up."
He groaned again and buried his head in her neck. Laughing softly, Vala managed to twist and fully face him. He was so cute.
"Daniel, really, time to get up." She wiggled to gain some more breathing space and tapped his nose. Slowly, his eyes blinked open a couple of times before he focused on her. Moaning, he turned onto his back, taking her with him. Sprawled over his chest, Vala laughed again, "Wow, I would have thought you to be a morning person."
"Surprise," he mumbled and covered his eyes with the arm that had been securing her to him.
Finally freed, Vala put her hand on either side of Daniel's torso, leaning up and straddling his hips she patted his chest. "Well, I'll let you sleep in, but after breakfast we need to work on what you read."
Sleepily nodding, he half patted, half rubbed her leg. "M'kay, see you later."
Gods, he was adorable. On impulse, Vala bent down and pressed her lips quietly against his. The kiss, impulsive as it was, ended up being surprisingly chaste mostly a soft sliding of lips that shocked the woman who had herself initiated it. Gently pulling back she looked into his sleepy blue eyes, before her silver ones widened and she bolted off the bed.
As she was about to leave the room, he seemed to have realized what had just happened.
"Did you just kiss me?" His voice was soft and shocked.
Vala turned her neck back and grinned, rushing out. "It was only fair, darling. You managed to cop a feel."
"Huh... What? What'd I feel?"
Vala left the room cursing her stupidity.
§
At breakfast Sam curiously watched Vala. Her new raven-haired friend was thoughtfully munching on her food with an odd and, in Sam's opinion, rather suspect smile that would then quickly transform into a pensive frown. Sam wanted to ask, but they were sitting with Cam, who could barely keep a secret on a good day, and Siler, who was quite possibly the biggest gossip on the ship next to Bill and Rygel, was just behind them.
Taking a sip from her juice, Sam leaned towards Vala, "Later you're going to have to tell me what that's all about." Vala just looked back in confusion, but Sam could clearly see that the woman knew exactly what she was talking about.
"What what's is about?" Cam asked. Sam had that look in her eye and he knew she knew something.
Vala answered for the blonde. "Nothing. Nothing at all." She gave Sam a look.
Sam grinned. "Yeah, nothing."
"Good morning all." The group heard from above their heads as Teal'c sat down.
Vala just reached over and stole some of his eggs along before greeting him properly. "Morning!"
"Morning, Teal'c."
"Morning, big guy."
"What are your plans today, Samantha Carter, Vala Mal Duran? Have you finished with the machine?"
Sam nodded. "Yep, at least I am. Vala and Daniel are probably going to be spending a couple hours translating and trying to understand what the notes said, but I am finite."
"Thanks for reminding me, I had almost forgotten how much Daniel loves notes."
"No problem," Sam gave a cheeky grin, "because now I can focus on the fun stuff and start seeing how we can replicate the cloaking capabilities, and adjusting your room so you can sleep better." At Sam's last words, Vala almost blushed, but instead pressed her lips together and avoided eye contact. Sam caught on and struggled not to grin like a mad woman. They were so talking later.
"I can't believe you call that fun stuff. So you're still hole up in your lab?" Cam frowned at the news.
"Sorry," Sam smiled sweetly.
"No, you're not." He waved his fork at her in mock annoyance.
"Yep, I'm not."
After breakfast Sam and Vala headed back to the lab. They were only half way there when Sam asked. "Okay, what happened?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Vala once again avoided Sam's eyes.
"That."
"What?"
"That look. You're all smiley and glowy… Holy Hannah… Did you and Da-?" But Sam never finished her question due to the hand that now covered her mouth.
"No!" Vala shouted. Reddened and anxiously looking around, she lowered her voice. "No. We didn't. Not the way you're thinking. We just slept. We didn't get to work on my room yesterday," at Sam's dimming eyes, Vala reassured her friend, "and it's okay – we were busy with more important things, and I'm sure now you'll spend ridiculous amounts of time on it, but I… I didn't want to go to the med bay and the thermal blankets weren't helping so I went to Daniel."
Vala blabbed on, "I just… I mean its just Daniel, he's well, he's Daniel, isn't he? And he didn't kick me out – though I'm sure he thought about it – but that's not the point. The point is we just slept and its only been the nights I've spent with Daniel that I've been able to get a full night's sleep. The fact that I kinda sorta kissed him this morning is just a non-issue."
