Vala walked Rayna to her room and helped her settle in. Her bag had been delivered and Rayna wanted to wash and then lay down for a rest. It had been an exciting and exhausting day for her. Vala showed her the bathroom, explained how the shower worked and that there was no real bath in the bathroom. Rayna was intrigued by the shower; it turned out that she couldn't have cared less about taking an actual bath. Vala's opinion was if you wanted to get clean the shower was best though tubs were fun for two people. But then so were showers if it was the right two people. Thinking about showers and tubs turned her mind to Daniel. Rayna assured Vala that she would be fine and planned to sleep until she returned. Vala stepped into the hall and headed off to meet Daniel in his office. On her way she made a slight detour to Rose's area, she always stopped in after off-world missions to share stories with the gang. When she had worn their handiwork Vala made a point to let them know how much all of SG-1 appreciated their hard work, skill and attention to detail. Rose would thank her and they would all pretend that they believed SG-1 even knew who they were. Everyone enjoyed Vala's recognition and support. Her insistence that SG-1 shared her appreciation simply served to endear her to them even more.
Vala was in a rush to see Daniel, but there was no way she'd ignore her gang, they'd always been there for her when she'd needed their comfort and friendship. She skipped down the hall to the elevator and rode it up the two floors to the laundry. Rose was standing in the open doorway to the workroom and spotted Vala as she came around the corner.
"Vala! Good to see you. Get in here and tell us about the mission." Rose gave Vala a quick hug and dragged her into her office. "Hey guys. Guess who's here?"
Three other members of her gang were on duty. They were doing hand sewing which they put down on the work table before gathering outside of Rose's office. Vala was sitting on Rose's desk facing the door so she could see everyone. Vala hadn't wanted to embarrass Daniel by telling everyone on base their news, but she had to share her happiness with her people. As Vala opened her mouth to talk she was interrupted.
From the moment Vala arrived Jane had been looking intently at her, squinting her eyes in order to focus in on her face. She grinned at Vala, sighed and loudly proclaimed. "You slept with him."
Everyone knew who Vala's "him" was. Tom frowned at Jane. "There is no way you could tell that." He turned to Vala. "Is it true?"
Vala didn't answer; she was sitting on the desk with her arms around her knees. Hugging herself tightly, Vala's face lit up and she gave them her "Cheshire Cat" grin. They all took that as a yes and started asking about the mission. No one mentioned Daniel again. Everyone knew what it meant to her but they respected her privacy. Rose did lean in and laughingly whispered. "You are such a space slut." In return Vala flashed Rose one of her immense grins.
They knew that Vala would talk to them later, having correctly guessed that she still hadn't figured out tall he consequences of what must have happened between her and Daniel. Openly talking about her sexuality led some people to assume she was equally open about all aspects of her life. Others at SGC might not consider Vala a very private person but her friends knew better. And her gang shared their secrets with Vala confident that they would never be repeated.
As two Airmen walked down the hall they could hear the laughter from the Laundry, they exchanged knowing looks and one said with a smile. "Vala's back."
She was making them laugh with her observations about life on the planet, repeating Mitchell's jokes, how much SG-1 appreciated the bathroom at the inn and the flowers that were everywhere. Then she described the intricate details of the clothing worn by the "Stepford leprechauns" on the planet. Vala caught Rose's attention when she explained a little about how the people were strangely unaware of the history of their culture, how Daniel had theorized that they had been pretty much dumped on their planet with cultural amnesia. Vala and Daniel would be searching for written accounts, folk songs, and fairy tales in their research. Rose knew that she and her people could help. They would compare clothing designs, materials, styles of sewing, etc. to other cultures and possibly provide some context to whatever information turned up in Daniel's search. Vala knew that she didn't have to ask her, Rose had known what Vala was thinking as soon as she started to describe the villagers.
"We'll be happy to help however we can. Once you send me some sketches and arrange for me to speak with Rayna I'll start searching our databases."
"Thanks. Daniel and I'll appreciate whatever you guys are willing to do to help us solve the mystery." Vala wasn't exactly lying, she was sure that Daniel would appreciate it once she told him about it. He wouldn't dismiss anyone's attempts to discover the truth.
Vala jumped off the desk. "I've got to fly guys. I'm meeting Daniel and then we're going to eat."
They all laughed when Tom said. "Daniel and food, two of your favorite things in all the world, Vala. Though in what order? Would Daniel win out over food?"
Vala appeared to seriously think about the question. "I don't think anything wins out over blue jell-o." She blew them a kiss as she skipped out of the workroom and into the hall.
Rose looked at her team and sighed. "It's about time."
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Vala walked into Daniel's office where he was sitting at his desk trying to translate some of the writing they had found on the wall in the Well of History. He had about ten large reference books in a precarious pile around the copy of the text that he was trying to read, He looked up when he heard Vala enter the room.
"I was wondering where you were. Did you and Rayna have any problems?"
"No, she's fine. I just had an errand to run."
