Chapter Fourteen: Intuitions

Morning came, cold and bright. The clouds that had hung heavy during the night had burned off in the dawn leaving everything covered in dewy sparkles. Vala saw all of this with new eyes as she and Daniel hurried back to the guest house where she and Meryth had been staying. Daniel's hand held her's firmly, even when they passed Sgt. Reynolds. Daniel had simply nodded, "G'morning," to the wide eyed Airman before continuing on. Vala barely contained her giggles at Reynolds expression at seeing the two of them together.

"Do you think he's surprised?" Vala whispered to Daniel.

"Reynolds, no. I think he's bummed that he has to pay up to Mitchell."

"Excuse me?" Vala stared at Daniel in surprise.

Daniel shifted the bed roll he had been holding into the arm he still held Vala's hand, and scratched the back of his neck. Vala recognized his embarrassment, and pounced.

"What do you know?" she raised her chin to him.

"Well, you see, it all started with Jack. Actually no, that's wrong. I guess it really started with Mitchell. He had it in his head that something had happened between us during those lost 50 years, and the way I heard it, Teal'c didn't disagree, so Mitchell took that as confirmation. Jack did disagree, so the two made a bet. Mitchell said we would get together within a year, Jack said we wouldn't. The deadline was New Years Day. Come to think of it, that makes it all Teal'c's fault..." Daniel mused.

"Wait, they had a bet on whether you and I were going to get together? How does Reynolds figure into this nefarious plot?" Vala asked.

Daniel grimaced. "Uhm, yeah. I guess the bet... kind of spread around the base and started a pool. I don't know everyone involved, but I've guessed a few based on the amount of sneaking looks I was getting. Didn't you notice anyone acting odd?"

"Come to think of it, yes." Vala chewed on her bottom lip, making Daniel pause to stare at it.

Daniel dropped the bed roll onto the bench outside Vala's house. Running a finger along that lip he asked, "the question is, whose side are we on?"

"Besides ours?" Vala kissed his finger and gazed up into Daniel's face. His blue eyes were sparkling with mirth and lightness. "Hmm. Let me think. Mitchell was betting on our getting together, Jack was betting we wouldn't, right?"

"Yup." Daniel smoothed his kissed hand over her hair.

"Since we clearly agree with Mitchell, and disagree with Jack, he is the obvious choice."

Daniel nodded and traced her collarbone, but Vala continued.

"On the other hand, Mitchell involved 'half the base back home' in our personal affairs, and I'm guessing on that one, but still - it was somewhat presumptuous don't you think?"

"Definitely." Daniel slid a hand down the side of her ribcage to Vala's hip.

"On the other hand, I'm guessing that Jack makes more money than Mitchell, is that true?"

"I honestly don't know, but, yeah, probably." Daniel agreed, pulling her slightly closer.

"So Mitchell was on our side, he embarrassed us both, but the poor man is, well poor, compared to Jack, so he deserves our support."

"Glad you've got that all figured out," Daniel breathed, his other arm circling around her back. "Does that mean I can kiss you now?" His lips hovered above her cheek bone barely grazing her skin.

"Absolutely," Vala said, and Daniel moved to her lips in an instant. Her chest rose to meet his as he deepened the kiss. His hand gripped her hip firmly, his other arm wrapped around her tightly. Vala threaded her arms around Daniel's neck and hitched herself even closer to this wonderful man. Heat blossomed between them and they didn't want to let go. Daniel moved from her mouth to her jaw, planting small kisses there and Vala gasped when he suddenly stopped.

"Mmm, do you smell something?" Daniel asked huskily.

"Only you, darling," Vala murmured against his lips. But what had caught Daniel's attention came to her senses and she chuckled softly. "I do believe Meryth approves. I think she has made you coffee."

Daniel grinned before kissing her again, then took her hand and peaked through the door. Meryth was indeed making coffee in the little press-pot brought from Earth. She smiled at them both.

"Now are you asking my permission?" she teased lightly.

"I suppose I am," Daniel agreed accepting the steaming mug from the older woman's hand.

Vala watched this exchange with wide eyes. Clearly Meryth had left something out. Daniel released her hand and sat down across from Meryth and Vala busied herself with making herself a cup of tea from the still hot water. Meryth waited patiently for Daniel to speak.

"Meryth, you are Vala's family now." He chanced a glance at Vala, who was very still. "She doesn't have much contact with her father, and I doubt she'd like me to ask him anyway. So I am asking you. I would like your blessing to have Vala as my wife."

Meryth's face broke into a wide smile, wrinkles gracing her bright eyes that were suspiciously misty. "My dear boy, you have always had my blessing." She reached between the two of them to grasp Daniel's hand, giving it a squeeze. "I'm so pleased you finally figured it out."

Daniel looked down at his coffee and shook his head, then looked up at Vala. "Can you forgive me for taking so long?"

"Always, darling." Daniel held out an arm and Vala settled into his lap. The three broke their fast together, sipping their hot drinks while they spoke about the coming days.

...

Around the village, the SGC personnel were packing up. Now that the harvest was nearly finished, and their reasons for initially coming to Hak'tyl were mostly completed, their return to Earth could no longer be delayed.

Dr Lam was going over last minute details concerning the healing facility with Meryth and a young woman who had become her novice. Mitchell was demonstrating a parting Sodon fighting technique to a cluster of warriors and Sgt Reynolds was organizing the remaining gear onto an all-terrain vehicle for transport back through the gate.

