Chapter 21: Forgery

Set after The Ark of Truth, before Carter leaves for Atlantis.

"Think you'll get to go this time?" Mitchell asked.

"Oh, I don't know…" Daniel mused. "There's still a lot going on here. Even without the Ori threat, there's a lot that can be learned from studying the Ark, and there is Vala to look after."

"Full time job, that girlfriend of yours."

The two men's pace through the hallway was leisurely, due in no small part to Mitchell's recent injuries. He still limped a little, and he hadn't been cleared for active duty yet, but it was good to be back on the base.

"Good time to catch up on your paperwork," Landry had told him. Mitchell had nodded, inwardly grumbling that more time spent on the Kansas prairies, beautiful blonde high school crush included, would do more for him than sitting around Daniel's office. He had an office of his own…somewhere…

"Yeah. She won't come out and say it of course, but Adria's death was hard on her, and-" Daniel broke off suddenly as a figure blew past between them.

"Whoa! Dany!" Mitchell called. "What's the emergency?"

"I'm late!" She turned, hardly breaking pace. "I don't need to add tardiness to Landry's laundry list of reasons to fire me!" And she was gone.

Mitchell and Daniel stared at each other in confusion, then picked up their own pace to follow her. They entered the briefing room to find General O'Neill there as well. Dany and Major Davis stood in a line before the grim senior officers.

Landry's voice shook the air as he bellowed, "Explain to me how the hell this happened!"

"What's going on?" Daniel asked.

"Take a seat, Dr. Jackson," Landry said, not looking at him. "The rest of your team should be here shortly. Major Davis here is going to explain it to us."

"You can't blame it all on him," Dany interjected.

"Oh, no?" Landry looked her. "He is the ranking officer, and as his report states in no uncertain terms, he's taking full responsibility for the matter!"

Dany glared at Davis. "Were you planning on telling me this?"

"I figured I'd save us the argument," Davis replied calmly.

"What's going on?"

Sam had arrived, Teal'c and Vala in tow.

"Take a seat, all of you," Landry said. "Major Davis is about to regale us with a story, and Captain O'Neill is going to keep her mouth shut while he tells it."

It wasn't lost on Mitchell that General O'Neill had been silent for the exchange. The general, though by no means short on gumption, looked older and older every time they saw him, but the shadows on his face now were of a different sort. He was studying Dany with something like disappointment. When the others took their seats, he remained leaning on the stair rail, arms folded.

Dany and Davis remained standing.

Three days earlier…

"…The mountains east of the settlement are rich in Trinium," Carter was explaining. "In fact, the mineral is so abundant there, we could set up a mining operation at the far end of the range without disturbing the population at all."

"So let's do it," said Jack. "Talk it over. Establish a trade agreement. Do whatever it is you do. You didn't need to drag me all the way from Washington for this. Nice to see you all, by the way."

"There's one problem," Daniel said. "They wouldn't negotiate with us."

"Why not? You're all nice people. Ish."

"Don't look at me," put in Vala. "I was perfectly well behaved."

"Yeeaah." Daniel glanced sidelong at her before continuing. "The Domarins live by a very specific set of morals. They value family above all else and distrust anyone they perceive doesn't hold to the same standards."

"They don't think we like family? I love family!" O'Neill looked at Dany. "Right?"

"Yuh huh."

"Anyway, they wouldn't negotiate with us because none of us were married."

"You were married once!" O'Neill pointed out.

"So was I," said Vala. "Several times, in fact."

"A fact that you mentioned and probably cost us the Trinium," added Mitchell.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Vala said. "We go back, tell them Daniel and I got married, and seal the deal. So to speak."

"Heh, I wouldn't believe you either," General Landry said after a moment. "But we can always get another SG team to pull the same ploy."

"Kinda what I was thinking," Daniel said.

"Deception?" O'Neill asked.

"Pretty much. Yeah."

