It had been easy for Vala to resume being Raven. Even before being recognized she had felt the pull of that persona falling over her the moment she had stepped through the Stargate and inhaled a breath of familiar desert air.

Naegev was the only place Vala had ever thought that she might stay. To be fair she had still been a little unsettled. The Tok'ra had only just freed her from Qetesh and while she had been very grateful, she had run from the Tok'ra Base in the middle of the night, stolen a ship and taken off as soon as she could. She'd had very little doubt that the Tok'ra were going to attempt to pressure her into joining them in their fight against the Goa'uld; and while Vala hated the Goa'uld she had no interest in letting anything resembling one enter her body again, no matter the intention.

The closest planet had been this interesting little ball of hot and cold in the middle of literally nowhere.

The ship was still on Naegev, in fact, as she had left through the Stargate. But she had withheld that piece of information from Mitchell, just as she had resisted telling him about Night Hawk and Raven. Stealth and secrecy were still too much a part of who she was.

She was very familiar with Rusanan and it had changed little in the years she had been gone. Hood up, she made her way to a busy cantina. It wasn't in the worst neighborhood but it wasn't the best. It was large, but the flat roof was low and the windows were typical of the desert buildings – small slots cut into the adobe. Smoke from candles and the huka weed being smoked by the inhabitants clung to the heavy beamed ceiling in wisps of gray-green. Vala ignored it as she made her way to the bar and claimed a seat on the corner.

The girl who came up to her was dark-haired, dark-eyed and scowling. Vala understood, because a free woman was unlikely to drink as much or tip as much as a free man would be.

"What can I get you?" The girl asked, sullenly.

"You can go tell Uric," Vala said, pushing the hood away from her head and letting it fall far enough to reveal the sword riding on her shoulder, "that Raven is here and wants to speak to him."

The girl's eyes flew open and her attitude changed abruptly. She turned and shouted at the man serving the other end of the bar, "Ufar! Wine for the lady. I need to get Uric."

The man, Ufar, looked about to complain but then he saw Vala. Swallowing, he nodded and reached for a glass.

Conversation in the cantina broke up in a wave as the patrons became aware of who was sitting at the bar. Then bit by bit it started up again, and all the murmured comments had to do with Raven being back in town and if that was true, could Night Hawk be far behind. Vala smiled her thanks to Ufar as he brought her a glass and left a bottle of his best wine on the bar beside it.

"Compliments of the house, Lady," he said, nodding and backing away.

All of this attention was just the thing Vala loved, but it would make Cameron scowl at her and get broody and she really hated 'brooding Cameron'. Vala wanted to get the information she needed and get out of town as quickly as Brady's health would allow them.

Uric appeared, blocking out the light coming from the door that led to the back rooms.

"Raven!" he said, flashing white teeth in his dark face.

He came around the end of the bar and gave her a hug that squeezed the breath out of her.

Uric was unusual in many ways. Uric was tall. He was strong and he looked like he could knock over trees with just his body. In contrast he had long, soft black hair that fell in glossy waves to his shoulders and a smile like a twelve year old boy's. A neatly trimmed beard covered the lower half of his face. He was wearing desert garb in tones of amber, honey and russet.

His smile was wide and glowing and he was literally beaming at her. Uric was the cantina's owner, a friend, and one who had long ago stopped looking at her the way most men did.

"Where have you been? Where is Hawk?"

"Hawk couldn't make it," she hedged, because if anyone would recognize immediately that Cameron was not in fact Hawk, it would be Uric.

But it was also Uric who was her best shot at viable information. He dragged a barstool over and sat down next to her. Ufar brought him a mug of ale and backed away again.

"What do you need?" he asked, intuitively.

"I'm trying to find two men," Vala began.

Uric snorted into his ale. "You've never had a problem finding men, Raven."

"Not like that," she said, smiling to show him that she took it as a compliment. "These are friends that have probably been taken by slavers." She described them again and waited while he processed it.

"There are slavers who deal specifically in foreigners," he said, finally. He gave her two names and where they could be contacted and then said, "Will you need an escort to see them?"

"Don't be insulting, darling," Vala drawled. "Remember who you're talking to."

Uric grunted and grinned at her. "So where have the two of you been? Most of the stories claimed you were both dead, though the manner of death seemed to always change."

She hesitated because Uric really was a friend and she hated lying to him but it was best to stick with her other story. "In the North, searching for someone. It took longer than we anticipated."

"Well, I am glad to have you back in the South," Uric said, sensing that he wasn't going to get more from her. "Is there anything else you need from me?"

Vala straightened, turned to look at him and said, shrewdly, "As a matter of fact, as I recall, Hawk and I own two-thirds of this place."

Uric looked startled and then began to laugh. "Well yes, you do in fact, in exchange for letting me live as I recall."

"You sold us out to Cobra's band of pirates," Vala reminded him, "drugged our wine – and you'll notice that I haven't touched mine yet, just as a precaution."

"Cobra threatened me! They would have killed me, or worse, castrated me! Come on, Raven, I have a wife and two girls," Uric protested, holding up his hands, "Here let me drink the damned wine first then."

He lifted the bottle and drank from it, wiped the top and put it back in front of her.

Vala smiled but it was more knowing than affectionate.

"I begged her not to make me betray the two of you," he went on.

"Of course you did," she agreed.

"I pleaded, I prayed! I didn't want either of you dead. What would I have gained from it?"

"Enough, Uric," Vala said, waving her hand and finally taking a sip of wine. "We settled that. We took controlling interest in your cantina as I recall."

"Yes," he grumbled, "I do all the work and you show up to take two-thirds of the profits."

"And in return, you get to live. I'm glad you still grasp the finer details," Vala said. "So, considering how long it's been since we were here to collect…"

She let the sentence trail off unfinished. Uric shook his head with good natured defeat. He stood up off the stool.

"I've kept it for you," he said, "not wishing to believe the two of you were dead. Somehow I knew you'd be back to collect. I really have missed you, Raven."

"I missed you, too, Uric."

Uric went into the back and returned with a sizable pouch that clinked with the sound of coins. Vala opened it and saw enough gold to satisfy her. She drained the rest of the wine in her glass, hugged Uric, told him to say hello to his wife and children and then she left the cantina.

All eyes followed her on the way out. It wasn't going to take long for word to spread through Rusanan.

Night Hawk and Raven were back.

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