Col Carter and Vala were checking a few things on the Tel'tak the Hak'tyl had procured. The hyperdrive was having some glitches that Sam felt she could at least diagnose and Vala was resetting the cloak. Daniel lay on his back under a console while Vala stood above it.

"What colours do you see now?" she asked.

"One blue, one green, and two yellow," came back Daniel's muffled reply.

"Excellent. Exactly as they should be," she grinned triumphantly. "The cloak should be work ing now."

"You finished over there, Sam?" Daniel called as he slid out from under the console.

"Yeah," Carter answered from behind a panel. "I was just thinking ... guys come and take a look at this."

"You found something odd on a Tel'tak? I thought you knew their specs by heart!" Daniel said as he and Vala approached.

Samantha smiled ruefully, "not really, but thanks. No, I was looking at this hyperdrive system and it got me thinking. Why would someone want the info in the SGC database?"

Vala narrowed her eyes at the astrophysicist. "Tel'tak hyperdrive...SGC database. Nope, you've got me. What?"

"Hear me out," Carter continued. "The Goa'uld are mostly powerless, the Alliance is working to grab as much influence as they can in that vacuum, and what are we doing?"

"Our original mission," Daniel nodded. "We're going out exploring, learning about new worlds, and helping the ones we've already met adjust to life without the Goa'uld and the Ori. We're developing new technologies with the Asgard repository. We're helping the Free Jaffa and ... keeping records of everything." Daniel took a deep breath at the implication.

Vala's eyes flicked back and forth between the two, catching the drift. "The Alliance is just a new group of players, playing with old toys. We have something they need." Vala stood beside Sam and gazed at the open hyperdrive, realization dawning in the light of it's neon green glow. "They know how to use the pieces, but not how they work. That's why they needed the Goa'uld. Why else would they ever willingly work with them!"

Sam nodded. "And worse, what if their Goa'uld 'friends' are not sharing all the pieces? Take this hyperdrive. What powers it?"

"Liquid naquadah, easy," Vala stated promptly.

"Does is run out?" Sam asked.

"Not for a very long time, unless it is put to extreme use."

"But if it did, where does it come from?" Carter and Vala were volleying back and forth, excitement in their eyes.

"From special naquadah ore refineries. Closely guarded secret, even among the Goa'uld." Vala smiled hugely now.

Sam mimed tossing a ball between her hands "What if the Alliances' new friends don't even know where those were?"

Vala pointed two fingers at Sam. "Those friends certainly wouldn't want anyone else to know that they didn't know."

"And the Alliance hasn't seen or been to probably half as many worlds as the SGC has, nor do they have the Asgard knowledge base. They need information, something we have a lot of. That virus wasn't suppose to even be detected," Sam declared. "If it had worked, we would have never known."

Vala's eyes crumpled a bit then. "What about the bloody transmitter in my back?"

"It hasn't harmed you, has it?" Sam pointed out. "Maybe you could have carried it for the rest of your life without anything ever happening. Any negative effects towards you would have immediately tipped us off to it's presence, something I'm pretty sure was never supposed to happen. But the base-wide system failsafe kicked in and now we know."

Daniel interrupted at this point. "But do they know that we know?"

"There's no way to know, you know?" Sam gave a half smile.

"We should get Mitchell and Teal'c" Daniel stated.

"Agreed," Sam closed the panel and the three left the Tel'tak.

...

"So the plan is simple," Mitchell said. He turned to Sam first. "You and Dr Lee come up with some bogus data, Princess will do her thing, and we take down the bad guys. I like it."

"As do I," agreed Teal'c.

SG-1 were the last the leave Hak'tyl. After explaining to Teal'c and Col Mitchell what they had hypothesized, the team had sat down for a quick meeting before having to face General Landry and possibly the IOA.

"There is one thing that is bothering me," Daniel spoke up. "If the virus and data copying was supposed to go undetected, what happened to the supposed intel on the Alliance?"

Sam grimaced. "That is problematic, true. Maybe there was something on the crystal for us to find but the power surge wiped it out?"

"Let's see if we can find out," Mitchell ordered. "Either way, Vala here is now our beacon, and there is a very good chance that given the right incentive they might follow the light."

The team picked up their remaining bags and began their final goodbyes. Vala gave Meryth a long hug, and the two held each other as they cried. Teal'c and Ishta stood silently apart, their eyes closed and their foreheads touching. Mitchell and Carter shook hands with the other village leaders. Just as Daniel began dialing the gate, Meryth approached Mitchell.

Placing a delicate hand on her hip, she looked up at Mitchell with a single raised eyebrow. Mitchell smirked back at her and nodded. The two grinned at each other and then shook hands a moment before turning away. As they waited for the event horizon to settle within the Stargate, Vala, while holding Daniel's hand, nudged Mitchell. "What was that about?"

"Oh, she was just reminding me." Mitchell hedged.

Vala's intuition flickered. "I already know about the bet, Cameron." she pointed out, frowning in confusion at Meryth.

"Don't worry, child," Meryth soothed. "I was just reminding him to make sure I get my fair share."

"You bet in the pool?" Vala spluttered and Daniel had to gape at the elder.

"Oh course," she agreed easily. "One does not live on Trevys for as long I did without learning a thing or two about gambling. And winning." she finished with a smile.

Daniel could only shake his head, while Vala dissolved in giggles. Sam, overhearing the last of their conversation, joined them. "I have to wonder if Jack knew he was betting against her?"

"Oh, you know what they say," Mitchell reminded Carter. "All's fair in love and war."