Chapter 26: In The Choices We Make
"You are a fool mother," Adria chastised shaking her head. "-and I was a fool for not realizing it earlier...nothing will turn you to the true path, will it?"
"Um-" Vala began, sarcastically thinking about her daughter's question. "-nope."
"Very well then…." Adria nodded, her eyes glowing orange for a moment before she raised her hand to her mother, ready to strike.
"Orici…" Daniel began stepping forward but it was too late. Red energy shot out of Adria's hand and encircled Vala. It settled to the ground and created a large circle around her which then sprung up into a circle of flames.
"Daniel…" Vala began looking from the fire to Daniel, her eyes pleading with him, just as she had done so long ago.
"...Daniel!" Vala cried out as the fire came closer.
"No!" Daniel cried out in panic. "You're killing an innocent person!"
"Daniel..."
"….Daniel!" Vala cried out again. She caught his eyes and knew what he was thinking. "Daniel, you thanked me once for proving you right when you said that you could take a chance on me-please Daniel! Please prove the same for me…."
'...um, look. I know that it hasn't been easy for you adjusting to your new life here, learning to trust other people and most importantly, refusing the temptation to fall back on your old ways….but you have worked hard to make a place for yourself with us and...and dinner tonight is my way of saying thank you. Thank you for, for proving me right when I said we could take a chance on you...'
"……prove that I was right by taking a chance on you!" Vala pleaded through the fire as the circle closed a little more. "Please Daniel! I always believed in you, I never once gave up on you! I've always known that you were inside there somewhere…" Vala stopped to cough, the smoke from the ever increasingly smaller fire choking her watching as Daniel took a couple of painful steps away from Adria and closer to her. "…please Daniel, it's home!"
"... You don't remember it, but you made a decision to stop running. It's over. Now it's time to come home..."
"Daniel!" Vala pleaded as she struggled to take a breath, the circle less than a foot away from her now. "You saved me once…please save me again! Pl-" Vala's pleas were cut short by a scream as the fire began to lap its way up her legs.
"NO!" Daniel cried out his right hand dropping the communication device and shooting up dousing the flames while his heart, mind and soul reached out to Vala. She was still alive but he could feel the pain of her burnt legs.
Vala swayed unsteadily for a moment, her eyes staring at Daniel blankly.
"…Daniel…?" She muttered quietly before she fainted unaware that Daniel cradled her fall with his thoughts.
"NO!" Adria cried out from behind Daniel. She too shot out her hand to crush him but Daniel was quicker than she.
Daniel whirled around and in one fell swoop shot out his own hand towards her and snatched her necklace away. It flew to his hands before she could do anything and she just stared at him in disbelief as he held it out in front of her.
IIIII
"NOOOOOOO"
The cry was ripped from his throat, and although Teal'c longed to run to his son, he knew that doing so would mean his death. So Teal'c did the only thing that he, a warrior could do. He continued to fight….
……..he fought as hard as he could, for as long as he could with Ishta at his side but it was not too long before Ishta had fallen as well and with rage that was burning inside, Teal'c continued to fight- but by the time Bra'tac fell as well- his only weapon had been knocked out of his hand and a defeated Teal'c could do nothing when several soldiers apprehended him and led him away.
IIIII
"Mitchell to team…" Mitchell stated, not knowing who was hearing his voice. "Good news...Daniel just saved Vala. This should all be over soon- so hang on..."
'Come on Vala..."He thought to himself as he continued fighting. "-you can do this….'
"Let's keep fighting Jonas…" Mitchell ordered and smiled when Jonas simply nodded and continued fighting. But before long SG-17 fell and he and Jonas were quickly surrounded. Out of ammunition Mitchell and Jonas had no chance when the Ori soldiers grabbed him and led them through the fray.
IIIII
"Anything sir…" Sam promised looking towards Jack, shocked by the look she saw in his eyes. "…anything."
"Marry me…" Jack blurted out causing Sam's breath to catch in her throat.
"M-marry you?" She echoed, the battle forgotten and the love of her life consuming her attention. "You want me to marry you?"