"Sir," said Carter from her place by the screen, "we could really use the Trinium."

"It has proved valuable in the past," said Teal'c.

"I don't like it, Sir," Carter continued, "but if we sent in a couple of representatives from the SGC, they could pose as…well, a couple, and probably get the job done."

"I think they'd be willing to negotiate for the Trinium, as long as they knew we were willing to meet them on their terms," Daniel said.

"You people are already off the list, since you've already been there," said Landry, "but I can have SG-3 ready within the hour."

"No, I want Davis and Dany on this," O'Neill said. When the two liaisons raised their eyebrows, he added, "It's too important. I need my most experienced negotiators."

"Never thought that's a description I'd hear of myself," Dany said, nudging Daniel with her elbow. He smiled.

"Sir, just to make sure I'm hearing this right," Davis said. "You want us to pretend to be…"

"Married. Yes. Just until they agree to let us set up a mine."

Davis looked at O'Neill, Landry, Daniel, and finally Mitchell in turn.

"It'd only be for a couple of days," Mitchell said.

"During which you will do anything and everything you need to to convince them," Landry said.

"In public," O'Neill added.

"How soon can you be ready?" Landry asked.

"Well, I…" Davis looked at Dany. "Captain?"

"Dany," Daniel corrected him. "Remember to use first names."

"An hour…Paul."

SG-1

The old man was quaint, welcoming, and full of smiles. Davis instantly wished he was back at the Pentagon.

"My name is Paul. This is my wife Danielle."

"Dany," the Captain corrected him, with a warm smile. She shook the old man's hand.

"Vizeer. I am one of the Elders here. You were sent by Daniel Jackson?"

"Yes, he said you were reluctant to negotiate with him," Davis said. "We were hoping to show you that the values of your people and the values of our own are not so different."

A touch of honesty. A dash of familiarity. Connection.

Vizeer's grin widened. "Come. Come. To my daughter's home."

As they walked, he continued speaking. "I did like Daniel, you understand. Fine man. But grim! Full of shadows."

"He lost his wife several years ago," the Captain said softly. "He's never really gotten over that."

"Such love!" agreed Vizeer. "Who does? But one cannot live alone forever."

"Sometimes our sorrows get the better of us," Dany said.

"Ah! You speak as one who knows. But you have now found happiness, yes?"

She grinned awkwardly at Davis. "Yes.

SG-1

"And here are your quarters!"

The room Vizeer showed them to was in the main temple. Whatever gods these people had worshiped, they now revered merely as providers of shelter. Dany wondered that Daniel hadn't mentioned it before.

"It's beautiful, thank you," she told Vizeer.

"I will leave you now, but there is a feast in the courtyard, in your honor. One thirtieth of a turning of the sun, yes?"

"A mouthful," Davis remarked when he was gone.

"Can't expect everyone to measure time the same way we do." Dany stared at the room. Lush, rich colors. One giant bed. A honeymoon suite for guests. These people sure took their sex seriously. She wondered if she and Davis would be forced to invent children.

"What's our story?" she asked aloud. "In case they ask."

"Newlyweds," Davis said. "It will explain the tension."

Rapidly mounting, she thought.

"We met through work. Don't change any facts, save our marital status. It'll be easier to remember that way."

"Right."

SG-1

At the center of the temple was a courtyard, and at the center of that was a bonfire. Vizeer, after a formal welcome and general introduction, led them to his family. The table around which they gathered was low, almost Japanese style, but there were furs and blankets and cushions to lounge, and plenty of wine to make up for whichever parts of you could not be made comfortable. Dany settled in as close to Davis as she dared.

He made quite a story of it over olives and cheese and something that was not quite bread. They were interrupted frequently, by musicians or dancers or storytellers or just other families who wanted to meet the newcomers. By the time Vizeer's son, Aman, and daughter-in-law, Lianna, had started in on their interrogation, Davis had quite an audience.

