Found - part 25

The holidays from uni are here, and so is chapter 25! I hope you enjoy it.

Vala stepped out of the wormhole and shivered. The evening air was crisp, and a chilled breeze ruffled her hair. She felt the air move around her and knew SG-1 and Daniel had proceeded ahead of her, made effectively invisible by their personal Sodan cloaking devices. Tossing her head back, she marched toward the tavern the jaffa had laid claim to, a bag of gold hefted over her shoulder.

She had not even rapped on the door of the tavern before the door was opened and she was roughly grabbed and hauled inside.

"Hey, hey, hey! Watch where you put those hands!" She protested, dusting herself off indignantly.

"Do you have our money?" A large jaffa dressed entirely in leather advanced on her.

"Yes I do. Do you have the hostages?"

"Of course. You'll get them if you pay up." He twitched the curtains at the front of the tavern. "Where's the boy?"

"What boy?" Vala adopted an innocent smile.

"Don't play games. We know you've been travelling with a boy. We have his parents."

"Ah yes. I left him on a nice friendly planet, out of harm's way. You know what teenagers are like, he might have tried something stupid and heroic and got me killed."

The jaffa snorted humorlessly. "Wise move." He nodded at two of his goons, and they grabbed her arms.

"Give us what you owe."

Vala cocked her head. "It's in the bag."

"With interest?" The jaffa asked. They yanked the bag out of her grasp and peered inside. "This isn't enough."

"Well you didn't tell me about the interest!" Vala protested. "In that bag is the exact amount I owe you."

"Well that's not good enough." He loomed over her menacingly. "And you are going to suffer the consequences."

"Hey!" The menace was distracted by a cry from one of his associates.

"What is it?" He demanded impatiently, as gunfire erupted in the back room of the tavern.

"The prisoners are escaping!" All but one of the goons rushed out to the back room, leaving Vala with the relatively easy task of kicking her remaining guard upside the head and knocking him out, before running after them.

Meanwhile, Sam, Jack, Teal'c and Jase were busy attempting to hold their own against the jaffa, with the zats they'd been passed by SG-1, while their invisible friends backed them up. The fight was going well: with the jaffa's attention focused on the visible targets, SG-1 and Daniel were able to move around and take out the jaffa with little danger of being shot.

Vala burst into the room and immediately had to duck a blow from a particularly burly jaffa. She shot him with her own previously concealed zat, and ran for cover. Quickly scanning the room, she took in the positions of the four hostages and the jaffa; she could only guess at SG-1's respective locations. An older man and woman were huddled together behind a table, taking shots with impressive accuracy – they must be Luke's parents, Vala thought. A jaffa was crouched not far away, and she guessed from his direction of fire and the golden tattoo on his forehead that this was Teal'c. The last hostage, a boy who couldn't be more than a few years older that Luke, was stood behind a pillar, shooting rapidly if not entirely accurately. She shot two jaffa who were advancing on her, and edged her way towards the youngest hostage.

And then she saw the jaffa coming up behind them. He was going to shoot the boy.

No.

She dived, and knocked Jase out of the way before the staff blast could hit him, but a searing pain in her leg told her she hadn't been so lucky. Impressively, the boy recovered quickly and took out the jaffa with a single shot from his zat, before dragging her backwards to the overturned table Teal'c was installed behind. The battle was over in seconds after that, as SG-1 took care of the few remaining jaffa.

Daniel was the first to shut off his personal cloak. "Hey guys." He greeted Sam, Jack and Teal'c with a wave.

"Nice rescue." Jack commented, levering himself up. He jumped as Jennifer Haley materialized right next to him. "Haley."

"Colonel." She nodded at him. "The building's secure. All the jaffa are incapacitated."

"Thanks."

"Er, guys?" Jase called out to them, still half-cradling Vala. "I think she needs help."

"Who is she?" Sam asked, making her way over to the injured woman.

"Vala Mal Doran." Vala answered. "Now if you wouldn't mind, I have a hole in my leg, and I'd quite like to fix it." She grimaced against the pain, as Sam and Jack exchanged shocked looks.

"We were here looking for you!" Sam exclaimed.

Vala looked at her askance. "You were?" Daniel passed her a goa'uld healing device, and she quickly slid her hand into it and held it over her leg.

Sam and Jack's eyes widened even further at this.

"Used to be a host." Vala explained shortly at their alarmed looks.

"Listen, guys, there's something you need to know." Daniel said, putting a hand on Sam's arm. "When Vala here turned up at the SGC, she wasn't alone. Luke was with her."

Sam nearly fainted, and sat down heavily on a conveniently placed chair. Jack put a hand on her shoulder for support.

"Are you sure it's him?"

"Yes, Tally has confirmed it. It is definitely Luke."

"Is he –" Jack started.

"He's fine." Daniel assured him. "He's safe back at the SGC with Tally."

Vala finished healing her leg, and with Jase's help, she stood up. "Well there's no point in hanging around here."

"The woman has a point." Major Wyatt commented, and held the door open for them. "Let's move out."

They all filed out, Sam and Jack following in a daze.

Tally gripped Luke's hand tightly as they waited in the control room. If the rescue mission had been successful, SG-1 should be returning with the hostages any moment now. Dr Weir stood with them, slightly uncomfortable about the youngsters' presence, in case the mission had been a bust.

The gate suddenly started spinning, making the two O'Neill children jump. Everyone watched tensely, waiting for the IDC. The wormhole formed behind the iris, and the seconds ticked by.

"Sergeant?" Weir prompted, impatiently.

"Nothing yet ma'am …. wait, we're receiving an IDC. It's SG-1."

"Open the iris."

Tally's grip on Luke's hand tightened.

With a wet noise, ten people trooped one by one through the wormhole. Luke and Tally's eyes scanned the people urgently as they came through; Daniel, Vala, Haley, Wyatt … Teal'c!

Luke let go of his sister's hand and flew down the stairs, Tally not far behind. If Teal'c was there …

They got into the room just as Sam, Jack and Jase came through the gate; Luke was wrapped in his mother's arms before anyone could blink. Within another second, Jase had swept Tally into his arms, and Jack held his wife and son tightly. SG-1, Daniel, Vala, Teal'c and Dr Weir all looked on fondly from the bottom of the ramp. Jack looked up at Daniel and Weir gratefully as Tally joined the group hug with Sam and Luke, still holding Jase's hand.

"Thank you." Jack said with feeling.

"You're welcome." Daniel replied. "But it's really Vala you should thank."

"She took care of me when I got to this galaxy." Luke told them.

"And she just saved my life." Jase added. Tally looked up at him sharply, and then at Vala, a strange expression crossing her delicate features.

"Thank you." Sam said to the dark haired woman, tearfully.

"You're welcome." Vala said nonchalantly, tossing her hair back behind her shoulders. Tally let go of her family and walked down the ramp to Vala. She stood in front of the older woman, struggling for the right words.

"I … I think I misjudged you."

Vala smiled brightly at her. "I told you it would all work out."

"Yes, you did. Vala … thank you, for saving Jase's life." Tally said sincerely.

Vala winked at her, and skipped after SG-1, hooking her arm through Daniel's as they headed out to the infirmary.

Jase wrapped his arms round Tally from behind. "Friend of yours?"

Tally smiled slightly.

"Maybe."

What did you think? I could have made the reunion with Sam, Jack and Luke more drawn out and mushy, but ... I didn't. The next chapter is the last.

Beka :-)