Author's Notes: If this chapter wasn't hard enough to write in the first place, the fact that I accidentally deleted the file didn't help. It is a little confusing and if you still don't get it after this chapter finished then just ask and I'll explain in the 'Author's Notes' at the beginning of next chapter and/or in a review reply.

Chapter 36: Point of Origin

Vala fought another wave of vertigo as it threatened to send her sprawling to her knees and when she noticed Sam was watching her carefully she smiled in a way that anyone who cared to notice would have seen to be the façade that it was, "what's wrong?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sam ignored her question by asking one of her own, the concern in her voice sounded oddly fake to Vala but then again her heart was pounding in her ears so it was little wonder that the other woman sounded odd.

Vala nodded, the smile fading only slightly "what did you want?"

"Have you seen Nick anywhere?"

Vala frowned a little as if she didn't understand the question, there was something familiar in her voice but at the same time it sounded so foreign she couldn't place it.

"Have you seen him?" her voice was desperate and had even gotten louder.

Every nerve ending in her body felt like it was on fire and every cell like it was exploding; she couldn't even scream so any thought of answering her question was completely impossible. The floor was closer than it had been five seconds ago and the concrete was like ice against her skin; it burned so much a sob caught in her throat and she could neither release it or swallow it, leaving her gasping for air and choking on whatever she did manage to inhale.

Her vision was blurring and if she had believed in a God she would have thanked him for the reprieve of unconsciousness he gave.

Vala writhed on the bed before stilling completely and for a second Adria was too stunned by her own loss of control to be able to do anything about it. Was that what panic felt like? No, she was the Orisi, she didn't panic, she was cool, collected and right.

Taking breath and shaking her head so discreetly it looked like an impossible breeze had swept through the room to cause her perfectly curled hair to tremble slightly, she raised her hands over her mother's still body and set about attempting to fix the – not fix, for something to be fixed it had to be broken and Vala wasn't broken… not so much. Adria was simply… she cleared her head abruptly and set about the task at hand.

Vala blinked, disorientated and shuddering as everything came back into focus; she saw Adria leaning over something, or someone, on the bed and she moved to get a better look. She barely had time to register the fact she was looking at herselfbefore the darkness overwhelmed her again.

Balancing a box of donuts and two cups of coffee in one hand Jack used his free hand to let himself into Daniel's apartment. No sooner had he closed the door behind him the phone started ringing and he quickly put the breakfast down on a nearby surface and answered it.

"Jackson residence, O'Neill speaking,"

Jack could tell that whoever it was one the other end of the line was tempted to make some comment about the fact he was answering Daniel's phone and he was not at all surprised to hear Mitchell's voice drift down the line a second later "Teal'c and SG2 have just gotten back,"

"And?" Jack prompted.

"They've seen an Ori ship in orbit above the planet they were scouting for-"

"We'll be there in an hour," Jack didn't give Mitchell time to continue as he hung up and turned around, mentally kicking himself when he jumped upon seeing Daniel stood there, blinking back sleep and leaning against the doorjamb.

If he thought it odd that Jack was there he didn't show it, asking smoothly "who was it?"

"Mitchell. They've spotted an Ori ship – woah there Danny, where're you going?"

"To the mountain?"

"You really can't function properly with coffee can you?" he teased, raising an eyebrow at his friend's current apparel; it was either lack of caffeine or the good Doctor was planning on making a bit of a fashion statement.

Daniel looked down at himself and opened his mouth to say something when his daughter indicated she had, had enough of being ignored by crying emphatically.

"I've got her," Jack said "coffee and breakfast," he gestured to where he had put them absently before heading off to get the baby in the next room.

The briefing room was silent as the two teams with an addition of Nick, Jack and Carolyn, waiting patiently for General Landry to join them. When Ferretti cleared his throat multiple pairs of eyes turned to fix on him until he muttered an apology and they each went back to staring at inanimate objects with such intense gazes it was a wonder they didn't end up incinerated.

The silence was broken by chairs scraping across the floor when Landry walked in and nearly everybody rose from their seats and it was the General who was first to speak when he nodded his ascent for everyone to sit down again and he asked "so what have we got?"

"We spotted an Ori ship in orbit above the address we last 'gated too sir," Ferretti said with the air of a man who was loathe to speak with that amount of attention on him, "Teal'c thinks that it's the ship that Vala is on,"

Landry turned to Teal'c with an expectant look.

