A/N:I started writing this story sometime back as an answer to the Tumblr post about what we wanted to see on SG. I said there should've been an episode where Vala unknowingly won the lottery and stated how it should end. The chapters are short, the tone is funny, the drama is constructed in a manner where it's not serious. There are none of my usual pairings because I wanted it to read like a mixture of Memento Mori with the absurdity of 200, while still being plausible and canon compliant.
I stopped writing because the tone of my life wasn't matching the light and humorous tone I wanted in the story, so it was placed on the back burner about half done. However, given the circumstances of what's been happening, I figured we all need a little getaway when we can't, so I plan to finish it up within the next few weeks.
I hope you enjoy :)
Jackpot
Chapter 1
Golden Ticket
It's Monday morning, and somehow she makes it down to Daniel's lab before he does.
The team had just had their first weekend off in over half a year, beginning on Friday after a long, drawling mission debriefing, followed by a painful silence, and everyone bowing out to go their own ways.
Since she still isn't allowed out of the complex without a chaperone, and since the team greatly needed a break from each other, she didn't ask to tag along with anyone. Instead she had her own adventure through the gate as her request for spending the weekend—on a planet where the sand is as thin as ground grain—was approved. She returned late last night to crawl into her bed after a lazy, tryst filled weekend, feeling completely satisfied and with a lovely tan.
When she pads to her little cubby corner where they've allowed her a very rudimentary laptop which she employs daily to bypass the security measures set in place to keep her from accessing classified information, there is something sticking out on the keyboard. At first she assumes it's a note, that the team had a discussion late last night—except perhaps for Muscles, who may still be off world—that they're to meet in a specific spot and failed to relay the information to her.
However, upon closer inspection, she finds it's a letter with her name scrawled across the front in beautiful penmanship.
Plucking it from being propped between the keys, she opens the purple envelope, and retrieves a card from within. There are two cats on the front, both with googly eyes and wearing party hats, which she adores all ready. When she opens it up, she finds it celebratory of her birthday, and a piece of paper floats out, swaying through the air until landing face up on her keyboard.
She sets the card facing up on her desk, and inspects the paper, which has a logo across the top and then a list of numbers running from left to right.
She has no idea what this is.
The lights flicker on in the room as Daniel steps through the threshold, that morning's newspaper tucked underneath an arm, while he juggles an open mug of coffee with his other hand. She draws her eyes away from the card, watching him fumble, knowing that if she offers to help, he'll get all snippety about it and spill his coffee, most likely on his paper.
But when he looks up, surprised to see her in their shared workspace this early, he flinches, drops his newspaper on the ground and spills half his coffee on top.
She only grins, waving the piece of paper between her thumb and index finger as a greeting. "Morning."
"Good morning," he huffs, setting his mug on top of the surveying table he prefers, then stooping to retrieve his newspaper, shaking it a bit to relieve it of any unabsorbed coffee. He removes the first segment, splatting it to the table, and immediately starts reading in on the historical section.
Absently, he remarks, "you're here early."
As she approaches, he glances up from the pages, then back down, then his eyes dart back up again. "You look like you got some sun."
"Yes, and it was marvelous, Darling—but that's not currently the matter at hand." She stands beside him, her back to the table he's facing, resting her behind just shy of sitting atop. He's made it exceedingly clear that she's never to prop herself up on any table at any time if he and his glasses are in the room.
"Oh." Nods in agreement, snatching back the unread portion of the newspaper, flipping through the last section and retrieving the puzzle page for her. It's full of word games that let her learn Tau'ri syntax and definitions, knows he willingly buys the paper just for the page to give to her, because he knows she enjoys it. He also knows it keeps her distracted and quiet. "Here you go."
"Thank you." Taps him on the arm with the puzzle page, smiling broadly and adding. "Is there anything else I should be thanking you for?"
Now he sighs because maybe he felt this interaction should have been completed by now. "Oh, like for what?"
"Did you, perhaps, bring me back a souvenir?"
"Vala, what type of souvenir do you want me to bring back from my house, I spent the weekend holed up reading through—"
Sees the diatribe coming and flashes the piece of paper from within the card to cut him off. "So you didn't leave this and a delightful kitty card for me to find at my computer?"
"What? No." Pulls his glasses out of the pocket on his BDU jacket and slips them on, while taking the piece of paper from her. His face recoils, like he's tasted something bitter, like the time she exchanged the sugar in his coffee for salt because she was bored. "Why would I give you a lottery ticket?"
"What's that?"
He clicks on the table lamp and inspects the paper further under heavier light. "This is a lottery ticket."
"Yes, I gathered as much from your explanation." She leans over his shoulder, pillowing her hands against his outstretched arm. "Care to elaborate on what a lottery is?"
"Well—" He hesitates, hums at something, and after a few seconds when he doesn't notice her prolonged contact, when he doesn't shake her off or shoo her away, she knows that it's something much more interesting.
"Does it have to do with treasure, Daniel?" Her voice is low, cunning as she watches the slight twitch in his brow. "Does it have to do with money?"
Expects him to start to crumble, to stammer, and bounce away from the table trying to distract her elsewhere, but instead he squishes his mouth to the side. "We need to tell the others about this."
A/N:Just a quick FYI, I'm going to be trying to update or post one story a week. So watch out for updates on 2 Birds, Totally Rad, 2 4 1, the Watch the Birdie series, and Jackpot.
Stay safe.