"How did you meet?"

"Through our jobs," Davis explained. "On our planet, we are both soldiers."

"Soldiers?"

"Warriors. We defend our people, particularly those who can't defend themselves."

"Like me!" piped a small girl.

"Yes." Davis smiled at her. "Exactly like you."

"Though I know other small girls who would protest being called defenseless," Dany amended icily.

"You are really a warrior?" Aman asked.

Dany nodded. "And a scholar. You don't always have to be only one thing on our planet."

"Most women aren't on any planet," Lianna said with a twinkle. Dany grinned at her.

"She's a good one too," Davis said, with no small amount of pride. "She's saved my life more than once, and she fought a monster on one of our recent missions."

"A monster!" several younger voices cried. "Truly?"

Lianna laughed. "Back to the story. How did you meet?"

Davis cleared his throat. "Several years ago, we were expecting an attack and had to evacuate a number of our people. Dany had just finished her training and ended up being assigned as my assistant. She did so well, I ended up asking that the assignment be permanent."

"And how did you fall in love?" Aman asked in a low voice.

Davis coughed.

"Slowly," Dany answered for them both. "So slowly, in fact, I hardly knew it was happening."

"Then something happened, and you knew?" Lianna asked knowingly.

Dany looked over at her superior officer. "He got sick. A lot of people did, actually. I was far away, on another planet. I had another assignment with another expedition. We're explorers, as our friend Daniel may have told you, and my travels took me a long way from home. But I was called back, because he was ill, and my uncle needed someone else who could do our job."

"And then you knew?"

"Yes."

"I knew sooner," Davis admitted.

"One day she appeared, and she was suddenly beautiful," suggested Aman.

"You're a smart man," Davis told him with a grin. "But it wasn't just that. It's…hard to explain."

"And how long ago were you married?"

"Uh…a few months," Davis said. "Not long at all."

"Ah! So soon!" Aman cried. "We'll try to give you some time alone, ah? During your stay."

Dany felt, rather than saw, Davis blush.

SG-1

"Forgive my children's enthusiasm," Vizeer said as he walked them back to their room. "They love a good romance. We all do. But, I am not a fool. I can tell your people have a certain amount of reserve."

"For no lack of feeling, I can assure you," Davis told him.

"I understand. I too have traveled." The old man winked at Dany. "As you have respected our customs by coming here as your planet's representatives, I shall in turn respect yours. Tell me if they get too nosy. Like old women."

Dany laughed, and Vizeer held the door open for her.

The room was cordially lit with large candles, and a balmy breeze flowed through the open window. A thin curtain kept out any curious bugs.

"A pleasant night to you both. We will talk of trade and what our two peoples might learn from one another in the morning. In the meantime, I do hope you enjoy your stay.

Dany was removing her boots when he reappeared suddenly, opening the door without so much as a knock. Both Air Force officers stared at him.

"I forgot. I forgot. I'll be quick. My rooms are at the left hand of the hall, on the corner. My son Aman's, two doors closer. Goodnight! Goodnight!"

The door closed again behind him.

"Accommodating, aren't they?" remarked Davis sarcastically.

They stripped down to essentials. Proprietary essentials, of course. Shirts and trousers stayed firmly on, but anything that poked, such as belts and boots, went into neat piles in separate corners of the room. Dany blew out the candles on her side, Davis on his.

She was under the covers first, and after shuffling until she was comfortable, listened in the dark for him to join her. He wasn't the sort of man to make a lot of noise, and he slid in easily, adjusting himself as she had done. After a moment, she heard the sheets rustle again, and felt him much, much closer. An arm around her, lifting her gently, a shoulder adjusting itself under her head. A hand gripped hers lightly, dragging her arm until it lay across his stomach.

"In case Vizeer comes back," Davis explained softly to the dark. "I wouldn't put it past him. Besides, it allows me the opportunity to express something to you I'm not allowed to say out loud."