"It is most likely that the vessel is the one on which Vala Maldoran is being held captive. I believe that it would be most prudent for a team to be sent out to rescue her immediately,"

Murmurs of agreement flitted around the table, and Landry glanced at Daniel, a pang of sympathy hit his chest when he noted that Doctor Jackson had stayed silent. Landry caught Jack's eye and Jack shifted his hold on Lexy as she decided to try and play with his collar and, coming to the conclusion that it wasn't doing anyone any harm, he let her continue.

"How certain are we that this ship is the one that Vala is on?" Landry swallowed with a nervousness that was not at all right for a General to sport when he was addressing the men and women who were under his command.

"I am most certain," Teal'c contributed and Landry had too look away for the stare that the jaffa was fixing on him was enough to unnerve the strongest of men.

"It would be too coincidental I think for there to be another ship in this region of the galaxy," Sam said with a bravado that everyone could see through.

"It could be a trap," Jack offered slowly, staring right passed Daniel as that comment finally seemed to elicit a response from him and… well Jack had been on the receiving end of one of Daniel's 'death glares' more than once over the years, only this time it was the kind of expression Jack would have expected if he'd suddenly announced he had a snake in his gut, grown an extra head and announced undying love for Oprah.

"We have to go," Daniel said after looking away from Jack, but not without making his displeasure with the older man known, "we have too," his voice was hoarse and instead of being laced with anger it sounded defeated and small, and for a moment Jack had thought that both Carolyn and Sam were about to get up and hug him.

Landry took a breath "it is entirely possible that Jack could be right." He said slowly and pointedly "Adria knows that we'll be searching for Vala and she could have sent a ship there as a decoy,"

"But it could be a coincidence?" Cam posed the statement as a question because even he wasn't sure how much longer he could put up with the response even Vala's name got from people; it was as if she had died. Royalty among the peasants, a rose amongst the proverbial thorns.

No one said anything for a long time.

"SG1." Landry said "I want you to go to PF9 472 – strictly recon," he emphasised the last word with a direct stare at each member of the team, he knew far to well how easily they all managed to turn a simple reconnaissance mission into a fight for their lives. "if you do find out that Vala is on board. Do not engage the Ori soldiers, dial straight home and we'll send a rescue team out within an hour of your return," the last a promise he would never normally make but for some reason he could not help himself; he must be getting emotional in his old age. "Doctor Jackson-"

"I'm going," he stated firmly, "there is no way I wouldn't."

"You've barely slept-" Carolyn piped up.

"I slept last night,"

Landry rubbed his eyes tiredly "Daniel," he breathed "if… if you see Vala… I'm not telling you that if there is a perfectly safe way to retrieve her without endangering lives and without being seen the you shouldn't but whilst you're not military I do expect you to obey a direct order and I am ordering you to not let your feelings for your wife cloud your better judgement."

A stupid thing to say; everything about this team was emotion driven, they all loved each other in their separate ways and there was nothing anyone could do to stop that. People had tried, but no matter what they stuck together.

Daniel had died and he came back. Jack had been given an extremely good job in Washington and he had dropped it, retiring back to good ol' Colorado Springs rather than to his cabin in Minnesota. Carter had been offered so many things and every time she turned it down. Teal'c had, had the opportunity to lead the entire jaffa nation that he had helped out of Goau'ld oppression…

The most fatal blow to the dynamic of the team had been when Jack had been promoted to Washington and it had been a long time coming. His running of the SGC had been something that none of them had been able to come to terms with and all four of them had refused to have anyone onto SG1 to either take Jack's place or Carter's. And when Jack had left for Washington that had been it.

They were either together as the four of them or they weren't a team at all. Daniel had been planning to leave the galaxy that time. And then Colonel Mitchell had come along, and Vala, both within a very short space of time and some how the old flame that was SG1 had been re-ignited and whilst they would never have back what they had – and he wasn't sure anyone of them wanted that – they had reformed themselves. Changing and altering to fit in the two new team members, morphing themselves into something equally as strong as before and at the same time something entirely new.

Daniel gave a gesture with his head that was a barely perceivable nod that would not have been identified as such had he not bee faced with a question.

Sighing Landry got to his feet "you leave at oh-nine-hundred hours."

"Vala!" Sam's voice carried down the corridor to her ands he turned around, leaning on a nearby wall as vertigo nearly sent her sprawling to her knees, "are you okay?"

Vala looked up as the blonde came to a halt in front of her, cheeks slightly flushed the with exertion of running down the corridor "I'm fine," she replied.

"Good," Sam smiled at her "good,"

Vala felt some of the discomfort dissipate and the smile she had sported became more genuine "is everything all right?"