"More than anything…" Jack replied with a small smile. "…I wanted to ask you when I was transferred but with Cassie having such a rough time I thought…"
"Yes." Sam blurted out, a smile breaking out on her face.
"Yes?" Jack asked, not believing what she had said.
"Yes." Sam repeated and the two of them shared a smile before the door of the house they were in blew open and they were confronted by three Ori soldiers.
"Oh this so not good…" Jack muttered as he raised his gun to the soldiers, but he knew that there was no way that he was going to escape this one.
"We've been in worse before…" Sam whispered her hands behind her, taking the sangraal out of her bag and placing it on the ground behind Jack who had jumped in front of her once the soldiers had entered. "-we'll find a way out of this."
"No Sam," Jack stated sadly, taking one last look at his fiancée and the woman he had loved for the past ten years. "-we won't"
Sam's heart stopped at his words and before she could do or say anything Jack fired at the middle soldier but before the shot even hit they other two fired and Jack collapsed against Sam.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
The cry was ripped from her throat as Jack collapsed against her, barely breathing. She took one look at her fallen fiancée, the one and only love of her life before she grabbed her own weapon and fired it at all three soldiers catching them unawares.
"That was for Jack," She muttered bitterly, tears spilling over and falling down her face.
IIIII
Vala swayed unsteadily for a moment, her eyes staring at Daniel blankly.
"…Daniel…?" She muttered quietly before she fainted unaware that Daniel cradled her fall with his thoughts.
"NO!" Adria cried out from behind Daniel. She too shot out her hand to crush him but Daniel was quicker than she.
Daniel whirled around and in one fell swoop shot out his own hand towards her and snatched her necklace away. It flew to his hands before she could do anything and she just stared at him in disbelief as he held it out in front of her.
"You know Adria," Daniel began, his personality showing through his prior exterior and his milky-blue eyes blazing with absolute hatred. "Merlin was right. Knowledge really was- is the key to destroying you. I just needed to see both sides to understand just how to put that knowledge together."
And with that Daniel clenched Adria's necklace in his two hands and concentrated. After a split second it shattered. At that exact moment, Adria burst into red light and Daniel's prior exterior shattered as well, leaving him as he was when he was taken.
He blinked in a stupor for a moment, a voice resounding in his head.
'Be free my Daniel...'
Shaking the voice away he looked at his bloody palms and saw that he was normal again. That thought of relief washed over him, but it quickly dissipated when he looked around the cavern and saw Vala lying in a crumpled heap on the floor.
"NO!" The cry was ripped from his throat when he saw that she wasn't breathing. He rushed to her side and cradled her fragile body against hers.
"No Vala please…." He begged, tears welling up in his eyes as he stared down at her lifeless body. "…please you can't be gone. I did all this for you, do you hear me? I did what I did for you………..I didn't want to lose you…………………Adria threatened your life and I didn't want to lose you. I couldn't lose you-" Daniel's voice broke with emotion and a few tears fell onto her cheek. "-but it looks like I'm going to lose you anyways…."
Daniel pulled Vala's still body against his and rocked it back and forth. He had lost her, after all he had done to protect her and after all she had done to protect him. She was gone….
"God Vala…" Daniel mournfully whispered to himself as he cried. "…how could you leave me like this…I….I…." He could barely bring himself to say it but somehow, even though he knew that she couldn't hear him he knew that he had to say it anyways. "…I love you." He admitted his voice breaking. "…I love you so much…..I never thought that I would love anyone as much as I loved Shar'e but I do…I love you more Vala…..I love you more……"
As Daniel mourned within his subconscious mind, thoughts began to emerge. Memories of his time among the ancients were finally available to him and although the information from Merlin's device had totally dissipated, these new memories provided him with the knowledge that he needed. He blinked away his tears and pulled Vala away from him. With a trembling body, he placed a shaky hand on her face gently, squeezed his eyes shut as hard as he could and concentrated.
'Please…' He prayed to everyone and anyone who might be listening at this point. '…please let me save her….I love her.'
And as Daniel prayed he felt a warm glow surround him and Vala. He didn't open his eyes, but he could see when the glow climaxed to a blinding flash of light.
Daniel didn't dare open his eyes once the light had dissipated, but when he felt Vala stir beneath him, they snapped open.