Sam mumbled something behind Vala's hand, which the brunette hadn't removed during her monologue. Wide-eyed, Vala released Sam with an apology. "Oh, sorry."
"Nights?!" Sam exclaimed, eyes glinting.
"Sam!"
"Sorry. Nights? Kiss?" Sam questioned in a whisper.
"Last night and the one before. And like I said the kiss was nothing. Spur of the moment, impulse thing. Now let's go, I have to see what the machine said."
"If you say so," Sam nodded, unconvinced, and followed Vala the rest of the way to the lab.
Walking into the lab, both women stopped in a halting move. Daniel stood by the machine ready to take notes. Sam and Vala shared a look and cleared their throats.
"Morning, darling." Vala pressed her lips together in a shy smile.
"Morning…" Daniel half mumbled around his coffee cup, which helped in hiding his blush.
"Morning, Daniel." Grinning at her friends, Sam merrily made her way to her workbench.
"Morning, Sam. You ready?" He asked Vala who made her way over to him.
"Ready. See you in a bit, Sam." Standing next to Vala, Daniel pressed in a sequence and the white light covered them both.
Sam shook her head and smile, turning to bring up the files that would hopefully help her fix Vala's situation, though in her opinion the brunette already had it under control. Her eyes fell on the files on the cloaking capabilities and as if a light bulb flashed in her brain she knew what she had to do to make this work. Sam began to work on what she called the fun stuff.
§
Daniel watched and took notes as Vala read over what the machine had to say. He watched as she pushed her bangs back, as she sometimes bite on her thumbnail, as she sighed, and as her eyes widened in awe and question at times. He watched her, and liked the fact that he didn't have to worry about anyone making their comments – it was just them and as much as he loved his friends, he liked this. He watched as her as her eyes widened in shock and confusion and knew to which part she had just gotten to.
"This wasn't built because of Anubis."
"I know."
"That is… extremely unsettling."
"Why?" Daniel did not like the look that crossed her face, and knew that he would be getting answers to at least some of the questions he'd had yesterday.
"Anubis is only half-Ascended, right?" Daniel nodded. "Well that means he doesn't have the full breadth or influence that a regular Ascended being has. He still has to follow certain rules to keep his status. Now I'm sure there are many loopholes to these rules, and I'm sure he has found them all, but they're still there. He has to tread carefully." Vala sighed, as if the next part was hard to even speak, "But a fully Ascended enemy – they would have practically no margin for their actions. Capable of almost anything and that's very dangerous. Ascended beings, at least as far as I know, are all about free will, of watching over but no interfering. Take that away and give them full power to do as they wish with us – I, personally, wouldn't want to live in that galaxy."
Daniel absorbed Vala's words, their meaning resonating in him and leaving a bad taste in his mouth. "So we're hoping this enemy was defeated."
"Oh yeah," Vala answered and continued reading. "Oh, this is interesting and not as ominous." Daniel chuckled as Vala clicked for the next section.
"What?" He skimmed over what was on the screen and saw it was all the technical jargon he had skipped over before.
Vala began to lean forward to rest on the table and would have fallen through it if Daniel hadn't grabbed her by the waist. "Oooh, thanks darling. Well, it talks about how the weapon was built. Whoever built this thing, they built it from a molecular level."
"Is that even possible?"
"Apparently. It's a shame Sam doesn't read Tau'rian, she would love this."
"I said the same thing."
Meeting each other's eyes, they both smiled, and Vala continued. "They built it in phases, with two fundamental parts: the base and the power source." Vala clicked on a couple buttons, her eyes shifting through the data. "The whole thing works like a tuning fork. The base essentially harnesses the energy of the power source and disperses it across a predetermined plane of existence, creating a sort of barrier that prevents the desired individual or individuals from ever being able to cross into other planes or impart their will on any other level. It's like a glass house with no access to the outside. Gods, Daniel, whoever built this was a genius."
"Lucky for us they were on our side."
Vala nodded and continued to read, then she got to the gate address. "Whoa. This address originates from Tau'ri."
"I noticed. Can you tell which planet this is?"
"Actually the machine can tell us. Here." Vala typed in a combination of keys and the page changed to show not only the gate address, but also the name of the planet and its location in space. Daniel's eyes widened.
"Vala, tell me I'm translating this right."
"You are, darling." Again their eyes met, this time in considerable less amusement.
"Jack isn't going to like this."