"I was just wondering where Nick was. I can't find him anywhere," she ended the sentence with a dazzling smile.

"I'm just on my way to see him," Vala answered linking her arm through the other woman's.

"Oh… good." Sam said slowly, allowing herself to be pulled along the corridor by the lively brunette.

"Where's Pip?" Mitchell said as Daniel entered the 'gate room, taking his P-90 from the airman that offered it to him.

"Hmm?" he frowned in confusion.

"Pip?" Mitchell repeated giving him a pointed look.

"Oh, she's with Jack and Carolyn," he looked up at the control room where they seemed to have a much larger sending off party than usual; the aforementioned trio at the front of the crowd.

Mitchell nodded "everyone ready?"

Unified nods from the other three and him casually saluting the control room before turning back to his team and heading up the 'gate ramp.

Upon exiting the wormhole SG1 was met by a lush green landscape that was entirely empty of human inhabitants as far as the eye could see, UAV telemetry told otherwise and apparently there was a group of settlements about fifteen miles west of the Stargate which would explain what business the Ori had there.

"Uh… guys," Daniel pointed.

They turned and looked as well; and automatically the team skirted for the cover of the bushes and plant life surrounding the 'gate.

"It appears that the ship is no longer in orbit of the planet," Teal'c stated softly.

"Thanks for the update big guy," Mitchell quipped sarcastically and didn't acknowledge the raised eyebrow and look of disdain that was fixed on him.

The ship was maybe three hundred feet from where they were crouched and they stayed perfectly still as the sound of heavy footsteps vibrated through the ground, a shout of "Hallowed are the Ori!" ridded them of any suspicions that the people that could be heard were anything other than Ori soldiers.

"Is that…?" Cam muttered, pulling out his binoculars and focussing them against his eyes "Adria," his voice was heavy as he watched the Orisi come out of the ship, talk to one of the Prior's for a few moments before a group of guards gathered around her and escorted her away.

"Daniel," Sam caught the archaeologist's flak vest as he went to stand.

"Vala's in there," he hissed at her. "I am not going to leave her behind again,"

"There is no way in hell we could possibly get in that ship Jackson, it's heavily guarded. We dial home and – Jackson!" he cut himself off when Daniel slipped free of Sam's guard and headed towards the ship. "Jack-son!" he snapped in a loud whisper before turning back to Sam and Teal'c, "come on,"

The corridors inside the Ori ship were laced with shadows and the lights that were on and permitted them to form were dim to the point it provided him with some sort of cover.

Upon entering the ship the low buzz of noise that could be heard outside disappeared immediately; it was as if he had suddenly gone deaf and for a moment he froze, unnerved by the seeming sensory deprivation before logic won out and he listened hard for any sound within the ship itself.

Unable to detect anything Daniel pressed on, hand resting on the butt of his P-90 as he crept along the hall. The ship's interior appeared like a maze; a rabbit warren of doors, passageways and possible entries and exits. Subconsciously he found himself noting down a series of vantage points should he get spotted; whether that was an effort the rational half of his brain was making or simply an ingrained routine he had learnt over the years he did not know.

He whirled around as he thought he heard footsteps, after a minute he dismissed it and continued on into the depths of the ship.

Sam blinked as she, Cam and Teal'c reformed on the bridge of the Odyssey; one second they were hiding behind a series of bushes as Ori warriors marched passed and the next they had been beamed onto the ship.

"Colonel," Mitchell and Sam said at once, nodding politely to the commanding officer of the ship, quashing the feelings of surprise that were rising in their chests.

"Colonels," Emerson nodded in reply "we just received a radio communication from Stargate Command; heard you might be in need of some assistance," after a pause Emerson continued "where's Doctor Jackson?"

"He…"

"Daniel Jackson decided to attempt a rescue of Vala Maldoran," Teal'c explained when the other two hesitated for a second.

"What?" Emerson asked.

"Jackson's gone after Vala," Cam didn't elaborate "we were just going to follow him when you beamed us up here sir,"

Emerson's forehead creased into a frown "where does he think she's been kept?"

"On board the ship sir," Sam answered carefully.

"Adria?"

"She is not on the vessel at this moment," Teal'c replied "I believe that it would be beneficial for us to attempt to retrieve both Daniel Jackson and Vala Maldoran immediately."

Emerson rubbed his chin thoughtfully and nodded "do you need back up?"

Cam shook his head.

"We'll stay as close to the planet as we can without being spotted; if the Ori ship decides to fire our shields don't stand a chance."