"…..V….Vala?" He asked frantically, his hand still on her face while he watched her stir to life.
"Mmmm…Daniel….?" She murmured as her eyes fluttered open to lock with his.
They just stared at each other for a moment, both too shocked to say anything at first but it was Vala who snapped out of the trance first; she realised that Daniel had his hand on her face and she raised her right hand up and placed it on top of the one that was cradling her face.
"Daniel…" She whispered, afraid to shatter the wonderful dream that she was in. "…is it really you? Are you really here?"
"Yes." Daniel whispered back, tears of joy brimming in his eyes. "…It's really me. I'm really here."
"Oh Daniel!" Vala cried with joy as she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him, her heart bursting with joy and her eyes brimming with tears as well, especially when Daniel's hands snaked around her back and held her even tighter. "I was so afraid that I had lost you…" Her voice broke with emotion and her voice was racked with sobs as she let out every bit of pain, worry, fear, rage and sorrow out of her system.
"Vala…" Daniel murmured into her ear as he buried his face in her neck, almost too over come to speak himself, "you'll never lose me I promise….…I thought that I had lost you. I thought that you had died on me and I-"
"Oh Daniel…" Vala interrupted in between her tears. "…you'll never lose me. N-" Vala stopped suddenly as her peripheral vision caught a movement of red energy swirling beside them. She could see it rising in intensity quickly and she knew that is was going to attack.
"Daniel…look out!" She cried as she pushed herself away from him watching as he rolled away too, just before a blast of energy scorched the spot that they had just been sitting on.
Daniel staggered to his feet, looked up and saw the swirling mass of energy and for a split second, he wasn't sure what it was but when the energy began to form itself into a face he knew who it was.
"Adria…" He muttered, his teeth clenched with hatred. "…what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm finishing what I started." Her disembodied voice answered as it echoed around the chamber. "If I can't have my mother, no one can."
"D-" Vala cried, but before the word could even leave her lips, Adria (in her ascended form) shot out another bolt of energy at Vala and she watched as Daniel threw himself in front of it. Her heart nearly stopped when it came near him but she watched with amazement when it bounced off a blue shield that Daniel was emitting.
"Vala…" He ordered, his voice strained. "…get out of here."
"No way Daniel," Vala argued as Daniel pushed Adria's energy back at her. "-I've gone through too much to abandon you now."
"Vala!" He exclaimed in frustration broken and Adria took that moment to fully attack him and Daniel was sent flying.
"NOOOOOOO! DAAAAAAAAAANIEL!" The cry was ripped from her throat as she watched Daniel land on the cavern floor with a sickening thud. "DANIEL!"
IIIII
Meanwhile, with sobs racking Sam's body as she cradled Jack, she didn't notice when his left arm moved against her side and reach for the sangraal. His fingered stretched and he reached it. With all his strength Jack placed his fingers on the control panel and concentrated hard on the neutralization of Adria, the rest of the ascended Ori and any ascended being who was bent on universal domination-one last thought crossing his mind as his hand went limp.
'Please let this work….for Sam….'
IIIII
"It's over mother," Adria gloated, her disembodied head floating within a mass of red energy. "…we have won. And you will be destroyed!"
Vala watched with horror as Adria's red aura began to glow again and she just sat there, frozen with terror as Adria raced towards her……….
A/N- Yes I know. Evil cliffhanger- but before you all go crazy, know this. I love these characters and respect them, and I know how to honour them...so do not fear...
...and for your information dear readers, there are only 4 chapters left so by Sunday this story will be done. I hope you guys have been enjoying this as much as I have, but I can tell you have because of your reviews. 162 now (WOW) so I must thank Myosotis13, Briar, tricky1379, kimmy16, annie11232, Shinki, Toomi, Terelou, Sokorra Lewis and Nef for reviewing chapter 25
I hope you all will review chapter 26 (this one) as well, and look forward to chapter 27 tomorrow. :D
TTFN my beloved readers, and one more tidbit of information, with Atlantis being turned on its head, SG1 and D/V are the only constant in my fandom right now...which is why I will (and have) stay true to the characters.
A/N2- Bra'tac added to the frey...