Chapter Six

" – medical team down here!" Vala's voice punctured his unconsciousness mind, "Daniel, can you hear me? Darling, wake up."

As he tried to regain consciousness, he felt the warmth of her hands on his face as she tried to coax him awake. He didn't know why, but he had a strange urge to see her; it was a longing he hadn't experienced in some time and he fought to wake up. He also didn't like the worry in her tone, he didn't like causing her any distress, and he didn't want her to worry about him. He didn't deserve it, after all, not after the way they had left things.

"Daniel, wake up for me, please," she implored, caressing his cheek.

He could feel the last strands of sleep fade away and without his permission, his head turned to lean more into her hand that held his cheek. "Vala?" he said, almost intelligible.

"Daniel!" she exclaimed, "That's it, wake up, darling."

His eyes fluttered open and the first thing he saw was Vala Mal Doran leaning over him, a concerned look on her face. He lifted his hand to tuck some of her hair that was hanging down behind her ear. He frowned internally. Why did he do that? He abruptly dropped his hand and tried to sit up. "What happened?" he groaned.

Vala helped him sit up and checked his head for any signs of injury. "I don't know," she said as she twisted his head so she could get a better look at the back, "I came in and you were lying on the floor unconscious. What do you remember?"

Daniel didn't stop her from prodding at his head. "Just cataloging those items," he pointed to his desk, "and then I was waking with you over me."

"Have you eaten anything today?" she questioned after she pulled away, finding nothing majorly wrong with his head.

"You made me eat breakfast," he told her.

She nodded. "Right," she muttered, "but not lunch?"

"Vala, I've skipped meals before, I'm fine."

"You fainted for no apparent reason," she reminded him, "Something's wrong."

"I did not faint, I passed out," he corrected, "and I'm sure it's nothing."

"Let's Carolyn be the judge of that," she said, "I've already called for a medical team."

"Vala – "

"You're getting checked out," she interrupted.

Daniel sighed and relented. "You don't have to stay," he said quietly, still feeling guilty over their last…conversation.

"I'm not leaving you alone," she told him firmly.

He hesitated. "Look, Vala, I'm sorry for wh – "

Vala looked away from him. "It's fine, don't worry about it."

But he couldn't help but worry. As he thought about it, he realized how hurt she had looked before storming out of his office earlier, and when he looked at her now, he could see how dejected she was. He hesitantly reached out his hand and capture her chin, making her look at him, and that's when he noticed her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was red. Ah hell. "You've been crying," he said, suddenly feeling sick, feeling like he got kicked in the chest when he realized what made her cry, or rather who made her cry. "I made you cry."

Why did those words feel familiar along with the remorse he felt? Why did he feel like he had made the biggest mistake of his life by rejecting her?

Vala pulled out of his grasp and looked away. "It's nothing," she brushed off, "I was just watching a sad movie."

Daniel knew she was lying, but the question was why? Could it possibly be because she had put herself out there and he had shot her down so cruelly? For years, he tried to get her to open up to him, tried to convince her she could trust him with anything, that she could tell him anything, and the one time she does, he fucks it up beyond repair…he hoped it wasn't beyond repair. Looking at her now, he was more afraid of losing her from his life than he was of starting a relationship with her.

He couldn't lose her. He wanted a life with her. He imagined what that would look like, marriage, house children, and without his permission, his mind conjured up images of what their future children looked like; a boy that looked like his mother and a daughter that looked like him. He imagined himself reading stories to a little boy and girl, making the giggle uncontrollably when he used different voices for different characters, he imagined himself holding Vala while their hands cradled her growing belly that housed their child, he imagined how life could be with Vala could be and he didn't want to lose it.

Daniel grabbed her face again and refused to let it go. "It's not nothing," he insisted, "Vala, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to make you cry."

Vala tried to get out of his grasp but he held fast. "I already told you, I was watching a sad movie."

"Don't lie to me," he told her and leaned closer, "I didn't mean any of it and I'm so sorry for taking my fear out on you."

She bit her lip and blinked rapidly. "Don't do this to me," she pleaded.

"Why did you come back?" he asked quietly, "After what I said, why did you come back?"

She sighed. "I came to get my iPod. I can only take so much of Bill's prattling," she admitted, "and you're usually out of the office, getting another cup of coffee at this time, just like you do every day."

Daniel never realized just how well she knew him. She was always here, ever since coming back from the Ori galaxy after having Adria, she was always there for him. She made sure he ate regular meals, that he actually got sleep, pulled him from his work when he got too deep and desperately needed a break. She had been taking care of him for over a year and he was just now just realizing it. He never thought of Vala Mal Doran as a patient woman, but she was; she spent almost two years playing the long game since she understood him in a way no one else did and knew she couldn't push him too hard too soon. She had waited for him.

He couldn't help the impulse and didn't fight it. He closed the distance between them and kissed her. He felt her shock but he didn't stop, not when this feeling of euphoria swept over him; it felt right and she felt like home.