She squeezed his hand back.

SG-1

The next day was brighter and sunnier than the last, and Davis and Dany found breakfast laid out for them on their windowsill.

Bellies comfortably full, they wandered the temple until they found Vizeer, Aman, and another man talking quietly in the courtyard.

"Forgive me, guests, for not attending you personally this morning," Vizeer said, bowing lightly. "We are having an issue with our mill. It could not wait."

"Part of the wheel broke off in the night. It wasn't discovered until an hour ago, and most of our men are already in the fields," the other man explained.

"They need every hand they can get," said Vizeer. "I'm so sorry. I'm afraid our negotiations will have to wait until I return."

"I'll do it," Dany said.

All four men blinked at her.

She glared at Davis in response. "I haven't ignored everything you've said about engineering over the years, and I'm not weak," she added for the other men's benefit. "If all you need is extra hands, I have two. We can leave these guys to their negotiations."

"You're sure?" asked Davis, a hand on her arm.

"Yep. I'd rather repair a mill than discuss the finer points of mining rights any day."

SG-1

The Captain – Dany, Davis reminded himself, had been gone five hours now. He knew because he kept checking his watch.

"She will be alright," Vizeer said kindly. "The men will not allow her to do anything dangerous."

"Allow? No one allows Dany to do anything. She just does it."

"A free spirit, eh? This does not bother you?"

Davis shrugged, then found himself answering honestly. "She's not what I'd have picked for myself, if I had been looking. But if she was anything other than what she is-"

He was cut off by the click of the radio.

"S-Paul?"

"Go ahead."

"Just wanted to let you know this might take a bit longer. I'm not sure we'll be back before dark."

"What's taking so long?"

"Damned if I know. My engineering expertise ended with 'the wheel fell off.'"

Davis fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Maybe we should dial home and see if someone at the SGC can help."

"That might not be a bad – Hey! No! Don't do that!"

"Dany?"

"A kid just jumped in, sir! I'll have to call you back!"

"Dany?"

"Shit! I'll-"

The line didn't go dead, not directly. There was time for a scream, and men's cries, and a breaking and straining that could only have been the failing of some enormous structure, and then a terrific splash. Then there was nothing.

"Dany? Dany!"

Davis stared at his radio in horror.

A minute passed, maybe more, during which he stared at Vizeer, wondering if he should be running instead of waiting.

Then the radio clicked again.

"All safe, sir. Though I don't think we're fixing this wheel tonight."

Davis sat down hard. His fingers as they reached for the switch on his radio were clumsy. "Don't ever do that to me again, Dany, you hear me? Everyone's okay?"

"Yep. All accounted for. This kid fell in the pond – I guess she wasn't paying attention. They were playing some game. Then the wheel fell completely off."

"I've got it. Glad your safe."

"Could do with a change of clothes."

"Get your ass back here."

"Yes, sir."

When he looked up, Vizeer was regarding him with amusement.

"What?"

"An awful lot of fear for a simple missing wheel."

"She's always…and I'm always…It's a pretty serious thing to be in a pond when a giant wheel falls in it!"

"Still, you look as though all the enemies of the known universe crashed down on you just now."

"If something had happened to her, they might as well have."

Vizeer's face wrinkled at all corners. "At last I understand you fully, Paul Davis. Look, here she comes."

Davis turned. Dany had appeared over the top of a hill, flanked by two small children. One was just as wet as she was, but all were smiling. Over their heads, the noon sun created halos, belying the everyday disaster than might have befallen.

"Well, lad?"

"What?" Davis asked Vizeer.

"Go and kiss her!"

As he crossed the open ground between them, Landry and O'Neill's instructions rang in his head, telling him to do whatever he had to do to sell their story, but those instructions hardly mattered now. They fell away like background noise. The children scattered before him, and he met Dany just as she was cresting the hill.