"I'll attempt to disable the shields on the Ori ship so you can beam us out once we've got Daniel and Vala back," Sam said, adding on to the rapidly forming plan.

Emerson nodded in agreement before saying softly; "okay,"

He had seen no one so far, and if he was truly honest with himself he must have around the part of the ships that contained the living quarters at least twice by now. He refused to indulge the whisper in the back of his head that said maybe running off and leaving the rest of his team had not been the most intelligent thing he could have done.

Daniel paused when he came to a intersection of the halls – how many times must he have he gone those particular passageways? – sighing he went for the one on his right without really thinking about it. His footfalls echoed from the walls and he tried to lighten his step, admitting defeat when that failed he proceeded down the hall.

"Jackson!" Mitchell's voice carried down the hall swiftly and Daniel whirled around; finger on the trigger of his weapon before his eyes settled on the man approaching him, a second later it was revealed that Teal'c was with him.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c greeted and whilst the Colonel panted a little for air the jaffa seemed unfazed.

"Any luck?"

Daniel felt himself relax a little as he had automatically started prepping himself for an onslaught of 'what the hell were you thinkings' and 'you are completely insanes'. He hadn't expected calm acknowledgement of his position followed by a question so simple and yet seemed to mean a great deal to him. Realising Mitchell was watching him through impatient eyes and looked as if he were about to smack him over the back of the head he shook his head "not yet – where's Sam?"

Mitchell took point and edged further down the corridor, "she's going to try and deactivate the shields. Turns out the Odyssey was 'in the area' and they got a call from Landry over the radio, which by the way means you are either getting to be rather predictably unpredictable or it was just a lucky coincidence. Emerson is waiting for us to either get clear of the ship or for Sam to deactivate the shields - depending on how long it takes us to get Vala and blow this joint – so-" Cam noticed that Daniel seemed to have stopped listening.

Daniel did a double take when he noticed a door that he was sure hadn't been there the last time he had walked this way… or maybe he really hadn't been down that corridor before…

Cam and Teal'c shared a look and as Teal'c stepped forwards to open the door Cam took a hold of Daniel's vest and pulled him further back; however the loose hold he had managed to maintain was useless as he pulled free, again, and took a series of cautious steps into the room.

Vala was lying on her side on the bed and Daniel was beside her in a second, rolling her onto her back and brushing her hair away from her face when she didn't respond to his gentle shaking. He swallowed hard and without even realising what he was doing he found two of his fingers against her neck, hovering over her pulse point as Cam and Teal'c watched.

"Is she okay?" Mitchell asked.

"She's alive," Daniel deadpanned, anything else could wait because if he even so much as began to categorise her current state of being then he wasn't sure he would be able to keep it together long enough to leave the ship.

Teal'c stepped forwards to take Vala's unconscious form into his arms but blinked almost owlishly when Daniel stopped him, thrusting his P-90 at the jaffa as he went to lift his wife himself.

Cam had to bite back the smirk that was playing with his lips at the scene in front of him as for a moment he let the 'mocking friend' part of him take forefront as opposed to being the – well he was supposed to be pissed at Daniel for leaving them behind but at the moment that was impossible – calm and collected military man that he should probably be in the mode of right about now.

Vala was light; the dress she was wearing even lighter, and impulsively Cam found himself removing his jacket hastily, throwing it to Teal'c as he put his vest back on and shared eye contact only briefly with Daniel as the jacket was laid carefully over Vala's still form.

"Let's go," Cam said, they'd wasted enough time already and he was unsure how much more of that time they had too loose because that was all they needed; for a greeting party to be at the door when they went to leave the ship.

Daniel followed the Colonel from the room with Teal'c on his heels. The maze of passageways looked entirely different coming in the other direction and he was grateful that Cameron seemed to know exactly where they were going. His heart was still hammering in his chest and he shifted his hold on Vala for a moment, hoping that, that might calm his quaking nerves, needless to say it didn't work.

Any thought of trying to make sense of what was going through his head was wiped clear the moment a familiar voice fill his ears, the very sound of it had him repressing a shiver.

The safety was flicked off of Mitchell's P-90 a second before Teal'c armed both of the ones he was carrying.

"Doctor Jackson," Adria said smoothly, fixing him with a delighted little smirk as the warriors around her aimed their weapons at four-fifths of the notorious team "how nice to see you."

Author's Notes: Okay so… please review?

Next Chapter: Can Sam take down the shields so The Odyssey can beam the team out or has SG1 met its match? (Doesn't that sound like the tackiest 'next chapter' ever?)