Vala's shock only lasted a few seconds before she kissed him back, throwing her hands into his hair. But that only lasted a few moments as well before she abruptly pulled back and gaped at him in shock. "We need to get you to Carolyn," she said almost forlornly.

Daniel smiled cheekily. "Can we do that after we make out?"

She continued to gape at him. "You must've sustained a more serious brain injury than I thought," she mumbled.

He chuckled. "I didn't kiss you because I lost control of my faculties," he told her, "I kissed you because I wanted to…because I care about you."

"You didn't seem to care about me a few hours ago," she remarked bitterly.

Daniel cringed. "I was scared," he confessed, "and I didn't know or I guess didn't want to believe you were being seriously, but I do now."

"And you magically came to this conclusion when you passed out for no apparent reason?" she questioned skeptically.

"Yes," he said simply, "Vala, I think I'm in love with you."

She inhaled sharply at his declaration. "Daniel – "

"Vala, what've we got?" Dr. Lam asked as she entered Daniel's office, coming to kneel beside the two of them and dug into her medical bag.

Vala continued to stare at Daniel in disbelief. "I think Daniel is losing his mind."

Lam paused. "Come again?"

Daniel frowned at Vala. "How is me telling you that I love you mean that I'm losing my mind?"

"Say what now?" Mitchell's voice came from the doorway.

"Oh boy," was Sam's gleeful comment, "this ought to be good."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.

"Everyone, be quiet!" Lam snapped and looked at Vala. "Tell me what happened, and we'll go from there."

"I don't know," Vala confessed, "All I know is that I came in and found Daniel lying on the floor. When he woke up, he was acting strange…"

o0o

"He's perfectly fine," Carolyn declared, snapping a file shut, "All his tests and images came back clear."

"Told ya," Daniel said smugly as he smirked at Vala.

Vala's arm was wrapped around her waist while the other was resting on top of it and she was biting her thumb nail nervously. "Are you sure?" she questioned skeptically, "He did just tell me in front of everyone that he loved me."

"In my defense, I didn't know it was in front of everyone," Daniel interjected.

Carolyn shrugged. "Everything came back clear," she reiterated, "There's nothing wrong with him. In fact, you're free to go, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel hopped off the bed. "Thank you," he said chipperly, "I have some stuff I need to discuss with Vala," he declared and snatched her arm.

"Daniel, where are we going?" she asked as he dragged her out of the infirmary.

"My quarters to finish the conversation we started in my office."

"The first or second one?" she questioned warily.

He paused in his strides. "Both, actually."

"Daniel, I don't want to do this," she told him.

"We're doing this," he insisted firmly, "We're not just going to ignore it, not anymore."

Vala stayed silent, knowing there wasn't anything else she could say to change his mind, but once they were in his quarters, she spoke. "So let me get this straight, you randomly black out and when you finally come to, you suddenly realize you love me?"

"Yes," he said simply.

"Do you realize how utterly ridiculous that sounds?" she asked, "How unbelievable and hard it is to accept? Especially given the way you spoke to me last time."

"I know," he sighed and came closer to her, but she backed up and didn't stop until her back hit a wall and he caged her in, "I don't think I could every truly express how sorry I am, but if you believe anything, please believe that I didn't mean it; please believe that I really do love you."

Vala pressed herself further into the concrete wall. "How do I know that won't change tomorrow?" she asked, "How do I know that you won't suddenly change your mind again?"

Daniel leaned down, a hair's breadth between them. "I don't know what to say to convince you, but I won't, I promise," he whispered, "All I can say is that I'm done hiding, I'm done denying this, and I just want you…forever."

She locked eyes with him. "You better not break that promise," she whispered back, "because if you do, you'll have a fight on your hands and you know I win every fight I set my mind to and there will be hell to pay when I do. I will never give you up."

"Back at you," he rested his forehead against hers, "I love you."

"And I love you," she grabbed the back of his head and closed the distance between them.

Daniel kissed her back, feeling that same emotion of euphoria and a sense of being home when he was with Vala, but this time, he also felt peace.

Vala pulled back. "Does this mean we're dating now?" she asked breathlessly.

Daniel kissed her again. "No," he mumbled against her lips.

"What?" she squeaked, glaring at him.

He pressed another kiss to her lips. "We're beyond dating," he told her.

"Are we now?" she asked between kisses.

Daniel began placing kisses along her neck, speaking at the same time, "Yes," he stated confidently, "This only leads to one place."

"And that is?" she asked challengingly.

He lifted his head from her neck and met her eyes. "Everything."

"Everything?" she repeated.

"Marriage, children, happily ever after, everything," he specified, "You gonna be okay with that?"

Vala gave him a blinding smile. "More than okay," she assured him, "Everything it is."

The End.

o0o

Author's Note: That's all folks! Just a short little fluff piece, if you will. It was something that was stuck in my mind and wouldn't get out to make room for other ideas, so I wrote it down. Hopefully my creative juices can be directed at one of my longer stories now.

Thoughts, please!

Thank you for your reviews, feedback, and participation! And thank you for reading! You all rock!

-DesertKactus