He met her full on, one hand reaching to cup the back of her head, the other brushing his P90 out of their way. She started, then grabbed the edge of his vest, pulling him close, and completed the kiss.

Two Days Later…

"At that point, sirs," Davis said, not looking at anyone. "There was no going back, not for me."

"Then I don't understand," Landry said. "Technically you followed our instructions to the letter. There's nothing here that merits this." He waved a file in Davis's face.

"It didn't end there," Dany said.

Two Days Earlier…

Wet clothes shed, treaty signed (with all parties happy), Dany and Davis were enjoying their farewell feast with Vizeer and his family. They had had entirely too much wine, and Dany was leaning comfortably against Davis's side, while he kept one arm snug around her.

"I did not believe you at first," Aman apologized. "But she is a formidable warrior. To rescue a child with so little regard for oneself…"

"It's my job," Dany explained lamely.

"Still, a job that requires you sacrifice all? You are lucky to have found each other, or you might have found you yourselves had nothing to live for."

It was a sobering thought, and when Vizeer had bid them goodnight and left them to stumble into their room on their own (not that he was holding up particularly well himself), Dany couldn't help remembering it. And she was thinking of other things too. Of her uncle and the woman who would one day be her aunt.

"I'm sorry," said Davis.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I kissed you. Vizeer suggested it, and I couldn't think of a reason not to. Your uncle and General Landry said to do whatever we had to in public, so…"

"We should spend more time in public," Dany muttered before she could stop herself.

It was all the encouragement Davis needed. When she pushed him back several minutes later, she amended, "For the record, I never said that."

"A lot of this is staying off the record," he replied.

They could have blamed it on the wine if they'd wanted. Alien wine. Who knew what was in it? But the wine wasn't responsible, and when they woke in the morning, and Dany stretched luxuriously against her coworker, superior officer, and friend, he said,

"I'm resigning tomorrow."

She shot up, clutching the sheets around herself, "Sir…"

"Don't argue, please. I mean it. I won't go back to how things were before, not after this. If they want to keep me, they'll find a way. It's not like the Stargate Program hasn't employed civilians before."

"But-"

"Dany, this is how I want things. For a long time, this is how I've wanted things. Every word I told Vizeer was true."

"Me too." She looked down, twisted a section of sheet between her fingers. "Sir…"

"One more thing. Don't ever call me 'sir' when we're naked again."

SG-1

"I hope I'll be seeing you again," Vizeer said, embracing them both.

"I'm sure you will," Dany told him. She stepped out of the embrace to take Paul's hand again, and the two stepped through the Stargate together.

On the other side, their hands dropped away from each other, and they walked down the ramp as separate beings.

The Next Day…

"So I resigned," Davis finished.

"And you think we're going to keep you, just like that," Landry asked.

"No, sir, but I had to say something to keep the Captain from arguing about it."

"She wouldn't have been out of line. The two of you are dismissed. For now. I want you back here in an hour. In the meantime, I'll be considering how to deal with you."

SG-1

"Are you alright?" O'Neill closed the door to Dany's office behind him.

"Well, aside from my impending dishonorable discharge, yes."

"Dany, sometimes older men-"

Dany coughed, loudly, and O'Neill shut up.

"This was my decision as much as his," she told him. "And you of all people should know it's not always like that."

"I wasn't trying to start a trend!"

"Really? I know how much you love clichés."

O'Neill rolled his eyes.

"Uncle Jack, for one moment can we just say exactly what we mean, instead of the edges of it? Did you really ever think I'd settle down with some civilian, someone who had no clue who I was or what I did? This job is everything to me."

He looked down. "No. You're too much like me." After a moment, "Which means you wouldn't be doing this unless it was really important to you."

Dany cracked the slightest of smiles.

"I get it," O'Neill said. "I do. But you need to work on your discretion a little if we're going to save your career."

"Hey, I'm not the one who resigned. Talk to my boss. Former boss."

