Chapter 11

She was bored. She hadn't been this bored in so long, and it wasn't quite yet 0900! Daniel had learned early on in their acquaintance how she was and how fast she got bored and he usually always had something for her to do. When he didn't, she would annoy the pants off him as amusement before heading for Sam to see if she had anything for her to do.

The problem was that Vala was now in a different reality, with different versions of her friends and husband. They were essentially all fundamentally the same deep down, but their paths had obviously altered in some way, making them different, either significantly or just slightly. Either way, it gave Vala pause before doing any of her usual antics. She had worked hard in her reality to be accepted and a contributing and valued member of SGC. It seemed like she had to start from the beginning here.

Mind made up, Vala got up from her bed and dressed in a pair of olive green BDUs. She briefly wondered if SG-1 used the same system to coordinate which color to wear here as they did in her old world. They had used to call each other, but that often led to more than one person picking the color and would end up mismatched, not that it really mattered if all of SG-1 was dressed the same. After many miscommunications, they had set up a schedule for which color to wear. They all knew and admitted it was silly, but it didn't stop them.

Pushing those old times out of her mind, Vala set off to the mess hall. She was hungry and knew Daniel would be in his office by now. She wanted to try and reestablish her old routine, even though she knew it wouldn't be exactly the same, but it was a start at least. She grabbed some coffee and fixed it the way Daniel liked it, at least she hoped this Daniel liked it this way, and briefly snagged a muffin on her way out.

"Good morning, Daniel!" she greeted cheerfully as she entered his office and set down the steaming hot cup of coffee in front of him.

Daniel looked up, startled and surprised by her presence. "Vala, hi," was his greeting back.

He eyed the coffee in front of him. His was almost gone and had grown cold so he was desperately craving a fresh cup and had no qualms in accepting the cup presented to him. Taking a cautious sip, wary of it being either too hot or it being plain black coffee, he was pleasantly surprised that it was neither. It was the perfect temperature and made just the way he liked it.

He took another drink. "Thanks, I needed that," he told her as he watched her finish off a muffin. "Everything okay?"

"Oh, yes!" she assured him. "I'm just a bit bored."

"Okay," he dragged out. "It's barely 0900 hours. What do you want me to do about it?"

"Well, you see Daniel," she paused briefly for effect, "it is a time-honored tradition that when I am bored, I come and pester you. I flirt, sometime outrageously, to make you uncomfortable, and annoy you until you snap and give me a small lecture which normally results in an argument before you give up and give me something to do. Sometimes, you anticipate my actions and are prepared with work for me. But until you learn that, shall I continue to distract and annoy you or do you have something for me to help translate?" she asked with an arched eyebrow and gave him a flirtatious wink.

He stared at her, baffled with his mouth slightly opened. Was she for real? "This was something you did with him?" he asked, referring to his other self.

"Yes," she confirmed, "It was how our friendship and eventual relationship began. Sadly, bugging him got less fun once we started dating."

Some unknown emotion bubbled up inside Daniel. Something about her words rubbed him the wrong way and he wasn't sure how or why. He knew he was about to start something he would regret but couldn't seem to stop himself. "Just because I've expressed interested in being in the baby's life doesn't mean I'll be a his replacement for you, some stand in."

All traces of emotion left her face, but not before he caught a glimpse of hurt before a cold, expressionless face took its place. "You think I'm trying to replace him with you?" her voice matched her expression.

He struggled to find intelligent words. "Well…I, I don't, I mean, maybe –"

"You honestly believe he could be so easily replaced?" she cut it, her voice now expressing hurt and anger as well as her face. "What? Like every Daniel Jackson is the same? Any one of them would do? Lose one? No biggie, just jump into another reality and snag a new one! They're all the same!" she yelled out.

"Vala – " he tried to cut in but wasn't successful.

"You have experience with other realities, Daniel; has everyone from them been the exact same? Could you replace Sha're with another one from a different reality? Of course you couldn't! She would be different!" Vala could feel tears trying to make their way to the surface but she refused to give in to them. Stupid hormones! "While most Daniel Jacksons are fundamentally the same, made up on the same building blocks that make him who he is, there are still differences! Experiences and decisions that have altered each of their paths and that's where they become different!

"No, you are not my Daniel. You may be similar, have the same ideas, beliefs, shared experiences, and who knows what else, but you are not him! The experiences you didn't share with him made him different; they changed him and made him my Daniel! You are two completely different people and he could never be replaced."

