Spacegypsy1

Lesson Fourteen: Lesson Learned

0400 – Cheyenne Mountain

Airman Baxter looked up to see Dr. Jackson exit the elevator in jeans, black T-shirt and whistling the theme to Indiana Jones. She smiled. "Good morning, sir."

"Morning Airman." Daniel nodded and headed down the hall.

Katie Baxter admired his six until he disappeared.

Daniel continued to whistle while he wondered if he should go to the locker room and change first, or take care of what had kept him awake all night. The words spoken so eloquently right before he left the base last evening played over and over in his head, complemented by the song he whistled.

He exited the elevator on level 22 and headed down the deserted corridor towards her quarters. Standing in front of her door he stopped whistling, grinned and gathered his courage. He knew what the scene behind the door would be. She'd be asleep in some bizarre sleepwear, ranging from skimpy to bunny suit, that ridiculous mask over her eyes; her hair would be a riot of disorder, but her face, serene in slumber.

Grin broadening, he banged on the door. He also knew what would follow - she would tangle herself in the covers in her effort to rise; the mask would be shoved upwards, escalating the riot of hair and her eyes would be heavy with sleep and confusion. She would stumble, mumble something inappropriate and yank the door open with ...

"WHAT!!"

Oh. He'd been dead wrong.

Vala, obviously wide awake, was dressed in her original black leather bustier, complete with neck piece and straps, black leather pants belted and snug on her lithe body, hair down, uncurled but brushed to a silky sheen, large leather bag hanging on her shoulder; she scowled at him, one hand perched defiantly on her hip.

He couldn't speak. Not the scene he'd planned.

"What, Daniel? What do you want? Come to set me straight? Hmm? Come to tell me I was out of line, that I lied, that it was all a ploy meant to irritate you? Oh, no, wait, I've got it! It was my way to deal with my insecurities, how could I forget that! Get out of my way!"

"Where are you going?"

"Leaving. And don't tell me I can't, that I'm a risk, that this is my home, that I'm a part of something wonderful, that I have nowhere to go, that I'm being childish, that we can work this out, that I..."

"Vala. You were right."

"Yes, of course. Good! Surprised you didn't try to make me stay around for more torture and more of your disregard of my feelings. But, then again, this is what you've always wanted, isn't it? Me out of your hair, out of your life, out of your way..."

Vala found herself wrapped in his arms, his mouth, hot, hard and insistent on hers. Now how did that happen? She tied to speak around his lips and tongue. But her own ears only registered her moans. Her feet were moving backwards. Something strange was happening to her body. Why in the name of all the gods had she bound herself up in this ridiculous outfit? When he took a breath Vala got out a few nearly incomprehensible words. "You meant...right about…what...last night..."

She got a series of mmm's from him as his mouth took hers once again, slid to her ear in a fiery trail of wet kisses and bites, a delightful rasp of tongue at her ear, and a growl that sent her knees wobbling as other body parts burst into liquid flames.

"For god's sakes, Vala, help me get this contraption off of you before I die."

Her hands, though a bit more clumsily than she expected, made short work of the belts, buckles and laces. "What changed your mind?" Their lips still played. She had no idea what he said into her mouth as the door slammed shut.

xxxxxx

0438 - Commissary

Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell looked like hell as he stared at the runny scrambled eggs on his plate. Colonel Samantha Carter didn't look much better, but at least her hair didn't stick up from repeated fingers of annoyance combed through it. Both appeared to be sleep-deprived, and worried. Cam, too tired to cross his arms, leaned on the table for support, eyes downcast, unseeing. Sam, sitting straight up, stared blankly across the room.

Teal'c pulled out a chair and sat, a happy smile on his face. "Neither of you appear to have slept."

The two glared at the obviously well-rested Jaffa.

"How could you sleep, this is awful! He just took off. I don't think in all the years I have known him, that I've seen him so...so angry." Sam took a sip of her cold coffee and grimaced.

