Colonel Cameron Mitchell had just found himself a table in the mess and was sitting down to tuck in to a well-deserved meal when Vala found him.

"Mitchell," Vala said as she entered the room. "Just the man I wanted to see! I am in need of some advice from a Tauri male."

"Okay," Cam said slowly, looking at her suspiciously as she sat down across from him.

"I've watched enough of your movies and television to know a little about your courting customs, but I'm afraid I don't know enough not to make a fool out of myself."

"Courting? Vala Mal Doran, are you interested in someone?" Cam smiled at her teasingly.

Vala smiled back at him. "I might be."

"Well, spit it out! You don't expect me to give you advice unless you tell me who the lucky guy is, do ya?"

The smile immediately left her face. "Oh, I'd really rather not. You know him, and I-"

"Well of course I know him! You hardly ever leave the base except when we go off world. Why do you think I want to know so bad?"

Vala sighed. "Fine, but you can't say a word."

"My lips are zipped," Cam said as he leaned in expectantly. "So?"

"Alright. Don't freak out, but . . . it's Daniel."

Now the smile left Mitchell's face too. "As in Jackson?"

"I know, I know! We work together, so it's probably not a good idea, but I really like him! And I think he likes me too."
"Hold the phone! I know you two have been doing this weird flirty-arguing thing for months now, but I thought that was just, well, flirting! You're telling me you actually have feelings for him?"

"The truth is, I've always liked Daniel, but he never really seemed to like me much. And I can't say that I blame him. We didn't get off to the best start. But now, I don't know, he seems to be more interested. I'd like to talk to him about it, but I don't want to scare him off. What should I do?"

Cam pulled a face. He figured this would happen eventually, but he had hoped he'd have a little more time to come up with something to say. After the whole incident with the headaches and the memories from the other timeline, Sam had been so insistent that they do their best to keep Vala and Daniel apart, for their own protection. He really wasn't the best liar, and to be honest, he didn't want to lie to Vala. "Are you sure you want to have this conversation with me? You'd probably be better off talking to Sam. I'm not exactly the romantic advice kind of guy, plus she's known Jackson a hell of a lot longer than I have, so-"

"I want a man's perspective on this, Mitchell. That's why I came to you!"

Okay, so no getting out of it, then. Cam sighed heavily. "Alright, you want to know the truth, Vala?" She nodded warily. "I don't think you asking Daniel out is a good idea."

"Oh! Alright. So, you think I should just keep dropping hints until he asks me? Because I've been trying to drop hints for a while now, and I just don't think-"

"No, that's not what I mean. I don't think you and Daniel should be together."

Vala's face fell. "Because of the whole working together thing?"

"Exactly!" Cam breathed a sigh of relief. Now he didn't have to come up with some fake reason why Vala and Daniel wouldn't work. Vala provided one for him. "If you and Jackson were in a relationship, think about how that would affect the team!"

"Oh, please, Mitchell, we're all adults. I think we could handle it."

"And when you break up?" Cam pointed out, running with this idea. "Do you think you could still work together after that?"

"You mean if we break up," Vala said pointedly. "We might not break up."

Ooh boy, so much for easy. "Look, Vala, do you really think you won't? I mean, I know you like the guy, but you're not exactly the settle down kind of girl."

Vala looked hurt, but she didn't argue with him, so he kept going. "I'm not trying to be mean here, but I know you well enough to know that you've never been very good at having lasting relationships."

"Daniel's different," she argued.

"Isn't that more reason to slow down a bit? Look, I've been there. I'm not the settling down type either. All I'm saying is, if you're not in it 100% and they are, things can get messy when it all falls apart. And it's not fun breaking someone else's heart."

"You think I would break Daniel's heart?"

"Think about it. I'm pretty sure the last real relationship Jackson had was his wife. And that was the girl he met on his first trip through the Star Gate. He's sort of an all or nothing kind of guy. He meets a girl, falls in love, lives happily ever after. You and me, we're not like that."

"I could be," Vala tried. "I could change, for him."

"But could you, really?" Cam was starting to hate himself for what he was doing. Sure, nothing he was saying was really a lie, but it wasn't really his business. There was no reason to think they couldn't make it work. But he had promised Sam, so he kept moving forward. "Do you really want to risk hurting Daniel like that? Especially after everything he's been through?"

Vala sat in silence for a minute, staring down at her food. She looked like she might cry. God, he hoped she wasn't going to start crying. He might just lose it right then and there. "Maybe you're right," she said softly. "Maybe I need to think about this more." She stood up slowly, but wouldn't look at him. "Thank you, Mitchell."

She turned and walked out of the mess, her head down. He wanted to call after her, to run up behind her and turn her around and tell her everything. But he couldn't. It was better this way. Right? Wasn't it?