Vala walked over to Daniel's desk. She hadn't been nervous until she was in the elevator. When they had walked through the gate Vala hadn't expected Daniel to shout out that he was in love with her. Daniel probably expected her to, and she had to admit that it had crossed her mind for a split second. Then Mitchell stopped to check with them how they wanted him to handle their new relationship. Vala and Daniel had been caught off guard by his question; in fact they hadn't gotten around to discussing it with each other before they left. They had been fixated on each other most of the time and then focused on their ascended Nox theory and hadn't talked about any future plans. Daniel had said that he wasn't going to let her out of his sight for the next forty years, but he'd whispered it only to her. Vala knew Daniel loved her; she just wasn't sure what that would mean once they returned to Earth. He'd had the perfect love and perfect marriage with the frelling perfect Sha're, they'd shared the ultimate fairy tale romance. Before Daniel could say anything to Mitchell she'd jumped in and eliminated the need for Daniel to answer. Vala wanted to give him time and space, he loved her but that didn't mean that he was ready to completely integrate her into his life.
Vala was standing behind his chair not saying anything. Daniel swiveled his chair around, stood up and took her face between his hands. Smiling Daniel asked "Are you okay? You look so serious." There was no expression on her face and her eyes looked sad. Daniel knew she loved him but felt that something was pulling her away from him. She seemed so tentative. He hoped her old spirit would return soon, even as he thought it he remembered the old saying, "be very careful what you wish for, you might just get it", which made him laugh out loud. Daniel leaned towards Vala to kiss her when she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him away.
Daniel had looked so sweet when he smiled at her that it terrified Vala. She berated herself that she would even think that she could be happy, let alone be responsible for someone else's happiness. She had indulged herself with childish fantasies for long enough and the sooner this was put to an end the better it would be for all involved. She would be doing Daniel a favor; in fact she figured that she would destroy "them" because she loved Daniel. Vala had read Hamlet say that you had to be cruel to be kind and that's what she meant to do. Daniel would be better off without her and eventually she would be better off without him. For a moment the pain in her stomach made Vala think she just might be wrong about that. But Vala was, if nothing else, an expert at repressing her feelings.
Vala stepped away from Daniel before he could kiss her. "Serious? What are you talking about? I couldn't be happier." We may have found people who can help us with the Ori, those same people may be ascended Nox and we just finished a most enjoyable dalliance on planet, what shall we call it, PX-Nox perhaps. Remember Daniel, what happens on PX-Nox stays on PX-Nox." Vala gave Daniel one of her widest grins and started to walk backwards out of the room. "I'll get Rayna and meet everyone for dinner."
"Stop, Vala. Right now! You aren't going anywhere!" Daniel yelled at Vala before she made her escape out the door.
Vala kept smiling but stopped in the door jamb. She wasn't sure what Daniel was going to say but she had withstood torture before and was sure that she could handle anything. Vala had a lot more experience enduring pain than enduring love. Pain becomes your friend after a while; it reminds you that you are alive.
Daniel was now smiling at Vala. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. I was terrified that you might think our time there together had any real meaning. I was thrilled when you told Cam to ignore what happened between us; I realized that you understood how awful it would have been." Daniel smiled, disarming Vala enough to let him get close. She noticed he had a very strange scary look in his eyes. He didn't look angry so much as crazed.
"My God, Vala. Can you just imagine it? The sheer horror of it. The two of us spend an amazing three days together, and admit we're madly in love. With each other, no less. Then we share out happiness with our friends and all the people of planet "It's a small world". Think of what you saved me from. True love, happiness, fulfillment, a meaningful existence, I could go on. Did I mention true love?"
Vala wasn't sure what he was saying or what exactly she was hearing. She hadn't been sure how he would react, but it wasn't this. Vala looked as confused as she felt. Daniel smiled at her expression, put his arms around her and pulled her tightly to his chest. He put his mouth close to her ear kissing and nibbling on her ear as he continued.
"Vala, you really thought you could get out of this so easily? Get out while the getting's good. Save someone from themselves by not allowing them to be in love with you. The good old self-fulfilling prophecy of a loveless and lonely life. It hurts me more than it hurts you." Vala was severely distracted by Daniel's mouth but somehow she managed to listen to every word he said.
"Did you imagine that I wouldn't know what you were trying to do? I am the master of emotional self-destructive behavior. Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt." He started moving his kisses around from her ear to her face and eventually her lips. At the same time he pulled Vala back into the room and shut the door behind her. He pushed her body hard up against the back of the door and as she tried to talk he kissed her using his tongue to keep her quiet. She responded to his kiss and Daniel undid the top button of her shirt moving down undoing one button at a time until he reached the bottom. He pulled the unbuttoned shirt out of the waistband of her pants and started to peel her shirt off of her shoulders and then stopped cold. He backed up and walked to his desk. "Sorry. I forgot that we weren't doing the relationship thing anymore. My bad." He barely managed to turn around in time to catch her in his arms before he was knocked to the floor. They crumpled to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs. Daniel was laughing and Vala was kissing any piece of bare skin she could find, most of which ended up being on Daniel's face. They ended up with Daniel on his back and Vala straddling his chest. Instantly both of them flashed back to the Prometheus. Vala rolled off of Daniel and they laid on the floor, side by side, laughing.
Daniel struggled up to his feet and walked to his desk. He started reading the text, as he heard Vala stand up he asked. "Hey kiddo, come and take a look at this with me. I've been trying to find some sort of pattern to this writing." Vala came up behind him and leaned over his shoulder. "This is a copy of the text from the wall; it doesn't make any more sense now then it did when we first looked at it."
"Daniel, I hate to say it but I think we have to consider if the Ancients destroyed everything about their culture for a reason. What if they weren't kicked out because they were so good that they couldn't resist interfering to help people? What if they weren't nice at all but kind of evil? Maybe they interfered but in a really bad way?"