Daniel hung his head sometime during her rant. How was it that he was always saying the wrong thing with her, something that always proved most hurtful to her? "Vala, I'm sorry," he apologized softly.

"For what?" the hurt and anguish in her voice caused him to look at her. "For practically accusing me of being heartless, that any Daniel would do for me, that they're all the same to me, that I couldn't have possibly loved my husband as I claim to, that he could be so easily replaced?"

"I don't think you're heartless," he quickly reassured her and then winced. That was what he decided to comment on? Gods, what was wrong with him?

She scoffed and turned away from him but leaned her backside against his desk. "Believe it or not, you two are so different," she stated, "He was so kind, warm, and soft. He was cautious at first but quickly learned to trust me, not only as a friend, but with his heart. But you, you are cold, hard, cynical, and jaded. You've closed yourself off emotionally. Not just romantically but with your friends as well. You're too scared to lose anyone else so you're trying to close yourself off from caring too much about anyone."

Daniel balled his hands at her depiction of his character and emotional state. "As you've said, I'm nothing like him," he interjected, "so you don't know me, you know nothing about me!"

She turned to face him. "I know enough," she claimed with certainty, looking him in the eye. "Don't forget, you started this. You accused me being capable of replacing my husband with just any Daniel. You insinuated that he wasn't special to me, that I don't still love him with all my heart, that he's so easily forgotten when another Daniel is presented to me!"

"I didn't," he stopped briefly, "I didn't mean for it to come out that way."

"How did you want it to come out, Daniel?" she challenged. "I'll admit that a part of me will always love Daniel Jackson, probably any Daniel Jackson, that is made up of the same fundamental and foundational blocks that make him Daniel. But the part that differentiates the Daniels from each other, that is who I fall in love with, that's the part that made me love him.

"So, while I will always love most Daniels to some degree, I'll never be in love with them. My Daniel's differences are why I fell in love with him, why I still love, and why I'll always love him. There will never be another like him. You're not him and will never be so I could never replace him with you," she finished emphatically, emotions heavily laced her words.

She was still hurt and her anger hadn't dulled at all. But she wouldn't give in to it anymore. At least not in his presence. She really wanted to hit something. She wanted to go to Sam and rant and rave about his behavior, his accusations, but Sam wasn't her Sam anymore. Sam's loyalties lied with Daniel. Vala briefly thought about Janet, but quickly dismissed it; she knew the woman even less in this reality. She did know one thing: she had to get out of there before she said something she regretted, though that generally was Daniel's forte. For her, it was best to get out before she did something she regretted, like hit him. Decision made, she snapped herself around and headed for the door.

"Vala," his voice stopped her in the doorway. "I'm sorry," and he was. You'd think for a linguist that knew twenty-three languages would be able to come up with something better than that.

She huffed out what seemed to resemble a humorless laugh. "I know you are," she told him but still didn't turn around.

"Come sit down," he pleaded gently, "and let's talk about it: clear the air."

He needed to make this right. It was a heartless thing for him to say, to insinuate that her husband could so easily be replaced. He didn't mean for it to come out that way, but it seemed to be a pattern with Vala. He'd say something without thinking only for it to come out completely wrong. What happened to his brain, his thought process, his intellect? He needed to think and filter his thoughts with her in the future. It wasn't something he normally had to do, but with her, his brain went out the window and his mouth blurted out whatever it wanted. It caused him to say something pretty stupid which deeply hurt her, and he needed to apologize to her properly. He owed her that much at least.

Vala shook her head at his proposal. "I can't. I'm too angry right and I know I'll say or do something I'll regret," she admitted, not even turning around to look at him. "Just leave me alone, Daniel," she commanded before bolting from his office.

Daniel forced himself to stay seated at his desk and not go after her. The least he could do was honor her wishes and leave her alone. For now, at least.

Author's Note: *ducks* For those of you who thought Daniel was past being an ass, think again! Mwah-ha-ha-ha! Don't worry, it's for a reason!

To be fair, in the series, he didn't get over Sha're for a LONG time and I threw Vala at him a little early...

Also, thank you to those who wished me a safe travels! You all so sweet! I didn't people actually read the Author's notes so thank you!

Again, let me know your thought and any improvements I can make before posting anymore chapters!