SG-1

"Of all the irresponsible, bone-headed – yes, Ms. Mal Doran, I am aware of the innuendo in that statement – things either of you could have done. Do you understand the scrutiny we're under, that all of our actions are under?"

"Yes, sir," Davis said to Landry, "which is why I decided to make it easier on you by resigning."

"And you think that makes the problem go away, do you?" Landry rubbed his forward. "Captain, you've been awfully quiet. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Dany had been standing through the last few paragraphs of Landry's tirade with her hands behind her back and her face scrunched up. Now, though addressed directly, she was hardly aware of the general's question. She simply answered aloud with the realization that had been slowly coming to her.

"It's Uncle Jack's fault."

"Excuse me?" Landry barked.

"Dany…" Davis said warningly.

Her head shot up, and she looked around at the three of them. "No, you-" to Uncle Jack "-you knew. You knew how we felt about each other. You knew before I did, and still you sent us on this ridiculous mission – which everyone else here was qualified for – knowing full well that it would stir things up. Which can only mean you…you set us up?"

Landry looked over at O'Neill, all traces of anger gone. "Told you they'd figure it out."

"Yeah…" O'Neill said, pushing himself off his perch on the railing.

"What?" said Davis,

"Jackson, you owe me fifty bucks," said Mitchell.

"Sirs, I don't understand," Davis said.

"Neither do I, not really," said Dany.

"Dany, you're a great officer," Uncle Jack said, "but you're too much like me. And as proud as I am of that, I don't want my life for you." He wrinkled his eyes a bit as he tried to decide if the sentence made sense. "You weren't going to act until you were forced to, and since being captured by Ba'al didn't do it, we had to get creative."

"Vizeer was in on it," supplied Davis, realization dawning in his expression.

"Course he was," said Daniel. "We negotiated that contract weeks ago. Of course, everything we said was true. Vizeer's people value family above all else, and when we told them about the two of you, they agreed to help."

"Major Davis," said General Landry with a finality that suggested he was bored of the conversation, or at least pretending to be, "your resignation is denied. You will continue in the post of liaison for the Pentagon and the Department of Homeworld Security, under General O'Neill's command. Captain O'Neill will continue under mine and Dr. Weir's. The two of you will never again be assigned a mission on which you are her direct superior."

"With all due respect, sir," said Davis, "that can't be enough to satisfy regulations."

"You're right, it's not. But I wasn't finished. Major, since you took full responsibility for the incident, you will suffer the punishment for it. You will be denied promotion for a period to be determined by myself and General O'Neill. You should have been a colonel years ago, but we'll be delaying that quite a while longer."

"Understood, sir."

"Happy with that, are you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, you shouldn't be." Landry's face clamped down on itself. "You two look like you got caught stealing cookies, and we just handed you the jar. That's not the case here. This is the most difficult mission we've ever handed you two, and if you're lucky, it'll last the rest of your lives."

"Moreover, it's being stricken from the record," added Uncle Jack. "Which means both of you will need to be more careful. No one can know about this aside from the people in this room. And that lasts as long as both of you are in the military."

"Sir, won't it be difficult to keep this off the IOA's radar?"

"It's been done before."

"You're all dismissed," said Landry. "I've got real work to do."

They filed out, Dany in a fog. Davis's hand brushed hers, as if he couldn't quite believe it was real, and stayed there, touching but not grasping. Daniel squeezed her shoulder has he walked by, and Vala shot her a wink as she trotted after him. Mitchell followed without a word, Teal'c with as pleased a nod as he ever gave.

"And then there were four…" Uncle Jack said. "Lunch?"

"It's dinner time, sir," said Sam.

"Right."

"And I'm guessing they have some talking to do."

"Also…This is awkward."

"Not really," Dany told him. "And as I said, your fault."

"I didn't expect things to go quite that far…"

She raised her eyebrows. "At which particular point did you think they were going to stop?"