"And she's packed up and ready to go! She woke Landry at 0230, who in turn woke me, and he signed off on her request! She's leavin', thankfully only to the Alpha Site, but she's leavin' just the same. I don't want her to leave. We need her. She's part of the team. He's ... he's ... how the hell I'm I supposed to deal with this? Sam, I hope now that you're back, Landry puts you in charge, 'cause I reckon I'm done tryin' to make any sense of those two!"

"Oh, no. No way. Not me." Standing, Sam went to refill her coffee.

Squinting at Teal'c, Cam rubbed his tired eyes. "Listen, buddy, I'm a bit confused. Why the happy face?" Cam nodded his thanks to Sam when she set a fresh cup of coffee in front of him and retook her seat across the table.

"Yeah, Teal'c, why? We all know that you and Vala have a close bond. How can you be happy about this?"

Teal'c took a look around the room, leaned close and spoke quietly to his companions. "At 0400 I decided to speak with ValaMalDoran, concerning some information...from our time on the Odyssey." He noted the disbelieving looks from his friends. "I felt there was a greater need for revealing a very small amount of information concerning DanielJackson that would insure her remaining with SG-1, than keeping it to myself."

Cam looked at his watch. "Really?" He crossed his arms, relaxed into his chair and listened more intently.

Sam squared her shoulders, placed her elbows on the table, slowly entwined her fingers and propped her chin atop her hands. "Go on."

"As I reached her corridor, I spied DanielJackson standing at her closed door. I waited. After some time, I assume of reflection, he quite loudly knocked upon her door. ValaMalDoran almost immediately opened it, completely dressed in her traveling attire."

"The leather getup?" Cam smiled at the memory.

"Indeed."

When Teal'c remained silent, Sam's hands came out from under her chin, and she held them out in frustration. "What!? What happened?"

"ValaMalDoran told DanielJackson, in terms not to be misconstrued, that she was leaving and expressed her misunderstanding that he would be quite happy."

"Misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding? He walked out on her after that... well, that confession in the Gateroom before the entire team, Landry, Walter, and a platoon of SF's!"

"Indeed, ColonelMitchell."

"Teal'c, buddy, come on, give us somethin' here, we're dyin' of curiosity." Grabbing his head, Cam squeezed it, tormented. "What the hell did you tell her!?"

"I did not."

With a weary sigh, Sam asked, "Did not what?"

"I did not have an opportunity to tell her. DanielJackson sprang forward..."

"Oh my god! What did he say to her! Damn him! What did he say?" Sam's eyes went round as her mouth dropped open.

"He did not 'say' anything. Instead, DanielJackson pulled her into an embrace and kissed her. Quite passionately - from what I could see from my vantage point. Without breaking the 'lip lock', as ValaMalDoran is so fond of calling it, DanielJackson moved her backwards into her quarters. It was quite a feat; he is very dexterous and inventive. I believe he must be an excellent dancer."

Cam suddenly laughed at the Jaffa's depiction of Daniel.

Sam locked admonishing eyes on Cam a moment before turning once again to Teal'c. "Then what happened?"

"Right as I turned away, I noted part of her leather attire as it flew across the room, then the door was slammed shut."

"Ah, boy!" Sam's big blue eyes blinked in shock.

"Well kiss my gran'maw – you are kiddin' me!"

Teal'c sat back smiling from ColonelMitchell to ColonelCarter. "It appears DanielJackson has learned his lesson. Though it took much longer than I anticipated following the events of..." Teal'c stopped suddenly, eyebrow rising, and bowed apologetically to his teammates.

Cam leaned forward, "are you sayin' those two 'hooked up' on the Odyssey?"

"I said no such thing."

End of series Lessons Never Learned-As some of you know, it's not always quite the end for me-I tend to come back and haunt/revisit series-there may be more to come sometime in the future, B

A/N: thanks to Mrs.Pollifax for the inspiring and incredible Beta (and all the commas). Any mistakes are most definitely mine! Also, Thanks Bug! For reading and spewing and giving me headaches from laughing. And many thanks to all for the reviews and comments.